~Break Him~

Song; Lost in You

~I love to read comments from everyone telling how they felt and what's on their mind about these chapters. It makes me so happy and gives me more courage to write when I hear from you all~

Lucy Heartfilia was on a warpath.

Her whip trailed against the ground, taut and ready. Her blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail to show everyone her determined face. Her head was held high and her eyes glistened with the promise of battle should anyone dare challenge her.

Plue was trotting in front of her as he led her through the cavern. His orange nose was pressed against the cool ground, tracking a scent trail that smelled of smoke and fire. His Master's eyes were alert and her movements fluid. Her footsteps were silent and controlled as she glided forward. Lucy kept close to the rocky walls decorated with moss and vines, the walls were her cover, a place where she could keep out of sight.

Soon, low voices reached her thrumming ears, making her halt, Plue stopping as well. Lucy tilted her head and closed her eyes to zone in on the conversation. There was a gruff voice and a feminine one that echoed off the cavern's rocky walls.

"Our Lord is not going to be pleased when we inform him of his lost prizes." The woman sighed.

"Dammit!" The man shouted, slamming his foot against an empty Lacrima that once prisoned the Dragon Slayers. "How could you let this happen!"

There was a scoff that followed the angry words.

"Do not blame me. You were the one on guard." She paused, and Lucy heard the smile in her sultry voice. "Besides, at least we have acquired one."

Lucy's beating heart turned to ice.

"Ah, our Lord will be most pleased..."

The woman's next words made Lucy ready her whip.

"Just try not to damage him too much."

That was all it took for the rage to take control and Lucy sprinted out of her hiding place. The man was the one who saw her first but it was much too late for him. Lucy let her whip fly and it smacked into his cheek, sending his neck snapping to the side. A growl filled her ears and a white blur flashed by her. Plue took a flying leap and crashed into the cursing woman. Down Plue and the woman went.

The white dog snarled in her face and Lucy took the opportunity to jam the heel of her foot into the nameless woman's nose. A blood chilling snap filled the cavern's still air and a scream of pain joined the ugly sound. "You bitch!" The woman cried, clutching at her bloody nose. "I'll kill you! I'll kill-" Lucy knocked the back handle of her whip against the woman's temple, silencing her.

The Princess flicked her whip and jogged along side her dog. Suddenly, Plue let out a unique howl, and picked up his pace. Soon Lucy was running after her dog, pumping her legs hard to keep up. Plue took a couple of sharp turns, went straight for a while, and then took a right that left Lucy scrambling to keep up. When Plue stopped, Lucy thanked Mavis out loud, and panting heavily, she looked up-

Lucy's lungs closed up along with her mind. Everything went blank for her.
Even her thoughts that had been racing just moments ago faded away.
What her eyes were seeing made bile rise to the back of her throat. She choked as a broken cry left her. She fell to her knees and slammed her fists against the clear surface.

The clear surface of a Lacrima that held Natsu inside.

Lucy Heartfilia's heart plummeted and the cord was beginning to make her heart bleed in its tightness. Her breathing was erratic and broken as she looked at Natsu's still, bloodied face from within the crystal. Plue whined beside her and she snapped her eyes to her dog.

"Plue, I need you to go and get Levy." Lucy pleaded to her dog, he cocked his head to the side. "Levy..." She breathed, looking back at the Lacrima that kept her Dragon from her arms. "Levy can burn it with her Magic."
When Plue still whined and didn't move, Lucy's frustration overflowed into her voice. "Go!" She screamed at her dog who shrank back. "Go Plue!"

With a soft bark, Plue got up, and bolted. Lucy slumped against the Lacrima with a sob. She didn't know whether or not her dog had understood her or not. But she prayed that he had. "Please...Plue...Please."

"Like a dog can do anythin'."

Lucy jerked back and swiftly twirled around, her whip already sailing through the air- a gloved hand grabbed the end of the whip inches away from his smirking face.
"Damn, Bunny Girl, watch it," the man moved the whip away from his face, revealing crimson eyes.
"Gihihi."

