Do you know what the Valkyrie do for sport…? We kill leeches, rip their fangs from their skulls, and hang them on the wall for decoration.
-Lucy Heartfilia (AKA Lucy the Celestial Valkyrie)
Did the guy you ate have black hair? Blue eyes? A stupid face? Runs around naked?
-Natsu Dragneel (AKA Natsu the Salamander)
"No, absolutely not," Lucy said. Erza stood before her with hands on her hips. The women stood between the door to the dungeon and the stairs to the rest of the coven house. The darkness of the basement gave Lucy the chills. The only light came from old exposed bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Levy closed the door to the dungeon and stood beside Lucy.
"I have a barrier placed on the dungeon. No one traces out or in," she said. While Lucy felt dread, the witch practically bounced on her heels with excitement.
"Why? We can't let them think we're going to go soft on them," Erza continued.
"What's the problem?" Levy asked.
"Erza wants to torture them a bit, but Lucy says no violence." Cana pointed between the two and leaned against the basement wall. Lucy found it suspicious how little Cana had intervened in all this.
"I'm beginning to think you feel something for that vampire." Erza's eyes narrowed and Cana shot her a wink. Juvia's footsteps cut through their conversation. The little witch bounded down the stairs with a slip of paper in her hands.
"I believe I got everything for the warding spell, Miss Lucy." Her eyes scrolling through the list.
"Lucy!" Natsu's voice rang out in the cold basement. Lucy's heart hammered in her chest at the sound of her name shouted in the darkness.
"Fine, we can just talk to him. But if he tries to hold back form me, I will use violence." She pushed through the dungeon door, and Lucy trailed behind her. The mystical barrier was so thick that she could feel it pass over her skin.
"Lucy!" Natsu called.
"Will you shut up? I'm here," Lucy said. The temperature had dropped substantially since they entered the room. A clang of bars came from one of the cells. Each one reminded her of ancient times with archaic cells that held no bathroom or cot. Just metal bars, a cement floor, and a corner bucket.
"Isn't it great?" Levy said, "I wanted it to look like one of those renaissance festivals the humans like."
"Levy, this is barbaric."
"I know, right? So aesthetically pleasing." Why was Levy her friend again? The whole dungeon gave her the creeps. At least the dungeon at Val Hall was modern. They found Natsu pressed against the bars at the farthest cell from the door. His fingers gripped around the enchanted metal with a scowl plastered on his face. Gajeel sat in the corner of the same cell—far away from the single bucket. His eyes closed as though he slept.
"What is this about a warding spell?" Natsu's attention fixed on Lucy.
"We have some questions for you." Erza stood straighter with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Are you trying to keep me away from you?" Natsu ignored Erza even when she moved to break his line of sight.
"I am." She had no reason to lie about it since she never promised him forever. His brows came together, and he pulled away from the bars.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked. The question echoed from the night before. When she pulled away from him in the alley, he had asked her the same. Her heart squeezed in her chest at his downtrodden expression. Erza banged on the bars with her dagger.
"Hey! Eyes over here and answer me or I'll gut you both," Erza said. The dagger had manifested from the air with a natural grace that named her, Erza "Titania" the Fairy Queen. Natsu's scowl resurfaced—his attention on Erza. Gajeel's eyes opened to focus on the knife in her hands. "What has your brother done with Mavis?" She threw the question at the vampires. Natsu's jaw tensed and hands curled into fists.
"I need to speak to Lucy. Alone." Natsu stood nearly touching the blade. The fearlessness in his demand not lost on Lucy.
"Answer my question, and I'll allow it."
"Allow it? I will speak to Lucy, and then you'll ask your question." No one spoke to Erza this way and lived. Her pulse quickened in her throat. Gajeel had one hand on the ground as if ready to stand. A soft red haze shimmered across his vision. If they fought, would Natsu win? Would Erza kill him? How enchanted was Levy's new basement dungeon? A chill ran through her spine. What could she do?
"I'll talk to him, Erza." Lucy stepped beside her. Erza rooted in place—a glare fixed to her face. "Can't you trust me?"
