Awaken the Stars Song

Chapter 10

A/N: I do not own Fairy Tail cannons. I own the lunatics I throw at the cannons to cause mayhem and bedlam for everyone's entertainment. This is directly tied to the previous chapter, but from Natsu's point of view. Expect some overlapping dialog. I worked on the last chapter at the same time more or less because they are so completely intertwined. I hate mixing POV's so kind of had to do both chapters together. Hope everyone enjoys this kind of internal "what makes Natsu tick" spin on things.

CHAPTER 10

"Luce! Where are you? I'm here to save you, so answer me!" Natsu bellowed the moment he could see anything other than the dark nothingness that had surrounded him before. The shuddering barrier had flattened and then passed over Natsu so he found himself laying upon trimmed grass. Sitting up, Natsu looked around.
Of all the people that Natsu could discover himself tag teamed with to save Lucy, Laxus was the most unexpected person he could imagine. Natsu went from being trapped in a blank, black space, to blinking his eyes and discovering Laxus hanging onto Lucy in the middle of some kind of fancy garden. The image in front of him left Natsu feeling downright strange. Such a team effort was not something that Natsu could have foreseen. Laxus had a long history of placing conditions on anything that involved helping Lucy. With Phantom Lord, the condition was Lucy had to be his girlfriend. Other dangerous scenarios where Lucy was in trouble, with Laxus trying to add conditions along similar themes, rose to the forefront of Natsu's thoughts as he got to his feet.
Conversations floated through Natsu's mind as he frowned while watching the two blonds. Mirajane had proposed that Laxus had a crush on Lucy after each incident where Laxus pulled such a stunt. Worst of all, Mirajane was not the only one who had noticed that Laxus never demanded any conditions for aiding anyone else from the guild. When Lucy was a new member, the topic was hotly discussed by most of the guild until it became just another common feature of guild life. Now it was treated as an ongoing joke Laxus liked to play on Lucy since Laxus made no attempts to spend time with her whenever he was home.
Such odd behavior from Laxus did not sit well with Natsu. He could not explain why he felt that way. Perhaps Natsu's instincts saw things as Lucy being threatened which was the only way he could even begin to process his reactions when it happened. Then again, Natsu rarely spared much time thinking about anything outside keeping his instincts from escaping his always shaky control. Still, whenever Laxus pulled his strange pranks on Lucy, Natsu had a far harder struggle to keep his instincts from exploding.
As Lucy's best friend, Natsu felt Laxus was being an asshole on purpose. Natsu could not understand why Laxus singled Lucy out the way he had. Part of Natsu wished that Laxus would ask Lucy to spend time with him since he kept hammering Lucy with such stupid conditions whenever she needed help. To Natsu, life would be easier If Laxus would simply ask Lucy to be his friend. It made sense that Laxus also wanted to be considered Lucy's friend. Natsu even believed Lucy would be a great help for Laxus to get over his past.
Still, Natsu's instincts rejected the sight in front of him as he closed on the two. Anger flared in his gut strong enough to startle Natsu. First thing that registered in Natsu's retinas was that both of them were nude. His gut clenched because Natsu knew better than anyone else that Lucy was going to have ongoing fits every time she remembered that none of them had any clothes on. Natsu shuddered because he knew that his ears were going to be ringing, and his head aching until everything got fixed, or they found some clothes to put on.
The second thing Natsu noticed that also irritated him was the way Laxus was holding onto Lucy. Natsu had no idea why Laxus had his arms wrapped around Lucy that way, but it left him feeling unsettled with what he was seeing while heading toward them. Part of Natsu felt like he was intruding somewhere he was not wanted. Shaking off that twinge of inexplicable anger and dread, Natsu trotted over to the pair.
Natsu dropped beside them. "Luce? Are you okay?" With an unexpected surge of irritation, Natsu snarled at Laxus before he could curb the sudden instinctive anger inside himself. "What do you think you're fucking doing, groping Luce like that?"
