TAINTED. GRUVIA

08*

追求 pursuit;

Lucy 天体

I knew better than anyone else that Juvia's actions couldn't be excused, but she was my best friend. Sure, she saw me as her rival in love, but yet, her kindness was omnipresent through all that; her smile when I needed brightness, her hand when I needed reliance, her heart when I needed love—they were all reminders of how Juvia was. She was my strength when I was weak.

And now? I didn't even know anymore.

"Do you even know where the Pandora guild is, Natsu?" I asked, exasperated and exhausted. "How long have we even been searching for?"

"Probably a few days at most," Natsu said and rubbed the back of his head. "You're right. We need rest."

Natsu seemed more tense than usual. Happy noticed this too by the way he kept hesitating before he would speak. Gray's loss must have taken a toll on him—after all, they were best friends.

"If you can keep going, I can keep going too," I said, determined, and I managed a grin for him, adding in a thumbs up for good measure.

Natsu seemed to simply stare at me for a moment before I noticed his lip quiver. Slowly and surely, he broke down. He doubled over and fell to his knees, letting his hands cradle his head to cover his face. I rarely saw Natsu cry and when I did, I ended up hugging him before I even knew it.

Natsu tried to pull away, tried to stop crying. "I can't—sorry—no, I can't... I'm too old for this," he laughed bitterly. "I'm too old to feel."

I only held him tighter. "Natsu, don't put up a wall. We don't lose feeling as we age, we only learn how to suppress them—yet, that's what hurts the most. Cry, Natsu—cry."

And there we were. I was embracing his shaking body and hearing his hushed cries in the middle of an empty forest. It was only me, Natsu, and Happy, but at the moment, it only felt like Natsu and I.

A blackbird whistled a tune. It echoed through the trees and carried on with the wind. I felt something wet on my cheek and looked up to see if it was raining.

It wasn't rain. I was crying.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Natsu yelled out through strained gasps. "Sting, Gajeel, Levy, and now Gray?!" I felt Natsu's strong, bruised hands wrap around me, gripping me tight. His voice suddenly went soft, and he was no longer screaming. "How could she, Lucy? How could she?"

It broke my heart to see him like this, but I didn't know what to say. I felt the same pain he felt; I lost my best friends and a part of myself.

It all seemed unreal. Our friends couldn't be dead. I kept thinking we'd all return back home together and have a meal together like we always do.

I wanted to go on more adventures.

"Natsu," I began, moving so he looked me in the eye, "we are going to find Pandora and we are going to avenge our friends, alright? Don't lose hope."

The words were hard to say. I almost felt crushing impossibility upon my shoulders, but Fairy Tail had taught me that strength comes from love. Maybe Juvia turned to the dark side, but she still is a part of Fairy Tail whether she likes it or not.

"Aye," Happy said slowly, putting his paw on Natsu's arm, "we're here for you, Natsu. We can do this."

I smiled. There was no hesitation in his voice this time.

"You're right. Let's keep going," Natsu sniffled and wiped the tears away.

We continued walking. Each step ached and I could feel pin-pricks in my feet, but I knew that I had to keep going. Erza did her best to track down where the guild could be, but Gray's death was so sudden that she didn't get the coordinates before he died and the tracker magic she cast on him had diminished. The forest seemed to be our best shot at getting close to the guild.

"The roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the demons run circles over and over in my head," I sang quietly, surprised that I could even sing given the circumstances.

"What the hell, that's creepy," Natsu looked back at me. "What kind of sick song is that?"

"Huh, I dunno," I scratched my cheek. "I heard it once when I was young. It was somewhat of an indicator of death, or a warning."

Natsu gave me a deadpan look. "I know this is rich coming from me but is that really appropriate for the situation?"

"Okay, it might not be!" I defended, holding my hands up in surrender. "But, I always saw it as as strength, or rebirth."

"Hm, you think real positive, Lucy!" Happy chirped to which I replied by patting his head with a grin.

"A little too positive," Natsu snickered to which I patted his head as well, except I did it hard.

"Ouch! Don't do that!" Natsu whined.

"Didn't Erza track down Gajeel or Levy?" Happy groaned as he dragged his feet. Exhaustion seemed to take him as victim.

"Gajeel got us close, but not close enough," I said, turning the map at another angle. "Gray got us even closer." I noticed a pattern in the two maps of Gajeel and Gray's tracks. "Hey, guys... hold on a second... look at this!" I spread the maps out on the grassy floor and traced my finger along the paths drawn on the map. "Gajeel went in a circle right here and Gray goes right around it."

"That circle... that's the end of Gajeel's path," Natsu frowned and we looked at each other. "He doesn't go any further from there."

I gulped. "It was a trap."

"A trap?" Happy asked.

"Magic traps. Common, but a Dark Guild using traps is never good. We need to be careful," Natsu said and rubbed some sweat off of his forehead.

"How are we going to avoid them?" Happy asked. "Also, why is it that Pandora is only going for guild in Fiore? And what's their goal?"

"Obviously we have a lot of questions, but we won't know until we capture and interrogate them," I said.

Natsu imagined Lucy torturing them in revealing getup. Of course, her image was completed with a whip in her hands. "You're a sadist!"

I sweat dropped."Where did that come from?"

"How are we going to capture them? They must have some serious manpower if they got Gray!" Happy exclaimed.

"Hey now! We got the three of us, and you know, the three of us can do anything together!" I fired back, the words sending some spirit in me.

"Hey guys, I got a plan," Natsu spoke up after being consumed in his own thoughts for some time. He grinned. "Lucy, you're going on by yourself!"

"What?! Did you just ignore everything I just said, moron?!"