"There was never a time, Lucy, that I didn't trust you with my life." Erza frowned and turned to the door. Lucy got what she wanted. No one would be killing anyone, and yet she felt unsatisfied. Cana patted her on the back.
"Have fun." She looped her arm around Levy's and pulled her to the door. Juvia followed behind and waved to Lucy on her way out. She waited until the door clicked shut.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"Shouldn't brides be nicer?" Gajeel said.
"Be quiet," both replied in unison. Gajeel grinned and adjusted himself on the cement floor.
"Why are you using a warding spell?" Natsu asked.
"Oh, come on. You're a Horde vampire and your brother is the king. There is no way this is working out for either of us." Lucy wrapped her arms around her as Natsu leaned into the bars.
"She's got you there," Gajeel added.
"Now, why are you here, Natsu?" Lucy said.
"You killed Rufus the Minstrel."
"You don't sound surprised." While she wanted to gloat about the kill, she had to admit the Minstrel was strong. The leech nearly ripped her arm off.
"Why would I be?" Natsu let out a heavy sigh and his shoulders drooped noticeably. "I came here to figure out how I could keep you safe from them. I'm only in the Horde for the protection. Can't run alone in the Lore. My allegiances were never with Zeref, and he's no brother to me."
"How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Born vampires can't lie." Gajeel picked at his cuticles with a kunai he'd produced. Lucy made a mental note of his power.
"Even if that's true, I don't need protection," Lucy said. Gajeel chuckled and moved to the other hand.
"Not even I can defend myself from the entire Horde, Lucy. They want the one who murdered him dead," Natsu said. Lucy was no fragile maiden requiring protection. Her powers, while not as strong as the others, were nothing to underestimate. Thunder rumbled outside.
"Do you know what the Valkyrie do for sport, Natsu?" Lucy stepped closer to the bars. His eyes roamed her curves and darkened. "We kill leeches, rip their fangs from their skulls, and hang them on the wall for decoration."
"Sounds like fun," Natsu said. From what little they'd spoken, Lucy found it unsurprising to hear him take what she said as a challenge rather than a threat.
"If you don't stop coming after me, talking about protection as if I'm a lamb at the slaughter instead of an immortal Valkyrie, I will have to play that sport with you too." She turned from the bars and walked out of the dungeon. The door slammed behind her, and her pulse raced. Surely it was anger and not the way he looked at her that made her blood burn.
"I like her," Gajeel said.
"What's not to like?" Natsu slid down to the floor with his legs crossed.
"Do you know where their Valk is?" Gajeel's voice held no accusations and he leaned toward Natsu waiting for his reply.
"No. Zeref may have done it and told no one. Could possibly be the work of the old king."
"So, what happens when they find out we have no information for them?"
"Lucy won't let them do anything to us." Natsu propped his chin in his palm. Why would they think he had information? They must believe he and Zeref were close enough to exchange that kind of information. Would explain the way Lucy felt about him. The idea that Zeref could impair the way his bride saw him made him indignant.
"You mean she won't let them do anything to you! What about me? Also, I don't know if you heard her correctly, but these women want us dismembered and thrown to the wolves."
"The blue one likes you; you'll be fine." He waved his hand in dismissal and racked his brain for any clues of a captured Valkyrie. When Zeref took the throne, they met with Erza. They hadn't fought about anything then, and she wouldn't have agreed to the truce had the former king or Zeref taken Mavis. She either didn't know about the capture then, or Mavis wasn't missing yet. Was the Valkyrie taken by someone else? "Were you around for the last Accession war?" Gajeel's brows furrowed, his gaze going red, investigating memories.
"I have some memories from that time, but I'm not sure which ones were mine." Gajeel tilted his head with an unfocused stare into the dungeon.
"Anything about the Valkyrie?" The more Natsu thought, the more he believed Zeref had something to do with the Valkyrie's disappearance. His secrets ran deep, and the Valkyrie already deduced that he had.
"No, but I did kill a Forebearer that seems to have been in the war." Gajeel grimaced and his eyes dropped back to Natsu, clearing in the process. "I can't tell shit from these memories."
