Hello and welcome sports fans to my second published FanFiction! I know few people will actually read this part, so I'll make it short. This is my first Fairy Tail fic and as a warning it will likely include violence, gore (but not of the Al variety), foul language, possible character death (no one from Fairy Tail though), and potentially explicit scenes (if I can find the courage). Know that we jump right into the plot here. Please notify me of any errors you may see if there are any!

A quick shout out to my invaluable Beta Reader, Kiteria Faye! I thank you for everything you've done! And on with the show!

Disclaimer: All rights reserved for Fairy Tail creator, Hiro Mashima.


A Fairy's Tail: Chapter 1

Dreams and Distractions

By: Thorn

"Lucy."

"No. Go away. Leave me alone."

"Why do you ignore me? Lucy, I have so much to give you. Come to me. Come to me, Lucy, child of heaven."

"No, I don't wanna." Lucy tossed in her sleep, her half-coherent mumblings becoming even more distorted by her pillow.

"You will come. I know you will."

"No. I won't."

"Oh, but you will. War is upon us Lucy. You know it. You've sensed it, just as I have seen it. The dark descends upon us. What will you do, my little spirit mage? You and your friends, and the entire human race are at a loss. The Gates of Hell are opening and they will unleash upon the world an evil that will devour us all. Your friends who hold so steadfast to the light will be the first to fall, and once they're dead and gone what will you do? When only you are left, how will you live? Could you even live with yourself after everyone you know and love is dead?"

Images. So many images. Dark and terrible ones of twisted corpses, charred and blackened, shriveled or melted. Images that could never be bleached from the mind, terrified the spirit mage. And blood; blood enough to fill a river or sea as it stained her mind.

The voice spoke again, this time with a slight remorseful tone to it.

"Is this what you want my dear? To walk alone in this hell upon the Earth? For this is the fate that shall befall us all should you stay away. That pink haired one, he will be one of the first."

An image of Natsu, or what was left of him, came to Lucy's mind, and tears fell from her tightly clenched eyes. Her dearest friend and partner lay on the ground, his body strewn across the broken timbers of what was once their guild hall. His mouth was open, little fangs bared, in anger or outrage, but his eyes were unseeing, blank, and most obviously dead. His throat was nothing but a red and torn mess of crimson flesh as if it had been simply ripped out.

"No." She was sobbing now.

There was almost unnoticeable sympathy in the voice now.

"Then the young."

Wendy and Romeo, hands clutched tight within the palms of the other, had faces which were frozen in contorted pain. Another scene. Asuka lay propped against a crumbling stone, peaceful, as though she were asleep while her body was blanketed in ash and blood. Her parents, Bisca's and Alzacs's, bodies lay only feet away.

"No!" Lucy shouted, but the voice continued.

"And soon enough, everyone will be gone."

And they were. The scene changed again, and Lucy found herself standing in a lone field, the wildflowers were dry and withering, smoldering trees lined what was likely once a beautiful place. Wind whistled past her ears but there was little sound to be carried to her.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why do you torture me so? What have I done to you?" She whispered pitifully since the voice hadn't listened to her shouting.

"Nothing, my dear. I do not show you this to torment you. I do this to save you and those you love. I show you only the truth as it will come to pass, nothing more and nothing less. We want the same thing, we are allies, you see."

"And what is this shared want of ours, then?" She asked bitterly. Lucy walked forward in the landscape, her steps crackling as she moved.

"Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail? What do you want with my guild?"

"Not yours, dear. Ours. It is our guild and our kin who we want to keep safe."

In the corner of her eye she could see a light, and as she turned, she found a sphere of pure blue-white light hovering just a hairsbreadth off the ground. On its face was the Fairy Tail mark in an inky black color, but it seemed somehow transparent. Squinting her eyes, Lucy could see there was something within it, but when she took a step closer to investigate a massive pulse was sent out in all directions from the orb. It was so intense in its power that it sucked the air from Lucy's lungs and forced her to her shaking knees. It was unlike any power she had ever felt before. It rivaled Acnologia in its abundance but was warm unlike that of the Apocalypse Dragon, near scalding in fact.

It felt like hours, but was likely mere moments, before the strange magical power ebbed away and Lucy finally found the breath to speak.

"Who are you?" She asked, but then shook her head and corrected herself. "No, what are you?"

A laugh was all she got in response at first, then the voice spoke again.

"All in good time, my dear, all in good time."

"No, tell me now! What do you want? Why me?!" There was a pause, as if whoever it was who was speaking to her had suddenly vanished. "Hello?"

