Lucy squinted as she looked onto the battlefield, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. It hadn't taken long for a fight to commence once they made it to the palace she knew her father would be, and it bothered her how there were so many demon forces compared to the angel's. She was glad that it'd make the fight easier for them, but it sucked to know the soldiers of her home would be so overwhelmed.
Last night, Lucy brought up the conversation she had with Mavis to Natsu. He'd told her that they'd just carry on with their plan, and if things got too bad, they'd retreat and consider their options then. It wasn't hard for her to agree seeing as that was basically what she had decided she wanted to do, and Natsu shared her suspicions on just why Mavis decided to tell her all of that.
They'd brushed it off as the fairy queen just looking out for her, but Natsu was thinking that Mavis just wants this war to end quickly so she can give birth in peace. Lucy didn't tell him about their own baby just yet, she really wanted to be here.
The forces from Alvarez decided to stay back until necessary, so Lucy sat in an airship with the top fighters of the kingdom, far from the battle. She was a bit surprised to see Alvarez had such few soldiers, but it had been said that they were all a force to be reckoned with.
"This is all so bothersome." Lucy turned to Brandish, the woman sitting against the wall looking unamused. "...Yeah." She agreed. It wasn't necessarily fair for Alvarez, or any of those soldiers fighting out there, to be dragged into this mess.
"I didn't want to reunite with the celestial kingdom this way, but oh well." Brandish grumbled, raising her brows when Lucy approached her.
"You were once a part of the celestial kingdom? I guess that's why I found you familiar, then…" The Alvarez soldier nodded once as she slouched where she sat, completely uninterested with everything. As she looked around the skip, it became clear to Lucy that none of them were interested.
"Be on guard. The celestial kingdom's 'Zodiac' are much more powerful than anticipated." She flinched when Zeref suddenly entered the skip, her eyes widening when his word hit her.
"The Zodiac..?" Zeref watched as Lucy seemed to be inwardly panicking, the blonde slowly making her way towards the exit of the airship. "...Maybe I should go out there…"
"Are you sure?" She turned to him, staring into the king's eyes with more confidence than ever before. "Yes, the Zodiac are no joke. I can try to lesson their effects on the battlefield, or..."
Zeref said nothing, looking between Lucy and the large land ahead of them where the heat of the battle was. She looked determined, swiftly turning away from him and taking confident strides towards where she could hear sounds of swords clashing and magic chanting.
Her eyes glowed brightly, golden hue acting as a bacon. As she neared the fight, it didn't take long for Lucy to draw attention to herself, everyone ceasing their attacks to look at the bright light. The crowds of people parted to make way for her, neither side up for causing her any harm.
She stood still, glancing at each person, the soldiers of the demons looking at her curiously and the celestial soldiers sporting sullen expressions.
"Lucy."
That voice was all too familiar, and Lucy couldn't help but hesitate before she looked forward to be face-to-face with the celestial queen.
"Hello, Anna."
The blondes had a stare off, neither showing any traces of trepidation as the two closed the distance between one another.
"Lucy, please surrender. End this war at once." She scoffed, it sounded like Anna was reciting a script. She was glad that she ran into her, though. Anna was much like her mother.
"You know I can't do that." The queen nodded, that was what she expected to hear. As she looked behind Lucy at the frozen soldiers, it became abundantly clear that neither side wanted any of this.
"I don't want to fight against you, Starlight." Lucy's expression fell at the sound of her nickname, it'd been so long since she'd been called that back at the celestial kingdom- yet another thing her father stole from her.
"Then don't." The too locked eyes, and Anna sighed lowly as she brushed the bangs out her eyes.
"You know I can't take your side. Until you come back, the angels view you as a tyrant. If I take your side, I'll be compromising our alliance with the angel kingdom. Neither of us can afford that, and I don't want to do something that'd go against Layla's wishes.
Lucy laughed humorlessly, mumbling, "I think my father has gone against my mother's wishes long enough." Anna couldn't disagree, simply nodding silently as her gaze fell. A burst of magic jolted her backwards, and she gaped at the sight in front of her.
"Lucy, what are you-"
A blinding light flashed, and the sound of an explosion sounded afterwards. Lucy had completely demolished the left wing of the palace, just as she did the main castle before. The blonde did not falter in her steps as she walked past the rubble and her aunt.
"The choice is yours." She said simply, leaving both Anna and the group of celestial and demon soldiers stunned as they gazed at the destruction.
As she neared the front of the palace and towards the right wing, Lucy noticed that her explosion had drawn a lot of attention. Angel and celestial soldiers made their way towards where the palace was collapsing, halting their steps when they caught sight of the princess.
She walked past them easily, finally catching sight of the fairy soldiers and the Zodiac, all of which were distracted by the destroyed building as well.
"Lucy? Did you do that? What's with you and explosions!?" Gray approached her, grabbing her forearms and pulling her towards him protectively. "Why're you even out here?"
Lucy shrugged, looking at the distracted guards and then towards the right side of the palace that she'd yet to destroy. "Father can't have a war if he's too busy looking for a place to live." She said simply, and Gray relented his grip on her in surprise.
She eased away from him and past more soldiers, making eye contact with a few of her friends from both the fairies and the celestial beings. Natsu was in an airship closer to the right side of the palace along with the demon gates, just as she'd been in one with the Spriggan soldiers. Royals aren't usually in the thick of a war, so he'd been staying back until necessary, like the other rulers. Anna likely came out when she saw Lucy, but that didn't matter. There was nothing that'd come between her and her goal.
Once she reached the right entranceway of the palace, Lucy activated her magic, her eyes glowing bright and her magic channeling through her hands.
