Natsu ran through the town, keeping his gaze on the back of Loke's head and ignoring the people around him. He felt horrible for leaving Meredy alone in the restaurant, but he wanted to keep her safe. Which was stupid and he knew it, she could handle her own battles.

He could hear the shouts and clang of metal against metal before he saw the scene before him. Figures dressed in black, throwing around various magics, waving weapons in the air, and a large black bird hovering above. In the mix of moving bodies, he saw a pale man with large black wings holding an axe in each hand. Natsu figured that might be Corvus.

If it wasn't for how Loke and Virgo could come out of their gates without Luce summoning them, he would have found this odd. Could also have something to do with the fact that he's a different key? Natsu had no idea and he pursed his lips wishing he'd taken some time to understand Luce's magic a bit better. Least if anything it would make him a better team member than just thinking of his own strength.

Loke jumped high in the air, "Regulus Punch!" he shouted, driving his illuminated fist against one of the dark mages.

Natsu summoned his fire and joined in the fray, kicking one of the mages in the head to stop them from hitting Loke. It was a series of kicks, punches, a random headbutt and some dodging of magic attacks. He was trying to watch for collateral damage, destroying a graveyard would not be a wise thing.

"Behind you!" The pale man said before he threw an axe straight at Natsu. Natsu dropped to the ground as the axe moved through the air before it hit its mark. He rolled to his back and kicked up watching the mage collapse to the ground in a boneless heap with the axe lodged into his chest.

Natsu didn't approve of killing people, and he looked over to glare at the winged man tackling one of the mages who was writing various Runes on the crypt.

"Muninn! Cloud Strike!" one of the mages croaked out and Natsu saw the large black bird out stretch his wings and descend into the chaos.

Natsu ran around one of the mages, throwing a punch to the back of her head as he moved by, knocking her out. He leapt in the air and plowed into the fast-moving bird, knocking it away from its target, Loke. As they hit the ground the bird vanished in a plume of black smoke and Natsu slid on the manicured grass, straight into a grey marble headstone.

The headstone shattered and Natsu felt the impact from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet. His teeth rattled and for a second he saw stars. The dragonslayer blinked and shook his head, trying to get back to his feet to stop the rest of the mages. It was starting to feel as if for every one mage they took down, two more showed up.

The raven reformed in the sky, its loud caw giving Natsu a sense of dread. He had to find the source of the spirit and scanned around the graveyard. In the distance and high up in a willow tree he saw a black cloaked mage. "Loke, going to get the summoner!"

"Hurry Natsu!" the spirit replied as he defended himself from a strike. Natsu could see that Loke wasn't going to last much longer, the spirit was pale, sweating and his suit was torn up.

Natsu put his chin down and ran for the tree, he gathered his power in his hands. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" he yelled as he brought his hands together in a thunderous clap, sending a massive fireball at the top of the tree.

It collided and the black figure screamed as the tree lit on fire and it fell from it's perch. Natsu kept moving and grabbed the mage before it could hit the ground. The hood pulled back and he saw a young boy's soot covered face. He shook and quickly patted down the boy to stop him from being cooked alive.

"What the fuck?" he whispered and hated it when people exploited child mages for their own gain. Another shout in the air and Natsu looked over his bare shoulder to see Loke vanish in a shower of sparkles. Corvus was down on his knees, barely holding one of his axes up in defense. Natsu could deal with the kid later and left the unconscious mage under the tree to go help Corvus.

Least the other raven was removed from the battlefield, that would help. He leapt over a marble headstone and felt something pierce his side, sending him off course and into the ground. Natsu felt a burning pain and as he looked down, he saw a black handled dagger embedded into his ribs. He bit his bottom lip and pulled it out, feeling the blood flow down his side and the world spun a little.

He tried to shake his head, but something was on that silver bloody blade and as he looked at it, he saw traces of a green goo. The person who threw it launched another dagger and he barely got out of the way, his body starting to slow down and vision clouded.

"Maguilty Sodom!" A wave of teal daggers flew through the battle, hitting most of the mages. They doubled over and began to shriek as Natsu blinked and saw Meredy.

If ever a moment to notice one's mate this was it. She looked confident and fierce striding into the fight and ready to end this. Her red eyes hard and shoulders back, as she moved forward, her hands waving in precise movements as she worked her magic. The mages fell before her, each of them amplifying each other's cries of pain until they went silent.

Not dead silent, but more akin to the type of silence that happens when you pass out. Natsu could hear them softly breathing and he clawed at the dirt trying to get himself back to standing. A slim hand reached out for him and he took it looking up at Meredy's smiling face.

