Fallen Celestial (Fairy Tail fanfic)

Fallen Celestial Part 9

Natsu moved through the forest with such speed that he was surprised that he hadn't run face first into a tree. Happy flew over his head as he led the way to the strange scent that he had picked up just after the start of the second part of the trial. From the start of the trial announcement till now things had been going from bad to worse for Natsu. To start with he had started to lose it when someone mentioned Lucy's name in the guild hall during the three weeks up until the start of the trials. He would never want to hurt his family normally but there was just something about someone saying her name that would just set him off and he had been forced to spend more and more time away from the guild.

Adding onto that were the nightmares. Ever since he had betrayed her Natsu had been having horrific nightmares all involving the blonde celestial mage. He would see her standing before him wearing a white dress and smiling at him with her natural brilliant smile as she stood in the forest that Natsu made his home in. But every time he would try to run to her, to hold her and beg for her forgiveness the dream would change. When Natsu got close enough to her to reach out and touch her a flame would burst out from her stomach. Lucy's face would then contort in pain and shock as she stared at him with tears in her eyes. In that moment the sky above them would turn blood red and the trees that had been just moments before swaying gently in the wind would burst into flames, shrouding everything in ash and smoke. Then, just before his fingers could brush against hers, she would fall backwards into a chasm that had not been there seconds ago. Natsu would scream out her name but the only response he would get as she fell down into the inky darkness was a single word.

"...Why...?"

Natsu would wake up screaming so loud that it hurt. It was always the same, he could never reach her, he could never tell her how sorry he was and deep down he knew that he had no right to ever tell her. The only way he had found to force away the nightmare was to sleep with Lucy's old blanket, something the Guild had been keeping in storage along with all her old possessions since Lucy's passing. Even with her smell fading after three months away from her Natsu could still pretend that it was his best friend that he had fallen asleep next to rather than her memory.

Happy would simply watch Natsu through tear filled eyes as he tried desperately to fall asleep or when he woke screaming into the night with tears rolling down his cheeks. Happy knew that Natsu had taken her passing much harder than anyone at the guild fully realized but he didn't know what to do. He had asked the Master about it but Makarov simply said that Natsu needed to work through this himself, and that when he was finally ready to talk about it his family would be there for him. And so Happy helped Natsu train himself half to death over the three weeks up to the S-class trials.

Happy had been shocked when Natsu had admitted to Gildarts during the first part of the trail how he had learned what fear was three months ago when Lucy died, and that fear had been driving him ever to become stronger ever since. The older man had simply stared at Natsu with a solemn expression before reminding him that fear did not make him weak, but that knowing what you fear can make you stronger and kinder than you were before. And that accepting what you've lost doesn't make you a cold person, but that moving forward with your memories of what you've lost helps keep what you've lost alive.

They had just started the second part of the trial when Natsu suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. His face contorted as he turned and sprinted off saying that there was something foul in the air.

Natsu reached the edge of a cliff to see a man wearing almost all black holding his head in pain and Elfman and Evergreen standing before him but slowly backing away. The black haired man suddenly screamed out in pain and a swirling black cloud appeared around him. Natsu wasn't sure exactly what the black wind was, but he could tell that it was bad news for anyone who got caught up in it.