A/N: Hi guys! I feel like I'm on a roll bringing you another new story in a 48 hour period! I really really hope you enjoy this one, as I have never in my puff written anything like it before. So, please, sit back and enjoy :o)

Summary: They were chosen. Two halves of one soul. Destined to come together to rid their world of the evils that were being born within it. Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel. The Dragon Slayers.

Disclaimer: Alas, I own nothing. . .

. . . . . .

Inferno

PART I

We are the children of the wild ones.

Prologue

Fuck.

It was the only intelligible thought she could muster as she glanced over her shoulder.

She had made a mistake.

One too many to count and now one too many to save her from her fate.

What had started as an innocent night out with friends to celebrate her engagement had slowly turned into something from a nightmare. A demonic, hell on earth kind of nightmare that she had only ever read about in horror stories. A nightmare that only began when she blindly followed his beckoning voice.

Her first mistake.

Fresh tears blinded her; her feet bleeding from the small pieces of glass she had picked up during her escape. But she couldn't stop. Through stifled cries, she kept running.

The salt was heavy in the air, and the sound of waves crashing in the distance was deafening. Even to her in that moment. Her plan had been to get to the docks and onto her father's boat, and from there she could sail out from Hargeon Port and call for help.

She just had to beat him to it.

"Where're you off to, Jenny?" He practically sang to her. "I thought we were playing a game."

Her cries were strangled as she looked over her shoulder. His voice stalking her every move, creeping up her spine to whisper in her ear.

But he remained a shadow, calling to her from inside the comfort of her own mind.

"You're not going to make it," she could hear him smile. "No one ever makes it."

Eye's squeezed shut, she could feel the knot in her chest threatening to burst out at the calm he kept. To claw its way to the surface from the very depths of her soul. A hysterical scream that would knock the boats from their resting places and that would silence the sea.

"Leave me alone!"

But it was feeble.

Futile.

It didn't knock the boats, and it didn't silence the sea.

It didn't even silence him.

"You're going to fucking die tonight!"

She was tired.

Her lungs and legs burned different fires as the gates to the docks came into sight, but with feet thundering against the chipped concrete, she kept going.

She kept going until the concrete became wood. She kept going until she could taste the waves that rose to greet her. She kept going until she couldn't anymore. Until she found the lock on the gates. Until she found that no matter how far she ran, he wouldn't let her leave.

"Help me," her voice croaked, her hands weakly banging on the rusted metal. "Help."

Try as she might, she couldn't take it anymore. The weight of herself dragging her down to the dampened ground. The game of cat and mouse, over.

The heavens opened as she began to cry, her tears being lost within the chaos of the elements, as she weakly clung to the gate.

"I told you," his voice rang out over nature's howls. "No one ever makes it."

And he was right.
. . . . . .

She wasn't going.

It had been decided before she had even crawled into bed the night before. She categorically was not going, and she didn't care how much her father tried to persuade her either. She had made up her mind, and that was that.

Silencing her alarm, and pulling the covers over her head, Lucy Heartfilia buried herself deeper into her pillow, the sound of the morning rain doing little to help her slip back into her restless slumber.

She could hear her father pottering about in the kitchen, happily whistling away while he fried up whatever contraption he was going to try and convince her to eat today. Yesterday, it had been an egg and bean breakfast muffin, the day before that, a banana and bacon toastie. All she knew was that she was going to have to start putting parental controls on the cooking channels.

But still, as far as she was concerned, an all you can eat breakfast buffet served by the King of Fiore himself could be waiting in that kitchen for her, she was not getting out of her bed.

"Nope," she mumbled under her duvet. "Not moving."

Beep, beep, beep, beep. . .

"Lucy," her father coughed. "How. . .how do you turn the fire alarm off?"

Fists clenched; she closed her eyes.

"Not. . .moving."

In the end, however, she took pity on him, and less than gracefully stomped down the stairs to the kitchen. There, she found her father in his shirt and tie, and newly pressed trousers, standing on a dining chair wearing one of her mother's old frilly aprons while waving a tea towel under the screeching offender.

"What the hell, dad," she coughed, the smoke from the frying pan filling the house.

