Chapter 36
Part of Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, and my Ideas

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"That man... His name is Heliard." Lucy murmured lowly, "From what I gathered, he suffered at the hands of a business wager my father made long before I was born... And because of this wager- he was thrown into poverty and lost his home, belongings... And then a terrible accident happened that killed his wife and child." Alumina frowned, eyes narrowed. "After everything... He just came undone... And swore to take revenge on the Heartfilia family."

"I don't believe he ever had anything to with either of my parents death, and I honestly don't even consider the idea." Lucy murmured with a small shake of her head, "he must have been suffering for a very long time before coming for me... And I'm afraid by the time he did... He had gone insane... And started practicing Magic to add to it." Lucy sighed, eyes closing. "He killed me because of some long ago mistake he blamed my family for... And now so many are suffering because of this..."

Alumina stood completely still a moment, eyes falling as she tried to piece together this story. For everything she had seen of the man... Heliard... He was insane, he was evil, horrid... And yet a part of her- an unwanted part of her in this instance- had to pity him a little.

She could say she knew how it felt to lose your family, and she could relate to what he must have felt to an extent... But even so, his actions were uncalled for, they were... Despicable.

"Alumina," Lucy called her attention back gently and she nodded to show she was listening. "That... That day he killed me, I sent my Keys out." Alumina blinked and nodded slowly,

"Alright... But I only got them months after you did so..." She murmured and Lucy nodded.

"When I was dying, I knew I needed to get my... Your..." Lucy fumbled a little and shook her head. "... Spirits away, get them to someone who would take care of them, care for them... Like I promised I always would..." Lucy's voice cracked a little. Alumina looked away,

"But... Why was that person me?" She asked quietly. "You didn't even know me.. I'd never met you before...

"No, you didn't." Lucy agreed. "But something very extrodinary happened in that very moment, that last moment before I was really gone." Alumina's eyes trailed back up to meet Lucy's, "Something extraordinary in essence... But something very horrible for you."

Alumina's eyes grew wide, because something in her head turned on. Suddenly there were memories flashing before her eyes, memories she had tried so very hard to repress... Memories of blood, fire, pain... The melting frame of a train, the screams of dying people, her own scream as it fire at her throat...

Suddenly her side shot up with searing pain that lasted only a moment, and she cringed at it, eyes growing wide, wider than ever before. Her face turned pale and she sweatdropped, trembling more now.

Because now came the sense of darkness then, darkness that had lasted for a few brief moments back on the train- before it was lit with light... And she was alive again...

No... No way...

"That day, we both died." Lucy whispered, eyes falling closed. "And however remarkable it is, we took our last breaths in the same instant- and I found you, Alumina. I knew you, just in that one moment, and I felt in my heart that you were the one who would take care of all the Spirits- just as you took care of the one you already had."

Alumina found herself taking a small step back,

"And on that moment, I chose you... And then I was... You..." Lucy murmured. "As you breathed again, and my body was left to lie... I was a part of you then, and I remained a part of you since, even now..." Alumina shuddered a little. "But I quickly realized... The place that I took inside you, forced a part of yourself out... I replaced the part of you that died that day- for good... Because of me, your not whole... And now you're going to be killed by Heliard... Because..."

"H... He thinks... I... I'm... Y...you..." Alumina stammered, her entire body shaking at the words, her mind working slow and yet racing all at once. Lucy looked to her calmly,

"Because I am you," she murmured and the breath caught in Alumina's throat. "We share one body, and while we are not the same... We are both still here. You've kept my spirit alive inside of you, but your spirit- however broken it may be now- remains as well. We are two beings in one, not as one but... I think you understand..." Lucy whispered,

Alumina's mind raced with the words, or rather the memory. The memory of this... What happened... When she died, the light in the darkness... Lucy... Lucy... We...

"I... You... You... Were partially reincarnated within me... When I died...?" Alumina whispered and Lucy nodded, and that's when it all hit her- why it all made sense.

Why she had fit in Fairy Tail so well, why all her Spirits took to her so quickly... Why she had known Natsu was a Dragon Slayer that very first day she met him, and perhaps even part of the reason he had come after her so violently...

