A/N: So here's another chapter, promise it'll get better once the story's got it's pace and stuff, after all, this is like pre-war so it'll get darker later on, but it'll still have adorable nalu fluff as well as cute, light moments so it's not all dark! Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter Two: The Gathering.
Lucy gave a quick glance at the two unknown children that Gajeel held onto tightly before stretching and yawning. "I'll take care of this. You guys just get ready in case something goes wrong". Lucy glanced around before her eyes landed on a wide pair of dark -though they looked closer to black- green eyes that stared at her intensely. She smirked before heading towards the child and leaning closer to the cherry-blossom haired boy. There was something strange about this particular boy. His eyes stared straight at her, as if his gaze was burning through her body, mind and soul. His lips twitched up in a smile as he reached forwards, placing a hand on her cheek. Lucy's eyebrows shot up as she smiled back at the strange child. "Hello to you too…?"
"Natsu" The boy chuckled before blushing slightly. Lucy giggled and tilted her head a little.
"Summer, huh. I'm safe to assume that may be because a certain father of yours is a fire dragon, hmm?" Natsu gave a slow, soft nod, his eyes still watching her features as if mesmerised by her presence. "So he kept you a secret, ay" She glanced sideways at Igneel, quickly, before facing the little blushing boy in front of her. Natsu chuckled again before Lucy pulled away. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Natsu".
"This is Wendy!" He pointed excitedly to the little blue-haired girl besides him. Lucy smiled softly before turning away back to the door. "What a pretty name, ne, Natsu? You look after little Wendy, okay?" Was the last thing she said to him before growling to the others to get moving as she disappeared through the doors towards where the sound of fighting came from. Natsu frowned slightly as she walked away, something within him made him feel uneasy. He kept staring at the door as Gajeel placed him on the floor before giving Wendy to Grandine.
Natsu watched as the adults moved quickly to make sure they had supplies and their exceeds ready for departure. Listening to them he couldn't help but wonder if Lucy was going with them. Where did she go? Deciding he should go get her and tell her that they were going somewhere he quickly made his way out of the room and then ran towards where he was sure the blonde girl had gone.
Lucy moved quickly and gracefully as she spun around, flipped, dodged and attacked. Her eyes shone a bright golden colour as she snarled with her sharpened fangs on display. Lucy ran her tongue over her top fangs. Her canines were long and sharp, as was the smaller fangs behind them. The ones on the bottom identical but shorter. Her usual pink, full lips adorned fresh blood that dripped from them. She grinned before smearing it across her mouth, chin and cheek with the back of her hands. Her nails were pointed at the tips like claws, but not that long. Though still deadly. She crouched once more as she ran and slide along the floor on her knees before rolling to the side, missing the attacks from the weaker ones at the front. Natsu peaked around the corner to watch as she slashed and kicked the men and women in front of her. His eyes twinkling in delight at the sight of how beautiful and manic she looked with blood covering her.
As Lucy continued to cut down enemy after enemy she eventually came face to face with one of their higher ups. A demon with ears and a tail sticking out. The black that covered his claw-like hands and spots that decorated up his arms and around his eyes made Lucy back off slightly. She recognised the blonde demon in front of her, after all, he had been the one who had killed her father. "Jackal".
Natsu slowly began to quickly walk closer to get a better look at the pretty girl from earlier. Watching closely as she came face to face with someone that reminded Natsu a little like his older cousin Lisanna as they both had ears and a tail. He pursed his lips, his brows furrowing as he hid behind another wall. Lucy moved fast, flipping over the blonde guy as she began to strike him repeatedly with a whip. The force she used was strong and caused deep wounds to cover the guys body and face. Natsu watched impressed at how cool the girl was. Thinking about fighting her when he's older and stronger. He was so busy daydreaming that he jumped, squeaking a little, when he heard a loud explosion before Lucy cried out in pain. Natsu gulped before slowly coming out from behind the wall. "Lucy.." He narrowed his eyes as he tried looking through the smoke. "Lucy" He called a little harder. Hearing coughs, Natsu quickened his pace, smiling as he saw something blonde. Getting closer his smile fell as sharp claws sunk into his tiny wrist.
Lucy groaned, opening her eyes groggily as she sat up. She could have sworn someone had been calling her. "Ugh.." Moaning she sat up and looked around, the smoke restricting her sight. She pushed herself up and dusted off the rubble before listening out. The sound of a cry from her left caused her to narrow her eyes at the familiarity of the noise.
