"Lucy?"

Juvia's voice startled the celestial mage out of the slight trance she'd been in as she stared out the window of their rapidly moving vehicle as it raced through the countryside, heading for where Blue Pegasus had once been. She glanced over at the water mage, who was perched comfortably on a seat across from them. Lucy had to fight back a smirk. The vehicle was similar to the one Erza had driven when she'd first met the requip mage. Gray, of course, was driving (Lucy had a sneaking suspicion that it was to try and see if it would slow the marks from spreading too quickly) and Natsu was passed out on the seat beside her, looking more than just a little sick.

"Yes?" Lucy questioned, shaking her head to clear it.

"Are you alright?" Juvia looked truly concerned, and Lucy gave the other woman a reassuring smile. Not really, but she didn't need any stress added on to her by the way her mouth was set in an unhappy pout. "Juvia noticed you look upset..."

"I'm fine," Lucy promised. "I'm just worried about this idiot over here and what everyone else is concerned about." She swept her blonde hair out of her face, shaking her head. "Don't worry about me, Juvia...damn," she added under her breath when she noticed the blue-haired woman's eyes filling with tears. "What's wrong?"

Juvia sniffled. "Juvia is worried about Gray." Lucy tensed for a minute, but she didn't seem to notice. "He-he's being too nice to Juvia."

Lucy had to fight the urge to roll her eyes - not at the teary-eyed woman, of course, but at the fact that only Fairy Tail's members would be worried because of such a thing. Especially Juvia, who normally would have been ecstatic. "I'm sure Gray's okay," she reassured, trying to make her words convincing. "He's just like the rest of us."

"I guess so," Juvia mumbled uncertainly, then glanced at Natsu. "Juvia believes Natsu is scared." Lucy arched an eyebrow. Pissed off? Definitely. Concerned for his nakama? of course. But scared? She understood he was worried about solitude at times like this, but not once had she ever seen him truly scared. Juvia gave a tentative smile at the look on the celestial mage's face. "Natsu is scared for Juvia's love rival."

Lucy groaned. "For the final time, Juvia, I'm not interested in Gray. At all. But why?" Curiosity spiked and she spared a glance at the unconscious dragon slayer.

Juvia wore a smug look now, as if proud of herself for knowing the information she was giving Lucy. "Natsu doesn't want to lose anyone like he lost Igneel. Juvia thinks you mean as much to him as Igneel."

Her jaw dropped at Juvia's sly smirk. Out of all the times to say something like this, it had to be when the guy was unconscious next to her? Of course, she doubted he was hearing any of it, but still! And since when had Juvia decided to give out things like that...? Lucy took notice of the gleam in the the water mage's eye. Ah. So she thought she was separating Lucy further from her Gray. Still...

Cheeks aflame, Lucy turned her face towards the window of the vehicle again. "Shush," she scolded, her voice coming out near a squeak. Juvia only giggled, then straightened in surprise when Lucy's fingers suddenly tightened enough in her lap to nearly tear the skirt she'd chosen to wear.

"Lucy?" she questioned, then jumped when Natsu's eyes snapped open, gaze already furious. All symptoms of his motion sickness gone, he sat up, leaning closer to the pale celestial mage, jaw clenched. "Natsu? What's happening to Lucy?"

Swearing under his breath, Natsu slammed a fist against the wall behind Juvia's head. She gasped in surprise, jerking away, and he felt a twist in his stomach when the vehicle screeched to a sudden halt. Ignoring the motion sickness, Natsu went back to focusing on Lucy, who looked to be in more pain than Juvia had ever remembered seeing her in.

Gray threw a door open with a look of annoyance that vanished when he saw Lucy. "What's going on?" he demanded, carefully avoiding getting closer to them than he had to. Despite the burning in her chest, Lucy noticed and shook her head. This wouldn't end well. "Hey! Natsu!"

Lucy gave a tight smile, gasping for breath as the pain finally went away. "I'm okay," she said, just as she said every time it ended. "See?" she added to Natsu. "Don't think it stopped this time."

"It didn't," he admitted, sitting back with a worried look. He yelped when Juvia kicked at him, looking worried.

"Juvia and Gray want to know what's going on," she demanded sharply, glaring at the pink-haired man. "Is Juvia's love rival okay?"

"I'm fine," Lucy protested, waving them off with a tired look. She leaned back, resting her head against the back of her seat. "Just...had a moment. It happens sometimes."

