After the END

Chapter 4: Pain

Lucy's P.O.V.

After Gajeel and Levy go back upstairs the remaining four look at E.N.D. with even more hostility. "Well that was interesting." E.N.D. says. All I do is clench my fists also being reminded of unwanted memories.

After a couple of moments of silence Erza speaks up, "So what about these memories of Natsu that you keep rambling about." She asks. The demon just sighs and looks at us with bored eyes, "Natsu's past his full past, before Igneel. Even before he was stuck in the Spirit World he got tiny fragments of his past in his dreams, but I doubt he was smart enough to even figure that out." E.N.D. says.

Erza's simply glares at the demon not wanting to give him the satisfaction of showing how infuriated she truly felt at his little statement. "Why do you look like Natsu and not like your demon form?" I ask, noticing how much Erza is holding back from launching at the demon in front of her. "That's a secret little missy." Is all he says. Gray walks up to the demon getting irritated that he isn't fully answering our questions. "And what are you going to do?" The demon asks. Gray doesn't say anything as he continues to walk up to him and squats directly in front of him. As Gray is staring into E.N.D.'s eyes black marks begin to form on Gray's body. E.N.D.'s smirk immediately drops as he stares at the now smirking Gray, "Shit." Is all E.N.D. says.

Gray holds out his arm as a dagger made of purplish ice forms in the palm of his hand. He then places the tip of the blade onto E.N.D.'s leg. Gray just stares at the demon with no other emotions but hate and blood-lust, honestly the look frightened me a little.

When the demon didn't say anything Gray begins to put pressure on the dagger causing the tip of the blade to break the skin. E.N.D. still doesn't say anything but closes his eyes from the pain. After a few seconds Gray adds more pressure as more and more of the dagger goes deeper in his leg. E.N.D. then snaps his eyes back open, "AAAAAAAAAHHH" E.N.D. screams out from the immense amount of pain.

He continues to scream as his face begins to sweat. As I continue to watch the scene play out before my eyes I feel sick to my stomach. Even though I know that this isn't Natsu it still looks and sounds exactly like him.

"GGAAAH, Okay!!!!" He says giving in. "I'm using all of my power for one purpose! That's all I'm saying!" E.N.D. yells. Gray, not completely satisfied with that answer, pushes the dagger in more, "AAAAAAAAHHH GGGAAAHH!!!" The demon screams out even louder.

When Gray begins to twist the blade E.N.D. shuts his eyes again; however, when he reopens them they had fear clearly radiating from them, "G-Gray?" He says with a scared voice.

Grays eyes widen as he immediately pulls the dagger out of his leg and the marks on his body disappear. "Natsu?!" Gray asks. The fear that once was in his eyes disappeared as soon as it appeared. "Ugh about time you pulled that thig out of my leg." E.N.D. says. Gray's eyebrows scrunch up as he lunges at the demon, "You bastard!" he shouts, but before he can land a punch Erza holds him back, but I can tell that it was taking all of her willpower to hold even herself back.

"I was telling the truth though, I can't say any more about my condition..." E.N.D. trails off as a huge smirk forms on his face. "Or maybe I could. I'm sure it would hurt Natsu to see the looks of sadness and fear in your eyes. Ooooo or maybe I can tell you about Natsu's whole past how it was his-" E.N.D. stops talking abruptly as he grips his head with one hand and shuts his eyes.

"AARRGGG Damnit!" E.N.D. says loudly. "Looks like he really doesn't want you guys to know." He says in a strained voice. Then he puts his other hand on his head and pulls his knees up to his chest. "Ugh Damnit! Well until next time." He says while giving us a glance before closing his eyes again. His hands stop griping his head and just simply lay on top of his head as he reopens his eyes.

When we get a good look at his eyes they look completely lifeless. "Natsu?" I ask. Once he looks up at us his eyes change to ones filled with sadness, fear, remorse, and pain. He takes his hands off his head and looks at them and then back at us, "I'm sorry." is all he says.

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A/N- I am SOOO sorry for the extremely late update! I will try my best to update more frequently but with the school year starting I can't make any promises (I will at least try to update at least once a month). Thank you for being patient and as always I hope you enjoyed this chapter!