Chapter Three

                                    

                                          
      Natsu's attack hit the two. However, once the smoke cleared, the two were revealed, still standing, and uninjured.
      "Weak," the woman scoffed and flicked her wrist. Natsu was thrown against the debris of a nearby house.
      Lucy stared at the two. Just how powerful were they? She did not hesitate anymore. She sent Aries back and took out a different key.
      "OPEN, GATE OF THE GOLDEN BULL, TAURUS! STAR DRESS, TAURUS FORM!" Lucy exclaimed, and just like that, Taurus appeared in a cloud of golden orbs. Just as the celestial spirit became visible, Lucy changed into her Star Dress.
      Both Lucy and Taurus and lunged at the two. Taurus brought his axe in contact with Corpse's shield, but the attack shattered the barrier, and Corpse was sent flying backwards. Lucy smiled and hit the other with her whip, leaving small cuts. 
      The woman glared at Lucy in annoyance and sent a shockwave of magic towards the celestial wizard, sending her flying into the air. The woman grinned in satisfaction, then stopped when she heard Lucy chanting, and a light shine above her. She looked up to see not only Lucy in different clothes than before, and a bow and arrow in the hands, but also a horseman.
      Lucy drew back her bow, along with Sagittarius, and shouted, "STAR SHOT!" Multiple arrows came flying towards Corpse and the woman.
Corpse dodged most of the arrows, but one grazed his leg. As for the woman, she dodged most as well. However, one hit her and became embedded in her arm.
      The woman shut one of her eyes in pain as she held her injured limb. She grabbed the arrow and pulled it out of her arm.
      The woman looked at the blood covered arrow and noticed the head of it was still embedded in her skin. She tried to pull it out, but as it was drawn out of her skin, it got caught. The woman sighed in annoyance and gave up, deciding to get rid of it later.
      She looked up and saw Lucy back in her Taurus form with Taurus next to her, both fighting against their pale, navy blue enemy. The woman got up and lunged for Lucy.
                          
      Nearby, Natsu stood up, groaning. While farther away, he took the opportunity to eat some fire. Once powered up, he ran back into the fight. Natsu saw Lucy facing off against Corpse, and noticed the woman was lunging for her, and Lucy was unaware.
      "FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" Natsu shouted and punched the woman in the jaw, sending her flying. Natsu and Lucy grinned at each other before lunging at the woman and Corpse.
                          
      As time went by, Natsu and Lucy put all their power into destroying the two. However, their injuries were minor, except for the arrow wound. Yet, her arm could still function. However, Lucy and Natsu's injuries were more severe, and their magic was depleting fast.
      "Give up yet?" Corpse asked smuggly, and sent yet another attack towards the two. Lucy used her whip to deflect it, but go hit in the process.
      A few yards away, Natsu was struggling to get up, but was sent back down by yet another attack sent at him. Natsu's strength was depleted, and all he could do was sit up. 
      Lucy had still a little energy left, but that was quickly diminished as she sent the last attack at the pale, navy blue wizard.
      "No fight left in you? Ha, weak," the woman mocked and formed a sword. She brought her hand back and threw it at Natsu, heading in a clear path towards his head. Natsu closed his eyes, waiting for the end, but it never came. 
      He opened his eyes. The tip of the sword was inches away from his face. It was drenched in blood. Wait... blood?
      Natsu's eyes widened. He shifted his gaze from the sword to what had blocked the attack.
      There, standing in front of him, her arms held out of each side of her, was Lucy. The woman smirked and raised her hand, and as if by command, the sword flew back into her hand. Lucy's arms dropped to her side and she fell sideways. Natsu lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
      Natsu's rested Lucy on his lap, his left arm supporting her head. 
Her face had grown pale, yet she was still conscious, her face contorted in pain. His gaze shifted to her stomach, which one of Lucy's hands were covering. Blood coated her hand and her clothes.
      Natsu knew, in his heart, that Lucy would not survive. He choked a sob.
      "W-Why.... Why did you go in front of me?" Natsu's voice broke, tears starting to stream down his face.
      "Y-you saved me c-countless t-times. It was m-my turn t-to save you," Lucy managed to say, her breath ragged. Lucy brought her hand to Natsu's face and wiped away his tears with her thumb. Natsu put his hand on her and leaned into it. In the distance, the woman scoffed. She raised her hand in front of her.
      "Planethrea," the woman said, and the sky darkened. A white, blue, and green light appeared.
      The woman knew with this kind of spell, it required a lot of magic power. However, she only had enough magic to kill one, though she did not have enough power to target a specific target either. It would kill one of the two, and then she would get rid of the other one.
      The woman lifted her hand above her head, and shot it down. The light fell from the sky and hit Natsu and Lucy. The light soon faded away, and everything was covered in smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing Natsu and Lucy, still intact. However, it did not last. Lucy started to glow.
    "No no no no!" Natsu shouted as Lucy started to slowly fade away into small yellow orbs. "N-NO! DON'T DISAPPEAR ON ME! STAY HERE! PLEASE! I MADE A PROMISE TO PROTECT YOUR FUTURE! SO PLEASE, DON'T GO!" Natsu screamed, trying desperately to keep hold of Lucy.
      "I a-am sorry N-Natsu. P-please, tell Fairy Tail I-I... love them." Lucy faded away, the yellow orbs floating high into the sky, until they were seen no more. Natsu was motionless, tears silently falling. Lucy was gone. His heart shattered.
      "And then there was one. Soon, there would be none!" The woman laughed as she and Corpse lifted their hands. They brought their hands into position and started to chant, but stopped short.
      Overwhelming heat started to fill the air. Corpse and woman turned to Natsu, and their eyes widened. Natsu clenched his fist, whipped his head up, and screamed out Lucy's name. Fire shot into the sky, and the pillar of fire spread, quickly covering the town.
      The man screamed in pain and turned to ashes. The woman's right arm was burned before she transported away. Everything had turned to ash.
      Natsu reached into his pocket and pulled out the dragon, which was now missing one half, split clean through the middle. He held it to his chest and sobbed.
                          
      After the fire died down, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, Wendy, Carla, Pantherlily, and Happy came crashing out of the ground.
      "We finally found a way out of that stupid maze." Gray grumbled, while Juvia clung to him. Suddenly, the group noticed Natsu in the distance.
      They ran over to him, overjoyed. However, they were unaware of tragedy that had just taken place.
      Once they were close enough to Natsu, they saw he was crying. The strange thing was that Natsu wasn't the one to cry easily.
      "Wait, where's Lucy?" Wendy asked, and her eyes widened. She covered her mouth and fell to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes.
      Gajeel's head dropped down in sadness as he held Levy, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
      Gray clenched his fists as tears streamed down his face, one arm wrapped around Juvia, who was clutching tightly to her beloved, her face buried in his shoulder.
      Erza tried to hold back her tears, but failed miserably. She fell to one knee and punched the ground.
      Happy bawled uncontrollably while Carla and Pantherlily cried silently.
      It started to rain. Sadness filled the air. Fairy Tail lost a friend that day, a friend who made an endless sacrifice.
                          
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I cried my eyes out while writing this. I hoped you liked it. The next chapter will............. You just have to wait and see to find out. SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!!!!
-Author
                          
P.S. The title, and the chapter, and song are so clever right.
P.P.S. The song is actually called Endless Sacrifice. By Dream Theater of course. BYE!!!!!!!!!!