Chapter 9

"There's so much sushi!"

Natsu looked on as Happy peered through the windows of a nearby restaurant. He grinned as his little buddy's tail swung back and forth, completely oblivious to the odd gazes of passerby.

Sure, it might be a little strange, seeing a blue cat (well, Exceed) standing on two paws. But they couldn't exactly label Happy as a non-cat either. Happy was whispering quieter than the human ear could register, or at least, to all other ears except for Natsu's.

To them, Natsu was simply having an "imaginary" conversation with his cat.

"Sushi, sushi, sushi," Happy hummed. "A beautiful delicacy for this world."

"Uh huh."

"I bet Lucy would love this, Natsu! I mean, fish is like, the best thing ever..." Happy trailed off, catching Natsu's solemn gaze at the name of their blonde companion.

Happy couldn't understand. He didn't know what it felt like to fail not only one friend, but two. He couldn't save Lucy from that demon, and he couldn't even save Gray from Tartaros. The past few days, him and Erza had looked into leads on Gray, but they'd ended empty-handed. How could he even call himself the ice princess' rival when he couldn't save his own guild members?

Noticing the Exceed's worried gaze, Natsu gave him a weary grin. "I bet she'd love it. She's a weirdo, so sushi's probably up her alley."

"Sushi isn't weird—it's amazing!" Happy once again pressed his nose against the glass. "All you care about is your weird obsession with hot sauce."

"Obsession? Of course I'm obsessed! Hot sauce is way better than sushi." But, speaking of sushi… how did Happy try the food before? It wasn't like the Exceed could stroll into a restaurant and ask for a menu, or even have the jewels to afford it. Then again, Natsu wouldn't be surprised if Happy turned his cat-eyes on some old lady for a free meal.

"I still don't get it. What's so good about hot sauce? Even Erza's obsession with strawberry cake makes more sense."

"You're saying that because you don't want her to deck you." Not that Erza could at the moment, though Natsu wouldn't be surprised if Erza could whether someone was speaking about her from across a city. He didn't know exactly where Erza had gone. She'd said she had to make some calls, first to some Jelly-guy and then to Master Makarov, before returning to meet them at Lucy's room in the hospital.

He kicked a pebble across the street. What was it with the nurses and their stupid "visiting hours?" Why couldn't he go see Lucy now? She'd already been in the hospital for a couple of days, so couldn't they let him in earlier?

His attention shifted when he caught a certain smell. There was something at the edge of his senses, a faint trail of… of soil and cinnamon. But something about that potent smell—why was it familiar? The smell overcame him, and he followed it relentlessly, turning down street after street until he finally arrived at another of Malba's bustling sideways.

Having come this close, Natsu could clearly pinpoint the source of the smell in the crowd. The demon had his back towards him as he walked down the lane, though Natsu could make out the guy's pale skin, black hair, and his weird fashion sense. Seriously, who wore a black robe with a white sash? Is he trying to cosplay from an older century or something?

Before his mind could warn him to not do whatever the heck he was doing, Natsu ran over and placed a hand on the demon's shoulder. The youthful man turned around, his dark eyes widening when he made eye contact with Natsu.

Natsu stepped back. He wasn't sure why he had reached out to the stranger, or what he'd expected to happen, but when he was this close… he finally considered what he'd done. The smell of soil and cinnamon centered around this demon so heavily that Natsu almost pinched his nostrils. His instincts simultaneously screamed at him to stay put and to run away.

He was about to give a rather uncharacteristic apology, something along the lines of I-totally-thought-you-were-someone-else-and-no-I-wasn't-following-you, but the demon spoke first in a low whisper.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah? Wait—how do you know my name?" Something about the demon seemed familiar, although Natsu would have remembered meeting such a cosplayer. "Have we met before or something?"

The demon's expression softened, almost as if he was pained. Natsu expected the stranger to say something, perhaps to explain how the hell he knew his name. Instead, the demon leaned in and—before Natsu could even move—touched Natsu's left arm.

Natsu hissed as he pulled it back. It stung, immensely, almost as if Natsu had (ironically) burned himself. When the pain lessened to an almost tolerable amount, he turned back to the demon and growled. "What did you just do to me?"

The demon didn't respond. Instead, he looked behind Natsu. Natsu followed his gaze to find Happy.