Laxus snapped at him, "I'm not groping Blondie, Firebrand! I have to hang onto her in order to give her as much of my energy as possible to keep her alive! Why don't you stop jumping to conclusions and get the fucking corpse off her back before it kills her?!"
The angry retort sounded reasonable to Natsu. He had heard and seen enough about healing magic from Wendy to accept the Lightning Slayer's answer. Satisfied that nothing out of line was happening, Natsu nodded. Then the second part of Laxus commentary sank into his mind. To see what Laxus was talking about, Natsu leapt to his feet, and suddenly choked as he saw a mostly submerged Aquarius sticking out of Lucy's back. How the hell was he supposed manhandle Lucy's most terrifying spirit without getting the shit beat out of them all?
"I know it's disturbing, but we gotta save Blondie so you gotta pull that off her back!"
"How'd Aquarius get here? Why's she stuck to Luce like this?" Natsu muttered as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
"We don't have time for questions before we get them separated, Flame Brain. Blondie's in serious danger of dying. If we can get Blondie stable, I'll tell you what I figured out about what's happening. We have to work fast, and get Blondie stable or she's going to die. If you got caught in that pitch black nothingness like I did, then you should realize it exists because Blondie's dying."
Natsu tried to keep up with everything Laxus was saying, but he was also fighting to put the pieces together in spite of his instincts writhing and seething just beneath his skin. Considering Natsu's instincts were already raising an unholy alarm about Lucy being in danger, Natsu did want to do all he could for his best friend.
"But, everything turned into this place all of a sudden. I don't know what's going on here." Natsu protested, trying much harder to focus on Laxus words without losing control of his unruly dragon side.
"I'm giving Blondie enough energy to keep her alive. Considering how much she's drawing off of me, my power allowed her to stabilize enough to return part of her vitality and energy which is what this garden represents, Dumb Ass! What do you think those healers were talking about us doing when they used that weird feeling spell to link us to our Guild mate? To save her, we have to work together to undo the damage and give her enough energy to survive this attack that's killing her."
As Natsu listened while holding down his inherent emotion driven, draconic side, everything began to click into place. To save Lucy, Natsu had to deal with Aquarius even if the mean tempered Spirit tried to kill him. Natsu circled behind Lucy, grabbed Aquarius's arm, and gave a couple experimental tugs on the spirit to pull her out of Lucy's back. Part of Natsu expected the mermaid's eyes to open, and her full wrath to fall upon his head because he was yanking on her to wake her up.
A glance at the squatting Laxus, who was holding Lucy tightly against his chest caused another wave of irritation to rise. "You know, I could hold onto her and you could try to get Aquarius free. You're taller than me."
The annoyed expression on Laxus face was accompanied by fast narrowing eyes. "If I could, I would switch places with you to try and rip that corpse off her back. The problem is that you'd probably fry Blondie instead of give her a manageable level energy boost. Plus the rate I'm being drained is frightening."
"I'm so sorry, Laxus, Natsu. You don't have to do this for me. Just let me go." Lucy sounded exhausted as she tried to push them both away verbally.
"Forget it, Luce! You're my best friend and I won't abandon you!" Natsu snarled at Lucy for saying something so stupid.
Laxus sighed and began talking, but Natsu was not sure if it was for his benefit or Lucy's. "We got some visitors right after Gajeel used that spell to knock you out so we could buy enough time to get you healed. The strangers admitted to tampering with some kind of demon trapping seals that your damned Lion spirit helped create several thousand years ago, Blondie. The original seals that keep the damned demon trapped are destabilizing because of the tampering they did to turn certain human bloodlines into automatic repair lacrimas of a sort. The chains stuck to you right now are from the tampering that was done to the seals. Your being sucked dry of your magic and life force at a rate to keep that fucking demon locked away. The tampering that the newcomers did to make the prison stronger is putting your life at risk for some reason. The fact that Loke knows, but doesn't trust the Fairies in that party is also worrisome. But right now, I do know that if you die, some really bad ass demon that destroyed all but a small chink of a continent will be free to destroy Fiore at an insane pace if we can't save you."
Lucy whipped her head up and around to look at Laxus. "No way! Are you messing with me?"
