A/N: So this is a special since I haven't been on for a while and all, also by the end of it you'll probably understand the title for the story, if not just pm and I'll tell you the secret ;D aha, anyways! Please enjoy! [as much as one can]

Disclaimer: I wish I owned the characters within this fanfic, but I don't, they are all Hiro Mashima's property!

Lucy sank into the hot water in her tub. The bubbles surrounding her paling and bruising flesh.

It had been three weeks.

Three long and painful weeks since the curse had been bestowed upon her -though it had been meant for Natsu. She had dived in front of him at the last second -much like her future-self had done for her when future Rogue shot a spear-like shadow at her.

Lucy sighed for the umpteenth time that night before sinking her head under the water, allowing the warmth to grace her almost translucent cheeks and eyelids. It only lasted a second before the cursed mark on her chest ached and caused her to sit upright, hissing through clenched teeth. She opened her eyes slightly as she watched the black substance in her veins slowly spread down her shoulders to her elbow.

Not even Wendy nor Chelia could help.

She wrapped her slender arms around her legs before crying silently, the salty tears dripping into the water around her. It had been little over a week since the effects of the curse had set in, and since then she has locked herself in the house and even sent Loke to the guild explaining to them that she was 'severely ill'. Only Master, Wendy, Chelia, Porlyusica and her spirits knew the truth.

Lucy was dying.

Lucy was dying because of this curse. It was eating away at her life force, her magic. It was slowly starving her, too. No matter how much she ate, she still lost weight.

Almost robotically, she stood up and stepped out of her tub, grabbing and wrapping a white towel around her.

"How silly of me, crying again. I thought I got over being the ever crying damsel in distress" she mutter whilst wiping away her tears. As she opened her draws to hunt for her nightwear she recalled how she had had a bad feeling about the job. It had seemed off. The pay too high for merely looking for a lost cat in some guy's mansion, but Erza and Natsu had told her that it was probably the guy being 'too rich for his own good'. The description didn't mention that it was fake, obviously. That it was a trap laid out for the dark mage to mess about with his new curse.

"At least the others are safe".

Once she was dressed in her white with pink cherry blossom flannel pajamas she sat down and stared at the picture of Team Natsu that stood on her chest of draws. Natsu had his arm over her shoulders, both of them giving carefree smiles, with Lucy putting up two fingers in a peace sign while Erza -standing next to Natsu- had her arms crossed, turned to the side in her usual armour and her face looking forwards and a soft smile gracing her lips. Gray stood on Lucy's right, hands shoved in his pants pockets, his shirt gone, with a smirk plastered on his face.

If only I had more time. Or at least didn't show any effects.

She lay back on her bed, her wet hair surrounding her head whilst she stared up at the ceiling. A sad smile tugging at her lips as her eyes gleamed from the build up of fresh tears.

I wish we could go on more adventures. Ones where Natsu destroyed everything, then him and Gray would head butt like usual. Erza would step in and then they'd become 'insta-buddies' and sound like Happy. A small laugh bubbled in her throat but ended up sounding like a choke as the tears rolled from her eyes into her hair and ears before she turned to her side, continuing to imagine their future adventures and her team mates usual reactions.

Lucy clenched her teeth and curled up into a ball. "I chose this. I refuse to continue crying forever. I done this for Natsu. For Fairy Tail. To protect my nakama!" she sat back up and stared at her hand that held her guild mark. Clenching her hand into a fist, she looked at her covered window. "Oh, mama. Please watch over me for as long as I have left." a smile tugged at her lips as she stood up and made her way over to open up the curtains that prevented her from looking outside.

We'll be together soon, mama, papa. Maybe she could get through the next few months. Maybe.

With that in mind she continued to look out the window at the sun that was setting far off in the distance. "You're worrying again, hime"

"Of course I am, Loke... What if they find out? There's nothing they can do for me... And yet they-"

"I know." Loke placed a large, warm hand on Lucy's shoulder to comfort her. "I know" his face suddenly became serious as he looked away from her.

"What? What's wrong? Loke?" said lion spirit sighed heavily before glancing back at her weakened form.

"The... Curse... It's spreading much faster than everyone thought. You-" Loke was cut as he choked and crushed her to him.

"Lucy... Please, just let me say something, just hear me out ok?" she gave a small nod against his chest as she felt his tears drop onto her frail skin. "I love you. We all do. W-we..." his grip tightened once more before they went limp by his sides. She looked up to see his watering eyes glaring at his feet, his usually vibrant spiky hair was dull and tame. "We're doing everything to look for a cure. Even the Spirit King. You're our nakama before our master".

Closing her eyes and biting her lip, Lucy nodded slowly before opening and closing her mouth. Taking in a deep breath she opened up her once lively, honey-and-chocolate brown eyes. "How long?.. How long..is left for me?" She took notice to the way Loke tensed and hesitated.

"I'm so, so sorry... If only I got to you quicker... You wouldn't have been hit" was his reply. Lucy's breath caught in her throat. Not long. Swallowing down the whimper that wanted to break free, she reached out and held her hand to his warm cheek, sighing in content, not noticing how he had flinched from her coldness. He reached up and lay his hand over hers and smiled, it was so small and strained that it almost went unnoticed. Almost.

