Disclaimer: Fairy Tail will (probably) always belong to Hiro Mashima, not me!

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Chapter 12: Don't Mind the Details

"Why are you doing this?" Lucy demanded to know as Sting pushed her into a small cabin surrounded by a forest not too far from the mine.

"I've told you since we've left; don't mind the details! When will you listen?" Sting yelled back with equal force.

"I'll listen once you give me a decent answer!" Lucy shot back irritated. Sting pushed Lucy on the sofa. She struggled but he pinned her chained wrists above her head and leaned in close.

"You want to know that badly?" he asked with a low voice. Lucy felt the hair on the back of her neck raise.

"Revenge" he whispered, his breath taunting Lucy's ear.

"Revenge…?" Lucy repeated "For what?" her voice came out shaker than she hoped.

"Because of the humiliating defeat he handed me at the Grand Magic Games!" Sting explained "I admit I admired him, but after the games ended, Sabertooth became a laughing stock…just as Fairy Tail was" he solemnly rested his head on Lucy's shoulder. Lucy shivered before immediately shrugging him off.

"So? Don't take your misdirected rage out on me!"

"You have it wrong, Sunshine." Sting said and he tipped her chin violently, forcing her to look at him. "You are only the bait. What I want is an all-or-nothing fight to the death with Natsu. But I can't get him to fight at his full force without the life of the one he loves hanging by a thread"

'A fight to the death…for the life of the one he loves? That sounds like something Lisanna would be fit for, so why…?' Lucy wondered. 'Since Azure handed me over to him, she must be his informant. If plant the seed of doubt now, would he want to hear from Azure if he didn't get the wrong girl? I want some answers out of Azure too, like what would she gain from handing me over to Sting?'

"I'm sorry but it seems like you captured the wrong damsel. If you wanted a serious fight you should've gone after Lisanna" Lucy informed him plainly. She took his momentary lapse of confusion to wriggle her hands free from his grip and brush past him. However Sting caught her by the shoulder and pulled her back onto the sofa.

"Lisanna?" Sting asked in confusion. Lucy merely nodded, perspiration forming on her brows. That last pull made her sprained ankle hurt even more like hell. Sting looked away in thought for a moment before he stood up.
"I'm going out for a while so stay put" Sting said as he walked towards the door. When he reached for the doorknob, he glanced at Lucy over his shoulder. "Not that you will be going anywhere soon anyway" he said as he stepped outside. Before Lucy could say anything he slammed the door.

Lucy lied down on the couch as she recalled Lisanna's earlier betrayal. Lucy tried to convince herself that Lisanna must not have known that Sabertooth became a dark guild. She didn't want to believe that someone reckoned as closer than a sister would screw her over so thoroughly.

Lucy felt the tears which she had suppressed for the past day rising to the surface, threatening to become a torrent of sadness. 'Oh Natsu…It's like I'm a princess who has been imprisoned in a false tower and am guarded by the wrong dragon. Where are you..?'


Natsu arrived back to where Lisanna was sitting on top of a heap of tied-up Sabertooth mages outside the infirmary.

"Well? Did you find her?" Lisanna asked, her folded arms rested on her crossed legs.

"No…I lost her scent. That creep must have taken her way before I got there" Natsu admitted, looking away. He was ashamed. 'How could I have let someone so important to me like her slip out of my grasp so easily? Where was Lucy? I never did get to explain to her what happened in the infirmary, though I myself was not so aware of what was happening at the time. Was she mad or upset about it?' Natsu wanted to go mad with all the uncertainties he had swimming in his heart. 'She has her keys with her, so she should be fine, right?'

The heavy sigh that escaped from Lisanna's lips pulled Natsu out of his brooding.

"Well I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but look what I found." Lisanna said. She held out a very familiar set of keys.

"Is that…?'

"It's Lucy's gate keys. She must've dropped it during the battle."

"But if you're here, and the keys are here, then that means Lucy's got nothing to defend herself with!"

"Even if she still had her keys on her, the kidnappers would've just taken it away anyway. If you ask me I'd say it's a nuisance to keep a holder-type mage around. Without her keys, Lucy's pretty much use…"

"That's not true!" Natsu said angrily. "This is bad…without her keys Lucy really is in danger"

"That's why I'm saying Natsu, just leave her. It will just happen again anyway!" Lisanna was beginning to get impatient. "Why can't you see she's more trouble than good?"

