Standard disclaimer, I do not own Fairy Tail but the character of Corvus (not the constellation, FFS), Merlin, this characterization of Belial, plot and yadda yadda are all mine.
Also I'd like to take a moment to speak about plagiarism. Recently someone thought it a wonderful idea to help themselves to one of my older stories 7 Days of the Week (available on AO3 and Wattpad) and post it to FFN. I took the chance and reported it, which is something I have a hard time with because I don't want the admin aware of my presence and all the rules I break in adding my stories to this site. Yet, like when I received threats of violence and mass hate before, I had to take the chance. Which is hard when you've already lost everything on this site. So I don't report things, unless I absolutely have to, death threats and full plagiarism is pretty much where I draw the line (regardless of the lies you may have been told and that is a topic for another day).
Look, if you like a work and want it posted somewhere else. Do not take it upon yourself to post it, but ask the author if they would be willing and if they won't, it is still not yours to steal. Copying someone else's work (in whole or in part) isn't flattering, it's theft and it's wrong. Also, if you are inspired by ideas, characters, concepts you read in someone else's work, credit them with inspiration and let them know what their work means to you. It's common courtesy and no one is ever going to think lesser of your ability as a writer for being inspired by another writer, but they will if you resort to stealing.
And that's all I got for now, the plagiarist has been removed but I still wanted to say something. Thank you for reading this and let's get to the story!
Cobra opened his mouth to speak when the personal communication lacrima went off in his pocket. Its loud tone belting out the first couple bars of Purple Haze. "One sec Munchkin."
He pulled out the small yellow device and answered the call, "yo."
"Cobra, are you with," Meredy mumbled for a moment, "Mard Geer?"
He hit the little speaker button and held the device flat on the palm of his tanned hand, "on speaker with Munchkin and me. What's up Mermaid?"
Munchkin tilted his head as one of his cat ears twitched. The demon looked a little confused by the piece of expensive and rare magic-tech. These fucking things were rare in Fiore, so stealing them was a bit of a necessity. Many times, being able to call a guild mate without having to risk running into town had saved someone's sorry ass.
"Hey Mard, it's Natsu." Pinkie Pie's voice came through loud and clear.
"Greetings Natsu!" Munchkin shouted and Cobra chuckled.
"Dude, talk normal like. Don't ya have this magic-tech shit in your world?"
Munchkin shook his head, "no. What is the situation Natsu, where is Rosebud?"
Pinkie Pie let out a nervous chuckle, "she's gonna be okay. Corvus took her to the Celestial Realm to recharge. She went overboard in saving my life."
Munchkin's eyes went wide as he spat out a whispered series of words that really didn't sound fucking pleasant. Though going by the clenched fists and death glare in his black eyes, he was basically saying "fuck this shit, god damn monkey ass fuckers, bull shit." Well least that's how Cobra interpreted it.
"Chill Munchkin, she'll be fine."
"You are assuming that Pompous Ass does not decide to keep her there for tea and crumpets or that her recharging goes smoothly."
"Chickadee is there, ain't nothing from that spirit that says he won't return Sunshine to us. He's kind of a cool dude." Cobra was usually a decent judge on these things, people went into one of two categories, cool enough to talk to and people I'll murder when Blueballs isn't around. Chickadee went into the first one.
"Luce will be fine, pinky promise," Natsu's voice broke the tension and Munchkin gave a firm nod. Cobra was a little curious about that, guess Munchkin maybe kind of trusted the fire slayer or some shit. Or maybe pinky promise was like a magical phrase or something around a demon. Who the fuck knew? Not Cobra, that's who and he shrugged.
"Okay Pinkie, ya got King Munchkin to simmer down, what's up?"
"When Lucy summoned Gemini to heal him. Natsu coughed up this hairy black ball of sludge, it moved." Mermaid's voice chimed in and Cobra's top lip pulled up. That sounded disgusting as fuck.
"Belle is still here, when Corvus and Rosebud return, we can have the spirit bring you and it to us. She might know what it is and if not, she has access to powerful resources in these situations."