And that part of her, that part of her that knew the killer hadn't been Gildarts. The part of her that had sensed it... And the part of her that knew what Magic had been used whilst Lucy had been murdered...

That... That part of her that she had felt rise up since then...

"I don't know why I'm like this all of the sudden... I feel like some part of me melted away when I saw Gildarts... Or rather, a part of me I didn't know I had came to the surface."

If only she had known how very true those words had been then. It felt like forever ago now, though it couldn't have been more than an hour or two...

But the realization... Her shock melted away rather quickly now, it being swirled away as a knew emotion took its place, because knowing all of this now, to remember this, to...

Her eyes fell, narrowed and silent, as a sense of true sadness fell over her-sadness on a level so extreme she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so sad...

Because she quickly realized, that all her time in Fairy Tail, the happiness she felt with the Guild, with Loke and the others... They were all derived from Lucy, not herself.

They had only ever grown to her as they had because of Lucy, it was Lucy who had opened that door... And it was Lucy the Guild and the Spirits truly loved, not Alumina... Even if they were unaware of why they had attached themselves to her so fast- she knew, and she felt the tears creep up at the back of her eyes.

Because none of it was real, and a part of her felt stupid for ever thinking it could be. She hadn't earned that love... That happiness on her own... Lucy had...

She smiled though, despite herself.

.:+:.

"This is the place." Ursa and Natsu announced, eyes trailing up and down upon the structure that lay before them.

They had passed through the mists of a thick, old and musty forest that strength we on for miles. The light of the moon had a hard time piercing through the thick foliage of the ancient trees stretching out above their heads for most of the journey, until they had come upon this building.

It was backed by a large cliff that rose from the landscape on a steep level, its shadow falling on the building and the trees- including them as they stood in its massive shadow.

The building was huge, ruined for the most part- but huge. It reached toward the very top of the cliff, stretched out upon a length that seemed rather absurd, it was probably bigger than the Guild Hall six times over.

The windows were boarded up, some smashed and shattered, only a few remained whole- though these were clogged with so much dust no light from inside could have possibly shown through. The stone walls were cracked and crumbling, or otherwise covered with the entanglement of dark thick vines and ivy.

Two towers rose up on either end of the building, the second highest points of the establishments, worn and frayed banners bearing some undiscernible mark hung from these.

The highest tower rose from the center of the building, from what could only have been a seriously long staircase on the inside. This tower had the same banner, and it was so high up, one couldn't possibly see the detail etched into the stone of the tower.

Two huge, heavy and rotting wood doors at the top of a small flight of steps and a porch faced them, the small journey up the steps the only distance between them and the base of their target.

The building was silent, not a sound came from the inside, nothing moved... Nothing stirred, not the wind, nor any small creature of the surrounding wood.

Scarlet drops glittered upon the stone steps even in the shadow of the cliff and building, scarlet drops that had grown increasingly frequent, until now- now they were a thick trail of blood leading them toward the doors, to fade away into the darkness that lay inside.

The band paused a moment, seemingly unsure if they should continue on or not, because honestly the sight was rather daunting in itself...

"We must stick together." Erza said after a moment to sweep her gaze along the building. "Keep your senses sharp, it is most likely we are walking into some sort of trouble- be wary." They nodded slightly at her as she began to lead the way inside. "We need to find Alumina fast, and all of you; be careful. I don't want any injuries."

They climbed up the steps and crossed the porch, Erza carefully pushed the doors open. They creaked loudly in their rusted hinges, sending an ungodly noise out all around, and making the group wince at it.

Pushing inside they found nothing but darkness, all light seemed to fade, and not even the dim from outside seemed able to break into the building upon their entering. Natsu's fist rose before him as he ignited fire, sending the orange flow upon the ground so they could get a sense for where they were.

They seemed to be in a grand foyer with a marble statue see works long up in either side toward the second floor. Below the stairs was yet another set of huge doors, with other smaller doors and corridors leading to different sections of the house on either side.

Above them rest a great chandelier of crystal that looked as if it might have once glowed by Magical means, but by now was long dead.

