Good morning my faithful followers. Sorry, it's been so long. I have something for you. However. unfortunately, there is a problem. If you want this chapter to make sense, you have to go back a re-read chapter 14. I may have committed a small character murder by accident. Talk about involuntary manslaughter. I'm kidding by the way and I totally fixed the mistake. It's all better now even though it was hard to fix it in the first place. Well, times go on and no I must answer the few questions and statements that I actually have.

So, I have been thinking about my required follower count, and I think that I might get rid of it. I was actually thinking about it at the same time The Age of Awesomeness brought it up. Plus, I've noticed that it takes about 2 months or so to get the chapter written up and edited before I post the next chapter. Sometimes it's a little bit longer than that, sometimes it's a bit sooner but on average, it's about 2 months. Now ain't that interesting? Hopefully, this knowledge will give you some stability. Too bad I can't give you any information on what could happen in the future. Although, Burning Twilight you do raise some interesting questions. I can't give you answers but your questions even if I know the answer but they do give me some inspiration if I don't have any. Don't stop your questions. Also, for my grammerly mistakes, I am very sorry if you catch them but as an imperfect human, I can't catch every single one of them the first or second time of editing.

Welp, that's all I got for now. I hope to answer more of your questions in the next chapter, just make sure that you ask me. Onto the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

~Chapter 17~

You know that moment when you wake up and you have a panic attack because you fell asleep in an unfamiliar place? Yeah, well imagine that only 5 times worse with the ground only a blur below you and the sound of beating wings above you. If it weren't for the strong arms that were wrapped securely around her, she's pretty sure she would have plummeted to her death. Now, that wouldn't have been a pretty sight. And once she realized she wasn't in any mortal danger, she relaxed a bit. But, you know, mortal danger as in immediate death. Not mortal danger as in seeing some bad guy standing across from you. It was no secret that everyone thought the being around Chaos was putting oneself in mortal danger. However, Lucy didn't see it that way. And it was unlikely but she would let anyone else decide that for her.

Anyway, at this point, she was just wondering/trying to figure out where exactly she was. She could guess that they were almost to Clover. They had made it to the bridge before she passed out and now the bridge was nowhere in sight. She, of course, was unsure of how long she'd been out, or how far they'd gone, or how fast they were going, but it didn't matter to her anyway. Right now, she hardly had control of her limbs let alone focus on how they were going to get from point A to point B. Clearly, though, it seemed Chaos had everything under control. If anything, she should probably be more worried if things weren't in control by the Dragon Slayer. It was probable that she would handle some things on her own, but she would probably have to fight for those rights. Either way, what was important right now was finishing this mission. She had already been more emotionally exhausted than she had planned on being for a while.

For Chaos, this whole mission was ridiculous enough already without her whole little breakdown on the bridge. First, they had no clear mission, even from the beginning, and had no guaranteed pay to accompany it. Second, he was stuck with people he hated no matter how many times he ditched them. Third, this chick they'd forced to accompany them was clearly experiencing something terrible in those episodes she kept having. Ha! You were sure that he hadn't even noticed, weren't you? He'd noticed them alright, and for some reason, he was keen on keeping them to himself. However, he was sure that when he got home, he would definitely need some days void of any of the annoying happy people he was surrounded with. And, depending on the girl, he might allow her some time in the arena. For now, though, he had to focus on the mission at hand. Lullaby. What a waste of his time.

Eventually, the isolated land of Clover came into the Dragon Slayer's line of vision. The buildings were tall, they weren't to close together, there was a wall looking thing on the outside, and the whole thing was surrounded by a huge forest. A forest that seemed to come out of nowhere and end at the horizon on one side while mountains rose up around the city on the other side. It seemed a rather odd place to put a town but in all fairness, it seemed like it was a good area to have their town be shielded from the dangers beyond it. Unfortunately, it also kept the already existing dangers inside the confines of the "shield". Which includes those who force themselves past the so-called barrier. Take Erigor for example. He was bringing in a flute that could kill anyone who heard it's song. Something like that wasn't welcome but that didn't stop people from bringing it into the town and disrupting their way of life.

A strong wind whipped past the pair, tugging at their hair, and pulling at their clothes. The Chaos Dragon's wings flapped silently through the air above him, the only evidence being the air swishing around them. The town was growing ever closer when all of a sudden the Chaos Dragon took a hard turn to the right. With the first half of a shriek being ripped from her throat, she could do nothing as Natsu dove for the tree-littered earth. He veered out of the way of the outstretched branches from the towering trees but made no move to slow down. Her stomach lifted up into her throat as they spiraled down towards the earth. She couldn't help but think he was doing it on purpose.

