19.

The thought of life was fleeting.

Life has always been short. You're on this Earth for such a short period of time, and then you're gone in the blink of an eye. Zeref had seen many people live and die throughout all of his long years. Some he cared for deeply, and others he didn't care about in the slightest. There were only two people he ever cared about, and both died.

Zeref looked down at the E.N.D book with a slight frown. He knew what changing Natsu would mean for him. How it would change the way his guild - no, his family looked at him. The thought makes his chest ache, but he forced the emotions down. Zeref found this out the hard way what happened when he let his emotions take control of him.

"Lord Zeref," a meek, frightened voice called out. Zeref looked at the guard with an amused smile. The guard was standing there awkwardly and seemed to look everywhere in the room except at him.

"Enter," Zeref said, his voice laced with amusement.

The guard reluctantly walked through the throne room before he knelt at Zeref's feet. With his head bowed forward and with his forward before kneeling at his feet. The guard took a shaky breath before he spoke in nothing but a faint whisper, but to Zeref they might was well been screamed at him.

Rage swelled up inside of him, pushing at the lid of the metaphorical container he had for moments exactly like this. Unfortunately, they weren't sealed tight enough. Slowly the black magic began to fall from his body and onto the floor, turning it to a dark black color. The guards in the room didn't even have time to run before the dark wave was on them. Their screams of terror could be heard all throughout the castle as the waves of Zeref's magic power engulfed them. The black predation taking a hold of them and draining them of all life and turning them into ash on the floor.

"My lord, I'm sorry to announce that Master E.N.D has gone missing. It appears he escaped from his room in the middle of the night after he killed Sabado."

The words rang in Zeref's head as if to mock him. He couldn't help but let out a laugh in irony. After he just got his brother back he's gone again.

'Well played Natsu. Well played.' Zeref thought as he moved back to the freshly black throne.

"Guards," Zeref called out, waiting a few moments for the guards stationed at the door to enter. "Send my troops to Magnolia and search for Lucy Heartfilia. My brother is sure to be with her."

The members of the Alvarez Empire Guard knew better than to ask questions of their emperor. The four guards that rushed into the room after their master beckoned were no exception. They walked in, their helmets hiding the horror of their face. Not that Zeref could care less if they were scared of him.

"Yes, sir," One of the guards said nudging the others to follow him out of the room.

Zeref watched them go with a stoic expression. To the outside, it would seem as if he was amused, but no one knew the inner turmoil that raged on the inside.

It had been three days. A whole three days since Lucy went missing from Natsu's funeral. A whole three days it's been raining. It was almost like the sky was crying for her with it's sad cries that have continued on seemingly getting louder every moment that passed.

drip

drip

drip

Sometimes he envies the rain. He envied how easy it must be for it to just disappear like they do. How short their life is that they could barely feel anything at all. The drops fell as Gajeel looked out the guild window with tired eyes, watching as the drops fell from the sky. He watched how each drop race towards the ground, each drop reaching out their hands to the ground as they greeted each other as if they were old friends, falling briskly to the ground only to lose themselves in a sea of other raindrops, forgetting what it meant to be an individual in the process of being whisked away in an of nothing but raindrops that look identical to you. Never to be thought of as a single raindrop ever again.

Gajeel knew he couldn't be a rain drop. The situation wouldn't allow it. Not that it should let him in the first place. There was too much at stake. Not only for him but the woman he loved and the friends he made while at this guild. That's why Gajeel knew he had to do anything the guild master wanted him to do.

"Gajeel?" A high-pitched voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to be met her worried eyes and parted lips. "Gajeel, have you gotten any sleep?"

Levy's words bounced off of Gajeel and he stared at her like nothing was coming out of her mouth. How could he sleep at a time like this? At a time where anything could have happened to her and he was just on the sidelines, looking from afar until Master deemed him stable enough with this situation to go out there and do something to help find her.

"Gajeel?" A high-pitched voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to be met her worried eyes and parted lips. "Gajeel, have you gotten any sleep?"

Levy's words bounced off of Gajeel and he stared at her like nothing was coming out of her mouth. How could he sleep at a time like this? At a time where anything could have happened to her and he was just on the sidelines, looking from afar until Master deemed him stable enough with this situation to go out there and do something to help find her.

"Sorry," Gajeel said after a moment or two of her worried looks. "I'll be fine. I need to go and talk to the master real quick. Don't worry about me, okay Shrimp." Gajeel said as he moved away from the window and ruffling Levy's hair in the progress.

