Rather than waiting for Sting and Wendy as Natsu had wanted her to do, Lucy took one long look at Levy, who met her gaze evenly. The small blue-haired woman had a nasty cut on one cheek, the blood leaking from it contrasting heavily against the black streak that had spread down her cheek in the light of the burning trees around them. Natsu's fire wouldn't burn them, she was sure of it, but it didn't make it any less terrifying when the flames were roaring around your head. "Come on," she said firmly. "We have dragon slayers to keep an eye on."

Levy smirked. "Right," she agreed. Lucy grabbed her hand, then took off at a run, Levy keeping up with ease. The two women navigated the burning trees, careful not to trip as they did so. Somewhere in her mind, Lucy wondered where Jellal had gone, but didn't voice her concerns.

Suddenly, Levy squealed, "Look out!" Lucy's head snapped around just in time to see a flash of golden light as Capricorn forced his gate open. The flaming tree that had come flying out of nowhere slammed into him instead of Lucy, and the Celestial Spirit grunted, unable to spare even a single greeting before he vanished into thin air, his key turning to pretty golden dust.

Lucy stared at the spot Capricorn had been in with horror, and she barely heard Levy yelling at her to move when something sprang out of the shadows, lashing out with attacks that trailed familiar black mist. Levy shoved her out of the way, swerving to avoid the attack herself as the realization finally struck Lucy.

They'd leaped straight into the middle of the battle without fully intending to just yet.

Lucy snapped back into awareness, shaking her head to clear it before focusing on the situation at hand as Gajeel, too, sprang from the shadows, the same black mist trailing every movement he made. She had no doubt that they had a matter of moments before Natsu showed up.

The two dragon slayers launched into battle, and she winced every time one of Gajeel's iron attacks landed a blow on Rogue with a sharp crack. Confusion filled her. Gajeel had beaten Rogue once before...why was it so hard to beat him now? Had the Marks done something different to Rogue than they had to the rest of those affected? She exchanged a look with Levy.

And then it hit her. "Levy!" she gasped, "We need to get Gajeel to stop using this form of his magic!"

Levy frowned. "But-"

Lucy grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. "Levy, think about it! The Marks are some sort of dark magic, right? Rogue is - was - a shadow mage. He specialized in magic based around darkness, even if he didn't use it for bad things like he is now! He's lost it! It sped up the process!"

Her eyes snapped wide. "Oh, no," she breathed. Levy then ripped away from Lucy, not hesitating to jump into the middle of the fighting. Lucy clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream of fear for her friend when Rogue's eyes gleamed with triumph and he moved to deliver a fatal blow to her.

And then a funnel of flames exploded from the trees. Natsu came jumping into view, looking fairly pissed off about the fact that he'd been left behind - again - and let another Fire Dragon's Roar loose, effectively distracting Rogue. Rogue's blow missed, and Gajeel was able to jerk Levy out of the way, looking furious with her for getting that close to him. "Damn it, shrimp!" he roared, "What the fuck are you doing?!"

She ignored his anger, though Lucy could see the shocked trembling in her friend's hands as she raised them to grab his arms. "Stop," she gasped, "You need to stop using the shadow stuff, too, it's going to increase the rate at which the Marks spread."

He looked bewildered, then grunted as he did as she told him. The mist disappeared, leaving him in simply iron scales, and Levy smiled faintly as he gently shoved her in Lucy's direction. "You two get out of here," he growled, "We've got this."

Lucy bit her lip, hesitant. It didn't look like they had the situation handled. Natsu looked like he was beginning to run out of energy already - a reminder that they hadn't been able to get as much rest and food as they should have been getting - and Gajeel was forced to keep avoiding attacks, rarely getting in any of his own with the loss of his shadow-using advantage.

Lucy wanted to scream. She wanted to help, but she couldn't! Her heart was thudding in her chest, a heavy reminder of what would happen if things went the wrong way. She had no doubt that if an attack happened now, Rogue would use the distraction to kill Natsu and more than likely she and Levy.

So, hands trembling, Lucy reached for her keys. Tears forming and rolling down her cheeks, Lucy forced herself to shakily raise two of her golden keys. Levy looked at her in surprise as she called for the gates to open, but Lucy ignored her, focusing on what she was doing. The second Cancer and Taurus appeared before her, they launched into action already knowing what she wanted.

