"Where is she?! Answer me, you bastard!!" An enraged dragon slayer roared at the person in front of him.

Only a smug was visible on the man's face as the rest was hidden under a dark hood.

"She'll be dead soon." His voice was cold and heartless, like the things he just said didn't mean anything.

"Stop screwing around with me!" Fire mage squeezed his hands into fists as fire freely danced from them.

Rage inside him grew larger and larger with every passing minute and he still wasn't getting any answers.

His fist lit up as he charged at the mage, he was about to land a hit but the man dodged with ease and teleported behind him.

"Deal with it, Fire boy, you'll never see your precious friend again. She belongs in my collection." And with those words the dark mage disappeared into the air, leaving the raging boy all alone.

- later, at evening -

Guild's door slowly opened revealing a well known member of the family. Everyone looked at him with happiness but it soon vanished when they saw he was missing someone.

"Natsu, where's Lucy?" Red haired Requip mage asked as she approached him.

His eyes were covered by his bangs and his head was hanging low, signaling to everyone that something went wrong.

"Maybe she went to her apartment, it's kinda late.." little sky dragon slayer commented but still looked at Natsu for confirmation.

"S-She..." he choked on his words.

"S-She's gone.."

"What do you mean she's gone? We should go look for her if something happened!" Gray slightly raised his voice which only made Natsu to shake his head.

"I looked everywhere.."

"Well then.. tell us what happened on your job." Erza commanded and sat beside the boy.

- flashback -

"You are completely worthless to me, hand over the girl while I'm still in a good mood." The guy with a black coat threatened as Natsu moved in front of his girlfriend.

"Don't worry, Luce, he's not going to take you anywhere." He reassured the girl he desperately wanted to keep safe. She gently nodded and kept close to him.

With moments, even minutes passing with no one moving dark mages smile slowly disappeared and turned into a frown.

"Don't make me take her by force, Dragneel. Heartfilia, you will come with me if you don't want your beloved to die." His words made Lucy's heart skip a beat. She looked at him with fear and attempted to move towards the mage.

Before she could go Natsu quickly got a hold of her wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? He's tricking you."

"S-Sorry, I just don't want him to hurt you.." she admitted.

"You leave me no choice then." The mage lifted his right arm and somehow, Natsu's body began floating. Then, his hand forcefully swung making Natsu crush into the thick wall.

"No! Stop! I'll come with you! Just don't hurt him anymore.." Blonde yelled desperately as pain filled her chest from seeing Natsu suffer because of her.

The mage put on a smile once again and teleported behind her and made her disappear with single touch.

"I'm sorry.." she muttered as her body completely vanished.

As Natsu opened his eyes he noticed Lucy's absence which made his chest tighten.

- flashback end -

"Natsu, I need you to come with me and tell me everything you know about this dark mage to help me track him down and find Lu-chan." Levy said firmly as they went to the library.

- that night -

Natsu opened his eyes to find himself in a dark room where the shapes were in monochrome, the silhouettes were dancing around the room letting out all kinds of noises.

The sounds of girls screaming in pain flooded his ears. He started pulling his hair to distract himself from those agonizing screams.

But then, it all suddenly stopped.

"Don't think she's beautiful as a corpse?" The mage from the mission spoke calmly as he glanced at Lucy.

Her body was slashed with a sharp object but it seemed like her wounds were cleaned, like someone polished a doll.

"Lucy.."

'Why the hell can't I move?!' Natsu yelled at himself as he was forced to watch his beloved's dead body.

She was placed in a coffin, her skin was dried from color, she looked so cold which pained the boy's heart.

"Lucy! Say something! Wake up!" He yelled while desperately trying to move before the scene changed.

Natsu found himself in a room with a fire place, he sat in the chair and the dark mage was sitting across from him.

"As you can see, your Lucy Heartfilia is no more."

Natsu's head dropped as the realization hit him harder than any attach from the enemy before. He grabbed onto the edge of his chair in distress as he was unable to move, once again.

"Y-You're lying, Lucy wouldn't give up that easily.." he spoke as his body couldn't condone his feelings any longer.

"I think you know I'm telling the truth and you just refuse to accept it." The man laughed.

• • •

"No!!!"

"Natsu! What happened?" Blue cat flied into the infirmary room and hugged the Fire mage.

Natsu blinked and looked around him, his hand slightly made contact with his wet cheek.

"How did I..?"

"Wendy had to put you to sleep since you refused to do it on your own.." Happy sighed and sat on the bed beside him.

"But we need to go and search for Lu-"

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, I just remembered something." Natsu put on a fake smile for Happy.