Her eyes widened as she realised who it was. "Natsu!" She called out as she wafted through the smoke that was slowly beginning to fade. Being able to see better, she noticed the outlines of Jackal and of the smaller one that was being held in his arms. Gritting her teeth together she sprinted forwards, hands out, ready to rip Natsu out of that Jackal's hands. Only to miss as he pulled away and out of her reach. Growling she turned around and stared at the dark blonde. "Just let the kid go. He has nothing to do with this". Jackal smirked before releasing his hands, causing Natsu to fall harshly on his back side. Lucy watched softly, and began to walk closer as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"fine. I don't need him. Not yet. This is just a warning little vampire-hime. We've got what we needed." With that Jackal left. The ceiling began to tremble as another explosion went off. Watching the iron decoration that began to crack and fall, Lucy scooped up the child before running to the others.
Bursting through the doors she shouted, panicked. "Go! Get out now!" The others did as was ordered, Grandine taking Wendy in her arms as they fled the collapsing palace behind them. They weren't far from the exit when Lucy noticed the chunk of metal that was only seconds from crushing- "Metalicana!" She screamed as she began to speed up. Throwing herself into a dive to pushed him out the way, throwing Natsu at him just as the large chunk fell. The smoke from the impact caused the others to cough.
"L-lucy?" Cana called out before looking towards Igneel and Gajeel. All of their eyes were glued to where Lucy lay. "You okay? Lucy? Lucy?!" She panicked as she bergan to move forwards, hoping the blonde hadn't just died.
"Ouch…."Cana sighed in relief at the groan coming from the blonde.
"Idiot!" She growled as she tapped her foot impatiently for the smoke to clear.
"Urasai! Cana, come and help me...I can't exactly do much in this condition" Lucy's voice was strained and the sound of her groans filled the air. Cana rolled her eyes, watching as the smoke began to clear. Lucy was still struggling to stand up on one leg, leaning against the bolder for support. Blood pooled around where she had lay. Looking the vampiress over, a collection of gasps were heard as they noticed that her right leg at been torn off just above the knee. Cana opened her mouth to say something but the blonde rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. It'll heal and grow back eventually. Unless you wanna move this boulder? But I doubt the leg would be able to be placed back on" The blonde sighed before grabbing a hold of Cana in order to move. "I just need some blood and I'll be fine. Before that though" Her eyes landed on Natsu who looked at her sadly. She smiled softly and ruffled his hair, causing him to smile slightly and blush for being caught staring at her again. "Now...I did find something out, because this one followed me. Jackal said that they needed this kid. Well more like 'We don't need the kid yet, we've already got what we want'. I'm going to assume he may be the child of the prophecy" Lucy slowly sat down before closing her eyes tightly shut before peaking out of her right eye, the golden glow cause the pink haired boy to walk over to her and cuddle into her. She tensed slightly before gulping, clenching her jaw as she went to push the kid away, "Listen, you shouldn't come near me wh-"
"Mine" He growled as he narrowed her eyes onto her. She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that the lava in her veins would cool down before the black vein like cracks marked her face. She the blonde's struggle, Igneel pulled his son away.
"Natsu, you can't cling to Miss Lucy like that. She's not well".
"Then I'll make her better!"
"Son tha-"
"No! She's mine!" Igneel sighed as his son growled, a predatory look in his dark eyes. He watched as Natsu scratched his cheek lightly, a small frown on his lips. "How does she get better?". Cana laughed before placing a hand on the boys head.
"That, is something you're far too young to understand". Igneel looked over at the blonde that had managed to fall asleep. Sighing, the eldest Dragneel looked down to his pink-haired son. Ruffling said boy's hair he gave a soft smile to comfort him before clearing his throat and walking over to the blonde vampire. "We should keep moving. Until we know who attacked us just then, we shouldn't just stick around here and wait." He crouched down and picked up the sleeping beauty, her head turning to rest against his chest. Igneel smiled down at his best friend before turning around to face the others. "Lucy needs rest and blood in order to get her strength back, I suggest we go to my kingdom. If the enemy is to attack we would be safest there, after all, those within my jurisdiction are demons specialised in fighting, so it would be the wisest decision". He glanced around as the others expressed their agreements, all but Lyon.
"I will go back to my kingdom and relay the news to my younger brother".
"Very well. Gray would be as great of an asset in this as Gajeel and Levy. Once you've sorted through everything contact me at once so that I may discuss any change in plans". With that Lyon bowed before turning to leave.
Days passed before Lucy began to wake up. Her muscles stiff from rest. However, she felt better. Removing the blanket that was placed over her she sighed and got up. Her leg had healed and grown back, much thanks to her 'supernatural' abilities, but that didn't mean her throat and body wasn't burning with thirst. She didn't need to check in the mirror to know that her eyes were glowing, she could literally feel the brightness burn in her skull. Her veins, once again, made her feel like an active volcano was about to erupt inside her. Hissing from the the dryness of her throat she stood up and looked around. She instantly knew where she was. How could she not? She had spent many decades within these walls with her childhood friends, Igneel, Metalicana and Grandine when she was younger. This was 'officially' dubbed her room during said decades. The Kingdom of Kasai. The walls painted a slightly darker and richer red than fire. It was the only room that wasn't so bright and vibrant, a room that had been painted to fit Lucy's tastes. However, the way it was eerily similar to the colour of a river of blood caused Lucy's throat to burn that bit more, as if her mind believed that the walls were actually painted in that hot, smooth fluid.