Four on one was too much, even for a diseased Rogue. With Natsu breathing fire from a distance in the branches of a tree and Gajeel and Cancer attacking from the ground, it gave Taurus the chance he needed to quickly slam his axe through the shadow dragon slayer. The halves of Rogue's body hit the ground just as Taurus and Cancer vanished, and Lucy panted for breath, dropping to her knees. ...it's getting harder, she realized dully. It was getting more difficult to summon her spirits willingly.

Not that she had many left. Only Loke and Sagittarius remained, and she was determined not to summon them unless absolutely necessary. Not that she could stop them from stepping out on their own accord if she wasn't focusing.

Natsu made his way over to join them, Gajeel close behind as his Dragon Force faded away. Lucy's blood ran cold when she took in the dozens of different Marks that raced across Gajeel's flesh, dancing mockingly across his throat and face as they reached for his heart. What had been weeks of time left for the iron dragon slayer had become a day at the most, maybe two if they were lucky.

Tears filled Levy's eyes as she reached the same realization and she immediately stepped closer to him, pretending to fuss over a scratch that was a lot less than she made it out to be. "Idiot," she mumbled, sniffing softly.

Natsu looked fairly annoyed as he dropped down to sit beside the panting Lucy, already preparing for the inevitable attack that would soon come. His onyx eyes searched her face for any sign of it, and he wasn't surprised when she suddenly doubled over, clutching at her chest. Natsu simply sat beside her, a comforting presence as he listened intently to make sure her heart didn't stop for too long.

It was during the attack that Jellal, Sting, and Wendy appeared. Vision blurred by pained tears, Lucy took that in before silently wondering just where Jellal had gone after Levy had come out of the burning cabin. The pain was ebbing away when she realized the answer to her own question.

A short sword with a gem-crested hilt was in his hand, still dripping the blood that had once given life to Erza. He caught sight of her staring at it and gave her a tight smile before tucking it away. Lucy buried her face in her hands as she sat up, still gasping softly, grateful her heart hadn't stopped permanently. She knew what he planned to do. The second he knew he was going, Jellal planned on using the blade in the same way Erza had. Which meant he didn't intend to stick around.

Sting looked lost, his expression blank. Blood streaked down the side of his face from where he'd struck his head on something, and Lucy guessed that he was in shock from what had happened. Wendy looked outright terrified, her small body shaking violently as she clung to Jellal's arm. Her hazel eyes were wide, staring at nothing, and Lucy shook her head, muttering to Natsu, "C-could you help me...help me up? We need to...we need to move...W-Wendy's going to...she's going to freeze."

"Yeah," he muttered. He stood, and Lucy realized he was just as exhausted as the rest of them as he heaved her to her feet. She staggered, fighting for balance, and ended up leaning heavily against him for a brief moment when her head began to spin.

Jellal shook his head, scrubbing his hand down his face. "We can't move far. Lucy needs rest, as does Wendy. They need to get warm, and soon, before things go ever further south than they already are."

"Right," Natsu mumbled in response.

Silently, the small group started forward, just as they had been for the last who knew how long, leaving Rogue's body for the shadows to hide.

XxXx

The next morning found the group relatively normal again. Or as normal as one could get in the current circumstances. Lucy had checked over Wendy, discovering the Marks already spreading, though just barely. Sting's had started spreading as well, even less than Wendy's. Gajeel wasn't doing too hot at the moment, however. As soon as Lucy had seen to her injured arm, Levy had checked the second he'd woken up, and she'd been heart broken to discover that the Marks were a mere breath away from touching where his heart was beneath the solid muscle, leaving them only a few hours left with the iron dragon slayer.

Natsu was quietly chowing down on some fire that he'd managed to create from a piece of flint he'd found and some steel that he'd managed to dig out of what left of the cabin from the night before when Jellal spoke.

"I believe I will be taking my leave of you all today."
Natsu choked. "What?!" he wheezed after he was done coughing, his gaze darting to Jellal's. The blue-haired mage gave a tight smile. "Why?"

"The Marked find it easier to track larger groups," Jellal said simply. "Breaking off into smaller groups would be more beneficial for all of us. It would help us all survive...or at least you and Lucy, Natsu. The rest of us only have a matter of time before we change. It's safer for the both of you. I suggest you and Lucy leave the group and go your own separate ways as well."

Natsu was on his feet in an instant, in a flaming rage at his suggestion. "You think we'd just leave our nakama? What the hell are you thinking, Jellal?!"

"Natsu," Lucy protested, tiredly reaching up to tug him back down beside her. "Stop, don't go starting fights. Please."

