The Gate of E.N.D.

Chapter 23: Zeref's Plan

-The Next Morning-

Lucy woke up to see Natsu standing over her, peering into her face. "AHHH!" She shrieked as she jumped out of bed.

"Lucy, it's just a spider. Shut up and kill it." Gray said deliriously as he buried his face in his pillow.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted.

She socked him in the stomach. "IDIOT! What were you thinking?!"

He rubbed his stomach with a frown. "I was thinking I wanted to visit my girlfriend."

Her face turned bright red. "Girlfriend?"

"You, dummy." He sighed.

"Well, it doesn't mean you gotta stare at me while I sleep like a creep!" She fumed as she walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. 

He leaned against the doorway. "Sorry." Lucy turned to him with a worried look. He looked at her with concern. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and faced him. "Why did you go on a rampage yesterday?" She asked softly.

Natsu looked away. "I don't want to say."

"Natsu, please." She laid a hand on his cheek.

His dark eyes filled with sadness. "Zeref...said something...and I kind of lost it."

"What did he say?"

"He said," Natsu gulped, "he was gonna kill you guys. He said he knows you escaped from prison and he laid out his plan for killing each of you guys...and it's bad..."

Lucy gasped. "He knows we escaped...? He's gonna kill us just because we escaped?!" 

"He told me..." Natsu's voice became choked. "He told me he would force me to watch you guys die. And he told me he was starting with you."

Her body went numb and she grabbed the sink for support. "How is he gonna kill me?"

"Please don't make me say it." He whispered as a tear ran down his face.

Lucy, alarmed, wrapped her arms around him. He was trembling. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to say it."

"He said he would make me kill you." He blurted out before sobbing.

"What?" She choked out. "But you would never..."

"I don't want to kill you." He cried.

"You won't have to. You're staying with me. I have your key, you're safe now." She said reassuringly.

"Luce, don't let Zeref find you." He said seriously. "I don't want any of you to die."

"I won't." She tightly hugged him.

"Not that this isn't adorable, but some of us need to use the bathroom." Erza's stern voice interrupted them. They immediately separated.

"I gotta go back." Natsu said as he grabbed his head. "See ya."

Erza looked at Lucy smugly. Lucy shifted. "What?"

"What was that about?" Erza smirked.

"He told me why he went on a rampage." Lucy shrugged. "And he was upset, so I was comforting him. That's it."

"I see. Wake up the others, please, so you can explain it to us." She said before shutting the door.

Lucy sighed as she walked into the bedroom. "Gray, get up, come on."

"Juvia, my love, I'm sorry, I'm coming." He groaned, still half asleep.

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed. "You like Juvia?"