#and my thought would be that Lucy was killed because she decided against worshiping the rage god

[agendercryptidlev]

Maybe the Rat Grinders killed Lucy, but maybe it also wasn't their fault.

They said that Lucy was beaten to death by multiple assailants and beating is the most common way people attack when enraged. We know that we're contending with a god of rage who's name was written on Lucy's ribs.

We also know that this rage god has the power to send people into violent rages they have no control over, where they may attack those they love.

What if one day in the woods all the rat grinders except Lucy were spun into an uncontrollable rage that caused them to attack their friend.

What if at the end when they came out of it and saw their friend beaten and bloodied they were horrified, but also so very scared. They're just kids, what could be more terrifying than having to confess to a murder you didn't have any control over committing?

So they hide the body and agree to keep it quiet, letting Lucy just disappear.

[wendibird]

SPN 15X19 Observations

So, here we are. Second-to-last episode of this show and what has been said will be the Season Finale. (While next week’s is the Series Finale.) 

Without further ado...

I don’t even know what to think going into this second-to-last episode. I don’t expect a “happy” ending to this show. But I can’t help hoping for a fitting one. One that makes some kind of sense. That does the characters justice. We’ll see how it goes. (Also, I want some GOOD content for Sam. *LOL*)

(Also, my notes might be sparse because I want to concentrate on the show.)

- Everyone’s gone.

- Except these three.

- Does Sam and Jack know about Cas?

- THEY DON’T KNOW YET!!! *crying* (To be clear, not upset that Dean didn’t tell them sooner. Since obviously there had to be a phone conversation at some point, or at least texting so they’d know where to meet up. THAT kind of news isn’t something to tell over the phone if you can help it.) 

- The music is really playing this up well.

- Oh Jack….. 

- And he’s still killing plants.

Commercial Thoughts:

I’ve said this again and again but I still don’t like how Chuck is being written. He might as well be rubbing his hands and cackling evilly. 

That being said, this really is sadistic. One of the few things that’s kept Sam and Dean going through all of this has been the people they’ve been able to save. (Crowely caught on to that in S8 and used it to good effect. But he was like a sniper, precise with it. Chuck is like a fricking nuke.) 

And Sam losing hope always makes me sad. (Have noticed the looks Dean keeps giving him. Still checking on him and how he’s doing and worrying about him.)

- This camera work is weird. Dream-like?

- DOGGY!!!!!

- omg Dean’s happy about a dog!

- WOW. That’s a new low.

- So, no animals? (Guess they’re gonna have to go vegetarian eventually if this doesn’t get fixed.)

- Michadam!!! 

- WHAT?! (No Adam?! HOW DARE CHUCK!!!)

Commercial Thoughts:

Okay, Chuck taking Adam is a really REALLY low-blow! (But then, that might be what pushed Michael to decide to help them after all.) 

Not surprised that Michael can’t open the book. Wondering if Jack can? Or they could call some reapers and see who wants the job of the next Death. *LOL* Hold interviews. “What will you do for us if we give you this promotion?” (crack thoughts, don’t mind me.)

I’m not sure if Chuck has realized that they have nothing left to lose. And that’s generally when people are at their most dangerous. (I mean yes, they have each other, but in the wake of what’s been lost? Literally the whole world? They can’t let that go. They can’t just sit back and treat it as a vacation. It’s not how they are.)

- CAS?! 

- WTF?!?!?!?! (Did NOT want to see Lucifer again tbh. And apparently neither did Dean. *LOL*)

- Okay, so Lucifer promoted the next Death.

- Is he actually dead this time?

- One can only hope.

- YEY! LUCIFER IS DEAD AGAIN!!!

Commercial thoughts:

So…. what was the point of all that again? 

Okay, I get that in the end, the book is open and now they can hopefully read it. Seems kind of convoluted. (Also, do NOT get me started on the whole “God and the Darkness have no pull in the Empty”. Unless God just replicated Lucifer, like I theorize he did with Lilith.) 

Wondering if they just did all that to have Luci and Mark P. back one more time.

- Sam being his super-smart self! <3

- What is Sam not saying?

- Hey! Isn’t that the lake where Jack was born?

- FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Fricking Michael.

- Bloody winchesters

- That’s what Sam wasn’t saying. I don’t think they trusted Michael.

- Sam figured something out.

- Wow. That is some poetic justice!

- I’m actually impressed with that.

- So now what?

Commercial Thoughts:

Wow. Okay, that was a weird twist of a way to get there. But I’ve honestly got to say that I like it. It works. (I’d always hoped Jack would still be the key to Chuck’s downfall.)

I still feel sorry for Amara though. Like, is she just nothingness? Is she an alternate personality deep inside Chuck now? 

And what about Jack? Can he put things back to how they’re supposed to be? Bring everyone back? Did he get Chuck’s knowledge as well as his power? At least of who all he took away? 

Guess we’ll have to see.

Also, usually I’m not a fan of the trope of the “Good guys” sparing the villain who’s killed tons of people because “they’re above killing”. But in this case? It really was fitting. And a worse punishment than killing Chuck would have been.

- OH GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!

- Sammy’s cafe!

- (Okay I’m getting a little misty)

- His smile!!! 

- OKay, I might cry now.

- They raised God.

- Awwww….. (The names)

- Okay, so, I’m not okay! (But I’m okay with it, so… good thing?)

- So it ends with them doing whatever it is they want? 

- I wonder if the Apocalypse World people were brought back? And their other friends. (And Eileen? I’m sorry, I know not everyone ships it, but I do, and now Sam doesn’t have the great Plot of the Universe conspiring against him.)

After-Show Thoughts: (After I’ve had a few hours to ponder things)

Let me just say, the music in this episode? Like, just even the background music? It was amazing! It did such a good job of invoking the emotions that were being felt by the guys. And their choices of songs used were also good. :) 

Michael: So, in some ways his character shift in this episode seems odd after the last time we saw him. But then I thought more about it, and I think Adam’s death had a lot to do with it. In the previous episode in which we saw them, of the two of them Adam actually seemed to be more stable, and often had good, grounding advice for Michael. Now with him gone, all Michael had was himself. And at heart, he still wanted his father’s love, despite everything that had happened. And I still think he’s an interesting Parallel/Contrast to Dean, who also had the same father-worship for a long time, but over time he’s come to understand that John was wrong about a lot of things, and he needs to make his own way. I don’t think that’s something that Michael ever REALLY learned. Not deep down. 

Lucifer: I found his presence here to be annoying. I get that he moved the plot along. And I get how much at least half of Buckleming love him. I am glad that his part was brief and that he didn’t get a redemption arc. I do wish Sam had been able to kill him. (I know, he couldn’t have because only another archangel with an archangel blade yadda-yadda. STILL though…) Or that there had maybe been SOME meaningful interaction between him and Sam for old time’s sake, since that always gets nice and spicy. (Because Jared and Mark P. always keep in mind everything that’s happened between them and put that into their performances.) But time limits and all that. Also, why were there no wing-shadows on the floor when Lucifer died? There were wing shadows on the floor of the friggen church at the end of S13 and he died like 15 feet up in the air. *LOL* I mean, then whenever Sam looked at the floor in the Library he could remember that Lucifer is Dead for Good. 

And I just rewatched the scene again and when he died, he just went poof. Like, in the past, unless a finger-snap thing is involved that’s not what happens when angels die. If they get stabbed, there’s usually been a body left behind. Heck, at the end of S13 there was a full-on light-show. Now it almost looked like a regular angel death just with redder light instead of silvery-blue. Was that because it was just a thrown-together mock-up of Lucifer that Chuck made? (Like with Lilith? Because he’s NOT supposed to have any sway in the Empty! Dammit, how hard is it for the writers to remember the stuff that was already established?!)  

(Sorry. Continuity issues bug me. And they’ve bugged me from Season 1 on, so I know that’s not a new thing. But it does feel like they’ve gotten especially worse this season.) 

(Also, I’m starting to get tired so I’m going to try to wrap this up here. *LOL*)

I did like how they brought Chuck down. When it comes down to it, they weren’t following a pre-set plan. (Well, what happened probably WAS written in that book, but they didn’t know what it was.) Instead they found their own way with what they had. They figured out what was going on with Jack, and Sam figured out some bullshit spell to make some cool light-effects in order to fool Michael and Chuck into thinking they were setting it up for him. The only aspect of it that fell a little flat for me was the extended exposition on how they’d done it. It’s a trope that crops up a lot. The whole “Haha see what I did there!” But, on the other hand, I also realize that unless they’d shown us each step of the process as it was happening, there was no real way around presenting it that way. And it WAS more dramatic to have the audience in the dark until that moment. Also, I can’t deny the effectiveness of the scene where Chuck keeps beating them down but they keep standing up again. I mean, isn’t that an allegory for their whole lives? And at the end he’s incredulous as to why or even HOW they can still stand. What makes them keep going? True, part of it was that they knew the plan, and they knew this was part of it. (Which I think is why Sam opened it up with punching Chuck. To turn the confrontation more physical and draw it out, or he might have decided after all to just finger-snap them.) But part if it is also them just being them. They’ve both been down this road before. Like their whole lives have been this road. And they’ve both been to hell. Both suffered unimaginable tortures. And they just keep going. When one stumbles the other gets up. Or they get each other up. And they laugh in God’s face. Just… THAT was well-done. And Chuck's ending with them NOT killing him? That was absolutely poetic. Because now he's busted down to "normal" and has to figure out actual life (or just end his, but he'd have to do it himself) and he didn't even get an "ending" of his creations killing him. Because even if he did make them, he clearly still doesn't understand them. And I liked them saying "no" to the revenge game. (After making sure that he couldn't come back again as a problem. Cause they ain't dumb either. Despite what everyone keeps saying about them.) 

I also loved the scene where Jack brings everyone back. I would have liked to have seen some shots of some of the individual ones that we’d come to know being back, like Donna, some of those AU people (Eileen!) but I also get this ep was shot during Covid so they probably couldn’t get as many people back. (I hope some of them at least get name-dropped in the next episode so we know for sure that they’re back and alive.) But anyway, I thought the scene was well done, that song was a GOOD choice for it! (But then, I am a bit biased. It’s among some of the music I grew up listening to because my parents had it.) It may not be classic rock, but classic folk is fitting for the new God. :) 

Overall, I thought there were some pacing issues with this episode, but in general I was happier with it than the previous one. I’ve just been re-watching it (because I never catch everything the first time through, especially when I’m trying to take notes) and I just noticed something. Near the end when Sam and Dean are in the Library and Dean says “To everyone that we lost along the way.” I first was a bit puzzled about that, because my mind went to the more immediate people that they’d lost recently, and whom I’m assuming Jack brought back too. But on re-watching I thought about it in a grander scale. How many people have they lost in their lives due to Chuck’s story? Because Chuck thought it would make things more dramatic? I think he was reflecting on their whole lives, not just the last 48 or so hours. And that makes sense too with what Sam said following, about them finally being able to write their own story. (And yes, I know that Cas was not one of those brought back. At least, he doesn’t seem to have been. And though I don’t ship him and Dean, I don’t doubt for a minute that Dean cares/cared about him very much. It’s okay to love your friends. But I didn’t get the feeling that he was JUST talking about one person. That held the weight of years of losses.) 

I thought the ending montage was brilliant! Honestly, if the show ended here, I would have been okay. Not saying I DON’T want another episode! I’ll take whatever I can get. And I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing where they take their story. So yeah, looking forward to the next (and final *cries*) episode.

Anyway, that’s about all I can really dredge up this late at night. *LOL* This will be the LAST time I do one of these knowing there’s more to come. It’s the last week we’ll all wait in suspense for what’s going to happen next. After next week's episode we'll be into new territory of "That's all there is and ever will be." This has been quite a journey, and I haven’t liked all of it, but overall I still love this weird little show, and even more so the characters that we've met through it. So, to quote Bobby, “Here’s to runnin’ into you guys on the other side.”