"He's right, Natsu," Levy said quietly, hesitantly touching her cheek. The black had spread along her face, reaching her chin now, and it seemed to ripple when her fingers brushed against it. Her expression was blank, her voice hollow. "It would give both of you a better chance to go off on your own."

"Levy," Lucy said firmly, shaking her head. "Natsu's right, even though he doesn't need to go around making fights about it." She shot him a look for that, and the fire mage gave a huff before dropping back down to sit beside her, still glaring at Jellal. "We're not leaving you guys. Besides." She gave a hesitant smile. "I still have some writing for you to read through, remember?"

What might have been a hint of a smile appeared on Levy's face before disappearing again. "I guess."

Natsu smirked, as if proud that he and Lucy had won a pointless argument. Jellal simply shook his head before standing. "Then I will say my farewells," he said grimly. "I do not believe we will be seeing each other again."

Wendy blinked up at him with a saddened expression and he gave her a gentle smile, patting her head before turning to leave.

"Hold up, Jellal." Sting shoved himself to his feet, his eyes sharp as he glared at him. Jellal paused to glance back at the light dragon slayer. "I'm goin' with you. You're the one who decided to drag us out of where we were hiding, so I'm going to make sure you deal with the results."

Jellal sighed heavily. "If that's what you want," he muttered before starting forward.

"Sting," Lucy said, hopping to her feet with a desperate look, but the blonde man waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not blaming anyone for what happened to Rogue," he said with a shrug. He flashed her a grim smile. "It was going to happen eventually anyways, and it's going to happen to the rest of us. Keep Natsu safe, okay? Don't let him get all Marked up, too."

"...okay." She forced a smile to her face in response and the group of Fairy Tail mages watched in silence as Jellal and Sting disappeared into the trees around them. They always seemed to be camping in the forest now a days, but she gotten used to the fact that it seemed to be safer. The Marked hung around the towns and darkest places and while the forests had places where it was scary, it was a hell of a lot safer than elsewhere. Shaking her head, Lucy returned to sit beside Natsu and Wendy, lost in thought.

Levy offered some iron to Gajeel, who grudgingly bit into it, the metal making a sharp screech as he tore a chunk out of it with his teeth. Lucy winced at the sound, but said nothing.

Only a few weeks ago, she'd been sitting in the guildhall, enjoying herself with her guildmates. She could remember the way Mira had whisked past her in an attempt to stop Cana from drinking all of the alcohol. She could remember the way Gray had somehow lost his clothes while picking a fight with a smug looking Natsu, who was taunting him in return. She could remember the way Juvia had gushed over Gray's nakedness while others had looked away in disgust. She could remember Gajeel shouting at Gray to put some clothes on before he made him and Erza scaring the two in submission. She could remember the way Lisanna and Elfman had shook their heads in exasperation and the way Levy had giggled before returning to the book she'd been reading, Lily secretly peering at the text over her shoulder in an attempt to join her. Lucy could remember Laxus watching alone from a corner as his three friends chattered eagerly, Evergreen's eyes darting to Elfman every now and then, Bickslow pretending that he hadn't bumped into Lisanna on purpose. She could remember Makarov sitting on top of the bar, keeping a close eye on everyone in an attempt to keep them from destroying their guildhall. Again.

How had it gone so wrong? How was this even real? Surely nothing as simple as a disease could have torn through all of Fiore and destroyed them all?

Suddenly, a splitting pain raced through her head. Unlike her previous attacks, her heart continued to beat a steady rhythm in her chest, her lungs still let her suck in air, but her head- She groaned softly, clutching it, digging her nails into her scalp and screwing her eyes shut.

"Lucy?" Natsu said, looking concerned as he leaned closer to try and convince her to look at him. "You okay?"

"My head," she gritted out. It felt as if something was ripping through the inside of her mind, just daring her to try and ignore it. "It hurts." Another stab of pain made her cringe, and she gave a soft gasp, feeling sick.

"Levy," she heard Natsu call worriedly, and the solid-script mage darted over. "Something's wrong."

"Hold on, Lucy, just hold on," she thought she heard Levy say urgently in her ear. Her hands gently pried her fingers away from her head, her hazel eyes staring firmly into Lucy's. "Lucy? Can you hear me? Listen to me, open your eyes."

