XXX
March 14th, X779
Lucy couldn't say what Natsu was doing, but he seemed fairly confident about it. She chose not to question his specifically arranged trinkets, each chosen with care and deliberation over the course of the last few days. It had taken them ages to find a neighborhood that hadn't been too badly destroyed by Virgo's Fall, and even longer to find this particular house that seemed safe enough.
It had taken Natsu just as long to build his altar, which mostly consisted of a half-broken bookshelf pushed against a wall near a fireplace that hadn't been used in a long, long time.
"This is going to be your altar, Natsu?" Lucy asked, trying to keep her disbelief to herself. She did a poor enough job that he glared half-heartedly at her with eyes blazing like the sun. Lucy still found it weird and a little creepy.
"Yes," he huffed, and not for the first time. Wendy had also questioned it before going to see what she could find in the nearby houses. Natsu had been reluctant to let her go, but had agreed it wasn't a terrible idea when Virgo agreed to ensure she remained safe. He'd been unable to guarantee there were no Vhalis nearby, and had made Virgo promise to watch for them.
There were, after all, two and a half fully powered gods all in one spot.
Lucy half-expected Gray might come out of the woodworks.
She tended to find him in these kinds of circumstances.
"I just need a stone," sighed Natsu, frowning.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a couple dozen in the back."
Natsu scowled, rolling his eyes. "I need a specific stone. One created by Igneel."
A volcanic rock, more than likely. Should be easy enough, though Lucy suspected it would be harder than she anticipated. Natsu was being very picky with his trinkets. "Right, well, there actually were a lot of rocks back there, so maybe we can find what you're looking for. Come on." At least it was dry – and shockingly hot. Natsu was producing enough heat now that it felt warmer than the hottest days of summer. She'd abandoned her coat and gone so far as to track down a tank top in the house next door, something she'd not worn since before the Fall. She'd have bet their whole set of supplies that Wendy was seeking one now, while out with Virgo.
As they turned to head for the back door, Lucy didn't miss the way Natsu's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than necessary. She supposed Natsu wouldn't have seen her wear clothes that revealed so much skin before. She'd stuck to practical clothing most of the time, even when it had been warm enough to remove her coat. As it was, she didn't like the way the tank top revealed her scarred arms, and she'd have covered up if she'd not have died of a heat stroke in the process.
At least, by some miracle, the house had running water.
They spent some time out in the backyard, searching for Natsu's stone. Wendy came back without Virgo in that time, and when she saw them in the yard on their hands and knees, raking their hands through dead grass and dirt, she stopped dead in her tracks to stare. "What are you doing?" Wendy questioned, hefting Charle up in her arms.
"Looking for a rock," sighed Lucy.
"But there's a whole bunch of rocks you're skipping right past."
Natsu threw his hands up. "I need a specific rock!"
Fighting back a snort, Lucy offered him a stone she'd wrestled free of the hard earth, showing it to Natsu as she asked, "Did you find anything useful, Wendy?"
Wendy made a face. "Yes and no. Nothing medical, which would have been nice, but I did find some green beans in one house, and a bag of granola in another. And some short-sleeve shirts that should fit us, which is nice." She giggled when Happy, who'd tagged along on her venture into the neighborhood, watched Natsu for a moment before copying him. He clawed at the earth, raking up bits and pieces.
Lucy pouted when Natsu threw aside her rock. "Good. We're going to–"
Natsu hollered in delight when Happy dropped a stone in front of him, batting at it playfully. "Good job, Happy!" he cried, scratching his cat's chin, and Happy purred, seeming to thrive off the attention.
Lucy eyed the smug-looking cat. Sometimes, she wondered about Happy. Throwing such thoughts aside, Lucy crawled over to look at Natsu's special rock. Wendy came to stand beside them, interested. Natsu showed it to them, and Lucy thought it might have looked like any other rock with its porous holes and dark coloring. Natsu certainly liked it though.
"This one's perfect," he told them. "It's one of the hardest to find, which means Igneel will hear us better."
Figuring he knew far more than she did about what Igneel could or couldn't here, Lucy shrugged. Who was she to question Natsu? That had certainly worked out for her every other time it had come to gods and spirits.
