Natsu raced down the hall at a speed Loki couldn't match. To be honest he didn't have much magic left, he looked at his hand, and they were beginning to fade in and out of reality. The spirit was afraid this would happen, but at least he managed to stay longer than the other spirits.

"Natsu, my time is up." Loki called ahead. "Save her Natsu, you're the only hope she has left."

Natsu didn't slow up, or show any signs that he had heard Loki's plea. Lucy's presence was getting further away again, but there was nothing Loki could do any more. He unwillingly let himself slip from the world his friends were fighting in, hoping his magic would replenish before the battle was over.

Wendy sat on the ice cold floor, tears streaming from her dark eyes. She was relieved to see that the blood her friend was covered in didn't belong to him, and she knew that was horrible. Only a few steps away there was a mangled corpse that was unrecognizable, except to the dragon slayer's nose.

Romeo started to open his eyes, blinking up at the blue haired girl for a long minute. Sense seemed to be returning to the small wind mage, because she held herself from encasing the boy in a death grip. She couldn't look him in the eyes, her whole body trembling with the force of her despair.

She had killed someone in her rage, she had taken a life in her blind fury. She wanted to feel happy that her dear friend was there, breathing, living, but the guilt stole away her happiness.

"H-hey, it's ok now." The warmth of his hand on her cheek shocked her. He was wiping at tears she didn't realize she had been sheading. "It's over."

It was all it took to break her resolve, her arms came to wrap around the boy tightly as she wept her heart out. Wendy stammered about how she had thought he was dead, how it made her feel so hopelessly enraged. She stammered out that she would never let him get hurt ever again.

Romeo was shocked; he didn't really know what to do in the situation. He gazed up at the group of Fairy Tail mages that surrounded them, silently pleading for help. He was greeted with sighs of relief. Erza was giving an encouraging smile, Gray nodding.

He hesitantly reached his arms to circle the crying female, working slow circles into her shoulder blades in an attempt to calm her tears. Once her tantrum begun to slow he looked up once more, this time noting that there were more people in the circle.

They looked badly injured, causing him to inhale sharply. Wendy didn't miss the change in his demeanor, and immediately turned, ready for a new threat.

"Hey squirt." Gajeel said weakly, as he side stepped her well placed punch.

"When did…" Her words trailed off when she realized that they were all injured, adding to the heady scent of blood that already had her sense on over load.

Gajeel slowly lowered Laxus to the floor, mindful of the wound to his ribs. "Doesn't matter, Levy fixed him up the best she could, but he'll need you if he wants to be able to breath normally again." It was only a moment later that Levy succumbed to her exhaustion, going down to her knees.

"What the hell happened to you?" Elfman let out without thinking.

"It's done, Zeref is dead." Laxus muttered weakly.

"It's not over, Acnologica is still out there, and Lucy is gone." Gajeel huffed, brushing back the hair from his wife's face. "Natsu can't fully control his powers either." That comment was geared towards Wendy. She looked up from Laxus questioningly.

Levy stirred, fighting back the fatigue. "He lost himself in the fight, nearly killed us all." Laxus answered dryly. "At least that's what Levy said on the way here."

Said blue haired mage sat up at that. "I've never seen him so angry, but I guess that's why Lucy left the why she did. She knew he needed to snap or he could do what needed to be done." A deep throaty cough accompanied her words. "Lucy always seems to be 2 steps ahead of us these days." She smiled weakly.

Slowly a light flickered from the surviving lycrima screens behind the group, and voice echoing in the massive space.

"Dammit all to hell, if you die before I get there I will bring you back and kill you myself!"

Lucy's breath hitched, as he reached out an ice cold hand to grab her bicep. Every instinct in her screamed for her to run, to call out to Natsu, to do something, anything; she fought them all back. A smile came back to her face slowly as she took her time figuring out what he meant.

"How do you mean, my lord?" Her voice was calm and even, not daring to give away her turn intentions.

"I'd have thought you would be fighting tooth and nail to protect your precious Fairy Tail. It is surprising that you are willingly walking straight to the demise of everything you hold dear." He released her arm, laughing like the maniac he was.

