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Chapter Text

Prologue: Prelude [1]

“Lucy, run!” Natsu shouted as he proceeded to let out another Fire Dragon’s Roar at an incoming dragon that swooped in to take a swipe at them. Lucy didn’t hesitate as she ran through the streets of Fiore, stumbling every now and then from the uneven terrain. Everywhere she looked, it was nothing but debris and ruin that awaited her.

There was nothing left as she continued to run, hearing Natsu protect her as she runs towards the Eclipse Gate that stood ominously as more dragons circled around the rubble that was left of Magnolia. It was terrifying, really, and Lucy found herself looking at the onslaught of danger before her that almost made her want to give up right then and there.

There was nothing she could do as she stood and watched in pure horror as a mass of 10,000 Dragons entered Fiore, destroying everything in their path.

She got separated from the others during the initial attack, but the lack of magic and prideful shouts that she knows Fairytail was capable of, confirmed her doubts to be true.

Everyone was dead.

Lucy Heartfilia looked at the last remaining member, other than herself, as she stood before the Eclipse Gate. Natsu was roaring, throwing and breathing fire everywhere as he desperately tried to protect what was left of his home.

They both knew it was futile, and they were left with no choice. Lucy wiped her tears from her face and stared at the Gate before her defiantly.

She had to take the chance.

She had to go back.

That was the plan, in case things went south.

The Eclipse Gate was capable of extraordinary things, right? So it was entirely possible for her to enter the gate and have it send her back into time, preferably to the beginning where she first met Natsu. If she’s able to hold her knowledge and retain the information that she’s learned throughout her time with Fairytail, then maybe they would have a chance to stop this crisis.

She looked down at her Gate keys and let out a small, tearful smile.

They vibrated with energy as they screamed at her to let them help her.

Lucy let out a wet chuckle. “You guys, there’s nothing left to be saved. Everything is gone .”

She won’t let them see this, not her precious spirits. Not her celestial family that she’s gathered after all this time. She won’t let them stop her either, as she took in a deep breath to enter the gate.

“Luce.”

Lucy’s lip trembled at the hoarse sound of Natsu’s voice and slowly looked over her shoulder. There he was, struggling to remain standing as she stood before the gate with blood matted all over his body. It could’ve been the dragon’s blood that she saw on him, but with every breath he took, he winced, and she realized that majority probably was his own. Yet he still gave that toothy eye smile that shone brighter than ever as she tried not to collapse and sob on the spot.

“You got this, Luce. Go save our future.”

Lucy knew that whatever changes should she go back to the past, meant that what was left here was probably going to disappear. It meant that this world-- her world, this Natsu-- her Natsu.

Would cease to exist.

She’s leaving everything behind to try and make a better future.

“I-I will. You’ll be at peace soon, Natsu.” She whispered lovingly, her gaze holding everything that she had wanted to say if only they had enough time left in the world. Natsu’s eyes widened at her eyes and he sent a look of his own, understanding immediately what she was desperately trying to convey.

“You know I--Luce-”

“I know.” Lucy sniffed. “I do too.”

Natsu let out a sharp laugh and nodded. He held up a weak L sign with his finger and pointed at the sky and Lucy did the same with fresh tears in her eyes. He gave her one last smile before he turned around to stare defiantly at the dragons before him for one last stand, and Lucy stepped backwards into the light and call of the Eclipse Gate.

She closed her eyes slowly as she felt the cold pull of the powerful magic that created the Eclipse Gate, when she heard a scream that she knew far too well, and opened her eyes as she instinctively screamed, “ Natsu! ”

Natsu was kneeling onto the ground suddenly, with a shadow blade that has sunk through his chest, blood pouring from the wound as a figure stood behind him. The figure had retracting his magic and made eye-contact with a cruel smirk, causing Lucy’s eyes to widen in shock at the sight before her. She narrowed her eyes and snarled viciously,

“ Rogue. ”

Rogue smirked, “Heartfilia.”

“Looks like we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

Lucy’s frantic eyes stared at him in shock as she tried to leave the grasp of the Eclipse Gate but it was too strong, she’d been in there too long already. It was pulling her inside with a strength that only grew, and all she could do was breathe out one last curse before it completely sucked her in.

Her last vision of her universe was Rogue walking to the Eclipse Gate after murdering Natsu, his blood that covered his white coat, with the intent of following Lucy to the past.

A blinding light surrounded her as she felt her body get pulled with an unfathomable pain.

She’ll never forgive him, not even in her dying breath.

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--L-H--

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Crying is what woke her up this time around, and Lucy felt herself blink with wariness as she tried to figure out what was going on. Everything felt slow and groggy when she tried to move, feeling as if she was slowing sinking into quick sand at a morbidly slow pace. She felt off, she didn’t feel like she was inside her own body.

Did she succeed?

Did she get sent back in time, to right before the Gate opening?

Or perhaps she went back a bit further, to the time where she first met Natsu after meeting that fake Salamander con-man?

Regardless, it seems like she had succeeded somewhat.

But who was crying--

“ Mama …” Current nine-year-old Lucy Heartfilia sobbed quietly in her room as she laid in her bed, holding onto her stuffed animals as she felt overwhelmed with grief. Her eyes were red that filled with never ending tears as she wailed into her bunny, letting out painful cries because that was all that she could do. It’s all she has done for the past couple of days as her mother’s health declined dramatically, to the inevitable end that awaited her.

She had watched as her father slowly fell into despair and locked a piece of himself away once she had officially passed.

At the funeral, he didn’t even shed a tear as he watched them bury her casket.

Lucy felt as if while she had just lost her mom, it felt like she was losing her dad too.

Lucy let out another sorrowful cry as she breathed into her small oasis ontop of her bed, that protected her from the real world as she cried. Layla had told her once that the stuff-animals that found their way to her bed were because they were lonely, and that they were looking for a friend.

A family.

Were these stuffed animals all that she had left?

“No, it’s-- they’re not.”

A sad voice filled with old grief in Lucy’s mind said to her. Lucy’s eyes widened as she sniffed in confusion and sat up slowly, blinking around the room as she wondered where she had heard the voice come from. There was no one here in the dimly lit room, the servants had already checked up on her a while ago.

They had wished for her to go outside to get some fresh air, but Lucy didn’t want to.

She used to walk through the small gardens in the center of their manor with her mother.

It hurt too much to look at the flowers without her now.

“W-What?” A soft, strained voice whispered into the air. “Is…someone there?”

“Not literally, but I’m here.”

“Here?”

“Inside your mind, I think.”

“Oh.” Lucy frowned at the thought of a voice in her head, and she began to wonder if maybe she was starting to get sick too.

“Not quite. Perhaps we’ll be able to meet soon enough.”

Lucy didn’t say anything as she laid back down and began to drift to sleep from utter exhaustion. She’s been crying for a while now; she doesn’t know what time it was anymore. Not that it really mattered, she didn’t have anything to do anyways. She’s been laying in the dark, feeling sad for what felt like forever.

She didn’t know why she whispered this out loud, but she did.

“Mama’s gone, now.”

Lucy didn’t hear a reply for so long that she had begun to drift asleep.

“I know.” The voice eventually said heavily, filled with an emotion that was very similar to her own.

Lucy faintly wondered if the voice had lost their mom too.

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--L-H--

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Lucy found herself sitting criss cross in the middle of a small garden with small flowers that littered around the area, but if she looked too far ahead, it all disappeared into a pool of grey. She had recognized some of them, the closer she looked. Lucy liked daffodils, tulips too. She saw a dandelion, and couldn’t help the small smile that came over her face at the sight.

Those were her mother’s favorite.

“Dandelions can be found everywhere--” Lucy began. Someone cut her off to finish the thought though, catching her off guard as her eyes widened as she turned around.

“--which means that you can be too. So be sure to travel and see the world, Lucy, because there’s more out there beyond the loving arms of your father and I,” Future Lucy finished as she stared at her younger counter-part, the one that was relevant to this current universe. She had succeeded, it seemed, and her universe is probably officially gone by now.

It hurt, as much as she tried not to let it.

It hurt badly.

Lucy looked at her older self in absolute wonder, looking more bright and curious as she’s looked in the past couple of days. Her brown eyes were full of shock and surprise as she looked at her older-self, which looked down at her with faint amusement when she stood up. Lucy pointed at Future Lucy,

“You look like..me?” Lucy gasped out.

Future Lucy smiled softly. “That’s because I am you, in a different universe.”

“Like--Like a space traveler? In the stories I read?!” Lucy let out a small squeal of excitement. Future Lucy was just happy to see that her presence brought some feelings of happiness even if it didn’t changed her reality once she woke up. She placed a hand on her hip and brought a hand up to her chin as she thought about it dramatically, feeling the anticipation of her younger self for an answer.

Future Lucy nodded. “I’d say more like a time-traveler, but very close, younger-me.”

“Woah.” Lucy let out a wow’d breath as she stared at herself. “So you’re me? From the f-future?”

“Yeah.” Future Lucy let out a small but pained smile as she was reminded of her now past. This felt surreal, really.

“Well that means that we’re both named Lucy then, right?” Lucy cocked her head questionably and Future Lucy bit back a coo. Was she always this cute? She doesn’t remember much of her childhood anymore, thanks to all that she’s been through.

“That’s right.”

“Well that’s--that’s pretty confusing, isn’t it?” Lucy muttered as she began to think deeply about her next course of action, whatever it was. Future Lucy was beginning to realize that despite them being able to inhabit the same body, their typical thoughts were separate. She had no idea what Lucy was thinking about right now as she awaited her next response.

Yet when she cried for their mother, she understood and felt the pain and grief that she was feeling at that moment. Future Lucy had a feeling that Lucy could feel the old, nostalgic reminiscence of missing her mother that she had felt once she realized where she was too.

“Rushii.” Lucy finally said, and Future Lucy snapped out of her thoughts to pay attention to the younger girl.

“Rushii?”

“It’s our name in another language that--that Mama told us before.” Lucy swallowed sadly and let out a small wave of angst that her older self felt.

“Is that my name now?”

Lucy just looked at her future and shrugged, looking away shyly. “If--If you want it to be. You could pick your own name too if you really want too.”

Rushii sighed as she looked down at her younger-self, feeling a bit pained in letting go of her original name. Yet at some point, it wouldn’t have mattered to keep it any longer, considering the world didn’t need two Lucy Heartfilias in one universe. It was another example of how things must be sacrificed for the fate of a better future.

Sacrificed.

Natsu--

Lucy felt a massive wave of anger and sadness from Rushii as she watched her older-self let out a small sigh as she held herself together. Her eyes widened again at the sight,

“If--If you didn’t like it, it’s okay. You could’ve told me.”

Rushii bit back a harsh laugh, she really had to pull herself together for fuck’s sake. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself down. After a moment, she opened her eyes to see Lucy standing before her with tearful eyes.

“Rushii is a fine name to be bestowed. Thank you, Lucy.”

Lucy’s tears quickly went away as she blushed at the compliment and just shrugged softly. Rushii had forgotten that she used to be a shy, uncertain child. It took much effort to hold back a wave of anger at the treatment and neglect that she remembered their father had begun shortly during the final days of their mother’s death.

Maybe…maybe there’s more than can change with her help.

Rushii slowly sat down and Lucy was quick to follow her as they mirrored each other, taking in the sight. Lucy was wearing a pink t-shirt with a skirt and some fuzzy socks, with her hair in low pigtails, with front bangs. Rushii was wearing a black ragged cloak with worn, blue clothing underneath. Her hair was completely down, it was long, and her eyes were tired but alert.

It suddenly hit Lucy that Rushii was the future .

What was the future doing here?

“Why are you here, Rushii?” Lucy asked hesitantly. Rushii couldn’t help but smile softly at the question, it seems that she had forgotten how clever her younger self was before she concerned herself with other trivial things. Like her looks, or her weight. She’ll make sure to not have the current Lucy care about that stuff, it all means nothing in the face of ten thousand dragons in the end.

“I--” Rushii suddenly let out a choked sound and her head began to pound heavily as she felt herself begin to sink in that same quick sand feeling as earlier. She quickly closed her mouth and let out a harsh breath as she looked back at Lucy, who was completely confused.

“I…am from the future,” Rushii began slowly, testing out what the Eclipse Gate would allow her to say or not say. “I’m afraid that there are things that I can’t say, as they are pretty important for your future.”

“I came back for a reason, however. It is…dangerous, in my lifetime. I had to come back to make sure things don’t repeat itself.”

“Is it really that bad?” Lucy said tearfully as she looked at Rushii with fear in her eyes. She was only nine-years-old, Rushii thought. She didn’t think she’d come back so far into the past, and was unprepared for deal with a child and fostering her abilities. At the same time however, the earlier she starts making preparations, the better.

If she’d gone back to the original timeline she had wanted, they’d be about two years away from the catastrophe.

Now, she had at least ten.

“It’s a scary world, yes.” She finally responded. There was no point in lying.

Lucy looked down nervously at her lap, fiddling with her skirt. “B-But we’re strong by then, right? Mama gave us the keys, the gold ones. We can protect ourselves, right? You look strong.”

Rushii’s eyes dimmed as she began to recall all of the times her teammates had to save her, all of the times that she had felt utterly useless in the midst of a battle, all of the times that she had to run away because others thought that it was too dangerous for her. Team Natsu was the strongest team in Fairytail, and yet she felt as she was the mascot the entire time. Even Happy had some usefulness to him, to a certain extent.

Yes, she did end up gaining more power. The concept of the Star Dresses--but by then it was too late.

She wasn’t strong enough, fast enough in her life.

It can be different in this one though.

Ten years.

They can do this.

“Looks can be deceiving, Lucy. Even as you look at them with your very own eyes. Let that be the first lesson that I teach you, and this will be the second. To be a strong Celestial Spirit Mage, means that you trust your spirits, you develop bonds with them, but most importantly, you gain enough independent power to protect them as well.”

Lucy looked at Rushii with wide-eyes as she absorbed the information that Rushii had told her. Rushii could tell that Lucy took it seriously, she could feel it inside of her as well, the feeling of newfound determination and pride.

“Mama was a strong Celestial Spirit Mage, right?”

Rushii nodded without hesitation. “Without a doubt.”

Lucy gave a small watery smile at Rushii, who after a moment, opened her arms for a small hug. Lucy ended up launching herself immediately into her arms as she began to cry again softly, burrowing her face into Rushii’s chest who just hummed softly and patted her head gently as she held her. She understood her pain.

It doesn’t just disappear in an instant.

“You’ll always miss her.” Rushii says softly, “But it does get a bit easier as time goes by.”

“B-But Father--”

“Don’t worry about him,” Rushii rushed to cut her off. She remembered the entire incident where her father had ordered those henchmen to remove her from Fairytail and bring her home. They ended up reaching an agreement of some sorts to allow her to stay, but as she sits here and feels the sadness that has built up inside of present-Lucy, she finds it hard to not swallow down a feeling of disgust and resentment at Jude.

How could he leave a child to fend for herself for all of those years, all alone?

Rushii doesn’t think she could forgive him a second time, going through what she’s been through and having to restart over again.

“Don’t worry about him because family doesn’t mean that you have to be related by blood. He’s our biological parent, but he doesn’t give you any attention anymore, and that’s why he’s not our Father.”

“Father died when Mama did too.” Rushii finished off coldly and Lucy could only hold on to her tighter. Rushii just looked down at the smaller girl in her arms and let out a soft sigh,

“You won’t be alone like I was though. I’ll be here with you.”

“Really?” Lucy said muffled against her chest and Rushii let out another, longer sigh and grumbled.

“Well it’s not like I can go anywhere.”

Lucy let out a small giggle at Rushii’s grumpiness but let out a small sigh of her own, which caused Rushii to look down at her. “I think…I think I still want to try. With Father. Maybe he’s just sad like me, missing Mama every day.”

Rushii closed her eyes. She’s already done this before, she’s already went down this path.

But this was not her life anymore, and she opened her eyes to see a fire burning in Lucy. Perhaps things could be different this time around. But Rushii was not going to be hopeful, and she made that clear. She’ll remain by Lucy’s side though, and watch as Jude inevitably repeats his neglectful actions as he once did in her lifetime.

“...Do as you please. Just remember that I tried to warn you."

Chapter Text

Prologue: Prelude [2]

Sometimes Rushii doesn’t talk much, despite essentially living inside of Lucy’s mind.

It’s been a week since their initial meeting, where Lucy found out that her future-self had come to the past to stop something scary and dangerous from happening. There was something that stopped her from saying more, that was what Lucy was able to figure out when she saw how Rushii would get unnaturally choked up when she attempted to speak sometimes. Lucy hoped that one day she’ll be able to talk freely, and she could tell all of her stories to her.

It’s hard to imagine a future beyond these cold walls of the Heartfilia Manor.

But ever since Rushii came back and talked with her, Lucy catches a glimpse of what it could be like.

‘Rushii?’

Silence.

Ah, she’s probably sleeping then. She said that in the gate she had entered to get here, it required a large amount of energy which often left her tired more than not. Lucy wondered how a voice in her head could get tired, but anything goes she supposed. Rushii had already proven many times that she’s definitely future her anyways, although she was so much older.

Like, she was almost twenty years old! So cool!

It was like she was talking to her big sister. Lucy bit back a small smile at the thought of having an older sibling. She’s been an only child all her life, and she’s sure that Rushii was too. She’ll have to ask her if it was okay to call her Nee-san, but from the aura that Rushii gives off, she doubts she’ll have any trouble.

Rushii said that she was going to teach her some small lessons, really soon, once she felt better. Lucy was excited. She had always wanted to learn more about Celestial Spirit Magic, but her Mama was too weak to properly teach her examples, to her secret dismay. She never failed to tell her stories of her keys though, the ones that are in her possession secretly as one of her dying wishes.

She had loved them.

“Don’t tell your father, it’s a secret between us Celestial Mages.” Lucy remembered her mother saying hoarsely with a soft wink as she told her to reach into the nightstand that was next to her. Lucy had excitedly ran over to take a peak, only to see two golden keys staring in front of her that seemed to have shone extra brightly at the time.

Lucy currently looked down at the keys in front of her now.

Gate of the Giant Crab Key, Cancer.

Gate of the Water Bearer Key, Aquarius.

She smiled sadly at them and held them close to her chest. Lucy really wanted to talk to them, like her mother said she used to before she got too weak. She was determined to care for them, to love them, because all Celestial Spirits were more than puppets to be used in battle! She promised her Mama that she would.

Maybe she’ll ask Rushii if it’ll be okay to summon one, if she gets little bit stronger.

She slips the two keys into her key pouch and attached it onto her belt strap before heading outside of her room to head towards her father’s office.

Dark shadows littered the hallway as a punishing gloominess settles in the air, as the silence screamed. Lucy gulped nervously as she slowly made her way down the hallway, passing the little servants they had left as they performed their duties. Such a big house, for such little occupants. She hoped in the future she doesn’t get such a big house if it’s just her, all of that space only to be filled with loneliness.

An older butler noticed her expression and looked at the direction she was looking at before letting out a tired sigh of his own once he understood Lucy’s intention. He’s already met with the Head Master of this house, and the sight that awaited Lucy was a sight she shouldn’t see, he feared. He walked over,

“Young Miss.” He rasped kindly.

Lucy flinched and looked over to the butler, round eyes staring at him in surprise and shock. The servants don’t really talk to her much, they never did. They only interacted with her when it came to dinner time or bath time. Unbeknownst to her, it was due to her father’s instruction that the servants stayed away from his family and only performed their duties.

Michael, the older butler, knew that he had agreed to Master Jude’s words all of those years ago. But to see him fall into such a state and collapse inside of himself, filled to the brim with grief, it was hard to watch. It was harder to watch how he ignored the existence of the little girl he had swore he loved, however.

Judgement had to be called in a time like this, and Michael’s judgement deemed it necessary to take matters into his own hands despite his age. He could easily be her grandfather, but it won’t stop him from taking a more active roll in taking care of Lucy if her own father wouldn’t.

“Y-Yes?”

“Your Father right now…it’s probably not a good time to talk to him. He’s been very occupied with business proposals for the past several days.”

Lucy’s eyes saddened as she stopped walked and turned to look at the door to her father’s office. It was cracked open, as if it was inviting her to come in and at least try. To give him a chance to see that everything wasn’t lost after Mama’s death. That she was still here too and that they could be sad together.

“I…just wanted to see my dad.”

Michael’s heart broke at the sound of her words and the sadness that exuded from her. Her mother’s death and her father’s absence. To have wealth and to have a home yet feel like an orphan is a cruel feeling, especially when one’s blood was right next door.

“Then go, young miss. Try your hardest to get through to him, I’m sure he’d love to see you.” Before he spiraled into the deep end completely, Michael thought gravely.

Michael took a step back and gestured towards the door to Jude Heartfilia’s office.

“Have courage, and I shall await here for the results.”

Lucy’s eyes widened in shock. “Really? You’ll--You’ll stay, for me?”

“I promise .”

Lucy sucked in a small breath and looked down at her keys. She knew how important promises were, she’s made one herself. She looked Michael in the eye with a determination that was rare in a nine-year-old.

“I’ll return! So--So make sure you really stay, okay? You promised!” Lucy nodded and Michael looked at the small girl with faint amusement. Why was she talking as if she was going off to war? He amused her nonetheless,

“Yes ma’am.” He even threw a small salute and his head filled with fondness as Lucy let out a small giggle, feeling in higher spirits before confronting her father.

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--L-H--

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It didn’t go well.

It went rather horribly, if Lucy was being honest.

Her father didn’t even say a word to her initially, didn’t even look her way as she tried to get his attention. It was a timid try at first, her father sat at his desk with an ominous lighting that made her a bit nervous to even say anything. She sucked in a deep breath though and thought about Rushii and the butler that put their faith in her to talk with her father.

That was the first time someone that wasn’t her parents believed in her, even though Rushii was skeptical.

She didn’t have friends.

She’d like to think she’s made a big sister and a friend now.

She’ll have to ask for his name, when she goes back.

Lucy tried her very best but it was if she was pleading to a wall. She couldn’t help but let some tears fall as she tried to speak with her father, why did she had to plead for fatherly love? She was trying.

“I’m busy, child. Exit where you came.”

Lucy froze at the first words that her father spoke to her. He had told her to leave. He didn’t even call her by her name . Lucy’s eyes leaked profusely now, the sadness leaving her heavy and a bit broken. She didn’t let herself make a sound though, she just stood through the silent tears as she watched as her father didn’t even look up to see her, not even once.

An odd feeling of maturity soon begin to take place inside of her, despite the tears not stopping. Lucy just looked on for another moment before turning around to quietly exit as she came, just as her father instructed. It didn’t stop her from saying one last thing as she looked over her shoulder, at the man that sat mindlessly in the big chair.

“...Goodbye, Daddy.”

Lucy closed the door to his office and looked at the nice, old butler that really had waited for her.

Somehow, it was easier to smile a bit.

“How..did it go, Young Miss?” He asked hesitantly and Lucy just shrugged as she sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. She really didn’t know what to say. Rushii had been right all along.

“What’s your name?” She asked instead. Michael was a bit confused and surprised at the sudden topic change but decided that Lucy must’ve not wanted to talk about it.

“Michael, young miss.”

“Michael .” Lucy breathed out and wiped the rest of her tears away. She walked up and stood right before him, causing him to look down with a quirked brow, before she wrapped her arms around one of his legs as a hug.

“Thanks for staying, Michael.” Lucy whispered shyly before letting go of his hand and waving at him. “Gonna go back to my room now. You--You can come by and say hi, okay? Bye!”

She was gone in a split second as Michael blinked rapidly to process what just happened. When he finally did, he let out small, pained smile for the Heartfilia child. And let out a scowl at the office door of the other.

‘Jude, you truly do not know what you’ve done.’

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--L-H--

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“Lucy…?”

“Rushii!” Lucy gasped out in small glee as she heard her voice inside of her head. She’s been sleeping for two days and she finally woke up! Lucy paused the book she was reading on her bed and sat up, eager to chat.

“How are you?!”

“Feeling a little bit better. It maybe a slow process, I fear, but nothing but time will say.”

“That’s good to hear, Nee-san!”

Rushii was taken aback at the term of endearment since Lucy felt her body pulse with a rush of emotions of surprise, happiness, and confusion. Lucy bit back a small smile at the feeling and eagerly awaited her reaction.

“Nee-san…”

Lucy felt herself get shy as she bashfully looked down. “Well, it feels like you’re a big sister, you know? You seem super smart and strong, and you keep me coming with nice talks whenever you’re awake. I don’t feel as lonely anymore, now that you’re here.”

Rushii was speechless. She remembered her own feelings of loneliness, that traveled beyond the absence of her parents. She was homeschooled all of her life, the first time she truly did something on her own was when she decided to run away from the Heartfilia Manor and start her new life abruptly on her own.

She had always wished for a sibling, though.

It seems their wish can finally come true.

“I-I’d love that.’’

Lucy let out a bigger smile and let out a small squeal. She has a big sister now! She has a sibling!

“How did the meeting with Father go? Did you do it while I was sleep?”

Immediately, her happiness faded a bit at the reminder of her confrontation with Jude. Lucy couldn’t stop the sadness that filled her at the thought, and she heard Rushii make a small noise of alarm but remained silent for a moment.

“It was bad, Nee-san,” Lucy sniffed. “You were right.”

Rushii felt a swell of anger inside of her as she gritted her teeth at the confirmation of a small fear she had. Perhaps this timeline could be different, she had secretly hoped. Perhaps Lucy would have a chance to have a father after all.

It seems some things will never change in any lifetime. How cruel.

“I didn’t want to be right, this time.” Rushii said expressionless, feeling rather blank at the news. She could feel the sadness from Lucy, though. Why was she trying to hold back in her sorrows? Why wasn’t she allowing herself to cry?

“It’s alright to cry, to feel sad, when it calls for it.”

“I’ve done nothing but cry for what feels like forever!” Lucy cried out despite feeling another onslaught of tears coming. She had to hold it in, she had to be strong. Like Rushii. Rushii holds back her sadness and feelings, so she should too.

“No.” Rushii said harshly, causing Lucy to flinch in the real-world. “Don’t go down that path.”

She could feel Lucy’s intentions as they were rather powerful. Holding in her pain, in order to be strong? Perhaps she thought that once, when she was younger. The truth was radically different, in fact, Lucy must know.

“I--I just want to be strong. ” Lucy confessed softly.

Rushii was silent for a moment, as Lucy softly cried once more.

“You’ve been through so much these past two weeks, don’t forget that. Our mother passed, and father had been drifting away longer before then, when Mother was approaching the last stages of life. You must give yourself time to heal, Lucy. And if healing means that you cry your heart out when you’re sad, then so be it. These tears aren’t because you are weak, it’s because you cared and you mourn for those you have loved.” She began softly.

“To be honest with you, I’m not that strong if you were to ask me, Lucy. Yet measuring strength could also be considered to be a value that each person thinks of different. To some, having the ability to cry and let everything go, is strength. To others, knowing when to stop crying and to begin the process of picking up the pieces is strength.”

Rushii let out a long sigh. “As I sit and begin to use this time as a manner of reflection of what I’ve been through in my life, I’m beginning to realize that different scenarios call for different strengths. Sometimes, you must push the tears aside and stand your ground.”

“But this is not one of those times, Lucy.” Rushii finished strongly. “So allow yourself, to heal, imouto. Allow yourself to cry.”

Lucy finally let’s go, letting the tears flow as she gives everything to cry. She cries for it all, for everything that’s been feeling hard lately, to her mother’s death, to her father’s metaphorical death too. All of it, it dives down into this moment.

“It won’t go away tomorrow, these feelings. But perhaps it’ll feel a little bit easier to breathe.”

“Make sure you begin to heal too, Nee-san.” Lucy sobbed softly.

She cries for her sister, who has gone back in time because of how badly things must be in the future, and she wonders if her Nee-san ever had time to heal herself. Considering the sound of a harshly sucked in breath and the sudden raging storm of complex emotions that pulsed inside of her at her own words, Lucy didn’t think so.

Rushii was silent for the rest of the day, and Lucy was too as she allowed herself to feel.

Maybe, tomorrow would be better.

A little bit easier.

Chapter Text

Prologue: Prelude [3]

“Take a deep breath.”

Lucy closed her eyes as she focused all her attention to heeding Rushii’s instructions. What she was attempting is a small exercise that will increase her magic sensory skills, at least that was what Rushii said. Rushii didn’t notice her ability to sense magic until later, but never had the time to develop it in a way that could’ve been useful.

Being young meant that the current Lucy would be able to build upon the foundations ahead of time, and create the potential of being quite skilled in identifying magic in an area.

It could also hypothetically be a very valuable skill in regards to suppressing one’s magical signature to remain hidden.

Lucy sucked in a breath--but sucked it in a bit too fast causing her to let out a small, choked breath as she sputtered and coughed suddenly. As she was slapping her chest to help with the desperate coughs, she could feel Rushii inside of her, shaking as she tried to hold in her laugh.

“Are you alright?” Rushii choked out in amusement.

Lucy flushed with embarrassment and squeaked out her affirmation before quickly going back to her previous position. Rushii let a laugh escape despite her trying to hold it in as she felt Lucy’s waves of embarrassment for looking so silly. Rushii cleared her throat with a small, bemused smile before mirroring her stance in her mind.

“Take a deep breath.”

Lucy did it again, slower this time, and blocked all other sounds from inside of the Manor as she sat in a meditative position, with her two golden keys in front of her. The exercise that Rushii wanted Lucy to test today was to feel the magical mana that the golden keys exuded, and to see if she could describe them to her.

“Can you feel your mana pool?”

“I think so…” Lucy trailed off internally as she concentrated at the center of her core. It felt warm, familiar, and the more she looked into herself, the more she realized that it was golden. That was the color of her mana.

“Books that I have read in the future have called this pool of mana, Ethernano. The source of all magic power, for all mages.”

“Can you lose all of it?”

“It is possible, yes. Complete exhaustion, known more commonly as Burnout, is a state that you’d want to avoid as much as possible, but in the middle of battle, it is possible to use up all of your ethernano. You can recover with rest, but it shouldn’t happen too many times in one’s lifetime.” Rushii snorted. “You’re not missing out on much if you never reach that state.”

“You’ve had Burnout before?”

“Yes. Definitely not a pleasant experience.”

Lucy took a look at her golden ethernano and watched as it glowed and slowly spun. Like a planet, she gushed in awe. It was so cool to look at and see as she felt herself float around it while she meditated. Rushii’s never seen her own ethernano either, all that she’s been teaching to Lucy has either been through tough experiences or theories she’s read in a book but never had a chance to apply.

This was fascinating to her too and she faintly wondered if hers was golden colored as well.

“What’s next, Nee-san?” Lucy projected excitedly. The ethernano form flickered however, and Lucy was quick to calm down and settle her emotions so that she wouldn’t have to restart the process. It already took so long to block everything out, anyways. Nee-san said it was going to get easier with time, but yikes, she wasn’t looking forwards to it.

“Now that you understand what magic is supposed to feel like, it’s time to reach externally for the source, instead of internally, which you did in order to see your ethernano. Redirect your focus to your physical body, feeling the magic run through your veins.”

Taking the ethernano core and redirecting the flow to her veins was exhausting and it took a while for her to get down to her body. She didn’t even know what veins were but could feel numerous of paths that the magic began to flow as she slowly covered her entire body. It was taxing, she could feel her small body sweating with effort.

But in return, her body felt balanced and she felt more aware of her surroundings.

It was like she was seeing without her eyes .

“This is so freaking cool.” Lucy gushed mentally as she began to feel and isolate different magical energies in the manor. She would push out her ethernano aura and it would identify or highlight mana before reporting back to her mind. It was like her nerves were extending to her entire house.

“It is.” Rushii said in small wonder as she felt what Lucy felt during the entire process. She’s never attempted magic sensory practice like this, she only recalls this information from a book she’s read a long time ago. So, this is what it’s like, eh?

Ah, the keys! Lucy redirected her attention and aura carefully to the keys that radiate magical energy in front of her, furrowing her brow as she concentrated. One of them felt as if they were cool, calm and collected. The key radiated a small sense of uniqueness and serene. The ethernano that it generated was a red.

The other one felt like at one moment, it was raging like a hurricane and the next, it was as calm as a puddle. It seemed complex and turbulent, but undeniably strong . It’s fierce energy glowed dark blue as it seemed to call out and taunt anyone who dared tried to mess with them.

“That’s enough for now, I can feel you overwhelming your magical energy.”

Lucy calmly reduced her ethernano energy back to its core before opening her eyes, and immediately fell onto the floor from the aftermath of using her mana like that. She panted lightly as she looked up at the ceiling of her room, feeling as if she ran for a really long time.

“Oh my gosh.” Lucy panted out loud this time, feeling tired and sore. Rushii just chuckled in her mind,

“When you use your magic in a more unorthodox form, it does take more effort, I believe.”

“Is this something that you’ve never--never done before?”

“There’s a weird answer to that question. Yes, I’ve been able to sense magic after some time, and I think it’s because of being in many conflicts with…the others, that forced me to unconsciously develop this skill. Yet I’ve never had the chance to perform what you’ve just done.”

“The others?” Lucy caught onto her word choice.

“I can’t tell you.” Rushii said a bit remorsefully. The stupid Eclipse Gate won’t let her tell her about Team Natsu and the rest of Fairytail. Perhaps if Lucy finds them on her own, she’ll be able to say more. That’s what Rushii theorizes, anyways. There’s still a dark emotion that fills her at the thought of being forced to simply abide by the gate’s rules. Yet another reminder of what she’s lost, not just her life but her own body.

“S’okay Nee-san, I get it. The gate won’t let you say too much of the future, because it can make everything really different, right?”

“You’re catching on very quickly.” Rushii said pridefully. She really hates her situation sometimes, but it’s hard when she sees her younger self so eager to please and learn. She chuckled when she felt Lucy’s happiness at being praised and felt her squirm as she didn’t know what to say in return. Still, fuck that gate.

“You’re pretty smart for a little kid, Lucy.”

“Nee-san,” Lucy whined, “I’m not a little kid, I’m 9!”

“You’ve yet to hit double digits.”

Lucy just huffed and rolled her eyes as she sat up after taking a moment to recover from their exercise, directing her attention to the keys that she had sensed moments prior. Cancer and Aquarius, those were their names. She moved to lay on her stomach as she propped her head on her hand and grab one of the keys to inspect.

“This one felt really chaotic,” Lucy began, “Like she was itching for some action. Or maybe she’s just always really worked up about something. I hope she isn’t mean.”

Rushii sweatdropped at Lucy’s analysis of Aquarius, not really knowing how to describe the Celestial Spirit. Aquarius was a real piece of work, she had a bad attitude when they first started working together in her past. But Rushii realizes that she had been a bit selfish from her upbringing, which is partially why Lucy surprises her a bit.

Maybe it was this age when her shyness started to morph into something else.

Aquarius was blunt, she didn’t take anyone’s shit. Rushii found that that was what made her so powerful though, and she knows that despite her abrasiveness, Aquarius is loyal to the very end.

“She’s a bit…volatile, at times. But she’s loyal to the core, deep down.” Rushii finally says.

“Well if Nee-san says so.” Lucy shrugged. She placed Aquarius’s key down and picked Cancer’s up next, describing what she had felt when she sensed Cancer, like how she explained Aquarius’s. Rushii gave her two cents every now and then, which moved the conversation to Rushii’s constellations.

“How many keys did you have?!”

Rushii hummed, “I think at the time, I had about fifteen.”

“Fifteen?!” Lucy gasped in awe. That was a lot of keys for one Celestial Spirit Mage. She remembered that her mama only had three, and that was a lot for her. And her Nee-san said she wasn’t strong, pfft .

“Yep. I collected many during my..travels. Each of them have their own story, including how we met.”

“Wow,” Lucy said in wonder. She’ll be strong enough so that she can have many keys too, just like her Nee-san. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and Lucy’s eyes lit up as she got up to rush to her bedroom door. She opened the door and saw that it was Michael who was standing there with a small smile on his face as he looked down at the little girl.

“Good afternoon, young miss.”

“Michael!” Lucy greeted happily. “Hi!”

Michael nodded in greeting and raised an eyebrow at her sweaty state. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh! I was just practicing with Ne--”

“No!” Rushii practically shouted in Lucy’s mind, causing her to immediately close her mouth with a quick dose of fear. She felt bad for yelling at her, but she couldn’t let anyone find out that Lucy had the ability to talk with her future self. Lucy would be in danger if the wrong people heard about her abilities.

Speaking to the future and the rare celestial spirit magic abilities?

It was like signing a death warrant.

No one must know, if she can help it.

“You mustn’t tell anyone about me, Lucy, or else we could be in serious danger.”

Lucy let out a small miniscule nod as she stood before Michael who was looking at her expectedly, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She was nervous now, Rushii had surprised her by yelling at her. Rushii let out a small wave of regret at her sudden reaction, letting Lucy know that she didn’t mean to scare her.

“Ne..?”

“Ne..ssie. My stuffed bunny. We--We were playing and then you came and interrupted our dance party!”

Michael chuckled and held his hands in the air in a form of surrendering. “My apologizes! I was just coming to check up on you and to see what how you were doing, young miss.”

“Thanks, Michael.” Lucy said with a small smile. Rushii was silent the rest of the exchange, observing Michael through Lucy’s eyes as she watched them interact. A part of her was on guard, she never recalled meeting Michael the butler early-on. Granted, she didn’t remember much of her isolated childhood anymore, but that also meant that she had to be wary just in case.

He seemed kind, but one can never be too careful.

What if someone was in his mind, speaking with him too?

Someone like Rogue.

Rushii was quick to separate their emotions for a moment, and let herself dwell on her budding anger and resentment as she stared at Michael with narrowed eyes. She won’t spoil anything for Lucy, feeling how desperate she was to have someone to talk to. Michael hasn’t made any majorly suspicious moves yet either, so she won’t ruin something.

She’ll just continue to watch in silence, for now.

“It’s probably been some time since you’ve stepped outside, isn’t it?” Michael asked gently. Rushii narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. Lucy just nodded slowly, seeing that the question was true.

“Some time next week, let’s take a trip downtown to Ishgar, then. We can go to the book store that the young miss seemed to enjoy shopping at whenever she could. How does that sound?” Michael proposed and Lucy let out a small squeal of glee. It’s been so long since she’s been there! Plus she hasn’t really gone outdoors since her mother’s passing, she would’ve reprimanded her already since it’s been over two weeks.

Mama loved going outdoors, and Lucy missed it too.

“Yes! Yes, I’d love to!” Lucy grinned and she gave Michael a quick hug before waving goodbye at him once he smiled back and took his leave. Rushii was still on edge about this Michael figure, but it was hard to stay on guard-duty when Lucy’s enthusiasm was so contagious.

“Are you that excited to go outside?”

“Yes!” Lucy said as she ran to her closet to see what she would wear for next week. Rushii just huffed in amusement and decided to let her do her thing, as she was just having fun. She was a bit worried, however. Even if Michael proved to be innocent, their father was a business tycoon. Some idiot rival could make an attempt to kidnap her in an effort to get to their father, which wouldn’t even guarantee the chance of being rescued, Rushii thought sourly.

If it was going to be just Michael and Lucy, it wasn’t going be enough protection.

Rushii has made a decision.

“Going outside without a form of protection could be dangerous for us, Lucy. Your sensory abilities can’t be developed fast enough to detect other hostile mages, so we must prepare in a different manner.”

Lucy paused what she was doing and tilted her head confusedly, “We’re only going to the book store though. We used to go to the book store all of the time, remember? It’s safe!”

Rushii barely remembers anything. She still doesn’t feel it’s right, though.

“A good mage is prepared for anything. If nothing happens, then that’s great. But if something does, no offense to Michael, but he’s probably as old as our grandfather in a sense. We’d be left to defend ourselves, essentially.” Rushii didn’t bother to mention her suspicions of Michael. She thinks she’ll always be suspicious of people she doesn’t remember meeting so long as she’s with Lucy, anyways.

“Okay…I guess I understand.” Lucy nodded once she thought about it. She was starting to like Michael, but he really was an old man. “So how do we prepared, Nee-san?”

“I think you’re going to like this idea,” Rushii smiled.

“Let’s practice getting acquainted to your magic, to be able to summon Cancer and make a contract with him.”

Lucy gasped in delight and excitement.

-------

--L-H--

-------

It took hard work, but Lucy felt that she was at least a little bit ready after practicing her magic sensory exercises. Over the days leading to the bookstore trip, Rushii had explained to her that she never had the courage to summon one of the spirits before she was well into her teenager years, so she had no idea what the strain would be to summon one of the Zodiacs at her young age.

“How many were you able to summon, when you first tried?!” Lucy wondered.

Rushii paused for a moment, looking back into her past thoughtfully. “I think it was two? I was able to handle summoning Aquarius and Cancer back to back, but I don’t recall if I had the ability to have their gates open at the same time.”

“What could you do at your strongest point, Nee-san?”

Rushii opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated. The tone of her voice, of Lucy’s voice, was what through her off a bit. It was a question that was fueled with curiosity and awe, but what if that changes in the future due to Rushii revealing her capabilities as time goes by? Would Lucy try to achieve the same exact goals as she had?

Like a mindless puppet, only following instructions?

It no longer mattered how strong Rushii was, the more she thought about it.

Her life is gone now.

Clearly she wasn’t strong enough, no matter how impressed Lucy might be.

“It doesn’t matter how strong I was in the past, for it is now gone. It would be best to focus on what you aim to achieve on your own, and go beyond hoping to accomplish what I have done in my universe.”

Lucy was disappointed at her answer, Rushii could feel it. It doesn’t change her answer however, understanding that her curiosity could turn into something more complex if kept uncheck. This was Lucy’s life, not Rushii’s. She’s just there to stop the catastrophe and help protect Lucy from unnecessary danger, if she could help it.

That’s what big sisters do, after all.

Rushii wasn’t here to take over Lucy’s life, even if that’s what was she had originally thought that the Eclipse Gate would do. The gate was capable of many unnatural things, so perhaps this was what it had planned for her all-along. Rushii has had more than enough time to reminisce over her fate and what’s to come of it, anyways.

Suddenly, it finally came the destined day where Rushii felt as if it was safe enough for Lucy to summon Cancer.

“You’ve spent some time practicing magic sensoring, so what have we found so far?”

Lucy sat down and closed her eyes as she felt her body go through the process at a faster pace, with easier ease. It will probably take a long time to master the ability, she thought, but with nothing to do since her studies have been put on pause for a while, all she had was time to practice!

Plus it was cool to feel her sensor field grow further out as she began to feel the mana inside the small animals that ran around outside her house. She wondered if one day, she’d be able to sense the whole world! With her Nee-san beside her, it feels like anything could happen if she practiced enough.

Lucy transitioned to speaking to Rushii through her mind, so that her body could be as still as possible.

“It’s easier to detect and feel different magic types now, plus they all have like something different about each of them.”

“Like a signature?” Rushii mused.

“Yeah!” Lucy cheered but after a moment, she cocked her head. “What’s a signature?”

Rushii softly chuckled. “A signature is something that is a form of identification that can be traced back to a single person or a small group of people. Like for example, writing your name to sign an important piece of paper. Father does that a lot in order to give his seal of approval on certain actions he agrees with.”

“He’s a businessman.” Lucy said with utmost seriousness, nodding her head. “So that makes these magical sega--signatures, special to each person? That’s pretty cool, Nee-san.”

“Yes,” Rushii hummed. “It makes it easier to track people when you get lost, or hunt someone down for a bounty.”

“A bounty?!”

“Ah, the good ‘ole, easy money days.” Rushii merely sighed wistfully and ignored Lucy’s shocked cry. She snapped out of her daydream rather quickly, as she looked and let a pride emotion overtake Lucy, who puffed up a bit in return.

Her Nee-san was proud of what she’s accomplished!

Rushii felt a flash of amusement go through as she looked at how much Lucy’s changed a bit ever since being able to communicate with her. She was reserved and sad before, feeling a little bit uncomfortable at the sound of praises coming from Rushii. She still was relatively the same, but she was able to take compliments a little bit better now.

Progress, Rushii’s mind helpfully supplied, as she watched her younger self.

“I’m proud of what you’ve been able to accomplish so far, you’re doing great, imouto.”

Lucy flushed and shrugged shyly but mirrored Rushii’s smile. “Thanks, Nee-san.”

“Then let us begin the process, it’s not hard.”

Lucy’s eyes opened as she felt herself manipulate her ethernano back to her core, before getting up to grab Cancer’s Zodiac key that was on top of her dresser. She settled back down and held the key in her hand, unsure of what to do next.

“This is the typical sequence for calling upon a Celestial Spirit, so be sure to pay attention.” Rushii said as she got up inside her mind, and Lucy watched her movements. Rushii grabbed a small flower and told Lucy to pretend that it was a key.

“Open the Gate of the ____, ____!” Rushii emphasised the blank areas with the name of the spirit in question. She made the motion of acting as if she was putting the key (flower) into a keyhole and twisting it to unlock something, before standing up once more. “This is the typical standard of summoning a Celestial Spirit. I don’t know if there’s another way, really, but that’s just how I performed it. This goes for any colored key, silver or gold.”

Lucy nodded and Rushii shoo’d her away, bringing her back to the real world.

Lucy stood up and held the key in one hand, eyes shining with excitement and chanted,

“Open the Gate of The Giant Crab, Cancer! ”

Immediately a golden light shine as a spiritual door appeared inside Lucy’s room, winding blowing as her eyes were blown wide as she saw a pair of red scissors fly out of the door, into the room. It spun rapidly and Lucy almost ducked her head in shock to avoid the impact, until a hand stuck out and caught it right at the same time. It was a man, Lucy saw in shock, as his body fully exitted the gate.

He had black and red hair that was in braids, dark skin that was highlighted with a gold chain and a sleek blue blazer paired with black slacks that screamed fashionable. His green tinted sunglasses were angled and sharp as he looked down at young Lucy, who was staring at him in pure disbelief.

One hand was cocked on his hip while the other was spinning the pair of scissors that he had grabbed earlier, as the light faded, leaving the spirit there.

Red eyes peered over the cool green shades as he looked down at his summoner, who was panting a little bit at the exertion, but was otherwise in better shape than he thought for someone so young. Cancer cocked a small eyebrow and smirked,

“What’s this? I haven’t seen a Celestial Spirit mage this young, since Anna-ebi .”

Lucy was floored .

“H-Hi!” She squeaked out in awe and Cancer paused for a moment before kneeling down before Lucy, reaching her height. He let a small quirk of his lips turn upwards.

“Hello. What is the name of my summoner?” He inquired gently.

“L-Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia.” Cancer’s eyes widened slightly at the confirmation of his previous’s master’s death and let out a small sigh. He had known that she had passed, but it was still a small shock to see her daughter in her place. Considering the startling resemblance that Lucy had with Layla, it was safe to assume that this was her daughter, yes. Cancer hoped that the spirts guided to Layla safely to her next life.

“I see-ebi. Is this your first time summoning a Spirit?”

Lucy nodded and looked down at her feet bashfully. “Yeah. I was hoping--hoping if you’d make a contract with me?”

Ah...her mannerisms were so cute that they deadly, Cancer mentally thought as he stared at the small girl. This young girl was smart enough to figure out how to summon a Celestial Spirit, and immediately ask for a contract. How intriguing.

How rare.

“A contract, you say?” Cancer shrugged. “Sounds interesting enough. I’d be curious to see how life bounded to you would be, so I’ll accept…”

Lucy smiled brightly and immediately ran to give Cancer a hug, but he held up a quick hand which paused her in her tracks.

“...but first, I’d like to chat with the other presence inside of you-ebi .”

Lucy froze and was utterly flabbergasted as Rushii’s cry of alarm in her head force her to stumble for a quick second. She felt Rushii’s presence inside of her entire body and their roles were switched for a brief moment as Cancer forced Rushii out of her mind and into the present. Cancer’s sunglasses glinted curiously as he looked at the instant change in Lucy’s demeanor.

Rushii took control of Lucy’s body, she didn’t even know that she could do that, and looked at Cancer in alarm and hesitance with wary eyes. Cancer noted immediately the feeling of an older, maturerer presence that took over.

Yet seemed sadder, judging by her spiritual energy.

“So,” Cancer crossed his arms as he looked at Rushii, “who might you be? Just give me something to work with, for I don’t feel ill-intent from you despite being inside of young Lucy’s body.”

“How were you able to sense me…?” Rushii asked astonished as she looked at Cancer in a new life. Cancer just raised an eyebrow,

“I am one of the 12 Zodiac Golden Keys, I hope you realize- ebi . We are able to hold a degree of spiritual sensory abilities. In fact, you were the first thing that I noticed the moment I stepped out of this gate. When the child summoned me, it felt like a joint-effort.” Her presence was very subtle but still noted due to Cancer’s keen senses.

Rushii was in disbelief. She had no idea the true extent of the Zodiacs power, she just treated them well and used them with the descriptions and abilities that she had been given of them and what they have expressed before. She had no idea about that side of them.

It seems the longer she sits in the past, the longer she realizes that she’s missed many things during...her first run(?)

“I see,” Rushii said thoughtfully, through Lucy’s body. “And to answer your question, my name is Rushii.”

Cancer just hummed and stared at her for a moment, taking in the state of Rushii, before waving his hand. Rushii felt her teeth clench at the feeling of distortion that she felt as she was forced back into Lucy’s mind, bring Lucy’s as the main conscience once more. Lucy just blinked wildly as she looked at Cancer in shock,

“What did you do to us?”

Cancer had the decency to at least look a little apologetic, “I forced your spirits to switch in order to inspect…this Rushii individual- ebi . In dire circumstances, us spirits are allowed to perform such an action, according to the King. Although it’s been eons since such a law has been evoked, I’m sure that there should’ve been more restrictions but alas, it is what it is- ebi .”

Cancer looked Lucy in the eye, taking off his sunglasses. He felt a pull to this child, a connection to her that made him more intrigue by the second. Was it the results of the Rushii character, that seemed to be hosted inside of Lucy? Cancer wasn’t entirely sure. He just knew that he was interested in being contracted with this child, feeling a fondness growing inside of him that’s rather uncharacteristic for his typical nonchalant attitude.

“I apologize if what I had done had scared or caused any sort of pain to you,” Cancer begins with a small pang of regret that was visible, but Lucy cut him off with a smile and a shrug.

“It’s okay, you just wanted to see if Nee-san was some sort of evil spirit possessing me, right?”

“Where the hell did you hear something like that?” Rushii muttered in sight shock.

“I’m just glad that everything is okay!” Lucy ended on a brighter note, giggling as she heard Rushii’s grumbles in her head.

“It is, indeed- ebi . I’d love to be contracted to you, Lucy Heartfilia.” Cancer said, putting his sunglasses back on as he held his hand out. What awaits him, only time will tell, he mused at the little girl who’s eyes shone with happiness and glee. She quickly coughed and schooled her expression, mimicking someone serious as she pinched her lips cutely and nodded as she shook his hand.

“ Awesome --I mean, yes, Cancer!”

Chapter Text

Prologue: Prelude [4]

Finally, the day came to take the trip to the bookstore!

Lucy was so excited, she hasn’t felt the urge to go outside ever since Mama passed away. These days, sometimes she was happy and she didn’t cry much. Other days, it was hard to get out of bed and eat breakfast at a table all alone. She hasn’t seen her Father since she worked up the courage to confront him last week.

She doesn’t know how to feel about it still, really.

Lucy remembered asking Rushii what she thought about it.

“Rushii?” Lucy asked softly.

Rushii immediately locked onto the sound and feeling of a sullen Lucy and was quick to respond.

“What’s up?”

“Is it--is it bad for me not to like Father right now? If he were to want to talk to me right now, I don’t think I would want to listen to him.” Lucy confessed quietly, with pain in her voice. She was hurt at the fact that her father was ignoring her entire existence. Yet she didn’t want to cause anymore trouble, she didn’t want to be a bad girl. A bad daughter.

Rushii swallowed down the umpteenth curse at ’their’ Father and merely sighed, “No. It’s not bad at all. You have a right to feel hurt by his shitty, mindless actions.”

Lucy huffed out a small laugh, “Nee-san, that’s a bad word.”

“He’s a bad man.” Rushii snorted. Jude Heartfilia was not evil. That was a word that was reserved for scum, scum that Rushii has caught glimpses of and even met in her lifetime. A bad man didn’t mean that they were automatically the lowest of the low in terms of villainy, but he certainly wasn’t a good person.

‘Bastard’, Rushii thought bitterly.

Lucy knew that Rushii didn’t like ’their’ Father much, especially coming back. She didn’t say anything when she felt a wave of resentment that wasn’t hers. She was glad to at least have Michael and Nee-san at her side, at least.

“Are you ready, Young Miss?” Michael said kindly as he helped Lucy put on her coat as she was a bit distracted. Lucy blinked back into reality and beamed at Michael, nodding rapidly,

“I am!”

They had to take the train in order to go to Ishgar, the town that was close to the reserved and isolated manor. Lucy grabbed Michael’s hand once he grabbed his hat and proceeded to head out of the manor. Michael hadn’t asked for permission to leave the premises with the Heartfilia child, but Jude wasn’t interacting much with the staff either.

A trip to the bookstore wouldn’t put her in harm’s way, anyways.

It was a route that has been done many times before.

“Activate your sensory abilities the moment you step outside of the Manor.” Rushii instructed.

“Okay, Nee-san!”

“Do you have Cancer’s key with you?” Rushii inquired.

Lucy let out a pulse of affirmation as she stepped outside with her hand in Michael’s as they made their way to the train station. It was a little bit chilly, hence her outerwear of a small coat. She skipped every once in a while much to Michael’s amusement as they walked. Rushii still wasn’t sure what to make of Michael, but he didn’t seem to be harboring any ill-intentions out right.

She decided to take a short nap to save her energy, in the meantime.

“I’m going to rest…let me know if you need me. Immediately.” Rushii emphasized heavily on the last bit. Now that they knew that it was possible for Rushii to become the main conscience and take over their shared body, she concluded that in moments of desperation, she would be able to save them if it came to it.

“Okay, Nee-san! Get some rest, okay?”

Rushii just gave out a small smile at Lucy’s thoughtfulness.

“When we get to the train station, be sure to stick close with me in the event that it is busy. I’d hate to lose you in a sea of people.” Michael explained while Lucy nodded. She didn’t bother to tell him that she had memorized his magical signature, and that if she tried hard enough, she’d be able to sense him from far away. Rushii said that it was their secret, and Lucy takes her secrets very seriously.

It was a relatively easy process after that, getting on the train and getting off at the Ishgar stop. Lucy couldn’t help but finger Cancer’s key the entire time as she begin to arrive at her destination. She was a bit nervous, for some reason. So when Cancer’s key warmed up in her hand, and she looked down to look at it in slight surprise, to see it shining a bit and giving her a little bit of strength was comforting. She flashed a small grin at the key and shoved in back into her pocket, feeling stronger than ever.

“Thanks Cancer,” Lucy whispered.

“What was that, Young Miss?”

“Oh! Nothing, Michael!”

He just chuckled and walked up the steps to the quaint bookstore first, holding out his hand to help the small girl up. They entered the bookstore soon after, with Lucy letting out a pleasant sigh at the sight of familiarity. It wasn’t anything grand or expensive looking, despite the Heartfilia’s capable bank account. Layla was drawn to it by its atmosphere, rather, and passed down that feeling to Lucy.

Michael let Lucy know that she was free to roam around and look as he stood by the door, making polite conversation with one of the cashiers. Lucy didn’t hesitate to take off as she exploring the bookstore once more.

She found herself immerse into the books as she hunted for new ones, when she felt her magic sensory abilities detect something that seemed to radiate an energy that was screaming something bad at her. She had gotten so used to her surroundings that she didn’t even pick up on it before, which is kind of a good thing. Rushii probably would’ve scolded her. Her brow furrowed as she snapped her head in the direction, and slowly made her way towards the direction of the mana, hiding behind a bookshelf for a moment.

Lucy held her breath as she crouched down on instinct, hand gripping Cancer’s key as she felt tense. This energy made her uncomfortable, it was rolling in hostility and scariness as she peaked past the bookshelf to see the figure in question.

They weren’t alone, men dressed in black that stood outside of the bookstore.

In the future, they probably weren’t any more than petty thieves that could have been wiped out with a good kick and a stern scowl. But to the nine-year-old girl, it was three big men that were looking really suspicious, and she was beginning to get scared.

It only increased ten-fold when she realized that they were speaking loudly about something (which showed their amatuer skills but she wasn’t aware at the time);

“...Heartfilia child..”

“..the child, bookstore..”

“...ransom..”

Lucy gasped in horror and quickly scrambled backwards as her body began to shake from the fear that was seeping into her. Rushii was right , they were people that were probably to get her for that ransom thing, she remembered her Nee-san mumbling to herself about! Lucy immediately ran to look for Michael, who was still talking in the front of the room with the cashier.

She ran up to him, and he looked down with a gentle smile at first before frowning at her expression.

“Miss? What’s wrong?”

Lucy pointed at the men coming towards the bookstore outside through the big window, “The men! They said--really bad things about me--”

“What?!”

One of them made their entrance then, and the cashier, Michael, and Lucy all paused to look at the front door as they everyone froze. The goon in black blinked owilishly at the little girl, before grinning in delight and activating his magic as he hollered, “She’s here! The Heartfilia brat is here!”

Michael was quick to shield himself in front of her as he opened his arms widely in order to take the first hit towards Lucy, who let out a panicked shout and ducked instinctively. The perpetrator scowled and reached out to shove Michael out of the way, who staggered but took the second hit with surprising durability for an old man.

“Lucy!” Michael shouted at her as the cashier let out a panicked scream of their own and ducked under the registar, leaving Michael to look around, scrambling as he tried to figure out how to protect the young miss. He let out a painful grunt as he held the assualter back, but knew his chances to escape was getting slim as he saw the goon’s lackeys rushing towards him.

“There is an exit towards the back, you need to run to it and to keep running until you’re far away from here. I’ll--I’ll find you when I can.” Michael stammered, as Lucy felt nerves racking as she stumbled and fell as the enemies got closer. She scrambled back up and ran with a panic urgency towards the exit, knocking down books as she was being chased by one of the newcomers.

Cancer’s key burned .

“O-Open the Gate of the G-Giant Crab, Cancer!” Lucy twisted his key in the open as she ran towards the back door. His appearance was less dramatic this time around, with a golden flash appearing quickly before dispersing, with the tall, dark-skinned man poised with pairs of scissors that flowed around him, spinning at a rapid pace. Cancer tsked,

“You should have called me the moment you detected danger- ebi .”

Lucy sniffed as she stood behind the spirit. “S-Sorry.”

Cancer just stood strong and quiet as he leveled his gaze on the enemy before him, watching the goon not take him seriously for being a celestial spirit. He almost wanted to smirk, it’s been a while since he’s been used in combat. And to attempt a kidnap on his newfound summoner? Well that wasn’t fun at all.

“Don’t worry about it, although you should get going. I feel that there is a forest near by here, I will come find you once I’m finished with my opponent- ebi .”

“Be careful,” Lucy whispered as she pushed the door open, “A-And save Michael if you can, please.”

Cancer turned and used one of his scissors to block an incoming attack, nodding once to agree with Lucy’s plan. Lucy sniffed but gave him a serious nod in return, placing her trust into her celestial spirit as she quickly exited the bookstore, to head out the back way.

Cancer’s aura immediately changed to something more devious once his master was able to escape, and wordlessly turned back towards the goon that was defending himself from the projectile scissors. He took a single step, and practically teleported behind the man with a speed that was inhumane to most. Grabbing one of the scissors in the air, he was quick to hold it to the man’s neck and he whispered,

“I strongly suggest you stop, before you lose your life.”

The man scoffed, “Everybody with a brain knows that Celestial Spirits can’t kill people, you’re nothing more than slaves.”

Cancer just hummed as he froze his many scissors in the air, and they all rotated to point at the man he was holding. They all pointed at the main arteries of his body, and the man began to sweat profusely as Cancer huffed out a light chuckle.

“Rumors are just rumors unless proven otherwise- ebi,” Cancer said a little dryly, “Would you like to test that particular one out?”

The truth was that there weren’t any rules saying that they couldn’t kill humans, except the person they were contracted to. It would be a lot of paperwork if a spirit went on a “legal” frenzy though, which was not on Cancer’s to do list as he ran a hair salon in the Spirit World. Nobody has time for paperwork, not even the damn King.

A sharp blade dug deeper into the man’s neck.

“Well? I don’t have all day...”

Cancer took the moment to glance in Michael’s direction, as per Lucy’s soft instruction. He wasn’t doing well. Cancer tsked and didn’t wait for a response at this point as he smacked the back of the man’s neck, knocking him unconscious immediately and dropped his body to the ground. Cancer wiped his hands with a blue handkerchief and pointed a finger to send some scissors piercing at the other enemies towards Michael.

And he walked leisurely to begin the process of taking care of the rest.

-------

--L-H--

-------

Lucy ran.

She felt the adrenaline begin to pump into her veins as she dashed through the exits of the bookstore, running towards the forest that Cancer had noticed earlier. Her heart was racing as she ran, pigtails flying in the wind as she hustled. She didn’t know how Cancer was going to find her, but maybe he’d be able to sense her if she uses her magic sensory abilities to leave a trace. After all, he hinted that he was able to feel something with Rushii and mentioning the forest earlier.

It was a good plan.

Lucy spanned her sensoring area, making sure that she wasn’t being followed by the other goons. She could feel them behind her, but they were disappearing one by one as she continue to run away. Lucy hoped that Cancer was okay, Michael too.

Trees whipped past her as she hopped over a fallen tree branch, running in the middle of the woods. It was taking a lot of energy to move her body and maintain the sensory field she had to detect her surroundings, but she pushed through.

After a while, she began to slow down after detecting nothin--

Fire.

That was the first thing that Lucy felt when she caught wind of a warm, fiery magical energy that was near her. It felt like a small, but warm campfire. Gentle but still radiate and slowly going stronger at a snail’s space. It felt old , which confused Lucy, but drew her in anyways as she panted, slowing down.

Her body began to move on it’s own as she walked towards through the woods, heading towards the magical signature like a moth to a flame. It felt familiar to her, it made her feel safe . She’s never felt this presence before though.

She wonders if it was Rushii’s subtle memories that was guiding her towards whoever this was.

Eventually Lucy reached a clear area, looking at the back of what appeared to be a small boy with his head down as his magical mana wavered the closer she got to him. She stayed silent for the moment, opting to breathe out of her mouth as she looked at him silently.

He was dirty, it looked like he hadn’t changed his clothes in a long time. The scarf that was around his neck looked like it used to be white, but it has streaks of brown in it right now.

His head was down, in his hands as he muttered something softly, but Lucy held back a gasp of shock once she saw the brief color of his hair.

It was pink , which had Lucy gaping in small awe. She’s never seen pink hair before. She wanted to pink hair too--

Lucy suddenly frowned when she heard a sound that distinctive sounded like a small sniffle. She narrowed her eyes at the boy in the distance that and realized he wasn’t mumbling , he.. was softly crying.

