CHAPTER 4

The next week was an adventure Lucy loved. For the first time since her mother died Lucy felt like the sun finally peeked from the storm clouds and revealed itself. Natsu came every day, sometimes even when Lucy didn't summon him.

They took turns using their magic to keep him there, Natsu alternating days with her so she could recover and rest. It was like a breath of fresh air, being able to laugh and have fun.

At least it was until one day Lucy had a nightmare.

She couldn't help it when she woke up crying for her mother, the sadness of remembering her loss weighed heavily on them.

There was a flare of light in Lucy's bedroom, fire gleaming in the darkness and Natsu taking shape in her bedroom.

It startled Lucy awake, a shriek escaping her as she sat upright. She scooted back in her bed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, "Natsu..?"

"Lucy," Natsu walked closer to her, his eyes sweeping the room for any kinds of danger. He clambered onto the bed with her and reached out to hold her cheeks between her hands, "something didn't feel right. Are you okay?"

He noticed her tears there, his eyes widening and a growl pulling from his chest, "are you hurt?"

"No Natsu I'm not," Lucy sniffed, but she reached out and wrapped her demon in a startled hug.

"I was just missing my mom again," she mumbled into his neck, waiting for Natsu to relax into the hug. Slowly his small arms wrapped back around her and he dipped his cheek in the top of her head.

"Oh," he mumbled back, sounding confused. She didn't blame him though, every time she brought up her mom he didn't really understand it. As far as she knew, Natsu didn't have a family. It was just him.

"I'm sorry Lucy," Natsu held her as she sniffed and cried on his thin shirt. He looked over her shoulder and held her trembling form, not sure what else to say but holding her securely.

At least until the lights to Lucy's bedroom snapped on revealing none other than Lucy's father, Jude Heartfilia, staring before her.

"Who is that?" Her father demanded, completely derailed from what his original purpose was for coming into his daughters room. Natsu's eyes widened and he scooted behind Lucy but kept his arms around her protectively.

"Oh!" Lucy yelped, twitching a bit as Natsu's grip on her tightened, "Um... hi daddy?"

"Lucy..." Jude growled warningly and she cringed a little.

"Um... daddy this is... Natsu." She mumbled into her blankets.

"I see." Jude replied slowly, "And would this be the same Natsu that has had the staff buzzing all week?"

Lucy's gaze jumped back up to him wide eyed and he sighed as he moved to sit down on her bed with her, "Lucy, I know I've been very busy lately, but I do keep up with what's going on in the house as best I can."

He peered around her to Natsu and gave him a smile that was somewhere between friendly and wary, "It's nice to meet you in person young man." He greeted, "Though I would've preferred meeting you properly instead of discovering you in my daughter's room in the dead of night."

"It's not his fault!" Lucy exclaimed, "I... um..." She looked down again, "Well, I mean..."

"Lucy, you're babbling." Jude chided lightly, "Now, tell me what's really going on here."

Lucy sucked in a breath, "Natsu'smyfamiliar!" She rushed out, holding tightly to his hands still around her middle, "I... summoned him... a week ago. We made a contract."

"Lucy!" Jude thundered, making her wince and Natsu hiss, "You know how dangerous that was! Your mother spent weeks, sometimes months, preparing for those rituals! If even one thing had gone wrong you could've summoned something the likes of which you can't even imagine! What were you thinking messing with your mother's magic?!"

Lucy sniffed a little and hugged Natsu closer, "I just wanted a friend." She sobbed, "It's been so cold and lonely since mom died... I wanted someone to play with. Please don't send him away!"

Jude deflated at the sight of her tears, "Oh Lucy..." He breathed and reached out to gather her in his arms, ignoring Natsu's stink eye as he did, "Honey, I know it's been hard. And I'm sorry I haven't been there for you as much as I should be." He stroked her hair as she cried into his shirt, "I'm not going to send him away." He soothed, "He's your familiar now."

"You promise?" Lucy mumbled wetly and he chuckled softly, his heart twisting a little at the pain in those words.

"Yes Lucy, I promise." He brushed at her tears, "I suspect even if I tried he would just come right back to you anyway. That's how these things normally work."

He settled back, "Now, tell me just what deal you made with him?"