"I am aware of what your plan is, and I will stop you." Her words were greeted with a back handed slap across the face.

The ground shook underfoot, a blast of air pinned her down to the floor.

"You'll do no such thing, woman." The light nature he had held to this point vanished. "Magic doesn't work here, not for you or anyone else!" He spat the words out like venom in his mouth.

"That doesn't matter really; you have no powers to nullify." Lucy's eyes flashes as she wiped the line of blood from her broken lip. "I will stop you no matter if I have my powers or not."

Natsu rushed forward, following the faint traces of scent that Lucy's Spirit form left behind. He was getting closer. He barreled through a locked door, his body engulfed in flames. He took the slick stairs two at a time, filling the air with steam as the heat radiating off of him evaporated the wetness on the stone surfaces.

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All eyes were glued to the screen, watching as Natsu rushed off in search of his wife. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Levy was sobbing into the front of Gajeel's shirt, knowing that Lucy had resolved to die for them all.

Natsu wouldn't have said something like that unless he knew that was her plan.

She prayed that he would get there in time.

He just had to get there, she couldn't imagine losing her blonde friend after they had all worked so hard to defeat their enemies.

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Wendy was holding her tears back at this point, trying to only focus on the task of healing Laxus' internal organs.

She tried her best not to look at the screen; she didn't want to see her big brother like this.

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Gray took stock of the injuries that Natsu had sustained during his battle with Zeref. At first glance he looked fine, but for Gray a man who had seen Natsu get the crap beaten out of him more times than he cared to recall, it was obvious that he had a broken rib if not more.

Blood had been running down his arm since the battle with Zeref, the cuts weren't especially deep, but Natsu hadn't stopped to treat them. His loss of blood must have been great.

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Erza bit her bottom lip as Natsu skidded to a stop, knowing that Lucy must be just beyond it.

Was he in time?

Was the blonde still alive or had she been slain the way this Maso character had predicted?

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Natsu reached out and pulled the door open, revealing a passage that felt wrong.

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Every head turned to the screen, holding their collective breath as Natsu disappeared through the door.

"That must be the entrance to the caves Lucy talked about." Levy breathed.

"That means they are heading to the door of the damned." Wendy's eyes widened.

"Lucy's prophecy, but we are all here, alive and well." Happy called out for the first time.

"It is possible to change a prophecy." Ultear mumbled in awe.

"She can't die." Erza's voice was low, but marred with tears. "Neither of them is allowed to die."

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Natsu picked up the pace, rushing as fast as he could towards the noise up ahead. His whole body was shaking in fear.

He was getting closer now, he could begin to feel her, their connection growing stronger. He turned a sharp corner, and just up ahead he saw her laying on the ground, wiping blood from her bottom lip.

"I will stop you no matter if I have my powers or not."

Maso's hand was poised for another strick, until the whole cavern shook, a wail coming from up ahead made Lucy want to cover her ears. The anger melted away from Maso, quickly replaced with a new intensity of madness.

"He's here." Lucy's eyes widened. Silently she muttered to herself that he hadn't summoned the creature, how was it possible for him to be here?

Acnologia the black dragon specialized in killing other dragons. He was the purest evil that still existed in this world. She couldn't defeat a being that strong, even if she really did have a life time to prepare for it. The only person who would stand a chance was Natsu, and she didn't want him here.

"Come along woman, we have preparations to attend to."

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She got to her feet, knowing that they were no longer alone, she could feel his presence growing stronger with every passing moment.

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"You came." She said softly.

Maso turned to look at her, unsure of what the woman was talking about.

"I came to bring you home."

The dark eyes of the Earth King widened, fear billowing off him in waves. Maso moved to grab Lucy, using her as his shield.

"I'm not coming home, there won't be a home to go back to unless we beat them." Something dangerous ran across the soft gaze of her golden eyes.

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That's when he realized why Lucy had chosen her spirit form, this place wouldn't affect creatures like them. He took a deep breath as her hand sparkled, her favorite sword materializing before his eyes. The next few seconds happened in slow motion as realization dawned on the pink haired man's face.