She took a step forwards, unconsciously, but ended on stepping on branch, breaking it.

The boy tensed and quickly rubbed his eyes as he shot up from his seat, whipping his head around with a large smile on his face that gave Lucy an uncomfortable feeling immediately. Not because it was scary, but because it felt so fake . He was just crying before, why was he happy now?

Did she meet another psycho? Lucy furrowed her brow minisculely at the thought.

“H-Haha, Erza! Seems like you finally foun--” The boy caught off once he realized that it was not Erza, but another girl? At the same time, Lucy cocked her head to the side, wondering who this Erza person was. They stood and stared at each other for a moment, the boy blinking owilishly while Lucy pulled her jacket collar shyly as she fidgeted.

Nothing was said for a moment.

“I-I like your scarf?” Lucy said hesitantly, voice lifting at the end. The boy looked down at his dirty scarf, black eyes looking at it with a solemn expression that disappeared once Lucy blinked. He ended up giving her a soft half-smile,

“Thanks.” He gave her a curious look and walked forwards, leaving Lucy frozen as she realized that they appeared to be around the same age. Getting close enough to him made her realize that he was slightly taller than her, with salmon pink hair and black eyes that seemed to hold a variety of emotions in them, despite the smile on his face.

A gust of wind blew between them, the boy watched as her pigtails swayed softly.

He gave a brighter smile this time, and Lucy had a feeling that this one was real.

“Yo. I’m Natsu!”

“Oh! Well, I-I’m Lucy.” Lucy smiled softly. Being so close to the boy that felt like a homey campfire, it made her feel at ease despite being somewhat on the run. Natsu looked down at his scarf and held a piece of it towards her.

“...You want to feel my scarf?!” He asked innocently, but Lucy scrunched her nose and shook her head. Natsu pouted softly and Lucy was quick to answer why.

“It’s dirty! In fact, you’re dirty! You should go back home and take a bath with--with extra bubbles!”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Natsu’s eyes saddened softly, fists crumbling the scarf in his hand as he let out a tired sigh. Lucy scrambled to retract her statement, noticing his sadness.

“I-I’m sorry! Do you not have a home--?”

“Meh.” Natsu looked up at the sky. “There’s this place called Fairytail. There’s a bunch of other kids with me that live there.”

Lucy nodded despite being confused, but maybe Natsu just had a lot of siblings. “Alright...but why do you look so sad then?”

“Sad? Me? No way! The world is too big to be sad, there’s room for so many adventures!” Natsu exclaimed loudly as he threw his hands up in the air, twirling around Lucy with a bright grin. Lucy pursed her lips, she could for some reason tell that while Natsu did believe in what he was saying, he wasn’t being as happy as he appeared to be. Maybe she would’ve believed him, if she hadn’t caught him crying softly earlier.

Lucy just reached out a hand and placed in on Natsu’s arm, who froze and turned to look at her with big round eyes, that told his whole entire story. Ah, she was right then.

“Natsu…someone once told me very recently that it’s okay to be sad sometimes. The adventure can start tomorrow, if you don’t feel good today.” Lucy managed to get out without stuttering. She hasn’t talked to another person her age in a long time, she was proud! She bet Nee-san would be too if she was awake. “It’s okay to cry, I saw you a bit earlier. If you’re sad, let it out.”

Natsu opened to say something but decided against it as he closed his mouth and looked down at the ground. It was another period of silence before either one of them spoke up again, but it was Natsu to do it this time.

“I-I ran away from Fairytail to look for my dad.”

Lucy’s eyes widened as she let him continue.

“We had so much fun together, yeah? So why--why did he just leave me?” Natsu confessed quietly, heartbroken as he tried to hold back his tears. Watching Natsu trying to hold it in made Lucy realize what Nee-san was looking at when she gave Lucy her pep-talk. Immediately, she felt the strong urge to embrace Natsu and after a brief hesitation, she did just that.

It no longer mattered that he was dirty, getting mud on her clothes. She understood why he was in this state now.

Natsu clunged onto her immediately, resting his head in her shoulder as Lucy patted his back a little awkwardly. She decided that maybe she should share something about herself too, seeing how Natsu confessed something that seemed to really be on his mind.

“My mom died, about a month ago.”

Natsu tensed and leaned back from Lucy with sadness for her, pleading into his eyes. “Wow.”

Lucy let out a sad smile of her own and shrugged. “Yeah, it hurts every day, but I’m getting better bit by bit. To add on top of it, my dad doesn’t talk to me anymore...it’s pretty lonely sometimes.” She has Rushii and Michael of course, but even they are busy sometimes. Natsu gaped in horror and he spontaneously lifted up Lucy and began to spin her around much to her surprise.

“W-What--?” Lucy yelped in shock as Natsu just yelled out muffled rubbish and spun her even faster. They soon fell into laughter as she stumbled away from him, moving in a slight dizzy manner as Natsu just laughed with a genuine smile on his face at the sight. Lucy flushed,

“What the heck was that for?!”

Natsu just grinned, “It was getting too sad, so I decided to spice things up a bit!”

“You’re crazy .”

“Woohoo!” Natsu cheered. Lucy just rolled her eyes and huffed as she took a moment to sit down, Natsu coming over quickly to sit down next to her. It was funny how close she already felt with a boy that she’s only known for about ten minutes. She wondered if they were friends now, with flash of excitement.

“Anyways,” Lucy looked towards the direction she came, “I’ve begun to realize that just because you’re not related to them, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t your family.”

She thinks about Cancer, Rushii, and Michael for a brief moment. It’s a small group, but she’s starting to get used to the idea of them being her new family now. Lucy turned towards Natsu with a hint of a playful but serious expression as she tapped his nose.

“So you should go back to your home, to Fairytail. At least to take a shower, because you stink.” Lucy said bluntly and truthfully. Natsu just let out a loud laugh, and wow, he was probably a loud person in normal circumstances. “I bet they’re looking for you, too, you know.”

“Who?”

“Fairytail and maybe your dad. Who knows? But I bet your dad wanted you to be safe, and it seems like Fairytail did that till you ran away. Did you have a lead? Or supplies?”

“What?” Natsu cocked his head as Lucy gasped.

“You just ran away with nothing? No blanket, no water? What about food?!”

“I drink from the river and I can catch fish with my bare hands,” Natsu said proudly, puffing out his chest. Lucy just looked at him unamused, causing him to quickly scratch the back of his neck sheepishly. She gave him a light slap on the arm,

“ Baka. ” She earned herself a grin in return and huffed out a laugh of her own. Lucy suddenly blinked when she began to feel the familiar signature of Cancer approaching her within the forest and quickly stood up. For a moment, she forgot that she had been on the run, and she regretfully turned towards Natsu, who was staring at her with a small sadness behind his eyes.

“Are you leaving, too?”

Lucy felt that it was hard to swallow for a moment. Why did one question feel so loaded?

“...I am. Someone has come to get me, my..family.” Lucy confessed quietly. Natsu was quick to school his features back to his default setting of instant happiness and made sure to get Lucy another big hug much to her disgust and happiness. Even if they never meet again, they felt like friends.

Lucy pointed a finger with a stern expression and a hand cocked on her hip. She was used to Natsu now, so she was losing her shyness rapidly.

“And you--you better go home and take care of yourself! Go get some help to find your dad, yeah? You’re just a little boy, it’s okay to ask your family for help!”

Natsu took in a deep breath. Fairytail as his family? Well they did eat together all of the time, he always played with Gray and Elfman, although the latter was super shy. And Lisanna! Oh man, he left her behind--and their egg! What if something really did hatch like she said it would! Mirajane would probably hunt him down and beat him up for making Lisanna sad and if anything was a motivator to go back to Fairytail, it was to avoid the wrath of that she-witch, Natsu shuddered.

“My family,” He murmured to himself before releasing a small laugh. He turned to look at Lucy, the girl that seemed to understand him way faster than everyone else. Maybe he’ll make her his family too. Is that how that worked? Sounds like another adventure!

“I will. I promise!”

Lucy nodded in satisfaction before turning around to run towards Cancer. Natsu said one last thing to her, before she started off.

“Come to Fairytail, one day! I’ll--I’ll wait for you! And then you could meet the rest of us! M-My family!” Natsu shouted despite her being right there. Lucy just cringed slightly at the volume but returned his cheerful energy with a wave and a smile of her own.

“Yeah..maybe I will.”

She took off after that, rushing towards Cancer and a bruised, but doing okay Michael in his arms once she finally reached him.

She couldn’t wait to tell Rushii about her adventure today, but err--maybe she won’t considering she almost got kidnapped. Rushii would probably beat herself up or something for being asleep and resting, and Lucy wouldn’t want that.

Meanwhile Natsu stared at Lucy’s back as she disappeared into the woods and looked down at his hands, before clenching them in determination. Fairytail was his family now, despite his desperate search for Igneel. It was something that was aching inside of him as he lived in Fairytail, waiting for the dragon to walk through the big front doors.

Was he hurt?

Was he in danger?

Does he not want…Natsu anymore?

Those kinds of thoughts danced through his mind for a while now, despite enjoying his time at Fairytail with the rest of the kids. He begged Makarov to let him go and find his dad, but the old geezer always declined and told him to go play. It’s been three days since he ran away, and it was hard . It was an impulsive decision but he just wanted to find him, despite everyone telling him no.

Natsu thinks that he’ll always be searching for Igneel as he goes on more adventures, after being grounded (that he knows was going to happen once he gets back).

But talking with Lucy really helped put more things in place in his mind, and it made him realize that he can search for his dad while living with his new family too. He didn’t have to choose.

And Fairytail doesn’t seem like the type to..abandon him.

Natsu grinned and turned, scarf blowing into the wind as he began to run back to Fairytail.

He hopes that he’ll get to see Lucy again, one day.

But for now, he had a promise to keep.

Chapter Text

Prologue: Prelude [5]

Time.

It flies like an arrow.

-------

--L-H--

-------

(Age: 11)

Lucy runs through the halls of the Heartfilia Manor, Rushii softly scolding her in her mind for her to slow down but she didn’t pay heed. She let out a small giggle as she hopped onto the railings of her spiraling staircase, sliding down as she kicked her feet in the air. Today was a rare break from her private tutoring, a day where she can head outside and do whatever she wants!

It didn’t matter that it was back to studying despite it being the weekend tomorrow.

She ran towards the garden in the middle of the home and immediately grabbed one of the watering cans, nodding and waving at the help that was already tending the plant life. She saluted playfully as she zoomed past Michael, who was looking exasperately at her speed but nodded in greeting anyways.

They had installed a small pond towards the back of the garden, much to Lucy’s insistence and delight. She had wanted to take an active roll in keeping her mother’s memory alive, and decided that tackling and taking care of the garden was the route she was going to go.

She glanced up suddenly, eyes squinting a bit as she took a look at the big window that was peering over the garden. The sun was shining in her eyes, so she held a hand up to protect them, yet it didn’t her from seeing that the blinds to the window of her Father’s office was closed as usual.

In the past, Lucy probably would have felt some type of way.

Now, she just let out a small sigh and moved on.

“He’s not going to magically appear out here, you know.” Rushii didn’t say unkindly. It was just a matter of fact. Jude Heartfilia was an enigma now and it was best to not waste time wondering about what their father could be doing, when life goes on as always.

Lucy hummed, “I know. I just…thought it’d be nice to see him.”

“Wasting energy on people who don’t care about you will only drag you down in the long run.” Rushii simply stated and Lucy rolled her eyes at her Nee-san, who was a little depressing sometimes. She understood what she was trying to convey, but seriously, it wasn’t that serious at the moment!

“Guess I should try and get rid of you then, huh?” Lucy teased.

Rushii snorted. “Cheeky brat.”

Lucy just grinned as she watered the plants, taking her time to snip any dead leaves that she finds on the stems. It was nice, a fun hobby that she liked to take care of. She definitely doesn’t know much about flowers, but she learned from the gardeners how to take care of Dandelions. That was all that mattered, really.

“Do you have her key with you?”

That’s right! Today was a special day after all.

She was going to summon Aquarius!

“Of course, I do! I’m a responsible kid, Nee-san.”

“Is that right? Well, that’s really odd, because I remembered that just last week, you used your static blow dryer while running water to brush your teeth and got elec—”

Lucy flushed red at the reminder of the small electrocution shock she had from the incident and stammered loudly, “Okay, okay!”

It drew the attention of some of the gardeners who looked over questionably but Lucy just waved them off with tinted cheeks of embarrassment and sulked into her body as she crouched down to cover her face. She let out a high pitched groan, “Ah, seriously?! That was so embarrassing—they totally think I’m crazy and that I talk to myself.”

“Technically, you do.”

“ So not funny, Nee-san.” Lucy grumbled as she fished her pocket for the other key, which happened to be to the water bearer. Rushii looked on silently through Lucy’s eyes, taking in the sight of her old friend’s key. It’s been two years since she let Lucy summon Cancer’s key off of her instruction. These were Golden Zodiac keys after all, when Rushii was in her late teens, she had stamina built up to withstand the strain of mana.

But with Lucy’s young body, who would have known the side-effects of drawing out such power. Rushii had too much to lose in an effort to try to speed up the process of gaining power and hurting Lucy in the process, the catastrophe plagued her moments whenever the silence was too loud. She will do what has to be done with the time she’s been given.

Lucy has been making excellent progress with strengthening her bond with Cancer. He even pops up every now and then without being summoned, which had shocked Rushii initially. She doesn’t remember if he’s ever done that with her before, other than to cut her hair. Seeing Cancer’s interactions with Lucy has made Rushii really reflect on how she had used her spirits, or perhaps they merely adapted to the style of their summoner.

Rushii used to care much about her looks and friends. Thus, the Spirits reflected that energy for the most part, even in battle.

When she watches Lucy talk with Cancer and how she treats them with a kindness that went even before Rushii’s. She asks them about their day, how they were feeling, what they did in the Spirit World even.

Rushii was kind and cared for her spirits as well.

But did she take in the time and consideration that Lucy was doing, with her lone spirit?

She couldn’t recall so.

One would probably think that this would cause Rushii to fall into a self-debricative state of wishing she had treated her spirits better. This was not the case, however. She had treated her spirits with care, they were an extended family to her in many ways. Their relationship in her lifetime worked, it was relative to her.

This wasn’t her lifetime for it has past, she reasoned.

It didn’t mean that she didn’t have regrets, she had many.

But how Rushii loved her spirits wasn’t one of them.

“Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!”

A familiar, golden light shone brightly, filling the entire garden as Lucy smiled in awe. Cancer forced open his gate and sat down quietly next to Lucy, who glanced at him in small shock. Her eyes lit up at the site of the Spirit, which brings a tiny smile to his face. When was the last time a Celestial Spirit Mage had smiled at him, not because he was performing a duty, but because he was merely there?

In all of his eons that he has lived, his mind draws a blank.

Not even the legendary Anna made him feel the need to protect as strongly as this little girl does with his spiritual life.

“ Ugh . What the hell is this?” A strong female voice grumbled as she stepped out of the gate, into the pond of small fish. She was large and the pond barely big enough for her to fit her lower body inside, but she was forced to make due. With flowing blue hair, and a circlet that gleamed on her forehead, Aquarius the Water Bearer propped her elbow up on the piece of land that was on the side of the pond, with her massive water jug sitting in the water.

Lucy looked at her with her mouth wide open in awe, and Aquarius furrowed a brow as she looked at the child.

“Did you summon me, kid?”

Lucy puffed up her chest and nodded, “I did!”

Aquarius fell silent as she peered over towards Cancer, who was snipping at plants idely behind the small girl as he sat near her. A quick flash of her eyes signaled that he hadn’t been summoned, but came out on his own free will. Aquarius raised an eyebrow and snorted,

“Is that the crab, I see? I didn’t think I’d see you ever step out of that damned hotbox salon.”

Lucy blinked in confusion at her words, but Rushii let out a massive choked breath at Aquarius’s words. Lucy whipped her head between as the two spirits seemed to clash politely, to an extent.

“Nee-san, what’s a hotbox?”

“D-Don’t worry about it, Lucy.” Rushii choked out as she tried to regain her bearings, not sure whether to gape in disbelief or laugh her tail off. She didn’t even know spirits could get high, or the fact that they talked to each other often in the Spirit Realm.

Cancer snipped a stem with a small pang of aggression, “Excuse you- ebi, but not all of us are compliant with sitting around in water, moping about how much they miss their boyfriend. One would think that with an aura like yourself, you’d be more… independent-ebi. ”

Aquarius’s eye twitched. “And suddenly, I remember why I avoided your irritating ass. You never fail to piss me off, Cancer.”

Cancer gave her a cool smile, “A divine beauty like yourself, thinking about me- ebi ? I am truly flattered. Stop by the salon sometime, I’ll give you a trim.”

“You’re not touching my hair, crab.”

“Pity. I suggested my offer for a reason.”

Aquarius scowled harshly as she levitated her urn and pointed the mouth of it at Cancer, who looked at her with a small, but devious smirk. Lucy saw and felt that raw power that was generated in the urn, eyes widening as she scrambled to get up and throw herself in front of Cancer, with her arms spread out wide.

“H-Hey! Don’t hurt Cancer, he was just trying to be nice!” Lucy pouted at Aquarius, who looked down at the girl, as if she finally noticed her presence. She decided to float her body into the air, rising to her full height as she floated before the girl. Lucy looked up as Aquarius stared down at her with a weight in her eyes, taking in the sight of the beautiful blue mermaid as the sun basked behind her.

“You’re so pretty.” Lucy whispered in wonder, and Aquarius didn’t say anything as she looked down at the girl. It would seem to others that she didn’t react at all, but Cancer has known her long enough to see the subtle softness of her eyes as she looked at the young Heartfilia. He hid a smile himself at the sight, because he completely understood.

Lucy’s raw enthusiasm and genuine energy is something that was so…refreshing.

“So you’re the Celestial Spirit Mage that summoned me,” She reiterated from before. The change in position made Aquarius look even more domineering than initially had, but Lucy wasn’t scared.

“That’s right.” She nodded firmly.

Aquarius hummed, leaning in to look directly into Lucy’s eyes as she narrowed her ice blue ones, “And who is that, inside of you?”

Lucy swallowed but was prepared for that question too. Rushii had already told her about her suspicious, and it seemed like she was correct once again. “Her name is Rushii, and she’s someone that I really care about that lives inside of my head!”

Aquarius just sweatdropped at the answer and shook her head in dismay as she muttered, “I guess there’s always a cost for geniuses. The kid has a voice inside of her head, of course she fucking does!”

She waved her hand dismissively in the end, “Whatever, I don’t care that much. If you want to make a contract with me, then let’s just get this shit over with.”

Aquarius had already peered into the spirit of Rushii inside of Lucy and determined that she wasn’t going to be harmful to her mage anyways. She was just curious to see if Lucy was going to lie to her or not. She didn’t, obviously. She told the truth in such a blatant way, it was almost alarming.

A change of pace, Lucy Heartfilia was shaping to be.

“You’ll make a contract with me?” Lucy beamed, and suddenly Aquarius had to pause at the sight of joy on her voice, feeling at a loss. Who the hell gets this happy over summoning and making a contract with a spirit? That was the whole point of them meeting in the first place.

This girl was something else.

And her smile , it was too strong.

She hated it.

Aquarius scowled and her urn activated, spurting water towards Cancer and Lucy as they both let out various noises of shock as soft jet-streams of water hit them, getting them wet. Cancer just huffed out a small irritated sigh while Lucy shrieked, that turned into bright laughter once the water began to be manipulated around her, lifting her up into the air.

And then she started to fly .

“She really likes you,” Rushii smiled softly at the sight of Aquarius’s scowl and the feeling of joy that Lucy was experiencing as she flew with the help of water. Lucy let out another laugh as she spun in the air, feeling the cool liquid soothe her skin on a hot day like it was today.

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

Lucy smiled and mentally sat down next to Rushii, who had her torn cloak draped over her as she sat against a wall. The scenery has changed over the years, Rushii’s room as Lucy likes to call it. What had started off as a field of flowers that was surrounded by a sea of grey has now turned into a place that was slowly beginning to resemble an apartment, from what Lucy could tell.

It felt warm, like it was home.

“When did you first meet Aquarius, Nee-san?” Lucy asked curiously.

Rushii let out a dry chuckle, “Well, I don’t think we started off on the right foot, which is why I told you that she liked you. I know from experience what true irritation looks like on Aquarius.”

“What did you do?!”

“...I used to summon her in fishbowls.”

Lucy laughed the entire day at the thought.

-------

--L-H--

-------

Fate.

Lucy likes to think that it’s like a super lucky, ever-lasting bingo card, sometimes.

Naturally, Rushii disagrees.

-------

--L-H--

-------

(Age: 14)

She’s not entirely sure where she is, or how she got here.

She’s gone celestial key fishing before, but this time was with a small restraint in her determination to find more at local shops or even in the middle of the woods. Rushii challenged her to use her mana sensory abilities to locate them, which was light-work for her now after training her ability for about five years now.

Lucy naturally does it on her own now, doesn’t even know if it ever turns off at this point.

“Do you feel it?” Rushii asked as she crossed her arms, sitting in the chair inside of her half-finished apartment. She had her arms crossed as she looked through Lucy’s eyes, in the middle of vast fields of windmills and…cows? Lucy was confused as to why she felt a strong energy in this setting, but trusted Rushii’s instructions.

Rushii let out a small smile at what they were on their way to find. It was reassuring that some things didn’t change, and that she was able to rescue Taurus’s key from the elements.

“I do. It’s radiating an energy that reminds me of pure strength, if that makes sense,” Lucy rambled aloud. “Loyalty.”

“You’re getting better at describing signatures.”

“Only ‘cause I have a great teacher.” Rushii rolled her eyes, she didn’t teach her a damn thing. This was all of Lucy’s hardwork that she put in, really. She was just there for emotional support, and the occasional guidance if the Eclipse Gate allowed her so.

“He feels close.”

Lucy looked around in the greenery, feeling the key to be very near. Rushii was allowed to say “he”, which intrigues Lucy a bit. She wondered if he’d be like Cancer, calm and collected with a splash of mischeviousness. Or maybe he was rough around the edges like Aquarius, never failing to let out a snarky remark that had compliments laced within it at times.

“...I’m going to give you a fair warning right now. This key’s personality…isn’t the best,” Rushii spoke hesitantly, wondering how Lucy would react to Taurus’s pervert persona, if everything was the same. Rushii remembered him lusting over her body in her lifetime, and wondered if he’d do the same to the minor that was about to summon him once they found his key. Rushii felt a cold wash over, and she prepared to take over Lucy’s body to knock some sense into Taurus if he tried to pull some gross shit.

Perhaps she was blind to tolerate it in her past life, seeing how Taurus never touched her without permission.

Things have changed however.

“If I see something I don’t like, I’m going to take over for a moment,” Rushii said ominously, and Lucy found herself really curious about this key now, as she nodded in agreement. Nee-san knew her spirits the best anyways, she knows what to expect initially.

She trusts her wholeheartedly.

Eventually, she had found the key on one of the fences in the meadow, and repeated the words that Rushii spoke to her in her mind,

“Open the Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus !”

A bright light shone as a giant figure bulldozed his way into the meadows with a loud roar, that shook Lucy’s concentration as she flinched in shock. Rushii let out a wave of confusion inside of her as they watched a giant bull-man appear before Lucy, towering her with crossed arms over his massive chest. His septum gold piercing gleamed in the daylight as a stern face greeted Lucy, who cranked her neck up to the maximum just to take in his entire look.

He was a muscular black and white cow that resembled a man’s body, with a cowbell choker on his neck and a pair of black shorts. Rushii noted that his shorts didn’t resemble a speedo in this form, but furrowed her eyes at the Taurus that was before her.

On his back was a massive axe that looked like it took the body of the spirit before her in order to even be lifted up. Lucy’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Holy cow.”

Literally.

Taurus suddenly let out a bright, booming grin as he laughed at Lucy’s ironic pun, “Ah! A young summoner! How glorious!”

He then moved at a fast pace that surprised Lucy as he seemed to be inspecting Lucy’s body in different angles. Lucy just blinked in shock as she tried to keep up with his movements, whipping her head back and forth. Rushii’s brow furrowed even more in disgust as she stood up with a hard glint in her eye, ready to take over at a moment’s notice.

“What glorious muscles you have, mage!” He ended up saying with heart eyes as he held his hands on his hips, appearing before Lucy once more. Lucy and Rushii fell over in shock at his words, not expecting that at all.

Lucy pushed the soft skin of her bicep and blinked in disbelief, “Me? Muscles?”

“Of course! You have the body type and mass to achieve greatness! Especially the natural build of your pectorals and glutes!”

“Is that just a fancy way of being a fucking pervert?” Rushii flashed her eyes as she took control of Lucy’s body, glaring at Taurus with such a ferocious stare that it made him pause as he shook his head.

“Having healthy glutes can help reduce back pain and have a stronger balance as you go into battle. Working out your pectorals can help your breathing exercises, helping the human body take in more oxygen, thus working out is more beneficial.” Taurus paused before letting out a smaller, more mature grin on his face,

“So you don’t have to worry, other spirit. No one will touch my summoner until her body reaches maximum calisthetic efficiency. I won’t allow it! We shall conquer and show true strength!”

Lucy just sputtered out a laugh as Rushii looked onto Taurus with such an insane amount of disbelief that she wondered if she was dreaming. This was the third time that her spirits have surprised her, as she lived as Rushii. She had already relinquished control back to Lucy, as she stumbled into her half-built apartment in the mental world, crashing into the wall as her thoughts rambled.

Has she been using her spirits wrong the entire time?

Or…does the summoner’s aura and personality impact the type of personality that the spirit adapts to as they are bounded to them? That was a growing theory that Rushii was generating the more she met with her golden spirits one by one.

‘If that was the case’ , Rushii stared dully at the floor before her, ‘then what did that say about me, back then?’

Meanwhile Lucy was jumping up and down in joy as Taurus boasted about power, letting out a shriek when he unsheathed his axe and slashed it in the air with grace, breaking through the ground and leaving a deep laceration.

-------

--L-H--

-------

Everyone ages, it’s inevitable.

But growing up only truly begins to happen when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change.

Perhaps Lucy hasn’t reached that point yet.

But at the ripe age of 27, technically (despite not physically aging), Rushii has observed some startling revelations of herself, or the person that she could’ve been. Was this another timeline that she made all the right decisions? It was unfair to herself for her to think that, because she was by herself when she was still in her universe.

The Lucy in this one was different because of her influence.

‘Oh, what the power of kindness and love can do to a child’ , Rushii thought softly as she sipped some tea inside of her fully built apartment in Lucy’s mind now. She like to think that she could still taste the mint in her favorite tea, as she sipped it. It doesn’t work like that, however, but the routine, the process is what makes her feel a little bit more sane.

She’s spent the last ten years living inside her younger self’s mind after all.

-------

--L-H--

-------

(Age: 17)

“That looks cute.” Rushii commented as Lucy shopped through a local store in a town called Hargeon. She finally had the courage to start living her own life on her own, leaving behind Michael and the Heartfilia Manor. It was a tearful exchange, as she has grown to love and care for Michael as another father figure. Lucy lifted up the shirt and held it against her body as she posed slightly in the mirror,

“Hmm, I think so too. Stop tempting me to spend money though, Nee-san. I’ll go broke at this rate, before we even find an apartment.”

Temptation still gripped Lucy tightly as she ended up buying the cute shirt, carrying the bag outside once she left the shop. She winced slightly at the amount of money she spent on it, but patted her cheeks to give her courage as she set her sights at going apartment shopping.

Some girls were squealing and laughing as she rushed past Lucy, almost crashing into her, but Lucy was lucky enough to have good balance over the years and took a step back just in time. She looked at them curiously as they seemed to have made their way over to a growing circle that was over by the main pavilion.

“What the--?” Lucy murmured as her feet decided to carry her over there, too intrigued not to.

“Oh my god, it’s Salamander! It’s really him!”

“He’s even handsomer than the rumors , OMG!”

The girls screeched in adoration and Lucy winced slightly before narrowing her eyes as she decided to activate her magic sensory. Years of experience with the skill has it up in a second, feeling a weird energy surrounding her. The main source of the mana seemed to have come from this Salamander man, but why did the girls surrounding her have it too?

“That is not Salamander,” Rushii harshly warned out as she heaved violently, shortly after saying the words, feeling the Eclipsle Gate’s hold on her. She let out a soft groan of pain as she clenched her fists in her chair, and Lucy let out a small pang of worry, her attention wavering.

“Stop trying to tell me the future, we’ve already talked about this! I don’t like seeing you hurt, Nee-san.”

“Stop worrying about me and focus! If you’re not prepared, you’ll fall for it!” Rushii coughed out.

“Don’t forget why I’m here in the first place.”

Right.

To prevent a massive catastrophe from happening, Lucy remembered. She’s never forgotten that, in fact. But for now, there are pressing matters that are more concerning as she felt a foreign feeling attempt to latch onto her as her concentration slipped in her magic sensing. If Nee-san hadn’t warned her, who knows what would’ve happened.

Rushii looked down at the small droplets of blood that littered her hand and closed it promptly as she forced herself to move outside of her home, into the gray abyss that was left. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on the ground, summoning her energy to defelt the oncoming manipulative mana of the false-Salamander.

Her eyes snapped open as she croaked out, “I’m protecting you from his magic, so keep your eyes open.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed as she began to make her way through the crowd to take a good look at the mastermind of this suspicious situation, her hand already on her waist to summon of her spirits, when she bumped into a muscular figure that pulsed with a familiar magical signature.

A campfire, she briefly thought, before her eyes widened. The teenage boy that stood before her was accompanied by a flying blue cat(?) that had surprised Lucy, but a look at his hair had signaled what Lucy had a feeling to be true.

Salmon pink.

It was the boy from the forest!

“Oi, that’s supposed to be Salamander?” He cocked his head as he turned to speak with the cat beside him, who shrugged. “Aye! I got no idea, Natsu. You’re the one who wanted to follow to see what was going on.”

Natsu.

“Natsu.” Rushii’s voice cracked sorrowfully at seeing him after all of these years.

“Natsu.” Lucy breathed out in shock and a bright smiled donned her face as she briefly felt the effects of the mysterious Salamander’s magic disappear thanks to Natsu’s bump and Rushii’s defensive efforts.

Natsu turned around in surprise at the sound of his name, standing tall in front of Lucy. He furrowed his brow slightly as he turned to looked at her before his eyes widened in pure shock and a soft look settled deep into his eyes, so far back that Lucy was sure that the average person wouldn’t have been able to see it.

Yet, she remembered, it has always been easy to read him.

“Who is this busty blonde?” The cat commented bluntly, but Natsu didn’t pay him any mind as he let out a growing, beautiful grin at the sight of Lucy.

“It’s--It’s you!” Natsu breathed out. His eyes flashed with what looked like relief and an even smaller pulse of hurt that Lucy felt sad about seeing, wondering what had happened for him to react like that. “I’ve waited for you--for years ,” He finished quietly. Perhaps he doesn’t remember her name, since it’s been a long time. But he’ll never forget the brown eyed and blonde girl he had met for a moment and helped change such a large aspect of his life with a quick, but caring scold. It was thanks to her help, and others, that he’s become a proud Fairytail member after all.

He had always wanted the chance to return the sentiment, looking at the big doors of the guild every once in a while, nowadays to see her walk in.

She never came though, which Natsu understood but felt a bit sad about it.

And yet, here she was.

Suddenly, he felt the strong urge to tell her that he never broke their promise.

Lucy sucked in a breath. That’s right . He had said to come visit, and she never did. That had been years ago, she never genuinely thought that she’d see him again--but now she was able to make her own decisions about her life. She lifted a hand onto his arm, like she had down all those years ago, and gave a soft smile.

“I apologize, Natsu. But I’m here now…so let’s get some food and talk, yeah? My treat!”

Natsu let out a cheer to that and grabbed her hand without a second thought to take them away from the crowed. As the trio ended up leaving the scene with the faux-Salamander staring at them, as they made their way to a nearby restaurant to catch up. He licked his lips at the sight of Lucy but narrowed his eyes into a dark scowl at the sudden appearance of Natsu and Happy.

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Salamanders Breathe Fire

Macao Arc I

“Pick whatever you want to eat, it’s my treat like I said earlier!” Lucy declared happily as she looked over the menu of the restaurant they were dining in. Natsu gave her a bright smile and took a menu, opening it as Lucy took reign of the conversation. “What are you doing in Hargeon, by the way?”

Natsu broke out of his daze at drooling at all of the pictures of the food he was looking at, “Me and Happy are in town looking for Igneel.”

“Happy?” Lucy tilted her head, and that’s when the blue cat jumped on the table, the green sack on his back swishing as he declared, “Aye! That’s me!”

He raised a small eyebrow at Lucy, “Who are you?!”

“Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia,” Lucy answered in small wonder, a part of her was fascinated at the sight of the flying cat. She could feel magic inside of him, but it was a bit odd. Was he some sort of spirit? “What exactly are you, Happy?”

Happy gwuaked in disdain and slapped a paw over his heart, “That’s rude. You’re not supposed to ask a cat what they are!”

“So you’re just a talking cat, then?” Lucy asked dryly at the dramatics.

“That’s right, Blondie!”

“Ah,” Lucy said flatly, unamused at being called “blondie” by a talking cat. Happy went on to ramble about himself while Natsu and Lucy ordered drinks. Natsu looked at the menu again, this time squinting at some of the words as Lucy entertained Happy every now and then. Lucy took note of his slightly frustrated expression as he read the menu, but tucked it away in the back of her mind as the server came back with their drinks and asked for their order.

“U-Uh, I’d like this chicken…” Natsu trailed off as he looked down back at the menu, leaving Lucy to peek at what he was looking at before flipping her menu around, pointing at the picture of a noodle dish that had a chicken in it. “Chicken parmesan pasta? Is that what you want, Natsu?”

Natsu gave a grin, “Yeah!”

Lucy smiled back and turned back towards the server, “One chicken parmesan pasta and a crispy chicken, caesar salad with ranch dressing on the side, please! All on the same check.”

The server nodded and walked away, leaving the trio. Happy turned towards Natsu and rolled his eyes, “Ask me for help, next time!”

Natsu just shrugged and rubbed Happy’s head, moving him off of the table with a small cry of “Aye!”. He took one of the garlic bread appetizers and shoved it in his mouth at he turned back towards Lucy, who looked at him with an intrigued expression but otherwise didn’t say anything. There was a comfortable silence as Natsu ate, and Lucy used it to quickly check on Rushii.

“Rushii? Are you okay?”

Rushii didn’t answer but a wave of anguish did hit Lucy as she sat in the booth, trying to mask her sister’s pain with a sip of her water. Happy and Natsu didn’t pay any mind though, and Lucy was quick to pick up conversation in an effort to distract herself.

“Earlier, you mentioned you were here to search for Igneel? Who is that?”

Natsu swallowed his food and let out a small sigh as he looked out the window. Lucy followed his gaze and watched the mysterious, suspicious man from earlier interacting with various women. She couldn’t stop the small look of disgust that covered her face at the sight, but she quickly looked away once she caught the man staring intensely at her suddenly. How gross.

“That’s the name of my dad.”

Lucy immediately reached over and placed a hand over Natsu’s, giving him a look of sympathy. It seems the search for his father has spanned almost a decade now, she realized. “Have you had any luck so far?”

“Eh, every once in a while, I get the bare minimum of a lead. You’d think that it’d be easy enough to find a dragon, right?” Natsu chuckled lightly.

Lucy choked on her spit as soon as she heard the word dragon and was quick to take a long sip of water. What the hell? Natsu’s dad was a dragon ?! Is this like, a prank? Her eyes move to Happy, who was a talking cat, and maybe there was some truth to Natsu’s words...

“A dragon..?”

“Yep! A big red, fire breathing dragon with a bunch of scars on his face,” Natsu said and held up his scarf that was looking a lot better than the last time Lucy had seen it, “My scarf was made from his scales, I think. It feels familiar.”

“Wow…” Lucy was astonished.

“I haven’t given up searching for him, but these days it just gives me a reason to get up and go exploring, you know?” And Lucy understood. They began to talk about various things once their food came, letting out small bouts of laughter that varied in loudness. Natsu’s was booming, but Lucy’s was quiet as she laugh, falling over to slap the table occasionally. Natsu told stories about his adventures as he grew up, while Lucy told her small tales of her experiences with her spirits. Like when Taurus had wanted her to try this new exercise that he invented, only for her to break her arm in the process, and Aquarius declared that she was going to make beef stew.

“So you’re a celestial spirit mage?!” Natsu said, fascinated. Lucy let out a small blush of embarrassment at the blunt curiosity and nodded. She brought out her keys and showed them to him, leaving Natsu to count how many there were.

“Three yellows and four greys?”

“That’s right, although their colors are mostly referred to as golden and silver.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Natsu said while Happy took hold of the keys, jiggling them as he played with them. Lucy just looked at him, bemused, before asking Natsu what his magic was. He was likely a fire variant, considering his magical signature that she’s always felt.

“Fire Dragon Slayer Magic.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped because that sounded so freaking cool, what the hell?! “T-That sounds amazing! ”

Natsu just shrugged, stuffing noodles in his mouth. He was used to being surrounded by unique magic, Fairytail was full of mages like him that had niche stuff going for them. He figured that this was the first time that she’s been out in a while though, as she explained earlier that she finally decided to leave her home to go off on her own.

“It’s cool, yeah, but there’s tons of other cool people back at Fairytail, you know? Actually you probably don’t know, so hurry up and let’s eat so that we can go to Fairytail!”

“Fairytail, huh? Well let’s se---”

“You wanted to know more about Fairytail, is that right Miss?” A third voice interjected into their conversation, and both Lucy and Natsu snapped their mouths shut as they turned to look at the newcomer. It was the same man as before, but Lucy can actually see what he looked like now that his fans weren’t crowding him.

She had to give him credit, he wasn’t the ugliest man around here. With his blue hair and a mark on top of his eye, he was even dressed relatively well. It was the look his eye and his magical signature that made Lucy frown. It felt tainted .

“...that’s correct. My friend was just about to tell me about it, actually.” She looked over towards Natsu, who was silent but stared impassively at the man. Happy was just minding his business, chewing on the fish that Lucy had ordered later on.

“You don’t have to worry about your friend for I am apart of Fairytail, you see? My name is Bora,” Bora bowed dramatically and tried to take Lucy’s hand in order to kiss it, but she just gave a strained smile and quickly slipped her hand back without hesitation. Bora flushed with slight embarrassment and well-contained rage, before clearing his throat.

“I know, perhaps we need a more secluded area to get to know each other, right? I invite you to my private yacht then, fair maiden. Come and I shall tell you more about Fairytail, and anything… else you might ask for.”

Bora blew a kiss at Lucy, who scowled in disgust that persisted even when Bora walked away back towards his crowd, and let out a scoff. “What a gross man.”

“Do you want me to beat him up?” Natsu spoke up, setting his fist ablaze as his eyes never left Bora, even when he stepped outside. His jaw was clenched a bit, eyes narrowed as if he was ready to launch himself at any given moment. Lucy was oddly touched that he would do something like that for her, despite them only meeting twice so far.

It was a feeling that quickly dispersed once Natsu’s flame accidentally caught the tablecloth on fire, causing everyone to scream and panic as they tried to put out the flame. It ended even worsely when they got kicked out of the restaurant, and Lucy was charged extra from the damages.

She fell to her knees and cried out, holding her wallet in the air. “Oh spirits, my wallet!”

“Sorry, Luce! I’ll pay you back, I promise!” Natsu said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he laughed cautiously. Lucy wiped a stray tear and sighed as she got back up and shrugged, “It’s whatever, it isn’t the end of the world.”

Lucy suddenly pursed her lips as she looks towards the water, noting that the yacht was going to be taking off soon. She didn’t like the feeling that Bora gave her, not one bit. Earlier, even Rushii said that she was defending her from his magic, which made her even more suspicious. What type of magic did this guy have? She felt the energy from the crowd, and they all seemed to radiate the same energy as his magical signature. Was he infected them with something?

She bit her nail, she had to investigate for her conscious’s sake.

“Hey Natsu?”

“Lucy,” Natsu nodded.

“That Bora man, he’s not from Fairytail, is he?”

Natsu’s features set into a serious expression, “Nope. I don’t recognize him at all.”

Well that settled it then. She was going to go on the yacht and figure out what the hell was going on. “Happy, keys.”

“Aye Sir!” Happy tossed Lucy her keys and she was quick to bring out Cancer’s, summoning him immediately. Cancer stepped out of his gate and looked around in small surprise, before setting his sight onto his summoner.

“Lucy,” Cancer greeted and Lucy smiled, fist bumping him. She quickly pointed over towards the yacht by the large dock on the Hargeon port and filled him in with her observations and what she had planned to do. Natsu was left staring at her in surprise and shocked at her plan of action, watching as she talked to the spirit she had summoned with a plan of attack. But why didn’t she tell him her plan? Weren’t they friends now?

Did--Did she not trust Natsu?

Natsu faltered at the thought, feeling a growing pang of sadness grow inside of him as Lucy sent Cancer off, dashing at a fast speed towards the boat. She turned to follow Cancer shortly, but Natsu grasped her arm, stopping her from moving. Natsu looked down at his actions with a small look of surprise as Lucy blinked and looked back at him.

“Natsu?” Lucy asked innocently. Natsu felt his body raced with complex emotions as he stared at her back, like he did in the past all those years ago. What makes Lucy Heartfilia so special? Why did he hate seeing her back in front of him? Why didn’t he want her to leave again?

They’ve only met twice , but Natsu feels so--

His face must have mirrored his emotions, before Lucy softened and walked over to give him a pat on the cheek before she gave him a massive hug. She smiled into his shoulder as she felt him hug her back without a moment of hesitation, feeling strong arms squeeze her gently. They released and Lucy took a step back, feeling that she understood Natsu’s feelings.

“Don’t worry, this isn’t like last time. I’m going to come back, Natsu,” She smiled warmly before pursing her lips and looking back at the yacht. Her eyes widened a bit when she realized that it was in the process of boarding the last of their members. “We’ll go to Fairytail together, I promise. But first I need to take care of that Bora bastard.”

She took off without a second thought, reaching for the whip equipped to her belt as she ran.

Natsu was frozen, watching her get further way.

“Natsu, come on! She’s going to fight, right? Then we got to help her!” Happy exclaimed as he hopped onto Natsu’s back. Natsu didn’t move as he stood in shock, feeling his heart race with unease as he watched Lucy go into danger. She was strong, he could feel it, but why did he--

Natsu slapped his hands on his face, leaving a red imprint on his cheeks and letting out a small roar, leaving Happy incredibly startled. No, he won’t let those pointless thoughts overtake him. He has always trusted in his friends, and he’s confident that Lucy will be successful.

Especially when he’s going after her as her backup.

“C’mon Happy!” Natsu let out a charged battle cry, “We’re going after Lucy, to kick that Fairytail wannabe’s butt!”

“Aye Sir!”

Happy’s wings activated due to his Aera magic as Natsu ran towards the dock, picking up speed before he launched himself and Happy into the air, jumping up with a quick propel using his fire magic briefly on his feet.

-------

--L-H--

-------

She had almost missed the yacht completely, but Cancer’s hand was outstretched at the last minute, and she was able to jump from the edge of the dock, casting her whip for Cancer’s hand to wrap around and swing her onto the deck. Lucy was airborne for a moment but ended up rolling at the last minute onto the deck, getting up with ease next to Cancer who was crouched.

The spirit looked down at her and nodded slightly in approval, “Your training in balance as improved greatly, even I was a bit concerned as you fell from that height. I was ready to catch you if need be- ebi .”

Lucy just grinned, “Thanks! Now let’s find this Bora guy, and figure out what’s really going on.”

Cancer nodded and disappeared as he ran all over the deck, searching for Bora based off of the description that Lucy had gave him. His real mission was to pick the locks if he needed too, running all over the yacht and dismantling any bodyguards he runs into, freeing Lucy access as she used her magical sensoring to hunt down Bora’s signature. She might be able to handle herself in 1v1 situations, but even she wasn’t invincible if she were to be jumped.

Lucy ran through the deck and used her whip to scale the side of the wall in order to avoid the stairs, a technique that was taught by Cancer. She was surprised that the crab was like, a stealth expert when he really applies himself. Like an assassin, in her novels.

A magical signature that felt really close by her and felt extra unnerving alerted her that Bora was above the deck. She used that knowledge to hop over to the fourth floor of the yacht and landed safely, locking eyes with Bora who was foaming at the mouth in pure anger, as he pointed at her, shouting.

Lucy’s eyes widened as she took in the scene before her, with girls surrounding Bora with weird brandings on their body, looking like they were unconscious at his feet. She swelled with rage at Bora, as his two henchmen charged after her, taking big steps.

“Cancer!”

Cancer swooped in and handled the one with blades, parring him with ease as it left Lucy with the brawler type, ducking when was in range for a good right hook. She heard the wind slap against her ear at the strength of her opponent and was quick to get ready to counter-attack with an intricate attack pattern that she develop with Rushii’s help,

When all of a sudden, a loud ’BOOM’ was heard before the yacht almost tipped over completely at the force of something impacting it. Lucy’s eyes widened as everyone on the boat screamed, including her, as the yacht tilted dangerously on its side. It tossed many people into the air, the others holding onto the railings for dear life as a booming, familiar voice laughed and yelled,

“I’m here, Lucy!”

“Natsu?! ” Lucy screeched, and Natsu quickly turned around to squint at her falling figure in the air, eyes widening as he yelled at Happy to catch Lucy. Natsu turned back around to look around for that Bora guy that Lucy had mentioned earlier, taking a step forward. He quickly stumbled and fell to his knees with a small curse as he let out a queasy groan, the boat rocking back to its natural buoyant state, giving Natsu his motion sickness curse.

“O-Oh crap.” Natsu gagged.

Meanwhile Happy had successfully caught Lucy, but she had bigger problems to solve as the unexpected impact had left her weaponless. Her keys and whip fell off while she was falling, and while her whip didn’t have any magical energy, her keys did, and she quickly focused on locating their familiar energy.

She closed her eyes and desperately searched the ocean for her keys, as Happy panted and huffed as he tried to withstand Lucy’s weight and air resistance. He didn’t have much energy left after carrying Natsu all the way to the yacht, after all.

“H-Hey Blondie, you’re getting pretty heavy.” Happy huffed but Lucy ignored him as she let out an excited gasp of delight and she pointed towards the west for a bit. “Drop me over there!”

“What?! Are you crazy-- ? LUCY!” Happy gaped in shock as Lucy wiggled her way out of his small paws, free falling once more. Lucy couldn’t manage to keep her smile off her face as she dived towards her keys, reaching for them underwater. Adventures, Rushii had said. Yeah, it was really scary at first, especially when she saw the state of the girls that were by Bora’s feet.

They looked like they were in the middle of being branded for slavery.

But it was even scarier to think of what would’ve happened to those girls had Lucy not trusted her gut and investigated the yacht and Bora. That’s the thought that gives Lucy strength to grasp her keys and she garbled underwater her next spirit.

The next thing that Happy saw was a golden light shining from underneath the ocean, and a giant wave that pushed the yacht back onto shore, with Lucy riding it alongside a gorgeous blue mermaid.

“I’m going to murder you, Heartfilia. Damn the law!”

“What did I do?!”

“You’re fighting on a boat, in the middle of the fucking ocean, and your first instinct is to call the damn crab?! What am I, canned salmon?”

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t think that through, but Aquarius-- ack! ” Lucy sputtered out saltwater as Aquarius disappeared back into the Spirit World with a huff after Lucy had arrived on shore. Lucy let out an exasperated sigh as she walked onto shore, wringing her shirt of water as she took in the sight that was before her. She equipped the keys back onto her belt, and began to look around for a weapon, before looking up and squinting to see Happy floating unevenly.

“Happy!” Lucy shouted as she waved to get his attention, and Happy look down to see Lucy and let out a relief sigh as he gently glided down to her. Lucy ended up catching a tired Happy from the air, and she looked down at the cat in mild concern. “Happy?”

“A-Aye,” Happy huffed tiredly, giving a thumbs up and a smile back. Lucy let out a bright smile and held the cat towards her chest, the latter letting out a small comfortable sigh at the feeling of softness surrounding him, closing his eyes. He had used a lot of magic after all.

“Glad to see you’re okay,” She whispered to a passed out Happy, before snapping her head at the feeling of a growing fire, she had forgotten that she hadn’t turned off her magical sensing. She quickly cradled Happy as she ran towards the other side of the yacht, only to see Bora and Natsu having a stand-off.

Natsu glowered at Bora, fists ignited as his scarf blew in the wind threateningly.

“You’re not apart of Fairytail.”

Bora scoffed but it looked pathetic as his legs shook from Natsu’s intimidation. He lit his hand on fire with a measly flame that looked like a matchstick compared to Natsu’s, fell into a stiff fighting stance.

“You don’t know shit! I am Salamander, the fire mage from Fairytail.”

Natsu let out a small chuckle and quickly sucked in a large amount of air at an inhumane speed, before unleashing it all at once like a massive, flamethrower. It shot forwards with blitz momentum, the fire piercing towards Bora who let out a massive scream at the sight of Natsu’s pure power.

“Fire Dragon’s Claw!” Natsu shouted as he quickly spun around and lit his feet aflame, slicing through his own Fire Dragon’s Roar as he harshly kicked Bora in the face. Lucy watched as Natsu sucked in and ate Bora’s flames when he tried to counter-attack after getting back up, using Bora’s flames to charge his own Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist as stood before Bora’s trembling body.

“No, I am Salamander,” Natsu whispered as he launched his flaming fist at Bora’s face.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Fairytales and Fairytail

Macao Arc II

“The whole dock, Natsu? Really?” Lucy let out an incredulous yet nervous chuckle as Natsu carried her and a sleeping Happy in his arms, running from the military as a result from their match against Bora. Magic bullets flew past them as Natsu hustled out of the area, carrying Lucy bridal-style as Happy slept on her chest. He was concerned for his friend, but Lucy was quick to reassure him that the cat had just used up a lot of magic and needed to rest.

“Err--yeah, maybe I got a little carried away.” Natsu huffed out a small chuckle as he jumped over a fence and made a small turn.

Lucy peeked over a muscular shoulder to watch them getting further and further away from the scene, the flames lighting up the entire area. She hoped that they didn’t manage to destroy anything relatively important, and that no one got hurt other than Bora. Because Bora deserved it, Lucy thought, her face hardening at the thought of the slave trader.

Disgusting.

Speaking of Natsu’s fight, did her eyes deceive her or did she seem him eat fire ?

“Did I see you eat fire?!” Lucy looked at Natsu in shock as he jumped over a chair and he took a moment to pause to stare at her in his arms and nodded. He let out a sharp grin,

“Sure did. It’s like my party trick! I can eat all kinds of fire.”

“Well--What does it taste like…”

“Depends on the color!” Natsu said cheerfully before letting out a yelp once he saw some soldiers round the corner. He picked up speed without a second thought as Lucy let out a sound of awe at the dragon slayer, as they outran the military and found themselves on a path to a different town based off of the signs Lucy saw.

Natsu eventually set Lucy down and stretched his arms as Lucy adjusted Happy positions, freeing her left hand just in case she needed to access her keys. She pouted a little at the thought of her missing whip, but it seemed she’ll just have to buy a new one much to her displeasure. She still needed to find an apartment!

“Where are we heading?”

“To Magnolia!” Natsu cheered as he walked, Lucy slowly trailing after him.

Lucy assumed that that was where Fairytail was located based off of Natsu’s infectiously happy energy and hummed as she walked a little bit faster in anticipation. He’s been raving about his home, and it only makes Lucy’s curiosity grow more and more as time went on.

“You’re gonna love it, Luce.” Natsu said fondly, full of love. Lucy just looked at him, at his side profile, and took note of his expression. She didn’t say anything in response, but that was okay. The longer she spends with Natsu, the more at ease she naturally feels. Lucy took her time as she walked, taking note of the scenery that surrounded them. She’s never gone past Ishgar, so this was all new to her, and it was beautiful .

Natsu was a naturally fast moving person and a bit impulsive too. Yet once he realized that he was walking too fast for Lucy, he was quick to turn around and see the girl taking her time as she idly patted Happy’s back, rubbing it as the cat snoozed against her. He looked comfortable but most of all, Natsu is almost sure that Lucy doesn’t even realize that she’s doing it. It just goes to show that she was just a naturally caring person.

Natsu stopped moving and patiently waited for Lucy to catch up to him, before walking in step with her, being conscious of his speed. Lucy just shot a glance at him in amusement as she looked back at the scenery.

“You don’t have to wait for me, I’ll catch up eventually. Sorry if I’m a bit of a slow poke right now,” Lucy chuckled but Natsu just smiled and shook his head, shoving his hands in his trousers.

“S’okay,” Natsu looked up at the afternoon sky, “I think I like this pace, actually.”

“Fast tempo type of guy?”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Natsu agreed, “But that’s because I thrive in high-speed stuff. Like fighting, I’m good at that. Or running, I’m good at that too!”

“So, anything violent or physically demanding,” Lucy said dryly, noticing the pattern in his answers. She turned to watch the scenery again, awaiting Natsu’s response. Nothing but silence greeted her as she turned towards Natsu again, this time in small concern. Natsu seemed to have a bit of a solemn expression on his face, looking down at his hands.

“I mean--I do have a rather big destructive streak. I don’t want to destroy everything, and you’ll see that Fairytail is a bit, uhm, chaotic . It’s just all I know,” Natsu confessed quietly. He let out a small chuckle at his confession,

“You’re the only person who makes me think so hard, like this, I swear.”

Lucy just patted his arm with her free hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m flattered you feel as if you can open up to me, Natsu. And there’s nothing wrong with a good self-reflection every once in a while.”

“It makes me feel weird,” was all Natsu said as he reflected a bit from Lucy’s words. Lucy ended up linking her arm through his as they walked, talking about lighter things as they strolled easily. She mentally put this conversation in the back of her mind for a later time, because it seemed like Natsu was carrying some baggage that he hasn’t really reflected on much. Despite her knowing that Natsu’s love for his adoptive family in Fairytail was roaringly strong, she did note that he said that she was the first person that really made him reflect.

Sometimes, it’s an outsider’s perspective that helps gives a little more insight.

Lucy knows that very well from having another wary, baggage soul inside of her after all.

“...I’m here whenever you feel odd like that, Natsu.” Lucy wanted Natsu to know that he had a safe space to talk. Perhaps it was because she’s already seen him at a low point before, all of those years ago. Maybe that’s why he felt courage to talk about deeper things.

“You kind of sound like a pervert, Luce.” This idiot--

A smack sounded through the air with a growl and a bright laugh filling it.

-------

--L-H--

-------

They walked through a massive gate that had the words “Fairytail” pinned on it. It had a large bell at the top of the castle, with huge wooden doors that stood in front of them as Lucy cranked her head up to see the height of the guild’s headquarters. Happy squirmed a bit as he yawned in Lucy’s arms, causing Natsu and Lucy to look down and look at him.

“You’re awake!”

“Happy! Yo!”

Happy stretched and waved sleepily, before pointing at the door. “What’re we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Natsu grinned at his friend’s words and slammed the doors open, with Lucy blinking widely at the sight immediately. To say that Fairytail was chaotic was the understatement of the year, Lucy thought as she was rendered utterly speechless as she ducked slightly at the sight of a thrown table in her direction. Her jaw dropped as Natsu stood with his hands on his hips, loud and proud as he boasted,

“Welcome to Fairytail!”

Happy flew to Natsu as he copied his pose on top of his head, and Lucy bit back a small coo. They are an adorable duo. Natsu’s attention was quickly distracted by a buck-toothed man in a chair with a beer in his hand, growling as he huffed out,

“Krov, you bastard! That info you gave me was shit!” Natsu jumped up and kicked him in the face, leaving Lucy gasping from the doorway as it kickstarted another brawl in the middle of the ongoing brawl. Some shirtless teenager that seemed to be her age, ended up calling Natsu a “Flame-Brain Idiot” and that seemed to really get under Natsu’s nerves as he moved on from Krov to the “Stripping Pervert”. Lucy sweatdropped at the insult. He really was stripped down to his boxers.

She slowly made her way to the other side of the Guild, inching and ducking accordingly along the side of the wall, before she made it to the bar. Lucy recounts the interesting personalities that she’s seen along the way; a big white haired man screaming about how to be a real man, a guy with orange hair that was surrounded by woman, approaching her. She was quick to give a bit of a disgusted look to him, who introduced himself as Loke, mind still fresh from the Bora incidents in the morning.

Loke wasn’t deterred however, until he saw her pair of keys on her hip. It caused him to flinch and quickly back away from her, which surprised Lucy to no end as she didn’t expect such a reaction. Was there something wrong with her keys? Lucy tried to make eye-contact with Loke again but he was avoiding her gaze at that point, even turning around to give his posse more attention.

“Loke..”

Lucy’s eyes widened at the sound of Rushii’s voice, letting out a small gasp of surprise.

“Rushii! Oh my goodness, you’ve missed so much--but most importantly, how are you feeling?”

Rushii paused for a moment, taking note of her state. Seeing Natsu had reminded her of his death in her timeline and it hurt bitterly. She had a feeling the day would come that she would see him against from Lucy’s perspective, but was never fully prepared. Still, at least it was better than openly interacting with him herself. She wouldn’t be able to handle it. But wait--Rushii remembered that Lucy had known Natsu’s name, and since when did that happen?!

“How did you know Natsu’s name?” Rushii asked instead of answering her question.

“Do you remember that one day that I almost got kidnapped at the bookstore?” Rushii said that she did and Lucy was quick to fill in the details of what happened while she was asleep. Lucy had told everything before to her except her interaction with Natsu. She didn’t think she’d ever see him again, and decided that it wasn’t worth mentioning.

Rushii was speechless at the end of this, before she let out a powerful feeling of pride that Lucy felt. Lucy flushed at the emotion and waved her hands mentally in the air as she projected herself to Rushii.

“What’s all of this? I just helped him out!”

“You--You really did him a service. I think that he really needed to hear that, Lucy. Thank you for looking after him.”

“Is he important to you? Is Fairytail important too?”

“You have no idea,” Rushii said warmly as she looked around through Lucy’s eyes at the sight of her old guild. Later on, she’ll probably allow herself to cry at the sight. All she remembered these days was the concrete rubble that was left from the dragon attack.

It was good to be back.

“Go around and talk to people, let loose.” Rushii suddenly encouraged and Lucy nodded.

“I’ll let you know what happened today, later!”

“You do that.”

Lucy was so happy to see that Rushii was in better spirits this time around, and sat down at the bar with a smile on her face. She looked and saw a magazine on the counter, picking up and idly flipping through it as the brawl behind her slowly became background noise. Lucy noticed that Fairytail was the cover of the Sorcerer’s Magazine page, and she let out a small whistle at the white haired lady that was on one of the main pages.

A small giggle and the sound of a drink sloshing alerted her that someone was in front of her, and Lucy lifted her eyes up to see the very model that she was looking at prior. Lucy let out a gasp and pointed from the magazine to the her, watching as the beautiful white-haired lady gave her a lovely smile.

“Hey! You’re--”

“Mirajane Strauss, at your service.” Mirajane answered sweetly with a wink and Lucy almost gushed out loud at her beauty. Lucy slapped her face with her hands to get her to snap out of it and whispered,

“You’re so pretty!”

Mirajane just giggled and handed Lucy a drink, which she gratefully took. “Thank you. You’re also nice on the eyes, uhm…?”

“Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia,” Lucy said as she took a sip of her drink, missing Mirajane’s small look of recognition that she shared with another person that was suddenly beside Lucy, causing her to let out a squeak. It was another woman, wearing rather revealing clothing as she wore nothing but blue bikini and some cargo pants as she leaned against the bar, carrying a barrel of alcohol underneath her arm.

Mirajane was quick to lean over from the bar to give the girl a small kiss on the cheek, which the girl smiled at. The brown haired girl thrusted her barrel onto Lucy’s lap, startling her.

“Uh?”

“Magnolia’s finest rum, it’s a rite of passage to drink before joining Fairytail, Heartfilia.” The brown hair girl smirked before holding out her hand, “I’m Cana, by the way.”

“We don’t peer pressure others to drink, Cana,” Mirajane scolded softly as she washed one of the glasses in the sink, causing Cana to pout at her before rolling her eyes and muttering something under her breath. Mirajane suddenly smiled sharply at Cana, and yet the effect caused both Cana and Lucy to flinch at they looked at the woman,

“What was that, dear?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Lucy whipped her head back and forth between the two of them, “Are you guys together?”

Mirajane nodded as Cana activated her magic card magic to the incoming barrel that was headed towards the bar, splitting it into two as it crashing around the girls. Lucy watched as they didn’t even flinch at almost being mauled by a flying empty alcohol barrel, and she realized that this place really was crazy.

She…kinda like it.

Rushii guffawed at the revelation of Cana’s and Mirajane’s relationship, sputtering in Lucy’s mind.

“T-They’re dating?! What the hell---”

“They weren’t dating in your world, Nee-san?”

“No way. In fact, I thought Mirajane and Laxus were going to be a thing to be honest.”

“Who is Laxus?”

“....don’t worry about him. He’s a bit…temperamental, especially during this current times. You will meet him eventually.” Rushii paused before finally muttering,

“You know what, Cana really did give serious bi-girl energy, it’s not that ridiculous now that I think about it.”

Natsu crashed on the ground beside Lucy and the Canajane pair as they turned towards the pinkie. Lucy just raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of her drink and gestured towards the rest of the fighting.

“Are you going to get up, or what?”

Happy flew to Lucy and sat next to her on the counter, as Natsu’s spirits seemed to be ignited even higher at Lucy’s words. He shot back onto his feet in an instant and raised his fist triumphantly towards Lucy,

“I’ll win, don’t worry Lucy!”

“Win what, exactly..?” Lucy muttered confusedly as Natsu activated his fire magic, causing everyone to slowly do the same in the middle of the guild. Cana let out an irritated grumble as she got up to walk around to hide behind the bar, next to Mirajane who let out a soft sigh and looked around for the emergency defensive bar button to activate.

“Uh oh! Time to hide with Cana and Mira, Lucy!” Happy zoomed on over, and just as Lucy was scramble to get up and follow them to safety, a massive giant figure’s shadow loomed from the top floor of Fairytail, causing everyone to freeze as they all felt the menacing waves of irritation. Lucy gulped in a small bout of fear, but after hearing Rushii chuckle in her mind at the thought, she knew that she wasn’t in any serious danger.

“What the hell is going on?! When will you rascals stop fighting all the damn time and giving me mountains of incident reports from your antics? I’m tired! My back hurts, goddamnit! The Magic Council is always hounding my ass!”

The shadow got smaller and smaller as the man seemed to have shrunk in size, letting out a small sigh as he rubbed his aged forehead. He walked over to the bar and grabbed a random drink that was laying on the counter, everyone watching his movements as he chugged it before smashing it on the ground.