Levy couldn't bring herself to call him no matter how much she wanted to. Something was wrong with him, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew that she couldn't be the one to help her. She just watched as he stalked away from her and towards the headmaster's office.

GAJEEL REDFOX

I walked in without knocking and took a seat next to the red-headed bitch without a word. It wasn't like I wanted to be here in the first place. If they couldn't put up with my attitude then that was their fucking fault. Not mine.

Erza glanced over at me, her usually playful expression wiped away and replaced by the look he had never seen before. I was not afraid to admit that it scared me a little. She didn't do anything, though, just gave him a quick nod and continued to look ahead of her, her hands clenched together tightly in fists in her lap, knuckles turning white from the amount of force she was exerting. If she pushed down any harder I swear she would have broken skin. I shrugged it off, wanting to get this done and over with already.

"Why are we here?" I asked Master Makarov crossing my legs and throwing my arms over the back of the couch I was sitting on. "Natsu's dead. It's done and over with, right? No need to watch him."

"Yes, and you get to go back to chasing after a girl who will never love you." Erza's words formed into knife's and with every word they seemed to stab him in the chest leaving a wound worse than any physical one he ever had before.

"Enough," Makarov said, stopping any future fight right then and there.

The room was silent as we glared at each other, no words spoken but that of the hate in our eyes when the door opened again. Deciding I'd had enough with our staring match, I turned my face towards the door and watched as someone walked through the door with slight shock.

My eyes followed the man as he walked into the room. Laxus didn't look like here cared much for being here either. His lips looked like they had been pulled into a slight frown.

"Good," Makarov said. "Now that we're all here, it's time to get down to business. We all know how Lucy has been missing for several days now. I have reason to believe that she was taken by someone."

I threw myself out of the couch, standing over Makarov in an intimidating stance. "What do you mean taken?"

Makarov didn't even seem fazed. "I mean, we have cause to believe that something...not human has taken her."

"So, why call us?" Laxus asked, taking a step closer towards us. "What do we have to do with it?"

"You three are some of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, and some of the most trustworthy. I mean you two to help me find them, and kill them."

"What is it that we're looking for?" I asked, taking a seat next to Erza.

Makarov was silent for a moment, his eyes hazy as if they were conflicted. "A monster is known as END."

A sharp intake of breath was heard. "END as in the demon Zeref created?"

Makarov looked at his grandson with weary eyes. "Yes, and it's the same one."

The room was silent as no words were exchanged between us. The sound was rain was the only thing to keep us company as we all grasped what was going on. END was here, in Magnolia, and it had Lucy. I felt my anger flare, gripping the armrest tightly between my two fingers. Master didn't seem extremely worried that END had taken Lucy, and no matter what he did to me in the past, I was sure that he would go for Lucy if he knew she was in immediate danger. So, why? Why wasn't he freaking out?

"You is it." I finally asked, watching his face closely. "There is no way END could get passed us, so they have to be someone we know. Who is it? Who's the bastard who took Lucy?"

The room was quiet again no one saying anything. I waited for someone to say something, anything but no one did.

"Fine, I'll find out myself." I made a move to go to the door, but Erza's voice stopped me.

"It's Natsu," Erza said just barely above a whisper, and I knew if she had said it any louder than I wouldn't have heard it. "Natsu is Zeref's brother and his first successful demon. END is an acronym and it stands for Etherious Natsu Dragneel."

"It's Natsu," Laxus said, his usually calm and collected face morphed into a gobsmacked one. "There's no way. I don't believe it."

"It's true," Makarov said, pushing himself from his chair to stand on his desk. "Now that you know, you know why this can't get out to the rest of the guild. What you know must stay in this room and not be shared with anyone. Not even your closest friends. Now, we must go and inform the rest of the guild about what we know about END and Lucy."

Makarov made a move towards the door, Laxus and Erza following right behind him. I made a motion to follow them, but I heard a noise by the master's window. There was absolutely no reason why I should have been paranoid, but I was, so went to take a look. The night was still upon us, making it hard to see outside of the window. Though I wouldn't see anything my nose caught it all.

The faint smell of firewood caught my nose before whisked away by the rain.

Lucy hated the rain.

It rained the day her mother died, and again at Natsu's funeral. Every sad thing that's ever happened in her life seemed to be situated around rain. That's why it always put her in a bad mood when it rained. Something was always bound to go wrong. That's why when Lucy woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof she knew something was wrong.

