Hi all, firstly I want to say a massive thankyou for the reviews and pms, I'm really glad your enjoying this story.
I am however a little gutted as I wrote this chapter a few weeks ago, was extremely proud of myself and then came to upload it to find that it disappeared (I still don't actually know where it's gone!) which is the reason for why it's taken SOOOO LONG to upload- I had to rewrite everything and not everything is how I wanted it to be. Mainly because I can't remember what was written in the old one. But anyhooo...
We will still continue this story for now, if you guys still like it then I'll keep writing.
You may have also noticed that I changed the name - It was Dragon's Wail (just randomly popped into my head) however I decided to change it, I even made myself my own digital drawing of Lucy (cover of this story) to get some inspiration for writing the chapter (again). I felt like this story was more about Lucy concealing her curse, and herself away from her guild mates and friends. Hence the title name change...
Anyway...let's dive in shall we?
Chapter Four
8 August X793
(The day after they arrived in Era)
Dear Mother,
Do you remember the tale you once told me? The story of the angel and demon. I dreamt about it, quite recently in fact. I remember you always changed the ending so that they lived happily ever after. Both the angel and demon, two complete opposites destined to be apart from each other, and yet they found their happiness together. Back then, I believed every word. I was young and naïve to think that the angel could tolerate the darkness the demon had inside and that the demon could even feel love for the angel. They were never really meant to be. Were they?
After you left, I was drawn to the comfort of this tale. So much that I found the story. I sat there most nights, reading, familiarising myself with the story you once told me. Only to find the ending I knew, was clearly a lie.
The angel and demon, the love for each other kills them. Being so close to the demon's presence corrupts the angel, tormenting the mind and soul, she dies a painful death, suffering as black consumes white. Her royal golden form is dyed in ink, forever tainted with love and despair. When the demon hears of her death, he is torn to know that it was him that caused the pain and suffering, which then came to her end. And although it was the angel's choice to love him, he still blames himself. And for that reason, he ventures off to the black lake and drinks the poison waters that eventually kills him.
There's a lot to learn about this tale. Firstly, good and evil could never coexist together in a bond, one is always more powerful than the other and in this case, the demon was far more superior and deadly while the angel was pure and innocent. Secondly, although the angel made the choice to remain with the demon, her decision was still blinded and ignored by her lover so much that he sacrificed his life as a world without her was too much to simply bare.
And thirdly, it made me realise that no matter how you look at it, the tale ends with sorrow and regret. After all, happy endings really don't exist when it comes to forbidden love.
Xxx
"If you turn around and stare at me one more time, I swear pyro, I'll ice blast you out of this restaurant!" Gray's snarky remark made Natsu's shoulders tense, but to test the waters he turned around once more, eyes glaring into the ice wizard.
"I dare you, pervert!" He smirked, brows furrowing. He was ready, his hand resting to the table to rise up. He stilled, when he felt a strong forceful tug from his scarf, yanking him round to turn away.
"Will you both just knock it off?" Lucy growled, her hand still entwined around the end of Natsu's white scaley scarf. She used it to force him to look at her. "Natsu!" She bit angrily, her teeth gritting irritably before sending a stare across to the other table where Gray was sitting along with Wendy and Carla.
"But he looked at me first" the fire wizard sulked low in his chair, arms now crossed over his chest with pout.
"I don't care who looked at who, I don't want any funny business, especially when Erza's away!" The blonde perked her head over to the other table, catching Wendy nod shyly with agreement.
The team were settling in Era for the night, awaiting to travel to Giltena in 2 days time when the large ship was to set sail. However, it was up to Lucy to keep the peace between the two riled up males as Erza decided to make a disappearance after learning a certain mercenary was in the city.
Which explained why they were across two separate tables in one of the restaurants. Since the two male wizards couldn't even look at each other without causing a scene, Lucy and Wendy chose to split themselves up to keep the other one company.
And although it worked for a time, it seemed their burning desire to slam each other into the ground, had not burnt out just yet.
"You always take his side now" Natsu snorted. He grabbed his drink and guzzled it quickly, avoiding to look at his blonde partner.