Lucy's eyes widened at the man who stood towering over her. "You are..." She trailed off at his eye roll, "Yea, the one ya got all pissy at." The metal studded Slayer moved around her to stand beside her and looked up at Natsu. "Ah, fiery bastard." He growled, tapping his knuckles against the Lacrima's surface with a scowl. "I guess I hafta save yer dumbass once more."

Lucy sucked in a gasp as the man's right hand started to shift and change. His skin melted away and was replaced with shining iron. Scales erupted from the iron in zig zags, adding another layer of power. His fist was coated in iron and talons that glistened when the element lengthened. The man with wild black hair backed away a bit-motioning Lucy to do the same, cocked his arm back, and rammed his iron fist into the Lacrima.

Lucy scrambled away from him, opening her mouth to warn him of the defense that it had-but nothing happened. There was no sound of humming or yellow electricity to fry the one who was trying to break in.
Natsu's Nest Mate laughed his unique laugh and continued to hit the Lacrima. With each hit he dealt out the Lacrima shook and whined its protest.

When the Dragon Slayer unleashed another powerful hit, a crack appeared. The man paused to stare at the small crack, he smirked. With a grunt, he slammed his iron scaled fist in the middle of the flaw, and with a loud keening whine, the Lacrima shattered. Natsu rocked forward with the force and he fell, right into his Nest Mate's awaiting arms.

Lucy pushed herself off the ground and ran over to both of the Slayers. She had to stand on her toes to see Natsu's calm face. He was breathing.
Knocked unconscious, bloodied, bruised, shoved into a Lacrima that could have killed him, but breathing.
Lucy's shoulders slumped, and a breath that she had been holding was released.

The Princess looked up to Natsu's Nest Mate and smiled, "Thank you...?" She trailed off, leaving an opening for the rough Dragon Slayer to offer up his name. He turned on his heel just as he said, "Gajeel." With a name to put to his face, Lucy hurried after Gajeel as he strode forward with the sleeping Fire Dragon Slayer in his arms.

The sharp cord around Lucy's heart loosened.

The Princess' Dragon was safe.

But she wasn't.

Gajeel stopped walking just as Lucy did. Both of their ears had picked up the sound that they really did not wish to hear. The sound of pounding footsteps, raised voices, and the sound of weapons being set free from their sheaths. Lucy's eyes met Gajeel's, "Run." She bit out.

They ran.

Gajeel, who had a longer stride than her own, and with enhanced Dragon speed on his side, was leaving Lucy in his awake. The Princess' chest was heaving and her lungs were burning hot. A sharp ache was taking up her side, begging her to stop. But her fear of being caught and for Natsu and Gajeel to also fall to that same fate made her keep running.

Shadows danced menacingly on the rocky wall ahead of them, alerting Lucy to the guards that were rapidly gaining on them. Her eyes fell to Natsu, still asleep, still hurt, still trapped. Lucy's eyes flashed.
She skidded to a stop, slowly turning to face the onslaught of weapons and people dead set on stopping them from escaping.

Lucy unhooked her whip and let it uncurl itself. The heart shaped tip rested on the ground, smeared blood dotting it. Lucy took a deep breath, letting her legs and arms stop their shaking, and waited for her heart to stop thundering in her chest.
Only it didn't and it took her breath away.

Honestly, Lucy was scared, terrified as she faced the multiple enemies coming at her. But, she tightened her grip, I have to be strong.

A flash of a laughing boy filled her mind's eye, giving her strength. Lucy licked her dry lips and slashed her whip through the air, a warning crack coming from her weapon.

For him.

With a battle cry Lucy rocketed forward. All the training that Natsu taught her leaking into her wild mind. Lucy drew back her arm and let her whip shoot forward into the throng of people. Screams rose up to her ears but Lucy pressed on, even as her stomach lurched. Her screams joined in when someone cut into her side. She pushed them away and kept on.