“Well, as long as innocents don’t get hurt and the bad guys are defeated, then I don’t really care what the Magic Council says! Do what you guys think is right, that is the essence of Fairytail! Just quiet down a bit, will ya?” Makarov Dreyar, the guildmaster of Fairytail cheered as everyone roared in approval and agreement, even dragging Lucy along by the energy of everyone else.

So this was Fairytail, huh?

Natsu came over towards Lucy and showed his shoulder to her, which housed a big red Fairytail symbol on it. He turned towards Mirajane and asked her if she had the guild stamper near here, before shooting puppy eyes at Lucy who just sighed at the sight of them.

“Join Fairytail?”

“Seems like I don’t have a choice.” Lucy complied easily, already coming to that conclusion as she watched everything happened in front of her. It was loud, it was messy, but there was an air of adventure and never-ending fun that enveloped her the moment she walked into the guild. She’ll gladly join Fairytail, especially once Mirajane told her that she had the chance to go on quests once she becomes a member of a guild

And quests means money, which Lucy cheered for especially.

“Do I have to pass some sort of test to become a member?”

Cana shook her head as she took her lips off of her bottle, letting out a small burp as she leaned against the counter. Her arm was loosely around Mirajane’s waist as she stood next to her girlfriend, “Nope, we don’t do tests like that.”

“If we did though, you would’ve passed years ago.” Mirajane said softly, eyes full of respect and contentness. Lucy was confused at first, but when the couple turned to glance at Natsu, she realized what they were talking about. Was what she said all those years ago really that big of a deal?

“We were all young, each of us were struggling with our own issues. In a guild full of children, it’d be hard to look after everyone equally, you know?” That was all Mirajane vaguely said as she looked at Natsu with fondness in her eyes as Cana nodded.

“I’ve been here for a long time, Heartfilia. Not many people know what happened surrounding the incident, but Natsu ended up telling me and Mira that he met a blond girl named Lucy in the middle of an “adventure ” and that he came back to fulfill a promise.” Cana finished just as softly, “He’s been happier ever since that day.”

Lucy was rendered speechless, while Rushii let tears of happiness trail down her cheeks at the story. Words, all she did was say words and gave a hug.

And it let to this much of an impact? The power of kindness, it could be life-saving.

“So where and what color do you want it to be?” Mirajane asked Lucy, who immediately held up her right hand in a small daze. Pink, she had said, because it was her favorite color. She’s always liked pink, it’s such a pretty color that could be elegantly as well as cutesy depending on the shade.

And perhaps, it was also because the reason she knows of Fairytail, was because of a pink-haired man after all.

Happy pulled at Lucy’s shirt to lead her over towards the quest board, where there were multiple stacks of paper that were nailed to the board, begging to be accepted. Natsu was looking over there as the guild dived into idle chatter, eyes scrunching as he slowly viewed over the papers. Lucy and Happy arrived, with the latter immediately taking the paper in Natsu’s hands, reading it over at a fast pace.

“Aye! This one is a quest out to Hargeon again. Probably shouldn’t accept that one.” Happy sweatdropped as the other did as well. Lucy was almost positive they were probably wanted over there for the time being anyways.

“Damn. I grabbed it because I saw it had a lot of zeroes, but if that’s the case, then yeah, that makes sense.” Natsu scratched the back of his head and grabbed another quest, handing it immediately to Happy. Lucy cocked her head in small confusion, why didn’t he just read the paper himself? Why give it to Happy--

Lucy took note of his slightly frustrated expression as he read the menu, but tucked it away in the back of her mind as the server came back with their drinks and asked for their order.

“U-Uh, I’d like this chicken…” Natsu trailed off as he looked down back at the menu, leaving Lucy to peek at what he was looking at before flipping her menu around, pointing at the picture of a noodle dish that had a chicken in it. “Chicken parmesan pasta? Is that what you want, Natsu?”

--

Happy turned towards Natsu and rolled his eyes, “Ask me for help, next time!”

--

Natsu was looking over there as the guild dived into idle chatter, eyes scrunching as he slowly viewed over the papers. Lucy and Happy arrived, with the latter immediately taking the paper in Natsu’s hands, reading it over at a fast pace.

“Hey, Natsu?”

“Yo!”

“Do you have difficulty reading?” Lucy asked gently. She didn’t want to make it seem like she was making fun of him, after all. Natsu paused looking at the quest board, shooting a small glance back at Lucy, before looking back at the board. Happy stayed quiet as they awaited for Natsu to answer.

Rushii was stunned. She couldn’t remember if her Natsu had any difficulties like that. A devious thought escaped her mind as it whispered in her ears alone, if she had been too self-centered to notice.

“Yeah. Yeah I do,” Natsu admitted it, clenching the quest in his hand a little bit. Lucy looked down at the motion before coming to link her arm through his again, looking at the quest board with him. Natsu will never admit it, but being called “Flame Brain Idiot” by the Ice Freak sometimes hit a little hard. He tried to learn on his own, but found it hard to concentrate. What he can read now is only because he’s seen the words pop up repeatedly over the years over and over.

In a guild full of children, it’d be hard to look after everyone equally, you know?

Lucy understood Fairytail a little bit more now, from Mirajane’s words.

“It’s okay,” Lucy said. “Nothing to be ashamed of. It’s hard to learn in an environment that isn’t suited to your learning style. It’ll be something that we’ll have to work on then, that’s all!”

“We?” Natsu whispered astonished, Lucy would really help him with reading?

“We.” Lucy confirmed. Natsu’s heart soared at her words, fighting the urge not the smile super brightly and yell that he’d finally had a chance to become smart now. To contribute more to the guild, to make things a bit easier for Happy. He looks down at Lucy and realizes that she’s already done so much for him, but what has he done for her?

“Do you need help with anything?” Natsu asked her seriously, wanting to repay her kindness in any way. He could teach her how to fight, get her physical capabilities up. He knows some parkour tips, maybe she’d be interested in that. Oh! It’s always good to know how to break your fall, Natsu has had a lot of experience with that, he could totally--

“I just want to have a real, true friend that’s my age. That’s all I ask for,” Lucy whispered back. Natsu was about to retort that it wasn’t enough to repay for her promises, for her help, but paused once he took a look at her face. Perhaps it didn’t mean much to Natsu, because he had grown up with friends his age all his entire life. He thinks about how Lucy said that she was a lonely child, and that her friends were the servants at the Heartfilia Manor and some shopkeepers.

Just because it might not seem as much to him, doesn’t mean that it held the same value for Lucy, Natsu realized.

If it’s a friend that she wanted, a true friend, then he’ll be the very best. Natsu patted her head and gave her a small side-hug. Lucy grinned at the feeling and looked up to him, watching as he nodded and took her request very seriously.

“I’ll be the best friend you’ll ever have, Luce. You can count on me!”

“I know,” Lucy was beginning to realize that she really could.

“Until the very end, he was.” Rushii whispered nostalgically, too softly for even Lucy to hear.

Their moment was interrupted however by a smacking sound, and the duo + Happy whipped their heads around to see a small boy angrily stomping away with tears in his eyes and a small hand imprint on the guild-master’s face as he watched him leave stoically. Natsu immediately went to walk after the boy, leaving Lucy and Happy to look at each other before following him.

“Romeo!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Mt. Macao

Macao Arc III

Angry tears rolled down the boy’s face as he sat outside of Fairytail, letting out frustrated sounds as he cried. His fists were clenched as he sniffed, angrily looking out into the Magnolia Town as he whipped his nose on his sleeve. Lucy remembered that Natsu had called the boy Romeo and watched as Natsu stared at Romeo for a moment before moving to sit down next to him.

Lucy found herself sitting on the other side of the boy as he cried, Natsu throwing an arm over him as they sat in silence. Eventually, Romeo calmed down enough to let out a wet cough and Lucy was the one to speak up this time around.

“Your name, it’s Romeo, right?” She inquired gently. Romeo nodded and sniffed before turning towards Lucy, looking at her a bit curiously.

“Y-Yeah. Who’re you?” Romeo sniffed.

“Her name is Lucy, and she’s my best friend,” Natsu said with a small grin, catching Lucy flushing happily at the term. She’s never really had a best friend before. Rushii was lovely, but she did not count considering her circumstances. Rushii chuckled at Lucy’s thought, but sombered up as she warned Lucy what was about to happen.

“His dad is missing.”

Lucy was careful to hold back the small gasp that threatened to escape as Natsu and Romeo talked quietly to each other.

“Is he still alive?”

“Yes, but it’s a bit of a weird situation. You’ll be going somewhere cold, so prepare accordingly.” Rushii said slowly, making sure that the hints that she was giving were allowed by the Eclipse Gate. Last time she tried to force her way through with information about Bora, she was successful but it felt like agony. Rushii didn’t want to be in pain, but she’ll do what must be done in order to save the future.

Pain meant that she’s still alive after all, not dead like the rest of her world.

“Okay Nee-san, but tell me, how does it feel to see everything again?”

It was quiet for a moment, as Rushii collected her thoughts. It made her immensely happy that she was able to see everyone alive and well, despite them not being from her timeline. In many ways, things haven’t changed a bit and the nostalgia was almost suffocating as she watched through Lucy’s eyes.

As she watches the world through Lucy’s eyes however, she realizes that there were many things that she’s missed during her life. Was it because of her influence in Lucy’s past? Is that why everyone else seem to be more emotional, carry more trauma, and even develop relationships that weren’t in her timeline? Was Rushii the catalyst? Or was she too caught up on her own actions to miss out on what everyone’s inner demons were?

Lucy and Rushii were alike, but different, and she sees that difference in the unabashed kindness that stems from a desire to have fun and go on countless adventures. Lucy has a bit of a sarcastic, mature aura to her as well, which definitely wasn’t in Rushii at her age.

Realistically, it doesn’t matter about how she acted in the past, because she is influencing a new future by helping Lucy become better, stronger than she was in her life.

It just was hard to see the alarming flags that she seemed to have missed.

There is a bigger picture to all of this, Rushii knows. But sometimes it was hard to focus on the end goal when the present is right in your face, throwing your failures and insecurities in your face.

“It’s nice to see everyone again,” Rushii said truthfully. She won’t burden Lucy with the rest of her thoughts though. This was her burden to bear, living in the “What-if I’d done things a bit differently” version of her life. She won’t let Lucy feel responsible for her bouts of self-deprecation.

Rushii was forgetting for a moment that Lucy could feel the emotions that tormented her Nee-san since they share the same body, when she wasn’t careful to keep them separate. Lucy just watched as Rushii smiled in her mind, at her projection, but with pain in her eyes.

Lucy felt helpless as she smiled back, albeit a bit strainfully. She respectfully then divided their emotions for the moment, leaving Rushii to her own feelings and hers for herself. Rushii probably had much to think and reflect about and would want a bit of privacy.

Lucy let out a sigh and focused back on the present to Natsu’s and Romeo’s conversation, catching the end of it.

A small paw poked her in the cheek as Happy gave a small frown at Lucy’s dazed expression, causing her to turn towards the cat with an eyebrow raised.

“Ha?”

“You okay, Lucy?” Happy asked curiously, “You seemed to be stuck in a daydream!”

Lucy flushed a bit at Happy caught her interaction with Rushii, quick to nod and shoot the cat a smile, “I’m fine.”

She turned back towards Natsu, who seemed to be looking at Romeo with eyes that screamed that he was in full understanding of Romeo’s predicament, causing Lucy to tune into their conversation with more vigor.

“...that stupid old man won’t let me go after him! He’s been gone for over a whole week, and what if something had happened to him?!” Romeo huffed out as he sniffed, laying against Natsu’s side as Natsu rubbed his back. Natsu just hummed as he allowed the boy to get his frustrations out. Natsu knew all too well what Romeo was feeling, after all.

He had tried to go look for his own father by himself before, around his age.

Lucy saw the flash of a worn, tired look on Natsu’s face, understanding immediately that he was feeling really strongly about Romeo’s situation. Lucy pursed her lips and got up from Romeo’s side as she turned in front of the boys, squatting before Romeo who looked at her with red eyes.

“Makarov has his reasons for not sending out a little boy to search for his dad. What if it’s just a train delay? What if he’s picking out something for you to have from his travels? I bet your dad will be real upset if he were to arrive tomorrow, only to find that you were missing!”

Romeo let out a small cough as he clung to Natsu’s side, but looked at Lucy with a wide-eyed expression. He didn’t think about that! What if his dad was getting a souvenir? Macao liked to spoil him from time to time, maybe he’s searching for the ultimate present!

But what if…

“But what if he’s in trouble?” Romeo whispered out sorrowfully, eyes filling with fresh tears at the thought. Lucy glanced at Natsu, who was already looking at Lucy with a determined expression on his face. She then glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was beginning to turn into the late afternoon/evening time, and let out a sigh before nodding wordlessly at Natsu.

There was still daylight in the day, which meant that they could still do one last adventure!

“Then we’ll go after him to Mt. Hakobe, and find him ourselves.” Natsu said seriously, squeezing the boy before he gently removed himself from his grasp. Natsu stood up proudly, and looked down at Romeo who was staring at the two teenagers in awe as Natsu high-fived Lucy. He raised a determined fist, pointing it at Romeo.

“Put your faith in us, Romeo. We’ll get the job done,” Natsu said proudly. Happy flew around them, cheering with his own “Aye Sir!” as Lucy grinned in determination. They’ll save Romeo’s dad, and ease his worries. Romeo let out a gasp of shock and he shot up, launching themselves at them, hugging their legs.

“ Thank you. ”

“Of course,” Natsu spoke strongly, “That’s what Fairytail does. We look after our own.”

---------

--L-H--

---------

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, I know we’ve had a long day,” Natsu told Lucy as they walked down the streets of Magnolia. Well, it was actually Natsu following Lucy to wherever she was heading. Lucy shook her head the moment Natsu opened his mouth, having a feeling about what he was going to say. “Not a chance, pinkie. We’re doing this together!”

Natsu didn’t protest after that, but Lucy didn’t miss the grin that he tried to fight as he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at the ground. After a comfortable silence, he was beginning to get curious as to where they were going though.

Soon they stopped in front of a store however, Natsu picked his head up to squint at the sign.

Lucy nudged him and pointed at the sign. “What does that say?”

Natsu was caught off guard and stammered for a hot second before swallowing and slowly read the letters of the shop. “M…ag-mart?”

Lucy gave him a big smile and hugged him, “Correct! You get two points.”

“Aye! Two whole points!”

“Two points? For what?”

“For every two hundred points, you get a free meal from me. Think of it as an incentive to practice reading and comprehension wherever we go.” Lucy said, proud of the idea she generated. Natsu’s jaw dropped as he got excited at Lucy’s words. If he does a good job in reading, he gets free food? It doesn’t get better than that.

“Yosh! Hey, you want me to read that too?!” He said pointing inside at one of the signs in the store. Lucy opened the door, gesturing towards Natsu and Happy to come in. She had to look for a coat before they head to Mt. Hakobe after all, but there’s nothing wrong with hitting two birds with one stone.

As they went shopping, Natsu ended up winning a total of thirteen points, which he was immensely proud of.

After purchasing some items (Lucy ended up buying a vest for Natsu, another whip, and a medical kit just in case Macao was injured), the trio found themselves riding the back of a carriage towards Mt. Hakobe. It took a while to get there, but it didn’t deter Lucy, Natsu, and Happy as they chatted happily on the way there.

“Natsu, why didn’t you tell her that you’re resistant to cold temperatures!” Happy whispered in his ear curiously. Natsu just nodded at whatever Lucy was ranting about, something that she had read before she left home, before he answered Happy,

“It’s her way of showing friendship. She told me she didn’t want me cold either, even though I told her that I was gonna be okay on the mountain. And they’re a matching set, it really feels like were some sort of team!” Natsu gushed. It felt like a cool uniform that only they had. Team Natsu? Team Na-Lu? Team HaLuNa? Team--

“You’re here!” The carriage driver said, kicking Natsu into gear as he kicked the back of the carriage door spontaneously, letting the cold wind of the mountain embraced them. He raised his hand over his eyes as he looked around in the icy wind, as Lucy shivered immediately, zipping up her coat as she stepped outside the carriage.

Even this coat seemed a bit meaningless at the chill that overtook Lucy, but it definitely would’ve been worse without it. Rushii snorted in her mind, telling her that it was terrible and it was thanks to Horologium that she didn’t catch hypothermia and die.

Horologium?

Lucy eyed the thigh-thick snow that covered the way up the mountain, where they were bound to head. Natsu had already began to naturally melt the snow around him, allowing him to walk with relative ease. She had thought about just following where he melted, but saw that the falling snow replaced his steps almost immediately.

Maybe she’ll summon Horologium, she said with a sweatdrop.

“Open the Gate of The Clock, Horologium!”

Horologium appeared as a massive brown lock and immediately opened his glass door for Lucy to enter, which she thanked the spirit gratefully. She informed him to follow the pink haired man, and with that the trio climbed up Mt. Hakobe against the winds. Natsu had told her on the way to the mountain that Macao’s, which was Romeo’s father’s name, mission was to take care of what was called a Vulcan, an ape-like monster that had tremendous strength.

“Macao!”

“Macao!”

“Romeo’s dad!”

They all called out for Macao in the middle of the storm, Happy flying high to see if he spots something from above ground. They weren’t making any progress though, feeling a small burst of frustration inside them as they didn’t hear anything respond back for a while.

“Hey, maybe we should go another way--”

A loud boom interrupted their thoughts as everyone flinched in surprise before whipping their heads around to see a massive dark figure behind them, growling deep and low. Lucy shivered at the sound, and at the dark eyes that she saw staring at her as no one moved for a moment. Natsu was quick to react first, fists on fire as he launched himself at the beast,

“C’mere you ugly beast!” He roared but faltered when the Vulcan ignored Natsu in favor of dashing towards Lucy, causing Natsu’s eyes to widen as he turned too slowly to react in horror. Something in Natsu’s mind snapped barely as he let out a deep growl at the Vulcan’s actions, feeling his power exponentially grow in a split second as he activated his flames in his feet, beaming himself at the Vulcan.

He was a second too late as the Vulcan grabbed Horologium with Lucy inside as she screamed in shock and fear, before launching himself from his massive hind legs to jump back to his lair. Natsu watched as his flamed, speedy kick just narrowly missed the Vulcan, leaving him crashing into the snow as he hit empty air. Natsu scrambled to get back up, eyes narrowed and body heating rapidly as he stared at the dark shadow of the Vulcan getting away with Lucy.

His teeth grew sharper slowly, his eyes flickered darkly as panic and fear seized Natsu, making him feel unstable and out-of-control as he felt the urge to destroy. Scales slowly prickled against Natsu’s skin as he felt like a growing inferno, ready to burn this entire fucking mountain if it meant getting Lucy back.

“Natsu?! Did you see that? We got to get Lucy back, I’ll carry you, so come on!” Happy dived down from the high ground to yell at Natsu, immediately snapping Natsu at whatever trance he was in for a moment. Natsu let out a choked breath as he felt himself feel normal again, the dark thoughts dispelling once he heard Happy’s words. Yes, Happy can fly and carry him to the lair of the beast.

Natsu took in a small breath to calm his racing nerves as he nodded at Happy, letting the exceed pick him up as he propelled them with his flames at his feet.

‘Don’t destroy, don’t destroy, stay calm, stay calm’, Natsu chanted to himself as he flew towards the Vulcan’s lair, feeling the last of that darkness that almost had him, disappear.

---------

--L-H--

---------

The first thing that the Vulcan had done the moment it reached it’s lair was to throw Horologium’s body into the wall, crashing Lucy as well as Horologium let out a small groan of surprise and pain. The Vulcan then came over and stomped on the clock repeatedly, causing Lucy to let out a shriek and begged Horologium to go back to the Spirit World.

Horologium’s wooden exterior was chipping away with every massive hit from the aggressive Vulcan, who crushed his face next, causing the spirit to let out another groan of pain. Lucy banged on the glass door, witnessing every stomp with an accompanied flinch as she roared for Horologium to go back.

“Horologium! Horologium, please !” Lucy screamed.

“I will protect my mage until my time is up,” was all Horologium said as he used his defensive magic to protect Lucy. Horologium knew that the Vulcan was strong, and while he was taking damage from the monster, he wasn’t going to die unlike his master’s beliefs. Despite this however, he knew had to move in order to get to a favorable position for Lucy to get the upper hand. If he were to disappear in the middle of the Vulcan’s stomps, Lucy would not survive the hit directly.

Using the last bit of time left, he rolled over and hopped towards the other side of the lair, throwing the Vulcan off as he used excessive force to stomp into the ground, getting it’s foot stuck. Lucy stumbled out of Horologium then as the spirit was forced to begin disappearing as his time was up due to the extent of his injuries.

Lucy was quick to snap her angrily tearful eyes at the spirit, who looked at her with small amusement despite his beaten appearance.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Horologium. You could’ve seriously gotten injured!”

“I would rather it be me, master, than you, and I bet the other spirits feel the same way.”

Horologium disappeared after saying his truth, as Lucy furiously wiped her eyes as she was left alone to deal with the Vulcan that had just freed himself. The Vulcan stared at her with snarling teeth and angry eyes as it roared, echoing across the room. Lucy just narrowed her eyes, no longer afraid of the beast as she grabbed her whip and her keys.

“Do you need my help?” Rushii asked matter-a-factly. She watched the entire exchange with a tense expression, observing how Lucy was reacting to the situation based off what they have trained for. She didn’t go back for nothing, Lucy had everything that she needed to take care of the beast before her.

Because later, she would find that there are more monsters in the world that were more terrifying than a Vulcan.

And that most of these “monsters” were actually human.

“...I can take care of this one, Nee-san,” Lucy whispered as she grabbed the golden key she was looking for, extending her hand to begin the summoning process. The key glowed golden as she began to walk towards the Vulcan,

“Open the Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus! ” She yelled as she threw her whip out, wrapping it around the waist of the surprised Vulcan as she yanked with all of her might, throwing the beast onto ground. It let out a roar of anger and surprise as Taurus busted through his gate with a charged battle cry of his own, jumping up to slam his body into the Vulcan. The pure power of the assault caused a sound wave to rumble through the mountain as Lucy rebalanced herself quickly.

Only to dodge Taurus’s flying body as it flew past her from the Vulcan throwing him off of it. Lucy yelled out Taurus’s name in concern, but the spirit answered that he was fine as he removed himself from the wall, summoning his battle axe as he moved to stand next to Lucy.

He looked down at her and appraised her body immediately, “The state of your biceps has increased in mass! How glorious!”

“Thanks Taurus, I can show you later after we take care of this wretched thing,” Lucy prompted Taurus to focus on the battle, which he nodded with a loud laugh and charged forwards, swing his massive axe across. It slashed the Vulcan’s stomach, and it used a hand to grasp the wound as Lucy used her whip to grasp its other arm, leaving it helpless to the chain attack that Taurus was about to implement with Lucy’s assist. He moved his body with a loud, booming laugh as he slashed his axe upwards to deliver the killing blow.

At least it would’ve been, if a flamed fist that was going at a high-speed hadn’t crashed into the Vulcan and Taurus, causing them both to crash in the ground, bouncing into the wall.

There Natsu stood with a scowl on his face as he stood in the middle of the lair, causing Lucy to gape at the turn of events. “Natsu?!”

“Lucy! Where’s Macao? Do you see him?” Natsu hadn’t known the situation after all. One moment he was flying with Happy, the next moment, Happy declared that he was going to throw Natsu into the fight which he quickly agreed to.

“N-No but you just knocked into my spirit, Taurus and the Vulcan!

“E-Eh?!” Natsu said shocked as the ice dust began to settle and indeed, two massive figures were in the wall. He saw the Vulcan, and then he turned to look at the big humanoid bull who let out a small groan of annoyance and he snapped back at Lucy,

“Oh shit. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Natsu quickly spoke, before letting out a surprise grunt as a massive chunk of rock and ice slammed into him, thrown by the pissed off Vulcan. At a speed that shouldn’t be possible considering the extent of the injuries that Lucy and her spirits had inflicted on it, it launched itself at Natsu’s briefly dazed form, gearing up for what seemed as if the last big attack that it energy left for.

Natsu’s eyes widened at the sight before he charged himself up, meeting the Vulcan head on with a flamed Iron Fist waiting for him. Taurus had leaped from his side of the lair, cheering as he casted his axe aside in favor of joining the flamed mage in a glorious display of brute strength. Lucy swung her whip to use it to lock down the Vulcan if need be, but Natsu’s and Taurus’s strength combined was enough to stop the Vulcan.

With Natsu’s fist connecting with his face and Taurus landed right behind the Vulcan, punching into its back, the Vulcan flew towards the edge of the lair like a ragdoll, immediately falling unconscious at the impact. Its body rolled as Lucy watched it, while Natsu and Taurus cheered together at defeating the enemy.

But wait--why did the Vulcan look like it was transforming--?

Lucy let out a loud, horrid gasp as she realized that the Vulcan had turned into a beaten man that was on his way to rolling off of the cliff. She ran like her life depended on it, screaming for Natsu and Taurus’s attention as the body rolled off.

Without hesitation, she jumped off the cliff, casting her whip as she flew against the icy, powerful winds that beat her face, towards Macao’s body as it fell limply. It wrapped around Macao’s body and Lucy pulled with all of her might to yank his body towards her, grabbing whatever she could before it was too late.

Despite her being wet from the snow, she grasped firmly on his ankle as someone grabbed her own, to her immense relief. Lucy let out a groan of pain as she felt her leg being pulled, straining her muscles as she clung to Macao’s foot with a death grip. Whoever was at the top of this messy assemble was doing all of the work as she slowly felt her body being pulled back upwards but decided to focus her attention on not dropping Macao.

Eventually, she let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding in as she reached back onto the top, feeling multiple arms helping her as they hauled Macao’s unconscious form up, bleeding profusely from wounds.

Taurus carried Macao’s body inside of the lair as Natsu and Happy clung to Lucy who was breathing in harshly, catching her breath from the whole ordeal. Natsu stared at her in awe, shock, and fear. He recalled how he barely had time to react to Lucy’s scream as she jumped over the cliff, taking a piece of his heart with her in pure terror.

“You can’t do that to me again, Luce. I just got you back,” Natsu breathed out as he held Lucy close to his chest. Lucy just let out a weak chuckle, wincing a little as she felt even Rushii’s nerves calmed a bit.

“Don’t pull that shit again, Lucy. You scared the fuck out of me,” Rushii scowled.

“Sorry Nee-san, I just had to move. Otherwise, I couldn’t look Romeo in the eye if we were to head back with his father’s carcass.”

Rushii let out a sigh but didn’t say anything more.

“Sorry Natsu, but I had to move fast. You saw the Vulcan turn into Romeo’s dad, right?”

Natsu took in a long deep breath to settle himself, steeling his resolve as he set his eyes and let go of Lucy, turning towards Taurus and Macao. “Yeah, he looked like shit too. Come on, let’s get that first aid kit.”

“Make it quick, summoner. The man is losing blood rapidly,” Taurus called out with a frown on his face as he peered towards the body he set down, noticing the stomach wound that seemed to have mirrored the Vulcan he had attacked earlier. Lucy got up quickly at Taurus’s serious tone and asked Happy to get the first aid kit that was casted to the side when Horologium disappeared, getting onto her knees as she inspected Macao.

“Let me take over,” Rushii muttered, frowning heavily at the sight of Macao’s body. This timeline seemed to be crueler and scarier, the more she watched. She didn’t remember the Vulcan being so aggressive, he was rather pervy and idiotic in her world. Macao was bruised, but he wasn’t bleeding profusely as he was currently.

He could honestly die at this rate.

“I-I can do this Neesan--”

“No. You’ve done a lot today, Lucy. Take a step back and breath for a moment as I save Macao’s life,” Rushii ordered strictly, but not unkindly. Lucy reluctantly gave Rushii the reigns as Rushii paused and swallowed down her own nerves, calling out for Natsu to come help.

“Natsu, come here.” Rushii said in a serious tone, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Natsu immediately came and sat next to Rushii as she opened the medical kit next to Macao’s body. Taurus immediately noticed that the other spirit had taken over his master’s body, but stayed quiet as he watched her operate on Macao. Rushii ripped the gauze with her teeth as she grabbed Natsu’s hand, placing it above Macao’s body.

“We’re going to have to use your fire to seal his wound. The gauze won’t be enough for him, the wound is far too deep.” Rushii explained as she set the gauze to the side, bringing out the small package of hydroxide to pour and clean the wound as best as she could. They didn’t have time to take their time with cleaning it properly, her hands were already stained red. Natsu’s eyes widened in fear as he looked at his hands,

“L-Lucy, my magic--I can’t--I’ll hurt him?” Natsu asked hesitantly. He’s never been asked to cauterize a wound before. What if his injury becomes worse, despite Natsu’s efforts? It always seems to end up that way. He accepts a quest to do some good and ends up destroying almost everything in the process.

He doesn’t want to destroy Macao.

Fear was in his black eyes, but Rushii stood firm. If it was her Natsu, he probably would’ve shrugged and done it without a second thought. But this wasn’t her Natsu, she was beginning to realize. This Natsu was riddled with doubts, insecurities that seemed to roar only when Lucy was around, it seemed. It made it easier in her mind to handle his presence, considering the major differences that her Natsu and this Natsu had, as she took control of the situation.

“I’m afraid doing nothing will lead to his death. Your magic can be used for saving too, Natsu,” Rushii spoke softly as she grabbed his hand once more, positioning above Macao’s stomach.

“Now take a deep breath, and practice control. Harness your flame and use it to save Romeo’s father’s life because he’s waiting for his dad to come home.”

---------

--L-H--

---------

It was almost midnight when they made it back to Fairytail, with a barely lucid Macao on Natsu’s back as they moved slowly. Blood littered their clothes and stained their hands as the group walked on.

But everyone was alive.

Lucy was in control again, letting Rushii rest after she encouraged Natsu and took care of Macao’s body immediately after he successfully cauterized it. Lucy exhaustedly closed Taurus’s gate after the whole situation, feeling drained after the intense events that happened all in one day. She was going to feel so sore tomorrow, she was absolutely sure of it.

Macao had awakened the moment Natsu began to cauterize the wound, screaming in pain as Lucy and Taurus held his flailing body down. The pain forced him conscious, but there was nothing that they could do as his yells and cries of pain echoed the lair, even causing Natsu to falter for a moment. Luckily Rushii told him the faster he completed his job, the faster Macao can begin his healing process.

That was enough for him to re-focus, eyes narrowing intently as he finished sealing the gash, allowing them to wrap Macao in gauze and slot him onto Natsu’s back as they made their way off the mountain.

As they were walking through Magnolia’s Town, the quietness of the area was like a lullaby to Lucy, as she snuggled Happy to her chest and let out a big yawn, causing Natsu to chuckle.

“It’s been a long day, eh?”

“You’re telling me,” Lucy playfully grumbled but she didn’t regret a single thing she’s done today. Stopping a slave trader, joining a guild, obtaining a best friend, and going on a quest to find a little boy’s lost dad that they were successful with.

“You know, we’d make one badass team, Natsu,” Lucy chuckled while Natsu looked at her and seemed to have pondered something as they continue to walk. Eventually they made it to the gate of Fairytail, with Lucy and Happy pushing it open as some guild members turned to them in surprise, considering the time. After everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of Macao and the trio’s bloodied state, they let out shocked gasped before cheering at the return of the midnight heroes.

Mirajane was the first person to began ordering people to set up the infirmary and to have Makarov informed of the recent developments immediately. Natsu gently settled Macao in Elfman’s arms, who turned and carried him away. Letting out a big sigh of relief, Lucy sat down at the closest table, slumping over the table.

Natsu crashed down next to her, laying spread out all over the table with Happy floating down to rest on his stomach as he instinctively placed his hand under Lucy’s head that was resting next to his slumped body.

“We did good today,” Natsu said and Lucy let out a tired hum in agreement. “You were a badass today Lucy, fighting that Vulcan. I barely did anything except almost make things worse.”

Natsu let out a laugh at his words and Lucy was relieved to be able to tell that he was genuinely laughing at the circumstance, and it wasn’t in a self-deprecated way.

“Don’t discredit yourself too much, although I won’t lie, that moment where you punched Taurus really shook me. I just wasn’t expecting that at all ,” Lucy giggled, recalling the events. Now that the danger was over, there were some moments that were a little funny now that she thought about it.

“Aye Sir! Don’t forget that you saved Macao’s life too, Natsu!” Happy cheered as he yawned, curling up on Natsu’s stomach. Natsu didn’t say anything for a moment as he held his free hand up, inspecting his flesh.

‘Your magic can be used for saving too, Natsu.’

‘Well wasn’t that something?’ Natsu sighed.

No one has ever told that to Natsu before, after all.

He didn’t know what to say or how to feel about that, so he stayed quiet. Natsu didn’t say anything as he clenched his fist slowly, before letting out another small sigh and closed his eyes. Lucy flipped her head over to see Romeo’s sleeping form over to the side with a blanket on top of him. She would’ve thought that the commotion would’ve woken the boy up, but as she glanced down at her branded pink Fairytail stamp that had splatters of red on it, she thinks it’s probably for the best that he didn’t.

They probably didn’t look too good at the moment.

“I need to shower,” Lucy moaned in agony and Natsu belted out a laugh for the first time in what felt like hours.

“Well…there’s a river that’s nearby--”

“Oh, and I bet you, it has fish in it right? Why don’t we get dinner while we’re at it,” Lucy rolled her eyes as Natsu cackled, remembering what he had told Lucy all those years ago. He was down to do it too, but after peeking an eye open to look at Lucy’s unamused expression, he knew that it was futile to try to persuade her.

Still--

“...it’s not a bad idea, Luce.”

“You’re so damn lucky I’m way too tired to hit you.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: A Group, A Squad, A Team

Daybreak Arc I

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy decided that they were going to take a break from anything too serious or adventurous for the next couple of days, allowing Lucy to settle into Magnolia. She ended up finding an apartment that she loved, without Rushii’s help. Rushii didn’t say that she ended up choosing the same apartment that she had during her timeline, but Lucy could feel the contentness radiating from her Nee-san anyways. Good, she had thought. If Rushii felt uncomfortable in the apartment that she had chosen, she would’ve moved out immediately.

The trio hung out almost every day afterwards, doing various things as they rested. Natsu had a small bandage over his arm, a wound that was healing nicely thanks to his advanced healing rate and the maintenance of the treatment. Lucy had been worried a little bit initially, but Natsu was quick to reassure her that he was fine.

But also informed her that taking on quest doesn’t mean everything is going to go smoothly, and injuries tended to be unavoidable.

“We’re sent on these missions so that the general public won’t be put in positions that can cost them grave injuries.”

“And what about us, Natsu? We’re put at risk too.”

“Somebody has to do it, Luce. I’d rather it be me, someone who knows how to defend himself, than anyone else who isn’t equipped for this lifestyle. Even if it means that I have to go alone.”

Lucy frowned at the thought of Natsu going on dangerous missions alone. Natsu saw the look at her face and gave her a reassuring grin,

“Don’t worry Luce! Not all missions are dangerous, sometimes people are just lazy and want you to do their grocery shopping!”

“Was that even a mission or were you tricked…?”

Natsu opened his mouth to retort but paused once he realized that Makarov had been in the area when he had completed the mission, even opened the door to the assignment of the house. Natsu let out a betrayed sound as Lucy just shook her head in amusement and pity, he was swindled! That rotten old man!

Rushii just hummed softly with faint amusement. She’s been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since she took over Lucy’s body. It seems to be a recurring side-effect. She suspects the longer she takes control, the longer her recovery period is. That…was something take into consideration in the event of an emergency.

Happy laughed as Natsu sulked at the revelation, Lucy patting his head as he slumped onto her bed. Today, Natsu had decided that they were going to go on another mission again and Lucy ended up agreeing. She was going to start having to make rent after all, and missions were the fastest way to getting easy bells.

But first--

“Anyways, you’re not getting out of your daily reading assignment! Finish your book for the day and then we can talk about the mission that you wanted us to go on.”

Natsu nodded seriously and was quick to jump onto her bed, laying on his stomach as he grabbed Happy from the air and rummaged through his green sack for the short story that Lucy had Natsu practice reading. Lucy let out a small yawn as she stretched, getting up to grab a snack from the kitchen.

When she came back, she saw that Natsu was struggling on a part as his eyebrows scrunched and he seemed to be stuck on the same page for the past couple of minutes. Lucy hummed quietly at the observation, swatting Happy away when he tried to dive down and steal her snack.

She plopped the rest in her mouth and stuck her tongue out of her bloated cheeks at Happy who huffed and pouted, collapsing dramatically onto one of Lucy’s pillows. As she awaited Natsu to ask her for help, she ended up summoning Plue, who was a cute snowman that was about Happy’s height. Happy perked up at the sight of Plue, and suddenly they were running around Lucy’s apartment as Lucy finally came over to lay down next to Natsu.

She propped herself up with her hand as she peaked past Natsu’s pink head, looking at the word that Natsu seemed to be stuck on.

Natsu glanced at her before returning to the word, frowning slightly. Lucy just stayed quiet as she hovered, waiting for him to take the initiative. Perhaps they needed to take a step back to figure out what the word was.

“Tell me about the rest of the sentence. What is it trying to convey?”

“Convey?” Natsu cocked his head.

“What is it trying to tell you?” Lucy rephrased. “Sometimes it’s the context clues that is surrounding the word, that helps you determine its meaning.”

“Oh! Well, okay. The guy is tryna talk to the other guy to work together, I think. They want to study to complete the last exam before the summertime hits.”

“Five points to Natsu!”

Natsu grinned.

“You’re exactly correct. The word that he said specifically was collaboration. The proper definition is ‘the action of working with someone to produce or create something’, but as you said, it’s just a synonym of teamwork.”

“What’s a synom?”

“A synonym, " Lucy gently corrected, “is a word that means the same thing as another word. Teamwork and collaboration are synonyms because they both mean to work together. Starving and hungry are synonyms, because they both mean that the person wants to eat. You’ve probably used many synonyms in your life without even realizing, most people do.”

Natsu stared at her in wonder, entranced as she explained the comprehension aspect of what he was reading. Lucy was brilliant, and she was taking time out of her day to help him. She hasn’t rushed him so far, even letting him ask for help first instead of asking him whenever she sees him struggling. She’s patient with him and that’s…all he asks.

She gives him a chance.

“You’re smart, Lucy, " Natsu breathed out, “B-Brilliant! Genius! Intelligent!”

Natsu seemed proud of being able to remember and say those words, as Lucy flushed out of embarrassment of the praise. She just huffed and poked him in his side, causing him to laugh lightly as he squirmed a bit.

“What are you even saying," Lucy flushed.

“Synonyms of your greatness, " Natsu replied seriously, with a grateful look. Lucy just sighed happily as she looked away, idly looking at Happy and Plue. She didn’t know what to say to all of the praise, no one has really praised her this much before. Her servants did, but there was a level of superiority that Lucy had over them that would never change. She didn’t doubt that their praises were genuine, but it was different hearing those same words from a friend.

Her best friend, Natsu proudly proclaimed.

“Better get used to it, Luce. We’re friends, remember? Best friends actually, which means that I’m gonna be like a leech! A virus! A pimple! Those never go away!”

“That’s--That’s not something to be proud of! And no one likes those things!”

“That’s the point! There will be days where you’re going to hate me, you’ll get irritated, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry. What I am trying to… convey is that I will still be there. As your best friend. As a forever friend. Is it crazy to say that? Uh, actually forget that last part---”

“No,” Lucy felt like she could cry. Friendship was the one thing that was really absent from her life. She was new to all of this, she didn’t have a blueprint to follow or didn’t know the rules to how to be a good friend. She just cares for everything that comes into her life, and Natsu was definitely one of them. “It isn’t crazy at all, Natsu.”

“W-Well I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Natsu suddenly admitted, scratched the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. Lucy has become so important to his life, so incredibly fast. What if he was overwhelming to be around considering she’s never really had a friend her age before? He didn’t want to be annoying, he just really liked being around her!

And the urge for destruction is less, when he’s next to her. The darkness that he feels in the back of his mind goes dormant. It goes quiet. He should probably talk about that to someone, actually. Lucy had taught him when they were younger that it’s okay to unpack to others every once in a while.

Maybe he’ll visit Mira again, on a quiet day. She probably understands, even if Natsu doesn’t know what’s causing it for himself.

“I just like being around you, Luce.”

Lucy was utterly speechless and when she gave Natsu a bright, pure smile at his words, Natsu felt as if she had glowed a little bit. She was quick to lean against his side, laying her head on his shoulder as they laid on the bed together.

“There is no standard for me, Natsu, I’m new to all of this. If this is too fast for most friendships, I..don’t care. Because so far, it’s been perfect. You are the standard as far as I’m concerned. If anything, am I doing okay? As a friend?” Lucy finished off hesitantly. Was she being a good friend? Doing the right thing?

His answer was an evil grin and suddenly, Natsu had Lucy in a headlock as she screamed and flailed underneath his weight as he ruffled her hair, grinning maniacally. It was chaos in the Heartfilia home. Happy and Plue were dancing on her coffee table singing horrid tunes, while Lucy was trying to escape Natsu’s chokehold, screaming with laughter.

If happiness had a sound, Natsu thought as he growled playfully at Lucy while they wrestled, it would be her laugh.

--------

--L-H--

--------

“Collaboration, " Natsu started causing Lucy to look at him questionably as she peeled an orange. She threw one of them in the air and Natsu caught it with his mouth without missing a beat as he placed the quest on her table, taking a proper look at it. He chewed as Happy took a look at the mission, perched on top of his head.

“Hmm~ All we have to do is get a book?” Happy cocked his head. Natsu nodded as he swallowed, turning towards Lucy with his mouth open for another peel, which the latter complied. Lucy ate one of the peels as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Is that necessary for an entire quest?”

“Seems like it.”

Natsu hummed, looking at the price. Two hundred thousand jewels? That’s quite a reward for a mere quest to retrieve a book, he reckoned. Well, it’s nothing to do with him. If that’s how much the person who requested their services wants to give, he won’t complain.

“Anyways, collaboration.” Natsu wiggled his eyebrows at Lucy who chuckled. He learned a new a word and doesn’t know what to do with himself, Lucy thought with amusement.

“Yes? What about it?”

“We should make a team, an official one. Let’s collaborate." Natsu said proudly. Lucy shot him a bright smile, Natsu felt his chest puff out even more. He made her really happy with his suggestion.

“I’ve never been on a team before," Lucy said a bit shyly, but she was excited at the thought. That meant that they would do all sorts of missions together, which she wanted to do. She wanted to explore the world after being isolated from it for so long, and what more than to travel with her best friend?

“Well that’s changing, starting now!" Natsu shot up from his seat, sticking his hand out. Happy cheered with his catchphrase “Aye!” and placed his paw on top of Natsu’s. Lucy grinned and placed her hand on top, finalizing the team. “Team Haluna!”

“Haluna?” Lucy laughed. It had a pretty ring to it, but what did it mean?

“ ‘Ha’ is for Happy, ‘Lu’ is for you, and ‘Na’ is for me! I came up with in on the way up the mountain to find Macao.”

“It sounds lovely, “ Rushii murmured, and Lucy wholeheartedly agreed. This Natsu was fascinating the more she watched him, Rushii realized. There were differences in this world. Her Natsu was quick to call their name the first thing that he likely thought of, which was his own name. She was fine, and still is fine with her team being called Team Natsu.

But this version of Natsu, he seems so much more aware of others. In all worlds, it seems that Natsu has a big heart, and he cares for others in his own way. They both were a bit rough around the edges, and maybe they were prone to use their fists more than their brains first, but they loved hard. Yet in this one, he talks more, articulates himself to boost Lucy up in a friendlier manner.

Her Natsu used to teasingly call her ugly and whatnot, working her nerves but never meant any serious harm. It was the nature of their dynamic, because she’s called him some unsavory things in response.

Rushii couldn’t see this version of Natsu doing the same to Lucy, because he was beginning to look at her as if she hung the stars and changed his very existence.

Alike, she has noticed, but different.

“I’m assuming from the lack of surprise from your feelings, this has happened in your timeline, ” Lucy began with a smile, “Was your name Team Haluna too, Nee-san?”

“No, we were Team Natsu.”

“How…creative.”

Rushii cackled.

“Team Haluna…" Lucy breathed out. A name that had all of their names in it. A name that had thought put into it, because it was clear that Natsu wanted a piece of everyone to be represented. She loved it.

“It’s actually Team HaLuNa, but it’s easier to say Haluna,” Natsu said matter-a-factly. Lucy and Happy both paused as they shot each other a look, before humming in agreement while sweatdropping at Natsu’s words. They didn’t hear a single difference in both versions, but if Natsu says so, then it must be so in this case.

“So we’re really just going to pick up a book for the client? That’s all?” Lucy prompted.

“Seems like it, yeah. It’s in Shirotsume Town, so we’ll probably take the… train," Natsu suddenly looked sick to his stomach while Happy laughed at his facial expression. Lucy looked at him in small alarm.

“Natsu?”

“Don’t mind him, he gets motion sick whenever he uses any transportation. ‘Cept when I carry him, he doesn’t seem to get sick,” Happy explained as Lucy opened a can of sardines for him. He let out a big, dopey smile as he drooled at the sight of the tiny fish and Lucy rolled her eyes. They were both the same when it came to food.

“Medicine doesn’t work?”

“He’s used them so much when he was younger that he’s pretty resistant to everything that’s in the stores these days.”

Damn, Lucy thought as she watched Natsu shake at the thought of riding a train. It’ll have to be done though; she’s just let him lay on her or something to ease the pain. Or force him to take some sleeping medication before they get on the train. Hmm, she’ll see.

“W-Well anyways, the quest is to find this book in some guy’s house, his name is Duke Ev..erlow?” Natsu shifted the paper to Lucy, who took a peek at the Duke’s name before frowning heavily at the sight of it. “Duke Everlue. A pervert from what I remembered from back at the manor, although I did hear that he had a bit of an…unorthodox taste.”

Natsu snorted. “Stealing from a shady pervert? I got no problem with that, I say we take the quest! What do you guys think?”

Lucy kept reading the sheet, raising an eyebrow, “It says that Duke Everlue is looking for a blonde maid…”

Natsu blinked at Lucy suddenly, realizing that she was indeed blonde. He didn’t say anything for a moment as he thought of what to do. The logical thing was to make Lucy the maid and use her to infiltrate considering she fit the criteria the best. But something in Natsu’s mind did not like that at all, especially considering that Lucy said that she thinks the guy was a pervert.

A deep snarl threatened to escape Natsu at the thought of the man harming Lucy or touching her without her permission despite the mission. It won’t happen on Natsu’s watch.

“Yeah, I’m gonna dress up as a girl, buy some maid outfits and stuff Happy in my chest in order to look like I got boobs.” Natsu explained his quick-thinking plan, and Lucy’s jaw dropped as she immediately slapped a hand over her mouth and doubled over.

“W-What the hell Natsu?” Lucy sputtered out as she tried to breath and talk as she laughed wholeheartedly. Natsu smiled at her, loving her laugh but he was completely serious. He turned towards Happy, who was looking at him in pure horror, and gave an evil grin. “You like laying on me all of the time, right? Then it should be no problem, Happy!”

“A-Aye, this sounds like a nightmare!” Happy shivered at the thought as Lucy cackled. She wiped a stray tear as she finally was able to ground herself from the imagery that appeared in her mind, secretly feeling warmed that Natsu’s first instinct wasn’t to send her to satisfy the requirement. It made perfect sense, but he didn’t.

It..said a lot about his character, Lucy realized, and suddenly sticking to a maid routine for the sake of a mission didn’t seem too heinous. Even if it was for a scumbag like Duke Everlue. They’ll have to talk more about the plan of action during the train ride, it seems.

“We can talk more on how things are going to go on the way, but for now, let’s eat and head out!”

It was early afternoon after all, they had time to retrieve a book and more to spare. They spent the rest of their small lunch talking, with Natsu making sure to read of the rest of his daily readings in front of Lucy on the table so that she knew he wasn’t going to be distracted.

After that, they headed out to begin the next adventure that awaited them in Shirotsume Town!

--------

--F-T--

--------

“Ah, it seems that notorious book mission has finally been picked up, " Levy McGarden said thoughtfully as she stood in front of the quest board with Team Shadow Gear. She had been eyeing that mission for a little while but wasn’t particularly hurt to see it taken. She had heard some things about that mission anyways, wondering what must’ve happened for it to gain a small reputation.

“Yes, Natsu ended up taking it. " Mirajane confirmed, smiling at the memory of Natsu getting excited about taking Lucy on the first official mission as a Fairytail member. Their friendship seemed to be so pure, Mira loved seeing Natsu’s expressions so happy at the sight of the blonde. If Mirajane didn’t know any better, she’d start the betting pools right away on the nature of their relationship.

Alas, they are still young and a relationship between a man and a woman doesn’t always have to be alluded with a romance context. Instead, she shall watch from the sidelines and see how NaLu blossoms. If nothing else, she hopes that they can become each other’s “it” person.

Someone that they’d do anything for. The thought unconsciously caused Mirajane to take a look at Cana, who was arguing with a recovering Macao, splashing liquor every now and then. Cana looked over briefly to give her a small, smug grin and a wink, causing Mirajane to flush and roll her eyes at her girlfriend.

Honestly, why does she even put up with the alcoholic.

“He took that quest, huh?” Makarov said thoughtfully as he rubbed his beard, holding a mug of beer in the other. He hummed and narrowed his eyes a bit suspiciously, catching the attention of Team Shadow Gear and Mirajane.

“What’s wrong?”

“The reward of the quest has done up to two million jewels," Makarov hummed, while everyone else’s jaw dropped in shock at the turn of events. Two million jewels to find a book?! Everyone was flabbergasted. “That means that the stakes are a little bit higher, don’t you think?”

There was truth in the guildmaster’s words, but no one was worried. Macao stood up proudly, raising his cup into the air. “Whatever lies in their path, I’m sure they’re going to be just fine. They did kick my ass and proceed to save it after all. They are Fairytail members, they’ll be fine!”

Everyone roared in approval as Makarov grinned and shrugged, going back into their daily lives soon after.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: The Cold Lingers at Daybreak

Daybreak Arc II

“Good afternoon, Fairytail mages. My name is Kaby Melon, and this is my wife, Helena.” Their client greeted them without missing a beat. Lucy was glad to see that they weren’t phased at all with Natsu’s ridiculous appearance next to her. It seemed that he really had followed through with his plans of infiltrating as a maid, but Happy was able to escape his fate in the end. Natsu crossed his arms as he wore a hideous blonde wig, muscles flexing in the tight maid outfit as he nodded at Kaby Melon.

Lucy couldn’t look at him in fear of being unprofessional with her laughter. She didn’t want to mess up on her first mission after all. And besides, as she narrowed her eyes a bit at the sound of Mr. Melon’s name, it sounded a bit familiar to her before.

“Melon…”

Rushii stayed silent. It’s been a long time since she’s remembered this mission, despite it being their first official team mission together. Speaking of time, how old is she these days? If she didn’t know any better, she’d guess that she was on her way to pushing thirty.

Oh spirits, she groaned a bit internally.

“I’m assuming I’m doing this mission alone, Nee-san?”

“That should be the assumption moving forward, if we’re being honest. I’m not here to entertain small side-quests in comparison to other things. Think of these as tests, if you will. Things will never be the same after the next couple of missions, if my memory serves correctly," Rushii answered. Besides, she was still weak from Macao’s mission. If she is to treat her takeovers as emergency situations only, then it’s best to rest for now.

Because Phantom Lord is coming.

“Gajeel Redfox…” Rushii murmured without even realizing, piquing Lucy’s interest.

“Gajeel? Who is that?”

Rushii let out a choked breath as she was punished by the Eclipse Gate for her brief mistake, mentioning the Iron Dragon Slayer’s name far too soon in time. She winced as she coughed up a hint of blood but made sure to muffle her pain as best as she could from Lucy.

“Don’t…worry about that right now. You’d best head to Everlue’s. ”

Lucy didn’t put up much of a fight this time around, refocusing on her attention with her present surroundings. Rushii told her to be on guard, and to activate her sensoring skills as she doesn’t want to get jumped in a situation like this.

“I know we’ve practiced some scenarios in theory, but it should be a habit that you should develop quickly. It should become instinct that you deploy your magic sensoring, because a sneak attack can cost you your life if you aren’t careful.” Rushii warned. “To tell you the truth, you can’t rely on my skills to back you up. I’ve come to realize that with each time I take over, I need time to recover from using so much energy."

That caught Lucy’s attention again, but this time Rushii didn’t give her time to ask any questions as she forced a barrier between the two of them. She’s going to need to concentrate if she’s going to be powerful enough to take care of business during the attack on Fairytail. Rushii has thought about going to her father earlier, but it might make things worse. She decided that it was best to just focus on following what has happened in order, at least leading up to those points in her life.

But she’ll be damned if Gajeel Redfox had his way with her again.

“Lucy.” Rushii gently called out to her, before closing the barrier completely.

“Nee-san?” Lucy said a bit hesitantly. She could feel what Rushii was trying to do, and was a bit confused as to why she was suddenly acting like this. It was hard sometimes, not understanding what she could be going up against in the future and seeing Rushii begin preparations for something like this is making her a bit uneasy.

“Believe in Team Haluna. Believe in Natsu, Happy. Believe in Fairytail, but most importantly, believe in yourself. You are capable of accomplishing great things, even without my help. I’m going to be taking some time to gather energy for what’s to come, just in case the worse happens, so I won’t be available for a while.”

Lucy faltered, and Rushii could feel a wave of panic overtake the girl. It was understandable, Rushii has been a consistent presence in her life for over ten years now. She’s never been gone for more than a few days, and even then, she sends out a wave of reassurance every now and then to signal that she was still there. But this barrier…Lucy can’t feel a thing.

She felt a little empty already, if she was being honest.

“None of that, Lucy, you’re going to be just fine. When the time comes, I will return and I shall be by your side. Until then, enjoy life. Eat good food. Partake on some fun missions, hang out and make new friends.”

Lucy knew what laid beyond those words though. If Rushii comes back, it means something big was about to happen, and she had to prepare for it. Rushii knew that Lucy was going to figure out what she was trying to say between the nice words, but there was truth to what she had said as well. She should enjoy her life and gain experience in all of the best ways.

Without her presence, Rushii thought with a small smile. She’ll still be keeping an eye on her little sister of course, but most of her time is about to be dedicated to spirit energy meditations in the meantime.

“Good luck, Lucy.”

“ ...you too, Nee-san.”

Lucy blinked and found herself walking towards the mansion that housed Duke Everlue, with Natsu and Happy chattering by her side. She took note of the large space, suddenly remembering that Duke Everlue didn’t have any children and briefly frowned. What’s the point of having all of those rooms, if no one keeps them occupied?

There weren’t many things worse than feeling isolated in your own home.

“Was your house as big as this, Luce?” Natsu asked curiously. Lucy gave a brief nod as she stared at the Everlue mansion. She had activated her magic sensing moments prior, immediately noticing two other signatures that were large in the manor. Large enough to know that these people had practice and used magic, it seemed.

They could be walking into an ambush.

“I sense two other magical signatures in the mansion, large enough to know that they are definitely mages.” Lucy warned Natsu, who paused to look at her in small surprise. He tapped his nose,

“Yeah, I smell like a couple different scents from out here, but how did you know?”

“I can feel the ethernano essence inside of other people, and it comes in the form of unique signatures that have feelings attached to them if they are strong enough.”

“Woah, Lushi~! Do we have a signature? What’s mine?”

Lucy gave Happy a sheepish smile, “Sorry Happy, your magic reserves is too small for me to give out a distinctive feeling. Uhm, considering we’re close to each other right now though, I’d say that you give me a…fuzzy feeling?”

“Cool!” Happy cheered, and Natsu’s eyes widened as he snapped his big eyes towards Lucy, eager to know his own magical signature to her. “My turn! Whatcha feel from me?! Like a dragon, right?”

“Err, I don’t know about dragon, but you…feel like a warm and comfortable campfire to me, Natsu. Like a blanket, not too hot but obviously not cold. Cozy, comforting. Safe.”

“Safe?” Natsu breathed out and Lucy nodded, causing Natsu to do that fidgeting thing that Lucy has noticed he does when he doesn’t know how to react or say to something unexpected to him. It doesn’t bother Lucy though, considering she gets fluster from praise sometimes. She gets it.

“Safe.” She confirmed and internally smiled when Natsu had a small, pleased expression on his face.

She didn’t mention the vague feeling of antique and powerful magic that also radiate from him, albeit much much more diluted. Like as if it felt like this magic was hidden away. His Fire-Dragon Slayer magic was already extremely rare, but this felt a bit different…

“Well if you say so.” Natsu huffed with a small tint of red on his cheeks before promptly ripping off the blond wig from his head. Lucy choked on a laugh as he let out a small sigh of relief, being free from the itchiness that was constantly bothering him ever since he put the wig on. He didn’t mind the maid outfit though, his arms were free since he ripped off the sleeves the moment he got the outfit.

The quest said that Everlue was looking for a blond maid, but it looks like he was going to have to settle for pink instead.

Before long they found themselves standing in front of the manor’s front door, unsure of how to proceed. Lucy looked at Natsu, silently wondering what the seasoned quest taker would do. Natsu and Happy just shrug in unison however, causing her to roll her eyes as she knocked on the front door.

Nothing happened for a moment.

Then suddenly, a massive shadow appeared above them, and the trio flinched backwards towards the door in surprise as a large woman jumped down from what seemed to be the top floor of the mansion, landing behind them. Natsu’s jaw dropped at the sight of the other pink haired lady, who seemed to resemble more of a gorilla than a lady if someone were to ask him. She towered over the trio with massive muscles, a brutish face, and two ponytails at the top of her head.

Resilience and…pain? Pleasure? Lucy was already puzzled at the woman’s magical signature but was even more confused at the feeling it gave her. It was awfully familiar, as if she was feeling Cancer or Aquarius. The Zodiac Keys radiate an ancient magic that Lucy associates with the feelings of dreams and space, and yet the maid before her seemed to also radiate that.

Could she be a spirit, perhaps?

“What the hell am I looking at, Heartfilia?”

The trio jumped again at the sight of Aquarius, who was looking at the maid in front of her in a morbid sense of disgust and amusement. Lucy was surprised to see her in her human form, and the fact that she summoned herself. Normally she enjoyed her mermaid form. But wait, she didn’t even think to summon anyone yet, so why did Aquarius come out?!

“Aquarius?!”

Aquarius raised an eyebrow at Lucy, “What?”

“What--What are you doing here?”

The maid, Natsu, and Happy flipped back and forth between the two, as if it was a sports match.

“I missed out on the fun last time, I won’t let the beef and crab cakes have their chance to shine again.”

“But there’s no water around here?”

“What the--” Aquarius looked at Lucy with an irritated expression, “Do you think I’m only used with water for fuck’s sake? I can summon my own, if need be! I’m not completely helpless if there isn’t a body of water around here.”

“Besides,” Aquarius turned to give a smug smirk at the maid in front of them, “I bet I’ll use the ‘ole masochist’s tears over there anyways. Bet she’ll get a kick out of that.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped for the second time as she looked back at the maid. “You know who that is?!”

“Duh. That’s V--”

“That’s my maid that you’re referring too, and I suggest that you back off of my property before I call security right this instant!” A whiny man suddenly opened the front door, causing Lucy, Natsu, and Happy to take a step back as they were sandwiched between the man and his maid. He was a tiny thing, Natsu towering over his figure with his arms crossed as he took in the sight of the Duke.

Lucy let Aquarius continue to antagonize the maid, looking down towards Duke Everlue and his infuriated expression. She let out what she hoped was a gentle, kind smile as she stook her hand out in a polite greeting.

“Oh, you’ll have to excuse us. My name is Lucy, and this is my friend Natsu with his flying cat, Happy!”

Duke Everlue looked down at her hand with disdain as Lucy kept a smile on her face. Eventually he shook her hand, but wiped it furiously on his slacks causing Natsu to stand up a little bit straighter and narrow his eyes a bit. Just as he was about to take a step forward at the Duke’s rudeness, Lucy placed a calm hand up to stop him, turning back to Duke Everlue with continued politeness.

“I apologize if we caused any disturbance, but now that we have your attention, would you care for us to take a look at your library? We have a word to retrieve a book here, and it would be rude to just barge inside without even asking the owners.”

Duke Everlue stroked his mustache, “Hmm, you are the first group to at least ask before trying to take something with stealth and force.” His eyes narrowed at her hand however, and visibly frowned at the sight of a guild mark on it. His body swelled with anger as he suddenly pointed at Lucy, yelling out,

“Blasted ugly woman! You tried to trick me, thinking you were some tourists interested in my impressive mansion!”

“What?!”

“But you’re nothing but annoying mages. Luckily for me, I’ve bought some guards to take care of pests like you all.” Everlue spat before shutting the front door promptly, and Aquarius was quick to act as she summoned her urn, creating a wall of water to block the incoming attack from Everlue’s gorilla maid. She turned towards Lucy,

“Quick, get inside brat. I’ll take care of this, do whatever you have to do. And fucking summon me properly if you need help, okay? ‘Cuz I swear to the fucking King if I have to hear that smug crab talking about he got chosen again --”

“Okay, okay, I get it! I’ll summon you next, Aquarius!” Lucy let out an exasperated sound at the childish manners of her spirits. Why were they bragging about being the spirit of choice for summoning? Was it that serious? Suddenly the thought of her three spirits sitting in a room (or Cancer’s hair salon), gossiping and arguing over miscellaneous things seemed rather amusing the more she thought about it.

“What the fuck are you daydreaming for?! Get the fuck inside! Bust that shit open, dragon boy!”

Lucy snapped out of her daze with a small, embarrassed flush as Natsu grinned at his title given by Aquarius, immediately kicking the front door open. The force caused the door to fly from its hinges as they stormed Everlue’s mansion with Aquarius fighting the maid outside. Once Team Haluna was out of Aquarius sight, she then turned towards her opponent and frowned at the sight of her.

“Virgo, who the hell made you look like this?”

Virgo remained silent as she stared at Aquarius, but the water-bearer knew that she had heard her from the way her eyes flashed in recognition. Aquarius just sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her old friend,

“Well I don’t know your problem is but I should at least warn you that whoever your master is inside that building, they are about to get their asses kicked by mine.” Aquarius stated matter-a-factly as she looked at her nails a bit boredly. She had to leave soon anyways, she didn’t expect that when she’d pop up for a surprised visit, it would lead to her engaging a fight a little bit. “Lucy’s strong. Try your best to get around the rules that your master’s enforced on you, if you can. I’d hate to see one of us suffer from a piss poor celestial spirit mage again.”

“...it’s not like you to get worked up over a summoner like this.” Virgo said in a gruff tone that matched her appearance. Aquarius did not hold back her second look of disgust but refrained from commenting on that any further.

“The Heartfilia brat is different. Their whole bloodline is, actually, but this girl really is special.”

Virgo hummed before slowly taking a seat on the steps of the front door, causing Aquarius to roll her eyes but took a seat next to her as well. The two spirits sat as they heard small crashes and cracks from inside of the house, but they simply minded their business.

