Shattered (Fairy Tail)

9: Fear and Hope

Lucy's P.O.V

I walked up to Natsu as he pushed himself against the wall, but this time he didn't try to get away from me. He didn't try to hide from me even if he did move farther away from Porlyusica. I sat down in front of Natsu with my legs crossed. 

"Shhhhh. Natsu calm down." I cooed. He looked past me to the others. I cupped the side of his face with my hand. "They don't matter Natsu. All that matters is that we're trying to make you better. Okay Natsu?" Natsu starred sadly into my into my eyes before shaking his head.

"She scary." he said in a soft voice. Yeah I know. She scares me too, but I wouldn't tell him that while she was still watching. Plus, I'm supposed to be here showing him that he doesn't have to be afraid. Why would I show him that I was scared? That would really freak him out. 

"She won't hurt you. She just wants to make you better. Just like I do." I said. It was true. At least I hope it was. I'm not sure just how Porlyusica was going to examine him. Would she poke and prod him? Would she take a blood test? It's a mystery. He looked slightly past me and then closed his eyes letting out a breath. Then he nodded. 

"Only you stay here." he said. I smiled and then looked back to Porlyusica and Makarov. Makarov was standing with that same hopeful look in his eyes while Porlyusica still stood with the same grumpy face of hers. Just maybe she'll be gentle with him. After all, he is kind of freaked out. Obviously she can tell that, right? 

"Okay. You can start, just keep it slow okay." I told Porlyusica. "He's really jumpy." Without another word Porlyusica began her examination. First she checked over all of his physical wounds. Thanks to Wendy the amount has greatly decreased. Then she placed her middle and pointer fingers on both of Natsu's temples. Natsu shuttered but didn't freak out. 

"The sides of your head is a little swollen." she said. I never really noticed that. I guess I really didn't need to. I'm not sure what that really has to do with his mind. I guess it is on his head but how would we know by just feeling his skull. 

"Could it just be swelling from how they treated him?" that was a possibilty. Maybe that was the answer. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe they just hit him up the sides of the head to many times. It could have more to do with the memories, but it's just a guess. 

"Hmmmm. . . . . Maybe." she said holding open one of his eyes. Then she let go of him. She crossed her arms and then shook her head. "I'm not sure what it is, but it is some kind of magic. Something that causes him to forget his past and obey a master. I haven't seen anything like it but I have some things that will reverse a few of the symptoms." she told us. 

"What symptoms?" Makarov asked. I wanted to know too, but he beat me to the question first. Mostly because I was too focussed on Natsu and how sweat rolled down his body. I could see for a fact that he was still frightened. I knew that would be the case. Ugh, now I feel like I'm just repeating myself. 

"First of all, something to have him act more like a human." She said.

"How is that possible?" I asked her.

"His mental state is caused by magic. It's a spell that causes someone to experience extreme regression. My spell will reverse the effect, but not all the way back. Sometimes he might revert to his original form. Sad. Scared. Animalistic." She seemed sad. She shook her head and continued. "Then I have something that will bring back some of his important memories, but it will be up to you guys to get him to calm himself. I can give you a daily thing to keep his fear in check."

"Thank you Porlyusica." Makarov said with a sad tone. I got his pain. Just the thought that even Porlyusica didn't know what was wrong with him. If the stupid council would just let us in to have maybe an hour tops with Fairy Tail we could get all of the information we needed out of him. I looked to Natsu with a sad stare. Porlyusica caught me and then sighed. 

"Look. I'm sorry. I don't have anything else to do. I'm not sure what else to -" 

"Igneel." Natsu mumbled. My eyes widened and I whipped my head around. Natsu was looking up to the ceiling. It was just like when I came in. 

"What? Natsu, how do you know that name?" Natsu looked to me and tilted his head. 

"Wendy. . . . the green light." he pointed to the sides of his head. 

"I would continue to do whatever she did." Porlyusica sated. 

"NO!" Natsu yelled. I looked back to him but he sank down in his sudden outburst. "Sorry. I - I no mean trouble. It just . . . hurt." Natsu folded himself up hugging his legs and resting his forehead on his knees. He turned not looking at me or anyone. 

That's it. I don't think we'll get anything else out of him. Whatever that outburst was it did two things for me. First, it made me feel even worse for Natsu. He thought whatever he did would get him hurt. That is would get him beaten. I know that they did a lot but just seeing Natsu act this way breaks my heart. Then you also have the fact that he doesn't believe that he even has a voice. 

Even if it did break my heart, it also gave me hope. Natsu used a voice. It was the first time that I saw Natsu act like this. Or even that he still can act like that. Either it means that he's not completley gone, or that he is getting more comfertable here. 

I'm scared, but I still have hope. 

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Word Count: 1029