"I'm not on any side Natsu" she told him honestly. "I just don't want either of you causing a scene and then destroying the city"
He rolled his eyes, blowing air up from lips. "Destroy the city..." he mimicked, laughing silently at how unbelievable her comment was.
"I'm serious, your both extremely strong now. Especially you" she narrowed her eyes at him, using her fork to stab the vegetable on her plate. She slipped it into her mouth and chewed, before nervously looking down at her plate of food. "I do worry you'll end up seriously hurting him you know" she mumbled weakly.
"He's a jerk and all, but I wouldn't go that far" Natsu admitted. "Though he does need knocking down a peg..." he stilled, forcing himself not to turn around once more to look across at the ice wizard. "He shouldn't have grabbed you the way he did" he pointed out.
"And he apologised" Lucy stated. Natsu tutted under his breath, mainly because he felt that an apology wasn't enough. Something about the interaction between her and Gray had rubbed him up the wrong way, to the point where he wanted to knock him out just to relieve himself of the anger pent up inside. The only thing stopping him was Lucy.
"Are you both done arguing now?" Happy piped up, switching his head between his two comrades.
Lucy shook her head, revealing an assuring smile.
"We weren't arguing Happy" she claimed.
"Oh..." the cat's ears lowered softly, glancing up to Natsu who shrugged his shoulders with a mouthful of meat now rammed in his mouth.
For a brief moment, there was an awkward shift of silence on their table, which was quickly disturbed by a soft whimper to the side of them.
"Um...excuse me" their three heads snapped to their right where a young girl stood, dressed in a pink denim dress. She blinked, eyes widening as Lucy quickly addressed her.
"Hm, hello?"
"Hi, I mean...hello...um, wow...your really Fairytail wizards aren't you?" She seemed starry eyed, her lips trembling as she attempted to get her words out.
"Sure are!" Natsu swallowed his food thickly, as he proudly displayed his shoulder with his mark. He lifted a thumbs up to the child who gleamed back at him.
"Wow! That's amazing...it means that...maybe, um...you could help me?" She shuffled her shoes into the wooden flooring, blushing deeply by her ask.
"Help you? What do you need help with sweetie?" Lucy asked gently.
"My mama, she..." the girl paused, her bottom lip trembling further. "She...she's gone"
"Gone?" Happy repeated.
"What do you mean by gone?" Natsu asked.
"She is missing. She was meant to come back, but she's gone" the girl began to quickly sob, her warm tears escaping her eyes. Lucy jumped from her chair, comforting the child with a hug. "She...she was meant to have come back by now...but she hasn't"
"That's ok, we can help find your mommy" Lucy reassured. "We can find her and bring her home"
Believing Lucy's words, the little girl sniffled, wiping her tears away from her cheeks.
"What's your name kiddo?" Natsu asked, rising up from his chair. He dipped his hand into the pocket of his baggy pants and slapped some notes to the table to pay for the meal.
"Charlotte" she replied shyly. "And you are the salamander" she lowered her voice, a blush creeping on her warm wet cheeks.
"That's me! Natsu, and this is Happy" the slayer presented his blue furry companion, who waved innocently at the child.
"And you are Lucy" the girl said happily, looking up to the blonde with awe. She giggled sweetly, as Lucy stepped up from kneeling. "Your pretty" she exclaimed.
"Oh, um...thank you" Lucy blushed, looking away.
"Well find your mommy, why don't you show us where you last saw her?" Happy wondered as he activated his wings to fly from the table. The girl nodded, spinning on her heels to run to the last known location of her mother. Natsu and Happy followed her instantly, while Lucy approached the table behind them to let Gray and Wendy know where they were going.
"We'll meet you at the inn later, ok?" She didn't wait up for a reply, noticing her teammates had already ran off after the small girl and left her behind. She needed to catch up.
She knew as she left that Gray was against the idea of her leaving him, once again. But the request from the child was something she couldn't ignore.
She charged out of the restaurant and headed up the road, catching Happy flying off in the distance towards the woods. Wasting no time, she picked up the pace and jogged across to the destination, meeting up with Natsu, Charlotte and Happy at the entrance of the woods.
