Chapter Four

Lucy kicked a stone and Natsu watched it skid a good five, six feet down the road. She had been doing same thing to the same stone over and over for the past hour or two. Ever since they had left the last town (Natsu did not like liked Lucy, she was his nakama), nothing interesting had happened. Unless someone would count a couple of raging Hippos, but that issue had been sorted out rather quickly with Aquarius and some fire.

For once, Lucy had been the one to create the destruction. Natsu would never let her live down how she destroyed half of a forest and got him, Happy and herself soaked in the process. The one time Natsu hadn't caused destruction, she (or her spirit) had instead.

He had to admit, her face had been brilliant. And she had agreed to not use trains for a month.

Of course, she later regretted the spontaneous decision, but Natsu could have kissed her in that moment. (Not that he would, of course. She was his best friend.)

"Natsu?" Lucy turned to look at him, her eyes big with childlike curiousity. Natsu gulped and looked down at her, unable to restrain a smile. Her eyes suddenly caught a mischevious glint, "Last one to the town is a rotten egg."

"Huh?" Natsu's question went unanswered and he let his jaw drop slightly as he watched her take off.

Wait.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE, CHEATER!"

~...~

Natsu skidded to a stop right in front of the town as he stared up at the great imposing walls. They were gray, very sturdy, and obviously designed to keep intruders out... and the people in.

"Oi, Luce, do you think this is a good idea?"

Lucy turned and began to walk over to his side, her feet crounching against the dry grass. Her eyes revealed the worry in her and Natsu felt his stomach clench. She bit her bottom lip as she glanced up at those walls while she clutched Happy against her chest.

"No," she said after a few moments, "This is most definitely not a good idea."

Natsu smirked and he was about to reply when the doors suddenly creaked open, almost as if a ghost had pushed them, or the wind. He gulped, why was he hesitating? It wasn't like him to hesitate...

But something in him was screaming at him to take Lucy and run.

"Are we seriously still going in there?" Lucy asked as she looked toward Natsu. Natsu clenched his fist at his side. Natsu Dragneel did not run away from a fight. She sighed, "I figured so. C'mon."

And so, despite all his instincts screaming at him not to, and against his better judgment, Natsu followed Lucy inside.

~...~

It was a trap.

Of course it was a trap.

Lucy gritted her teeth as she pressed her back against Natsu's, holding her keys out in front of her as she wondered what they were going to do. The walls blocked them in, the door was closed and the village...

They looked like they had been brainwashed and were now robots acting out on an order. Lucy stared at a little girl, who was unnaturally pale, her dark hair was stringy and her lips were unnaturally red. Lucy knew that with just a little imagination, she could imagine bloodstained fangs, biting into Nat—no. She was not going down that path.

The air heated up around her while Happy spread his wings and took to the air. The zombie village took another step closer and Lucy gulped as she wondered who had the power to do something like this. The only person she knew of was, Zeref.

...

She looked over her shoulder and glanced at Natsu, who looked uncharacteristically serious. Natsu must have sensed she was looking at him or something, because his head turned around and Lucy's eyes widened as she realized that he wasn't just serious, he was nervous.

But what would make a dragon slayer like Natsu nervous?

Lucy didn't want to figure it out.

"Do you know who it is?" Natsu's voice was quiet and Lucy clenched Leo's key. So, he did realize...

"Yeah," she muttered, "I hope he's not going to come."

Natsu flashed her his trademark grin and Lucy felt the pit of unease in her stomach lessen a little. "Don't worry Luce, I'll get us out of here in no time." He cracked his finger muscles while Lucy blanked.

"What about me? I can help." She let out a huff and stretched her arm out straight to her side so that it was straight. "Gate of the lion, I open thee! Leo!"

Light surrounded her and a breeze that previously wasn't there before surrounded her and blew her hair back. Loke appeared next to her, pushing his sunglasses up as he looked at the villagers.

"Time to defeat the bad guys, Princess?" he asked. Lucy knew he was being serious and was only asking out of courtesy, he already knew what to do.

"Go all out."

