I do not know where this came from but It's a thing now. I will update Hangman's forest soon. This is slightly inspired by the story Samhain by Mslead.

Merry Christmas, also!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

How does one summon a demon?

Lucy didn't know. She'd never attempted it before, nor even thought of doing it before this. In her attic.

All she knew was that on a dare, she'd drawn that stupid pentagram, lit some candles, and used google to find a chant in latin about something unholy on a witchcraft website with the papyrus font as its main title. She didn't even know if she'd pronounced it right. She'd drawn the circle with some chalk Levy had given her, (wherever she had obtained that Lucy didn't know), drawn some symbols from the witchcraft website, and lit some candles.

Lucy didn't expect it to work. She expected to chant the words in latin, for nothing to happen, and then to go back to her game and laugh it all off.

But, despite her probable inaccuracies, here he sat.

The apparent demon she'd summoned had a shock of pink hair standing up in all directions. His skin was tan and toned, his shoulders broad. His face was handsome with sharp features. His eyes were a deep scarlet. A pair of horns curled out of his hair, their points shining wickedly in the candlelight.

He had a scarf wound around his neck with a scale like pattern, and was wearing a tight black shirt with a high collar and no sleeves. He wore white pants with a sort of puff at the bottom, which were held down with black strips of fabric, tied neatly. Black sandals were on his feet.

Lucy made an incoherent noise, and the creature in the circle raised its eyebrows.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Lucy stammered, and the creature looked confused.

"Whad'ya mean? You're the sorceress who summoned me." He shifted into a cross-legged position, resting his elbow on his knee, using his hand to prop up his chin.

Lucy gawked at him, "Summoned you? Sorceress?"

"Yes, that's what I said. Now that I'm here, wha'dya want?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Nothing. I didn't expect this to work. This was an accident."

"I've never understood you humans. You can't just accidentally summon a demon. You gotta want something." The demon rose to his feet, stalking over to her. He was about four or five inches taller than her, and she had to look up to see his face. He crossed his arms, leaning against one of the support beams in the room.

"I don't! I was dared!" Lucy said quickly, and the demon laughed.

"Dared? Don't make me laugh. What fool dared you to use your magic to summon a demon? You sorceresses are getting dumber and dumber?"

"I didn't think it was a real thing!" Lucy's breath quickened, "I don't even believe in demons! I'm not a sorceress!"

"Sorceress or not, blondie, there's one standin' right in front a' ya. Ya sure did something with magic to get me here." He gestured to himself.

"You're a demon?" Lucy stammered.

"Didn't ya figure that out by now?" The demon chuckled, "Silly human. Yes, I'm a demon. Demon lord, to be more exact."

"What's your name?" Lucy said, "If I summoned you, I would like to know that much."

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel," the demon said, "or E.N.D. for short, but call me Natsu. It's more casual. What's your name?"

"Um," Lucy's eyes were unsure, "should I really give my name to a demon?"

"That's fair, but I'm not as violent as my brothers are. I do like to light things on fire, though." Natsu grinned, and Lucy noticed he had fangs, wickedly sharp as his horns.

"Lucy." Lucy said, "It's Lucy."

A moment of silence.

"What do I do now?" Lucy squeaked.

"Make a deal with me."

Lucy waved her arms in exasperation. "I don't want anything!"

"Then send me back," Natsu shrugged, "though that's kind of a waste."

Lucy's face was pink, her mouth small and tight. "Can't you send yourself back?"

Well, technically. Her magic was of considerable strength, so breaking the bind would be a bit tiring, but he could do it. But she'd meddled with dangerous forces, sorceress or no. It spelled trouble with a capital 'T' if he left now. Without her knowing how to properly end the bond, his departure would leave a gaping hole through which anything could waltz through. And the first thing they'd smell would be her.

Besides, it had been a while since he'd been summoned to the human world. He like humans, they were gullible and soft, fun to toy with. And she really did need a reason to summon him, something eating away at her as she chanted the words for his summons. It might be fun to find out what it was.