Catching her breath, she slowly made her way over, joining the conversation.
"So she went in there, to collect the berries to make her homemade jam?" Natsu repeated the small child's explanation, looking into the forest and frowning.
"Mama always picks the berries to make jam, she sells it at the local market" Charlotte explained. "But she didn't come back this time"
"Maybe she got lost?" Happy suggested. "We can find her with Natsu's nose anyway!"
Lucy placed her hand to the child's shoulder, comforting her with a smile.
"Natsu has a good sense of smell, I'm sure he'll be able to find your Mommy" Lucy admitted sweetly. "Isn't that right Natsu?"
"Uh huh" already the dragon slayer had his nose in the air, inhaling it deeply. The scents he could smell overwhelmed him, a sweet sickly scent that tickled his senses and sent him into an overdrive. When he realised whose scent it belonged to, he frowned, staring at the culprit with complete confusion.
"What?" Lucy asked, catching his gaze. "Is everything ok?"
He said nothing, shaking his head disapprovingly as if that was going to reset his nostrils. He inhaled again, focusing his hardest to ignore her scent. But with every inhale, he had to shake his head and start over. The frustration suddenly getting to him.
"Um, you ok Natsu?" Charlotte was the one to ask him next. She looked up at him innocently as he slapped himself in face, wiping his palm across his cheek in desperation.
"I need to get further in" he said, stepping into the forest.
"Ok lets go" Lucy stepped forward, along with Charlotte who was now holding her hand in her grasp. But before she could take another step forward, Natsu's hand blocked her.
"You stay here" he demanded.
"What? Why?" She quickly found offence to his order. Her nose wrinkled as he moved ahead without her. "Natsu?"
"Just...stay here" he walked through into the dark forest, ignoring her complaints while Happy followed behind him. His nose twitched as he inhaled once more, getting more annoyed by the sweet scent of Lucy clouding any other smells around him.
For this reason, he moved further and further in, taking in every breath till finally, her scent was no longer in range.
Now he could smell everything else, the flowers, the damp grass, the earthy mud and even the trees that blew in the chilly air. And within all of that, he managed to pick up a scent, a powdery scent. A woman.
"Have you got her Natsu?" Happy asked, watching Natsu slowly pick up the pace in a certain direction.
"Yeah, I found a trail" he said simply. "Come on, she's this way"
XXX
Lucy grumbled, her foot tapping with every second she waited. She was annoyed that Natsu had abandoned her. They were a team. So why did he desert her?
She squinted through the trees, expecting to see his presence in the distance and yet left disappointed.
"I wanna find Mama too" Charlotte cooed sadly. "I wanna go!"
Suddenly the little girl charged into the direction where Natsu had gone, automatically disappearing into the trees and bushes.
"CHARLOTTE!" Lucy squealed her name instantly, eyes alert and feet already charging ahead to chase after her. "Charlotte, come back!" She pushed herself through the branches, groaning as the sharp twigs stabbed at her arms and sides, while she slipped through to the dark abyss of the woods. "Charlotte!" She called for the child, frantically searching for any movement that could resemble her.
But it was hopeless, Charlotte was either hiding or no where near where Lucy was. And this made her panic. Her eyes filled with fear as she scurried through the forest, calling for the child.
"Charlotte..." the uncertainty in her voice made her realise, she was alone. The forest seemed to have gotten thicker with every nervous turn she took. She pushed through the bushes, cursing her short skirt that left her bare legs unprotected from the sharp blades of branches, and weakly blubbered at the sight of her cute pink heels now covered in the sloppy wet mud.
Typical. They were her favourite heels too.
She ignored the fact that mud was now steeping into her feet, with her mind completely occupied on finding the small child. She hadn't expected however, to step forward through some bushes, only to then be falling down a dark pit and land in some sort of rope net.
She squealed, and rightfully so, before being caught into this trap and sealed.