Lucy punched, kicked, scratched, and yes, even sank her teeth into an enemy. Lucy was not going to go down without drawing some blood first.

Gajeel had just stepped out into the cave's exit when he didn't hear Lucy's breathing or footsteps. Gajeel spun around and his jaw fell open. His eyes tracked Lucy as she leaped in the air and delivered a spinning kick to a man's face, breaking his jaw. The Princess did a back flip using the momentum that kicking the guy in the face gave her.

She landed smoothly on her feet and lashed out with her whip. The heart shaped tip cut into a woman's cheek, then sliced through the flesh of a man's shirt, cutting his chest. Lucy risked a glance behind her to see if Gajeel and Natsu had gotten away, only to gap. The Iron Dragon Slayer was still there.

"Gajeel!" Lucy screamed, knocking someone's sword away from her face with her arm. "What are you doing?!" Lucy ducked under a man coming for her and slammed the heel of her foot into his spine. "Get Natsu out of here!" She cried, ramming her fist into a guard's face. Gajeel had begun to shake his head when a man broke away from where Lucy and the rest were and raised his sword at Gajeel.

The Iron Dragon Slayer raised his leg and smashed his booted foot into the man's gut. The man doubled over and Gajeel kicked him away. That one little attack almost made the Dragon Slayer double over. He couldn't do that again, he wouldn't be able to stand, let alone keep his hold on his Nest Mate.

"Oi! Bunny Girl!" The Slayer yelled, "Come on! Don't stay and continue to fight!" It was Lucy's turn to shake her head. "I'll cover you! Just get out of here!" Lucy did her infamous Lucy Kick that gave her enough time to set her blazing eyes onto Gajeel.

"You get him out of here, Gajeel! You owe that to him!" Gajeel let out a growl of frustration, he didn't want to leave someone else behind. But, the look in her brown eyes made his heavy feet move, and then he started to run towards the exit, Natsu in his arms.

To the light.

Leaving Lucy behind in the dark.

A smile curled up the corners of her lips as Lucy kept fighting the sea of never ending enemies that just kept coming for her. Weapons flashed, blows were dealt out, fists smacked into flesh, and through it all, Lucy almost felt peaceful. She weaved and dodged the many attacks thrown at her. But, she didn't escape them all.

A knife plunged into her back, barely missing her spine. Lucy's back arched and a startled cry left her. They swarmed her then.
I get it now...
Arms wrapped around her,
Why you stayed...
bringing her down.
Why you didn't run too...
Her face was smashed into the dirt.
You wouldn't let your family get hurt...not when you just got them back...
Lucy cried out when they bent her arms behind her hurt back.
I understand...

Tears pricked at her eyes and before she could release another scream, something hard hit her in the back of her head.
I understand...
Sound faded out and black dots assaulted her eyes. The pain slowly ebbed away as did her consciousness.
One would do anything...
Before Lucy's eyes were taken over by the darkness that waited for her, she saw Gajeel's slowly faded form.
For the ones they hold dear...
A tired smile pulled at her lips. You...made it...Natsu...

The darkness eagerly took her away.

Lucy Heartfilia's eyes slid shut just as Natsu Dragneel's eyes fluttered open.

🔥🌟

Lucy's eyes slowly cracked open. A deep throbbing was happening behind her eyes, making her hiss. A headache was making her stomach roll and nausea made her dizzy. Her movements were painfully slow and weak when she tried to move her aching legs and arms. Lucy's hazy eyes took in a ceiling...a burnt ceiling that looked oh so familiar.

Her fingers brushed against silky covers and when she moved her heavy body, a mattress was there to soften her movements.

"Awake I see."

Lucy's eyes snapped open fully and she jerked upwards in her bed. Her head jerked around to look to see who the smooth voice belonged to. Her harsh motion had made her headache flare up. It felt like someone was splitting her skull open. Lucy put a shaky hand to her temple and one eye was squeezed shut in pain. Nevertheless, Lucy remained fully alert as her good eye scanned the darkness of her room.