"Tomorrow, dear. Come to me tomorrow, and all will be explained." The light orb began to fade.

"No, please, wait!" But the light continued to diminish, the scene fading.

"Tomorrow, Lucy. Come to Me."

"No!" Lucy sat straight up in bed, panting from exertion and her hand outstretched into the still darkness of the early morning. "No." she whispered.

It had happened again, and the dreams just kept getting worse. She had tried everything to banish the unsettling visions from her mind, but all attempts seemed to end in failure.

'Why now? Just when everything was starting to look up!' The whole of Fairy Tail had just arrived back home in Magnolia after their eventful reappearance at the Grand Magic Games. The celebration that had followed their homecoming had lasted well over three endless days. There had been brawls, drinking contests, glorified war stories of the past seven years' happenings, and more brawls to follow the first ones. Lucy had been quite surprised that she had lasted the entire 72 hours of partying. She held most of the credit for that to the numerous strawberry margaritas she had downed in place of the whiskey and tequila everyone else seemed to be partaking in.

The night after the memorable party had been when the dreams had started. That had been eight days ago, and they had distressed Lucy to such a point that she had yet to return to the guild. She had a feeling the others were worried for her, but after Natsu had paid a visit to her after the first two days, no one else had come to check on her. That suited Lucy just fine.

Natsu's visit had been enough to reduce her to a sobbing, hyperventilating mess. She had held herself together until her friend had left her apartment; it was after that she slid down her wall and fell deep into a panic attack. Loke had felt her very clear distress and had immediately forced his gate open to check on her. It had taken him nearly an hour to finally calm her down enough for her to tell him what had made her so upset.

The lion spirit was understandably concerned for his master, and had refused to leave her until he knew for certain she would be fine. Since then he continually returned to check on her at least twice a day just in case. It was sweet, and Lucy appreciated it. The last thing she wanted right then was to be alone. He was normally there when she first woke from her nightmares; she was only minimally surprised that he hadn't shown up yet.

As if that thought served as a summons, there was a bright shower of golden sparks outward from the middle of her room, before they warped to form the body of the very lion she had been thinking about. He was dressed in his customary suit and tie and wore a slight grin "Forgive me, Princess. I was too busy contemplating you utter beauty that I failed to notice that you had awoken, and-"

"Loke?" Lucy interrupted.

"Yes, princess?"

"If you were on a date, then just say so. It's fine, really. You should go back, we wouldn't want you to tarnish that oh so stunning reputation of yours, making all the ladies think you're the type to just leave a woman." She joked with him, returning his grin, though hers was not near as stunning or reassuring as his. Her hair was mussed and there were dark bags beneath her eyes. Dried tear tracks could still be seen on her cheeks.

"Lucy," His smile faded, his voice quiet, "How long have you been up?"

She waved her hand absently, "Oh, not that long; a few minutes maybe." He gave her a look that clearly said he didn't believe her. "Really Loke! Maybe five minutes at the most, I promise!"

The lion spirit seemed to relax and made his way over gently taking her into his arms, stroking her hair as he sat down beside her. "Sorry I was late."

"It's fine."

"No," He replied, "No it's not. You're here scared out of your mind and I'm running off, chasing tail like some horny dog. I shouldn't even be leaving you for the spirit world, much less-"

"Loke, I said it was fine and I meant it. You have a life back in the spirit world, and I understand that." She wiggled back in his grip to get a better look at him before she grinned, "I bet she was pretty, huh?"

Loke couldn't hold back his chuckle, "Yeah, she wasn't half bad. Nowhere near your caliber of beauty of course," He said with a wink, "but I suppose a lowly lion like me doesn't deserve such perfection."

Lucy laughed outright this time, shoving her spirit away from her. "Oh shut up, you pervy lion!"

He laughed with her before they both dissolved into silence. It was a few moments before Loke decided to break the silence, "How bad were they?" He asked quietly, almost unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

Lucy gave him a sideways look before spreading her arms wide and falling back on her bed. She sighed, "Not as bad as they usually are I guess. Not near as many bodies as there usually are."

"Who was it this time?" He asked solemnly.

Her bottom lip quivered, and Lucy hastily wiped away the tears that were swiftly forming in her brown eyes. "Just Natsu. I saw Wendy and Romeo for the first time though, Asuka, too." She whispered "But they weren't nearly as bad as Natsu, or the others."

"Anything else different?" She knew Loke was troubled, she could tell by the way he talked and how he flopped back onto the bed beside her, their outstretched arms crisscrossing.

"She talked to me."

Loke's eyes widened, and suddenly he was hovering above her. "What?"

