OUROBOROS' MERCY
I – The Undead
Joker: Would you die for me?
Harley: Yes.
Joker: That's too easy… Would you… Would you live for me?
Harley: Yes.
Joker: Careful… Do not say this oath thoughtlessly… Desire becomes surrender, surrender becomes power. Do you want this?
Harley: I do.
Joker: Say it, say it, say it… Pretty, pretty, pretty…
Harley: Please.
Joker: God, you're so… good.
Lucy had been warned that she'd find a true monster there. Knights and hunters from all over the country had come to try and take its head, in vain. When the young woman had reached the village and met the chief, she found terrified citizens that wouldn't dare approach the mountain even a little anymore. They tried to get her to change her mind and go back to the guild, telling her that this mission was far too dangerous for a lone hunter, even more so if said hunter was a woman. The village's chief had sent requests all over the country asking for powerful men that could rid them of the monster haunting their sacred mountain, not some reckless little girl. Lucy had to remind them of her official status as a hunter of the most powerful guild in the country to get them to shut the hell up and let her do her job.
Reluctantly, they had given her a room in the largest inn of the village and asked every witness that had directly seen the monster to talk to her. Lucy heard various descriptions of a gigantic monster with putrefied skin and long, bloody canines. One of them even told her that the monster had huge bat wings and black scales all over the rotten body. As she listened to the thirteenth witness, Lucy started to think that something was wrong with their story. For starters, weren't those guys supposedly too scared to approach the mountain? If so, then how come so many of them had seen it with their own eyes and lived to tell the tale?
"Thank you," she had interrupted the fat old man that was telling her about the worms coming out of the monster's eyes, "I have enough information."
Since Lucy felt uncomfortable in this village she decided to make the necessary preparations and go to the mountain right away, even if it meant facing the monster after sunset. The women of the village looked at her with worried eyes through their windows as she walked toward the large path leading out of the town, but most of the men seemed to have accepted the fact that she'd die before the sun rose.
What Lucy actually found when she reached the highest cave of the mountain was far from anything she had imagined.
Around 41 hours earlier
Lucy groaned in agony when her alarm clock went off and brutally woke her up. It was five in the morning, even the sun would need at least one more hour to start rising. The lack of proper sleep made her feel foggy and unfocused as she crawled out of bed, but she didn't have much of a choice. The old witch would be banging on her door in half an hour, threatening to throw her out if she didn't pay. Sure, paying the rent was an obligation, but she was completely broke and her stupid landlady absolutely refused to negotiate with her. So, Lucy had to wake up very early every morning and escape through the window before the old hag could get to her flat and start harassing her like the demonic, overweight harpy she was.
It didn't mean that Lucy wasn't trying to get the money, though. She actually worked very hard and picked missions most of her colleagues were too afraid to choose! Or so she wished. The truth was that she had no choice but to pick low class missions no one else wanted to do because they sucked and the pay was low. Why? Because she was punished. Yes, punished like a child. If she had to be honest, she knew very well that this sanction was much lighter than the one the national security minister had initially decided to give her. But that's a story for another time.
Lucy tied her hair up in a messy ponytail and shrugged a plain white shirt on with simple cropped trousers before climbing on the windowsill. Since the window was stuck and was impossible to close, it was much easier for Lucy to come and go as she pleased without being noticed by the landlady, but she always worried about being burgled when she was out. Securing an apple between her teeth, she got ready to jump when she heard something large and heavy approaching the door of her flat. The old hag started knocking and yelling just as the young woman jumped out.
The streets were as empty as they usually were at this time of the day and the air was a bit cold, but it didn't bother her in the slightest. She enjoyed this feeling of deep peace that filled her every time she was completely alone in a town or some large field. The only problem was that she tended to think more when she was alone, so she needed to find a distraction. It wouldn't help her to think back to the time she was always surrounded by noisy friends that wouldn't let her enjoy even a minute of silence. Erza still felt guilty for what happened back then, Levy had left in search of Gajeel and Cana was trying her best to act as if she wasn't affected by any of this, but she drank a lot more than she used to before that.
Lucy sighed as she looked at her reflection on the river, she thought she looked older than she really was. As she reached the small stone bridge that allowed people to get to the other side of the river, Lucy caught a glimpse of something small crawling toward a dark alley. The young hunter frowned and took a step forward. The tiny creature was dying, which was normal considering that the sun would rise soon and the city was too clean for it. It was a miracle that it had survived this long. A child could have finished it off, but Lucy dealt with it since was used to this kind of scenes. She'd have to tell Mira about it, though. There were some places in the country where it was impossible to clean up, but Magnolia was one of the rare towns where it shouldn't be possible for the monsters to live. Much less low level creatures like this one.