"Fuck, knew that poison was up to no good," Cobra mumbled. He could still taste that shit on his tongue and thought he got it all but guess not. It didn't have any kind of strange reaction in his system, well more than what felt like a shot of adrenaline but if that thing was like a life form. Maybe letting that hawt Prince play doctor wouldn't be a bad thing.
"A sentient poison?" Mermaid asked.
Munchkin tapped his pointed chin, "I have heard of such a thing, but you would need someone with access to the Realm of Nightmares or the Madness of the Abyss…" he paused, and Cobra could sense the aha moment coming. "Excuse me, I need to go stop Belial from leaving." The demon took off and Cobra arched a brow, wondering what the fuck the demon was thinking.
"Mard?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Munchkin is unavailable right now, you're on the line with Smooth Talking King Cobra, Asshole to the Stars." Mermaid chuckled and Cobra grinned, "so like wait till Chickadee comes to find you."
The pair on the other end started mumbling and Cobra kicked a small pebble by his black boot. He gave them a minute to finish their conversation, which was damn polite.
"We're going to go find the dark guild's hang out. Maybe pick up a few clues that could help." Mermaid said.
"Yeah, cool. Just give me a call when ya got something." Cobra hung up and put the device back in his pocket when he saw Munchkin and Doc come on back. She pulled off her white lab coat and he had to admit, she filled out a black suit like no one's business.
"Black, furry, poison that moved? How do you feel, Cobra?" she asked.
He shrugged, "fine. It didn't absorb any differently, like arsenic with a steroid kicker. After taste was a little, blergh but overall it was fine."
"Do you hear any additional voices or feel as if your mind is slowly shutting down?"
"Dude, I hear souls, I am always hearing fucking voices."
"Asshole, this is not the time." Mard added in, his voice like a whip and even Cobra noticed.
"What is this about?" he asked as Doc came close to him, she ran her long pale fingers through his hair and looked up into his one good eye. Her expression was more clinical neutral than anything else, but her touch was like feeling small pops of fire race around him. Yeah, this chica had it goin' on.
"We could have been wrong Mard Geer," she muttered as she got up on her toes and investigated Cobra's ear. "I should take him to Hell."
"Woah, what da shit," Cobra put his hands up and stepped away from Doc.
"She will not kill you, but you need to be examined," Munchkin said.
"But Hell?"
"I call it home, large Palace under the shadow of Legion Mountains, outside of Capital. It is not a place of damnation and endless torture, just a different realm of reality." Doc added as she threw her white coat over her shoulder and adjusted her glasses on her flawless face. She turned her head to look at Mard, "we will stop to collect the sample from the others and then do some testing."
Munchkin and Doc started talking back in forth that fucked up language. Cobra had zero clue what was being said but it looked as if they were in the midst of planning something. Something that was going to involve him and a trip to Hell. He did the only logical thing, pulled out his pack of smokes and took a seat on the ground waiting for the demons to finish.
As he sparked up the Camel, he thought about this crazy ass couple days. First it was a panicked Mermaid, then it was sucking poison out of Pinkie Pie, then plane hopping and now this shit. How da fuck did his life get this twisted? Not that he minded a little twisting, but this was in-fucking-sane. He blew out a smoke ring, thinking that life was easier being a bad guy, this do gooder shit was fucking with his mojo.
Then again, he slid a glance at Doc, watching her move and studying her full deep red lips. Well maybe a vacay in Hell being examined by her, wasn't a horrible thing.
He'd slept in worse places.
"Sentient poisons are rare and if he has the capability to make them inert, he might be able to generate the antibodies we need to handle Corpsotirits."
"It is a virus, not a poison," Mard pointed out. He may not have Belial's in-depth knowledge, but he had studied volumes of literature on the disease when he handled the outbreak.
"Virus is still a living creature, for a while we assumed Corpsotirits was caused by a parasite but when we isolated it, it had more genetic traits with a virus. Lack of sentience being a large factor." She responded.
