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March 15th, X779

A startled, relieved laugh burst from Lucy when Natsu finally pulled her free of the debris that had pinned her. Pain turned her laughter into a half-squeak, but she swallowed it as quickly as she could. She knew she'd already upset Natsu. She didn't want to make it worse as he dropped to his knees beside her and crushed her against him in a tight hug. Lucy buried her face in his shoulder, ignoring the way Gray rolled his eyes and muttered in disgust. She simply reached out to brush her fingers over Happy's head when he whimpered impatiently.

"We should head back and check on the others," Lucy said a moment later, wiggling free of Natsu's embrace. She didn't dare to try to push herself upright yet. Her good leg was well on its way to feeling better, but the one that had been crushed was in rough enough shape that she was quick to avert her gaze from it. Black spots were dancing in her eyes, threatening to knock her out.

"Just sit down for a minute, would you?" sighed Gray, exasperated. "We heal faster than humans, but it's still going to take you a while."

"I'm worried about Asuka," protested Lucy.

"I don't know who that is, but they can wait," Gray retorted.

"Natsu," Lucy tried, but when she turned her face to look at him, he had lost some of his worry and was clearly simply unhappy. His narrowed eyes had lost some of their bright glow, she noticed. She decided against trying to convince him to do what she wanted. She was in enough trouble with him, and she wasn't about to make it all a thousand times worse. As it was, Natsu's grip tightened briefly where it rested on her waist, and she fought the urge to say something or apologize.

She just knew that the second that she opened her mouth, he'd unleash whatever emotion he was stuffing down. Lucy really, really didn't like the idea of being told off in front of Gray.

Deciding to focus on other matters, Lucy told Gray, "Thanks for coming and helping us out. Mostly me. We were trying to help a girl and her mother."

"You hid under a bed?" mused Gray, eyeing the broken, ruined bed. "Smart."

"Asuka's idea," was Lucy's simple answer. She frowned at him. "Not that I'm not grateful you showed up when you did, but…why are you here? And Jellal?" she added with a wary glance at Natsu, who remained quiet but looked uncomfortable at the reminder. He didn't seem to want Jellal anywhere near them, though she didn't recall Natsu being particularly against Jellal. She couldn't think of why–

Gray drawled, "You can stop looking at me like that, Natsu. Erza said she already told you we're not here to steal Lucy away."

Well then. Lucy winced. She couldn't blame Natsu for his discomfort then. "Erza's here, too?" she muttered, and Gray nodded. Erza must have been the one to retrieve Gray to help them out, though Lucy didn't think it to be much of something Erza would do. "If you guys aren't here to do what you usually do, then why are you here?"

Gray's amusement faded somewhat. He grew serious, eyes darkening. "We should find the others. Virgo's with you, right? Erza noticed her. We had some questions for her."

"About?" gritted out Natsu. "Just spit it out."

"It's Hel," admitted Gray, running a hand through his black hair. "We…we've noticed a few signs of something happening. It's not just Valhalla anymore."

That was anything but good. "Well then, why don't we get moving? We're not going to figure anything out sitting here," said Lucy.

Lucy felt a little guilty when Wendy burst out of the front of the house, bypassing Gray entirely as she focused on Lucy, who Natsu had carried the entire way back. "Lucy!" she yelled, horrified as she stared at Lucy's gold-smeared leg. It had improved in the time since she'd been freed, but it still looked and felt like hell.

"Hey, Wendy," Lucy murmured, reaching out to comfortingly pat her friend on the head. "Would you mind fixing me up a little?"

"Bring her inside," Wendy instructed Natsu. "I've got all my medical stuff spread out and ready since I worked on Bisca, Alzack, and Asuka." She spun on her heel to head back inside, only to pause and throw a smile over her shoulder. "Hi, Gray!" she added and then darted back inside. Happy, who'd contentedly trotted along behind them, bolted after her. Lucy grinned briefly at the look on Gray's face. He couldn't seem to figure out if he should be insulted or not that Wendy had bypassed him, as if he was a regular face she saw often.

Natsu ducked inside, maneuvering Lucy through the doorway as carefully as he could. Lucy winced when he bumped her leg against the doorframe anyways, but kept quiet. Wendy called for them, drawing them to the living room. She was briefly taken aback, for some reason, by the number of people there. There were a good number of them. Virgo was there, as were Asuka and her parents, Jellal, and Wendy. The two cats were there, too, and now herself, Gray, and Natsu. A quick look around told her Erza wasn't there – though she wasn't one hundred percent certain of that when she noticed Jellal murmuring to the empty space beside him.