"Look! A woman!" A voice whispered in the shadows, and while Lucy attempted to untangle herself free, her eyes searched for her captors. She hesitated at first, with one finger now curling round a key attached to her hip. She didn't know which one, the darkness prevented her from knowing.
But still, she fumbled her finger round to clutch the key in her palm before activating her magic energy.
The golden glow shone brightly, her eyes staring down as it revealed the key she had selected.
"Open gate of the maiden, Virgo!" She believed it was luck, having blindly chosen the spirit that was the most familiar with holes. So when the gate opened and the spirit appeared, another voice was then revealed.
"She summoned another one?!" The glow from Lucy's key was bright enough to reflect across to the corner of the dark tunnel, presenting two young males dressed in what appeared to be miner uniforms.
"Princess, are you engaging torture now?" Virgo spoke out, watching as her master untangled herself from the rope net.
"No! I fell..." her eyes shimmered to the two males and a lowly growl escaped from her throat. "What's the big idea?!"
The aggression in her voice made them cower quickly, one hiding behind the other, both shaking frantically.
"A wizard! You're a wizard" one said, his teeth chattering.
"Well duh" she stood up, brushing the dry dirt from her clothes. "What do you think your playing at?" She looked up from where she had fell and sighed heavily, while ignoring Virgo's pleasing display of affection to the rope she fell in.
"We...are catching boars" One male, the smaller one said sheepishly.
"Boars?" Her brow lifted suspiciously. Both men nodded. "Why?"
"Because were boar hunters" the taller male admitted. "We catch boars..."
"Princess..." Virgo mumbled weakly as she stood up from petting the roped net. She held her hand out delicately to get Lucy's attention, but this went unnoticed.
"If you catch boars what the hell are you doing underground?" Lucy grumbled. "Who even are you?" She stepped forward to them both, squinting in the dark to make out their features. Both were grubby, dressed in overalls from shoulder to ankles and covered in what appeared to be wet mud that had dried flaky and crispy.
"Princess..." Virgo whispered once more, her eyes widening.
"My name is Oliver and this is Tito, our whole family are boar hunters. But we're a bit...rubbish at it" the tall man said calmly.
"We thought digging a hole and leaving a trap would increase our chances to get a boar" Tito muttered. "But instead, we caught you" he shyly looked away, while the older brother pointed behind her with a frown.
"I think something's wrong with your maid lady" he cooed.
"My what?" Lucy span round, eyes now alarmed by her spirit. Virgo appeared to be sulking low to the ground, her arms hugging her knees as she rocked back and forth. "Virgo?"
"Princess... your magic energy...I can sense it" she shook her head, her body flickering like a ghost.
"Virgo! What's happening?!" She bent beside her comrade, fear swarming her vision. She was unsure what was going on, while all of a sudden the golden warmth light that was so familiar to all of her spirits, was quickly fading, all to be replaced by a dark thick mist. "Virgo!"
"Princess, you must close the gate!" Virgo ordered sharply. "Close the gate"
Lucy's chest tightened, holding out her golden key, she slashed it in front of her, causing the spirit to disperse into a cluster bright of golden specks.
"Virgo..." Lucy's voice trembled, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as a sharp pain twist across her forehead. A pain that felt so shallow yet so deep, that she lunged both her hands to clutch the side of her head to relieve the pressure.
But comfort never came.
Tingles trickling up her arm soon turned into burns, and while Lucy tried her hardest to contain what was now suddenly happening, she knew it was too late.
Her body began to sweat uncontrollably, her blood now heating up around her and causing her chest to feel restricted. She couldn't breathe, her lungs fighting to grasp at the air while her windpipe felt like it was being crushed.
She gasped. As the two brothers rushed towards her, she slashed her hand out to prevent them from coming any closer Practically begging them to leave, hide, don't come near.
The younger brother quickly retreated, his legs wobbling deeper into the tunnel while the other stood back and watched with concern.
The female they had just encountered was being overwhelmed by a dark cloud, a dark energy. And as he studied her on a closer level, it seemed like this particular magic was not only consuming her, but sucking the very soul from her body. Her skin shrivelled, displaying every detailed bone not covered by an item of clothing, her lips dried and wrinkled, and her eyes turned black, like she was transforming into some sort of demon.
