midnightstar | (no subject)

Yes, please don't leave the kids behind. Justine jumps a bit, pulling out of her hiding spot and moving follow after her brother. She didn't want to be left behind either, scary as he was. He was obviously worried about Lucy, but she's never seen him like that before. And once Natsu follows those shadowy shapes down the tunnel, he'll hear the voice much more strongly.

"Natsu, where are you?"

Thump thump.

Thump Thump.

"Let me out! I can't breathe..!"

The next chamber is not empty either, but the ice is even thicker, shadowy shapes swirling around the snow and ice, and that sensation of giggling is even more present.

'Where aaaaaRRE yooou?'

'I can't breaathe..!'

Sssstupid.

Just die~! It's our turn in the light.

Just past THAT is the sound of voices arguing..well, no, that's not true. One voice is arguing, and rather angrily and passionately, while the other is responding - a deep timbre, apathetic enough that the arguing voice is infuriated. But both the voice pleading to be let out, and the one arguing just beyond this chamber are identical. And the thumping noise is loud - someone's in here, but the taunting shadowy shapes don't appear inclined to allow anyone past the area, if the barrier that springs up behind them is any indication.

So what if it's thicker? So what if there's more soldiers in teh way. Scorched earth, shattered steel. That is all that Natsu can see in his path as he blasts through with his breath and fists always marching forward only barely being slowed down a little from time to time and the more he hears from the voice fading away, the more ferocious his magic becomes to the point that every flame he now releases is in an overbearing shade of blue.

This could be exactly what was wanted - wear any do-gooder's down and out so they're too tired to do anything. In fact that does seem to be the plan, no matter how many of the mooks and creatures Natsu destroys, there are more to take it's place. Though progress is definitely being made - after a point, fewer creatures are available to replace the ones destroyed. Or maybe Natsu's starting to destroy them faster than they can replace the fallen.

By the time the last one has fallen, the voices have stopped - but the scents are still there. In fact there's one very clear scent - straight down about twelve feet, where he'll fine a heavy, thick coffin made of ice buried beneath the ground. And there was someone inside. That's where the thumping had been coming from. Before where the thumping had been constant, it's only once every few minutes now.

After destroying so many of hte creatures, Natsu had started to learn instinctively where they were the weakest, his kills growing startlingly more efficient despite the numbers. Which was why he had even stopped screaming and calling out at this point.

The moment he burst into the room where the voices had been, Natsu realized he was close. But since his target was actually below him now, he quickly summoned Lucy's gift, the gauntlet and proceeded to tear up the ground fighting the very earth and stone and ice itself as he tunneled downwards, reaching the coffin and not stopping until it was sitting in a dug out crater.

It's gleeeeeeeeeeeaming crystal ice! So pretty! So deadly! There's so much ice enchanted around it you can't even see who's inside. The scent is undeniable though - that's definitely a Lucy inside that coffin. No more thumping or voices from there though, it's just quiet. It also seems to be the kind of enchanted ice to be resistant to magic in general - whoever made it did not want the ice to be melted easily, if at all. Physically breaking it though - pff, surely no one's strong enough to do THAT. That's almost a foot of ice!

Given there's a Lucy in there and she's now incredibly quiet, that impossibility becomes very much possible and natsu trusts the gauntlets into the ice, chipping and ripping chunks of it away until he finally broke thought the lid part of the coffin and ripped it open to pieces since it became structurally unsound.

SHE'S DEAD!!

Might be running through your head right now, but no, her heart is still beating and she's still breathing, albeit slowly. It was a close call. There's a bit of a pale chill to her complexion and ... that is definitely not your Lucy. She's at least twenty years older This is definitely Luna's mother, and other Natsu's wife. It takes her a long moment to open her eyes, coughing harshly and gasping for air, "Nah... Na...natsu...?"

That faint flicker of hope is stiffled considerably when he sees that it is indeed Lucy. Just not his Lucy. Still it's the Lucy in front of him so he wastes no time in tearing her out of the coffin and setting her down for a moment.

"Yeah it's me. Well another me. Your me is outide since he's too big to get inside. Anyway can you stand? I need to find the you that came with me." This was sounding so incredibly awkward but he did hear another voice like hers further in so he didn't want to waste too much time since he was making a lot of noise down here.