"Thanks," he managed as he winced a bit from the injury.

"I got you Natsu," she said as he put an arm over her shoulders. Meredy looked up at him for a moment before her cheeks turned pink and she looked away.

"Always," he whispered. She would always have him, even if she didn't know it.

Meredy helped him to the crypt where he looked down at a tired looking spirit. The spirit blinked and shielded his eyes for a moment before smiling. "Take the key, thank you for freeing my brother."

Natsu grimaced as the crypt door opened with a loud squeak and the scent of still and decayed air hit his nose. He tried to let go of Meredy to go inside but instead fell straight to his side. He couldn't feel his legs and his eyes widened in panic as he started hitting them with his fist.

Meredy grabbed his hand, "Meredy, you have to get the key. Go!" She looked down and over at the crypt before looking back into his eyes again.

"Okay, Natsu, just hang on the Rune Knights are on their way." She brushed back his pink bangs and pressed a small kiss to his forehead. No matter whatever else happened today, Natsu got a kiss from his mate.

Lucy woke up with a dull ache in her head and her body firmly smushed up against Mard. She blinked a few times before she squirmed a bit, trying to free her arm and rub the sleep out of her eyes. Mard mumbled something in his sleep and then rolled to his back, freeing her from his warm grasp.

She sat up, noticing how dark the room was and looked over to her keys on the nightstand. Lucy reached out and ran a finger over Horologium's key finding out that it was just after sunset. That sudden migraine had thrown her through a loop, and she was grateful she didn't get to the point of vomiting.

Lucy got out of the bed and made her way to the bathroom; her bladder wasn't very happy. As she looked over the sleeping Mard, she was glad he was still in his body, it would have been annoying for him to be a cat again. Not so much for him, but for her too.

She managed to handle her needs without turning on the light, reliant on the soft glow of the street lamp coming through the bathroom window. Right now, full on light would only start the migraine up again. Lucy was glad she kept candles around her apartment, on a migraine day, it helped.

As she got out of the bathroom, Mard was sitting up in the bed treating himself to a long stretch. She noticed how he scratched his head behind a strange tuft of hair that was in a triangular shape. Her eyes widened when that tuft twitched, and she slid back into the bed.

Lucy reached up and Mard turned to look at her before he sighed, "I have cat ears."

"Oh my god, that's kind of adorable," she said as she felt the velvety soft ear and heard Mard let out a small purr as her nails grazed behind it.

"Only you would call this adorable," he grumbled and brushed her hand away from his ear.

"It is, come on, the cat ears suit you."

"How?"

Lucy grinned at the neko demon, "you're a bit selfish and a little demanding. Kind of kitty like, really." She kept smiling at him as she thought of a few fun yaoi mangas she's read about neko boys. It might have been a fetish for a little while and she could picture Mard with a tail, a bell around his beautiful neck, and meowing when exciting.

Mard face palmed, "I can read your mind still. That is not happening."

Lucy blinked and flushed with embarrassment, she forgot for a moment he could do that. Then again, she had every right to troll him a little. "Which part?"

Mard leaned forward, he put one hand beside her hip and the curled the other one behind her head. His lips ghosted over hers as their post nap breath mingled, "where it does not include you in the picture."

She swallowed as her mind was thinking about what it would be like to be in the middle of hot neko sandwich. Mard chuckled again and skimmed his tongue over her bottom lip. "If you are thinking of more bedmates, I am not satisfying you enough then."

Before Lucy could respond to that he was kissing her as he pulled her into his lap. Bits of clothing went flying as their kiss turned into a passionate love making session in the bed. The dull ache of her migraine had decided to make itself known but as she clenched Mard's shoulders and rode upon his harden cock, she forgot to care. The beautiful fullness of him inside of her, the way his teeth grazed along her neck and how his hands toyed with her breasts had Lucy lost in the sea of passion.

When they finished, Lucy found herself curled on her side, with Mard spooning her. His finger tips grazed from her navel to her sternum in a slow calming movement that had her relaxing. His cheek was on her head as he gently kissed her shoulder, "least you are no longer thinking of your neko boy mangas."

Lucy giggled, "reality versus fiction. Give me reality with a heavy side of Mard."

Mard nipped her skin, "you do have the capacity for wise answers."

"It's why you love me."

"One of several reasons," he let out a breath, "tomorrow, we have to get an early start. We have a patient zero to find."

