Disclaimer: Author's own Fairy Tail or its characters; that right belongs to Hiro Mashima. Nor do I own Inuyasha or its characters; that right belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

It had been a few days since their little soiree with the local Lord of the Land. Lucy was just so done, though now she had a few different (and newer) problems. One was Inuyasha wanting to spar with her because he couldn't believe she had flipped a man taller and more muscled than her. After all, she was human. And that had her seething and allowing Virgo a semi-free reign to put the loudmouth jerk into the ground. Talk about being speciesist and sexiest. Though Lucy would give Sango credit, who had thwacked Inuyasha with her giant boomerang into the ground when he said a human woman couldn't be that strong.

Miroku has wisely stayed silent and stood with Sesshomaru, who had watched impassively, almost bored-looking, to the side. Lucy wasn't stupid; she noticed that the demon lord now looked at her in a different light. But she would rather not even try to analyze it because he was still infuriating to no end.

But at the moment, Lucy's biggest issue was that strange voice was back, repeating its message, "I am swift and vicious. Catch me if you think you are able." And now the rest of the group heard it. Thinking it would be prudent to ask Grandpa Crux and Toga, she was let down as they couldn't interfere, which in her mind confirmed that this was a spirit talking to her. That she had to figure it out and hunted down the spirit. Which she had done, and now Lucy was feeling like a storybook character since her life was now openly mimicking Alice in Wonderland.

Gritting her teeth as she continued to chase after the small iridescent light that kept well ahead of her, darting to and fro in a zig-zag pattern. It was like hunting a fucking rabbit. The urge to use her magic was strong, yet for some reason, her magic was inaccessible. Meaning this was her trial for the damn Key. It shouldn't be that hard to catch the damn ball of light in the open plains, so why was it difficult?

"Are you tired? Do you want to stop? You only get one chance."

Narrowing her eyes, growling as she pushed herself to her physical limits, Lucy watched and waited. The pattern hadn't deviated in how the damn thing was moving. When it jerked back to her right, Lucy half lunged, half threw herself at the same time. She gave a triumphant whoop as her hands seemed to wrap around the damn iridescent ball of light only to have a large hole open.

"Fuck!" she got out as gravity took its rightful toll, and she was falling into the black abyss.

She could faintly hear the cries of the others as she hugged that ball of light to her chest. Her only thought was to protect the spirit at all costs as the opening of the hole grew smaller and smaller.

"Key. Find it and go home? Fight. No choice you are given."

Unsure of what was meant, Lucy looked down at her arms. The little ball was rapidly growing and forming into a distinctively humanoid shape and male. A male whose face was in her breast, as blue eyes peek through pale lavender-colored hair. Panic filled her mind as she fought internally (with herself) on whether to hold onto the spirit or push it away, calling it a pervert. Because she was sure, a Lucy Kick would be bad, and the angle was totally wrong.

It was amusing watching the woman chase after the small will-o'-the-wisp ball of light. He noted that she wasted too much of her energy, pushing herself to her limits like a fool. The complete opposite of how she was when she did the sumo match with the human Mitsuhide Akechi. Sesshomaru felt annoyed since this spirit had been vocally taunting the woman for the past two days. That and his instincts told him to chase his prey, but he wasn't sure if the prey was the ball of light or the woman?

Sesshomaru let his gaze slide to his brother and the rest of the group. His brother had made some rather snide comments and been thoroughly humiliated for it by the weird pink-haired spirit. He didn't think that a human female could be weak. The Miko had proven that as time had passed, growing as an individual by accepting her situation. That the Slayer was able to wield such a large weapon made from Demon Parts like it was nothing. His brother was such a dense idiot at times, and he hoped their father, who he knew was always watching, would realize that.

In fact, he was sure his mother was still able to go toe to toe with him in abilities. Not that he would openly say or admit it. Turning his gaze back towards the woman, Sesshomaru couldn't help arching an eyebrow as he watched her throw herself to the side, arms outstretched to grasp the ball. He could tell that she had realized that it was running in the same pattern over and over again. It was about time, but his mild amusement was cut short when light encompassed her, and she landed on the ground unmoving.

The shouts of the Slayer and monk as they rushed forward. He was well aware that each of these spirits would give a riddle and require a challenge she had to overcome. His fathers had been sealed in Mt. Hakurai, requiring a specific type of song to open. So, in his mind, it stood that first catching the spirit in a semi-physical form would be part of it. Sesshomaru already guessed which spirit this was based on the riddle, feeling no need to tell anyone.

Giving a small sigh, Sesshomaru slowly made his way to where the others were now gathered. Only to narrow his eyes as he saw the transparent form holding hands around Lucy's throat as the color slowly began to drain from her face. This trail could end her life, as he couldn't sense any of her magic. He hoped that she wouldn't let something like this kill her, not when he hadn't exacted his price from her hide after that debacle in the forest.

TBC!

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