The Exceed leaped from his fours into Natsu's arms, panting heavily in the process. "Natsu," he whined. "How could you leave me like that?"

Natsu rubbed Happy's fur, though his narrowed eyes remained on the man before them. The demon, however, seemed quite content with silently staring at the Exceed.

"Natsu, what's going on?" Happy whispered. "Who is that guy? And what's with your marks?"

"My marks? What do you mean? They're… covered..." At least, they had been five minutes ago. But when Natsu looked down at his arms, the make-up covering his marks had faded. Shit.

This guy's touch must've done something to him. That stinging sensation definitely meant something, even if Natsu didn't know what it was. They had to get away from this guy—fast. His marks were already exposed; it wouldn't take long for some curious passerby to glance over and scream accusations of demons.

Even if Natsu wanted to fight this guy, he wasn't dumb enough to rush to his death. The scent of this demon alone, with the strongest concentration of soil-and-cinnamon that Natsu had ever smelled, told him that winning wasn't an option.

He didn't break the stare with the demon when he said, "Happy, let's get outta here."

With Happy mewling his agreement, Natsu took a step back, then another. He turned around and—without glancing over his shoulder—ran off with Happy tucked in his arms.

He didn't need to turn around to notice the demon's eyes still on him.

A minute before Lucy's visiting hours started, Natsu pushed open the door. Lucy looked the same as she did yesterday and the day before that, wearing a hospital gown with several layers of bandages underneath. There were no bandages on her face, thankfully, and Lucy managed a smile when the human-Exceed duo entered.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position as Happy leaped out of Natsu's arms onto the edge of her bed.

"Luccccyyyyy!" Happy sat down in her lap, his tail curling around him. "You're still alive!"

Lucy feigned annoyance, though her smile hinted otherwise. "I'm not dying that easily, cat. So, how have you guys been doing?"

"Terrible." Happy shuddered in her lap. "We were gonna eat some delicious sushi—I was going to get you some, of course—but then Natsu chased off after this weird demon who was all puffy-eyed but super scary. That guy almost acted like he knew Natsu—Natsu, what did he say to you again?"

Natsu looked up from the floor. "Uh, did ya say something?" He looked over at Lucy with her knitted eyebrows, and he quickly shook his head. "Right, uh, something he said… He said my name and touched my arm, but that's it, really. Nothing else." Thankfully, he'd managed to apply another layer of make-up before coming here.

With a not-so-subtle change in subject, Natsu said, "So, is anyone up for some fun?"

Lucy smiled. "Of course I am. These past few days, I've been reading enough to last me for a month." She gave Natsu a firm gaze. "Assuming this fun doesn't involve leaving this room or breaking a window..."

Natsu scoffed. "Pu-lease. I can have fun anytime, anywhere. Let's try playing Rapid Fire Question Bonanza!"

"And that means…?"

"I shoot you lots of questions, and you say whatever comes to mind."

Lucy nodded. "Fair enough. Fire away, oh rapid-firer."

Natsu grinned. "Okay, first one: Do you like dragons?"

"Of course."

"What's better—sushi or hot sauce?"

"Sushi." Happy purred at that.

"Is fire awesome?"

"Definitely."

"Can you handle the heat?"

"Uh, what?" Happy snickered.

"The heat of fire!"

"…Sure."

"I've got another one. Who's cooler—the dragon or the knight?"

Lucy tapped her chin. "I'd say the dragon. Though, I suppose I shouldn't say that to Erza."

"Nah, no need to worry about that. Erza would try to skin me—the dragon—before skinning the princess. Not that she'd ever harm you, Lucy."

Lucy chuckled. "Are you equating me to some princess in a tower?"

He quickly shook his head. "No sir. You're not some princess stuck in a tower. I'd say you're the princess who escaped with the dragon."

"Escaped with the dragon, huh..." Lucy looked down at the purring Happy. "Is it always better, though? Running away?"

"Well, I mean, if you're caught by an evil witch who wants to shut you in a tower, then I'd say so. But, I mean, sometimes you can't run away, ya know? Like, I'd never run if Fairy Tail needed some help."

"But if you were to run away, for selfish reasons… would it be wrong?"

