The Princess and the Commoner

Chapter 10: The Evil Within

Lucy, Gajeel, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Romeo, and Lily were walking through the forest, looking for their lost comrades. But nothing was turning up. No clear evidence that they were going to be able to save Natsu and the others. 

"Wendy child, are you alright?" Carla turned around and saw Wendy lying on the ground breathing heavily,

"Yeah...I'm fine. Just tired of walking." Lucy slowly sat down on the ground and sighed, 

"It's been three days guys. How close are we getting to Tartaros?" Gajeel sat down and looked at the map. Romeo looked over his shoulder and sighed in disappointment, 

"It will take us another 2 hours or so. But if we keep stopping every 5 minutes..." Gajeel glared at Wendy which earned a terrified squeal from her, "Then we'll never get there." So after a few minutes of rest, the group set off again. 

2 Hours Later...

In the distance, the mages could see a dark castle. 

"There it is guys...that's where Natsu and the others are." Gajeel and Wendy nodded and they all set out towards the black castle. 

~*~

Zeref opened the cell door and Natsu, Gray, and Erza slowly walked out. The soldiers at Tartaros had injected the three mages with curses that changed their physical appearance and turned them evil. Erza had on her Purgatory armor on and her eyes turned from their kind brown to a menacing black. Gray's clothing looked the same but there were black markings on the right side of his body that covered his Fairy Tail mark. And Natsu's eyes had turned black and hit pupils red, and the tips of his salmon pink hair had turned black. But the horrifying thing about the three mages was that they all had black horns sticking out of their heads. Erza's horns went around her head like a black crown, Gray's horns were small and stuck out of the top of his head, and Natsu's stuck out of the sides of his head and went up into the air. 

"Perfect. Now, go to your chambers...you need to get a lot of rest for tonight. We'll be exterminating the Fairies that are on their way tonight." Zeref smirked and grabbed Erza's wrist. "But you my dear, will be guarding the castle until the Fairies arrive. Erza nodded her head slowly and walked away with Zeref. Some of the guards approached Gray and Natsu and pointed down the hall, 

"Your chambers are this way masters..." Natsu smirked and looked at the soldiers with his heartless gaze, 

"Do you think we're stupid?! We know where to go." The guard nodded while shaking in fear. "I'll destroy you once and for all Fairies...but I do like this new body of mine, it's strong. I'll keep it forever and never give it back to you Lucy Heartfilia..."

~*~ 

Lucy, Gajeel, Romeo, Happy, Lily, Carla, and Wendy walked up to the castle and looked in the open door, 

"Do you think we should just walk in? Or do you think we need to sneak in?" Gajeel shrugged and took a step forward. But before he could move another step, he saw someone walking towards them from the castle, 

"Who's there?!" Erza stepped into the light and looked up at her former comrades, 

"You will come no further." Lucy gasped, Erza looked evil. 

"Erza? What are you doing? What happened to Gray and Natsu?!" Erza looked at Lucy with cold eyes, 

"The master is coming with his servant in mere moments." She paused and looked back into the darkness of the castle. She turned back to the mages with a smile on her face, "Speaking of the master..." Lucy nervously looked behind Erza and saw Gray and Natsu walking up. But Lucy knew that the people standing before her weren't the people she knew. 

"What happened to you guys?!" Natsu stopped next to Erza and looked up at Lucy, 

"Zeref has woken up our true selves. This is who we really are Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy's eyes widened in horror, but then...she laughed and pointed at Natsu, 

"You're lying! The real Natsu, Gray, and Erza are still inside of you monsters!" Natsu laughed and threw something at Lucy. She caught it and realized that it was the scarf Natsu was always wearing, 

"There's something you can remember your dear friend by. Because I will never give him back to you. He's my slave and will hold my soul for the rest of his pathetic life!" Suddenly, Gray and Erza started screaming in agony. Lucy looked over to them and realized that they were struggling to speak, 

"Please...help us Lucy..." Lucy looked at Gray in horror as he collapsed to the ground and returned to normal, 

"What?! How did that happen?!" Erza frowned at Gray, 

"It seems that these bodies still have some fight left in them...they're fighting to return to normal..." Natsu frowned and looked at a mage who was standing in the darkness of the woods. He frowned, trying to make sense of it. Then he realized who it was...

"Slave! How did you return him to his former self?!" A woman with blue hair and a frown on her face stepped out from the woods and pointed at Gray, 

"I was apart of the guild he was in once, before you captured me and forced me to become your slave! I had no choice whether I helped you or not, so I am not betraying you by helping him Natsu!" Natsu growled and lunged for the woman. But Gajeel stepped forward and punched Natsu back, 

"Good to see you again Juvia. I thought you had died..." Juvia smiled and patted Gajeel's back in a friendly way, 

"Don't worry. I'm just happy that you're ok and that I can return to Fairy Tail after this." Gajeel grunted and smiled at Juvia. Lucy looked from Gajeel and Juvia back to Natsu, who was now fighting Romeo. But he wasn't using his magic, he was just dodging and punching. Lucy pulled out a golden key that had an arrow on the tip and aimed it at Natsu. Then, she threw it. It was about to hit Natsu, but Erza stepped in the way and caught the blow for him. 

"No, Erza!" Lucy frowned and looked at Erza who was now back to normal on the ground. Natsu looked at her and to the golden key that was in her side. 

"What?!" Lucy smiled and started walking up to Natsu,

"It's filled with our memories Natsu. And once you remember, you will never be able to return to that body again!" Natsu's eyes widened and he started backing up from Lucy, 

"No! This body is mine and you will never be able to take it from me!" Natsu raised his hand and shot a beam of fire at Lucy.