"Miss Lucy!" Asuka squealed, looking excited as she waved from her father's lap. Alzack was dozing on and off, while Bisca seemed awake yet not at the same time. Lucy frowned, concerned. She seemed distant and dull; Lucy wondered if it was the sheer amount of gods around her, or if it had to do with Bisca's head injury. She hoped it was neither. They weren't good options to begin with.

Lucy ignored the flare of pain that shot through her when Natsu set her down. She smiled warmly at Asuka. "Glad to see you're doing okay, Asuka."

Bisca seemed to focus momentarily on Lucy. There was no sign of the sharpness that had met Lucy earlier that day as she said hoarsely, "Thank you…for helping Asuka."

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but Natsu beat her to it. "Most of us aren't like whatever god you think you met," he told her. Silence fell. All eyes turned on Natsu, who stared harshly at Bisca and Alzack with his semi-bright eyes. "I don't know what happened, or who you were talking about, but the gods don't do things to hurt people on purpose, let alone children if we can avoid it. We just do the work we have to do – even when we don't want to do it."

Bisca struggled to consider what he'd said, but Alzack nodded curtly, having woken up a bit. He looked at Asuka when she suddenly tugged on him and said, "Miss Lucy's like me, Papa."

Lucy's lips twitched into a brief, unhappy grimace when Alzack instinctively glanced at her arms and scars. A quiet hum filled the air, and Lucy bumped a fist gently against Natsu's shoulder to silence him. She flinched when Wendy unexpectedly touched her leg. "A warning would have been nice," scolded Lucy, voice cracking.

"Sorry," said Wendy, not looking sorry at all.

A familiar voice stopped Natsu in his tracks. "You're more on edge than usual, Natsu."

He glanced back, nearly tripping over Happy, who'd come along for his small adventure, somehow unsurprised that Jellal had followed him. Inner turmoil had driven him to check sigils he and his friends had put all about to ensure that the Vhalis stayed away, though they didn't need them with Gray around. Lucy was a wreck after Wendy had vanished, and he'd needed something to do other than throttling her for her reckless behavior, throwing something at Wendy for making her pain worse, or trying to chase Erza and those she'd brought with her away.

Natsu had decided that leaving would be his best option for the time being, if only to avoid scaring Asuka. He was still humming despite his best efforts, and Natsu wished that Gray might leave soon so that he could pick a fight with the Vhalis – or, perhaps, he could pick a fight with Gray himself. That might be a little safer.

He couldn't say he was happy that Jellal had followed him, as he'd wanted to be alone, but at least it wasn't Erza. "What do you want?" he huffed, turning back to investigate the sigil he'd gone to check. It was untouched, just as he'd known it would be. It had simply been an excuse.

Jellal studied him, calm as ever. Natsu wondered if he ever grew upset with his lot in life. His ascension had been unwanted by all – at least, that's what Natsu had heard. Erza would have rather him remained human, but it had been her only way to keep Jellal around. Mavis hadn't wanted him as a god, but it had been the only agreement she could come to with Erza. Even Jellal had argued against it, but Natsu knew he was probably the best of them. He put more effort into his work with the souls he watched over than any other god did with their own work. He was certainly better than Natsu, and he complained very little about it all.

Jellal's dark eyes shifted to the skies above. Natsu wondered if he saw what Natsu did: the pale burning of stars that had once shone vibrantly and the sickly glow of the moon. Natsu had given them to Lucy, and it was clear to see that something was off with his Favored. That, or it was the state of Valhalla.

Finally, Jellal said, "Valhalla Fell, and now it seems Hel will Fall, too."

Somehow, despite Gray's mentioning that something was wrong with Hel, this wasn't what Natsu expected to hear. He snapped his attention solely onto Jellal, who bent to stroke Happy's blue fur with a semi-amused look on his face when Happy chirped hopefully at him. "What are you talking about? Hel's separate from Valhalla."