“...I suppose I don’t have to take action unless Duke Everlue himself is in physical danger, or he summons me forcefully.”

“I guess you don’t have to.” Aquarius shrugged as she kept Virgo company. Normally she wouldn’t do this type of thing, it wasn’t her M.O. Perhaps that was why Virgo was a bit taken aback from her actions earlier, she was acting a little different than normal. Or at least, what she’s done in the past.

Tsk, that damn brat. Trying to change her and shit. (Lucy didn’t even have to try.)

They sat together until Virgo was forced to taken action when she felt the tell-tale sign of her summoner in danger, leaving Aquarius on the steps as she stormed her way inside. Before she left, however, Aquarius’s eyes hardened as she gave out a warning,

“I won’t hold back if Heartfilia summons me to protect her.”

Virgo’s eyes flashed with a sense of curiosity, amusement, and a dark excitement at the thought of fighting the other celestial spirit. They often don’t get the chance to fight each other, so the thought was a little intriguing for Virgo.

“Then I’ll see you on the battlefield if our paths cross.” Virgo flatly replied as she suddenly jumped through the floor of the mansion, forcing her way towards her assigned target. She left Aquarius chuckling as she disappeared back into the spirit world, ready to gossip to Cancer about how she caught Virgo lacking in every way possible with some spirit wine in her hand.

--------

--L-H--

--------

The moment Natsu kicked down the door, Team Haluna was immediately assaulted with maids who claimed to have loved Duke Everlue, and that they would even put their lives on the line for him much to Lucy’s confusion. They swarmed the team, causing Natsu to activate his quick thinking as he ordered Happy fly Lucy upstairs while he takes care of the maids down below.

Happy grabbed Lucy with an “Aye Sir!” as they dodged the grabbing hands of the maids, as Natsu uses his fire as a distract and a way to keep them all back. He ended up knocking them one by one as he dodged their attacks with ease, chopping the back of their necks with abrupt force as the last one finally went down.

He grinned at his accomplishment and immediately walked towards the spiral stairs, before launching himself up with his flames like a rocket. Natsu landed at the top floor, and entered the library only to see Lucy and Happy scouring the place already, peering into the books on the shelves.

“Why don’t we just burn the whole place down?” Natsu asked nonchalantly while Lucy gasped in horror.

“No way!”

“But take a look around, Luce," Natsu whined, “There are too many books. I don’t even remember the book’s name that we were supposed to find, anyways. In fact, this whole thing was weird. He didn’t even smell right.”

Lucy paused at the end of Natsu’s words, looking up from a book that she had peered through. She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, ‘he didn’t even smell right’?”

“That Melon guy and his wife, they didn’t even smell like the house? If you’ve lived in a home for a while, you’d naturally obtain the scent of your surroundings, but they didn’t smell like the home at all. So either they haven’t lived there for long, or they didn’t live there at all.”

Lucy frowned as she remembered the etiquette from the Melon family. They were polite, but considering the fancier home that they claimed to live in, it wasn’t the same aristocrat politeness that she was raised to know. Granted, there were people like Duke Everlue that obviously don’t follow those same social rules, but if one couldn’t see it in one fashion, the aristocrat training would show in other ways. She never got those vibes from them at all, and suddenly this was a bit weird.

“That is…” Lucy trailed off in thought before her eyes glanced towards a book title with the words “DAYBREAK” written on the spine of the novel. Something inside of her causes her to grab the book title in interest, only for her eyes to widen in excitement at the name of the author listed on the cover.

Kemu Zaelon! That was one of her favorites, growing up!

Natsu hopped over towards Lucy, taking note of her change in attitude. “Didya find it?”

“No--I found something better !” Lucy smiled as she held the book. Suddenly the book seemed to spazz with a magical signature that she had missed the first time, because of how small it was. She narrowed her eyes at the book, closing her eyes to focus on the signature.

She opened her eyes after a couple of seconds and looked onto Natsu.

“On second thought, this book seems to have magic casted onto it. Could you buy me some time? I just have a feeling that I should read this…”

Natsu nodded and called for Happy, turning to head towards the front of the library as he smashed his fists together. Fire sparked as he grinned in excitement at the thrill of a fight, getting ready to take care of anyone who tries to attack Lucy as she reads with her special glasses that he’s seen her with before. “You got it, Luce!”

Lucy smiled her thanks as she sat down in the middle of the room, flipping through the pages of the book at a rapid pace thanks to the help of the Gale-Force Reading Glasses. Her face began to show a range of emotions as she read, Natsu watching her as he awaiting opponents to come and try to stop them. Suddenly the scent of foul cologne filled his nose as Natsu got up, cracking his knuckles as he awaited them to come.

“Happy?”

“Aye!”

“Protect Lucy, will ya? Just in case I gotta go. I smell two of ’em.”

“That’s not necessary boys," Lucy replied as she was reading, taking a moment to grab a familiar key that was calling out to her as she read. She mindlessly said the chant of the celestial spirit summoning ritual, and Aquarius appeared once more with a pleased look on her face. She looked down at the mage,

“Finally, you decided to have some sense.”

Lucy rolled her eyes but flashed the spirit a small, amused smile before looking back at the book. Commotion startles her for a moment as she looks up again, but Aquarius is just floating around as she scratched her stomach. She was watching Natsu fight these two men that suddenly appeared, and Lucy went back to reading in the middle of the room.

Meanwhile Natsu was cackling as he fought the Vanish Brothers (as they called themselves), dodging their attacks with relative ease as they spouted nonsense about him being weak due to the fact that he seemingly only trains his magic, not his body. Natsu thinks that maybe they were blind, considering the impressive muscle that Natsu had built on his body even being seen in the maid outfit he was wearing.

The brief thought costs him as Natsu is kicked into the room next door, crashing through the wall with a small “oof”. It didn’t hurt much, but it was a bit surprising that they managed to land a lucky hit onto him.

The Vanish Brothers gleamed in glory, as they thought that Natsu was going to be a relatively easy opponent. They had seen through the Surveillance Lacrima that Duke Everlue had installed that he was a Fire Mage, and that was one of their specialties to fight against.

The taller one cracked his knuckles as he stepped into the room, thinking that the fight was almost over.

In the midst of the dust and dry wall, Natsu’s teeth gleamed as he stood up in the debris.

The sooner they were out of the way, the sooner he could see Lucy again.

With that in mind, it didn’t take long for him to get serious as he powered up to beat the Vanish Brothers.

--------

--N-D--

--------

Natsu blinked in small surprise at the ease that it took to defeat the brothers. For people who talked up their abilities, it only took two of his own in order to beat them. Either they were over-confident in their abilities, or they underestimated Natsu. Regardless it had costed them, and now they were slumped in the middle of the room with several degree burns from their fight. Natsu just let out a small, bored sigh,

“C’mon Happy, let’s g--”

Natsu let out a choked breath as he was suddenly slammed into the ground, hit with a strength that he didn’t see coming as he broke through the floors. His back spasmed as he coughed out, feeling the wind knocked out of him as a large, familiar shadow jumped through the hole that she had created using Natsu’s body.

Natsu’s eyes narrowed as he scrambled to get up, positioning himself against the head maid of the Everlue mansion. She looked formidably in front of him, almost twice his size. With one hit from her fists, Natsu was already aware that she was on a different caliber than the Vanish Brothers. He forced himself to move when chains suddenly came out of nowhere, aimed to restrict his body.

Natsu rolled and let out a Fire Dragon’s Roar as he spun, causing the maid to protect herself by covering her face with her forearms. She stampeded forwards and jumped up, pushing through the flames as Natsu lit his fists on fire to meet her head on. He grinned with sharpness as they were dead even in terms of strength, reaching a quick stalemate as they pounded each other.

A quick right hook at Natsu’s face was rewarded with a sharp kick to the maid as they exchanged blows, before the maid summoned a shackle that grabbed Natsu unexpectedly. He flinched as the chains forced his arm backwards, and the maid grabbed his maid outfit with a sharp twist as she lifted an arm up to pound into his face.

With quick thinking, Natsu let out another, smaller Fire Dragon’s Roar directly in the maid’s face to her surprise, as she thought that he could only do it with his hands. She let out a gruff squeak as Natsu gained the upper hand, breaking his arm free from the chains as it was his turn to pound into her.

A gold light distracted him instead as he paused for a moment, watching as the maid began to disappear. The maid looked down in surprise, before silently acknowledging her fate as she simply stared at Natsu, who spontaneously decided to grab onto Virgo in the middle of her summoning.

Virgo’s eyes widened, “Let go ---”

But Natsu’s snarl silenced her as they disappeared together.

--------

--L-H--

--------

Lucy was approaching the end of the DAYBREAK book calmly as Aquarius played with her latest prey that walked into the library. Duke Everlue had entered after he ordered the Vanish Brothers to kill Natsu, expecting just the girl to be there. What he hadn’t expect was for her to be a rather adept celestial spirit mage just like himself, with a Zodiac spirit already awaited for an opponent. He felt a shiver come over him the moment Aquarius locked eyes with him, immediately summoning water from her urn to drag his helpless body towards her.

She held him up by the collar of his ugly suit jacket and tsked, “Pathetic.”

Lucy then proceeded to sweatdrop at the sadistic laugh that came from Aquarius as she toyed with Duke Everlue, while protecting Lucy at the same time. By then she’s already read enough of the story and closed it, grabbing the attention of Aquarius and Duke Everlue as he suddenly seemed eager to know what she had read. He doesn’t know the true contents of this book then, Lucy realized as her eyes narrowed at the sorry excuse of a man.

“You’re a real piece of work, Everlue.”

“What did you read, girl?” Everlue gargled instead as he was trapped in mini-whirpool bubble that Aquarius made for her amusement. A quick look from Lucy has the spirit rolling her eyes as she stopped the whirlpool, causing the bubble prison to still as Lucy captured Everlue’s attention again.

“Enough to know that you’re a sorry piece of shit, chaining Kemu Zaelon aka Zekua Melon in a prison cell in order to finish writing a selfish piece of writing that only pertained to you . You crushed that man’s dreams.”

“So that’s what was in the book..”

“It was a memoir to someone else, you don’t have permission to own this book anymore.”

“And on what grounds, girl? This is my mansion, everything in here is mine .”

Lucy pursed her lips at the possessiveness of the Duke, causing Aquarius to step up as she began to drown the Duke. Lucy faltered at the sight as Aquarius locked eyes with Lucy, raising an eyebrow at the sight of her confused, worried expression. There was no universe where Duke Everlue was a good man. He was rather a poison to the Shinotsume Town, based off of spirit’s own assumptions. It’s best to get rid of said poison before it spreads.

“Aquarius, what are you…”

Aquarius gave Lucy a blank look for a moment, before releasing the Duke from the water cell she had him in. Drenched to his core, Everlue began to spit up water as he coughed violently, as Aquarius crossed her arms as she stared at Lucy. The coldness in her eyes had surprised Lucy, and she briefly wondered if she really was going to follow through with her attempt to kill Duke Everlue.

“Hmm, I guess the vermin gets to live another day.” She grumbled. She didn’t like the way Lucy looked at her when she saw Aquarius’s original intentions. That blasted summoner, making her soft. Suddenly, Aquarius remembers the hardened eyes of Rushii, who’s she’s met a couple of times over the years. Would Rushii have killed Duke Everlue? That woman was a bit interesting to say the least. It’s a thought that entertains her enough to quell the disappear of finishing off the rodent of a human.

“Open the Gate of the Maiden, Virgo .”

Lucy’s eyes widened in shock as Aquarius rolled her eyes at the revelation, feeling sorry for Virgo being contracted to such a nasty man. She sighed as she waited for Virgo to be summoned, when all of a sudden, she violently shuddered when she felt a powerful demonic energy in the room. Her eyes widened in slight fear as she looked at the form of Virgo and the dragon boy that seemed to have summoned with her.

But how ?

No human could enter the Celestial Spirit World, for there was no air and their bodies would disintegrate almost immediately. Aquarius watched as Virgo faltered at the sight of an alive, breathing Natsu Dragneel who seemed to be in a daze from being summoned.

Both spirits watched as dark marks flashed onto Natsu’s skin, faster than the human eye could see, and felt a massive sense of confusion, fear, and interest in the boy. What the hell was he?

Aquarius watched as Lucy didn’t suspect a thing, or perhaps she was already aware of this…interesting side of him due to her abilities of magical sensing. She did her own as she stared hard at the boy, taking a note of his spirit.

She swallowed a bit as she felt something sealed off inside of him, and briefly wondered if he was a threat.

“What are you waiting for, woman?! Attack!” Everlue spat out angrily as he ordered Virgo to attack Lucy and Natsu, causing her to snap out of her own look of alarm at the dragon slayer as she was forced to comply to his request. Natsu was a little dizzy from the journey as he stumbled in the library, but with a joint effort from him and a small assist from a slightly distracted Aquarius, he was able to defeat the half-hearted Virgo with one punch.

Natsu frowned a bit at the easiness of the final fight, noting how he struggled a little bit during the one on one situation but didn’t think much of it after a moment. A win was a win, and now they were finally able to finally complete the mission thanks to Virgo being put down. He ignored the odd stare that Lucy’s spirit gave him as he walked over towards his best friend, and picked her up to spin her around.

“Woohoo! Team Haluna’s first mission, completed!”

Lucy laughed in Natsu’s arms, “Don’t be so hasty, Natsu. We complete the mission once we return this book to Mr. Melon.”

“Yeah yeah, that’s the easy part. What do we do about Duke Everlue, though?”

The poor man was cowered in a corner as Aquarius trapped him in a water cage, without drowning him this time around. Lucy took a look at the pathetic man, then at the Zodiac spirit that he had in his possession (who was knocked out thanks to Aquarius and Natsu’s efforts). She pursed her lips as she thought about what to do. Duke Everlue wasn’t a good person, but she didn’t want him dead.

Instead, she decided that he’ll have to deal with the law for his other crimes.

She calmly walked over to Duke Everlue and squatted before the cage. He looked up at the blonde teenager, and almost let out a small pathetic whimper as he stared at the sight behind her. The mermaid mad woman was glaring down at him, as if he was just a bug that needed to be stepped on immediately. Meanwhile the pink-haired fire boy with the torn maid outfit, looked at him with sharp eyes as if he was ready to pounce without a second thought. If Duke Everlue had any sneaky plan, the two knights being the blonde princess wouldn’t hesitate to take him out.

That was what he knew, as he stared into their hardened eyes.

“Duke Everlue.”

Everlue stayed silent as the blonde captured his attention. She merely hand out a hand, and Everlue gave her a suspicious, questioning gaze. “The key. Give it to me.”

“What--?!” Everlue shot up in alarm, but Lucy raised a calm hand to silence him as the people behind her took a menacing step forward. Lucy didn’t notice, but Duke Everlue sure did as he shut right back up and cowered once more. Lucy kept her hand held out and stated rather coldly, “Quite frankly, Duke Everlue, there is no way you are escaping this unscathed. While it is true that our original mission here was to simply retrieve a book for our client, there were other alarming things that I noticed during my time here that leads me to believe that you are in fact a corrupt politician. You are going to jail, Duke Everlue. I’m personally going to make sure of it.”

Some of the books that she has scoured in order to find the client’s book has revealed some astonishing statistics that left Lucy with a terrible taste in her mouth. This town was rotting with Duke Everlue, and he’s the core to it all. There was no way Lucy was going to leave this place without at least taking some of the trash out, now that she’s seen a glimpse of the truth.

“The least you can do is hand over the Maiden key, as I did save your life after all.” Lucy spoke up, and Aquarius looked down at her in surprise. Originally, she thought Lucy had been soft when she had stopped Aquarius from committing the murder of Duke Everlue, but perhaps she was looking for a more creative way to get justice all along. Aquarius gave a small smirk at the adaptability of her summoner, as she returned to making Duke Everlue’s skin crawl with her dark stare.

“Well?”

They ended up leaving the mansion with Duke Everlue in handcuffs, a book underneath Lucy’s arm, an extra celestial spirit key, and some resolve as they made their way back to Kaby Melon and his wife. Presenting to him with the book of his father and watching how the memories of him flashed before Kaby Melon as he tearfully thanked them for retrieving the book, left Team Haluna feeling a sense of contentment and a bit of melancholy as they parted ways with him.

On their way back towards the train ride in the evening, Lucy fingered the latest celestial spirit key in her possession as they walked in relative silence. Happy was resting on top of Natsu’s head as they walked shoulder to shoulder, taking their time as Lucy suspects Natsu was stalling for as long as possible from getting back onto the train.

It didn’t matter to her; she knew that she’d just be consoling and carding her hands through his pink hair as he rested his head on her lap anyways. It seemed to help him a little bit, as his tensed body relaxed the moment she did it the first time.

“I’m glad everything turned out alright for him,” Natsu said first as they walked. Lucy hummed out in agreement, taking note of the clouds in the sky. She thought about the fact that Duke Everlue had stolen a man’s passion for life, and the consequences of his actions.

He was the catalyst for the man’s suicide.

It left her feeling rather sour.

“He wrote DAYBREAK as a way to cope from the disgusting conditions that Duke Everlue enforced onto him out of greed. Three years, he wasted away in that cell. It was a diary that reflected a lot about his life, and his regrets especially. And so, he wrote it all to his son, who probably thought had abandoned him.”

“Wow.” Natsu murmured at Lucy’s words. It made him feel a bit strange, considering Kaby and Natsu had some similarities. Both were seemingly abandoned by their fathers, and while Kaby now at least has a bit of closure, Natsu didn’t. A piece of Natsu was relived that he didn’t, because if he were to have received a sign that meant the fall of Igneel, it would’ve shattered him.

And yet, a piece of Natsu was jealous at the fact that Kaby received something meaningful at all despite years after Zekua’s death.

“Confliction.”

Natsu looked at Lucy as she began to explain the word to him, as it had popped up in one of Natsu’s daily readings.

“Confliction is to be at a state of disagreement over two or more sides. Yet sometimes, it’s used as a term to describe a mental struggle, a battle between two opposing emotions or decisions that are ahead of you.”

“Hmm…I’m conflicted over choosing what to eat!” Natsu said as Lucy chuckled, rolling her eyes at the sound of Natsu’s grumbling. Natsu grinned but when he asked about something Lucy was conflicted of, he saw as her eyes grew a little distant as she answered,

“My father.”

Natsu was a bit conflicted in himself, it seemed.

He let out a small, loaded breath as he looked down at Lucy who seemed to be in a small world of her own as she walked next to him. It made him want to hold her hand, to touch her just to bring her back to the real world. Natsu found that he never had to purposely raise his voice often, or yell whenever he wanted to show something to Lucy. To show that he cared, at least.

A small touch was enough to convey that, for her.

The moment Natsu’s hand enclosed with Lucy’s, she blinked and suddenly was back to reality as they walked through Shinotsume Town, heading towards the dirt path that lead to the train station. She saw how Natsu gave her a small, intrigued look as they held hands, and she placed her head on his shoulder as they walked.

Warmth, Lucy noted as she felt the aura of Natsu, being so close to him.

Cozy.

Comforting.

Safe.

“I didn’t think this mission would lead me to thinking about my own father,” Lucy sighed as she thought about the cold tycoon businessman. Natsu let out a wordlessly sound of agreement as he nodded. He felt the same way. “Is it too late to make amends?” She said that last part rhetorically, softly as she wondered out loud.

“Amends for what?” Natsu asked her and that was enough to make Lucy silent for a moment as she realized that she had nothing to be sorry for. It just felt like it, that’s all. Natsu saw a glimpse of her thought process since they’ve talked about her relationship with her dad. He firmly believed that she had no reason to make the first move, if it were to happen.

“Don’t give in, Luce.”

Lucy hummed. “And you don’t give up, Natsu. I’m sure Zekua’s message to Kaby even after his death, hit a little harder for you, right?”

As always, she could read Natsu like a book. Natsu didn’t say anything to that, but he didn’t need to. Lucy already knew. She always knew, somehow.

“Igneel’s out there, Natsu. You’ll get your closure one day.”

They left that topic alone after that, Natsu turning the conversation into something lighter as he inquired about the latest key that Lucy had. She didn’t know much but was excited to meet her, deciding that she was going to summon her tomorrow after spending the rest of the evening back at the guild. There were lots of people she’s yet to meet, so she was excited to make new friends!

There was much to life, Lucy realized as she read DAYBREAK. Perhaps she should keep a record of all of her experiences, too.

“Do you think writing a diary would be fun?” Lucy pondered and Natsu shrugged slightly, not wanting to jostle Lucy’s head. He shifted Happy’s sleeping form from on top of his head a bit, before answering her,

“Dunno, I’m not much of a writer. What would you write about?”

“Maybe our future adventures or small thoughts that I have every now and then. It’s the small moments that tend to be the favorites, after all.” Lucy mused. She felt Natsu’s callus rub against her own, softer palm as he squeezed her hand without realizing. Small moments like these, Lucy smiled as she squeezed back.

“Sounds fine to me, can I read it too?!”

“Nope!” Lucy popped the ‘p’ and Natsu frowned playfully at the denial.

“Why not?!”

“It’s rude to peek into a girl’s diary, Natsu. Everyone knows that!”

“That’s stupid.”

“You’re stupid.” Lucy childishly answered as Natsu paused, before her eyes widened and she immediately took off running without a second thought. Natsu laughed as she sensed his intentions as he took off running after her, as she yelled at Natsu to stop with giggles in her voice. They ran all the way to the station, with Lucy’s sigh as she took Natsu’s hand once more as she dragged him onto the seat.

Natsu found himself blinking dazedly as Lucy stroked his head with Happy snuggled onto her other arm, laying on her lap as he focused on her soothing touch to fight the urge to vomit. Lucy did her actions absentmindedly as she reflected a little bit of her actions today, as the landscape passed by like a blur.

Aquarius was prepared to take out Duke Everlue without hesitation, but was Lucy ready to commit an act such as that?

She recalled feeling a coldness wash over her as she basically threatened the Duke into giving her Virgo’s key, isolating her emotions in order to do what she thought was right. Perhaps she learned that from Rushii, who was quite skilled in compartmentalizing for the most part.

It was a bit disappointing to not receive two million jewels, but as she rides back to Magnolia with Team Haluna, she thinks that the good that they were able to do could cancel out the large sum of money. Maybe the people of Shinotsume Town would get the two million back in reparations for their suffering, who knows.

With that thought, Lucy closed her eyes as Team Haluna fell into a gentle sleep, piled together on the train back to Fairytail.

Back to home.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: To Pry Through Fractured Glass

Eisenwald Arc I

Lucy let out a small sigh as she sat near to the quest board, groaning at her dilemma with a mug full of juice. Levy McGarden sat next to the blonde, chuckling at her current state. She’s been in her shoes after all, it’s never easy choosing a quest as a beginner! There were many things to take into consideration, and Lucy’s mind was running rampant at the potential outcomes as she spoke with Levy, her latest friend.

“It’s never easy choosing your next job,” Levy said warmly as she took a sip of her own drink. Lucy just huffed as she glanced behind her at the chaos Natsu was basking in, bickering in particular with a dark-haired exhibitionist that never seemed to back down from Natsu’s advancements. “I’m sure it isn’t Levy, but I just wished Natsu would give some insight instead of handing the mantle over to me. Shouldn’t he be the leader of Team Haluna, considering he’s been here longer?”

Levy’s eyes widened, “Team Haluna? What does Haluna mean?”

Lucy couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face as she took a sip of her juice, “It’s a combination of abbreviations using the first two letters of all of our names. ‘Ha’ for Happy, ‘Lu’ for myself, and ‘Na’ for Natsu.”

“That’s so cute,” Levy cooed.

“It really is.” Lucy was extremely fond of their team’s name, despite being unanimously made the leader of it without a second thought. Ultimately, she’s fine with having a role of responsibility for them, already taking that role naturally in the small side-quests they’ve done thus far. She couldn’t help but to wish she had a little bit more time to adjust to the guild life sometimes, but it seems like it was Team Haluna’s fate to simply rush into things head-first.

“So you brats made a team, huh?” Cana snorted as she sat down heavily, causing the table to shake. Her barrel was tucked underneath her arm like a teddy bear as she drunkenly hiccupped, feeling a bit tipsy. Levy and Lucy greeted the resident drunkard, who gave them a classic smirk in response as she chugged her alcohol.

“Yeah, we went on our first mission yesterday.”

“And?” Cana raised an eyebrow. Lucy looked at her with brief confusion.

“And what?”

“How did it go, Heartfilia.” Cana chuckled and Lucy flushed a bit embarrassingly because she really should’ve known that was what she was referring to. She ended up filling in with a brief summary of their mission watching as Levy and Cana applaud her for a job well done. Well Levy did at least, while Cana let out a burp and held her fist up for a fist-bump, which Lucy did with amusement clear in her brown eyes.

The ladies began to chat about idle things before Mirajane came over to take a small break from bartending, considering no one was really drinking anyways due to the infamous brawl kick-starting once more. She took a seat next to Cana, who shifted her position so that she could throw an arm around her girlfriend as she leaned against her shoulder. Mirajane just chuckled at her antics as she stole some of her alcohol with a cup of her own, taking a small swing as she turned towards the resident bookworms.

“Congratulations on your latest mission, Lucy! I’m sure all went well, yes?”

It went well in the end, Lucy thinks, but it was a bit eye opening for her. She didn’t say that part out loud however, just smiled and nodded. “Everlue is enroute to prison, the book ended up landing in the hands of the client who deserved it. We didn’t get the money but hey, I’m sure getting rid of Duke Everlue for Shinotsume Town was priceless to begin with.”

“There are different types of good in the world,” Mira nodded in agreement. “It’s good that law enforcement are taking the reins off your hands. It doesn’t seem like the Magic Council’s going to let him get away with his crimes.”

“Hmm, I bet they’re only mad that he got caught, spending resources to escort him to the nearest prison. He was a small fry, compared to others in the world.” Cana snickered lowly, as Mirajane let out a sigh at her girlfriend’s words but she didn’t correct her. It was well known that the Magic Council liked displaying their power as a formality, and will likely wipe Everlue’s long past of corruption under the rug by placing the blame on someone else. Nevermind that they should’ve nabbed the man a long time ago, because it’s never the Magic Council’s fault.

They were essentially the government, after all.

“The Magic Council rules the magical world and all of the legal guilds within it, Lucy.” Mirajane began to explain. “They tend to be responsible for all events regarding mages like prosecuting them and confiscating dangerous artifacts in the possessions of bad people. Dark guilds in particular, in fact.”

“Dark guilds…?” Lucy blinked in small surprise, but it didn’t last long. It made sense after all, there are people that valued their own morals and beliefs and wouldn’t want to be restricted by the Magic Council’s regulations. Where there was good, there was bad.

A balance that never ends.

Levy hummed as she drummed her fingers on the table in a rhythmic motion. “Dangerous mages that are wanted for dangerous things. They tend to band together, unfortunately, to cause harm. Every once in a while, we’ll get a call for help to eradicate threatening guilds. I haven’t seen anything too crazy myself, but there’s limitless potential with magic, which also means there are limitless outcomes.”

“That’s true.” Lucy nodded in agreement to Levy’s words. Best to stop those types of guilds while they were still growing, she reckoned. She glanced around the guild idly, only to pause when she catches the attention of one of the heart-throbs, Loke once more who seemed to be look at her with eyes full of apprehension, which startles her. She narrows her eyes back, wondering if she’s ever met the man before to cause him to look at her in such a way. Loke quickly breaks eye-contact however, moving to take a step out to breath from the guild hall.

Levy’s observant eyes saw the whole thing, and she turned towards Lucy with questions dancing in her eyes. The celestial spirit mage just shrugged when she saw the curiosity in Levy’s eyes, murmuring,

“I don’t know what his problem is.”

Levy opened her mouth to retort with Loke bursting back into the guild hall with a small amount of fear on his face as he shouted.

“Erza’s back!”

Fairytail gasped as they quickly scrambled to clean everything up, much to the amusement of Levy and Mirajane as they watched the boys go at work. Even Natsu and Gray, as Lucy recalls his name, stopped their rivalry in the middle of the room as their faces went pale, scrambling to clean up with the rest. Cana just groaned loudly at the news, as Mirajane gently slapped her arm that was wrapped around her waist.

“Fucking hell,” Cana sighed and Lucy was suddenly extremely curious at this Erza figure. Just who was she, if she was able to create such a presence in the room without physically being here?

Her questions were answered as the guild doors were brutally kicked open with a strength that made Lucy subtly flinch. A dark shadow was casted into the hall of Fairytail as everyone froze at the sight of a large monster horn entering the room, settling on the ground with a massive creak once it was dropped onto the floor. Coming from behind the horn was a woman in a silver suit of armor with long red hair and fierce eyes as she glared into the room, scrutinizing everyone at once.

“Erza!” Mirajane waved happily, breaking the silence as Erza looked in her direction and gave her a tight, stiff smile before scowling at the sight of Cana trying to hide behind her girlfriend’s figure. Cana peeked from over Mirajane’s shoulder as she let out a curse, making eye-contact with Erza.

“Cana Alberona,” Erza’s voice thundered in the room but Cana just rolled her eyes as she leaned back from Mirajane, giving Erza a bored look.

“Scarlet.”

“Back to drinking again? One of these days, you’re going to get alcohol poisoning at this rate, and I won’t be taking you to the Polyursica to save your sorry self.”

“Damn Scarlet, not holding back from the jump. Maybe you need a drink yourself and loosen up that tight little ass of yours.” Cana snarked back with a smirk as Erza’s face flushed from the vulgar words.

“My ass is not tight!” Erza scolded as Cana waved her hand dismissively. She was quick to move on as she began to scowl everyone one by one, especially Natsu and Gray once she caught wind of them. Lucy watched in small amusement as the boys cowered at her glare as she crossed her arms, berating them for their destructive habits.

“She’s a force to be reckoned with,” Levy said a bit admirably as they all watched Erza threaten to beat Natsu up, holding him up by his scarf. Strangely enough, Lucy wasn’t bothered by the scene before her. Sure it seemed that Erza Scarlet was a bit more…physical that she had expected, but beneath her words, Lucy sensed that there was a foundation of love that caused her to act this way. She was like a strict sister to them, Lucy concluded.

“That she is,” Mirajane chuckled at found memories of them when they were all younger, “She’s always been this way. Beyond her strictness and harsh words however, she’s a bit socially awkward if anything. Rather adorable, if you ask me.”

“She’s a pain in the ass, Mira, adorable is not the word I’d use.” Cana grumbled as Mirajane rolled her eyes. “But she’s strong and well, as an S-Class mage, you have to be strong at least.”

“She’s an S-Class mage?!” Lucy stated in shock as she looked at the knight but found that even though she’s never seen her activate her magic before, her presence and aura seemed to have demanded that she was nothing less than an S-Class mage. She didn’t even bother activating her magic sensoring, because Lucy is sure she’ll find even more evidence of her power. Lucy wondered if she could ever be an S-Class mage too, holding herself with confidence and pride such as Erza seemed to naturally do.

Yeah, Lucy thought with a small smile, she’ll get there one day.

“Gray and Natsu,” Erza spoke causing the boys to freeze again at the sound of her names, “I need you to come with me for my next mission.”

“What for, Erza?” Gray spoke up as he shivered a bit. Natsu was still recovering from her onslaught moments prior, shaking dramatically which caused the knight to roll her eyes at the sight as she crossed her arms once more.

“There’s been a bounty by the Magic Council for quite some time now on capturing members of a Dark Guild called Eisenwald,” She started but her eyes darkened as she continued, “But I believe that something worse is about to come. I’ve overheard some men talking about a power magical item that could be used as a weapon.”

“We tend to get rumors like that all of the time, though.” Gray rationally pointed out. When he wasn’t arguing mindlessly with Natsu and the others, Gray was actually a very cautious and observing man. A little cruel too, if he had to be, but that was a story for another time. “What makes you so sure this isn’t just a rumor?”

“Because they mentioned a name that’s been on my radar for a while now; Erigor, the Shinigami of Eisenwald.” She sighed before hardening her eyes at the boys causing them to flinch. “You don’t have a say in the matter, we leave in an hour.”

Gray groaned at the firmness of her tone, knowing that there wasn’t any way to get out of helping her as he reluctantly nodded. He let out a small yawn and Erza’s keen eyes observed that his eye bags were looking a little darker than normal, but she didn’t say anything as she turned towards Natsu.

“Well?”

Natsu let out a long dramatic sigh before nodding in agreement and Erza clapped once in delight before storming off to meet with Makarov for a quick debrief. Ignoring Gray, Natsu instinctively looked over towards Lucy, who was already looking over with amusement in her eyes and he was quick to give a grin of his own as he began to make his way over towards the ladies. A blonde eyebrow awaited him once he made it, greeting everyone with hug as he sat down next to her.

Gray watched silently as Natsu’s mood seemed to have flipped at the sight of the blonde, narrowing his eyes a bit at her. Lucy Heartfilia, he remembered introducing herself a couple days ago. Granted he was too busy fighting with everyone else to properly make introductions, but maybe he should if the flame idiot liked her so much.

“Hey Luce,” Natsu said lowly as he sighed into the table, causing Lucy to give him a look of pity. She patted his back as he groaned childishly, “What did Erza ask of you and Gray?”

“She wants us to tag along on some mission she thinks is about to go to shit, but dang, I don’t wanna gooo.” Natsu whined. Lucy just sighed as the rest of the ladies at the table rolled their eyes at the resident dragon slayer. Erza Scarlet was an S-Class mage, right? It seemed to Lucy that she wouldn’t ask for help if she didn’t think she couldn’t do it on her own. Lucy frowned at the thought, and asked Natsu for more details on his mission.

“ My mission? You mean our mission! There’s no way in hell I’m going with Ice Freak and Erza and fend for myself! You’re coming too!”

“What?!” Lucy exclaimed in shock with a dash of nervousness in her. Erza didn’t ask her to come along, she only asked for Natsu and Gray. She did not want to intrude on something super important, especially when she wasn’t invited. That was begging for trouble, Lucy thinks, as Natsu looked at her as if she said something incredibly dumb.

“No way. I’m not getting dragged onto a mission that I wasn’t asked to tag along for. Maybe she chose you guys for a specific reason?”

Natsu’s tongue poked his cheek as he stared at her with small annoyance, but Lucy stared right back in defiance. If she doesn’t have permission, she’s simply not going. Period. Suddenly, Natsu shot up from his seat as he hollered,

“ERZA!”

Everyone blinked in surprise at the loud noise, some people turning towards Natsu as he yelled some more for the red head’s attention. Lucy flushed embarrassingly as she quickly urged Natsu to shut up and sit down, but he stubbornly refused as he called for Erza.

“HEY ERZA! ERZA!” Natsu shouted until a sword spun from the second floor of the guild hall, implanting itself in front of Natsu’s body on the table as he grinned without flinching. Cana let out a small curse as she jumped, while Mirajane flinched a little bit but stayed relatively calm. Levy and Lucy clung to each other as they yelped, and Natsu took a step on the table as he grabbed the sword, pointing it upwards at the knight who was staring down at him with a small murderous expression.

“Why do you keep yelling my name? What is the meaning of this?” Erza glowered at Natsu who just waved her off with a grin and replied with,

“Gotta get your attention somehow, yeah? Anyways, can Luce come?”

Erza furrowed her brow, “Who is ‘Luce’?”

Natsu pointed at the terrified blonde who snapped her head up and made eye-contact with Erza, who stared at her for a moment. Lucy felt absolutely helpless as she looked into the serious woman’s eyes, before Erza gave a sharp nod in agreement.

“That is fine. In fact, I don’t believe we have met, Luce. I’m assuming you are new here, correct?” Erza nodded her head politely, watching as Lucy nodded back with slight apprehension.

“Y-Yeah.”

“I see. Welcome to Fairytail, then.” Erza gave her a smile before glaring back at Natsu, who lost all of his bravado and flinched despite being floor levels apart. “Next time have some decorum and wait, Natsu.”

“Says the most impatient person I know,” He huffed under his breath as he shrugged. “Hey, after the mission, let’s fight again! I wanna see how strong I’ve gotten and beat your ass!”

Erza snorted as she walked back to where she was originally, “You can try. I accept your challenge for when we return.”

Natsu fist bumped the air, “Hell yeah!”

“Natsu.”

Natsu shuddered as he slowly turned around to see an irritated Lucy, staring him down with an occasional eye twitch as she glared at him. He felt really nervous suddenly, as he quickly placed the sword down and took a seat next to Lucy. Natsu started to fidget a little bit as he looked from his lap to Lucy’s eyes to his lap again, awaiting judgement.

A nose exhale was all he heard as he looked up at Lucy, shaking her head with pursed lips.

“Next time, let’s finish at least talking it out before you drag me onto something I don’t feel as if I’m ready for.”

“You don’t believe in yourself? Because I do.”

“It takes more than confidence to go on missions. No one likes being put in situations they don’t feel prepared for.”

Natsu realized that Lucy was a bit different than the typical Fairytail mage that joins. She doesn’t like to recklessly dive headfirst into something that has risks in it, she likes to at least give time to think about it before making a decision.

And Natsu just made such a decision for her.

“Sorry.” He said a bit remorsefully.

“It’s okay,” Lucy said softly, noticing that Natsu seemed genuine with his apology. It seems as if he takes her words really seriously, she realized. But as she recalled that Natsu stated that he believed in her without hesitation, she grew a little warm inside at the faith in her. Perhaps she was a little too serious about this…

“...thanks for believing in me, though.” She added on after a moment. Natsu’s eyes lit up at her words, noticing that she wasn’t mad anymore (she wasn’t truly ever mad in the first place). Throwing a casual arm around her, he side-hugged her and Lucy smiled a bit into it as she waited a moment before returning it, for dramatics.

“Erza said that we were leaving in an hour, so be ready by then, I guess.”

“So it’s another adventure, then? Odds are we’re taking the train, Natsu.” Lucy warned and Natsu’s body shook at the implication of motion sickness as he sagged against Lucy.

“Aw fuck.”

--------

--L-H--

--------

“Lucy, right?” Gray started up conversationally as they sat in the back of the train, with access to the largest luggage area. They had no choice considering the sheer amount of what Lucy had thought to be supplies, was just Erza’s clothes as they made their way towards the train. Gray had rolled his eyes in annoyance at the sight, especially Erza forced them to help loading them on the train.

Erza had immediately sucker punched Natsu in the gut afterwards without hesitation, causing Lucy’s jaw to drop as she held the unconscious boy in her arms on the train. “He is whiny when he gets on trains, I do that to make him feel better.”

In what universe does getting punched in the stomach make someone feel better, Lucy exclaimed in her mind but sweatdropped nonetheless as she quietly took Natsu. He ended up laying in his normal position with his head on her lap as they all sat together, Happy included. He was eating some of Erza’s cookies though, but that was besides the point.

“That’s right,” Lucy said slowly as she took a moment to look at Gray. The dark haired teenager was wearing a white jacket without a shirt underneath, with a silver chain glistening on his chest with a cross on it. He seemed relaxed, and a laid-back individual upon first glance. He even had a rugged charm to him a little bit.

But there were a couple things that made Lucy feel unsure about Gray, the more she looked and thought about what she knew of him.

He seemed to pick on Natsu alot, from what she’s seen. Boys fight each other all the time, that is what she’s quickly realized when she saw most of the Fairytail brawls were full of men. But did they also declare mean things to each other too? Every once in a while, a tease is fine. She’s even called Natsu an idiot before, with fondness in her voice and it’s clear with his reactions that he understands that. Yet every single time she’s witness an interaction with Gray and Natsu, it’s been with poisonous words and violent exchanges.

Do they even like each other?

Gray stared cooly at Lucy, noticing the way she was scrutinizing him in an odd way. Has he met her before? Why was she staring at him so intensely, as if she was trying to figure him out?

“You fight with Natsu, a lot.” Lucy said mildly.

Gray blinked in surprise at her tone of voice, and the fact that she didn’t even ask for his own name in return. What ever happened to hello? What’s your name? Instead, it felt like the beginning of an interrogation, and Gray couldn’t help but narrow his own eyes as he looked at her a bit warily.

Lucy rested her head on her hand as she idly rested the other on Natsu, brown eyes piercing into dark blue as she hummed at his actions. He was on edge now, she noted. He didn’t expect her to ask that.

“Yeah, I do? The idiot fights me and vice versa. We just don’t get along.” Gray answered slowly, much like Lucy did in the beginning. Only the difference this time was Gray felt a bit unease, while Lucy did it because she had already begun to size Gray up the moment they were in close proximity. She looked down to see if Natsu was still “asleep” before reclaiming eye contact with Gray. “What’s it to you?”

“My only knowledge of you is that you like to antagonize my best friend,” Lucy stated calmly but there was a small, miniscule edge of her own, to her voice. If you weren’t looking for it, it would’ve been easy to miss. But Gray is far more observant and cautious than most people give him credit for, and he did notice.

“I didn’t realize you two were so close.”

“Well, that’s probably because it’s none of your business.” Lucy started dryly and that’s when Gray concluded that there was more to their story then. Something must’ve connected the two of them together, but before he could even generate a question, he noticed that Lucy wasn’t finished,

“I don’t know the nature of your relationship, but I have to be honest and say that to me, you seem like an odd bully--” Gray sucked in a breath at the implication of bullying Natsu because he doesn’t, they just tend to argue all the fucking time and, “--and Natsu is the same. Honestly, what is the fun in toxic relationships where all you do is yell, scream, and walk home with a bruise every day…”

Gray blinked rapidly, trying to understand how the conversation even got here. He just asked to confirm her name, why was he in the process of getting psycho-analyzed? He gritted his teeth as he narrowed his eyes at her, feeling disturbed by how easily she’s been able to cut through to get underneath his skin. He opened his mouth to say something, something that probably wasn’t the best but--

“...especially when you clearly don’t get enough sleep at night as is, Gray.” Lucy finished off oddly gently and Gray is left spiraling at the sudden turn of events. A complex feeling rose in his chest as he let out a shaking breath and clenched a fist. Who the hell is this girl? And why is she looking at him as if she could see through, past the ice that’s seemed to never melt and shatter in his chest?

“What the hell do you know about me?” Gray glared as he swallowed a pained breath.

“It doesn’t take rocket science to notice the bags under your eyes.”

“Sure, but what the fuck does that have to do with Natsu?”

Lucy hesitated this time around before answering, because she’s just met Gray after all. What gives her the right to give him advice, not knowing what he goes through behind closed doors? In the beginning she wasn’t sure what to make of him, but when she saw the look in his eye when she softly accused him and Natsu of bullying each other, it was a small look of a long aged tiredness that seemed to settle deep within Gray’s bones.

And now she couldn’t help but to think that if there was more than meets the eye with Natsu, then the same can be applied to Gray, and it wasn’t fair to judge him so quickly on her end. She felt like she had the right to at least scold Gray in Natsu’s honor as his best friend, but they were approaching new territory as Lucy’s mind just kept racing, trying to make sense of the boy.

Considering how their first meeting is going, maybe she’ll never know the full extent, and that would be her fault for being so brazen at the beginning. But she couldn’t help but to try to give some comfort to the boy because insomnia starts with sleepless nights and it can end within a coffin, if he doesn’t take care of himself.

"...It did start off about Natsu, and I won’t take back what I said about you guys being so rough and callous with one another. But I’m looking at you now, and what I see beyond the fighting and noise is someone who is...constantly on edge, alert with tension seeping into your limbs, as if you’re always ready for the worst to happen?" Lucy’s eyes widened as it all came together. She’s observed many people at the bar of Fairytail, sitting next to Mirajane and Levy as she slowly got to know everyone in the guild. And whenever she sees Gray…

There is a lingering sadness that follows him, she thinks. Maybe that’s why his magical signature feels frozen and rigid.

What happened to you, Gray?

They didn’t say anything as Erza declared that she was going to leave to get some strawberry cake from the middle of the train. A full range of emotions flashed through Gray’s eyes as he stared into Lucy’s eyes, who met them with a sudden softness that made Gray want to leave the room. It was uncomfortable. It made his skin crawl, because how can someone see through his glacial defenses that he’s had since he arrived at the guild?

She doesn’t even know his last name.

So why does it look like that she…

“Why does it matter to you? It’s easier to just scold me about fighting Natsu all of the damn time, to be pissed off at the fact that we treat each other like shit. Why bother with the “I can see through you” bullshit. Don’t lie and say that you’ve grown to suddenly care for me in the midst of our talk, life doesn’t work that way blondie. Besides, you don’t know shit.”

That was a lie.

She was already seeing through him.

“...Maybe it’s because this is all you know.” Lucy gave a fond look at Natsu, remembering when he had said that destruction and chaos was all that he knew how to do on missions. She thinks that logic was probably true in relationships as well. Chaotic relationships such as Natsu and Gray’s were built on familiarity after all, she realizes. Maybe it came across as bullying from an outsider’s perspective, but the closer she looks, she begins to understand that it’s become a routine so consistent that it doesn’t feel right when they weren’t fighting.

And maybe that’ll never change, with their dynamic.

New memories can grow though, in their place.

“Let’s...be friends, Gray.” She suddenly smiled at the conflicted man, “There’s more to life than battling your friends all the time. We could do more mundane fun things, like go shopping or go to the beach. You have ice magic, right? Bet that’s great in the summer, you’re like a walking air conditioning lacrima unit, how convenient--”

Lucy kept chattering on and on, but in a soft lulling voice as she thought about different ways to have fun with Gray and Natsu peacefully as the former stared at her in shock. It was incredibly weird to feel as if you’ve been read like a book, but the person wasn’t actively trying to rewrite it. It was clear that while she wasn’t exactly impressed, it wasn’t the dealbreaker that causes her to hate him. God, she even asked to be his friend after all of this, what the hell is wrong with the chick?

She continued to ramble on, and Gray found himself feeling a bit sleepy, blinking slowly as he tried to understand the girl that was Lucy Heartfilia. Why did she care? A million-dollar question.

One that will have to be answered once he awakens, as he succumbed rapidly to sleep. His body was grateful, and he felt a bit bad because it’s not like he doesn’t want to go to sleep, it’s just everything bad seemed to happen when he was and--

A soft snore alerted Lucy as she realized that Gray had fallen asleep in the middle of her rambling, but she found that she wasn’t upset at all at the revelation. He desperately needed it anyways, judging from the bags under his eyes. Lucy winced a bit as she remembered that she had pointed that out, and suddenly scolded herself internally for behaving a bit rudely.

She…was still new to the friend thing. Maybe everyone wasn’t looking for someone to grow and mature with side by side through different challenges, like Natsu was. Natsu had told her that he was a forever friend on their third day of reuniting, and they had shared deep thoughts even before then.

Their friendship was an anomaly, she winced again as she remembered Gray’s frustrated expression as she openly brought some of his repressed feelings to light. Okay, so maybe she definitely overstepped throughout their conversation, but it just happened and suddenly she wanted to kick Natsu because making friends was hard, and she felt like she had cheated the system with having someone so easy going effortlessly like the dragon slayer and cat duo.

How do you balance sharing too much to the point of overwhelming a person but not sharing too little, so that it doesn’t come across as being unresponsive?

For a girl who’s been starved of interactions with these things early on as most children don’t, it’s like playing a decade’s worth of catch up when it comes to social interactions.

Not everyone is going to be as open as Natsu, she reminded herself as she smiled a bit at Erza who took a seat back down with her cake in her hand. Erza had already told the group that she’d inform them more about the mission when they got closer to their destination, which is why they were relatively separated now.

If Gray feels uncomfortable when he awakes, she’ll apologize wholeheartedly for the rather… intense introduction.

For now, she was content at watching the dark-haired boy softly sleep with a calm, relaxed look on his face, as Natsu did the same on top of her.

Wait--that doesn’t make her a stalker, right?!

--------

--L-H--

--------

“Lullaby,” Erza started as she grabbed Gray’s and Lucy’s attention. Gray had woken up moments prior with a look of surprise and confusion on his face once he realized that he had actually fallen asleep. He shoots a look at Lucy, who was talking with Happy, and quickly looks away. He doesn’t know what to say to her, honestly.

But Gray quietly thanks her in the back of his mind, at least for allowing him to get some rest.

“It’s a magical item that has the potentially for devastating consequences considering the type of people I overheard talking about it. Originally, I thought it was just an unsealing job. Still dangerous, but never using the actual item. That was until I heard about Erigor, and knew that something was definitely off about this.” Erza crossed her arms as she confided into the duo. Natsu was still asleep and Lucy couldn’t even find it in herself to move him, even if her leg was getting tired.

She’ll just fill him in with the details when he wakes up.

“How do you know where they are? Aren’t they considered a ghost guild?” Gray asked.

“I’ve received reports from trusted sources that they are currently by Kunugi Station. That is where we are headed in fact.”

Lucy was caught up on the name of the magical item that they were seeking, however. Lullaby? Where has she heard that from? It gave her a sense of dread when the word came out of Erza’s mouth, and she found herself trying to remember what that item was and what it can do...

Eventually they reached their stop via train, Erza was quick to get her luggage off of the train with a reluctant Gray and a joyful Happy trailing off after her to help. Gray and Lucy made eye contact as he scooted past her to help Erza, but Lucy found that she couldn’t see anything past the dark blue. He didn’t say anything to her, in fact he looked rather pensive as he looked at her.

Gray was the first to drop eye-contact.

“Gray!” Erza shouted for him, and it caused him to roll his own eyes as he grumbled,

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.”

That left Lucy and Natsu as she gently shook the boy awake. Natsu grumbled and flipped over, not bothering to wake up properly as the train stopped. Lucy just huffed out a small breath of exasperation as she shook the boy harder.

A bleary eye cracked opened only to see an exasperated look through at him. Her hair was down, Natsu sleepily realized, as he slowly began to wake. It draped over her shoulders, and it enclosed his eyesight, like an embrace as Lucy looked at him with tiny amusement as she raised an eyebrow.

“Are you going to get up?”

“...nah,” Natsu yawned, “Too comfy.”

“Erza will get pissed at you. Apparently, this is quite the urgent matter that needs to at least be investigated.”

But Natsu wasn’t paying close attention to her words as he lifted up a hand, touching the soft strands of Lucy’s blonde locks. She continued to try and debrief Natsu, the same way Erza had done so for Gray and herself, and Luce should really stop talking now, Natsu thinks, because her soothing tone, her naturally calming presence, it was making him drowsy all over again.

“Your hair,” Natsu says softly as he feels his fingers glide in what felt like silk. “It’s soft .”

Lucy faltered, feeling a bit flustered at Natsu’s words. What in the world? Why was he saying stuff like this at a time like this?! With slightly red cheeks, she decided to ignore that comment and focus on the hidden truth of his statement, in which Lucy grumbled,

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

And when Natsu flashed her a grin that was a bit too cheeky, she rolls her eyes as she shoves him off of her, causing him to land on the floor of the train as she stood up to grab her things and meet up with Erza. Natsu laughed at her annoyance, but Lucy just hmphed as she willed the flustered feeling to go away.

His laugh quickly died off however, once he realized that there was a man that was standing in the middle of the lane rather ominously. His eyes quickly narrowed at the man, who looked at him with a casualness that borderline cockiness. This guy was suspicious in Natsu’s mind, but he didn’t make any movements until he watched Lucy get off the train to help out with the others.

Soon it was just the two men in the middle of all of the seats, having a stare off as they didn’t dare to move with any big, sudden movements. It was silent until the guy decided to introduce himself, with a small smirk.

“The name’s Kageyama.”

“Okay?” Natsu said bluntly, because he truly didn’t care what his name was to be honest. He just wanted to know why he looked at Natsu as if he was a small fry, as if he wanted to fight him. Natsu’s eyes gleamed at the prospect.

Kageyama seemed a bit peeved at the lack of respect from Natsu, eyes darkening a bit as he hissed out in a moment of anger, “And I know who you are, Salamander.”

Salamander?

Excellent. That meant that they knew of him, of his power. Or maybe they underestimate him, Natsu thought with a growing smirk of his own, eyes darkening as he lit his fist on fire. To use his title in such a way, said with such venom only concluded what he had originally suspected.

This guy so wanted to fight him.

“You should’ve started with that,” Natsu smirked as he launched himself at Kageyama, who’s widened with surprise at his speed, before he ducked and kicked Natsu in the stomach. Natsu blinked in small surprise but was quick to steady himself as he propelled himself off of the train seats, twisting his body to kick him across the face. Kageyama’s face snapped to the side as he grunted at the impact, and something ended up dropping from underneath his jacket that clanked on the floor.

Natsu looked down curiously, noticing that it was in fact a flute.

A flute? What the hell?

Kageyama’s eyes widened in fear as the flute was exposed to Natsu’s vision, and he was quick to grab it safely as he shoved it back in his coat. He gave Natsu a startled look, which surprised the latter as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously once more. It must be more than a flute then, Natsu figured.

Meanwhile Lucy heard a crash coming from inside the train, where Erza was organizing her stuff on top of a Magic Four-Wheeler, causing her to glance back towards where she came off. Only for her eyes to widen at the sight of Natsu’s flame inside of the train, and she was quick to alert the others.

Gray’s and Erza’s eyes snapped towards the train but a feeling of unease began to sink in as they realized that not only was Natsu fighting someone on the train, but it was slowly beginning to take off. They watched for a moment, frozen as the train slowly began to descend to the next station. Lucy snapped out of it first.

“The Magic Four Wheeler!” She shouted as everyone scrambled onboard, Erza immediately jumping on the car and enlaced the vehicle with her impressive ethernano reserves before whipping it into shape. She floored the wheeler, causing Gray to let out a yelp as he scrambled on top of the cover, ready to crash into the train in order to help Natsu out. The wheeler’s passenger door slapped open as Lucy stood out with her whip ready to catch anyone falling as they raced against the train.

Natsu on the other hand was desperately trying to hold his own, but once the train had started to move, he was immediately at a considerable disadvantage. Bile threatened to rise up his throat as Natsu side-stepped a punch, gagging at the brief moment of peace before taking the defensive stance once more.

‘Crap’

A series of muffled yells alerted his in-depth hearing as he glanced through the window, only to see Erza whipping a Magic Four Wheeler, Ice Freak on top and Lucy hanging on it as they tried to get his attention. He gritted his teeth, he didn’t want to retreat. He wanted to keep going, because now that Kageyama guy was getting cocky.

Natsu felt the urge to put him in his place.

The window closest to him broke thanks to Gray’s ice and he heard him yell,

“Oi, Flare-Head! Come on, we gotta go!”

Natsu just grunted as he gave Kageyama one last look before stumbling over towards the window, preparing to jump. He didn’t need to jump too far, as Lucy was already there to meet him half way with her hand out to reach him. She gave him a smile,

“Let’s go, Natsu. We got bad guys to stop, right?”

This time, his grin is brighter as he takes her hand and enters the Four Wheeler, with everyone yelling and holding for dear life as Erza suddenly U-Turns to head back towards Kunugi Station. With a quiet sigh as Natsu throws up out of the window as they ride, Lucy pats his back as they make their way to Kunugi Station.

“He had a f-flute.” Natsu gasps out as he dry heaves. Lucy’s brows furrow as she thinks, a flute? That was incredibly random--

A sharp gasp of horror erupted from her mouth as she realized that Natsu was trying to tell her. He had fought someone from Eisenwald, there was no other explanation. That could mean that they know that they are coming, which didn’t make Lucy feel any better. A flute, of course. She knows why she felt as if she’s heard of the item called Lullaby before.

Because it was a horrid flute that was made to enchant and suck out the souls of those who listens, whisking them away to a forever slumber. A cruel berceuse as they will never wake up to see the life again.

A device that can orchestrate a song of genocide.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Wreck

Eisenwald Arc II

Reckless.

Insanity.

Exciting .

Those were the predominant feelings that rushed through Lucy as they raced in the Magic Four Wheeler, with Erza driving. Going at maximum speed over bumps and taking sharp turns as they raced over to the station that Eisenwald was last seen in, was frightening to say the least. Natsu was almost down for the count completely as he was jostled around violently, Lucy even had to resort to grabbing the handle inside of the vehicle as they flew down a hill.

She didn’t even want to imagine how Gray was doing up top.

His screams were enough.

And yet, with her blonde hair flowing by as she sticks her head out the window and clenching the handle for dear life, she couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her in the midst of the ride. Full speed ahead, they were going, and it was so dangerous yet exhilarating.

The adrenaline rush that was pumping into Lucy made her grin despite the circumstances.

It was fun.

Erza shouted, “We’ll be there soon. I want everyone to be ready!”

Everyone agreed, excluding Natsu as they prepared to get ready to stop. Lucy’s eyes narrowed once she realized that as they were making their way to town, there was a lack of people present. Not even people were walking idly down the street, and as she tried to focus her hearing, she realizes that she doesn’t hear much either. A quick activation of her sensor causes her to snap her head towards the middle of the train station, feeling a large gathering of magical mana there.

They were at the right place, Lucy concluded as they grew closer to the station. She quickly began preparations as she reached for her keys, ready to summon a spirit if need be, only to realize that--

They weren’t slowing down…?!?!

“ERZA!” Gray shouted as his eyes widened comically from on top of the wheeler, watching in rapid alarm as he realized along with Lucy that they weren’t coming to a stop. Erza ignored him as she relentlessly drove forwards, already taking note that there weren’t any civilians nearby. That meant that she’d be able to go straight to the source of the issue without any distractions.

Just as she liked it.

Kageyama stood in front of the train station, traveling back faster than them thanks to the use of his shadow magic. He stood in front of the steps arrogantly, watching as he suspected Salamander and his team were racing down towards them in the middle of the street. They were moving fast, he briefly thought as more henchmen came to support the welcome that Eisenwald had prepared for them.

He blinked in surprise as he watched as the four wheeler didn’t seem to slow down for a moment, and he finally took a glance at the driver who’s red head was whipping in the wind as she seemed to wear reflective material on her body while she accelerated the vehicle. Wait, red hair? Kageyama’s eyes squinted as he realized that the “reflective material” was actually a suit of armour and--

“HOLY FUC-- It’s Titania! Everybody RUN! ” Kageyama shouted desperately as the wheeler vaulted the steps, soaring through the air and over their bodies as he sunk into the shadows to escape. The car smacked through some unfortunate people as it crashed forcefully through the doors of the train station, before it smashed into a pillar and stopped working immediately. Dust settled in the train station as everybody groaned at the turn of events.

Lucy blinked with bleary eyes as she kicked the crushed door of the wheeler a couple times, before stumbling out with shaking legs. Happy was coughing as he collapsed dramatically on the ground, eyes spinning from a brief case of vertigo. Gray had flown off earlier, and crashed onto some ice that he had made in the nick of time, but Natsu was down for the foreseeable count as Lucy had to stagger back over and drag him out of the crashed vehicle, pulling his delirious body on the ground next to Happy.

Erza remained unscathed despite being at the front of the crash, much to Lucy’s shock as she stood infront of the room, with eyes narrowed at Eisenwald who looked at the scene in disbelief.

Lucy didn’t even blame them one second as she let out a weak cough.

“Happy, see if you can wake Natsu up,” Lucy gently ordered as she slowly made her way to Erza’s side, watching as Gray groaned and got up to make his way over as well. Erza gave her a quick side glance that Lucy matched, before quirking her lips in what looked like small approval before she turned her attention back towards Eisenwald.

“Which one of you is Erigor?” Erza thundered.

“...I am,” Erigor confirmed as he shook off the rest of his shock at Team Haluna, Gray, and Erza’s arrival. They knew that they were coming, but they weren’t prepared for the abrupt entrance at all. Erigor’s jaw clenched as he realized that they had unknowingly knocked out a considerable percentage of his force from their entrance alone. Fucking reckless Fairytail guild bastards.

“I see,” Erza continued without a hitch, “Then I am going to request that you hand over Lullaby right this instant.” Lucy watched as Erigor’s eyes widened at the sound of the name of the magical artifact, and his eyes snapped to the man that she suspected Natsu was fighting on the train earlier.

“ Kageyama ,” Erigor growled and Kageyama tensed a bit at the sound. He dutifully came over and stood in front of Erigor who only stared him down for a moment, before giving him a dark scowl. It happened too fast for Lucy’s eyes to catch up, but one moment everyone was in a tense silence as they watched the Erigor and Kageyama exchange. The next, Kageyama’s ear was on the floor as Erigor’s scythe came down to cut it off, and Lucy slapped a hand over her mouth as she stifled a gasp of shock.

Erza didn’t make any audible reactions, but Lucy could feel her body tense a bit in apprehension at the display of violence. How could he do that to his own teammate, Lucy’s mind raced, but Gray was the one who answered her unspoken question as his dark eyes darkened, taking in the sight and then Lucy’s state.

“Dark Guilds aren’t like ours, blondie. They aren’t a family--they’re all subordinates, with Erigor as their cursed ringleader.”

Kageyama’s stifled screams of pain as he clenched his side of his face had rubbed the Fairytail gang uncomfortably as Erza stepped up, with a tense expression on her face.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“There was only one rule. Don’t let them see the fucking flute, and he failed that. I make it a habit of punishing those who do wrong, just as yourself, right Titania?”

“We are not the same, Erigor.” Erza scowled at what he tried to allude to. “It isn’t justice to hurt one of your own for making a mistake. It’s justice to punish those who try to do others active harm, like unsealing and using a sacred magical item.”

Erigor shrugged casually as he snatched the flute from a subordinate, “Then it’s shame that hundreds will die at the sound of the song from Lullaby. Sinners, all of them. How dare they revel in the riches and luxury of life as those without rights slave over their broken bodies to bring such wealth to them? You probably have no idea the realities of this world, do you?”

Erza stayed silent as she stared impassively at Erigor, who smirked defiantly at the lack of response. He thought he had won the argument, throwing the unfairness of the world in Titania’s mighty face. Erigor doubted that Erza Scarlet could possibly know the horrors, considering her strength and her fame across Fiore. People like her don’t understand, he assumed, as he boastfully stated that he was planning to broadcast the song through the system built into the town.

Gray stepped out and shouted curses at Erigor, getting into a stance as he prepared to unleash his ice magic. Natsu was up once more, jumping past his make-shift team as he slashed at a shadow claw that came from Kageyama by countering with a Fire Dragon Slayer’s Iron Fist. Their magic repelled and canceled each other out as Natsu rebalanced himself, staying in front of them with a serious expression on his face.

But Lucy was too busy looking at Erza, who was standing tall but stiff, her eyes seemed glazed over. Just as Lucy was about to say something to get her to snap out of it, Erza was able to get a hold of herself subtly as she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, before opening them again with a newfound determined expression on her face. Lucy stayed quiet during the entire exchange, before she decided to focus on the matter at hand as well.

She felt as if she had just intruded on something incredibly private, after all. Erza didn’t know that she saw the entire moment, or maybe she did know but didn’t want to acknowledge it. That was fine, Lucy thought as she placed a hand on her keys, they had bigger things to worry about right now anyways.

Erigor jumps on top of his scythe and begins to fly away as he shouts orders for the rest of Eisenwald to attack them. Erza was quick to counter with a shout of her own, ordering Gray and Natsu to follow that “reaper bastard” and they quickly shot off without a second of hesitation, leaving two other henchmen to follow their tail.

