When Worlds Collide

Chapter 36

The strange man took Natsu far out into the desert just as the sun was going down. They walked for miles as the day slowly turned to night, stopping only when they came over a hill.

"What are we doing here?" Natsu asked the man. 

"Just watch." He said looking toward the sky and waited. Waited until the full moon had risen  high up and stood between the stars, shining down upon the sand. Suddenly the ground opened up to reveal a dark stairway leading into a cave.

"Now listen carefully to exactly what I say." The man told Natsu. "You are to go down those stairs until you reach a hall, while going through there don't touch the walls or you will die instantly. In the hall you will see a garden where a terrace stands and on that terrace is a lamp. You are to grab that lamp and bring it to me. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Natsu nodded. 

"And hurry! The entrance to this cave will stay open only as long as moonlight shines upon it. When the moon leaves this spot, the cave will close and never open again fpor another seven months, seven days, and seven moons."

Natsu nodded again and slowly approached the entrance of the cave. 

"It's not too late to back out you know." Happy told Natsu from within his satchel. 

"Yes it is Happy. Because if I don't do this, I may never see Lucy again."

"Is that really so terrible? She's only the first girl you've ever really met and maybe in the end she doesn't even feel the same way. What will you do then?"

"I'll give up. I can accept defeat. But only if I try and fail. If I fail just without trying then I'll be forever tormented by what might have been." Natsu explained. "But you don't have to do this with me Happy. You can wait up here until I come back. There's no reason why you should do something crazy."

"Yes there is. If you do something crazy then I'm obligated to do it with you. That's how friendship works and I chose you to be my best friend. Granted it may not have been the smartest choice, but it's still my choice and I wouldn't take it back for anything."

Natsu smiled, feeling braver.

"Thanks Happy." He took a deep breath and faced the dreaded cave. "Well, here we go."

Without any further hesitation, he slowly descended down the stairway into the dark cave below. When he reached the bottom of the stairway he found the hallway that the old man had mentioned and he cautiously walked through, taking care not to touch the walls. Then he reached the terrace and stopped in the garden to observe the trees which were loaded with extraordinary fruit. For the first time in days, Natsu wanted to appease his hunger.

"Stopping for a little snack won't hurt."

"Oh finally! I'm starved!" Happy said licking his chops.

He walked over to the first tree which was ripe with delicious pomegranates. But as soon as Natsu plucked the pomegranate from it's branch, the red fruit changed into the biggest ruby he had ever seen. He blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. 

"Happy did you just see that?" 

"Yeah." The cat whined. "A tasty fruit was changed was into a worthless rock."

"It's not a rock! It's a ruby! A real live ruby! And it's almost the size of my hand!" He looked over at the other fruit trees. "I wonder."

He went to the second tree which bore figs and when he picked one of them, the fig changed into a diamond. The last tree had pears growing but when the pear was picked it became a topaz.

"Wow! This is incredible! Do you think Lucy would like these?" 

"Sure but she's a princess, doesn't she have like a million jewels already?" Happy asked.