Lucy figured the safety of the town wouldn't be endangered by such a weak, now dead creature and even forgot about it before reaching the doors of the guild. Despite the incident, Fairy Tail was still known as one of the best guilds in Fiore and thus received mountains of requests. The only thing that had changed after that night was the atmosphere. When she entered the guild this morning, though, Lucy opened wide eyes as she suddenly felt like things were back to how they were several months earlier. It was only six in the morning, but all her friends were there. Well, all of them save for those who had left. Even Gray looked much livelier than usual and Lucy smiled at him when she sat beside him at the bar.
"It's rare to see you up this early," she commented. "You're even smiling today... Is the world coming to an end?"
"Look who's talking," he scoffed. "It's not like I wanted to come this early, the master wanted to see us before everyone else came."
Lucy waved at Mira to greet her and get her attention since she was starting to be hungry. The master had told Mira about Lucy's financial situation and the beautiful barmaid offered her breakfast every morning since then.
"Oh, right," Lucy remembered. "He had some good news for us, right? Who else's coming? Hey, Mira! Can I have a hot chocolate, please?"
Mira offered her a bright smile as she started making her chocolate, trying to look like she wasn't listening to her conversation with Gray.
"Erza and Cana," Gray answered. "Levy isn't back yet. Wait, you mean you came here at six for no reason? Don't tell me you do that all the time?"
Lucy thanked Mira when she handed her the steaming cup and shrugged when she met Gray's confused eyes.
"Focus on the important matter, Gray," she ignored his question. "Why do you look happy about this gathering? The last time we were all summoned like this was when..."
"Yeah, I remember," the young man interrupted her. "It's not like that this time."
Lucy didn't contradict him, mainly because she wished he was right. The last time they had been summoned, Lucy had received her punishment and their team had been disbanded. One could hardly blame her for feeling anxious at the moment.
A few minutes later, the master appeared at the top of the stairs and waved at them with a bright smile, inviting them up. Arching a brow, Lucy climbed the stairs up with Gray right behind her. When they reached the upper floor they found Erza and Cana standing behind the master.
"Sorry for the wait," the old master said, not looking sorry at all. "Follow me!"
Lucy wasn't surprised to find Cana holding a green bottle with a bright smile on her face, but it was another story when it came to Erza. The redhead had spent these last months avoiding eye contact and isolating herself. Imagine Lucy's surprise when the terrible Titania offered them a shy, hesitant smile. It seemed to Lucy that she wasn't even sure if she deserved to get a smile back. Even though Gray had to be as surprised as Lucy was, they both naturally smiled back and nodded as if they hadn't been awkwardly avoiding each other for months.
The small master held the door of the office open for them to come in and energetically patted the armchairs on his way back to his desk. Cana and Lucy took a seat, but Erza and Gray remained standing. At least three huge piles of files were threatening to fall on the master's desk, but the old man looked like he had been allowed to take a two-week holiday.
"I'm glad to see the four of you together," he started. "I know you guys have been forbidden to work together, but it didn't mean you had to completely stop talking to each other."
"We didn't really stop talking to each other," Gray retorted, "but we still had to work."
"And the council was really pissed off," Lucy added, "everyone thought it was best not to anger them any more than we already had."
Makarov clicked his tongue in annoyance and shook his head.
"It's been three months, kids," he sighed, "the council's far too busy pestering me about our members destroying buildings to hold a grudge against a group of youngsters that didn't really do anything wrong in the first place..."
The master's words did reassure Lucy at first, until Erza couldn't keep quiet anymore.
"A group of youngsters that didn't really do anything wrong," she repeated. "That's not true at all. We allowed criminals to escape the guards. This is high treason."
It was the truth, the four of them had betrayed the king and helped criminals to escape after said criminals had committed a terrorist attack on a government facility. It was a miracle that they hadn't been thrown in jail, but the master had engaged in long and tiring talks with the members of the council to make them understand that things weren't that easy. If they were to be specific, though, only one of them really helped the criminals.
"I'm actually the only one who really betrayed the king," Lucy corrected, "you guys weren't even here."
This time, it was Cana who retorted.
"Still saying that?" she shook her head. "We talked about it, we were all in this. We all knew perfectly well what you were going to do and we chose not to stop you."
"Yeah," Gray agreed. "Any of us would have done the same in your place."
