. Between the Lines .


The demon was fast. Nobody would disagree with that statement once it moved.

It was in front of Erza in an instant, roaring as it swung at her with talons that clanked off of her armor. Lucy flinched at the sound, but listened as Mirajane began to shout orders, her eyes dark. "Erza, fend it off for a while! Gray, Juvia, I want a wall of ice around this area. We need to keep it from going into Magnolia. Bickslow, I want you, Lisanna, and Lucy hanging back, ready to assist us whenever needed."

"Got it," Lucy murmured as the others hissed their agreement. The celestial mage cringed when the demon suddenly turned on Mirajane, screaming when Gray and Juvia began to move, creating a wall of beautiful ice around them. Gray froze the water Juvia created for him, his dark eyes focused on the demon the entire time, rage and grief swirling in them.

"Don't worry, Lucy," Lisanna said, shooting the celestial mage a faint smile. "I'm sure we'll take this thing down, quick and easy. We always come out on top."

"I hope so," Lucy murmured in response, frowning as Deliora whirled around and suddenly lunged for Juvia and Gray. Both remained calm, Gray throwing up a shield of ice to give Juvia time to suddenly become a puddle of water that slithered around to join Erza and Mirajane, both of which tag-teamed on it from behind.

"Bickslow!" Gray called, cursing when his shield cracked. "Need some help over here!"

"On it," the mage called back, darting forward. His dolls, which had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, followed. "Come on, babies! We've got some work to do."

"Stick close to me," Lisanna murmured to Lucy suddenly, but the blonde barely heard her as the demon's eyes turned on her. Lucy went still, eyes wide with fear and shock as it grinned and pinned her with a gaze full of hate. She found herself unable to move, its gaze trapping her so that it could lunge at her.

"Move!" Lisanna cried, shoving at her. The take-over mage yanked her out of the way, and Lucy gasped as Deliora's claws snipped away a few strands of hair. "What are you doing, Lucy, you have to-"

Lucy shrugged her off, scowling. "I know! I couldn't move…" She glared at Deliora. "Cancer! Help the others!"

"On it, ebi," Cancer replied, eyes narrowed. The Crab Spirit leaped into action, distracting Deliora so that Erza could dive forward to slam her sword through its chest.

The wound healed around the sword and Erza grunted as she was thrown into a tree, pausing with a dazed look before she shook her head clear and shot back into battle. Lucy struggled to come up with a solution to the problem before them. Clearly, the demon was faster than any of them. Perhaps even stronger than each of them alone, so…

"Erza!" Lucy called, relieved when the requip mage let Mirajane take over for a few moments and jumped back to listen. "You all need to attack it at once! Lisanna, you, too. I'll be fine here." She nudged the young woman forward and Lisanna gave a curt nod, moving to prepare to fight. Bickslow shifted aside when she used her magic to become partially a cat.

She really needed to get herself a weapon that would allow her to fight beside her Spirits, she thought as Cancer hopped back to stand beside Juvia. Juvia was glaring at Deliora, her eyes dark.

They were running out of chances. It wouldn't be long before they tired and made a fatal mistake that would result in their deaths.

Exhaustion suddenly ran through her, and Lucy cursed her lack of stamina. She'd be working on that, too, she thought as Deliora roared, its voice shaking the ground and trees around them. She wavered, trying to keep her balance. She caught sight of her one bare foot - who the hell knew where the other shoe was at this point - and gaped. It was perfectly fine, as if it hadn't ever had anything wrong with it. Lucy's gaze darted up to Deliora, and she came to a quick conclusion.

She'd read up on black magic on the website after she'd gotten her new laptop, and it was totally possible. The creature that had attacked she and Natsu had been with the same mage that had brought the demon to Magnolia. It had somehow stored its magic in her - she distantly remembered a piercing pain during the attack - and the demon had drawn on the magic to free itself.

Well, at least they knew who was at fault over the demon freeing itself.

"Go!" Mirajane suddenly shouted as Deliora roared again and moved to attack them. Bickslow muttered something and his dolls shifted into position, power flaring off of them. Gray held his hands out in front of him, eyes hard with several emotions, and Juvia's arms became made of water that hovered around her.

Everyone fired off their attacks, and Lucy fought to stay upright as Cancer faded from view after firing his own attack. She could handle this, she told herself. This was nothing compared to what the others were doing. Surely she could stay awake after such a short time of having her Spirits out and doing nothing!

The Fairy Tail mages pulled back, expecting the demon to fall beneath their power.

Deliora roared, grinning spitefully at them as his size grew bit by bit until he towered above them like a mountain. The humanoid appearance it had worn was gone, and it looked even more like the demon it truly was.

Lucy's face paled as she realized that even Erza was panting for breath, her dark eyes full of anger. "What do we do?" Lucy mumbled, frowning to herself. There wasn't much they could do period if several mages couldn't take the demon down.

