I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!
Okay so after reading through this story again to see where exactly I wanted to take this, I realized that this story is extremely romance oriented. I'm going to try and put a little more adventure into it so it doesn't get too boring.
That being said, enjoy!
Chapter 21 – Preparations
"Natsu… Natsu~" Natsu groaned and turned his head towards the voice, still fighting off the sleep that held him down. "Natsu, if you don't wake up we'll just have to leave without you." The voice teased, her breath tickling across the skin of his cheek.
A low growl filled the silence. Natsu peeled his lips back from his teeth and attacked, grabbing the woman standing over him and throwing her down on the bed to roll over on top of her. "You smell good Lucy." He whispered, burying his nose into her golden locks, sending the girl into a fit of giggles while trying to fend him off with halfhearted attempts. Natsu grabbed Lucy's wrists, one in each of his large hands, and held them to the bed over her head.
"Natsu wait, we really do need to go. We have to be back at the guild by noon to register our team." Lucy whined, earnestly trying to pull away from the Dragon Slayer now. Natsu ignored her comment for the time being, leaving gentle kisses down her neck. Her whines turned to soft moans at the feeling of wet heat lighting fire along her skin.
"Just a taste for what's to come, then." Natsu whispered against her soft skin, kissing and licking higher. "You taste better than you smell." Lucy arched her back to press her body against his bare chest. The thin cloth separating them, though soft and smooth, grated along her skin to send sparks through her. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, biting her lower lip as he trailed agonizingly slow kisses across her chin until she felt his warm breath over her lips. He let go of her hands and planted his own on either side of her head, brushing his lips teasingly over hers, but not quite giving her the kiss she desired.
Lucy dug her fingers into her mate's hair and pulled his lips fully against hers in a heated kiss. Natsu responded in kind, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, battling against her for dominance, but in time Lucy gave over to him. She gave him free reign, accepting his will to allow the kiss to deepen, Natsu pressing his body along hers. The two parted in an attempt to breath, Lucy's lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.
"I asked you to wake him up, not stick your tongue down his throat." Lucy squeaked and leaned her head into Natsu's chest to hide her blush, feeling the demon's glare.
"You know you didn't just have to watch." Natsu turned his head to the side to look her in the eye, meeting her glare with a sly smile. "You are more than welcome to join us; there is plenty to go around." He said with a chuckle, hunger filling his veins for his mates.
Mirajane crossed the distance in quick, hurried steps. "Don't be so cocky Mr. Big Bad Dragon Slayer. Don't go making promises you can't keep." Natsu flinched at the challenging tone in her voice, but he didn't back down. He kept eye contact with her, feeling her passion through the mark.
"You can't scare me like that Mira. You forget that I can see inside you. I know what you are feeling… I know what you really want." She surprised him, her face turning sly before grabbing him by the back of the neck. She ripped him out of Lucy's grasp to slam him into the wall, her lips slanting over his as she took the role of dominance from him. The demon smiled in her mind when he fought back, but no matter how strong he was physically, she knew exactly how to press his buttons to distract him long enough to take over completely. She couldn't help but moan against his lips with his hands gripping her tight ass through her dress.
Using his hands to travel up her curves, Natsu picked her up by the waist and pushed her back, forcibly parting their lips. Natsu growled in response to her whimper, but smiled at his success. "Like you said, we need to get going or we will miss the challenge Master has thought up for us. We can continue this when we have taken our place in the games." Wrapping an arm around her legs, Natsu threw Mirajane over his shoulder and grabbed the blushing blonde from the bed under his other arm. Both women screamed and hit him any way they could manage, demanding to be let down. Natsu laughed heartily while leaving their room.
Wendy looked up from her place on the couch, stowing her book back in the table stand. She couldn't help but smile at the scene, the look of pure amusement plastered over Natsu's features bringing joy to her heart. She couldn't help but blush when she remembered what had been going on upstairs, her enhanced hearing and their marks filling in all the gaps her eyes hadn't. "Ready to go Wendy?" Natsu asked setting the two women down by the door.
"Just waiting on you three." She commented, smoothing out the wrinkles from her dress. "How can you still have so much energy after last night?" Her eyes widened at how blunt and suggesting her words were. Things had changed so fast that sometimes she couldn't hold back her thoughts. She blinked as Natsu cupped her cheeks with both hands.
