•••

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Almost immediately after shouting it out, Erza reqipped into her armour, ready to fight.

However, he remained unfazed, unmoving. Instead, a cold, sinister smile grew on his face, the mere sight of which sent shivers down Lucy's spine.

Instinctively, her hand clutched her keys, feeling a sense of security with them by her side.

But she knew that she'd be lying if she said that it was the only thing.

It was Natsu's arm stretched protectively in front of her.

Everyone had an air of caution around, and for a moment everything was silent and still, as if it wasn't even real.

And then an explosion happened.

Lucy grunted as she hit the wall behind her, the air knocked out of her due to the impact. The others were thrown back from the impact as well, momentarily losing focus.

"Fairy Tail." the mayor's cold voice echoed through his silhouette that could be seen approaching them from the clouds of dust. "Do you even know where you are right now?"

"Does it even matter?!" Natsu retorted, getting up and lighting his fist on fire. "All I know is that I've got to beat the living crap outta you! It doesn't matter where!"

He charged forward, ready to strike. However, despite the direct attack approaching his way, the mayor didn't move.

"Actually, you do." he said coldly. "You might as well be killing each and every citizen of this town if you don't listen."

Natsu's eyes widened, and he stopped just before his fist could collide with his face. Wilfred took advantage of this opportunity, and with a strong punch, sent the Dragon Slayer back.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Happy called out worriedly, but stopped when they saw him shake his head in a no. Happy retreated without a word, but Lucy did so with acquiesce, her eyes still scanning him all over for plausible injuries.

'What?!' she suddenly realised. 'I know he's strong. He's been through worse. So why am I so worried?'

"Better." Wilfred's voice snapped her attention back to him, his slight smirk seeming ominous. "Now listen."

"Welcome to the Crimson Luna guild."

"Crimson Luna?!" Carla exclaimed. "Isn't that the dark guild that-"

"Supplies dark artefacts to the other dark guilds? Yes, we are." Wilfred chuckled darkly. "And this building you're seeing? What do you think is beyond the doors here?"

"Knowing you and your psycho buddies, probably something twisted." Gray spat.

His dark gaze shifted to the ice mage and he gave him a twisted smile. "Looks like we have two sharp ones here. Well what do you suppose it could be?"

Nobody spoke, everyone in a fix. They had their ideas but nobody wanted to speak up. Because to give their thoughts words would mean..would mean that it could actually be true.

"Tsk tsk.." Wilfred sighed, disappointed. "And to think there were two sharp ones." His expression darkened and a sinister smile crept up his face. "How about I give you a hint? Hm?"

"What do you think happened to the people who disappeared?"

Lucy audibly gasped, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"And we have a winner! Ding Ding Ding!" Wilfred chuckled, as if they were in a friendly game show.

"You wouldn't..you can't.."

"Use them as guinea pigs for my experiments?" he pretend to think, however that expression changed in an instant. "Oh but I already am."

"How could you even do this?!" Happy yelled.

"Well because it's easy and convenient." he answered nonchalantly. "After all we do need experiment subjects and here they were in abundance."

"We're talking about lives here! People died because of you! They're dying because of you.." Wendy bellowed, her voice quivering. "All because of you and your strange dark magic..and now this.."

"Wendy Marvell." Wilfred called. "Look at me." he said, motioning towards himself. The sky maiden unwillingly stared at his expressionless face. "Do you..see..any hint of remorse?"

Wendy gasped. She didn't. She couldn't. He was too far gone. Far too evil. Far too delusional.

His eyes were gleaming red with madness. He was crazy.

"Now now..another thing. Don't even think of trying anything funny. Or else with a mere signal I'll kill every single one of those guinea pigs behind these doors."

"They're people! Not your guinea pigs!" Wendy exclaimed, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"What do you want from us?!" Lucy shouted.

"Glad you asked Heartfilia." he smiled darkly, his eyes glimmering with an evil shade of red. "I want E.N.D."

"E.N..ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Lucy bellowed with tears of panic in her eyes. "How can you possibly want something that doesn't even exi-!"

He snapped his fingers before she could even finish, a loud explosion behind her cutting her off. Wilfred's eyes were shadowed but they didn't need to actually see them to know they were glistening with evil.

"LUCY!" the others called, looking for her through the smoke and debris.

"That does it!" Natsu announced, his voice raspy. "I'm not taking this crap anymore!"

He charged forward, Erza and Gray close behind, but Wilfred dodged their attacks with ease, moving as swiftly as the wind.

