A/N: this chapter skips to Lucy part-way through before reverting back to Natsu. 3

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: BROKEN THREADS

That path that was familiar even with my eyes closed,
now it seems so blurry even with my eyes open.
I feel like I'm trapped in an invisible maze.
I can't escape and I can't reach you,
when you're getting farther away.
Be my bright light in the darkened memories.
Your face that is fading more and more drives me crazy.
You just need to protect me a little longer,
so I can recognise you again,
with your warm voice and dark eyes.

Drip.

Natsu's eyes snapped open. Shadows unfurled like plumy black wings, soaring into the orange light far below. Purple darkness filled every crevice of Natsu's dreams. He thought to take a step, but his feet touched nothing, tiptoeing across midair. He lurched forward, attempting to walk, attempting to move. Crimson tendrils twisted across his arms, coiling like snakes between his fingers and wrenched tight around his upper-body. They stuck like inviolable ink to his skin, latching deep and hot.

Vines.

Natsu's legs swung free in the darkness. Curling smoke rose from the village beneath his swaying feet. It chastely kissed his lips, passing uninvited across his skin, filling his nose with a pungent stench. He coughed. The vines stiffened. Thorns pierced bone and flesh, dripping blood through the desolate sky. He couldn't escape.

Drip.

Blood trickled between opened fingers, vines twisting tighter, tighter. He gulped sharp breaths. Every drop splattered like rain, gathering in soft pools on the inky ground. Red and white shimmered under the waning moonlight. Fog wafted into Natsu's mind, dizzying, empty. He reminded himself to breathe.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He had to wake up now.

Lucy needed him.

The vines on his waist receded, shifting across his arms to manacle his wrists, squeezing bloody fingers too tight. Fresh thorns bit Natsu's wrists. His pulse raced, ushering hot blood through his veins. He winced.

"Lucy!" he screamed.

Damn it! He'd promised Aquarius he'd take care of her. He'd promised!

Natsu flailed his legs, kicking, swinging, twisting. The vines loosened, dropping him through the air like a comet plunging towards Earth Land, ready to decimate everything in a violent rage. Until they caught him again. The vines snatched his leg, flinging him upside down. Natsu retched with the violent motion. Vines weren't friends.

Thorny limbs caged his arms, lowering him gently to the ground. Zeref waited below, hands clasped together. Crimson eyes watched Natsu like rubies without sparkle. Soulless.

"I see you and the seed are getting along nicely."

Natsu didn't grace him with an answer.

"You're so quick to panic." Zeref's voice echoed the concerns of a big brother, but Natsu spit at the sincerity of those words. "This is part of you. Bond with it, don't fight it."

"I'm not panicking."

Zeref stared through Natsu's mendacity with a smile that made him wonder if the lie had scribbled itself clear on his forehead. "You're capable of freeing yourself, you know." He made an open gesture with his hands, like opening a box or—no, something rising.

Oh. Right. Fire.

Not ready to admit his own idiocy, Natsu let the vines loop and knot against his chest, slivering uncomfortably hard across his ribs.

"Where am I?" he croaked.

Zeref made an exaggerated show of examining the darkness. Natsu squirmed.

Drip.

"The more you pull, the more they bite," Zeref said. "It's quite poetic, if you think about it. Like a drowning man struggling on the ocean floor. He knows he'll never make it to the surface, but still his arms move, and his lungs burn for that last breath. And oh, how deliciously awful it is when he concedes."

"What is this?"

"Your last respite, I suppose."

Natsu's blood boiled, hissing with every spilled drop. "You suppose?"

"The seed has sprouted. Emotions feed magic, Natsu. Fuel it. You've nurtured it well, brother." Zeref's voice lilted almost ruefully. "Tell me, when you emerge from this cocoon, what kind of man will you be?"

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Vines squeezed tighter. Natsu gasped a breath, blood dribbling between clenched teeth. He tugged hard. The flames wouldn't come. Pain stabbed through him, biting skin and muscle and bone. He screamed. Thorns embedded deep within muscle, threatening to tear him apart. Escaping now would kill him.

"I'll kill you!" Natsu shrieked.

"I see you've already decided." Zeref spread his hands. "You know, I wanted things to work out. I thought Lucy would find a way to make everybody happy."

"Don't talk about Lucy. You don't deserve to say her name."

"And yet she offered me something you never could. Forgiveness," Zeref taunted.

Natsu snarled. "She would never."

But she would. That's just who Lucy was.

"That girl has a big heart, but I wonder—is there room in it for a monster like you?"