"I could never get enough of you three. I won't be satisfied with myself until each of you are left satisfied and pregnant." He whispered, leaning closer together with her to meet in a slow, gentle kiss. Despite the lack of sheer ferocity of the other two kisses, Wendy felt her knees weaken all the same. Conscious that the other two women were watching Wendy deepened the kiss, circling a hand around to the back of his neck, her tongue begging entrance to his mouth. Just because Mirajane and Lucy were there didn't mean that Wendy was willing to hold back her own desire. She knew they wouldn't have judged her for such an act.
Natsu willingly let her in, meeting her tongue with his own. There was no struggle for power; they met equally, simply enjoying one another. Natsu broke the kiss before it could go any further, giving her another short, close mouthed kiss. When they finally parted, Natsu took up her left hand in his, beckoning Happy over with his free hand. "I almost forgot about why we went out yesterday."
Happy floated over to Natsu, dropping a small velvet box into his hand. "I don't see why you couldn't have just waited until after the games to get this, Natsu."
Natsu chuckled and opened the box, pulling a ring out from inside of it. "I want everyone that looks at her to know she is taken. There are few out there that know what our mating marks mean, I want everyone to see that she is mine and mine alone." Tossing the box over to the floating Exceed, Natsu slipped the ring over Wendy's finger. "I will not claim you belong to me, because you have the right to do what you please. You heart is another matter, your heart belongs to me."
Wendy looked down at her finger and felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I don't see how you can expect me to fight with something like this on my finger." She had noticed the same exact ring on Mirajane and Lucy's hands and knew it was another symbol to them that they were all equal in his heart. "Come on, we will never get there just standing here." Letting go of Natsu's hand, Wendy grabbed a hand from each of the other two women and pulled them out the door, eager to claim their spot in the games.
Natsu squirmed in the wooden seat, unable to find a comfortable position to sit in. It didn't help that the man Reedus had recommended was nearly as old as Makarov was, his left eye white from having lost his vision years ago. Said man, having introduced himself as Vincent, was standing over the Dragon Slayer, scrutinizing him with his one good eye while leaning on a worn cane. "Take off your shirt." He commanded, raising a hand to keep Natsu from complaining. "It is a part of the process; I have to follow your magical currents to determine if your body can take my magic. I need to see your skin before I can continue." He explained.
Narrowing his eyes, Natsu held the man with a hard glare, but removed his vest all the same and handed it to Wendy over his shoulder. She placed a hand gently on his shoulder to comfort him. Removing his gaze from the old man, Natsu occupied himself by watching Mirajane and Lucy look through a large stack of photo albums that had pictures and sketches of past images he had imprinted on others. Natsu jumped in surprise when the older man put his hand on Natsu's pectoral testing Natsu's skin by probing it with his magic, only to snatch it away in a hiss of pain.
"It won't work." Vincent said in a huff and shook his head. "Your magic is too abrasive, it will just burn off whatever images I try to implant on you. I am sorry to say, but I can be of no help." He added sullenly. "Maybe you can still find whoever gave you that image on your neck, if they can get that to stay, maybe they could get whatever you wanted." He offered.
"I didn't choose the way it looked when I gave it to him, my magic chose for me." Wendy stated sadly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to help with Mirajane and Lucy's marks. "I couldn't add another's mark to my mate, only my own."
The older man rubbed over his brow, surprised at the young blue haired woman's statement. "Maybe this is a little too personal… but do you mean mate as like an animal or a lover? And what would that have to do with putting a mark on his neck?"
Natsu thrust his chin at the other two looking through the albums, their faces downcast at hearing he could be of no help. They sighed and simply tried to enjoy the images for what they were, for what they had meant to others. "It has to do with my magic. It is too much to explain right now, but as a Dragon Slayer, this mark shows that I am hers… and the marks on her, Mirajane, and Lucy's collarbones…" Natsu reached behind him, trailing his hand up Wendy's arm to her shoulder and over the mark to show him what he meant. "… These show others like me that they are mine in all ways. These marks bind us together through not only our love, but through magic."