[klcthebookworm]

Unexpected Consequences Teaser 03

Luke, Mara, Lucinda, and Artoo successfully evaded the stormtroopers and have finally found a place to stop on their first night in Myrkr's forest. And Lucinda has finally realized who she crashed with.

It hadn’t taken much further before they crossed one of the small clearings the forest was dotted with and sent the encrypted message to Karrde. Mara insisted they push on further before stopping at a large tree bole and underneath its canopy as the last bit of dark blue faded from the gaps between the leaves leaving blackness above them. “We’ll make camp here.” She eased down and pulled out the survival kit’s worklight and set it to its lowest setting. Now that the most pressing survival needs have been answered, she had time to pay attention to her throbbing ankle and the two people she hadn’t expected to become traveling companions. She had hoped to get a spare moment to confess to Skywalker, but now she was second guessing that. His family were all targeted by Thrawn.

Lucinda took the make camp announcement as time to talk. She closed in on Luke. “You’re Luke Skywalker. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker.”

He opened his survival kit. “I am.”

“You blew up the Death Star.”

“The first one I did.” He pulled the thermal blanket from the kit.

“You killed Jabba the Hutt.”

Mara wondered where this hero worship came from. She hadn’t passed on any Luke Skywalker stories to Lucinda and she had made sure the history lessons were accurate for the events and not holodrama stories. She pulled a glow rod out from her survival kit, so it would be out and ready.

He flattened the blanket next to the tree. “No, I fought all his guards and bounty hunters which gave my sister the chance to kill him.”

Lucinda grinned. “Dankin is telling it wrong!”

So it’s Dankin’s fault, Mara thought ruefully.

“You’re Luke Skywalker,” Lucinda’s voice got serious. “What are you doing on Myrkr?”

And I haven’t taught her how to not give information away.

“Ask your mother.”

Mara cocked her head as she glared at him. She couldn’t believe he just said that.

He ignored her glare as he held out his hand. “Let’s treat your leg.”

“It’s fine,” she insisted.

“It’s not and you should not hike for three days on a damaged limb.”

Becoming a Jedi had improved his confidence, Mara observed, but she wasn’t sure if she approved of that right now. “It’s just my ankle and you can’t do Jedi magic to it, not on Myrkr.”

“I was going to do Rebel-trained medpac on it. You have a problem with that?”

She grabbed his hand and he leveraged her up and then set her on the thermal blanket. He shifted her survival kit with the lit worklight to her feet. He lifted up the right leg and pushed the survival kit under to use as a foot rest.

Lucinda waited until both adults were settled. “Mommy, why is Luke Skywalker here?”

Mara glared at Luke again, but he ignored it as he untied her boot. She set the glow rod in her lap and drew her blaster out of the forearm holster. “You need to watch for vornskrs.” She held out the blaster.

Luci took it and turned to face the dark forest with excellent form. She had practiced that at least while Mara was away. Luke’s expression was sabacc-blank, so he was hiding how he truly felt. “You think an eight-year-old is too young to know how to shoot.”

His eyebrows raised at her snappish tone. “Has someone critiqued your parenting? I was shooting a Czerka 6-2Aug2 hunting rifle when I was her age.”

She was expecting critique and argument about what she had done for nine years. And her fear of losing Lucinda still hadn’t recovered from learning what Thrawn was up to only to get revved up by seeing her childhood lessons in action followed by stormtroopers who would add the Jades to Thrawn’s collection of Force sensitives. And it all could’ve been avoid had Luke just waited in the shed. Luke peeled off her sock and Mara sucked in her breath from the throbbing and swelling.

Lucinda looked over her shoulder. “You had a slugthrower when you were a kid? Why?”

“Watch the forest,” Mara reminded her.

Luci huffed but she turned her head back. The droid rocked into place to Mara’s right and rotated a sensor dish extended from its dome, so both side of the camp were covered.

Luke dug for the medpac out of his survival kit. “Blasters are expensive on worlds with harsh climates, which Tatooine qualifies. Slugthrowers take less maintenance, and you can make slugs if you want to take the time.” He found the medscanner and aimed it at her ankle. “Second-degree sprain. I think you hurt it worse with the running.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to slowly saunter away from stormtroopers,” Mara said.

His gaze went back to the medpac. “You should have just turned me in.”

Her back straightened right off the tree bole, but his grip on her leg kept that from jerking off the improvised foot rest. “You idiot! I was trying to keep them from learning we had you, which you didn’t help at all.”

He found the flexible tape and began winding it around her ankle and foot to immobilize it. That he was doing properly. “They came to dinner,” he said without looking up.

“No, they were uninvited. We had another set of guests that Karrde figured didn’t need to know about you. And since we haven’t heard any orbital bombardment, Karrde got them safely out of Imperial sight.” She took a deep breath against the throbbing in her ankle. “For the last time, I don’t want to see you in Imperial hands. Especially now that they have ysalamiri. And if Karrde decided differently, I was planning on telling you that and equipping you to help your escape.”

He looked up at her face, the lingering suspicion clearing from his blue eyes. Her heart turned over in her chest. Nine years, nine years, she should not still have a weakness for those blue eyes after nine years!

Mara’s other weakness scuffed her foot against a root. “Why are the Imperials after him? It it just ‘cause you’re New Republic or is it something else?” Lucinda didn’t turn around with her questions this time.

Mara leaned back against the bole with a sigh. “The Imperials have a new bounty out on him since he broke his hyperdrive getting away from them. We found him on the Wild Karrde’s last flight.”

“You found me.” Luke concentrated on winding the flexible tape around her foot. “Karrde gave you all the credit for that.”

Mara really didn’t want to get into a philosophical debate over what the Force was doing by leading her to him after nine years. So she went with her lingering outrage. “Why didn’t you just stay put?”

He sighed. “I am sorry for all this. I was trying to get you out of divided loyalties.”

He did it for her? She shook her head, of course he did. “Only you could cause this much trouble doing someone a favor, Luke.”

“Lucinda’s father,” he nodded at the little girl without looking at Mara, “must be going crazy back at the base.”

Oh damn. She wasn’t ready for this conversation. Not in front of Lucinda, not to put them both on the spot without any reflection on it. “He’s not—”

Lucinda interrupted. “He doesn’t care about me. He left Mommy knocked up.”

“Who told you that?!” Mara demanded looking at Lucinda’s back. She suspected Karrde had some theories that he was using this whole situation to find answers for, but if he was questioning her daughter behind her back, he would rue it.

Luci’s shoulders jerked up to her ears. “Ghent,” she answered sounding sorry to get the young man in trouble.

That was less troubling. Mara sighed. “Do not get biographical details of your life from Ghent; he wasn’t there. We didn’t meet him until you were three and I had to give you the job of keeping him fed because he only looked up from his consoles when he was getting shot at.” She looked at Luke, who was pretending to be fascinated with her ankle. “Her father doesn’t work for Karrde.”

Luke met her eyes with his own. “And didn’t keep in touch.”

She didn’t want him to feel bad about that. She smiled, “You may have missed it, but there was a war going on.”

“Still going on.” Luke’s shoulders slumped slightly as he finished wrapping her ankle, and put the flexible tape away.

“Wait, he was running away from the base.” Lucinda’s voice was puzzled as she faced the forest. “You found him, but he was running away. You were trying to keep him here?”

“Captain Karrde was keeping Jedi Skywalker here.” Mara kept her voice calm. Lucinda was about to go shrill over this, which was probably something else to blame Luke for. “I was trying to keep the Imperials from finding him.”

Lucinda whirled around to face the adults and remembered to aim the blaster at the ground. “But Captain Karrde can’t just keep people! It’s wrong!”

And there it was. Luke smothered his laugh as he set a medical cold pack over her bandaged ankle. Well, if Karrde hadn’t had a hellacious time with this venture of who will pay more for a Jedi yet, the Jades would finish that off. “Luci-love, when we get back to the base, I’ll make sure that you tell Captain Karrde keeping people is wrong and you can explain in great detail.”

Lucinda considered that. “Will you lose your job? I’ll do it, but you like this job.”

“After this fiasco, I’m sure Captain Karrde has learned his lesson.” Mara held her hand out for the blaster. She was looking at a suspicious shadow behind Luke.

The droid’s dome rotated a few degrees and it gave a quiet gurgle. “I think Artoo’s picked up something.” Luke twisted to face the darkness.

“No kidding,” Mara said. She aimed the glow rod’s beam over Luke’s shoulder.

A vornskr stood in the circle of light, its front claws dug into the ground, its whip tail pointed stiffly back and waving slowly up and down. It ignored the light as it stepped forward, its attention focused on Luke.

The beast stepped forward twice before the blaster bolt went neatly through its head. It collapsed to the ground, its tail giving one last twitch before doing likewise.

“Be faster on the trigger next time, Lucinda,” Mara corrected. She played the glow rod over the area, but there were no more suspicious shadows.

“Sorry, I thought the light might scare it off.”

“We know better now,” Luke said. “Thank you.” He nodded at her before he dug into the medpac again.

Lucinda grinned as she nearly skipped to Mara’s side and handed back to the holdout blaster. Mara drew her down to sit next to her. Luci yawned and pulled Mara’s arm around her.

“Are Karrde’s pet vornskrs a different species?” Luke asked. “Or did he have their tails removed?”

Mara blinked at him, impressed at his Jedi calm in spite of herself. Most men staring down a vornskr’s gullet wouldn’t have noticed a detail like that. “The latter,” she told him. “They use those tails as whips—pretty painful, and there’s a mild poison in them too. At first it was just that Karrde didn’t want his people walking around with whip welts all over them; he found out later that removing the tails also kills a lot of their normal hunting aggression.”

“They seemed pretty domestic,” he said. “Even friendly.”

“They were friendly to you?” Lucinda exclaimed. “They keep trying to eat me.”

“They weren’t that friendly,” Mara admitted. “They do better around people who aren’t Force sensitive. Karrde’s thought occasionally about offering them for sale as guard animals. Never gotten around to exploring the potential market.”

“Well, you can tell him I’d be glad to serve as a reference.” Luke said dryly. “Having looked a vornskr square in the teeth, I can tell you it’s not something the average intruder would like to do twice.” He moved to Mara’s right side and poured some tablets into the palm of his right hand. “Pain killers.” He held them out to her.

She shook her head. “Those will blunt my reaction time.”

Exasperation finally crossed his face. “I can shoot the vornskrs tonight. You have to rest that ankle.”

She glared at him but half-heartedly, and then took his hand and licked the three tablets from the palm. That contact jolted him from his Jedi stoicism and a flush spread over his face. He looked away, abashed. There was a glimpse of the younger man she had known within the Jedi. She passed the holdout blaster to him.

He walked around to settle on the left and pressed his back against the tree. Lucinda yawned again between them and snuggled closer to Mara. “Myrkr,” he said softly. “Reminds me of Endor. A forest always sounds so busy at night.”

“Oh, it’s busy, all right,” Mara said. “A lot of the animals here are nocturnal. Including the vornskrs.”

“Strange,” he murmured. “Karrde’s pets seemed wide enough awake in late afternoon.”

She wanted to rest her head on his shoulder. Luckily, the space between them prevented it. “Actually, even in the wild they take small naps around the clock. I call them nocturnal because they do most of their hunting at night.”

He mulled that over for a moment. “Maybe we ought to travel at night, then,” he suggested. “They’ll be hunting us either way—at least then we’d be awake and alert while they were on the prowl.”

Mara shook her head. “It’d be more trouble than it’s worth. We need to be able to see the terrain as far ahead as possible if we’re going to avoid running into dead ends. Besides, this whole forest is dotted with small clearings.”

“Through which a glow rod beam would show very clearly to an orbiting ship. Okay, we’ll travel by day. Good night, Mara.”

Her arm tightened around Lucinda as she closed her eyes. “Good night, Luke.”

[5hfanfiction]

(never meet) another so pure

Camila knows she’s too late.