Zeref gestured to the rippling puddles at Natsu's feet. Demonic eyes watched him from a crimson reflection. Was it already too late? No, he was still himself. Still Natsu. His heart reigned loudly over the dark thoughts in his head, mere whispers against the flames of his resolve. He wouldn't give in. He'd never give in. Lucy needed him now more than ever.

"You try so hard to suppress it, never realising she's waiting for you to break. It'll be easier that way. Easier for her to do the right thing," Zeref said. "It's time to answer his call, Natsu. Become what you were always meant to be. Give her a reason to end this. You want that, don't you? I've felt it in your heart. You're afraid of hurting her. Afraid that the hands cradling her at night will be the same hands that kill her by morning."

Natsu roared, indignation burning within the depths of his stomach. Flames burst from skin, dancing from wounds, scorching blood and bone. Vines combusted, turning to ash. The stench of hot blood filled him. Gravity took him. He crashed on all fours, palms skidding through slick puddles of blood. He landed face-first at Zeref's feet.

Zeref yanked him upright. Fingers clutched Natsu's scrarf, holding him close. Natsu held his brother's piercing gaze.

"Don't worry, Natsu. Lucy and I have a pleasant understanding. This will all be over very soon."

Natsu kicked him hard in the stomach. Zeref spluttered, caught off guard for just a fraction of a second. It wasn't enough. Vines wrenched Natsu to the ground.

"I am not your enemy," he said. "I love you, Natsu. I want you to live. And that's exactly why I won't regret my decisions until now. Even if it's not the future you wanted, having a future at all..." Zeref sighed wistfully. "It's a gift."

"I'd rather die than live as a monster," Natsu said.

"Who said anything about living as a monster?"

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Oh." Zeref licked his lips. "She didn't tell you, did she? Lucy Heartfilia already knows how this journey ends. She decided it long ago."

"What—"

"Natsu?"

The brothers turned at the intrusion. Lucy appeared like stars racing billions of years just to save him from the darkness. Red thread hung from the bodice of her gown, ribboning across the floor like delicate strands of lifeblood. She clutched her chest in both hands, hot blood pooling between her fingers, blotting the pearly white material. Her eyes moved past him, unseeing.

"It's almost time," Zeref said. "You have nothing left to lose."

Lucy turned to face them. Her gaze lingered on Natsu, horror blooming in her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words ghosted through him. Lost. He couldn't hear her over the blistering humanity of his own heartbeat.

"Don't look at me," he said.

Lucy held out a hand. "Natsu, please. This isn't you."

Zeref shoved him towards her. Natsu landed against her. She caught him gently, both hands trembling, her eyes searching for something he'd lost within himself. Something only she could find. Red thread trailed around them in spirals. He shuffled backwards, stumbling over a stray loop.

"I just need a little more time," she said.

"How did you get here?"

"Come back to me, Natsu. I can save you."

Natsu shook his head, disbelieving. "How? There's nothing you can do, Lucy."

Lucy grabbed the tails of his scarf, drawing him closer. Natsu let her. She kissed him lightly, a touch so delicate it almost didn't exist.

"I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough yet. I just want to hold onto this for a little while longer."

Natsu grabbed her shoulders. "You are strong enough, Lucy. Whatever it is, we can face it together."

"You really think I can do this?"

"Yes."

"You would trust me completely?"

"Lucy, I will always trust you."

"Even if it hurts?"

He nodded. "I can endure anything when we're together."

Something about the word together upended her. Lucy stepped away from him, retracting the things she never said.

'A piece of her lives within you, so small you never noticed it.'

"I really did my best," she said. "I tried to stop the seed from growing, but I'm not enough. I need more power. Maybe if I had been stronger back then, I could have done more. Maybe I could have stopped this."

'This is the fragment of power she gave you.'

"What are you?" he asked.

"I am Lucy Heartfilia. A piece of her, anyway."

"You know what I mean."

She smiled wanly. "When I rewrote the book of E.N.D., your power all but consumed me. The words transferred into my body, but they were too much," Lucy said. "Gray saved me, but not completely. I am the piece he couldn't reach. An untainted fragment of Lucy Heartfilia's power, left here to stave the demon seed's influence on you. I'm the thread that remains between us. Without me, you would lose control much faster. But it comes at a price."

He knew that price. He'd seen it in her face, beating with demonic words and unspeakable powers. She'd given him two more years of human life, of precious life, but in the meantime, while Natsu lived foolishly, Lucy suffered. How long had she been hurting behind closed doors? How scared must she have been?

"Don't look so glum. You mustn't treat me like your victim. You're supposed to be the hero of your story, Natsu."

He'd heard it said that every man, good or bad, was the hero of his own story. But it was difficult to feel that way when ever fiber of your being yearned to unleash its demons. Literally. "Then what does that make you?"

