Fairy Tail: Shadows (3rd Book In the "Intertwined Fates" Series!)

Chapter 11: Apparition of True Feelings

"Oi..."  Natsu muttered to himself.  "Where am I?"

Standing, Natsu looked around again.  Gasping slightly, he thought he heard something, and turned to look behind him.

His eyes widened, and his breath seemed to get stuck in his throat.

"L-Lucy!"  Natsu exclaimed.

There was a faint silhoutte in the distance; it was walking away from Natsu, with the faint coloring of blue clothes and blonde hair.  Realizing that it indeed was Lucy because of her fresh scent wafting through his nose, he stumbled forward and took off at a jog, which then turned into a sprint.

"Lucy!"  Natsu exclaimed.

He halted suddenly, because Lucy had abruptly disappeared, leaving himself to being in the snowy vacancy alone.  He turned in circles, to see if she'd appear again somewhere else, but Lucy was nowhere in sight.  Frustrated and desperate, Natsu took off in a certain direction, deciding that would take him somewhere.  As he was running, he felt like he was animated; like though he was running with most of his might, he was moving slowly and laggingly.  It seemed to make him go slower the more he ran, as well.

"Damn it!"  Natsu exclaimed.

Taking another few steps, he yelled in surprise as he fell into the white floor, the mysterious white snow swallowing him up.  When he dropped to the ground on a seperate landscape, Natsu looked around warily.

He was back at the Grede Fumir, where Rogue had made Lucy summon those dragons.  It was also where they barely escaped their end-roads, and where Lucy had released all the dragons from their prison and sent them "home".  Why was Natsu here?  He thought this was resolved long ago...

Wasn't it?

Come to think of it...  What was Natsu doing, in the first place?  He remembered it was important...something about Lucy, but what?  Was he supposed to find her?  But wasn't she here?

Suddenly, he froze.

"Natsu!"

"Lucy!!"

He remembered the fall.  Lucy being gone.  So, she was dead.  Grief overwashed him like a wave, and he dropped to the ground, his eyes wide in shock.

Lucy was gone.

He had to find her.  She was somewhere in this world, right?  She couldn't be dead.  Yeah, all he needed to do was find her and get her back, and they could see each other again.

Standing, Natsu looked around, not seeing any dragons around.  Taking off, Natsu ran past the Grede Fumir, not looking back as it disappeared out of sight.  Natsu didn't know exactly what was happening, but as he was running, Natsu saw images of the past flash through his mind.  Of his friends, of Fairy Tail, of Lucy.  It was like a movie; however, they flashed at confusing times, making Natsu wonder what everything meant.  What was also strange was the fact of them not inside his mind, but around and in front of him.

Even though Natsu had a new goal, and had forgotten about his old one to go through his obstacles and save Lucy from Vallen, he felt like something was missing at the very back of his mind.

However, the illusions had snared him so far, and Natsu would only go deeper.

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"We can't just sit here!"  Gray exclaimed, feeling agitated.  "That Bone Head needs help!"

"Gray, I've never seen you want to help Natsu!"  Happy exclaimed in a teasing voice.

"Shaddup, Happy!  This is all for Lucy; this is no time for jokes!"

"Gray's right."  Erza replied.  "We have to find a way to help Natsu."

"Yes, but..."  Wendy started, her voice quiet.  "How are we going to help Natsu, when we have no way of reaching him?"

"That is a problem..."  Loren replied.

Happy walked towards Lores with pleading in his eyes.  "Do you know anything, Lores?"

"If I had any ideas I would tell you, I swear.  I want Salamander and Lucy Heartfilia to make it out too."  Lores replied, looking lost.  "But I simply don't have anything."

"This is frustrating..."  Erza replied, cupping her chin in thought.

"Maybe...I can help."

Everyone turned abruptly, looking behind them as an approaching body moved towards them smoothly.

And familiarly.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"No way!"  Gray exclaimed.

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Who is this mysterious visitor, and have they come to help Natsu get out of his illusions?

Find out what happens next in Chapter 12: An Old Friend.