"Because she's my nakama, and there's now I'm gonna leave her behind! I'm going out to get her" Natsu said decisively.

"But Natsu, you don't even know where to start looking!" Lisanna protested.

"I don't, but one of these flunkies do" Natsu said. He strode over and pulled one of the tied-up Sabertooth mages up at the collar.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to learn of Lucy's location the same way I did when we lost you back in Akai Tsuki." Natsu answered. He shifted his attention from the confused Lisanna to the mage.

"Alright buddy, start talking" Natsu asked, glaring at him.

"Like I'd tell you anything" the mage laughed. Natsu gritted on his teeth before smiling wickedly.

"Looks like you just need a little persuasion!" Natsu said as he engulfed his fist in flames. He punched the mage, sending him flying. He crashed into the outer wall of the infirmary. The wall collapsed in around the mage. Natsu pulled the mage out from the rubble. "Ready to talk?" he asked, eyes glowing blue.

"Alright, alright I'll talk!" the mage said as he struggled against Natsu's grip. Natsu loosened his grip but still held the mage with his stare.

"We were only following orders, I swear!" the mage defended himself.

"Orders…form who?" Natsu asked. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Our master, our guild master...Sting Eucliffe!" he answered. Natsu's bad feeling was confirmed. He suspected something like this when he was in the tunnel. He thought he smelt something which was unpleasantly familiar. "But it's not just him!" the mage continued, fearing the furious expression that had appeared on his interrogator's face.

"What, just not him? Who else is there then?" Natsu asked tightening his grip around the man's collar again.

"It's the woman, the woman alright?! The pretty young heiress!" he cried frantically. Natsu felt Lisanna tense next to him. Natsu narrowed his eyes and pulled the mage closer.

"What does she have to do with this?"

"I dunno alright?! I'm not that high up in the chain o' command! Our only order was to make sure the capture of the woman Lucy, no questions asked!" he said and struggled some more. Natsu knew that was all the information he's gonna get. He threw the mage back on the pile of other mages.

"Lisanna" Natsu called. Lisanna snapped to attention in response. "We're going to Azure"

"Whatever for?" Lisanna asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well, for starters, we have to report to her about the bad guys. And I have some questions for her too." Natsu said.

"Oh but Natsu we're not in a hurry right? I'm sure Azure-san is already very busy and…" Lisanna said, but Natsu wouldn't stand to listen. He grabbed her by the wrist and headed back into the building towards Azure's office.


Azure sieved through the papers on her desk. The songs of the birds outside was very soothing, like the calm before the storm. She took the insurance claim paper and looked it over. 'All the pieces are already in place…' she thought as a soft wind blew in through the window behind her.

"Back so soon?" she inquired.

"We have a problem" Sting said from where he sat on the window still.

"Oh? Do tell" Azure said without looking up from her papers.

"I think you gave me wrong girl" Sting answered as he watched Azure filling in some forms.

"What makes you think that?"

"The girl I have said that Natsu would have come for the other girl instead." Sting explained.

"And you believe her?" Azure wanted to know as she filed a few papers.

"Well…hey do you even remember the deal? I co-operate with you and you give me bait to lure out Natsu in exchange. If I can't lure him out with the one you have given me then that means I will have lost a plethora of men for free!" Sting said, gnashing his teeth. He was getting pissed off with Azure's devil-may-care attitude. Azure put her pen down and turned in her chair, facing Sting.

"Oh I wouldn't go that far. The one on their team who agreed to help capture Lucy, Lisanna, did it because she saw Lucy as a threat and wanted her out of the picture. That means that Natsu obviously likes Lucy enough for Lisanna to want and get rid of her. In all probability Lisanna hopes that she will be able to make Natsu forget about liberating Lucy, but I know the fool won't be able to stop him." Azure explained simply. Sting furrowed his eyebrows as he milled over the words.
"Lucy suspected that if she gave you another eligible target you would run back here and hopefully set her free. By doing that you would be playing straight into her hands and lose your chance at a serious battle with Natsu. So stick with her, Sting." She elaborated. The revelation was a blow to Sting.

