Fairy Tail: Nightmares and Feelings ❖ (A NaLu Fan Fiction) {Sequel to I.W.A.F!!}

Chapter 22: The Voice's Identity

Then they hit.

Virel was consumed in the shards; so many hit him at the same time that it was impossible to see before the shards all stopped attacking.  When they did, Gray grinned in victory, thinking he had him.

But, when the dirt clouds disappeared, there it showed Virel standing there, unharmed.

"W-What the?!"  Gray exclaimed, shocked.

Virel was smirking with amusement, his arms crossed as there stood a thin ring of magic protection around him.  When it shimmered away, he was left vulnerable again, but he honestly didn't care.

"How did you...?"  Gray replied, confused.

"The answer is simple,"  Virel replied, letting his arms hang at his sides.  "I'm stronger than you."

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Lucy didn't know where she was.  All she could see was black, and it was everywhere.  She was floating, and didn't really care if she was moving or not.  An invisible breeze made her hair lift off her shoulders, and the coldness of it blew across her neck.  She stayed where she was, not bothering to change anything.

However, slowly, her mind began to register again, and she wanted to move soon; to move and find her friends again.  When she had regain full control of herself, Lucy dropped to the ground that she could not see, and looked around puzzledly.

"Hello?"  Lucy exclaimed, and flinched when all she heard was the loud echo of her voice.

Or so she thought.

As Lucy listened closer, she heard the faint noise of crying; a female's sobs.  Feeling herself move forward, she followed the noise with caution, but not without curiosity.

"Hello?"  Lucy called out again, thinking it'd be stupid if she'd bump into something.

As she continued to progress, a hunched body appeared, and Lucy stopped in surprise.  She had been right; it was female.  She was leaning over, crying into her hands.  Lucy couldn't really see what she looked like; the only things she could see was a flash of her clothes, which were blue.

"Are you alright?"  Lucy asked, taking a tentative step forward.  "Do you need me to help you?"

The crying got louder as Lucy got closer, and the more near she got, the more Lucy could make out of the person there.

Lucy's eyes widened with shock.  "Y-You're..."

The girl turned around, to reveal Lucy, herself.  They looked exactly the same, except that the Lucy on the ground was crying and the original was staring in shock.

"You're...me..."  Lucy completed, her shock still evident.

The sobbing Lucy turned fully around to stare at the original Lucy, and gave her a sorrowful look.

"Who are you?"  Lucy asked, stunned.  "How can you be me?"

"I-I'm not you..."  the other Lucy replied.  "I'm just a part of you."

"A part of me?"

The crying Lucy nodded.  "Let me ask you something..."

Lucy flinched in surprise, seeing that the other Lucy's tears had stopped.

"Tell me..."  the other Lucy murmured, looking at the original Lucy with a pleading look.  "...what's the point in living anymore?"

"Eh?"  Lucy replied, shocked at her question.