-

“Go talk to her.”

Camila snaps out of her trance and turns her head to see her best friend, Ally, regarding her pointedly. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You’ve been staring at that girl all night,” Ally says, gesturing towards the green-eyed dark-haired girl that Camila has, in fact, been staring at the whole night. “Go talk to her. You’re basically torturing yourself like this.”

“I can’t,” Camila says stiffly, and it’s true, because it’s Lauren Jauregui and she doesn’t think she’ll ever be ready to talk to her again.

“Why not?” Ally’s dark eyes bore into Camila’s, and Camila looks away, because it feels like Ally’s reading her soul and she doesn’t want Ally to know any more about her old life, in her old town.

Ally is a very observant person. Camila doesn’t usually like observant people, but she likes Ally just fine.

(And she likes Lauren- she likes her a lot- and Lauren is one of the most observant people she’s ever met.)

“Because a long time ago, I messed up really badly with her.” Her eyes drift back to Lauren. She’s hanging out by the bar- not drinking, not on her phone, just looking with those gorgeous emerald eyes of hers, scanning the club, taking in faces. Camila knows this game well; she used to tease Lauren that she did it because she was making sure she was the prettiest girl in the room, but it’s actually because Lauren reads people so well that she makes up little stories about them in her mind based on how they look, how they act… things like that. Camila never saw the appeal, but she always felt chills- the good kind- whenever Lauren would lean over and whisper one of her people-theories into Camila’s ear. Whether it was because of her words or because of the close proximity is still unclear to Camila.

“It couldn’t possibly have been that bad,” Ally tells her, tossing her straight caramel-colored hair over to the other side of her head. “And even if it was, then there’s no time like the present to fix it.”

“I said something really terrible to her.”

“I don’t think-“

“She told me to never talk to her again, Allycat.” Camila’s gaze doesn’t leave Lauren. “I need to respect that, right?”

Ally shrugs. “Time heals all wounds. And you deserve a second chance.”

“A second chance at what?” Camila turns her head to look at Ally. She gives her a warning look, but Ally says “love” anyway, and Camila sighs and decides she doesn’t like Ally right now.

She knows she really screwed up, okay? Because the last time she saw Lauren was their high school graduation, and she thought Lauren was going to knock her teeth out because Camila said something she shouldn’t have so she raced out of there but now they’re both here, and Lauren looks even more beautiful than Camila remembers, and it must mean something, and maybe she does deserve a second chance after all.

Or maybe she doesn’t.

-

It happened like this:

For as long as Camila could remember, Lauren had been head-over-heels for Lucy Vives.

It started in seventh grade, and Camila still remembers the moment Lucy walked into the classroom, and Lauren turned to her and murmured “who’s that?” and Camila was going to tell her but then she saw her eyes, sparkly and in awe, and she knew she was long gone.

As far as Camila knows, it’s always been Lucy. Seventh grade turned to eighth, and middle school turned into high school, and all of a sudden the seniors were graduating and Lucia-fucking-Vives was still the only person Lauren was interested in. It didn’t matter that at least fifteen guys had asked Lauren out in the span of three months during their senior year. It didn’t matter that half the school was more than willing to worship the ground Lauren walked on. Lauren only had eyes for Lucy, and she made that very clear, especially to Camila.

So she sort of grew to resent Lucy. What gave her the right to walk into Lauren’s life and upturn everything she’d ever known while accidentally stealing her heart in the process? What gave her the right to enamor Lauren as she had, to take the one girl who would never fucking look away from her the moment she laid eyes on her? What gave her the right to Lauren, perfect, beautiful, hilarious, smart Lauren, the Lauren that Camila had adored and cared for and fuck, fallen for before Lucy even knew Lauren’s name?

And, she guesses, she kind of grew to resent Lauren too. Because Camila was never enough for Lauren, and she knew it. Camila would do anything for Lauren, but she would never notice because she was too busy holding up the sun, brushing away the clouds, coercing the lightning and the thunder so Lucy would shine.

But Lauren was happy, and Camila knew it. She didn’t know how it was even remotely possible to be happy chasing after a straight girl, but Lauren had done it, and Camila was happy that Lauren was happy. Or at least, she was at first. But there was always that underlying feeling, that vengeance, that should’ve-been-me feeling that brewed underneath the surface of Camila’s smiles and I’m-fines.

It took six years for Camila to finally snap.

-

“Can you believe we’re graduating?” Lauren stops from where she’s doing her liquid eyeliner and grins at Camila. “I’m literally so excited.”

“Me too.” Camila’s nearly positive that she has a dopey smile on her face as she leans against the bathroom counter and watches Lauren. She’s so beautiful, Camila thinks, but she looks down when Lauren catches her eye in the mirror.

“Camz.” Lauren smacks her lips together and then purses them, running a hand through her hair. “How do I look?”

“Perfect,” Camila answers immediately. “You always do.” It’s the truth. Camila’s pretty sure she’s never seen Lauren look more breathtaking than she does right now. The way she’s done her eyeliner and eyeshadow makes her green eyes stand out more than normal, and her hair is straightened, falling just past her chest- it’s probably the neatest Camila’s ever seen Lauren’s hair. And her lips- oh god, her lips- are painted a dark burgundy, and when she smiles, her white teeth shine in contrast

And she looks happy, too. Happy Lauren is the best Lauren.

“Thanks, babe!” Lauren chirps in a fake, obnoxious voice, than laughs at herself, the raspy sound filling up the cramped walls of the high school bathroom. Camila finds herself laughing along. “You know I gotta dress to impress, especially because… you know.” Lauren flushes pink. “Did you see Lucy yet? She looks…” She trails off, but the way she’s beaming says it all, and all of a sudden Camila stops leaning on the counter and stands stiff and straight. She feels kind of sick to her stomach.

“Why do you even like her?” There’s this pit growing in her gut. Lauren looks at her, surprised. “Because she’s Lucy,” she says simply, like that’s a proper answer. “I’m in love with her, you know? I’m in love with everything she does. I’d do anything for her.”

Camila sees red, and she doesn’t even recognize what she’s saying but it’s flying out of her mouth and she cannot stop it. “Honestly, fuck this. You know she’s never going to like you back, right?”

Lauren’s mouth falls open. “Camz-“

Camila knows she should just shut her mouth. She knows once this comes out, she can never take it back. And she has no clue why she’s doing this now, but all of the bitterness that’s been building up inside her is choking her and she needs to fucking get it out or she thinks she might die on the bathroom floor right now.

She’s tired. She’s so tired of being positive Camila, supportive Camila, go-get-your-girl Camila.

So she says it.

“I’m so sick of you being all Lucy this, Lucy that, blah-blah-blah fucking whatever. You need to get it through your head. She is never going to have feelings for you. You’re so fucking desperate and needy over some average bitch who could not care less about you.”

There’s silence. Dead silence. And Lauren is staring straight at her, jaw clenched.

“Get out.” Her voice is quiet, composed.

Camila instantly regrets it. The guilt spreads through her, head to toe, tingling through her skin. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She really shouldn’t have said that. Why in the world did she say that? God, she’s so stupid, Lauren will never forgive her for this.

She steps forward. “Laur-“

“I’m going to give you ten seconds to get out of here before I break your fucking nose.”

Camila has known Lauren since they were five. Camila has never been scared of Lauren in her whole life. But she’s never seen her like this- cold, dead, so utterly emotionless that Camila starts to doubt that she’s even human.

“I’m sorry-“ She’s shaking.

“Ten seconds, Camila, and your nose will be shattered so hard that you’ll never be able to breathe right again. If you leave this bathroom right now and never speak to me again, we’ll call it even.

Camila leaves without another word, trembling, and she cries for the first time in a long time.

-

“She threatened to break my nose so hard that I’d never be able to breathe right again.” Camila looks at Ally hopelessly, but she can tell the girl doesn’t believe her. “If you were really scared of her, you wouldn’t have been checking her out all night. Just see if you can fix things.”

Fix things. Maybe she could. Maybe she could make Lauren see her side of the story- the side where it fucking killed her to see the girl she loves love someone else. Lauren had always been understanding. And it had been almost four years now.

Camila doesn’t think it would hurt to try.

Lauren is chatting up the bartender when Camila comes up behind her. She takes a deep breath. “Lauren?”

Lauren turns around casually, perfectly messy dark waves settling over her shoulders, and Camila inhales sharply because she’s so much more beautiful up close.

“Camila?” Lauren’s lips part, and she laughs. “Oh my god, long time no see!”

And then she’s wrapping Camila in a hug, and Camila feels the warmth of her skin and she smells her vanilla shampoo, familiar and comforting, and maybe things will be okay after all as long as Lauren is holding her like this.

It’s too short. Lauren pulls away with a grin. “College life looks good on you, Camz. Do you go to NYU too? ‘Cause I haven’t seen you around.”

“No, I’m visiting my sister,” Camila tells her. She feels weird, kind of like she’s been dunked underwater and pulled out into the freezing cold, because she has no clue why Lauren is being so friendly. “You look good too,” she says quietly.

“Don’t I always?” Lauren flips her hair, and then breaks out into giggles. It’s absolutely adorable, and Camila finds herself smiling too. “Sorry. Can I buy you a drink?” She’s about to wave over the bartender, but Camila can’t help herself any longer. “I- why are you being so nice to me? No offense, but last time I checked, we weren’t exactly on the best terms.”

Lauren shrugs and gives Camila her irresistible smile. “I got over it, believe it or not. Time heals all wounds, right?”

No, Camila doesn’t believe it, but Lauren’s repeating Ally’s words back to her. Time heals all wounds. Maybe it really does.

“You threatened to break my nose,” she points out, unsure of what else to say.

Lauren smile slips. “I’m so sorry about that. That was really out of line and you didn’t deserve that.”

“But- Lauren, I did,” Camila insists. “I was horrible to you.”

“That didn’t give me an excuse to resort to violence. I really didn’t mean it, and I feel horrible about it.” Lauren bites her bottom lip, and meets Camila’s eyes, her gaze heavy. “I don’t even care what you said anymore. I barely even remember it.”

That’s funny, Camila muses, because she played it in her mind on repeat for months. She couldn’t forget that look in Lauren’s eyes- dangerous and icy and still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, even terrified out of her mind.

But Lauren’s words give her a spark of hope. Maybe she has a chance. Maybe she didn’t fuck everything up after all.

“Laur!” someone shouts, and all of a sudden a girl has an arm tightened around Lauren’s waist and she’s pressing a kiss to Lauren’s cheek and Camila feels her heart fall all the way down to her toes. “Sorry I took so long, sweets,” the girl tells Lauren, and then she finally turns toward her.

“Camila?” the girl says, eyebrows furrowing, and all of a sudden Camila realizes she does recognize the girl after all but there’s no fucking way, she thinks, because she’s pulling Lauren even closer towards her and now they’re holding hands and-

“Yep,” Lauren chirps. “Camz, you remember Lucy, right?” She nods toward the girl at her side.

Oh, fuck.

“Yeah,” Camila manages, and Lucy grins at her and says “Nice to see you again!” but Camila’s head is swimming and she hasn’t had any alcohol but it doesn’t matter because she’s going to be sick anyway.

“High school reunion much?” Lauren quips, and Lucy throws her head back and laughs, painfully gorgeous, and Camila digs her nails into her palm. “We didn’t go to that for a reason, Lauren.”

Lauren jokingly glares at Lucy. “We didn’t go to that because you said all the old high school fuckboys would try to steal your girlfriend and you thought you were too weak to fight them off!” She slaps Lucy’s chest playfully. “Which is true, by the way.”

Camila only gets one word from that, and it’s “girlfriend.”

“Aw, fuck you, babe,” Lucy chuckles, leaning in to peck Lauren’s lips.

Camila interrupts them by mumbling something about not feeling too great and they call farewells and feel betters after her as she stumbles to the bathroom. Ally tries to stop her on the way, but Camila waves her off and curses her past self for wearing these heels and she tells half-apologies to the four people she runs into but she knows it’s obvious she couldn’t care less but nothing registers for her anymore. “Everything’s so fucked up,” she mutters to herself, pressing a clammy hand to her face. Her stomach turns again.