"Don't give me that look, Loke, I'll always be with you guys". Loke snorted before releasing her hand, watching as it dropped from his face. His eyes stayed focused on her hand as he continued. "You should get into bed. I'll go higher the heating up and make you some soup, okay, hime?" the Celestial mage nodded and walked past him, as she did so he whispered "you have 3 days, if it doesn't spread any more than it has". Lucy stilled before bending her head down and letting her fringe cover her face. She looked up at him after a few moments, only one eye showing, though it was looking anywhere but at the ginger haired spirit.

"I-it..." licking her dry and cracked lips she let out a breath before pushing up her left sleeve to show the black veins that now clawed at her wrist. Loke looked away after giving the blondes' arm a glance. It was spreading at a much quicker rate than they had predicted once again.

"Loke... Please look at me" looking up, the leader of the zodiacs' eyes stayed on his master as she gave a worn out smile before sitting down on the edge of her bed to finish off what she was saying, "I'm not as sad or scared anymore. I had a great time with everyone and I even have people waiting for me on the other side" at this point she was staring out at the sky that was now dark, the first of the stars visible from where she sat. Loke knelt down on one knee and smiled back, though -not surprisingly- it didn't reach his eyes. He understood what, and who, she meant. "Please don't give up hope, Lucy".

Why do you chose now to say my name, Loke?. The thought cause a small giggle from her lips.

"You should call me that instead of 'hime'" she sighed before glancing back at the local flirt that occupied the space in front of her, "you should go back to the spirit realm, you're starting to look exhausted and pale" her stern eyes stopped Loke from arguing back, and so with a 'Hai, Lucy' the golden light that was all too familiar to Lucy took Loke's place before fading into nothing but emptiness that became her new company.

As she turned to get into bed she noticed a bowl of soup sat upon her bedside table and she smiled as she slowly reached for it. Blowing on the spoon she began to slurp it down. Virgo must've made it while Loke kept me company. A moan crawled up her throat and out between her lips, both from how good it tasted and how the hotness of it going down her dry throat helped take off the edge of the coldness that had overtook her body. When was the last time she had actually felt warm? Just as she thought about that, an image of Natsu came to mind, but she shook it away as soon as it came. She admitted a while ago that that particular Dragon Slayer had wormed his way into a sector of her heart and had claimed it for just himself, and she would admit that her... feelings... had once been at the forefront of her mind, and if it hadn't of been for this fatal incident, she was going to tell him after that mission... Only now she couldn't -and wouldn't- since she didn't have much time left. If she told him now, would it hurt him or her more? She didn't care if he didn't feel the same way, after all she didn't care whether he returned her feelings, not anymore anyway. The problem was, what if he did? Then what? It was easier to lose a best friend than a lover, right? Lucy sighed. It hurt losing either one no matter how you put it. Lucy didn't want to dump her feelings on him at a time like this. By the time he found out about her situation, it might be too late anyway. Even though it hurt Lucy, a part of her wished that he didn't feel the same way she does. For reasons unknown, she hoped, since he was a human and not a dragon, that Natsu didn't -like dragons- only 'fall in love once'. She learnt this fact from Gajeel and Levy, though they had never told her whether the dragonslayers took on that trait with their ancient magic. Instead she decided to write down a few letters for everyone in the guild, from her teammates, to Mira and Levy, to Wendy and Gajeel, Jet, Droy, Warren, and so on. They were all her family and Fairy Tail was her home. With each letter she included memories and also pictures of their time together.

"Hime, would you like me to deliver them for you?" usually having any of her spirits come out on their own randomly would have caused the young blonde to panic and most likely die from shock, but recently she was expecting it more often than not, especially after everything that she was going through. So Virgo standing behind her when she spoke didn't even result in the woman so much as jumping from fright.

"That's alright, Virgo. I was thinking about having Gemini take my form tomorrow" the blonde sealed the last envelope before resting her head in her hands and watching the pinkette from the corner of her eye. "After all, I'm pretty sure Erza, Gray, Natsu and maybe even Happy have noticed my absence. In fact, possibly even the entire guild, after all it has been nearly two weeks since I took my leave and became home-bound".

"You shouldn't push yourself, hime, your magic is already low". Lucy sighed and slouched back into her chair, groaning and tipping her head back.

"I know, but master and Wendy have mentioned to Loke that they've had to go to such lengths to prevent team Natsu from busting down my doors, well, more accurately, Natsu from breaking and entering through that window" she gave a tired wave towards the window by her bed. As she closed her eyes the sound of someone sniffling caught her attention. She turned and cracked an eye open, only for both to open wide as she noticed that Virgo no longer had her emotionless expression but rather an open one that shown raw sadness. Sitting upright she watched in shock as Virgo buried her face into her chained hands.

"Virg-"

"Sorry, h-hime. It's just... I can't-" her stoic voice had actually broken.

Lucy giggled softly before standing up and hugging her -now tense- spirit.

"So even you can make that kind of face, huh" Lucy wondered out loud before pulling away to see Virgo's eyes wide and her mouth open. Her blue eyes glossed over with fresh tears. Glistening tear tracks caressing her fair skin. "Hey now, don't you go crying on me, I've done enough of that for me and all of my spirits" as a smile crossed the busty blondes chapped lips Virgo gave a sharp nod before wiping her cheeks and returning to her emotionless and professional state.

