Chapter 10

Lucy sighed as she leaned against the bedframe. "Alright, Leo—or Loke, is it? I'm listening." She could barely see him in the dim lighting, though his cocked head was impossible to miss.

"I must admit that I'm a little surprised," he said. "Here I thought, coming to see you in the middle of the night, that you'd try and pounce me or something..."

Lucy waved her left arm, revealing the layer of bandages. "It's not like I could fight back, and let's just say that I'm too exhausted to scream."

"Too exhausted to scream?" Loke let out a chuckle. "Does that include being too exhausted to head somewhere a little more private with me?"

"Look, I said that I was going to listen. I never said anything about following you. For all I know, you're not even Leo." Lucy gently prodded her bandages. "And there's also the… you know, not being able to move out of this bed due to injuries."

"If those are your only concerns, then we have no problems."

She gave him a questioning look as he leaned in, his arms hovering over her blanket-covered chest. She considered reminding him of a certain concept known as "personal space," but she paused when several waves of warm vibrations spread through her chest, her arms, and her legs.

As the tension released from her limbs, Lucy glanced over at Loke. His hands—they were glowing, almost like her own light magic. Except, his light magic was interwoven with several threads of darkness.

His healing magic… It was a contradiction. How could he possess a mixture of light and dark magic? Dark magic belonged solely to demons, yet light magic had been proven deadly to their kind. As she looked at the winced expression etched across his face, she knew that he was not immune to the magic's consequences.

"Why are you healing me?"

"Why not?"

Because it's hurting you. "Because there's no point."

He tsked. "I can't let a princess suffer now, can I?"

"A princess," Lucy bemused. "That's the second time I've been called one today."

Loke didn't respond. Instead, he pulled back his arms and smoothed the crinkles in his jacket. "Are you coming?" he finally said.

"I can't exactly walk," was what Lucy would've said.

But that wasn't the case. Not anymore. After Loke's healing magic, she could move her arms and curl her legs, shake her hands and wiggle her toes. Taking the development in strides, Lucy pulled off the covers and rolled out of bed with only mild discomfort from her stiff legs. "It looks like I owe you one."

"So, would you repay my favor by coming with me?"

He's still a stranger, that hadn't changed. And, he had yet to prove his supposed connections with her mother. But if he really had malintentions, why not attack her when she was vulnerable? Or at least, why would he heal her at all, before she had even agreed to assist him?

"I'll skewer you if you attack me," she finally said.

"That sounds kinda hot, coming from you." Ignoring her grimace, Loke continued, "Let's get on to the stairwell."

She followed him out the door.

One dull stairwell led to another and then to a rooftop. With the waxing moon's light, Lucy had a better look of the stranger. With no conspicuous demonic features, he simply appeared as a young man with orange-colored hair wearing a green jacket and combat boots.

Shifting uncomfortably, Lucy said, "So, why are we up here anyway?"

Maybe she should've asked that earlier.

"You never know who's listening. I needed a little privacy to give you this." Loke reached into his overcoat and pulled out a piece of crinkled paper. He placed it in Lucy's hands; when she began to unfold it, he gave her a stern look. "Don't read it—not now. Only read it when you're alone with that pink boy."

"Pink boy… Do you mean Natsu?" Her eyes narrowed. "How do you even know about him?"

Loke raised his hands in surrender. "Relax, princess. I knew his guardian, Igneel, and I saw him traveling with you."

"So you admit to stalking me."

"I prefer the term 'following from a distance.'"

Lucy pointed at the paper in her hand. "You're really making me want to read this now, you know. Just to spite you."

"You can deal with the consequences yourself, then."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy continued, "Are you going to offer an explanation for your oh-so-innocent following?"

"That was the plan. But first, we have to establish some background knowledge. What did Layla say about me, Leo?"

She blinked. The way he said her mother's name, Layla… He whispered it so softly, almost ethereal-like. It was far from the formal 'Your mother' as Spetto called her, or the distant 'My wife' as her father coldly dismissed.

She flicked her wrist, snapping herself out of the reverie. "She mentioned you on several occasions. Your name, assuming it's yours, always stood out to me. For some reason, it reminded me of a lion..." she trailed off. "There was also the… other thing, she said. Yes, she said that you were… you were..."

What was it? What had her mother said?

"It's fine if you don't remember," Loke said. "I wasn't expecting you to, anyway. But the main thing is that I'm a Celestial."

"A Celestial?"

"The Celestials were a group formed by Layla," he explained, "with the purpose of preserving peace between Fiore's two dominant races."

"My mother was involved with unifying humans and demons?" Lucy asked. "Why haven't I heard of this?"

"You wouldn't have. Layla kept most of her… activities away from your father. And you were too young to be informed on such matters."

"My mother didn't trust her husband either, then." How fitting.

Loke shook his head. "No, that wasn't it. She loved Jude, but she wanted to keep him away from danger. Why wouldn't she trust her husband?"

At Lucy's silence, Loke spoke again. "Lucy… what's happened to your father?"

"What's happened to him?" she repeated. "What happens to a husband who loses their only loved one?"

His Adam's apple bobbed, up and down, up and down. "I didn't think… that Jude was like that… or I would've tried to come and..." He hesitated. "Has… Has he ever done anything..."

"Physical? No, he hasn't." I left before he could. "He wouldn't want to hurt his wife's lookalike, after all."

They didn't need to talk about this. The past was in the past, and Lucy preferred it to stay there. "So, Mr. Stalker, where does your explanation come in for your behavior?"

Loke got the message. "Right, I was talking about the Celestials. Layla knew that something big was going to happen with the radical demons, so she—"

"You speak of all of this as if you were there, but you look almost my age. How is that possible?"