That left Lucy and Erza in the midst of the rest of the grunts, as the latter shone in a brief light before summoning a new suit of wonder, this time being full of spikes the color of obsidian with a large mace to match it’s ferociousness. Lucy looked in pure wonder at the knight, as Erza quickly stood in front of Lucy in a protective manner.

“Luce,” Erza spoke while glaring at the advancing group of enemies, “Are you an offensive mage?”

Some people’s magic were well-suited for support roles, rather than being in the midst of the fight. There was more ways to be useful on the battlefield and it did not matter to Erza which role Lucy preferred to take, she will just accordingly. Because they were teammates now, and that’s what Fairytail does. Protect each other and cover each other’s weaknesses to the best of their abilities, even if they didn’t know each other too well.

“It’s Lucy, actually,” Lucy chuckled as she cracked her neck before walking up to stand tall next to Erza, who looked at the her with curiosity in her eyes but also a small blush of embarrassment at getting her name wrong.

“Lucy?! But Natsu called you--”

“It’s a just nickname he’s assigned to me, but I don’t blame you for thinking my name was Luce. He calls me that more than my real name to be honest.”

“I-I’m going to teach him quite the lesson when this is all over,” Erza stuttered, embarrassed that she had called Lucy such a nickname when they just met. That blasted fire breather moron, she internally cursed. He didn’t even bother to correct her!

“I don’t mind at all, Erza. Call me Lucy, call me Luce, it doesn’t matter to me! But to answer your question earlier--,” Lucy suddenly narrowed her eyes at the enemy before her as she grabbed a golden key from her belt, summoning Cancer who’s gate opened as he slowly walked out with enlarged scissors, smaller ones spinning around his body as he stood calmly beside Lucy, staring down at his summoner’s enemies.

“--Yes, I can be offensive if need be.”

“You’re a Celestial Spirit Mage?” Erza asked with small surprise, considering that Lucy’s magic was a bit rarer than most. She could count on one hand how many celestial spirit mages she’s met thus far in her life. Lucy nodded as she looked at Cancer, who flashed her a small, collected smile.

“Haven’t seen you in a while Cancer, how are you? I really like your hair!”

Cancer’s hair was down currently, out if his usual braided style. His dark hair took the appearance of locs with red dyed tips that was twisted together neatly. He gave her a bigger smile this time around, feeling pleased at the compliment. “It has been a while, Lucy. I’m doing well, but I’m sure you’ll want to skip the pleasantries for another time, yes?”

“I’ll be sure to let everyone out or to invite you guys for some tea at my apartment, real soon. For now, let’s take care of these guys.” Lucy nodded at her spirit, who immediately disappeared with insane speed as he immediately set off to work. She took her whip from her belt and cracked it on the ground, before turning to fling it at the first person that tried to stumble towards Erza.

Lucy planted her body down and twisted, throwing the person she had trapped in her whip across the room, causing them to smack into the wall before sliding down with a groan. Erza just blinked in small surprise, not expecting the strength that Lucy possessed. It seemed the celestial spirit mage was full of surprises, actually, and the red-head let out a rather pretty smile at Lucy.

“Lucy, the Celestial Spirit Mage. Let us work together smoothly today.”

“Of course.” Lucy confirmed as they set off to work immediately, with Erza showcasing her impressive strength and Lucy backing her up as she kept her blind side safe. Cancer was taking care of the rest as he slashed and twisted his blades through the enemy, whilst keeping an eye on his summoner just in case she overextended her position as well as himself.

The women worked well together, Erza taking the lead with the reliable defense of Lucy and her spirit, Cancer. It didn’t take long for the last one to remain as they took the rest of them out seamlessly. He took off running, and Erza quietly orders Happy and Lucy to go after him as she let out a tired groan, taking a moment to sit down by the run-down crashed car.

“Are you alright?” Lucy asked as Happy flew after the man immediately. Erza just gave her a small smile as she nodded, waving a hand dismissively.

“Quite, just a bit tired. Imbuing my mana to drive the Magic Four Wheeler and then fighting relentlessly took more energy than I thought it would.”

Lucy was still a bit unsure about leaving her alone however, and was quick to shoot a wordless look at Cancer who nodded as he wiped off some excess blood and sheathed his scissor blades. Protect and defend Erza, she had quietly stated with her eyes. Cancer walked over and took a seat near Erza, who was looking at the spirit in question before turning back to Lucy with a slight disgruntled look on her face.

“I said I was--”

“I heard what you said the first time, Erza,” Lucy began firmly as she turned to make her way to where Happy flew off after the last survivor of the mini ordeal. “It would rub me the wrong way if I left you here in your moment of…rest, though. I’d feel much better if someone I trusted could help keep an eye out as you recover, before you head back into the fight.”

Lucy was in no position to tell an S-Class mage what to do, she thinks. But being an S-Class mage didn’t mean that you were suddenly invincible, and they deserved to have someone to at least watch their back for a moment. Cancer will be there to watch her as she regained her bearings once more and then he’ll be free to leave once that was done.

“Take care and join us once more when you feel as if you’ve rested enough to handle business.”

Erza watched a bit stunned as she watched Lucy walk away with her head held high with confidence. She didn’t tell her that she was being weak, Erza recalled as she watched the back of the celestial spirit mage get smaller and smaller. It was silence in the main entrance of the train station as Erza focused on recuperating while Cancer kept watch.

“...your mage is quite something. It has been a long time since someone has talked to me like that.” And I listened.

Cancer just gave Erza the ghost of a smirk as he spun a small pair of scissors and quietly replied, “I know.”

--------

--G-F--

--------

In retrospect, it should’ve been obvious that Natsu and Gray were going to split up immediately despite orders to work together in chasing after Erigor. Their personalities, their ideals, even their magic were polar opposites for the most part, and thus it rendered them unable to work together without someone else to be the buffer in between them.

Gray frowned as he started to hear a wind growing stronger around the train station as he searched for the broadcasting room. They had reached a split path, with Gray taking one side and Natsu taking the other. Why did a train station have so many rooms? Gray was a bit peeved as he peaked into every room but achieved little success.

The wind was growing stronger and Gray’s face frowned even more at the sound. The weather wasn’t bad today at all, so was this the product of someone’s magic? Why did it sound like a hurricane or a tornado was beginning to form?

In fact, Erigor seemed to know that they were coming…wasn’t that a bit stran--

Gray knocked his head to the side upon pure instinct as two black cables whipped past him, smacking into to the wall with an audible crack that sent an adrenaline spark through him as he realized how close the attack had came. He felt the air crack, and Gray looked over his shoulder to stare at his opponent as he stood behind him with a scowl on his face.

Rayule, the person who attacked Gray, activated his magic without a second thought as the black bands on his body seemed to take form, dashing towards Gray who blocked them off with ice shards that he conjured. The two tangoed for a moment, with Gray making a hammer out of ice to slam into Rayule who got hit, but was able to cushion his fall with his magic to minize the damage.

Then Rayule did something that Gray didn’t expect.

A rather weak attack that was easy to dodge, had Gray moving his body to the side to showcase the broadcasting equipment that was in the room. Gray blinked in mild confusion as he realized that he had finally found the broadcasting room, but why did the Eisenwald member just destroy the mechanism that they had planned to use? Unless…

“This was a set-up,” Gray narrowed his eyes at Rayule who smirked at him.

“Damn right it was, and you fell for it like bees to honey traps. You hero types really can’t help yourselves.”

Gray summoned his hammer once more, as he demanded answers. “What the hell are you bastards planning?”

If they weren’t planning to play the death song in the town, then who was the real target? Was it their makeshift group? Erza? She was well-known for being powerful. If she was the target all along, they just handed her over to Erigor on a silver platter. Gray suddenly felt sick to his stomach as dread filled him at the thought.

“That’s the question isn’t it? One that you’ll probably never find the answer too, as you’re trapped here, thanks to Erigor’s Wind outside.”

Fuck, he really didn’t imagine that sudden wind then.

“But since I’m feeling rather generous, I suppose I could fill you in. The target was never this dump of a village, it was Clover Town all along.”

Clover Town? Gray’s brow furrowed as his thoughts raced. What was in Clover Town and why was that familiar? Makarov tends to go there a lot for Guild Master meetings, but other than that. Wait.

Makarov.

“That’s right,” Rayule smiled at the sight of anger and realization on Gray’s face at Eisenwald’s true plan all along, “The Guild Master’s meeting. Erigor is going to do the right thing and kill all of them, so that we can truly be free.”

To bad he underestimated his opponent, as Gray’s eyes grew cold and annoyed at Rayule’s words. He stood still suddenly as Rayule’s black marks shot at him, before Gray grabbed them and froze them, with created a trail of ice that made it’s way towards Rayule who was surprised at the turn of events.

Rayule paused, and that was all Gray needed as he promptly ran forwards and grabbed his face as he dung his nails in to make sure he didn’t lose his grip. Rayule let out a hissed breath at the feeling of Gray’s nails digging into his skin as he tried to defend himself, only to see that the ice had finally reached his hands due to the nature of where his magic comes from and that it had embolized his wrists.

Rayule’s eyes widened in fear for the first time in their exchange as Gray stared at him with anger barely restrained in his eyes as he slowly froze his face.

“We’re going to stop you, Eisenwald. You won’t win , we won’t allow it.”

With a frozen, fearful Rayule left in place, Gray slammed the doors of the broadcasting room open as he ran down the hall, hoping to regroup with anyone so that he can share the news he had just received.

He didn’t even care if it was Natsu, because this was suddenly worse than they could’ve imagined.

--------

--E-S--

--------

Cancer and Erza looked shocked at the sudden massive wind pillar that blocked their view from the outside, before looking at each other. Cancer raised a silent eyebrow, asking if Erza was well enough to get up. Without hesitation, Erza got to her feet as she stormed towards the broken entrance of the train station, with Cancer walking behind her at a more leisure pace.

He didn’t know the criteria that Lucy had imagine when he said to look after Erza before he could leave. It hadn’t been too long since they’ve parted ways, so he decided that he’ll stay on the safe side and stick around just in case. The woman was strong and her spirit was impressive, Cancer absentmindedly thought as he looked at Titania with small interest.

It wasn’t much of a hassle, for now.

The closer they walked to the wind pillar, the more resistant their steps were as they tried to make their way to the edge. With the strength of a rapid, tight tornado, Erza attempted to requip with some of her strongest suits of armor and force her way through the wind, only for a pair of arms to push her back. She staggered back with Cancer to catch her by the arm as he kept his eyes trained on the figure that suddenly stepped through the wind without any issues.

He seemed to be the cause of this then, Cancer concluded as Erza tensed up in anger at the sight of Erigor as he gloated in front of her.

“Having trouble, Titania?”

“What have you done, Erigor?”

Erigor shrugged. “Nothing yet, but I will do something soon. Just had to make sure I kept the security tight here before I leave, you know? Anyways, I’ll see you around in the aftermath.”

He wagged his fingers as he flew off, increasing the strength of the wind pillar before he left. Erza had almost pushed her way through after all, he noted. Erigor didn’t want to take any chances for the S-Class mage to force her way through as she normally does, and to turn out victorious.

“Shit,” Erza quietly cursed as she regained her composure and turned out with steel in her eyes, marching up the small steps of the entrance before she took a look at the lackeys that her and Lucy had defeated before moving on. Cancer walked behind her silently, although he had a small frown on his face at the turn of events.

Maybe he’ll leave for a moment and make his way towards Lucy, to inform him of recent events.

“So who wants to tell me how to dispel this barrier, hmm?” Erza’s voice carried in the silent room as those who remained conscious shivered. They looked at each other in slight fear and apprehension, before one of them spoke up with terror in his voice.

“W-We don’t know Titania.”

“What do you mean you don’t know ? That’s your boss. You should know how he operates, or at least how to escape something of his own mechanism that he created. Does he not want back-up to protect him on his quest?”

“...I believe you’re overestimating his kindness and leadership, Titania.” Cancer replied calmly as he observed the state of Erigor’s subordinates. The bare minimum of clothing, the tiredness in their bones. Erigor was a man that seemed to have created this group purely of selfish intentions. Or perhaps they all had the same goal, but Erigor didn’t see comradery in them despite it. Regardless, “Or perhaps they knew that they would’ve been left behind in case things went south. The point is that they are not lying, and it’d be a waste of time to continue to interrogate them.”

“How can you tell?” Erza asked Lucy’s spirit, who seemed to hold more intelligence and combat skills than she originally thought. Maybe that is why his key was golden, as she remembered Lucy’s summoning process.

“I am a Zodiac Celestial Spirit. It’s something that we’ve always been able to do, determining spirits and such. If they are open enough, it isn’t hard to determine if one is lying. These people are not.”

Erza frowned at the news, but nodded that she understood Cancer. She crossed her arms as she ignored the rest of the men, thinking of making her way through the train station in order round up the rest of them.

“But…Kageyama..” Someone spoke up and Erza’s attention snapped towards them.

“Kageyama? The one with the damaged ear?” Erza confirmed. They nodded and spoke up once more.

“I think he has the ability to dispel the barrier. I-I’m not completely sure though.” They stuttered and Erza was quick to thank them for their services as she pondered over the new information. Before, these people had been her enemies. They still were, but they were no longer threats, and Erza wasn’t interesting in treating beaten people like mere trash for being defeated. If they don’t rise together to seek revenge, she was content in letting them lie.

And if they did, well she’ll have to do what must be done to protect others.

But her job was finished with them right now, and she’ll let the appropriate authorities take care and finish the rest of their justice.

It’s people like Erigor that she’s specifically after anyways, clenching a fist at the thought of the wind reaper.

“Erza.” Gray’s voice sounded through the entrance as he ran towards her. Erza’s eyebrows rose at the sight of his anger, before asking him hurriedly,

“What happened?”

“This was a trap all along,” He spatted out.

Gray recalled his fight and the information that he had as Erza’s darkened at the news. The two sat in silence for a moment as they thought about how to proceed. Erza was the one who proposed their next plan of action, as she told him about Kageyama’s potential for the wind blockage outside. Gray hummed as he agreed to help her hunt him down, but gave a quick look at Cancer who was leaning against the side of wall.

“Who’s that?” Gray inquired lowly as Erza informed him that that was one of Lucy’s spirits that she left by Erza’s side with instructions to help her until she’s strong enough. She then walked over towards Cancer who was looking down at her with an eyebrow raised, and she cleared her throat.

“Thank you for your assistance, but you may return to Lucy now.”

Cancer’s eyes flicked over to Gray and nodded, understanding that his job was done. Even if Erza wasn’t 100% yet, she now had backup to support her which was what Lucy wanted in the first place. He disappeared in flecks of golden light as Gray looked on in small wonder.

“Wow…I didn’t expect her to be a Celestial Spirit Mage.”

“She had a pair of keys on her belt, next time use your eyes,” Erza retorted with a snort, but Gray just rolled his eyes at the red-head as they walked deeper into the train station. The goal was Kageyama, as they focused on the task at hand to escape the wind prison and save the guild masters in Clover Town from Erigor’s planned massacre.

--------

--L-H--

--------

Natsu scowled as he rampaged across the station, splitting off with Gray seemed to have been the more boring move as he wandered. At least with the Stripper, he was able to be entertained somewhat. He pouted as he kicked some paper off to the side as he walked, wondering what Happy and Lucy were doing.

An instinct inside of him suddenly alerted him that he wasn’t alone as he paused in the middle of the hallway, honing in onto his sense of smell and hearing to pinpoint any enemy. Natsu spins around with a flamed fist unexpectedly, knocking into Kageyama who was trying to sneak up on him from behind. He took the punch better than expected as he slashed a shadow claw to counter Natsu.

Natsu got slashed a little bit but ignored the brief pinch of pain as he dodged Kageyama’s next attack, but missed his shadow moving to deliver a shadow punch to his stomach, knocking Natsu into the nearest room as he crashed onto a tower of empty boxes. It created a loud noise that echoed in the hallway as Natsu picked himself up quickly to spin kick towards Kageyama in a split second before picking him up and slamming his body back down, knocking the wind out of him with a strangled cough and gasp.

Kageyama coughed helplessly on the ground as Natsu towered over him, and footsteps signaled that more was coming on the way. Natsu’s nose knew exactly who they were however, which is why he stepped slightly to the side as he made way for them to come inside to look down at an easily defeated Kageyama.

No one said a word for a moment as Erza tsked and glared at Kageyama, summoning a sword from her arsenal to point it at Kageyama’s neck, where he laid on the ground. He looked down at the sword with wide eyes as he looked back up at Erza’s stormy expression.

“You’re going to tell me how to get out of this wind barrier Erigor placed.”

It wasn’t a question or a polite request.

Kageyama gulped as the tip of the sword grazed his adam’s apple, clearing his throat as he quietly asked if he could get up. After a tense moment, Erza allowed him to do so as he staggered onto his feet. He was on the verge of surrendering, complying with the mages demands when all of a sudden his eyes opened wide in disbelief.

They all looked at him in confusion as Kageyama’s mouth opened and blood began to pool and drip out as they all took a step back in alarm. Kageyama gasped and clutched his stomach, where a knife was petruding from it, and Natsu let out a choked sound . They looked to see a figure stepping out of the wall, looking to retreat after accomplishing their job as the trio went into action.

“Fuck!” Gray cursed as he immediately caught Kageyama.

With a bellow from his mouth of outrage, Natsu practically flew towards the assaulter and grabbed him roughly by the jacket as he yanked him out of the wall. Anger coursed through Natsu’s veins at such an act between what should’ve been comrades, and he hissed at Karacka, the enemy.

“You goddamn coward.” Natsu began to punch him repeatedly as he growled at the man, before Erza yelled at him to stop and to help with stabalizing Kageyama. Natsu felt a sour taste in his mouth still, but complied as Karacka’s slumped and bruised body fell from his grasp as he made his way over to Gray and Erza.

Gray ended up taking off his shirt and ripped it into pieces to use as a bandage to help stop the bleeding as Erza made Kageyama spit out the blood so that he didn’t choke on it as he laid down. She had a feeling that he was going to surrender to them before he got stabbed, but in case he was thinking of taking a permanently silenced route, she wanted to make sure he was alive.

And after their best efforts, he was.

But he was unconscious thanks to the ordeal, and Gray was quick to punch the ground in a feat of anger as Erza let out a long sigh. Whether the goal was to kill Kageyama or not, they had succeeded to silence him which completed the task regardless. Natsu picked up Kageyama’s body as they quickly decided to head back to the lobby of the station, only to see a frowning Lucy and Happy walking in at the same time.

Lucy’s eyes brightened as she caught a glimpse of her makeshift team, “Hey guys! Do you find--”

She cut herself off with a gasp as she took in the sight of blood on Gray and Erza, and then snapped her head towards an unconscious man in Natsu’s arms. She quickly made her way over as she softly ordered Natsu to set the body down as she took a look at the man, before looking at Natsu who was still fueled by irritation at the traitorious display.

“A stab wound,” Lucy muttered to herself as she took note of a small feverish feeling that she felt the moment she touched his skin. The body’s defense already activating to protect against being so exposed, but there isn’t much to oversee considering how well he was patched up with what they had available. Gray and Erza were inspecting the wind pillar as Team Haluna dealt with Kageyama.

“What’s wrong,” Lucy quietly asked Natsu who scoffed as he looked away from Kageyama’s unconscious form.

“Another member from Eisenwald was the one that stabbed him. Probably as a fail-safe measure to make sure we don’t figure out a way to escape, I guess.”

Lucy let out a harsh breath at the news, feeling a bit sad for Kageyama. His ear was already cut off by one, and then he was stabbed by another. Dark guilds really operate with no sense of morals, she thought as she shook her head. She was a bit surprise to see Natsu so affected by the ordeal, but for something who loves their comrades as strongly as he does, she supposes this was a low-blow to him, even for enemies.

“I just don’t understand, Luce. Why the hell did he attack one of his own?”

“...it’s not our job to understand. We’re here to stop them from massacring people for no reason, and if that comes in the form of them attacking each other, then what are we to say? It’s another bad guy stopped, isn’t it?” Lucy said hesitantly. It was fucked up, it was a on the morbid side, but there was logic behind her words. This was just a weird case of the enemy of my enemy is an opportune ally, but not a friend. Natsu just shook his head in disappointment,

“It’s about having some honor about it. There should’ve been another way.”

Lucy didn’t have anything to retort against that, so she didn’t say anything as she got back up and walked over towards Gray and Erza who were growing frustrated by the minute as they figured out ways to escape the prison. Shards of ice were broken around her as she walked towards them, looking high up as she thought of ways herself.

The wind pillar seemed to go endlessly high, and her suspicions were confirmed once she asked Happy to fly up there, only to see the exceed struggle after a certain height. Quickly, she told him to come down and gave him a hug for helping her out as she crossed on leaving from above on her mental list.

So, they couldn’t go above?

Lucy blinked as she suddenly looked at the ground.

But what about below?

If the wind pillar was creating a turbulence in the ground, then it would’ve made the ground beneath them very unstable from the force of the pillar. Yet she was standing on solid ground, which means that there was a chance.

Lucy could work with a chance and she’s interested to see what her latest spirit has to offer for their current dilemma.

She took out her newest golden key and chanted, “Open the Gate of the Maiden, Virgo! ”

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Gray Skies to Blue Hour

Eisenwald Arc III

“Open the Gate of the Maiden, Virgo! ”

A slim petite and feminine woman appeared with medium-length pink hair and piercing blue eyes, stepping out of her golden gate. Immediately she made eye contact with Lucy, and she bowed before her effortlessly.

“Princess,” Virgo greeted as Lucy let out a gargle in the back of her throat at the display, frantically moving her hands as she quickly urged Virgo to stand up straight.

“W-What--Please, there’s no need for all of that, Virgo.”

“Very well, Princess. As you wish.” Virgo blinked as she stood still as per Lucy’s instructions, and for a brief moment Lucy nearly regretted summoning the maiden due to the lack of understanding of how she operated. She’s known her other golden keys for years and was able to deepen their bonds as she understood how they operated for the most part. With Virgo, their connection was so fresh. Why was she calling her princess? Why did her appearance change? So many questions that Lucy wants to ask in order to get to know her latest spirit on a personal level, but they didn’t have time for that at the moment.

“We’ve talked a bit before about your magic, but I have a theory that I’d like to test out with you if that’s alright,” Lucy asked as Virgo blinked at her, but raised the slightest of her eyebrow at the politeness of her master.

“...of course it would be alright, but quite frankly, you do not need my permission for anything as my summoner. I am completely and utterly at your will,” Virgo assured Lucy, who looked at her in mild confusion in return.

“I don’t want you to be at my beck and call completely, I just want my spirits to be able to handle themselves in case something happens and how the ability to exercise judgement accordingly without having to hang on every word that I say.” Lucy said slowly, “I am not some supreme god who’s word is law. We are comrades on the battlefield and friends off it.”

“Friends…” Virgo looked a bit unsure at the word as she stared at Lucy, before clearing her throat as she stood tall once more. She nodded towards Lucy, and that’s when the latter knew that their conversation will be tabled for another time. Virgo closed her eyes as she surveyed their surroundings thanks to the use of her Diver Magic. She opened them quickly and looked towards Lucy,

“It is possible to escape the wind imprisonment by creating a pathway from underground.”

Lucy smiled and Virgo watched in small wonder at the sight, especially when Lucy quickly wrapped her arms around the spirit which caused her to stiffen. Lucy ignored Virgo’s awkwardness as she let go, thanking the spirit before politely ordering her to begin the process of escaping, in which Virgo was quick and happy to comply. It was better than trying to understand that her summoner had hugged her, which was something so foreign she didn’t know what to think.

‘The Hearfilia brat is different. Their whole bloodline is, actually, but this girl really is special.’

Virgo was reminded of Aquarius’s words as she began to cast her Diver Magic, making a rapid hole into the ground that was big enough for people to walk through. The commotion caught the others’ attention, and they quickly made their way over towards Lucy and the giant hole that Virgo was currently making.

“A hole…? Actually that’s a good idea…” Gray murmured as he looked into the hole as Erza clapped Lucy on the back harshly, with a smile on her face in thanking the blonde for her swift solution. Lucy just smiled back as she held in a cough at the weight of Erza’s hand before she turns back towards Natsu who was already carrying an unconscious Kageyama in his arms.

Lucy looked at latter before glancing back at Natsu who just stared at her with a determined expression on his face. It was clear that he wanted to bring Kageyama along, but why? Was he the enemy no longer just because he got hurt one time?

“You’re bringing him.”

“Yeah.”

“...okay.” It’s not like an unconscious body would be able to do something anyways. And even if he tried to get up, he had a stab wound in his abdomen for Spirit’s sake. If they couldn’t take down a target like that, then they had no right to be partaking on missions. Natsu let out a small breath of relief as he flashed Lucy a thankful smile, before hopping into the hole with a second thought.

Everyone trailed after him soon and they found themselves on the other side of the wind pillar within the ghost town that housed the Kunugi Station. It was eerie quiet as they managed to find another Magic Four Wheeler, this time Gray taking the wheel as the rest piled into the back of the car.

Erza had offered but both Lucy and Gray shivered at the memory of her reckless driving from before, and Gray did not want to be forced on riding up top with Erza at the steering wheel again. He quickly said no and took the driver’s seat as Erza shrugged as she got into the car, snatching Kageyama from Natsu who declared that he was going to fly with Happy.

And thus Team Haluna found themselves racing/flying to Clover Town once more.

“The guildmasters…” Lucy spoke in shock as Erza caught her up to speed with what they know so far. It was a good trap, and they definitely had fell for it considering they were successfully imprisoned for a while. Lucy frowned as she thought about the still state of the town as they had entered it, and briefly wondered if they had already accomplished their original goal, if that had been it. Erigor had been rather emotional during his quick spat with Erza, after all. Lucy reckoned that he had held some belief in his words at the time. It made Lucy sick to her stomach as she quietly asked,

“Was it really a trap? Or was Clover Town simply the end goal?”

Erza remained stoic as she glanced at Kageyama’s body before turning to look out the window.

“Are you asking if they already used Lullaby on the town before we got there?”

Lucy nodded silently as Erza closed her eyes at the horrid thought, letting out a gentle, sad sigh. “...I don’t know. We can only hope that isn’t the case, but with the dead silence we heard through making our way to the station...there’s many explanations. None of them good, I reckon.”

It was a tense silence after that as the two girls swallowed down the thought of them walking through a Deadman’s land prior to confronting Erigor. Dark guilds, Lucy scowled mentally as she thought about the violence she’s seen today, they truly are dark.

Lucy clenched a fist around her keys as she stared at them defiantly.

They’ll stop Eisenwald before they can do more harm.

A groan alerted them as they quickly looked at each other before glancing down at Kageyama, who let out a moan of pain as the wheeler jostled over a bump on the road. Lucy stayed quiet as Erza geared up for an interrogation, watching her take control of the situation now that Kageyama regained a piece of consciousness. That’s why it surprised her when he spoke up first as he laid in a painful daze, murmuring quietly,

“Why did you save me?”

‘Thank Natsu’, Lucy thought briefly as she stayed quiet. Because it suddenly hits her that none of the others had even thought to bring the injured Kageyama along, and maybe that meant something about them. And that it meant something about Natsu, who seems to have compassion even for his enemies.

“Were you prepared to die?” Erza countered and Kageyama fell silent for a moment before answering.

“Of course not. Me getting stabbed was never in the plan..”

“The plan? Right, the plan to kill the guildmasters at their monthly meeting in Clover Town.”

Kageyama flinched at the quiet, but hard tone that Erza used. Lucy remained silent as she squirmed a bit uncomfortably in the loaded car.

“... why did you save me? ” Kageyama asked once more and this time Erza let out a tired sigh as she crossed her arms, still making direct eye contact with Kageyama.

“At the end of the day, most people deserve the chance to live their lives more positively after such a negative circumstance. Some of us pity you, in fact, because in the end even you were betrayed by one of your own. Now look at you, sporting a potentially fatal wound because of it. If this isn’t an eye-opener to change then let me know right now, because I will gladly deliver justice if need be.”

“N-No--I get it. I’m…done.”

Lucy isn’t sure what to make with his tone of voice however, as he sounded rather conflicted with himself when he said that. She didn’t bring it up though and the car feel into silence once more.

---------

--N-D--

---------

“Aye! Is that Erigor up ahead?” Happy squinted as he carried Natsu, who suddenly raised a hand to protect his eyes from the sun as he squinted to see what Happy was looking at. Judging by the scythe that was in the air and wind that seemed to be manipulated around the figure in the distance, Natsu quickly smirked and yelled towards the others in the car,

“Found ‘im!”

Natsu boosted their speed with the help of flames on his feet, as he stuck his tongue out at Gray who bucked at him as he flew past the four-wheeler. Gray scowled at the sight of the dragon slayer getting a head, but there wasn’t much that he could do as they were already going at their maximum speed. Whatever, Gray grumbled as he watched Natsu catch up to Erigor and twisted to kick him into the railroad bridge that was below them. A boom crashed in the distance as Lucy stuck her head out with confusion on her face, “E-Eh?!”

“Don’t worry about it, Natsu just found Erigor!” Gray shouted against the roaring wind.

“Oh okay,” Lucy said as she settled back into her seat. She’s starting to understand that her best friend was very trigger happy and loved to fight. She has no doubt that Natsu will be fine as they made their way to come support him eventually.

Meanwhile Natsu quickly set Happy down as he had used a lot of energy in order to fly Natsu over towards Erigor, patting the top of his head softly for a moment before he turned out to get ready to fight Erigor. Past the debris and dust from his kick attack was the said man, as Erigor used his wind to quickly try to push Natsu off of the bridge into the river below them.

Natsu’s arms flapped aimlessly as he flew back, flipping in the air. Thinking quickly, Natsu recalled a technique that he could use in order to manipulate his flames thanks to Romeo’s father, Macao. Due to their magic being similar in attributes and in some cases properties, Macao was able to teach Natsu some tricks when he was younger. A small smile flashed across Natsu’s face at the memory as he began to mold a pair of arms out of his flames that even caught him on the side of the bridge.

It took a little bit of effort to maintain the shape while moving his physical body, but Natsu loved nothing more than a good challenge when fighting.

Using the flame arms to rapidly climb up before launching his body from the edge of the bridge, sending Natsu towards Erigor with a wild grin on his face as his eyes sharped once he punched Erigor with his own fist and a flamed one. Erigor spat out in surprise as he stumbled back, looking at Natsu’s extra appendages warily before launching sharp wind attacks towards him. Natsu’s face got cut by a sharp wind blade but thanks to his extra hands, he was able to defend himself relatively well as he inched closer to Erigor piece by piece.

This enraged Erigor who let out a frustrated hiss, before he activated his Storm Mail ability which quickly created sharp winds around him like a suit armor, winds that were as dense as the pillar he had left back in Kunugi Station. Natsu blew a powerful Fire Dragon Slayer’s Roar as a follow up, but frowning once he saw that the flames died off before it could reach Erigor.

Erigor looked upon the turn events in slight surprise as Natsu stood frozen, before he let out a dark grin at the sudden change of pace. Now it was Natsu who was on the defensive side as Erigor knocked him down over and over again, and he was getting irritated . A deep growl settled inside of his chest as he glared at Erigor who laughed at him, as he sent a small, temporary moving tornado towards Natsu.

It was a distraction however, as Natsu moved to the side to dodge the tornado, Erigor had already begun conjuring his next attack as he crossed his index and middle fingers to create an X-shape towards Natsu, before blasting a concentrated funnel of wind blades towards him.

“Emera Baram!”

“Fuck,” Natsu cursed as he crossed both of his arms in order to take the direct hit, slamming him into the ground as a result. The wind was knocked out of Natsu quite literally as his back hit the ground and he let out a strangled wheeze for a brief moment as he was stunned. Erigor flew above him and prepared for another Emera Baram with dark amusement in his eyes at the sight of Natsu’s short-termed stun.

He unleashed it towards Natsu, only for Erigor to be surprised when a massive bull suddenly appeared in front of Natsu, taking the hit instead of the dragon slayer. Taurus grunted as he was hit with Emera Baram, moving his body backwards as he held his ground. After a close call however, Taurus was able to remain standing as he successfully defended Natsu longer enough for him to get back up.

Natsu nodded at Taurus, “Thanks.”

Taurus just nodded at him as he turned to face a running Lucy, who’s hair was flowing behind her thanks to the heavy winds that Erigor had generated. Immediately, Natsu walked past Taurus without a second thought to position himself in front of Lucy to take the brunt of the wind as she shouted, “I’m here, Natsu!”

Looking over his shoulder, Natsu flashed her a bright grin as he was excited at the prospective of fighting side by side with his teammate, his team leader, his best friend.

“Team Haluna is here for the final boss battle!” Natsu said suddenly excited as Lucy chuckled before looking around for Happy. Natsu told her that he was resting in a safe place off to the side, at which Lucy nodded in confirmation as they both turned back towards Erigor with matching serious expressions.

“My flames aren’t able to reach him anymore,” Natsu confessed bregudgingly, feeling annoyed at the fact. Lucy just hummed as she narrowed her eyes at Erigor, wondering how to be able to penetrate his wind armor.

“Let’s see if we can create an opening in the meantime, together.” Lucy said as Natsu immediately took off with Lucy on his heels as he leaped into the air to fight Erigor. Using Taurus as a platform, the spirit spun around for a moment before he threw Lucy like a discus towards the men.

“Natsu!”

Without looking at Lucy directly, one of Natsu’s flamed arms reached out to grab Lucy’s incoming whip as it wrapped around it before he twisted his body to propel Lucy further towards Erigor. Still holding onto her end of the whip, Lucy kicked towards Erigor who was momentarily surprised at the sudden combination attack as she managed to land a hit. He flew back for a moment but managed to regain his balance as he countered with a wind blade that hit the duo, causing them to stumble back towards the ground.

Natsu had made sure to grab Lucy before they crashed onto the ground however, causing her fall to be cushioned a bit more than Natsu. With small groans, both of them got back up as they tried to come up with another plan of attack.

Lucy pointed at her leg, in which her pants were shredded from the kick and the wind. She was relatively okay though.

“We managed to surprise him with that one, but I don’t think it’ll work again,” Lucy sighed as Natsu grunted in confirmation as he unconsciously grew hotter as his body slowly became engulfed with flames from his growing frustration. Lucy was thinking for a moment before she realized that Natsu’s flames were subtlety causing Erigor’s wind to blow at an odd direction. With her mind racing, she realized that fire did suck up oxygen and suddenly, what if Natsu’s flames were so potent that Erigor doesn’t mitigate him but fuels him in a sense?

With newfound hope, Lucy’s eyes light up as she looked at Natsu, “You need to increase the heat of your flames!”

“What’ll that do?” Natsu asked curiously as he began to do what she asked.

“Fire naturally consumes wind in order to fuel itself, but if the wind is stronger than the flame, then it’ll just go out which is why you were losing in the beginning. But if you were to increase the heat of your flames…”

“...then it’d be like a power boost, right? Huh.” Natsu said thoughtfully before he let out an excited grin. Due to his excitement, his flames grew even higher as they began to absorb some of Erigor’s wind subtly and he shot Lucy a wink before he launched himself recklessly towards Erigor once more, eager to pick the fight back up again. Lucy opened her mouth to tell him to be careful but ended up faltering at the wink before she ended up rolling her eyes at the dragon slayer as he pressed forwards.

“Watch this, Luce!”

Natsu propelled his aflamed body forwards as he aim for Erigor who still had an arrogant look on his face as he protected himself from his Storm Mail. His look quickly fell and morphed into fear as Natsu’s sharp smile was suddenly in his face as he nullified Erigor’s Storm Mail almost immediately, using his manipulated arms to hold him in place as he began to push Erigor’s body at a high speed towards the ground, refusing to stop even as they crashed into the ground.

It left a massive crater that had random flames and lacerations in the dirt from the aftermath of their magic attacks as Natsu huffed as his flames spluttered out which a knocked out Erigor underneath his body.

Gray parked the four wheeler right next to the crater as he got off from the driver’s seat to squint at Natsu and Erigor before smirking arrogantly, “Damn, he really did a number on you, Fire Clown.”

Natsu looked down towards his attire, which had cuts littered on his body and his clothes were ripped and he pouted childishly back at Gray who began to laugh at him. “Shut up!”

They began to argue from meters away as Erza took a step out of the wheeler next, surveying the damage and how the battle ended before she nodded in approval to herself. Natsu did well, defeating the enemy. She leaned against the door of the wheeler and said,

“Your leader has been defeated, Kageyama.”

Kageyama blinked dully in slight disbelief at the turn of events, but then he looks at the state of the Fairytail members and the sounds of their voices carry in the soft wind. He didn’t hear the usual taunts of his leader, and that’s when he realized that Erza’s words were most likely true. Lucy walked over from her side of the battlefield with Happy in her arms as she smiled at the sight of a defeated Erigor, making her way slowly around the crater towards the wheeler where Erza called out to her.

“I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when you suddenly jumped out the car in order to support that idiot.”

Lucy laughed wholeheartedly at her words, “He’s my teammate! Of course I was going to support him in any way that I can, that’s the whole reason why we created Team Haluna after all. To go on adventures together. His words, not mine.”

“But you believe them,” Erza stated pointedly as she took a glance at Natsu who was in Gray’s face as they spounted nonsense to each other.

“That I do,” Lucy answered softly as she idly glanced through the windows of the wheeler only to tense once she realized that Kageyama was gone. “ Erza .”

Erza furrowed her brow as she quickly looked behind her, following Lucy’s eyesight only to see a lack of an injured shadow-magic user. With a loud cruse, she quickly ran towards Erigor’s body which was left to behind in the crater ever since Gray and Natsu started arguing by the car. When Lucy ran past them to follow Erza in a hurry, Natsu cut Gray off with him snapping his attention towards the blonde as he followed her without a second thought.

Gray was left feeling rather surprised at the turn of events, because Lucy hadn’t even said a word to Natsu and yet he had already taken off after her. It reminds him of how they greeted each other in the first place, and as he eventually makes his way to follow the rest of them, he thinks about how Lucy seems to draw Natsu in without even trying. Is that what it’s like to be her friend? Is their bond that strong already?

Gray thinks he would’ve remembered a little blonde running around, hanging out with Natsu. In fact, the only girl that he remembered Natsu treating the same as Lucy to a certain extent was…Lisanna.

He felt his heart sink a little bit at the thought of the girl as he quickly refocused and regrouped with the others.

Now was not the time to think about the dead.

“Search him!” Erza barked at Natsu who ran over towards Erigor’s unconscious body, eyes darkening when he realized that there was a subtle, new scent of blood that lingered around the area. Focusing his eyes made him realize that there was a small trail, and that they were now in the beginnings of a hunt.

“He’s on foot,” Natsu said as he began to run in the direction that he smelt the same scent from. They followed him without a second thought as they chased Kageyama’s trail, knowing that he hadn’t gone too far due to his wounds. He’s probably using his shadow magic to travel, but it’d be hard to go far in his state.

Eventually they found themselves standing behind Kageyama who’s ragged body was barely holding together as he stood in front of their guildmaster, who was looking at him with small intrigue as he prepared to play Lullaby. The ragtag team froze at the sight as Makarov flashed them a small look and paused, raised hand before allowing Kageyama to continue with whatever they were saying.

“...w-would you like to hear this song that I’ve p-prepared today?”

Makarov paused for a moment before nodding his head as his eyes shone with curiosity. The fact that he had stopped Team Haluna and company from interfering meant that he must have some idea that this guy wasn’t good news. Yet they weren’t supposed to make a move? Lucy was confused.

“Are you even in the proper condition to be play anything, young man? That’s quite the wound you are withstanding right now.”

“I’m fine,” Kageyama snapped but winced as it caused a flash of pain to pierce through his body. Makarov didn’t make a move to help him, but his eyes shone with a sense of pity at the sight of Kageyama. It made the latter grit his teeth because he didn’t want pity. Not from Titania, not from Makarov Dreyar.

All of Eisenwald knew what their mission was. They wanted to create a better world without any authority, without any rules so that their families could finally be free from the shackles of the upper class. No longer will they suffer from unfair conditions, no longer will they restrict themselves because they had magic and most people didn’t. They weren’t supposed to be on the bottom of the social ladder, they were supposed to be on the top! And if those damned guilds were out of the way, at least so that their enemies couldn’t hire them to protect them, then it made the opportunity for revolution even easier.

“Are you sure? We should probably take you to a hospital before it turns into something irreversible.” Makarov hummed as he stared into what Kageyama felt to be his soul, and suddenly the kindness that the man was offering was making him even weaker in the knees. Kageyama angrily cursed at him, his resolve was shaking and he didn’t even know why .

Maybe it was the fact that Fairytail was angered at the sight of his own teammate injuring him like this.

Maybe it was Salamander’s compassion in taking him with them in order to stop his leader, despite knowing that he was an active member of Eisenwald.

Maybe it was the fact that Makarov Dreyar, the leader of Fairytail, was staring at him right now knowing that what he had in his hands was a dangerous artifact, and still hasn’t made a move to suggest that he was going to take him down forcefully.

“Everything will change if I play this song,” Kageyama tries to force himself to commit to the job, commit to the mission that he was suffered through so much to see through till the end. Makarov just scoffed,

“The weak will still be weak. Sure, taking us guild masters would help out, but eventually someone will replace us. Younger, stronger in many ways. What then? When would you put down that weapon, when would you be satisfied? The answer is never , because the problem isn’t us , but you .”

“You don’t know a damn thing!” Kageyama hissed at Makarov who crossed his arms as he sighed at the wavering man.

“You want to create change? At least live to see it before you become an unknown martyr in the midst of the chaos,” Makarov started off sternly before letting his old voice into what could be considered as the tone of a wise old man who’s seen many things, “Or--push yourself to do better, to be better so that you can gain enough power through your own methods in order to make the changes you want to see happen. Gain a real community to support you and your goals, something that doesn’t involve mass destruction of others at the cost. You have the compassion already. You have the drive to fuel your strength but the key to understanding all of this is that true strength from the heart doesn’t need to create innocent victims. ”

Kageyama’s knees gave out as he fell to the ground at Makarov’s words that resonating with anyone listening in the vicinity.

Natsu felt as if he could protect people without excessive violence, because one of his greatest strengths was compassion.

Erza straightened her back as inspired to be a shield of armor for all in need, because she doesn’t aim to hurt, she only ever aims to protect.

Lucy looks at Makarov in a new light as she thinks about how she wants to take control of her life and change to live the way that she finally wants. Her own variation of freedom that she’s craved for years.

And lastly Gray was left feeling a bit solemn, because he knows all too well about martyrs that sacrifice themselves for the greater good and the costs that come with it.

There’s time to change and try something different, Kageyama thought tiredly as he finally finally succumbs to defeat. The Eisenwald bastards weren’t about creating real change he thinks as he passing out for the second time, dropping the flute.

If they were, they wouldn’t have stabbed him the first place.

Everyone watched as Makarov defeated Kageyama with words alone as the small old man suddenly sweatdropped and laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck, and that’s obvious where Natsu got that habit from, Lucy thought with small amusement. It was reckless, what Makarov had pulled. What if Kageyama didn’t hesitate in playing the song? They all would’ve been dead but Makarov took that chance to save Kageyama’s life anyways.

What a man.

“Well that was something! What’re you brats doing here though?” Makarov asked curiously as Erza stepped forwards to take the initiative in informing him what had happened prior to the present. Makarov hummed, winced, and then shuddered in small fear at the implied destruction that he knows his children have caused and was quick to summon them over towards them. It was quite silly to see five massive groups of people tiptoeing away from building in the distance with a blue cat with them, but when a loud voice roared “FAIRYTAIL!” once they took sight of the destruction outside, all secrecy was abandoned as they hauled ass out of there.

“God, when can I ever catch a break?!” Makarov groaned as he was carried by Erza like a sports ball. Natsu let out a bright laugh as he dodged an incoming magic attack, hopping over a rock as he picked up Lucy and threw her over his shoulder as she let out a startled shout. She blushed with embarrassment after being put face to face with Gray, who was taking the rear.

They made eye contact before he rolled his eyes at the sight of them and even let out a small amusement smirk at the sight of their actions. Lucy gave a sheepish smile back before she smacked the back of Natsu’s neck at his roughness before allowing him to continue running as he carried her.

Maybe, she’ll be able to make friends with Gray who suddenly wasn’t as asshole-y as she thought.

(And maybe she’s also a little glad that she didn’t seem scare him away completely with their initial meeting.)

---------

--L-H--

---------

Waking up with a loud groan that ended with a small cough, a bleary-eyed Lucy got out of bed as she blinked in a daze towards her dresser. Throwing on a big shirt that smelled strangely like Natsu a little bit and some shorts, she stumbled into her bathroom to splash some water onto her face. After stretching for a moment, as she let out another yawn, she through her blonde hair into a messy ponytail before trekking into her kitchen--

Only to let out a silent scream at the sight of a half-naked boy slumped on her couch.

Lucy grasped her chest and her rapidly beating heart, as confusion began to seep into her mind once she realized that it wasn’t a pink-haired boy that barges in whenever he wanted. Instead, it was Gray which was shocking to say the least.

“Uh--” Lucy started before Gray grumbles as he props an eye open to look at the shocked blonde before closing it just as fast.

“Quiet, ‘m tryna sleep here.”

“Excuse me?” Lucy said in disbelief at the audacity. In what universe did he think that he could tell her to shut up in her apartment, as if his stripped ass wasn’t trespassing? It even startles her that while she’s surprised, she’s not surprised at the turn of events and that only resolves her to hit Natsu the next time she sees him. “You know what--whatever. Whatever .”

She throws an apple towards Gray who catches it without opening his eyes, and suddenly she needs a coffee in order to get through the surrealness of the morning already. It’s a bit domestic in a friendly sense, with Gray quietly snacking on the apple she had thrown him as she brewed her coffee. They really were opposites, Lucy briefly thought as she pulled out a mug.

Natsu was always full of energy, entertaining Lucy and keeping her on her toes inside of her own home. It was a time that always was filled with laughter though, teases and jokes as they hung out.

Gray was quieter, more content to live in the peace of the moment as he laid on her couch casually. It wasn’t uncomfortable the more Lucy thought about it, as the smell of coffee filled the sunlight room as she poured it into her mug. Leaning against the counter, she took a sip as she looked towards Gray who had already placed the core of the apple on her coffee table as he got comfortable once more on her couch.

“So, you’re actually willing to sleep now?” Lucy asked curiously. She had already called out the fact that he had bags under his eyes anyways, there was no reason to beat around the bush with his apparent sleeping condition. Perks to being incredibly blunt in their first meeting.

Gray grunted and shrugged softly, “I don’t avoid sleep, it avoids me.”

“...that was so corny,” Lucy said with a small snort and Gray chuckled in response. It was silent in the open space room once more as Lucy took another sip of her coffee and Gray let out a small, almost inaudible sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said softly as Gray’s eyes opened as he looked at Lucy for a long moment, before letting out a louder sigh as he shrugged once more. Lucy winced. “That was a bit brutal of a first meeting and I definitely should’ve watched what I said more, I think.”

“Well it’s not everyday that you get called a bully, and then asked to be a friend in the same ten minute time span.” Gray mused.

“Okay okay, I get it.” Lucy grumbled into her drink as Gray sat up to look at her properly this time, maintaining eye-contact as he quirked his lips into a half-smile.

“I have to admit though, no one has ever said that to me in my entire life. It..made me think about some things in fact,” Gray admitted and Lucy wanted to follow up with a question of her own, but quickly stopped herself once she realized that it probably would’ve been rather invasive again. She’s already learned her lesson the first time.

“Is that right?”

“...yeah.”

Lucy hummed as she down the rest of her coffee, placing the mug in the sink as she lifted herself up to sit on the counter as she kicked her feet idly as she thought about what to say next. It turns out that she didn’t have to say anything, because Gray spoke up first this time.

“...to answer your question, it’s a yes.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Eh?”

Gray flushed a bit as he looked away from Lucy for the first time, “...to be friends. Yeah, that’s okay.”

“Wait, seriously?! But I definitely like, insulted you in a way--,” Lucy cringed at her own actions as she remembered the complete 180 degree turn that she had initiated in the middle of her dissection of him. “--I bet I threw you in for a loop, oh spirits .”

A laugh came out of Gray this time as he nodded, “Oh for sure. Some spicy blonde just started to pick me apart and all I asked was if Lucy was her name. Can’t say I saw that coming at all.”

“Well you must’ve saw something in me if you decided to barge into my home and make yourself comfortable after all of that,” Lucy bantered back as Gray scoffed playfully before rolling his eyes.

“If you say so.”

“In fact,” Lucy quickly looked around for something to grab before she landed on her dirty spoon and pointed it at Gray menancingly, “Don’t even think about doing that again, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Good.”

“...I hate you.”

Gray smirked, “The true measure of friendship.”

“So that means you and Natsu are friends, by that logic.”

“Shut up,” Gray said flatly as Lucy cackled at how fast his smile fell off his face. But for some reason, she had a feeling that he wasn’t pissed at her suggestion. Maybe they could reach a mutual understanding at some point in the future, she briefly thought. For now, it’ll look like she’ll be one of the may mediums that stand between the two rivals.

And suddenly, Lucy wanted to go back to sleep at the headache that formed at the thought of them arguing again .

Gray was actually there for a purpose, as she comes to find out once their moment was over. Fairytail was throwing a picnic apparently, everyone gearing up to watch Erza vs Natsu and whoever was to brawl afterwards. Lucy perked up at the thought of the picnic, and she agreed to walk with Gray over there. It wasn’t until she was locking the door to her apartment when she realized that Gray had briefly mentioned that he had fell asleep a bit. Or at least that he was trying to before she “rudely interrupted”.

She turns towards Gray who magically conjured a shirt, looking at her with an eyebrow raised as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“...if you feel comfortable enough to rest here, then you have my permission to crash whenever you’d like too, as long as you give me a reasonable heads up. The couch will be there.”

Gray didn’t say anything to that as he looked away from Lucy again, and she wondered if he was embarrassed by his insomnia. He did let out a miniscule nod with reddened ears though, and Lucy counts it as a win as they made small talk as they walked towards the picnic spot.

It seemed they came a little late to the party though, with a pouting Natsu being patched up by Mirajane while Cana laughed at him off to the side as Erza stood in the middle of makeshift arena with small burns but otherwise no other injuries on her as one of the Shadow Gear members raised her arm up in victory. Fairytail cheered for Erza who had slightly red cheeks as she stood before them proudly, before everyone decided to dig in for food and sit down.

Lucy managed to squeeze next to Erza this time around, as Gray and Natsu immediately found themselves drawn to each other with magic involved. Lucy was not going to get involved with that today, and thus she ignored them as they rolled down the hill with shouts and pouts.

“Boys,” She rolled her eyes as Erza did the same in agreement, before she turned towards Lucy with her hand out to properly introduce herself.

“Erza. Erza Scarlet.”

Lucy took her hand smoothly and shook it, “Lucy Heartfilia.”

With that, the girls began to quietly bond as they talked about light topics, growing surprise at each other’s answers to question as they sat together on one of the side picnic blankets. Lucy had inquired about the massive horn that she had brought in the other day, in which Erza dived into a story about how she fought that furry beast in the middle of the rainforest with only a shield and a butter knife.

Lucy was pleasantly shocked to say the least, and if it wasn’t Erza, she probably wouldn’t have believed it so easily. But Erza was recalling the story with such a serious expression on her face that she couldn’t help but feel that she was telling the truth, which made it even more shocking. Erza doesn’t seem to be the exaggerating type anyways; she’s quickly come to realize.

“Oh--Please do cut me off if I have rambled for too long. I am not…very good with social cues on occasion,” Erza spoke up a bit hesitantly as she realized that she had dominated conversation for a while as Lucy spoke every now and then to show that she was still engaged but was otherwise listening intently. Lucy was quick to wave a dismissive hand, “Are you kidding? You’re such a badass, Erza! This story is actually insane.”

Erza flushed again at the praise a bit as she nodded, before letting out a small pretty smile at Lucy that caused her to squeal, startling Erza. “What’s the matter? Are you alright?"

“Huh--? No, I’m fine. You’re just so adorable.” Lucy giggled at Erza who spluttered at the compliment, feeling a bit awkward. Adorable? That was not a word that was normally associated with her, Erza thought as she looked at the laughing blonde. Fierce, strong, and commanding was more common. “I love your red hair, did you know?”

Erza looked down at the scarlet strands as she muttered a thank you, with another small smile.

“It matches you, seriously!”

The revelation didn’t surprise Erza as many people compared the redness to the color of blood. Fitting, for a warrior and knight as herself. It was one of her key symbols of power to the masses, as Erza was aware she had quite a bit of popularity.

“The color of roses…” Lucy smiled at the romanticized thought as Erza suddenly blinked in disbelief as a small but growing sense of a foreign happiness settled inside of her. There was a small, small part of her that was happy to be associated with something so effortlessly feminine for a small change.

“Roses, hmm?” Erza repeated softly as Lucy nodded, looking out in the distance as even citizens came over every once in a while, to interact with the guild during their picnic. Everything seemed a bit happier today, she noticed. Maybe it was the nice feeling of the sun in the air.

“Of course. That’s immediately what came to mind when I saw you in action. A beautiful woman who is full of passion as she creates change with her own bare hands. Someone who is devoted and loves helping others in her own way.” Lucy said thoughtfully as she turned to look at Erza who appeared to have mixed emotions on her face. A prominent blush was settled on her cheeks though, and Lucy bit back a coo at her flusteredness at the compliment. It came so naturally, it was just so easy to tease Erza it seemed. How cute.

Erza didn’t know what to say in response for a moment as she looked down at her hands with Lucy’s words in her mind, and that was okay. Lucy was just content in allowing Erza to know that she found her awesome, and that she should know that.

“Thank you, Lucy. I think you are quite interesting, and kind, a-and beautiful as well. Strong. Yes, your celestial spirit mage magic was very impressive.” Erza stiffly but earnestly complimented her back as Lucy thanked her as they began to chat some more, and suddenly Lucy hopes that she could become friends with the S-Class mage as well.

Natsu comes over later with Happy in tow, looking rather dirty despite the energy behind his eyes as he plopped right next to Lucy without a second thought. The girls paused their conversation to look at Natsu, looked at each other, before looking at Natsu once more as they began to tag-team in lecturing him about table manners, as Happy laughed at him.

He doesn’t mind too much though because the sandwiches are good, Fairytail was hanging out in the sun, and Lucy had a smile on her face. Even when the Ice Prick joins them later on, and people gave them surprising looks at the uncanny group, it was somewhat enjoyable as they relaxed and talked with each other, with Natsu sprawled halfway off the blanket with his head on Lucy’s lap as she sat against the tree while Erza and Gray sat across from them as the latter tossed a small sardine to Happy.

The sun was shining, on a nice day after a long mission indeed. It’s a beautiful day, she was hanging out with new friends that she’s made along the way in her life and suddenly Lucy is content as this was exactly where she wanted to be.

And as she talked, her smile never left her face.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: What We Become

Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc I

Lucy’s eyes narrowed in immediate suspicion as she felt a powerful magic presence make their way towards the entrance of the guild hall, even frowning visibly as she looked towards the doors. Levy was in the middle of recalling her favorite scene of a book they both enjoyed when she caught the look on Lucy’s face and she looked at her blonde friend worriedly,

“Lu-chan? What’s wrong…” Levy speech suddenly slurred as her eyes began to roll to the back of her head and she slowly fell into what seemed to be a deep sleep, and that had startled Lucy who let out a cry of alarm at the sight. To her continuous disbelief, Lucy realized that within mere moments, everyone that was in the hall currently was asleep and she was quick to hold her breath as her own body felt drowsy. Makarov was quick to place his drink down as he hopped down from his seat in order to help stay awake, but he looked curiously at Lucy as he did so when he realized that she was the only other person that was relatively awake.

Blinking heavily, Lucy tensed when she heard the doors open and a figure with a massive ethernano pool inside of them entered the room. He wore a dark cloak that even covered his face as he remained masked from head to toe. From the briefest hint of his eyes, they looked down towards Lucy curiously as he paused for a moment as Lucy stared at him with shock as she blinked slowly, trying not to fall asleep just in case something bad happened.

Who the hell was this guy?

And why did he seem so secretive, putting everyone to sleep?

The masked man stood before Lucy for a moment, before pulsing out even more of that weird sleepy magical aura that made Lucy’s mind shriek in alarm as she tried her best to fight it. It was enough for her to trigger Rushii, who’s been inside of her barrier for days now as she mediated to prepare for what’s to come. With a feeling of alarm that was so strong, it had initially surprised Rushii as her eyes snapped out and narrowed immediately, taking down the barrier inside of Lucy’s mind as she stepped out to see what was going on.

The mental barrier had previously prevented Rushii’s presence from effecting Lucy as she did her own thing, but the combined effort of their souls was enough to help Lucy withstand the extra force of the masked man as Rushii crossed her arms for a moment before she decided to take control.

Rushii took control of Lucy’s body and stared at the masked man with curiosity in her eyes but there was newfound edge that surprised him, because it suddenly felt as if he was looking at a completely different person. With a small hum of interest and acknowledgment, he relented, opting to move on to take some S-Class missions that Makarov had prepared the moment he had stepped into the guild’s halls.

“Here, Mystogan,” Makarov said a bit sleepily as he handed over some quests as Lucy watched quietly from the sidelines as she struggled to stay awake herself. Rushii had already retreated silently back into her barrier without another word, noting who it was, concluding that Lucy wasn’t in any harm. She was surprised that Lucy was able to withstand his sleeping spell however, and she wondered if her presence had anything to do with that as she closed her eyes to mediate once more, isolating her presence from Lucy’s mind.

Mystogan merely took a small glance at the available quest, grabbed one, and left without a moment’s hesitation as Fairytail slowly came back to life as his presence retreated further and further.

“It’s not every day that someone is able withstand his presence,” Makarov commented with a curious lull in his voice as he looked towards Lucy, who stayed silent. She didn’t know how to answer the unspoken question. A groan captured her attention as Mirajane was the first to get back up from Mystogan’s presence, cracking her neck as she let out a small yawn. She briefly looked around the room to see everyone in a similar state as her, and she was quick to chat with Makarov.

“Mystogan?”

“Indeed.”

“I see,” Mirajane said with a nod as she yawned once more before looking towards a wide-eyed Lucy who was still in the dark about the entire thing. Who was Mystogan? And why did he put everyone to sleep, if he seemed to be a member of Fairytail? Mirajane chuckled at the questions was heavily apparent on her face as Gray shot up with a dark scowl on his face at the realization that he was forcibly put to sleep.

His jaw clenched at the thought while Lucy turned to him with an eyebrow raised,

“You don’t like Mystogan?”

“I don’t even know what he looks like properly, much less know him. He’s just an incredibly strong S-Class mage that is capable of God-knows-what. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“So why do you look so pissed off?”

Gray didn’t answer as he stared at his tense fists and Lucy decided that it was best to leave that alone as she turned towards Levy and Mirajane. A powerful voice from the second floor started to shout that he’s seen Mystogan’s face before, which prompts Natsu to yell at him back trying to instigate a fight. Lucy didn’t pay them any mind as she looks back at Levy, asking her about S-Class mages.

“S-Class mages? They are the strongest in their respective guilds and tend to be representatives of them in a way.” Levy answered thoughtfully as she pointed up towards a bulky, blonde man with an arrogant smirk and a diagonal scar with the shape of a lightning bolt on his face as he antagonized Natsu. “Up there is the S-Class mages lounge, where they are able to take S-Rank missions because they are deemed strong enough to take on such requests. If you’re not called by Makarov, or an S-Class mage, then you’re not allowed up there.”

“Are S-Class missions that dangerous?” Lucy asked a bit anxious as Levy nodded.

“They can result in death if you aren’t careful.”

So those are the types of missions Erza partakes in, Lucy thought briefly as she looked idly back towards the lightning man at the top of the floor. She gestured towards him,

“So, is he a S-Class mage too?”

It was Cana who answer her question this time as she waltzed in before taking a seat next to the girls, propping her feet up as she immediately reached for a flask. Not before sneering in annoyance at who Lucy was pointing at, scoffing harshly.

“ That sorry excuse of a man is Laxus Dreyar.” Cana snorted as she took a shot. Lucy blinked in surprise at the hostility of her voice but at the last name of the man as well, because wasn’t that the same last name as Maka--

“Yes, Lu-chan. Laxus is related to our guildmaster, his grandson in fact.” Levy giggled at her friend’s face as her eyes widened in surprise as she looked back at Laxus. They didn’t look similar at all, but it seemed like the Dreyar family was known for being powerful then. But wait, are there other S-Class mages then? Who are they?

“Who are the other S-Class mages? How many of them are there?”

“There are four. Gildarts Clive, Erza Scarlet, Laxus Dreyar, and the elusive Mystogan~.” Mirajane answered happily as she walked by with drinks in her hand as she handed them out like the excellent bartender she was. Lucy flashed her a grateful smile as she grabbed a drink, but Cana had avoided eye-contact at Mirajane’s words, opting to sip on her drink instead. Even Levy grew a little quiet after Mirajane walked by, and Lucy was quick to realize that the mood turned a little somber.

Oh no…was one of them dead? Was that a sore topic? Fuck, she’s really got to be more aware with her questions, Lucy mentally cursed as she hesitantly asked what was wrong. Levy didn’t say anything at first as she took a look at Cana, who caught her eye as she let out a soft sigh before speaking lowly.

“There are actually five S-Class mages that Fairytail recognizes,” Cana muttered, keeping an eye out for Mirajane who was on the other side of the guild looking content and happy with her role as she talked around. A flash of sadness seeped through Cana’s typically mischievous eyes as she looked at her girlfriend and how fast she had answered the question for Lucy without hesitation.

She still doesn’t think of herself as a strong mage anymore, Cana thought as she sighed into her flask, tsking when she realized that she had drank her anxiety away earlier at the small turn of events with the thought of Laxus and Mirajane. What a can of fucking worms, she thought bitterly.

“Five?” Lucy asked softly, noticing the reluctance.

“Gildarts Clive,” Cana began, although Lucy couldn’t help but notice that she had stumbled over his name a bit, “Erza Scarlet, Mystogan, Laxus, and…Mirajane.”

Lucy’s gasp was so loud that it had drawn the attention of a couple people in their vicinity, including Mirajane but Cana didn’t make eye-contact with her girlfriend as she quietly hissed, “Can it, Heartfilia! We’re speaking lowly for a reason for fuck’s sake!”

“S-Sorry,” Lucy stammered out but was took stunned to morph her expression. Mirajane Strauss? One of the hottest women in Magnolia according to Sorcerer Magazine, who always was bartending and managing Fairytail’s rowdiness with a sweet but firm iron grip? She was an S-Class mage?

“It’s true,” Levy said quietly as she looked down at the table, and immediately Lucy knew that there was more to the story as for why Mirajane wasn’t mentioned anymore. Why she didn’t even mention herself she had answered Lucy’s original question. Cana and Levy didn’t speak about it after that, with the former getting up to excuse herself despite just getting there.