"Not," sighed Jellal, "as entirely as we'd like. It's beginning to feel the effects of Valhalla's Fall, Natsu. The two balanced one another out. A home for the gods, a home for the souls. That balance is gone. Souls have started slipping away, and I can't tell where they're going. It's troubling. Gray and I have begun to experience a lack of power like the rest of you, too. It appears, however, that your own situation has changed slightly since we last spoke." He gave Natsu a pointed, curious look.

"Lucy," said Natsu simply, shrugging. He'd not explain more. The last thing Lucy needed right now was a bunch of gods trying to convince her to try and "power them up." Not that he thought it'd do Gray and Jellal any good when their power came from elsewhere. Lucy had been given pieces of Valhalla – not Hel.

Jellal nodded slowly. "Gray told us of what he knows regarding Lucy's situation. Of the fact that Loke had been with her."

"Not for a while now. Last Lucy saw of Loke was before Gray found her."

"Virgo said as much." Jellal studied the ground he stood on with a frown, appearing rather human as he impatiently pushed at his blue hair. "The only thing I can think of that might help us all is to find Mavis, but all we can say is that Erza hasn't been called to retrieve her. Or, perhaps, we could replicate what the minor gods did in order to create a secondary source of power. It wouldn't be ideal, but it might help keep things balanced until Mavis could be found."

It wasn't comforting, but it was certainly an option.

Natsu glanced back in the direction of the house, uneasy at how long he'd been out. He'd wanted a moment away, but he'd not dared to leave Lucy for too long – not with Erza around. He wanted to make sure everything was as he'd left it. He'd asked Virgo to watch over Lucy and Wendy, but still. He turned his attention back on Jellal, narrowing his eyes. "So what do you think we can do? Luce is her own situation, but it's not like she can help you out. We're looking for Loke, but that's it. We're not doing anything past that to help anyone, Jellal. I'm not going to do anything past that."

Jellal didn't answer, and it made something prickle against the back of Natsu's neck. The hum that had been quiet for so long began to strengthen, irritable. Happy rubbed anxiously against his leg, not happy with the sound. "Why are you here? Erza and Gray said you weren't here to do your work, so what the hell do you want?"

Jellal still remained quiet for longer than Natsu would have liked, but when he finally answered, it wasn't entirely comforting. "Erza," he said slowly, voice soft, "did not have a soul to claim in that particular moment. Sometimes, she is summoned before it's time for her to take someone." Natsu could scarcely breathe, a dangerous, hateful feeling forming in his chest. This was why he'd come out to speak with Natsu – to keep him from interfering. Jellal's dark eyes finally met Natsu's, kind but firm. "Even if Hel is struggling, human souls should not be meant to linger when we can avoid it."

The hum was deafening until Jellal rolled his eyes in a surprising moment of attitude and said drily, "We are not here for Lucy this time, Natsu. It may come as a bit of a shock to you, but Lucy's is not the only soul in this world."

He abruptly stopped humming. "Then who…" Natsu trailed off, thinking through the group he'd left in the house. It wasn't Wendy, nor was it Lucy, if Jellal was claiming otherwise. It would never be Erza, nor would it be Gray or Jellal. He hoped it wasn't Virgo. It left only three, and only one of those three had been so severely injured as to draw Erza's attention.

"Bisca," he said aloud. "Erza's going to take Bisca."

"You're beautiful."

Asuka didn't understand why her compliment drew so much attention from those around her. Only two didn't look at her: Mama, who was tucked safely into Dad's chest as she slept, and Miss Lucy, who was asleep by herself. The pretty pink-haired lady was watching over her.

"Asuka?" murmured Dad as he looked over at her, completely bewildered.

Asuka ignored her father in favor of peering curiously at the pretty scarlet-haired woman that had stilled, studying her with fascination. Asuka hugged the stuffed cat Wendy had let her play with to her chest. The woman was like the princess from the book Mama had read to her the night before, before their home had broken into so many little pieces. Beyond beautiful – and kind, with a gentle smile curving over her lips.

"No one's seen me in such a way since I first found Jellal," she murmured with interest. "It's regrettable that I cannot claim Favored like I once could."

The newcomer – the strange man who'd come back with Miss Lucy and Natsu and made Dad and Mama as nervous as Natsu did – dropped into a crouch beside her, propping his elbows on his knees. Asuka wondered if he saw the woman, too. "Do you see Erza?" he asked her quietly.

Asuka didn't take her eyes off the woman, who nodded. "Yes," answered Asuka confidently.