"The more powerful demons, even mezclas like myself, age slower." Continuing, Loke said, "So Layla created a plan with the Celestials. It was a countermeasure in preparation for the looming tension building among the demons."

"And I'm relevant to this?" Lucy guessed.

He snapped his fingers. "You got it, princess. Layla didn't want you involved, but she hadn't expected to be unable to execute her plans."

Lucy hesitated. "So you want me. In my mother's place."

"That about sums it up. We need someone with powerful light magic. I'm not a candidate, since my 'polluted' light magic rather hurts to use. You, on the other hand, are capable."

You're assuming that I can even do strong light magic.

"But why? Why now? I understand that the demons are on the move—I've been hearing about this for a while now—but why would you come for me after all these years?"

Loke took a deep breath. "Lucy, I would've come to you if I knew that Jude had changed. But, I had orders not to involve you. None of our group was to meet with you, because if we did, your existence could be discovered and consequently targeted. Us remaining Celestials have now decided that you're old enough to protect yourself, and we can't deny that we need your assistance any longer.

"It's a lot to take in, I know. And we've only just met. So I'm not going to have you make a decision right here and now. Instead, I just want you to consider what I've said, as a friend of Layla's. Could you maybe… think about it? After reading over that letter?"

She fiddled with the folded paper, smoothing her finger over its crinkled edges. "I'll think about it, but.. there's still something else that you said. You'd said that my mother's death wasn't expected, but my father said that her illness came gradually. My mother, she died from an illness… right?"

He wouldn't meet her eyes. "Yes and no. If you take up the offer to meet again, I can answer anything you want to know."

"But you can't answer them now because…?"

"Some secrets are better left untold, Lucy. But if you plan to get involved, then you'll have to know."

With a little wave of his hand, Loke strolled to the edge of the roof and jumped off. Lucy rushed over to the edge, looking for any sign of the mezcla. Nothing.

Gripping the folded paper in her hands, Lucy trudged towards the stairwell and back to the hospital bed.

"Are we prepared to depart?" Erza asked.

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy stood in front of Erza, their backs facing the hospital's entrance.

Lucy gave her a thumbs-up. "I don't know about you guys, but a meal cooked by Mirajane sounds perfect right now."

"Don't forget to add some hot sauce," Natsu added.

"We've already established that hot sauce is inferior to sushi," Happy reminded him. "And Lucy's got bigger things on her plate than that."

Lucy looked away from Happy's questioning gaze. Him and Erza hadn't accepted Lucy's "miraculous recovery" (as the doctor put it) from her injury. It wasn't possible; she shouldn't walk for another week, and even then she would move with a crutch. Yet here she was, standing in the middle of downtown Malba, with neither bandages nor a crutch.

But was what Lucy supposed to do? Tell them about Loke? She would have to calmly say, "A stranger snuck into my hospital room in the middle of the night with a rare healing magic who knew my mother and is also part of a secret organization that wants to unify humans and demons." Yeah, that wasn't happening.

"Our primary focus is returning to Fairy Tail," Erza said. "Upon achieving this objective, we shall meet with Master to discuss what we have learned and also to discuss…" The female knight took a deep breath. "Gray," she finished.

Natsu lost his trademark grin. "It's my fault more than yours, Erza. I tried tracking 'em after the whole meeting, but some demon had covered their scent. I couldn't even find a damn trail."

Lucy had only met Gray once, though he seemed like a nice guy. As she recalled Natsu's description of Fairy Tail as a "family," she could only imagine what it felt like: To be unable to find, and to save, a loved one.

Happy put a paw on Natsu's leg.

"I don't know if I should say anything," the Exceed said, "since I've only met you guys recently, but you Fairy Tail members are really strong. Since Gray's also a member, he's gotta be strong. He wouldn't want you guys to be worried about him. And I know that—somehow—you'll find a way to save him. That's what Fairy Tail does, right?"

Natsu leaned down and rubbed Happy's head. "You hit the bullseye, little buddy. I've got enough faith in that bastard to pull himself through. He'd be an ass of a rival if he died so easily."

Erza raised her head. "Happy, and Natsu, I agree with both of your sentiments. Gray is more than capable as a Fairy Tail wizard, and I have more than enough faith in our capability to assist him. Now, with that established… it is time we return to Fairy Tail."

As Erza strided towards the train station, dragging a moaning Natsu by the ear towards his self-proclaimed "doom," Lucy bent down to Happy.

"That was sweet of you, to say that."

Happy shrugged. "I don't know, I just said what I thought. Erza and Natsu are really strong, and it felt kinda weird seeing them all down like that. Especially Natsu."

She had to agree with him there. "Whatever the case, you did a good job, cat."

He grinned. "Did I do good enough to get a free meal of fish?"

"Definitely."

"What about free fish forever?"

"Okay, now you're pushing it."

Lucy picked up the huffing Exceed and jogged after Natsu and Erza.

He couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't speak.

His throat was parched, his limbs were numb, and his wrists were chaffed from the chains.

And there was that voice—that sweet, angelic voice—plaguing his thoughts.

You'll survive, it told him.

He ignored it.

You're not alone.

He ignored that too.

You'll make it.

That, too, was ignored. It was a lie, after all. He couldn't make it, not through this. Of that, Gray was certain.

A/N: I want to once again thank everyone for favoriting and reviewing. Additionally, here's a little update: As DH is involving more and more plot threads, I will likely need a little time to plan ahead before updating again. I plan to update next week, but then I'll likely take a week off after that.

Other than that, Gray's come back! Well, sort of. He's got it really rough, and I'll have to advise that some of his future scenes will be rather gruesome. That also applies to the direction of DH as a whole: Once Natsu in particular gets involved with Tartarus, the whole story takes a far darker turn.

Until then.