"Miss?" Oliver croaked, stepping back further. Although it was dark, he knew that the female wizard's hair was supposedly a light hair colour, possibly blonde, but from the strange magic now taking over, it had changed. A thick dark black, like staring into a black hole of destruction.
She was arched over, a cackling sound scratching from her throat, while her hands slashed away at her body. She wasn't even in control anymore, by now she was some mindless corpse, wasting away.
"You need help, I'll get you help!" The man turned on the heel of his boots and ran, his heart beating fast to create some sort of distance between him and the monster.
He needed to get away. But the deathly presence lurked behind him, no matter the distance he put between them. A ghostly dark form hovered over his frame, lingering down as the miner finally stopped to catch his breath. With worried eyes, he looked up.
He let out a mighty scream, so loud that it echoed through the tunnel.
Then...silence.
XXX
"DAMMIT!" Gray charged ahead as Wendy and Carla attempted to keep up with him. There was no longer frustration in his voice, but panic. A frantic alarm sending chills colder than his magic down his legs as he ran.
He sensed it. There was doubt about it. That dark aura, one that could only remind him of the Black Wizard himself.
As soon as he felt it, a whoosh of uncertainty caused him to shoot up from the table, in high alert before bolting pass the tables to reach the exit. He instantly ignored Wendy's call, rushing out of the restaurant they were sat in, before following the silent call.
It had taken poor Wendy by surprise, but she too had felt it. Something heavy in the air that left her unsettled. Though she wasn't sure what exactly it was. Just that Gray had an idea and bolted to the direction it was coming from.
She was surprised however when the ice wizard had mindlessly stripped down to his boxers, beating his feet against the solid ground to reach the strange looking forest near the outskirts of the city.
She attempted to call him, before losing him completely into the woods. The ice wizard was in such a frenzy, he had sprinted out of sight and while Wendy tried to use her nose to pick up his scent, it was just not strong enough to locate him.
Arching over, her little hands rested to her knees as she gathered her breathing, steady but harsh pants before regaining some colour into her cheeks.
"Are you alright Wendy dear?" Carla asked, resting beside her companion.
"I'm...fine" she panted. "Gray..."
"Gray will be fine, I'm sure" Carla tapped her thigh softly, sending a reassuring smile. "He probably went to investigate something"
"But that...did you not feel it?" Wendy gulped, her eyes staring into the dark forest before her stop.
"I did"
"What was it? What if Gray needs my help" she pushed herself forward, only for Carla to lay a paw on her leg to stop her from taking another step.
"Stay, for now. I'm sure Natsu and Lucy are nearby, they can help him"
"But..."
"Let's just wait here" Carla instructed. "We don't want to run into danger with no back up"
"I guess... your right"
XXXX
"Fire dragon iron fist!" a fiery blast stormed through the woods, targeting the trio of trolls that had scattered away from each other. They hissed in pain, dropping their weapons in fear that whoever had caused the explosion was clearly not here for a conversation, but more to rescue the poor maiden they had captured in the makeshift cage.
"Wow Natsu, that was easy!" Happy proudly complimented his human father figure with a clap of his paws, flying into the scorched area that the fire dragon slayer had toasted. In the distance they could see the woman clinging to the bars of her cell, eyes wide and mouth ajar.
"Are you here to help me?" she asked fearfully.
"We sure are!" Happy beamed. "Charlotte sent us to find you"
Hearing her daughter's name made her sigh heavily with relief. Her hand touched her chest, settling her rapid heartbeat as the wizard and his cat came closer to view.
"Thank the heavens, she's ok" the mother whispered. "Where is she?"
"With our partner Lucy" Natsu replied cheerfully. "She's safe, now…let's get you out of there" his eyes pierced to the wooden bars holding her hostage. He lifted a finger, concentrating his fire mage to the tip before drawing a square across the bars. The wood burned vigorously, allowing him to pull them out of place and creating a doorway for her to leave from.