She stares at Natsu for a second, partly to process what the hell he just said since it sounded like madness -- but then that's what Fairy Tail is all about. And he's not the only one a little disappointed - she had hoped to see HER Natsu; though part of her knew it was unlikely given his condition. She nods firmly, glancing at the children a little dubiously - she didn't sense any magic in them, did he really want to take them inside with him. "Give me a minute.. I just need to catch my breath." But she wanted to get out to see her daughter and husband as soon as possible. She's lost too much time already and she didn't want to keep him from his mission.

"Before you go,.. there's one more thing you need to know. There's a fairy in the cavern, imprisoned by G...by the demon. A real fairy- if you run into something small, red and flying, that's a pixie - you can't trust it." She had SO many questions, but she'd ask t hem later, after she found her family. "Free it, if you can. I'm certain it can undo the magic laid upon my husband."

"I've already destroyed a pixie so I'll be sure not to fall for it." Natsu nodded firmly. "A real fairy huh? Got it. I'll get it out before or after I find my Lucy."

"These are Neveren and Justine. They came from the same world as me and Lucy. You can trust them." he then turned to the two kids. "I left Herb with this Lucy's daughter and her dad. I'm heading deeper stay close to this world's Lucy you two. I'll be making a lot of noise so they'll probably just keep coming for me so you should not run into any more trouble. Though if you do maybe running into the Celestial spirit realm is an option." he said to Lucy in particular before turning around.

"Take care." With that he started running down the tunnel, deeper and deeper into the cave system, Blasting anything that would appear in his way, especially any red flying insect.

"Don't do anything to make your Lucy cry." the older Lucy called after him, almost in reprimand. She's seen that kind of rage before, many times. But as he rushes off, he'll hear her talking quietly to the children, "He's right. Have you met my spirits before? Let's see if they'll let us stay a moment." Only a second though.

He's like an avenging dragon - there were certainly a bunch of pixies lingering in the cavern, and they were caught off guard when he burst on the scene.

"Hey who's this G-agugh!!" *FOOM*

"EEK! HE JUST OBLITER-ARUGH!" *FOOM*

"FU--" *FOOM*

"OH MY GOD, HE KILLED K-" *FOOM*

"YOU BAS-" *FOOM*

"RUN! ER, F-" *FOOM* *FOOM* *FOOM*

Screaming pixies fled for the main chamber of the cavern, most of them going up in a scream and poof of fire and smoke, the black mist quickly retreating with each one's death. With each one's death the ice cracked a little more, enchantments on the ice weakening. Outside the statues - the petrified people and animals - were slowly starting to revert to normal as the pixies were being eradicated until Natsu burst into the final cavern.

What he sees might..just tick him off MORESO. There's a great deal of black ice on the floor - watch your step! - but more importantly there's a demon with a coat of ice-armor and a great deal of that black daemonic energy covering , pulsing as if it were alive. There are also several constructs standing guard, two of them standing around a small cage that has a bright white glow in it, which keeps rattling. The demon has taken no notice of anyone coming in, currently in "discussion" with Lucy. Natsu's Lucy of course, who is currently being penned in, backing up against a wall as he advanced on her. ... he also, like the other constructs, has a bunch of arrows poking out of his icey body.

"I don't think you understand your.. position.. Lu~cy." There's something OILY about the way he says her name. Way too familiar, with an undercurrent of a threat and amusement at the same time. "You can't beat me and I've seen to it that Natsu can't beat me either. And your Natsu.. well, he's younger than mine. He lacks experience. The Lucy of this time sadly ... is indisposed, but you.. you I can use yet." A daemonic, shadow/ice claw started to reach up, hooking a finger around a few strands of hair. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Which is about when a few pixies who've managed to escape (just barely) come screaming in, "FLY FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"

Demon Gray glowers, glancing over his shoulder, "I said I wasn't to be DISTURBE-" Oh hey Natsu, sup. Don't try anything funny, he's got your gurrrrl.

Unfortunately Gray is quite mistaken about the experience thing considering how much time he's spent in Genesia fighting powerful foes and growing in terms of tactics. Not that he's doing anything but moving on battle instinct alone obliterating everything in his path not even knowing that with each pixie destroyed the situation on the surface was getting better.