Vincent reached a tentative hand out, stopping for a moment over Wendy's collarbone to look into her eyes to ask for permission. She gave a small nod and he touched briefly over the mark, threading his magic into it to test how it stayed in the skin so prominently. The instant his magic touched her, the mark flared brightly and took on the appearance that it was moving, spinning even. He cried out in pain and surprise when Natsu's hand snapped up and clamped down on his wrist, wrenching Vincent's hand away from Wendy.
Natsu shoved Vincent back as he came to his feet. "I would recommend not tampering with that. I don't know what you did, but I don't want you to try that ever again. I know you meant no harm, but next time I won't settle for a little bruising of your wrist." Natsu sighed and dropped back down into the hard wooden chair. "I'm sorry… When it comes to them…. I'm not always in control of what I say or do."
Vincent rubbed his sore wrist, but nodded, his eyes locked on the mating mark over Natsu's neck. "I think I understand though. I could feel your magic as well as her own in that mark. From what I have gathered so far, your magic should be tearing her apart from the inside. How is it that you can control it?"
"Through these marks, my magic cannot harm them." Natsu explained, a small smile gracing his lips. "They can even control my magic a little through their emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more they can control it."
Vincent stood there with a hand on his chin, eyes darting between the four. "I have something I would like to try. If your magic cannot hurt them, maybe I can use their power to enhance the images they wish to place. I don't think I could control the image, but if this works correctly, their magic will combine with mine to draw forth the image it desires. There will be no going back once we do this though."
Natsu sat confused, not fully understanding what Vincent was suggesting. He blinked up at the man. "How do you plan to use someone else's powers to plant the image?"
Vincent turned his attention away from Natsu with a dismissive wave of his hand. "How about it ladies?" He asked giving them a crooked smile. "It doesn't sound fair that he can mark up your bodies, but you can't do the same to him."
Mirajane was the first to react, stepping over to Natsu, standing just next to his shoulder. "Just tell me what you need me to do." She looked over at Vincent, hope brimming through her eyes.
A large smile split the mage's face and he motioned for her to step in front of Natsu. "I cannot say for sure this will work, but it is worth a try. Remember, I can't determine what will come of your mark or how large it will be. The only thing I can say is that it will be permanent." Mirajane nodded and took a long deep breathe to steady her mind. Vincent held out a hand to her. "I'm going to put my magic in the palm of your hand, don't freak out on me. Put your hand where you want the image. The rest will be up to your magic's will."
Reaching forward, Mirajane looked down at her mate, hesitating briefly in thought of where she wanted it. Her eyes sought his, the black diamonds sucking her in until all that existed were the two of them. Warmth spread through her hand and arm before she realized she had placed her palm over the left side of his chest. Pain filled his eyes, his brows furrowing as his muscled tensed under his hand. She couldn't take her hand away, his hand clamping over hers to hold it in place.
His body started to shake and she realized the skin under her hand was turning black, but he refused to cry out. "I trust you." Natsu whispered to her, his words coming out strangled. Those three words in any other situation would have brought her happiness, but in this instance she didn't trust herself because she didn't know what was happing or how she could control it.
Every second that ticked by seemed longer than the last, Mirajane unable to do anything but offer her strength to him through her eyes. As suddenly as it came, it ended with Natsu sighing and slumping forward, dropping his hold on her hand. His breath came rough and ragged but he no longer shook from the pain. Mirajane tentatively touched him, afraid that she would hurt him further. Natsu melted into her hand, his cheek pressing against her palm. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
"Do you need me to heal you?" Wendy asked kneeling to his left side.
Natsu shook his head, though neither knew who he was answering. A few minutes passed before Natsu leaned back against the chair, giving Mirajane a weak smile. "How does it look?"
Vincent appeared with a mirror, his hands shaking as he handed it over. "I swear I didn't know that would happen." Natsu nodded and took the mirror, holding it up to see the newly imprinted tattoo. He frowned and blinked his eyes as if unsure of what he was seeing. It appeared as if a chunk of his skin had been ripped from his body, as if a piece of his skin had been pulled from his muscle to be replaced by a torn black darkness no larger than Mirajane's palm. In the center lay a large dark purple eye. Mirajane reached out and touched it, the image reacting to her touch, blinking and causing her to pull back with a shriek. "It moved!"