Loke tossed a smirk over his shoulder at her as Lucy unhooked Sagittarius's key and her whip. The sky lit up from Natsu's fire and Loke's punch and she snapped her whip over her head.

"Gate of the archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" her voice rang over the clearing, loud and confident as the lights lit up the sky. A second later, Sagittarius stood there and he saluted Lucy.

"Moshi, moshi, what do you want me to do, commander?"

Lucy smiled at the centaur, at least some of her spirits weren't perverts.

"Help Natsu and Loke give them Hell, Sagittarius."

The horse-man smirked, something Lucy had never seen him do as he pulled out his bow and arrows.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

Lucy gulped, something about his voice... it sounded different. And she had no doubt that he would do exactly what she told him.

Lucy almost felt sorry for the villagers.

~...~

Natsu swung around, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

A pillar of fire went out of his mouth and surrounded the villagers. Natsu watched as they danced, wondering if that was going to be all it took to beat them all.

"Is that it?" Loke sounded surprised. Natsu looked at the lion spirit, who had once been a member of his guild (was he still?) and shrugged.

The fire disappeared abruptly, making Natsu light his fist on fire again. The dragon slayer's eyes widened as he took in the men and women... who were not at all harmed.

"It didn't do any harm!" Loke sounded genuinely shocked, as if he had expected at least a little burn. Natsu growled as he cracked his fists. Ah well, at least he liked challenges...

"This... just got a lot more complicated."

~...~

Lucy took a deep breath and looked at the key in her hand. Should she try to summon Scorpio so that they could end this quickly?

Her question went answered when everything froze.

Lucy's eyes widened as she took in everything. Natsu had fallen to the ground, (his fire had went out,) Loke looked a little confused as his hand had been swirling with light... and now it was out.

The wind suddenly picked up and Lucy found herself inching closer to Natsu. Everything around them started to wither and die, the grass turned brown then black. The trees turned brown then began to bend over. Even the buildings seemed to have gone a hundred years forward in time and were slowly falling apart. Lucy found Natsu's hand and he squeezed it.

Zeref had found them.

Lucy turned to Sagittarius and Loke, both of whom seemed nervous and she realized they had never met the black mage before. Lucy didn't dare break the silence that had consumed them though. An irrational part of her hoped that if she didn't say his name, he wouldn't come.

So, of course, her hopes crashed and burned when a black whirlwind (it was literally black) seemed to form out of nowhere and the middle of the clearing. Lucy turned away from it, half expecting it to snatch her, Natsu, Happy (where was that cat?), Loke and Sagittarius up.

The stench of death hit Lucy's nose and she felt Natsu's hand tighten around hers. Lucy thought she heard music in the background, playing a sad but eerie melody, but she dismissed it as her imagination.

Instead, she looked away from Natsu (why was her head buried in his shoulder anyway?) and at the dark haired man in front of her.

She found herself unable to look away from his swirling red and black eyes.

"Zeref." Natsu rasped next to her. Lucy heard the hint of fear in his voice and she felt something icy surge through her as her mind went blank.

Zeref's lips curled into a smirk. "You could have stopped this, Natsu Dragneel." He said in his sad but smooth voice.

"I know."

Those simple two words... oh how Lucy wished she had never heard those words come out of Natsu's mouth.

Zeref's eyes flashed as he raised his hand.

Lucy felt something shove her to the ground and she stared at Natsu's back as Loke stood to join him and Sagittarius.

Lucy closed her eyes and unhooked the one key she had never shown anyone before, not even Natsu.

She opened her eyes and looked at the word.

Ultimatum.

The ultimate key. The key that could open all of the gates to the spirit world. The key her mother had given her.

The key Lucy had promised to never use.

Lucy's eyes hardened as she stood and unhooked Scorpio and Virgo from her belt.

The last resort key.

~...~

"What do you think about the word ultimatum Lucy?"

"What do you mean, Natsu?"

"...Mira was talking about ultimatums and love."

"Oh. Well—"

"Why does it always seem to be connected to sacrifice, Luce? Death and sacrifice? Shouldn't we try to avoid an ultimatum at all costs? I don't want to loose anybody..."