Goddamn, she really is going to throw up this time.

-

WATTPAD:

[elssiie]

Because of your love

***

In a world, six thousand years ago, the time after the Ice Age and before the cultivation of the earth, when Fiore was covered in magnificent trees, a young man and a young woman are running for their lives. Will they find love along the way? / NaLu au, WARNING: smut scene

“There was a chasm Uncrossable There was a mountain Unscalable Even when my lost heart Was unlovable You spread Your arms out You laid Your life down for me Now I'm set free Now my heart sings”

A lightning sliced the gray sky. A terrible thunder followed right after so suddenly that all the animals on the trees and on the earth trembled terrified and hurried to hide themselves in their hollows. The branches of the magnificent pines were now drooping heavily to the ground, as if even they were worried about the upcoming storm. Above the forest a second lightning flashed between the dark, threatening clouds, creating the illusion of a furious, snake-like creature, which was spewing thunders and fire.

Two human figures were racing through the forest as fast as the tall bushes and grasses were letting them. The figures wore mantled with housings and wide hoods protected their faces from the raindrops. If someone could look at them right now he would have thought that they were running from something. And he would have been right because the two figures were desperately trying to reach one of their hideouts, which was going to keep them safe from the storm… and from other terrifying creatures.

As if the sky opened its maw because the light raindrops turned into powerful ones. They hit the earth with such strength that even the pines bowed. One of the figures, the taller one, pointed heatedly at something. In front of them rose a sharply cut rock, most of which was covered in moss and ivy. There was a hole at its lowest part, an entry to a dark cave.

Another thunder roared the sky and the figures hurried into the sanctuary they’d found. There was еnough place for three more people and the ceiling was tall enough for a person to stand. Further in the cave ruled only darkness, which suggested that the cave was actually  a lot deeper than it seemed. The figures were breathing heavily. One of them took down its hood and long golden locks fell down its back.  It was a young woman, with fair skin and eyes, the color of bright caramel, which were looking around cautiously.

“Do you think we’ll be safe here for the night?” she asked, a touch of fear in her voice, which couldn’t be missed easily.

Her companion also took down his hood. A man with bright pink hair, sticking rebelliously in all directions was now staring at her steadily. He was taller than her and from time to time had to bend down a little, in order not to hit his head.

“Everything’s alright. We’ve lost them for now. And this storm will completely erase our trail. The weather is on our side. ” he assured her with light, but nevertheless firm voice.

Both of them took off their fur cloaks and laid them on the ground to dry up. The man went to the other side, where he found a couple of pine branches, left there from the previous owners of the cave. Soon after that he made a small pyramid from them. From his vest, made from reindeer leather, he pulled out a flint and tinder and not longer after that a small fire started burning. During that time the woman pulled her hair into a ponytail and busied herself with unpacking the leather bag, which she had been wearing on her shoulder. There was only a salmon loaf and a round of beef left in the bag.

“Natsu, the food will only last us for no more than two more days.” said the woman, while placing the meat above the fire.

“We probably won’t stay here for longer. When we start travelling again, we’ll have to hunt something.” He murmured thoughtfully.

He sat right in front of the entry, watching the powerful raindrops outside.

His companion settled next to him.

She sighed somewhat heavily.

Natsu glanced at her. “Everything will be fine, Lucy. We’ll make it through.”

She didn’t respond. Just shook her head, tightening her lips in a painful grimace.

That  made him turn fully towards her. There was no more than an arm’s length between them, so before Lucy could even realize what was happening, he had already put his hand on her shoulder. His grip was strong, but not painful. Although the touch was warm, it sent chills down her spine.

Natsu opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw her eyes, filled with tears.

A heavy silence settled around them, disrupted only by the sound of the pouring rain.

Lucy was the first one to break the silence.

“I don’t know if… ” her voice was fragile and she knitted eyebrows, trying not to completely break down in front of him. His hand slid to her neck, calloused fingers gently rubbing her skin, encouraging her to tell him her worries. “Nothing’s fine.”

Suddenly she pushed his hand away, tears streaming down her face.

“We are outcasts! The dark priest is after me. He wants so use my blood for his disgusting rituals, just because my mother was the most powerful high priest to ever be born and now it seems I’ve inherited her powers. My father… he… he is dead because of me! The clans, the people who were supposed to go against Zeref, are chasing us too. “ She sniffed sorrowfully, “There’s… there’s no one on our side.”

Lucy bowed her head. She couldn’t bear his intensive stare. “And on top of all…I got you involved into this nasty mess too. You shouldn’t have gone with me. You shouldn’t have helped me. ”

Outside another thunder roared the skies, but this time so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that Lucy jumped, her eyes filled with terror and worry  were fixating on the area outside the cave. Through the waterfall of raindrops, falling in front of the entrance, she could only see the blurred figures of the trees and the bushes. Her body started shivering.

“That was my choice.” Natsu said quietly, catching her attention again. His forest-green eyes glimmered with… anger. “ Mine and only mine. They were going to turn you over to Zeref. For them you were like the sacrificial lamb. ” he spit the word with such loathing “If you think that the thought of abandoning you there came across my mind even for a moment… then you know nothing… you don’t know how much I… ”

Another thunder followed, her shoulders shivered, but this time she didn’t look outside. She stared shocked at the young man in front of her.

They knew each other for a couple of months. The dragon clan had sent some of their best warriors to trade and exchange experiences with her clan – the celestial sorcerers.

Two clans so different form one another. The first, leading the path of violence, treasuring only the physical strength and the animal instincts. The second, dedicating their lives to the stars and the sky.  

This trade had to continue no longer than a week. But then the attacks from the Dark priest happened. Terrible creatures invaded their camps, spreading death wherever in the smaller clans. The dragon clan had enough warriors to protect themselves but the celestial sorcerers were peaceful. They did not understand the ways of war. So the warriors decided to stay a little longer, to protect them in a sign of goodwill.

For the time they spent together Natsu and Lucy grew closer. They showed their abilities to one another., they formed a friendship. Together they were a good team – one was purifying the evil creatures with celestial power, the other – with physical strength.

But then the clans found out who Zeref wanted.

Until then the people thought of Lucy as a goddess born in human skin. They had worshipped her and her mother. After they understood how dangerous and valued her blood had become, at first everyone avoided her. When she’d pass by them, they would make the sign for the exile. They threw at her the most hateful and fearful looks.

She understood that they are frightened for their lives. She really did. That’s why she didn’t want to blame them. But then they locked her up as a criminal, they wanted to give her to the dark priest…

Natsu set her free. He could have just left her to run away and not follow her. But he did follow her. He protected her from all the creatures Zeref had sent after them.

She was more than grateful to him for everything he did, for giving up his normal life. The other day they’d run to a small group from the sabertooth clan – Natsu’s friends – and they’d told them that at the Meeting of the clans the people decided that both Natsu and Lucy were enemies to all. That they had to be caught no matter what. She also found out that her father had been killed, because he had blood connection to her.

And here she was now, filled with tearing guilt.

“I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.” She finally said. “I don’t want you to die.”

He gently lifted her chin with two fingers.

“I don’t think you understand, Lucy. We dragons are… creatures that don’t give up their treasures. They keep them safe no matter what. We don’t just abandon something we lo...”

Natsu licked his lower lip and a wrinkle appeared on his face. He looked so concentrated into delivering his feelings into words.

Suddenly he pulled away. When his nostrils flared, Lucy look at him confused.

“The meat will burn.” He explained and got up to deal with their dinner.

They ate in silence. Both were absorbed in their own thoughts and worries. They hadn’t tasted actual meat for such a long time, because they were afraid that the smoke from the fire will give their location away. At least the rain now was useful.

The night was already fallen when they moved their dried fur cloaks closer to the embers. After that they stood beside their “beds”, looking quite uncomfortable.  All the previous nights they had to snuggle to keep themselves warm because of the cold weather and because they didn’t have roof above their heads.

Now it was different.

Natsu cleared his throat and awkwardly laid on the cloak. His back touched the cave wall and in front of him there was enough place for two more people.  

“We need to sleep. We’ll be getting up early. ” his voice was reserved, tense.

Lucy nodded and untied her reindeer vest.  Her fingers trembled, while she took it down. Maybe it was because she felt his vigilant stare on her. He was watching every single move she made with extreme carefulness.

Lucy too laid, turning her back on the dying fire and immediately regretted her decision. They were now face to face.

And although there was at least an elbow length between them, her breath stopped. She couldn’t breathe normally, when he was staring at her as if he could drink her with eyes.

It felt different from the other nights.

This night wasn’t about survival. This night they were safe.

Her heart jumped when his lips opened up a little and he asked:

“What are you thinking?”

I’m thinking about how naked your eyes make me feel.

About your lips and what kind of taste they would leave on mine.

About your warm voice.

About your strong, muscled arms.

I’m thinking about you.

The last one Lucy barely said out loud. Before she could say something rash, she clenched her teeth.

Lucy chose not to answer. But it seemed that Natsu found the answer in her eyes. Those eyes of hers always betrayed her and showed her deepest emotions.

“Do you remember…” Natsu started a little nervous and stopped. He seemed to have some kind of mental battle with himself and after a couple of moments he continued more confidently. “You remember when we visited that shaman Multear and…���

“Ultear.” Lucy corrected him. He smiled a little, but his face returned fast its seriousness.

“Yeah. Ultear. We saved her foster-daughter from Zeref’s demons and in return she let us stay in her hut for a couple of days. One evening she told us a story, which has been passed on from generation to generation in the clans. ”

“The girl and the warrior.” Lucy’s eyes shone with excitement. It was her favorite story.

Natsu nodded. His eyed didn’t leave hers even for a second.

“It just stroked me with something. The warrior had lived his whole life on the battlefield. The death seemed beautiful to him, the tormented screams during the killings – enchanting. Until he attacked a village and saved a blind girl from his comrades who wanted to have some fun with her.

Lucy was completely engrossed in the story. She didn’t even realize that she’d moved closer to him. But it didn’t go unnoticed by Natsu.

“He took her as a captive, a slave, because he found her interesting. He didn’t hurt her though. He could see she as different and wanted to learn more about her. The warrior started to understand some things about life and death thanks to her, about love and war. ”

“He fell in love.” Lucy sucked a breath, finally realizing what he meant. She wasn’t the only one who had regrets, who as afraid.

Natsu’s lips curled up in a sad smile.

“You have no idea how much of myself I can see in him. The things I’ve done…” He shook his head. “I don’t deserve you. But I would go beyond the end of the world if that assures your safety.”

Natsu took a sharp breath, when her fingers touched his jaw and moved to his cheek. He closed his eyes. Lucy gently traced some invisible lines on his forehead; then followed the slope of his straight nose. The tips of her fingers tremblingly pressed on his lips. A quiet moan escaped from his mouth.

Suddenly Lucy pulled her hand back fearfully. Natsu opened his eyes. A craving for something, for someone, was written on his face.

He tried to say something, but Lucy quickly, almost desperately, turned her back on him. Her eyes ran terrified over the burning embers.

She didn’t know what to do with herself. Her heart was thumping with the same rhythm as the powerful storm outside.  Lucy felt as if her own soul was rushing out of her chest and would break up into tiny pieces.  

Was this happiness? Excitement?

But she could also sense her risen fear. Lucy realized she’d been breathing heavily.

Why did she pull away? She wanted this! She was sure of it!

Behind her Natsu whispered, “Goodnight, Lucy.”

And she realized he had read her actions as rejection. She realized that this “Goodnight” would end everything they’d build these past months. It would seal his feelings in a solid chest and he would never ever allow himself to show his feelings so sincerely again.

A powerful thunder shook the cave’s walls and the earth beneath them.  Lucy was already turned around and kissing Natsu. At first surprised, his lips stayed frozen, but just seconds later his arms embraced her and pulled her closer.