Natsu scrambled to his feet, and they trailed after him. He led them back inside, muttering under his breath about his rock. "Where's Virgo?" Lucy asked Wendy as they did so, pausing for just a moment to scoop up Happy.
Wendy made a face. "She wanted to look around some more. She's weird, Lucy. I don't like to say that, because it's really not very nice, but Virgo is weird sometimes."
Lucy snorted softly. She agreed, though she didn't say so out loud. Virgo was definitely an odd one with her comments and mannerisms. But then, Natsu had mentioned that the minor gods and goddesses, like Virgo, weren't born out of humanity like Natsu had been. They came from stars. It certainly didn't seem like they'd be different. "I'm sure she's just worried about what's going on with Valhalla, Wendy."
To Lucy's surprise, Natsu laughed. He'd been listening. "Nah," he said as he stopped in front of the altar he'd made, looking so damn proud of his little collection of knick-knacks that it drew a smile to Lucy's face. He'd created something peculiar out of a collection of random items, including but not limited to: a random half-empty bottle of spices he'd selected from a pantry next door, a glove he'd tracked down upstairs, and his special stone from Happy. It was beyond Lucy's knowledge what the importance of each item might mean.
"Virgo's always like that," Natsu told them, adding his stone among the items. "She's the goddess of skill."
As if that explained everything.
Natsu spun on his heel to look at them. "Where's the thing that starts fire?"
Deciding she didn't want Natsu touching the lighter in an enclosed building, Lucy left to grab it. By the time she came back, Wendy had settled comfortably on the floor on the other side of the room, Charle curled in her lap and Happy stretched out beside her. Happy looked thoughtful; he was likely thinking of what a wonderful toy Natsu's altar could produce.
Lucy lit the candle Natsu told her to, relieved he didn't insist on doing it himself. "Now what?" she asked, tucking the lighter back in her pocket.
Natsu didn't answer. Instead, he eyed his altar critically before muttering under his breath. Lucy knew immediately he wasn't complaining, or speaking to her. The words he spoke were in that ancient language he sometimes spoke in. It was foreign, but beautiful to hear. She wished she could hear it more often. It fell easily from his tongue, a complex twist of words no one else understood.
"Done," he declared a moment later.
"All that for two seconds of whispering?" Lucy asked.
He sighed heavily, exasperated. "It was a prayer, Luce, not 'two seconds of whispering.' It wouldn't have been so much work if I'd already had an altar like I'm supposed to have. I had one in my home," he added, gaze growing distant as he tried to recall something. "My mother and I would use it all the time. It had an old relic that was passed through her side of our family. I wish I had it now. It was special."
Sympathy stabbed Lucy's heart, and she touched her necklace, recalling how important it was to her. She was sure that relic had been similar. Lucy patted his back. "How long do we have to wait before we know Igneel–"
The earth revolted against them, ripping from beneath their feet. Wendy shrieked as a shelf beside her hit the ground,and Natsu threw himself at his altar to prevent it from being ruined. Lucy just barely managed to keep from falling, throwing her arms out.
"We are in the middle of Fiore!" yelled Lucy. "Why is there–"
"It's Igneel," yelled Natsu over the racket of shattering glass, falling furniture, and the general roar of the earthquake beneath them. "He heard!"
It took several moments for them to resettle. Natsu practically materialized beside Lucy, his fingers brushing her back as he muttered, "You good, Luce?"
"Yeah," she replied. Her heart raced in her chest. She shot him a small, faint reassuring smile as she looked back to check on Wendy, who threw her a shaking thumbs up. "I think…I think Igneel heard you, Natsu."
He puffed out a small laugh. "I think so," he agreed.
Lucy looked around at the broken windows and furniture, grateful that the winter wasn't bothering them with Natsu around for the time being. "Natsu," she said slowly in sudden realization, recalling everything he'd told her about Igneel and how he'd become a god. "Didn't Igneel destroy your hometown by making his volcano erupt the last time he helped with something like this?"
Natsu was entirely unconcerned. "Yeah, but he promised he'd not do that again." Natsu checked with Wendy, helping her to her feet, and Lucy eyed him warily. She wasn't convinced. After all, what was missing from their apocalypse but an erupting volcano?