“It’s...nothing wrong to ask, Lucy. But it’s a sore topic among most of us, about what happened.” Levy smiled a bit ruefully at Lucy who nodded, understanding. It must be an old and deep wound then, if they didn’t want to talk about it. They quickly moved on after that, picking up their conversation before Mystogan interrupted it.

Meanwhile, Cana was casually making her way over to Mirajane when she felt a familiar pair of eyes linger on her. Without even breaking a sweat or making eye-contact, she held her hand up to throw a lovely finger at Laxus who scoffed at the sight.

“I didn’t even say anything, you witch,” Laxus grunted as Cana just threw him a hard look from over her shoulder as she continued to walk with a complementary “Piss off, Thunderfuck.” before she made her way towards Mirajane who was already glancing at her with a certain look on her face, enough to make Cana swallow a bit before making her way.

She tried to kiss her cheek for a greeting as a way to soften the blow, but Mirajane wasn’t deterred as she merely hummed but she didn’t reciprocate it. Cana followed Mira as they quietly made their way towards the back of the bar, the warehouse portion that wasn’t visible to those on the other side of the guild. Cana felt a little bit anxious as she followed her, because they didn’t really go back there unless they were feeling freaky, or they were about to have a private conversation.

Considering Mirajane’s calm, but neutral expression, Cana knew for sure that it was going to be the latter.

“So, you told her,” Mirajane stated airily as she began to take inventory of the supplies that they had. Cana knew that it was just a ploy to avoid eye-contact with her though, as she stood off towards the side with her arms crossed as she thought about what to say. Mirajane always needed to be kept busy these days to help ease her mind among other things. A habit that wasn’t originally hers yet she adopted quickly.

“...I did.”

“I’m not a S-Class mage anymore, Cana. I didn’t lie to Lucy.”

“You’re an S-Class mage for life, Mira. Even if you don’t want to be anymore.”

Mirajane bristled a little bit, hurt piercing in her eyes as she snapped towards Cana who looked at her with a neutral expression. She gets like this sometimes, Mirajane thinks bitterly as she swallowed down a wave of irritation. This was a common theme whenever they fight. Cana just wants Mira to begin the pieces of picking herself back together, but it’s--she just can’t .

“It’s been two years,” Cana murmurs softly. Two years since the death of Lisanna, and two years since Mirajane became a persona of happiness and never-ending optimism. Two years since Mirajane lost the will to fight, and two years since she began to become haunted from the demons that inhibit her.

“And what exactly are you trying to say? It’s time to move on? My sister is dead.” Mirajane hissed.

“I will never move on.”

Cana just stayed quiet as she clenched her jaw, stopping herself from saying something that she’ll regret. It’s not that she wants Mirajane to move on from Lisanna and forget about her, of course not. She’s not a psychopath. But until how long will she watch Mira from the sidelines push herself to be someone she’s not? Maybe she’s changed a bit, and maybe she won’t go back to the she-demon she was when they were younger. Cana isn’t asking for that.

She just wants Mirajane to find the will to live and change for herself, not in spirit of Lisanna.

Because sometimes Cana thinks that her girlfriend has decided to carry the role of Lisanna in an effort to attempt to make peace. The youngest Strauss sibling was always able to make friends easily and radiated a kindness that drew people in naturally. Is this her way of coping?

By becoming Lisanna?

“The world doesn’t end if you acknowledge what you are, baby.” Cana sighed as she suddenly craved a heavy drink right then and there. She doesn’t like getting into arguments with Mirajane, because the topics they always talk about were always deep wounds. If it wasn’t Mirajane and her family, it was about Cana and her father, whom she hasn’t told anything to yet. “You are Mirajane Strauss, and you are a S-Class mage of Fairytail. Those are indisputable facts and you cannot change that.”

“Stop,” Mirajane said softly as she felt tears in her eyes at the heaviness. She was Mirajane Strauss, The She-Demon of Fairytail. The powerful Take-Over mage that was feared and infamous across the lands for her power and fierceness. She was an S-Class mage that rivaled Erza and Laxus, making them an infamous trio.

She’s just Mira now, Mira of Fairytail.

And she’s been stuck powerless for two years. She’s no S-Class mage anymore. Hell, she’s barely even a mage. And the souls that inhabit her; whisper things, harping on her internalized self-hatred and pity as she lives on. Deep down, she knows Cana is speaking some truth to her words.

But what good is being an S-Class mage and being powerful, if she couldn’t even save her own flesh and blood.

She was a failure , Mirajane internally choked as she sniffed on the outside, walking away from Cana without a second thought.

--------

--L-H--

--------

“Please Luce? We can do it, I know we can!” Natsu pouted as he shoved the S-Class mission he stole from the second floor secretly after trying to pick a fight with Laxus. Lucy didn’t even want to look at it though, because what was with Natsu and always trying to break the rules?

“We are not S-Class mages, Natsu! We could seriously get hurt! Or even die. ” Lucy threw her arms in the arm, what part of that was he not understanding? This is serious! It’s not like the adventures they’ve been on before.

“But we’re strong Lucy, Team Haluna is unbeatable, I just know it!”

“Even the mightiest can fall if they aren’t careful, Natsu. The answer is no.”

Natsu huffed out a breath as he took a look at the quest again, before his eyes widened excitedly as he finally figured out a way to get Lucy to come along. The reward for this quest was money, but also a golden celestial spirit key! It was just asking for Natsu to grab, it must be fate, he concluded.

“Oh Luuucy~”

“Nope.”

“But--”

“Nuh uh.”

“Not even for a golden Zodiac key?”

The refusal was on the tip of Lucy’s tongue for the third time before she paused, eyes widening as she looked at Natsu who had a filthy smug grin on his face. Her eyes narrowed as he hauntily gave her the quest with childish arrogance on his face. There was no way, Lucy thought as she skimmed through the quest, before her eyes widened at the list of the reward.

Natsu let out an evil chuckle at the hesitance that was forming on Lucy’s face as she debated with her morals before she let out the longest sigh in existence as she reluctantly nodded which caused Happy and Natsu to cheer. They successfully convinced her, rejoice!

“Woohoo!” Natsu and Happy danced together as Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, cursing herself for being so lenient when it comes to Natsu. After their victory dance, Natsu walked over to Lucy and picked her up as they spun around, although Lucy didn’t react much this time around as she bit her lip anxiously.

Natsu caught her lack of yelling and quickly sat her down, looking into her eyes as he held her close. Black met brown and for a moment, Natsu got serious as he whispered softly to her,

“You know I won’t let anything happen to you, right? Nothing .”

“I believe you, but what about you? We shouldn’t take this mission lightly Natsu,” Lucy said just as softly back as she took a step back to give herself some space but Natsu mitigated that instantly as he stepped forwards. His eyes were unflinching as he stared at her, understanding her worries and fears.

“I believe in us, Luce. We’re going to be just fine.”

“And if we aren’t?”

“Then I’ll do everything in my power to get you back here safely.”

‘Even if it costs me.’

--------

--M-S--

--------

Mirajane’s heart dropped when she went upstairs to speak with Makarov on the balcony, only to notice that one of the S-Class missions were missing. She knew that Mystogan had one, and Gildrats as been gone for years. Erza was already coming back from a mission, and she had just seen Laxus. Which meant that either it got lost, or someone stole it.

“Master,” Mirajane called out to him, eyeing the quest board in the meantime.

“Hmm?” Makarov was chatting with Gray and Loke, whom on the floor below, as he looked over towards Mirajane.

“We seem to be missing an S-Class request,” Mirajane said worriedly as Makarov quickly spat out his drink off to the side as he looked over at Mira with wide eyes. “E-Eh?!”

Laxus snorted as he stood off to the side like a loser, as Cana would’ve said, dryly mentioning, “A blue cat was flying around here before it snatched it.”

“Why didn’t you stop Happy?!” Loke said in surprise as Laxus shrugged, not really giving a damn.

“I’m not pest control.”

“Well if Happy is the culprit, then we’re going to need someone to hunt down Team Haluna in the meantime. Laxus, bring them back.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“It was an order.”

“Fuck that.”

Makarov and Laxus glared at each other for a moment, tension in the air as the bystanders looked away a bit awkwardly. It was growing clear that Laxus wasn’t budging, and Gray let out a sigh as he got up and nodded at Makarov.

“ Fine. I’ll be the one to bring them back, don’t worry about that asshat, Master.”

Makarov and Mirajane shot Gray a grateful smile as he walked off, after Mirajane gave him more information about the mission and their whereabouts. After Gray left, Makarov went downstairs fully without another look at Laxus as Laxus crossed his arms with a bored expression on his face.

It was only Mirajane and Laxus left as she regarded him for a moment before shaking her head in disappointment. Laxus caught it and immediately flared with annoyance as he got up to look at her,

“Something you want to say, Mira?”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Dreyar.”

Laxus just smirked as he chuckled dryly, “You’ve got nothing to do these days in general. It’s like watching a dragon shrivel down to a pathetic lizard.”

“I could say the same for you. What happened to the boy that used care for those ‘pathetic’ lizards, who cared for others without hesitation? All I see is an arrogant man who thinks he’s the greatest, strolling around here as if he’s the shit.”

“I am the best. I’m the strongest in Fairytail, in fact. Something that many people fail to see in this goddamn hall.”

It was Mira’s turn to chuckle sadly as she made her way downstairs, wanting to get farther and farther away from the boy that used to be hers. It’s so hard to watch the people that she had loved fall into ruin. Laxus used to be so kind, so sweet and loving.

Laxus, Cana, and Mira. They were one hell of a trio at the time. On the outside, they were the oldest children in the guild that made sure that the younger ones, Natsu’s generation were taken care of from the best of their abilities. Cana and Mira were around more than Laxus, who was often with his father, but during the times that they had been together, it was amazing.

On the outside, they were a group of best friends that seemed to even each other out perfectly. Laxus’s compassion and kindness, Cana’s mischievous but seriousness, and Mirajane’s aggressiveness and loyalty. Yet to them, there was always something that ran a little deeper than that.

There was never a label, but it was there.

Until it wasn’t.

There was a point in her life where she had loved Laxus just as she loves Cana. But the Laxus she had loved died too, and they’ll probably never be the same again. She know Cana hurts sometimes whenever she engages in spats with Laxus, missing how they were in the past. She also knows that Cana wouldn’t ever forgive Laxus either, the girl could hold grudges like a champion.

Mirajane let out a small sigh as she returned back to the bar.

Some things aren’t meant to be, she thinks quietly.

Sometimes she thinks about the past and there’s a sense of melancholy that never fails to overcome her, because it’s a reminder that there was a time in her life where everyone was relatively happy with all they had, which was each other.

--------

--L-H--

--------

“Boo.”

Lucy let out a shout in surprise which caused Natsu to let out a rather unnatural high-pitched scream as he whipped his body around with a flamed fist ready to fight. Instead his eyes widened comically at the sight of an unamused Gray with his arms crossed, before Natsu pointed at him,

“Ice Prick?!”

“Gray?!” Lucy said in surprise as Gray merely raised an eyebrow.

“Now I expected this from Natsu, but you, Lucy? Don’t let this guy’s idiot juice rub onto you.”

“Hey!”

Happy came back with a sailor in tow who was wearing a cloak that covered his body. Happy flashed a cute smile at Gray, before pointing at the sailor who had nodded at the mages as they turned their attention onto him. Natsu, used the brief moment of surprise to quick chop the back of Gray’s neck as it knocked him out instantly, causing Lucy to gasp in disbelief at the turn of events.

She slapped Natsu on the arm as the latter threw Gray’s unconscious form over his shoulder.

“What the hell, Natsu?!”

Natsu let out a whine at the slap, looking at Lucy, “He was just going to get in the way! Happy found someone to take us aboard finally , I wasn’t going to let Ice Fucker ruin it!”

It was true that they had been unsuccessful at getting a sailor to guide them to their mission site, which happened to be Galuna Island. Activating her magic sensoring, Lucy narrowed her eyes a bit at the sailor that Happy had found, noticing a lingering magic aura that seemed to be possessing him. He didn’t seem to have ill-intent however, and that’s the only reason why Lucy didn’t make any sudden moves to Natsu to alert him.

She was a bit curious about the guy now, as she excused her team from the casual display of violence in front of him.

“It’s quite alright, but I heard you were looking for a way to Galuna Island?”

“That’s right.”

“I can take you, follow me if you would please.”

After following him to his boat, and Natsu’s suffering, they eventually made their way towards the island as they drifted off to sea. Gray was flopped against the side of the deck as he remained unconscious, roped up thanks to Natsu and Happy. Lucy could only let out a sigh as she sat down towards the front of the boat, looking out into the blue sea.

She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of being on the water, she quite enjoyed it to be honest. The open, crystal blue waters. The saltiness in the air as she closed her eyes and relaxed in the sun. She just might even let Aquarius out to do some small recon as they head towards their destination.

After another gargle from Natsu, and a small groan from Gray had re-captured Lucy’s attention from her daze as she gave an apologetic smile to Gray who looked down at the ropes that had bounded him and let out a sigh of annoyance.

“Would it help that it wasn’t my idea?” Lucy tried.

“An accomplice is still an accomplice,” Gray snorted as Lucy chuckled before walking over towards a sea-sick Natsu. She sat down next to him as she laid against the boat, rubbing his back in slow circles as they began to whisper to each other. Gray doesn’t know what to think of their dynamic.

On one hand, they looked like close friends who did stupid shit together (like this mission).

On the other, Gray has caught a few times where Natsu’s eyesight would be naturally drawn towards the blonde and vice versa. He loved to touch her, Gray noted as he watched them. They probably didn’t even realize that they were pressed up against each other as Lucy soothed Natsu, who looked at her as if she was a miracle.

Considering the sound of Natsu’s dry heave however, she probably was a miracle right now, Gray thought with a small chuckle as the sailor came from below deck, heading towards the center of the boat where everyone was. There was something off about his demeanor though, enough for Lucy and Gray to snap their heads at him before looking at each other in unison as they quietly observed.

“My name is Bobo,” Bobo started as he looked at the island that was in the distant.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bobo,” Lucy said quietly as she observed him, “I do have a question for you though.”

“Of course.”

“Why did you agree to sail us to Galuna Island? Many sailors told us that it was cursed and that they refused to go. Aren’t you worried as well?”

Bobo sadly chuckled as he turned around towards them, “I am worried, but not for the reasons you think.”

Before they had a chance to ask for a follow-up question, Bobo lifted up his cloak which caused everyone to gasp at the sight. His arm was sharp with black and red symbols all over it as well as sharp claws. It looked demonic, if Lucy was being honest, and that suddenly makes sense of the weird presence that she had felt in Bobo’s aura.

Gray swallowed, “Are…you possessed or something?”

Bobo just shrugged as he looked down in shame, “I don’t know. I don’t know what is wrong with my homeland, Galuna Island. It is why I sent a request to guilds begging for help, asking for those with strong resolve to help me and my people. Because the sky is dark, the moon is purple, and we have turned into--into demons. ”

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten: Frigid Tests

Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc II

Everyone looked towards at disfiguration of Bobo, with his demonic looking arm and his forlorn look on his face as he silently begged for help. Even Natsu took a pause, wheezing out a breath before turning to look towards Bobo for a brief moment. Lucy gulped in a small dose of fear at what awaited them on Galuna Island, while Gray’s eyes flashed and hardened at the sight as he stared at his arm.

“A curse…” Bobo whispered as he walked back down towards the lower deck, walking past Natsu and Lucy. Despite being in rough shape, Natsu stuck his arm out and grabbed Bobo’s cloak, giving him a serious but determined look as he muttered quietly.

“We’ll help your people.”

He had dried drool on his chin, was recovering from a dry heave and could barely stop his body from shaking. But his eyes were fierce with determination that was so strong, that Bobo had no chance but to believe him as he stared back. Even Lucy was in awe a little bit as she looked down at the teen in her arms, pressed against her as he tried to seek comfort. Where does he get this strength from? Lucy was curious, because even at his worst moments, Natsu always seemed to be the one with the strongest will to do good.

Bobo ended up giving them a reluctant nod before heading back down below, leaving Team Haluna and a bounded Gray on the deck as they thought about their next move. Quickly realizing that the situation has changed, Lucy got up to untie Gray. He let out a small grunt once his wrists were unbound and he rubbed the sore skin as he got up to look at the island that they were sailing too. The further along they were on their journey, the darker the skies were becoming. It gave Gray a sense of foreshadow, a bad one. Goosebumps began to erupt all over his skin if he stared at the island for too long, his usual frown on his face turning into something deeper as he looked away. What exactly was on Galuna Island?

For the sake of the residents, he hopes nothing too heinous.

“Deep breaths, Natsu,” Lucy said softly as she gave him comfort, before getting up to grab one of her keys. Gray looks at her in slight interest, because he doesn’t recall ever seeing her use her magic before. All he knew was that she was a celestial spirit mage and could summon spirits, but what did that even look like?

His answer in the form of a gorgeous mermaid that stepped out of a golden gate with a resting snarky bitch face as she immediately looked around their vicinity, looking quite unamused. Gray eyes shun with small amusement as he watched the mermaid scowl Lucy, who looked a little sheepish, but she seemed to be smiling all the same.

Aquarius furrowed her brow at the sight of the island ahead, before giving Lucy a distinctive look.

“...I’m not quite sure what I feel on that island, but I’m gonna warn you anyways. There is something there, that I do know.” Her voice was low as Lucy nodded at her words; she had suspected that much already. The spirit’s gaze flickered towards Natsu, giving him a look that Lucy has never seen before. She also looked at Natsu, wondering why Aquarius was looking at him to intently, but found that nothing was out of the ordinary.

“What is it, Aquarius?”

Aquarius just looked back at her, and hesitantly opened her mouth to say something before deciding against it. She just huffed and shook her head before walking over towards the edge of the boat, standing on top of the railings with pristine balance. She spun and cocked her hip, effectively changing the conversation.

“So whaddya want from me?”

“Take watch of us from below the water, you never know might come after us even before we reach the shore. You’re the best spirit for the job!”

Aquarius wasn’t fazed by the praise, “Brat, I’m the only spirit for the job. Nobody else can handle water terrain except me.”

“That just means you’re naturally number one then, right?” Lucy smiled without skipping a beat as Aquarius hmphed, sticking her nose in the air as she looked off to the side. Gray huffed out a small laugh at the exchange as Aquarius turns back around to get ready to jump into the water.

“Whatever, I’ll recon and protect you three flimsy humans.”

Gray immediately harped onto her words, taking note that she said three. Natsu, Lucy, and Gray counted as three, but what about the sailor who was manning the boat? Sure, he might be having demonic stuff going on with his body but his spirit was still human, right? “Wait. Just three?”

Aquarius flashed him a sneer and a look that screamed ‘Why the fuck is this random talking to me?’ but closed her eyes anyways as she surveyed the boat. Feeling and counting the spirits that she had felt, her blue eyes snapped opened. “Three plus the cat.”

She jumped in the water without a second thought as Gray immediately jogged towards the entrance to the lower deck, twisting and yanking the handle open as he shouted, “Bobo? Bobo!”

Silence was all he heard in return as Gray swore before jumping down into below deck without a second thought, only to see that it was just a big room with a could barrels but nothing else. It was completely barren, even when Gray opened each and every barrel that was underneath. Absolutely nothing was down here, and Gray scowled darkly as he climbed back up the ladder to head back to where the rest were.

“We have a problem,” Gray sighed as he captured everyone’s attention. Lucy bit her lip.

“Bobo’s missing?”

“Yep.”

“Shit.” Lucy sighed as she crossed her arms. Gray ran a hand through his hair as he clenched his jaw, he was pissed at possibly being swindled by Bobo. Why did he suddenly disappear? How did he suddenly disappear, in fact? Because as far as Gray was concerned, there had been nothing but salty water for miles now.

“We don’t have a choice but to go to the island now,” Happy chirped as he walked around the deck.

No one said anything for a while, because the cat was right.

There was nothing they could do as they drifted towards Galuna island.

--------

--L-H--

--------

The shores of Galuna Island were sandy with large rocks here and there. Looking past the beach portion of the island laid a tropical jungle that seemed to go for miles, the closer Natsu looked after he kissed the ground for joy. Lucy just rolled her eyes as she got off the boat next, with Gray following her to make sure that Bobo was actually gone and didn’t jump out to fuck them over even more.

A cautious type indeed, Lucy noted as she saw Gray’s darkened eyes alert despite his natural sleep-deprived state. Gray eventually was satisfied in his findings and jumped down from the boat, as the trio plus Happy began to walk on aimlessly on the island. Despite the circumstances and the overall eeriness of this S-Class mission so far, Lucy would be lying if she said that she wasn’t intrigued by the island.

Happy had already swooped up to take some fruit that seemed to be growing from the top of the trees. It was really sweet he said, and sure enough everyone was munching on the sweet orange fruit that tasted really good.

Was it poison? Who knows! Lucy was hungry, and so were the rest of them.

“If some fruit takes me out right here and now then, at least I died eating something tasty,” Gray snorted as he took another bite while Lucy laughed.

In the distance however, Natsu pointed out that he smelled something interesting and used Happy to get a bird’s eye view in the direction he smelt the scents. Narrowing his eyes as he squinted in the dark a bit, his eyes widened at the sight of man-made structures and that’s when he let out a cheer and told the others the good news.

“I think I saw a village over there!” Natsu grinned as he pointed in the north-east direction. It turns out that he was correct, there was in fact a village of people that seemed to be in the same situation as Bobo, considering their altered limbs that varied in colors and sizes. It made Team Haluna get serious immediately at the sight, but it was clear that Bobo wasn’t lying after all. These people seemed to have a serious problem. The residents of Galuna Island immediately spotted them, and eagerly greeted them once they realized that they had to be from the mainland due to their un-altered forms.

“Hello!”

“Thank you for coming!”

“Wow, someone really came!” Natsu’s heart hurt a bit at the one.

“Thank the spirits!”

They were crowded immediately, with Gray taking a step back with a small, subtle grimace while Lucy and Natsu were chuckling with surprise at the children that ran around them with chicken feet! These people were still people, Lucy reminded herself, despite the demonic limbs. Eventually, the residents settled down when an elder man walking with a cane came over, introducing himself as Moka, chief of the village.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Moka.” Lucy said with a polite nod and a firm handshake. Being the designated leader of Team Haluna meant that she took it upon herself to handle the diplomatic situations and took the reign of introductions. It was something that she was used to doing after learning business due to her father’s tutors. It was the few things that she was proud of coming from the manor. At least if being a traveler and a guild-member ever failed, Lucy knew she had the basic intellect to find her way in managing businesses.

“Thank you, mages. As you can see, my people and I have a serious problem on our hands,” Moka said with a grave voice that has cracked with age. In the back of her mind, Lucy comically thought about the difference in voices that Moka and Makarov had. Maybe Makarov wasn’t as old as she thought he was.

“Could you please give us more information about what has happened?” Moka nodded in agreement, and they found themselves settled in the guest hut that they were going to stay in for the night, before heading out in the morning to investigate. Moka had someone pour tea for them, and they all sipped it as they talked. Lucy had to secretly smack Natsu from making a face at the smell of it though, but his tune quickly changed when he realized that it tasted better than it smelt.

“It is a curse --” Moka begins and it reminds Gray of Bobo for some reason. “--that began when the moon turned purple a couple years again. The magic power ended up turning us into demons in the night. Most of the time, we can revert back to normal in the day-time but I am afraid that more and more are unable to turn back as time goes on. We…”

Moka took a long sip of his tea as he let out a deep, sad sigh. Whatever he was going to say was painful to admit, Lucy realized. Something that Moka knows must be done deep down and there was a resignation inside of him that reflected that. A leader’s peril is what she found herself looking at.

“...We have to kill those who fully turn, for they lose control and attack anyone in sight. We’ve lost some along the years, including my son, Bobo.” Moka said mournfully. Team Haluna gasped mutely and quickly looked at each other as Moka reflected for a brief moment. Bobo was supposed to be dead? Lucy suddenly paled, did she just see and talk to a ghost ?

Natsu was a bit confused because he was almost positive that he managed to grab his coat before telling Bobo that they would help his island. Natsu’s eyes suddenly widened in excitement, was he a Ghost-Slayer now too?!

“Psst, Luce!” Natsu whispered loudly to the blonde who turned and looked at him, “I think I’m a ghost slayer!”

Gray couldn’t stop the small snort that escaped him as he quickly looked away when Lucy snapped her eyes at him before she turned towards Natsu, “What?! This is not the time for jokes, baka!”

She got a big pout after that, but she ignored it as she continued to converse with Moka.

Yeah...Gray doesn’t know what to make of them just yet.

“Dispel the curse. That’s our mission, correct?”

“Indeed, and the only way to do it is to destroy the moon.”

Team Haluna was left baffled the rest of the night as they took in Moka’s parting words. Destroy the moon? Is that even possible? Wasn’t the moon millions of miles away from Earth Land? Lucy hoped that that was simply a mysterious metaphor for something else, but secretly had a suspicious gut feeling that Moka’s words were true. If that was the case, then that only made her feel worse.

With muddled spirits at the revelations of the night, Team Haluna turned in as they fell asleep dreaming about what’s to come. And if they woke up feeling stressed and stiff, well no one could blame them.

Galuna Island hasn’t slept well in years, either.

--------

--G-F--

--------

There’s a feeling in the air sometimes, that gets a person stiff and anxious. The moment Gray had stepped upon the island, there was something that lingered in the atmosphere. He understands that he is a naturally cautious person, and that paranoia could creep in every now and then. Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to him, he thought for a moment as he found himself wallowing in a deep discomfort. So much so that even the flamed idiot had given him a small look of concern as they walked through the tropics.

Gray made sure to steel his face after that. What if he was worrying over nothing?

He wasn’t.

Because the further they walked away from the outskirts and the village, the more he realized that they’ve heard less and less sounds of nature. Even insects were growing quieter as they ventured deeper into the unknown, and Gray’s nerves felt like lava underneath his skin as they continued to walk.

Quickly, Lucy pauses and raises a hand up and Natsu is immediately alert. She looks around as everyone stood in silence, wondering where the source of incoming magic is coming from. “Gray, to your right.”

Without even hesitating, Gray summoned an Ice-Make Hammer and held it in his hands as he pivoted, hearing rushing footsteps from Lucy’s call out. With accurate timing, he swung the hammer upwards and connected it with the face of a large figure who let out a strangled screech before knocking out. Gray immediately stomped on the ground to freeze the enemy afterwards, ice shooting from his feet to enclose what appeared to be a…giant rat?

“Ew…” Gray looked in small disgust at the giant rat as Lucy audibly gagged. Natsu scratched the back of his neck as he walked over to the frozen rat, taking a closer look at it with a small incredulous look on his face.

“Don’t get too close to it!”

“S’okay Luce, Ice Stripper was actually useful for once and managed to knock it out!” Natsu chirped as he looked at the color of the rat. It was a bit weird to see it dressed up like a maid in a way, plus its fur was bright blue with was also odd. It was pretty uncomfortable to look at for too long, and thus Lucy had the brilliant idea to move towards the direction the rat came from.

“You think this island has a bunch of those rats, guys?”

“Spirits help us all if they do,” Lucy venomously muttered as she shivered in disgust. Gray let out a small chuckle.

“It wasn’t that bad and if that’s the case, then they don’t seem super challenging to beat.”

Natsu suddenly glared at Gray childishly, “I won’t let you take the next rat!”

“If you’re fast enough to defeat it, slowpoke.”

“You only got to it first because Lucy said it was closest to you!”

“Guess I’m going to be the favorite soon, eh Flame Brain?”

Natsu visibly bristled at the retort and they both took a step towards each other with their magic flickering as Lucy pinched her nose, muttering for Happy to come with her as she left the rivals to beef alone behind her.

“Shut up, Pervert!”

“Make me, Flare Head.”

“You--Fine. The person with the most victories on this damn mission gets to be Lucy’s favorite!”

Lucy let out a small snort from further above, still in the hearing range albeit barely. “Please do not drag me into this.”

“She said yes!” Natsu continued on without missing a beat, and he spat into his hand to meet with Gray’s as they glared at each other in with rivalry tension. They even tried to squeeze each other’s hand harder, but it reached a stalemate pretty soon and for some reason, they both ran out of breath as they let go simultaneously. Meanwhile Lucy tripped a little bit on an exposed root, causing her to stumble out into an open area as she sucked in a startled breath after she regained her composure.

In front of her was a large pyramidish ruin that appeared to be incredibly worn down and old, but the sight of a new area to explore didn’t deter Lucy who let out a gasp of delight and grinned. She ran back towards the boys who were making their way over towards her and urged them to hurry up with a light laugh as Happy cheered and flew around her.

The rivals just looked at each other before taking off at the same time, racing as they followed Lucy’s pace running through the island. Eventually they reached the ruins and Natsu’s eyes widened as he grinned at the thought of exploration. He talked animatedly with Happy as Lucy began to look around for an entrance, but all Gray could think was that the uncomfortable feeling that he had felt earlier, came back full force.

It was starting to scare him a bit. Just what was making him feel that way about this entire island?

“Guys! I found an entrance!” Lucy shouted as she waved them over, and the team began to make their way inside without a moment’s notice. Natsu was taking the front as he walked aimlessly with Lucy in the middle, a little more cautious than the latter. Goosebumps had erupted all of Gray’s skin once more, so he found himself taking the rear end of the ground, looking around slowly as they walked.

“Natsu, for the last time, be careful! What if the walls crumble because of your big steps?!”

“These caves have been around for a long time, yeah? I’m sure it’ll take more than walking around to make the walls crumble.” Natsu chuckled.

“Natsu really is heavy footed today though,” Happy noted as Lucy nodded in rapid agreement as they both cringed when Natsu’s step caused the ground to shake for a moment. Natsu paused at them before looking down at the floor and back of them before he proceeded to jump up and down rapidly on the ground.

Lucy threw a fist in the air, “Natsu, I swear to Go-- ”

“See? I told you, everything is just fi-IIIIIIINEEEEE ” Natsu screamed as the floor crumbled underneath the stress and he fell through the floor. Lucy, Gray, and Happy stood in disbelief and silence for a moment as the sound of Natsu’s groans and coughs echoed through the cave. The look of disappointment was so grave on Lucy’s face that no one dared to say a word once they reached were Natsu was, after he sheepishly told them that he thought he saw something in the distance down there.

They walked in silence as Natsu shoved his hands in his pockets as he let Lucy take the lead, with Gray biting back a small smirk at the sight of the scolded dragon slayer.

“Well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions,” Gray quietly snarked at Natsu who rolled his eyes and grumbled for him to shut up in retort. The brief period of amusement ended quickly however as Gray felt as if it was taking a lot of energy inside of him in order to push forwards. His palms began to get sweaty with anxiety, his stomach began to clench a bit tensely as he awaited their fate. What was waiting for them at the end of this path? Hopefully, it wasn’t something serious and Gray was just over-reacting. That his slowly building unease that he’s been feeling the past two days was all for nothing.

It was Happy, ironically, who made that hope crash down all together as he announced that he saw a big figure in-caged in what appeared to be ice up ahead. Lucy and Natsu picked up their pace as they jogged to where Happy was, but Gray froze.

He’s heard and seen such a description before.

But in the back of his mind, there was still hope. He just trapped a monster in ice just moments prior, after all. Maybe it wasn’t anything as drastic and extreme as he thought. Maybe it wasn’t that .

Gray entered the opened, rough terrain area and stopped almost immediately as his mind went blank as he stared at the massive imprisonment of the Ice Shell of Ur against the Demon of Disaster, Deliora .

What the fuc--

Gray’s heart pounded as he stood before the massive block of ice that imprisoned something horrid, something beastly, something demonic. The feeling of repulsion and fear began to invade his senses as he took a faltering step back, his eyes widening to the point of erraticness as he began to breathe heavily, and in short spurts. It couldn’t have been possible, how the hell was that here?

And suddenly he’s transported back to the tundra village where he had learned his magic from his master, the memories flashing before his eyes as everything became a hazy daze. There was no way that the demon was here. The dark cave seemed to be closing in on Gray as he grasped his face in an action of pure disbelief, letting out a choked sound that caused Lucy’s eyes to widened as she looked back from before the massive ice cage.

Lucy felt her heart drop immediately at the sight of a freaked-out Gray, who seemed to be one second away from vomiting on the floor out of incredulity and fear. “Gray…?”

She couldn’t even bring herself to raise her voice above a whisper as Natsu turned around as well, only to see Gray in the middle of the beginnings of a panic attack. Natsu’s eyes widened in alarm at the sight of his normally calm and suave rival, feeling a bit tense at seeing him so utterly vulnerable. Was what he was witnessing even a panic attack? As strings of mounting curses and held-back tears came from Gray, he realized that this felt more like a breakdown he was watching.

Because he has never seen Gray look so tired and broken as he did in that moment.

Gray’s heart raced out of control as he was bombarded with emotions at the sight of Ice Shell, his head began to throb painfully with such overwhelming feelings. It felt as if someone had ripped a piece of Gray, violently and abruptly, while he was left to deal with the lingering emotions of shock, fear, and sadness. He ran his fingers through his dark hair as he let out a shuttered breath that ended in a gag.

Seeing someone who she has begun to get to know more and understand, so emotional was making Lucy emotional as well as she held back a small sudden sob of her own as she slowly walked towards Gray who she could only describe as losing his mind.

He was muttering, chanting things under his breath rapidly, ‘Ur’ ‘Deliora’ ‘death’

Lucy had no idea what it means, but it means something to Gray. It meant something deeply.

Natsu felt a wave of discomfort from looking at Gray for too long. He quickly looked away, in fact, because he felt as if he shouldn’t be watching this. Did he wish for Gray to suffer and to beat him up all of the time?

Yes.

Did he wish for Gray to suffer, truly?

No.

Because there was a limit, there’s always an unspoken limit for rivalries like their own. They grew up together, they’ve rumbled and tussled in so many different ways, Natsu was sure that it was in the hundreds. But there was a level of respect that comes with such a relationship that blossoms like theirs, that only grows with time.

He wishes hell on Gray, but not for him to be in it.

Natsu’s eyes darkened as his eyes pierced the cave wall as he heard Lucy begin to tearfully console Gray, who was probably shaking as violently as Natsu last saw him. A lip trembled very quickly in Natsu, before he turned to face the ice prison in front of him with a growl in his chest.

That ice was the reason why Gray was freaking out right?

‘Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of it’, Natsu thought with spite as he charged his fist with flames, his will to destroy the very thing in front of him was powering his magic to lengths that he didn’t know he was capable of. He let out a snarl as he made the motion to destroy the ice shell, when Gray’s desperate shout made him pause half-way.

“ DON’T! ” Gray shouted wildly, trying to fight against Lucy who was holding him back as he weakly fought against her. It was the angst in his voice that startles Natsu, who’s flames instantly went out at the sound of it. He couldn’t help it. He snapped his eyes back towards Gray who was crying now, softly.

He didn’t scream or through a tantrum everywhere.

He didn’t fight Lucy anymore either, after noticing how Natsu stopped immediately.

He just slumped against her tiredly as he quietly sobbed, Lucy holding him tightly.

“Y-You can’t.” Gray shivered against Lucy, who stood there with a couple of tears rolling down her face as well. She swallowed harshly, “Gray..we can’t what? Destroy the ice?”

But Gray wasn’t coherent anymore as he sobbed even harder at her words. They couldn’t destroy the ice, they couldn’t. He can’t handle the thought at all.

Lucy casted Natsu a look so full of worry and sorrow that he had a swallow down a harsh breath himself, before taking control of the situation. It was clear that they had to talk about something, and he was the only one other than Happy who was in a decent mindset---

Natsu’s eyes sharpened as he snapped his head towards another entrance within the cave. He tuned his ears in, only to hear footsteps coming with the sound of voices. Natsu tensed as he moved defensively, quickly rushing towards Lucy and Gray.

“We have to move; people are coming, and I don’t recognize their smell nor voices.”

Lucy tried to get Gray to move, but it was hard when he was practically laying his entire body weight on her as he spiraled. Natsu let out a small curse before throwing Gray over his shoulder and grabbing Lucy by the hand as he ran towards a larger area of rocks that could provide decent cover. He called out for Happy who flew over and laid Gray gently down, as his sniffles turned into a blank daze as he laid motionless against the rock wall.

Natsu’s jaw clenched at the sight, and he quickly looked away at the sight once more as he opted to keep watch. Lucy was wiping her tears with her free hand as the other remained with Natsu’s hand, who didn’t dare let go.

“Gray?”

The depressed dark blue eyes that stared back at her made Lucy shiver slightly as she reached over to grab Gray’s hand with her remaining one. Together, Team Haluna sat enclasped and in silence as the mystery people came over towards the ice prison that had shattered Gray momentarily. Natsu placed a finger over his lips the moment he saw someone walk in, and they didn’t dare to move an inch as they began to listen.

“The Moon Drip ritual will be finished soon, Reitei.”

“Excellent. We all remember the plan, yes?” Presumably Reitei answered that question, but Gray’s eyes blinked with a little bit of life once he felt as if he recognized that voice. He was still in a bit of a daze however and couldn’t find it in himself to focus as the combination of insomnia and the aftermaths of a breakdown made for an extremely tired person as a result.

“Yeah. To purge all the intruders, yadda yadda.”

“Don’t be an arse. We’ll removed everyone and then begin the real objective once the ritual in complete. Is that right, Reitei?”

“That’s correct. Once this blasted ice melts, then it will be time.”

That’s all Gray had to hear when a rush of pure rage envelops him, causing him to sit up sharply as his magic began to activate at the extreme rush of emotions. Blasted ice? Did this Reitei fucker even know what was sacrificed in order to contain that monster that was inside of it? Did they even know the history of the incident, and how--

Gray faltered once more at the thought of Ur before his eyes set into a cold fury.

He won’t let them get away with this, not without his own blood, sweat and tears.

How dare this Reitei bastard soil and dismiss his second mother’s sacrifice and name?

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven: Freeze

Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc III

He’s not stupid.

Despite feeling as if he was the brink of a rampage full of pain, Gray knew not to blow their cover. The team remained silent during the entire exchange with Reitei and his comrades, as they continued to talk about miscellaneous things until they left.

And suddenly it was Team Haluna sitting behind the rocks in a tense silence as they tried to process about what to do next.

Natsu took a quick glance at Gray and saw how upset he was, his face settling into a hard gaze with fury in his eyes. Gray wasn’t the type to scream and throw a tantrum in a feat of anger, Natsu knew. When he was truly pissed, it shows in his eyes, and he gets really quiet. Natsu let out a harsh breath from his nose as he shifted so that they were all sitting in a triangle format, letting go of Lucy’s hand.

Lucy didn’t let go of Gray’s however, and for that he was secretly grateful for.

No one said anything as they waited for Gray to collect himself, the latter sitting up as his dark hair fell over his eyes, blocking their view. Lucy just squeezed his hand in an effort to give him courage and reassurance to speak up. That they were here, and they would listen, even Natsu. That was what a team is about, after all. Gray might not be officially apart of Team Haluna yet, but Lucy knew that it was bound to happen soon enough. These types of traumatic situations only bring those involved closer together, after all.

“Its name is Deliora,” Gray said quietly, feeling as if he’d swallow glass at the sound of the name of the demon from his lips. He has not thought of or spoken about it in a long time. It was in a past that he had naively thought was relatively behind him, that it couldn’t hurt him anymore than it already had. As if the nightmares weren’t fucking enough, he had just been hopeful and yet so foolish the entire time, Gray thought bitterly.

“It’s an ’immortal’ Demon that was known as the Demon of Disaster. In the Northern Continent, the area that I am originally from, it was notorious for destroying villages for no purpose whatsoever. Just for pure destruction. Just plain evil .” Gray hissed before sombering up quickly to add on a killer blow.

“It also killed my parents.”

Natsu froze at his words, eyes widening as Lucy placed her free hand on her mouth in order to stifle her gasp of shock. At first, Gray wanted to open his mouth and quickly tell them that he didn’t want their pity. It’s been years since the death of his biological parents, and to be honest, he doesn’t even remember their faces anymore. He only has his necklace left, in fact, and after everything he’s been through, it’s good enough for him to at least have some memorabilia.

But when he looks up to see the shared pain in their eyes, he realized that he was being incredibly stupid. They’ve both probably experienced a loss similar to his, at least he knows Natsu has. And when Gray looks at Lucy who gives him a small sad smile of her own, he understands that she’s lost someone too.

Fairytail was a place for lost souls after all, looking to find their own happy endings.

“It was a demon that was so strong that it took Ur, one of the greatest Ice-Magic users of her time, to use a self-sacrificing spell known as Ice-Shell in order to seal the demon. It costed her everything, her life.” Gray finished said sadly as he felt a bit choked up. There wasn’t anything left of his village once it had been decimated by Deliora. He wouldn’t have survived if Ur hadn’t taken him in. It was due to her kindness that he was able to live to this day.

When he thinks of his mother, Ur comes to mind first.

Gray let out a shuddered sigh as he looked up, making eye contact with Natsu and Lucy who looked at him intensely. He knew he probably looked like a fucking mess, his eye bags were definitely more prominent than usual, his eyes were red from crying. But the rage came back full force as he vowed before them, wishing hell on Reitei and his group.

“I’m going to stop them if it’s the last thing I do. I don’t care what you guys do, but this..it’s personal. I can’t let them make Ur’s sacrifice in vain --” Gray’s increasingly ranted state was interrupted from a quick punch from Natsu, causing Lucy to snap to look at him in alarm.

“Natsu?!”

Natsu ignored her, staring at Gray with a serious expression. “Shut up, Ice Breath.”

Gray was stunned silent as his arm flared with slight pain.

“As if you needed to say anything at all about protecting someone who you care about’s honor. It is a given that we will help you, so stop being an idiot and get your head out of your own ass.” Natsu huffed as Gray’s jaw clenched at the rough manner of his words and actions. It’s a silent conversation from there, with their eyes as they stared at each other before Gray nods briefly. Lucy just ran a hand through her hair as she let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding in, hugging Happy tightly in relief.

“Spirits, you two are so dramatic. Was that even necessary?” Lucy grumbled as Gray let out the first small laugh since the encounter with Deliora while she got up to stretch her legs now that Reitei was gone. It was a bit dry, but it was a laugh nonetheless. Gray and Natsu both ended up shrugging in unison, understanding that that was simply their dynamic and how they communicated.

“Anyways, if Ur froze the demon in the Northern Continent, how is it here?”

That was the question indeed as everyone blinked, thinking of ideas but falling short.

“Well I mean, couldn’t some Ice-Mage user move it since it’s technically still ice? Even though it’s like, human ice--” But Lucy just held up a hand and an exasperated sigh as she stopped Natsu right there. It was not the time for that inquiry, especially with the insensitive turn it was taking.

“I guess you have a point. I still don’t know about that though,” Gray said as he let out a small yawn, feeling the aftermath of his breakdown intensely. He was struggling to stay awake, which was a feat considering his typical lack of sleep. “We should…stay until the moon rises. Since everything seems to be related to the moon…you know?”

The rest nodded in agreement. Natsu and Happy were quick to pass out, leaving Lucy and Gray a bit speechless at the rapid rate. Lucy was still feeling a bit on edge herself, an anxiety that was only rising due to the uncertainty of their mission. She was at odds with herself a little bit, considering that they shouldn’t be on the island in the first place, but there’s a determination that’s beginning to seep through her as she thought more about it. If they, Team Haluna, hadn’t been here at all, what would happen to the people?

Would Reitei and his crew still continue with their evil plans?

Would the village be able to stop them?

Can they stop--No.

Lucy patted her cheeks as she scolded herself. There was a time to be cautious and pessimistic, and there was a time to put on a brave face and stand your ground. It took a while, but Lucy knows what she’s going to do, and that’s to put all her faith into her team and making sure they keep everyone alive.

But for now,

“Open the Gate of the Lyre, Lyra .”

A bright smile donned on the angel’s face as she beamed at her owner, who chuckled softly at the sight. Gray remained quiet as he sleepily watched them interact.

“Master! I’m thankful that you’ve finally summoned me! It’s been a while though, right? You should please summon me some more!” Lyra chirped ecstatically while Lucy let out a small sigh before nodding. She has never heard of spirits being so desperate for being summoned before, is the spirit world that boring? Or maybe they like her so much, a thought that has Lucy flushing with happiness. She’ll have to ask Rushii whenever she pops out of her barrier again.

“For now, may you play us a tune, Lyra?” Lucy said gently as she finished stretching, laying back down to get comfortable as they awaited time to pass by. Lyra set out immediately as she began a soft, lulling tune that put her master to ease as she hummed softly, closing her eyes in order to relax her tension.

It had the opposite reaction on Gray, who felt a smaller wave of nostalgia hit him once more. This one was a bit kinder than the memories brought on by seeing the Ice Shell of Deliora, allowing Gray to reflect on his past and how he grew up before meeting and joining Fairytail. He remembers the good and the bad, from learning Ice-Make Magic and the struggles of two-handed casting to being held when nightmares of his village being destroyed caused him to wake up in the arms of Ur, who had nightmares of her own. Her daughter, Gray remembered, was always a sore topic.

Lyon, he remembered, accused her of substituting her maternal instincts onto them which made her upset. God, Lyon.

He hasn’t thought about him in a long time after the aftermath of the sealing. They were Ur’s pupils, should they have stuck together in the end? What was Lyon doing now, in the world? Was he even still alive --

Today was not a good day for Gray Fullbuster, it seemed. A day of reflections and fears being placed upon him as he finally allowed himself to think. With Lyra’s soft tunes in the background, Gray’s body shedded the last of his tears before he mentally and physically became exhausted.

“Stop.” Gray croaked at Lyra, who paused and looked at Lucy, who looked at Gray. The please was heard despite the resulting silence. Quickly taking in his state, she decided to heed to his wishes and Lyra stood quiet as she began to tune her instrument instead, finding something to do. It was good enough as background noise now, at least it didn’t make Gray want to cry again. He’s shed more tears in the past two hours than he’d like to admit.

“We don’t want to get caught.”

Fair, but that’s not the only reason why he stopped the music, Lucy knew. She didn’t say anything about it though, just moved closer to Gray and a sleeping Natsu and gathered her friends into her arms. She had expected more of a reaction from Gray, a grumble or a small glare, but she guessed he must’ve been really out of it to just lay his head down against her shoulder gently.

“It must be stupid to see me like this, right?” Gray drawled quietly in ire. “Seeing me so weak and pathetic. It’s a demon frozen in ice, and I had freaked out even without knowing what Reitei planned to do, without even knowing that there were other dangers on this island.”

Lucy treaded carefully. She was beginning to truly understand a glimpse of Gray as a person after all, getting to know him more on a personal level now that they were friends. “I don’t find it stupid at all.”

A self-depricated sigh as all she heard after her statement, causing her to frown but she didn’t speak up. She knows first had a feeling of despair and incompetence, she had felt it when her mother died all of those years ago and was thing was for certain; it takes more than words of affirmation and friendship to get through it. Growing up, she still had her moments where she had felt lost in the world, feeling as if nothing would change even if she tried. Lucy was truly lucky to have Rushii to keep her company, her nee-san helped her so much.

Today was a promise, Lucy said silently said as she felt Gray pass out beside her. She looks down at Natsu was snoring softly on his back with his head on Lucy’s lap instead of the rocks where he was previously, with Happy curled up on his stomach. There is a fondness that bursts through Lucy, and she realizes that these people are becoming people that she cares about deeply.

Her team, Team Haluna.

Natsu and Happy have placed their trust in her by making her captain, despite her inexperience. Gray has willingly opened up to her at an organic pace, and one day Lucy hopes he’ll join Team Haluna as well. All of these feelings of trust and hope placed upon her is new, she’s not used to having friends. But she knows how to care and love others, just as she does with her nee-san.

Today was a promise, to become the support pillar to those who need her.

And right now, even Natsu understood that it was Gray who needed them the most, their love and support to the end of this journey.

--------

--G-F--

--------

“Master,” Lyra said quietly and urgently causing Lucy to wake up with alertness. Her stiffness had immediately woken up Natsu, who’s eyes snapped open with a small snarl on his lip as he stood up and looked around instinctively. Lucy blinked at him for a moment before whispering his name questioningly.

Natsu blinked for a moment before waking up fully, looking at Lucy in small surprise and let out a sheepish cough, “My bad.”

“It’s okay, you were...uh, just instinctively making sure there weren’t any threats, right?” Lucy giggled quietly and Natsu let out a small, charming smile at it in response. He was fully awake now, with Lucy’s laughs and smiles giving him the energy that he needed in order to focus. He let out a snort at the sight of Gray though,

“Oi, Pervert. Time to move!” Natsu barked as Lucy rolled her eyes before looking at Lyra. Lyra was looking off to the side however, noticing a large purple moonlight beam hitting the ice that had Deliora trapped. Lucy followed her gaze, eyes widening in shock as everyone slowly got up.

“Lyra, what is that?” Lucy said breathlessly.

“I believe...it is Moon Drip.” Lyra answered as she got up, looking towards Team Haluna and Gray. “We’ll get a better look at it if we move atop. What do you say, master?”

Lucy nodded without hesitation, looking towards Gray, Happy, and Natsu with a determination in her eyes. “Are we ready?”

Everyone nodded and with that they quickly made their way out of inside of the ruins, making their way above to the top of them. It was a little steep, but they worked together to reach it and now they were hiding behind a broken pillar in order to observe a ritual taking place.

“Moon Drip,” Lyra whispered to them as they stared, “is a ritual that gathers the power of the moon that has a strength that can nullify any spell, including the power of Iced Shell that a powerful ice-mage had casted over that demon, from what I can tell. That is a large Iced Shell however, which will require a large amount of Moon Drip power in return. It is also probably the reason that the island is so unbalanced and thus deemed as ’cursed’.”

They watched in slight awe and apprehension at the ominous purple power while they took in Lucy’s spirit’s words. Everything was a chain reaction of one way or another. It only furthered their resolve to stop all the people who were responsible for this, especially Gray’s, who’s anger had roared its head bit by bit once more at the sight of the reversal of Ur’s sacrifice.

“Soon, it will be finally time.” Reitei said as he appeared in his masked form on top of the ruins, causing the hiding group to snap their heads towards them. There’s a pounding in Gray’s head that’s beginning to form at the sight of Reitei, because for some reason, he really feels as if he knows this person.

Why was his voice so familiar…

“But first, I’ve come to learn that there are intruders on this island, the residents of Galuna island have probably asked for outside help with figuring out our actions. How annoying. Therefore, it’s finally time to crush those pests getting in the way of my-- our goals. Destroy the village at once.”

Team Haluna freezes at the command. Lucy and Natsu looked at each other shocked, while Gray’s eyes burned with anger once he finally realized who Reitei was, his skin crawling with a sense of hurt, confusion, and betrayal as he gritted his teeth and jumped out without a second thought. Lucy gaped in disbelief at Gray’s actions while Natsu let out a curse before jumping into the fray right after Gray without skipping a beat.

Quickly, Lucy closed Lyra’s gate with her agreement as she hopped over the rubble they were hiding behind, racing to join the beginnings of fight.

“Ice-Make Sledge Hammer!” Gray roared as he charged at Reitei with pure anger in his voice as he swung at the man. It caught the latter by surprise as he narrowingly dodged the swing, but it had caught onto his mask causing it to break into pieces as the true identity of Reitei is revealed.

A man with sharp white hair and dull, arrogant dark eyes stood before Gray who seethed at him, hammer in his two hands as they stood at odds.

“Lyon.”

Reitei, now revealed to be Lyon, simply held up a hand at his subordinate’s sound of outcry at the sudden attack, smirking haughtly. “Don’t worry about me. Continue the mission, there’s nothing to worry about. Destroy that damn village.”

Natsu jumped and unleashed a Fire Dragon’s Roar at the subordinates, causing Lyon’s eyes to narrow as he shot out a snake made of out ice, catching Natsu by surprise as it wrapped around him before freezing him into place. Natsu fell to the ground with an irritated grumble as he tried to force his way out of the ice hold, flaring his magic only to see that the ice was taking it’s time melting.

Natsu shouted at Lucy, “After those guys! I’ll join you soon. Happy, take her!”

“Aye sir!” Happy chirped as he grabbed Lucy and flew away with her as she reluctantly left, deciding to trust Natsu to break free and catch up to the three subordinates with her. For now, she refocuses on the task before her as she began to think about what spirts to use with whomever she found first.

In the meantime, Gray was quick to throw up an ice shield to block a flock of ice birds that Lyon boredly sent after him as he ran over towards Natsu, who was wiggling as he tried to get out of the ice snake hold. “What the hell are you waiting for? Melt it and go. ”

Natsu growled at Gray as his body caught on fire, proving that the ice wasn’t melting easily. “I’m not stupid, Stripper! It’s not melting fast enough.”

“What the-- shit. ” Gray cursed as he rolled out of the way from a massive pile of the ruin being thrown at him, thanks to the ice-make gorilla that Lyon had made as he stood next to it. Lyon just scoffed at the sight of Gray and his frozen teammate, tsking out loud.

“Chatting in the middle of battle? I always knew I was the better one of the two of us.”

Gray flared with anger once more as he fell for Lyon’s taunted words, turning around to kick Natsu off the ruins which caused the latter to scream as he rolled and fell down the pyramid. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on defeating Lyon and protecting Natsu while the fire-breather was handicapped. Gray quickly wished his rival good luck before narrowing his eyes at Lyon who stared at him with an ego as large and as cursed as Galuna Island itself.

“Don’t you know what you’re doing?!” Gray yelled at Lyon in disbelief as he smashed three eagles while he defended himself. One of the beaks caught him on the arm and he let out a curse as he smashed the last one before pointing his ice weapon at Lyon. “She’s still alive, Lyon! Her essence is in the Iced Shell now, prisoning the very thing that destroyed our homes, for fuck’s sake! How could you?”

It was Lyon’s turn to get angry as he snarled at Gray venomously, opting for a close combat move as he harshly spoke, “You don’t get to say that. You don’t have the right to try to reprimand me, since you’re the reason why she’d dead in the first place, Gray .”

Gray was momentarily shaken as he stared at Lyon for a split second, but it was all that his opponent needed to punch him in the stomach causing Gray to heave over in pain. His mind was racing as he gasped for air, grabbing his stomach. He felt unfocused all of a sudden, the anger that had fueled him at Lyon’s betrayal had disappeared the moment Lyon accused of Ur’s death.

And…and he’s right.

He’s on the defensive now, scrambling to get a hold of himself as Lyon begins to dominate the fight with a sneer on his face. Lyon and his one-handed magic that Ur told them was unstable and wasn’t strong. But he was strong right now, and Gray feels even more pathetic and weak as he gets hit with yet another iced attack by Lyon, who was scoffing in disappointment at the sight of his former rival.

“She’s dead, thanks to you.” Lyon drills in as Gray struggled in a bloodied and bruised state, holding his weight with his shield against the ice gorilla that Lyon had made earlier. Was his pride fueling him so much in order to extract so much power for one-handed casting? Or was Gray far weaker than he original thought? Lyon wasn’t sure as he stood next to his gorilla, peering down at Gray’s angered, bloodied face with a small, twisted sense of amusement on his face. He leaned down to get a closer whiff of the patheticness of his master’s other pupil,

“I had my own dream back then, to defeat and become triumphant over Ur. Now that she’s gone now, I can only make that a reality by defeating the very thing that not even she could defeat and live to say so.”

“Deliora.” Gray coughed out in realization, feeling horror seep into his body at the thought of Lyon releasing the demon for purely selfish reasons. Has he always been this way? Lyon had always been prideful, and definitely got scolded for it more than Gray, but was he so far gone to not understand the grave danger he was putting innocents in?

“Ur wouldn’t have wanted this,” Gray desperately pleaded towards Lyon, throwing the gorilla off of him with a rush of strength as he summoned an ice sword and charged at Lyon. They fought for a moment dodging and counter attacking accordingly, Gray holding his own despite his battered state. Maybe that’s what irritated Lyon further, causing him to level the final blow.

“I’m sure she didn’t want to be dead either.”

It’s the overwhelming guilt that floods through Gray at words that causing him to get hit hard with the tiger that Lyon conjured, smacking into his body with full force as he slammed onto the edge of the ruins with deep bite marks penetrated into his skin. Gray lets out a tense breath at the pain that rushes through him, feeling absolute at his lowest and weakest as he simply laid there in his own pool of blood.

Lyon stood meters away for a moment, watching quietly at Gray’s chest to see if he was still breathing or not. Despite his actions, he doesn’t want to see anyone else die anymore than he has to. The village was being a nuisance, bringing in outside help when it will be him that will be the hero and destroy the demon for good. Lyon will be the one that will prevail and defeat Deliora, his dreams of becoming strong will become a true reality once he fights that worthy beast.

And he knows it’s worthy, due to the destruction and chaos that it has caused on their lives.

Gray wasn’t wrong when he said that.

It was a low blow to call out Ur’s death in front of Gray in the middle of battle, the guilt was written all of his chest, his mind, his body. Gray looked like shit when he stood before Lyon anyways, it was the first thing he had noticed. The guilt must’ve been eating him alive for all of these years since they’ve parted after her death. The roughness around his eyes, the bags underneath them. How easy he crumbled to the weight of grief and shame of Ur’s fall just by Lyon mentioning it.

And it was true , Lyon thought with a frown on his face as he walked away from Gray Fullbuster.

Well it doesn’t matter how far Gray’s fallen, or how broken he was as he left him, Lyon thought.

He has his own matters to attend to.

A couple moments later, Natsu climbs back to the top of the pyramid finally join the fray of the fight after breaking the ice thanks to falling and crashing onto the rubble multiple times. He immediately searched for the Lyon fellow that Gray had been fighting earlier, only to be shocked to see the badly injured Gray off to the side, staring at the sky.

Quickly, he ran over towards his rival, kneeling down at him.

“This is…”

Gray had no more tears to shed anymore at that point. The guilt that was cursing inside of him as settled into a feeling of depression that has seeped into his very bones as he thought about the consequences of his past actions. It wasn’t enough that he could no longer sleep comfortably without the paranoia of being attacked and not being ready for danger. His insomnia was just a reminder that he has a debt to repay constantly, because that was the second time that Ur had saved his life from that demon and what did he have to show for it?

Her death.

He barely responds when Natsu picks up up and throws him over his shoulder, racing towards the direction that he knew they had came from thanks to the higher ground viewpoint. Running through the trees to catch up to Lucy and to get help for Gray, Natsu picks up the pace with urgency.

“I had no right to stop you guys,” Gray said in a daze, hoarsely. “Or maybe I do have the right, considering I know the true consequences of confronting something labeled out of your league. It was too late to turn back then, and it’s too late now. It’s all my fault, I’m...sorry. I’m sorry. I--”

“Can you stop that?” Natsu barked as he jumped over a tree. It didn’t feel right to hear Gray mutter out apologies to him, especially when he didn’t do anything wrong based off of what Natsu had heard in the brief exchange. “Stop apologizing, what’s done is done. Ur…might be gone and she might’ve sacrificed her life in order to protect countless of others, but in the end that was her decision. She helped save the world man, she’s a real hero even in death.”

“I don’t want anyone else to die anymore,” Gray heartfully confessed softly, and Natsu slowed down a bit in response as he let out a small smile at his rivals words. For a moment, Natsu had thought that Lyon had broken Gray’s spirit to do anything but accept the state of his actions and to wallow in his guilt. But those words were the key, the fuel in his heart to do good.

The key to his own victory over the demons of his past.

“Then don’t let it happen.” Natsu said confidently. “You got the power to do it, I know you do. We’ve fought countless of times that I know that wasn’t your true potential, because we as Fairytail mages don’t let that shit bother us ‘cause we got each other, and we learn from our mistakes. So today, you are going to conquer your own nightmares.”

He paused before quickly adding, “And if you feel like you aren’t strong enough, that’s okay. Because as your… friends , we will combine our efforts and become victorious in the end anyways. I told Luce to have faith in us, and I guess it’s my turn to tell you, Ice Breath. Above all else, if you lose the hope to continue yourself, then put your faith in me ’cause I’ll protect you guys to the very end!”

Gray would never admit the touching feeling that he felt embrace him from Natsu’s words. Lucy had told him that he was a caring, thoughtful person that might not have the right execution but always has the right intentions, once. They always butted heads, they always fought over the stupidest of things, always were at odds with one another. They weren’t enemies, but they sure as hell weren’t friends. But hearing how passionate Natsu spoke, trying to lift Gray’s spirits as they made haste to the village where others needed their assistance--

The flame head was an idiot, but damnit, he was good at raising morals.

“...since when did you decide to grow a brain, Flame Brain?”

Natsu let out a silent cheer at Gray’s spite. That’s the Gray Fullbuster he knew.

“Luce’s been helping me learn how to read, so my brain’s gotten bigger!”

“With that pink colossal dome sitting on your neck, I’ve noticed.”

“What?!” Natsu cried in playful outrage, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t drop your ass right now, Ice Pick?!”

“ ‘Cuz we’re about to go kick some ass and protect Galuna Island from an old acquaintance of mine and his friends.” Gray spoke with determination in his veins. His body hurt and ached all over, and he definitely would need some bandages to wrap around his teeth-marked wounds that were leaking a bit of blood. But he’d get back up again, and face his past once and for all.

Natsu hadn’t expect that answer as he ran, but let out a proud smile nonetheless. "I guess we could team up for one time, in order to defeat the villains.”

“I guess.” Gray responded dryly before the two fell into small chuckles.

Something changed in the air between them, he realized. He was sure that in the end, Natsu would go back to his annoying, loud self that always wanted to pick a fight with him. But maybe, their heart to heart made Gray more aware of other sides of Natsu and vice versa. Daresay, maybe even the beginning of a morph in their friendship.

But that will be thoughts for another time.

“I lost to Lyon because of the guilt and the insecurities that was running through me in the middle of the fight. You both were right, the fact of the matter is that Ur is gone now, and I’ve…accepted it. But that can’t justify Lyon’s actions, he is still wrong; just because Ur’s dead doesn’t mean that he gets to do whatever the hell he wants for his own selfish ideals.” Gray told Natsu who remained quiet as he listened. He’s been learning that skill from Lucy, knowing when to stay quiet and went to speak up.

“I will stop him when I see him again. It’s not about the past anymore, it’s about the present and a future that Deliora can destroy should it be released.” Gray clenched his fist weakly, but Natsu heard the strength behind his words. That was enough to satisfy the dragon slayer.

“...Good.” Natsu smirked as they reached the village, running up to Lucy who was coordinating and ordering the villagers to seek cover from the attackers. He quickly ran over to her, chirping at her with a bright grin on his face.

“Hey Luce!”

Lucy smiled but hadn’t looked at Natsu yet, “Hey, you made it!”

Happy flew around Natsu, before continuing his conversation with Lucy as she helped the last child get into the hiding position inside of one of the huts. “All I’m saying Lushi, is maybe you should create some pitfalls around the village or something!”

“A counter-measure, yes. Pitfalls? No.” She pointed at the sky to a massive figure that was flying closer and closer in the air. “Pitfalls are pointless against the enemy that can fly , Happy! It was a miracle that we made it here before them, anyways.”