"Did the guy you ate have black hair? Blue eyes? A stupid face? Runs around naked?" Part of him hoped Gray was dead. Annoying bastard. The other part wanted him alive. He could call him there and ask if he knew about their Valkyrie. Maybe if he sent Erza to Gray, she could kill him and allow Natsu some time alone with Lucy. Two birds.
"Nah, some light-haired guy I had to kill on a bounty." This was perfect. The door to the dungeon clicked open and slammed shut behind someone. Their footfalls clicking against the cement floor.
"Okay, you had your time," Erza said. The armor she wore was an iridescent color that hurt his eyes if he looked at it for too long.
"A little overdressed, aren't we?" Natsu asked from the floor. Gajeel laughed through his nose. A spear manifested in Erza's grasp.
"Does your king know what happened to Mavis the Fairy Tactician?" Her eyes flickered the silver of her race. A rumble of thunder cut through the basement walls.
"Wow. With a tagline like that, I can understand why someone would want her," Gajeel said. With one fluid movement, Erza lunged forward and cut into Gajeel's cheek with her spear. His eyes turned a deep crimson and blood dripped from the cut. Natsu instinctively reached his arm out and pressed it over Gajeel's chest to keep him from standing. If he decided to attack Erza, Natsu wasn't sure he could hold him back.
"This is the first time I've heard her name," Natsu said, "If I recall, the Horde was not the only vampire group in that war." Erza's lips pressed into a thin line.
"You expect me to believe some human-turned-leech could capture and hold the queen of the Valkyrie?"
"That I can't say, but lucky for you I know one personally and we can just ask them." He had to speak carefully. While he hadn't seen her in battle, he surmised that this Valkyrie had enough kills on her belt to prove that she could easily rip their spines out of their throats.
"Who?"
"Gray Fullbuster, the Forebearer's general," Natsu said. Gajeel pushed his arm from his chest and didn't bother to wipe the blood from his cheek.
"How would you know a Forebearer?" Erza adjusted the spear to point through the bars at his face. Her muscles bunched in her arms, ready to plunge the weapon into his skull.
"Let's get this out of the way," Natsu said, "I have no allegiance to anyone, especially not Zeref. In fact, go ahead and kill him for all I care. My biggest concern now is Lucy's safety." Her grip loosened on the spear.
"How am I supposed to believe you?" she asked.
"Born vampires can't lie. Why does no one know this?" Gajeel said. Erza's brows came together, but she didn't question it.
"Where does this general come into the picture?" Erza asked.
"Before I joined the crusty Horde, I traveled with him. We were together a few centuries. I didn't join the Horde until Zeref took the throne." The spear lowered from his face and she set the end down on the floor with a clink.
"How can we contact him?" she asked.
"Why not just summon the bastard?" Gajeel's grin was wide and menacing. The image of Gray popping into a witch's coven and being manhandled sat well with Natsu.
"Sure, why not?" Natsu shrugged and leaned against the back wall. "We have enough room in here."
"Oh no, we are separating you two."
"What? Why?" Gajeel asked.
"I'd like to remind you that I don't trust either of you." The spear disappeared, but the threat remained. "I'll have someone here to escort you to a new cell." Erza clinked and clanked all the way to the dungeon door.
"What's with the armor?" Natsu said.
"Beats me. Why are you allowing these women to boss you around? Last I checked you didn't let anyone tie you down." How could he explain how important Lucy felt to him?
"I chose to come here."
"So? They're still running the show. Not much freedom here." He gestured toward the bared cells.
"Freedom is about choices, and I chose Lucy."
"Didn't fate do that?"
"What can I say? Fate has good taste in women." Footsteps came down the basement stairs.
"Hey, before they separate us, I have to ask you something," Gajeel said, "How did you know the bunny was your bride?" The question sounded so genuine that Natsu didn't know how to respond.
"Um, she blooded me. Has no one taught you the vampire birds and bees?"
"I'm not fucking around." Gajeel's eyes flashed. "Before that. How did you know she was your bride?" Her heartbeat had reverberated against his chest like the music that shook the walls that night. His mind swam with it. Even now, he could faintly hear it through the witch's thick barrier. A siren song for him alone. When she left the dungeon, her absence could have driven him mad if he let it. What had intrigued him about her that night?