Lucy raised a brow and sent him a sad smile, knowing she was going to ask a question to which she already had the answer.
"Is that why you guys won't take any high level mission anymore?"
Her friends tried very hard to put on innocent faces as they denied it, but Lucy couldn't be fooled. They had been friends for so many years, she knew them too well.
"About that," the master suddenly beamed, "I have some good news! All the time I spent sending letters and engaging in talks with the council finally paid off! Lucy will be able to pick high level missions and your team will be brought back together, but they have one condition."
This efficiently caught the young hunters' attention and Cana even dropped her precious bottle.
"Seriously?" she beamed. "That's freaking awesome!"
"Will we be allowed to go look for our..."
Erza didn't finish her question, probably because she didn't know what word to use to qualify them anymore. Makarov understood her, though.
"No," he said sadly. "I'm still trying to hide the fact that Levy went after Gajeel from them. I tried negotiating, but they still refuse to let Fairy Tail get involved in the search. I had to send Mest and a few others that the council don't know of after them."
Outside, the sky was clear and the town was already starting to bath in the light of the quickly rising sun. It would be a hot day again. Erza nodded and her red hair shone when a ray of sunlight entered the room through the window behind Makarov's desk.
"I understand," she said with a neutral voice that didn't match the distress in her eyes.
"So, what's the council's condition?" Cana asked, eager to get the old geezers off their backs.
Makarov turned his eyes to Lucy and the young woman was surprised by how determined he looked.
"It's actually up to Lucy alone," he explained. "The council wants her to take on a specific request that seems to be a bit too difficult for regular hunters. I'll give you the details if you accept the request. If you do accept it and succeed where all the others failed, you'll be officially forgiven by the king."
Lucy understood why the master looked so excited today, she felt the same way now that she knew. It had been three months since she had last been allowed to take on a high level mission and she missed it terribly. Her team had been disbanded and her friends all suffered the consequences of the decision she had made that night, three months before. The council and everyone else who knew her even a little bit surely had no doubt that she would accept the request, no matter how dangerous the mission was. And so she did.
"Of course I accept," she declared.
Gray and the others were allowed to stay as the master told her that she'd have to go to Danafor, a neighbor country that officially requested Fiore's help in dealing with the problem. The small town of Mammon was apparently under the threat of a terrible monster living in the mountain. They were reports of hunters coming back from the mountain traumatized or children and women being kidnapped and eaten. Lucy frowned, it was her first time hearing of such a monster and she had been a hunter for the last eight years.
About fifty years ago, monsters suddenly started to appear and spread all across the continent. Some of them were too scared to approach humans, but most of them were dangerous predators and humans became their preys. According to the first official reports, the monsters first appeared in the north of Danafor before they invaded Fiore and all the other countries of the continent. It took a bit less than ten years for people in every country to gather around strong fighters that created guilds of hunters and fought back. Fairy Tail was one of the three most powerful guilds in the country. Though the monster hunters did an amazing job cleaning up the major cities and protecting the ones who couldn't fight, no one managed to put an end to this phenomenon. The scientists of the main kingdoms worked every minute of the day to find a rational explanation for the problem, but to no avail. From time to time, hunters would receive special requests to rid a specific town of a particularly dangerous monster.
"According to the citizen's testimonials," the master went on, "it seems that this monster's impossible to kill. Many hunters from different guilds tried to eliminate it and failed."
Now, that was a first. Fairy Tail was one of the strongest guilds in the country, but it didn't mean it was the only one. Lucy herself personally knew powerful hunters from allied guilds that could take on any kind of monster. Lucy didn't want to think about the mission with negative feelings, but...
"You mean to tell us her only hope of being forgiven by the king is to kill a monster far more powerful than the ones we usually fight, on her own and knowing that said monster's invincible?" Gray growled. "Don't tell me I'm the only one who think this looks like a conspiracy to get her killed..."
Gray was right, the situation did look fishy as heck. Instead of admitting the truth and accepting the cruel reality, though, the master answered with a mischievous smirk.
"Indeed, they're definitely up to something," he agreed. "But since they never paid any attention to our Lucy until now, they don't know about her ability."
The ability was the only good thing that came with the monsters and the origins of both are still completely unknown. The founders of the guilds were the first possessors of the ability, but now most of the hunters had a particular special ability that was exclusive to them. As for Lucy's ability, it was probably the best you could wish for when dealing with an opponent that cannot die.