It took seconds, but she managed to calm her stomach and stifle her screams as he continued his hazardous flying. She wasn't really sure where he was going at this point, but she knew she didn't have much control anyway. Some things are just better if you just go along with it. Other things, not so much but we aren't really going to get into those things. Though, she was not a fan of sharp, jagged, spiny flow she was following. She may have had no idea where they were going but she was well aware that her partner had everything figured out. It was highly likely that he had even found the perpetrator. Which, was exactly what had happened. From what the Dragon Slayer could tell, it seemed that the sent he was following was familiar in some way. He just couldn't figure out where it came from. It also seems that this mysterious scent was mixed with something else as well. Something… Irritating. Something... Unwanted. Something… Toxic? Now that was odd. He didn't know anyone who smelled toxic. The only things that smelled like that were… Innocent objects meant to… Kill people…. Like Lullaby. It was near. Locking onto its scent, the Chaos Dragon easily followed his prey. However, he hadn't expected this sight before him.

"What are you doing here?" He knew it wasn't him who spoke, but he sure as hell wasn't surprised enough to be left speechless. What a joke.

"I've come to play Lullaby's song." Standing before the Dragon and the girl was no other than the painfully wounded shadow mage. Now, wasn't this a surprise? The man who Chaos had dragged free from his magic now stood between him and the end of this ridiculous mission. Plus, in his hands, he held the object that contained that scent of poison. The top was still carved to be a skull with three eye sockets and the rest twisted down to where its roots opened like tentacles. Lullaby. It was such a grotesque looking object. A complete waste of wood for such an idiotic reason. What was even the point of killing that many people anyway? Humans are much more useful if there are alive and can be used as slaves. Or to rule over. Humans are so clueless sometimes.

"Well, if that's the case, then what's stopping you?" When a new voice suddenly joined the party, everyone couldn't help but turn and be surprised at who they found. Now, before we get to this mysterious newcomer, we should probably recap a few things first. First, we'll start with a few moments after Chaos and his "captive" ditched the rest of their "team" and roughly around the time they had escaped their windy prison. Of course, "team" and "captive" were being used by the same people who had forced themselves with the one they hated and the one they wanted to "save". Not that she needed or wanted to be saved by the standards of those people. They were much too... loud for her taste. Some might argue that it was due to her extended presence with Chaos, while she could claim it was from her past. So many excuses, so hard to choose just one.

Regardless, she was still left with him rather than them and it really got on their nerves. Instead, they were left with an injured shadow mage who they'd shoved down an ice slide, courtesy of Gray. Once they dragged him up out of the hole, Erza had gone and come back with another one of those mage powered carriages. It may have been the one from earlier, but that didn't really matter to Gray. He instead focused on pushing the unconscious mage into the carriage and keeping him there once he woke up. He didn't take too kindly to being saved by "Fairy Flies" and instead wanted to carry out his master's plan. Or escape, if he could manage that. Ironically, he was only mostly successful in his escape. What had happened was as soon as he woke up, he had tried to fight for his escape as soon as he realized whose company he was in. It was then Gray's job to neutralize the threat, time and time again as the situation called for it. Of course, he didn't try to escape as many times as was implied but it makes a better story.

Fortunately for the shadow mage, those "Blasted Fairy Flies" had somehow lost their cool halfway through the forest. And it was completely Erza Scarlet's fault. Now, don't get her wrong, it wasn't on purpose but she honestly should've known better. The carriage that she rented or stole or whatever ran on magic power. Actual magic power. Like, draining power as if casting real spells. And of course, the more power you put into it, the fast it goes, the more power it drains. Which, in fact, was exactly Erza's problem. The drive from Point A (Onibus Station) to Point B (Clover) was much longer than she had anticipated and in every aspect was bad for her. This was the reason that Gray had to pretty much wrestle the cuff off her arm. The carriage had sputtered to a stop after that with a panting Erza, a bound shadow mage, and a very irritated Gray in the middle of a darkening forest. The ice mage honestly couldn't understand who his friend was pushing herself so hard. Sure, they had to secure the Lullaby Flute and keep the other two members of their team out of trouble, but did they need to work so hard to achieve it? Their teammates were big enough to take care of themselves. They often took off by themselves anyway. What did they need anyone else for if they kept ditching their group? Gray wasn't even sure why they were a group.