"At first, it was her heartbeat." Natsu turned to the man beside him in earnest. Gajeel focused on him as though he were giving him the directions to the holy grail. "It was so loud; I couldn't look away. Couldn't get it out of my head. But it was her touch that confirmed it." The door opened and made Gajeel jump. The woman who stood before them this time was the Valkyrie with long brown hair.
"Hello, boys. I'm Cana and I'll be your escort today. I've been instructed to bring this one to the first cell." She pointed to Gajeel with her long black painted claw.
"Lucy, if you don't stop shaking your leg and making the floor creak, I'm going to throw you out." Levy sat on the living room floor. The couch moved back so that they could create a summoning circle. Lucy ceased the nervous habit and laid with her head back on the sofa cushions.
"I'm stressed," she said.
"I would be too, if the guy I slept was the prince of the Horde."
"We didn't sleep together!" Lucy straightened; her legs tucked beneath her. Levy merely hummed to herself as she drew the circle out in salt. "We didn't!"
"Look, I wouldn't even blame you if you did. It's the Valkyrie who have a problem with vampires, not me."
"Why is that?"
"You all are on a crusade. We are mercenaries doing business with the highest bidder." Her fingers worked in a little bowl to stir a paste made of herbs. With easy strokes, she drew sigils on the wood floor. "Once you get all your stuff sorted out with your vamp, I'll be having a nice chat with his friend."
"You really are thirsty." Lucy saw the back porch from a window in the living room. The backyard was lush and green with plant life. Farther off were rocks that stood proud against the crashing sea. Erza leaned against the banister with her face toward the horizon. Since she emerged from the basement, she appeared out of focus. How long had she waited for a sign of Mavis?
"I wouldn't worry too much about her." Cana closed the basement door and sauntered to the couch.
"What if we find out Mavis is dead?" Lucy asked. Cana shrugged and plopped down beside her.
"I don't know, my love."
"Why do I not believe that?" The soothsayer was not like a full blood vampire. She could lie. Kooky Cana knew exactly what she was saying. Cana's plans and pace of time a mystery to all. "I'm sure you already know where Mavis is." Cana leaned her head against Lucy's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"That should do it." Levy stood from her spot in the center of her salt circle.
"Juvia has candles." Juvia stood beside her with arms full of fresh white candles.
"Draw the sigils on those, and I'll grab the book of shadows." Levy bounded from the living room, a fresh pep in her step.
"At least someone is happy about all this," Lucy said.
"Is Miss Lucy worried about her vampire?" Juvia asked. She held a small pocketknife and carved each candle. Watching the process felt soothing.
"My vampire? Not really. If he complies with us, nothing should happen to him," Lucy said. Cana laughed and sat up from her shoulder.
"You really think Erza won't want to add his fangs to her collection?" she said.
"Not if I tell her not to."
"And they call me kooky." Cana shook her head and glanced at Erza from the window. "That woman out there will do anything for Mavis."
"Why?" Juvia asked. Her hands froze over the half-carved sigil.
"She believes it was her fault that Mavis disappeared." For once, Cana didn't deny what she already knew. This was the first time Lucy heard this about Erza. No one gave the details on Mavis's disappearance.
"Well, that's obviously not true," Lucy said.
"She'll learn that eventually." Cana regarded Lucy, and Juvia continued to carve. "Your man is all alone down there. You sure you have nothing else to say to him?" she asked.
"I don't know what's worse. The fact that you just called him "my man," or that you are goading me to speak to him. What do you get out of it if I do speak to him?" Lucy said. Cana placed a hand over her heart in her false offense.
"Why would you believe I had an ulterior motive? I just want to see you happy, and I believe he would do that for you." Lucy couldn't help the spike in her heartbeat. Had Cana seen something? Was Natsu in her future? Why did that idea excite her? Impossible. Leeches and Valkyrie don't go together. She'd be a laughingstock that no one would take seriously. Erza would kick her out of Val Hall. Yet her thoughts betrayed her. His hands against her inner thighs spreading them for better access occupied her. His darkened eyes gazing across her skin as if she were his salvation. "Did I do something wrong?" he had asked. Gods no. He had done absolutely nothing wrong, except exist. Cana stood from the sofa and moved to the dining room. The back door opened and closed behind her. Erza didn't even look up when Cana stood beside her. Cana may not have an ulterior motive. Lucy leaned back into the sofa and allowed her a reprieve to fantasize about the vampire in her friend's basement. She thought about how he stood up against Erza, his eyes darkening with malice. He was so sure of himself, so ready to take her on to get to Lucy. His appearance was almost as hot as his image in the living book of Lore. She pictured that muscular body over her, his lips hovered over her skin, their bodies merged in heated bliss.