Lucy usually stayed at the guild until closing time, taking advantage of Mira's kindness and patience. This time, though, she'd have to go back home early to pack her stuff and catch the seven o'clock train. Which meant that she'd have to climb the facade of the house to reach the window of her small flat. Meaning she needed to replenish her energy. She slumped on a stool in front of the bar and offered Mira her sweetest, most innocent smile. The barmaid arched a brow and smiled back with curiosity.
"Aren't we looking lively," she sang. "I take it things went well with the master?"
Lucy nodded, but she was sure that Mira already knew everything about the deal since she always knew about everything going on in the guild.
"The council and the king are giving me a chance to fix everything," she explained. "I can bring everyone back together. Can I have one of these cheese puff pastries, please?"
The gleam in the young hunter's eyes was the only thing preventing Mira from wording her worries, but the sad look in her eyes as she smiled weakly gave her real feelings away. Lucy took her hand when she noticed and she was surprised to notice that her friend was trying to suppress her trembling. Everyone in the guild still remembered what happened to the last hunter that took on a high risk request on her own, especially Mira. Squeezing her hand gently, Lucy looked at her with unyielding eyes.
"I'll be fine," she promised. "I'll come back and everything will be back to normal."
"Of course you will," Erza appeared behind her from out of nowhere. "You're one of the best hunters of Fairy Tail, this monster will be no match for you."
Lucy smiled and noticed that her friend looked pretty agitated, her jaw was contracted and her clenched fists looked like they had been carved in marble. Staying home while Lucy was leaving on her own would make her feel powerless, Erza was probably wondering if she should disobey the master's orders and accompany her. If she did so, she'd protect Lucy and use this opportunity to look for clues leading to Jellal. Lucy couldn't promise her she'd look for him seeing as they had absolutely no idea where he was and she might be too busy with her mission, but she swore she'd try.
"And when I get back," she smirked, "we'll go with the team and get our comrades back."
Erza unconvincingly glared at her, probably trying to look stern.
"We won't disobey the king or the council anymore," she retorted. "We'll do our jobs and if we happen to hear about them it'll be a coincidence."
The young hunter shrugged and swallowed the rest of her cheese puff pastry before jumping to her feet and brushing invisible dust off her shirt.
"Sure, sure," she sang. "I'll be going now. Be sure to send me off properly, okay? The train's leaving at 7 pm."
As she reached the doors of the guild, she found the postman standing in front of her with a bright smile on his face. His satchel was full of envelopes stamped with bright red letters reading ''LAST WARNING'' or ''OFFICIAL COMPLAINT''. The satchet looked much heavier than the postman who seemed to be on the verge of being crushed under its weight.
"Here," he said, handing her a pink envelope with his usual innocent smile, "you got another one."
Lucy sent a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that none of her friends had seen this and hid the envelope under her shirt, tucking it in the belt of her trousers. Her stalker was still inoffensive and didn't know where she lived, there was no need to waste any time dealing with him or talking to her friends about it. They'd just worry for nothing.
"Thanks," she nodded as she scampered out like an overgrown puppy.
The streets were much louder now with everyone heading to work or enjoying a walk near the river. As usual, almost everyone averted their eyes and got out of their way to make sure they wouldn't have to greet her, but she didn't mind. When the citizens first heard about her supposed treason, she received death threats and insulting letters, people threw rocks at her window and she had to move out. A kid even spat in her face once. The fun thing was that a week before that incident, the townspeople had gathered at the guild to celebrate her birthday.
More than once, as the young woman was sitting alone in her small apartment, she had wondered if these people really deserved her fighting for them. Even now, knowing that the king was going to officially clear her name, she couldn't help wondering if anything would change. The townspeople would probably be much nicer to her, but would she be able to forgive them?
Lost in her thoughts, it took her a while to realize that she had walked all the way to her street and was now standing in front of the old building she lived in. Sighing, she started climbing up, ignoring the accusatory looks she received from the passersby. It didn't take her long to pack her things since she didn't own much to begin with. Since she was ready to go, she figured it'd be wise to do some research about the town that sent the request and the monster she'd have to fight. Her backpack slung over her shoulder, she jumped out and headed to the library.
The light jingles the tiny bell produced when she opened the door attracted the old librarian's attention and Lucy couldn't help smiling when she saw the huge round glasses that enlarged her eyes and made her look like a tarsier.
"Hello sweetie," she greeted her, "how can I help you today?"
The old librarian was the only person that didn't care about the accusations and rumors about Lucy. She only cared about books and book lovers, actually. Lucy genuinely smiled back and told the old woman about Mammon, asking if she had anything about the town.