"Where to, Natsu? Ursa?" Erza murmured, the two paused, looking confused because they turned toward two different sections of the building.

"Her scent... Splits...?" Natsu murmured.

"Some of it leads this way.." Ursa said, motioning left.

"Some of it leads toward the stairs..." Natsu flicked his head in the direction a little.

"What I smell leads this way," Wendy murmured, pointing to the right.

"I'm catching the scent leading toward those doors." Gajeel muttered, gesturing out toward the doors underneath the stair case.

"But that doesn't make any sense, how could her scent lead in four different directions?" Gray mumbled.

"How indeed."

The low, dangerous voice made everyone tense- whirling around every which way to try and pinpoint the source.

"Who are you?" Erza demanded coldly, a long sword Requiping into her hand. "Show yourself!"

The only response was cold, husky laughter that chilled them all to their bones.

"Welcome, to my home, Fairy Tail Wizards." The voice continued. "You have now stepped into the void between death and darkness, every place you go is under my full control." Laughing again...

"Good luck trying to find me and the Blonde... If she's still alive."

Then suddenly everything went dark, as if the light from Natsu's fist had suddenly disappeared. Some felt themselves shoved either which way, others felt themselves thrust upward from where they had been standing by some unseen force, and the rest- the floor disappeared from under their feet and they fell down.. Down...

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"Mnn..." Ursa hissed, eyes scrunching at the pain in her head, placing a hand against it. She growled in pain, feeling as if her face had been smashed into the floor...

She paused, feeling to find she was on the floor and indeed her face had been smashed into the floor- because for wherever reason the floor had opened and she had been sent to fall down for whoever knows how long...

"Ursa... Are you alright...?" A voice asked slowly and she forced her eyes open to see faint golden light keeping the surrounding shadow at bay, beside her was crouched Leo.

She blinked at him, nodding a little. He sighed slightly to see her golden eyes open to look up at him,

"I'm fine..." She murmured slowly, sitting up and look around a moment, taking a moment to notice the light was filtering from Leo's ring upon his hand. "Where the hell are we?" She asked and Loke frowned.

"I have no clue... We were separated from everyone else." He mumbled, getting to his feet and holding a hand for her to pull her up beside him. "Where do we go now?" He asked, glancing at Ursa to see if she had an idea.

Ursa looked out into the complete black that the light from his ring could not touch, eyes narrowed and ears perked. She seemed to be looking for something in the sea of black, and for a moment he looked toward it too.

"I think..." Ursa started and trailed off again, he blinked.

"You think..?" He pressed.

"I think... I can pick up Alumina's scent..." She mumbled lowly, sounding quite unsure. Loke rest a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to him in surprise, he gave her a reassuring nod.

"If anyone can, its you." He said and she paused, before giving him a small nod of thanks.

"Follow me."

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The shadowy figure of Heliard stood in the darkness of his chamber silently, smirking with the utmost malice at the mirrors showing to him the images of the separated Fairy Tail Wizards within his home. Hands clasped together before him and smiling, dark eyes glittering as he waited in utmost anticipation.

Behind him lay the motionless figure of the young woman he had abducted, and so brutally harmed since coming into possession of her. He did not care if he harmed her, in fact he wished to- nothing more would make him happy...

But while the blonde lay upon the stone, her life draining from the wound on her head to pool upon the floor around her, he wasn't concerned with the very thing he had sought after for months.

All his attention was upon his new toys, those he would play with to his hearts content- and oh, did he have some things in store! As he orchestrated the dangers that would plague those who had arrived; he failed to notice perhaps the most important thing.

Alumina's breaths grew slower, shallower... Every second she drew breath even less... And his failure to notice this did nothing but ensure the end of this tale.

But that is to be explained later, for now it would seem the lives of those who had come to rescue the blonde were hanging in the balance of this mad-man's own amusement.

"Come my little Fairies! Come! Try to reach your friend, but only in vain... Let me see you bleed, scream... Hehe... And then let me see you die!"

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Will try to update a chapter every day, since its so close to being finished. The next few are kinda long, so look for those! ^^

Thank you for reading! Comments, votes, reads- they are all very much appreciated!