"Hai, hime. Punishment for crying in front of you?" that caused Lucy to laugh slightly.

"No, of course not! Oh Virgo, please don't ever change" Lucy couldn't help the silent tears. Even after telling herself she wouldn't cry. How could she not? Her time here was limited. Besides, once she's gone, how does she know everyone will be ok? Unlike her other friends, her spirits aren't really 'free'. How could she not over think about them? About what may happen to them soon? What if their next 'owner' wasn't like her and Yukino. What if they were cruel and only treated them like objects like Aries previous masters, Karen and Sorano [Angel]. Lucy looked away from Virgo, mentally pushing that topic away to the back of her mind. After all, no one truly wants to die. If she continues thinking of her spirits she'll go back to square one, and after all, she had spent days convincing herself that she was okay with this. She had chosen this. She was the one who threw herself in front of the guy she loved in order to protect him. Even if it wasn't him, and was another member of her guild, she would have still done matter what, she would never, never, regret what she had done. For once, she felt like she had actually accomplished something. That she wasn't a useless, 'pretty face' like many people believed she was. Like she had once believed herself. Her eyes landing back on the team Natsu picture.

"Virgo? Since I don't have long left... Can... Can you... I mean if it's not too much trouble... Do you think you can apply some make-up to me to cover these marks and maybe even add some colour to me so I can go to the guild? Just for one last time? As you said, if I summon Gemini to transform into me to deliver them, I'll end up using too much of my magic"

Virgo didn't reply at first, when she did it was obvious that it was because her and Loke were having a private conversation.

"Brother Leo said that you shouldn't, however, he understands that that will not sway your decision and so he has, 'reluctantly', agreed as long as it is tomorrow afternoon and he is to go with you. I will accompany you, too, hime" with that Virgo bowed and added, "please, rest for now so you do not exert yourself more than you already have, hime" before leaving for her home realm. Lucy couldn't help but feel giddy, even if she didn't have long left to live, that didn't mean she couldn't be excited for tomorrow, right? And so, with some difficulty, she climbed into bed and tucked herself in.

The light that leaked through her window was enough to wake her up. If she thought she felt weak and feeble yesterday then today she felt like a newborn. By the time she had managed to sit up she was badly out of breath and sweating enough that, if she hadn't of known better, one would have thought she took a sneaky dip in the canal. "Oh gods" she gasped, reaching up to cover her right eye, a raging headache hidden behind it. Shuffling the blankets off of her body, she stumbled to her feet. Taking cautious, shaky steps before fumbling about to grab a hold of her dresser and looking up at her reflection in the medium sized mirror that took refuge there. She stood frozen as her hand slipped from her eye.

The veins had claimed her right side over night. The white of her eye and once brown iris was now absorbed by the black substance that ran through her veins. In a panic she began stripping off her clothes, not caring if they ripped. She stared at her body with her jaw tense and eyes hardened.

The curse had now covered almost everywhere except for her neck, upper chest and left-side of her face. Or at least until she saw it crawling up her neck, ever so slowly. The more she looked, the more she swore that she could see it pulsing as if it were alive. Eating her alive.

Isn't that what it's doing, though? She almost snorted as her mental self voiced her opinions. Reaching over she grabbed her nightgown and a towel before going into the bathroom to bathe once more in hopes to scrub away the vile, sticky feeling of both the oozing, poisonous, substance, and the sweat that clung to her like a latex suit -one that, in her mind, seemed eerily similar to the jiggle-butt gangs uniform.

After ten and a half minutes of trying -and failing- to turn on the baths taps, she had summoned Virgo, though her magic had made the maid disappear after a measly fifteen seconds, which had the blonde almost passing out from the sheer exhaustion it had caused her. Virgo and Loke had both forced their gate open to help their beloved friend to wash, dry and get dressed back into her nightwear. It had taken both to keep her in her bed and rest -without force since they were convinced that a light touch would bruise her further, or worse, break something. Neither spirit had realised just how much or how fast the vile curse had spread. They had all calculated, thanks to Porlyusica, that she would have had at least four months to begin with. That had lowered to two months at most. Not less than two weeks.

Once she was settled Loke had stayed by her side while she began to cough and wheeze while Virgo went to prepare some medicine -that Wendy, Charla and Chelia had delivered last week- and some food for the spirit mage.

As the hours passed, Lucy only got weaker. Her coughing fits became more frequent and lasted longer. The more she coughed the more her throat tore apart, resulting in blood coming up. It wasn't until sometime after six -half an hour after the first drops of blood began to appear- that she began to struggle with breathing.

"Virgo. Go, now! Get Makarov and inform him that it is time. I'll follow behind with the princess" his voice would have been calm and low if it had not been for the way it had broken near the end of his order, though Virgo never mentioned it, she had clearly heard it and instead gave him a sharp nod before disappearing into the ground to dig her way to the guild. Ever since that mission, Porlyusica had rented out a bed and breakfast near by in the town, just in case Lucy took a bad turn. Chelia did the same, though she stayed with Wendy in Fairy Hills under the excuse that 'Lamia Scale allowed me to take a short break to visit Wendy-chan for a few while since I haven't seen her much since she went with Lucy-chan and Natsu-san!'.