She looped the thread around his neck and pulled a little too tightly. "Silly. I've always been the villain."

Vines ripped him from her arms, dragging him face-first across the cool floor. They cocooned him swiftly, encasing him in red thorns and tangled limbs. He groaned.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's not time yet."

Flames burst from his limbs, devouring his prison. He stood with plumes of smoke, soft light illuminating the empty well behind her.

"Natsu..." Lucy took a step back. "You have to fight this. It's not time yet."

"Time for what?!"

"I'm going to stop you. I promise. But I'm not ready yet."

"Stop me how."

"I can't tell you that. Telling you is like telling E.N.D., surely you understand that."

"Then I'll make you tell me."

"W-what?"

Natsu registered genuine fear in her eyes. If he defeated her here and now, Natsu's true powers would be unleashed. She had everything to lose by not telling him. Still, that stubborn piece of Lucy did not move. Nor did she give up any new information.

Natsu lunged at her.

Lucy fell into the ornamental pond. Blood smeared on her face where Natsu had punched her. Water soaked through her clean suit, weighing heavy in her boots. She'd barely dressed on her way out of the inn, and even then she'd abandoned her keys in the hurry.

So stupid.

Natsu hadn't gone far. They'd followed a peculiar trail of chaos into the depths of Lotus Village. They'd found him alone in the plaza, burning sparks like a torch too damp to ignite. Unmoving. Until Happy tried to approach him.

Happy lifted her out of the pond. "It's no use, Lucy. We have to go back and—"

Natsu turned woodenly, a puppet dancing on invisible strings. If Lucy could break the threads, maybe he'd go back to sleeping and wake up like nothing happened. Or maybe she'd set him loose on a village filled with innocent people.

What could she do?

She'd done her best to lead him through the ponds, hoping the mystic waters might quell his flames, but every breath of cold air seemed to stoke his flames higher. He stepped into the pristine waters, lowering towards them.

Lucy reached under Natsu's scarf and grabbed the broken key around her neck, offering a quick thank you to Aquarius and her stubborn nature, and to Natsu for returning it so quickly.

Twisters of water rose up to form a great wall between them, obstructing Natsu's path. He thrashed against the torrid waters, pushing as though mere bricks stood in his way. Lucy closed her eyes. The wall moved forward, pinning him to the wet stones.

"Why do you get in my way?" he asked her.

"Because I love you, obviously."

"Is this the time to be flirting?" Happy said.

Lucy's eyes snapped open. "I'm not flirting!"

"Lucy, he's—"

He wasn't there.

Water splashed and puddled, exposing nothing but slick stones and fear. Lucy spun too late. Natsu loomed over her, a shadow claiming the light. He knocked her into the water. Lucy's head slipped beneath the surface. She clawed at his arm, barely lifting her face out of the water.

"Happy! A little help!" she cried.

He was already moving. Happy snatched Natsu's collar and tossed him through the air, leaving no room for mistake. Natsu hurtled like a broken doll tossed over the edge of a cliff. He smacked the ground hard, rolling across stone and earth. Lucy coughed out water.

"Is he asleep?" Happy asked her.

Lucy shook her head. "No. I can feel it." She touched her chest. "He's doing his best to stop the power awakening. We have to help him."

"It's dangerous here."

"You're right. We need to leave the village. Happy, I need you to go back to the inn and grab our things. Now."

"I won't leave you."

"We don't have a choice. I can't leave my keys here."

"But—"

"Happy! Please! Think of Alina and her father."

Natsu pushed himself off the ground. He turned to Lucy, eyes open for the very first time. Demonic slits took in her face with an unruly scowl.

"Go!" she screamed.

Happy zipped out of the plaza, headed north towards their abandoned room. Natsu rushed towards her. Lucy bit back a scream, channeling her fear into stamina. She sprinted for the caverns, following the narrow paths into the waterfall's mouth. She emerged in the wide plains, almost stumbling across the widening flagstones. Lights flickered on in the surrounding houses.

Natsu burst from the falls like a raging fireball. He approached quick behind her, swinging a burning fist. Flames skated across her back. Lucy gasped. Her chest hurt from running so hard. She needed to catch her breath, but doing so meant—

Natsu tackled her to the ground. She turned in his arms, barely dodging a clean blow to the face. He threw heavy fists, blazing hot with fire. Lucy writhed and kicked, Natsu's power dizzying as it pulsed within her veins.

"Your timing sure sucks!" she panted. "You couldn't even give me some time to mourn, huh?"

Natsu wasn't listening. Or maybe he couldn't even hear her anymore. E.N.D. cared as little about Lucy as Zeref cared about him.

