Betrayal Of the Demon King(E.N.D)

Chapter 23

3rd P.O.V
The group gasped, fear coursing through every one of them. One thought going through their heads. 'That was Mard.. So that means who he was screaming about was..'

With this one thought going through their minds they ran. They ran towards where they heard Mard, and still heard him. He was shouting for his master over and over again. Asking him to wake up. This terrified Lucy to no end.

Once the group found Mard they all gasped. He was sat in the corner of a cell, holding an unconscious and shirtless Natsu in his arms. Natsu looked terrible. His whole body was bloodied and he looked pale, but.. he didn't have any injuries. This was the thing that scared Lucy the most. 'If he's not injured, then whose blood is that..?' She gulped, but quickly dismissed the thought, running over to the sleeping demon as quickly as she could.

She crouched down beside Natsu and Mard, quickly followed by the others who stood behind her. She looked down at Natsu before beginning to shout his name along with Mard, slapping his arm and face in attempts to wake him up. The others joined in but Lucy managed to stop them before Erza went to extremes. They all agreed to go back to the guild as quickly as possible. Mard had picked up Natsu and carried him on his back, running in the middle of the group and making sure that his Master got as little injuries on him as possible.

Though, the group soon ran into the cultists. "And where do you think you're going..?" One of them said, all of the cultists turning towards the group. Before anyone could make a move a small cloaked figure moved through he group of cultists towards team Natsu, plus Mard. The group could make out under the figures hood, a smirk.

Once the cloaked figure made it to the front, they slowly reached up towards their hood. "You will not take our Master" they pulled their hood down "Back towards that disgusting guild!" They finished. The group gasped. It was the woman, the woman who gave them the job.

"YOU!" Gray yelled, preparing himself for battle, quickly followed by Erza and Mard, though the poor demon couldn't do much while carrying Natsu.
"Wait! If you're here, that means-" Lucy began, but was cut off by the said woman.
"Yep! I tricked you all so we could free Master E.N.D!" This remark angered the group greatly, hard glares coming from every one of them, even Happy.

Then the battle commenced.

Gray used his ice to freeze the floor that the cultists walked on, making the large majority of them slip over. Mard used his thorn curse to break through the ice and wrap around those who'd fallen over and squeeze them, causing them a lot of pain. Erza and Gray then went on to fight those who remained standing. Lucy then noticed the woman who had originally gave them the quest had her keys, seeing the gold and silver glint they gave off. Her expression hardened and she took off in a sprint towards the elderly woman.

"HEY!" She shouted, "GIVE ME MY KEYS BACK!"
The woman noticed her and turned to face her, a smirk tugging on her lips. "And why would I do that?" She asked.
"Why would you need these keys? They seem pretty useless to m—" A Lucy kick to the head soon cut her off. She dropped the keys when she fell unconscious, the keys landing in Lucy's hand. "Don't call my keys useless!" Lucy yelled at the unconscious elderly woman, then huffed and turned her back to the woman, walking towards the fight, now able to join in.

She quickly summoned Leo who, after making a lewd comment about Lucy and got hit up the side of the head, joined in on the battle, finishing off he rest of the cultists. Lucy thanked him and sent him back to the Celestial Spirit World, then joined the rest of the group. She was relieved to see nobody injured and Natsu still there.

After around another hour of searching around the castle like building, they managed to find their way out. After covering Natsu up because of the blood, they immediately ran towards the train station, hopping on a train and headed back to the guild hall. They laid Natsu down, his head on Lucy's lap and her running her fingers through his hair. Mard sat opposite them, completely zoned out as all the possible reasons for his Master being like this rushed through his head, all his thoughts turning to one conclusion. It wasn't good.

Happy slept on the way back while Erza and Gray kept an eye out for anyone suspicious in case anyone from the occult had followed them.

Once they reached Magnolia they all rushed to the guild hall, bursting open the doors. The tartaros guild was ready to greet their Master but were unpleasantly surprised to see him unconscious and on Mard's back. Mard pushes through the panicked and worried demons and managed to get to the infirmary, uncovering Natsu and washing off the blood with Juvia's help. They managed to put him down into a bed and got Wendy to check on him. No one questioned the blood on him out loud but you could tell the thought went through their heads from a mile away. While Mard, the rest of Tartaros and Wendy were in the infirmary the rest of the guild was in the main guild hall, asking and answering questions about the mission.

After about 10 minutes of Wendy checking Natsu, she concluded that she had no clue what's happening, though what she had sensed was dark, and strong, growing stronger. Mard froze at this description, knowing what was happening.
".. Kyouka." He turned around to face her. She looked up at him and nodded in response.
"Bring the guild to the main hall, I know what's happening to Master.." he finished, starting to head to the main hall himself. The Tartaros guild and Wendy quickly followed, going to where the Fairy Tail guild was while Mard stayed at the top of the stairs so everyone would be able to hear him.

Seeing them exit the infirmary, the guild was quiet, expecting and explanation. Mard began, "Master.. He's had something done to him by that disgusting Occult. Something that won't favour neither the Tartaros guild nor the Fairy Tail guild." He was silent for a minute, then continued, "His magic, and curses, have all been released at once. Meaning all of his power, that now has a demonic tint to it, has overloaded due to a spell that the cultists have done to him. So, when he wakes up, neither Master E.N.D nor Natsu will be in control since they have merged. They won't be able to control their own power." The guild gulped. Having an all powerful demon lose control of his power in the guild hall was not something on their to-do list.

Mard thought for a second before Kyouka walked up to him, "Mard, isn't there a way to stop it, I'm sure I read about this spell somewhere before." Mard hesitantly nodded before sighing and continuing to explain to the whole guild, "He will stop eventually, but that's only when he's used all of his power." This calm down the guild for a short while, but it didn't stop their worry.

Natsu's P.O.V (OMG an actual POV other than 3rd!)

Where am I?

I can't see anything.

Everything's dark.

What happened?

There's a colour taking over my vision.

What is it?

Oh.. Red.

All I can see is red.

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Why is everything Red?

~~~~~
Yo,
Random question of the day; (I'm gonna make this a thing now)

What's your favourite colour?

Mines red :,)

(Dark red to be exact- Blood red-)