Picking her up, Loke sighed and held her close, tossing a fleece blanket over her delicate form before hurrying out of the door towards the one place that may keep her hanging on for a little longer: Fairy Tail.

The guild was just as lively as ever, though they all worried for their celestial spirit mage. It had been a while since any of them, including her teammates -apart from Wendy and Charla- had last seen her. If it hadn't been for master explaining that she had been severely ill with an extremely contagious virus

That had lowered her immune system -so no one except for Wendy and Chelia could visit her to deliver medication and to 'keep her home sterilised'- then they would have all been at hers looking after the poor girl.

Team Natsu sat at the bar, Natsu, Gray and Elfman arguing about who was the strongest in the guild that eventually became a full on guild brawl whilst Erza sat talking to Levy and Mira about their blonde friend and how worried they were when Virgo made her way into the guild. At first no one noticed until she began panicking and asking for master Makarov. That certainly caught their attention. Especially team Natsu's, even Happy became silent as he watched the out-of-character maiden spirit pant as she ran towards the old man who sat less than three metres away from Gray and Natsu.

"It is time" was all she ushered out quickly before Makarov dropped his glass.

"So soon? Are you su-" before he could finish Wendy whimpered and covered her mouth as tears escaped from the corners of her eyes while Chelia and Charla comforted her, their eyes never leaving the maiden-spirits form. Virgo's eyes didn't stray from his as she nodded.

"They will be here soon, shall I go get the older woman?". To say that everyone was confused was an understatement. Virgo's reply came out monotonously like usual and that was enough to break Erza and Natsu out of their daze as they rushed towards the maid and their master.

Both Erza and Natsu's questions rang out at the same time:

"What's going on, Master?"

"What's going on, ji-chan?"

Before Makarov could say anything, Loke came through the door holding on to a pale Lucy, except she wasn't really pale, and she didn't look like Lucy. Not really anyway.

Her usually sunshine yellow hair was no longer bright, soft and golden, but rather dull, dark and dead. Her usually creamy skin was almost translucent and marked with black veins, her usually pink and soft, full lips were now pale blue and cracked. Her glossy doe brown eyes were rolled back and the white had became black. Foam and dry blood gathered in the corners of her lips as she twitched and convulsed. Her once curvy figure had withered into nothing more than her pale and blacken skin covering her bones. Her nakama could do nothing more than stare in shock as Loke walked quickly to the infirmary after their master, panting from the run that he most likely made from her home to the guild.

"What... How" was all anyone could say.

Not even a minute later, Virgo was back with Porlyusica following closely behind as they rushed to where Lucy lay.

Natsu stumbled forwards, towards the room that his partner occupied.

"She was only sick. It's only been a little less than two weeks since we last saw her... Why..." Natsu's voice trailed off with his thoughts.

"She didn't...how did..?" Gray paused as he looked towards Erza. Her eyes followed Natsu as he dragged his body towards the infirmary door.

Erza stood up and tensed before gritting her teeth and replying with, "'with this curse, your magical energy will be absorbed. With this curse. your magic will belong to me'. It has to be the curse. Lucy threw herself in front of Natsu and took the curse. It didn't just absorb the magic the way we thought. It was absorbing all of her magic. All of her life. That's why she was 'sick'. She was dying. And we didn't do anything for he-."

"You wouldn't have been able to even if you knew". The three mages -and one blue exceed- looked over the red-heads shoulder at their partners lion spirit. Said spirit gave a saddened smile before turning to look towards the door his master lay behind.

"She worried about you guys. The entire time. We all thought we had a few months left but-" he sighed and looked back at the group that now surrounded him, which had somehow grew larger. "She risked her life for her family. And even though she was getting weaker as that poison spread through her veins, she worried about all of you. She knew that if you guys found out you'd try everything to help. But she also knew that you couldn't. That there wasn't a way to 'save' her."

"So you've gave up?! You're just goin' to let her die?!" Natsu's patience had ran out by now. His best friend, his partner was dying. After everything that they had been through, he'd be damned if anyone thought he was going to give up. With new found strength he stood up and made his way over to where he knew his beautiful partner lay. "I'm not gonna give on ya, Luce". He'd be damned if he was going to let her die.

All Lucy could see were small flashes of memories. Her childhood, her early teenage years. Even though, if she included the 7 years on tenrou, she would be 27. But she wasn't really. She was only 20 now. A few months off of her 21st. Images of Natsu's return, them getting Wendy, then Gray and Erza. How they gathered the guild members -sort of- to re-form Fairy Tail again. The images morphed into ones of what could have been her future. Though all of them had been silent, she still knew what was being said. In this 'future' she was sat down on the edge of a child's' bed. A little boy and girl lay cuddled together while a thunderstorm raged furiously outside. The flashes of light could be seen through the window. Lucy smiled down as she pushed aside the peach-blonde hair that stuck to the little boys forehead. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head before standing up and giving her similar, but slightly more cherry blossom, haired daughter the same treatment. The image faded to a different one. In this one she held a small bundle in her arms as she sat at a table in the guild. Levy and Gajeel sat opposite, looking slightly older than they are, holding a navy-haired toddler, whose face was twisted into a similar scowl as his father- though with a childish charm. His hair was messy much like both parents, though his eyes were his fathers; a piercing red. His face was exactly same as his mother's. Just watching him, you could see that he equally took after both of his parents. The two women were laughing about something whilst the older male watched the small bundle in the blondes arms as it wriggled about, a small, warm smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