She struck him hard across the face. "Natsu! Get a grip already!"

That stunned him. He hesitated.

Lucy swung again. He caught her right fist, sparks licking up her skin. Hiss. Natsu's flames swallowed her hand, devouring her flesh as though it were a late night snack. She screamed, tears burning her cheeks. She watched in horror as the guild mark she loved scarred and boiled.

"Please! Stop, Natsu!" she begged.

"I warned you not to mess with Lucy!"

Loke manifested in a glow of blissful miracles. He cleaved through Natsu like slices of light cutting through partially opened curtains. They fell to the ground, grappling in whorls of white and burning orange.

"Loke!" Lucy gasped.

She gripped her burned hand, the pain too much to contain. She'd kill to be in one of those ponds right now.

Happy burst from the falls, lumbered by two hefty packs. He launched one across the plains, cracking Natsu clean over the head. Loke struck him hard across the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

Lucy collapsed on her back. Natsu's scarf whipped in the night air, crossing over her face. She burst out a laugh. It was so like him to get the last word.

Happy was beside her instantly. He grabbed her wrist, inspecting her burning hand with tears that stung far worse than scorched flesh.

"Don't cry," she wheezed. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"Lucy!" Happy wept.

Loke carried her to the falls and set her gently on the bank. He thrust her hand into the cold plunge pool. Lucy screamed again, a twisting relief coiling through the agony.

"Why would he do this to you?" he mumbled. It wasn't so much a question as disbelief, she knew.

"It was an accident," she said.

"I warned him," Loke spat.

"He can't help it."

"This can't continue. We have to do something."

"I know," Lucy said.

Happy touched Lucy's arm. "Does it hurt, Lucy?"

She winced. "No. No, I'm fine."

"You're hiding something," Loke said.

Deep down, Lucy had always known it would come to this. But now, after finding Aquarius, their journey had no reason to continue. She had no reason to keep putting things off. The finality of it all made her want to cry. She glanced over at Natsu, his face planted in the ground.

Lucy smiled softly. "You know, he's usually the one to come up with the ridiculous plans. And they always work out somehow. So maybe... Maybe I'll be okay too." She wriggled her burnt fingers. "Ugh, this really smarts. I'm going to kill him when he wakes up."

"He won't wake up for a while," Loke said. "We'll have to carry him."

"Don't think you're off the hook, either."

Loke stiffened. "Oh yeah? What did this big kitty do to upset you, oh great and merciful Lucy?"

Lucy gripped Aquarius's key in her fist. "Tell me, is she really happy?"

"Yes," he said. "But she misses you every day."

Smoke and fire and ash clouded the murky horizon. Natsu inhaled the lingering flames, let them fill his belly, simmering hot like a freshly scarfed meal.

"Are you done with your tantrum?" Lucy asked. "I'm still not going to tell you anything, you know."

Natsu panted beside her. They lie still on the dark floor, blood and sweat trickling hot down his chest. Lucy rasped a long breath.

"It wasn't a tantrum," he said. A pause. "Sorry."

"Yes. It was." She rolled her head towards him. "Save your apologies for when you wake up. You're going to need them."

Natsu flinched. "What are you saying?"

"You know exactly what I'm saying."

No. Had he attacked Lucy in his sleep again?

"Why can't I wake up?" he grumbled, desperation seeping in.

"It's not your fault. As the demon seed grows, your humanity grows weaker. One day you'll be stuck here while he roams free out there." She offered him an inhumanly sweet smile. "But don't worry, Natsu. I'll be here with you until the end. It won't be so bad. Even after..." She caught herself. "Hey, do you still have it?"

Natsu stared at her. "What?"

"The key."

He patted his pocket. "I never go anywhere without it."

She smiled. "I wonder if it really works."

"Who knows." He shrugged. "You and I are never apart."

Something in her expression softened, but it was so sad it made his stomach drop.

"That's odd. You should've woken up by now." Lucy scanned the surrounding darkness. "I don't sense E.N.D. either. I must've beaten you good, huh?"

Natsu sat upright. "Is Lucy okay?"

"I'm a big girl, you know. I can handle it."

He rolled his eyes. "You can tell, can't you? You're Lucy, even though you're..."

"Stuck in here?"

He grimaced. "Sorry."

"She's fine, Natsu. Well, most of her is."

"What does that mean?"

She raised her hand, revealing scarred flesh and the disfigured remains of Lucy's guild mark. Natsu blanched, his pulse dropping, his stomach heaving with acidic horror.

"Lucy, what..."

She grinned. "I wouldn't be much of a villain without a few scars, would I?"

Song: Maze - Kim Na Young.

COMING SOON—–
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TOO FAR GONE