Lifting the pan from the stove, she dumped it in the sink before turning the tap to cold and opening the window.

"Sorry, Luce," he chuckled, stepping down from his perch when the noise finally ceased. "I was hoping to have breakfast ready for you for your first day back."

Struggling to hide her smile, Lucy opted for an apple instead, taking a large bite before leaning on the breakfast bar.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, amusement in her eyes. "And pray tell, what were you making this time?"

Removing his apron, Jude used it to dab the sheen from his head before throwing it into the ever-growing pile of washing.

"Caramelized peach and oat pancakes," he blushed, scratching the back of his neck.

Pausing mid bite of her apple, Lucy looked at her father in confusion. "Are those even a thing? They sound surprisingly. . . not disgusting."

Ears turning red, Jude rolled down his sleeves, fastening the buttons at his wrist while reaching for the freshly made pot of coffee.

"I'll have you know, Lucy, that I'm not completely incompetent in the kitchen," he reassured her, matter of factly. "The problem was that the recipe called for honey, and since we ran out, I thought the left-over toffees from last Christmas would have done the trick. Turns out, not."

Laughing, Lucy finished her apple before pulling herself up onto the counter.

"Well, thank you for trying," she smiled. "But I've decided that I'm not going, so you don't need to worry about breakfast."

At her admission, Jude's coffee almost came back down his nose, a reaction that she was expecting, but still hadn't been fully prepared for. Avoiding his gaze, Lucy hopped down from the counter as quickly as she had clambered up, distracting herself from her father's spluttering by pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Not going!?" He exclaimed, wildly. "What do you mean you're not going?"

"I mean, I'm not going," she replied, closing the fridge door. "Ever."

Scoffing, Jude leaned against the breakfast bar, staring his daughter down. "Lucy, you are going to school."

"But why?" She asked, finally turning to look at him. "I hate school, and after what happened before summer break there, school clearly hates me. It's a win win."

"Do you not think you're being a little melodramatic?" Jude asked, incredulously. "So, you fell over in front of a few people. What's the big deal in that?"

Lucy flushed scarlet at the memory. "I was wearing a skirt and fell headfirst into the fountain because that bitch Evergreen tripped me up! The full student body saw my. . .unmentionables."

Holding his hands up, Jude shook his head. "Stop, I don't want to know. Just go get dressed for school."

"Dad, please," Lucy began, calmly. "Let us think about this rationally for a second, okay? What if. . .what if I'm just not destined for school? Okay, I mean, what if I'm destined for a life and a career where a high school education is inconsequential?"

"Okay, name some," her father replied, composing himself enough to attempt to finish his coffee.

Unprepared for her father's probing, Lucy hesitated. ". . .Bean bag salesman."

Stunned, Jude could only blink, Lucy herself wanting to kick herself for such a stupid reply.

"Wow, you've sure convinced me," he finally replied. "But I think we'll stick with school."

Grabbing his suit jacket and briefcase, Jude headed for the door, checking his watch as he did. "I want you dressed and in the car in ten minutes, Lucy."

Jogging along behind him, tripping slightly as she skidded into the hallway, Lucy fought desperately to argue her case.

"Okay, what about a princess?" She suggested.

"Lucy," her father ground out.

"A panda hugger?" She carried on. "That's a thing, y'know."

Sighing, Jude pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lucy. . ."

"I could even be a penguin picker upper!"

"What the hell is a penguin picker upper?" He was due a mental breakdown, she could tell.

But wide eyed, she replied ever so sweetly, "They go to the Antarctic to pick up penguins who fall over. It's an important job, dad."

Struggling to hide his amusement, Jude sighed, shaking his head slightly as he did. He could probably spend the rest of his life trying to understand the mind of his seventeen-year-old daughter, but even then, he doubt he'd have enough time to fully grasp the madness.

"Lucy, sweetheart," he began, gently, "as fascinating and as concerning as this conversation is, I really am going to be late if you don't get in the car soon. I know that you were still relatively new to Magnolia High before the school broke up for summer break, but you've already made a really good friend in Levy, and that Gray fellow seems rather nice. Do you not think they'd miss you if you were never to return because some 'bitch' tripped you up?"

Knowing that he was right, but refusing to admit it, Lucy remained silent, her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest.

