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July 8th, X778

"You should be sleeping, Lucy."

The words curled fondly around his tongue as Natsu made his way down the stairs to where Lucy was neatly repacking their belongings by candlelight. It amused him to no end that she was so obsessed with inventorying and the number of things they carried. If they ran out, he'd just track down more supplies for her. He'd never tell her that though. It'd upset her.

Lucy jumped, drawing a snicker from him. She glared half-heartedly over her shoulder at him, and the lingering exhaustion told him everything he needed to know. She'd had another nightmare. Turning back to what she'd been doing, Lucy fussed with her necklace and told him, "We found some more supplies down in the cellar, so Wendy asked me to help her make sure she could fit the cat food in." Lucy sighed heavily. "Do you think we can make Gajeel carry a bag, seeing as he's decided to tag along?"

"You can try." Natsu laughed at the mere thought of it.

"Does he have to come with us?"

Natsu tugged a hand through his hair and dropped to sit beside Lucy, folding his legs. He peered over her shoulder at what she was currently packing and found her lap laden with cans of soup and something he didn't recognize. "He won't want to, and I don't want him to, but probably. Levy's involved. He has a right."

Lucy huffed. "Then he owes me a new coat. He tore mine." She looked at her arm, twisting it so she could see it properly. Natsu followed her gaze. Fury bubbled in his gut. Her coat sleeve was in tatters, and he could see dried blood crusting the material. When he took her hand to inspect it, he could see several deep cuts. They weren't deep enough to require Wendy's attention, but there were enough to make him angry with Gajeel. They looked painful.

"You didn't say you were hurt," Natsu snapped, unsure of what he ought to do to tend to them. Wendy had tried teaching him a little, but he could never remember, and now it was biting him in the ass. He came up empty-handed.

Lucy shrugged, gently pulling her arm away. "I didn't want you to pick yet another fight with the god that apparently spews metal out of his gullet like some kind of dragon." She dropped her hand into her lap. "I'll be fine, Natsu," she added with a hint of a smile, dark eyes warm.

He forced himself not to say anything more about it, still annoyed but figuring it was best to just move on. He'd upset her otherwise. He'd chew Gajeel out when Lucy couldn't hear him doing it. "Gajeel's grumpier than usual because it's probably true. What you were thinking about Levy and her diale. It makes sense. And it has to be her in the mountains, I don't think it could be anyone else."

"How old is Levy?" Fascinated, Lucy faced him entirely.

Natsu's eyes lit with delight. He loved when Lucy asked for more information about the gods, priding himself on her interest in them. "Her clan discovered fire," he told Lucy. "That's what she told me anyways."

Lucy's lips parted. "She's old then."

"Yeah, but you probably shouldn't tell her that." Natsu cackled at the thought. Levy had always been a good friend to him. She was one of very few gods and goddesses older than himself – maybe even the only one. "When a god ascends, Levy's usually the first to help them out. It's how she met Gajeel. She helped him out when he first ascended." He grinned to himself when he heard the creaking of floorboards. Natsu knew fully well that Gajeel was there before he spoke in an incredibly cranky tone.

"Rude to tell people about other people, Salamander."

Natsu bit back a laugh when Lucy jumped, glaring over her shoulder once again. She gave Gajeel a dirty look. Natsu's amusement faded somewhat when Gajeel gave her a narrow-eyed look in return, tipping his head as if he was considering what way he wanted to kill her in. "I'm not telling her about you," he muttered, daring Gajeel to try anything.

Gajeel continued to consider it for a moment longer, then grunted and went to sit on the other side of the room for them. He studied the mess in front of Lucy with disinterest. An uncomfortable grimace accompanied by a few prickles of golden blood oozing from a few sores in his arm told Natsu why he was particularly irritable at the moment. Natsu was unsurprised when he began to pick at one spot until he had successfully fished shrapnel from it, tossing the metal piece aside after.

Lucy watched the whole process with an open mouth. "What the–"

Gajeel snickered. "You think everyone goes peacefully, blondie?"

"What?" repeated Lucy, looking between them for an explanation.

Natsu ignored the sharp glare Gajeel shot at him when he told her simply, "I breathe ash. Gajeel has shrapnel."

It took Lucy a few moments to think about what Natsu had said, and when it struck her, her face went white. She chose not to question it further. Natsu was relieved. Talking about what had ended their human lives was never a fun conversation to have, though it was something particularly special to the gods. Their deaths defined them in a way, and they had led to their ascensions, though very few of them ever appreciated it. They didn't even usually discuss it amongst other gods; Gray's story had been a new one to Natsu when he'd shared it.

He certainly hadn't, though he'd grown to appreciate the life he now had. Especially now that Lucy was around. Had he not been a god, he'd have never met her. That just didn't seem like something he could ever picture now.