Lucy felt slightly unsure, "Sh-she talked to me, the voice. It's a woman, I know it is now."

He looked aside, growling to himself, "Well?"

Lucy blinked in confusion, "Well, what?"

"What did it- she- say?!"

Lucy thought back. It had been difficult to remember the voice from her dreams ever since they started. She could only ever seem to notice the pictures and death from her night terrors, never the words said. She would remember little bits and pieces, but the night before seemed strangely clear though it still took effort to recall the exact word.

"She said she wanted me to come." Loke's eyes widened, and Lucy realized her mistake. She shrieked, pushing him off of her as she stood "Not that 'come' Loke, you damn pervert! She wanted me to go to her. She said she would give me something, something that would prevent everything I've seen so far from happening, and also a bunch about war, and death and the Gates of Hell." Her brow furrowed, "She called me a child of Heaven."

He tried to hide his shock, he really did, but he couldn't stop the widening of his eyes as he openly balked at his master, "She what?" He whispered. On the inside he was panicking. Someone had found out; someone knew. Not even Lucy knew, how could anyone else?

"She called me a 'Child of Heaven'" The stellar mage furrowed her brow at Loke. "What did she mean, Loke?"

"I-" He stopped himself and turned his face away, "I don't know." He whispered. There was a momentary silence, "Did- did she say anything else?"

She nodded her head, "Our guild."

"Huh?"

"Fairy Tail, she called it 'our guild.'"

"Well of course it's our guild!"

Lucy gave her spirit a flat look, "No, dumb-dumb. 'Our' guild. That's what she said, as if she were a part of it."

"So," Loke hesitated, deep in thought, "so she's a member of the guild?"

She sighed, "I don't even know. I didn't recognize her power from anywhere, I don't think. I know she isn't evil though, her power was just far too warm and- just warm. I can't explain it."

"You felt her? Her power?" Lucy nodded. "Could you recognize it again?"

She looked strangely at the spirit. "Loke I don't think I could forget that magical pressure if I tried. I'd recognize it anywhere, I'm sure of it."

The lion spirit was silent for a few minutes more, his eyes gazing out into the darkness of the too early morning. Lucy could see that he was once again deep in thought, and refrained from disturbing him. When he turned his gaze back to his master, she could see a resolve in his eyes.

"Well then," He stood, brushing the imaginary dust from his slacks, "Lucy, I suggest you get dressed."

"Huh?"

"Something comfortable," he continued, stepping forward and past Lucy "but cute, although that is a given with you, isn't it my Master? I'll return once I have attained proper clothing myself."

"Wait, Loke!" He looked back at her, "What the hell are we going to be doing? And why do I need to be dressed?"

He shot her a winning grin, "We'll be taking a vigorous run around the town of Magnolia before the sun rises, thus your need for comfortable clothing, and then proceed to the guild hall for breakfast, thus your need for cute clothing."

"W-what?" Lucy was shocked, scared and nervous all at the same time, "N-no! Loke I can't! I just can't go there! Not after- after everything that I've seen. It's too hard. I can't." Her voice broke at the end and tears were leisurely making their way down her face.

Loke was in front of her in an instant, holding her at arm's length by the shoulders, "Hey now! Lucy, come on! I know it's hard, but you gotta move forward. You can't let this ruin you; you're stronger than that." His thumb wiped a tear away, "Just hear me out. If it's someone in or around Magnolia you'll easily feel it, right?" She nodded her head. "And she says she's a part of Fairy Tail, right? So we go to the guild afterwards and see if you can recognize it there. Alright?"

The stellar mage thought, and she knew her spirit was right. That did nothing to cure her nervousness, though. "Loke, I get that but I- I can't-"

"Come on Lucy. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise. I'm not going to let anything hurt you. I haven't before, and I won't now!"

With a sigh, Lucy gave a weak smile, "I guess I had better get dressed then, huh?"

A grin stretched across Loke's face, "That's the spirit! Well, I'm the spirit," Loke winked, "but you get the point." Lucy nodded her head, smiling as Loke vanished in another shower of golden sparks and dust.

It took her all of two seconds to find proper clothes, a skimpy blue tank top and pink running shorts accompanied by her customary boots, before she made her way to the bathroom. She was reluctant to raise her gaze to the mirror, knowing that what she would see there wouldn't be pretty. Her hair was tangled and matted on one side of her head, and her cheeks were pale and wet with tears. Her normally shining brown eyes were half lidded and lackluster.

She cupped her hands to splash some cold water on her face before pulling a golden key from her belt. She knew all her spirits were worrying over her. Except Aquarius probably, but she hadn't been summoned since the GMG, something the mermaid was likely very happy about. Hopefully calling some of them out would help to ease their minds at least for a little while.

