Fairy Tail: Sacrifices (A NaLu Fanfiction)

Chapter 4: The Fire Light's Message

"Oi Lucy! You aren't really going through with this, are you?" Natsu muttered the next day.

Lucy nodded, closing her eyes. "It's pretty obvious." Natsu made a pouty face and stared at her. "What?" Lucy yelled.

"How do you plan on doing this, Lucy?" Erza asked, resting an arm on her knee. "What happens if the staff fires and it hits you? Are you strong enough to keep up a barrier from something like that?"

Lucy nodded confidently. "Uh-huh! I have been practicing for awhile. If I could guess at how strong it could hold, I would say almost as strong as if Natsu would hit me."

"Hiya!" Natsu yelled, throwing a punch at Lucy.

A golden light appeared right infront of her face, and stopped Natsu's punch in mid-air. "I knew you would try something like that," Lucy scoffed.

"That was awesome Lucy!" Happy squeaked, floating over to her.

Lucy smiled, and she turned to look at a surprised Natsu. "It didn't hurt or anything, did it?"

Natsu smiled a big grin. "Nah. I'm fine."

After a moment of nervous silence, Erza stood. "We better get going,"

"Right." the rest replied together.

They walked out of the cafe of the hotel the were staying in, and walked towards the museum.

"Sure is a nice day," Lucy sighed happily.

"Yeah. " Natsu replied lazily behind her, walking with his hands behind his head.

They walked on in silence, and quite awhile later they made it to the museum. The sun was setting as they walked up the steps, and as they entered the door. Waiting for them was a tired-looking woman, who Lucy realized with a jolt was the assistant from the day before.

She smiled tiredly. "It's nice to see you all again. The staff's actions have submerged for now, but it did a lot of damage throught the place." She sighed, and guestured for them to follow.

"What exactly was the damage that was done?"

"It's name is the Fire Light." The assistant reminded, sighing again. "And as for the damage...it's better if you see for yourself." She opened an upcoming door, and held it open for them. "I'm too tired to explain it anyways."

Everyone gasped.

The walls were charred in giant spots of the wall and floor, and there were gaps in the walls like someone had taken a sword made of fire and sliced open the wall. Other pictures on exhibit were knocked off the walls, some corners chared or completely scorched away. Part of the ceiling caved in, and dust fell to the ground following the ceiling pieces.

"That's some damage." Grey muttured, a sweat drop appearing on the back of his head.

The assistant sighed again. "Yes, yes. Now, who's going to be the one to try and read what's on the handle?"

"I am." Lucy replied, stepping forward.

The assistant looked surprised for a quick second, but then nodded determinedly. "You be careful, now. The staff is still having a little fit."

Lucy gulped, but started to walk towards the podeium where the staff was residing.

"Be careful, Lucy!" Happy replied, hiding behing Natsu's shoulder.

Clenching her teeth, Lucy started to reach a hand out, ready for a disturbance. Nothing came at first, but then a pulse flew through the air like lighting and a slash of dark power as sharp as a knife came flying towards her face.

"Look out!" Erza exclaimed.

In time, Lucy put up a barrier to block the attack, and the dark strike disapperated when it touched Lucy's barrier. Lucy didn't hesitate; she kept walking, wanting to get this over with.

Natsu, Happy, Grey, and Erza were watching worredly as Lucy walked right up to the podeium, and cautiously leaned down to examine it. It read:

To destroy the Almighty Weapon...

The Almighty Swordsman...

Destroy the machine and the Light of Summoning

"The light of Summoning?" Lucy murmured, puzzled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look out!" She felt a body slam into her, and she was sent falling to the ground. Looking up, she saw another strange yet deadly jet of dark magic slam into the wall infront of her.

She gulped, and turned to see Natsu standing and offering her his hand. "You alright Lucy?" He asked rubbing his head.

Lucy nodded, and smiled gratefully. "Yeah, thanks for the save."

Natsu smiled, and they cautiously walked back to Erza and Grey.

"That was close." Grey huffed, and looked over at Lucy, who was still trying to figure out the meaning of the riddle. "Hey, earth to Lucy!"

Lucy snapped her head up. "Y-Yeah?"

"So what did the staff say?" Erza asked; walking over to stand infront of her, looking at Lucy intently.

"Oh, right. It said: "To destroy the almighty weapon and the almighty swordsman, you must detroy The machine and The Light of Summoning". What do you guys think about that?"

"Destroy the machine and The Light of Summoning?" Natsu replied, looking at the ground, puzzled.

"Anybody got any clue what that means?" Erza asked, leaning against a part of the wall that wasn't charred. Everyone shook their heads. "Well, we better go back to the hotel and think this over; see if we can figure out the meaning."

Following Erza, everyone walked out to the hallway where the assistant was sleeping. Deciding to let her sleep, Team Fairy Tail left the museum.

Walking down the steps, Lucy paused. "Hold on."

Erza, Natsu, Grey, and Happy stopped and turned to look up at her. "What's up?" Natsu asked.

"Mabye there will be something in the library about this." Lucy ran down the steps, heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. "I'll go think this over at the library!" she called over her shoulder.

They watched her go, then Erza smiled. "That's a good idea. Let's split up and see if we can find out any information about the riddle or the staff. We can't just sit around."

Grey and Natsu nodded, and they went their own ways, running into the nearby crouds. Erza turned towards the direction of the hotel, and spotted a few villagers sitting and talking. Walking over to them, she introduced herself and started the story.