Thanks to all that have read this book so far! I believe that we're reaching the last five chapters of this book. Sad, but it can't continue forever! There always has to be an end, no matter how sad it might be. Yep, just a few words of wisdom from me. (Tee hee) Anyways, I will be writing author's notes again, just because! (Not that it makes the book any better, but hey.) So anyways, here it is: The fifth to last chapter of Markings. I've had so much fun so far! Don't forget to check out my other book: A Dragon's Misery! OH YEAH! Before I forget, I may be re-writing the first chapters of this book, I have just been reading back and now I realize just how horribly they're written... Well, it just goes to show how much I've progressed. Thank you for staying with me this far!
P.S. (This P.S. Was written long after the A/N before this.) Holy Cabbages, how long has it been since I updated... *winces* has it been about two months? More? I AM SO SORRY! And no, I have no excuses, except that there was this little elderly lady that I had to help across the stree- Nope, sorry, I've been watching too much Naturo. (Kakashi-sensei referance for anyone who doesn't know) The truth is I have been writing the beginnings of about a dozen other stories I want to publish, Fairy Tail and other anime, and have suffered from a severe case of re-watching-all-the-anime-I-know-of-and-staying-up-until-dawn disease. Oh yes, and the fanfiction-reading fever and having my best friend fly across the country (who happens to be Jennabenna1228) and have her over for three weeks. Distractions to the extreme. Anyways, please enjoy this long-awaited chapter!
OH yeah and just a heads up, this is my first time writing a fighting scene. Hopefully it comes to me easier as I get used to writing them. :D
P.P.S. Oh geez. Here I am again... hehe, this is turning into a bit of a journal now, these author notes. WELL ANYWAYS, HERES YOUT CHAPTER (finally). (I bet you all are all like: JUST GIVE ME THE CHAPTER ALREADY)
UNBETA'D
~ Chapter Sixteen: Dragons and Spirits~
P.O.V. Gray Fullbuster
Shivers of dread ran down Gray's spine when Natsu said those words. They sounded too trance-like, and just empty. He grit his teeth. "Damn..."
Lucy gripped at his arm. "Gray, did you see that?"
He nodded, not taking his eyes off the two on the platform. "I figured so much." They both stiffened when Zeref looked in their direction.
"Hey, Natsu..." he said, sounding like he was asking a child a question. "Don't you think that they're a bit annoying? Glaring at us like that... rather rude I must say. "
Natsu cocked his head, looking down at Gray and Lucy. "I guess so."
Zeref continued. "It's a shame though... The blonde one- Lucy, is it? She's very pretty. But we have to kill them, ah, we could have had so much fun." He laughed as a light of terror came into Lucy's eyes.
Gray's vision went red with anger, and he put an arm in front of Lucy defensively. "Don't touch her!" he snarled.
Zeref rolled his eyes. "Can't you tell a joke when you hear one?" He puckered his lips. "But it's true that you have to die. We can't have certain threats running around free, now can we?"
Gray had had enough of this bastard- he had already crossed the line long ago, and he could take it no more. The air dropped in temperature as his anger rose sharply, and could see his breath form clouds of steam as he let out each breath.
"You..." he could form no more words as the lump of fury in his throat grew.
In a scream of anger, Gray launched himself into the air, using a springboard of ice to do so.
Zeref merely watched him and sighed as if he had seen the same play a million times before. In fact, he probably had.
It only added to Gray's rage that he would be brushed off like that. In a flash of white light, he held a lance of ice.
"Zeref!" he bellowed, though he only gained an eyebrow raise from the man.
"Gray!" He heard Lucy's shout of warning clearly from below, and he dared a glance in her direction. She was pointing behind him, her expression desperate. It only took a moment before he realized what- no, who- she was pointing at.
In his moment of fury, he had been completely oblivious to everything, everyone, except that man cloaked in darkness. And in that moment he had failed to notice the fact that the constant presence beside Zeref had vanished.
With a sinking feeling, he realized who it was.
"You really shouldn't do that." Natsu's voice made him start, even though he already knew it had been Natsu behind him.
He whipped around in the air, expecting the heat of flames, but was caught by surprise when Natsu's food found his stomach instead. With a loud yell, Natsu kicked downwards and sent Gray hurtling back down to the ground with enough force to shatter his bones on impact.
Gray braced himself, readying for the feeling of the hard ground, knowing here was nothing he could do to stop himself.
"Idiot!" he berated himself, squeezing his eyes shut.
Seconds passed, and nothing happened.
"Um... Are you okay...?" said an uncertain voice. Gray opened his eyes, and it took a moment for him to realize that he was not falling any longer- instead he was laying on a mountain of pink wool- so soft he hadn't even felt it.
"Umm..."
Gray turned to the direction of the voice and found Aries- one of Lucy's Zodiac spirits- staring down at him with worry in her eyes.
"Gray! Come down!" Lucy's voice came from the bottom of the mountain of wool. "Hurry!"
The hairs on the back of Gray's neck stood up, and he whipped around, sensing danger. Natsu had landed on the pink wool as well- and was now charging at him at full speed, hands ignited in preparation.
"I won't fall for that again!" Gray snarled, and he jumped, and much to his surprise the wool acted as some sort of trampoline, sending him high into the air.
"Damn right or it would have been a joke fighting you!" Natsu growled as he drew a deep breath, and raised his hands to his face. Shit, he knew which move was coming. Natsu was about to use his fire breath attack- usually it wasn't that much of a problem to Gray- but now he had added his hands to the attack- and that made the attack much more concentrated and powerful. Sure, it had a higher chance of missing, but if it hit him head on the fight was as good as over.