Lucy finally turned around to see a beaming, dirty Natsu with a smile on his face and a beaten Gray who waved tiredly from looking over his shoulder. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Gray, immediately yelling at Natsu, “What the hell are you just standing there for?! Get the supplies!”

“Yes ma’am!” Natsu and Happy saluted her before rushing off to bring the medical supplies to help Gray, after gently laying him down. Lucy was quick to take action, looking at the extent of his injuries as he winced at a couple prods. Lucy grimaced a bit at the bite marks, but other than that, Gray wasn’t super harmed.

“What mauled you?” Lucy muttered to him once she got some supplies. Natsu and Happy said they were going to go airborne and do some recon in the meantime, and help the last remaining villagers take cover. Gray just let out a wheeze and a chuckle as Lucy poured some isopropyl alcohol on his wounds, gritting his teeth at the burn.

“A tiger.”

“There are tigers on the island?!” Lucy let out a gasp of horror, because first it was rats, now tigers? This place was dangerous on its own, never mind the Moon Drip ritual curse! Gray just rolled his eyes at her reaction as he turned his body as instructed.

“Not quite, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to win, next time.” Gray grunted as Lucy bandaged him, the latter noticing the change in his eyes. She couldn’t help the smile of relief that come over her, considering the state that he was in the last time he saw her. He seemed to be in better spirits, and Lucy commented so.

“Did something happen?” She asked curiously, while Gray flickers his eyes over towards Natsu before back at her. He just hmphed in the end, turning his head to not answer and she just let out a scoff at his childishly, softly slapping his leg.

“I think this mission will stick with me for a while,” Gray said as he got serious for a moment, “But I’ve…I don’t know. It’s just been one learning experience after another, and now I finally feel like I can face my demons properly.”

“100%?”

Gray just gave a half-smile as he shrugged, flexing his muscles in order to get used to the tension of the bandages. “Is anyone ever 100% ready to face their traumas?”

“Touche.” Lucy chuckles before announcing she was finished, reaching over to help Gray up. A loud screech announced that their next opponents were coming soon, and they look at the direction of the giant rat before looking at each other.

“For what it’s worth, we believe in you, Gray.” Lucy stated in confidence, hand grasping her keys with a grin on her face that Gray has started to associate with the love of adrenaline rush and adventures. She’s no punk, Gray said with a smirk on his face as he got ready as well.

“It’s worth more than you think,” Gray responded in kind, before they raced off to join Natsu.

Their faith in him has tremendously restored his spirits, after feeling as if he hit rock bottom in the aftermath of his loss against Lyon. It was unwavering and it made Gray realize that there’s merit to it, because these weren’t weak people that he was surrounded with. Finding strength in others, that is what Gray is learning and accepting.

Gray’s determined to face Lyon on his own once more, and he has a feeling that Natsu understands and will respect it. Respecting each other, that’s a new development too. So many new developments, Gray realizes, and so much more to life than the things that haunt him from years ago. Not many are given the chance to confront the skeletons in their closets, but Gray is now grateful for such a chance. It will be different this time around.

Things will change.

And when he sees Lyon again, he’ll stop him with newfound vigor that won’t be as easily broken.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve: Defrosting into a Pool of Red

Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc IV

Natsu leaps up from the grounded with a start, eyes narrowing at the large bucket that the giant rat was carrying in its hands. When the rat throws the substance over the village, it’s shiny and a gross shade of green that as Natsu frowning as he gathers his magic into both of his hands, chanting;

“Fire Dragon’s Brilliant Flame!”

A massive fireball fires towards the green goo that seems to be falling, and it causes a massive explosion in the sky. Natsu is knocked back towards the ground, rotating in the air in order to catch his fall as he stumbles once he reaches the ground. He looked around to survey the damage and saw that he managed to protect the main area of village, but the green corrosive substance managed to destroy and dissolve the outer edges of the village.

Natsu’s jaw clenched, that really could have done some serious damage to the village had he not countered the attack when he had.

Meanwhile Lucy’s eyes widened as she leaped away from a corroding home with a yelp, when her attention was captured once more from a couple screams. She turned to see that not all of the villagers had hidden themselves, and they were on their way to running towards the forest. A large shadow casted above Lucy as she looked up in shock, noticing that two of the three passengers on the rat had already hopped off. It didn’t take rocket science for Lucy to figure out the last remaining passenger’s intent, considering they were flying in the same direction as the fleeing villagers.

She runs without a second thought, casting a look behind her at Gray who looked like he was itching to join in the fight. “Don’t even think about it, Gray Fullbuster.”

Lucy continues to run though, hoping that Gray heeds her words. His natural healing hasn’t kicked in yet with that bite wound, and it was deep . Deep down, she knows that the odds are leaning towards him disregarding her warning, and at the end of the day, there isn’t anything that she can do about his choices when innocent people need her help more. She just hopes her team will be alright as always.

Oh Spirits, she already alludes Gray with Team Haluna, she realized with an exasperated chuckle. Well, Natsu might throw a fit, but it’s a good thing she was leader so she can override his thoughts! Gray has no choice but to join Team Haluna now, Lucy thought with an evil grin on her face, before she got serious as she reached the giant rat which had rested on the ground for a moment.

“Taurus!” Lucy called her spirit out with the corresponding key, and the bull appeared immediately, running side by side with his master.

“Young Lucy! What’s the situation here? I can see you’re using your calves expeditiously,” Taurus cheered while Lucy flashed a bright smile before pointing at the rat ahead. She told him the plan she had in mind in order to stop their enemies from escaping, and they set out to do so immediately.

When the giant rat started to take air once more, that’s when they made their move.

“Now, Taurus!”

“You got it, Lucy!” Taurus said proudly as he let the celestial spirit mage climb onto his arms, before launching her into the air using his massive strength. Once he did that, he summoned his labrys (twin-headed axe) and charged from the ground with a decent amount of speed considering his size. Lucy was piercing through the skies with a grin on her face as she grabbed her whip and launched it at the rat’s leg.

Using the momentum of Taurus’s throw, the moment that the whip enclosed around the rat’s leg, she twisted her body with all of her might and sent it crashing into the ground, with Lucy falling once she did so. The rat and the passenger crashed into the trees off to the side, while Taurus jumped up to catch his master before taking off.

Lucy had the wind knocked out of her for a brief moment, but as she tried to regain her breath, she sent Taurus a satisfied grin, who in turn reflected it. “Good job, master.”

“It takes two, Taurus!” Lucy said with pride as they made their way to their enemies. Happy appeared after a moment, surprising Lucy but welcomed him nonetheless as they charged forwards.

--------

-- N-D--

--------

“You better not step foot into my fight, Ice Head.” Natsu warned him, making sure that only he gets the chance to fight two people by himself. Natsu likes a good challenge, and he’s not afraid to warn people to back off in an effort to showcase his strength. He smirked at his opponents, some guy who looked weirdly like a lion, while the other had massive eyebrows. It also totally wasn’t because Gray was injured and Natsu didn’t want him getting himself into more trouble in that state.

Definitely not.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Gray hissed back at him, but winced when his injury flared. Despite being wrapped up pretty well, it was still hard to do any super extraneous movements, and that was what Gray knew. It was frustrating, seeing his friends fight the enemy that was led by someone connected to Gray’s history. It should be him in the front lines at least, leading the efforts.

But for now despite the frustration, he knows that he must save his energy for Lyon.

So he refocuses his efforts in assisted stranglers in the village, as Natsu pans his attention back to the foes in front of them that looked at him with smug expressions on their face as if their numbers against him means anything. Natsu secretly loves it when they do that, the cockiness that overcomes his opponents when they think they have the upper hand.

Maybe they do have the upper hand.

Maybe they don’t.

That’s the thrill, isn’t it? The area of unknown when it comes to battle, the rush of adrenaline and excitement that courses through his veins at a challenger. Proving his strength, satisfying his urge to fight while trying to do some good in the world.

It was just the way Natsu likes it.

It was lion-dude who attacks for, shouting out his friend’s name of “Yuka” before he slashes with sharp nails in Natsu’s direction. Natsu twists his body to dodge, but one of the nails graze him a little bit and a numbness started to seep into that area of his arm. He frowns looking down at the tiny wound, before glancing back at his opponent who merely smirked.

‘Hmm…that’ll probably annoying later on’, Natsu thought briefly before turning his attention towards Yuka, who hasn’t made a move yet. That was fine, Natsu didn’t care about who started first. So long as there were opponents, they were going to clash regards. That’s the thought that lingered in his mind as he propelled himself forwards and sent a flamed punch towards Yuka, who’s eyes widened at Natsu’s speed before quickly casting magic that neutralized Natsu’s.

Natsu quickly took a step back to gain some distance as he thought about what to do next.

“Fire Dragon’s Roar!”

The massive beam of flames was quickly and calmly dispelled by Yuka, who had time to react in a quick manner. Well, it confirmed Natsu’s suspicions of some sort of magic-sealing or neutralization and suddenly he grinned because that was pretty damn interesting! So, he can’t use magic against Yuka, Natsu tilted his head as he thought.

But he couldn’t neutralize physical strength, right?

Dodging another furious swipe of the lion-guy’s hands, Natsu quickly pivoted and smacked Yuka in the face with a fast movement. Yuka let out a gasp of pain as his head flew pain from the impact and Natsu was quick to follow up with a spinning round house kick that sent Yuka flying into one of the villagers’ homes. A quick look ensured that one of his opponents was down for the count, which caused him to turn around to whom was left.

With a charged battle cry that had renewed anger in it, Natsu watched as the lion-guy raced towards him and attempted to claw him in many directions. All Natsu did in return was almost boredly dodge his movements in a rapid pace before appearing behind him, causing the man to accidentally reach behind and slash himself at his neck.

With his neck to be paralyzed for a brief moment due to the larger cut, Natsu was quick to chop the back of it, effectively knocking the lion-guy out. He blinked as the dust settled from their fight, before pouting slightly at the lack-luster ending that he hadn’t expected.

Dang, he really was hoping they’d be more of a challenge…

Wait.

Natsu’s eyes narrowed as another foreign scent makes its way through his nose, looking at the direction of the temple that they had found Deliora in earlier. As far as he remembered, there were three people that were with Gray’s acquaintance in the cave earlier, but what if there were more? It would explain the new scent that he smells, and that could also mean new enemies.

Pursing his lips, he yells at Gray that he’ll be back in a second, before rushing back towards the pyramids to investigate further.

--------

--L-H--

--------

“OH MY SPIRITS!”

Happy and Lucy screamed as they run through the woods with Taurus right behind them, trying to escape the giant tree that suddenly came to life thanks to their opponent’s magic. It was a haunted looking thing, with an angry scowl that mimicked its owner, who was yelling and ordering it to attack while riding on it. Lucy knew that they couldn’t run for too long, she was losing stamina rapidly as she made her way through the thick jungle.

After reaching an awkward spot, she was quick to climb on top of the rock that was before her, before turning around to face the enemy head on. With Happy on her back, ready to fly away without a moment of hesitation and Taurus taking note of her battle stance, Lucy cracked the tree beside her with her whip in anticipation.

She takes in a deep breath, and calmly lets it out as she glared at her opponent defiantly.

“Taurus!”

Taurus races forwards and slashes the tree in half, as Lucy smacks the pink-haired girl, falling from her creation with her whip. Lucy was quick to ask Happy to fly her towards Sherry Blendy, who was groaning in pain for a moment.

It was close, she was so close to immobilizing Sherry, but the latter had casted her pink doll magic before she was able to wrap her tight. It was silent for a moment as Lucy paused, wondering what she ended up creating as it generally made a lot of noise.

What came next was an ominous crack and an axe attack that came from behind, harrowingly missing Lucy as she flinched away, turning her head around quickly in surprise at the turn of events. To her horror and dismay, it was Taurus who had attacked her. Upon further inspection, it was clear that he seemed to be under some sort of influence as his eyes glowed pink.

There was an immediate rush of anger that runs through Lucy as she stares at the reduction of her spirit. They were not puppets that moved mindlessly, it made her angry and disturbed to see him unable to act upon basic wills. Sherry unraveled herself as she ordered Taurus to attack Lucy and Happy, and they meet head on for one moment.

Or they should’ve, if Lucy had Gray’s or Natsu’s strength.

Instead, his attack sends Lucy and Happy crashing across the jungle, with Lucy crashing harshly into a thick tree and the wind knocked out of her. Taurus was strong. Her lungs felt as if they were on fire as she tried to take in a breath of air, chest feeling bruised enough that she probably had a couple cracked ribs at the very least. The pain was blinding her for a moment, almost causing her to ignore the inside her mind there was another presence that whispered something to her,

“Force the gate closure.”

“Rushii…” Lucy gasped out weakly, but her nee-san’s form wasn’t permanent as it was before. Rushii had stepped out of the barrier when she had felt Lucy’s alarming burst of pain, quickly realizing that this was the moment that she had to fight against Taurus, and she was just as quick to share her wisdom about how to handle the situation.

“He’ll understand, Lucy. It’s for his safety and yours…because he’ll be thoroughly punished if he kills you, imouto. It’s against the rules.”

With the familiar prickle of tears in her eyes as Taurus charges at her with crazed eyes, she braced herself and shielded Happy as the twin-headed axe came down to end her life. The sound of the cracking of the tree she had landed, grew louder as the weapon grew closer and Lucy closed her eyes as she whispered,

“Taurus, Forced Gate Closure.”

Sherry gaped in disbelief at the forced gate closure that she witnessed her opponent complete, knowing that such an ability only comes from a certain caliber of trust between the master and summoned. To think that the busty blonde in front of her was more capable than she thought, Sherry commended Lucy. But ultimately, it was still a bad match up.

It doesn’t matter who Lucy tries to summon, for Sherry would simply cast her magic and take control of them for an instant, Sherry grinned as she summoned her next doll, Rock Doll.

It doesn’t matter who she tried to summon, since her opponent would just take control of her spirit in an instant. That is what Lucy knows as she watches her create a rock doll out of the corner, she had placed herself on top of beforehand. Mind racing, Lucy and Happy fly off through the jungle at a fast pace with the Rock Doll smashing everything in its path as it chased after it.

Weaving through the skies before she reached the shore of Galuna Island, gave Lucy the bright idea of what to do next. If Sherry will just take control of the next spirit that she summons and force it to attack her, then she’ll get hit by the same blow too. There was only one spirit in her arsenal currently that had the ability of a massive all-kill attack, and Lucy grinned in triumph as she began her next stage of attack as she watches the Rock Doll come bursting out of the jungle.

“Open the Gate of the Canis Minor, Plue!”

Sherry had her magic casted already, the moment she heard her words.

Lucy smirked. ‘Good.’

“What the hell?!” Sherry frowned at the uselessness of Plue as the small snowman simply danced around with the tell-tale pink eyes of her magic, and Lucy was quick to pull out another key while she was momentarily distracted. Thank the spirits for Plue and his low ethernano mana consumption.

It made this possible.

“Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!”

Sherry was quick to recover and take control of her other spirit, Lucy had to give her props.

Unfortunately, as the two women got swept away by a massive wave from the ocean since they were battling on the shoreline, she didn’t take into account what kind of spirit that she had summoned. At least Lucy knew that she could trust Aquarius to take out everybody all at once, even Lucy whenever she annoyed her. It’s that thought that makes her giggle as she grows dizzy from spinning in a whirlpool by said spirit.

Sherry is beyond comprehension as she stumbles around in the aftermath of the wave, feeling incredibly nauseous. Lucy feels the same, but she calls on Happy to come down from above in order to help her get the last upper hand on Sherry, since they were both in a similar state.

That’s why it was rather unfortunate that she had called that ugly rat over from earlier, yelling for “Angelica”. Later on, Lucy would laugh at the name because the sight of the bright blue rat was anything but angelic, but all she could do was cringe and hope for the best as the rat jumped from the jungle, ready to attack the celestial spirit mage.

“Ah, hell.” Lucy grumbled, hoping that Happy comes to save her instead of attacking Sherry, but it turned out that she didn’t have to worry about that rat no longer, as a bright flash flickered through the sky before impaling itself in the airborne rat, effectively taking it down and pinning it onto the ground.

Lucy let out a startled gasp at the sight, cringing at the sudden brutal ending to Sherry’s rat doll or whatever the hell it was, before turning around slowly to see who had thrown the sword that had saved her.

“Ah, hell .” Lucy let out a very nervous smile at the sight of an unamused Erza Scarlet standing in her knight armor glory, with her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed.

Happy let out a sheepish laugh as he lands next to Lucy, both of them scratching the back of their necks as Erza stormed over with another sword and rope in her hand that looked very menacing and disappointed indeed.

-------

--L-H--

“Aw shit,” Gray let out a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw a figure in the distance, walking towards the village in the aftermath of Lyon’s ordered attack. He thought the blood loss had finally got to him when he thought that he saw a red head on the horizon with a tied up blonde and blue cat trailing behind her, but knowing his luck, he knew he wasn’t seeing things.

If only he was well enough to run, he would’ve booked it a long time ago at the sight of a stern-looking rule-enforcing Erza, but he depressingly accepted his fate as he sat down on some cargo off towards the side of the village.

Being a mage meant that they healed faster than the average person, but it’s only been a couple hours since his harrowing fight with Lyon. He wasn’t prepared to run against a determined Erza Scarlet. Still, the deadpanned look that he gave to Lucy as she let out a half-hearted laugh at the sight of them and had the audacity to give him a sheepish wave.

“You know, the plan was to get the bad guys. Not get tied up like one, Lucy.” Gray said dryly while Lucy rolled her eyes at his statement. Well, at least she knows Gray seems to be in his usual spirits if he’s got time to passively snark to her.

“You’re about to join us, so don’t speak too soon.” Lucy muttered as Erza chose that moment to step into the conversation, literally and figuratively as she made her way towards Gray.

“She’s right, Fullbuster. You rule-breakers are on your way to a first-class ticket back to Fairytail right this instant. Where’s the flaming idiot?” Erza demanded as she grabbed more rope, ready to string Gray along with Lucy and Happy. Gray managed to side-step her though, looking at her in slight alarm.

“How the hell did you get here, Erza?”

“I asked nicely to one of the sailors, and they agreed.” Erza said flatly, while Happy, Lucy, and Gray all exchanged glances with each other and sweatdropped. God, what did “Erza asking nicely” even look like? Although this was the first time Lucy has been on the receiving end of such treatment, she has seen enough to know that Erza’s tendency to resort to basic violence in order to enforce her mindset. It was enough to shiver at the thought.

Erza suddenly pauses however, taking note of her comrades’ states and spending a longer time at Gray’s dirty and bloodied bandages wrapped around his side. She frowns at the sight and makes eye-contact with Gray who met her gaze with a seriousness that surprised her, even though she didn’t let it show on her face.

Just what the hell was really going on around here?

“I know what you were sent here to do, Erza,” Gray begins quietly but strongly, “But I’m not leaving this island until we finish this mission.”

A flash and there’s suddenly a sword that’s pointed at his chest as Erza looked at him with guarded eyes. It was tense for a moment as Lucy and Happy held their breath during the entire exchange. Gray didn’t even flinch, and even grasped the sword to pull it closer to his chest.

Erza took a silent note of the unwaveringness.

“You do realize that the number of rules that you are breaking are astronomical, and the fact that you are not qualified to legally take S-Class missions, correct? That is punishable not only by Makarov as the guildmaster of Fairytail, but by the Magic Council as well if the latter reaches word of it. You could be stripped of your membership.” Erza lightly bluffed towards the end, as Makarov wouldn’t have let such an event expelled the team, but they were risking serious trouble back home if they didn’t return. S-Class missions are barred for regular guild members for a reason, they are dangerous.

Erza doesn’t want to see her friends get hurt even more than they already seemed to be.

“I…That--That’s something that can be worried about later. Right here, right now, there’s something that I need to do on Galuna Island, to save everyone here. If you want me to go back to Fairytail, it’ll only be after this mission is complete. These residents need our help, Erza.”

Erza stayed silent for a moment as nobody moved, before her sword disappeared and Gray let out a nose exhale of relief at the look of consign on Erza’s face. She was impressed a little bit, in fact. Before her was a boy that she’s known since they were preteens in the guild, always looking to start trouble and was angry at the world and himself for a long time. Whatever was on Galuna Island truly was important, as Erza looks at him.

"You would risk punishment from your family for this what is happening on this island?" Erza confirmed in slight disbelief. It is putting into perspective what kind of horror could be happening here, but it was still a statement that made her skin prickle with uneasiness at the thought. She does not like the thought of situations like this. She almost wants to ignore their wishes and send them back herself, only to return and deal with the issues properly herself. Where she knows she’ll be able to eventually get the job done, as an S-Class mage.

But...this was an S-Class mission to begin with. Technically, as long as she was here, she qualifies them for the mission and they’d be able to continue. Even if she didn’t like the thought, Erza internally rolled her eyes, there was an undoubtable thought of this ragtag group simply finding a way to sneak off the ship back to the mainland and returning to Galuna Island with the grit clear on their faces in front of her currently. Fuck, she has no choice.

Their damn stubbornness was just as bad as hers, and with no other guaranteed option to proceed, Erza reluctantly joined them. Lucy and Happy were promptly untied as a result and they filled her in with what’s happened so far in the village and their plans in order to stop the ritual.

“I’m glad you’re helping us, Erza!” Lucy said happily as she gave the other woman a hug who flushed a bit at the unexpected physical touch but patted her back softly with a harsh exhale.

“Don’t think I’m letting this slide after all of this dies down, you will face judgement, it’s only a matter of when.” Erza huffs, but Lucy just grins at her as they stepped away from each other. Gray doesn’t say anything, but he does give Erza a nod of respect, causing the latter to scrutinize him for a period of time before giving on of her own. It was a bit odd, seeing Gray so serious and determined explicitly. She wouldn’t say it out loud in the event it encourages more rule breaking of this sort in the future, but she was a bit impressed and proud that he had stood up for something he was passionate about. It was nice to see that backbone of good intentions.

Now if only it didn’t risk their safety so much.

“Where is Natsu?” Erza looked around with a furrowed brow. Lucy and Happy had shrugged while Gray scratched his face as he pondered,

“Uh, I think he mentioned about being right back after he beat the other two guys. I don’t know where he actually went, though.”

-------------

--N-D & G-F--

-------------

“Crap…” Natsu sucks his teeth at the familiar sight of the Moon Drop ritual taking place once more. The sinister purple glow was back again as he made his way towards the temple, and with a really sudden thought (that could be really stupid); what if he just shifted the temple a little?

With a quick-Fire Dragon’s Roar, Natsu manages to tilt the pyramid off to the side, which seems to have successfully stopped the ritual for now. Judging by the unfamiliar scents inside the temple however, he knew his work wasn’t over.

Inside, there was already a masked figure that was waiting for him along with the Lyon guy who had beaten Gray the first time. There’s a curl of his lip at the sight of Lyon, feeling a strong sense of irritation at the sight of the man who’d beaten his rival and temporarily broken his spirits in the process.

“You must be Natsu,” Lyon said with confidence, as if he wasn’t scared of the dragon slayer. Natsu just looked at him with a look of intrigued, before looking at the other masked figure. Lyon pointed at them, introducing them as Zalty.

“Zalty has informed me that you and the famous Titania has graced your presences on Galuna Island. I do ask for you to turn back and take that half-ragged disappointment with you, for there’s no reason for you to be here.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow, “You talk a lot of shit.”

“Thank you,” Lyon said, pleased.

“It ain’t a compliment,” Natsu said mildly, “And we’re not going anywhere. Releasing that demon will put a lot of innocents at risk, dude, is that what you really want?”

“I don’t really care about the others, just my own goals.” Lyon responded bluntly, fully intending to take on Deliora on his own to prove himself. Natsu just tsks under his breath before charging forwards as he blasts himself, starting the fight. He sent a fiery kick towards where Lyon stood, but it turned out to be an ice clone and Natsu let out a small smirk of delight in the middle of switching stances.

Good, this opponent was a bit interesting.

Lyon creates ice eagles from his real position, sending them towards Natsu’s direction but the latter has learned his lesson from the first time. He has to focus, but his fire needs to be more potent if he wants to melt Lyon’s ice, and he does so successfully as he blows out fire from his mouth in the eagles and Lyon’s face.

Letting out a small curse, Lyon landed back down on the ground level. The ice-gorilla makes a return, as Natsu moves into a handstand position and began twisted his body as he released flames from his feet. Lyon flinches at the heat and orders the gorilla to smash the ground, effectively breaking it in order to throw Natsu off-balance.

Natsu falls through for a moment, before unstably regaining his balance as he waved his hands wildly, trying to fly for a brief moment thanks to the flames on his feet. He lets out a wild grin as he blasts himself towards Lyon, who looks at him with wide eyes before Natsu’s fists connects with his face.

Since they were both airborne, Natsu quickly followed up with a Fire Dragon’s Roar directly onto Lyon, who got hit with the brunt of it as he was blasted into the ruins of the floor.

Or that’s what it should’ve been, if the floor had still been broken. Thanks to Zalty’s measures, Lyon landed on the now-fully reinforced floor that he had destroyed moments prior with the help of his former ice-gorilla, and he groans as his back slams into the ground. It was better than landing on floor shards however, and he’s quick to get back up to throw Zalty a nod.

“What’s your magic?” Lyon asked Zalty curiously as Natsu landed back onto the ground, but Zalty simply held up a finger to their masked face, emphasizing their silence on the matter. Well, it doesn’t really matter much to Lyon, considering that Zalty was on his side.

And it doesn’t change the fact that Natsu, the famed Salamander, was a more annoying opponent that he had originally gave credit for. Angered at the fact that it felt as if he was losing, Lyon slammed his magic into the terrain to make it relatively ice, as Natsu just lights himself on fire as he points at Lyon,

“You’re a selfish bastard, and I’m going to punish you for causing people to suffer for an ego boost.”

Lyon just scowls as he’s prepared to launch himself at the flamed Natsu, before an ice-make axe flew from across the room and almost impaled itself into Lyon, who leaned back in the nick of time in full-blown surprise. Natsu just grinned as he placed his hands on his hips, looking over at the stormy looking Gray who had thrown the said axe.

The cavalry had arrived, with Erza and Happy dealing with Yuka and Toby (the lion-guy) in the front of the pyramid as they had woken up from Natsu’s beating. Sherry was still unconscious on the shore, considering Lucy’s and Erza’s combined efforts in defeating her. Lucy runs into the room soon after, only to watch in slight awe at the two battles that were happening simultaneously.

Gray vs. Lyon.

Natsu vs. some masked dude, based off of her observation.

“You know,” Gray hissed as Lyon’s eagles grazed him but still kept fighting, “I thought about using Iced Shell just to seal you off, for good. Sacrificing myself in order to permanently end this once and for all.”

Lyon was shocked to hear that he would go through such measures in order to stop him, but wasn’t that also a compliment? To be the subject of something sacrificing their life in order to stop you, doesn’t that prove that you are worthy? Lyon’s confidence soars at the thought, and he just scoffs at Gray’s initial plan, “You’re a fucking idiot, did you forget I have Moon Drip in my possession? You’d be killing yourself for nothing.”

‘Yeah, that’s what Lucy said too after she slapped me for even thinking about that plan in the first place.’ Gray thought idly as he dodged a fist and slammed his own into Lyon’s stomach. His cheek still burned a little from the slap from the blonde after he spoke a little bit about his plans, who knew Lucy packed so much power in her.

“The point is that one of us is going down today, Lyon, and it’ll be you.”

Lyon side-stepped him, and stabbed Gray with an ice-sword after his declaration, causing him to choke of his breath as the former released the sword. Gray’s mind is clouded with pain as he stumbled back, and he quickly freezes the new wound in order to continue to fight off of sheer will and determination. He won’t falter and break down like he did before.

He will defeat Lyon.

Lyon was growing frustrated at the look of determination on Gray’s face, not understanding how their fight could be this stagnant despite Gray’s serious injuries. Was he not strong enough to defeat this almost crippled man? What the hell was going on? The anger was making him feel rather irrational as he growled at Gray, moving forwards.

Everyone began to tilt and slide off in another direction however, as the temple was set back to its original position once more thanks to Zalty’s efforts in the middle of fighting Natsu. Natsu, who was irritated by the fact that his opponent was half-focused on the fight in front of him, causing the latter to secretly smirk from behind their mask.

Natsu Dragneel was a powerful mage, that Zalty knew. But as he currently stands, his manner of fighting was somewhat…predictable. He was an inspiring genius when it comes to combat, and Zalty was rather impressed with his creativity during his fight with Lyon, but they were starting to understand his mindset while fighting.

Natsu enjoys the thrill of the battle, and the quickest ways to irritate and cause him to falter was to disrupt that energy.

Don’t put effort into fighting, dodge and poke. That is the manner that Zalty deals with Natsu as they used their crystal ball as a weapon, smashing it and re-smashing into Natsu who was growing more frustrating at their cowardly ways. It didn’t matter to Zalty, they were simply buying time now that the Moon Drip ritual was taking place again and melting Deliora. Was it the coward’s way out? Sure, if you cared about that sort of thing.

But there was a time and place for everything, Zalty thinks as they continued to poke Natsu at a distance as the dragon slayer grew angrier. He began to use basic attack patterns, ones that were easier to dodge and predict which made Zalty satisfied.

It was all-according to plan, you see.

Even though Zalty’s magic allowed them to rewind, stop, and fast forward time on objects, to a certain extent it feels as if they are able to predict people’s movements thanks to their positioning with their weapons at the time. Does Zalty’s magic effect living things? No, it doesn’t.

But with accurate placement and inferences, some of these skills that were taught by her boss who was an expert in such a field, it truly feels as if she could see through time and defeat her opponents.

And that’s exactly what Natsu was feeling currently as the crystal ball smashed itself into his side, again. He couldn’t even get closer to Zalty, the rate at which they restored the crystal ball was fast enough to stop him before he gets the chance. It’s a bit weird though, he begins to notice as he slows down.

“Why haven’t you helped Lyon out more, yet? This is the first time I’ve seen you on the island, and yet you seemed to have known about us being here beforehand.”

Zalty just chuckled, feeling rather generous. “The odds are not in Lyon’s favor at all in terms of fighting Deliora, but he is still useful. Thanks to his efforts, at least I’ll be able to bring the demon under my control.”

Selfish bastards, was all Natsu could think about as he continues to attack Zalty. Lucy comes from behind to assist, throwing Zalty off-guard at the sight of the girl behind them as she throws her whip and catches them by the leg. Pulling with all her strength at once, Lucy throws Zalty off balance who falls onto the ground, but not before they twisted their body to point their hand to the sky, where they tried to make the ceiling fall over their two opponents.

Natsu had already blasted himself towards Lucy and threw her out of the way, before releasing a Fire Dragon’s Roar to burn and destroy the debris and run straight through the chaos of it all in order to punch Zalty right in the face, with a Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist.

Zalty’s body soars through the sky, past the heated battle between Lyon and Gray that was reaching its final conclusion. Lyon releases another ice clone of himself, and Gray destroys it while wielding a one-handed Ice-Make sword before throwing it at Lyon. It cuts the side of the ice-mage and he hisses in annoyance as he releases an ice snow tiger that roars and pounces towards Gray.

Rolling quickly off to the side and ignoring the sharp pain in his side for a moment, Gray clasps his hands together for some magic, using his quick thinking in order to seal his two adversaries at once. “Ice-Make Prison!”

Two cages of ice falls from the sky as Gray kneels down at the strenuous use of magic in his state, huffing harshly as he looks around to see that he had succeeded in imprisoning both Lyon and snow tiger in two separate cages at the same time. Racket from his right leads his eyes to his former pupil-in-arms, who was angrily shaking and blasting the cage from within but with no success.

It was quite the sight to see, in fact. Lyon had been confident the entire time they’ve exchanged blows on Galuna Island, and there’s a certain satisfaction at seeing him crumble the same way that he had done ruthlessly to him earlier. It doesn’t last long however, and it leaves Gray with a sense of pity as he looks at how unhinged Lyon looks on the other side of the bars.

His obsession of strength led him to completing a heinous ritual all in the name of egotistical fulfillment. He didn’t bother to think of the consequences of his actions, he willingly knew that Ur was still technically alive, her sacrifice saving a good part of the world for years and he chose to destroy that legacy. They had grown up together for that part of their lives, Lyon had known Ur longer than even Gray had.

Did he not understand how tainted he’s become, to even kill their second mother-figure once more?

“You lost before you even began, Lyon,” Gray shook his head in disappointment. Lyon doesn’t stop attempting to escape, he’s furious as the cage shakes from the rate of his magic being unleashed. He probably won’t stop unless he’s put down, Gray realizes, which causes him to summon a massive cannon that’s pointed at Lyon, wielding Ur’s magic with two-handed pride.

“One-handed Ice molding is unbalanced, you of all people should know that. Ur taught us that fact.” Gray said with deadly calmness as he finished molding the cannon. There’s a small rush of emotions that threatens to erupt from seeing Lyon’s frozen face of shock. What did he think was going to happen? That he was going to win?

If he couldn’t even defeat Gray in his beaten glory, with one -handed magic at that, then what made Lyon think such blasphemed thoughts that he could defeat Deliora?

It’s the reminder of his betrayal, that makes Gray fire the cannon at close range without much hesitation.

--------

--G-F--

--------

It’s the roar that comes after the end of his fight with Lyon, that makes Gray freeze and shiver at the memories that came with it. With a quick slap of his cheeks however, he steels his nervous and forces himself to stalk towards the Demon that has finally been released from its prison. It’s a bit of an awkward and disturbed nostalgia, considering that he had stalked off to fight the demon on his own before and someone lost their life in the process.

This time, it won’t be anyone else.

It was Ur, who saved countless of lives by performing Iced Shell on the demon.

And it will be Gray who performs it for the second time, for the greater good.

Fate has a funny way of operating, maybe karma had made its presence known too.

His magic was down now, focusing his energy and mana in preparing for Iced Shell. It surprises him when he hears a bit of stumbling and the sound of something crawling, as he looks to see Lyon making his way towards Deliora in a slightly delirious state. Disgusted, Gray quickly knocks Lyon out temporarily as he closed his eyes, muttering out a quiet “Sorry.” towards his friends as he crossed his arms, beginning the ritual for Iced Shell.

Blue light flashes through the entire cave as Gray’s life force begins to transform into a special kind of ice, as he stands before Deliora. Lucy’s cry of outrage and fear is what fuels Natsu to race forwards and stop Gray from whatever he was doing. Her look of fear and pain was so vivid that Natsu just knew that Gray was doing something bad, and he shoves Gray backwards which canceled the spell immediately.

Gray was exhausted, he had used up far more mana than he’d like in his weaken state, but he was still pissed off when Natsu stopped him, as the latter stepped in front of the entire room as Deliora finally broke free.

Erza runs into the cave after hearing the loud roar, immediately standing behind Natsu with a special suit of armor casted in her body. Lucy ran over and threw herself in front of the fallen Gray, who was yelling and shouting for them to get out of the way so that he could do what had to be done.

To save his friends, he cried out, to save his family and everyone else’s.

“Killing yourself is never the first option, Gray. We--We’ll stop you every time. No one wants you to die,” Lucy cried out as she held Gray down, who struggled against her grasp.

“We believed in you to defeat Lyon, and you did. Now it’s your turn to believe in us.”

Gray freezes at her words, and that’s when he understands.

He’d…tried to tackle the problem all on his own again.

He looks at the sight before him, at Lucy with tears in her eyes as she held his exhausted body against her, the third line of defense against the demon. Erza was the second as she looked at the massive figure with narrowed eyes, ready to defend those behind her at once. And at the front of it all was the wild look in Natsu’s eyes, as he stood before the demon with flamed fists, ready to start the rumbling.

Believe in them, and their wills to fight.

“I--I do,” Gray said quietly, and Lucy just gave him a soft, tearful smile.

“Then sit back and rest up as we protect you.”

Deliora roars again, and everyone tenses up as they prepared for another fight. Natsu raises his own fist and matches it with the demon with a grin on his face, but right before they make direct contact, it freezes before beginning to crumble into pieces, much to everyone’s shock. As the ice settles and the dust rises, Natsu is left blinking at the ruins of Deliora, before turning around with a sheepish scratch.

“Well…I didn’t expect that. What just happened?!”

It was Lyon who answered, observing many things as he sat up against the cave walls off to the side. He had woken up shortly after Gray had knocked him out, and it was probably the fact that Gray hadn’t been at full strength that he was awake so fast. “...It was already dead. Ur’s ice had sapped away it’s life force, leaving nothing more than a skeleton in the prison.”

He seems to be thoroughly shocked by this development, which doesn’t surprise Gray since he’s spent a lot of time prepared for this moment. His obsession with defeating Deliora had been what kept him going for years, but it was already dead this whole time. Now what was left for Lyon to do, Gray wondered.

Now what?

Judging by the lost look on Lyon’s face, he didn’t know either.

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--L-H--

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Many things have happened in the aftermath of the death of Deliora. Everyone cheered when it was over, even Gray did although he was thoroughly exhausted, but Erza had told them that it wasn’t over yet, and that the village was still cursed. Lucy couldn’t believe it afterwards, but that whole little arc led them to blasting the moon into pieces and wait, Bobo wasn’t a ghost, and the residents were actually demons all along?!

Magic sure was crazy.

On the bright side, they managed to sail back on a more comfortable boat with some type of reward for their troubles. Erza didn’t let them take the money reward as one of the many punishments they were sure to face, but they did manage to grab the other reward. Lucy smiled at the latest key she had in her arsenal, holding it up to the sun as it’s golden color twinkle.

Sagittarius, the Gate of the Centaur or the Archer, depending on who’s asking.

Natsu was already wasting away while they sailed back, laying on Lucy with a bucket next to his face as he gagged and gargled every now and then. The blonde leaned her head back as she idly rubbed Natsu’s back, letting out a deep breath as she closed her eyes. The wind blew pleasantly against them, today was a nice temperature.

They ended up staying for about a day or two, helping the beginning efforts of restoring the village. It was nice for them to recover their injuries as well, as they took it easier. Gray had been fucked up before, but now all that’s left was a small bandage over the sword wound and small scar on his arm.

Speaking of--

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked curiously as Gray sat across from her, relaxing in the breeze. Erza had already laid down the fact that they were going to be punished when they get back to Fairytail, and they already had their respectable reactions. She’s a bit worried to be honest, but well, it’s just something that’ll have to be dealt with for future her.

Oh, future future her, not Rushii.

Gray let out a sigh as he crossed his arms and thought about it. It was a nice couple of days to take in the aftermath with everything that’s happened. A darker part of his past was finally sedated, Deliora could no longer hurt anyone else. It’d be a lie to say that he didn’t feel lighter at the revelation, even if it felt a bit surreal. He never thought that he’d get a chance to confront it, but it seemed as if their paths were simply meant to cross once more.

“I feel…lighter. I spent a large part of my life feeling responsible for what happened back then, and seeing Deliora’s defeat felt as if that was the final chapter to that part of my life, if that makes sense.” Gray said easily. Before, maybe it would’ve been harder to coax out such a reflection, but the two people before him have seen him at his worst. A little embarrassing in the aftermath of it all, sitting on a boat chilling with Team Haluna as they make their way back home.

A little embarrassing, and Gray feels as if he should regret the tears that he shedded in front of them, especially his rival Natsu. But he doesn’t, and he realized that they never made him feel as if he should be embarrassed by his reactions throughout the mission. In fact, he was sure that they were mad on behalf of him at a certain point, with Lucy crying a couple times.

“Sorry for making you cry a lot,” Gray stated a bit stiffly, looking off to the side. Lucy just chuckled at his reaction, understanding that he was just not used to talking about these types of things out right.

“That’s like the last of my concerns, who cares if I cried? I wasn’t in pain--or well physical pain at least, it just really hurt my heart to see you so sad. I just…cried for you, to be honest.” Lucy flushed a bit at the words. Gray just gave her a small smile, feeling a small warmth develop in his heart at the words. It’s scarily easy speaking with her, and she naturally just has this ability to make everyone like her and enjoy her presence.

Like a little sister, Gray chuckled at the thought. They definitely bicker like it, at least.

“What happened to Lyon?” Lucy asked slowly, testing the waters. It was clear that they had a relationship that was a bit rocky and didn’t know if Gray would get irritated at the thought of the white-haired man. Gray saw the unspoken question on her face and wave a small hand dismissively,

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Lyon…he’s something.” Gray grunted. To be honest, he’s been trying to avoid thinking about the white-haired man as he recovered, sighing at the conflicting emotions that rises through him at the thought of him. On one hand, he was still disappointed and triggered at what he’s chosen to do with his life, with such selfish and dangerous ideals.

But on the other, Gray couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if things went differently. If the two of them had stayed together, instead of going their separate ways after Ur’s death. If they had worked together to attempt to conquer Deliora, in a safer and isolated manner. Because at the end of the day, a root cause of Lyon’s actions was to avenge Ur, even if it was to sacrifice her in the midst of it.

He saw it on his face every time he had mentioned Ur’s name, while Lyon only referred to her as “she” and “her”. He could lie to his face all he wants, but Lyon knows damn well that Ur’s death had affected him more than he appeared to have made it seem. She had treated them as if they were her biological sons. That’s why his betrayal hurt so much. How could you forget your roots?

They learned their magic from her, for fuck’s sake.

“I..I can’t forgive him yet.” Gray admitted softly.

It was still too fresh.

Lucy just nodded and stayed quiet after that. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence though, as everyone just enjoyed the moment. Erza was by the sailor and the boat’s steering wheel, making sure that there weren’t any unnecessary detours on their way back for their decree. Gray grimaced at the thought and quickly changed his thoughts back to Lyon.

Did Lyon have anyone with him for the past decade? Were those people the ones who stuck by him, or was he all alone, harboring all of those thoughts?

Things have gotten twisted, indeed, and Ur’s probably smacking her head in despair at the sight of her pupils fighting each other from up above. He let out a small huff of amusement at the thought. It brings him back to his earlier thought though, of what would’ve happen if they stayed together. If Lyon had found Fairytail with himz

They…were like estranged brothers, in a way.

’Well, there isn’t much use in thinking about the hypotheticals’, Gray thought as he closed his eyes. What was done, was done. Whatever Lyon chooses to do with his life, Gray just hopes for the best.

And if he chooses to fall into the wrong path, Gray will be right there to stop him again.

That’s the new vow he makes, in the name of Ur.

“Hope you know that you’re officially apart of Team Haluna now.” Lucy says matter-of-factly, and Gray lets out a loud snort but doesn’t bother to open his eyes as he smirks.

“Forcing me to be around you two, are you? Don’t I get to have a say in this?”

“Nope!” Lucy said popping the “p” before she sassed Gray. “And don’t make it sound as if it’s such a bother to be around us. We’re great company, in fact. Be thankful I somewhat like you.”

“That’s what tyrants say, Lucy.”

“You’re so annoying,” Lucy grumbled and Gray laughs, feeling light.

“I guess it isn’t the worst idea I’ve heard. So, the what’s the team’s name now, Team Grahaluna?” Lucy just grimaced and shook her head as Gray laughs at the horrendous name. Team Haluna works just fine, and Gray isn’t mad at all to be invited by the leader herself.

Just means that it’ll be more adventures and fun experiences ahead of him, even if the prospect of being around Natsu a lot more sounded like a pain in the ass.

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--L-H--

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--L-M--

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At times like this, it’s maddening to think that the only thing that you can do is breathe in and out in a daze, because if you push yourself too much, think too much, you’d become more aware.

Of the pain and the agony.

So, she must focus as she steels her mind; get lost in the hundreds of stories she has read over the years, because even the worst novels she’s read as been better than this moment. Better than her current reality. She takes another ragged breath and relaxes her mind, and it’s getting easier, she could do this, she won’t crumble--

“Do it again,” she faintly hears in the background.

Levy is quick to block her thoughts once more.

“...again?” A man with long hair and piercings galore said boredly, his arm extended into what appears to be an iron-clad beam. He wasn’t alone, in the pavilion surrounding the famous Magnolia Tree. There were two others; one of them was a small, oily looking man with a monocle and a diabolical sneer on his face, the other being a woman with an umbrella with an emotionless expression on her face.

It was the oily man who had given the order, and he enthusiastically nodded. “Again, Gajeel.”

Gajeel Redfox just rolled his eyes as he slammed his iron beam into the three people on the tree, looking boredly as their bodies spasmed and fidgeted against the tree at the impact. The two boys had fell unconscious a long time ago, and the girl seemed to be on her way to falling soon. He could tell from her breathing however, thanks to his sensitive ears, that she was still conscious albeit barely.

“This shit is boring. Why the fuck am I still here, Sol?” Gajeel’s narrowed ruby eyes found their way towards Sol, who flinched at the sight. In the back of his mind, Gajeel let out a small snort of laughter at the sight. Sol, who was laughing the entire time of Gajeel defeating this Team Shadow something, was a twisted motherfucker. Of course, he’d take pride in beating up people who were weaker than him, grinning and boasting as if he was truly strong. Gajeel’s seen his magic, he’s just yet another pathetic man who uses cheap tricks to obtain victory.

He’s this close to caving his face in, they couldn’t have been anymore different.

“Jose sent us to make sure there’s a message being displayed to Fairytail, of course.” Sol said after a moment to collect himself. Gajeel just sneered.

“You could’ve done this shit yourself, they were so weak, it wasn’t even a good warm-up. If this is all Fairytail has in their arsenal, then this shit ain’t it.”

Gajeel only wanted to fight people who were strong, he had no interest in the weak. Yeah, maybe it’s not their fault that they were weak, but that doesn’t mean he had to interact with them then. They’re just worms who get in the way, for fuck’s sake.

Where was Salamander?

“In fact…” Gajeel grinned sharply at Sol, “Even you’d be more of a challenge than those guys. Care to be my fucking warm-up?”

Their voices were turning into a hazy mess once more as Levy flickered in and out of consciousness. She was losing the battle of staying strong-willed, the pain was seeping into her skin, her nerves were on fire as it began to hurt to even take a breath. Her body was stringed up and nailed against the back of the rough tree bark, feeling the roughness prickle into her back. Her wrists were digging against the nails, with gravity being the only thing that’s weighing down on them. She was hanging limply; she didn’t know what was on her face anymore.

She just knew it was wet.

Was it dirt? Tears?

Blood?

‘Just make it stop’, Levy pleaded mentally. Why couldn’t she just succumb to the pain already, and be put out of her misery? Why did she feel so defiant, even being pushed on the edge like this? She had broken bones, bruises all over her body. Why couldn’t she just…go to sleep--

A sudden sharp and hot pain envelopes her along her stomach and her body instantly goes haywire. What was previously just a battle of constant aches have completely disappeared to the burning of her abdomen, as something is pressed against her. And despite being so tired, she still had energy to scrunch her face and scream.

It was a scream for help, for mercy, but anger was laced within it. It was a guttural cry of vengeance that came from deep within as she sobbed against her restraints, losing her mind in the agony.

Upon her stomach was the symbol of Phantom Lord, burned into her skin.

Gajeel looked down at it with distaste before moving on. It was Sol’s idea to change the branding from a simple stamp to a burn. They were going to win through their efforts, and that’ll be a reminder of their strength. Gajeel likes people knowing about his strength, and anything associated to that. There was a small question of that being necessary though, but he quickly waved it off.

He doesn’t associate with weak things, and thus it doesn’t matter to him.

At least that’s what he tells himself when his bored eyes make eye-contact with the blue haired girl that he had just beaten up, and he was leveled with a gaze that was filled with such a strong hatred and pain that he was a bit speechless. Tortured, hanged, and branded, and she was still making a face like that to him?

She still had willpower within her to be this defiant?

Gajeel just hummed as he walked away from the tree with his hands in his pocket, the other two members that had accompanied him had left earlier. This group in Fairytail was laughably weak, and it gave Gajeel no pleasure whatsoever as he beat them up thanks to Jose’s direct orders. He wanted to fight Titania, Salamander, Laxus Dreyar, those who had earned a name for themselves by showcasing their magical strengths.

Team Shadow Gear was pathetic in respect to them.

And yet there is a small dose of respect that begins to blossom inside of Gajeel as he thinks about the piercing brown eyes of the petite blue girl, when she glared at one of her two torturers in open disdain.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen: Underneath the Surface

Phantom Lord Arc I

It was an empty space, the barrier that she had created in order to block out her soul and conscience from Lucy’s as she stored power for what’s to come.

At least that’s what Rushii tells herself.

Yes, that is the true reason for it all. That is exactly why.

A deeper inner reflection would highlight the fact that she was rather...lost. She needed time to regain her mission and not lose focus of what could happen to Lucy’s world if she doesn’t remain vigilant. What had already happened to her universe, where the Eclipse Gate was opened and the dragons rampaged all through Fiore, killing those she had loved. Where utter destruction and despair rested, a place out of touch and where she could never return to. Not because the actual world itself was "lost" (not that there was any feasible way for Rushii to confirm or deny this. She isn’t sure if she wants to.) but those who encompassed her world, were.

They were all dead.

Which is why she’s beginning to shake and spiral like this. She never thought she’d make it here. It was a gamble, it was all just a gamble, because she couldn’t fathom not giving it her all to at least try to make things right when everyone else had already given up their lives for it. Some of them for her.

Rushii let out a bitter chuckle, because even gambles had back-up plans. Was there ever a plan to begin?

Rushii swallowed as she looked in the simmering reflection of herself, within the barrier. Her tired chocolate eyes stared back at her, never changing from her appearance. If she had the ability to age naturally, she’d be well onto hitting thirty years old, and often said, with age comes wisdom...for the most part. It’s generally just assumed that due to the assumption that gaining experiences as one ages turns into lessons learned, which turns into mantras that are ingrained into one’s skin and ancestry should they pass it down.

After touching fire once, you learn at once to avoid the blisters of the burn.

After touching something sharp, you learn at once to avoid skin being cut thus blood drips and pain erupts to life.

Maybe she doesn’t get the opportunity to go out and learn hands on for herself, all of the time. There’s been times where she’s had to do so in order to save both of their lives, but for the most part she’s taken the mentor position between the two of them. Considering her circumstances, being blasted so far into the past, it’s the safest route that she could have taken.

Let it be known that she does not regret her decision.

She’s so proud of what her little sister as become.

It’s a bit funny to think about her younger self as a separate entity. Doesn’t change the fact that it was a bit weird at first, having Lucy call her Nee-san in the beginning. They were both the daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia. They both were celestial mages that had the same spirits or was starting to collect them all the same. They both were blonde, had brown eyes, and a nice figure to others.

But…they weren’t the same person.

They both might be named Lucy Heartfilia, but they acted differently. It was subtle before, but as Rushii watched on occasion from her barrier, whispering small guidance whenever her imouto felt loss, it was clear that Lucy had a different kind of strength that was alien to her. It’s an odd concept, because technically Rushii had all the capabilities inside of her since Lucy is making her leadership, her natural ability to empathize, her creativity in battle work for her. It shows in how attentive she reacts with her friends, noticing the things that Rushii hadn’t before in every one of them.

And sometimes, Rushii used to wonder if she was envious or supportive of her sister’s development as she watched and advised her as she grew up as an unprecedented result of traveling to the past.

It was conflicting emotions such as these that had inspired her to take time away just to think. The barrier had served multiple purposes, indeed. It wasn’t a lie to Lucy all of those weeks ago, that she couldn’t depend on her all of the time to save her. She had to be strong enough on her own, in order to prepare for more diabolical times in their lives to come.

Tower of Heaven.

Oracion Seis.

Or what’s more relevant to the near-future, Phantom Lord.

It was time to make her appearance once more, Rushii surmised as she hummed at the thought of seeing friends that were formerly foes. It was also a time where she had been one of the root causes of the attack as well, thanks to her blasted father. It was a pity that Lucy never managed to successfully rekindle a relationship with him, despite her efforts.

Perhaps in another universe, maybe the Heartfilia family would be happy.

‘But not this one,’ Rushii thinks as she steps out into the main “room”, where she normally spoke with Lucy. Looking over in the pool of gray, she noticed that her apartment was still there. A piece of the past that she was still clinging onto, she thinks softly as she waves a hand for it to disappear. Instead, a small area of trees replaces it, with a comfortable looking hammock taking form as Rushii blinked in surprise before walking over to take a rest on it.

She is still lost as to how she could accomplish saving the world, and a new comfortable change of scenery won’t change that fact.

Honestly, there wasn’t ever really a plan to begin with, just a bunch of hopes and prayers as she wished for the Eclipse Gate to give her the power to make things better.

A fist clench and a furrowed brow takes over at the thought of Future Rogue, and the treacherous actions he took once he killed Natsu before following her into the abyss. What the hell was that bastard planning, anyways? Was he inside of this Earthland’s Rogue now? Where was Rogue?

She couldn’t really tell Lucy to go and search for the Shadow Dragon Slayer, was Sabertooth even a guild right now? So many unknowns, so many questions, paired with seemingly infinite choices as for what to do. If she thinks too long, it gets quite depressing at the thought of what must be done.

Rushii wonders if doing the bare minimum is the coward’s way of making a difference. If her Natsu was in her shoes, would he have made the same choice? She hasn’t really tried to change too much of Lucy’s present as she grows as a person, in fear of making too many changes to the future. Because if it doesn’t go how she remembers, then what if something major changes? All of her efforts would be rendered useless.

She would be useless.

With a sigh, Rushii decides to take note of the storm of black that resides behind her, rumbling in place as it doesn’t dare move. It was a recent development that started when Lucy reached about fifteen. It doesn’t do much, only rumbles and pulse out waves of ominous intentions and whispers of punishment. Rushii is the only one who can see it, as Lucy has never made a mention at the storm behind her whenever they speak face to face in the main area.

Deep down, she knows that it must be the product of the Eclipse Gate.

The admonishment system that is put in place in order to keep her in check. It makes sense logically, and it’s acted before in the past. What started as the feeling quick sand, falling into a deep state of nothingness or a flash of pain and bleeding from the holes on her face, has morphed into something more drastic and dangerous as Rushii eyes the storm behind her from the hammock. Something inside of her knows that the punishments will only get worse as she approaches the fated doomsday.

Spirits, bless her weary soul, Rushii sighs in a silent prayer, because the pain will be unavoidable.

She won’t allow Lucy to walk into fire all alone though, and she’ll shoulder her blisters from the burn when they inevitably come. So what if she doesn’t have a definite plan for the long term? It’ll all be pointless if Lucy doesn’t get the chance to get there in the first place.

So Rushii gathers her lost and depressing thoughts about the different realities she faces and shoves them in a box locked in her mind. She didn’t create and step into the barrier and meditate the entire time for nothing, she did so to gather strength for the fight against the storm and the real world.

Because when she succumbs to the pain, she doesn’t know how long it’ll be until she can wake up again.

A careful eye notifies her that Lucy is with her team, walking into the gates of Magnolia as they headed back from the events of Galuna Island. Rushii gives them a small smile at the sight, feeling the aged nostalgia and happiness fill her. She misses her Team Natsu, as she watches them laugh and banter as they walked together.

Her found family, Fairytail.

Rushii suddenly sat up as her eyes widened, taking a trip back to memory lane that the thought of Fairytail and Phatom Lord. They were currently walking towards the guild, where they would see the aftermath of Gajeel’s iron bars, if her memory serves her correctly. Staring at the trees before her, her heart sinks at the next thought, and the Eclipse Gate be damned --

She had to save them as quickly as possible.

Because this world was noticeably crueler, Rushii closed her eyes as her feelings of sadness and worry spread throughout the space.

Ah…she had forgot how bad things were for some, before they eventually became friends.

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--L-H--

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It always feels as if happy moments are too good to be true sometimes, Lucy thinks as she feels a concern fill her nerves that wasn’t hers. Pausing in the middle of her walk, the others didn’t notice as Lucy’s heart dropped in slight fear as she focused on the feeling. Thoughts raced through her mind as she thought about what could happen next, they just had defeated a demon a couple days ago, could things die down for a moment so that she could breathe?

But she remembers Rushii’s last warning to her, back when she had first joined Fairytail.

Laced with kind words and enthusiasm for Lucy to enjoy her present life, she was not blind to the message hidden underneath.

The next time Rushii comes out of the barrier, it means that something big is coming.

Lucy could only hope that she was prepared.

As she stood frozen, the rest of the team was walking forwards as they chattered. It goes on for a while before Natsu notices a lack of Lucy’s words, and he turns around to take a look at her in order to see if something was wrong. He pauses, immediately tensing when he doesn’t the blonde behind him, before noticing that she had stopped a long time ago. This caused the rest of them to stop as well, as Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lucy, wondering what was going on.

“Lucy?!” Natsu shouted, but she didn’t seem to hear him as she appeared lost in thought. The thought put a frown on Natsu’s face, as he wondered what she was thinking about so deeply.

Gray frowned. “What’s up with her? Is she good?”

No.

Things were not good at all.

“Lucy.” Rushii said softly, with a heaviness in her voice that made Lucy tense with worry. Lucy subconsciously looked around her surroundings, wondering if the enemy would jump out in any moment. Later on, she’ll truly be happy at the fact that her Nee-san had returned to her, and she’ll be able to talk with someone about her deepest feelings without too much difficulty. Perks of having another person inside your body, that can also feel the truth of your emotions.

But for now, she’s scared.

“Rushii,” Lucy greeted with a small smile, but that quickly went away once Rushii stood up from a hammock--oh that’s new, what happened to her apartment?-- before making her way over to massive tree in the distance. Unbeknownst to Lucy, Rushii eyed the storm before carefully choosing her next words.

“I won’t start off our reunion with the bad news, I am not that cruel. How are you, Lucy?” Rushii said with a warm tone suddenly full of love and care that Lucy made want to cry. She wasn’t even sad right now, but so much has happened in such a short time span, and she’s just really missed her sister’s comfort. Nee-san always seemed to know all of the answers, know all of the right things to say.

She had missed her a lot.

“I’m…I’m good, Nee-san. So much has happened, and I’m learning so much about--about everything, really.” Lucy confessed with a hint of a watery smile. Pride and contentness fills her body like a warm hug.

“That’s good, I’m glad you finally decided to take heed of my advice. There are many things for you to learn and explore more, as you progress in life,” Rushii stated before her happier emotions turned into something more unsettling. Immediately, Lucy’s smile dropped from her face as she stood at attention, ready for the next set of news in order to be laid upon her. To her surprise however, Rushii just looks and touches the massive tree with a sad look on her face.

“Rushii…?”

“The tree, Lucy,” Rushii whispered out, watching as the storm crept just a bit closer. Lucy frowned as her mind raced, thinking about all of the trees she has come into contact with so far in her life. Too many to count and quickly tiring out, Lucy just decides to try and get more information from her sister.

“A tree? What about a tree?”

Rushii sucked in a tiny breath, feeling the tell-tale signs of the Gate’s reprimandment, a dull fire burning into her soul. “M--”

‘Fuck.’ Rushii thought as she clenched her fists at the increase of pain, breathing harshly through her mouth. They won’t allow her to say the Magnolia Tree, fine. She’ll just have to get creative with her word choice then, and hope that Lucy’s training in the art of aristocrat subtleness was enough for her to read between the lines.

“Upon the tree, is the aftermath of dark shadows and pain, for there are deep wounds not just iwithin the mind, but especially the flesh,” Rushii hissed out before leaning against the tree, panting slightly. Lucy’s mind reeled as she realized this familiar situation and quickly scrambled together cohesive thoughts about her statement. She had to speak in ambiguous riddles sometimes, because the future- fate keepers won’t let her interfere too heavily.

Okay, first the tree. That seems to be really important, since Rushii made sure to mention it twice. The only thing that she could think of off the top of her head that she’d remember relatively well was the Magnolia Tree, and it did sound like Rushii was trying to pronounce something that began with the letter M before she was forcibly stopped. “You want me to go to the Magnolia Tree, Nee-san?” Lucy asked cautiously.

Rushii nodded and waved her hand to continue.

Magnolia Tree, got it. Rushii had said “upon the tree”, so was there something on it or was it figurative? Lucy’s not sure, but there were other things about the way that she had said certain words.

Shadow, pain, wounds, flesh.

Is…someone hurt by the Magnolia Tree?

That shadow part doesn’t make much sense if so though, but she’ll ask regardless.

“Someone is hurt, and they are making their way towards the Magnolia Tree?” Lucy guessed hesitantly. Rushii paused, not sure how to answer her question. She was wrong about the latter half, considering that Team Shadow Gear had no choice but to be chained up on the tree, but in the end, if saying yes gets Lucy to make her way towards the pavilion, then does it truly matter?

She’d understand anyways, once she saw the terrible sight.

“Yes,” Rushii whispers out.

“Who?” Lucy asked worriedly.

Well, she probably couldn’t say Team Shadow Gear, Rushii huffed out annoyed. She flicked off the storm that crept a tiny bit closer before she quickly racked her brain with a good hint, something that’ll help speed things along. Who knows how long they’ve been strung up by now?

In order to ease their suffering as fast as possible, they really had to--

Oh!

“You’ll really have to shift gears once you get there, moving fast with your decision making.”

Gears. It was gears that had an extra emphasis this time, but what was so special about gears? And it didn’t make sense before, what did shadow have to do with people being hurt by the Magnolia tree--

Shadow.

Shadow Gears.

Shit.

“You must make haste, Lucy.”

“Lucy?!” Natsu calls out again, about to walk over there to see why the girl had stopped, before he froze at the look on her face. Whatever she had been thinking about made her deathly pale as she made eye-contact with Natsu, making him feel on edge. His mouth snapped shut as he just watched her with attentive eyes, noticing her gaze flicker towards the other side of town. His senses are homed in to her every move, feeling his insides panic at the weirdness of her actions. What happened? What was she thinking about?

And when she takes off in a weird direction, he’s quick to follow her without a second thought.

There’s an urgency in her movements, which causes him to quickly pick up speed as he runs after her, towards a familiar area. Cries of shock and surprise are sounded behind him as they take off running without any words exchanged, but Natsu doesn’t care too much, they’ll probably just follow them out of pure curiosity.

All he could focus on was Lucy.

Lucy, who had made eye-contact with him and started running like hell with a severe expression on her face. Was it him that she was running from? Did he do something? Natsu knows deep down it probably wasn’t anything of the sorts, but there was a small dose of insecurity that rises inside of him just in spite. It was annoying, so he was quick to push his thoughts away as he almost catches up to her.

Damn, does he hate looking at her back, watching her move away from him in a distance.

He wants to be by her side, always.

And yeah, they definitely got to talk about this bad habit of running off without a word, because why does she keep going off on her own like that?! They were a team, for fuck’s sake! She has to understand that she can’t run off and not expect them to follow her, especially without any explanation.

And if it isn’t a “them” that follows, then it will always be him.

After whatever the hell happens once they reach their destination, he’ll make sure that she knows that.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts when Lucy finally thoughts, and almost collides with her back due to how abrupt it was. Her body feels tense, her hands were shaking, and that’s when Natsu also realized that they reached the familiar area of the Magnolia Pavillion, with the Magnolia Tree in the center. He doesn’t look around though, eyes honed onto Lucy’s face as he feels his heart drop.