It was a rough, kind of sloppy kiss, but still… it was filled with their hidden cravings and bottled up feelings. It was passionate and angry, painful and lovely all at the same time. And it was exactly what she had imagined would be. His lips, thick and soft, were swallowing, absorbing hers with such thirst as if they were trying to taste her soul.

They broke away for a short time, shakily catching their breath. Natsu moved from the uncomfortable position on the ground and moved his body above hers, with hands on both sides beside her head. He captured her mouth again, this time slightly biting her bottom lip. Lucy moaned between the kisses and buried her fingers in his pink locks. That seemed to drive him crazy, because his body pressed more tightly on her.

In the air floated that particular scent of rain and wet grass. It was her favorite smell but all she could sense right now the smoke in his hair and the warmth of his mouth. His hands lowered to her waist and squeezed her hips roughly.

“Ah!” Lucy’s cry died in his mouth.  

Her legs instinctively spread and he settled between them. Natsu quickly took down his wool shirt and she – her cotton tunic, throwing it behind them and staying only in her thin underwear. Lucy lifted her head to continue kissing him but he pulled away a little. His eyes glimmered like two live coals, when they traveled over her naked body. Natsu began leaning until his breath caressed her lips.

“You sure you want this?” he asked panting.

Lucy dragged her nails over his muscled stomach, giving him the answer. Natsu growled as he positioned his head in the place between her neck and shoulder. His sharp teeth took hold of her smooth skin and her whole body convulsed with pleasure. Natsu’s tongue then softly licked the bitten place, compensating for the roughness. His mouth moved to her collar-bones and even lower. He buried his head in the curve between her breasts, covering it with sweet kisses.

Under him Lucy squirmed and a giggle escaped her mouth, “It’s tickling me.”

Lucy could swear she felt his mischievous smile on her skin.  His lips traced the length of her stomach and when they stooped at the lowest part, her toes curled and she moaned loudly.  

They couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to stop. Not now.

Lucy’s hands found his shoulders and drew his face to hers, while her legs wrapped around his hips and pulled him so sharply, so suddenly towards the lower part of her body that he roared in her mouth with pleasure, sending pleasing vibes down her spine.

Soon all of their remaining clothes were left behind. All barriers between them disappeared.

Nothing else mattered beside this moment – there and now. Him inside of her, she –wrapped around him. They didn’t hear the raindrops, nor the thunders, or the violent wind, which was easily bringing down the pine’s branches. Even the heavy, shaky breath of Natsu and the small, high-pitched voices, coming out of Lucy were going unnoticed by them.

Their fusion, their connected bodies were stronger than the lovers. Every thrust, every beating of their hearts was claiming them, calling them to come closer, to move deeper into one another, to touch each other’s soul.

Later that night, when the Moon eye had raised high in the dark sky and the rain was still pouring down, they were laying on the warm cloaks. Her hand was sprawled on his bronze chest, Natsu’s arms were embracing her back protectively. Their bodies, tangled in one another, were still hot and sweaty. But on their faces was written such calmness, such peace…  

A lot of dangers and obstacles were waiting for them.

But they were together.

And that, for now was more than enough.

***

So.. this is the first fanifc I’ve posted here :)

 Really hope you’ll like it!

[petri808]

To Hell and Back

Fic Writer’s Appreciation- January 2018 Writing Challenge January (2018) Day 18 Friendship

9K+ words.  Sequel to Alone No More, what did Natsu really do to end up cursed and how far would friends go to protect each other?  Sorry, it’s a little rushed since I was trying to get it done by the 18th.  I’ll probably tweak it and post an updated version on AO3 hopefully in a week or two.  Thanks for reading :)  

Levy, Erza, and Cana, three of Lucy’s best friends accompany her to a dress fitting in the city.  The wedding is just six months away and they all must get fitted for their gowns.  As the soon-to-be Princess of Kelekona, it was natural the girls were escorted in a carriage by several of the Royal guards.  Jellal, Sting, Leo, and Gajeel were some of the finest in the army and they were handpicked for the job by Natsu because Lucy’s safety was always his top priority.  

The girls arrived at the shop which had been cleared of any other customers for a private session with no trouble and once inside, the four men took up their positions, standing guard at the only entrances, two by a front door, and two by a rear exit in the back.  Inside, the shop keeper, and two assistants along with the four girls were the only ones.  

But little did they know, that one of the assistants was the wizard that originally cursed Natsu and she had other plans for the would-be bride…

“Ahh, Welcome again Lady Lucy,” the shop keeper bows to the young blonde, “I am honored that you chose my establishment for your royal wedding attire.”

“You are too humble, Hibiki,” she smiles, “Your dresses and suits speak for themselves and I am very much a fan.”

“Please, have a seat, ladies,” he gestures to some cushioned chairs as his assistants bring out refreshments, “Do you have a dress style in mind for you and the bridesmaids?”

“Yes…”

As the shopkeeper and Lucy speaks, one of the assistants dictates notes and sketches, while the other begins taking measurements of each women.  Styles, colors, embellishments, fabric preferences are all accounted for.  Natsu’s favorite colors are reds and golds so Lucy decided to go with that as the color theme, but for a fun little twist approved by the King and Queen, little dragons and stars will be embroidered on the bridal party’s attire.  

When it is Lucy’s turn, Karen, one of the assistant’s gestures to the riser, “Please, Lady Lucy, step up so that I may take your measurements.”

Hibiki turns his questions towards the Maid of Honor Levy to gather more information on the exact placements of the embroidery as Cana and Erza look around the shop at the other fineries he sells.  This establishment caters to mostly nobility and other wealthier citizens of the surrounding areas but, a little window shopping couldn’t hurt.

“Please stand up straight and put your arms out.”  Once Lucy complies, Karen measures the length of arm from neck to wrist, then bust and waist.  “Are you excited to be marrying the Prince, Lady Lucy?”

“Oh yes,” the young blonde beams at the mention of her fiancé, “It has been such a magical journey, like those fables you read to children, but it’s actually happening to me!”

Karen kneels to measure the inseam and outer leg lengths, “Prince Natsu seems like a nice young man, he is very lucky to have met you.”

“Thanks,” the girl blushes  

“Would you tell me,” Still in the kneeling position, Karen lowers her voice so that the other’s around them cannot hear her, “are the rumors true, had he really been cursed and turned into a dragon and you were the one who broke the spell?”

“It’s true,” Lucy tilts her head, “But, I’m a little surprised, I thought everyone in this city knew the story.”

“Oh, I have,” the woman smirks, “I just wanted to confirm it from the source.”

“Why?”

“To make sure…” she looks straight at Lucy, “my spell is cast on the right person.”

“Spell…” Lucy begins to back-peddle, slipping off the riser and falling, “Wh-who are you…”

Karen stands up, “the witch who cursed Natsu.  He should have suffered longer after what he did to deserve it!”

“Hey what’s going on!” Hibiki and the others rush over, “Karen wh…”

“Stay back, all of you!”  Now even the guards have surrounded them.  “I will kill her if anyone comes any closer.”

But the guards take a step forward.  “Wait!” Lucy shrieks, “Stay where you are.” She turns back to the woman, “why do you want to hurt me?!  I thought it was just a prank that…”

“It was no prank!  And there are others that know this to be true who have helped him hide it.” Sting flinches, but says nothing.  “Two years wasn’t long enough for him to learn his lesson, and so I am forced to act once again.”  

“But why me?  I didn’t have anything to do with that!” Lucy is in tears by this point, “I wasn’t here…”

“Don’t you think I know that stupid girl!  But for him to realize and atone for what he did, I must take away what is most precious to him…  and that my dear is you.”  

She lifts her hand above her head, “May she draw out the truth that lies buried in his soul and deliver reparations for my heart.  Lefkó os katharó me fterá chrysoú, metamorfónoun aftó to korítsi se dráko! (White as pure with wings of gold, transform this girl into a dragon!)”  

Lucy’s body begins to glow just like Natsu’s did when he began to transform, “What did you do to me?”  

“What did you do to the Princess!” Jellal shouts, “Damn witch you will pay!” He takes a step forward...

“Kill me and you won’t learn the secret to removing the spell,” Karen snickers.  “Do you really wanna do that?”

While everyone watches, Lucy’s body slowly changes… morphing into a dragon.  “Please tell us how to save her!” Levy begs through her tears, “she doesn’t deserve this…”  

They must move back as the creatures grows, a little smaller in size, and white with goldish colored wings than Natsu had been…  “Please Ms. Karen!” the girl drops to her knees beside her unconscious friend as the glowing subsides, “Tell me!”

“Follow the instructions I leave to the letter, and remember, the names given must do exactly as instructed or she will remain a dragon for the rest of her life…”  the witch simply vanishes into thin air and in her place, lies a book.  

“Fuck where did she go?!” Jellal screams.  “Gajeel, Leo fan out into the surrounding areas and search, Sting let’s get these girls back to the palace now!”

“But what about the Princess?  She’s still unconscious, how do we get her to the palace?”

Hibiki who is still shaken by the whole ordeal volunteers, “I have a horse drawn cart out back, s-she should fit in it.”

“Thank you, Hibiki,” Erza places her hand on his shoulder trying to reassure him…

All the while, Cana had picked up the book and turned her attentions to Levy who is sobbing hysterically over her friend.  “Come on Levy, we’re gonna save her…” she rubs the girls back, “Don’t lose it now, we need you to stay strong…” she shows her friend the book, “and we’re gonna need your skills.”

Levy wipes at her face and looks at the book, “It l-looks like Dragoumik, an ancient dialect used by priests who worshiped these creatures a couple hundred years ago…”

“Girls,” they turn to see Sting walk up behind them, “We need everyone’s help to move Lady Lucy…”

In order not to create a panic, Lucy is hidden under fabrics, and driven by Hibiki himself to look like a simple delivery of goods to the palace, but Levy refuses to leave her friend’s side and lays down next to her just in case she wakes up.  The rest of the entourage follows in their carriage with Jellal leaving the girls in Sting’s care to find his other two guards.  

On the way, Levy flips the book open and finds a loose paper, folded, and tucked against the seam.  There is too little lighting to read most of it, but clearly it is instructions just as Karen said they would be.  “Hang in there Lucy,” she lays her head against her friend, “I’ll get you back to normal, and find out what the hell Natsu did to cause all this!”

Once safely behind the walls of the palace, and with the help of a few other guards, Lucy is swiftly carried to her room before anyone can see her.  While the three girls wait there, Erza asks a guard to fetch the King and Queen and Sting rushes off to find Natsu who is with Gray somewhere in the training fields near the forest.

But Levy is not wasting anytime, as soon as Lucy is safely in her room she yanks the paper out of the book and starts reading…

“The three conspirators must find the keys to unlocking the spell.  Natsu Dragneel.  Gray Fullbuster.  Sting Eucliffe…”  ‘Gray and Sting know something?!’  “Fullbuster will search for the Jewel of Reflection, Eucliffe must find the Elixir of Contrition, and Natsu Dragneel shall locate the Verity Chalice.  In this Book of Wisdom, you shall find the directions for each key piece.  

Each conspirator will be put through their own tests in order to obtain the key pieces.  Once collected, all must be brought by these individuals before Lucy in the place her heart was stolen…”  ‘Place her heart was stolen?  What the hell does that mean?’  “Remember, they must keep the items they were tasked to find with them.  

Place the Jewel and Elixir together in the chalice and incant the spell Allagi to activate the final test.  Once Lucy drinks the potion, Natsu must atone for what he did and if he speaks the truth, the curse will be broken.”  ‘Spell?’  Levy frantically flips through the codex, ‘Spell?  There!  Allagi!’  “I’ve got it!  I’ve got it!!”

“Got what?!!”  Cana and Erza rush over to their friend.

“I know what needs to be done to save Lucy!”