A smile. "Oh, Natsu. Ultimatum does not always connect to those two words. The root of the word is ultimate, which means final, or last. Sometimes it's connected with choices and decisions, just don't ever be afraid of the word Ultimatum."

"Oh..."

"Come on, let's go get some food."

~...~

Natsu had no idea why that memory suddenly decided to pop into his mind, but as Lucy flicked two of her keys and summoned Virgo and Scorpio, he felt something he wasn't used to. It came from deep inside of him, and Natsu was honestly surprised he could feel that far down.

"Hey, Natsu, cover me."

Natsu blinked at his female partner a couple of times, was she ordering him around? Lucy didn't say anything else, she only flicked her whip and swung it out. Natsu felt his lips curl up as he lit his fists on fire as he felt the urge to laugh bubble beneath his skin. Lucy, of all people, was ordering Natsu Dragneel around; and he didn't mind it one bit.

One of the bulky looking men jumped forward, a knife appearing in his hand as he aimed for Lucy's back, but Natsu felt something come in the back of his throat and escape his lips.

He blinked at the sound, he, recognized it, Igneel had used it many times, either when they were playing or, if there was an enemy around.

Natsu had growled.

He took a deep breath and let it go, with a loud, "Roar of the Fire Dragon." Fire flew out of his mouth and surrounded the man, leaping up and dancing. The man let out a scream and Natsu nearly covered his ears, but then it was gone in just two seconds and Natsu stopped the fire by snapping his mouth shut.

"Natsu, watch o...!" Natsu suddenly found that he was on the ground, with a familiar weight on top of him and he blinked up at Lucy, who smiled at him even tohugh she looked like she was in pain. Natsu's eyes widened as her eyes seemed to tear up before she gritted her teeth and pulled out a key.

A diamond key.

Natsu's eyes widened as he took in the key that wasn't the gold or silver he was used to. Lucy smiled at him, but there was sweat falling down her face and Natsu suddenly had the strange urge to, to touch her face.

We are in the middle of a battle, Natsu! This is no time to get side-tracked! You can figure out these weird feelings later.

"Natsu," Lucy's voice broke on that simple word and something bitter rose in Natsu's throat. She licked her lips. "This, this key is supposed to open all the Celestial Spirit gates... even if I don't have a contract with them."

...don't. You. Dare.

Lucy smiled slightly, "This key is known as the last resort key... no one can wield it. None that I have heard of because it just simply uses up all of his, or hers, magic."

Natsu couldn't stop himself, he had no restraint at all. He placed his finger on her lips. "But aren't our life forces connected to our magic?" something horrible was beginning to click inside of his mind, if Lucy used all of her magic, then wouldn't she...?

"Yeah, that's why this is called the last resort key." Natsu's eyes widened as she pulled away from him, "That's why this is the Ultimatum key."

And, suddenly, it all clicked. Natsu pushed himself up, acting on a sudden surge of strength as he watched as Lucy stood and thrust her hand out. He could already see the magical energy surrounding her as the key turned a brilliant golden color.

"Gates of the stars, I open thee!" Lucy took a deep breath and Natsu watched as she slowly rose into the air, a white aura surrounding her. "Ultimatum!" she screamed the last word of her chant, throwing her head back and arching her back.

"Lucy!"

Natsu had never felt such terror fill him as he watched as a gold star appear right in front of her. Everything turned silent, and Natsu found himself hoping against hope itself that she had done something wrong. Something inside of him told him that the spell she had done, it could potentially...

"You idiot!" Loke appeared next to Lucy and Natsu was transfixed by the lion spirit, who looked frantic and worried. His coat wasn't as neat as it normally was. "Do you know what you've done, Lucy!? Do you know how dangerous it is to hold the Ultimatum open!?"

Natsu's breath caught in his throat, never ever had he heard the man call Lucy by her real name. It was normally princess or master, but never Lucy. He pushed himself up, whatever she was doing... if she could invoke such a reaction out of her strongest spirit, and the bravest... there was no doubt that it was not safe.

