Lucy was running. Sting was over her shoulder, wrapped in a blanket, and being held tightly by his mother. Happy flew over them. They were running through the mountain range heading east.
Night had descended and the distant roars of a dragon had stopped; that only made the tears they all had cried return to their eyes; The Great Salamander had fallen.
"Happy!" Lucy ordered her voice cracking.
"Aye?" Happy asked with a shaky voice.
"Can you fly higher and see if we're being followed?" Lucy pleaded.
"Aye sir," Happy nodded gaining altitude.
Lucy continued running.
"Momma?" Sting asked wearily as he clung to her clothes, "Is daddy going to be alright?"
"Yes," Lucy lied holding Sting's head with one hand and continuing her trek. "Its okay, go to sleep."
Lucy doubted the boy could with the uneven terrain she was running over, but he was exhausted.
They ran for a few more minutes and Lucy looked up for any sign of Happy; there was none. She gritted her teeth and held Sting with one hand for a moment. She continued to run and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a key and held it out as she ran.
"Open gate of the twins, Gemini!" she whispered as she ran.
Suddenly there was another Lucy, wearing the same clothes running alongside her.
"How can we help?" the Lucy asked.
Lucy took the blanket off of sting and threw it to her other self.
"Take that and make it look like a child, then head north. If they catch you, I give you permission to close your gate, if not get to the house of Redfox and tell them that the Dragon King is coming!" Lucy instructed.
"No problem, Pidi, pidi!" the other Lucy nodded turning and doing so.
Lucy continued running and clutched her tired son.
"It's going to be okay," she muttered to Sting... but Sting was already sleeping.
'Happy, where are you?' she asked, although she already knew the answer.
A few moments later she barely dodged an attack that sent her flying. Sting awoke and cried out, Lucy shielded him with her body and slid in the dirt.
"So, the mate of the Fire Prince," her attacker laughed coldly walking up. He was a tall man with black hair and cold blue eyes.
"Momma," Sting whimpered. Lucy stood up holding Sting closely.
"What do you want?" Lucy spat.
"Your son is all we required, but unfortunately your mate already decided your fate," the man laughed walking up.
Lucy tensed and the man stopped.
"However if you surrender, I promise, I will vouch for you," the man grinned.
"I'd rather die," Lucy spat.
"It will be so," the man laughed. A sword materialized in his hand.
"Momma," Sting whimpered seeing the sword.
"CELESTAL DRAGON!" Lucy yelled, the man froze in horror, "ROAR!"
A golden beam of light streamed from her mouth and encased her attacker. The man grunted and when the light died away he slowly stood up.
"So..." the man sighed, "he gifted you with his blood."
Lucy squared him away and clutched her son.
"Very well, we'll do this the hard way," the man shrugged. "SIDIOUS" he called.
A woman with brown hair landed next to him, in her hands was a net and in that net was...
"Happy!" Sting cried.
"Go Lucy!" Happy cried tears streaming down his face, "PLEASE!"
Lucy trembled.
"Surrender, and I'll let the kitty go... he serves no purpose to us," the man smiled, "You will not be killed and your son will be given the opportunity to serve our king... if not," the man then brought his sword up and moved to stab Happy.
"NO!" Lucy cried.
The man smiled knowing he had won.
Lucy held Sting close and shook.
"LUCY!" Happy cried. "I told Natsu I'd protect you and Sting if anything happened him! PLEASE LUCY! GET AWAY! I COULDN'T FORGIVE MYSELF IF IT WAS MY FAULT YOU GUYS GOT CAPTURED!"
Lucy gritted her teeth.
"What will it be?" the man asked.
The ground then exploded with golden light.
"What the-" the man began.
"REGULUS!" Lucy yelled, "EARTHSHATTER!"
The ground exploded and the three went flying. Happy yelled 'GO' and Lucy ran faster crying more and more.
Sting was crying to but his exhaustion had made things stop making sense.
Lucy ran faster and wept. She had escaped once again, she didn't know if it was the same for Happy.
The throne room doors were opened and two guards walked in. Between them they dragged a bloodied man with salmon hair. They dropped him before the throne and backed away.
Natsu slowly pushed himself up.
"Natsu Dragneel," a voice echoed, it made Natsu's heart skip a beat. Slowly he looked up into the eyes of Acnologia, the Dragon King. Acnologia leaned forward in his throne, "I did hope you would resist."
"I gotta say," Natsu laughed spitting blood out of him mouth and standing up, "I didn't take you to be one with neon hair."
"Says the man with a head of pink," the man on the throne chuckled darkly.
"It's salmon," Natsu corrected with a weak smirk.
Acnologia calmly got to his feet and walked up to Natsu who was still kneeling; unable to get to his feet.
Acnologia's foot moved far to quickly, it met Natsu's already wounded stomach and sent the Fire Prince sprawling onto the floor. Natsu growled and tried to get to his feet again.
"The injection my soldiers knocked you out with is a concoction made for dragons. It drains them of all their gifts," Acnologia stood over the man and smiled cruelly, "How does it feel to be a normal human."
Natsu let out a weakened chuckled, "Well to be honest... it was kinda great not to get sick in the jail carriage."
Now it was Acnologia's turn to growl. He reached down and picked up Natsu by his neck.
"Listen well Fire Prince," Acnologia growled softly, "I will ask you once and only once, so I recommend you answer."
Natsu tried to escape his grasp but was futile. Acnologia pulled Natsu to him and leaned in until their faces were very close together.
"Where is you son?" Acnologia growled.
Natsu took a weakened breath and smirked, "With your good looks..."
Acnologia's brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of Natsu's answer.
"Far gone," Natsu laughed.
Acnologia let out a growl and threw the dragon slayer into the ground. He strode over to his throne and sat down in it composing himself.
"Very well Salamander," Acnologia growled, his face shadowed, "If you will not tell me then I will use you to find them."
"Good luck with that," Natsu wheezed trying to get to his feet again. The guards walked over and hauled him up.
"I've never relied much on luck," Acnologia laughed coldly, "But if your mate is anything like you... I doubt she'll let her lover hang without a fight."
Natsu growled.
"Perhaps if you won't tell me where your son is... she will..." Acnologia growled.
"YOU LAY A HAND ON HER AND I'LL KILL YA!" Natsu roared suddenly gaining strength. He struggled against the guards and tried to reach Acnologia.
"Take him to the caves... and send out a announcement... the Fire Prince dies in a week," Acnologia smiled.
The guards nodded and took Natsu, still roaring threats, away.
Acnologia sat on his throne and smiled, "Well Lucy Heartfillia... will you arrive in time... or will your lover hang by a string?"
I can't really remember Happy... although, sometimes I dream of a blue cat purring by the fire but every time I go to wake him up, he's gone... Just like everyone else.