"Least one of us is keeping a quest log," she joked. It was true, they lost a day due to meeting with Stache Face, the migraine, and of course sex. Lucy also needed to figure out a game plan for how to track down patient zero. She figured it should start with going back to that farm where they found the original source of their trouble. Hopefully someone there knew the guy's usual route or at least another town he made stops in.

She felt hunger pains hit her stomach and Lucy winced. She also knew that without some water and a decent meal she was going to invite that massive headache to come back. "We should probably at least have a light snack and I need some water."

"Agreed."

Lucy lit a small lantern, it's warm glow a bit easier on her eyes than the lacrimabulb. It also reminded her that she wanted to look into one of those antique replica bulbs that had a warmer and softer light to them. Then she wouldn't have to worry about open flames or running out of matches. She tied her robe, as Mard slid on a pair of Gray's shorts.

"Tomorrow we are going shopping, you need actual clothing," she said as she took the lantern and moved into the living room.

Something in the shadows caught her attention and Lucy jumped back. She pressed against Mard as the shadowed form started coming into the light. It was a fast moving blonde blur that knocked her over before she heard, "Mard! Found you, boss!"

"Jackal, down boy!" he snapped.

Lucy blinked and picked up her dropped lantern, glad it hadn't broken in the fall. The flame had flickered out and her eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness in the room. One thing she was certain was that they were not alone anymore, and she had no idea who the hell had broken into her apartment.

Mard helped her up and put a possessive arm around her shoulders. "Rosebud, this is Jackal. He is one of my demons. Jackal this is Rosebud, you may address her as Lucy. She is my mate and will be your Queen."

"B-boss?" he asked.

"Mard?"

The demon sighed, "Rosebud, would you make some coffee? I believe there is much to talk about." He kissed her cheek and though confused, Lucy headed into the kitchen, she warned everyone about the light before flicking it on.

As she went through the motions of making coffee, pausing to gulp down a glass of water, and figuring out something to make with what she had on hand, she heard a loud slap and a whine. Lucy peeked her head out of the kitchen and saw Mard glaring down at what could only be described as a hurt puppy. Jackal was rubbing a red cheek, the blonde ears on his head were flat and his tail curled up behind him as he sat on the floor.

"What the hell?" she asked as she knelt by their visitor.

"I-I deserved that," he said, "I bothered the Underworld King."

"Mard, we don't go slapping people."

"Point here Rosebud. Fairy Tail operates on a system of chaotic brawls."

"Not the same thing, asshole. Those are fun, you hurt him. That was done out of spite." She said as she rose to standing and poked at his firm chest.

Mard took her hand and looked down at her, "you have much to learn about demonic society."

She felt Jackal pull at the bottom of her robe and she looked down at the demon. "Seriously, this is fine. If Mard had not hit me, well, it wouldn't be Mard."

She blinked several times, "why is that?"

Jackal shrugged and looked down at the ground, "I may have thought something naughty about you."

Lucy pinched her forehead before she started to laugh. Of all the things, it seemed like her King had a nasty jealousy streak to him. Perhaps Mard Geer was much more of a cat than the curse would let on.

Why Rosebud was laughing, he had no idea, but he would take her laughter over her calling him an asshole, any day. She went back into the kitchen and Mard held out a hand, letting the explosive demon take it and rise to his feet.

"So, is that why you left?" Jackal asked, his head motioning towards Rosebud.

Mard pursed his lips, "I was sent here by Merlin."

"What about our plans?"

"I shall need to start again, the plan had one a major flaw." Mard said as he walked across the small living room and turned on the lamp in the small corner. He motioned for Jackal to take a seat on the purple couch. The pup sat up on the corner, his bare clawed feet on the cushions as his tail waved behind him.

"What happened to your head?" he asked. It was no surprise to Mard that Jackal couldn't continue a single train of thought and he had learned to adapt to the unfocused demon.

"This will take a moment to explain. Before I do, who else is here?" Mard sat in the wood and pink cushion reading chair he liked to sleep on as a cat, it was also the closest thing to a throne in the room. Some habits were hard to break.

"Everyone but Lamy," Jackal answered, "we were worried and when the portal opened, we knew we had to find you."

Mard blinked, "you left Lamy in charge of the Underworld?" He could have sworn Mr. Kitty had said that Merlin left Silver in charge. Then again that was a while ago. Mard also knew Silver may have been one of his more dependable of the Nine, but the undead mage still had issues with responsibility. Made sense he would leave his post for adventure. Silver was going to be flayed later.