It was during this particular stop that the worst happened. Distraction. Gray was distracted with trying to free Erza from the band and that gave our irritating little shadow mage the opportunity to escape. Contrary to popular opinion, his escape wasn't all that difficult. All that really was necessary was a lack of guards, check, a good distraction, check, and cool enough magic to pull it off, check. So, with Gray's back turned and Erza near unconsciousness, it was pretty easy to slip away unnoticed. Then came the next task. Breaking the bonds that held hands captive. Although, that was pretty easy too. Pretty much what he needed to do was rub his wrists on the side of the tree or with a sharp stick and he would be free. Which is exactly what he did. It also helped that night was falling quickly, casting longer and longer shadows across the ground. Unfortunately for everyone else, that was the perfect time to use his magic. With his captors left behind him and the dragon nowhere near him, he made his way to the edge of the forest. Now, you may be wondering how and when Erza passed Natsu and question. She didn't. In fact, she was only seconds behind them. The trick comes with the speed of the dragon's flight. It was kept at a speed which was enough to be fast but slow enough to catch scents.

So, as the shadow mage left his shadow form and put the flute up to his mouth, he'd been discovered. He stood on the cliff, overlooking the town, the building he was looking for stood just before him. It was the biggest building in town, some kind of Assembly Hall or something and inside were the most important people in Fiore. Or...Second most important people in the country. Inside, the Guild masters of Fiore were having their annual meeting and everyone was there. Including the guild master to those wretched Fairy Flies. That horrible Master Makarov Dreyar. The shadow mage had brought the flute to his lips when a voice interrupted him. And it wasn't a voice that he had wanted to hear.

"What are you doing here?" the blonde girl asked. The shadow mage jerked around and stared at his enemy. White bandages, now dusted brown with dirt, were wrapped around his chest, and some bandages even spotted his face and arms.

"I've come to play Lullaby's song." The anger and disappointment that splashed across the girl's face seemed just short of heartbreaking. Was she really heartbroken over what he was about to do? Now, why was this an issue? Why did she care at all, besides the fact that her Guild Master was in the building he was targeting?

"Well, if that's the case, then what's stopping you?" Now, this new voice caught everyone by surprise. And it wasn't like they weren't paying attention, but for some people, paying attention sometimes isn't always enough. If you're thinking that does voice belongs to Gray or Erza, you'd be wrong there too. No, this person was definitely not someone who anyone was expecting to appear out of nowhere.

"Well... U-um... I-I," was his only response. This resulted in an eye roll from the Dragon and a scoff from the blonde. Well, wasn't this great? This guy is given the perfect opportunity to kill some of the most powerful people in Fiore and he was hesitating. How stupid was that? What kind of bad guy is he?

"Come on, son. Let's hear the song," was the man's response. So, if you haven't figured it out by now, clearly you're stupid and someone needs to tell you the answer. Maybe you just need more time but we really don't have time for that. The man who now stood before them was none other than the master of Fairy Tail, the mysterious Master Makarov. Said Master now looked around and after finding a rather large rock behind him, he sat down upon it.

"Uh...Gramps? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lucy asked, casting a worried glance at the old man.

"It's ok, my child. Trust me," Gramps answered, still staring at the shadow mage. Lucy shrugged in response.

"Uh...ok, Gramps. Whatever you say. -Hey!" Her answer ended with a higher pitched yelp and didn't raise her voice to be heard again. The shadow mage cast a glance in their direction to see that Chaos had taken a seat against a tree trunk and had roughly pulled Blondie down next to him. She looked something in between angry, irritated, and happy which made him wonder about their current and past relationship. Wasn't he the Chaos Dragon who refused to take a partner multiple times in the past? Had he finally accepted a partner? Had this partner been forced on him? How had he allowed such a thing to happen? Where did this girl come from? Where-

"Come on, Son. Let's hear it." From where the short old man sat, he just gave a look of genuine interest to the shadow mage who couldn't seem to be able to figure these people out. Surely their guild master wasn't stupid enough to actually listen to Lullaby's death song. Why then, was this man trying to get him to play it? Did he want to die? Did he really want to cut his life short? He had so much to live for! There were so many people who loved him! People who cared for him! So many people who still depended on him for guidance or whatever! How could he throw it all away for something as simple as a flute and something as dangerous as Lullaby? What was wrong with this guy!? What happened to him that would make him suicidal when he had all these people around to help him with whatever? Though, he didn't seem all that depressed. What even is this?!

