Okay, so I'm warning you now, this chapter is mostly dialogue since Levy is explaining a lot of stuff. And it's official, I can't call this a drabble lol. This chapter is 2,000 words long. XD

Anyway, as always, enjoy!

The energy that Natsu had given her seemed to have faded, for she felt stiff and shaky. Levy, though inches shorter than Lucy, was able to guide her into Gajeel's waiting car. She barely noticed the sleek lines, the soft leather interior, and the solid black of the paint. She slide into the passenger's side and looked up. Night had fallen, and the T-top was open, the glass gone. Levy got behind the wheel and gently told Lucy to buckle up.

An explosion of heat blasted out her open front door, and she could hear the grinding of metal. She simply kept looking at the moon, and the twinkle of the stars. Levy floored it—she drove like a maniac, Lucy knew—but instead of scolding Levy, as usual, she welcomed the speed and power, the roar of the engine and the shifting of the gears. Levy may have been pressed next to the steering wheel to reach the petals, but she knew how to make the car move. Her life had taken a serious, unexpected turn and she wasn't sure how to handle it.

How did one handle a demon that had evidently been locked away? He'd been locked away for a reason, and now Lucy had to wonder what exactly that reason was. Was he dangerous? Was Gajeel even now trying to kill him? Her gut twisted at the thought. Natsu wasn't bad. He'd tried to protect her, from the heat and what he'd been going through. She'd lived there for two years, and had no idea her resident Demon was suffering so. How many times had she cooked in her kitchen, claiming to be starving? How many times had she wished for a better bed, or a better shower? All the while, Natsu had virtually nothing and very limited access to her world.

No wonder he communicated! He'd have to be bored out of his mind. He was starving, filthy, and a prisoner, yet he reminded her when she needed freaking milk and when her yoga class was.

She was so confused.

"Lucy," Levy finally spoke. They'd left town and were now speeding on a backroad, the wind slapping their hair back. "Listen, there's a lot to explain, okay? I'm going to talk, just hold your questions. I'll try to answer them all." Lucy merely nodded. She couldn't line up the questions anyway. "Okay, so obviously, Gajeel's a demon. A Metal Dragon Demon, to be specific. You've figured that out. Lu-Chan…this is going to be hard to take in, but I'm not human either. And neither are you."

Of all the things, she'd expected Levy to say, that was not one of them. Questions piled on her tongue, but she held them back. Obviously, Levy was trying to explain in the best way she knew how.

"I'm half Fae," Levy said eyes focused on the road. "Half Fae and half Siren. People don't realize it, but Fae are much more than just pranksters, they value language, music and have access to magick. People think Sirens only use their voices to lure humans to their deaths, but honestly, those are the Sirens that have been exiled. They're…well, they're the terrorists of the Siren world. Most Sirens use their voices to enchant human dreams, to give them ideas or to comfort the dying. They're sort of like Muses, but not quite. Anyway, that's me. I'll get to you, I promise Lu-Chan."

Lucy took it in; using the break Levy had given her. It explained Levy's aptitude with knowledge, and how she'd never even blinked when Lucy had finally told her that she wasn't alone in her home. It also explained Levy's singing voice.

Whenever Lucy was getting frustrated with her latest novel or short story, she'd invite Levy over. They'd laugh and talk, then Levy would smile and mention that she knew Lucy was having problems, and she'd ask how she could help. Usually, it ended up with Lucy at her writing desk, Levy standing behind her, gently singing in languages Lucy couldn't even describe.

It never failed though, that Lucy's writer's block would fade and a storm of new ideas would come flooding out. Lucy took a deep breath and pushed through the shock.

"Okay. Fae and Siren. Gotcha." Lucy said, speaking for the first time since she'd left the house. Her voice was steadier than she'd thought it'd be.

Levy smiled brightly at her, relief evident in her eyes. "Okay. So I'll explain how I met Gajeel at a later time, but he wasn't imprisoned like Natsu was. The Human Realm and the Demon Realm overlap, they both occupy the same earth, the same time, but as you've seen with your house, the landscape and buildings can vary greatly. Of course, calling it the Demon Realm is kind of limiting, because other types of 'mythical' creatures can occupy that plain as well, but Demons, Ghosts, Elves and a few others are restricted to the Demon Realm. They can't pass through the Veil like Fae and the rest can.

"There are ways for those who are restricted to cross over and occupy both Realms, for demons, you have to invoke their names." Levy gave her a pointed look, and Lucy squirmed in discomfort. "Though invoking their names doesn't always give them full manifestation. Most of the time it gives them a hole into our world, enough to move things around and to create shadows. Other times, you give them an inch and they take a mile. That's what happened with Natsu. As far as I can figure, he's been storing up energy for the last two years, just waiting for you to invoke his name. He used it to break free of the chains that bound him, and fully manifest, which is no easy task."

"Wow." Lucy breathed. This was pretty heavy stuff…but she had a flesh and blood demon in her house, who was probably fighting another demon, and her house was actually a prison…what a night. "Levy, why was Natsu imprisoned? And why is Gajeel so mad at him?" Levy had asked to hold her questions…but now that some things had been explained, organizing her thoughts had become much easier. She did better with fact than supposition.

Levy sighed, but didn't reprimand her. "Gajeel's mad because Natsu messed up, big time. Natsu was imprisoned for the same reason. You see, he was fighting a Demon/Sorcerer hybrid, the likes of which has never been seen or heard of before. His name was Zeref, and he wanted to start a new Era, change the Demon world forever, and not in a good way. Zeref saw humans as nothing more than Demon food. He saw half-breeds, like myself, as abominations. Basically, he's the Demon Realm's Hitler. Half-Demons, Half-anything's and weaker beings like goblins were imprisoned, starved, beaten and killed.

