Fire, Blood and Stars

Chapter 12

"What?! No! Absolutely not!"

"Natsu, this is a standard mission that we get. She has to be able to do something like that alone." Natsu's breathing grew louder, a sign of his anger. The Master saw this and added in a saintly manner, "You can't hold her hand forever, Natsu."

Natsu argued back, "She could die!"

"We would all be there, Natsu."

"And what happened the last time we were all there? Do you even remember?!"

"Natsu!"

Natsu became silent at the Master's outburst.

"What happened last time is something that we all deeply regret. But this isn't that dangerous. Be rational."

Natsu looked at the wall behind Makarov with motionless eyes. "Not today", he said finally. "Three months later. I'll train her myself."

"Two weeks."

"Three months."

"Three weeks."

"Two months."

"One month?"

"Fine." Natsu went back to the infirmary and pulled Lucy up gently. She got on her feet and leaned back against his chest. A light sheen of sweat covered her forehead. He wiped it off with his sleeve and said, "Let's get you home now, okay?"

Lucy gave him a weary smile and a nod, and 'eep'-ed when he lifted her up with one arm. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

As Natsu left with Lucy, multiple guild members stared with their mouths open. Natsu was being so tender. Unknown to them, Porlyusica had a smile on her face.

When she felt Natsu stop moving, she opened her eyes, expecting to see her apartment. What she saw was a group of masked hooligans pointing guns at them.

She knew Natsu well enough to know that he was only holding back from destroying them because of her. Her eyes welled up with tears, making her grateful that Natsu couldn't see her face.

"Hey, you! Drop the girl and raise your arms above your head!"

Natsu slowly let her down. He whispered in her ear, "Close your eyes."

The three words had the same effect as they always do. Her eyes widened even more. What she saw next was a pink blur and sprays of blood, and then he was beside her again, before the men had even hit the ground.

This time, she walked beside him on her own two feet.

On reaching her house, which Natsu somehow could locate without having to ask her anything, Lucy sat down on her bed and Natsu flopped down in an armchair. Those who knew Natsu would be shocked. He didn't flop into anything! Was the world coming to an end?

For a few minutes, they didn't say anything. Then Lucy asked him, "You do know why I wasn't burnt, don't you?"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. He nodded mutely.

"Are you going to tell me?"

This time, Natsu shook his head. Lucy smiled. "Figures. So, what did the Master say? What do I have to do?"

Natsu sat up straight. "You remember that mission we went on? The one where Lullaby became a monster?"

"Yes, I do."

"You also remember the guild that had stolen it? Eisenwald?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it appears that they have teamed up with Bloody Fang, a relatively older dark guild that was formed at around the same time as Magia Dragon."

"Magia Dragon is the first guild ever, right?"

"Yes. It is. Now, the Master wants you to take down Eisenwald, and if possible, whoever you meet from Bloody Fang. Based on how you do, you will be ranked." He put his hands on Lucy's shoulders and said, "The Master has given me one month to help you get ready, and I hope it will be enough. However, if at any point during the test, you feel like your life is in danger, do not hesitate to call for help. Your life matters more to me than your rank, alright?"

Lucy nodded, listening to every word of his intently.

"So, do you want to start now, or do you want to rest for today and start fresh and early tomorrow?" Without waiting for her answer, he said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to train you right now, but I need to know some things."

Lucy fidgeted with the sheets as she asked him, "What do you want to know?"

Natsu drummed his fingers on the armrests as he asked, "Why don't you ever use your magic?"

Lucy looked down at her feet. Natsu was about to give her a nudge when she finally looked him in the eye.

"My spirits don't like me."

To his utter and absolute chagrin, the first thought he had was not professional. He didn't think about how to solve the problem, or how was it caused.

The first thought in his head was whether he knew a psychiatrist who treated people who had no hope at sanity. Which, incidentally, he did.

Getting his head back on track, he asked Lucy, "Could you tell me why?" in a quiet voice, not wanting to spook her.

Lucy felt like she was going to cry. Her throat was clogged up. She choked out, "My father had found out about me using magic, and he stuck my keys into a fire." She took a breath before continuing, "So my spirits revoked their contracts with me." She looked at Natsu to see how he would react.

Natsu was deep in thought. He had no doubt that he could shout at the spirits enough to make them listen, but that wouldn't serve the purpose. He would have to let that go for now.

"Do you have any other magic", asked Natsu, "Or anything you can use for combat?"

Lucy stood up, went to her drawer, and took out a pepper spray. "I have nothing apart from this."

Natsu went into complete trainer mode. "Okay, so, the first thing we have to do is to get you a weapon, and maybe a bit of magic. It isn't possible to learn how to use a new form of magic in one month", he said, even though he had been able to do so, "But you can learn a bit of it, along with... I don't know right now what weapon will suit you, but we'll find something." Natsu stroked his non-existent beard. "Maybe a knife. Or maybe even a whip." After a short pause, he told her, "I'll be taking you to a weaponry store tomorrow."

Lucy didn't smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched up as she said, "I'd like that."

Natsu got up from his chair and went to the window. "Lie down", he instructed. "I'm going to get you something to eat." Then he jumped out before Lucy could tell him that there was food in the fridge.

"Oh well," Lucy shrugged, as she sank down onto her pillow.

After a few minutes, Natsu entered, holding two dead squirrels in his hands, to see that Lucy was sleeping. He didn't want to wake her up, so he stuffed one of the squirrels in his mouth and kept the other inside Lucy's refrigerator. She could eat it the next morning.

He contemplated leaving. Deciding against it, he lay down on the bed beside Lucy, which, unknown to him, was generally frowned upon. Not that he cared. She was, quite literally, perfect for him in every way.

After a while, he heard Lucy screaming. He immediately sat up and lifted her head onto his lap. Her whole body was shaking. He traced patterns along her forehead, on her cheeks, over her eyelids. After a while, she stopped screaming and became still.

Natsu looked at her, knowing exactly who made her scream like this. He leaned down and planted a small kiss to her forehead. At that moment, he made a promise to himself. He would make sure that no one would ever make her scream like that again.

Lucy opened her eyes to see an upside-down Natsu looking at her. She opened her mouth and screamed.

If you like this chapter, please Vote, Comment and Follow.