Laxus' expression shifted to genuine anger. "How the fuck could I come up with such a ridiculous story on my own, Blondie? You're from the Orion bloodline according to those damned Fairies. They claimed to have come out of a Time Suspension spell to stop the demon they call Abyss Lord from getting free. You're the key to releasing the damned demon but nobody knew it until now. The reason for all the Dark Guild attacks on you is because of those bastards making your ancestors into the power source that feeds the prison and repairs it."
"Why would anyone do something so horrible?" Lucy whispered as the fresh scent of tears began filtering into Natsu's nose.
Laxus looked like it hurt him to answer. He pulled Lucy's head flush against his chest. "You're guess is as good as mine, Blondie. But they already verified that you're illness is because of what they did, and Loke said they were telling the truth."
As Lucy cried even harder, Laxus looked up at him over Lucy's head. Laxus had a look on his face that gave Natsu the shivers. Instincts warned Natsu to keep his mouth shut. However, a part of Natsu's dragon senses fought even harder to break free over being replaced as Lucy's comforter. Taking a deep breath, Laxus continued to hold Lucy as if trying to figure out what to do with her.
"Calm down, Luce. I'll get you out of this mess, same as always. You know I'll make sure you're safe." Natsu shifted his stance in preparation to drag Aquarius' carcass out of Lucy's back as his determination to keep his promise solidified.
Natsu knew it had always been his job to protect Lucy since he brought her to the Guild. Laxus was never going to take that position away from him because the Lightning Slayer would go right back to the Thunder Legion once this was over. Lucy would come to him to cry as always, after they got her out of danger. If Laxus was trapped because of giving Lucy life sustaining energy, then Natsu needed to fight off, and deal with, the rest of the threat so they could get things back to normal. As he soothed the Dragon half, Natsu gave a much harder tug on the Mermaid's arm with no results. It was worrisome that Aquarius was not budging. Despite his qualms, Natsu decided to use all of his strength with the next pull. It would probably hurt Lucy a lot, but Laxus was right that they could not leave Aquarius stuck in Lucy's body.
Natsu heard Lucy sniffling and looked over in time to see her twisting her upper body inside Laxus hold to look at him. The bright pink flush and wide eyed look on her face warned Lucy to brace for her ear splitting scream. What Natsu had not expected was how fast Lucy's face whipped back toward Laxus' chest.
"Natsu, you pervert! Where the hell are your clothes? It's bad enough Gray strips all the time, but I expect better from you! How dare you copy Gray?"
"I'm not copying that stupid stripper! You're just as naked as me and Laxus, Luce! Damn, you're such a weirdo at times!" Natsu yelled and yanked back hard on Aquarius' arm to vent the strange annoyance he felt over the situation.
Natsu knew Lucy would have a melt down. Nudity always ended with Lucy losing her temper and panicking. It was the one thing Natsu would never understand. Why Lucy thought it was such a big problem was beyond comprehension. Everyone had a body so her freak outs seemed too extreme to him. It was not as if Natsu thought there was anything wrong with Lucy's body. If anything, Natsu thought Lucy should be happy with her body. Although he would never mention it, Natsu had seen plenty of men watch his best friend walking around during their missions. A number of Mayors had even made a point of discussing the mission with Lucy so they could try to hide the fact they were staring at her chest. Yet as a dark aura surrounded Lucy and Aquarius, she tried to cover her breasts with her arms began screaming. Natsu found himself wincing, but was grateful that Laxus was strong enough to keep Lucy from getting up and kicking them both into the stratosphere.
"Don't look at me you perverts! Where're my clothes? You two better get dressed right now! This isn't funny!"
Laxus spoke in his most commanding voice. "Shut it, Blondie! We're inside your mind so we can't do a damned thing about not wearing any clothes in your territory. We're probably naked because that's what some part of your own brain wants to see. Furthermore, we didn't know when we agreed to shore up your life force to save you that this would happen. The Fairies cast some spell that is supposed to strengthen your life force by using our energy. So if being naked bugs you so much, figure out how to make clothes for us all to wear!"