"Like hell," Gray muttered. "Never seen that happen before in my life, Lucy. Natsu," he repeated. "What's going on?"

He glanced at her, then, ignoring her pleading eyes, he said bluntly, "She's been having these attack things. Her heart stops most of the time, and stuff like that. This one wasn't as bad as the last few."

"And I'm okay now," Lucy added, looking at him angrily. The jerk had promised! Of course, she hadn't expected to have one of her little "moments" in front of Juvia and Gray... "Look, it's no big deal- ouch! Damn it, Natsu, what the hell was that for?" she spat, furiously kicking him as hard as she could in the shin when he smacked the back of her head. It wasn't a hard swat, nowhere near as hard as one that would have usually hurt her, but it proved the point he was trying to make. It affected her way more than she let on.

"No wonder you haven't been leaving her alone," the ice-make mage mused, making Juvia smile slightly despite the situation. "Anything else we need to know about before we walk into danger?"

"Yeah," Lucy said sarcastically, angry. She kicked him again, and Natsu winced, glaring back at her. "I can't use my keys. They disintegrate. Virgo's gone. So if it happens in the middle of a fight, I'm screwed."

"Are you serious?" Gray groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Lucy, you don't just hide these things!"

"Juvia agrees," Juvia piped up, looking upset. "Juvia thinks Lucy should have told us sooner."

Lucy pouted, crossing her arms. "There's so much going on already, I didn't want to add to everyone's worry. Besides. It's not like I'm dead yet. I'm still alive and kicking. I'm sure you'll know if it gets to the point where I can't do anything."

Natsu huffed, crossing his arms with a small pout on his face, giving him an almost child-like appearance. Lucy gave him the evil eye and Gray just gave an unamused sigh. "We're nearly there...we'll be there just after noon, I think," he told them. "If something like this happens again, do what you did, Natsu, and I'll stop."

The irritable Salamander gave a curt nod.

Gray exchanged a wary look with Lucy, then closed the door and returned to the driver's seat. Juvia gave a wail, scaring Lucy enough to make the exhausted celestial mage jump. "See? Gray doesn't want to touch Juvia!"

Lucy groaned, closing her eyes and resting her head against the window's glass. "I'm sure Gray has his reasons, Juvia - Natsu, I swear on my position as a Fairy Tail mage, if you dare get sick this way, you'll never see my "amazingly comfortable bed" ever again, is that clear?"

Natsu's only answer was a groan when the vehicle lurched forward, leaving him to slump down in his seat again.

XxXx

"We're here." Gray's muffled voice had Natsu stumbling out of the vehicle instantly, and Lucy and Juvia gave him some distance before Juvia hopped out and offered the celestial mage some help. Lucy gratefully accepted it, letting the water mage help her out. She nearly stumbled and tripped, but managed to catch her balance, leaning momentarily on Juvia before standing upright on her own. Juvia's look of concern didn't go unnoticed. "I'm okay, Juvia," she mumbled.

"It's not nice to lie, Lucy," Juvia chided, though it was more teasing than anything. Lucy blinked, slightly confused by Juvia's sudden change of attitude towards the "love rival". But she appreciated the sudden change and paused to nudge Natsu back into awareness when the green tinge left his face.

Then the four mages took in the area around them.

It looked as if it had been abandoned for ages. Where proud buildings had once stood, there was now only destruction. The walls had crumbled, and there was no longer any signs of human life. Instinctively, Lucy stepped closer to Natsu for comfort, giving a small shudder. The dragon slayer didn't seem to notice, instead wrinkling his nose. When she shot him a questioning look, he answered the unsaid question. "It reeks of that strange stuff and death."

"Not good," Gray grunted. The ice-make mage started forward, and the rest of them followed. Juvia went to wrap her arms around Gray's arm in a happy manner, but then huffed unhappily when he quickly dodged her attempt, shooting her a look that had Juvia looking downcast.

Natsu's breath near her ear made Lucy jump as he mumbled, "Gray smells weird, too. Smelled it earlier when we stopped."

Lucy hesitated. Should she tell him what she'd seen? It would probably be safer...although she wouldn't tell Juvia just yet. "Natsu." Catching on to the secretive hiss, he leaned closer so she could whisper easier to him. "Gray has those marks...don't," she snapped when his onyx eyes narrowed and he pulled back, flames flickering along his arm. "He's still normal, he's aware of it. He's trying to not touch any of us. I think he wants to finish up with this job, then go and join the others in the infirmary."