Lucy opened her eyes and she smiled at Loke, "'course I do." Her voice, it wasn't Lucy. It was more like ten Lucys speaking through one Lucy, or at least, that was what it sounded to Natsu. "I can do this."

Loke looked both angry and scared as Natsu finally got to his feet. Something small and warm landed on his shoulder and he glanced at Happy (where had he been anyway?) before he looked back at Lucy. Her eyes were still open and they were clearly looking at Natsu. With a startle, he realized she was waiting for him to say something. Natsu found his throat dry, but he spoke the only words he could in that situation,

"I believe in you."

Lucy smiled and she closed her eyes again. Natsu had to shield his eyes from the sudden light that came out from her, out and over the clearing. Natsu could almost feel it seep into the Earth and out of it, through the trees and maybe even the people. He could taste the air suddenly grow sweeter and he opened his eyes.

In front of him... the stars were dancing.

"Wow..."

Natsu had always thought Lucy's magic was pretty, but the only word to describe this was... there was no word to describe this. Beautiful would be understating it. So would awe inspiring.

The stars seemed to dance around him, twisting and turning in the air like little fireflies. Natsu thought he heard laughter and maybe a little music as they swirled above and in front and all around him. They were like little golden glitters of dust, but, not. They were like smaller versions of the ones in the sky, just as bright though. They were... they were...

There were no words to describe them.

Happy's tail went back and forth as the stars seemed to gather to the ground and then they slowly formed into figures. Natsu recognized quite a few of them, Virgo, the scary psychotic mermaid Aquarius. Both of them seemed to shine a little, as if they were more, star-like than human at the moment. Natsu didn't recognize others, there was a red haired man who winked at him, another had a black beard and a crown, and there was a woman who wore a dress of a lot of pretty colours— almost like a rainbow.

"Are you alright, princess?" Virgo stepped next to Loke, and even Natsu could see she was concerned when she didn't ask her customary 'is it punishment time?'.

Lucy's lips went up, "Yeah," her voice was faint and Natsu almost wondered if he had imagined it. "I'm fine."

The red haired man and the bearded man stepped forward, and... wait. Why was Loke bowing!?

"Draco, your majesty." the Lion Spirit stood and Draco nodded at him, a light smile on his face.

Wasn't Draco the dragon?

"Leo," Draco responded as Loke pushed his sunglasses up. "Long time no see, old friend."

Loke smirked before he turned to Lucy, "Let me guess, Death Breath won't give up?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, that's why I need your help."

Loke smiled as his fist began to glow. "You don't even need to ask anymore." He turned to Natsu, "Hey, Natsu, guard her back. She can't protect herself while holding the Ultimatum open."

Natsu found himself nodding as he lit his fist on fire, this was one time where he would have to stand back and not go charging in recklessly like he would normally. "I'm staying here."

Draco tipped an imaginary hat toward Natsu and lifted his arms, as if he was about to fly. Natsu was about to ask Loke if he had gone crazy, when... his arms began to turn into wings. Huge and bat like... like a dragon's.

Draco took to the sky, his form shifting into one of a golden dragon with a tint of red in him. Natsu blinked for a moment, if he imagined the Celestial Spirit as a red dragon...

Igneel?

~...~

The dragon flew above the Lion, his bat-like wings beating powerfully, creating a wind. Loke took a deep breath as he wondered if his master would ever get his key, he knew Draco would like Lucy. And he and Natsu...

Draco would be here even more than I am.

Loke shook the thought out of his head as he lifted his fist and went at the black mage, Zeref. He had only been a cub when Zeref had walked the Earth, but even he remembered the destruction and horror of his reign. Even now, they were still recovering and now that he was awake again...

"Let's attack at the same time!" Loke nearly stumbled as he attempted to look at the dragon, but he nodded anyways.

"Oh, Regulus, grant me your strength..." Loke began as he neared the mage. His hand began to glow.

"Roar of the..." Draco shouted above him.

In sync, they both shouted, "Lion's Brilliance!" "Celestial Dragon!"

