Fairy Tail: Falling Towards the Chaos

Chapter 39

Peace never lasted long. Lucy figured she would've known that by now. She grumbled, adjusting her poorly tied top on her body and mourning the loss of her torn skirt. However, modesty wasn't truly at the forefront of her mind and while Virgo was only one call away with a fresh pair of clothes, she wanted to preserve as much magic power as she could.

Despite Happy's attempts at chatting with Natsu, the man remained solemn. His demeanour dark and entirely closed off, even when he had held her; his energy felt weird.

Lucy watched him worriedly, trying to decipher his thoughts.

"Natsu," Lucy spoke softly, "what happened?"

"Nothing happened," he said gruffly, running a hand through his hair; ruffling the pink locks.

I remember key moments like Jet running into the guild panicked, Cana crying, Natsu standing off with a dark entity.

As Carla's words repeated in her mind, Lucy felt her heart drop. Her body felt heavy. Had Carla's vision already come to fruition? Was it Tartaros or is there another hidden enemy?

"Listen Natsu, I don't know what happened or who you saw, but if it's an enemy, I need to know!" Lucy urged. The next thing she knew, Natsu whipped around; a dark look in his eye. He stalked towards her swiftly, gripping her arms harshly.

"What do you mean, who? How do you know?" Natsu's words were jumbled, but his glare was fierce, boring into her eyes, hands tightening their grip on her arms, "I didn't see anyone, alright? I didn't see anyone." He seethed, repeating his words slowly.

Lucy blinked up at him in shock, completely taken aback by the furious expression on his face. Her arms started hurting, throbbing from where they were roughly held. As she twitched in his grasp, trying to shake him off; her struggling only seemed to anger him more.

"I didn't see anyone, Lucy," he insisted.

"Okay, okay! Natsu, let go of me! It hurts!" She whimpered, tearing herself from his grasp. He finally released her, drawing his hands back quickly. His chest heaved uneasily, staring at his hands with shock. Happy flew to her, checking her arms; finding slight burn marks from where Natsu had applied his heat, and gasped loudly.

"Lucy, I—"

"It's fine,"

She murmured, wiping the stray tears that had fallen; propelled by the pain. She rubbed her sore arms, thankful the burns were only minor to her limited medical knowledge.

"Lucy—"

"It's fine, Natsu," Lucy dismissed him quickly, keeping her eyes trained on the floor as she gently grazed the burns on her arms with her hands. She had never seen Natsu so frantic before; she didn't know if she was more afraid than concerned. He had seen something. Someone or something that had shaken him to his core.

Carla's vision was already coming to fruition.

She looked up at him, the regret was visible on his face. His fists were tightly clenched at his sides, shoulders tensed.

She opened her mouth to say something—anything to reassure him or comfort him, but Lucy was at a loss for words.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

The sound of Warren's voice flowed into her mind seamlessly.

"Yeah, we hear you," Lucy grumbled.

"Mira is safe, don't worry, she's with us,"

"Sorry for making all of you worry," Mira's soft voice chimed softly. Lucy smiled. The voices blended together as various members shared crucial information; enemy locations and the progress being made on the Face device.

However, a static sound cut through the chatter; silencing everyone. Warren's gasps and struggled breathing could be heard through the telepathic connection, causing Lucy to become uneasy.

"Warren! What's going on? Are you okay?" Gray voiced his concern.

"I'm speaking with Fairy Tail, correct?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy could see Natsu's head snap upwards swiftly at the unknown voice.

"Allow me to introduce myself," The sultry voice spoke, "I am the King of Hades, Mard Geer."

Lucy let out a small gasp.

"But you don't have to remember that," the voice continued, "because you won't live to see tomorrow."

Instanteously, Lucy felt the ground shift beneath her.

"Natsu, what's going on?" Lucy asked quietly, feeling the ground converge beneath her. The rumbling intensify, and she squeaked as Natsu grabbed her hand gently, pulling her towards him.

"I don't know, so stay close," Natsu advised, brows furrowed, "you too, Happy." The blue exceed nodded furiously, before he plastered himself to Natsu's arm; hugging it fiercely.

Then, the walls began to shift as well; vibrating and pulsing as if they were alive.

The air itself changed and Lucy felt her body being lifted off the ground slowly before she was violently swung into the air. She shrieked, feeling zero weight of gravity being applied to her, and instinctively tightened her grip on Natsu's hand.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, his grip becoming painful as he tried to keep her close.

"It's like we're being sucked in!" Lucy yelled over the loud wind and screams that could be heard through Warren's ongoing telepathic connection. If she managed to survive this, this was definitely one of the scariest moments of her life.

"Stay with me, okay? Just hold on!" Natsu demanded, trying to focus on keeping both Happy and Lucy by his side. Happy's faint whimpers could be heard, clinging tightly to Natsu's arm; digging his claws into his skin. Meanwhile, Lucy struggled to keep her grip on Natsu's hand.

"Natsu, I can't!" Lucy yelped in shock, feeling herself being violently tugged backwards and away from Natsu's body. Her grip loosened and in response, Natsu practically crushed her fingers.

"No, no, no, no—" Natsu growled, trying to pull Lucy closer but to no avail.

It was like she was there one second and in the next, she was gone. Her body was propelled backwards; falling into the darkness.

"Natsu," Lucy whispered weakly, hand grasping out at the tiny figure of Natsu's body that was slowly fading away.

Before she succumbed to the pain; she heard a thundering sound vibrating through the fortress. A dragon's roar; so animalistic and loud but, for some reason, it felt comforting. Without a doubt, she knew it was Natsu.

To be continued...