But then he finally reached the main chamber. His eyes take in the situation in an instant and before Gray can even say a single word to him, Natsu disappears in a flash of lightning. However his attack does not com from the front. Instead his fire lightning clad fist slams into Gray's skull brutally aiming to send him flying into at least one of the constructs guarding the fairy. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!" He roared, his voice booming into the cavern rattling the very walls with his overbearing wrath.

"You don-" Lucy is about to say, when Natsu charges in. EEK.

Also that is totally a sneak attack. He thought that was beneath you Natsu! (Well it's not a sneak attack but he'll call it that. There is a satisfying -CRUNCH- from the impact of Natsu's fist into Gray's skull, as he's sent flying away from Lucy and into one of the constructs that held its arms out to catch its master. It doesn't shatter, unfortunately, but they do both crash into the far wall.

Gray growled sharply, ice reforming in his head, "NNNNNATSU." He spits the name as if its a curse, "You always did have a poor sense of timing. I was in the middle of a conversation with my dear Lucy." He cracked his neck, giving his former friend a fanged grin, his eyes hollow pits of shadow. "Why don't you see yourself out so I can continue my conversation." He turned to start towards Lucy again, only to be caught off guard when she had already changed into her Saggitarius Stardress. He stopped short, and snorted a little. "It's been so long since I siphoned your magic I forgot you could do that. How cu-"

Pwip! Arrow to the ~~knee~~ face. He reeled back for a second, growling angrily as he yanked the arrow out of his eye socket. "OW! You FUCKING BITCH -"

Oh the sense of euphoria that spread in Natsu's body as he felt his fist connect to that smug face and sent its owner flying into one of its pets. There waws nothing like it. And then Gray opened his mouth. For a moment he almost erupted in another explosive rage. Then he kept talking. And he went from explosive rage to sheer cold blooded fury. ANd then once he processed the words Gray had actually said....He started laughing. A low sound at first. Only with each laugh it grew louder, more booming more TERRIFYING as it seemed the lauge became more and more enhanced by his barely contained emotions and overbearing magic he rarely let unchained from him completely.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is rich. The great big bad demon Ice princess. Hiding away inside a cave like a bug. So strong that he has to STEAL magic from those way more powerful than him. You became such a fucking loser when you lost to that shitty shadow! I knew you were always weak and pathetic but I didn't think you were this bad. To think I considered trash like you a rival once. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"You even surrounded yourself with clunky toys and buzzing bugs to do your dirty work because you are too stupid to do all of the fighting and leading by the nose yourself! Compared to all of the demons from Tartaros, you are the world's biggest JOKE!"

Edited 2017-11-25 10:20 (UTC)

For a second, his eyes flashed with pure rage at the taunts of simple fact. Tempted to just PIN that mouth shut, but then he calmed again, a smirk settling across his face. "Are you done?" He chuckled. "Natsu, Natsu, NATSU... if you're trying to anger me into making a mistake," ~~which he already has by involving not one, but two Lucy's~~... "It isn't going to work. When I was a useless human I may have risen to such taunts, but I have ascended to a higher being. The Gray you knew is long dead, and all the better for it."

He swung an arm outwards. "You think I'm hiding? Hardly, I've been.. quite busy, or didn't you like my little gallery outside? They should be dead about now. I'm thinking of making your daughter my centerpiece - she can join her dearly departed mother." He glanced over his shoulder to Lucy. "SHE refused me too." He glanced back towards Natsu, gesturing with a hand -the constructs started moving away from the fairy's cage. "You talk like delegating others to use their magic on my behalf is a crime. I have no intention of wasting my magic when I can just TAKE it. I would have done the same with yours if it weren't incompatible with what I need."

Despite him insisting he's not affected by the laughter and the hurtful hurtful words, his form hardened as another set of pulled out of his shoulders, both ending in a pair of nasty looking claws. "You've been here barely even a day and you run your mouth without seeing anything. Everything in Magnolia *I* did. *I* commanded the pixies, *I* used their power for my ends."

"Hey what the hell.." one of the few remaining pixies grumbled from somewhere in the room.

"And for more physical confrontations... that I was MORE than happy to do, starting with that annoying, obsessive woman." Gray smirked.

