~Carnivore~

Song; Hurricane

~Thank you all for the votes and comments. They never fail to make me smile~

...Ba...dum...

She could not breath.

B...a-dum...

Colors flashed before her eyes in a confusing swirl.

B-a...dum...

Sounds were non existent to her muffled ears that could only faintly hear her own stuttering heartbeat.

...Ba...d...um...

She struggled to breath...to get some precious air passed the rivers of blood that coated her insides and mouth like a barricade.

B...a-...dum...

Her chest rose and fell in shallow, jerky movements, her intakes of air were raspy, and ghostly.

...ba...

The beats of her shattered heart were coming in further and further apart.

...dum...

She was dying... Lucy Heartfilia was dying.

The worst part was not even the fading away part. The worst part...was that Lucy could not bring herself to care that her heart was slowly stopping. Why should she care anyway that she was dying? There was nothing left here for her to make her want to stay. To fight to keep her soul.

I'd be so lonely...

There was no one left to miss her.
Everyone that she loved was gone.
Dead.
Just like she would be in a few moments. Lucy let her eyes slip closed. There was no longer a reason to keep them open. She did not want to see useless colors. She just wanted to see the darkness that would surely take her.

Death, she found, was not as scary as she previously thought. She was not warm nor was she cold. She was not frightened nor was she excited. Lucy was just; calm. Calm as she laid in a puddle of her own blood. Calm as her body convulsed harshly, trying to cling onto life, while her mind wanted to let go. Calm... Even as E.N.D knelt beside her and placed a taloned hand upon her pasty cheek.

"I'll stay, Luce." She heard him murmur to her. "I'll stay with you until you don't need me anymore."

Lucy's senses latched onto the touch and she exhaled roughly. His touch was pleasantly warm. His presence comforted her in a way. She imagined it was Natsu who was beside her. He who was touching her so softly. It was not a hard thing to imagine. How could it be when the face was the same of that of her Dragon?

It was twisted though, that her killer had the same face, voice, and touch as her love.

Lucy forced herself to push away her negative thoughts. She should just be glad that this nightmare she was living was about to be over. She should be happy that she was leaving this wicked place far behind. Lucy hoped that wherever she was going, her friends would be there to greet her.

Lucy could see it all so clearly.

Meadows alive with vibrant flowers stretching as far as the eye could see. The soft grass beneath her feet would be the color of spun gold. The sun would be illuminating her path as she walked through the flowers who's velvet petals brushed kisses along her legs. Then, she would look up, and there they would all be, happy smiles on their faces, calling out to her. 

Lucy's heart-no longer failing-would fill with joy at the sight of her friends. Oh, but then a single figure would break away from the others, walk towards her, and the sun's rays would caress his face as he reached out a hand for her to take. A smile would be playing across his lips, fanged teeth on display, emerald eyes squeezed shut, cheerful laugh echoing around them.

Lucy's favorite smile.

Lucy would reach out, her fingers eagerly awaiting to entwine with his calloused ones, a smile of her own curving her lips-

"It's time for you to come back now, Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy's dream cracked like glass and shattered viciously as a melodious voice surrounded her from all sides, bringing her back to the reality she loathed. She fought against the hold that the voice had on her. She didn't want to leave her perfect dream. She desperately wished to stay. Stay with them.
Him.

Please! She wailed as the meadow melted away. Let me stay! The flowers withered away and the grass turned brittle. Don't take me away! Her friends that she had watched die faded away. I don't want to go back! Lucy reached out to the last person who stood within the brown grass. His silhouette, hand still waiting to be filled with her own, dropped his arm with a sad sigh. He knew she had to go... Even though she did not.

Lucy screamed her anguish as even he vanished along with the rest of her perfect fantasy. It is true what they say about perfect things, Lucy thought bitterly, they never stay for long...

Lucy awoke with a gasp, her eyes flying open, body jerking with shudders. She dug her nails into the dirt to stop her body from shaking and from keeping her head banging against the ground. Her skin felt hot. Stretched too thin. Her veins boiled as blood came rushing back into her system. Her back came clear off the ground and her chest clenched as her heart roared to life.