Brushing herself off, Wendy said, "We should check on Virgo and tell her what happened. She might be nervous about it."
Only Wendy would be so concerned about someone they hardly knew being frightened of something like them trying to contact a spirit who'd once been thought of as a god. Lucy wanted to squeeze Wendy in a hug. Still, it was a little worrisome that Virgo hadn't come back yet.
"Let's go find her then," said Lucy. "Natsu, are you coming?"
Natsu shook his head. "Be careful," was all he said, frowning at his altar as if he were more worried about it than anything else at the moment. He proved her wrong when he said, "Vhalis might still be around, even if we didn't see any to begin with. I'm gonna go make sure Igneel didn't mess up any of our wards by accident."
Lucy took a moment to gently brush her fingers over his arm, and a small smile curled over her lips when she heard him hum in response. It was quiet and soft, almost affectionate – so at odds from some of the other ones she'd heard him make. He'd keep an eye out from afar.
Spinning away, Lucy asked Wendy, "Ready? Maybe we'll find you a new coat while we're out."
Wendy, who'd not been able to find one while she was with Virgo, sighed, "I don't really want one when it's got to be over one hundred degrees right now, but I guess I'll need it eventually…" She skipped towards the door, calling over her shoulder, "Come on, Charle!" The cats rushed after her with matching purrs, drawing a soft laugh from Lucy.
"Be careful, Luce," Natsu threw back as she ducked out, and Lucy waved to show she'd heard him.
"It's weird how warm it is now," Wendy told Lucy as she nudged the front door shut behind them. "Across the neighborhood, I could still feel the heat. Even my mother's wind was warm."
"It is a little weird," agreed Lucy. It was one thing to be warmer around Natsu, like he was their personal heater. This was far bigger, extending for what felt like miles. She wondered how long it would take his power to burn out like the candles they used on occasion. Lucy bit her lip. Was Natsu happy to have such power back? Or had he preferred being more like them? She knew he didn't like when they were cold and struggling, that he was glad he could help keep them warm, but at the same time…
Natsu had seemed unhappy the last few days. He'd not said what, precisely, was upsetting him. It could be about Mavis, or the second Fall, or even something Lucy knew nothing about. Perhaps his mood would improve if they found something helpful – though she sincerely doubted they would in their attempt to track down Virgo.
Maybe she could find him a fun snack to try, or some little human trinket to make up for his lost relic.
Natsu ensured his altar was untouched before sliding a hand down his face, frowning at how it shook. He could see sunlight racing through his skin in little flickers. He was grateful Lucy had gone with Wendy, if only to give him some time to stop himself from feeling such sharp dread again. The shaking ground had drawn up a few particularly nasty memories, much like being underground had, though he knew Igneel would have never intended it to do so–
Natsu peeked through his fingers at the altar, reconsidering.
Igneel would never respond to his prayers with words. He never had. His mother had taught him that from the moment he'd elected Igneel as his patron god. She'd taught him how to read the signs, read Igneel's responses in the world, and he'd never been led in the wrong direction by those signs. Whenever Natsu had needed advice, it had never come in words. Small signs had been more Igneel's style, like a storm or even an occasional vision.
Which meant he'd drawn up bad memories on purpose.
Natsu wanted nothing to do with those memories, but he focused on them anyway. A cold sweat gathered on the back of his neck as he recalled a child's scream, the searing wall of ash. There had to be something…
A prickle of discomfort ripped him from his thoughts, and Natsu whipped around to look behind him, searching the empty room. He saw nothing, but it did nothing to quell his discomfort. "Lucy?" he called suspiciously. As expected, he didn't receive an answer. She'd gone with Wendy, after all.
Natsu abandoned his altar, more worried about her at that moment.
He could rebuild his altar.
Natsu couldn't rebuild his Lucy.
Lucy stopped dead in her tracks as something made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She immediately scanned the area, bewildered. Wendy noticed and stopped, too, asking curiously, "Are you okay?"
Lucy didn't look at Wendy as she answered slowly, "I think so. Something just…feels off, I guess." She searched the area a moment longer, then shrugged and began walking again. Whatever it was, it wasn't an immediate problem, and she was anything but worried about Natsu being in trouble at the moment. He was at full strength now. She doubted anything would be able to get within a few feet of him before being turned to a pile of ash. "I'm sure it's fine. Come on, Wendy, let's keep looking."
