Shattered Dreams ||Nalu||

Chapter Twelve

Time seemed to blur for the next couple of hours as Lucy faded in and out of consciousness. First she was face down on the ground, her screams of pain - which she somehow managed to produce around the fact that she couldn't breathe - muffled by the earth pressed against her face. Then she was being held down by Gajeel and Levy to keep her from thrashing about and hurting herself further as Wendy knelt over her, the young girl's face filled with fear. The third time she was aware of anything around her, Natsu was finally there, his eyes wide with terror for her as his hands skimmed gently over her face, trying to coax her back into awareness. At one point, she thought she heard him pleading, "Come on, Luce, not now, don't give up now," but she wasn't sure.

When she opened her eyes the last time, she was fully aware of what was going on and the pain had died down into occasional stabs, the aftershocks of the original attack. She felt exhausted, as if she'd run in a race against Natsu, and was startled to find, of all people, Jellal kneeling over her, his brow drawn in concentration. She thought she could hear more people than she remembered murmuring behind him, but it came to a quick halt when Jellal muttered, "You're awake."

Natsu seemed to materialize beside him, searching her gaze and Lucy forced a faint smile to her face. "Guess so," she rasped. Memories of Gray's body hitting the ground had her eyes squeezing shut, tears threatening to fall again. She didn't want to see that again. Ever.

Jellal fell silent, gently prodding at her side, and Lucy winced. Natsu shot him a look, then mumbled, "You did it again, Luce."

She blinked in confusion. But then understanding raced through her and she hesitantly reached out to lace her fingers through his. "Sorry," she managed to slur out, tiredness sweeping over her in a tidal wave. "Didn' mean to."

"She needs rest, Natsu," Jellal said as he pulled back, lips pressed together in a hard line. "Food, too. Whatever's causing these attacks saps at her magic levels. You said her Celestial Spirits can't remain in this world for long?" The dragon slayer gave a curt nod. "That might be the reason why. If one was to come here of their own free will, it's likely they would be okay."

Lucy turned her gaze on him. Erza had to be glad that he was okay, she thought distantly, mind spinning. "I don't want them here," she mumbled out, "I don't want to risk it."

"You can't really stop them if they step out on their own accord, Lucy," Jellal answered bluntly before standing. Lucy took the chance to peer around him, as he'd been blocking her view of the others. She was shocked when she discovered none other than Lyon sitting near Happy, face in his hands, and Chelia seated a foot or so away from Wendy, black Marks lacing up her throat. Sympathy for Lyon filled her. He'd been so close to seeing Gray just one last time before the ice-make mage had been killed. "Anyways, get some sleep. Meredy," he called to the pink-haired woman, who'd been quietly speaking with Levy. "We need to go."

"What?" Erza seemed astonished, and Lucy realized that the requip mage had been expecting him to stay. "You're leaving?"

"I wouldn't recommend staying in such a large group," Jellal told her, glancing around. "Splitting off into pairs or smaller groups is better...they seem to like the challenge. The bigger the group, the better. I'm going to check on Sabertooth..."

"I want to go with you."

Erza's firm statement made him pause. He glanced back at her, and she glared at him, just daring him to say no. "...alright," he finally sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. "But nobody else."

Meredy smiled at Erza in a gentle manner. "You have the Marks, right?" Jellal shot both women a sharp look, and Meredy glared at him in response before shoving her cloak out of the way to show Erza the familiar black streaks racing up her arm. "You don't need to worry about staying away from me, at least. Jellal doesn't have them though."