Lucy turned the conversation back onto their initial topic, eyes lingering on Gajeel as he continued to dig shrapnel out of his arms. "I won't bother asking how someone could trick a god into giving them their diale, because I'm pretty sure that's confidential," she checked with Gajeel, who nodded curtly, "but let's say someone did steal Levy's diale. What do we do? Can we steal it back?"

Gajeel paused, then slowly slid a cautious look in her direction. "There's no 'we.' We can't lay a fucking finger on Levy's diale."

Lucy's confusion drew a grin to Natsu's face. She was confused so often. He loved the look on her face when it happened. "Mavis made it so we can't steal power from each other. If Gajeel tried to grab my scarf, it'd hurt him. Badly."

Lucy sighed impatiently. "I'm not being literal, you idiots. There's no way in hell Wendy and I could walk into some situation by ourselves and steal back something from someone controlling a literal god. We'd be toast. What I meant is how do we plan accordingly to steal the diale back? Whoever it could be won't want to give that power back willingly. Levy seems like a nice person, but it sounds like she won't have much of a choice in what happens if I'm guessing correctly. So we need to come up with some kind of plan. Because I'm sure as hell not interested in getting myself killed. And I doubt not having a plan will help Levy."

Gajeel stared at Lucy for a few moments before suddenly rocking forward, elbows braced on his knees. A wide grin showed off his sharp teeth. Quite suddenly, it appeared that he'd decided he liked Lucy. Natsu thought Lucy deserved credit for that. Gajeel didn't often like anyone but Levy, let alone a human. "Humans can touch a god's diale."

"Well, obviously," said Lucy, rolling her eyes. She pointed to the scarf at her neck as evidence. "So we just need to find Levy's and figure out how to get our hands on it. But that also really depends on the situation Levy's in, like I said. No one wants to give up power like that, especially during the apocalypse, right? I mean, I'd love to have the power to prevent Vhalis from coming after us."

"'Vhalis?'" echoed Gajeel. "You come up with that?"

"Vhalisvina," Lucy amended, "Vhalis for short. And sort of. I've been told it was a word that existed already."

Interest sparked in Gajeel's gaze, and he studied Lucy in a new light. "Levy came up with that," he muttered. "Said she named 'em that when they started popping up during Erza's reign of terror."

Natsu, sensing something amiss in Gajeel's interest, leaned in and nudged Lucy. "You should get some sleep," he told her, and Lucy sighed heavily at him. He was always telling her that, it felt like. But she did. Natsu didn't like how cranky and irritable she got in the morning when she didn't get enough sleep, because she always felt that her fatigue put them in more danger. "If someone did steal Levy's diale, we'll need to be on top of our game, Luce, and we're not gonna get far with planning when you're exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Lucy hefted herself to her feet and tugged at a lock of Natsu's pink hair in playful retaliation. "Good night."

"Night." He watched her go, waiting until she'd vanished upstairs to join Wendy. When she'd gone, he turned a shadowed, lethal glare onto Gajeel and said, "You touch Lucy again with your shrapnel and I'll make sure your Favored suffer a drought unlike any other."

"With what power?" mocked Gajeel, clearly not intimidated. "You used it all up on a human." Natsu didn't retaliate, only glared. Normally, he'd have antagonized Gajeel until morning light. He meant what he'd said now. He didn't like the wounds on Lucy. She could have been killed, and Gajeel wouldn't have batted an eye. "Fine. S'not because of you though. Seems like she'll be useful."

Natsu settled, recognizing Gajeel's admission of defeat. At the very least, Mavis's rules on messing with the Favored of other gods would help prevent him from doing anything to Lucy.

Just because Natsu didn't like all of Mavis's rules didn't mean Natsu wouldn't take advantage of the ones he did like.

"Do you think she's right?" Natsu asked, dragging the bag Lucy had abandoned over to finish repacking it for her. "Do you think someone stole Levy's diale somehow?"

Gajeel's smirk vanished. He ran a hand through his dark hair, glancing skyward to the ceiling overhead as if it would give him answers. His jaw clenched and he was quiet. Finally, he said, "Yeah. I don't think it's why we Fell though. Mavis wouldn't have done that for Levy. She'd have just told the rest of us, and we'd have had to figure out how to help her. Maybe use a few Favored, or somethin' like that. Not so different from what we're doin' now."

Natsu didn't disagree, though it was his first instinct to do so when talking with Gajeel. "No one's heard anything about why we Fell. Mira, Jellal, Gray…even Erza. No one can figure out what's happened or how to speak with Mavis."

"Levy could." Pride laced Gajeel's words as he cracked a sharp-toothed grin. "Her runes don't just hide her from other gods. She's smart enough to know how to speak with Mavis."