The image swapped to another one almost as quickly as it had appeared. In this one, Lucy wore a white gown. Her face smiling anxiously as she walked down an aisle that had familiar faces sat either side of, Loke holding her arm in her father's place while tears threatened to spill and ruin her make-up. At the end she saw someone wearing a black suit. Though, before she could see her soon-to-be husbands face, the image disappeared. Leaving her in nothing but an emptiness. The darkness surrounding her on all sides. She felt cold and lonely.

Was this what death felt like?

As she began slipping into the darkness again she saw the little girl from earlier. Her eyes were slanted like Natsu's, but her honey and chocolate mixed brown iris were much like her own. She wore a smile just like the fire-eater, her hair a shade lighter than his, though the tips faded to a golden blonde similar to her own. "Mama? Mama...please don't...mama...wake up..! Mama?! MAMA!" the familiar words shot through Lucy as she recognised them.

"I love you...mama" the image was no longer the familiar, yet unknown girl. In the pink-haired girl's place stood a similar aged, little Lucy Heartfilia. It was the words she used as she found her mother. The words she had spoken when she realised her mother, Layla, wasn't going to wake up again. The image glitched between herself and the pink-haired toddler. Both covering their eyes as they moved and cried at the same time.

"Na...shi…" Lucy wasn't sure why she called the unknown girl by that name, all she knew was as soon as the words escaped her lips the young girl froze up before her red, puffy face glanced up at her. "Mama...please…" The toddler suddenly grew. She looked just like Lucy now, apart from the features that resembled her crush. "Please don't leave us." Behind her stood an older Natsu, wrinkles faintly lining his eyes and mouth, his skin slightly more weather worn. His hands placed on both the teenage-girl and a slightly younger, yet familiar, peach-blonde haired boy. All three of them watched Lucy with sad expressions. "Luce.." Natsu's hands released the two children that stood a little in front of him. He made his way towards Lucy and stretched his hand towards her, a smile on his face. "Stay with us". Lucy's hand automatically took his before she had realised. As soon as it touched his, Natsu's grip tightened in a vice like grip and he became blurred. "Stay with us. Stay with us" the words kept repeating, no longer comforting. Trying to break free Lucy struggled against what used to be Natsu. Black vine-like goo clung to her skin, slowly covering all of her. Climbing around her struggling form. Only seconds later all of her, except her face, was covered. "Stay here. With me. Lucy Heartfilia" She took in a sharp breath as the familiar voice and face of the dark mage appeared in front of her. Before she could make any sense out of the situation, her entire consciousness went black.

Loke had followed team Natsu -as well as Levy and Juvia- into the infirmary.

"Ugh. More humans to interfere with my work"

"P-porl-"

"Wendy! Focus! We have to keep using our magic to the maximum right now!"

"H-hai! Go-gomenasai, you're right, Chelia-san!"

The room was absolute chaos. Porlyusica frowned as she worked on the medication she was preparing. Wendy's brows were furrowed and lips pursed as she focused solely on her magic that kept Lucy breathing. Chelia bit into her lip hard enough to puncture it as she pushed herself to her limit to keep the curse at bay, or at least slow the progression down a little for a while.

"Master wha-" Makarov held up a hand to silence Erza before he sighed and turned to them.

"Right now you must be silent and patient. These three need the quiet to concentrate. As you can see... Wendy and Chelia are the ones keeping Lucy alive right now. Chelia is holding off the curse while Wendy is restoring her body. They're trying to take off the pressure and keep her alive long enough for Porlyusica to make some form of serum to stabilize her for a little while longer until we can find a more...permanent solution. Though we don't know if it's possible, since we have no idea what this even is."

"This is why I don't like humans. Creating new deadly diseases. Causing too much hassle. Too much noise, too." The pink-haired healer glared in team Natsu's direction in hopes that they'd get the hint and be quiet for a while.

Once she was satisfied to went back to Lucy with a needle. Sticking it into her arm she then proceeded to take the blondes blood. At least she tried to, though at that she got was the black pus that coursed through her.

"Wendy" the older woman turned abruptly to the young wind maiden, who, by the harshness of the healer's tone, jumped a little and turned almost too-quickly.

"H-hai!"

"Analyze this, quickly girl, we haven't the time to be dilly-dallying!".
"Yes, ma'am!" scurrying over to Porlyusica, Wendy quickly grabbed the apparatus and began to use her magic to understand what the substance was.

"It's definitely just the pus. There are no traces of Lucy-sans blood within the contents. It seems that the curse has… in a sense...it's either devoured and destroyed all of her red blood cells or made her body reject it and caused it to be pushed out of her. It appears that this substance is the only thing that is both keeping the body alive whilst absorbing her energy. I-I..." Wendy gulped as her eyes widened. "There's more...but I can't… I don't understand.."