Natsu tugged at his scarf. "I mean, depends what ya mean by 'selfish.' Sometimes, ya gotta put yourself first so you can help others later. If you're running away to leave your comrades, then I'd call you an ass. But if you're running away to go on an adventure, then I'd come and tag along."

Lucy looked up from the Exceed and smiled. "I guess that's one way of looking at it. Though, I suppose you could always just face the evil witch and throw a shoe at her."

His eyes widened. "You remember that story? From the book?" They'd never discussed the fairy tale book openly, or their first meeting that came from it.

"Well, of course I remember it. That story was the first time I saw a princess stand up for herself. Though, it's too bad that I became a little inspired and tried to do the same with my father."

"Did it work?"

"Alas, my shoe aimed true, but my efforts at escaping were in vain."

He didn't know much about her childhood, though he could tell that Igneel was a far better father than she'd ever had. Even as Lucy joked about her parent, he could hear a tang of bitterness to her words. Or better yet, resentment.

"That story always bugged me for another reason," Natsu said, moving on. He caught a grateful glance from Lucy. "I mean, there's not a single dragon in it!"

Lucy shrugged. "Who knows, maybe there was a dragon. I mean, there was that old man who helped the princess. For all we know, he could've been a dragon disguised as a human."

He mulled over his words before nodding. "A dragon in disguise… Man, that dragon is skilled."

"Says the self-proclaimed ninja."

Their conversation continued on, varying from their favorite—and least favorite—fairy tales to their own passions. As Lucy gave a monologue on the beauty of literature, Natsu replied with his own speech on the camaraderie of fist fights. They had few interests in common, yet they listened intently to the others' claims on hot sauce or books, and solemnity or dragons.

They didn't realize the visiting hours had ended, not until a nurse came to drag a complaining Natsu out. He refused to move at first, asking the nurse why he couldn't sleep on the floor. When Natsu had been coerced out the door, he gave Lucy a final smile before leaving.

Lucy could appreciate the silence that had been nonexistent upon Natsu's arrival. As she stared up at the ceiling, she found the silence familiar and welcoming, yet perhaps a little empty. Maybe that explained why she perked up when someone opened her door.

Had Natsu sneaked in to see her again? He'd tried that on the first night, though it ended with him suffering Erza's wrath. If he'd really come again, then Lucy wasn't sure whether to scold or thank him for his concern.

Lucy quickly realized that it wasn't Natsu. The man before her wore a green jacket and blue jeans with a golden necklace displayed. He stopped several feet from Lucy's bed and rubbed a hand through his spiky orange locks.

"I know this looks kinda bad," he said, "but this really isn't what it looks like."

"… Am I supposed to assume that a stranger who comes into my room in the middle of the night isn't a threat?"

He gave a small grin. "Well, I'd never be a threat. Not to the daughter of Layla Heartfilia."

She stared at him, open-mouthed, as the man continued. "The name's Loke. Though, I suppose you might recall me as Leo."

"Welcome back, my lord."

Entering the living room, donned with velvet sofas and a centered glass table, he looked over at the blue-haired demon bowing before him.

When he waved his hand, the demon rose. "There's no need to bow, Invel," he said. "Though, we have had this discussion before."

Invel nodded, adjusting his glasses. "And we will have it again, for I assure you that it is my honor to bow for your lordship."

He smiled at his subordinate before lying down on one of the sofas.

"Was your expenditure successful, sir?"

"I suppose you could say so. The rumors were true about the pink-haired 'demon,' albeit not entirely accurate."

Invel, having served his lord for as long as he had, caught the subtle grimace. "Was it not him, then?"

"No, it was, but… he's a human. He still possesses some of his marks, and I suppose others would mistake him for a demon, though their assumption is not far from the truth."

"For him to be human…" Invel muttered. "By the sound of it, he did not recognize you?"

His lord softly laughed. "Not exactly. But he sought me of his own volition, and he seemed more confused than apprehensive."

"If he does not recognize you nor have demonic blood… will this affect your objective?"

His lord looked elsewhere, his fingers softly drumming against the sofa's armrest. "It matters little, for he is nonetheless of our kind, and I made sure that he will understand this soon enough. With this underway, it seems our prolonged disappearance from this world has come to an end. Perhaps it is time to take back what is mine—Wouldn't you say, Invel?"

Invel bowed once more. "As you command, Lord Zeref."