For the first time since she had met her, Lucy saw the granny frown and hesitate.
"You're going to Danafor?" she asked with a strange voice.
Lucy cocked her head to the side and shrugged.
"Yes?" she hesitatingly answered. "Is that a problem? Are you going to miss me?"
A genuine, heartwarming smile enlightened her face and Lucy's heart melted at the sight. How she wished she had such a grandma... Well, maybe she had one and didn't know about her? The thing with abandoned children is that it's pretty difficult to find any of their relatives. Lucy had been found standing in the center of a 3 km radius circle of burnt field somewhere in Danafor. She was three years old and the only orphanage that agreed to take her was located in Fiore.
"Of course I'm going to miss you," the grandma sighed. "Come on, I'll take you to the Archives."
Thanks to the old librarian, Lucy found lots of press articles about the town, its geography and history. Most of Danafor's towns were still plagued with monsters, but Mammon was situated right beside a huge lake that protected it from them since they hated water for some reason. Another funny thing about Mammon was that both the lake and the town were surrounded by a thick forest and mountains, which made it very difficult to approach it with a vehicle. Lucy would get off of her train in Barsavia, at the border, and rent a horse to reach to the town.
Historically speaking, there wasn't much worth saying. The town grew pretty large despite being isolated when people understood that monsters avoided it, so they had to create a police force to make sure the locals and the refugees would cohabit in peace. Concerning the monster, testimonials from locals stated that it was first sighted in the mountains about three years earlier and that's when the disappearances started. In three years, seven children and three women vanished without a trace.
Lucy frowned, it was her first time hearing of a monster that kidnapped people. It didn't make sense, those creatures hunted humans to satisfy their immediate hunger. Maybe one of them had evolved and was able to think about the future and make plans. He'd be storing the missing persons for later, then? The mission hadn't even started yet and it was already a huge hassle.
Before she knew it, several hours flew by and she had to leave if she wanted to go to the hut. She handed the files she had been reading to the librarian who smiled at her.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked.
Lucy nodded and smiled back.
"Yeah, thanks. Bye Rose."
"Goodbye, Anna."
Lucy's smile faltered, but she did her best to hide it. Rose was an adorable person, but her mind was starting to drift away. The first time she had called her ''Anna'', Lucy had smiled softly and corrected her. But Rose's smile only softened and Lucy saw so much sadness and benevolence in her eyes that it broke her heart. She never contradicted her anymore after that.
Ignoring her growling stomach, Lucy walked out of the library and was hit by a pretty strong gust of wind that took her by surprise and almost made her fall. She looked all around her to make sure that no one had seen that and quickly left when she was sure that nobody was paying attention to her. The walk through the forest was a pretty long one, she'd have to hurry on her way back if she didn't want to miss her train. She didn't have much money on her, but she used it all to buy a fresh fish she was sure her little guy would enjoy.
The walk through the forest was quiet and appeasing, she loved this place so much. From what she'd heard, Magnolia would soon undergo all sorts of transformations during the process of urbanization and they'd have to burn down a large parcel of the forest. Lucy wasn't sure yet if she was going to organize a sit-in or crush the bulldozers with her ability.
Finally, she reached the shack. It was a pretty large cabin made of wood, Lucy had found it several months earlier and thought it'd make a good storage room for things she wasn't allowed to bring home. It wasn't like it would bother anybody since the thing was obviously abandoned. She opened the door and was greeted with silence and darkness, as usual. She sighed and closed the door before opening the small bag containing the fish.
"I'm home, Cat," she sang, "and I brought food."
She heard the quick, light steps of the tiny creature running across the room before it jumped on the table right in front of her. The cat sat and stared at her with round eyes, wagging its tail impatiently. Lucy got the hint and handed him the fish, which he promptly started devouring. He was already there when she found the shack for the first time and since she wasn't allowed to bring pets home, she came back here almost everyday to take care of him. One strange thing worth mentioning about him was the color of his fur. The cat was entirely blue and the young woman quickly understood that it was his natural color. That cute, tiny creature was most likely one of the monsters she was supposed to kill.
While he ate, she headed to the only room of the hut. It was a small room filled with strange things she didn't dare throw out in case the owner of the shack came back one day. She kneeled near the small nightstand and inserted the blade of her pocket knife between the wooden slats, using it to lift the smaller one up. Hidden underneath was the only thing that had survived the fire, the only thing that Jellal had saved. From what she understood, it originally was a large file containing dozens of important documents, but almost all of them had burned. The only remaining one apparently had some information about a key, but it was incomplete. Still, after the explosion, Jellal had run towards her and begged her to hide the file and a weird pendant.