"Lucy!" Natsu's voice cut through the house like a knife. Lucy startled in her spot on the couch. Everyone, including the two women on the porch, turned to her. Her cheeks warmed under their gazes. She convinced herself that she was angry and not embarrassed.
"I'll deal with it." Lucy stood and waved to the room to continue whatever they were doing. She gave the two outside a thumbs up to set them at ease and dashed toward his voice.
"Lucy Heartfilia!" he called. Lucy cringed at her full name. Why had she given him her full name? Her pace quickened down the basement stairs.
"You are the loudest person I have ever met in my life!" she said.
"Can we stop all the screaming?" Gajeel asked from the first cell by the door. She watched him produce two metal earplugs and shove them into his ears. "Wake me when all the screaming is over," he said. His voice louder in his lack of hearing. He lay on the floor and turned toward the wall. Lucy stomped to the farthest cell and found Natsu against the bars. His eyes the dark black of high emotion.
"You are the most—" she began.
"I could hear your heartbeat speed up from down here," he groaned, "I can scent you." His eyes squeezed shut as if to shut something out.
"Sorry to bother you then." She turned to leave. If all he wanted was to complain about her heartbeat, then he could sit in the basement and rot. She'd ask Levy to soundproof the dungeon better. He reached out between the bars and grabbed her arm.
"You weren't doing anything by yourself, were you?" His voice dipped low. Lucy glanced at the farthest cell. She could still see Gajeel lying on the floor with his metal earplugs. Natsu gently took her chin between his thumb and forefinger turning her to face him. The darkness in his gaze remained, his lids heavier than before. Did he mean what she thought he meant?
"I don't see how that's your business."
"You're my bride, and your body is screaming at me." His hand lightly grazed her jaw and moved down to her décolletage. Her eyes slid closed. A heat snaked down her body from his fingertips. She opened her eyes to watch his eyes fix to her mouth. His grasp loosened on her arm and slid down her hip. Her sex tightened in anticipation, her jaw going slack when he undid her shorts and slid his fingers into her panties. Fuck. Natsu grinned and his fangs lengthened in his mouth. Lucy pressed her body against the bars. Her need built as it had before. His mouth covered hers between the bars, taking in her gasp as his digits slid between her folds. Her legs were rubber and she grabbed the bars on either side of her to keep herself standing. His mouth set her ablaze, her body grind against his hand, and she only wanted more. Hotter. She needed to burn up in him. His thumb stroked her sensitive clit, and his mouth took her in a frenzy. She felt his fang glide against her tongue first. The split second of pain set in after, but it was the pleasure that overtook her. He slid his other hand behind her head, fingers in her hair, and pressed her lips harder against his. The copper taste of her own blood saturated her mouth. She felt his moan against her skin. His body pressed so tight. Her climax hit her like a freight train, her body not getting enough of the feeling, like no other experience before. Is this how intense it would always be with Natsu? His fingers worked inside her, stroking her favorite places, riding her out of her euphoria. Their kisses slowed—taking time to taste each other. Her eyes snapped open and she wrenched herself from his grasp. She had one of her hands around the opening of her shorts and the other against her lips. The copper flavor still provided her mouth. She was close to loathing but the look of Natsu, fucked out against the bars, stamped out the feeling. He had slumped against them with a dazed grin. His eyes still black as ink and cheeks flushed from taking her blood. The look was unsettling, but her body still begged for more. She felt out of control, and it scared her. She closed her shorts and wiped her mouth.
"The circle is ready!" Cana's cheerful voice sounded passed the dungeon door that Lucy hadn't heard open.