When she finally looked over, he didn't seem as pleased as the woman did. In fact, he seemed quite sad. There was some other feeling on his face that Asuka couldn't name, one that she'd seen her parents wear occasionally – mostly when she'd cried that her arms hurt, all that time ago.

""Why don't you go sit with your parents?" he suggested. Asuka was briefly distracted by the ice lacing his hair, staring at it with awe. Her mama was scared of these people, who were like them but not. Asuka thought they were wonderful.

Asuka did as he suggested, however, trotting over to stand beside her mama and her dad. She kept the stuffed cat close to her heart, finding comfort as she clutched it with small fists. She frowned when Dad said sharply, "What's going on? What are you talking about?"

The man didn't move from where he'd crouched, turning his gaze to Dad. "We don't always like what we have to do, but sometimes it has to be done anyways."

She winced when her dad's voice rose to a near shout. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

It was Wendy, the nice girl who'd lent Asuka the stuffed cat, who seemed to recognize what was happening. "Oh," she whispered faintly, abandoning the bags and supplies she'd been organizing. It was something Miss Lucy usually did, Wendy had told Asuka when she'd asked, but Miss Lucy couldn't since her leg was hurt. The lovely white cat Asuka longed to cuddle crawled into Wendy's lap, and Wendy chose to lift her into her arms, hugging her. Wendy looked incredibly sad.

Asuka looked back at Erza, whose smile was gentle and warm enough that it comforted Asuka somewhat when she said quietly, "Your mama is sick. Gray will take her somewhere where she will no longer feel pain."

Something twisted in Asuka's chest. "I don't want Mama to leave," she said anxiously, and Dad uttered a word Asuka didn't know, but she thought it was not a very nice one. She searched Erza's gaze as Dad crushed Mama to him, burying his face in Mama's pale hair. "Mama's supposed to stay with my dad," she added. She held her arms out for Erza to look at, showing her the strange markings that had been carved there on a day Asuka could no longer remember outside of flashes and nightmares. "I'm supposed to go with you. That's what the scary man told me."

Something uncertain flickered across Erza's face, and she exchanged a swift look with the strange man. Gray, Erza had called him. Gray rose to his feet, stepping closer to ruffle her hair reassuringly. He ignored the glare Dad threw at him. "Erza's not ready for you just yet," he told her.

"Well, I'm ready," Asuka tried to tell them bravely. She was curious about where Mama was supposed to go, but frightened, too. It sounded like an adventure.

Gray cracked a small grin then. "But it's not your turn."

"Then I can cut in line."

Asuka didn't know what that really meant. She'd never seen lines of people, like her parents had described to her. She'd been too little to remember what they were like, back before the End had started. It was how her parents had met though. "Your mama cut me in line," Dad had once told her, showing her what a line looked like in the book they'd been reading together. "She was too pretty to tell off, so I asked for her number instead."

Surely, if her mama could cut in line and meet her dad, then Asuka could cut in line and meet her mama wherever she was supposed to go?

The sound that escaped her father's lips was one of agonized pain, as if the very idea hurt him more than what Erza and Gray were suggesting. Asuka regretted her suggestion. She didn't want to hurt her dad.

Erza spoke softly to her. "Say goodbye, little one. You will regret it if you don't."

Asuka didn't know why there were tears burning in the backs of her eyes. She wrinkled her nose, clutching the stuffed cat as she tried to push them back. "I don't like to say goodbye."

"No one does," replied Erza, "but sometimes…we must."

Asuka dropped her dark eyes to look at her mother, whose face was ghostly pale. Her body trembled every now and then as if something pained her even in her sleep. Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Asuka shifted the stuffed cat into one arm and squeezed it tight, putting her free hand on her mama's cheek. "G'bye, Mama," she whispered, glancing at her dad when he choked on a sob. The tears streaming down his face upset her more than what the strange people were telling her, and the tears began to fall from her own eyes.

Asuka could only watch as the beautiful princess-like Erza reached down to brush her fingers over Mama's shoulder. Mama took one more breath.

And then Death took Mama away.

Did I plan on Bisca dying? Absolutely not. Do I regret hurting everyone? Absolutely not. Do I look forward to the information we will soon be gathering that might have some answers at last? PERHAPS.

Thanks to reviewers (InWonderl4nd, Guest #1, Lovesmutbabe, nerdalertwarning, & Guest #2!) as well as those who favorited and followed!