Lucy slumped back to the earth and laid sprawled out while her mind restarted. She concentrated on her breathing that had slowly become smooth. Her chest pains had long since stopped along with any other discomfort that had previously plagued her.
Lucy's eyes fluttered.
She felt a presence above her.
She snapped them open and brown clashed with dull green.

Intelligence shown deeply within the pupil-less eyes that bore into Lucy's own. The small girl that hovered over Lucy had a gentle smile curling up her lips but a grim expression on her young face. Her bare feet did not brush the dirt but instead floated a couple of inches above the ground. Her delicate looking hand was placed lightly on Lucy's shredded stomach...

Lucy bolted upright and stared down at her mended middle with an open mouth. There was no wound. Lucy lifted her arm and with an unsteady hand, placed her palm over her mark less stomach. The skin was not even tender. "You will be all right now, Lucy Heartfilia, for I have healed what needed to be fixed."

Lucy turned her head to face the girl that had saved her life and licked her quivering lips. "W-who are you?" She croaked. Her voice was gravely and her vocal cords hurt. She pushed away the discomfort. Lucy needed answers, and to get answers one needed to ask questions.

The girl that had the most hypnotizing voice in all the land tilted her head that had what looked like wing-like adornments around her ears and gave Lucy a look. "You know who I am, Lucy, daughter of Layla Heartfilia," a fond expression came across the small girl's face. "My precious friend."

Understanding overwhelmed Lucy as did an image of her Mother telling her stories about Fairies and their leader-
"Mavis Vermillion." Lucy breathed at last. Mavis, leader of the Fairies, smiled softly. "Indeed." Lucy could not believe who was hovering inches away from her. Yet another Fairy Tale moment coming to life. But this was not just any Fairy Tale...

Lucy pushed herself up to her knees and warily looked around her. What she was searching for did not show itself. What did great her was a sight that killed her inside. Her friends...thrown about, ripped apart, and left to rot in a pool of their own blood like they were nothing. "To E.N.D," Lucy gritted out, "I guess they are."

No, this was a wicked Fairy Tale.

Lucy turned away from the grisly display and put her face in her hands. "C-can..." Her voice faltered and she knew the answer before Mavis said it, but she still had to ask, to hold onto the little bit of hope that had stuck with her still. "You save them, too?"

Mavis sighed heavily and that was all the answer Lucy needed. "I am truly sorry. But no one, not even one as powerful as I, can bring back the lost." Lucy swiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded wordlessly. The silence that hung in the air was slowly suffocating Lucy but she did not have the will to break it.

Lucy needed the quiet. It comforted her in a way. The steady buzz of silence not tainted by screaming or crying. Lucy felt calm by the quiet. That is, until Mavis broke it for her.

"I know how much you are hurting, Lucy, and I apologize for pushing you forward so suddenly. But I saved you for a reason." Mavis told her in a low voice that was supposed to be soothing but the kindness in her voice did nothing for Lucy. If anything, it just made her more numb. Lucy did not deserve to be shown such kindness. She did not deserve to be saved. For what purpose could come from it?

Without warning anger scorched its way through her and she rounded on Mavis with a snarl. "Why?! Why did you choose to save me? I am no use to you or to anyone!" Lucy's voice took that moment to break and she cursed herself for allowing that to happen. "Y-you should have saved him!" Lucy's words leaked with anguish and failure. "He is the one who needed saving. He is the one who could have helped you. He is the one-" Lucy sucked in a stuttering breath and that broke the damn behind her eyes. Tears washed down her cheeks as she put her hands to her aching chest. "Natsu is the one who deserved your help...not me."

Mavis stayed as silent as the dead littered around them as Lucy choked on her sobs. Saying his name aloud had only succeeded in bringing her more pain. His name meant images. Images meant memories. And memories meant agony. Lucy's knees quaked and she hugged herself tight.
If she didn't, then who would?

