Lucy squinted her eyes as she looked over the black plains that seemed to stretch out endlessly before her. It had been two months since her pact with Ira and their group was now headed south to the Domain of Sloth in order to collect her third pact. Things had not gone as smoothly as Lucy would have hoped though, they had the option to take this worlds version of a magic transport but Abaddon had informed her that half dragons suffer from even worse motion sickness than a simple dragon slayer. If they were to take transportation then Alva could possibly die from severe motion sickness.

And so their group began their long journey south to the lands of Sloth. Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly depressed at the constant view of the black, charred lands that had been their constant companion. According to Abaddon; the lands under the control of a Lord of Sin each take on an aspect of their master. That was the reason at the lands under the control of Ira always seemed to be burnt down while according to him the lands under the control of Sloth are quite swampy. Something that Lucy was not looking forward to moving through.

The journey had not been all bad however, Lucy's physical and magical training had continued nearly every evening since they began their trip. She spent nearly every night training with her rapier against Frederick and her reaction speed had risen to ungodly levels. She still wasn't nearly capable of fighting against Abaddon and even Alva had surpassed her level after her constant fights against the Lord of Pride.

Frederick on the other hand was much better at pulling his punches and therefore made a much better sparring partner. Frederick would test Lucy in new ways nearly every time to improve her physical strength as well as her critical thinking on the battlefield. He was also a much more respectable gentleman than Abaddon could ever hope to be. Frederick remained respectful at all times, always referring to her as "Lady Lucy", and was the first to set up the camp for the night and the first to volunteer for the first watch.

He was not entirely perfect however, as he kept at least a few secrets to himself. A few nights after her pact with Ira when it had been just him and Lucy she had asked what exactly he had meant by what her answer would be. However he had been less than forthcoming in his answer.

"Unfortunately, Lady Lucy, I am not at liberty to discuss that with you. Only one of the Lords of Sin can answer your question. What I can tell you is that someday you will be given a choice, and that the path you take then will determine whether many people live or die." He had answered before returning his attention to the fire he had been attending to. Lucy tried to get more out of him but he was surprisingly tight lipped and Alva only gave her a blank stare when Lucy asked her. Even when she asked Abaddon he only changed the subject or simply disappeared from sight. Lucy was forced to give up but it was constantly at the back of her mind.

At that moment a deep rumble pulled Lucy from her thoughts. She looked around in confusion and saw a large dust cloud forming on the horizon.

"Oh? It appears that a wild herd of Wrath demons is approaching." Abaddon said with clearly mock surprise as he moved to stand alongside Lucy.

"Wild wrath demons? Is it normal for there to be that many? Because I don't remember seeing anything like this in these last three months." Lucy asked as she shot a glare at Abaddon.

"Well they aren't exactly common, but they do show up from time to time. Normally a team from the capitol would be deployed to deal with them." Frederick answered from behind her. "But this far out it would be almost pointless to deploy a team, they wouldn't arrive for days and the pack would simply have moved on."

"Are we in danger here?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Of course we are. Wrath demons are considered to be the most aggressive and some of the strongest demons in the realm." Abaddon answered as if it were an obvious answer.

"W-Well then why are we just standing here?!" Lucy screamed out as she turned to glare at Abaddon.

"Why would we run? You're more than capable of dealing with them." Abaddon said in a deadpan tone.

Lucy simply stared at him in fuming silence, "… Ok I give, what exactly do you mean?" Lucy asked in a tired voice.

"Its simple; you hold a pact with the highest form of a wrath demon. Simply use your pact to bend these ones to your will." Abaddon explained

"Ok…so how exactly do I do that?"

"I have no clue; I've never held a pact myself." Abaddon answered with a shrug.

…there was silence amongst their group as Lucy clenched her hand so hard she could feel her nails digging into her skin. She wanted to hurt Abaddon so badly that it hurt but in the end she simply stared out at the dust cloud that was growing larger by the second. The others all looked at her with either trepidation or simply a blank stare in the case of Abaddon.

Ok so…how exactly do I do this? Lucy thought to herself in a panic. She had never called out to a demon through her pact and she wasn't exactly all there when she first called upon Abaddon. But then she remembered, when Ira said the pact was complete he had reached down and touched her Fairy Tail mark and had caused a green spark of energy from the contact. If it was just physical contact needed for the pact to be formed then he could have laid his hand upon her in a number of more convenient places but he chose her right hand specifically. Perhaps that had some meaning when it came to pacts.

Oh well, here goes. She thought dejectedly to herself as she raised her right hand and pointed her guild mark at the approaching horde. She waited until she could make out their individual forms before finally speaking in the most commanding tone she could muster. "Demons of wrath; obey my pact and serve your master."

And just like that; the horde simply vanished into a mass of black smoke. Lucy felt a slight dip in her magic energy and a greenish outline to her pink mark but otherwise there was no sign of the demons that had been barreling down upon them just moments ago.

A round of applause sounded off from behind Lucy at that moment and she turned around to find all three of her companions clapping, although Alva seemed to be just going with the flow rather than actually impressed.

"Congratulations Milady; you are one step closer to achieving your revenge." Abaddon said with a smile upon his lips. "Now then why don't you try calling out a few of them for practice."

