Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. These new-ish plot deviations are the only thing belonging to me.
Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :) This chapter has a lot of dialogue, so there won't be a lot of introspection or reflectiveness at this point because too many things are going on at once. This will happen a lot when there are more characters that I can handle, as well as many more fight scenes. Also, the numbers in between my writing doesn't always mean a scene change. It could also mean a perspective change. If you have any questions or concerns, don't be afraid to PM me.
The Ice Devil's Angel
Chapter 3
3 3 3
"If we cut through here, Magnolia should be about half an hour from here," Gray said, scanning his surroundings.
"Ah, bless," Lucy sighed. Her feet were beginning to ache, but it wasn't like she was going to complain anytime soon.
The duo continued trudging through the peaceful woods until Lucy suddenly stopped, perplexed.
Gray raised a brow. "What is it?"
"I believe Nat–"
Movement from the bushes beside them shook, and Gray wasted no time and froze it. Natsu and Happy jumped from the bushes, yelling in shock and pain. The fire mage and the blue cat ran in circles with parts of their body frozen.
"su and Happy are here..." Lucy finished in surprise at how quickly Gray moved.
The devil slayer blinked, his magic aura dying down. "Well, what do you know."
Lucy blushed, quickly turning away because the dragonslayer was indecent. "Natsu, why are you in your underwear?"
"I fell in the damn river, that's what!" Natsu growled. "Gray, I am going to kick your ass!"
Gray rolled his eyes. "Sure."
Before Lucy knew, the two were childishly brawling with one another. "Do you two always have to fight?" Lucy inquired worriedly.
Happy appeared on her head and cheered, "You can take him, Natsu!" The cat then whispered an octave lower. "In like a hundred years..."
After they settled their squabble, meaning Gray kicking Natsu's ass (again), the lot of them sat in a clearing atop a cliff with a nice view of the mountainous valleys and Magnolia not too far from them. There was a fire drying Natsu's damp clothes, and a few fish being cooked.
"So you're on your way back from a job?" Lucy asked Natsu, passing Happy a stick of fish.
"Yeah, saved Macao from a bunch of Vulcans at Mt. Hakobe then Happy and I decided to go fishing."
"And Natsu fell in the river because he couldn't reel in the fish," Happy laughed.
Natsu scoffed, putting his clothes back on. "Not my fault the fish was the size of a whale."
"More like a shark," Happy argued.
"Psh, whatever," Natsu huffed, biting into some fish.
Gray stood up. "We should get going unless we want trouble."
"Why do you say that?" Lucy queried.
The ice mage looked at Magnolia. "Because Erza's due back anytime now."
Natsu choked on his fish and paled.
"Erza Scarlet?" Lucy gasped in excitement.
"Yup," Happy said, nibbling on his fish. "She's the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail."
"I can't wait to meet her," the blonde happily said. "What's she like?"
"Scary," Natsu whispered.
"Strict," Gray said at the same time.
"A wild animal, no a vile beast," Natsu went on.
"A bit much," Gray offered.
"More like a full on monster," Happy claimed.
Lucy could only imagine a giant raging over towns and villages. She could only blink, not really knowing what to say. "Um..."
Gray looked at Natsu with raised brows. "Come on, Natsu, she's not that scary."
The fire mage gave him a haunted look. "Don't you remember the time we fought and ruined her strawberry cheesecake by accident when we were younger?"
Gray's silence spoke volumes.
"Well?" Natsu pressed.
"Okay, yeah, " the ice mage finally admitted. "We can all agree that she's maybe a little scary."
"Maybe?" Natsu echoed.
"A little?" Happy gaped.
"She can kick down three mountains with a single kick," Natsu trembled.
"I'd say one," Gray reasoned.
"Come on, it's more like two," Happy argued.
Lucy paled. "Just the fact that she can kick down one mountain is scary enough."
"Like I said, we should probably get back," Gray said.
"Shit," Natsu swore, getting up. "Let's get moving!"
Lucy was about to agree when she felt a sudden surge of magic building up, as well as four other magic presences tagging along. Their magic didn't feel dark, maybe a little conflicted over something. She could even sense a little hunger. Lucy scolded herself for not noticing earlier, but they hid their presence very well.
"Wait, watch out!" she warned. Her magic reacted quicker than she could think.