Warmth blossomed on the top of Lucy's head and she craned her neck to look up. Through her blurry eyes she could make out Mavis' own tear streaked face. "I-I too once lost the one who held my heart," the Fairy whispered, her eyes overflowing with emotion, emotion that Lucy greeted like an old friend. "That type of loss will never leave me. However," Mavis cupped Lucy's blotchy cheek, and smiled with trembling lips. "Your loss will soon fade... Once you get your love back."

Lucy's world shattered around her and then pieced itself together with new hope. "W-what? What did you say?" She was turning hysterical now, her voice rising with each word. "You're saying that there is a way to get Natsu back? How? Mavis?!"

The immortal Fairy stepped back, dropping her hand from Lucy's skin, while simultaneously reaching inside her shirt, and pulling out a set of keys latched onto a keyring.
"I shall show you."
The slowly setting moon shown its dying light upon the clinking, glittering gold keys that danced on the ring held by Mavis. The keys were beautiful crafted and looked as if they were made with pure gold. Several familiar images were engraved on the twelve keys that brought nostalgia to Lucy.

"Your Mother was a clever woman," Mavis said, her eyes glittering much like the keys she held. "Layla hid them in your bedroom door with a spell."
Lucy gasped, "The engravings in the wood." The Fairy only nodded and raised the keyring. The keys made music when they brushed together.

"You know what these are as well, Lucy." She told the Princess who's dazed brown eyes were locked upon the magical items in Mavis' grasp. "You must remember," Mavis murmured, gliding forward, and placing the keyring within Lucy's outstretched palms.

Lucy was not even aware she had moved to accept the keys that called out to her like an old memory buried deep.

As soon as the keys touched Lucy Heartfilia's flesh, her eyes flashed gold, her body outlined itself in yellow, and constellations etched themselves within her irises. Lucy stared up at the night sky blankly as power surged through her body and Magic flowed through her veins.
With the gift came an achingly familiar voice.

"Lucy..." A featherlight voice called within her mind overcome with Magic.

"Mom?" Lucy replied back with shocked wonder.

"Lucy, my star," Layla's voice echoed all around Lucy, the golden light flaring around her in response to her Mother. "You must listen carefully, now." Lucy nodded wordlessly up to the fading stars above. "These keys, these treasures, are now yours." Layla whispered to her daughter. "It pains me that I could not be the one who gave them to you. However, I am just happy that someone I trust gifted them to you in my place."

Lucy's Mother's voice took on a sorrowful tone. "You must listen to me, my precious child. When these keys touched you, your Magic, your beautiful, One True Magic was awakened from its long slumber." The lost Queen's words turned urgent. "I am so sorry that I never told you about who you are... Who I am. What power our family line possessed. I only ever wanted to protect you."

"Protect me from who, Mom?" Lucy sobbed.

There was a pause that could have gone on for centuries before her Mother breathed, "From the Black Wizard, Zeref." The name sent a cold shiver racing up Lucy's spine. She had heard of that name before. When E.N.D had spoken about his brother. But, no, Lucy knew she had heard of that name sooner. Somewhere in the history books dating back at least four hundred years ago when the Black Wizard disappeared... Along with the book of E.N.D.

"Why..?" Lucy cried pitifully to her Mother. "Why does he want me? To hurt me? To kill me?" All these questions were piling up and driving Lucy mad with the need for answers. Answers that could very well help her.
Answers that her Mother needed to tell her now. "Why did you hide my Magic for so long?!"

This time when silence settled over her, it did not comfort her, and Lucy wanted it gone. "Because..." Layla was filled with reluctance but she forced the words out anyway. Anything to help her daughter. "Your Magic is the only one thing that can put a stop to E.N.D's existence and Zeref would have killed you to protect his brother who is linked to the book."

Lucy felt everything come to an standstill as her Mother's words began to sink into her thrumming skin. Lucy's Magic flared and she bowed forward, placing a single hand against the dirt to keep her up. Her other hand that held the keys ached with the force of her hold. Her fingers dug into the keys in an effort to keep them from shaking. Sweat gathered on her face and slipped down her cheeks to dive off her nose and splash onto the ground. She closed her eyes and inhaled roughly.

