July 7, X791
Tears ran down Lucy Heartfilia's face as the walls of Mercurius began to collapse around her. Walls of stone could no longer contain the amount of magical power leaking from the gateway in front of her. Dust floated down from the ceiling, coating her torn clothing, yellow hair and slick skin in a chalky film. Biting her lip to prevent a whimper from escaping, Lucy looked down at the frail girl in her arms.
Yukino Aguria's face rested in Lucy's lap, her face drawn and pale, breaths coming in shallow gasps. Her eyelids fluttered before slowly opening, meeting the brown of Lucy's eyes. Lucy was surprised that the other celestial mage had the strength to do even that. With every passing second, the gateway was drawing out her magical power and life force. With only two of the twelve zodiac keys in her possession, Yukino's life force was being drawn away much faster than Lucy's. Even with her ten keys trying to slow the drain of power, Lucy's eyesight was beginning to blur around the edges – or maybe that was because of the tears.
"Lucy," Yukino whispered weakly.
"Shhh, don't talk," Lucy sniffed. "You should conserve your strength."
The other girl smiled sadly. "It's . . . almost all . . . gone, Lucy. I don't . . . I don't think I'll make it." A single tear slid down her cheek, cutting a path through the dust.
A sob tried to claw its way out of her throat, but Lucy managed to choke it down before glaring at the man who was responsible for all this. Arcadios had turned his back on the two mages, laughing maniacally while reveling in the soon-to-be success of his plan. He had all but forgotten Lucy and Yukino, their purpose fulfilled. Lucy couldn't believe she and Yukino had trusted him! He had made them believe Eclipse would save the world – but in fact it would bring darkness down on them all.
"You can't give up, Yukino. Help will be here soon – just you wait and see! Natsu, Erza and the others will come," Lucy soothed, believing wholeheartedly that Natsu would burst through the doors any second in a fiery rage and pummel the Squadron Chief into the ground.
A sudden surge of power reverberated throughout the hall, causing the entire palace to shake violently. Head-sized rubble rained down on the mages in the hall as Lucy felt a heavy pull within her core being. She gasped and doubled over as a large amount of magic power was ripped away from her body, pulled into the writhing vortex of magic forming at the center of the gateway. Lucy managed to pull herself up into a sitting position again, every muscle in her body resisting the movement. She was just so tired.
Lucy shook her head. No, I can't give in. I can't let him win! They'll come. I know it! Natsu always comes . . . always.
"Lucy . . ."
She looked down to find Yukino struggling to breathe. Panic seized her as she realized her companion was dying. Help would come too late for the other celestial mage. This time Lucy couldn't stop the sobs from escaping, her eyes squeezed shut in physical and emotional pain. "This isn't how it's supposed to end!" she cried, pulling Yukino closer. "Don't give up! Please!"
". . .Sing for me?"
The unexpected question helped Lucy to somewhat pull herself together. "W-w-what?" she stammered, unsure she'd heard the other girl correctly.
Yukino smiled faintly, her eyes glassy, "Wendy told me you have a . . . lovely singing voice. Please, Lucy . . . I want to hear . . . something pleasant before . . ." She trailed off, unable to finish, her eyelids fluttering closed.