"We promised to be friends forever no matter what." Lucy replied softly, "And he said he'd always protect me."

Jude mulled that over thoughtfully and nodded slowly, "It's a good deal." He decided after a moment, "Now, I don't have any trouble with him being over as long as he also obeys the rules of the house." He looked at Natsu directly, "I'm certain Lucy can fill you in on what I expect." He looked back at Lucy, "And you're not to skip lessons in favor of playing, but he's welcome to join you for your lessons. Furthermore, I'm putting a lock on your mother's ritual room until you're older and can start properly training your magic."

"But if I can't study magic I can't get stronger so Natsu can stay here more!" Lucy gasped in horror, "Daddy please!"

Jude studied her genuine distress but shook his head, "No. That room is too dangerous at your age. It seems you got lucky once, but it may not happen again. However, I'm sure there are safer ways you can train your magic power until your formal education can begin. I'll make a few discrete inquiries alright?"

She nodded and he hugged her tightly, "You're also going to get punishment for getting into your mother's magic the way you did." He informed her, "No matter how well it turned out, and I'm reserving judgement on that, you deliberately broke the rules. So there will be no dessert for you for the next two weeks, you will go to bed early, and be required to do extra chores around the estate when you're not in lessons. There will be no running off to play with Natsu or the punishment gets doubled in length. Is that clear?"

"Yes daddy." Lucy grimaced, though she knew she'd gotten off lightly all things considered.

"Good." Jude nodded, "Now, are you ready to go back to sleep or shall we sneak down to the kitchen for some coca?"

Lucy smiled a little at his mischievous grin, "Coca!" She exclaimed, knowing it would be the last time she got any for a while once morning came.

Lucy slipped out of Natsu's arms and ran over to her dad. She stopped and stared back at where Natsu was left sitting unsurely on the bed. He looked at Lucy, confused and his fingers twitching as if he was unsure what to do.

"Come on then Natsu, I'm certain you haven't had some of this cocoa before," Jude encouraged the demon who stared up at him distrustfully.

As Lucy waved a hand at him though, Natsu bit his lip with sharp teeth and padded over to Jude, looking up at him hesitantly.

Jude set a hand on the top of Natsu's head, startling the demon who gave him a wide-eyed look.

"Come on, let's have some cocoa kids," Jude murmured and guided them back out and closed the door behind him.

He knew a deal made between children was not always good. His wife had also warned him of the dangers of demonic contracts before. Often the demon made themselves look non-threatening when they had ulterior motives. However he didn't detect any real malice from Natsu. Perhaps it was because his daughter had summoned a small demon, but Jude got the distinct impression based off the demons he had seen his wife summon, that Natsu would not remain so small.

He was also unlike any demon he had seen before, even summoned by his exceptionally powerful wife.

It seemed like Lucy, with all her youth and inexperience, had a great future ahead of her as a necromancer.

Jude just knew Lucy was going to face a difficult life because of the type of magic she controlled. Same as Layla, she often faced backlash as a result of how close she touched that dark magic.

Still, he would do best to protect Lucy for as long as he was able. Her, and his new demonic charge.

He would have to figure out what kind of demon he was quickly though. Demons didn't do well in the human realm if they didn't feed properly, and the last thing he wanted was to wake up and find Natsu cracking open the chest of one of his servants to eat their heart.

Cocoa would hardly satisfy a demon for long.

And that open ended promise his daughter had contracted over — Jude wondered how that meaning would change over the years.

Putting those thoughts aside, Jude made the cocoa while Natsu and Lucy giggled together and picked out colorful mugs to drink their treat in.

And for a moment, he thought perhaps this change would mean something good for his daughter. Especially if it meant keeping that smile on her face…

-::-

To say it was difficult to make Erza understand better how the world worked, was an understatement. She came from a place where no one hid their magic, where it was free and abundant on the islands.

Sure, everyone on the mainland knew about demons and magic... to an extent. But not in a public way that attracted attention. It just wasn't done. Magic was passed from hand to hand through ancient rituals and customs, so while there was an abundance of magic... it was jealously guarded from outsiders.

"I don't understand." Erza told him in frustration, "If everyone knows magic exists, why can't we be open?"