Movement catches their attention as Lucy stretches her legs and wings, like she is waking up from a long slumber.  “Lucy!” the two girls run over to her.  

Cana, “Lucy, don’t freak out but you’ve been turned into a dragon.”  But she literally jumps to her feet, wide-eyed, spinning trying to see it for herself.  

Erza, “Lucy calm down, y-you’re gonna hurt yourself… or break something.”

Levy hugs the dragon’s neck, “Stop, Lucy, it’s gonna be okay!” tears are starting to trickle again, “We know what we need to do, we’re just waiting for the others to get here.”  The dragon settles down and hangs her head.  “I swear to you, Lu, I’m gonna get you back to normal and figure out what the hell Natsu did to cause this in the first place!”

The two girls and Lucy both look up at their friend, “What do you mean what he did?” the red-head asks.

“This is not over some stupid prank, that woman was angry, and she even alluded to it back at that shop…  Reflection…  Contrition…  Verity…” Levy’s voice is cynical and irritated, “…it’s all about making amends for something and I doubt it’s because of a joke.  And whatever happened, she believes that Gray and Sting knew about it and helped Natsu to cover it up.”

“So, you said, you know what needs to be done?”

“Yeah, but there’s only one thing I’m not sure about.  It says once they’ve gathered the keys they must…” she looks back to the book and skims over the words as she reads them aloud, “Once collected, all must be brought by these individuals before Lucy in the place her heart was stolen,” looks at Lucy, “Do you know where that place is?”  The dragon stares for a second then shakes its head.  “Maybe Natsu will...”

Little did the girls know, that King Igneel and Queen Grandeeney had arrived at the room just as Levy was hugging Lucy to calm her down, and when they heard the discussion, stopped to listen.  

By the time Levy was asking about the place Lucy’s heart was stolen the Queen was in tears and the King was fuming, not at what was happening now but his son.  Something in his heart had always wondered if a simple prank could have led to the curse and now, with his future daughter-in-law, an innocent party affected, he was ready to demand the truth.

Queen Grandeeney is too upset so one of her attendants takes her back to her chambers but Igneel takes a deep breath and opens the door.  As soon as he sees Lucy his heart drops even more.  “Damn it Natsu…” he mutters under his breath and shakes his head.  

“King Igneel,” the two girls bow their heads at the arriving monarch, even Lucy drops hers but the King, lifts it back up.  

“I’m so sorry my dear,” moisture is clouding his eyes as he stares at the dragon, “you don’t deserve the pain my son has brought upon you.”  turning to Levy, “I believe what you were saying, Natsu must have done something far worse to that wizard than he admitted to, to bring this on again.  Can you really save her?”

“Yes.” Levy states without hesitation.

King Igneel nods, “Good, then I’m putting you in charge.  If my son so much as whines I swear I am gonna give him a lashing he’ll never forget!  Lucy is the best thing that has ever happened to him and if he screws it up I’ll… I’ll…” but before he finishes, Lucy nuzzles the king’s face with her snout to quiet him.  Her eyes are soft, reflecting warmth and compassion, they say to let it go…  

Exhale, “You’re too good for him,” King Igneel smiles, “But if you can offer mercy at a time like this then so can I.”  Lucy closes her eyes as he smooth’s her muzzle, releasing what can be only be described as a sigh…

At that moment Natsu and Gray burst through the doors with Sting right behind them.  “Fuck, what the hell did that bitch do to you!”  But before he can reach Lucy, both his father and Levy step between them.

“You’ve got some serious explaining to do young man.” His father grabs his son by the shirt, “and you two,” he looks at Gray and Sting who stand petrified behind their friend, “you helped him get in this mess, you’re helping him get out of it or you’ll spend the rest of your lives in the dungeon, understood!”

Gray and Sting just nod and hang their heads while Igneel lets go of his son’s shirt.  “Now, the three of you are gonna stand there, with your mouths shut, as Levy tells you exactly what you have to do to fix this problem.  If any of you gives her any problems you’ll be answering to me, got it?”  Again, they nod.  

“Can’t I at least kiss my fiancé or hug her, something?  She’s gotta be upset right now.”

“Lucy,” the king turns to the dragon, “Do you want a hug from Natsu?”  The dragon shakes her head no, “Sorry son, guess she’s still upset, with you.”

“Why me?”

Having stayed quiet while the King dealt with his son, Levy just can’t hold back the anger that had been simmering for the what the Prince had caused her best friend.  “Are you fucking serious!” the young girl starts screaming and advancing on Natsu, “Even though some of us don’t know exactly what you did to cause it, we do know it’s all your Fucking Fault!!”

Everyone’s mouth drops at the profanity coming out of the usually quiet girls mouth and Cana and Erza must grab Levy by the shoulders to pull her back.  “…You, and Gray, and Sting pissed off that witch and now Lucy is paying for it!  And you’re gonna friggin fix this or so help me the dungeon is gonna be a vacation compared to what I do to you!”          

“Alright!” Natsu puts his hands up, “Of course I’ll do anything to break the curse, I want Lucy back!”

Levy reads aloud the instructions given by the witch word for word and while she does this, the King watches the expressions on Natsu, Gray, and Sting’s faces carefully.  He can see the wheels turning in their minds, clearly all three of them were guilty of something, but what?  

The witch called them all conspirators but according to witnesses, she also said she was taking away what was precious to him, meaning Natsu.  His son must be the one who did something and the other two are covering for him.

After finishing, Levy looks straight at Natsu and asks, “Where is the Place Lucy’s heart was stolen?”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I have no idea.”

“Well think harder!  Because unless we can figure it out, finding those keys are useless.  Only two people know this answer, you and Lucy and unfortunately, she can’t speak right now.”

“I’m not sure…” his shoulder slump and he plops down onto their bed holding his head in his hands, “Gah!  I’m not good at this romantic stuff, I-I…” Even though he’s covering his face, Lucy can smell the tears starting to trickle down his face.  She walks over and nudges his hand until he finally looks up at her.  

“Lucy, I’m so sorry!” he throws himself on her, hugging to her neck, “I swear I never meant for anything like this to happen…”  Letting his tears go, the young Prince’s chest heaves from crying so forcefully, “I’m gonna get you back to normal, I promise, I promise, just don’t leave me please!”  She nuzzles him back as if to say I’m not going anywhere…

And that’s when it hits him, “I know the place…” he sniffles and pulls back to caress her muzzle.  Resting his forehead against her cheek, “It’s the same place you stole my heart too.”

“Well?!!” Everyone shouts at the same time.

He smiles and kisses her nose, “The cave, am I right?”  Lucy nods her head.

“Great!” Levy stands up from the loveseat she was on, “Now that we know where it is, it’s time you three go and find the key pieces.” She hands out instructions to where they will find them.  “I don’t know what you’ll encounter when you get to these locations but just come back as quickly as possible.

 Once you’ve all returned, meet back here at the palace and make sure you hold on to the pieces you were told to find,” she stresses, “since the witch specifically assigned them, there must be some significance to it.  Then we’ll all go to the cave together, I’ll have the spell translated by then.”

King Igneel, “Should I send help with them?”

“No,” Levy shakes her head, “the witch wanted this to be a test of sorts that they needed to complete, on their own.”

“Okay,” the king agrees, but he worries.  He might be angry with Natsu but he’s still his only son.

Each person in the room, makes their way out, Igneel goes to check on his wife and let her know what’s going on, Sting and Gray still with their heads hung in shame set out on their missions, Cana and Erza drag Levy out with her to give the couple a few minutes alone, promising to return quickly with food.

“Lucy,” with trepidation in his tone, he smooths the area around her face and neck, “Are you really still mad at me?”  she nods.  He sighs, “D-do you… hate me?”  she shakes her head no.  “Do you still love me?”  Now this time she doesn’t respond for a few seconds, giving him a mild heart attack, but soon nuzzles his face and nods her head.  

He exhales long a deep, “I know this might not mean much under the circumstances, but you still look beautiful Luce.”  She shakes her head, shying away from his gaze, but he turns her head back to him, “No, really you are, you’ll always be beautiful to me no matter what.”  Leaning his forehead to hers, “I’ll make this right again, okay?”  she nods, “be back before you know it,” he flashes his cheeky grin, and after one more kiss to her nose he sprints out the door…  

Gray’s quest leads him to the summits of Mount Hakobe, trudging through snow drifts and semi-blizzard like conditions; it’s painfully slow going.  It didn’t help that the location of the Jewel gave very little details, a cave on Rumi’s Peak marked by blue granite about 600 yards from the base.  But the peak was at least half a kilometer wide and chances are the cave will be hidden by snow.

Locals in the area give him a little more information saying the cave faces East, towards the rising sun; a symbol of new beginnings.  Is it a sign he wonders, as he makes his way in that direction, find redemption for what they had done and begin… anew?  

He had known the second Sting told them what had transpired their past had come back to haunt them.  They should have been free and clear, the girl and her mother had moved to the other side of the continent, Natsu’s curse had been broken, so why did that witch have to stir things up again?!  

Unless this wasn’t just to punish the Prince, but them as well?  It had been selfish of him but when Natsu was the only one to suffer the witches curse he had breathed a sigh of relief that the witch hadn’t come after them too.  ‘Well I guess I was wrong…’ grumbling in his head, ‘all because that idiot couldn’t control himself, I’m here freezing my ass off!’  

It was almost like the mountain heard his protests because winds began to whip around him, swirling and lashing him with the icy snow.  He runs with his arms up frantically trying to block his face from the onslaught, but it can only do very little as what feels like tiny daggers slice at any exposed skin.  With his desperation mounting, a glimmer of hope rises in the distance, a cave, ‘Shelter!’  And heads right for it….

“Well at least this elixir thing is in the forest,” Sting snickers, ‘Gray must be thrilled with the snow, fuck, he’s always been frigid anyways, he’ll fit right in.’  He wipes at the beads of sweat gathering on his forehead.  “Tch, never thought a rain forest would be so damn hot though!” shouting at the birds chirping around him.          

Hacking away at the vines and foliage, Sting traipses over the cushiony ground of fallen leaves and other debris, thoroughly irritated that he was stuck in this situation.  “I didn’t get them drunk!” slicing through another thick vine.  “I wasn’t even there when he shagged her!!”  

It was true that the soldier hadn’t been with his two friends when they were partying with the girl, though at the time he was mad he wasn’t.  Usually it was the three of them getting into such mischief but that night he was on guard duty.  I mean what virtuous chick would even agree to be alone with men unless she wasn’t as innocent as she claimed to be.  

The chauvinist in him had no problem blaming her for the whole ordeal and that’s why he did what he did to protect his friend and his kingdom.  There was no way he was going to allow, who he felt was a whore, tarnish the Princes name, and he was pretty sure he had scared the girl enough to keep her mouth shut.  Then, when Natsu had gotten cursed by the witch he became paranoid for a time that he would be next on the list, after all he had a played his part.    

But nothing happened, months went by and when he learned the girl and her mother had moved far away he thought he was clear.  ‘Boy was I wrong…’  When that woman started talking about the people who knew, he thought he was done for, but instead she focused on Lucy.  Panic had rose like bile in his throat, but he couldn’t move, no one knew what they had done, and he wasn’t about to admit to it either.  

It wasn’t until he was looking for Natsu that he could reflect on what was going on.  For Sting, the girl had meant nothing, but Lucy was a completely different case.  He liked her, a lot, as in, if Natsu had screwed up he would have swooped in to console her.  At least he had enough respect for his friend never to cross the line until that happened and considering they were engaged to be married, probably never will.  But it wasn’t right, that she was being punished for their transgressions.  

“Where the hell’s this medicine guy!” pushing a branch out of his way.  “I don’t have time to waste here!” another branch.  “Damn it!” just as he’s moving another branch, a strong gust of wind funnels through the trees, ‘what the…’ picking up leaves and other vegetation from the ground propelling it at him.  His hands fly up to block but the branch he had already started to push forward, recoils, hitting him square in the chest and flinging him backwards.

