Hot and Cold

Laxus Vs. Tempester

~*****~

Now that my body was completely lax against the ground, it felt as if every breath I took burned at my lungs and strained my ribs to the point of fracturing. The fight escalates, and I vaguely feel Lucy press into me, covering me from the raining debris. "I'm sorry for pushing you so hard... I shouldn't have made you help me with that spell."

I grimace lightly, barely able to respond. "S'okay..." I murmur lightly. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

Lucy chuckles. "If it weren't for losing..." She shudders and tears build back up in her eyes. "We can't just sit here... Our friends are fighting."

I groan. "I can't even lift a finger..." I try to lift my head and nearly puke at the overwhelming dizziness flooding my head. "Jus' let me rest for a minute, will ya?" Lucy grumbled at me and I feeble waved my hand. "Fine, fine..." I flop onto my side, groaning loudly. "Hey, guys-- save some action for us--"

"Get back to resting, before I come over there and make you," Natsu retorts in a seriously calm tone. "You, too, Lucy. You've helped out enough."

"C'mon, I got plenty of fight left--" I complain to myself. "Gonna sleep, head's feelin' funny," I murmur.

"No, no, stay awake, I don't know the extent of your injuries," Lucy whined as I peered at her through my hazy vision. "You could have a concussion, and if you--"

"I dozed off plenty of times," I comment dryly. I groan as a flash of pain washes over my head again, luring me towards sleep. A strange scene appears before me, one I've seen many a times before. Everest hummed lightly as I peered up at her.

"Hurt yourself again, small one?" Everest murmured as I held out my hands, brandishing the small, bleeding sores. "Aren't you a magnet for trouble." A soft plume of snow filtered from her nose as she snorted, a deep, rumbling chuckle echoing from her chest. "Want me to teach you a fun spell?"

"Fun?" I echo curiously. "How fun? Snow slide fun or snowman fun?" I ask eagerly.

Everest chuckled again, nuzzling my front with a fond look in her eye. "As fun as it is to find a hot spring for a soak."

I could barely contain my excitement. My feet stomped around happily, beaming. "Teach me! Teach me!" I chirp loudly, raising my hands again.

The scene shifts, and I'm utterly alone, peering at the dark, empty cave where Everest and I lived. I raised my palms, grimacing at the sores at the juncture of my thumbs and palms. "Sano Capora..." I murmur lightly, peering at the flesh as it stiches together tightly and returns to the normal, pale skin I'd known all my life.

I exhale loudly as something grasps at my head, forcing me upwards. "What the hell--" I shout angrily, trying to swing my arms at whatever's holding me up.

"Juvia!" I hear Natsu shout.

My head snaps over to her tied up in a strange, black mass of tentacles. It explodes after a second of staring, pouring steam into the air. "How pitiful," The skeleton man hums.

"Juvia!" I bark loudly, struggling harder.

The skeleton just chuckles. "Another human's tale has reached it's conclusion. However, I'm sure it will be nothing more than a footnote in my glorious saga." His body begins to morph strangely. "What's happening to me?!" He exclaims in agony.

"She's inside of him," Natsu murmurs.

"That's the craziest thing I've ever seen," Gajeel stammered.

"My darling Gray will never truly lose his father! You won't break their bond! He'll live on forever in his heart! You will never erase him from that sacred place!" I hear Juvia exclaim. In a harsh explosion, she destroys the skeleton man. "No one can! Because true love will always outlast death, no matter what!" I slump to the ground, closing my arms around my waist to stop the throbbing. I grimace again and peer at my palms, smiling fondly at the sores on them. I murmur the small spell Everest taught me and my body surged with a welcome flush of warmth that healed my body slowly, steadily pumping my limbs with energy as the magic continues to work its course.