Gray ran a hand through his hair, "Because it's not safe." He replied, "Not yet." He half sat on a low railing leading down into the official underground meeting hall of Lamia Scale, "And the reason for that goes back into ancient history." He frowned a little as he tried to work out how to explain all this to someone who had never known anything of the outside world, or it's history, until he found her.

"See, way back when people used magic openly, like you do." He explained, "But there was a big war, and both sides used magic in it. Magic that nearly destroyed everything. And that put people off of magic entirely. Wizards of any kind were hunted nearly to extinction, and hundreds of kinds of magic were lost. In order to survive we had to go underground. It was the only way."

Erza frowned, "Why did you not hide away entirely then?"

Gray shrugged, "Because even if the government wanted to use us, and some people hated us, we were still needed. Normal people can't deal with magical problems, and we weren't about to sit back and let our friends and family suffer when we could do something." He gestured around them, "That's how all this got started. Family and friends knew who to go to for help, wizards connected for problems they couldn't handle, eventually a whole system developed."

He looked around at the folks milling around, "Even now, outsiders don't know the extent we've organized. Just everyone has a friend of a friend who can put out the word to the right people for help if something's going wrong." He looked back at her, "Guilds aren't even acknowledged outside magic circles. Everyone just understands that when people start wearing a specific type of symbol it means there's a stable magic presence in the area."

"So you must operate without ever revealing who you are?" Erza asked softly, "That seems very sad."

Gray flashed her a crooked grin, "I didn't say never. Locals tend to be very protective of their mages, and will often conspire to help us cover our tracks to keep us out of any official eyes."

Erza hummed thoughtfully, "This is a very strange way of thinking." She admitted, but offered him a small smile, "But if you insist it must be this way, I will abide by it. It wouldn't do for me to put everyone in danger after all you've done for me."

She unconsciously touched her face where her brand new magic eye was sitting proudly in place of the old, and Gray dropped a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll get the hang of it." He promised her, "And hey, maybe we'll see the end of all the secrecy in our time. Wouldn't that be something?"

"It would indeed." Erza smiled back.

"I certainly hope so," Erza continued and wrapped her arms tight around her knees. She gave Gray an apologetic look that had him awkwardly swaying in his spot, unsure what to say, "the outside world is nothing like Master Brain said it would be like."

"Master Brain...?" Gray echoed after her, not jumping immediately on her words. He jolted as the dots connected and he cleared his throat.

"As in Master Brain of the Oracian Seis?" Gray repeated.

The innocent look Erza gave him, tinged with hope that Gray knew the man made a rock plunge in his gut. Of course he knew of Master Brain. There were very few mages that didn't know the man.

But not for the reasons he could tell Erza was hoping for.

"I don't know what this Oracian Seis is, but I can only imagine they are one in the same. It's not a very common name," Erza reasoned, and quite well Gray was reluctant to admit.

Gut sinking even further down into the soles of his feet, Gray met her eyes, "Does Brain happen to be the one you left in charge of Jellal's education?"

Erza looked a bit surprised by the leap he made, but nodded once again. This time suspicion was creeping into her eyes, along with a tinge of caution that had been well bred from trauma. Gray recognized the look of someone bracing themselves for something, even if Erza didn't seem to consciously be aware she was doing it.

Gray cursed and shook his head, "Master Brain is the leader of a dark guild Erza. He has a reputation for kidnapping children and manipulating them into joining his guild once they become powerful enough. The ones that don't become strong enough are... tossed aside," Gray broke the news to her, unsure how to say it gently.

Erza looked stunned, shaking her head in the denial he could see working its way over her. Gray grabbed her shoulders before the amazon could pull away, and he was surprised to find she let him.

"Yes Erza it's true," Gray promised, "I wouldn't be damned surprised if Brain didn't have something to do with the fall of your island. Once he had a powerful mage to experiment on, he always moves on and his associates lay waste to what came before it."

"We just served him up to Master Brain," Erza whispered.

She rubbed her hands over her eyes, "We just let him into our homes, trusted him when we should have turned him away."

"I was the one who suggested we send him away to Master Brain!" Erza cried out.

