The Demon's Broken Heart

                                    

                                          
Note: I have no idea why I'm writing this, but I think if I didn't, I'd go crazy. And yes, I know writing this I'm jumping the gun, but let me remind everyone: this is a fanfic. It's a made up concept that I thought would be interesting to see.
                          
"You're friend has become a yokai, a nure-onna."

                          
For a moment, it felt like reality itself had come crashing down on Natsu. This couldn't be real? There was no way. It had to be some kind of trick, some illusion by Selene. But Natsu couldn't deny the evidence looming over him right now.
                          
Lucy flicked a forked-tongue at him with a cruel, almost feral look in her eyes, as Natsu tried to take in al that was happening. His teammate, his best friend, his... Lucy, had become one of the monsters. She'd been twisted and perverted into this creature. And for what? For the Moon Dragon's brief amusement? It felt like Selene had just removed his heart, and crushed it in one hand.
                          
"It's an amazing image, isn't it?" Selene continued, as she sipped her drink, looking down on Natsu from her projection, as her goons guffawed gleefully behind her, "Forced to fight one of your closest comrades along with the rest of her yokai brethren? What can be more entertaining? I do hope you put on a good show for us."
                          
"Don't worry too much about her, she'll be fine in these caverns from now on," Youko said mockingly, "She'll probably eat the rats that lurk in the tunnels; I heard those can be quite filling. Trust me, she'll have a full life as a nure-onna." Natsu, however, wasn't paying attention to any of them, he just continued to stare at Lucy, who opened her mouth, revealing a pair of snake-like fangs, as her tongue lashed before him. There was almost no humanity left in her eyes, just a primal look of hunger. However, the disgust and horror Natsu felt began to give way to something else, something a lot hotter, and a lot more powerful:
                          
Rage...
                          
There was no other emotion Natsu felt right now. It was like everything else had been sucked into a void, and replaced with this one, singular feeling. Not since he found Lucy bloodied and beaten during the war with Alvarez, had he been this angry. These people had defiled Lucy, and this could not be forgiven.
                          
Selene, and all her lackeys up at the top of the mountain, would burn for this. There would be no mercy, for none of them deserved it from him, and if necessary, Natsu would ascend to the heavens, and reduce the moon itself to ashes, and all of Elentir would know his anger.
                          
"So then, son of Igneel," Selene said mockingly, "What do you have to say?" Natsu was silent for a time, before he looked up at her, and said only three words.
                          
"You will... burn!"
                          
In that moment, the laughing stopped, all the women stared at Natsu in silence. They'd been expecting/hoping for him to break down in tears, or to erupt into some incoherent babble of rage, not him to just simmer in anger like this. Even Selene's smile faded into a glare.
                          
Well, you're free to try," she sneered, before the image faded away. With that, Natsu turned his attention back to Lucy, who suddenly wasn't smiling anymore, as an old power began to simmer inside the young man.
                          
(|)
                          
Gray paused as he finished beating the latest yokai, as he sensed the cavern getting warm, as a strange power began to flow the tunnels.
                          
"It can't be," he muttered, his eyes wide. He knew this power all too well, but Natsu said the Demon Seed in him was destroyed. Admittedly his knowledge about demons, especially Etherious, was somewhat limited, but there was no way END could have returned, it was supposed to be gone. At least, that was the theory...
                          
(|)
                          
"What kind of magic is that?" Mimi asked, as she and the rest of Selene's court watched, "It wasn't Dragon Slayer Magic."
                          
"It seems our young man is actually an Etherious." Everyone looked at Selene, who was glaring at the image of Natsu.
                          
"Etherious?" Hakune asked, none of them having heard that term before.
                          
"Artificially created demons from Earthland, generally made with one singular purpose," Selene explained, as she swirled her cup slightly, "I've heard of them, but I've never actually seen one."
                          
"How powerful are they?" Youko asked.
                          
"Again, I only know what I've heard," Selene answered, "But will that this just got a bit more interesting." She then noticed most of her court looking at each other in concern, and the dragon wasn't one to let potential entertainment pass.
                          
"No need to stop our celebration," she declared, "Let's enjoy the performance!" With that, the women burst back into their celebration. Privately though, their mistress was somewhat troubled as she leaned back, frowning into her sake. She may have never seen an Etherious, but Selene had heard rumors, including one that there was one that even Acnologia himself feared.
                          
"I can't underestimate him," the dragon mused to herself as she took another sip.
                          
(|)
                          
The heat slowly got greater, as the water dripping down the cave walls suddenly evaporated in an instance. The other yokai lurking in the shadows began to flee under the immense pressure of this magic.
                          
Lucy hissed as she recoiled back at the heat, slithering away, glaring at Natsu, as he stood up straight, and cracked his neck. With that, he held out his arms, as they suddenly were covered in black markings, and his eyes began to glow a menacing red. His sweat turned to steam, and when his mouth opened, so did his breath.
                          
For her own, the animalistic hunger Lucy was feeling was overcome by an instinctual sense of dread as the fire demon loomed over her. With that, she turned, and slithered away, while Natsu just watched as she vanished into the dark. He would find a way to turn her back to normal, but now, he had different priorities. His heart was in pieces right now, and he couldn't stop until the one responsible was nothing more than a pile of ash.
                          
There was one thing for certain: he had a dragon to kill.
                          
Note: Call me crazy, but this chapter stressed me out. Lucy's one of my favorite characters, second only to Natsu himself. Seeing her like this is really disheartening for me, to the point it's almost kind of depressing. I really hope this doesn't last long, because it's only going to get more disheartening and cruel.
                          
I'd like to continue this, but I'm not sure what exactly to do, mostly because I'm not sure what the rest of this will entail, particularly what sorts of monsters Erza, Wendy, Carla, and probably Happy (note he wasn't with Natsu and Gray) were turned into. It's at times like these that the chapter every other week gets so frustrating.