Laxus words caught the sum of Natsu's attention and it sank into him faster than most things. For several seconds the dragon side went completely still which was very rare. It was true that he was at a loss about what to expect, but that was something Natsu was used to feeling. Winging it was Natsu's trademark since he did not have the luxury of thinking too deeply if he wanted to keep his dragon under control. Letting Lucy or even Erza do the thinking worked best for Natsu, so he was happier working in a team.
"Don't you dare blame this on me, Jerk! Let me go, Idiot! I can't believe you'd take advantage of me like this! No way am I responsible for your perverted thoughts!"
Lucy began fighting to break out of Laxus embrace and part of Natsu could not help being happy about her determined struggle. Still, Laxus said it was the only way he could keep Lucy alive by giving her energy so Natsu found himself ready to yell at her to be still.
Laxus snapped at Lucy before Natsu could open his mouth. The Lightning Slayer's muscular arms visibly tensed with handling Lucy's strength. "Shut up, be still, and listen, Blondie! If I let go of you, you're going to be drained to the point that you're life will be in danger a second time. We volunteered to give you energy so you won't die while everyone else figures out how to break these chains that are killing you! None of this is a big deal, so knock it off with the panicking prude act. You're being hysterical without any reason. Although, can't say I blame you for being freaked out looking at everything your dealing with right now."
"What are you saying, Laxus?" Lucy demanded as Natsu caught her profile, which looked very irate.
"I doubt anyone realizes that you've got what looks like a very dead spirit stuck in here with you, Blondie. So calm down and let us save you without fighting us!" Laxus growled as he stared Lucy down.
In classic Lucy style, Natsu glimpsed his best friend lifting her chin in defiance and a healthy dose of embarrassment considering how red her cheek looked. The smell of new tears hit Natsu's nose. "Don't call me Blondie when you're just as blond as me, Laxus! I have a name and I'd appreciate it if you used it. As to Aquarius, I deserve a lot worse punishment because I betrayed her when I broke her key to summon the Celestial King. Doesn't matter that she told me to do it. I should have asked her what would happen to her before doing it." Lucy gave Laxus a lecture in her scariest level quiet voice.
Natsu knew that voice all too well. Lucy screaming was safer than Lucy hissing any day. When Lucy stopped screaming, it meant that she was at her most plotting and devious. Laxus was not going to enjoy being alive once Lucy got her revenge.
"Tch . . . Stop blaming yourself over this bullshit. Although, I gotta admit you have a rare talent for getting yourself into trouble, . . . you're stuck with me and Fire Breath until these damned astral chains are gone. After we're through with this mission, you can go back to hating me to your little heart's content, Cosplayer."
The hold Laxus had on Lucy was good enough to keep Lucy in place Natsu figured as he planted his legs in the right position and leaned at the right angle to give a solid heave ho to Aquarius. Natsu knew it was possible he would break the Spirit's arm, So he changed his hold on the Mermaid to get a grip behind the neck, angled between her shoulder blades. Natsu yanked Aquarius toward his torso with all his weight backing the motion as Laxus was arguing with Lucy. What Natsu had not counted on was Aquarius' and her damned hard urn slamming into him at such speed. Trying to brace on his back leg, Natsu was being bent backward and found himself falling over under all the unexpected weight that was bearing him down. A very short shriek from Lucy was all the warning Natsu got that something had gone wrong before he was landing in the grass with his breath knocked out of his lungs. The first thing Natsu heard was Lucy spluttering incoherent noises.
Natsu could see spiky blond hair so realized that Lucy and Laxus had been yanked into him when he used his real strength to get Aquarius out of Lucy's body. "Get off me and Luce! You're way too freaking heavy, Bastard!" Natsu snapped with what little air he ws able to get into his lungs.
"Give me a damned second, Lame Brain! I had to get my arm free since it got trapped between Blondie and the damned corpse." Laxus answered in a foul sounding tone.