Sting’s body slams hard against a tree trunk before landing face first at it’s base, knocked out col

“…Hey Gray, why is there a girl here?”   “I met her at the tavern last night, invited her to party with us.”   “I’d rather not…”   “What are you scared of…”

He shakes his head, ‘I should’a left, right that second, I should’a left her alone with Gray,’ he sighs and rubs his temples.  But the messed-up part is, if not for that night, and being turned into the dragon… ‘I wouldn’t have met Lucy.’  “Oh, this is so fucked up!” the exasperation in his voice speaks volumes, is fate really so, twisted?  ‘I got to meet the girl of my dreams…  after meeting the one that became my nightmare.’

Natsu’s journey would take him the furthest of the trio, for the goblet he needed to obtain was near the city of Alvarez.  Clear across the continent of Fiore it will take him at least 3 days of hard riding by horse which left him a lot of time to think.  And the fact was, he didn’t even know what the truth was anymore or what to believe.  

That night in the barracks he remembers drinking with Gray and the girl, he knows he got wasted on alcohol, but at some point, he must have blacked out because he doesn’t remember sleeping with her.  Not to say it didn’t happen, just that he couldn’t remember.  For all he knew he simply fell asleep.  

But according to Gray, when he woke up he found Natsu, with only his boxers on, passed out next to the partially naked girl, it sure looked like they had had sex.  So, he believed Gray when he was told it must have taken place; his friend wouldn’t lie to him, right?  And in his panic, he let his two best friends cover up the incident like nothing ever happened.  

And that was easier to believe, to assure himself that nothing happened, it was a misunderstanding, hell, that it was all just a drunken dream and for six months no one could have told him otherwise; until that witch cursed him.  The woman never told him who she was or why she was doing that to him, but it didn’t take a genius to put it together.  

That’s when the truth reversed in his mind, and believed he had deflowered the girl.  His parents had raised him with enough morals to know it was wrong to take a girl’s virginity before marriage and this tore him up inside.  

So, by the time Lucy had found him injured in the forest, he did want to die but not because he felt alone like he had told her, but because he felt he had committed such a horrible sin.  That poor girl would never be looked upon the same if men knew she was no longer pure, and it was all his fault.          

With the sun about to set in just a couple hours, Natsu finally arrives at his destination.  ‘This is odd…’  he remarks to himself, for this forest clearing is eerily silent.  No birds chirping or insects buzzing, no sound of wind rustling the leaves, just a still and unnerving dead space.  

His horse begins back-peddling and shuffling from side to side, even this creature feels the uncomfortable energy of this place.  “Shhh…” he pats and rubs his horses neck, trying to prompt it forward again, but the animal plants it front feet, refusing to take another step.  

“You finally made it, Prince Natsu…”  

He looks up from his horse, eyes narrowing and anger bubbling to the surface the instant recognition processes in his brain, for where there was no one before a woman stands waiting, “You!”                

Back in Kelekona, Lucy is so distraught she refuses to leave her room, but worried about her sanity, her three best friends take turns to make sure she’s never alone.  They do their best to keep her spirits up, and her attention on anything but the fact she was just turned into a dragon.  

Lucy permits a few others to come in like the King and Queen, Princess Wendy, her servants Aries and Virgo; but only people she knows she can trust.    

Unable to talk anymore, like Natsu, she instead does a lot of reflecting.  Lucy hides her emotions from her friends, which is not difficult considering she can no longer smile or frown, cry or laugh and other actions that may give it away.  She must admit, that being incapable of doing any of those things that makes them human, really does leave you feeling lonely.  

To think Natsu spent two years in this condition and after just two days she can barely stand it.  No wonder he started to retreat from the world he knew.  But what about the things the witch had said?  What did Natsu, Gray, and Sting do that was so horrible, to incur her wrath?  

After the boys had left, Levy had divulged a little more of the translations to just the girls.  Levy had purposely withheld details from them because she wanted them to suffer a little and when she explained what she meant, they could see why.  Yes, each of the guys were assigned a specific item because they were tailored to what the witch wanted them to learn.  

The journey to the item would be physically demanding, and when they finally found the pieces, to obtain them the tests will humble and break them down mentally.  The witch wants them to understand what they did, whatever they did, was wrong.  And even after all of that, Natsu must pass the final, and ultimate test given not by these magical items, but by Lucy herself for the spell will give her the ability to discern whether or not he is telling the truth….              

He shakes away the layer of snow and ice now coating his face and clothing, surveying the damage left behind from the frozen projectiles.  “Tsss…” he grimaces when he feels a particularly deep cut on his forehead, ‘That’s gonna leave a scar.’  

‘Now, what?’  Unable to see anything around him, all he can hear are the howling winds outside of the cave.  But luckily as a soldier, he had been trained to handle subzero situations and was well equipped to deal with the darkness he finds himself trapped in.  

Pulling the glow wand, he had brought along, he looks around, noting the cave will provide adequate protection for now but maybe there will be another way out.  

Carefully, he moves along the wall of the passageway, ducking from stalactites and stepping around stalagmites, he’s not paying full attention to what is in front of him.  Bang!  Walking straight into a hard obstruction he swore up and down wasn’t there, not only does his face hurt from where it slammed into the surface but his ass when he slipped and fell backwards.  

“Fuck!” rubbing his bruised rear, “What the hell?!” waving the glow wand in front of him, his own image greets him.  “Whoa…” reaching out to touch the reflective ice, its surprising, “Never seen ice like this before…” moving the wand higher, a slight distortion in the ice catches his attention.  Gray stands up to get a closer look and realizes, this is it, this is the Jewel he was looking for!

Frozen in the center of the wall, it’s so clear it almost blend’s right into the ice if not for the raised and cut appearance.  Was it really a jewel that someone had hidden here ages ago, it must be since no natural stone could have that finished gem like appearance.              

Gray grabs his trusty knife and sets to work on freeing it from the ice, but the moment his fingers touch the stone, his reflection shimmers and distorts.  All around him the cave he was just standing in fades away.  “’what’s going on!” in a panic, the blade drops from his hand, the scene is changing…

“No!  No Way!”  … to that night...  “Not again!”  

Frantically turning around, he sees Natsu lying in the bed next to the girl but somethings different.  His friend is not asleep but grinning at him, “Isn’t this what you wanted to happen Gray?” the apparition taunts the shaken soldier and sits up.  “You were the one who invited her, you wanted to party, you wanted to get her drunk to…”

“Don’t say it!” Gray closes his eyes and clutches at his ears to tune out Natsu’s voice.  “This is not what I wanted to happen!!”

“Just admit it Gray, and your pain go away…” someone or something grabs his shoulders, “…admit that this was all your fault!”  

“NOO!!!” he pulls away from the apparition, pressing himself against the wall, “I just wanted to have some fun, I didn’t expect you to sleep with her!”

“But that still means you started the chain of events, Gray you brought her here, you helped feed her the alcohol…  You’re just as guilty as I am…”

The soldier buckles and slides to the floor, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!” he cries, sobbing into his hands.  “It is my fault this happened… and now poor Lucy is suffering too when it should have been me…  Why didn’t the witch target me instead?” he looks up at Natsu’s doppelganger, “she didn’t deserve to get cursed for our sin.”

“Everything will be okay now…” the Prince kneels and hugs his friend, “…it’ll be okay…”

Soft white light, so bright fills the room, Gray closes his eyes and exhales as the weight of the whole world lifts from his shoulders…  When he opens his eyes again, he is back in the cave.  He blinks, still stunned and shaken from the experience that had seemed utterly real… and it was, in his mind, he had been taken back to the night.

A pulse of red, a cracking noise, Gray looks to the jewel and sees the ice holding it begin to fracture around it, diving just as it starts to fall he manages to catch it.  “I’ve gotta get this back to Lucy!”

“Young man…”  someone shakes Sting’s shoulder, “Excuse, me young man, it’s time you wake up…”

“Huh?” rolling to his side, his aching body, stiff after a long slumber.  “What?”

“I think you should get up, you’ve been asleep for a day and a half.”

“Whoa, a day and a half!” Sting shoots up to a sitting position.  Looking around he finds himself on a cot in some old hut, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead.  “How’d I get here?  Wait, where is here?”

“I found you unconscious in the forest.  You had a really bad cut above your eye, and so I brought you to my home to patch you up.”

“I…” trying to stand on wobbly legs, “I need to get back to my mission,” but he stumble’s and the elderly gentleman steadies him.

“Mission, what kind of mission?”

“A very important one!  I need to find a medicine man that lives in this forest cause he’s supposed to know where the Elixir of Contrition is.” Turning to the man, “Hey, do you know where I can find this guy?”

“Oh yes, he’s very close.”

“Really!?” the soldier’s eyes light up, “Where?!”

“Standing in front of you.”

Sting’s eyes widen, and he grabs the man by the shoulders, “Please, tell me where this elixir is!  I need to help my friend that was cursed.”

“I’m sorry, young man, but It is not something I can simply give you, however, I can show you how to try and obtain it,” Sting releases the gentleman and takes a step back, “if that is truly what you desire.”

“Yes!  I’ll do anything to save Lucy!”

“Very well, sit here,” he prompts Sting back onto the cot, “I’ll be right back.”

The blonde man watches as the elderly medicine man rummages around on a back table, all the while his mind is racing.  He couldn’t believe his luck to run into the one guy he was searching this huge forest for!  But then again, it had been odd, the way that happened, he reaches up and touches the throbbing area above his eye.

The man had said he had a cut there, did it happen when the branch hit him?  Or maybe when he his face hit the ground?  Sting prided himself on his appearance, always making sure to keep his body toned and in superior form so while he waits he scans around the room and sees a mirror hanging on one of the walls.

He pulls the bandage off to survey the damage and gasps, a large diagonal cut runs down from his hair line almost to his right eye.  ‘Damn, that’s gonna leave a scar!’  Anger at the witch boils to the surface, ‘that bitch!  This is all her fucking fault!’

“Young man?”

Sting whips around and is confronted by the gentleman and sees something, “Is that it?”  He snatches the bottle out of the man’s hands and immediately grows irritated.  Turning it upside down, “It’s empty!”

“I told you, it’s not something I could just hand to you.  Come,” he pushes Sting back to the cot, “sit and I will tell you what you must do”

“Ugh, I don’t have time…”

“Do you want the elixir or not?”

Sting’s shoulder slump, “yes…”

“Then listen closely.  Do you understand what the word ‘Contrition’ means?” Sting shakes his head no.  “It stands for repenting, being remorseful for an action you’ve done.  In order for anyone to be granted the elixir they must be willing to atone for those actions or it will not reveal itself.”

“Great…”

“I do not judge you, though it is obvious by your facial expressions you may not be ready to receive it…  however, it is for the elixir to give the final ruling.” He hands Sting another cup, this one does contain a liquid substance.  “Drink, and it shall all be revealed.”

“Drink this?” he sniffs the strange smelling concoction.

“Drink or not, that is your choice.”

Sting takes another whiff, “Are you sure this isn’t poison?”

“You won’t die, if that is what you are asking me.”

The young man hesitates, ‘but… I need to do this for her…’ and gulps the liquid down.  “Yuck!”  A woozy sensation floods over the young man, “Wass… happpnin to meee…”

“Sting help me!”

“Gray?” he blinks his eyes, ‘How the…’ looking around him, ‘I’m back in the barracks?’

“Sting, you idiot, get over here!” his friend is yelling at him, half dragging Natsu down the hall towards him.  He rushes over and gets under one arm while Gray carries their friend from the other.  “We need to get Natsu outta here and back to the palace without anyone seeing us.”

“It’s too far to carry his ass, just take him to my room.” He lets go of his friend, “I’ll take care of the problem…”

“What are you gonna do?”

“The less you know the better, just go!”

Gray looks suspiciously at his friend but, Sting was right, “Alright, I’ll just hide out with Natsu in your room till you come back.”  They head in opposite direction.