~...~

Zeref watched the blonde. She was interesting. She could open the Ultimatum. He had always thought the threat was Natsu Dragneel, it was obvious he was the more powerful of the two of them, but perhaps he had gotten it wrong. Perhaps the true threat was Lucy Heartphilia, if she could handle opening all of the gates, still stay conscious, and the spirits themselves could use magic...

She had to be the Ultimatum. He had to get rid of her, before she realized her true power. He should have sensed this before it happened!

All of the spirits crowded around him as Draco and, what had she called him? Loke, cast their spells. Zeref only sighed, they were strong indeed, but not against him.

"There isn't a scratch on him!" one of them shouted, a female. Zeref opened his eyes and he looked at a, blue haired mermaid?

"Of course there isn't, he's one of the most powerful sorcerers in history!" the dragon shouted, obviously angry as he turned back into his human form.

There's too many of them, I'll have to send them there, even if the fire dragon will escape.

Zeref lowered his head to hide the smirk playing at his lips. He did like entertainment after all... it would be fun to have to beat a dragon.

He lifted his head, "Death Transportation Method: Ice Realm!"

~...~

Natsu let out a groan as he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with something red in front of him, and something cold and wet underneath him.

Huh? Why am I cold? Where am I?

He closed his eyes and laid there for a couple of seconds, trying to remember what happened. There was a battle, and they were losing, and then Zeref appeared, and then she had opened all of the gates to the Celestial Spirit world, and then they had attacked and then there was only black and—wait. Lucy. Opened the Ultimatum.

"Lucy!" Natsu shot up, opened his eyes and began to look for her familiar blond head of hair. He nearly threw up when he saw her, with Loke and the dragon spirit hovering over her. Natsu half dragged himself, half crawled over to them and he looked at them.

She looked like she was sleeping.

"Natsu?" Loke looked at him and Natsu met his gaze.

"How is she?" he tried to keep his voice steady, but he had a feeling it didn't work. The dragon spirit looked at him sympathetically.

"She's fine," he said and Natsu felt something in him lift. He almost felt like crying, but that wouldn't be very manly. Instead he sat down by her head and placed it in his lap. Lucy let out a soft huff and a little bit of her hair blew out of her face.

Loke frowned at the dragon spirit (Natsu really needed to learn his name). "She used up all of her magical energy, Draco! (That's it!) She should be fine, but we don't know."

Natsu felt his breathing pick up again as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Why are you two still here then?" he asked, if her magic energy was gone...

Draco smirked at Natsu, as if he knew something Natsu didn't. "Don't worry, Natsu, we're here on our own energy until Lucy gets better."

Natsu was about to reply to that when something moved next to him and a little blue head appeared out of the white powdery stuff (snow?). Natsu nearly smiled as he realized that it was Happy as the cat walked, or more like waddled, over to him.

"Nat-suuuu," the cat mumbled as he plopped down next to him. "I couldn't help you!" tears began to form in his eyes and Natsu couldn't resist pulling the cat closer to him. "And now Lu-shee's hurt!"

Natsu smiled a little sadly, "It's alright, Happy." He murmured, "It wasn't your fault."

Happy snuggled into him, although there were still tears falling out of his eyes as he looked at their female friend. "But if I..."

Natsu shook his head, and he was about to say something when Draco held up a gold key, like Loke's. "Give Lucy this." He said, tossing it over to Natsu who caught it subconsciously. Loke looked at Draco, but Natsu couldn't read his expression.

"You're giving her your key?"

He was surprised.

Draco nodded as he glanced up. Natsu frowned as he smelled the air, the scent of this red thing, it was familiar... he had smelled before, but where had he...

"Hey, wake up!"

Natsu blinked a couple of times as the thing shifted and he realized that what they were sitting under, was the leg to a dragon. "Impatient as ever, I see. How are you, Draco?"

...

This just was not possible. It couldn't be... had all of his searching come down to this? Had he finally found him?

Natsu suddenly found himself in tears and a wave of emotion hit him.

I'm going to kill you, Igneel.

"Dad!?"

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