"Open, Gate of the Crab. Cancer!" After a puff of gold-colored smoke the spirit stood before her, scissors in hand.

"How can I help you, ebi?"

"Hey Cancer," Lucy replied with a light smile, "I was wondering if you could just brush my hair and put it up for me for some jogging later. I don't really feel up to it myself today."

"Of course, ebi." Though there were dark glasses over his eyes, she knew he was happy she had called him as he eagerly ushered her into the other room and sat her down of one of her plush lounge chairs. Within a few minutes, her hair was washed, brushed, shined, and put into a high, curled ponytail with little ringlets of hair framing her face. The style was a little fancy since it would likely be ruined by the end of the morning, but Lucy didn't plan on telling Cancer that.

Lucy didn't have to look at her reflection to know that she looked ten times better now. "Thank you, Cancer. You can go back now." As soon as he had left, Loke chose that moment to reappear as well.

His suit had been replaced with a green tee-shirt and cargo shorts. In his hands were two water bottles, one which he tossed to Lucy. "Ready to go, Princess?" She nodded her head the affirmative.

Their run was brisk and silent, each simply enjoying the company of the other. By nine o'clock they had circled the entire town three times and the sun was a fair ways into the sky before they set their destination on the guild hall. As they got closer to the building Loke could see his master shivering. Being the middle of spring, the air had a warm element to it, so it obviously wasn't from being cold.

He slung an arm over her shoulder as they stood just in front of the door. "Don't worry, Princess," He reassured, "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. We'll just walk in, sit down, I'll buy you some food, and then we can set on finding that power source."

Lucy sighed, "I know, Loke. I'm just worried. I didn't feel so much as a trace of her power on our run though. If it is someone from Fairy Tail, I don't know how I'll react."

"Eh, no sweat! We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." And with that he pushed open the doors and immediately ducked, taking Lucy with him, as a table, three chairs, and what looked like a screaming Warren flew over their heads.

"Huh, looks like we're not the only ones who got an early start this morning." Loke grinned.

Arm in arm, to two picked their way carefully through the wreckage of the guild hall, stepping over the unconscious, and pushing each other out of the way of flying debris. Glancing around the hall, Lucy could see the main instigators of the brawl were, unsurprisingly, Gray, Natsu, and Elfman. Gray was being held in a choke hold by Elfman, who was in a choke hold by Natsu, who was yelling at Gray for being weak and stupid.

Nope; nothing unusual there.

As if sensing her presence, Natsu looked up from his captive, who was going blue from lack of oxygen, to look straight at Lucy. He grinned a fanged, carefree smile at her that made the stellar mage want to cry. Instead she offered her friend a tremulous up turning of the lips that seemed a sad excuse for a smile though the dragon slayer didn't seem to notice any difference and immediately turned back to the fight.

When Lucy and her spirit finally made it to the bar Mira had already set out a strawberry smoothie and a beer for them at Lucy's usual spot.

The take-over mage herself stood behind the bar in front of the pair's drinks, polishing a glass and smiling as the two sat down. "Well if this isn't a surprise. What are you two doing here, together?" There was a subtle, teasing twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

"Come on Mirajane," Lucy argued, "you know it's not like that. Me sleeping with Loke would be like sleeping with a brother; it would be like you sleeping with Elfman!"

Mira giggled despite the rather disturbing imagery, "A girl can hope, can't she?" She raised a brow at Loke when she turned back to face him, "Actually, what are you doing here, Loke? It's good to see you as always, but you haven't been out of the spirit world in a while. Any particular reason for visiting?"

He replied swiftly and seamlessly, "No real reason, just thought it'd be nice to see everyone again, and I haven't just hung out with Princess in a while. You know how torturous it is for me to be away from such a lovely master as Lucy."

"Loke!" Lucy cried.

Mira laughed, "Of course. I can only imagine how terrible it must be for you. Anything else I can get you two?"

"A plate of lox for the lion, a ham omelet and cheese Danish for me, all on Loke's bill." Lucy replied.

"Hey, what do you mean on my bill?" Loke protested.

"Well you're the one who wanted to go out for breakfast; therefore you get the honor of paying. Anything for your lovely princess, right? And you already said you'd buy me breakfast."

"I suppose so," Loke sighed, "On my bill then, Mirajane."

The silver haired woman turned her back on the pair as she left to prepare their breakfasts. Lucy took a long, smooth sip of her drink while Loke chugged his beer down with a fair bit of elegance for the rate at which he was drinking.