"I'll bring him up!" Lucy didn't recognize her own voice. The door clicked closed and Natsu stood straighter and adjusted his pants.
"How could you possibly want to keep us apart?" His voice was husky and delicious. She swallowed to rid her mouth of the taste of blood. Just like the battlefield, a mouth full of blood, chaotic, and wrong.
"How could I possibly not? You took my blood, Natsu. You didn't even ask. The idea of it is revolting."
"First, it was an accident. Second, it didn't feel like you found it revolting." Any attraction she had felt dissipated. The rage boiled to the surface.
"I can't stand you."
"Why? Because I'm a vampire? Lucy, if that's the only reason why you deny us, I think I can live with that."
"What are you talking about?"
"If anything, it proves to me that we're perfect. Fate picked us and I happen to agree with its decision. If it was my personality or something about the way I've treated you that you hated, I'd happily step away. But the only thing standing in my way is your feeling towards all vampires as if I'm just like every other leech you've ever met. That, Lucy, I can change your mind on." The dark green of his eyes returned, clear and bright. "Let's go summon a Forebearer, shall we?"
If what Lucy had to say was an attempt to scare Natsu away, it didn't work. In fact, he felt a pep in his step as she roughly escorted him to the living room. He'd barely contained himself down in the basement. The feeling of her coming apart in his hands sang like a song on repeat. Nothing could kill his mood now.
"You look happy," Erza said. Lucy tossed him to the floor. Magical cuffs linked his wrists together behind his back.
"I really am," he said. Lucy scowled at him and moved to a chair by the extinguished fireplace. Smart witches already knew he could manipulate fire. Not like the cuffs would allow him to do so.
"Let's just get this over with, Levy," Lucy said. The blue-haired witch frowned. The book in her hands appeared older than every immortal in the room. He couldn't tell what kind of skin made the leather of the cover. Pages stuck out from the binding, other objects like feathers and bones marked other pages. Two of the witches stood at the edge of the salt circle. One held a white candle covered in carved runes and sigils that matched the ones at their feet. They illuminated in the wax when the witches chanted in a language Natsu had never heard. The energy swirled throughout the room and seemed to pull to the middle of the circle. Levy, with tome in hand, glowed in ethereal light. Her hair hovered over her shoulders in a wind that no one else could feel. Witches were scary.
"I call to you," Levy said. As if the man had traced there himself, Gray Fullbuster appeared in the center of the circle with a look of horror and bewilderment across his face. Erza manifested her spear and pointed it toward the man's chest. His cool blue eyes scanned the room and fell on Natsu, on the floor with hands behind his back.
"What the fuck have you done now?" Gray said.
"Nice to see you too, Gray."
"It appears you two actually know each other," Erza said.
"Unfortunately," Natsu said. Gray shot him a dirty look and a rude hand gesture. Erza rolled her eyes.
"You were a part of the last Accession war?" she asked. Gray shook his head and took in the rest of the room. Knowing the Forebearer, he was coming up with an escape plan. Poor bastard. Instead of glaring at Natsu, he continued to eye the witch hiding behind her lit white candle.
"Natsu, what the hell is this all about? You know we were traveling through most of the Accession."
"They're looking for a Valkyrie named Mavis the Fairy Tactician. Ring a bell?" Natsu asked.
"Jellal spoke of her once when I joined their ranks at the end of the war. You remember, Natsu, that time you decided to join the Horde." Gray seethed at him. His hands held securely at his side wrapped into fists. The room turned to Natsu in the vicious way it did when everyone thought you were scum.
"Let's not forget, Gray, that you were once a human who agreed to convert to vampirism. I just had the misfortune of being born the way I am." This time, heads shot to the vampire held helpless in a summoning circle.
"Enough." Erza's word held power behind it that doused the room in silence.
"If you don't have information for me, who does? Who is Jellal?" Erza pointed the tip of her spear at Gray's heart. He stood unflinching as the blade pressed against the fabric of his white coat.
"If you are asking me to betray those closest to me, then you can just kill me here."
"Oh, please." Natsu adjusted himself on the floor, so the cuffs didn't dig into his skin. "Always so noble and shit. Just tell them Jellal is the leader of the Forebearers." Natsu sat on the couch behind him and wiggled with impatience. After the delicious taste of Lucy, he wanted to feed. Gray was just slowing everything down. His blue eyes blackened in rage. Whatever. Natsu would deal with it later.