"Lucy!" Wendy called out, pulling the blonde mage out. "Are you okay!"

However, the celestial mage was in a trance, unable to believe what she had just experienced. "H-How.."

Wendy looked over in concern, gently putting her hand on her shoulders. "How what?"

Lucy's attention snapped to the fighting trio, wondering if they had figured it out yet. Wendy still confusedly looked over from one to another, unable to understand what was going on.

"Well well.." Wilfred sighed, standing in front of Natsu, Erza and Gray, chuckling darkly. "Have you noticed it yet or are you going to play dumb?"

Natsu 'tsked' while Gray and Erza remained silent. Wendy and Lucy watched the exchange intently, too anxious to even blink.

"Your spells.." Natsu began. "They're.."

"Oh so you aren't going to play dumb after all?"

"How are you able to use..curses?" Erza began, her voice trailing off.

Wendy audibly gasped, understanding the full situation now. "What.." she said, her voice quivering. "How is that even-"

"They're not just any curses." Lucy said, cutting her off. Her gaze still didn't leave him for a moment, she was watching his every move.

"They are the Tartaros curses."

"What? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know Happy. But all I know is that I knew that explosive spell. I've felt it before. It was Jackal's."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Remember when we were captured by that demon who wanted to suck our souls out?" Lucy asked.

Happy nodded. "Franmalth."

"Yes. Remember how he even sucked out Natsu's magic? Saying that even spells have souls? I didn't understand it then but I think I do now."

"Lucy I don't get where you're getting with this."

Her eyes were still fixated on the four of them, watching them fight. Seeing Wilfred's spells there was no doubt left in her mind. It had to be it.

"I've fought him. I know. There's no doubt in my mind. The spell, it was too familiar. I felt it. It's his."

"Then what does all of this mean?" Carla asked, her voice shaking with disbelief.

"It means that.."

"I duplicated the demon curses."

•••

He went through the wall, the debris and smoke from the impact all around.

"How'd you even do something like this?!"

Wilfred got up, panting but the sick, twisted expression never once changing.

"All his demons disappeared with his death! All of them!"

"Call it the perks of working with Tartaros maybe." he laughed. "I was close enough that I could observe and figure them out. Glimpses at the scriptures, a quick peek in the library. It was all worth it."

Everyone had expressions of shock. Never had they expected him to actually be a part of Tartaros.

"Figuring out demonic script after you annihilated them was challenging." he continued. "But not impossible. And my observations finally bore fruit. I knew exactly what I wanted."

He started laughing maniacally, shaking his head. "Such an honour isn't it Fairy Tail? You get to be my first project!" Then suddenly, his whole demeanor went dark, and cold. "Try to live it through. Because my test subjects didn't."

As if the rage earlier to beat him to pulp wasn't enough, this ticked Natsu the wrong way. Without waiting even another moment, he charged forward, his fist colliding with Wilfred's face.

"You might've duplicated the curses." Natsu began, his voice unnaturally low and deadly. "But you forgot that we've already defeated them once."

He then put his fist in his mouth, swallowing the explosion. "Your tricks wouldn't work on us." he said, panting.

Wilfred coughed, shakily getting up. "Y-you guys.." he began, his voice shaking from the strain. "Are such a nuisance."

He got up, a little unsteady. Despite there being blood on his face, his smile didn't leave for once.

"You might've defeated the demons." he smirked. "But you didn't defeat this."

He snapped his fingers, and the whole structure rumbled. Red, tissue like substance started coming out of the walls and the floor, coiling within it everything it touched.

"You-!"

Before they even knew it, they were already in it's grasp.

"It's that stuff again" Gray yelled, trying to pull out of it. "Ugh! I can't get out!"

"Not again!" Erza exclaimed. "It's zapping away my magic power!"

"What is this?!" Wendy exclaimed, fruitlessly trying to pull out. "I can't move!"

"Lucy! Happy!" Natsu exclaimed, extending his hand to hold the celestial mage's.

"How does it feel now eh? To feel so helpless? Again?"

"I've got you Happy and Carla." Lucy mumbled, hugging the exceeds and out of it's way. "Fly off of me once this rumbling and shaking is over."

"This is weird." Wilfred said, looking at them with a raised brow. "It should've consumed you by now. What's slowing it down?"

"The...Alegira is slow.?" Lucy repeated in disbelief. She then noticed that it indeed was slow, coiling up halfway to her calves only. She tried to shake her leg free but the despite the slow speed, the grip was strong.