"Lucy! Stop!" She cringed at the sound of Loke's voice but did not stop, almost completing her spell before she was snatched away roughly.
"I can't let you do that." Loke held her wrist tightly, frowning when she began struggling.
"Just let me go! I have to do this!"
"And I have to stop you! Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."
Lucy found herself losing her resolve, shoving Loke away roughly as she gritted her teeth. "You're the ones making this hard! I don't want to do this, but I have to! Just stand back if you don't want to be hit by any debris!" She cursed her hormones yet again as tears flowed down her cheeks, and she looked away bashfully when the other members of the Zodiac approached.
"Lucy…"
"Shut up shut up shut up…" She covered her ears and shut her eyes, drowning out the sounds of her old friends calling out to her. It'd been so long since she'd seen them, and she refused to face them right now in the midst of a war. Lucy shook off all hesitation as she placed her hand on the palace wall and activated her magic, not charging up at all before a burst of light flashed and the building was soon tumbling completely.
She opened her eyes and took a few steps away from the falling debris, her body swaying slightly the longer she stood. Her vision became blurry as she began to lose energy, and Lucy found herself relaxing at the feeling of arms wrapping around her from behind.
~
"Lucy? Are you awake, Lucy?"
The blonde tossed and turned in the bed, reaching out a hand to blindly feel her surroundings.
"Luce, your finger's on my eye…" Lucy jolted back, her eyes opening to make contact with deep olive ones. There was a man kneeling next to the bed, and as she looked around, Lucy realized she was in some type of chamber.
"Where am I, exactly?"
"We took you back to Tartaros. You really exhausted yourself out there. I'd be mad if your idea wasn't so good, I hadn't even thought about destroying their base again like that."
She stared at the man curiously, a bit taken aback from his familiarity with her. "Um… what are you talking about? Who are you? And what is a 'Tartaros'?"
Natsu stood, looking into her eyes worriedly. She looked lost, and it didn't seem like she was just playing around. "Lucy? You don't… You don't remember me?" His heart stopped when she shook her head, and he threaded a hand through his hair as he paced the room in thought.
It seems like she has amnesia, which definitely wasn't good. He thought back to when they first met, she'd had amnesia then, too. Natsu remembered she told him that it was likely due to her exerting too much magic too quickly, so that must've been what caused this now. It was a bit strange, though, she should have more than enough magic energy to deal two explosions without passing out afterwards…
"Is she okay?" Happy entered hesitantly, excited to see she was conscious. "Lushi! You're awake!"
Lucy gaped at the blue creature that was now hugging her chest, looking around awkwardly for an explanation for just what this thing even was. "Where the heck am I…" She mumbled, and Happy looked up at her, his face laced with confusion. "What do you mean? You're in your room!"
"She's lost her memories, bud." Natsu sighed at the dejected look in the exceed's eyes, not wanting to express his own worry in case he made Happy's worse.
"You mean she forgot everything? Will she get her memories back?" Natsu looked up at Lucy, the blonde still looking a bit dazed and confused. "Last time, she said she'd gotten her memories back in a week, so maybe we just have to wait this out… Go and get Wendy, just to be sure."
Happy zipped out of the room to locate the healer as Natsu sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the confused woman sadly. Her knees came up for her to wrap her arms around, and Natsu assumed it was a way for her to feel safe. It sucked that they were in this situation right now, but at least her actions had given them such a great advantage in this war.
When Wendy entered, she wasted no time examining Lucy thoroughly, trying not to startle the poor, confused woman. Natsu couldn't really tell what she was doing, but Wendy seemed to be sure of herself as she backed away and placed her hands on her hips.
"She'll need to get some rest, her memories should come back once her magic has been fully restored." Natsu sighed in relief, standing to pat his little cousin on the head as thanks. "That's good to hear, but do you know how she became so exhausted in the first place?"
Wendy bit her tongue, she knew exactly why Lucy had gotten so exhausted so fast. This wasn't her business to tell, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to cave. Natsu had to know, this was important, and it wasn't like Lucy would be in battle anytime soon.
"Well, she's-"
Just as she started, the door swung open, Natsu's attention driven to his brother as he entered.
"Natsu, Igneel is here. He's gotten an update on Jude's plans now. We have to discuss this immediately." Natsu nodded as he made his way out the door, making a mental note to ask Wendy what she was going to say before she was interrupted. As long as Lucy was going to be okay, he needed to focus on this war for now.
Wendy huffed in exasperation, choosing to stay with Lucy and try to help her refresh her memory quickly. Zeref didn't follow Natsu out of the room just yet, watching as the blonde slowly eased up as Wendy attempted to speak with her. When she looked up, Zeref grinned at her, the daze in her eyes fading and being replaced by a look of interest, and he was impressed that she didn't cower away at his glance.
Lucy noted that this man's smile was odd, but so was the blue cat-like creature who rested next to her on the bed and the blue haired girl that kept looking her over. She wondered why he was still in this room, as if there was something he wanted, so she raised her brow and asked, "What?"
"You're pretty crazy, you know?" Zeref chuckled darkly, and she wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult.
He decided to leave them, making his way to Natsu's office where they'll be discussing things. When she said she was going out in the front lines, he didn't think she'd go and destroy the palace so quickly. It was a smart move, even though it wasn't a part of the plan.
He'd been suspicious of her in the beginning, thinking she was only using Natsu to get revenge on the demons, and that this war was a ploy to take them out, but it seemed as though he may be mistaken. Of course, he wouldn't let his guard down just yet, but Lucy's determination to end things as quickly and peacefully as possible was admirable.
Zeref couldn't deny that Natsu had good reason to like her- she actually had a lot in common with his demon brother. They were both quite resolute.