"Defeat Acnologia, make my death mean something." Before Natsu could move, before words could leave his lips Lucy had already driven the blade upward through her own body, straight through the heart of her captor. "I'll always love you."

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Blood was bubbling up in her mouth.

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"No, I'll heal you!" Natsu cried out. He knew that time was limited, her coughs staining her lips red.

"You can't, remember this sword's power. –cough- You have to –cough- kill the dragon." Her breathing was becoming more labored by the moment.

"You can't do this to me." Tears were streaming down his face. "You promised when this was over that you'd take over for gramps. You promised that we would move into a house in town and start that family that you wanted. You PROMISED!" Lucy felt the pain of his emotions swirl around her as her eye lids began to drop.

"Take my sword." she coughed again.

Natsu watched her eyes begin to go dull, her light flickering. He pulled, the sickly sound of her ribs cracking as he released it from her body.

A soft smile curled her blood stained lips. She reached her hand up one last time giving Natsu one last present before leaving him.

"The phoenix, -cough- Phoenicis, h-holds Uranometria's f-full power." She couched again. "Only use it if you are going to die, -cough- because that is the price." She whispered, before breaking into floating lights.

Her essence floated, flickering around Natsu sob raked body.

A roar of sorrow erupted from deep inside him, shaking the tunnels just as harshly as the black dragon's call.

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Something broke inside the dragon slayer. His hand wrapped about the hilt of the blade that had taken his precious Lucy away in one hand, and dragged the corpse of the Earth King along the passage way.

A roar called back through the cavern, leading Natsu to his own destiny. He would slay the dragon, he would die doing it so he could be with her once more.

"Wait for me Lucy." He muttered before opening his eyes, tears streaming freely down his cheeks.

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Soft lights danced their way from the dungeon, slowly making their way to the main hall.

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There was a click, releasing the lone prisoner from his cage.

The red haired man stared, his body growing warm as the soft glow touched his wounds.

The ghost of a whisper carried on the wind cried out to him.

Help Natsu, don't let him die.

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Bastion didn't know how, but he knew where to go. He traveled down the hall, staggering at points, but he managed to pull himself back up every time.

At some point he began to notice that his path was covered in scorch marks, making the air thick with the smell of brimstone.

The misty light flickered on and off beside him, as if encouraging him to move on, when the ground began shaking. He could hear that a battle was raging down the dark cavern he had just entered. Dust and bits of rock showered his head with every shock wave.

As he neared the end of the passage, he could see the end of the fight.

Natsu plunged the blade deep into the heart of the massive beast, a cry of pain escaping one last time as the creature toppled over.

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Natsu was satisfied with that, her final wish fulfilled.

He was letting go of everything, as he pulled her blade back from the chard breast plate of the dragon's hid.

In the end his anger was strong enough to overpower his foe, without using Lucy's trump card.

He wouldn't walk away from this unscathed, if he managed to walk away at all.

The battle had been fierce, leaving Natsu barely alive.

"I'm coming soon Lucy." He called out before collapsing into a puddle of blood.

The screen flickered back on, following the limp figure being carried back up the stairs. His hair was stained as red as the man who was carrying his friend up the passage. His body was broken, bruise that were an ugly color of purple coating his face and exposed mid section.

"Jellal, go." It was a demand, hollow and absolute from the sobbing red haired woman. "Bring them home."

Wendy was on her feet, rushing over to the taller man. Silent tears streaming from her dark eyes. Jellal nodded looping his arm around the young girl, and they were off.

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Bastion laid Natsu down on the floor of the grand hall, turning to retrieve Lucy's body from their hiding place. He set her down next to Natsu unmoving form. Tears creeping down his face.

"I promised to protect you." He breathed. "I'm so sorry Lucy."

His strength seem to run out at that point, and he collapsed on the ground beside his childhood friend.

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Jellal and Wendy entered the room in a flash of light. The young woman run to her family, wailing in sorrow as she threw herself at the pair.

The other mage worked his magic, ready to transport them all home, back to Fairy Tail.