The ground magic hit them and caused an explosion. As the dirt cloud disappeared, heaps of sand were splayed everywhere, supposedly trying to bury them alive. However, Lucy reacted and was able to protect all of them with her magic. Her magic seal was glowing and her magic formed into white and gold feathers acting as a shield. Once she deemed it was safe, she let her magic disappear.
"Are you guys okay?" Lucy asked worriedly.
Gray nodded, coughing. "Nice save."
"Wow!" Natsu's eyes sparkled. "That was so cool! Fight me!"
Gray whacked him on the head. "Not now, Flame-Brain. We need to know what the hell's going on."
"Happy?" Lucy called, looking around. "Happy? Where's Happy?"
"They probably took him," Gray concluded, standing up to dust himself off.
"Those assholes!" Natsu snarled, his fists lighting up.
"Let's go!" Gray said. "They shouldn't be too far. Can you track them, Lucy?"
"Not quite, they're being able to hide their magic well. I don't know how, but I'm able to pick up some residue."
"They must be a dark guild. Stealth is usually what they excel at because they kill for money," Gray explained.
She shivered. "Kill?"
The ice mage offered his hand. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."
Lucy felt heat rush to her cheeks. How could he say things like that so easily? Did he really mean it, she wondered. She looked into his dark blue eyes and decided that yes, he did. Without any hesitation, she placed her soft, small hand into his large, calloused one and let him help her up. The instant she touched his cold hand, her skin tingled and her magic danced. She thought she just imagined it, but the way his eyes widened ever so slightly told her he felt it too. She could feel his magic stir and almost want to latch onto hers.
She looked up at him with widened eyes. "Your magic..." she whispered. "It..."
He immediately he let go of her hand as if he had been burnt. Gray cleared his throat, looking at the dragonslayer. "Natsu, can you track them with your nose?"
"You don't even need to ask. Follow me!"
Lucy ran behind the two. She couldn't help but stray her eyes to Gray's back with concern. He may be an S-class mage, but his magic seemed to have a mind of its own.
3 3 3
Happy suddenly found himself tied upside down above some firewood. He was struggling when he noticed he was surround by a group of mages: twins, a goblin of some kind, a fortune teller, and a giant chicken.
"We're finally going to get some real protein," one of the twins spoke with drool sliding down the side of his mouth.
"No berries for us tonight," his brother said in relief.
The chicken screeched, "Meat!"
"Our future holds a feast," the fortune teller prophesied.
Happy began to tremble.
"Wow, look at him shaking," the twins snickered.
"Relax," the goblin smirked. "You're going to be in our bellies soon enough, so there's no need to be scared."
"Actually," Happy interjected. "I'm not shaking like this because I'm scared, I just really have to use the bathroom. I can't hold it much longer, and I bet you it's going to make me taste weird."
"Who cares?" the goblin frowned. He looked at the giant chicken. "Cook him!"
The chicken murmured, "Meat!" again before taking out a large wooden staff. A red magic circle appeared and fire ignited.
"I'll take mine medium please," the fortune teller requested.
"Hey!" Happy whined. "I'm serious! It's going to make me taste weird. I just know it."
"Stop right there!" Natsu's voice shouted.
Happy looked up to see Natsu, Gray, and Lucy had found him. He smiled in relief. "Thank goodness! Now I'm not going to taste weird!"
"Oh, shut up!" the goblin growled.
"That's our friend you're trying to roast their buddy," Natsu scowled while cracking his knuckles.
"You're all wizards, aren't you?" Gray concluded. "What guild are you with?"
The goblin sniggered. "I'm not telling. Let's get 'em, boys!"
Natsu grinned. "Gray, let's do it."
"All right, but don't go telling me what to do."
"Be careful," Lucy pleaded. "I'll go help Happy."
The fire and ice mage nodded before proceeding into battle. Lucy watched in awe as the both of them easily dodged the attacks from their foes. Natsu headed straight for the goblin while Gray proceeded to take care of the rest of the gang without any magic. The blonde made her way through the ruckus to the blue cat.
"Happy!" she called.
"Lucy!" Happy yelled in relief. "You're not going to eat me, are you?"
She giggled as she began untying the ropes. "No, silly cat."