"Anything yet?" He asked once the bottle was empty. He was glancing over his shoulder curiously at the others in the guild as if waiting for someone to approach them. His eyes wandered. Those who weren't unconscious were for the most part trying to knock each other out, save a few of them.

Gajeel, Pantherlily, and Levy were all sitting in 'Gajeel's corner' of the guild, the girl with her nose in a book while the Exceed and dragon slayer discussed weapons and fighting styles. Lily was happily munching on a half eaten kiwi all the while. As if sensing he was being watched, the iron slayer jerked his head up to meet the lion spirit's calculating gaze. He raised a brow, scowled, and turned back to his conversation allowing Loke's gaze to move on.

The Raijinshu were at their customary table near the edge of the hall. Bickslow was laughing at something he had apparently found absolutely hilarious while Evergreen glared hotly at the strange man. Freed was busy speaking to Laxus in hushed tones that even Loke's feline like ears couldn't pick up. Laxus maintained his disinterested expression despite how he occasionally clenched his fist around his beer before taking a large swig. He also knew that Loke was watching them by the way he would glance out of the corner of his eye in their direction.

"No," She answered meekly, "I haven't started looking yet."

"Lucy-"

"I'm scared, alright?!" She whisper-yelled. "I just- I don't know."

Turning to his master, Loke could see the ever-present fatigue in her body. The way her shoulders slumped, the blank expression in her once cheery eyes. This was tearing her up inside, he could see it as surely as he could feel it. He took her hand so as to reassure her.

"I'm right here Lucy, and I won't leave your side." He took a deep breath, and answered in a hushed tone, hoping it was enough to keep the curious ears of the dragon slayers at bay. "You want the nightmares to end, right? You want what the visions you've had not to be true, right?" Lucy nodded reluctantly, "Then look."

Lucy conceded and taking a moment to even her breathing, she closed her eyes and expanded her senses, observing and feeling the magic powers of all those in the guild. The magic signatures all varied from weak or immature, to huge and swelling, all varying in texture, and feel as Lucy touched each one gently. The intimacy of touching another's powers was a gift reserved strictly for stellar mages. Normally, touching another's power would cause sickness or disorientation, like how Natsu became sick after eating an element other than fire. However celestial spirit mages could touch nearly any element without such consequences since their skills were based primarily in their ability to bond with the varying magics of their spirits. Lucy had become adept in the skill of identifying magic sources through her hours of relentless meditating.

While there were many powerful energies in the guild hall, there were none anywhere near as powerful as the one she had felt in her dream. She shifted her senses to the second floor, but it appeared as though it was still yet to be occupied for the day. Hesitantly, she shifted her senses again, to the basement this time, and then lower. And there it was, she felt it. It was clouded, and weaker than before, but it was there. She felt it!

Lucy gasped lightly, coming out of her trance suddenly as Loke took a hold of her shoulders to steady her. "Well?" He asked.

She gave a wordless nod, "The basement," She whispered, "I'm gonna need a distraction."

Loke grinned, "Oh, I can make a distraction! But you'll owe me for this one." He reached over the counter, grabbing another beer and quickly chugged it down. "I'll meet you down there, as soon as I can get away."

More time than Lucy thought had passed since she began her investigation. More people were muddling about in the main hall, and the second floor was now occupied by those wanting more privacy. The early morning brawl had ended and the room was miraculously back to its original orderly state, but Lucy had a feeling that whatever 'distraction' Loke planned to stage would leave it worse than it had been earlier; such was the way of the mischievous lion.

"You better eat fast, I doubt your food'll be here when you get back, or the bar for that matter." Loke suggested with a grin.

Glancing down at the counter, Lucy saw that her food had arrived and though not steaming hot, was still slightly warm. She ate quickly, and nodded to Loke when she was finished, signaling him that she was ready for whatever he had planned. There were now two more empty beer bottles on the counter, with a half full one tilted against his lips; he must have finished his breakfast while she was busy.

"Alrighty then," He finished his fifth drink, and pulled Lucy close by the arm, "Ready?" He whispered, and she nodded in return. "Good." Loke grinned. Then he gasped suddenly, stood up abruptly, and yelled in clear outrage as loud as he was able, "What do you mean Laxus tried to sleep with you against your will, Lucy?!"


And We're gonna leave it at that for now! I'm so cruel aren't I, having a little cliff hanger in the very first chapter! I promise there's more where that came from! I already have the first five chapters written, but won't be posting them for a little while. Although some reviews of encouragement might persuade me to post and write faster... just a thought!

I love you guys! And hope you enjoyed the first chapter!