Lucy didn't answer, shaking her head. It would kill her to open her eyes. The pain would be even worse if she did that, and she knew it. So she kept shaking her head, sobbing into her hands desperately even as Natsu joined in, trying to convince her to look up, because damn it, she was scaring the hell out of him again! She wanted to scream at them to stop, but they wouldn't, they kept trying to make her open her eyes.

Suddenly, the pain vanished. "Lucy!" Natsu rasped in her ear. "C'mon, look at me! Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," she said faintly, reassuringly tugging on the edge of his scarf slowly raising her head. "I'm...I'm okay." She blinked a few times to clear her vision, her gaze landing lightly on Levy's concerned eyes. Levy searched her gaze to make sure sure that she was alright before returning to her place beside Gajeel. "Sorry."

Natsu didn't look entirely convinced as he sat back, his eyes never leaving her. "What happened? It wasn't-"

"No, it wasn't like the little moments I get." Lucy shook her head, furrowing her brow in concentration as she tried to figure it out. "It's...I must have gotten a little...never mind. I'm fine now, that's all that matters."

"Didn't look like it wasn't that big a deal," Gajeel grunted. Lucy took in the dark look in his eyes and shuddered. The iron dragon slayer looked ready to commit murder, and she found herself hoping that wasn't actually the case within the next few hours. Shaking her head to get rid of that thought, Lucy rubbed her temples, getting rid of the last remnants of pain that lanced through her mind every now and then.

"We need to figure out what we're doing next," Lucy decided, trying to get the focus off of her and onto something else. Levy nodded her agreement, and it was, to their surprise, Wendy who pointed out where they were.

"Akane Beach isn't that far away," the youngest dragon slayer said timidly, biting her lip as she spoke. She glanced in the direction Jellal and Sting had gone before turning her gaze onto Lucy, her gaze serious. "Maybe we can go there and see if there are fish in the ocean we can eat? Natsu can cook them really quickly. We could eat."

"Runt has a point," Gajeel agreed, crossing his arms with a huff. "But it'll be colder there. The wind coming off the ocean will make it worse than it is here in the forest...you sure you wanna go there?"

"We've got nothing better to do. Besides, we did lose whatever food we had when Natsu blew the cabin up," Levy pointed out. She wrapped her coat around her tighter, wincing when she jostled her injured arm, and edged towards the fire. "It's worth a shot at least."

"Yeah," Lucy murmured. "Guess we'll go to Akane Beach then...what do you think, Natsu?"

He gave a grin, though it was forced. "Fine with me. I can eat as many fish as I want as long as I can catch enough for you guys, right?"

"Yeah," Levy giggled. "Just as long as you get us enough fish, I don't see a problem with that. Do you?" She glanced up at Gajeel, who simply shrugged, using her as an armrest and resting his elbow on her messy blue head. Lucy took notice of the cloth holding Levy's bangs back with a slight smile. Gajeel had torn another piece of his clothing off to let her have a headband.

It hurt her to think that Levy would soon be losing that slight comfort she had in the mess they found themselves in.

Sighing, Lucy shook her head and forced herself to focus on happier thoughts. Now wasn't the time, she told herself. Now wasn't the time to think over who was going next, especially when it was obvious as to who that person was. Levy seemed to be thinking about the same thing, because she suddenly reached up to twine her fingers with the hand that hung in front of her face, her eyes bright with tears. Gajeel huffed softly and tightened his grip on her hand, muttering something to her. She shook her head, swiping quickly at her face with her free hand.

Wendy leaned closer to Lucy, breathing into her ear so that not even Natsu on the other side of her could hear, "L-Lucy, the scent is getting stronger. He's going to turn soon. And I...I don't know if Gajeel would, err, let us know first."

Lucy pressed her lips into a hard line at this. Wendy was right. It was unlikely the iron dragon slayer would admit to having a headache...so, she raised her chin and said hesitantly, "Gajeel?" Those furious red eyes turned on her. "You need to let us know when you're about to change into one of the Marked," she said firmly. "When you have the headache and such...it's for Levy's and Wendy's safety." Natsu, too, of course.

Personally? She didn't care all that much about her own safety. If there wasn't anyone alive with her, there was no point to even trying.

Gajeel huffed, rolling his eyes. "I ain't stupid, Bunny Girl. I was planning on it."

"Sure you were," Lucy muttered, earning another glare. She glanced at Natsu, who was surprisingly quiet at the moment, simply watching her. She frowned, and reached over to gently prod at his arm. "Natsu? You okay?"

