Lucy and the book of END

The next continent

(Time skip 3 weeks)
Natsu's POV:

Makarov had been gone two weeks now, Laxus thinks the old man went to go do peace talks. PEACE TALKS with that dark wizard. There is a small group gathering together to travel to the kingdom and get him out. A small infiltration group. It was consisting of him, Gray, Erza, Wendy and maybe Lucy.

Lucy hadn't been great, as much as she tried to cover it up. He had jumped up into her window the previous night and caught her staring at herself in the mirror, fingers tracing the veins and stopping underneath her eyes. Her eyes were watering, he couldn't watch any longer and spent the whole night just caring for her. She would always be beautiful to him, what scared him the most was the evident pain she felt. Her magic seemed to be unaffected but he felt so much more protective of her. Yet she was determined to join the team.

He didn't feel much better, mentally the revelation scared him, he felt dangerous but Lucy had assured him her editing meant Zeref had no control over him. That also devastated him, she'd sacrificed so much for him. Physically, he felt different like clashing was happening inside his body. It was weighing him down, he didn't feel well but it would pass, it was probably the stress of it all.

Gray's POV:

He was spending the afternoon sat with Juvia and Lucy who kept getting called love-rival, yet the girls had agreed to go for coffee together later, he didn't get it.

He just couldn't stop thinking about gramps being missing, Natsu being a demon, Lucy being cursed and whatever was to come next. He unintentionally okay maybe intentionally shuffled closer to the water mage, whilst looking at the rest of the guild and a frown plastered on his face.

Juvia looked towards him as Lucy began to run after Erza.

"Gray-Sama the infiltration team leaves tomorrow early, how are you spending the evening?" Juvia spoke, he could still see the small hearts her eyes shaped into.

"Let's go out for dinner, I honestly need a break from thinking." He smiled at the blue haired girl in front of him, had she always been this beautiful.

Lucy's POV:

She had gotten the hang of using her magic, there were no issues with her really except the pain, and maybe being filled with dark magic. Oh and her appearance. She couldn't even look in the mirror these days, and had gotten used to wearing clothes that covered her, hiding the marks she now bears.

Natsu still looked at her in sadness for what she'd done and hidden. He still loved her but he was evidently hurt and scared. Nothing was going right, now master was gone, she needed to go help get him back. Especially from that awful dark wizard Zeref, hopefully master has more answers than when he left though.

She had secretly kept on studying demonic but now more so dark magic, she understood his new language but what about how he uses it. She needed to become proficient in it all if HE was their new enemy. What if he manipulated the book again? She had to be ready. Nobody would be happy but Natsu is much more important than her, in her case and most of the guilds, maybe except Levy-chan.

She'd been feeling strange recently though, on top of the pain she felt odd. An indescribable feeling really, it may be worth asking Wendy or Porlyusica to check her out again, even though they both ask to often.

Ezra's POV:

The dark feeling still lingers but now that she was aware of it she was no longer scared, she loved both Lucy and Natsu so much. But now Master has also gone and gotten involved in this whole Zeref mystery, why couldn't she have gone with him, we could've, Lucy knows the most why not take her. Master just cares for us all too much, and between Laxus and her right now it's hard to keep order.

Jet immediately tried to send the whole guild to the next continent to get master back. They didn't let that happen.

Master had evidently gone for answers, although it seemed he knew more than he let on already. More than he was telling us. But if this is the lengths he'd go, Zeref is a real threat looming over us. She had tried to keep atmospheres high and spend time with all the others, but Jellal had also been looming round the guild and warning her of a dark presence.

She of course knew this was Lucy and/or Natsu but she couldn't tell him. Instead she had been spending time with him, putting his mind at ease, but warning him about Zeref and master going to find some answers. That should keep his mind off the dark feeling, but she trusted Jellal even with the truth he would understand. He was smart, brave, kind, considerate. Just having these thoughts led her face to match her hair. It just wasn't her place to tell him, it was Natsu's should he want people to know. Well until Jellal properly sees Lucy then she may have some explaining to do.

...

The next morning she was all ready to go with only 16 suitcases quite a light load if they're going to get in and out. She'd never been to the other continents so this was going to be a new experience. She was worried about her team going though, Lucy was still in pain however good she'd gotten at hiding it, Gray was shaken up, as was Natsu who they now know Zeref had connections to apparently. Well until Lucy intervened. At least he could no longer track Natsu, not that Zeref would know that yet.

Makarov's POV:

"His majesty is finally returning!" He could hear people shout all over the huge castle.

"It's been so long, make sure everything is perfect."

"Excuse me I need to clean this. Is that a Spriggan 12 member?!"

"Did you not hear, they're all coming!"

"WHAT"

So it's finally time for his meeting with Zeref, he had a clue about the reason for the imminent attack, not how Zeref knew. When the news broke he thought it was to do with Natsu, but the fact Lucy still has the book and doesn't seem to be his target.

He watched the kingdom cheer for the dark wizard like he was their god, how did he have such a following here but such fear stirred in Fiore.

Time to get some answers and keep the kids safe.