Lucy put the file and the slats back before standing back up and hesitating when she saw the hammock. Did she have enough time to take a nap? Surely not. Lucy had spent several nights in the shack over the past few months and had to admit that sleeping in the hammock felt really comfortable. The smell was reassuring and familiar, she felt at peace. If she had been sure that the owner would never come back, she'd have left her apartment to move in here a long time ago.
She went back to the main room to play with Cat and pet him to her heart's content, almost forgetting about her train. At some point, Cat found the pink envelope in her pants and decided to shred it to pieces. Lucy was fine with it, but she wanted to check the content first to make sure that her stalker wasn't powering up. She read it quickly, sighing and rolling her eyes. It was the same stuff as usual, he was telling her how beautiful she was, that she was like an angel, that she was on his mind day and night, and such.
Oh, wait. That was new...
"Soon, I'll properly come to you and take you away so we can live happily ever after!"
Maybe this was becoming a problem, after all... Lucy gave the letter to Cat and let him have all the fun he wanted with it. She had more important things to do.
"I'll be going now, Cat," she smiled softly. "I left more food and water for you in the room in case I'm not back tomorrow."
The cat ignored her superbly, too busy furiously tearing the envelope to pieces. Why was he so angry at it anyway?
Giving Cat a last hug he tried to avoid, Lucy gathered her things and walked out. She took a minute to enjoy the silence and the peace of mind this place brought to her. She really loved this forest. She spaced out a bit as she walked through the forest and had to run the way back to town. Erza scolded her when she reached the station and gave her a tight hug that would have killed any other normal human being. She got hugs and affective pats from almost all her friends before she boarded the train. They waved at her when she sat by the window and she waved back with a large grin.
She planned to study some more before the train reached Barsavia, so she had packed three huge books that would keep her busy. She fell asleep before she finished the first half of the first book. Lucy couldn't remember ever having a normal dream. She knew that almost everyone often had strange dreams, but hers were on a different level. The really strange thing about her dreams was that the setting was always the same. She was in a forest that kind of looked like the one around Magnolia, but was much larger and more colorful. Lucy knew without a doubt from what she had read in books that this was the enchanted forest of the legend, but it supposedly had been burned down several thousand years before. They were strange animals and plants that didn't exist in her world anymore and she was surrounded by people she couldn't see clearly. Most of the time, she hated waking up in the morning because it felt like she was forcefully being taken away from her real home.
Sometimes, though, waking up was the thing she desired the most. During her nightmares, she was standing in the middle of this same forest and was powerlessly watching huge monsters burn it. The affectionate people that made her feel at peace were being killed in front of her eyes, the animals were eaten alive... Her personal heaven would turn into hell.
Lucy had no idea why she kept dreaming of this forest, her friends thought that she had too much imagination and was unconsciously obsessed with this legend. It was the most rational explanation, but the young woman was absolutely sure that it wasn't the real one.
She woke up with a start when a loud bang resonated right beside her.
"Oh, sorry. I dropped my suitcase."
The man looked pretty young, he was probably in his thirties and had long, black hair. Lucy sighed and forced her heart to beat slower.
"Don't worry about it," she said as if she hadn't almost had a heart attack.
He smiled politely, nodded at her and left. What a creep... Lucy looked out the window and saw that the sun was already rising. She must have been really tired if she managed to sleep that long in the train. She smiled to herself when she remembered that she'd soon get to spend all morning in bed if she wanted to. A couple hours later, the train slowed down as it approached Barsavia. It was still pretty early in the morning, but Barsavia being the only station around, a lot of people were already swarming on the platform.
It took Lucy an hour or so to find a horse to rent and it was so expensive she actually considered going to Mammon on foot. As she gave all the money she had left to the owner of the horse, she saw from the corner of her eye the man that had scared her with his huge suitcase in the train. So, he was in Barsavia too... For some reason, knowing that made her feel uncomfortable.
The ride to Mammon was much faster than she expected and she got there before the end of the morning. Mammon was a refugee village, it was large, but obviously poor. The locals lived in small, rundown houses and wore tattered clothes. You could see the lake protecting it from monsters no matter where you were, but it wasn't enough to make the village look appealing. Lucy received pretty hostile looks from some villagers when she arrived, but most of them only looked curious. She asked to be taken to the village chief's house and she was surprised by the wary looks she received in exchange.