Because Lucy was so focused on her task, she didn't realize the big chicken came up behind her due to the fact it had no magic. It wasn't until a giant shadow fell over her that she froze, and Happy cried out in shock. Lucy whirled around to see the giant animal wielding his fire staff. Before anyone could react, Gray teleported in front of the beast and gave it a solid roundhouse kick to the head.
"You guys okay?" Gray asked as he landed.
"Yes, thank you," Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.
The fortune teller suddenly came out of nowhere and he appeared to be preparing for a giant attack with his glowing/levitating orb along with some sound effects. Gray instinctively stepped in front of Lucy.
"You've met someone special but the stars point to great trouble with water, women, and the Underworld. Oh my!"
Lucy felt her eyebrows furrow. The Underworld?
Gray sighed before elbowing the guy in the neck.
"Should we help Natsu?" Lucy asked in concern, eyeing the sand vortex of some sorts.
"Nah, he's good," Gray said.
They shift their eyes to the floating ball of whirling sand that Natsu happened to be stuck inside of until it suddenly exploded. "You jerk!" Natsu spat. "Now I've got a mouth full of sand because of you!"
The goblin took a step back. "Impossible! There's no way you could've broken out of that!"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Lucy flinched, almost like she had been hit instead, as Natsu punched the goblin square in the face with a fist of fire. It would've all been fine if Natsu's magic wasn't so destructive. His fist not only annihilated the goblin but took out a section of the forest as well.
Seeing that all of their aggressors were knocked out, the Fairy Tail mages tied them up for good measure.
Gray took note of the damage. "Don't you think you might have gone overboard, Natsu?"
"So what if I did? I got the job done," he retaliated.
Gray sighed. "Grow up, Natsu. You should be able to minimize the damage and control your magic. You're not twelve."
"What?" Natsu snapped. "Shut up! It's not my fault that guy was pissing me off!"
"That's not much of an excuse."
"They tried to eat Happy, too!"
"Fair point, but you're lucky we're in the middle of nowhere. No civilians were hurt, and Gramps doesn't have to worry about paperwork and the damn council."
While the fire and ice mage were squaring off in their little squabble that was apparently escalating by the second, Lucy decided to get some information from their aggressors. That is if they decided to wake up. She scanned all of them to see they weren't going to wake up soon until she saw movement from the goblin. She knelt before him.
"Excuse me," she began politely. "I'd like to ask a few questions regarding you and your...friends."
"Lulla..." he wheezed softly.
Lucy knelt closer. "Lulla?"
"Lulla..by," the goblin finished.
"Lullaby?" Lucy repeated in a whisper. Her magic began to react wildly, and her eyes widened in horror as it dawned on her. "It can't be..."
For some reason, she couldn't help but shiver. That's when she felt it. An eerie, sinister presence rushing towards them. It was almost imperceptible, but she was only able to detect it because of her gut feeling. Lucy whirled around to see Natsu and Gray still quarreling, and Happy futilely trying to dispel it. Where was this feeling coming from? She couldn't see anyone heading there way. Confused, she looked back at the goblin to see he was terrified and squirming to get free. She followed his eyesight, and that's when she saw it. A slithering shadow.
"Gray! Natsu! Happy!" Lucy yelled.
But it was too late.
The shadow powered by them, throwing them off balance, and zoomed straight to her and the goblin's group. The shadow expanded and moved underneath them. Lucy suddenly felt a pulling sensation, and her eyes widened when she realized the shadow was trying to pull her in.
"Lucy!" Gray shouted.
The devil slayer teleported to her and grabbed her arm just as she was about to be taken under and was able to pull her up and out of the shadow's strong grasp. She collapsed against him as they watched their aggressors and part of the tree disappear underground into the shadow. She suddenly felt Gray's hand cup her face and make her look at him.
"Hey," he said softly. "You good?"
"T-Thank you," she nodded, albeit shakily. "W-What was that?"
"More like who was that?" Natsu corrected.
Gray shifted his gaze, dropping his hands from Lucy's face, to where the shadow disappeared off to. "Well, whoever that was, they're fast. I can't even sense their presence anymore."
"But...what could this mean?" Natsu asked.
"Lullaby," Lucy murmured worriedly. She clutched onto the lapels of Gray's white coat. If it's what she thought it was, it didn't bode well for anyone.
Here's chapter 3! Hope you liked it. Stay tuned.