Lucy stripped out of her clothes as she walked towards the bathroom, not caring that they were thrown everywhere and anywhere across her temporary chamber. She reached for the handle as she glanced back over the room. Her four-poster queen sized bed lay in the middle against the far wall, only metres from the large window on the right. Just how it used to be. The velvet red curtains tied away neatly to the posts, while the window's dark brown curtains were still drawn, something she appreciated seeing as she hadn't fed yet would mean she would be extremely sensitive and vulnerable to anything light, bright or warm. Meaning that this kingdom would harm her real bad if she didn't drink soon as she couldn't stand heat. Fire would be something she would have to avoid, which was easier said than done since she was in the Kingdom of Fire. Still, Lucy smirked as she opened and closed the bathroom door behind herself. At least some things don't change with time, ay Iggy? She chuckled to herself as she opened the shower's glass door and moved to turn on what should be the cold water.
Lucy sighed comfortable as the cold water ran over her porcelain-like skin as she ran her hands over her arms soothingly before moving back up them to her neck and back. Cold water always felt so hot against her skin. Unless she drank of course. Her life was sustained only by drinking and feeding on others life forms. If she didn't she would be nothing but a moving corpse. The blood she drank gave her energy. It allowed her to become warm. Allowed her to heal better and function at her maximum.
Without it she'd weaken, her wounds would take longer to heal or not heal at all, she'd stay cold and her pale, flawless skin would begin to crack. Just like porcelain. All demons had something in common. Weaknesses. Though she technically wasn't a demon. She wasn't not a demon either. Like demon's, she never roamed earth. However, unlike demon's, she took a long time to mature. She had no 'non-human' features such as horns or wings. She looked human, but wasn't. She was just a pure-blood. It was ironic really since even the royal pureblood vampires weren't really pureblood at all. They were made. Experiments created in order for a group named Tartaros to bring chaos to earthland in order to enslave humanity. Lucy's kind were made to be the pets of demons. Hybrid's created from Anna Heartfilia. Anna heartfillia was the first of Vampires, the child born from a Celestial being and a Succubus. From her DNA came Layla heartfilia. A replica of the original. Then they began mixing that DNA with other demon's DNA.
Eventually they became stronger than the demon's had imagined. Not only did they thirst for human blood, they also thirst for demon's, if it got bad enough. Those who survived their attack began to change due to the venom they possessed. After researching, many demon's realised that only the 'purebloods' could change humans into their kind, causing them to worry about their strength and army.
Lucy sighed as she began to pour soap onto a sponge and ran it over her skin. She both loved and hated bathing. Loved the feeling of being clean, hated the feeling of remembering things. Be it how her kind came about or the images of her past and the war. They were both connected. The reason why her mother and father had been killed by Jackal. All because her kind was feared by those that created it. She ground her teeth as her nails dug into the sponge, scrubbing at her skin as if trying to rid herself of her thoughts. She watched she she scrubbed away until her skin had started to bleed from the friction. That's when she dropped the sponge and groaned. Hurting herself wasn't going to help her situation, nor her hunger for that matter.
After she lathered her hair in shampoo before applying conditioner to her ends, she washed the remaining chemicals out before turning off the water and reaching for a towel. Wrapping it around herself she stepped out the room, stopping almost instantly before allowing the heavy door to close behind her. Looking around she noticed that her abandoned clothes that should have littered the beige carpet were gone. Instead, A new set of clothes lay spread out on her bed. Looking around for anyone lingering she slowly strolled over, on the side sat a pint glass filled with a red liquid, the heat and smell assaulting her senses. Licking her lips she grabbed the glass and gulped it down, desperate for the drink to soothe the ache. She had drank it all quicker than she had wanted to, not being able to savour her meal before slamming it down on the bed side table. She then turned to the neatly placed clothes, eyes scanning over them. She smiled softly a she looked over the white, short sleeved blouse, the light brown, leather underbust bodice -which had two leather straps, making it seem similar to a vest-, a pair of black pants, some plain grey socks and her brown leather, knee-high boots.[Instead of her thigh-high ones with the white skirt I changed it to knee-high because they're the ones I want just not so...high…] It wasn't until her eyes landed on the hot pink balcony bra covered in black lace and the pieces of string and small amount of fabric that could hardly class as 'underwear'.
Lucy's eye twitched as she knew exactly who had gotten these for her. Cracking her knuckles she felt a vein pop out on her forehead. "IGNEEL!"