The moon casted pale light, making it possible for her to barely make out a tall, slender silhouette a few feet away. Lucy carful got out of bed and weakly stood. Her wounds felt like fire and she felt like crying at the pain.
But she wouldn't. Lucy was too strong to cry in front of the enemy.

"Show your face," Lucy spat, clutching her side that was heavily bandaged. A chuckle was heard, then, "Very well." There was not a sound to be heard as the blacked out person finally stepped into the moon's light. Lucy sucked in a breath, she knew him. "Mard Geer," Lucy breathed. "The Underworld King." Mard Geer bowed his head in acknowledgment to his name and title.

"What are you doing in my chambers?" Lucy asked, voice low, muscles tensed. "You should be nicer to I," he told her, glided over to where she stood. "I am the one who saved you after all." Lucy gritted her teeth, "Do not expect a thank you from me." "Oh?" Mard Geer hummed, placing his hand to his cheek delicately. "And here I thought you were smart, Princess."

Lucy's heart was beating wildly and she felt light headed. She fought through the daze and tried her best to not let the fear show.

"Why did you take me away? Why am I not rotting in a cell as we speak?" Lucy asked, fearing the answer that would leave the Underworld Lord's smirking lips. "I suppose I cannot give a mere human like you much praise for your smarts." He sighed, circling her with sharp eyes that could take one's soul if you looked too long.

"You are apart of my plans, Princess," Mard Geer informed Lucy, much to her dislike. "Why?" She asked demandingly. Lucy was getting tired of skipping around the most important answer. "'Why'," The Underworld King breathed. "That's all you insects ask. Oh, but Princess," Mard Geer leaned so close that their noses brushed. "You will not favor the answer."

Shivers attacked Lucy without mercy at the man's closeness. His presence alone radiated coldness and...wrongness. It smacked into Lucy with enough force to make her senses go fuzzy. She wanted to scream and push him away, but something was holding her back. It was her survival instincts warning her to be wise.

Prey never lived by invoking the predator.

After several moments of intense, air stealing seconds, Mard Geer murmured. "I wish for you to get rid of that nuisance of a Dragon."

Lucy's whole existence paused when those words met her ears that were starting to hear a high pitched whine. "W...what?" Lucy had not felt her lips move when that one word of disbelief slipped past. Mard Geer's smirk widened a bit. "Ah, I told you that you would not approve of the answer once you heard it." The man touched by ice and darkness leaned back to watch in amusement at Lucy's horrified face.

"You see, Princess, that lowly boy has been a problem to my plans for a while now. I have tried to halt him once, before he reached the castle. Alas that did not work as well as I had planned." Lucy's heart stopped as she slowly lifted her watery eyes to Mard Geer. "Y-you shot him down?" With a nod from him, Lucy's heart began to thunder with shock and anger.
This monster shot Natsu down! How dare he!

"When I learned that he had lived, thanks to you," he flicked his index finger at her with disapproval. "I knew that I would have to think of something else to end him. He was getting much too close to my prizes."

It was like Lucy had been hit by a bolt of lightning that brought with it knowledge. She had discovered the missing pieces and had completed the puzzle. The puzzle surrounding the mystery of the Dragon Slayers.

It was all Mard Geer's doing.

"I then had a most brilliant idea," Mard Geer declared, his dark eyes filled with equally dark glee. "I would just have to use you." A cruel smile twisted Mard Geer's face and made Lucy's stomach roll. "You are very good with words, Princess. I acquire you to use that pretty mouth of yours to say truly ugly things." Lucy was already shaking her head, "I won't." She spat, her voice strong and clear. "I will not bend to your will nor will I hurt my friend."

Mard Geer sighed once more. "Why must you defy me? Why must you protect a creature such as he?" Lucy was all too ready to curse and defend Natsu when the Lord's next words made her freeze. "You do not even know of what he truly is." Mard Geer smirked and said lowly, "He has not told you everything, Princess."