"How could she have known that…?" Sting wondered aloud.

"That girl's smart." Azure said and decided to rub salt into the wound. "In less than a day she had discovered from the guild mark that you have lef thtat you have restructured Saberooth into a dark guild. Should I call you the master of 'Saber Jaw' now?"

Sting clenched his fist in as he shook with anger. He gritted on his teeth, fangs itching for a bite.

"Azure-san" her bespectacled assistant called through the intercom.

"Go ahead" she replied.

"The mages of Fairy Tail wish to speak with you"

"Send them in"

"Yes mam'" the assistant replied and cut of the line.

"You better leave now, unless you want to have your little squabble now?" Azure said, persuading Sting to leave. He responded accordingly and disappeared from the window.


Lisanna saw a flash of white and her heart nearly stopped.

'How close was that? And what the hell was he doing here?' she wondered.

"Fairy Tail mages, how may I help you?" Azures-san asked. Lisanna nervously looked over to where Natsu was looking at Azure-san with unguarded distrust.

'Damn that Sabertooth mage for making Natsu all suspicious like that!' Lisanna thought angrily. She glanced over at Azure and saw that their client was meeting Natsu's stare with equal intensity. 'It's okay...' Lisanna tried to reassure herself, 'Azure-san won't reveal our operation so easily!'

"We're here to report that we have subdued all the intruders. They are being kept in the dungeon until we can hand them over to the Rune Knight." Lisanna informed Azure-san as jubilantly as she could, as if betraying Lucy had never happened.

"Right, thank you for your good work" Azure said, still looking at Natsu. "Is there something wrong?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah...there is." Natsu answered. Lisanna held her breath. What was she going to do if Natsu found out she helped in capturing Lucy? Azure lifted an inquiring eyebrow "One of those Sabertooth flunkies told me that you had something to do with the attack." he added.

"Why would I have anything to do with it?" Azure-san asked with measured amusement.

"I don't know…it's just that I've picked up the same suspicious smell everywhere. First at the workers hall, then in the dungeon and now" Natsu said as he sniffed the air "I smell it coming from the window still. You scent lingered in the dungeon as well, so you must've been there! You should've seen what happened to Lucy!"

"I see where you are coming from and I'm sorry about the loss of your friend, but I'm afraid I know nothing of it. And I should hope that my scent lingers in the dungeon for it shows that I do my work by checking up on it now and then" Azure-san explained evenly.

'Nice save, Azure-san!' Lisanna thought as she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Lisanna's relief didn't last long though since Natsu for once wouldn't accept such a simple explanation.

"Don't screw with me!" Natsu held fast as he stalked over to Azure's desk. "I know you had something to do with it, the Sabertooth mage said so!" Natsu said as he slammed his fists on the table.

A strong gust of wind blew through the window and all the papers flew of the table. It all came raining down before Natsu and Lisanna. For a moment Azure let her composure slip and a look of panic crossed her face. Natsu looked on in surprise until he picked up the strange scent again.

"There!" he exclaimed as launched himself towards a paper and grabbed it. Azure looked frantically over at Natsu. "This is…" Natsu began. The soft landing of paper on the floor was almost audible.

"That's an insurance claim form, and the need for the payout is…64 dark mages?" Lisanna read aloud before she could stop herself.

"And here…" Natsu said, holding up another paper. "It's a deal with 'Saber Jaw'; the dismissal of 64 mages in exchange for one mage?" Natsu read as he and looked towards Azure again. "What the hell does that mean?"

'It's ridiculous how easily Azure-san had been caught…Natsu must have the devil's luck…' Lisanna thought. She heard Azure sigh and looked over at her. Lisanna reckoned that Azure-san was probably thinking the same thing.

"Alright, I will admit to it; you've exposed my plot…It means that Saber Jaw supplied me with 64 mages to cover to insure with." She explained simply.

"Why the hell would they have agreed to that..?" Natsu asked. Azure closed her eyes for a moment before opening it and answering.

"Because of the contract…"


Lucy decided to put an end to her dark brooding and get up off of the couch. She scoured the room for something sharp. Lucy knew that the chains prevented the use of magic, but it wasn't resistant to manual lock picking.