And what about those two on the other side of the clearing?! What were they doing? Why were they just sitting there? The shadow mage watched as the girl fought ridiculously with her partner. Apparently, not that anyone else knew this but, after he had pulled her down, he had started to doze off. Having nothing else to do, she was about to do the same and had planned on using him as a pillow. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't having it. So, after a fierce and furious battle, she won and he begrudgingly let her lean on him. Even if he had won, she probably would've slept on him anyway after he was asleep. That and the fact that he really didn't have the energy to fight with her anymore. Another point for Magic Deficiency Syndrome. Well, ducks for him. But that wasn't his only problem. His problem lay within his audience. It was bad enough that the Shadow mage watched with burning curiosity but Gramps was watching this oddly match couple as well. What? It wasn't his fault that this was a never before seen Chaos Dragon moment. No one ever willing involved themselves with this dangerous being. No one gets into a battle as small as the one that they had, especially a slap fight where the blonde somehow got and maintained the advantage that she had. It was so weird. Any fight that Chaos participated in ended with this opponent losing and more often than not the fight usually ended with his opponents in the infirmary or the hospital. Depending on their injuries. No one ever just gets into a slap fight with the most dangerous "good guy" this country has ever seen and win, forcing said man into a cuddled and irritated submission. What an interesting development.

So, with as much as we want to go back to the Shadow mage's continued thoughts on this curious pair and their indifference to Lullaby, or Gramps's cautious and curiousness of the sleeping pair, we are going to skip over that. Instead, we will go straight into the actions after the fact. With the master of Fairy Tail having turned his stare back to the Shadow mage, and with Chaos and his partner still sleeping, movement began taking place. The mage's fingers shook as he brought the flute to his lips, and his breathing was just short of erratic. He blew hastily and harshly and the sound that came out was definitely not Lullaby's song. Gramps just gave him a smile before he fell to the ground and let out the most dramatic gagging sound anyone had ever heard. It was loud enough to wake the sleeping members of Fairy Tail who shared a look of confusion. What was happening again? The gagging sound went on for a few minutes after the fact and finally the last breath sound escaped his lips. Was he being serious? The one who stood literally look down at his victim in awe before moving his eyes to the weapon in his hands. Had he really just done that? Trick question. Out of nowhere, deep cackling filled the air around them before a voice took its place in the silence.

"Ok, that's enough of that. Are you satisfied now, Son? You just killed the master of Fairy Tail. Congratulations," Gramps said as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Wh–Wha–Wh..." the Shadow mage stuttered.

"Don't worry about it, son. I knew this was going to be the outcome."

"You knew!?" exclaimed the Shadow Mage.

"Of course he knew," was the Blonde's grumble. "No wonder he made us sit this one out." Sure, no one was really paying her any attention but she wasn't all that concerned with it. It wasn't her conversation, to begin with. Why should she be concerned with the direction they were going to take it in?

"Yes, son. I did now," Gramps answer.

"How… How did you know I wasn't going to hurt you?" He asked staring at Gramps.

"It was in your eyes, son. I could tell you didn't want to hurt me as much as you didn't want to hurt them," he murmured as he gestured to the Dragon who had gone back to sleep.

"Even though they are a troublesome trio. Sometimes they deserve a smack upside the head." He turned his body as he said this comment but didn't bother to raise his voice. He knew they could hear him.

"Thanks, Gramps! Love you too!" the blonde yelled back at him. Gramps just chuckled and turned back to the Shadow Mage.

"See? You don't have to be what everyone to sees as. Or what you think everyone sees you as. You don't have to play Lullaby's song."

"But –… What…" he stuttered. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. Should he not play it? Should he go give the flute to someone else?

"PATHETIC HUMAN! YOU DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO HOLD THE LULLABY FLUTE, LET ALONE PLAY IT! THEREFORE, I WILL HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF!" A voice screamed into the darkness. The air around them began to shake, and the ground beneath them started to quake.

"LET ME SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF LULLABY!" The Shadow mage quickly dropped the flute as the eyes began to glow in the route started to expand. The others looked on in shock and horror as they tried to comprehend just what exactly was going on. The Chaos Dragon simply watched the scene unfold in angry annoyance as he heaved himself from the ground. This wasn't happening. Not now, not again. Not ever. He walked over to the other shell-shocked mages and stood near the expanding flute.

"We aren't doing this. Not again," the Dragon spat. He took a few steps away from everyone else before continuing with this plan.

"Chaos Dragon's Claw!" Standing tall, the ever ancient seal appeared in front of him, and from it sprang his magic. This flute had now grown to the size of a human when the clawed tendrils shot through the growing body of the wood.

"AAAAHHHHH! STOP THAT, PATHETIC HUMAN! YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME!" The dragon merely grunted as a response but he continued anyway. He wasn't about to listen to a piece of wood that thought itself stronger than the Chaos Dragon.