"And would you care to explain how I do that or are you just going to give me some other excuse."

"Lady Lucy, I believe I can offer some assistance in regards to that." Frederick said as he moved forward. "According to my lord it is quite similar to when one calls out to a Celestial Spirit. You must simply open a pathway for the demons you desire and call them out by their specific sin." He explained in his usual business tone.

Lucy nodded and closed her eyes and concentrated on her Fairy Tail guild mark. At first she felt nothing but after a few seconds she felt a spark of energy that was quite similar to the feeling she got when opening a celestial gate.

"Come forth and obey, demons of wrath." Lucy said solemnly as she raised her hand similarly to how she brought the demons under control.

A second later a cloud of black smoke burst into existence in front of the group and from within it came the forms of the very same wrath demons that had been approaching mere moments ago.

While she didn't get a good chance to look at them when they were charging them, Lucy could now see the wrath demons in all their terrifying glory. While not as tall as Ira these demons easily stood a good four or so feet over Lucy's head and had the same black skin and green eyes that she had come to associate with wrath demons. Their bodies looked to be made entirely of muscle to the point where it looked unnatural.

Lucy managed to call out four of these massive beasts and each of them looked expectantly at her. Lucy almost faltered under the intense pressure of their gazes but managed to keep her unease from showing.

It was at that moment that Lucy had what she considered to be one of the greatest ideas that she had ever come up with. She turned back to Abaddon and the others with a feral grin upon her face. "Hey guys, I think I found us a way to travel." She said as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

Frederick's eyes widened while Alva simply tilted her head in confusion. Abaddon on the other hand burst out in laughter.

"I see, I see… but will little Alva be ok with this?" Abaddon asked still snickering to himself.

"Not vehicles…not a problem." Alva said giving a thumbs up.

Lucy giggled to herself and turned back to the demons that stood behind her. "Alright then, I order you to carry us to the Domain of Sloth!" she ordered as she pointed at them.

The wrath demons nodded once and each moved to grab someone. Lucy and Alva were small enough for the demons to carry in a single arm while Abaddon and Frederick choose to stand upon the demons shoulders instead.

"Alright, forward!" Lucy shouted as she pointed off into the distance. The demons moved practically the moment she finished and bounded forward with a speed that caused Lucy to yelp cutely. Oh ya, this is going to be much better than walking. She thought happily, look out lord of Sloth, I'm coming for you!


Makarov looked out over his children from his usual perch on top of the bar. It had been three months since they had said their last goodbyes to one of their family and it finally seemed like his children were begin to move on from their grief. While fights were still not as common and a feeling of gloom still permeated the air his children had started to go on jobs again and occasionally he would hear laughter echoing from corners of the building.

Despite the improvement, however, there were some who still could not bring themselves to stand back up. Nearly all of Team Natsu in particular barely moved nowadays. They would simply come into the guild and put their heads down, not speaking to anyone or doing anything that they were known for. And if they were not they would be at Lucy's grave paying their respects.

Well, at least Natsu seems to have recovered from Lucy's death. He thought to himself solemnly. Natsu had recovered the quickest out of anyone in the guild, something that had surprised almost everyone. He was no longer the happy go lucky fire mage that he had been and he spent nearly every moment that he was conscious out on a job. The few times that he had seen the boy in the guild he would sit with his team but just stare off into space like he was trying to solve the problems of the world.

According to happy the boy had returned to looking for his foster father with vigor that he had never had before Lucy had joined them. He would complete his job as soon as possible and spend the rest of his time scouring every inch of the surrounding area for any sign of dragons, his foster father or otherwise.

While it might not be healthy, I don't think I need to step in and fix this just yet. They are entitled to their own forms of mourning after all. Makarov thought to himself as Mirajane walked up to his side and returned him from his mind.

"Master; the S-class mages have all gathered and most of the guild is present. Is it time to announce those who will be taking the S class trials this year?" Mira was one of his children who had not quite yet returned to how she had been before Lucys death but she would occasionally show a sad smile as she tended to the bar.

"mmmhhh…thank you Mira, I suppose it is time." Makarov thanked as he stood up and made his way to the stage. Perhaps these trials would do his children some good and keep their minds off of what they had lost.

Makarov moved to the center of the stage and cleared his throat loudly, drawing all eyes to him. "Listen up kids, the time of the S-class trials are once again upon us and it is time to announce our candidates for this year. The following eight will have the chance to join the honored ranks of our guilds greatest warriors; Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Elfman Strauss, Cana Alberona, Freed Justine, Levy McGarden, and Mest Gryder. You have one week to find yourself a partner and meet at the port of Hargeon. Be prepared to test both your mind and your strength. That is all." And with that he moved off the stage and made his way back to his office.

Sorry for the almost filler chapter guys but i wanted this chapter to go over how the basic mechanics of the pact work and to check back in with Fairy Tail. As far as the S-class trial goes i wont be going over that at all in this fanfic. we all know how that works out and as far as my story goes just assume that Carla went with Cana and Pantherlilly went with Gray.

Next time we will see Lucy take on the trial of Sloth. feel free to give me tips or reviews.

until next time