Lucy Heartfilia, Princess of the Celestial Kingdom in the land of Fiore,
had the Magic power to defeat E.N.D, the greatest, most villainous Demon this universe had ever known.

Her nails scraped across the dirt, leaving behind shallow grooves. Her heart pounded and her skin pricked with uneasiness. Panic was quickly taking over her body and her mind was succumbing to insanity. Lucy did not know who her Mother or Zeref thought she was, but she was definitely not some kind of Magical badass that could take down a Demon such as E.N.D.

Lucy almost died going up against a simple Demon known as Jackal. Even Natsu himself, a damned Dragon Slayer, had a bit of trouble taking him on. How... How was Lucy, plain, normal, human Lucy, going to take down the Great Demon Lord E.N.D?
Even now that she did have Magic, she had no inkling of how to use it to her advantage! She was so new at this and had had no proper training and-

What if she failed?

"What if I fail?" Lucy choked out, bowing her head, already feeling defeated. "You will not fail, Lucy," Mavis replied just as her Mother said, "I do not wish for you to fight."

Lucy titled her head to the side but she did not comment on her Mother's words. "Layla, my dearest friend," Mavis began. "I understand where your worries are coming from but-"

"Mavis," her Mother's voice increased in its volume. "I do not want my only daughter to fight that vile thing. Lucy is far too young for her to join me amongst the stars."

Lucy saw out of the corner of her eye that Mavis had nodded slightly. "Lucy will not yet join you. It is not her time nor will it be for quite sometime. She will not be alone when she faces E.N.D. I will be with her, along with the Zodiacs. We will protect and fight with her." The Fairy paused and her voice turned solemn. "You must trust me like you have done before, my Lady."

Lucy soon began to realize that silence made her feel restless and scared.

A breeze swept through the area and Layla's words mixed in with the wind. "Very well." Lucy jolted when she felt an phantom pressure on her cheek that could only have been her Mother's touch. "Be careful, my star, mommy loves you so very much." Lucy knew when her Mother was gone for her heart felt all the more hallow with her absence. 

"Lucy," Mavis breathed. "You must get up now... I fear that E.N.D is heading towards the town of Magnolia." Lucy's heart stuttered in her chest. Magnolia was the heart of her Kingdom and that's where Fairy Tail lie. Even with that heart stopping knowledge, Lucy found herself to be immobilized. It was the fear that made her brave-less. It was the trauma that made her mind rebel against the idea of getting up and facing E.N.D. But it was the weakness that made her empty.

And it was the cowardliness that made her whimper, "I can't."
Mavis halted and a frown pulled down at her lips. "But you can, Lucy. You and only you have the Magic that can stop E.N.D and save everyone within your Kingdom. Everyone who lives and breaths in this world. You can save them all." The Fairy told the fallen Princess. "But you can only do that if you get up."

Lucy gasped in a broken breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She did not want this responsibility that weighed heavily upon her shoulders. The responsibility of saving everyone from the flames of Hell and a Demon with no sense of compassion. Lucy wouldn't wish this upon anyone, Demon or not. It was crushing her to dust.

Then Mavis said the words that needed to be heard.
"You are a Fairy Tail member, correct?" Lucy swallowed thickly and her eyes involuntary went to the hand clutching at the ground.

Lucy's Fairy Tail Guild Mark stared back at her disgracefully. A wave of shame slammed into Lucy as she thought back to all the smiling faces and kindness that all the Fairy Tail Members had greeted her with when she had first arrived. She would be letting them all down. She would be letting Death take them when she could stop him.

Lucy could stop it all...

But not like how she is now.

Lucy clenched her jaw as she replied lowly, "I am."

"Then get up and act like one." Mavis urged.