That was just a dream.

That was just a dream.

Just a dream.

Not real.

-

Fire mage sat at the guilds bar and continued fidgeting his fingers.

"I have it!" Blue haired Script mage shouted happily with a piece of paper in her hand.

"You found Lucy's location?!" Natsu shot up from his seat and looked at Levy with hope sparkling in his eyes.

"Yeah! This has to be it!"

"Then, let's go!" He shouted and proceeded to run out when Erza grabbed him by the scarf.

"We can't rush in without a plan."

"You don't understand! We don't have much time! If we don't get there in time, Lucy will.. die... We don't have time for the plan!" His words caused Erza to look away and sigh in defeat.

"You're right, let's go. Gray, Wendy, Happy!"

"Aye!"

-

"Are we.. there yet?" Gray coughed as they ran for hours on end.

Natsu turned around and gave him a dirty look.

"Shut the hell up, we're almost there." He spat with venom in his voice, it was kinda terrifying.

"I see it! I see the tower!" Blue haired girl shouted as they all looked at the same direction.

Don't worry Luce, I'm almost there.

"Come on, hurry up!" Natsu yelled.

After few moments, team Natsu was able to kick the big door down and all the guards that were there.

They ran and ran, checking every room to find their precious members of the family. But they had no luck.

"I see you managed to find me, Dragneel.." someone said from behind them.

"Too bad you were too late." He smirked.

Once again fear found Natsu. It spoke to him in its cackling voice. It told his legs to go weak, his stomach to lurch and his heart to ache. Igneel once told him that there was nothing to fear but fear itself, but still he could not silence its voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Erza spat at him with a sword ready to slice the man open.

"Follow me." He led the team upstairs and soon after they were in front of a room. Natsu's heart was bouncing out of his chest with every step they took but he couldn't stop either.

The man opened the door.

The whole room was full of corpses laid against the wall beside one. The blond Celestial wizard sat in the chair of the room.

Her body white.

Her eyes closed.

Her body motionless.

He couldn't breathe, it felt as if someone was choking him.

Fire mage couldn't control himself anymore, he rushed to Lucy's side and began shaking her. His palms were sweaty and the adrenaline coursing through his system was shutting down his ability to think logically. He wanted to run or beat the living daylights out of the dark mage, either would do.

"Y-You.." A chocked cry forced itself up his throat, and he felt a drop run down his cheek.

"Now, now.. don't waste your tears, she was a feisty one alright." The man laughed and continued.

"She was convinced that Natsu would come and save her, how pathetic-"

A fist was connected with his jaw. Natsu's flames burned the man's face and flesh with a single punch. He was sent flying to a wall, the last thing his eyes saw were the tears of the fire dragon slayer. The ones he will never forget. Well, now he would because he just got his death wish.

Beast looking fire mage walked to him and continued punching the daylight out of him. He didn't stop even though everyone told him he was already dead.

He still didn't stop. He waned him to feel pain, to feel every inch of his misery.

He finally came to a stop when Gray violently took him off of the corpse.

"That's enough, he's gone." He said through his sobs. Natsu didn't dare to look at the blonde again, he only sat at the floor and listened to the cry of his friends.

-

"Today we gather here to say goodbye to one of our most beloved member of family.. Natsu, if you would." The master said sadly and walked off the front. Cries were heard from every person who was there.

It was time. The time I knew would come sooner or later but dreaded. I had to say goodbye to the only person that I felt cared, to the only person that I felt happy with. How was I supposed to just do it without feeling like I've lost a part of me?

"All those times were we would just talk and laugh and do normal things normal people would do. When I had forgotten how to live, Luce was the one who showed me the way."

"When I felt like the world was falling apart around me, she made me feel as though it wasn't so bad. When I felt like nothing could make me feel better, she somehow managed to put even the slightest of smile on my face." The tears slowly came to the surface as he glanced at the coffin that was about to be buried under the ground.

Natsu pulled out something out of his pocket and said:

"I was planning to propose to her, but the time just wasn't right for it.. and now, I wish I did."

"I wish I could go back to when I first met her so I could do it all over again and I wouldn't change a single thing.. I need her because without her I'm a nobody. I have this feeling in my chest where it just feels empty, like a black hole, pitch black. I'm lost and the only way for me to be found again is if I would see her again." He finished as some people had to leave because it just hurt so much.

•

•

•

•

•

The moral of this story is that no matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it... some stories just don't have a happy ending.

———————————————————————

here you have a sad story from start to finish.

how did you like it?

words count: 1962