He contemplated this for a few moments, then growled, "Stay away from him. Juvia's probably already touched him and even if she hasn't yet, she definitely will before we get back, no matter how hard Gray tries."

Lucy never would have thought she'd be wanting Natsu to go back to the way he was months ago, when they'd first met and throughout all of their troublesome yet amazing adventures. She never would have thought she'd want him to go back to being immature and impatient, hotheaded and quick to act with a constant grin ready to be shown.

The Natsu before her was slightly frightening. He was completely serious, without a trace of a smile in existence. Of course, she understood why. Natsu cared deeply for all of their nakama, and Lisanna had been the final straw. He was pissed and ready to get rid of whatever was threatening to hurt his friends.

Shaking off the slight shudder that had run through her, Lucy turned her attention back on the situation at hand. "I'm not going to avoid him," she hissed. "I won't touch him, but I'm not just gonna keep six feet away at all times like you seem to think I will," she warned, then hurried after their friends, her brown eyes sharp as she scanned the area around them. Natsu sighed heavily and trailed after the other three.

"So where was Blue Pegasus' guild hall?" she asked as Gray paused to look around.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Somewhere around here, I think. I know it was this town...but...it's impossible to figure out where anything is now. "

Lucy's hand dropped to wrap around the keyring hung at her hip for comfort. She didn't dare summon any of them to help move rubble when Gray set to work on shoving at a piece in their way. It was too big to climb over, and none of them wanted to climb up and come face to face with someone that might decide they'd be fun to kill. As if sensing her need for comfort, most of the keys warmed, particularly one that she was sure belonged to Loke.

They wanted out into the human realm, but she couldn't let them.

Juvia joined in and with combined efforts, she, Gray, and Natsu - who was very careful to not touch the ice-make mage - managed to shuffle the piece of crumbled building out of the way enough that they could squeeze through. Natsu went first, and then Juvia and Gray, and finally, Lucy squeezed herself through to join them. They were met by more destruction.

"Juvia doesn't think," Juvia said softly, looking depressed at what she was saying, "That there are any survivors."

"Neither do I," Lucy agreed. She crossed her arms as she kicked at a pebble, watching it skitter away into an alley.

She realized a split moment later that it had been a bad idea to kick that pebble.

Something suddenly threw itself out of the dark alleyway, shrieking in rage and Lucy gave a small scream, reeling backwards. Gray threw up a wall of ice, capturing it just before it managed to reach her, swearing wildly when he recognized the marks swirling up what had once been a person's arm.

Lucy dove for safety between Juvia and Natsu, who both fell into a battle-ready position when others crept from different places all around them, all covered from head to toe in the marks.

"...shit," Gray gritted out, cranking his head around to look over his shoulder. "That's a hell of a lot of them."

Flames exploded into existence along Natsu's fists and arms. His dark eyes darted this way and that, trying to keep track of all of the creatures around them, taking the chance to take in their mutated appearance.

It was easy to see that they'd once been human. More than easy. They still looked semi-human in a way, with the shapes of their bodies humanoid. But they slid along on all four limbs, looking cat-like in their movements. There eyes had bled a mixture of black and blood red, blood smearing their grayish skin in random patches from kills, and when they bared their teeth in a vicious grin, they revealed dead gray tongues and sharpened teeth.

"What the hell?" Lucy breathed, her hand grasping the hilt of her whip. She readied it. She couldn't use her celestial Spirits to fight, but she could still attempt to help.

Juvia spoke in a low tone. "Juvia will protect my love rival. I believe it is best if you focus on getting rid of them."

Natsu made a sound of agreement, though it was an unhappy one. Gray gave a grim smile, then launched the first attack on a group that were gathering off to the right, sending an Ice-Make: Lance that speared through most of the limp bodies.

Later, Lucy would claim she hadn't ever seen such a gory fight. Even against Future Rogue and in the Exceeds' original home, she'd never seen so much blood flying as she did in that battle.

One moment, there was silence, and then there was a high-pitched wailing screech that echoed from each one that attacked. Lucy distantly realized that almost every citizen must have changed to have created such an army of them. Her whip wrapped around the throat of a small one that threw itself towards her in a screaming fury, and she snapped it, resulting in a sickening crack from the body.