"Really is a pity that such a gorgeous, smoking hot body belongs to a damned fuddy-duddy personality. I'd love to break Lucy out of playing little miss nice girl all the time. Talk about a complete waste of one incredibly sexy body! If there is a god out there, I bet he totally hates me because this kind of irony is downright cruel." Natsu heard Laxus say.
"I'm going to kill you for saying something like that about Luce, Lightning Rod!" Natsu snarled as a flame shot from his mouth. "Apologize to Luce right now, or so help me I'm going to beat an apology out of you!"
"Huh? Laxus didn't say anything, Natsu." Lucy answered him as she and Aquarius were pulled off of him, and right back into Laxus arms which wrapped around her. Natsu rushed back onto his feet. Lucy was giving him an odd look like he had lost his mind while biting her lower lip.
"I heard him, Luce!" Natsu could not stop the flames from erupting around his fists.
If Laxus thought he could insult Lucy like that, then he had another think coming the dragon half seemed to be saying although it had no words per say. Natsu simply knew without words that Laxus was crossing the wrong line, and he was not going to stand by and let Lucy get hurt by the pervert.
It did not escape Natsu that Laxus moved his body to shield Lucy as if he believed she was in danger. Before Natsu could launch an attack, Laxus expression turned dangerous and the man growled a soft and deep resonant animal sound that ended in words. "Are you seriously trying to kill Blondie, Dumb Ass? Have you already forgotten that we're magically linked into her right now? Any careless moves with our magic could do irreparable damage to her body or her mind. No matter how many healers are working to save her on the outside right now, if either one of us lose control of our power, she won't make it out of this mess alive."
The flames evaporated as Laxus words hit Natsu below the belt. It felt as if Laxus was plotting something underhanded to Natsu, but he could not deny that the Lightning Slayer made a valid point. If his magic went out of control, Lucy could die since Laxus was sincerely convinced that they were somehow inside her body.
Natsu decided to fight back with words instead of fists. "I don't get you, Laxus. What's your problem with Lucy being herself? And why do you think we're somehow inside Lucy when she's right there in front of us, with you pawing her no less?"
"I am not pawing Blondie, you Jackass. And if you ever tried listening when people are talking, you'd already realize what's happening. Your biggest problem is your refusal to sit still long enough to pay attention to the things people say, Salamander." The arrogance and borderline disgust in Laxus voice were palpable.
"That's Lucy's job because she's good at solving puzzles and that kind of stuff. I'm the brute strength in our team. Lucy figures out the weirder parts of all our missions because she's really good at it. I'd bet Luce can figure things out faster than you, Laxus." If there was one thing Natsu knew, it was that Lucy deserved every drop of credit for her brains.
Unlike Laxus, Natsu had no problem with Lucy's lack of physical strength, or her reliance upon her spirit friends. Lucy was one of the smartest mages Natsu had the pleasure to know and he saw no reason to deny her value. Being on the same team had increased Natsu's respect for Lucy a hundred fold over several years time. It was Lucy's greatest strength which Laxus knew nothing about that would swing the argument in Natsu's favor.
"Wait a minute, Natsu! I don't even know how I got here, or why you two are here, or where these crazy things attached to me came from. The last thing I remember was sending you to get Wendy because I could barely breathe since it felt like I was being crushed from the inside."
Natsu watched as Laxus pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Well I'll look forward to Blondie getting into the S class soon. As to what has been happening I can fill you in on the details any time."
"I'm sure I'll make it before Luce because I'm a lot stronger." Natsu snapped at the bigger Dragon Slayer.
Laxus gave him an icy glare as a few sparks of lightning slipped out of the man's control. "You're wrong if you think brute strength alone will cut it, Idiot. Gramps said Lucy did a great job of figuring out the clues he gave at the test several years ago, so I believe she'll have what it takes if she improves her basic combat skills to get rid of that specific weakness. Above all else, S class requires leadership, listening, and thinking skills, Flame Thrower. I've done many S class missions. Not one of my missions has ever been solely about demonstrating brute magical strength, and winning fights through guts and stamina alone. Many S class jobs require me to uncover clues and answer riddles. I'd say the percentage requiring brains over brawn is over sixty percent. Fail the mental test, and no amount of brute strength and raw power will ever get you into the S class ranks. As much as I like your eagerness to tackle any problem, Natsu, you lack the most important ingredient for being an S class mage. If you can't pay attention long enough to notice the clues, you'll never be able to solve the majority of S class cases."