The young blonde man pauses before entering Gray’s room.  He knows exactly what he’s about to see and it was a memory he had worked so hard to suppress, had convinced himself it was all to protect their friend…  

The girl had still been passed out when he arrived, gathering her clothing he slapped her face, “Get up you whore!”  But she was so drunk all she did was groan.  A second slap, harder this time.  “Bitch get up!”

“Where am I…” the throb of her cheek finally brings her around “why’d you hit me?!...”

He tosses the clothes at her, “Put your shit on!” he glares at her.  “I ought’a arrest you right now for treason!”

“Treason!  But I-I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Don’t lie to me you whore.  I know you seduced the Prince, so you could blackmail him.”

“N-no, I didn’t even…” she looks at her naked body, “I don’t think I…”

He grabs her arm and shakes her, “I said put your fucking clothes on!”  Scared and terrified, as tears start to flow down her cheeks, she hurries to comply to his demands.      

“But I swear to you sir, I didn’t do anything to hurt the Prince… I like him…”

“Wrong answer!” he slaps her so hard she flies off the bed.  “No Prince would dare to beholden himself to a girl so willing to spread herself before marriage.  I bet you put a spell on him, didn’t you?!”  

“Please!” curling up into a corner, “I swear it’s not true!  I would never be taken before marriage…”

He grabs the trembling girl again and lifts her up, “Hear me loud and clear girl, if you so much as tell anyone that you were here or that you even met the Prince at all, I will make damn sure no man will ever want you, do you understand?”  She nods her head fervently, “You wouldn’t want to be known as a whore, do you?”  She shakes her head as more tears stream down her face.  “Then you take this to your grave!  Now clean yourself up cause I’m taking you outta here and I never wanna see your face again!...”

The girl had meant nothing to him for if he truly believed she had slept with Natsu that made her a slut in his eyes.  And he needed to protect his friend…  With one last deep exhale he enters…

“Oh my God…” he can’t believe the sight in front of him.  “Lucy?”  ‘What the hell is going on?  Where’s the other girl?’  No, instead, they are no longer in the barracks, but the palace and the young blonde girl is lying on the bed a bloody heap.  Her face is bruised and eye blackened, hair a jumbled mess, knotted and tangled, and what little clothes remain on her body is in tatters.  “L-lucy?”

“He did this to me Sting,” the girls one eye stares at him, she sits up, “Natsu did this to me…”

“No, he’d never….”

“After we got married he changed,” she stands up, “became abusive…” and slowly ambles towards him.      

Sting can see cuts and marring over her legs and arms, her frame has become so frail and thin, “It’s not possible…” stuttering, “I know him, he couldn’t…”

“This is all your fault Sting…” she reaches out but collapses forward, too weak to sustain her own weight.      

He catches her and cradles her in his arms as they both sink to the floor, “How is this my fault?”

“After he learned how you took care of his ‘situation,’ it made him think being cold and heartless was strength, because then no one would dare take advantage of him again…”

“B-But that’s not what happened…”  tears pool at his lids, “I-I didn’t want to…”

“He started beating me, if I so much as look at him wrong, he hits me, if I don’t give him what he desires, he doesn’t let me eat…”

“I need to stop him, Lucy, I can’t let him hurt you too!”

“But don’t you believe you did the right thing?  Didn’t you enjoy it?”

“No!  I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t want to do what I did…  I knew it was wrong and I was stupid and I’m so sorry!  I’m so sorry,” he closes his eyes and tightens his grip around her, “Oh God I’m so sorry Lucy!”

“it’s okay Sting…” she hugs him back, “Everything is gonna be okay…”

Emptiness.  “Lucy!”  Sting’s eyes pop open and he’s back in the hut.  “Where’d she go?”

“Ah, your back,” a tender voice brings him back to his senses, “and you were successful.” Gesturing to the bottle.

“Huh?”  When he looks down at the bottle in his hand, “It’s full?”

The man smile, “The Elixir.”

“I’ve gotta get back to Lucy now!”

“It’s you!” Natsu glares at the witch.  “Why are you doing this?!”

“Have you not figured it out yet Prince?  I could have killed you for what you did to my daughter…”

His eyes widen, ‘her daughter!’

“…But instead I wanted to teach you a lesson.  I had hoped that if and when your curse was broken, you would repent and tell your new love the truth.”  She looks to the sky, “how can one love without being honest to themselves and to those they care most about…” turning back to him, “but you didn’t.  You lied to Lucy saying it was a simple prank when you knew, the three of you knew it was no joke!”

“I couldn’t tell her…” his shoulders slump, “I don’t even know what the truth was because I don’t remember all of it.  And,” he exhales, “I worried that if I told her what Gray and Sting said had happened she’d leave me...”

Karen snickers, “Well, now you will find out won’t you, because your only hope of breaking her curse is to atone for what you did; that will be your ultimate test.”  Laughter echoes from the woman as she fades away right before his eyes.

“Wait…  the Chalice…”  and where the witch had been standing, it lies…  Lucy’s beautiful smile flashes in his mind as he picks up the cup, “It’s time to end this nightmare…”

Gray was the first to arrive back at the capital, followed by Sting, but it was not for 2 more days still before Natsu came riding in and no sooner than he was dismounting from his horse a panicked group of people came running out of the palace.  “She’s gone!” Levy flings herself at Natsu, beating at his chest, “Lucy took off in the middle of the night and no one knows where she went!”

“What do you mean she’s gone!” he grabs her arms to still her.  “You guys were supposed to be watching over her!”  

“She slipped out while everyone was a sleep.”  Gajeel pulls his girlfriend away from Natsu to comfort her, “no one saw anything.”

“Something had to have…  how was she acting before it happened?”

“Come to think of it,” Erza, steps out from the group, “like you used to before you would disappear for long periods of time.”

Natsu’s heart drops, “she’s depressed…”  Sinking to his knees, the young Prince cannot hold back the tears from sneaking through, ‘Oh God…  I would have gladly accepted death than to let her feel this pain…’  

“Snap out of it!” Gray slaps Natsu, “We didn’t go through everything we did to give up, now think!” grabbing his friend by the shirt and standing him up, “Where might she go?”

“I…”

“Oi,” Sting shakes the man too, “Where did you go to hide?”

“T-the cave,” he stammers out, “It’s a cave on Mount Heiwa, the place we lost our hearts...”

Cana, “Well then let’s go boys!  We’ve got no time to spare,” turning to her friend, “Levy, you have the spell, right?”

“Yeah…”

It had been almost a year since Natsu had been back to the cave, and the last time was when he was still a dragon.  With flight, the distance had been maybe a half hour but by horse, it took the group almost 10 hours to reach just the base of the mountain or as far as the horses could trek, and that still left the hike up.  

Gray, “How long do you think it’ll take to get up there?”

Natsu, “It’s maybe half way up, just before the tree line ends.”

Levy, “It’s getting dark, should we camp here for the night and head out first think in the morning?”

Natsu, “No way, I’m not leaving her alone another night!”

Sting, “Then we go, Leo, Gajeel stay here with the horses, the rest of us will uses our glow wands to light the way, Natsu you lead.”

Erza, “Someone’s eager…”

“Yeah!” the blonde male glares back, “to finish this once and for all so we can move the fuck on!”

Two hours later, the group finally reaches the cave entrance and low and behold there she is curled up in the same spot she and Natsu had slept the first night they had met.  Natsu rushes over, hugging desperately to Lucy.  “You scared the hell out of me!  Why’d you leave the palace?”  She lifts her head to nuzzles him back, “Never mind, I’m just glad your safe.”

Pulling back, he kisses her nose, “We’ve got all the keys,” and smooths her muzzle, “shall we get you back to normal?”  She nods, “I agree.”  

Levy rummages through a small bag she had been carrying and pulls out the spell book, “Alright, where are the items you were sent to retrieve, bring them to me.”  

Each of the guys walk up with their pieces, Gray, the Jewel of Reflection, Sting, the Elixir of Contrition, and finally Natsu, with the Verity Chalice.  “Natsu, hold up the cup,” he does as he’s told, “now Gray put the jewel in,” dropping it in with a clang, “Sting, pour in the elixir.”

She takes the cup in one hand and with the help of Cana holding the book open for her and Erza a glow wand, so she can see the words, the trio of women make their way over to Lucy as Levy begins to recite the incantation.

“Gia na sas metamorfósoume píso stin anthrópini morfí sas, boreí i exiléosi aftón ton anthrópon na anoíxei to drómo kai afíste tin alítheia na sas afísei eléftheri!  (To transform you back to your human form, may the atonement of these men pave the way, and let the truth set you free!)”  

Levy takes the now glowing liquid to Lucy, “You must drink this, and if Natsu speaks the truth, it will break the spell on you.”

At first Lucy hesitates, a part of her is afraid that he won’t and that might be hard to bear.  If he had truly loved her, why hadn’t he just been honest from the beginning?  Or was what he had done so terrible that it may causes her to leave him, in that case, does she want to be with a man like that?  She starts to turn her head away.  “Lu, you need to…”

A hand falls on Levy’s shoulder and when she turns to look it’s Natsu, “I think…” he hangs his head, “I think I know why she is scared.”  He takes the cup from the girl, “Could you all give us some privacy, please.”

“No way I’m leaving you two…” but now Lucy nudges her friends shoulder, “Are you sure Lu?”  The dragon nods her head.  “Fine, but I’m not leaving the cave.”

Natsu nods, “All I’m asking for is some space.”

Once everyone has moved to the entrance, he kneels in front of Lucy.  “You’re worried… about what the truth will be huh?”  she nods her head.  He exhales, “I won’t lie anymore, it’s not something I am proud of, and even now the fear that you will leave me, when I tell you it’s, it’s…”  she wraps her tail around him as if to say that won’t happen.  “Drink it for me please, baby, I need to do this for you.”

She puffs and nods allowing him to pour the viscous substance into her mouth.  It tastes so gross, shaking her head, once, twice, then stands up, as a peculiar feeling washes over her.  Looking back at him she snorts.  He takes one more deep breath and closes his eyes…

“One night at the barracks, Gray and I were drinking…  He had invited a girl to party with us and after getting drunk I, I…  had sex with her.”  He peaks, with one eye as everyone around them starts to murmur, ‘why isn’t anything happening?’  “Why isn’t it working?” he turns to Levy, “I’ve admitted what I did…”

“How should I know?!  It says if you tell the truth it will breaks the curse.”

‘Unless, I really hadn’t…’  “Maybe it wasn’t true…” he looks at Gray and Sting, “You guys told me I had sex with her!”

Gray screams back, “Well that’s what looked like happened!  Damn it…”

Sting, “That means…  what we did,” he looks at Gray, “was for nothing?  I, I scared that poor girl, for nothing!” grabbing Gray by the shirt, “all because you assumed!”

“Hey, they were both half naked, what the hell else was I supposed to think?!”

“Could you two just shut it!” he turns back to Lucy, “I was too drunk to remember… but this means I didn’t have sex with her!  That’s the truth!  God, I should have trusted my own feelings from the beginning…”

Lucy’s body begins to glow, just like Natsu’s had when his curse had broken and slowly, the form of a girl, albeit a naked one began to take shape.  In a panic, Natsu pulls his coat off and starts screaming to everyone to turn around as he places it on her prone body.  

Once the glowing subsides, he cradles her in his arms.  “Lucy…  wake up for me baby…  Please wake up…”

“Na…tsu…” a meek voice finally breaks the still of the cave.

“Oh, thank God!” hugging her tightly to him, “You’re back, I’ve got you back!”

“Natsu…” she reaches up to caress his cheek, “I was afraid, but I never would have left your side…  I fell in love with the man you became after that happened, and don’t be mad at your friends, they were only trying to protect you.”

“I promise you Luce, I will never, ever do anything so stupid…”

She smiles, “Now that is probably a lie, try sticking to the truth.”

He grins, “Alright,” kissing her lips, “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life trying to keep you happy.”

“Promise?”