“N-Natsu--” Lucy lets out a strangled gasp as she shakingly points at something in the distance. Natsu’s a bit nervous as he follows her gaze, eyes narrowing to see what was making Lucy so freaked out, before his eyes widen himself as a burst of rage overcomes him and all he could see was red.

Lucy had to scramble away from Natsu as he caught on fire due to the extreme range of emotions that ran through his face. His eyes were blown wide in disbelief, his mouth was morphed into a sharp scowl, and his pupils turned completely dark as he saw the crucifixion of Team Shadow Gear, beaten and tortured. The tears were flowing freely on Lucy’s face as she yells at Natsu to get moving, to help them as fast as they could, racing towards the tree were other on-lookers were beginning to crowd at the ugly sight.

Being face to face with their grotesque injuries up front made Lucy want to vomit. Oh god, Levy-chan, her bruises, her body, her burn. It was placed right on her stomach, branded for the world to see. It was a symbol of some sorts, one that Lucy wasn’t familiar with, but that was the least of her worries as she summoned Taurus to help her removed the iron bindings from Levy, Droy, and Jet’s wrists.

Or at least she tried too, but he wasn’t coming through the gate.

“Taurus..?” Lucy asked questioningly at the key, feeling hurt at the refusal to come. She didn’t have time to delay though, and she quickly moved onto the next key that she knew was capable of immense physical strength when it calls for it.

“Open the gate of the Maiden, Virgo!”

Virgo steps out of the gate with a golden flash, already bowing before Lucy but she calmly sits up. “Hello Princess, what can I do for you?”

“Are you capable of the same strength in your current form, compared to the form you took with Duke Everlue?” Lucy asked and Virgo nodded.

“My strength stays consistently the same, it’s merely a change of appearance after all.”

Lucy nodded once before pointing at Team Shadow Gear on the Magnolia Tree, “Get them down as quickly as possible, please.”

It makes sense now, Rushii’s words. They were quite literally upon the tree.

“At once, Princess.” Virgo bowed once more before she quickly set to work. Lucy watched silently as an anger overtakes her at the sight of the limp team, feeling lost as for what this all meant as she feels familiar magical signatures behind her. A calm, cool breeze and a molten, liquid metal that can take on any form.

Erza and Gray have arrived.

“Oh my god…” Gray sucks out a breath at the sight of Team Shadow Gear, while Erza’s face immediately darkens considerably as she stomps over to inspect the symbols upon Levy’s skin. Squatting down at their resting figures on the ground thanks to Virgo’s efforts, she gently brushed the matted blue-hair of Levy, guilt heavy in her heart at the sight of the positive girl. What had she done to deserve such a fate, Erza silently asks to the gods.

It was illogical, but she feels guilty, because she should’ve been there to protect them. That’s what she has sworn to do for Fairytail, being the shield for all it’s members. Instead, Erza is left crouched down and looking at the aftermath of what she thought to be one of her failures. All because of a certain guild that was considered to be rivals to Fairytail. But to be rivals meant that there was a healthy dose of competitiveness and banter, but there were lines that weren’t crossed.

Phantom Lord, the guild that had done this, were no longer considered rivals in Erza’s eyes.

They were now enemies.

“It was Phantom Lord, that did this.” Erza announced after she thoroughly inspected the brand on Levy with gentle care. She stood up and turned around at the devastated looks at the rest of their faces, swallowing her anger as she took the lead. Natsu’s body was flickering between being on fire and not, Lucy had her hand covering her mouth as she couldn’t take her eyes away from her friend, and Gray had his teeth clenched as he looked at Jet and Droy, wondering how many hits they took for them to look so terrible. Wondered how many hits they took while they were still conscious .

“I’m going to go find those bastards,” Natsu hissed out, taking a step back as his fists clenched. He was ready to hunt down every last Phantom Lord member and repay the same energy that they did to his friends. They won’t get away with this. Gray was silent but the two rivals exchanged a look of understanding, noting that they’ll do whatever it takes for justice.

It had pissed of Erza even more though, to his quiet surprise. “You idiots! You’re not going anywhere. We’re going to take Team Shadow Gear back to the guild, and we’ll wait for further instructions after analyzing the entirety of the situation, end of discussion.”

“No," Natsu snarled, getting into Erza’s face who stared him down with eyes and spirit of steel. “You guys can do that. It will be faster and more effective if we split up, tackling more things at once. Obviously we need to get them some help, but what about the sons of bitches that are getting away with this? What about them, huh?”

“Are you implying that I don’t want justice as well, Natsu? I’d advise you state your next words very carefully,” Erza said dangerously, chest to chest with the dragon slayer. His impulsiveness wasn’t unwarranted, of course she always wants to enact revenge immediately. But there will be a time for that in the near future. They don’t know enough information to be acting without thinking, especially in a situation that was proving to be delicate.

“We don’t have time for this shit, we got to get them help now,” Gray scowled as he picked Jet up from the ground. He was fuming, he wants revenge just as much as Natsu does, but unfortunately he was cursed to have a more analytical mind and knew that regrouping was the better decision. Even if he hated it.

The darkness that was in Natsu was pulsing strongly, as Natsu gritted his teeth at the unwaveringness of Titania. How could they not take advantage of the situation? If he tried hard enough, he could probably trace their scents from here to wherever they lurked. His muscles ached for battle; his fists ached for blood. The darkness licked its lips and smirked for war. Surely, they don’t expect him to hold back against Phantom Lord, after all of this?

Because he won’t .

It was Lucy who diffuses the tense situation a bit, realizing that the unexpectedness and surrealness of it all was just making things worse. Everyone had the right intentions, they all wanted payback for the unfair violence against Team Shadow Gear. No one was in the wrong with their hearts, but Gray was right, it does no good arguing when the people they wanted to fight for needed medical attention immediately.

She doesn’t look Natsu in the eye when she states, “We’re--We’re going back to Fairytail first, we need to regroup and see if there are similar situations like this. There’s too much that we don’t know, and as what Team Shadow Gear has reluctantly proven, that lack of knowledge can be dangerous. It’s our best course of action.”

‘But you can just charge in whenever you want to, right?’ Natsu thinks as he sucks his teeth, wordlessly picking up Levy at Lucy’s unspoken request. He’s the first to set off, careful of his friend’s state. It takes a special kind of focus to keep moving forward and not look at the blistering burn on her stomach, else he risks raging once more.

Asking Virgo to pick up Droy, they began the trip back towards the Fairytail Guild, moving as fast as possible without jostling and creating further injuries. Erza’s gaze was heavy as people moved out of the way with fear on their faces. It told no nonsense as she continuously surveyed the area, watching for enemies as they make their way. If their hidden enemies were smart, they would know to remain hidden.

For Erza’s blade will strike deep.

Lucy looks hesitantly at the side profile of Natsu, who’s body language gave off the fact that he was upset. She didn’t want him to be upset with her, and hoped that he wasn’t, but she doesn’t regret her decision. She had to think about all current parties involved, and Erza’s words spoke truth. It would be wiser and safer for them to come together to come with a plan. She was the leader of Team Haluna, and that gave her the ability to make the executive decision in the end.

Considering how much Natsu was worked up, she was a bit surprised to see how easily he had complied to her words. Did that show how much that he trusted her? He didn’t even fight against her words, unlike Erza.

Being a leader comes with a lot of power and hope placed upon you. If she’s not careful, the weight can bring her down as it can be heavy.

Upon the arrival to Fairytail, comes the second intense shock of the day as they observed the massive metal rods that were impaled into the guild. Debris is scattered around as the remains of the guild stands shakingly intact. Erza sucks in a breath, barely faltering in her exterior as she pushed onwards. Natsu had paused, staring at the destruction with barely concealed anger as his body shook. He had to calm himself quickly, he didn’t want to accidentally hurt Levy. That’s what races through his mind as he picks up speed after Erza, following Gray who had a similar reaction to Natsu at the sight.

Why? Lucy thinks as she follows them without a word, heart heavy. Why did they do this?

What was the need for all of this destruction?

What was the…point?

--------

--L-H--

--------

“We’re back, Master.” Erza announced as they entered the basement of Fairytail. She knew that in the event of an emergency, the basement becomes the new base of operations for Fairytail until further notice. Everyone greeted her happily, until the rest of the Galuna Island team entered the room. That’s when the happy smiles turned into looks of disbelief and shock, the optimistic mood despite the wreckage outside dies, and the gasps sound into the room mingle with cries of outrage.

Mirajane shakes as she’s given a look of Levy in Natsu’s arms, unconscious with her body beaten and bloodied something serious. The burn on her abdomen makes her gag as she quickly looks off to the side, feeling sick to her stomach at the sight of the bookworm. They had just had a conversation earlier that day, talking about books for them to read together some time.

How did it come to this?

Despite the look of disgust on Cana’s face that the implication that someone had done this to her friends, she took charge quickly as she sat Mirajane down for her to collect herself. Yelling for people to clear space, they quickly made their way to the back in the makeshift infirmary. Everyone moved in a frenzy as they collaborated together in order to help their nakama, whether it was going out to buy more medical supplies, to wiping the dried blood and grime on their bodies.

There was an urgency in their movements, but as the tasks dwindled down, so did they. Eventually the worry that was heavy in their hearts turned into an intense anger, looking at the aftermath of torture placed upon Team Shadow Gear.

Elfman was the first to crack with anger in his voice, “Whoever had done this…they were not the definition of a real man.”

Sounds of agreement rang through the room as Mirajane bit her lip, crossing her arms as she ignored the state of her body. Once she was able to collect herself from the shock, she had been the main person in the room to help with the medical attention for all three of them. She was no healer, but they looked considerably better thanks to her and everyone else’s efforts. Still, the one thing that rings in her mind, was the symbol that was placed upon Levy.

She knew what that symbol was, and there were a couple of others in the room who knew where it came from too.

This was a serious development.

Makarov Dreyar walked back into the room, after personally going to speak with Polyursica herself in order to receive her help as swiftly as possible. With confirmation of her being on her way, he returned to the guild with an expression of such seriousness that no one dare says a word as they awaited for the next course of action.

Well, no one, except Natsu, who gets off of the wall he’s leaning on in order to yell at Makarov.

“What the hell, jii-san? We come back from a mission to see the guild in ruins, and you’ve clearly done nothing about it! You didn’t even bother to clean it up.”

“Be quiet, Natsu. You went on an S-Class mission without my permission, you should be grateful that the only reason I’m not punishing you and your accomplices right now, is that there are bigger things to worry about at the moment.”

Natsu doesn’t like his words, though. He’d gladly take any punishments in every other life, if it didn’t cost Team Shadow Gear their fate. God, remembering the sinking feeling when he had first say them, the question of whether or not they were still alive had rang through his head. What a horrible feeling. He wasn’t grateful at all at the circumstances.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you pretty much ignored what happened,” Natsu stated hesitantly back, still feeling strong about the destruction at the place he frequently called home. Makarov just let out a tired sigh,

“The guild can always be re-built. Fairytail’s essence isn’t laced within the walls of this building, it’s within its member’s hearts. Was it rather annoying to find the guild in this state? Yes, it was. But no one was injured, and that’s all that I can ask for as a guild master. That’s what kept me in decent spirits, because my family was safe. But now…” Makarov’s mana was unleashed for a brief moment as he lost control of his emotions. Lucy felt like she was choking on the sheer magic power alone that came from him, such killing and dangerous intent. The staff that Makarov liked to carry around every now and then shattered completely, turned into dust that sprinkled around Makarov who had a tense expression on his face and he leveled his gaze to everyone individually.

“Phantom Lord will not get away with this madness,” Makarov all but roared. Everyone roared back with a vigor that can only come from within, from the bonds that they had created with one another. “We will be unified as we seek revenge, but we will not be careless to dive into the fray without at least a plan. For now, I ask all of you to group up and head home. It’s been a long day, and it may only get longer as this war persists. I want to make sure everyone at least has some back-up with them in event of another disgusting attack. Get some rest, my children, and be ready tomorrow for a new day.”

He clapped at once and made his way towards the infirmary, since the pink-haired Polyursica had finally arrived after his speech. On the way over, Polyursica wasn’t blind to the tension in the air and gave a good look at Makarov, noticing his seriousness.

“Jose is going to be a problem, Makarov.” Polyursica hummed.

“He is a Ten Wizard Saint,” Makarov acknowledged, “But so am I. I’m not afraid of that scoundrel.”

“He is a man with a considerable ambition.” Was all Polyurisca said as a response. It was a small warning, Makarov knew, but he couldn’t be afraid in this situation. He believed in his abilities and he believes in Fairytail. The rest is up to the fates, but he’ll go down trying.

“Thank you again, for coming. I know you aren’t the biggest fan of people, old hag.” Makarov said strainedly teased as Polyurisca offered a rather docile scowl in return, reminding her of their younger days as a former team of Fairytail. Even in the midst of chaos, the mischievousness of Makarov never seems to disappear.

‘…good.’

“Just take me to my clients, little man.” Polyurisca grunted while Makarov chuckled, leading her to Team Shadow Gear in the back.

--------

--L-H--

--------

It was quiet in Lucy’s apartment, throwing her keys onto the table before she walked promptly into her room, feeling drained. A rustled behind her made her aware that someone had followed her home, but a quick magic detection was enough to alert her that it was someone familiar and safe. Somehow, it doesn’t make the tension leave her shoulders.

She doesn’t know how long she sits on her bed as she’s lost in her own thoughts.

It wasn’t until a throat clear from her door that she snapped out of it, as she glances at Natsu Dragneel, who had his arms crossed as he looked at her for a moment. It’s quiet--it’s too quiet--and suddenly Lucy feels as if she’s being scrutinized, but scrutinized for what?

It makes her unsure--uneasy, what was this lingering pressure that seemed to suddenly appear in between them?

She looks away, chocolate eyes closing shut as she calms herself down a little bit.

Natsu just exhales softly from his nose and closes the door gently, moving to lean against the edge of her desk in the corner. Lucy was just counting the distance between them, wondering how long it’s been since they’ve been so far apart from each other within the same vicinity. She finds that she doesn’t like the feeling one bit.

She doesn’t dare to say anything though, as she waits for Natsu to make the first move. Clearly, there’s something that he wants to say, considering he hasn’t made the effort to step closer to her yet.

“Luce.” Natsu begins softly, quietly. It’s gentle and yet Lucy tenses anyways.

“You’re upset.” Lucy jumps the gun, blurting it out without a moment of hesitation. Natsu grows quiet as he runs a hand through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts. He was upset, but he wasn’t angry. It’s just--He feels really complicated about Lucy right now. There was something inside of him that was sad that she had just whiskered off without letting him know, again. Had they not been through enough for her to know that he’d always follow her without hesitation? That she just had to say a word? Let him know anything?

“I just let me in, Lucy.” Natsu quietly pleaded as he looked at her. He doesn’t have to knowing every single thing, just a little is enough for him.

She was always quick to take off on her own and god, what if--

What if their enemies had still been there? If Natsu hadn’t been so focused on making sure he caught up to her with her headstart, what if he’d came upon the sight of Lucy beaten as badly as Team Shadow Gear.

“I--I’m not mad , you just..” Natsu falters, and fuck, he’s not very good with words. With saying exactly what he felt when it really counted.

“Are you mad at the fact that we went to the base first?” Lucy frowned slightly, “I told you why, it was the better decision for all of us.”

“I don’t care about that anymore, Luce. That’s not why I’m..upset.” Natsu eventually states and Lucy is at a loss once more. Was it something that she hadn’t seen develop inside of Natsu? She likes to think that she’s observe for those she cares about, especially with her best friend. She was so confused.

Natsu takes a deep breath before letting it go, standing up right fully as he stares at her.

“Do you not trust me, Lucy?”

Lucy is shell-shocked.

“I-I don’t understand? Of course I do.”

“Yeah?” Natsu said a bit sadly, “Then why do you like to run off without letting one of us know? Without letting me know. So quick to throw yourself out there for others, to let them know that they have a support pillar within you. But what about yourself? You say that you know that I’ve got your back, and you have mine, but sometimes…it--it doesn’t feel like it.”

Sometimes she whispers to herself, when she thinks nobody is watching or hearing what she has to say. Natsu doesn’t always hone-in onto Lucy, but when he does, he always makes sure to take in everything, because that’s how much he cares for her. Even if she’s rambling about what to make for dinner or what to get from the bookstore next for a reading session with Levy, he simply loves the sound her voice.

Sometimes she whispers to herself and it makes Natsu feel helpless, because when she does, she looks like she has the weight on her shoulders. All he wants to do is share the burden, and it’s overwhelming because she was just so special to him and why doesn’t it feel like she understands that?

What is a Rushii, and why does it make Lucy feel so happy yet scared?

“What do you mean...” Lucy asks hesitantly, standing up to look at him as they stared at one another. In the back of her mind, she laughs or maybe Rushii does quietly. Despite the anxious setting, even that won’t stop them from drifting towards one another, it seemed.

“The only time I’ve seen you open up to me has been when we’ve spoken about our families, and how you were unsure about how to be a good friend. I’m not here to judge you about keeping your other feelings to yourself. I don’t mind that you make me feel more feelings and I share some of the deeper ones with you, I love the fact that you’re so ready to empathize with other’s issues and so willing to help them,” Natsu passionately starts and Lucy’s eyes widens when she realizes that they had found themselves within arms reach. His eyes seemed so open, they always have been to her, and she’s silent the entire time as Natsu pours his true feelings out.

“But I do have a problem, when you take off without another word with a fearful expression on your face and I don’t know why. When you go off into potentially dangerous situations, without letting me know.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed a bit as she took a step back. “That’s not fair. That’s not fair at all, Natsu. You’ve gone off on your own plenty of times during the missions. Hell, we didn’t even know where you were at one point on Galuna Island! And I wasn’t super worried, because I had trusted you and your capabilities in fighting, so is this all just to say that you don’t trust me at handling my own battles?”

“Would you have said all of this to Erza?” Lucy stared blankly, and Natsu felt frustration course through his veins. She’s not getting the point! What wasn’t she understanding that he just wants her to know that she could tell him anything, that if she thinks there’s danger, to at least take him with her?

“No!”

“Then what’s the real point of this.”

It’s hard, trying explain to others how you felt about a situation when you barely understand yourself. Figuring it out as you talk it out. It can really go so horribly, especially for someone who’s not as good with words. Like Natsu right now, feeling as if what he had originally intended to say had suddenly spiraled out of control.

She made a great point, he does go off on his own to fight others without warning. He’s a hypocrite for saying that.

That uncomfortable feeling of Lucy doing the same as him, acting the same as him whenever he runs off into danger, never goes away though. Despite fully understanding that he was being a hypocrite. Now he was being a mega-hypocrite, for knowing that he feels the same way despite knowing that he’s a hypocrit--

Argh .

Natsu’s burrows furrow at the complicated thoughts. This is why he didn’t like thinking too hard, it made everything make sense and not make sense at the same time.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He takes a deep breath and tries to start over.

“The point of what I’m trying to say is that when I saw Team Shadow Gear’s limp body hanging from the Magnolia Tree, all I could imagine after the shock was what if the enemy still had been there. What if I hadn’t full sprinted after you, without a second thought. What if I had found you bruised and bloodied, before I could get there? Fuck, I don’t think--” Natsu began to grit his teeth as a wave of irrational disgust and fury came over him at the thought of Lucy being beaten so horribly. It had pained him to see Team Shadow Gear like that. It would’ve destroyed him had it been Lucy, that is what he knows.

Suddenly, in the midst of the dark thoughts, hands reach to cup his cheeks, to get him out of his head and the shadows that lurk underneath. A flash of understanding is on Lucy’s face, and in the back of his mind he can only thank the gods, because he was able to pull it off. She seemed to start to become on the same wavelength as him.

And she did, to a certain extent.

“It was reckless, knowing everything we know now.” Lucy holds Natsu’s face gently between her hands as she whispers. Their proximity, their closeness. How did they get there? She didn’t know nor did she care. It just felt right. “You make a good point, I’m sorry to have worried you so badly.”

“It’s okay,” Natsu breathes out, closing his eyes as his breath danced across her fingertips. “I’m sorry for being a hypocrite earlier, but I…think I still feel that way regardless. Do you trust me, Lucy?”

“Yes.”

“Then always take me with you.” His eyes open for the seriousness of his words. He meant it in the past, when she had ran off. He meant it in the present, as they await anxiously for the next words of war from their guildmaster or for Phantom Lord to reach them first. He meant it for the future, for when danger comes their way inevitably. “Or give me a warning, a heads up. You scared me, Lucy.”

“I will,” Lucy whispers out. That’s right, she has a team now. Just because she was the leader of Team Haluna, doesn’t give her the right to go off on her own without explanation. She’s been independent all of her life, but old habits are hard to die she supposed. “But you need to do the same. You have a knack for rushing in to save the day all by yourself...but I suppose I got it in me too. In general, better communication is probably what we should probably work on now as a team, I think.”

“Communication,” Natsu agrees as he pulls Lucy into his arms, holding her tightly. She melts into his embrace as they hold each other for a moment, feeling vulnerable and raw at the turn of events today. It started off with the fear of their friends and themselves in danger and it morphs into underlying issues, highlighting the fears underneath the surface. Trauma tends to have a funny way of bringing things to light, whether deliberate or not.

“You should’ve been the leader of Team Haluna, not me, Natsu,” Lucy whispered into his vest. Natsu chuckles at her words, shaking his head before he placed his chin on top of hers.

“No way, I don’t have the brains for it. Sure, I’m a good hugger when it comes to it, and I can fire someone up when it calls for it, but it takes more than that to be a leader, Luce!”

‘I’m a bit too unpredictable. What good is a leader that only sets the example of destruction and chaos?’

“Besides, we work well when we fight together and when things get serious, it doesn’t take much in order to create an effective plan. We’re a great team, Lucy, please don’t doubt our capabilities.”

“I’m sorry--I’ve never been on a team before. It’s only been Team Lucy, just me.” Lucy confesses and Natsu squeezes her tighter. He knew that, and yet he made her leader anyways. Maybe that was on him, maybe he really had overwhelmed her despite her saying otherwise back then. Maybe she didn’t know either. He was just so excited.

“It’s okay, there’s nothing to apologize for. We just have to learn things about each other, yeah? It’s the little things that matter.”

The little things that truly do matter, like how Lucy knew that Team Shadow Gear was going to be at Magnolia Tree, face full of panic as if she knew what kind of cruelty she was going to see. Not even Natsu knew, and he was the one with advance sense capabilities.

Did she know what was going to happen, Natsu briefly thought as he held her. Or was she, like, Rushii’d? Whatever that word meant.

One day, he’ll ask her. Something tells him that now was not the time, though, which was fine with him because he was this close to getting a headache from all of the emotions he had forced himself through in order to reach that understanding between the two of them.

“That’s the point! There will be days where you’re going to hate me, you’ll get irritated, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry. What I am trying to… convey is that I will still be there. As your best friend. As a forever friend. Is it crazy to say that? Uh, actually forget that last part---”

It wasn’t crazy then, and it wasn’t crazy now, as Lucy reflects upon the memory. She was truly beginning to understand what he meant back then.

Today was just establishing a new branch of trust in their bond, which will strengthen Team Haluna in the long run. It’s a bit naive to think that just because you get along extremely well, that there won’t be any misunderstands or quarrels that come up. At least Natsu knew that with Lucy, somehow some way, it’ll always come from a place in the heart.

Plus-- “I must have placed some burdens on you, huh? Fresh out of that prison you call home, and got swept up in the freedom, eh? My bad!” Natsu said teasingly, testing the waters to see if their previous moment had left on a good note. It seemed to have been the right choice as Lucy snorts and slaps him on the arm at the sound of her manor being called a prison. Wasn’t too far from the truth in some respects, she mentally chuckled.

“I guess in retrospect, it probably was a lot for me to handle. We had so many missions back-to-back, spirits I’m so tired.”

“In retro--what?”

“...nevermind. I’m tired, let’s get a snack and think about heading to bed. Are you staying here today or going back on home?”

They detangled and the deadpanned look that Natsu had gave her made her realize that it had been a really stupid question, they had to stick together by Makarov’s orders! Secretly, she thinks that Natsu would’ve stayed regardless of the orders or not, and the flush that brightens on her cheeks makes her scowl out of flusteredness and embarrassment as she yanks her bedroom door open and stomps out.

Only to let out a surprised shout, at the sight of a whistling Gray and an awkward smiling Erza sitting on her couch. Oh Spirits, had they heard everything that Lucy and Natsu talked about?! Oh hell, that’s so embarrassing, she doesn’t look them in the eye as she robotically makes her way to her fridge.

Natsu follows out soon after, looking at the others with a nod as he scratched his stomach calmly. “Ice Prick, Erza.”

“Why are you so surprised, Lucy? You gave me a key back when you said I could crash here every once in a while, remember?”

“That doesn’t mean I expected you to be here today!” Lucy huffs out childishly, and the entire room chuckles as she began to pass out little snacks that she had stored. She doesn’t think that she could eat dinner tonight, not with her nerves.

“So, you all are crashing here?”

A chorus of “Yes” answers her, and she lets out an exasperated sigh as she mentally calculated how many blankets and pillows she had stored around the apartment. For now, she poured herself some juice and listened in as Erza talked about what she knew of Phantom Lord and how she could see things progressing. Erza is actually really strategic and smart when it counts, no doubt proving the S-Class moniker that she holds.

Lucy quietly hopes to be a strong leader like Erza seems to naturally be, as she sat next to the woman.

“It was a good move by Makarov to group everyone together, Phantom Lord probably know where some of us live if they had good espionage members, those godforsaken assholes” Erza cursed venomously. The other two boys agreed as Lucy sweatdropped at the harsh tone but understood their anger. She was upset too.

“You seem to know a lot about Phantom Lord, Erza.” Lucy noted while the requip mage nodded as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

“We have a long-term rivalry with them, or we did before the attack. They will be formidable opponents, rumor has it, though I haven’t interacted with many Phantom Lord members myself. Their Master, along with ours, belong to one of the Ten Wizard Saints which are a group of people widely regarding as some of the strongest known wizards in all of Ishgar.”

“I know a little bit of ‘em too,” Gray grunted as he took over. “They got a group called the ‘Element 4’ on their team, probably all consisting around the four basic elements based off of their name alone. Fire, water, air, and earth. They also---” Gray glances at Natsu while he continues, “--got themselves a dragon slayer as well. Black Steel Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer.”

“Didn’t think you’d be a gossiper, Ice Face.” Natsu looked at him in small surprise, while the latter flushed and scratched the back of his head.

“Look, before the whole Deliora stuff, I used to get really paranoid, alright? When I couldn’t sleep, I’d go on some walks, or head to some open restaurants and I’d hear some things.”

“What other things have you heard, Gray?” Erza asked, curiously. Gray just waved them all of dismissively.

“Not important right now. That’s all I know about Phantom Lord, at least.”

Team Haluna sat in silence for a moment, before Erza asks Natsu the question that’s been burning on everyone’s minds the moment Gajeel Redfox was mentioned.

“What do you plan to do about Gajeel? Do you know him?”

“Nah,” Natsu said thoughtfully before frowning, “As for what I plan to do, well I plan to kick his ass if he gets in my way. Whether we’re both dragon slayers don’t mean shit right now.”

He’s lying, Lucy thinks briefly, but she doesn’t speak up. It does make sense for him to be curious of someone with the same magic as him, especially knowing about who had trained him. Was Gajeel trained by a dragon as well? If so, does he know where his dragon was? Did that dragon know Igneel?

If Lucy had those thoughts racing through her, she could only imagine what was going through Natsu’s at the revelation.

Maybe after all of this was over, she’ll get Natsu to indulge in his curiosity if he doesn’t do so himself but for now, he was right.

All Phantom Lord members were now the enemy, and there was no time for personal matters to get in the way of retribution that Fairytail will hand them.

Of this, Lucy has no doubt.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen: I’ll Seek You Out (and Flay You Alive)

Phantom Lord Arc II

She’s not sure how to feel about being put on the backlines at the basement, Fairytail’s temporary base as the rest of the guild heads over to the Phantom Lord base for the payback.

It’s still an important job, she had to protect the injured; including her dear friend Levy-chan. Still, Lucy frowns to herself a little bit as she crosses her arms while sitting across from Levy’s sleeping form, quietly talking to Rushii in her mind about what to expected and what to do.

The soft lulls of Team Shadow Gear’s breath helps the anxiety that’s been pooling inside of her, she barely was able to get some sleep last night. It still hurts to look at their bodies for too long. It’s a small cycle of irritation that builds inside of Lucy as she frowns heavier. What was worse right now: looking at Team Shadow Gear’s current state or the fact she felt as if she was left behind when she wanted to be there in the fight too.

“There was some logic for leaving you behind, Lucy” Rushii tried to diffuse. She remembered when it was her time, that she had been rather frightened about the turn of events but was determined as the rest of them to protect and revenge her nakama. She had even left them in order to wander around, which was a bit selfish leaving the injured team behind now that she thought about it.

But as always, going through things a second time gave her the opportunity for a second look, but she still understood her imouto’s feelings, nonetheless.

“You’ve been making a small word of yourself as being quite the capable celestial mage, based off the mission reports and witnesses. Even being a rarer magic type, it still shocking to hear one of us being able summon multiple golden spirits at once, let alone own Zodiac keys. Add on to the other secrets that you’re hiding, with a magical aura sensing that has been relatively trained and the ability to do Forced Gate Closure, you’re on your way to being quite the formidable opponent.”

“I guess also having a Nee-san from the future is a secret bonus, right?” Lucy chuckled while Rushii smiled but shrugged. She honestly feels a bit as if she should be able to do more, to guide Lucy more about the events that are coming, but the Eclipse Gate is not something to be reckoned with.

Rushii lays back on her hammock, her black cloak covering her body as she lets out a long, harrowing sigh that catches Lucy’s attention. Throwing an arm over her eyes, Rushii closing her eyes as she thinks about how to best phrase what happens during this arc, despite the differences in this world.

From what she’s gathered so far, despite some character differences and out of order sequences, it seems as if the outcome still comes out the same. So if she’s willing to be a little more daring, maybe she’ll play a more active role as long as the fate of the battles stays the same right? It’s a working theory, one she’s determined to seriously give thought.

For now, the only conclusion that she knows with a good amount of certainty, is that the reasonings for Phantom Lord’s attack does still revolve around her and the deal that Jose Porla had made with her father. Of course, Rushii no longer thinks that the purpose of the gruesome attacks Phantom Lord had issued was solely because of her. She has a sharper mind now, she’s more analytical as she has infinite time to think.

Jose Porla was just a fucked-up man, and her father’s greed at just so happened to coincide with his ideals. If Lucy had not been the front for the war between the two guilds, it would’ve been something else to trigger it. Jose wanted violence, and Lucy just so happened to be a good enough catalyst to trigger the chaos.

Rushii clenched a fist as the two sat in silence for a moment, before Lucy speaks up.

And really, Rushii should’ve expected this coming. She’s only a bit surprised that she hadn’t said anything sooner about it.

“What is it that you’re not telling me, Nee-san?” Lucy asked despite her fears. Rushii has been a bit different ever since she came back from the barrier. She seems to be a bit colder, and bit more resigned. Like there was something on the tip of her tongue that she wanted to say, but something was holding her back.

Lucy just didn’t know if that was figuratively or literally.

Rushii stays silent, before telling Lucy softly, “This entire ordeal…it will test you especially, Lucy.”

“Test me..?”

“It gets personal,” Rushii ominously warned and Lucy’s heart dropped. She knows she should ask her for more information, to know exactly who was next in Lucy’s new populated life that’ll be next on the chopping block.

But she doesn’t, not yet.

She’s scared to find out, and to remain ignorant still meant that at least she could keep some happy thoughts before knowing the full-extent of the truth.

“It’s not your fault,” Rushii murmurs quietly, but too low for Lucy to hear. The memories of the shock, of the hurt that rushed through her at the revelation of her father’s deeds. She had been a reason why Levy, Droy, and Jet had been tortured so badly, although it didn’t compare to this world’s portray. It had been a stamp in her time, but the burn on Levy’s stomach, spirits it was unbelievable.

Is it because of her and Rogue’s presence? It was too easy for them to just go back and steam-roll through the past events, right? Just had to make everything more bleak, more torturous for her loved ones?

She bit back a sudden dark chuckle, because whoever created that fucking gate was a true scary bastard.

And so was fate.

“When does it go back to the fun adventures from the beginning?”

Rushii turns to look at Lucy with a firmness in her eyes that honestly answers the question alone, “It doesn’t. We just get better at spending time in the few moments of peace we get in between.”

“Isn’t it tiring? Feeling like you’re saving your world all of the time?”

“It does,” Rushii said after a moment, thoughtfully. God, how many times had tears ran down her face at the frontlines of the violence? How many times has she had to pick moral up in order to keep fighting, in order to encourage her nakama to go on till the last breath? How many times had they done all of those things for her? They have fallen many times and they’ve gotten back up, believing in themselves and their own abilities.

And…she was lucky, Rushii realizes.

Somehow they had always managed to get through the thick of things okay in the nick of time, back to smiles and happiness once more. Like sweet and hopeful ignorance, they wished for the whole world to grow and learn to choose good, especially their enemies that they defeated with their power but also another power.

Their abundant kindness.

It’s not like that here in this universe.

It wasn’t just as simple as forgiving your enemies and cheered to hoping that they do better after being defeated once. She’s learned that from her Gray, who had originally forgiven Lyon and guided him to find a guild with hope within him. This Gray, she had watched from afar, had struggled to forgive Lyon for his traitorous actions to their shared past and yet still wished the best for him. She could tell on his face that he didn’t know what was to come from his estranged brother, but he’d either help him when it counts or stop him once more if it came to it.

The pain, it hurt them.

The scars, they were deep, and they didn’t heal as quickly.

There is a realism to this world, and Rushii was going to have to adapt as they get closer and closer. “God, I was a real crier too, always sobbing on the battlefield. My Fairytail were yellers, battle criers, just like yours seemed to be. But it was a bit different for us, because we had a never-ending hope within our hearts that once people see the truth, that they’d change their ways.”

“Did they..?” Lucy said a bit hopefully.

“The truth of the matter is that I don’t know about all of them. But for those that I do remember, they did come around eventually.” Lyon, Gajeel, Laxus, Jellal, Ultear--

That made Lucy smile. So, there was a hope for a change, for things to be a bit calmer. She did notice that Rushii made sure to point out that it was different for her timeline though. “Do you think it’ll be the same for my universe as well?”

“That is a hard question to answer. Things are more intense than they were in my life,” Rushii confessed quietly. “But I have faith in you and your Team Haluna. Things might be harsher and crueler, but that just means that you are more hopeful and vigilant to make things right. Powerful, as well as there’s always a balance.”

That’s right! She hasn’t been learning and practicing with her Nee-san for all of these years for nothing, there isn’t anything to be overly wary of. Self-confidence in your abilities is half the battle alone, and she knows that she’s got faith in herself and her spirits to do good. And if right now, that meant that she was on guard duty to protect Team Shadow Gear as they rested, then that’s what she’ll do.

There is no shame in being put on defense.

Rushii smiled at the determined look on her imouto’s face. Good, she needed that resilience back. It wasn’t as exciting as attacking the base with the rest of her team, but Makarov had made a good decision with leaving her behind. Above all else, Lucy was a whole unit by herself with the versatility of her spirits and the fact that she was capable of summoning more than one at once for a decent amount of time.

It made the likelihood of being attacked by more than one person, which was high, easier to deal with for Lucy was never truly alone.

Speaking of spirits however, Rushii hardened her eyes as she got up, remembering what had happened at the Magnolia Tree. Lucy had attempted to call Taurus, and to her astonishment, the spirit hadn’t stepped out of the gate. What the fuck was that? That has never happened to Rushii before, and despite the spirit being her family, she was upset.

What if Lucy had seriously needed his help with combat?

That was something that couldn’t happen in the future, and whatever is wrong with Taurus, they needed to settle this right now, while they still had time left before things become hectic.

Lucy blinks in surprise as Rushii stands before Lucy with her arms crossed with a serious expression on her face. “Rushii?”

“Summon Taurus, immediately. I’ll be taking over from there for a moment.”

Lucy swallowed at the reminder of Taurus’s failure to show for help and felt a bit conflicted. She didn’t want to treat them as if they were always supposed to come to her beck and call when she summons them with their key, even though they technically are supposed to, but it was a respect type of thing! No one wants a reminder that they were bounded to their masters and had to obey their every word at the end of the day, it was not the relationship that Lucy had ever wanted from her spirits.

They…were friends.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I get it. They were my spirits too, my family.” Rushii sighs, but she doesn’t lose her strict air. “But at the end of the day, he didn’t come, and what if you truly needed him the most in order to fight a powerful opponent? It wasn’t the case this time, but it is now a possibility based off of his previous actions of disappearance, and that can’t happen.”

She has truly changed as a person.

Was this the protectiveness of being an older sister? This determination that no one is safe from the threatening words that come from a place of fear and love for Lucy, as she should never be placed in that situation again. These were not her spirits, these were Lucy’s which helps a bit in isolating her emotions as she prepares to speak with Taurus.

It still felt a bit off to do so though, because she’s never…scolded her spirits seriously before.

But she also hasn’t travelled back in time either.

There’s a first for everything, Rushii wills herself to focus as Taurus steps out of his gate once Lucy quietly summons him in the real world, shrinking back at the narrowed look in his master’s eyes. Rushii took over the main body as Lucy looked away, suddenly feeling like a small child hiding behind her older sister as she didn’t want to see what happened next.

She understands where Rushii is coming from, but spirits, she didn’t want to see her spirits’ feelings hurt.

It felt as if it physically hurt her, and she continues to look away as she lets Rushii take over.

“Do you understand the severity of what could have happened due to your incompliance to be summoned out of your gate?” Rushii stated coldly at Taurus whose muscles tensed as he looked down from the other spirit inside of Young Lucy’s mind.

They don’t interact with the Rushii character often, but they all know of her. Shame fills his body as he sags after another moment, while Rushii stood there unwavering as she awaited an answer.

“Well?”

“I was meeting with the Celestial Spirit King with Aquarius,” Taurus said back as he recalled being warned intensely of what could happen if a celestial spirit harms their master. It wasn’t on purpose, they were being controlled by that puppeteer woman who had the ability to control them. And yet the shame never went away at the thought of crossing blades with his master, someone who has done nothing but care for them in such a kind way. They were slaves to the contracts that they agree to make with their celestial summoners, that was the truth of their lives.

Lucy never made them feel that way though, and he had almost killed her thanks to that pink-haired doll-mage.

It was disgraceful.

“I don’t give a fuck about the King, it doesn’t fucking mean anything if Lucy dies.” Rushii feels rather emotional about that line, because it was true. If Lucy dies, that meant she dies, and that meant that nothing will change. Everyone would be doomed to die by the Eclipse Gate once more, and-- fuck this. “You come whenever Lucy calls. That is what celestial spirits do. Is Lucy the type to call you for stupid reasons?”

“No.”

“Then don’t ever ignore one of her summons again,” Rushii states calmly but deadly. Taurus shivers a bit at her tone, and he doesn’t dare move to look at her once. Truthfully, he felt even worse after disregarding the call from Lucy.

He hadn’t lied when he said that he was on his knees to the celestial king about what potentially could have happened, but it was just so much. Remorse, for almost hurting her badly. He couldn’t do anything as he screamed in his mind to stop moving, to not take another step forwards, and his body would not listen.

Holding back a small shudder at the thought, a hand is placed upon his arm, and he flinches a little bit before looking up to see a sad, doe-eyed Lucy that was looking at him with pure concern on his face. Spirits, he could’ve hurt a face like that.

He could’ve killed someone who had almost met their fate by his unwilling hands, and yet looks as if she did him wrong and was immensely sorry for it.

He was truly lucky to have a master like Lucy Heartfilia, and even if the other soul inside of her’s words were harsh, they did rang true.

“I’m sorry if she was a bit mean, Taurus,” Lucy whispers but Taurus shook his head quickly as he collected himself before steeling his resolve. He took a step back from Lucy and knelt to the ground as he placed a fist into the floor,

“Lucy Heartfilia, I apologize with all of my dignity as one of the Twelve Golden Zodiac Keys for not answering your call when it came. There are no excuses, and it will never happen again, you have my absolute word.”

Lucy squats down immediately, and a part of her wants to tell the spirit to get up immediately, but this was a delicate situation. Taurus’s pride as a spirit was quaking at the turn of events that’s happened in the last week or so, it wouldn’t be kind of Lucy to disregard his apology just because she felt a bit uncomfortable at the formality. “I forgive you, and I forgive Aquarius as well if she feels some type of way about it too. Please don’t let that moment overtake your thoughts too much, it was beyond your control.”

“It shouldn’t have been,” Taurus breathed out heavily, feeling guilty.

“But it happened nonetheless,” Lucy addressed back with a tone full of conviction. “We can’t change that ordeal, but we can reach an understanding moving forwards at least. It’ll take more than the opponent’s magic possessing you in order for you all to lose my love and trust. You are one of my spirits, Taurus, my special family. Despite what you may think currently, none of you have failed me yet.”

Lucy stood back up and motioned for Taurus to do so as well, which the tall, beefy spirit did without hesitation. She looks him directly in the eyes when she says this next part, “You just told me that it won’t happen ever again, and I believe you. Just as I believe that you all care for me as much as I care for you. Don’t beat yourself up, Taurus, and know that I still trust you with my life.”

Spirits feel emotions just as humans do, but maybe not to the severity as humans.

Taurus can’t remember the last time a master has made him feel this passionate about using his magic to make their wishes come true, to almost tearing up at the awe and gratitude that fills his heart at the compassion. It won’t ever happen again, because he truly feels as if he’d sacrifice himself first before even remotely thinking about harm to Lucy.

“You’re going to be one of the greatest Celestial Mages of all-time, we’re going to make it happen, my wonderful master.” Taurus praised gently.

‘You already feel like it.’

Lucy just blushed as she giggled, ever so humble, “That just means you guys are just as ’great’ as me. We’re a team, through thick and thin.”

And Taurus just smiles warmly at her, because she was correct. They were a team indeed.

Rushii isn’t sure what Taurus will say about her once he inevitably returns to the spirit world. Was she too harsh with her words? Lucy never said it outright, but she felt as though she was, and while that hurt Rushii to feel, it wasn’t enough to stop her from following through.

It may be seen as cruel but if that is what Rushii has to be seen as in order to keep Lucy safe, then that’s what she’ll be. She just hopes Lucy doesn’t avoid her, when things die down—

…

Hm, something’s coming.

“Lucy.”

“Yeah, I feel it.” Lucy said, narrowing her eyes towards the direction of the entrance to the basement. She stepped out of Levy’s room as walked towards the open area with Taurus right behind her as she awaited for them to arrive.

Two unidentified magical signatures were making their way towards Fairytail at a rapid pace. One felt diabolical, a cruel signature that had wickedness attached to its core. The other felt like they were drowning, choking on water as they barely tread above sea level. It was a stronger feeling that Lucy had expected, and she quickly stops her sensoring as she lets out a deep breath. Why did it feel as if she had been sucked into that?

She never has time to think more on it, as her opponents have made their way into the room to begin the intense stand-off. Taurus glowered at the blue-haired, raining mage and the oily, sneaky posh-man that looked at Lucy with a disgusting gleam in his eyes. Lucy noticed it as well and cringed internally, but she didn’t move from in front of the doors to the infirmary with a hand on her cocked hip.

“Phantom Lord, I presume?” Lucy asked firstly.

Rain girl didn’t say anything, but the other guy just smiled eerily at her words as she readied herself for the confrontation.

--------

--N-D--

--------

“This is too easy,” Ice Freak grumbled as he slammed his foot onto the ground, freezing the Phantom Lord grunt in place as he continued to walk through the base. Natsu had just finished knocking out one on the other side, but he let out a small grumble at the ease of it. Where were the strong opponents? Where was the dragon slayer that they had?

His fists ached for blood.

“I agree,” Erza stated with a frown as she calmly walked over a fallen body. The plan was to retaliate as fast as possible since Phantom Lord had attacked their base first. Walking through the rather vacant base however as lead Erza to suspect that they knew that they were coming and planned accordingly. It made her frustrated at being duped, but she pushes that anger to the side as she storms through the base.

“Any word on the sightings of the Element 4?” Erza spoke with Cana who shook her head as she split off to another direction. With a grumble, Erza walked ahead with Gray as Natsu stopped walking for a second, noticing a different scent in the air. It smelt like rust, but it also smelt familiar, like he was smelling someone of his own kind.

“He’s here.” Natsu told them, narrowing his eyes as he tried to locate the other dragon slayer. Erza nodded swiftly while Gray raised an eyebrow, “Any others?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Damn,” Gray groaned in slight boredom before walking off with Erza. “Guess I’ll let you take care of him then.”

Natsu blinks a bit in surprise from his words. He expected him to try and fight who gets to fight the dragon slayer, but Gray gave up rather quickly. Gray rolled his eyes at the look on Natsu’s face and grunted, “You let me fight Lyon. I’m respecting your fight against another one of your kind or whatever, but don’t get used to it.”

“Wouldn’t imagine that,” Natsu grinned before running off in another direction that smelt closest to the source. After Erza told him good luck, he dashed off with a salute and his scarf flowing as he ran. It left Erza and Gray alone as the former looked at him, knowing that Gray was capable of some serious strategizing when he gets serious.

“What do you think about this, Gray?”

Gray sucked his teeth as he crossed his arms, “It can be a number of things which is why it’s pissing me off. This is either a set-up for a sneak attack, or we were never the target to begin with.”

“You think we were baited here? For what?” Erza asked curiously.

“Who knows, this whole thing is just a shit show right now.” Gray scuffed the ground in annoyance before hearing a loud crash and the tell-tale sounds of fighting. He heard Natsu’s Dragon Roar and let out a sigh.

Damn, when will it be his turn to fight?

“Who did we leave back at the guild again?” Erza asked and Gray answered that it was just Lucy protecting Team Shadow Gear. He was a little bit worried for his team leader, but he’s also seen the celestial spirit mage in action. She was strong willed and her spirits were formidable, surely she’d be okay right?

Natsu had a harder time separating from the blonde but Makarov didn’t give him much of a say on the matter in the end. They had broken the rules earlier after all, going on that S-Class mission to stop Deliora. It wasn’t wise to piss the old man off even more.

“It would be real fucking shitty if they attacked the base just to cripple Team Shadow Gear even further,” Gray said darkly while Erza looked at him in shock before quickly bashing him for even suggesting that idea. It didn’t matter to Gray, his paranoia was already racing from the state that he remembered finding the team in. The rest of the guild will never know the true extent of the sight, watching their bodies hanging from the tree covered in wounds.

It made him sick to his stomach, and he couldn’t put anything past them in their wickedness after that.

Fuck, he was going to go back for Lucy.

His insomnia might be getting a little bit easier to manage thanks to settling his past, but the everlasting years of being paranoid at the event of something happening to his family had already been trained into his skin. He had to be sure, just in case.

“Ugh, I’m going to go back. There’s nothing left here anyways,” Gray scoffed. Erza was ready to argue but she also realized that the people placed at the base were relatively easy to deal with, and they should probably begin stretching their forces for the hunt for Phantom Lord. She nodded at once and Gray turned around to walk away, but not before throwing a look over his shoulder and throwing a lax hand in the air as a lazy wave of goodbye.

Erza just rolled her eyes as she let out a small smile, “Goodbye, Gray. Stay safe.”

She refocused herself once more as she locked eyes with a still conscious grunt on the floor, hardening her stare as she began to walk over as they shivered in fear as they tried to crawl away. A sword implanted to the side of their head caused them to freeze as Erza squatted down, eyes narrowing.

“What can you tell me about your guild?

---------

--N-D--

---------

He had been fighting Elfman, when he had finally found Black Steel Gajeel.

Upon first glance, it could’ve been seen that they had a relatively even fight against each other as they exchanged blows. A closer look on Gajeel’s face was enough to know the truth of the matter, he was merely entertaining Elfman as he waited for someone strong to come and cure his boredom. Natsu cocked his head as his eyes narrowed at the thought.

So he used Elfman as bait to draw him out?

Gajeel paused for a moment at the new scent that entered the room as his Iron Dragon’s Club was caught by the take-over mage. He first looked at his current opponent with mild surprise on his face, he hadn’t expected him to be able to grab his hit that easily and stop him. He quickly looked over towards the pink-haired man that was staring at him with a fire behind his eyes, and smirked.

He smelt like a dragon.

“Salamander in the flesh,” Gajeel said nonchalantly as he smacked Elfman away from him, focusing his attention at the fire dragon slayer. Natsu frowned at the treatment of his friend, but he couldn’t hide the intrigue that ran through his veins at the prospect of a worthy challenger. Gajeel seemed like he was cracked with power, and Natsu felt the buildup of the loving warmth that is violence.

His natural element.

“Black Steel Gajeel,” Natsu said back as they faced each other. He shoots a glance at Elfman, “I can take care of this guy, go run off with the others!”

“You sure? It’s not manly to leave a comra--” Elfman spoke but paused at the sharp look that Natsu was giving Gajeel while he had spoken to him. The predatory gaze that the dragon slayers were giving each other as they eyed one another. Mana crackled in the room as the hostile tension rose with every second, and Elfman decided that maybe it was best for him to get the fuck out of there.

It seems like he’d only be a nuisance if he tried to help Natsu.

With that, the take-over mage nods and leaves where Natsu came from, allowing the fire dragon slayer to focus fully on his opponent in hand. Gajeel just crossed his arms for a moment as he tried to egg Natsu on,

“Surely, I hope you’re stronger than the rest of Fairytail that I’ve already met.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Natsu frowned, before tensing at the confession that was laced with Gajeel’s words. Was he the one responsible for Team Shadow Gear’s state? His fangs bared in the air as he growled at Gajeel who just hissed back with a dark gleam in his eyes.

“Did you like the present? It was a welcome gift to you all, after all.”

“Fight me!” Natsu roared as he launched himself at Gajeel, casting a Fire Dragon Slayer’s Iron Fist at the man. Gajeel twisted his body as he dodged, eyes widening a bit at the explosive power that Natsu had packed at the end of the contact. A massive column of flames had erupted from his fist beside him as Gajeel let out a rather bright chuckle at sight of it.

Yes, yes!

Finally, someone strong! The rumors of Salamander were true.

Spinning, Natsu twisted his body rapidly as Gajeel let out massive beams of steel from different parts of his body that came to puncture through him. He then blasted himself forwards by propelling his fast, hair flapping in the wind as he prepared to release a massive Fire Dragon’s Roar in the same breath. “Fire Dragon Slayer’s Roar !”

But suddenly, he was sent flying across the room due to the shockwave effects of Gajeel’s deflective method, which he has now seen was the effect of hardening his body with steel scales that seemed to have improved his defense greatly. He hadn’t been unaffected by the shockwave, but he removed himself from the wall with more grace than Natsu had, the latter shrugged off rocks and dry wall debris.

It doesn’t take long for him to attack Gajeel once more however, feeling anger course through his veins as he roars at his opponent. Gajeel answers his call with a roar of his own, and it’s a bit interesting because it’s as if they have the ability to communicate through their draconic instincts as well.

These roars were roars of war, very similar to their dragon parents when they used to take to the skies. It was something that only dragon slayers could relate to on a spiritual level.

It felt…good to let that side of him out, both dragon slayers think as they clashed once more.

Gajeel bent backwards at a fiery claw that was aimed his way before he flipped his body and spun half-way, with a steel leg that catches Natsu by surprise. Natsu lets out a groan at the impact as he puts him off balance, before Gajeel elbows him sharply in the middle of his abdomen, crashing him into the ground.

On top of him, Gajeel grins as his arm turns into a chainsaw, hissing, “Iron Dragon Slayer’s Sword.”

The rapidly moving chainsaw is launched at Natsu who is pinned the ground, but it was stopped just barely from his face as an extra pair of flamed arms catches it for him. It’s a maddening noise of the contact, both of the dragon slayer’s ears are ringing from such close proximity, but they are relentless. Natsu uses his normal arms as he continues punches Gajeel in efforts to get from underneath as Gajeel grunts from the impacts but manages to hold on.

Quick, calculative eyes show that Gajeel hasn’t hardened his entire body with scales yet, and Natsu manages to bring a sharp pain to Gajeel as the iron dragon slayer lets out a shout before jumping back from Natsu with a glare on his face. Natsu immediately removed himself from the ground as he huffed, watching as Gajeel winces at the burn on the side of his body.

Natsu isn’t unscathed either however, there was a large bruise on his leg from Gajeel’s attack from earlier, and his stomach hurt every time he took a breath.

“Feels good, doesn’t it Salamander? Fighting someone equal in level?”

Natsu grits his teeth but doesn’t say anything in the matter. It makes him feel like a traitor, the thought of having fun the enemy in the middle of battle. How could he even think to be enjoying himself in the middle of fighting another person like him, when he did such heinous actions to his nakama?

And yet, when they both instinctively decide to use their version of their respective dragon’s roars against each other to kickstart round three,

Natsu grins.

He grins and he secretly hates himself even more a bit for loving the chaos and destruction of it.

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--L-H--

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“If I had known that Jude Heartfilia’s daughter was this… appetizing, I would have grabbed her a long time ago instead of that worthless team.” Sol murmured with a disgusting look on his face, that even made Juvia Lockser give him a miniscule look before turning back towards the blonde. Juvia stared at their target with a blankness, letting out a small sigh as she readied herself to complete her orders from Jose.

It was never personal, she never took pleasure for accomplishing such actions like Sol or Gajeel, but it wasn’t as if she was in pain whenever they hurt others. It was nothing, everything felt numb to her. All she knows is the feeling of a never-ending sense of drowning, which is incredibly amusing to some considering she could manipulate her body into the form of water itself.

And maybe that spoke volumes of her, having the ability to morph into any shape her guildmaster asks of her because of her condition.

It wasn’t personal, Juvia thinks mindlessly as she holds up a hand towards Lucy Heartfilia, one of the true targets of Phantom Lord.

“Water Slicer.” She calmly states as blades of water that resemble scythes launches themselves at the blonde. Taurus immediately placed himself in front of the celestial spirit mage as she lets out a surprise shout. He grunts as his skin develops cuts, before picking up one of the chairs beside him and throwing it at the two.

Juvia blinks as she quickly transforms into a puddle, while Sol lets out a yelp as he quickly jumps off to the side.

Lucy’s mind raced as she looked at Taurus, “Are you alright?”

“She has fantastic control over water, that woman is dangerous.” Taurus replied immediately as Lucy nodded before ducking at another onslaught of water blades. She heard a crack and whipped her back at the aftermath of the attack, seeing the dark inflictions that was in the walls. Taurus hadn’t been lying, if all else, those water blades were real trouble.

But that doesn’t deter Lucy, whipping out her next key as she tried to do something rather risky in the middle of the fight. Rushii looks curiously at what she plans to do with that specific key, as Lucy suddenly began running towards the two enemy mages.

“Cover me, Taurus!”

Taurus summons his axe and leaps into the air towards Sol, slamming it down in front of him as the latter screams. He uses his earth magic to push himself away from the celestial spirit in the nick of time, but Taurus had done his job as a great distraction as Lucy charges towards Juvia. Juvia stares at her in a mixture of slight alarm and confusion as Lucy throws something at her extremely fast.

It shines, and Juvia is left wondering if it was a small weapon of some sorts as she turns her body into water in order to avoid the attack. But to her surprise as she looks down in the middle of transform, it wasn’t a weapon persay, but a… key ?

Because unbeknownst to Juvia, Lucy took note of the fact that she had the ability to turn herself into water. That’s why with quick thinking, she threw Aquarius’s key with a flick of her wrist as it spun in the air, laced with some of her mana. Spinning, as if turning a key inside of a locked door, which was the perfect rotation for the default summoning process.

The moment it makes contact with Juvia, Lucy prays with all her might and shouts, “Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!”

Juvia’s eyes widened as the strong emotion of shock overcomes her as her water-body state was suddenly sucked into what felt like a powerful suction and suppression. A loud laugh coming from what she felt to be “outside”, told her of a newcomer that had made their appearance, using Juvia…as a weapon?

…interesting.

It seemed they have severely underestimated Lucy Heartfilia.

Aquarius throws a smirk at Lucy at her innovative approach, before twisting her body with the momentum of her summon in order to release Juvia, who was trapped inside of her urn thanks to the spirit’s ability to manipulate water, launching her at her comrade. “Get out of the fucking way, beef stew! It’s my turn to shine.”

Sol’s blasted by Juvia, and his wet body is flung into the wall of the basement as he sputters in shock at the sight before him. A beefy cow that had a trench coat and a terrifying massive axe. A blue mermaid with a massive urn next to her, giving him a glare so devious, he shivered. And lastly, the blonde mage behind them as she stared at him defiantly.

Sol gritted his teeth, he thought this was supposed to be easy! They didn’t realize how competent the girl was, fuck. He isn’t sure if he’ll be able to keep her in good condition, despite Jose’s warnings. It was either the two Element 4 members go all-out, or they maximize time and efficiency in order to trap the mage.

“Juvia wants to know what the next plan is,” Juvia materializes next to Sol, looking rather bruised. She stared at Aquarius warily, who looked over at her with a smirk and curled a finger as if beckoning her to come over and play. Sol just scoffed that the “uselessness” of his partner and slapped his hands together.

“Sand Magic: Sable Dance!”

A sandstorm appeared in the middle of the room as everyone’s eyesight had decrease in accuracy and perception.

“We need to knock the girl out. If the spirits were summoned by her, then they will be forced to leave as their connection with their mage depends on them being conscious and being able to maintain their mana to continuously open their gates.”

Juvia nodded at once as she runs into the sandstorm, subduing Taurus’s fist with a luckily timed Water Lock spell as she dodged his wild axe swing. She let out a startled breath as she used up a lot of mana for that attack, before turning towards Aquarius who summoned a wave of water at her. It quickly became stagnant due to both opponents being able to wield water with great proficiency, although Juvia was on the losing end as she contained Taurus and fought Aquarius at the same time, but she wasn’t there to beat them anyways.

Just to buy time for Sol to get to Lucy.

Lucy’s eyes blinked warily as she stumbled through the sandstorm, hearing the tell-tale signs of battle nearby. As she staggered however, she found herself incased in rocks and she froze as her stomach dropped. Rushii quickly placed her hands down in the mental "ground" in order to try and protect Lucy’s mental state as she felt someone try to rudely enter her mind.

For underneath Lucy’s physical body, was Sol inside of the ground as he attempted to reach into her memories and use them against her. He had decided that he wanted to torment her to his liking before taking her to Jose, and he decided to do so with his special spell, the cruel Merci la Vie.

He’s on his way into accessing her mind, entering the room of the subconsciousness when a dark storm suddenly overtook his vision on the way into Lucy’s mind. It takes the form of a door, a door that Sol is so close to reaching, but to his surprise, it opens and someone comes out of it before closing.

It was turning incredibly dark fast as the person began to calmly walk over towards him, and the storm clouds began to rapidly spin around Sol as he reached out for help, for something to pull him out of this powerful mana that seemed to have been sucking out his soul, the person grabs it.

‘Yes.’ Sol internally thinks as he’s pulled slightly out of the engulfing storm.

“What?” He’s left saying as he feels as if he’s looking at an older, war-torned Lucy Heartfilia that was staring at him with cold eyes as she held his grasp. They had the same exact features as the person outside, but there was a ruthlessness that was present in this version of Lucy.

It felt as if he was looking at survivor.

Rushii didn’t remember fighting this guy during her time against Phantom Lord, but to think he had dirty tricks like this. She takes one look at the storm that had been lurking around her for years now, silently shocked that it had seemed to have taken form and almost protected her and Lucy from psychological intruders.

Interesting.

But first, Rushii looked back at Sol and fisted his ugly red suit jacket, bringing his face closer to hers. With darkened irises and a dead-flat gaze, she whispered to him,

“̷Ɠҽէ օմէ”

Rushii shoves Sol back into the dark storm that is the reminiscent of the Eclipse Gate and heads back towards the door of the main subconscious. She’s surprised to have been given the ability to do so and will spend some time reflecting at what it means.

For now, she’s done her job in protecting Lucy.

On the outside, Lucy has a pounding headache as she pants, trying to free herself from the rocks that had been placed against her. It doesn’t her hurt if she doesn’t move too much, but she has to move, because this was in the middle of battle! There’s a signature of magic that pops up behind her, and she pauses her efforts as she cranks her head towards Sol who had suddenly appeared behind her, looking rather shakened and bewildered as his heart races at the sight of Lucy.

Lucy feels disgusted at the sight, mistaking his fear for arousal, and begins to redouble her efforts. That was until Sol stomped over towards her and promptly chopped the back of her neck harshly, immediately causing her to lose conscious as she slumps forwards into her rock prison.

To his internal gratitude, Sol’s prediction was correct as the spirits immediately began to dissolve into golden light much to their horror and confusion. Juvia blinked at the abruptness, especially when Sol waved a hand to cancel the sandstorm, showcasing the destruction in the room.

Juvia tiredly took a knee to the ground as she panted from mana exertion and relief. She had been on the edge of losing to Aquarius while trying to keep Taurus contained, who had struggled and fought against her magic relentlessly.

She looked to see that Sol had an irritated and slightly fearful expression on his face as he stared at the unconscious form of Lucy, and briefly wondered if something had happened.

After a moment to settle their selves at the unexpected difficulty of the fight for Lucy Heartfilia, they recovered and promptly decided to send the girl at once to Jose. Juvia had casted a bubble of water to transport Lucy in, with a special bubble around her head so that she didn’t drown underwater.

With torn clothes, some contusions, and a small limp in Juvia’s step, they made their way back to Jose with Lucy in tow.

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--E-S--

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Standing next to Makarov as they both head towards the second floor where Jose Porla should be, gives Erza a sense of unease as she slammed open the door without a moment of hesitation. Makarov quickly flanks inside with a sense of urgency, followed by Cana and Elfman, who had caught up with them after informing them that Natsu was engaged with Gajeel right now.

And in the center of the room, there Jose Porla stood with a raised eyebrow as he leaned against his desk, as if he had been waiting for them.

Without any thinking, Erza immediately summoned a sword from her spatial armory and threw it at Jose, eyes widening in surprise as it went right through the man as he chuckled at the action. Rage courses through Erza at the mockery, but it was clear that he wasn’t currently here, so they were forced to swallow their anger and listen to the man.

Makarov placed a hand up to stop anymore unnecessary assaults to Jose’s thought projection, when he had known had been in place since the moment he made eye-contact with the Wizard Saint.

It still made his blood boil at the sight of him however, and he let it known as such in the rawness of his voice, “What is the meaning of this, Jose.”

He couldn’t help control of his body due to the weight of his anger, growing in size with every second it took for Jose to answer. Soon it was a giant staring down darkly at the other guild master, who’s looking ready for a good laugh.

As if he’s already won.

“What do you mean, Makarov? This is a rational victory, for Phantom Lord. I believe that puts us at 2-0, with Phantom Lord’s lead of course.”

Everyone bristles at the reminder of Team Shadow Gear’s crucifixion but are left puzzled. What was the second “win”? Were they baited here, in order to be attacked all at once? Erza equipped her armor just in case.