Lucy had been silent through Natsu's laughing tirade, staring incredulously at him - oh sure she expected him and Gray to go at it like that, but still, there was something next level about his anger here. And then she stared at Gray - no wonder Luna called him a traitor if he turned on his own people. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. It's bad enough that you went and got yourself consumed by ... by some /demon/ but this.. I ..there's got to be some part of you still "alive" in there..!"

Gray glanced at her, his smirk turning into a full blown cackle. Now _THAT'S_ rich.

"Anger you into making a mistake? Why do that when that's all you've ever done?" Natsu hot back sharply. "Betraying the guild? That was a mistake. Giving up on being Human? That was a mistake. Destroying Magnolia? That was a mistake. Taking Lucy away just cause you couldn't get over your stupid crush? That was a mistake. Messing with my daughter from another world? That was a mistake too. The list goes on and on and on." Natsu wasn't baiting Gray in the slightest. He was just battering him down, denying every single 'achievment' he made.

And then he did something to piss him off mid laughter as he reached around and took hold of Lucy's waist and pulled her into a kiss right in front of him, parting only to whisper something to her. Since he was just a pathetic second hand demon slayer he did not have Natsu's sharp senses.

"That thing they're guarding is a real fairy. We need to bust her out. You do that while I kick the living shit out of this idiot. I'll show you where to hit his toys so they come right apart when I rush him."

Edited 2017-11-25 12:19 (UTC)

There's only the faintest of twitches in what served as his eyebrow with each time he denied his accomplishments. How DARE he. "Heh heh, hahah hah, Mistakes? They were nothing but stepping stones to embracing my freedom, to what I truly was, to have the power I truly desired. GRAY could never abandon his principles, and his morales, and they held him back. The moment he rid himself of them was the moment he was able to accomplish things he could only dream of. YOU could only dream of." Piff, Piff, Piff, all those things you call mistakes were his accomplishments. "My only mistake was allowing that girl to live. Allowing /YOU/ to live." He snarled, "As much as you have ever been a thor-" ... he stopped short, momentarily surprised - almost More surprised than Lucy herself was when she was suddenly tugged over and kissed.

So caught off guard was she that she let out a surprised squeak, blushing. NATSU WHY. Though she doesn't get too flustered for long, eyes widening in surprise. A real fairy? She almost asked if he was sure since they thought the pixie was a fairy, but he sounded pretty confident about it. "Got it. ... teach him a lesson, Natsu." One he won't ever forget.

"Kissing the girl goodbye? Aw, how touching. How fortunate for her that your lips are the last thing she'll remember feeling after you're gone."

Oh he'll dare plenty.

"Blah blah blah blah more of the same old stupid lines I've heard from people whose ass I thoroughly kicked in the past." No Natsu was not going to give the princess snowflake any respect it so childishly demanded. A full course of knuckle sandwiches though now that would be arranged.

He smirked out of the corner of his eye hearing his pathetic attempt at goading him.

"Nah. Lucy's kisses give me all the luck and courage in the world~ All mine. No matter what world I'm in~" Oh he was just rubbing it in so much right now. However the next moment Natsu turned into a flash as lightning and fire wrapped around him again appearing right in front of the construct to Gray's left.

"Lets put your shitty toys away~" He said with a chilling chuckle before his hand thrust at a point in the armor near its armpit where the armor was weaker and immediately blasted its arm clean off having focused the magic aand compressed it until. his fist was inside of its body.

WORDS HURT, NATSU. .. not him, but.. y'know.. just sayin. He does /twitch/ a little at the goading. Bad enough he had to go and kiss Lucy right in front of him..!

"Is that so?" He glowered at the dragonslayer, "Does that include the worlds you failed to protect her - where she died calling your name, or thinking of you? Even the Lucy of this world never stopped saying YOUR name. Even after I buried her." He draws one of his arms up, anger causing ice to sprout more out of his shoulders like spikes, and the claw arm clenches slightly. Even when Natsu rushed forward to 'put his toys away' so to speak, he growled and thrust his arm out, that spoke elongating and shooting forward to try and get his nemesis in the back.

"It doesn't matter how many you destroy - I can ALWAYS make MORE."