"That's Deliora for you," Gray said grimly. He glanced in the direction of Magnolia. "We need to consider evacuating everyone, this isn't going to end well."

"You serious?" Bickslow demanded. "S'gotta be a way we can kill it."

"I don't think Juvia can handle another full out attack," Juvia said faintly, tired. The water mage exchanged a look with the equally tired Lisanna. "All of Juvia's power went into that attack, my love."

Gray didn't respond to that like he usually would have, instead giving a tight smile. "Deliora won't be brought down that easily...I could do the Iced Shell if necessary, even if I'd rather not."

"No," Erza said firmly, requipping out of her armor and into an outfit of cloth. The fabric was bright, shimmering in the shadows of the trees as Deliora knocked them over, roaring again. "No, Gray, you are not permitted to use the Iced Shell. Those kind of spells require Master's permission, and you are aware of that. Mira," she said, addressing the silver-haired woman with serious eyes. "Are you capable of Unison Raid?"

Mirajane shook her head. "No," she murmured. "I haven't been able to use such magic. I don't have a strong enough bond, not even with Lisanna." She shot her sister an apologetic look, which looked strange on her demon-like appearance. "Perhaps Juvia and Gray…?"

"Probably," Gray answered, then jerked his thumb at the blue-haired woman beside him. "But she's got no magic left."

Lucy chewed on her lip. "What do we do then?"

"Could send my babies back for reinforcements, but then I'm out for the time being," Bickslow offered. The strange man was rocking back on his heels, his tiki dolls dancing around his head anxiously.

"We need your magic. Juvia, go," Erza ordered. "Lucy, can you - Lucy? Are you alright?"

"S-sorry," she mumbled in response, her arms held out in an attempt at balance. "I just...I used a lot of magic, too. I'm fine, I promise." Not!

Erza opened her mouth to tell the celestial mage to go with Juvia, but was cut off when she had to jump out of the way, hauling Lucy with her to help the blonde avoid being crushed by the massive hand that descended upon them, intent on grabbing them. Gray swore colorfully, glaring up at Deliora. "It doesn't want us leaving," he muttered.

"Well we can't exactly kill it," Lisanna said softly, "So what do we do?"

"We do our best to stop it," Mirajane said firmly, "Even if it means our deaths, because there is no way Fairy Tail will allow innocent lives to be harmed if we can put ourselves in the way first."

"Damn right we won't," Bickslow agreed, giving that crazed grin of his. Lucy gave an exhausted smile in return. She'd joined the craziest guild out there, apparently, and she was perfectly fine with it.

"Lisanna, I want you and Juvia to take Lucy back to the guildhall," Erza instructed firmly, and carefully helped Lucy regain her balance. "We'll keep Deliora busy." She glanced up, the took on a grim look when she realized that magic was gathering in its a hand in a deadly black orb. "Go."

Somehow, among all the chaos, Lucy was able to hear her phone buzz.

Nearly delirious now, the blonde stumbled along beside Juvia and Lisanna, both of which who urged her to stumble along, and groaned. Her eyes scanned the trees, her eyelids heavy, and she barely comprehended the heat that was beginning to arise around them before Lisanna suddenly gasped, yanking her to the ground to avoid a blow from Deliora as it whirled to chase after them.

The demon roared in anger, lunging after them despite the attacks their companions were releasing on it, and then reeled back when a scowling mage placed himself between it and the three women. Onyx eyes were slits of anger, scarf and hair shifting in the swirl of flames that surrounded him as he glared at Deliora, his jaw clenched.

"Seriously," Natsu huffed. "You couldn't let me know this is what you were dealing with?"

Lucy gave a tired laugh. "Sorry, was kinda trying to stay alive." A familiar blue cat landed beside them, and Lucy smiled at him. "Hey, Happy."

"Did you trip and drag Juvia and Lisanna down with you?" was the cat's cheeky response. "Jeez, Lucy, you need to lose some weight."

"Shut up," she moaned in response, dropping her head to the earth beneath her, tempted to fall asleep then and there.

Deliora was surprisingly quiet as it studied Natsu, its gaze almost fearful for a moment before filling with confusion that a demon of its size didn't seem capable of having. Especially when the flames swirled faster around Natsu, and his expression became hardened with anger. "Don't touch my friends, you bastard," Natsu growled, then suddenly attacked.

The others paused, stunned by the dragon slayer's appearance, then moved to assist him. The fire Natsu released in his Fire Dragon's Roar curled around them, singing but not burning. Smoke began to drift into the air as the flames caught the trees around them, and soon they all found themselves in an inferno.

"How nice of him," Lisanna grumbled as Juvia doused a flame on the take-over mage's shirt. "Let's just burn our clothes away - oh my gosh! Lucy!" she cried as Happy snickered and made some comment about how she was copying Gray.

Lucy, despite her exhaustion, flushed with anger and astonishment, hiding her suddenly bared chest as the flames burned her shirt and torn jacket away. "Natsu!" she screeched, glaring at him over her shoulder. "Watch it!"

