Realization: A NaLu Story

Chapter 5: In The Temple of Skyreed

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Heeey! =)))) Me again! I'm here with the fifth chapter of Realization! I seriously hope you guys like it, I'm trying to motivate myself to make the first book of "The Keys of the Goddesses" as long as possible. I'll also try to make the concept of the whole Curse of the Phoenix thing exciting, and I'll put an unexpected twist in the story too. Chapter 5 of Realization is dedicated to AnimeFanfictionNerd. ^_^

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~LUCY'S POV~

Walking. That' what we were doing. Again. Ugh, I swear I would love to have a car. Natsu placed a hand on my shoulder. "Just a little farther, Luce...And don't worry. It's still early in the morning, we've got lots of time. So do you want to take a break?"

I forced a weak smile. "I'm good, Natsu. Let's keep going, we're almost there."

"You sure?"

"Yep." We continued walking for about fifteen minutes until we finally came to the temple. "Oh, Mavis, I thought we'd never get here." Natsu didn't show any emotion and ran his fingers across the stone door. It had the symbol of a Phoenix engraved in it. Around the symbol was a circle of rubies. "How do you think we'll open it, Luce? You're good at this kind of stuff."

"Um...Let's see...Well, there are seven rubies...And phoenix has seven letters too."

"So?"

"I'm just trying to guess the connection...Hey, wait a minute." I felt another dent in the stone gate. I looked closer and saw that it was some sort of...language.

"What is it?"

"Levy-chan would be really useful right about now...Any idea what this is, Natsu?"

"Nope, not a clue."

"I was afraid you would say that...Ah!" I snapped my fingers. I started rummaging through my bag until I finally found my glasses. "It's a good thing I brought these..." I put them on and immediately I was able to read the letters. "You have arrived at the temple of Skyreed. This temple is guarded by the phoenix. Enter at your own risk. But if you have come with bravery in your heart, then listen well. The gate of Skyreed is almost impossible to unlock. The light of the gems will show you the way."

"Huh? Light of the gems?"

I continued to examine the gate, until suddenly, the seven gems each illuminated a ray of light. Natsu and I followed them with our gaze and saw that it led to nothing. Natsu groaned. "Now what?"

I thoughtfully tapped my chin. "Hold on, let me try something..." I took out my mirror and the light bounced back, forming a circle larger than the one made with rubies.

"Okay, so...there are two circles. Now what?"

"Now this." I replied as the stone door slowly started to open.

"Huh."

"Come on, we've got to find that pendant."

"Be careful, Luce...The phoenix might be anywhere..."

I nodded. We started to make our way through the old and silent hallways of the temple. "I feel like the roof might come down on us any second..."

"Yeah, this place must be centuries old..."

"Try millenia..."

"Careful, Lucy, there might be--" Natsu was cut off when a cage suddenly dropped, trapping me. "Traps."

"Ugh, how do I get out of this?" I grip two bars and suddenly, I feel my magic power being drained out of me. I screamed in pain.

"Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed.

I fell, and my back hit the bars once more, and my magic power decreased again. Finally I fell to my knees. "N-Nat...su...D-Don't touch the b-bars..."

"Don't worry, Lucy, I'll get you out of here, I promise!"

I could only groan weakly.

I smelled burning fire. I guessed Natsu was trying to burn the cage. I looked up. "Gah, this is no good..."

"N-Natsu...I'll j-just..." I took out Virgo's key and she appeared in a puff of smoke.

Then she suddenly gripped her stomach and bowed down in pain. "L-Lucy-s-sama...! W-What happened...?! I-I feel so...w-weak!"

"V-Virgo...I'm s-sorry...I need you to d-dig me an escape tunnel from this c-cage..."

"I-I'll try, Lucy-sama...B-But I can't hold on m-much longer..." Virgo slowly started to dig a tunnel. I followed her and Natsu shouted out to me. "Lucy, get out of there!" I crawled through the tunnel until I finally caught sight of Natsu's distinctive pink hair. I felt him grab my hand and literally pull me out of the hole. Then there was a flurry of movements and I found myself caged once again. By Natsu's arms. "Um...Natsu? Y-You're kind of hurting me. My body is still sore."

He loosened his grip. "S-Sorry..." We pulled apart. "Are you okay? Do you want to rest first?"

"No, I...It's just a little bit of pain..."

"You were screaming."

"..."

"Out loud."

"Trust me, Natsu...We should keep moving. The temple isn't exactly small and the pendant could be anywhere."

"Alright...But be careful. There's bound to be more than one trap in here." I nodded. While we walked, Natsu had both his hands on my arms.

I gasped. "Natsu!"

"What?! What, what is it?! Danger?!" Natsu looked around and engulfed his fist in flames. "You're not getting near Lucy!"

I looked like him like he was crazy. "No! Look in front of you, dummy!" Natsu did as he was told. We were standing in front of another door. Again, it had a picture of a phoenix on it. "Natsu, I think this is where the pendant is."

Suddenly the door slid open. Natsu casually started to march in. "Great, let's go!"

"Natsu, no!" I held him back. He looked at me. "You promised to let me do this on my own."

Natsu looked at the ground for a few seconds. He sighed, then came closer. "Lucy, I'll keep my promise if you keep yours."

"Don't worry. I'll come back."

"But...can I have a goodbye hug?"

"Goodbye hug? Natsu, Shizu-sama said that it only took Hana thirty minutes to do the ritual, geez."

"But still..."

I smiled at him. He looked so cute, so I just obliged and gave him a big bear hug, snuggling closer to his chest. When we finally let go, I put one hand on my hip. "There. Happy?"

"You bet, Miss Heartfilia." I shook my head and slowly started to step inside the room. I looked over my shoulder and Natsu nodded at me encouragingly. I took a deep breath and entered. I heard the door close behind me with an audible 'thump'. "Luce? You good?" Natsu's muffled voice came through the door. "Yeah...I'm...fine, Natsu!". I scanned the room and saw...the pendant of Skyreed.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: CLIFFHANGER!! =))) Haha, you guys better just wait for the next chapter if you wanna find out what's going to happen next. x3 Was the chapter good? Or was it boring? Please tell me what you think, minna! Read and review, thanks a bunch! ~Lily <3