Natsu smiled in realization, dropping the mirror into his lap. "I think it represents your ability to take souls into your body. As in another watches from within you." Taking her hand in his, Natsu kissed her palm.
Wendy reached out and touched the image and the eye reacted in almost the same way, blinking but when it reopened it was a lighter shade of purple. As soon as her hand left it, it reverted back to the dark purple it had been previously. Vincent gently pushed the women to the side and bent down to examine the image. The eye reacted in turn, the eye turning to look at him, staring him down as it darkened. Natsu pulled back but the eye stayed trained on Vincent until Mirajane put a hand on his shoulder and it reverted back again.
"Lucy, come here." Natsu said offering his hand to her. Lucy stepped to his right side and took his hand, interlocking their fingers. "Are you ready to do this?" He asked. Lucy shook her head, not wanting to put him through what he had gone through with Mirajane's mark. "Too bad, it's not too much of a price to pay. Vincent, let's do this." Natsu kept his hand interlocked with Lucy's and looked up into her eyes.
Vincent held his hand out to Lucy, pooling his magic in her hand. Lucy whispered her thanks, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Lucy drew confidence from Natsu's eyes and their bond, questioning how he could be so calm at a time like this. The hand that held the pooled magic landed on the underside of his forearm. The reaction was immediate, pain radiating through the bond into Lucy's mind.
Natsu had been able to prepare himself this time, tensing his muscles to prevent himself from shaking, his breath halting in his lungs. "I'm sorry." Lucy said quietly, squeezing his hand to show her sincerity. Natsu managed to smile through the ordeal, shaking his head as if to say it was alright. A bright glow erupted from under Lucy's hand so bright that none of them could look directly at it.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the light faded and Natsu shook himself physically and mentally. Lucy took her hand away from his arm and turned it so they could all get a look at it. Golden stars littered along the expanse of his forearm, glowing brightly under Lucy's gentle touch. "Does it still hurt?" Lucy asked hesitantly.
Natsu smiled and kissed the back of her hand that was still intertwined with his own. "Nothing I can't handle Luce. Besides, we have something else that we have to focus on." Taking his hand away from hers, Natsu stood up and stretched his arms over his head, wincing briefly as his arms fell back down to his sides.
Wendy grabbed him with one hand behind his neck, the other placed over the center of his chest. Her hands glowing a soft green and he felt the familiar taste of her magic flood through him, his pain lightening up slightly. He waited until she was finished, drawing her into his arms in a hug. "How have you held in this much? It's not just from today, there feels like…"
Natsu squeezed her tightly, shaking his head. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with in the past. You can't heal this part of me Wendy, this hole will be here for a time and it will go away when I can get over it."
Wendy fisted her hands in his hair and pulled back, forcing his head down to look at her. "You need to explain this. It isn't something you should be able to hide. I felt your pain through our bond, why haven't I felt this before?"
Natsu shook his head again and took her hands out of his hair. "It's always been there, that's why. Come on, I promise I will explain later. For now we need to go." He smiled down at her and cast the other two women a similar smile, his heart swelling when he met their eyes in turn. "We have a competition to win." Stepping away from his mates, Natsu reached a hand out to Vincent and shook his hand, thanking him for all of his help. "I suggest you don't try this on anyone else unless you know they can take it. It hurts like hell."
Vincent nodded woodenly, letting out a long breath. "Just let me get pictures of these then I'll let you be on your way." Grabbing a small lacrima camera, Vincent took a few pictures of both images. Natsu handed the man a large sum of money in payment, gesturing for everyone with him that it was time to head out. Happy landed on his shoulder just as he was leaving, draping the forgotten vest over Natsu's shoulder who in turn pulled it over his head, covering the image on his chest slightly.
"I want you to lead us Lucy." Natsu said suddenly, turning towards the blonde. "I feel like you have a better chance to lead us into whatever challenges we cross. You already coordinate your spirits together to fight and we can see how strong you have become with them." He gestured to the other three teammates around him. "Think of us as tools to help you with your will."