Stifling a curse, Gray clasped his hands together, and quickly fabricated a thick shield of ice. He had poured a lot of his energy into it, and it was much sturdier than any normal shield. If this couldn't hold, well, at least he had tried.
"Watch out!" The voice was thick and rough, and Gray recognized it immediately. Leo barreled into him, and he felt the intense heat as it whipped past him, just narrowly missing.
They landed heavily, not ten paces from where Lucy stood.
Gray shook his head, clearing out the remaining dizziness from falling hard on the ground. "Thanks," he glanced sideways at Leo.
Leo waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Save that for later." Gray just rolled his eyes.
"You got lucky."
Gray looked over to see Natsu landing lightly on his feet, too close for comfort. He narrowed his eyes.
"Lucky or not, I'm going to beat the crap outta you for being an idiot."
Natsu scoffed. "Like you could beat me, ice princess."
"Ice princess?" Hissed Gray. That was something Natsu would say. Damn it, Zeref was toying with him.
"Yeah, ice princess."
"Pinkie."
Natsu looked confused for a moment. "Pinky?"
Gray smirked, "Yeah, you heard me right. Pinky."
Natsu's eye twitched. "It's SALMON COLORED, NOT PINK, DAMMIT!"
Gray crossed his arms. "No, I'm pretty sure it's pink." He cast a sideways glance at Leo. "What's your thought?"
Leo pretended to think for a moment. "It's definitely pink." he agreed.
~~~
Zeref looked on, starting to become annoyed himself at the teens' childishness.
"Natsu." he said simply, knowing there was no need to say anything more.
The dragonslayer looked behind him, and took in the meaning of Zeref's words. It was time to end the games.
He began to summon forth as much magic as he could into his body.
~~~
Lucy knew it was about time to bring out the rest of her spirits. The truth was that she didn't really know what was going to happen once they were all summoned. Was she was supposed to fight him? That's what the others said... but now Lucy was starting to think twice about that. She doubted that even with all her spirits she would be able to defeat Natsu. So what was she supposed to do?
Lucy's mind tried to work through those questions and doubts as she reached for the rest of her keys, and began to call them out one by one.
"Open, Gate of the maiden, Virgo!" a pink haired spirit in a maid's uniform appeared.
"Open, Gate of the bull, Taurus!" A humanoid bull dazzled into being, wielding a large battle ax.
"Open, Gate of the twins, Gemini!" Two little alien-looking figures floated over and came to a rest beside her.
"Open, Gate of the archer, Sagittarius!" Out stepped a man of a golden light, dressed in a horse costume and holding a bow, complete with a quiver full of arrows on his back.
"Open, Gate of the fish-"
______________
(Somewhere elsewhere...)
Happy's ears perked up, his mouth watering and his eyes huge. "Did someone say fish?"
_____________
"-Pisces!"
A woman and a child materialized into being.
Running out of her burst of energy, Lucy collapsed to her knees panting. "Just six more..." she mumbled, half to herself.
Gray looked on, obviously worried at how things were going for Lucy. Natsu could wait for a moment, Lucy needed his attention.
Running over to her, he crouched down beside her. "Lucy, don't overdo it." his eyes drifted over to Natsu, who was glaring at him with a slightly murderous glint in his eyes. "If it comes to it, I'll fight him."
Lucy's caught his look, and she shook her head sharply. "No, Gray, you can't do that." The blonde mage pushed herself to her feet, an unnatural grim look settiling onto her pretty features. Stepping forward, she pulled out her whip, uncapping the end and so bringing it to life.
"Natsu Dragneel!" she called, meeting the Dragonslayer's gaze evenly. "I know the old you is still there, somewhere. Fight it!"
Natsu looked at her quizically. "The old me?"
Taking a breath, she smiled, somewhat startling Natsu. "Yeah, Natsu. The old you. who would protect his friends at moments' notice, who would always come barging into my apartment every morning. The one who always met me with a giant smile, no matter what was happening. Who could make anyone feel better, forget their worries, their burdens, juast after spending five minutes with him. The one who cared for everyone, and who met those that caused danger to his loved ones fearlessly, and a lot of the time changed their ways.
"But most importanly, the one whom I grew to love." She extended a hand. "Tell me, Natsu, will you leave that man who is threataning and hurting your comerades as we speak, and return to us? Return to me?"
Natsu seemed taken aback. A torrent of emotions passed throughout his face- confusion, pain, doubt, and more confusion.
He grabbed at his head and let out a shout of pain. "Dammit, I try to remember, but it hurts!" He looked through watery eyes at Lucy and Gray. "I try remembering you and it's agony! All I know is Zeref, and we grew up together, and-" he pointed at them. "What the hell do you take me for?! I don't know you people! All I know is that you hurt Zeref, and I'm gonna make you pay! He said you hurt him!" Natsu growled, a grimance still on his face. "You...Fairy Tail," he spat the words, "Hurt my brother! The only one in the world I have! There's no way I would know someone of the likes of you."
His words struck a deep cord in Lucy, causing her to flinch. The way he looked at them, it was filled with loathing. She felt another part of her break. Her whip snapped in accordance with her feelings, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She never wanted to come to this moment. Fate was surely cackling at the display.
Opening her eyes, she met Natsu's glare. "Forgive me, Natsu." She launched herself forward, her spirits matching her pace.
She didn't plan to come from this battle alive.