A child, changed by something that was no fault of his own.

Flames raged in every direction, occasionally combining with ice or melting it on accident. Not that it mattered; Natsu's fire turned anything that dared to try and touch him into ash. Lucy couldn't help the sharp panicked gasps she gave when one got close and nearly nicked him with a claw that had grown from its fingertips.

"Lucy," Juvia said suddenly, a wall of water slamming one into the remnants of a building. It came screaming out of the wreckage, heading for her again, and Juvia let her body become water when another clawed through her. Lucy's face paled. Even if she'd become water, she'd been touched. And both Gray and Natsu seemed to have noticed, because Gray groaned and Natsu immediately began heading their way, pausing to deal with another attack, a Fire Dragon's Roar incinerating the creature before it could reach him. "I believe this will be more difficult than we believed."

"You think?" Lucy choked out, wincing when her whip was ripped out of her hands by a particularly large one. She backed away slowly, swallowing thickly, and Juvia hurried to try and slip in between it and the celestial mage, a furious look on her face. Lucy bit back a frustrated sound, scampering after the whip, just narrowly avoiding a creature Gray sent flying. It spat at her as it hit the ground, rising onto its feet.

A searing heat at her hip made her wince as she scooped up her whip. No, she thought firmly. Even if she risked summoning one of her spirits, they would end up like Virgo. Gone to who knows where with no way of Lucy figuring out if they were okay. She would survive this without their help - she had to.

Flames billowed past her, mere feet away, and she winced when the heat seared her. It didn't cause any damage, but she felt it alright. "Watch where you're aiming, you idiot!" Gray shouted, as if seeing what he'd done. But it turned out he'd been even closer to the flames than she had.

Too distracted by Gray, she barely noticed the shadow sneaking along the ground behind her until Natsu called, "Look out!"

She whirled around - just as dead eyes filled her vision. Lucy's face paled and she threw her arms up to block a sharp blow, already expecting piercing pain or nothing at all when it killed her, but was instead met with a wall of something soft exploding into existence between them, shoving her back a few steps. Lucy knew instantly what had happened and moaned, "No."

Aries had forced herself into the human realm beside her, looking surprisingly fierce and angry as she glared at the creature, her form rippling in and out of view. "Sorry," she apologized, her expression softening when she glanced at Lucy. Lucy looked horrified. "You were in danger. Loke was worried."

"Err, thanks," Lucy said, then gave a soft cry of horror when the Celestial Spirit began to fade. "Aries!" she cried, panicked, completely forgetting about the battle around her.

"Virgo's alright," Aries promised hastily, as if realizing she didn't have much time left. "She's with the rest of us. I have to go now. Sorry!"

And just as suddenly as the Celestial Spirit had come into existence, she was gone, the wool she'd left behind fading alongside her. Lucy took the small chance she had to use her whip, speedily killing the creature that Aries had stopped as tears formed in her eyes, golden dust sprinkling the ground as the key turned to golden ash.

Juvia appeared beside her, looking apologetic. "Juvia is sorry," she said mournfully, "If Juvia had moved faster - Lucy!"

The blonde had suddenly gone down, crumpling to her knees, struggling to drag in oxygen. Her eyes were screwed shut, and it only took her mere moments to hit the ground, curling up into a tight ball despite the battle raging around them. Juvia took on a feral look when one of the creatures came after them, defeating it quickly with a relieved look when she realized they had definitely stopped coming as thickly as before.

Acid seemed to have replaced everything inside her, and Lucy felt every inch of her burning as if Natsu had lit her on fire with the hottest of flames. She gave a groan that didn't even begin to voice the agonized screams that threatened to tear out of her, her body convulsing in pain. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe at all. It was as if she'd been shoved into a space where there was no air to breathe. And there were two pains worse than all of the others, right behind her eyes and where her heart was. Somehow, the celestial mage knew that her heart had stopped again and this time...it hadn't even tried to re-start just yet.

"Natsu!" Juvia shrieked. "Gray!"

Everything was blurring together, becoming a sea of black.

"Lucy! Stay with me! Luce! C'mon!"

She was trying. She was honestly trying to stay awake. But she couldn't.

The last thing she was aware of was something warm brushing across her lips.

And then there was nothing but darkness all around her.