"Wendy! Switch with me! Let me try, please". Wendy nodded at Chelia before placing the syringe down and taking over Chelia's job.

Chelia moved away from the spirit mage's body and began to filter through the curses' pus. "Wendy's right. It's replaced her blood and is like a parasite. Keeping its host alive for as long as it can in order to absorb more of her magic. Except.. It seems as if it's also putting a dark magical energy into her… like it-"

"Like it's possessing her" Porlyusica finished before grabbing the apparatus from the younger pink-haired healer before she began spouting out orders. "I don't care what you use or who you get it from. But begin to drain that girls body and give her a blood transfusion. And you better do it as soon as possible if you want to save this woman." Gritting her teeth and clenching her fist, the glass that contained the curse broke, leaking the sticky substance in the healers hands.

"Na...shi" Everyone froze as they heard Lucy's faint voice.

"Nashi? Who's Nashi?" Erza voiced the question that ran through everyone's mind.

"Stay...with...you…you...no." Lucy began to have a seizure again.

"Luc-" Wendy began to panic

"Strap her down!" Porlyusica ordered, quickly working with the girls to contain Lucy's flailing limbs.

"No! NOO!" Lucy's completely-black eyes opened as she began to scream. The pitch to her voice causing most of the people within the infirmary to cover their ears.

"Natsu! Erza!" Said mages looked over to see Chelia panting. "The curse is possessing her. Whoever caused this-"

Lucy began to wake up again. "Where-"

Sitting up she looked around her. It reminded her of an open meadow. Except...it wasn't a lush, green, flower filled meadow. The grass was more of a sand-colour. It seemed so familiar, yet she knew she had not seen or been here before. She looked around her again before glancing down at her attire. "Wait.." she wore her blue and white crop top with her old black, tight skirt. She stood up and reached for her hair. Her normal hair style of a high side-pony was gone and her old before-the-disbandment-of-fairy-tail pigtails where in it's place. She hadn't wore her hair -or these clothes- for years now. "Lucy!" Natsu's familiar voice broke her out of her daze. Looking in his direction gave her a nostalgic feel. She watched as he ran towards her, down the hill, Happy and the rest of the guild waiting at the top in the background.

Natsu looked like how she remembered he did a few years back. He stopped and stood in front of her before closing his eyes and smiling as he stretched his hand out to her "Come on, the adventure continues!". He, too -much like Lucy- also wore old clothing from the past. His old open, sleeveless black vest with his white baggy pants. Lucy felt tears prick her eyes, the feeling of deja vu nagged at the back of her mind, yet she just knew that she had actually never been in this situation."Okay" she smiled softly before placing her hand into his. Taking a firm hold of her dainty hand he turned and pulled her along as they ran up the hill towards the silhouettes of her guildmates, grinning at Natsu as he looked back at her smiling. Then it faded. Just like her other 'visions'.

"Did you know, that this was a memory from your future self that you saw during the Grand Magic Games?".

"A...memory...from me? But…"

"She died. Yes. But you rewrote the future. Well, you and that partner of yours". The familiar dark mage flung an arm over the celestial mage's shoulders.

"But that isn't why I'm here. I'm here because of you. At least there is something...consistant...with you." Lucy turned towards the mage, confusion written on her face.

"Both you, and 'future' you have a thing for throwing yourself in front of people. Be it yourself or someone else." The brunette mage shrugged before folding his arms over his chest. "Listen. I'm not the bad guy here. I'm only here before you got in the way of my mission".

"Mission?" to say Lucy was confused was an understatement. Not a bad guy? "How are you 'not the bad guy'? You tried to kill my friend. In fact, you're killing me." He voice began to rise as the anger boiled within her. The handsome, dark-haired mage sighed before rubbing the bridge of his nose

"My job was to kill E.N.D no matter the cost. There's no cure to the new curse I made. Don't get me wrong, I am a dark mage. However, I'm part of a guild, much like yours. You all know the truth about Natsu-"

"E.N.D? As in...the demon?" Lucy couldn't say she understood anything this guy was saying.

"Guess not. And here I thought you were smart. Such a shame. Though it doesn't matter. Right now, you're trapped in your own mind." the guy clicked his fingers and Lucy became bound by tendrils of the black vine-like substance once more.

"Wh-" Struggling against the vines Lucy tried to make sense of what the dark mage was spouting, but none of it went together properly. No matter how she put it there were still gaps in the information she was being given. How was Natsu and E.N.D related? This guy was talking about killing Natsu, yet he was here...somehow… "This curse… how...why...I don't get it...how are you-"

"Here? It's a possession based curse. I absorb your magic, weaken your body. Replace your consciousness with my own, if I want to that is. Simple really. I have the choice to either take over your body, or to just kill it."

"Why would yo-" Lucy's eyes widen for a brief second as she registered what he said. "Even if you take control of me...you'll never be able to kill him. He's too strong. Whether you use your power, my magic, or both, you still won't kill him, in fact, you-"

"Listen, Blondie." He hissed before grabbing a hold of Lucy's jaw, aggressively, " Do you really, Honestly, think for even a moment that he'd actually fight against you, even if you are being possessed, controlled, whatever! Why would he fight against someone he holds dear when he knows it's your body that will be hurt? Hmm?"