"I could," Natsu said finally, "but no. I'll stay around for a while."

"What?!"

"I gotta talk to this person who told you to summon a demon."

"No!" Lucy stepped in front of the door, spreading her arms to block the exit, "leave her out of this! She didn't think this would work either."

"It's cute that you think you can block me."

"You'll terrify my friends!" Lucy cried.

"You have friends here? You really are stupid." His tone was sharp, eyes dangerous, "if you'd summoned a demon with more violent tendencies, you and all your friends would have been slaughtered in a heartbeat."

Lucy gave him a wobbly smile. "Can you stay here? I need to talk to my friends."

"Not a good idea." Natsu said, "The less people know about me, the better."

"Can I tell one?"

"Can they be trusted?"

"I'd trust her with my life. Now promise you'll stay in this attic until I return."

Damn she'd gotten him with that. When demons made promises, they kept them. He sighed. "You have my word."

Lucy's heart was hammering in her chest as she walked down the attic stairs and back to her bedroom. Her friends were all laying in various positions on the floor, blankets laid out. A half empty bottle of wine was sitting at the foot of the bed.

It was a girls night. The roads had been closed due to a snowstorm, so it had been Mirajane's idea to hold the night at Lucy's house. So they'd come over, each bringing something to eat or drink. Levy brought brownies she and her husband had baked, Juvia brought wine, Mirajane brought cookies she'd baked with her sister, Erza brought strawberry cake, and Cana brought a couple bottles of whisky.

After Erza had had a few too many shots of whisky, she'd suggested truth or dare as a game to play. Cana had given Erza the choice of truth or dare, and she chose truth, as she'd chosen dare every other time. Cana asked wether Erza would rather sleep with a demon or an angel, and Erza had answered with the demon. The talk of demons led Cana to dare Lucy to go try to summon a demon. The woman was constantly tipsy, so Lucy didn't know if she was completely sober when she asked her to do that. But regardless, because she didn't think it would work, she accepted it. Levy gave her the chalk, Lucy found some candles in a drawer, and she took her laptop with her to do it properly.

And now this had happened.

"Lu!" Levy called, turning to her side. "Welcome back, you took a while."

Lucy didn't say anything, just gestured to Levy and to the door.

Levy followed.

When they were outside the room, Lucy stepped into the hall bathroom and closed the door after them. She flipped on the light.

"Lu? Are you okay? You're really pale." Levy stepped close, raising a hand to feel her friend's forehead.

Lucy's voice was tiny when she finally spoke. "It worked."

Levy cocked an eyebrow, "what worked?"

"The summons. It worked."

Levy's face morphed from puzzlement to disbelief, "What?!"

"There's a demon in my attic." Lucy said, her tone high and thin.

"Lucy, please start from the beginning. You have to tell me what happened."

Lucy took several deep breaths to soother her lightheadedness. "I drew the circle with the chalk, lit some candles, added some random-ass symbols from some site I found, and chanted in some gobbledygook in Latin. I didn't expect it to work, but there he was."

"There's a demon... Lucy this is insane."

Tears beaded in the corners of Lucy's eyes. "It's true."

Levy's expression was serious, she didn't meed Lucy's eyes. She began pacing around the small room. "This is bad. I knew this was a bad idea, I'm so stupid for not stopping Cana. I didn't think it would work. I didn't think you were the one."

Lucy blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Levy rubbed her temples. "Lucy, There's a lot I need to tell you. Everyone needs to go home now. Go tell everyone you need to go to bed. Mira will drive Erza and Cana home and Juvia will be fine. If she needs help, she can call her boyfriend. Go. And meet me here when you come back."

Lucy nodded mutely, exiting the room and going back to the bedroom.

What had she gotten herself into?

Oops. I did it again.

This was supposed to be a one shot? What is wrong with me?

Now I'm intrigued. I have many ideas for this. Okay, this is going to be multi-chaptered now. Let's do this. Stay tuned!

~Starry