As unwelcome as Laxus hard lecture was, Natsu did recall gramps making them do some kind of clue related search for Master Mavis' grave when they were taking the S class exams right before the dark guild, Zeref, and then Acnologia arrived. Things Gildarts had told Natsu during their fight also rose to the fore. Laxus was not alone in reminding Natsu that he did need to find a way to keep the dragon under control, and think things through despite how hard it was for him to do both at the same time. Natsu collapsed onto his knees as his heart sank. One of his bigger dreams was becoming an S class mage so that Igneel would have plenty of reason to be proud of him when they met again. It was all his dragon side's fault for making Natsu's instincts so hard to keep in line. If not for the overwhelming emotions and impulses coming from the dragon side, Natsu knew he would be able to free up his thoughts for other things.
"Can't get Aquarius off of Luce unless I burn her off. But if it will hurt Luce, I can't risk it." Natsu grumbled while glaring at the offending Spirit that had decided to get stuck to his best friend's back. If his fire hurt Lucy, Natsu would hate himself for as long as he lived. Killing Lucy was a very real possibility, even if there weren't all the other weird parts to try and keep track of in getting Lucy back to safety. Natsu hated having to admit that he was not going to be able to save Lucy without lots of help. Unfortunately, he had to let Laxus take the credit for finding a working solution and the knowledge really annoyed his dragon.
"Glad you realized something that important on your own. If you hadn't, I'd be knocking you out for Blondie's safety, Natsu. Now we know that we won't be able to detach the spirit from Blondie by using brute force. So I'll have to figure out another way to safely separate them. I don't know more than the rudimentary stuff about Celestial Magic so it's going to take me some time to come up with a working plan. I'm a lot more worried about how the urn and the chains are taking so much of Blondie's magic and life force away from her. The two draining elements may kill her if we can't reverse at least one of these power flows." Natsu gritted his teeth to keep himself from losing control of his simmering anger over Laxus superior tone.
"What do you know about what's happening to me, Laxus?" Lucy asked. Although Natsu caught Lucy's newest attempt to get space between herself and Laxus, he also saw Laxus wrapping his arm firmly around her shoulders as he drug them both into a sitting position where they were facing him. The dragon giggled over Lucy's somewhat embarrassed expression as she was given no choice but to settle into Laxus' lap. Lucy hated getting bossed around and Natsu found himself anticipating the severe retaliation Lucy would extract from Laxus hide once she was safe and healthy again.
"Stop struggling. I'm only doing this to keep you stable so quit acting like a pain in the ass. I have to touch you to keep my magic flow regulated, Blondie. Trying to do this without contact means I could electrocute you by accident." Laxus complained.
Although it was partially true, Natsu's dragon senses heard the undertone that implied Laxus was only being half truthful. It was that specific undertone that continued to irritate Natsu's nerves about the ongoing odd conditions demanded by Laxus when things got dicey for Lucy.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that before you'll open your own ears and listen, Sparky?" Lucy whacked Laxus on the thigh as she yelled at him.
"Do you really prefer getting called Cosplayer then?" Natsu heard the amusement lacing Laxus voice as he threw Bickslow's favorite, if insulting, nickname in Lucy's face. It was becoming clear to Natsu that Laxus enjoyed making Lucy mad.
Lucy gave Laxus one of her meanest demonic glares and punched him in the chest. "Oh you are such an arrogant ass, Laxus Dreyer! I swear you do that to make me mad on purpose."
Laxus smirked at Lucy. "Sorry, I can't help picking on you in good fun, Lucy. You're way too funny when you overreact."
Natsu watched as Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at something behind his shoulder. Soon Lucy tried to get free of Laxus hold by leaning forward but overbalancing as Aquarius flopped forward, and the urn shifted over Lucy's blond head. "Uhm, what's that?"