"If you think he's stupid enough to-" Lucy was cut off with the manic laughter that escaped the man's lips.

"Maybe I do. I know he wouldn't dare hurt you. Not purposefully. I've seen how he looks at you. I've seen how every move he makes is always to ensure your safety. After all, I've done my research, you know. I've seen that lustful gleam that glosses over his eyes every now and then, he may act like a child, but he's far from it". It was Lucy's turn to laugh, though it more spiteful than anything.

"Lustful? Ha! You have no idea what you're talking about! Natsu isn-"

"Enough! It doesn't matter what you think." Lucy began to choke as she felt his cold, thin hands travel to her neck and squeeze tightly. He leaned in so his lips were at her right ear. "You see, it'll be by your hand. You will be the one who kills him." He traced the outer shell of her ear with his tongue, causing her to flinch and the repulsive feeling. He pulled back a little "I can see why he's attracted to you. It's a shame really." his hand moved from her throat. Gasping for breath Lucy wriggled about in hopes to loosen the vines grip. "Hmm...maybe if you're a good girl I'll let you live…"

"I won't" Lucy cut short as she coughed, "let you kill him" the thin lips on the male twisted up into a smirk as he raised an eyebrow mockingly at her.

"Oh...and how, little girl, are you going to do that?" cracking his knuckles he turned around, his back facing her. "I'll let you in on a secret. While I murder your best friend, you'll also be able to feel and see everything going on. So, here's my question: Will you enjoy it? The feeling of your hands wrapped around the throat of the guy you love? Watching as he endures the same inevitable fate as you? How about if he smiles up at you as he confessed that he loves you? WOuld that make it eas-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Lucy's screams only seemed to amuse him more as he laughed in an ecstatic way. Lust clouding his eyes.

"Yes! Oh gods. I love the way you scream. I love the sound of your anger and pain laced voice!" Lucy couldn't stop the snarl that covered her normal soft features. She couldn't help as her body screamed with disgust that a man like him existed.

"How should we kill him? Should we get you spirits to do it? Or is it against one of their 'heavenly' laws? How about your little spell: Urano Metria? Oh! Or...your leo star-dress? After all, a fire demon-dragon slayer, killed by an attack of light by the girl he loves, and who, in return, loves him...sounds like a tragedy romance" Lucy held her tongue as the dark mage chuckled to himself. She'd be damned if he actually thought he'd be able to harm Natsu. Before she could think through a plan, the handsome, twisted mage stood in front of her, a bun-cold pain laced her body. She opened her mouth to scream only for him to cover her lips with his. She was about to move away when he forced her mouth open, something thick and slimy pushed its way down her throat causing her to choke. Pulling away he smudged the black residue from his mouth with his sleeve before he slowly faded away. "Don't you worry, my love." But before he completely disappeared a mist-like dark navy ball took his place. Lucy watched it, panting, as it just floated there for a minute or two before it flew right into her chest. As she convulsed from the pain the tendrils began to pierce her flesh as they tightened around her. The pain ripped screams from her already-dry throat. The minutes that passed felt like hours, and eventually the pain subsided. She felt the sweat drip to her brow, spit beginning to slide down her chin. She was too exhausted to do anything besides darkness of her own mind was all that kept her company. The sound of both her sweat, drool and blood dripping onto her mind's floor echoed into the emptiness. "This is all in your mind. This is all in your mind" she repeated the sentence over and over, though majority of the time it was an incomplete sentence due to the shear strain and effort required to voice the mantra. She knew she was trapped in her own mind. So how was it she was bleeding and sweating? Why was she so exhausted and why could she feel the throbbing pain that spasmed through her aching muscles? This is her own mind, so why couldn't she change anything? Why was there even a floor?

Before she could do anything, a blinding white light began to overtake her vision. Natsu's face began to come into focus above her.

Why was she lying down? Where did the black vines that held her go? Why wasn't the pain so strong anymore? Groaning she tried to sit up. More faces came into view. Wendy, Porlyusica, Chelia, Erza, Gray, Levy. How did she get to the guild's infirmary? Was she having another vision?

Then her vision blurred again before turning black.

Though she couldn't see anything, she could still hear it. Natsu's warmth surrounded her. Then all of a sudden multiple people began to shout. Her body suddenly became heavy as if she was being restricted or pinned down. More screaming. Then she heard him. Natsu. His voice was rough and breathy, as if he was.. That's when she felt it. His warmth in her hands. She was choking him. "Luce...why...fight back..Luce...please…" by the time her vision came back she felt the tears prick her eyes. Her hands were covered in blood as they wrapped around her best friend's throat. She quickly dropped her hands and glanced around. Erza was clutching her side, leaning against Gray and Juvia for support, Gray holding an ice sword in one hand, while Juvia's free arm had became water. Wendy and Chelia crouched in a defensive stance, Makarov not far to their left. Gajeel sheltered Levy behind him. He, like Erza, was applying pressure to his side which was also sporting a rather jagged, large wound. Had she done this? She stared shocked at her hands. Had she really done this? No. It wasn't her, right? But it was by your hands. Your hands drew the blood of your nakama. How was it not you? The proof can be seen on your palm. The proof can be seen in the eyes of those you had once wished to protect. Your betrayal. The image of her hands wrapped around Natsu's throat flooded her mind. She..She had actually...tried to kill him.