Lucy rummaged through the papers on the lone table in the room.

'Oh, found it!' Lucy thought excitedly as she saw a shiny object. 'What's this?' Lucy wondered as she peered closely at the object. It was the ore for some stone. Its' color was a magnificent gold which sparkled when sunlight shone upon it. Lucy wanted to close that it was real gold, but it seemed to light. 'A fake?' Lucy wondered.

Lucy struggled for a bit but after some perseverance she managed to free herself. As Lucy soothed her aching wrists, she couldn't stop thinking about the shabby gold.

She looked around the table some more and found an old, worn out book underneath a ridiculously large pile of paper. She took it and paged through.

She came to an abrupt stop when she reached a certain chapter. She scanned through the chapter and a few words caught her attention.

'Radiant Gold… not that the real article…they weight lighter… not as dense… not of equal value…Is commonly called 'Black Gold'… ores in great amounts in the mountain range of Orinoco.'

'Wait…Orinoco mountain range? That's where we are! Why does Sting have something like this…?' Lucy wondered, but her thought train came to a screeching halt when she heard sticks breaking outside. She rushed over to the window and saw Sting approaching.

He looked despondent, but Lucy didn't let it bother her. She was more concerned over the outcome of her plan. Lucy went to hide near the door. As soon as Sting would come in, Lucy would jump him and retrieve what was hers.


Sting stopped with his hand on the doorknob, feeling that something was amiss. He slowly opened the door before fully swinging it open. He stalked over to the couch and saw that his prey was missing. He turned around and the next moment he felt the full weight of someone on him.

Lucy had tackled him. Amused, Sting turned them over mid-fall and pinned Lucy to the ground. He smirked, but she looked as if she was victorious at the bottom.

'What does Natsu see in a girl who is plain, boring and only has her cleavage going for her?' Sting wondered.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sting inquired. Lucy smiled up at him.

"You had something I wanted" Lucy said as she tried to get out from underneath him, but Sting wouldn't budge, so she knead him in the groin.

'That girls' smart…' Sting remembered Azure's words. He cursed as he rolled of off Lucy. She jumped up as he agonized in pain.

"The hell? What did I have of you?" Sting tried to say, inhaling deeply.

"This lovely device a 'good friend' of me gave me" Lucy said as she held out the Lacrima Camera Device Lisanna sent her with dark Sabertooth – Saber Jaw's - mark on it.

"When…how?" Sting breathed

"Remember when I told you about Lisanna earlier? I took the momentary lapse in your confusion to stick it on you as I brushed past you" Lucy explained proudly.

"So?" Sting asked while getting up. "What good will that thing do you?"

"It recorded your entire trip all the way since you've left this cabin until your return"

"Then that means…"

"That's right…" Lucy confirmed as she activated the playback option "It recorded your entire conversation with Azure!"

'Remember…co-operate with you… give me bait to lure out Natsu…If I can't lure him out…I will have lost a plethora of men for free…' the voice of Sting filled the desolate room.

"Hey, give that back!" Sting demanded as he chased after Lucy, but she easily managed to avoid him due to his little bruise.

'The one on their team…' Azure's voice started '...Lisanna…agreed to help with capture…she saw Lucy as a threat…wanted her out of the picture…Natsu obviously likes Lucy enough for Lisanna to want and get rid of her…hopes that she will be able to make Natsu forget about liberating Lucy…'

"I thought so…" Lucy said as the conversation ended. "I figured Lisanna's underhanded tactics a while ago, but what do you mean you have lost a plethora of men? Please, tell me Sting!" Lucy requested sincerely.

"It was one foggy night…" Sting started, not knowing why he was telling this girl of the secret meeting he had with Azure"…when it all started…"


A/N: I don't want to bore you with the million excuses I have so I'm just going to go the straight apology; I'm really really sorry for the delay in updating! It's just that I wrestled with this chapter, and I didn't want to give it to you half-baked. I'm left you with a cliffhanger again this time, but hopefully I won't leave you hanging as long this time!

Thank you for everyone who has continually supported me, I love every read, favorite, follow and review!

To be continued in Chapter 13: Arc 2 Climax!