Lucy's movements were stiff as she again shook her head, "A person is entitled to keep secrets."

"Not the kind of secrets that he has," Mard Geer replied. "The secrets that are as dark and deadly as your and his pasts."

"My...my past?" Lucy breathed, her mind falling into the darkness that her past memories brought.

"Will you still defend him when you learn of what he has done?"
Lucy's mouth moved but no words came out as Mard Geer began to weave a story about a little boy and a devastating war...

~Ten years ago; The three Kingdoms of Celestial, Tartaros, and the Hidden Kingdom were at war.

The war had been started by a little boy that's body was covered in sparkling scales of scarlet. The greedy eyes of hunters had been drawn to the scales that gleamed like diamonds. Thinking that they could get a handsome fortune for the child of Fairy Tales, they kidnapped him, and brought him to the land of Celestial.

Angered and vengeful, the Hidden Kingdom filled with monsters that breathed fire prepared for war. The boy's Father, the Fire King, went to war with the people of Celestial for stealing what did not belong with them.

It was a bloody fight filled with smoke and fire.

The Hidden Kingdom was winning easily as they fought their way to the castle; where the Fire King's child was being held. At this time, before the beasts could reach the castle, the King of the Celestial Kingdom called upon Tartaros, the Demon Kingdom for help. The Lord of the Demons agreed to offer his assistants, if the King did something for him after they had won. The King was so desperate that he gave the Lord his approval.

If not for the Demons of Tartaros, the Celestial Kingdom would be no more than a pile of ash.

The Fire King fell

and a new monster ruled the sky's with fire and fury.

The creatures that made up the Hidden Kingdom were no more. As for the stolen boy that had started this war, he got away...but not without help.

See, this is where the story of the war takes a secret turn. It is said that the boy was taken away from the cell in the dungeon by someone in the castle them self and set free.

It was Layla Heartfilia, the Queen, that let the boy go free.

For her treacherous actions in setting the boy free, she was fed poison, and later died. Leaving behind a daughter that she adored and a Kingdom that loved her.

The boy that had sparked the war was never found again...but there were some who knew of the boy and what he had done.

Someone like Mard Geer and the Demons of Tartaros.

Natsu Dragneel had been the little boy that had started the devastating war that took away Layla Heartfilia.

And after ten long years of waiting, the king finally found out what the Underworld King wanted of him.

To marry his daughter, Lucy Heartfilia so he could have access to the Dragon Slayers beneath her castle.

To harvest and control their magnificent power all for himself~

"So, tell me Princess," Mard Geer leered at the silent Princess. "Do you still wish to protect him?"

Lucy's messy blond hair had fallen in her face as Mard Geer had told his tale. Her bangs shadowed her face and concealed her eyes even from the moonlight. Her shoulders were slumped forward and her head was bowed. Mard Geer began to smirk when his dead eyes caught sight of her balling up her hands. Lucy's fingernails dug into the palm of her hands. She lifted her head slowly and rolled her shoulders back. Her hair slipped away from her eyes that were burning with hatred and rage.

Lucy locked her blazing brown eyes onto Mard Geer, who looked curious, and said lowly, calmly, deadly.
"I cannot hate the one who has brought me endless happiness and adventure." Lucy tilted her head and looked at the Demon Lord as if he were nothing more than a insect not worthy of even smashing.

"You must have forgotten, Mard Geer," Lucy took a step forward, her head held high, and her lips drawn into a hard line. "That you are talking to a future Queen. A Queen that will one day have the authority to wipe out all that you have known. A Queen that has seven Dragon Slayers on her side." Lucy's body was outlined in the moon's light and the star's glow as she put Mard Geer in his place. Lucy allowed a savage smile to overtake her pretty face and she leaned close to the Demon Lord, whispering. "You best be careful of how you speak to me."