"Thank you, so much" she climbed from her cell, dusting herself off before charging to her basket of berries that had been taken from her when she had been captured. She was slightly torn by the scorched burn marks left of it, along with the mush of berries which must have been caused by the flames of her rescuer. Yet still, she collected it up into her arms and smiled warmly. "Thank you. Those trolls don't usually come out this far, but recently they've been getting closer to our town" she said sadly. "It was only a matter of time I'll end up bumping into danger" she shook her head, hugging the basket in her arms.
"Do they live far from here then?" Natsu wondered.
"Yes, there's a troll's village far back. The Magic Council created a barrier to stop them from passing into Era, but seems they've managed to get through somehow" the mother admitted. "It's not all bad, years ago Era was a place where we and trolls co-existed" she shrugged her shoulders.
"What caused the divide?" Happy questioned, tilting his head.
"Love"
"Love?" the cat scrunched his nose.
"Before the Magic Council arrived, we had a mayor of this city. His daughter fell in love with one of the trolls- it was forbidden back then, they could live together in harmony but they couldn't form relationships like that. Humans and monsters that is" she shrugged her shoulders.
"How long ago was that?" Natsu asked, forming an interest in the tale.
"My grandmother told me when I was young, so it was way before my time. Maybe 60 years ago perhaps?" the mother mumbled. "Now that I know they're this far in, I doubt I'll be coming back here to collect my berries-" she paused, eyes squinting in the distance as leaves from bushes rustled towards their location. Natsu frowned, his nose twitching by the scent of the intruder heading their way.
"Mommy!" the little girl fumbled through the branches, her arms out wide as she bolted across towards them. She face planted her mother's legs, eyes now weeping with tears from them being reunited.
"Charlotte!" dropping her basket to the ground, her arms swarmed her child, taking her in whole as they embraced. "My sweet baby, what are you doing here?"
Natsu turned his head swiftly behind him, taking in the air once more for any other scent bar those around him. If Charlotte was here, surely that meant their partner was close by also?
"Where's Lushy?" Happy asked out loud, mimicking Natsu's own inner thoughts. Where was she?
"She was right behind me…she chased after me" Charlotte admitted. "I did sorta run away from her though" she brushed her shoe shyly into the dirt, avoiding her mother's stare.
"So she's in the forest somewhere?" Natsu mumbled, frowning harder.
"I think so" the little girl whispered sadly. This received a scowl from her mother, but it was quickly cut off from a loud echoing scream. The voice bellowed through the trees, stunning the four of them in their place.
"What…was that?" Happy gulped, feeling a sudden chill shiver through his veins. "Natsu…can you feel that?" it was dense, a thick weighing pressure of dark magic that consumed the air they were breathing. It was almost suffocating, and the more it built, the more it became familiar.
Natsu gritted his teeth, his head snapping towards the mother and her child. They could feel it too as they gripped each other tightly, eyes wandering around the now foggy canvas.
"Happy, get them out of here" Natsu's order was direct, and left no room for debate.
"But-" before Happy could protest, Natsu's feet were already loose. "Natsu…where are you going?" he tried to call out, eyes widening as he watched his friend run towards the dark spill of magic, through the bushes in which they came. "Natsu!"
However there was only one thing on the dragon slayer's mind, the magic energy that was coursing through the woods, leaving him a trail to find the cause. He knew of this magic well, the very thing he fought only a year ago.
The black wizard Zeref.
How could it be possible? He took down Zeref, his magic should no longer exist anymore and yet here it was- as thick as the fog he was climbing through. His heart raced as he entered a wall of pressure, and his eyes glued to a stumbled hole in the ground which only then triggered a sweet scent. Lucy.
"Shit, Luce!" Flooding with guilt and alarm, he slid down the hole following her scent to a dark tunnel and made a break down it, his legs pushing with all their might to reach her and the dark magic bounding together in one spot. He panicked, fearing that if Zeref had returned, Lucy would be one of the targets he'd be aiming for revenge. And that made him shudder. If anything happened to any one of his friends, he could never forgive himself. Especially those he held so closely.
Skidding as fast as he could, he soon came to a halt… a barrier of ice blocking his route.