Jackal tensed and scratched the back of his neck, flashing Mard a stupid looking grin. "She drew the short straw?"

"Of all the…" Mard was ready to lose his composure. He bet Lamy was in his room, rolling around naked on his sheets and doing things that… He shuddered. Lamy was useful for handling the Hell Core and her scientific work was generally flawless, but her drooling and fanciful dreams of him had usually given Mard nightmares.

"Silver told her if she messes with your room, she was not going to come back."

"You think she listened?"

"Heh…" Jackal put his hands on his lap and shrugged. Mard's eye twitched and he wished he had his book so he could grip something. Instead he heard his claws gash into the wooden arms of the chair. Rosebud was going to kill him for that.

"When you return, I want my bed, the sheets, and my clothing all burned."

"Okay boss. Now why are you here and the ears? Silver wouldn't tell us, only that we had to find you."

"Coffee is ready," Rosebud said from the kitchen and Mard got up, he motioned for Jackal to wait a moment. He walked in and helped her bring out the tray of coffee, as she brought out a large pink plate filled with an assortment of finger foods. Some fruit, a few bits of cheese and some hard-boiled eggs. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Jackal, I don't know how it works in the Underworld but that is not how you sit on a couch," Lucy said as she curled up on the other side of the couch and popped a cheese cube in her mouth.

Mard nodded and Jackal slid down, keeping his back into the corner and his body as far away from Mard's mate as possible. Every demon knew to be very careful around another's mate, the chance to get themselves killed over a wrong look or touch was high.

"Let me begin," Mard said before he took a sip of his coffee. He told Jackal the basic information of the story so far but left out certain details. Mostly those that involved him discussing how beautiful Rosebud was when she orgasmed for him.

When Mard was finished the food was gone, his Rosebud was nodding off and Jackal sat there with his mouth wide open and a look of disbelief in his face. Mard could understand that, had it not happened to him, he never would have believed in such a tale. He sat in silence, drinking the last of his dark brew and waiting for Jackal's wits to catch up.

Mard was rarely surprised but this time he found his brow arching when Jackal stood up and bowed. "Okay boss, gonna go find the rest of the demons. We have a living corpse to find."

"Jackal? That is most surprising from you." The pup was never known for his decorum and was rarely serious.

The explosive demon looked down and then met his gaze, Mard could see a bit of moisture in the corner of his left golden eye. He sniffled and wiped his small nose with the back of his black clawed hand. "Not really Mard, my pack, my mother, father, three brothers and two sisters were all killed by that virus. Remember?"

At the word, Mard traced through his memory and yes, he did remember. During the purge to end the disease, their last stop was the TotieshGrast Savanah. It was a wild grass plain where many feline and canine demon species called their home, often too wild to be civilized and brought into the usual villages. It was this place where Mard had hit his breaking point with all the killing.

The final straw was that many of the species in the area had new demonlings, thanks to success during their last mating cycles. He slaughtered many young ones and then burned the fields to nothing. During all of that he found one, only one demonling that was not infected.

That small demonling was standing before him, recalling the many horrors of that time. Mard stood up and walked over to Jackal, in a movement he had not done in decades, he hugged the demon he raised. Jackal was tense for a moment before he hugged Mard back.

"I am sorry," the King said.

"It's okay Mard," Jackal stepped back and wiped his eye, "I gotta get going," he pointed to Lucy whose head was bobbing up and down as she was fighting sleep.

"I need to take her to bed," he held up a hand as Jackal sucked in a breath, "do not say it."

Jackal laughed, "if anything Mard."

Mard looked over his shoulder as he picked up Lucy, holding her in his arms and ready to take her to bed. "What?"

"I like you better with a Queen. It's like having my old vater again," the explosive demon said before he slipped out of the apartment.

Father, he has not called me that in years. For a moment as he held Lucy close to him, Mard smiled and remembered just how much he enjoyed being called that. One day, Rosebud would grant him demonlings of his own, one or a hundred it didn't matter.

Thank you to everyone who was patiently waiting for this update. It got lost in a sea of other things this month.

Not posted to FFN but available on Archive of our Own is my latest Black Butler x Fairy Tail Crossover, Mating Season - Heartless it's a Sebastian x Lucy story set in Hell (I didn't post it here since crossovers don't do well and my last one got flagged by the smut police). Also a very special update to Thorn in his Side going along with the news about Betelgeuse. Please make sure you are following me over on other sites, because who knows when this one will remove my works again.

Review, fave and follow!