Mard Geer rose up to meet Lucy Heartfilia's challenge. "You should be very afraid of Mard Geer, Demon Lord of Tartaros, Princess Lucy. I am not one to be mocked-"

"Silence!" Lucy yelled, cutting him off with a sneer. "I have grown tired of you talking. It is I who you should not dare to mock. It is you who should not dare to threaten someone dear to me. It is you who should not dare think that you could use me for your own personal gain." Lucy seethed, anger flowing through her veins, making them burn. Power was overtaking her mind and flowing from her in waves.

Lucy had never felt so-

"I will have him killed."

Cold.

The power that had been flickering inside of her burnt out as soon as it had been lit. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes dimmed. Her arms fell limply to her sides and her hands uncoiled. "I will tell everyone of your involvement with this lowly creature and you will be executed for harboring such a thing inside your home." Mard Geer's eyes flashed, "The friends you hold dear to your heart will join you in death."

He knew he had her.
He could see it in the way the fight left her dull eyes that had been brimming with it only moments ago. He could tell by the way Lucy went still and silent. Her eyes fell as did her head.

Lucy had been defeated.

Mard Geer, the Underworld Lord of Tartaros, stood towering over her, a smirk on his pale face. "You can completely destroy him, I'm sure you are aware. You have that kind of power over him, Princess." Lucy's heart was filled with disbelief as was her mind. Power...? I have the power over him...?

"He is so entangled in you that you can do whatever you wish with him.
Kill. Steal. Destroy. Die." Mard Geer titled his head with his palm.
"He would do it all for his precious treasure. That is why I desire for you to break him. So he will not ever come back to you again." The Demon paused, "Or, of course, I could just kill him if you refuse. It would be much easier that way anyway. It would amuse me too."

Lucy clenched her fists and her skin prickled. However, before she could say anything, Mard Geer averted his eyes from her, to the balcony. His evil eyes flashed. "He approaches. You know what you must do." Mard Geer turned, his long coat flying around his ankles, "You know what will happen if you do not."

A sickening laugh met Lucy's muffled ears and then Mard Geer was gone. The shadows had welcomed him as if he truly belonged.

Lucy had no doubt in her numb mind that he didn't.

Lucy fell against the wall next to her, a sob threatening to escape her quivering lips. I don't want to...don't want to...The soft sound of flapping wings filled her ears. Please don't make me...Her legs began to quake. There was a sound of talons scraping against metal as he landed. Her heart blackened with dread.

Sounds of footsteps running along the balcony to get to the doors that led to her made bile fill her raw throat. The butterflies in her stomach had died and had become wiggling maggots. "Lucy?!" That one voice belonged to a boy that could make her very soul weep with glee.

Now it was just weeping with sorrow.

Every fiber of her being was bellowing at her to tell him to get out. To leave. To be...safe. That's all she wanted...I just want you to be safe, Natsu. But she knew she could not. If Lucy slipped up just once, said something that Mard Geer found displeasing, or saw something suspicious...He will kill you.

Lucy would not have that.

So, Lucy willed her shaking body to turn around and suddenly she was surrounded by Summer's warmth. Natsu enfolded her in his arms and held her close. So close that she could hear his hammering heart. Can you hear the broken beat of my own?

"I'm glad you're safe, Lucy." Natsu breathed, bringing her even closer to himself. As if to reassure himself that she was here in his arms. That she wasn't going anywhere. "I was so worried."

Lucy closed her eyes and let her arms hang limply at her sides. She wanted to stay like this. To waste away in the Dragon's strong arms. Not even the stars could grant her that wish. Lucy took a deep breath, the scent of fire and forest drifting into her nose. Behind her tightly closed eyes, burning tears threatened to fall.

Lucy wouldn't let them. She needed to be strong for what she was about to do. She...she needed to be strong for him. Your precious life is in my hands, in my words, in my actions, Natsu. Lucy opened her dry eyes and allowed dullness to take over them.
I will not fail.
Lucy swallowed her emotions and let a cold, stone mask be placed upon her face. In order to save him, Lucy would have to break him. I am so sorry...