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" A familiar voice rang out behind him, and soon he was joined by the muscled cow wearing underwear and wielding an axe. In fluid movements, the limbs of this object, who wasn't supposed to be alive, came crashing to the ground around them. The monster screamed in pain but no one paid attention to it. Kinda sounds heartless, doesn't it? The reason it wasn't most lay on the fact that they were more focused on killing it.

"Chaos Dragon's Phantom Zero." It was finally with this concentrated beam of magic that Lullaby started to topple. That is, seconds after Taurus cut through it first. The beam traveled from the bottom of its right hip to the top of its left shoulder which sent this beast down to the ground. The wood groaned and creaked as it fell, various parts breaking off and falling individually to the ground.

"Look out!" Someone screamed, as more bodies ran through the clearing. However, it was abundantly clear who it was at this point. Red streaks flashed through the Dragon's vision as he moved to grab the blonde who was somewhere near him. He didn't watch as Titania threw herself forward to protect to protect Gramps. He didn't see how the Ice Princess went to grab the Shadow Mage. He barely acknowledged the fact that Happy came up and wrapped himself around the Dragon's neck. He raised his hand to pet the feline's head as he flew above the situation.

"I missed you, Natsu. You left me alone with those awful goody two shoes. I didn't even enough time to book new brakes," Happy whined in the middle of his purring.

"I know. I'm sorry, Happy," Natsu murmured quietly as he stared at the chaos below him. His response was automatic, his mind was focused on something else entirely, and he didn't realize just how close he held his partner. Granted, it wasn't any closer than when they had flown here earlier but that wasn't important. It's possible that he didn't even realize the girl was there in the first place. He was locked in his own little chaos filled world and filled with shock instead of chaos, the girl wasn't part of it. When the dust finally settled, that's when he began to lower himself to the ground. It may not have been enough chaos to refill his energy supply, but it was enough to sustain him for now. He wasn't about to collapse in front of any of these people. They touched down slowly for a few minutes, but no one seemed to realize they were among them. It was short lived when Gramps when Gramps shouted,

"There they are! There are the saviors of the Guild Masters! Come here, my children!" Everyone turned to face them as less only began to walk forward. Who is she to disobey such a simple order from the guild master?

"Uh... Natsu doesn't hug people," Happy answered, not moving from his spot. He wouldn't be leaving either of them alone for a while.

"That's fine. I wasn't expecting one from him anyway," Gramps shot back. The blonde cast a worried glance back at her partners as she came to stand before the old man. She wasn't sure what she was nervous about, but there was something about being this close to him that sent a chill running through her spine.

"It's all right, my child. You don't have to be nervous. You did a good job. Even if you're paired with a destruction machine." He murmured with a glance to the pair behind them.

"You're welcome, Master!" Happy shouted.

"You children and your exceptional hearing," Gramps muttered.

"All right, you three go home and rest. You've earned it." This statement was ended with a pat on her hand, (as Gramps had been holding it) before Lucy's next question came spilling out of her mouth.

"What about Lullaby?" Her eyes fell to the wooden limbs that littered with the clearing and to where the rest of Lullaby reverted back into the super ugly flute it was. Her eyes fell on Lullaby just in time to see Natsu crush it beneath his boot. Well, at least they knew Lullaby wasn't coming back.

"Don't worry about it. Gray and Erza will take care of it," Gramps answered happily. There was a pause before a loud "WHAT" was screamed within the clearing followed by a "Come on!". They were not a happy pair but she didn't have to time to think about it as she was once again pulled close to a familiar heat. Sure, it was still relatively new but it was now familiar. Almost like her mother's. Except, her mother wasn't as warm as Natsu. Nothing was as warm as Natsu. So focused on nothing, the blonde hardly noticed anything around her. The ground grew smaller and the air colder, but all Lucy could think about was her mother.

Well, what did you think? So, many of you are probably wondering why I ended Lullaby like that. The main reason is that I wanted to get this arc over with. If I had gone into the fight with Lullaby than it would have taken at least another chapter and I honestly didn't feel like writing it. There are many other arcs to get done and I haven't even begun them yet. Plus, this ending works better with Natsu's character in this story.

Also, the ending paragraph has a reason for being there. Too bad you won't find out what I mean until the next chapter. The only thing that needs to be done for the next chapter is more editing because I can't remember what exact information I have given you about this topic. And I feel that it is unfair if I kept giving you the same information you already have. Isn't that nice of me? Well, that's it. Don't forget to leave a review. Love you all!

Till next time!

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