"Based on our understanding of virus and parasite, is it possible that it comes from the Abyss?" That would be a major difference in anything. The rules of existence for the Abyssal creatures were different than demons, angels, humans and other beings. Mard had known that the literature around Abyssal physiology was weak, mostly because traveling to the Abyss was dangerous and its own creatures rarely left… Willingly.
Belial let out a harsh breath, "I despise the Cultists, but if I must handle them to speak with one of their Madness Elders."
"Try Merlin," Mard suggested. He knew one of the reasons the mage was clinically insane was because she had stared long enough into the actual Abyss of Madness to see that it winks. Merlin had traveled and spent a great deal of time across various Planes, making connections and tracking Planar anomalies. As he knew it, she was the only person to successfully map out over a hundred different Planes.
"Remember, Mard, except to play her tricks, she does not meddle."
"As a general rule, but this is inter-Planar and affects this Plane, this is her birthplace. If Derishninn comes for Earth Land, she would not allow it." Derishninn was the name demons gave to the great madness of the Abyss. Their own folklores of the place put its chronology that it was created in the aftermath of existence, itself. Where the chaotic elements of nature were given form and infected the darkness at the edge of all light.
"A single celled poison parasite with sentience," Belial chuckled, "that is quite mad."
Mard nodded, "agreed and though it defies our sciences, it is a possibility to explore. We will continue to look for other infected humans and see how or if the Abyss crossed into this Plane."
"We could also be wrong and walking down a path that has nothing to do with the plague," she pointed out.
"I promised Rosebud to do everything in my power to not harm humans. That means chasing down paths that may not be connected to the result." Mard knew that out of any demon, Belial understood the power of a promise and what that meant to all demonkin. It was perhaps the only card he could play and at least get the Prince out of here before she continued doing her own search and purification.
"Understood, I will leave with Cobra," she reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a black business card, "you know how to use it."
"Try to keep him alive," Mard said with a slight smirk.
Belial winked at him, "I will, I like his face." He watched as Belial moved to Cobra and began to speak with him. Mard was not interested in that conversation, his mind shifted into thinking about Rosebud and wondering how she was doing and when would she be back.
It also bothered him that she risked her life via magical depletion to save Natsu. It also comforted him that his little Rosebud would go that far to save someone she loved. Mard knew it was going to make her a fierce Queen and one day mother to his demonlings. Demonlings would need to wait, it would do him no good to have to deal with this problem, his curse and a pregnant mate. At the same time.
Perhaps during her days of fertility, he should abstain from sex with her. Might be the safest option for all involved, it was also annoying. He enjoyed the passionate taking of his Rosebud, even if her flimsy walls and bed could not handle it. Even now as he thought about how she felt and the erotic sounds she made; he was getting himself worked up.
Mard growled lightly, feeling frustrated at the predicament and wishing that Rosebud was here. Then again, he would be heavily tempted to find a secluded spot and take her. Like deep in the orange grove, up against one of the trees. He pinched the bridge of his nose and began to pace as he waited for Corvus to return with Rosebud.
If anything, he had more plans to work through, including he would need to regroup with his demons. He should also speak with the aging short guild master of Fairy Tail and bring a few more of them on this. Mard's mind flashed to a picture of is master, Zeref, and he shivered.
Zeref would not take kindly to any delay in his death wish or any setback in Mard's purpose for being created. When the dark lord demanded action, action was taken without question or postponement. Though with everything happening in Mard's life, Zeref was the last thing he needed to think about. His mind said otherwise, and he started to feel a familiar itch in the back of his brain.
Mard swallowed hard and looked around at the burnt barn, the small farm house, the large grove and cloudless sky. There was no one outside but himself, the humans were still chatting inside the farmhouse, oblivious to the demons and only mourning the loss of cattle and a barn. He felt as if he was being watched and was not certain if he truly was or if his own thoughts had fabricated a paranoid story in his head.