"Let. Go."
Lucy hissed through gritted.

Lucy could feel Natsu's body tense at her tone. He loosened his grip on her as he pulled slightly back, but didn't dare let the contact he had with her skin slip away. He studied her face for a second, "I know." Natsu said lightly, a sheepish smile coming to his bruised face. "You're really mad at me, eh?"

"You could say that," Lucy said lowly, pushing herself away from him. Natsu's smile dropped a bit, "I'm sorry, Lucy." His eyes filled with regret that pulled at Lucy's heart. "I know I told you that I would be back soon," he looked to the ticking clock. "Hehe, I'm only five hours late." Lucy narrowed her eyes and looked away.
Because if she looked directly at him, she would crumble.

"I want you to leave," she said cooly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Natsu's smile freeze. "What?" He breathed, leaning his head toward her, trying to see her expression. Natsu searched her turned away face for a sign of joking. He didn't find what he was searching for. A detached face of a girl he didn't recognize is what he found. "Luce...you're kinda freaking me out..." Natsu said softly, reaching a hand toward her.

Only for her to slap his hand away. Natsu took a step back in shock, his hand still hovering in the air, his eyes wide. Lucy's lips were as dry as the words that came flowing from them. "I should never have allowed you inside this castle. Inside my home. My life." Lucy wrapped her arms around herself to keep herself from falling apart. "You have caused me so much stress, worry, and pain." She snapped, her insides coiling tightly when she saw the flash of hurt in his eyes.

"Lucy, I-" Natsu tried but she cut him off with a harsh wave of her hand. "No! You do not get to make excuses. You have made me lie to, hide things, and trick my Father and my friends." Lucy shook her head and breathed out a harsh laugh. "And it is your fault that I got hurt."

Lucy saw his eyes rank over her bruised and beaten body. Natsu's facial expression had gone blank and his eyes had slowly begun to dim. Lucy felt sick. She had taken away the brightness. Natsu slowly shook his head, trying to get rid of the words that he had just heard. It couldn't be true. None of it. He wouldn't believe it. Natsu opened his mouth but Lucy stopped him with words of her own.

"I told you a lie."

Natsu looked at her with eyes overflowing with pain and sorrow. He was silently suffering and Lucy was just going to add to that pain. This would be the acid on top of the bloody cake.

"I have been lying to myself as well." Lucy said softly, angrily. She lifted her head and fixed her dead eyes on him. Then, she murmured words that she should never have breathed to Natsu Dragneel. "I am afraid of you."

It was like Natsu had been impaled with the most powerful of swords. He was in a spiral that never seemed to let him go. He was spinning around in his own shocked mind. Natsu blinked and ignored the flipping of his stomach to get out a broken;
"You're...you're scared of me?"

Lucy didn't miss a painful beat.
"I've been frightened of you ever since you showed me what you really are. A monster!"

Natsu's heart was hit and he was bleeding out. "L-Lucy-"

Lucy gritted her teeth, "I hate you!"

I love you.

"W-what?"

Lucy shoved him hard, putting force and emphasize on her ugly words. She felt lightheaded and seemed to have no control of her actions. It was like she was watching herself do these things. Listening to these horrible words that rang through her muffled ears. She could do nothing as she watched herself continuously sink a knife into him.

"You heard me, Dragon!" She screamed, hitting her fists against his chest again and again. Natsu caught her wrists and when Lucy heard his voice, she didn't recognize it. It was too low and soft from his usual loud and cheerful one.

"Luce..." He muttered, voice brittle. "I'm your friend and your also my friend. Hell, your my best friend, Lucy. Please," he pleaded to her. "You can't mean these things. You can't." Natsu was praying to anything or anyone who let his broken voice reach them. He didn't want this to be true...