Natsu did have to give Laxus credit when he saved Lucy from falling on her face, and even steadied Lucy's body. Once she was stable, Lucy pointed at something to the side and behind him, so Natsu twisted his upper body to see what Lucy had noticed. Natsu was startled by the fond memory that was playing out on the edge of the garden where this place seemed to end without warning.
The happy memory inspired Natsu to leap to his feet. "Wow! I remember that day. Igneel was making me break boulders to teach me how to focus my fire and spirit strength into my fists. I really do miss dad. Maybe Gajeel's dragon is right, and I'll get to see Igneel soon."
"Oy, Blondie, what the fuck are you doing now?" Laxus harsh tone had Natsu whipping his head back to make sure Lucy was still safe.
"Sorry, Laxus, but Natsu's memories aren't the only one's appearing. Looks like yours are also." Lucy said as she shifted onto her knees, putting her naked breasts too close to Laxus face for Natsu's comfort. Natsu frowned but followed Lucy's lead as she looked over Laxus shoulder.
Even though Natsu was familiar with the story of how Laxus had gotten his Slayer powers, he had never considered how horrible the process was. Natsu froze as he watched Ivan, Laxus crazy, evil, and very power mad father holding a gemstone in one hand. The maniacal look in Laxus' father's eyes as he was leaning closer with magic sparking upon his fingers had Natsu instinctively leaning back.
"Why is one of my most horrible memories showing up inside Blondie's head like this? So are Natsu's memories for that matter. What the hell is going on here? Nobody mentioned anything like this happening when I volunteered to help Blondie by sharing my power with her. Don't recall ever reading or hearing about any magic that has this kind of effect. What the hell did those bastards do to us?" Laxus uneasy voice hit Nantsu's ears at the same moment the image of magic was slamming into Natsu's right eye without any way to escape.
"Are you alright, Laxus?"Lucy's voce held real concern, and Natsu discovered that the dragon had again frozen in place, freeing him to consider what he had witnessed.
"Fine, Blondie. Just trying to figure out what the hell is happening. I've never heard of magic that has so many oddities to it" Without missing a beat, Laxus answered, although he was looking a bit pale.
"I've heard that some branches of ancient magic had really strange side effects. It was the side effects that convinced Mages to stop using it in the long run," Lucy answered as she tried to help Laxus as far as Natsu could tell. Running his hand through his spiky hair, Natsu felt he had a little better understanding of Laxus nastier moments at least. A glance behind the other Slayer showed that Laxus had a lot of unpleasant memories. Natsu was suddenly grateful that he had not been cursed with such a cruel parent.
"Could be. Considering it seems we are dealing with real Fairies and they have been extinct for a long time, I can only guess that their magic has an adverse effect on humans at this point." Laxus pointed out as his expression became more focused.
"Then why did you and Natsu volunteer to get stuck inside my mind like this?" Lucy asked with a stern, worried expression marring her features.
"I've already told you that we're keeping you alive while the rest of our Guild figures out how to save your life. Fairy Tail Mages don't abandon out own when they're in trouble and you damned well know it, Blondie." Laxus growled the familiar refrain of Fairy Tail's values which actually gave Natsu a reason to smile.
"Look, let's focus on how we can get rid of the chains and the Spirit that's attached to you for now. We need to keep our priorities straight, Lucy. Same goes for you too, Natsu. Stop spacing out and let's get things fixed on this end so we can all wake up."
Natsu smacked his fists together with his trademark grin in place to show LAxus that he was on board with getting things done. "Sure. Tell me what needs to get done and you can count on me."
Laxus rolled his eyes at him, but Natsu did not mind the familiar mild annoyance look. Lucy was in trouble and they needed to work together to get her safe. Although his dragon was still a bit surly, Natsu knew that so long as he did not have to figure out the plan that he could restrain the irritation he felt. His dragon half was always calmer when he was around Lucy, so that knowledge gave Natsu extra reasons to trust Laxus to figure out the steps. Natsu did not mind following the older Slayer's lead so long as Lucy benefitted.