At this minute, Mard was going to go with his own paranoia. An angry Zeref would have to wait and there was nothing Mard could do about it. Corpsotirits was too important. His mate and being reunited with her was too important. Regrouping with his demons and understanding what it meant to be Fairy Tail was too important. Saving Earth Land from the ghoulish nightmare the Underworld sustained decades ago was too important.
Mard smiled as he realized something, a long-lost lesson he had learned from Jai. A good leader protects only his people, a bad leader protects only himself, and a great leader protects all people. Perhaps, he was finally understanding with help from his Rosebud and this curse, what it meant to be a great leader.
Lucy's eyes were heavy as she started coming around out of a dreamless sleep. She felt as if her personal gravity had increased by a magnitude of ten. If she could lift her arms, she would be grateful but instead stayed in the same position, concentrating on trying to open her eyes.
She could hear a couple stern voices in the background, for a moment it sounded like Corvus and Stache Face. The chatter sounded tense, even if she couldn't place all the words. It would also help if her brain would hurry up and reboot. Magical depletion was a bitch but to see life back in her best friend had made it all worth it.
Lucy was terrified, seeing Natsu with blue lips and ashen skin lying still on a hospital cot. That was not how things were supposed to end for the two of them. They had plans of side by side houses, more epic missions, and raising families next door to each other. Their kids would wander between the two homes and they would share a massive backyard for BBQs, late night chats around a fire pit and grow old as the best of friends.
The Celestial mage had known that was their destiny since the first time she met Natsu. She could see it in his olive-green eyes, that he was always going to be that missing part of her that wanted a brother and a true friend. It wasn't even a thought to open her portal as wide as it could go and channel everything, into amplifying Gemini's healing magic. Natsu would have stormed into Hell and back to revive her, if the roles were reversed.
Because their lives were so entwined, it made sense they would find love and mates at the same time. Though if anyone told Lucy that her mate would be a demon King, she would have kicked them. Now to think of her life without the snarky and gorgeous demon would be a waste of brain power.
Lucy let out a whimper as she managed to open her eyes and was assaulted by bright light. Her head hurt and she quickly closed her eyes again, flinching at the pain. A large hand pressed over her forehead and she felt a bit of relief as magic washed over her. Someone took her hand and she could feel it come out of the water, the cooler air giving her goosebumps. Shivering felt too tiring to try.
"Just a little more to go and you'll be back to your normal self," she tried to smile at the deep voice, knowing it was Stache Face.
"Thank you," she managed a very light whisper.
"Thank Corvus, he brought you here before the depletion became terminal." His hand lifted from her forehead, leaving a bit of a tingle across her skin as the last of his magic seeped into her. Her head felt much better, but she wasn't willing to open her eyes yet, the light was a bit much.
"Heh, not a big deal. Glad to see some color back on your cheeks, Queenie," Corvus said and Lucy didn't need to look to know the Raven was smiling.
"That bad huh?" she asked.
"I've seen worse, but let's not do that again, okay?" Corvus chuckled which pulled a tiny smile from Lucy.
"Deal, just tell Natsu not to die on me."
"He's really your friend huh?" Corvus asked, his voice low with a touch of sorrow to it.
"Yeah," Lucy licked her lips and cracked open her eyes, seeing the spirit come slowly into focus. His large eyes distant and his beautiful lips pulled down a little, "but Corvus you know I'd do the same for you too. You're family, now."
He smiled at her, "thanks, Queenie." Corvus brushed back her bangs, getting the damp edges out of her eyes. All around her all she could see was the cosmos and noticed that she was in a pool of water that glittered like shards of prismatic crystals. She had never seen this place before, but she could feel a connection to it, almost like going home.
"Where am I?"
"Pool of Eternity, the birth place of Celestials," Stache Face said with reverence. Lucy had heard of it before, when reading up on lore from the Celestial Realm. Though it didn't make sense, as far as she ever knew, humans could not survive being here, the primordial magic of creation and light too much.
"Shouldn't I be dead?"
Corvus shook his head, "if you were human, yes." Lucy pursed her lips and she remembered something that Mard and Belial had said.
"There, are we happy Starnienangel?" Belial said, the condescension not hard to miss in her voice.
