The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 25

Lucy rubbed at her eyes as they adjusted to the light in the room, recognizing that it must be mid-day from where the sun was placed in the sky. She stretched before looking beside her, a little confused that Natsu wasn't there.

She groaned once she remembered what'd happened the other day, she'd lost her memories again. Honestly, she was starting to get nervous- all of this exertion definitely wasn't good for the baby. 

Lucy got out of bed and fixed her clothes in the mirror. Today was the day she'll finally tell Natsu she's pregnant. At this point, her role in the war wasn't necessary, they could handle themselves from here on out and she needed to focus on keeping her baby healthy. 

She didn't bother changing into anything else as she left the room, and she wondered where Natsu would be at this time of day. The halls were suspiciously empty, and Lucy became a little nervous that they'd already gone to continue fighting while she was asleep.

The further she ventured around the castle, the more likely it seemed to be. Of course she understood the importance of war, but she was upset that she hadn't got to see Natsu, Happy or any of the others from the fairy kingdom off.

"You… what are you doing out here?" A guard approached her, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Has everyone already left?" She asked, not really expecting the guard to answer but figuring it was worth a shot.

"How dare you? You should be locked away, I always knew you were a traitor!" 
Lucy had heard many insults during her time around here, but that was a new one. "Um… what are you talking about?"

"That king! You set him up! You've been in cahoots with your father, and you planned this! You killed him!" She took a few steps away from the screaming guard, her eyes widening as she realized what was said.

"What… what? What do you mean… kill..?" Could something have happened to him while she was asleep? What did her father do, and why was she being blamed for it!?

"We're lucky Lord Zeref was here when it happened, he's working on keeping the king alive in the lab. But as for you-"

Lucy was already running down the halls and towards the lab, glad that there weren't more servants or guards around to stop her. When she reached the door, all of the missing staff were crowding around the tiny window to try and get a glimpse of what was going on. 

She pushed through the crowd, paying no mind to the ones that sent her glares. She didn't need to wait for any kind of permission as she yanked open the doors and rushed in the room, the staff all shocked that she'd trespass like that. 

Lucy ran towards the very back of the lab, remembering where the work tables were. She'd only been in here once when Natsu and Happy showed her around the castle, and she dodged cabinets and desks as she dashed through the room.

Her feet skidded to a halt once she saw Zeref, and he had his back to her as he was writing in a book. When she looked ahead of him, her heart stopped. Natsu was in an incubator tube, completely still and lifeless.

"Oh Natsu…" Lucy sighed as she walked up to the tube. She placed her hand on the glass before breaking out in a fit of tears, leaning her whole front against it. "Natsu…"
She continued to cry aloud, struggling to look back up at her love's lifeless face.

"What… happened..?" She managed to choke out as she slightly turned to look at Zeref.
He looked up from the book to stare at her for a moment. Lucy figured he wouldn't answer, so she turned back around to continue crying.

"He went to see Jude alone. They were supposed to negotiate." 

Her head whipped around to gape at Zeref, the man still staring at her.