"Obviously, he needed to be stopped. Natsu was Zeref's number one general, before Zeref went insane, but he saw the error of Zeref's thinking. Zeref wasn't always power hungry, in fact, he was this little crybaby Demon, and Natsu protected him, because Zeref had this misfortune of possessing death magick. He could control it, but when he couldn't everyone around him was in danger. Natsu was the only one who wouldn't be affected, so he stayed with Zeref. Zeref, though, was a ticking time bomb. He knew one day his magick would consume him, change him. So one night, while Natsu was sleeping, Zeref gave Natsu the power to stop him, calling him E.N.D. Anyway, it wasn't long after that that Zeref began changing, began to kill for the pleasure of it. Natsu knew, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend. Gajeel, one of Natsu's friends, told him what he had to do. Everyone did. We all knew it would hurt Natsu, but what choice was there?

"Natsu wouldn't listen. He tried to reason with Zeref, tried to get his friend back. His friend was gone. They got into a battle, and Natsu had no choice but to activate his E.N.D powers—powers that I don't even know the extent of. I don't think Natsu knows either. The battle lasted for an unknown amount of time, between the firepower and death magick, no one could get close enough to see who was winning. The area they were fighting in was away from people, away from buildings, but still, Demons and others fled the surrounding areas. No one wanted to find out how far a Fire Dragon's Roar could reach, or a wave of Death.

"Finally, after an untold amount of time, the battle was over. Both were exhausted, standing on death's door, Zeref fell, his evil spirit gone, his body in ruins. Natsu comforted his friend, for his friend was there in death, and it's said that Zeref thanked him for freeing his soul. Zeref passed, but his evil spirit had enough juice to get revenge. It gathered itself, a pool of blackness, and struck while Natsu was weak, in body and heart, locking him in a prison no Demon could escape, no Demon could enter.

"Four hundred years have passed since, and Natsu's powers have been slowly waning, slowly being sucked into the darkness that was what was left of Zeref's evil. Gajeel is mad, because had Natsu struck sooner, the battle would not have dragged out for so long, and he wouldn't have gotten himself imprisoned. Gajeel's mad at Natsu for abandoning his friends, for abandoning his duty to protect the Demon Realm. But mostly, Gajeel's angry with himself, for not being able to help Natsu when he needed it. Most of us are—angry with ourselves that is. It's been a long time, and Gajeel's not very good with feelings, the touchy feely side of them. He'd rather pound Natsu to dust than admit he was afraid of losing him."

"But he can't!" Lucy's heart was sick for Natsu, and she bled a little inside for what he'd been though. "Natsu's so ill, so sickly. There's no way he can fight Gajeel!"

Levy whipped around another turn, pushing the car for more speed. "I know. Gajeel won't do much, a few hits, a few sharp words. Then he'll tell Natsu he's pathetic and not fun to fight. They'll duke it out for real when Natsu's in better shape. Gray will probably get into it as well," Levy made a face. "In fact, I can't think of a person in Fairy Tail that doesn't want to give Natsu a good smack. Myself included. Idiot." She said it with affection, and so much relief.

"Levy, why didn't you just invoke his name?" Lucy asked. "Or tell me about this sooner!"

"It's complicated." Levy said slowly, as if she was trying to figure out how to explain it. "Other Demons can't invoke another's name that way, but you know I'm not a Demon. It's strange, but since I know Natsu, I can't invoke his name. No, let me explain this better. When invoking a Demon's name, one must not be a Demon for one, and two, they must not have met the fully manifested form of the Demon before. There are other rules, and strong magicks that enforce those rules, but that's the biggie. Had I told you who he was, his name would have lost power for you. The third rule is the person who wants to manifest the Demon has to ask the Demon for his name, it can't be given by a third party."

"I see." Lucy nodded. Man, this was complicated. The laws of the….Human Realm…were complicated enough at times, but now she had to add this new Realm, this new place. Nothing would be the same again. She noticed they were now speeding back towards town. "Levy…you said I wasn't human either…"

"No Lucy, you're not. But you're not like me. You're something I've never seen before too." Levy held up a hand, stopping the questions that wanted to pour from Lucy's mouth. "I'll explain later, right now, we've gotta go back. Natsu's going to need you."

She remembered his thin arms, his weak legs, the hollowness of his eyes and the filth that covered him. She looked at Levy, suddenly feeling an urgency.

"Step on the gas." She told Levy and was rewarded when the car gave a panther like growl, revved up, and zipped along at ninety miles an hour.

So yeah, mostly dialogue but hopefully a lot of questions have been answered. Not all of them, but some. XD. Some surprising I hope?

By the way, I'm making up my own mythology for this, but I'm taking elements from other myths. Take Levy for example, I'm not using the Tinker Bell version of Fairies; I'm using the Irish version. In Irish lore, Fairies are tricky beings that live in magickal 'rafts' under hills. It's said that if you walk on a Fairy Hill the Fairies will capture you, and if you eat their food, you'll have to stay for a hundred years. In Irish lore, Fae don't have tails or wings, but access to magick. So if you guys want to drop me bits of mythology or then feel free.

Answering Guest reviewers now!

Guest: If you click on where it says "Guest" you can change it to whatever suits you. ^^ Well, he's what happened to Natsu! Lol. And nice perception!

zadabug98: Haha, true. And yes, I'm just stumbling across all sorts of neat plot points. XD

Miri: Thanks! HAHA! Levy is small but mighty. Oh, I will. xD

Thanks for reviewing!