Suddenly, he looked up, straight at Lucy. "It's you!" he exclaimed. "It's slowing down because of you! Because it was your magic that nullified it."

"W-What?! But I-" and that's when she realised. Even though it was the spirit king that nullified the spell, it was still her magic that summoned him.

"Spells have souls. And it identified you. That's what is slowing it down."

"What do you even want? What is all of this for?!"

He 'tsked', feigning disappointment. "You already forgot? Didn't I tell you? I want E.N.D."

"Again." Lucy shouted. "How can you want something that doesn't even exist?!"

"Doesn't even exist?" he asked, brow raised in mock question. "But I see him right here."

His gaze shifted to Natsu and so did Lucy's.

"I've got my demon right here." Wilfred said, pointing at Natsu.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Natsu yelled. "I'm human!"

His eyes darkened and he strode over to him aggressively, pulling his hair up. "Oh is that so Etherious Natsu Dragneel?"

"He is not a demon!" Lucy yelled, tears in her eyes. "He's not! He's human! He's our Natsu! I made sure of that. I rewrote it all!"

He glanced sideways at her, his expression stoic. "You're forgetting something here." he growled. "If you can rewrite him as a human, then I can rewrite him as a demon."

He let go of Natsu, walking towards her now instead. "Granted, it'll be hard. But not impossible. And having him here would be perfect!"

"We almost destroyed this town when we came to know that the remaining townsfolk had sneakily sent a help request." he chuckled. "But with what luck, you were the ones to accept it!"

He started playing with her hair, while she just stood there, shocked.

"Get you hands off of her!" Natsu yelled.

"Or what?" Wilfred asked, looking at him. "You cannot even move Dragneel."

"Despite being a part of that guild, we were lowlifes. Just a bunch of insects for those demons." he began, an expression of pure hatred covering his features. "They had the audacity to do that when they were the real rejects."

"So I decided to teach them a lesson. I observed them, studied them. The curses they so boasted of? I swore to make them my own."

"But then you came Fairy Tail! Destroyed Tartaros overnight! I duplicated the curse but who would I use it against? My main enemies were all dead!"

"I lost all hope. I had invested myself so much into it all that without it I was empty. I just existed. Just an empty shell. But then one year later..."

He grinned, staring back at the shell shocked team. "I learnt of E.N.D's true identity. And what better win would be there than doing exactly what the nine demons couldn't do? Revive E.N.D."

"You're delusional!" Wendy screamed at him, still fighting fruitlessly again this curse's bounds. "You can't do it."

"Oh? But I will."

Lucy couldn't believe it. How was all of this even possible? How did it all come to this? Will they lose Natsu forever? No, she could never let that happen.

She didn't want to lose his smile, his stupidity, his love. She didn't want to lose him.

Lucy knew the answer now. It was always in front of her. She had just been too blind to see it.

She knew her answer to his confession under the cherry blossom.

"You won't." Lucy growled, her bangs shadowing her eyes. "I won't let you."

Wilfred looked at her with a mixed expression. Uncertainty, amusement and fear.

The celestial mage gripped both of her wrists tightly, standing still.

This was it. The moment of truth. She didn't know if she was strong enough to cast it but she had to try.

For them.

For her.

For him.

Yes, she loved him.

"What are you doing?" Wilfred asked, unamused. "If it's Urano Metria I'm afraid it won't work." he chuckled.

'Oh it will.' Lucy thought. 'Because it'll be a lot times worse!'

"O power of the great moon-"

She saw his expression change to that of panic, once he realised what she was doing.

"Grant me your strength."

Lucy internally smirked, enjoying his state. Golden enery radiated from her, illuminating the room.

"Help me restore the balance and eliminate-"

"Wait!" he yelled out desperately. "Don't do this! It'll backfire on you!"

"Lucy?!" Natsu yelled. "What are you doing."

'Backfire huh?' she thought, smiling sadly. 'But I can't back down now. It's all or nothing.'

"All that what is causing hindrance."

"Seriously no! Stop!"

"Lucy!"

"Paying a price greater than death I shall-"

'This is it. It all ends now.'

"..order the celestial bodies...to SHINE ON!"

"Luna Amissa!"

•••
Bruh
It took me 3 fucking days to write it! Oof

And 2000+ words.

I better get some appreciation for this lmao

Anyway. What'd ya think of the backstory? Was it good?

Please vote, comment and share! It'll make mAh day♥♥♥

Until then!
Belle🌸
🔥♥🔑