Natsu believed it full-heartedly. Pushing the final can into the backpack, he paused, fingers lingering on the metal container. So different from what he'd used to store food in his lifetime, he thought to himself, smoothing his finger over the material. After a moment, he said, "How could someone have gotten her diale? I've never heard of her taking it off." Not that Natsu knew what her diale even was.

Gajeel shook his head. "Dunno. She's the only one who'd know." He twirled a shrapnel piece between his fingers in thought. "She wouldn't have done it on purpose. Never."

Natsu rolled his eyes at the pointed glare Gajeel shot him. He didn't know why everyone thought they ought to lecture him. It was annoying, and he was quickly growing tired of it. "I trust Lucy," he said simply. "She'd never take advantage of my diale. She doesn't even believe half the stuff I tell her, even after she's looking at it." He snorted a laugh. It always amused him.

"She's human," muttered Gajeel, eyeing the bag Natsu ensured was shut. He pushed it back towards the other bags. "All it takes is a scratch and someone can get it off her. S'not about what she'll do with it. It's about the fact that she can't keep it from someone else. The second someone realizes what she has, they'll come for her. It's what always happens."

He wasn't necessarily wrong. There had been plenty of instances throughout history in which a god had given their diale to one of their Favored only for the human to lose it to someone else, resulting in a deadly circumstance like the one they now found themselves in. "It's different," said Natsu with a dismissive wave. "It's not like I'll let anyone get close enough to Lucy to do anything to her."

"She's human," repeated Gajeel, meeting Natsu's gaze. "Even if you somehow manage that, one day, she's going to get old, and it won't matter anymore."

There was an uneasy emotion on Natsu's face the next morning, and even when she asked about it, Lucy was told it didn't matter. She didn't believe it for a second. Something was wrong. Still, if he didn't want to discuss it, then she wouldn't push. He'd come to her when he was ready to talk. Besides, she had more concerning things to worry about – like the fact that her coat wouldn't protect her from the chilly wind whistling around the farmhouse they'd taken shelter in due to its shredded sleeve.

She glared at Gajeel for that.

"Luce, I don't know why you're so upset about the coat." Natsu rolled his eyes as he snatched her coat from her, tossing it aside like it was useless. He began shoving her arms into his coat instead, ensuring she didn't get caught in any painful positions as he did so. He was exceptionally gentle with the arm she'd shown him last night, ensuring he didn't touch any of the scratches there. "Zip it up, grab your bag, put your hat on, and let's go."

"Bossy," muttered Lucy accusingly, doing as he said regardless.

Wendy giggled as she watched them, her arms heavy with the white feline she carried. Wendy had insisted she wouldn't need to leash the cat to her in any way despite Lucy's gentle warnings that there was nothing they could do if Charle chose to run off. They had more important matters to attend to, though she'd not said it in that way.

Gajeel watched their morning routine impatiently. What he'd done all night was beyond Lucy. Natsu had checked in once, as if knowing somehow that Lucy had awoken from a nightmare. He always seemed to know. Gajeel's whereabouts had been a mystery during that time, however. His red eyes darted from person to person as he grumbled about humans.

Lucy had to bite her tongue. Natsu had told her he was particularly irritable with the realization that while he'd likely found his missing lover, she might be in a situation he couldn't help her get out of. She felt bad after hearing that, but she made a mental note to only let that sympathy go so far.

"Here." Lucy sputtered when Natsu threw his scarf around her neck, ensuring it was secured there. "It'll help keep you warm." Natsu's eyes twinkled with mischief and laughter as he added, "Since you're so worried about the cold."

Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red as his fingers bumped her chin, and she swatted his hands away with a hiss. "I'm not a child." She fixed the scarf herself, wondering why Natsu was being so fussy. She shouldered her backpack after ensuring everything was set. "Are we ready?"

"I've been ready," commented Wendy.

Lucy scowled playfully at her and then spun on her heel. "Well then," she said over her shoulder, shoving golden hair from her eyes as she went, "let's go save a goddess then."

Much shorter chapter, but a chapter nonetheless! Thank you for your patience! I took another two week break, and may need to take another unfortunately. As some know by now, I work at a dog grooming/training/kenneling facility, and last night I was bit a few times by a particularly aggressive dog that came for training. I'm entirely fine, clearly, but he did manage to get my dominant hand several times, so typing hurts. Luckily, I have another chapter already edited for next week! So I think we'll be fine, but wanted to alert everyone just in case.

Also, I've discovered Hazbin Hotel. I don't know why I didn't find it sooner. It's absolutely glorious. I'm obsessed.

Thanks to reviewers (Meow Orbit, hopelesskar, MPrime, BurstingDragons, CMenard, nerdalertwarning, & 3825Doll!) as well as those who favorited and followed! As always, it means a lot to me. :)