Lucy shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. "No, I couldn't do that. We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you Natsu, you brought all five of us together. I'm not as strong as any of you, well… I'm stronger than Happy." She said with a small smile, pulling the pouting Exceed into her arms. "But you three are much better suited for leading us, not me."
"I'm sorry, but I have to side with Natsu here. You aren't weak Lucy; you just don't have the same talents that we have. You have an exceedingly high magical ability; you just have a different way of using it. You see more than most of us do, you process battles faster. You know exactly how to use your spirits' abilities in the best way possible for each situation." Wendy said folding her hands together in her lap. Mirajane smiled and nodded her head in agreement. The white haired mage moved closer to the blonde and slipped an arm around her waist to pull them together.
"It's settled then!" Natsu cheered pushing away from the table. "I'll go sign us up now that this has been taken care of." He smiled brightly and pushed his way through the guild up to the table where Makarov sat, taking down the names of the teams.
Wendy moved closer to the two women once she was sure Natsu was far enough away. "I'm worried about him, in all seriousness. When I tried to heal him earlier, there was something in there that I couldn't touch. It was something going on in his mind, but it is causing him physical pain. I can't feel it through our bond though."
Happy pushed his way out of Lucy's arms. "It probably has to do with what happened when he was gone. Natsu has always been like that, whenever he saw something that he didn't like, he took it upon himself to change it. It ate away at him when he couldn't do anything about it. He will find a way to make everything better, he always has."
"You're right." Mirajane interjected. "If it was something serious, Natsu wouldn't just keep it from us. We have to trust him here; it won't do any good to question him when we all need to work together. If he doesn't say anything soon, we can always force it out of him. He can't stop all of us if we put our minds to it." She smiled and leaned against the table with her forearms. "What do you suppose Master has in store for us?"
"Well we know there will be at least one fight, but I don't think it will stop there… Over the past few years, the games have started to become less about physical ability and the ability to work together as a team, making you think about what traps there were. We have to be prepared for anything." Wendy suggested staring down at her hands.
Natsu slapped his hands down on the table, announcing his sudden return. "No time for discussion, we were the last group to sign up. Things start now, the first challenge is a race to the arena just outside town. Now come on, Master wants a word with everyone before we go."
Makarov stood up on the table he had previously been at, folding his arms over his chest. "We have four promising groups this year, three more than we have had in the past four years. Like I said yesterday, only two teams will progress from here. The other two teams will be made into reserves for the two winning teams. We will have four challenges overall. The first challenge is a race to the arena just outside Magnolia. The first team there will get four points, second three points and so on and so forth. I don't care by what means you get there so long as you do not destroy the town on your way. Oh, and Natsu… I forbid you to use your black fire. Think of it as a penalty for being gone for so long." He added with a smirk. "The team that comes in last will have a special punishment for each challenge. I hope to see you all at the arena soon. Go!"
Natsu frowned as they all started to run out the front door of the building. It wasn't like Makarov to purposefully prevent someone from fighting to the best of their ability. It worried Natsu about what he had planned for the competition. The Dragon Slayer was brought out of his own thoughts when Lucy started to explain her strategy. "I don't care what Master said, Natsu I want you to use your flames to get Wendy to the arena as fast as you can. When you get there, you need to prevent anyone from entering until we arrive. Mirajane, Happy, and I will follow as fast as we can."
Offering Wendy his hand, Natsu pulled her off with him down an alley, disappearing from the view of the other teams. Lucy felt his power surge for a brief moment before seeing him blur down a following road before completely disappearing from view. She could barely keep up with his movements, relying on her bond with him to feel where the two had gone. "Happy, pick me up. We need as much speed as we can get, and if we fly over the buildings, we can cut down our time. Mirajane, you know what you need to do."
Mirajane nodded knowingly. "Take Over: Satan Soul!" She called out, darkness enveloping her briefly before she appeared in her usual attire, black wings snapping out of her back as she took to the air. Happy grabbed the back of Lucy's shirt and lifted her into the air, tucking his head down to prevent any more wind drag than they already had acquired. Wind screamed in their ears the closer they got until the site of a battle took place at the edge of town, still a distance away from the arena.
As always, R & R please!
I know it was a weird place to leave off, but I'll make sure the next chapters are much better.