Fairy Tail: Sacrifices (A NaLu Fanfiction)

Chapter 8: The Machine

With Lucy feeling better, and everyone else sitting around, all they could do was think of what their next plan was.

After a few minutes, Natsu jumped up. "All we can do is go stop Coen! We can't just sit here and wait for Happy to come back! By now, Coen is probably-"

A enormous rumbling shook the building, and knocked everyone off balance.

"Wh-What was that?" Lucy exclaimed, clutching onto the nearby dresser. "An earthquake?"

"That was no earthquake." Erza replied, and ran outside, with everyone following.

Looking at a nearby mountain range, everyone gasped.

"No way!" Grey yelled.

A giant cloud of smoke was billowing out from the side of the mountain, and it covered a giant building that looked like a castle. But at the very top, an enormously large steel machine protruded from the top tower, and it stood as still as a ghost, yet was as menacing as death itself.

"That must be the Machine." Lucy replied, a closed fist resting on her chest, the wind blowing her hair.  The clouds had darkened, and another earthquake emerged from the ground, rattling the earth. Civilians were running away, causing chaos.

"Let's go!" Erza yelled over the wind and the screams of the citizens.

"Alright!" The three yelled. They ran down the road, out of the city, and through the woods heading for the mountain.

"We have to go as fast as possible!" Grey replied.

"No duh, ya popsicle!" Natsu growled.

"What'd you say?!"

"Quit it, you two! We don't have time for this!"

A sweat drop appeared on Lucy's head, and she kept running. She was following behind Erza, Natsu, and Grey; which she encouraged herself to stay right behind them.

They came to the base of the mountain, where dust and earth came down the mountain. Another earthquake errupted, and everyone stopped to wait until it past.  But when it cleared, an avalance of debris flowed down the mountain, and Natsu growled. "We ain't got time for this!" He lighted his fists on fire, and punched right through the giant bolders, scattering them into little peices. "Keep moving!" He yelled, and everyone followed him side by side as the ascended the mountain.

Once they reached a flat level, they saw the base of the building a few hundred feet above them. It was half buried in the mountain, but long steel and concrete legs extended from the bottom of the building, making a perfect pathway to the castle.

"Now's our chance! Let's-" Before Erza could finish, a much stronger earthquake rattled the ground, and the ground split into giant peices. Everyone ran for the steel leg in panic, and ran up them as the earth cracked and split.

"That was close." Grey mumbled, looking back behind them and the ground, now in shards of upturned earth like miniature mountains.

Suddenly, the leg of the castle they were standing on creaked, and started to move through the air, with everyone screaming on the top. Natsu fell over, his motion sickness getting the best of him. He was about to fall of, when Lucy grabbed his arm. "Get ahold of yourself, Natsu!" She yelled, pulling him back up. He leaned over, drool dripping out of his mouth and his face turning purple.

Erza requiped and stuck her sword into the steel, keeping a tight grip. Grey froze his feet to the steel, and Lucy held onto Natsu while putting her hand in a deep crevice for grip. It flew upwards, and suddenly flicked everyone towards the castle, taking even Grey's ice apart and throwing him.

Yelling, they all went to seperate parts of the castle, crashing into the wall.  The dust clearing from the crash, Natsu was alone, while Erza and Grey fell in the same spot, but there was no sign of Lucy anywhere nearby. Lucy had been thrown higher up into the castle, and she crashed through the wall and landed in a hallway that led to the top tower.

"Ouch." She groaned, rubbing her back. "That hurt, a lot."

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Standing, Natsu looked around. He was in a main part of the castle, and there was a side stairway that looked like it led up to the place where the Machine was.

"Damn. Where did everybody go?" He mumbled, looking around. He was alone, and he growled. "Looks like I need to go on ahead."

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"You okay, Erza?" Grey asked, giving her his hand and helping her stand.

"Yes I'm fine." She replied, standing and looking around. "Looks like we got seperated from Natsu and Lucy."

"Yep." Grey replied, looking around.

They were outside, on a pathway that led up to the inside of the castle. It entertwined around the corners of buildings, and circled around the giant castle and up to the first part of the castle that eventually led up to the next part. At the very top, the could scarcely see the bottom of the machine peaking over the roof.

"We better hurry and get up there," Grey said, walking in the direction of the road. "And fast."

"Right." They started to run up the path, taking short alleyways to save time.

"We need to get to Lucy and Natsu fast; something tell me that being together is our best chance!" Erza exclaimed over the wind.

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Natsu finished climbing the steps, and came into a large room. He gasped when he looked to the front, because a giant control panel lined the wall, gears turning and pipes running through the castle's brick walls.

And controling all of this, was Coen.

"Coen." Natsu growled deeply.  He lighted his hands on fire, and charged towards Coen.

Coen flew towards him with incredible speed, and punched him in the stomach so hard Natsu was thrown backwards in the wall clear behind him.

"You were lucky that your disgusting little Celestial Wizard put up that barrier when she did; you all would have died." Coen snarled, twirling Fire Light in his tight-gripped hands.  "I won't hold back like I did before."

"Don't talk bad about Lucy infront of me, bastard." Natsu replied, standing and fire flowing around his body. "You're planning to kill everyone in the guilds, huh? For revenge for your sick teacher? Well, I'm not going to let that happen. Fairy Tail won't fall. I won't give up; neither will my friends. We'll stop you and your sick plan." Natsu stepped forward, and the fire intensified around his body. "Fire Dragon's Sword edge!"

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Lucy heard a crash sound throughout the castle, and she was sure it was Natsu fighting Coen.

"You."

Lucy turned abruptly, and in front of her was April.

"April?!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

April looked sorrowful. "I knew about Coen's plans all along."

"Y-You did?" Lucy stuttered, taking a cautious step back.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry. But it had to come to this; there was no other way."

"Why are you here though?" Lucy asked frowning.

April looked down at the ground sadly. "I needed to tell you something."

Lucy blinked. Obviously something bad, by her expression. A sweat drop appeared on Lucy's head.

April looked up, and put a hand on the wall. "I know how to destroy the machine."

Lucy widened her eyes in surprise. "You do? Wait, the riddle said..." Lucy froze, stiffening.  There was something she missed about the riddle, a very important key role.  No way... It meant that?!  "That's what it meant?!" Lucy exclaimed, horrified.

April nodded.