"Last one," She finally replied, Jude rolling his eyes, but letting her continue. "What about one half of something so unbelievable, that even the most educated people in the world have never heard of it? One half of something greater than we could ever possibly imagine. Something so secretive, yet so necessary to the human race, that to fill the position, it needs two individual souls to combine forces, and become one?"

"And what, oh wise one, would this mystical profession be?" Jude asked, shoulders slumped slightly.

Blinking back her sadness, she smiled. "A Dragon Slayer."

Brow quirked; Jude looked at his daughter with a deadpan expression. "Ten minutes, Lucy."

Without waiting to hear another word from her, he walked out the house, closing the front door behind him.

Once he was out of sight, Lucy sighed, raising the back of her right hand to see the pink mark that adorned her pale skin. The first time her father had caught sight of it a year ago, she had let him believe it was a tattoo that she had gotten out of rebellion. Because, in reality, how was she meant to explain that it was her marking? Her calling into a world that he had no idea even existed. A world filled with evil so putrid, that she couldn't safely do anything to protect it until her other half came along.

She doubted her father would even believe her if she told him that it had been bestowed upon her by The Keepers. He'd likely have no clue as to what a Keeper even was. Probably have her committed, or something.

Still, she wasn't getting to use it as an excuse not to go to school, so instead, she trudged up the stairs to get ready.
. . . . . .

It took Lucy twelve minutes to get ready. A new world record, if anyone was keeping count.

Locking the front door, she bounded down the porch stairs in her black skinny jeans and grey, long sleeved crop top, all the while pulling her long blonde curls into a ponytail.

No one will see my unmentionables today.

House keys held between her teeth as she fixed her hair, Lucy stopped in her tracks when she saw that her father was not sitting in the driver's seat of the minivan that he usually dropped her at school in, but instead, the passenger seat of the cherry red Porsche 911 Turbo that her mom had insisted he bought for himself when he got the big promotion at work five years ago.

"What's this?" She smiled, standing in the driveway, and looking at the car in awe. "No minivan today?"

"Well, I just figured that since you went through all that effort trying to convince me that your high school education wasn't important to continue with because of a little bout of embarrassment earlier on in the year, that maybe driving the Porsche to school would help improve your street cred," Jude shrugged, nonchalantly. "That is, if you want to drive her that is."

"I want to drive her," Lucy exclaimed in excitement. "Oh boy, do I want to drive her."

Wasting no time, and with a smile fixed firmly to her face, Lucy climbed into the driver's seat, quickly fastening her belt before her father could change his mind.

"Now, check your mirrors and adjust your seat to your liking," Jude instructed, casually. "Let's see what that 'bitch' Evergreen says when you pull up in this baby."

Hands fixed firmly to the wheel, Lucy turned and smiled. "Have I ever told you that you are like, the coolest dad ever?"

"I could hear it more often," Jude smirked. "Now, when you're ready, start your engine, and pull out of the driveway slowly."

Not needing to be told twice, Lucy carried out her instructions perfectly; gently pulling out of the driveway with excellent precision. But with her view slightly obscured by the hedge closing in the front yard, if he hadn't attempted to run past her in such a hurry, she would have missed him altogether.

Slamming on the breaks, Lucy yelped when she narrowly missed the boy standing in front of them. Stunned himself, and with hands on the bonnet, she watched as he regained his breathing, a slight smirk tugging at his lips when he caught sight of her.

"What the hell!" Jude cried. "Where did he come from?"

But Lucy didn't respond. She could only stare at him as they locked eyes. Her brown for his onyx. Dressed in black, he slowly stood straighter, his dishevelled pink hair falling into his eyes as he bent to pick up the bag that he had dropped in their near collision. Once composed, he smiled at her again before nodding slightly and taking off out of her life as quickly as he had fallen into it.

Or so she was choosing to believe.

The burning of her mark indicated something different entirely.
. . . . . .
A/N: So guys, I really really hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. I have had this idea brewing for YEARS now, and I am so excited to finally be writing it. This story is basically my baby, and if you can tell from the beginning saying PART I, it's going to be a long one.

Please, please, please tell me what you think :o)

xoxoxo