Lucy, was watching intently when Natsu went to destroy the construct, taking note of where he struck, and quickly shifting from her Saggitarius stardress into her Taurus one. That would be MUCH mroe effective than her arrows. So while Natsu had Gray's attention -- no, she couldn't even think of him as Gray anymore could she? -- she rushed forward towards one of the constructs.

Rather than get riled up by Gray's words, he flashed a smirk, capturing Gray's claw in his gauntlet and squeezing tyrannically with all of his strength as he pulled Gray close enough so his face was right up in Gray's.

"Oh yeah you were talking about this world's Lucy right? Saying how she's dead?" The grin on his face should have said it all.

... he's strangely -calm- after hearing all that. Probably because he already heard it from the pixie. Still, the demon was surprised enough that he didn't notice Lucy darting past him, slipping a little on ice, but using that momentum to fly into one of the constructs that was turning to wonder why this crazy girl was heading for him. Right as a fist went straight into its body, cracking and creating a deep hole where it's stomach would be.

"That's right. I suppose you wouldn't know about it, but my world's Natsu .. I'm sure he felt her die." He sneered back -- albeit a little unsure given that GRIN Natsu was giving him. Also ow - but hey you only have two hands, and he has four, neener neener! So he's going to go for another hand with one of his, using the third to try and drive his clawed hand right into that smug bastard face of yours!

He can grow one towo or three extra hands all he likes. It will avail him not since at the end of the day he will always have only two real hands. Which was why Natsu is more than capable of taking the savage course of biting into that clawed hand and chombing down hard. Only Gray will then notice the swirling energies contained inside the cavern of his mouth and the look in Natsu's eyes that just screams 'GOTCHA!"

Edited 2017-11-26 01:11 (UTC)

Didn't your mom ever tell you not to bite people!? You shouldn't bite and explode them either. It's not nice. Although when Natsu actually chomps down on the 'clawed hand, with that look in his eyes, the demon smirks almost triumphantly, ready to boast and brag that biting him has no effect when ...something about Natsu's expression has a moment of 'wait what?' run through his head.

That's because he breaks the rule of announcing his attacks and then Graything might feel that hand suddenly grow hot, then grow tingly before violent pain and destruction is unleashed from Natsu's mouth as a beam of sheer dual energy in the form of fire and Lightning, destonates outward from where he bit down, pushing Gray away only the hand in his mouth remaining trapped within the dragon's jaw who pulls his head back while also planting his feet in Graything's sides and pushing savagely, aiming to also launch Gray like a cannonball all the way to the other side of the room and down some way through the tunnel he just came through.

How dare he break the rule! The moment his clawed hand starts to feel warm, his eyes widen in realization, "YOU -"

The explosion of fire and lightning echoes off the cavern walls along with the sound of that inhuman howl of pain as the hand is ripped away from the rest of the body by the explosion, with that gross shadowy -stuff- seeping out of the severed hand.

"GGUHAgh!" WHEE he can flyyyyyyy as he's sent flying back through the tunnel a short distance.

Meanwhile Lucy's doing just fine dealing with the constructs - it hurts her hands, punching through the ice, but she'll soak them later, it's fiiiiiine. More importantly, he's not recreating the things since he's focused on the aggro'ing tankdragon.

In addition to being flung down the tunnel there is a distance sound of a dragon's ROAR before the tunnel DemonGray was flung through erupts in a flaming explosion AGAIN - as always, even in dragon form, Natsu is over the top. He might not be able to get int he cave but his flames sure as hell can.

When Graydemon stumbles back through the tunnel - half dragging himself, almost all of his skin and the ice that had been part of his body is gone, burned to the blackened dark shadow mass that consumed his human half. Twitching, his eyes sought and found the probably VERY smug dragonslayer, growling, "H..ha.HAAHAhaah, to think I would need to discard this body because of you -AGAIN-. Always in the WAY --" Before he at least had a little bit of human-ness about him - but not now, with chunks of ice falling apart now that he'd been pushed so far. Also gimme back his hand. He lunges forward to grab Natsu's neck with that shadowy black claw-hand, mindful of those chompers this time.

At the same time he took notice of Lucy having reached the cage the fairy was in. "GET. AWAY. FROM THAT!" He snarled, whirling and turning on the occupied wizard with that mass of shadows snaking out to attack the girl.