Lucy groggily opened her eyes only to be met with an unfamiliar ceiling. Lucy blinked a few times trying to clear the sleep from her vision. It didn't help. Not only did her vision not clear, but she felt completely and utterly too warm. She tried to kick off the blankets surrounding her to no avail. She was too weak.

'I must be sick,' Lucy reasoned a sad smile forming on her lips. 'That's what I get for falling asleep in the rain. '

Lucy looked around the room, trying to figure out where she was but had no luck.

"Natsu," Lucy mumbled in her fevered state, and she felt tears swell up in her eyes at the thought of her best friend.

'Maybe this is my fate.' Lucy thought. She felt her eyes drifting shut as sleep fell over her like a blanket. 'I let Natsu die and now I'm going to go too. Seems fitting.'

"Natsu," Lucy mumbled in her fevered state one last time before completely and utterly falling asleep.

Natsu stood in the back of the room, his whole body aching to go to the woman calling out his name, but he knew he couldn't. Not while she was awake. He couldn't - no, he wouldn't allow her to see him like this. He wouldn't allow her to see him as a monster like this.

Listening to her breathing for a moment before deciding it was safe to go to her. Natsu reluctantly walked up to Lucy, who was laid passed out on the couch, with worried eyes.

Lucy's skin was clammy with a greenish tint, and her whole body seemed to be shivering even though the cabin was warm. Her breathing didn't seem regular either. She was breathing in heavy pants, her eyes squeezed tightly together as if she were in pain.

Natsu was at a complete and utter loss on what to do. Lucy was sick. Natsu knew that, hell, he'd even been sick on multiple occasions before, in fact, he had Mira take care of him on several times when he was sick, but it was never like this. The belly aches and headaches were nothing compared to what Lucy had. This was serious. This was different. This was new and he had no idea how to help her.

The only person the knew that could even help in the slightest lived all the way out in the Eastern Forest on the other side of Magnolia. The exact opposite side of the town from Natsu. He knew people were out looking for him, not only Zeref's men but members of his own guild as well. Natsu couldn't suppress his grimace as the thought about the three that were after he crossed his mind.

When he first found out that Lucy was sick his instant reaction was to go and get help from the guild. That's when he heard it. They were planning to kill him.

Erza, Laxus, and Gajeel.

Not to mention Gramps. They all wanted him dead because he was some kind of monster. Well, they weren't far off from the truth. Anybody who looked at Natsu would have thought he was a monster. From the wings, the horns, the fangs, the claws, and the bright red eyes, there was no mistaking it. Natsu knew it would be better if he were to die.

Even so, he couldn't help but want to live for the girl in front of him. Natsu leaned over her and gently, very gently, moved her hair away from her neck to find what he was looking for.

Natsu always thought that they looked familiar, the two perfectly circle shaped scars barely two inches apart on her neck. When he finally asked Lucy about it, she had said she didn't know why they were there, or how she got them. She just had them for as long as she could remember, but he remembered now. Not only that, he rendered exactly just what it entailed to have those put on her.

'I'll protect you, Lucy. I promised I'd protect you for the rest of my life and that's what I plan to do.'

Natsu leaned down, brushing her bangs from her eyes as he went.

Careful not to wake her up, he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Lucy's breathing called down in the slightest, making Natsu smile. It was good he had this effect on her. It proved what he thought was true.

Natsu didn't pull his face away from hers. Hey knew it was wrong, he knew he would be taking advantage of her, but he couldn't help it.

Natsu brought his face closer to hers, their lips barely spat, before he placed his lips on hers, his hand coming up to cup her cheek gently.

'I love you, Lucy. I promise I will make you better and kiss you when you're awake. Just hold on for me, please.'

a/n: HELLO MY LOVELY PEOPLE.

I HOPE YOU EJOY THIS CHAPTER AND ALL THE FEELS IT BRINGS. I'M SAD TO SAY, BUT THIS BRINGS US TO THE LAST LEG OF THIS STORY. WE HAVE MAYBE SIX TO TEN CHAPTERS LEFT, AND I ALREADY STARTED TO WRITE THE LAST CHAPTER AND EITHER YOU ALL WILL LOVE ME OR HATE ME FOR IT.

ANYWAYS, I LOVE YOU ALL MY LOVIES

- YOUR UNFAITHFUL WRITER