He blinked. "Err, yeah," he muttered, poking her back in response. She swatted his hand away when he aimed for her side to tickle her before standing, brushing her impossibly dirty pants off. It was hard to get new clothes without attracting the attention of the Marked, who always seemed ready to come after them the second they entered an area with supplies. They'd gotten lucky when they'd stayed in Hargeon.

Wendy suddenly smiled brightly as she clapped her hands together. "Levy! I can heal your arm now! And Gajeel's leg, so we can move faster!"

"Don't bother with my leg," Gajeel muttered. "It'll save you trouble later."

She frowned at him for that before happily hopping over to heal the arm Levy offered. As they did that, the small girl looking happy to have found something good in the mass amount of despair that surrounded them, Lucy watched with a slight smile. Natsu sniffed at the air, and Lucy was reminded of the stray dogs that had often wandered the streets of Magnolia, looking for the next scrap that hit the ground. "Natsu?" she questioned.

He shook his head. "Thought I smelled something...doesn't matter. You guys ready to go?"

Levy nodded, letting Wendy pull her to her feet as she swung her newly healed arm. Wendy beamed, looking proud of herself for doing something good for their small team. Gajeel grunted as he heaved himself to his feet, the black Marks rippling across his skin.

And, without another word, the five Fairy Tail mages set off for Akane Beach.

XxXx

If there was one thing Lucy was later grateful for concerning the Marks, it was the way they were unable to completely figure out how to manipulate the magic of the mage they possessed. Because if they had been able to use Dragon Force, or even the dragon slayer magic period to its full potential, she was pretty sure they wouldn't have survived.

It had been a few hours since they'd set out for the beach, and Lucy was clambering gracelessly over a dead log covered in moss with Natsu's help when pain suddenly flashed through her at the same time that Gajeel's fist turned into one of iron. Lucy gave a cry, tumbling forward face-first, and would have slammed into the ground if not for the quick thinking of Wendy, who yelped as she threw herself beneath Lucy. Natsu, making sure that Wendy was protecting the celestial mage, turned his attentions upon the situation at hand, which immediately went south when Levy whispered, "Gajeel?"

He whirled on her, the iron fist becoming a razor sharp blade that was slammed through Levy's chest. Lucy groaned as another wave of pain washed over her, refusing to allow her the chance to breathe. The solid-script mage crumpled without a sound, her eyes glazing over within moments, and Natsu swore before unleashing a massive blast of flames that the iron dragon slayer was able to avoid with surprising ease.

"L-Lucy," Wendy stammered, looking terrified now. She shook the blonde's shoulders, trembling as she did so. "Lucy, please! We need to move, we're going to be-" She cut off with a scream when Gajeel's blade suddenly descended down upon them.

Light exploded around them and Lucy, suddenly able to breathe, gasped and choked down air as she and Wendy were suddenly ripped out of the way by a pissed off Loke, who was glowering at Gajeel in an almost vicious manner. "L-Loke," Lucy sobbed, terror filling her. While she loved all of her spirits, he was the one she was trying to avoid letting through the most.

He flashed a grim smile, winking before shouting, "Natsu! I've got them! Focus on Gajeel! Sagittarius will help you!"

Natsu, who'd made the mistake of pausing to stare at Loke, and then Sagittarius, who showed up an instant later, gave a curt nod before having to leap out of the way when Gajeel turned on him, a chainsaw ripping to life on his other arm.

"Wendy," Loke said firmly, reassuringly patting her head after setting her down. Lucy tensed as an aftershock of pain raced through her and gave a sobbed groan. Another one was sure to come the second that Gajeel had been taken down, and she wasn't looking forward to it. "Protect Lucy, okay?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, then gave a curt nod. "Yes."

Loke ruffled her hair, met Lucy's gaze for a moment and then said with seriousness in his gaze and a hasty tone, "Lucy, I need you to listen to me and remember this, because I won't be able to tell you again, alright?" Still disorientated, all she could do was nod. "Nightmares are terrifying, but remember, Lucy. You can always choose to wake up."

"What is that supposed to...to mean?" she gasped, utterly bewildered, but he was already darting away to help Sagittarius and Natsu, preparing a particularly nasty Regulus Impact that Lucy somehow knew would kill Gajeel. The light from Loke's attack combined with an arrow Sagittarius fired, and Loke shouted for Natsu to get out of the immediate area just before he flickered out of existence.

There was an explosion of light as the last of Lucy's keys crumbled to dust in her trembling fingers, and then all was silent.