Lucy slowly straightened out her spine, rolled her shoulders back, and lifted her head up to stare into Mavis' eyes that reflected Lucy's hardened face. "If you wish for me to win..." Lucy started, "To beat that thing, then you must do one last thing for me, Mavis."

The Fairy cocked her head to the side and her eyes flashed with curiosity.
"What would that be, Lucy Heartfilia?"

Lucy slowly blinked and meticulously muttered. "Sometimes, in order to win against a enemy, one must exhale the human, and inhale the beast." Lucy turned to look at Mavis with blank eyes and a closed off expression.

Her next words were spoken with no emotion.

"I want you to seal off everything that makes me me. I know I am weak. I know that I can not defeat E.N.D as I am now. Who I am now is not good enough." Lucy's eyes bore into Mavis'. "Take away everything that I am, Mavis. Make me into something that even E.N.D will fear."

A spell instantly wove itself into Mavis' mind. The spell was exactly what Lucy was asking for. It would devour everything she was. Her emotions would be eaten along with everything that made Lucy herself.

It was not an easy wish to grant.

Mavis looked pained as she gazed at Lucy. The Fairy did not wish to do this. How could she when Layla had entrusted her daughter's safety with her. Granting this wish would go against Layla's wishes... But it might work. Lucy felt more than most. Her emotions were unusually heightened and her heart was poorly fragile. If Mavis did this, closed off everything in which made Lucy 'weak' then the world just might not suffer.

However, would Lucy suffer the consequences of her actions once this was all over? What if she did something terrible and once she came back to herself and remembered, would she fall into a pit of despair?
Mavis clasped her hands against her chest and laid her chin down upon her knuckles. She was a selfish Fairy.

Mavis' pain was visible in her eyes as she took a small step forward and raised her dainty hand as she did so. "Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail's treasured, brave member, I grant your wish." Mavis' broken whisper was enough to make tears fall down Lucy's cheeks. "But know that I will always be with you, even if you cannot see me, know that I am always there, supporting you, and cheering you on. Please," Mavis murmured, settling two fingers upon Lucy's forehead, and closing her sad eyes. "Do not forget who you are."

A heartbeat passed and Lucy slowly closed her own eyes. "Promise," she whispered, and white-gold light encased her in all its glory. Somewhere, beyond the brightness of Mavis' Magic, Lucy faintly heard Mavis chant a spell in a tongue that she did not understand. The words were smooth as they effortlessly slipped from between the Fairy leader's lips to glide over Lucy.

The white-gold light flared as the last of the spell was spoken.
"Fairy's Light; Carnivore."

The light died along with all that was Lucy. Her emotions faded away. Her logically mind evaporated. Her humanity burned and turned to ash.
Lucy opened her blank eyes and her lips twisted into a chilling smile.
"Someone say they were in need of a Demon hunter?" She laughed breathily and fixed those dark eyes upon Mavis who did not flinch away.

"Yes, you must take out E.N.D, Lucy." Mavis lifted her chin and ordered, "Kill the Demon Lord, E.N.D."

That was all Lucy needed to hear for her heart to begin to pound with adrenaline. Her blood sang with the urge to fight. Her muscles tensed in anticipation. Her unlocked Magic roared with the overwhelming need to be used after so long. Lucy cracked her whip in the air and clipped the twelve keys to the belt she had wrapped around her ruined wedding dress. She hummed as she glided her fingers along her Mother's keys, power giving her a zap of pleasure.

Lucy rolled her head back and basked in the first rays of the struggling sun. She felt so light. So free. So... Bloodthirsty. Lucy looked to Mavis and winked, "One dead Demon coming right up." She giggled huskily as she swaggered forward, her blood stained whip trailing behind her, her tongue gliding across her lips eagerly, her dead eyes leeched of all emotion.

~Lucy Heartfilia felt like a hurricane. Unstoppable and deadly. Powerful and unmerciful. Lucy Heartfilia was a hurricane.
A hurricane intertwined with Magic known as; Carnivore~

~And E.N.D was in her way~

Let the Adventure Continue!

This Chapter is for
Starlight147