When she finally got there, an old man that looked weak and tired walked out of a house that looked slightly better than the others. The reward for this mission was very high, did these people really have that much money?
"Welcome to my village, young miss," the old man said with a monotone voice. "I'm sure you're tired from your journey, but there's unfortunately not much to see here..."
Lucy got off her horse and patted the neck of the docile creature.
"I'm not a tourist," she retorted, "I'm a hunter. I came to rid this village of the monster."
The air around them suddenly changed and Lucy frowned when she saw how pissed the little chief suddenly looked.
"Is this a joke?" he asked. "Did we become such a laughing matter that the guilds will only send us little girls?"
Being an adult and a professional hunter meant that you weren't supposed to react to this kind of things, Lucy knew it perfectly. But she wasn't ready to become this kind of adult yet.
"It's not like you're in any position to refuse," she retorted. "And I'm not just any little girl, by the way. I'm a member of Fairy Tail and the king specially ordered me to come here."
She wasn't lying there, but the chief didn't need to know the whole truth about this matter. The tiny chief reluctantly asked for a room in the largest inn of the village to be prepared for her and for every witness that had directly seen the monster to come to the inn and talk to her. She started with the chief, but he didn't have much to say about this. Out of curiosity, she tried asking him about something else.
"Did you happen to see or hear about a suspicious man with a face tattoo travelling either on his own or with a comrade?" she asked.
The old chief frowned and seemed to think about it, but shook his head.
"No," he said. "Why?"
Lucy brushed his question off and asked to talk with the other witnesses. Almost all of them were men much taller and stronger than Lucy. She heard various descriptions of a gigantic monster with putrefied skin and long, bloody canines. One of them even told her that the monster had huge bat wings and black scales all over its rotten body.
As she listened to the thirteenth witness, Lucy started to think that something was wrong with their story. For starters, weren't those guys supposedly too scared to approach the mountain? If so, then how come so many of them had seen it with their own eyes and lived to tell the tale?
"Thank you," she interrupted the fat old man that was telling her about the worms coming out of the monster's eyes, "I have enough information."
Since Lucy felt uncomfortable in this village she decided to make the necessary preparations and go to the mountain right away, even if it meant facing the monster after sunset. She didn't bother unpacking her things since she doubted she'd spend the night in the inn. She still took the time to change out of her civilian clothes and put on her hunter uniform, as well as her large gold bracelet with a lion head carved in it, figuring it was best to prepare for the worst.
The women of the village looked at her with worried eyes through their windows as she walked toward the large path leading out of the town, but most of the men seemed to have accepted the fact that she'd die before the sun rose. She walked all the way to the highest cave of the mountain, imagining at least a hundred different scenarios in which the horrible monster she heard about attacked her in many different ways. This way, it wouldn't get to take advantage of the surprise effect.
As always whenever Lucy was alone in a wide, wild field, she spaced out a bit and unconsciously stopped focusing on her mission. She enjoyed the soft wind, listened to the song of nocturnal animals and relished the appeasing smell of the trees. She knew she was being followed by curious owls and small nocturnal animals that wondered if they were supposed to approach her or not, unsure if she was a threat.
Another hour passed by before she came back down to earth. She instinctively knew that she was nearing the monster's nest when her heartbeat quickened and the forest went quiet. Switching to hunter mode, Lucy crouched and activated her bracelet. The sudden surge of energy would allow the monster to know that she was near, but it would also greatly strengthen Lucy's ability. One of the Lion's bracelet's powers was to grant night vision to its owner and she used it to approach the cave while making sure of staying hidden behind the trees and bushes.
When she was close enough to clearly see the entrance, she cursed. There was only one way to enter the cave, the monster would see her. She activated the offensive switch on the bracelet and squinted her eyes when a bright golden light suddenly engulfed her body. It only lasted for a second, but she still felt anxious being this exposed. When the light vanished, she was wearing a lightened gold armor with a helmet in the shape of a lion's head and blades on her gauntlets and greaves. The most impressive parts of this armor, though, undoubtedly were the deadly gold claws that would protect her hands and unable her to attack at close range.
After that, every living creature around her knew she was here. She was surprised when the monster didn't run out of its cave to pounce on her, but it didn't really matter. She walked in without looking back. Inside the cave, it was dark and hot as hell. She frowned when she noticed the familiar smell that she couldn't identify.
When she finally found the main room, she was in full battle mode and ready to fight anything coming at her. What she actually found when she reached the place, though, was far from anything she had imagined. She frowned at the young man with pink hair lying on a pile of blankets who didn't seem to give a damn about the knight in armor that had entered his cave with the obvious intent to kill him. Instead, he kept eating fireballs he directly took out from the fire with his bare hands.