Seeing that the red head was in danger of throwing herself into a pit of anguish, Gray awkwardly wrapped her in a tight hug.

"It's not your fault Erza! You were trying to help him out, and you said yourself that Jellal is strong. He'll be able to survive anything that Brain does to him!" Gray burst out, realizing belatedly that perhaps those weren't the most soothing words.

Still, it seemed to calm Erza and she pulled away a moment later, her face and eyes as dry as every moment he had seen her before.

"Yes." She said softly, in a voice that told Gray that no matter how dry her eyes were she was not as alright as she wanted to appear, "Yes, of course you're right." She clenched her fists tightly, "Jellal will survive and we will find him and rescue him. Along with your sister."

Gray smiled a little at that, he appreciated her including him and Ultear in her plans to rescue Jellal, "You bet." He promised.

-::-

Scraggly trees brushed against one another, branches scraping across flakey bark and dragging long fingers through the woods. The trees were tall, stretching out to the skies like hands grasping for the red sun overhead.

Under one such tree sat Natsu, curled up in the roots of a tree and wrapped tight in a blanket he had swiped from Lucy's house at his last visit.

By a stroke of sheer good luck he'd landed far outside the nest the last couple times Lucy had sent him home, and he'd immediately set to carving out his own lair. It hadn't been easy. He could never predict exactly where he was going to land, and he'd learned very quickly that even if his dad didn't sense him and track him down far too quickly for his taste, hell was not a pleasant place for a kid.

Fortunately, he'd long since learned the art of fighting dirty. Nor did he hesitate to employ it. Even if using his magic made his father hone in on him faster.

Still, despite the setbacks, he'd managed to carve out a small lair for himself. It was as basic as could be and mostly furnished with stuff he'd stolen from Lucy's house, but it was his. He just had to pray that his dad never, ever, found out about it.

His head snapped up at the sound of heavy claws cracking into the underbrush. Fear flooded his heart and he crept further into the root system to hide, heart hammering away. How had his dad found him this time?! He hadn't even used any magic!

He pressed closer to the entrance hidden in the root tangle, but didn't dare snag the hidden latch. His bastard father's hearing was even sharper than his own and he couldn't risk it being exposed.

"Do not run Natsu. I know you're somewhere nearby."

Natsu held his breath for what seemed like an eternity before finally his father's terrifying presence receeded. He knew he would pay for this once his father caught up to him, but with luck he would be able to dodge enough to escape again to Lucy's side.

It was with profound relief when he heard Lucy whispering in his head. A curious tug to have him come to her side.

He responded immediately, overjoyed by the call as her magic took hold of him and called him to her side. It warmed him from the inside out and Natsu felt the cold and fear from the forest melt away as he joined her in her gardens.

Lucy was pouting and her hands rested on her hips. Jude was sitting at a table under an umbrella, pointedly not staring at his daughter. But by the way his lips were twitching, Natsu could tell he wasn't mad.

"What's up Luce!" Natsu asked, still coddled in the blanket he swiped.

"Oh that's where that went!" Lucy's face lit up, reaching out to tug the corner of the blanket. Natsu whined as she stole it back from him but poured as he joined Lucy at the table.

"Come on Natsu! Help me convince my dad to let us go find me a tutor! He said he found someone but he's not calling her yet!" Lucy told him.

"What? That's great!" Natsu exclaimed, and it truly was.

He could stay in Lucy's world for a good while, but it wasn't indefinite. It wouldn't be until he was older and he grew into his powers. But it was also tricky because he had to conserve strength for when he returned to the demonic realm.

Which meant that although he could come to her on his own, it was better when she used her magic to call him. He didn't like tiring her out when she did it, but it was better than the alternative. Especially if he was closing in on him again.

A poke in his side jolted him out of his thoughts and he jumped a little to find Lucy frowning at him.

"Are you listening to me?" She demanded before her expression softened to concern, "Is everything alright? You seem worried."

"What?" He replied intelligently before her meaning hit him and he smiled, "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine! I was just thinking about something back in h- I mean, back home."

Jude and Lucy both raised identical eyebrows at the slip, and he coughed a little, a blush tinting his cheeks, "So! Who's this tutor lady?"