They continued searching for Virgo, following Lucy's gut feeling as best as they could until finally, they found her.
"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, exasperated by the sight before her. Virgo stood, unmoving, in front of an abandoned house. A few windows had broken in the earthquake that had struck the area, and there looked like there might be some structural damage inside. She could hear something creaking.
Even as she answered, Virgo didn't take her eyes off the home. "I thought, perhaps, I saw movement in the windows," said Virgo.
Lucy immediately went on alert, horrified. She wanted nothing to do with anyone they might find inside. Images that had burned into her mind made her skin crawl, and she could practically feel the knife scraping along her throat, dooming her. The scars on her arms burned, as if calling for the goddess they were meant for.
The house seemed empty enough when Lucy stared at it – until she saw what Virgo had said: a flicker of movement in a cracked window on the second floor. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what the situation at hand could result in. Something similar had happened when they'd rescued Rogue from the attic he'd been trapped in, but this didn't feel like that time. There were no signs of Vhalis. Yet, Lucy added silently. They could show up at any moment.
But someone or something was definitely there.
Lucy opened her mouth to suggest they go get Natsu before investigating, but it was Charle who ended up making the decision of what they were going to do. With no explanation, she twisted free of Wendy's arms and bolted for the back of the house. Wendy gasped her name, and then Happy's when he gave chase. Wendy followed, drawing a groan of protest from Lucy.
"Stay out here," said Lucy over her shoulder, already following, "and go get Natsu if we don't come back in a few minutes, Virgo!"
Natsu was going to kill them, she thought as they rounded the corner, leaving Virgo to blink after them, concerned. Charle found a flight of stairs that led up to a second story porch on the backside of the house and hurtled up them. Happy was a step behind her. Wendy paused at the bottom, anxious as the porch creaked and trembled beneath the cats' weight. There was a sliding door near the top, which Happy pressed his face against with a purr.
"Get down here, Happy!" Lucy hissed.
He simply ignored her, even going so far as to settle at the top step, as if waiting for them to come up. Lucy glowered at Natsu's cat. He hardly seemed to care. Wendy tried to plead with Charle to come down, but Charle instead reached up with delicate white paws to stretch against the sliding door glass, meowing.
Lucy expected her to get side-swiped by a hungry Vhalis.
She did not expect the door to crack open a fraction so that a tiny hand could reach out. Charle purred when that hand touched her fur with hesitation. For just a moment, Lucy was dumbfounded, because that cat hated when anyone but Wendy touched her. The small hand was followed by an equally small body, and before she knew it, Lucy realized they were staring at a young girl, who couldn't be older than five or six years old. She had dark hair and awe-filled eyes as she stroked Charle's fur, and then Happy when he meandered over, too.
"Oh, my," said Lucy faintly.
Her voice caught the girl's attention, and she froze, staring at them with alarm.
"Hi there," chirped Wendy, smiling gently at her. "We won't hurt you. I'm Wendy, and this is Lucy, and those are our cats, Charle and Happy."
The little girl said nothing, owl-eyed and frightened. She didn't move for the longest time. Charle went so far as to utter a soft purr, brushing against her. It seemed to startle the girl into action after an eon of uncertainty. "My name's Asuka," she whispered.
Lucy smiled, echoing Wendy's soft, calm tone. "It's very nice to meet you, Asuka. Is anyone up there with you?"
Asuka hesitated. "My mom and dad."
Lucy exchanged a swift, nervous look with Wendy. The last thing they needed was–
Unfortunately, Lucy Heartfilia was all too familiar with the sound of a gun being cocked. She was just as familiar with what it felt like to have a gun pressed to the back of her head. She uttered a filthy word under her breath, hands flying up in surrender as a voice growled, "Don't move."
The little girl – Asuka – lit up with a bright smile. "Hi, Mama!"
Wasn't going to have some drama. Remembered everyone seems to like angry Natsu. Thought we could get set on the path to the fun grand finale. Here we are.
Thanks to reviewers (marn-marn, nerdalertwarning, hopelesskar, xennia-x, & Sir Sasquatch!) as well as those who favorited and followed!