"Alright," Lucy thought, "he's definitely a monster. Don't be fooled by his appearance!"
She cleared her throat loudly and he finally glanced her way. He sighed and shrugged.
"Oh, sorry," he yawned. "Hadn't seen you under all that shiny stuff you're wearing."
A bit annoyed, Lucy chose to answer with a threat that would make her look cool, but only turned out to be an overused cliché.
"Well, this shiny thing will be the last thing you see," she groaned.
The man-demon dismissively waved his hand at her and resumed eating his fire balls as if he had been gulping down some snacks.
"Sure," he said, "no problem. Go ahead. Do I need to stop moving or you can do your thing if I keep eating?"
Lucy hesitated. This guy wasn't a huge mountain of muscles, but he was obviously very strong and most probably trained a lot seeing how defined his muscles were. Plus, he could eat fire, he probably could use it to attack her. So, why wasn't he moving an inch?
"Um... you can keep eating."
He gave her a bright smile that stunned her and took another ball of fire in his hand.
"Awesome," he laughed. "Thanks! The guys who came here before you wouldn't stop screaming that they were going to kill me and that I wouldn't have the time to eat or anything. They were such freaking pains in the ass."
"Is this a trap?" Lucy thought. "It has to be a trap. There's no way this is the terrible monster that terrified the villagers. Where are the worms in his eyes, the scales on his body, the wings?"
"Are you the only one living around here?" she asked.
"Yup," he nodded and raised a hand to show her a ball of fire. "You want one?"
"… No, thanks."
He shrugged and gulped it down.
"As you wish," he grinned. "By the way, you're a girl, right?"
Lucy tensed and glared at him.
"Yeah, so?" she growled. "You only attack girls?"
He looked at her as if she was the biggest idiot to ever have walked the earth and it ticked her off even more.
"What?" he tilted his head to the side and arched a brow. "Oh, you're talking about that thing about me being a monster that eats women and children or something? Yeah, I heard about it from the guys who came to kill me before you. It's a lie, though. But you won't believe me even if I tell you that, huh? Well, go ahead and kill me. It's not like it will be my first time."
Lucy stared at him as he resumed throwing tiny fireballs in the air and trying to catch them with his mouth. When wearing the Lion armor, she could analyse and appraise any opponent. She had no doubt that he would be able to kill her if he wanted to, but she felt no hostility at all from him. Either the villagers lied or they mistook him with another creature, but this guy wasn't the monster she came here to kill.
"So, you really can't die?" she asked and he nodded.
"Nope. Even if I try it myself, I can't get killed."
If he tries it himself... Lucy watched him wince and curse when one of his tiny balls of fire landed in his eye. He would be fine even if she went back home since no one could kill him. She would send a report to the council stating that he wasn't a threat and maybe it would be enough to have the king officially forgive her. And then, what? No, she had only one option and she knew it deep down. There was no way she was leaving this place without him.
The young man frowned when a large chain made of light suddenly immobilized his wrists.
"This is the Lion's Restrictive Bond," Lucy explained. "It's just one of the many tricks I can pull off thanks to my ability. You won't be able to use your ability as long as the bond is on."
"Ability?" he repeated. "Your ability is Light?"
Lucy's helmet efficiently hid her surprised look, but it also made it difficult to communicate properly when the other person couldn't see you.
"Yes," she answered as she stepped closer to the fire. "Well, Light is only a part of it, though. My real ability is..."
"Cosmos," he interrupted her, standing up to face her properly. "It's Cosmos, right?"
Taken aback, Lucy only nodded. It was a very rare ability, they were very few people in the world who knew about its existence. Even more surprising was the young man's face at this moment. He looked like he was standing in front of the ghost of his mother.
"Your name," he said. "What's your name?"
She hesitated a bit when seeing the intensity in his eyes, but something inside her felt like things were starting to fall into place. She took her helmet off and frowned a bit when she saw that he looked even more taken aback.
"My name's Lucy," she said. "What about you?"
"Lucy?" he repeated.
She nodded and his face slowly relaxed until he gave her a smile she thought looked pretty sad.
"Lucy, huh?" he asked. "I'm Natsu."
End of chapter 1
Hello everyone! This first chapter was merely an introduction to the story, but I hope it was interesting enough to make you want to read the rest of it! As it goes on, it'll probably even better than Dauntless!
As always, please feel free to tell me what you honestly thought of it!