50 days • {Nalu}

The Curse

Natsu stood before the powerful dark mage that had been causing havoc all throughout Fiore. His teammates and the rest of the guild were off to battle against his minions while he wanted to take on the leader in front of him.

"Seems like I finally got you cornered." Natsu smirked.

The mage just chuckled, "My, my. If it isn't the one and only Natsu Dragneel. I must say that I am quite honored."

"You seem to know about me, but who the hell are you?"

"Where are my manners? I'm Bankotsu." He grinned evilly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some important things to attend to. Feel free to watch your country crumble and be over-ruled by yours truly."

"Oh, you're not getting away so easily." Natsu charged at Bankotsu shouting, "Iron fist of the Fire Dragon!"

Bankotsu managed to dodge the attack and counter-attack, sending Natsu flying against a huge boulder where he was immoblized due to Bankotsu's strange magic.

"Natsu!" A shout was heard in close proximity to the fight. Both males turned their attention to the Celestial wizard that was running towards them, the blue exceed flying above her head.

"Lucy! Get out of here!" Natsu yelled at her, concerned for her safety. He did not want to see his closest friend hurt while he was helplessly pinned to a boulder.

"Why won't you just let me help you for once?" She muttered under her breath. She made it to the clearing and glared at Bankotsu. His eyebrows shot up in interest and his grin grew into a smirk. Lucy's hand was already hovering above her keys, ready to attack.

Just as she was about to pull out Virgo's key, it suddenly felt like she was frozen in place.

"What the-?" She started to say but was then moved towards the direction of Bankotsu. Once she was within his grasps, he pulled her against him. Natsu's glare darkened as he saw his friend in the arms of another.

Bankotsu brought his hand towards Lucy's forehead, causing her to flinch from the sudden gesture. He grinned as he began to learn secrets and memories about her through this. Suddenly, a magic circle appeared below them. Bankotsu began chanting something to an ancient spell. Lucy cried out in pain as this was being done.

"You bastard! What are you doing to my friend?" Natsu shouted. He tried to fight against the invisible force that was keeping him bound to the boulder.

"Lucy!" He called out to her before the screams stopped and she fell unconscious. Bankotsu chuckled before throwing her off to the side as if she was nothing. Her limp body fell with a thud and began to tumble down the mountain.

"Lushee!" Happy yelled. He flew faster than before to grab her before anything worse could happen.

"Happy, take her to a safe place." Natsu ordered the exceed.

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I got a bone to pick with this guy for hurting Lucy."

Happy nodded, a worried expression still evident on his. He flew away with Lucy but not before sparing a glance at his best friend. He knew Natsu was the only one capable of defeating Bankotsu.

The city was in chaos while multiple battles were occuring between the guild members and Bankotsu's minions. Happy flew Lucy to an unoccupied area. Once he set her down, he looked down at her with worry.

"What happened to Lucy?" Loke suddenly appeared on his own will and asked the exceed.

"Bankotsu did something to her and threw her off the mountain. I caught her just in time. I'm worried about Natsu though."

"Go help him, I'll watch over Lucy." Loke gave him a small smile and a pat on the head. Happy nodded and flew back to Natsu.

When he arrived, Natsu was still pinned to the boulder.

"Stop playing dirty, Bankotsu. Fight me head on!"

"But it's much more fun to watch you struggle." He pouted.

"You hurt my friends, terrorize our home, but you don't want to fight fairly. I guess I won't either."

Natsu smirked as his body was enraged with flames. He found the strength to move; the invisible force being shattered. Bankotsu was frozen in shock as Natsu began advancing towards him.

"Happy!" Natsu called out when he saw him flying back over to him.

"Aye sir!" Happy took a hold of Natsu and began to fly him high up above Bankotsu.

Once high enough, Happy let go of his friend. Natsu let out a battle cry before shouting, "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"

He hit Bankotsu head on, almost knocking him out. He was left immoblized as Natsu brought himself back to his feet. The rest of the guild stopped fighting, seeing as Bankotsu's minions stopped attacking. One by one they began to make their way over to where Natsu was.

"So you did it. The Magic Council should be here for him soon." Erza said as she approached the scene.

"I think it's best if the rest of you begin to clean up this mess. Those who are seriously injured, please return to the guild to await treatment. Natsu and I will wait here for the Magic Council." Makarov ordered. The guild nodded and left.

Silence fell upon the two and soon enough, The Magic Council arrived. Makarov explained the situation to them as they began to arrest Bankotsu. Natsu glared at Bankotsu the whole time. He didn't speak until they were about to take him away.

"What did you do to Lucy?" He growled.

Bankotsu chuckled, "I cursed her."

"Cursed her how?" 

"When she wakes up, she'll have no idea who you are. She will remember the others and everything else except you. For 50 days, she won't know who you are or remember you from the previous day. Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll even tell you how to undo it."

Natsu's jaw clenched, but he nodded to signal him to continue.

"Make her fall in love with you before the 50 days are up. She must say 'I love you' to you and mean it. If she doesn't by or on the 50th day, she will never remember you." He laughed evilly as the Council hauled him away and left.

Natsu was in shock and confused. Exactly what kind of curse is this? He shook his head just as Happy came over to him.

"We should take Lucy to the guild. Loke has been watching her for a while now and he must be tired too." Happy told him. Natsu could only nod.

"I'll inform the guild of Lucy's condition. Don't worry, Natsu. We'll figure this out." Makarov suddenly spoke.

Natsu had forgotten of his presence but gave him a small smile. "Thanks. Let's go Happy."

Once Happy took him to Lucy, Natsu carried her still unconscious body on his back. Her head rested on his shoulder while her arms hung lifelessly around his neck. Natsu gave a brief description of the curse to Loke so he could inform the other Celestial Spirits. After thanking him, he returned to his world and Happy and Natsu went to the guild.

The only thought running through Natsu's head was how the hell do you get someone to fall in love with you in 50 days?