Before rational thought could stop her, Lucy ran past Natsu as quickly as she could. I can't afford to let them stop me. I can't...I can't let this happen again

She grabbed for the surgical knife just before Gajeel and Gray managed to grab her. In one quick movement to managed to break free, thankful that they hadn't gotten a firm grip on her. Looking over the members quickly, her eyes landed on her pink-haired crush. She smiled a soft, sad smile before mouthing the words "I'm sorry". Before any of them understood the apology, she raised the silver knife up, closing her eyes tightly as she plunged it into her chest.

As she fell to the cold floor the images of what had happened flowed through her mind, though only certain parts where clear, the rest were hazy and she couldn't make any sense of it.

Natsu had hugged her shortly after she had black out. He pulled and smiled "I'm so glad you're safe! You had me worried, you know".

That image faded into another one. She had changed into Taurus' star-dress, her whip lashing out at Erza, cutting her fair skin that showed through her armour. She watched emotionlessly as her scarlet-haired friends face distorted in pain as she screamed against the lashes. She moved her drooping eyes towards the requip mage as she lay on the floor. Only seconds had passed since she stabbed the knife into herself. Yet, to her, it felt like minutes. Everything seemed so slow now. She watched as her nakama ran towards her. Her eyes watched Erza the entire time. She had only recently found out about Erza's past. To think she would whip her...even if it wasn't really her doing it… a sad smile pulled at the corners of the blondes lips as she blinked slowly. She knew she was going to die either way, but at least she managed to save her nakama for one last time. She watched as her guildmates moved in slow - and in a blurry style- motion. Natsu had picked her up and sat her against himself before pulling the metal out of her chest. Their voices echoed slightly and sounded as if they were far away. Death wasn't as quick as she thought it was. It didn't hurt either. At least, she felt numb, though her body's response wasn't quite matching how she felt. She felt herself grow cold. She could feel the hot liquid running down her torso, as if someone had spilt a warm drink onto her. Her eyes began to grow heavier with each blink she took. She watched as the tears trailed from their eyes. "Lucy, don't close your eyes!" Those five words echoed around her. Coming from multiple people at once. "Go"She began to cough, wincing at the dull ache it caused. "-men...minna…f-forgi-" her voice cut off as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes landed on Gajeel's wound, a frown tugging -with much effort- at her lips.

After Erza had fell Gajeel pounced onto her smaller frame pinning her below him. She struggled against his hard frame, loosening his grip before changing the star-dress to Leo's. As Gajeel managed to regain balance, Lucy round-house regulus-kicked him in the side before throwing a punch through his ribs. The feel of the bones crunched beneath the impact as she flew backwards, blood and spit flew out of his open mouth.

She had caused so much pain within the past few minutes. She closed her eyes. The hot, wet tears trailed down her cheeks as she felt the last of her energy begin to drain out of her. Once more she opened her eyes, though barely half way as she looked up at Natsu, his eyes red and puffy from crying. She wished she could touch his cheek. Do anything. Just...something. It was moments like this, when they were so close, that she would always remember how much she had fell for him. She just wanted him to know how she felt. However, with no voice or energy left to tell or show him, all she could do was force a smile onto her face. Looking back at everyone, she noticed that Chelia and Wendy were now kneeling next to her, their healing magic trying to restore her. She closed her eyes once more. It was no use. She knew that. They had to know that, so why were they still trying? Her energy wasn't coming back. She just felt so tired.

"Don't you dare close your eyes, Luce! Stay with me...stay here with us...please" She felt Natsu's arms tighten around her, pulling her closer to him. His face moved against her hair and buried itself into the crook of her neck. She smile faintly at the feel of his warm breath against her fragile skin. "I love you...I never got the chance to tell you. I thought I'd have so much more time to tell you. I thought-" she felt his tears pool against her collarbone "I-I love you, so much, Lucy Heartfilia. Please don't leave me".

Those words. How long had she wished to hear them? How long she had wanted to say them to him herself. She sighed in content at the warmth that she received from, not only him, but from the two sky-magic users that currently sat on either side of her. She managed to lick her lips before giggling exhaustedly. "I love you, too. You...dolt" it was no louder than a breath, but she knew he had heard her. She had felt him tense before he snuggled against her.

"Then don't leave me. If you love me...don't leave me". How could she say no when he sounded to broken and vulnerable? But how could she possibly say yes when she could feel the cold darkness that was now clawing at her exhausted body?

Before she could say any more, her muscles began to relax and go limp. Her eyes finally closed for the last time. The last thought that ran through her mind was how could she possibly deserve to both love him and be loved by him after what she had done. So as she breathed out for the final time, the image of her hands wrapped around his throat as he stared at her with those hatred filled eyes -even if they were directed at her, but rather the person who controlled her- she gave into the darkness that awaited her.

She felt light again. No longer able to hear her friends. No longer able to feel the warm embrace of the man she loved.

"Lucy". She turned around.

Stood roughly twenty feet away were her mother and father, there arms outstretched towards her, sad smiles graced their faces.

"We missed you, dear".