Lucy released a wicked laugh filled with mockery. "Do not kid yourself, Dragon! You were never my friend!
You were just something that interested me. Nothing more." Every poisonous word that she spit out was like a barbed wire painfully squeezing her heart. Lucy fought through the pain with everything that she had.
She wasn't done yet.

"I'm a princess! And what are you?"

My sunlight

"Just a filthy, horrible, monster!"

Lucy was going to be sick. The maggots in her stomach had begun to feast upon her. Her skin prickled with cold sweat and pins and needles. The cord filled with sharp needle thin spikes was squeezing her heart too tightly. She couldn't breath. Couldn't feel her heart beating...if it was beating at all. A high pitched whine had taken over her hearing. Black dots and staticky lines attacked her eyes.

Natsu had flinched when the word 'monster' had left Lucy's lips. He had been stabbed in the heart and now Lucy was crushing what little was left.
The Dragon was defenseless, and vulnerable to the Princess, which only made her laugh. Natsu was so deeply buried in his state of despair that he hadn't noticed that Lucy was backing him up toward the balcony.

She was making him leave.

Natsu bowed his head, his matted hair full of dried blood falling into his dim eyes.

As he tried to fight his way back, Lucy was having a battle within herself that was tearing her apart.

Look up, she begged.

Please, see into my eyes, she pleaded.

All the lies I have just told.

Please, Natsu.

See that I could never hurt you.

Don't you see...?

The love buried underneath the coldness?

Natsu never did see, for when he looked up, he couldn't meet her eyes so filled with sorrow. But Lucy could see his eyes. Hurt was shining in the obsidian depths so brightly that it nearly shattered her.
Her heart cracked.
His body began to shake as her harsh words began to fully sink in. He couldn't fight against the truth any longer. The truth always left the biggest scars.

With his eyes still bathed in shadows, a single tear slipped down his cheek. That one little tear ripped and shredded Lucy's soul.

"Got it." Even though Natsu muttered it, his words sounding like thunder in her ears. Those little words sent her into a spiral of her own. This one filled with darkness and the pieces of her cracked heart.

Natsu's face began to twist up into pain and heartbreak. "I see how it is, Princess." He practically spit the word out at Lucy as he looked at her with such betrayal shining in his onyx eyes. "I was just another fool to have been caught in your fake kindness." Natsu turned away from her and stalked toward the balcony, unfolding his wings as he did so.

"I should have known," his voice was heavy, weighed down by anguish. "That a Dragon never belonged here with a Princess." Natsu kicked off the ground and flew up into the slowly brightening sky with a roar of rage and pain that echoed Lucy's own cry of anguish.

Tears that had been pushing against her eyes finally spilled in rivers down her cheeks. Her screams and cries hurt her own ears as she stumbled, clutching at her chest that ached horribly. Her jaw was unhinged as scream after broken scream came out. Lucy's legs shook and her bones rattled beneath her clammy skin. Her body shook violently and uncontrollably. She felt as if she were dying...maybe she was.

Could one die from a broken heart?

Then, a voice whispered from the shadows, "That was perfect, my Princess."

The wire snapped, burying its needles into her heart, obliterating it. Lucy collapsed to her knees and a silent cry of agony fell from her lips. Her breaths were fast and frantic. She couldn't breath. The only thing she could see was Natsu's broken expression as a single tear fell. Another bellow full of her pain echoed throughout her room.

Lucy had been wrong. She wasn't strong enough to not cry in front of the enemy. However, she had saved him. She had protected and saved the Dragon that had brought her nothing but happiness and warmth...

I protected you, Natsu. Even though the cost was to hurt you and crush me...I did it. If it is to protect you...
Then I will let my heart bleed.

🔥🌟

The Princess wept for the Dragon that she never wanted to hurt. In the shadows a Demon hid, smiling in wicked victory over the Dragon's and Princess' shattered heart.
It was time for his next act.

~Please tell me your feels my dear readers~

Let the Adventure Continue!

This Chapter is for
PoeCrow