He paused to send her a confused look that quickly flashed into a smirk that only she saw before he turned his face away, focused on the furiously screaming Deliora. The demon was swatting at the flames that covered him, and Lucy grimaced at the smell of burning flesh.

Sure, they all hated the demon. It came with knowing what it was, what it had done. Especially Gray. But she didn't want to see it burn to death. So the celestial mage looked away, tears rising to her eyes. She hugged herself, making sure she hid her chest from view, and she cried for the demon as Natsu burned it alive despite the fact that it had tried to kill them not only minutes before.

And, silently, she admitted that her partner could be scary as hell if he wanted to be.

Natsu stood there in front of his flames, not seeming to notice that they swirled around his friends and allies. He wore a huge grin, proud of himself for coming to the rescue, for being the one to kill Deliora. The glow washed over him, silouetting him against his own destruction, and he lifted a hand to tug his scarf away from his face, watching the burning carefully. Lucy knew somewhere in her mind that he was only making sure he truly killed the creature, but at first glance, one would have thought he was enjoying himself.

Suddenly, his onyx eyes darted back to meet her's, and they filled with concern for his partner, silently questioning if she was okay. Feeling guilty for even thinking of him in such a way, Lucy gave a tired smile, wavering this way and that as she tried to stay awake. She needed a shirt. And her bed. Then she could pass out.

"Is your ankle alright now?" Mirajane's voice startled her and Lucy glanced up to see her approaching with Erza, Bickslow, and Gray close behind her. Her deep blue eyes were worried as the transformation she'd used disappeared. "I know there was something happening with it right before everything went down...is it alright now?"

Lucy cleared her throat, managing to slur out, "Yeah...jus' tired now. I think Deliora used magic stored in the wound to...to free itself." She yawned, cursing herself mentally for her weakness. Here was Natsu, taking down a demon completely by himself when the rest of them couldn't even lay a scratch, and his partner couldn't even stay awake after summoning one Celestial Spirit.

She shivered as a breeze washed over her, curling up and drawing her knees to her chest to try and keep warm at the same time that she hid her skin from view. "Can I, err, borrow someone's jacket? I can't run around town half-naked. Natsu burned mine away."

"Natsu," Erza gritted out warningly as Mirajane willingly un-shouldered her jacket and wrapped it around her. She helped Lucy zip it when she fumbled with the zipper.

Natsu snickered. "Not my fault she can't keep her shirt from burning up," he taunted as Happy cackled alongside him. The blue cat received a dark look from the requip mage, and Lucy hesitantly scooped him up, hugging him to her chest.

She shot one more look at the still burning demon, then turned away, allowing herself to be guided away from Deliora.

As if reading her mind, Bickslow muttered behind her, "Damn...forget how strong Natsu is sometimes. Can't beat Laxus, but put him up against someone threatening his nakama, and..."

I'd say.


And down with Deliora! They owe Natsu a lot this time, eh? The hell's up with him being selfish and taking all of the glory anyways? ;)


Reviews:

serioushugsies: I didn't even realize I didn't mention! She WAS using a form of her take-over magic. I simply referred to the clothes accompanying the transformation as her armor. Whoops! Sorry!

beginswithkay: Guilt tripping will always work between them, whether Natsu is trying to guilt trip her or the other way around. ;)

ilftnatsu: Very quickly, apparently. How they got away without being noticed will be a miracle in itself, especially with the fighting against a demon of all things. XD

Rhianna Park: Cliffhangers are the best! Que evil laughter right there... I love cliffhangers when I write them. Hate when other people do it because I get impatient like everyone else. Lol.

TigerArrowgirl: I agree. Natsu is a very selfish person when it comes to Lucy, yes? And protective. Your theory was correct though. I praise your thoughts.

TheIcefire: I'm glad you enjoy it! I certainly enjoy writing it, that's for sure. Happy New Year!

Shidake: I imagine it alongside you. I bet you he's yelling at them for being stupid in the process despite him being the one who wasn't thinking straight. XD

Uzumaki Naho: On the bright side, I update quite often. :D

Kinsutenekochan: Natsu's always mad when Lucy's in danger, isn't he? It's a very good thing he is. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to save her half the time. ;)

fanficlove2014: Pissed off Natsu means crazy desperate tactics that rarely end well. Although this one did. He does need to pick better times though, I agree.

AngelEmCuti: Happy New Year to you as well! I'm glad you think so!

luckylucy77: Of course! ;) I love your little face things, by the way. So cute.

piggycat350: I'm glad you like this! And I've actually aimed for Natsu to be a bit more mature, actually. (It's proving to be rather important where I'm currently writing.) For some NaLu action...I wanna say not for a while. You'll get peeks at Natsu and Lucy's thoughts on one another for the next while, and then FINALLY some more physical actions, but with how long BTL is...it'll be quite some time before things really get moving. ;)

Guest!: Intense is good! And only Natsu. XD