"Starnienangel?" Lucy asked.
"Angel of Stars," Mard whispered.
Belial began to laugh and Lucy and Mard both turned their attention to her as she chuckled and pulled off her glasses to wipe them. "What's her problem?"
"Rosebud, if I knew, I would tell you."
"You are both charming, keeping secrets from each other."
"Angel of Stars, Starnienangel. Belial called me that, she said Mard was keeping a secret from me." Lucy tried to sit up a bit and she was grateful when Corvus helped her, his cool hand rubbing light circles on her back.
"Never trust a demon, especially not one of the ones who originally tried to destroy Kingdom." Stache Face said and Lucy looked up at him in wonderment. He pinched his forehead and glowed for a moment, before his form changed.
He became smaller, his skin and hair took on a golden tone, the larger moustache fading away and his armor was traded in for a light flowing white shirt and white pants. His eyes were like liquid silver with pink pricks of cerulean, haunting in their appearance. Off his back were two massive ethereal wings that radiated in colors of millions of prisms twinkling under pure light. Lucy's mouth fell open, she had no idea Stache Face had a more human appearance, let alone one that was completely fuckable.
Stache Face grinned at her before chuckling, "now you know what I actually look like. I am what the demons call Starnienangel, an angel born of starlight, created before humans."
Lucy reached out, her hand shaking as Stache Face took her slim hand and pressed it against his cheek. He was so warm and the magic that came off him felt like touching champagne bubbles. Corvus stopped rubbing her back and took her other hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. The Raven looked to be as interested in this moment as she was.
"When I and my fellow Angels of the Stars were created, we were given different areas of creation to watch over. I watch over Earth Land and a few other connecting galaxies." He dropped her hand and his lips moved into a frown, "then our brightest star, Lucifer, went to war against Kingdom. My sisters and brothers were either killed or chose to follow him to Hell. I am the last of the original Angels of the Stars and I became the Celestial Spirit King to protect myself."
Lucy sucked in a breath and tightened her grip around his warm hand. She saw a tear flow down his high cheekbone and fall into the pool. He blinked several times before drawing a shaky breath, "on rare occasion an angel is granted reincarnation." Stache Face touched her cheek, "you carry the soul of one of my sisters. It is why your vessel is as large as it is, why you are the unique light of kindness in this world. Her name was Aurora, she was the dawn, the hope of new beginnings."
"I-I'm carrying your sister's soul?" Lucy asked and he nodded.
"You are still Lucy Heartfilia, but sometimes when I look at you or hear the way you laugh, I see pieces of her," he chuckled and leaned closer, "it's why I let you practically get away with murder."
Lucy giggled, "that's why you let Leo live and stay under my care?"
He nodded, "you said things that Aurora would have said. She would have stamped her foot down, got into my face and said, Seireiō spirit of the law, not the stupid letter!" His eyes were wide and his grin prominent as he shared that bit of himself, Lucy smiled at him, knowing damn well it was what she basically said to him that day.
The moment faded into a bit of silence, but Lucy wasn't uncomfortable around the Celestial Spirit King, if anything she had a new appreciation for who he is. She was also feeling back to her old self and though was in a hurry to go see Mard…
"Are you okay with Mard and I being mates?" she asked.
He shook his head, blonde hair swaying and Lucy noticed a small braid dangling from the right side, it was tipped with a beautiful purple bead. "No, but I will have to be. I can see the happiness that snarky bastard brings to you."
"Translation, he can't argue against nature," Corvus added, which got him a small wave of water from the Celestial Spirit King. "Oh, bring it, I'm a freaking bird and this is muh bath!"
From there a beautiful heart-filled moment descended into a childish splash fest as Corvus and Seireiō went after each other. Lucy eventually joined in, deciding that she deserved a few minutes of playtime before going back home and dealing with her life. She also needed to sort out a few more things before trying to explain all of this to Mard.
As always, if you're enjoying this story, please review, fave and follow. Thank you to everyone who has so far, they make me smile.