"What the…"
XXX
"LUCY! LUCY!" Gray frantically called her name, his demon slayer magic coursing from his hand to the hand entwined with his. But nothing seemed to be working. Her frail body looked perished, pale and cold to the touch. And while Gray did everything he can done previously to counter the curse swallowing his friend, nothing seemed to bring her back.
It wasn't until he heard fast footsteps approaching them that he realised he needed to buy more time. He knew by the scorching smoky smell coming their way that it was the fire dragon was on their tracks, and before even thinking about it further, his left hand was already up and facing out to the tunnel, creating a ice shield wall to prevent Natsu from getting any closer.
He knew it would keep him back for long, but it would give him extra time to restore Lucy back to some sort of normality. He gripped her in his arms, squeezing her tightly against his now bare chest as he activated the full power of his demon slayer magic. Almost sighing in relief when her dyed black hair shimmered back to blonde, and the devils marking tattooed across her body began to fade.
"GRAY!" he peered over to his ice wall, catching Natsu's wide eyed stare through his shield of magic. "GRAY!" the heat from the fire mage that erupted through his body began to rapidly melt the wall down, enough for him to finally smash his way through the thin layer to reach them. By then however, Lucy's body had already changed back to normal- thankfully.
"LUCY, LUCE!" Natsu skidded to her side, snatching her body away from Gray in a rage of panic. The ice wizard said nothing, practically stunned by his teammate's reaction. "Are you ok? Luce? Talk to me!" he could tell by the fear in Natsu's voice that he had been in a similar situation before, the way he delicately shook her by the shoulders, his voice crackling and ignoring that the ice wizard was even there. "Luce! Can you hear me?"
"She's unconscious Natsu" Gray grumbled, scooting away from the duo. The movement made Natsu twitch uncomfortably, his eyes peeling from Lucy's frame to the dark shadowy wall that Gray chose to lay beside.
"What happened?" his voice darkened deeply, almost insinuating that the ice wizard had something to do with Lucy's current condition.
"I don't know" Gray lied, pushing his knees up to his chin.
"Then, how did you get here?" the fire mage's brow furrowed with interest. Gray gulped.
"I felt the magic here"
"You felt it too?"
"I think everyone felt it Natsu" Gray hummed. "It felt-"
"Like him" Natsu finished distastefully. "I know"
"I followed it and then heard Lucy scream" Gray admitted calmly. "She was unconscious when I got here" he slouched his arms over his knees, allowing his hands to dangle in place. There was silence between them, neither one of them taking their eyes off Lucy as she rested in Natsu's lap. "You don't think he's back do you?"
"It felt like him, his magic" Natsu grunted.
"And you think he just came out to attack Lucy?" Gray questioned. He knew it was risky to ask those type of questions, given that he knew the real answer, but he was curious what was going on in that heated brain of his. He seemed in deep thought, almost like he was mentally doubting himself for believing it truly was his brother that had come from the dead to torture his friends.
"Dunno why he would attack Luce" Natsu mumbled.
"Lucy's had a major influence on your growth and development as a person Natsu" Gray whispered, almost mimicking the words that the black wizard had once said to him.
"What?" Natsu's nose coiled, twisting his head sharply over to the ice wizard who shrugged his shoulders. "What kind of crap is that?"
This made Gray roll his eyes, shifting his gaze away from him. "Forget I said anything"
"That's pretty easy to do" Natsu snarked, smirking. His smile faded as Gray stood up forcefully, stretching his arms round his back.
"Look, we can't stay down here. Let's take her back" the ice wizard suggested coldly. "I can stay with her, till she wakes up" this suggestion was not welcomed by Natsu. Already scooping the female into his arms, he held her against his chest.
"No, I'm her partner, I'll stay with her" he told him firmly.
"She's my teammate too" Gray mumbled.
"Yeah and you're also a pervert" Natsu croaked, eyeing the wizard's bare chest with disgust. "Put some dam clothes on, stripper"
Gray looked down at his chest, wincing as he scurried to the floor to collect his clothing. "How does this always happen to me!?"