"The leader?" Erza said.
"You bastard," Gray said.
"Where can we find Jellal?" Lucy stood from the chair and paced at the window. Just as antsy as he was. Natsu saw a glimpse of what taking her blood could be like. There was nothing like his bride against his lips. He wasn't sure if he could take anyone else and pictured Lucy falling apart in his arms again. As if reading his mind, she glanced in his direction.
"Like I'm going to tell you that." Gray sneered at Lucy and glanced between them.
"You will tell me where Jellal is." Erza flicked the spear up and ripped his coat along with the shirt beneath. A trickle of blood ran down his exposed chest. Juvia made a small sound and dropped the candle. Levy held out a hand just in time to write levitate in the air around the wax. The witch sighed.
"Can someone stand here and take this?" Levy said. Juvia shrank under her gaze and rushed out of the room. Gray's dark gaze followed her all the way up the stairs. Interesting. Lucy clutched the candle and took Juvia's place.
"Gray, they just want to ask about the Valkyrie. They're not going to invade." Natsu crossed his legs on the couch.
"I don't know them. It would be a betrayal," Gray said.
"Erza, why doesn't Gray go ask him and return here?" Natsu said.
"Shut it," Erza replied, "You aren't running this show, leech."
"What makes you think he'll ask him and just run back to us with information?" Lucy asked.
"One, you can just summon him back and kill him if he doesn't do as you ask. Two, I'll go with him to make sure the task is done," Natsu said. The room went into an uproar. Gray yapped about spending time with Natsu. Erza shook her head and insisted that she couldn't trust them. Natsu could barely hear Lucy over the noise, but he swore she insulted him.
"I agree with him," Cana said next to him on the couch. Her presence was so muted that Natsu hadn't noticed her there. The chaos ceased.
"What? You can't possibly believe this vampire?" Erza said.
"I have to agree with Erza on this," Lucy said.
"I also agree. I'm not going to travel around with this asshole again," Gray added. Erza glared at him.
"Lucky for us, you don't make decisions here," she said.
"Lucy has blooded Natsu. Why would he betray her? He'll be anywhere she is, and he doesn't like Gray enough to help him. I think it's a fine plan. We get information, he gets to prove to Lucy that he's trustworthy, Gray gets to not betray his own people, so that's a win-win-win." Cana nodded approving her own plan.
"I like you. Your name was Cana, right?" Natsu asked. The woman smirked and leaned toward him. Her eyes lit with mischief. She pushed some of his hair behind his ear.
"Whatever you want to call me, cutie."
"Stop being ridiculous, Cana." Lucy's eyes were swirling mercury fixed on Cana's touch. The woman beside him laughed and leaned against the armrest instead.
"Jealous?" Cana asked. Lucy's claws dug into the white wax in her hands.
"Enough!" Erza pressed her fingers to her forehead with a furrowed brow. Her spear disappearing from her hand. "Fine, Natsu will go with Gray to the Forebearer leader and report back." Lucy gave the candle to Erza and stride from the room. Cana patted him on the leg and stood to follow.
"No worries," she said, "I'll talk to her." He had no idea what she would talk to her about. Natsu stood before Levy.
"I'd like if you uncuffed me now," he said.
"You're lucky you're cute." Levy removed the cuffs from his wrists with a tiny key around her neck. "Don't worry about your friend."
"My friend?"
"Yeah, Gajeel. I'll take care of him." Her grin spread across her face in a way that reminded him of a shark. Black Steel was in for some trouble. He stood beside Gray in the circle. They sent them off without another word.
Both vampires lie on their backs looking up at the dark and cloudy sky. Snow came down in light flakes and melted against his skin.
"Where are we?" Natsu asked. Gray's coat and shirt flapped open in the wind, so he shed the garments and walked bare-chested through the snow.
"Russia."
"Oh, joy." Natsu stood and brushed off the snow sticking to his hair. "Let's go—" His words cut off by Gray's fist in his face. The things he'd do for Lucy.