Father and daughter shared a look that had the hair on the back of his neck prickling as Lucy sat down to join them, "Her name's Karen Lilica." She replied, "She's an elemental summoner. Elemental summoning is fundamentally the same as necromancy. They just branch out in different directions at more advanced levels. So she should be able to give me a good grounding to study mom's work on my own."

"Elemental?" Natsu gasped in excitement, "Does that mean you'll be able to summon a fire elemental? Oh man... those are the best eating!"

"Suddenly I'm glad I'm not going for advanced elemental summoning." Lucy drawled wryly, "As much as you're drooling on the table I doubt I'd be able to even keep a fire summons around."

"Don't doubt yourself!" Natsu said cheerfully, "you're real strong Lucy, necromancy is some of the most difficult magic to learn. It's the foundation of all life, a fire elemental would be a breeze."

"Is that a hint that you're hungry?" Jude asked Natsu in amusement, who flashed the man a guilty smile.

He almost cheered when Jude tossed a box of matches at him and jerked his thumb to the fire pit in the garden. Natsu held it over his head like a prize, but remained focus on what Lucy asked him.

He had been with her for about two years now, and while Natsu's energy and power began to climb, as well as his own training, he knew Lucy was eager to do more active things with her magic.

Natsu didn't have a dad to look over his shoulder at him, but he found he wished he did. Someone who was willing to patch up his scrapes and injuries after training or tell him when he was going too hard. It was baffling that Lucy had to do what he said but since he didn't really understand it, he left it alone.

Still he could tell Lucy was getting frustrated being locked out of her mom's stuff. It helped her feel close to her mom above all else, and Natsu wanted that for Lucy.

"I think Lucy's ready to learn more! What better way for her to get some real action than with someone?" Natsu asked excitedly.

It would also give Natsu the chance to see more of the human world. He only really ever saw the people in Lucy's home and the mansion.

Jude sighed as he took at the two staring at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"Alright fine," He threw his hands up and discarded the newspaper he had been reading, "but I'm going to accompany you on this trip. Natsu, would you like to come along?"

"Can I?" Natsu burst with excitement, bubbling up on his toes while Lucy let out a happy cheer.

"Yes, if you behave. Magic practice can be unpredictable, and unfortunately I don't have a means of keeping Lucy safe. I'm going to leave that task up to you should the teacher need additional hands," Jude eyed Natsu firmly, "is that agreeable?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" Lucy said first and looked back at Natsu, overjoyed this would mean lessons with a Natsu too.

"Yeah!" Natsu let loose an excited roar of his own, the noise startling him. He squeaked, slapping a hand over his mouth and turning red in the face as he stared at Jude in horror.

Jude raised an eyebrow at Natsu and cocked his head.

"Is that the demonic equivalent of your voice cracking?" Jude wondered aloud and scratched his head.

"W-what?" Natsu stammered, a Little surprised the noise had come out of him itself.

"Never mind, don't worry about it Natsu," Jude waved it off and gave him a warm smile, "and don't worry about the changes in your voice either. I'm sure it's normal, humans have something similar."

Natsu felt a moment of relief about that, but pouted when he felt Lucy's hands tangle in his hair.

"Awe that was so cute Natsu!" Lucy teased him, standing a few inches taller than him as she ruffled his hair.

"Hey! Stop it!" He whined.

Lucy giggled, "Aw, but it's so much fun!"

"Hmph, you know he'll be able to get payback Lucy." Jude smirked, and Natsu burst out laughing as she suddenly turned bright red.

"Wow you look like a tomato!" He cackled, and looked eagerly at Jude, "So what kind of stuff happens to her?" He asked eagerly, "I wanna know what to look for so I can tease her too!"

Jude blinked a little and then pinched the bridge of his nose, "Oh boy..." He sighed, "Lucy, why don't you go get packed for the trip? It seems I need to have a word with Natsu here."

"R-right." Lucy stumbled and all but fled the scene.

Natsu looked between them in confusion, "What just happened?"

"I think whatever gods are watching must be laughing." Jude replied, "I thought it was bad enough giving Lucy the talk. I never dreamed I'd have to give it to you too. Now I'm sure there are some differences between humans and demon dragons, but the basics should be the same so..."