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 :) If you have any questions and concerns, just PM me or leave a comment. Thank you.

The Ice Devil's Angel

Chapter 5

5 5 5

It was bright and early in the morning when Lucy arrived at the Magnolia train station. She was punctual, yet the first one there. She had her ticket, a small backpack of belongings, and was in comfortable clothing for the mission even though it was only to observe. Her hair was in its usual style, the French braid, and her clothes were similar to what she wore when she went on her first job with Gray.

The blonde tucked a loose strand behind her ear. She looked at her ticket and made her way to the platform for the train. Seeing nobody, she saw an empty bench and sat there waiting for the rest of the team. With a content sigh, she took out a book.

"What's a good looking girl like yourself doing out here all by yourself?" a voice asked.

Lucy's eyebrow twitched as she looked up. The stranger wasn't bad looking, but he had this strange look in his eye. Wait, was he undressing her with his eyes?! She inwardly cringed, clenching her fist. Did he just have to bother her? She just wanted to read her damn book.

"Waiting," she replied curtly.

He raised a brow. "And who would that be because I don't see anybody."

"That would be me," a steely voice declared.

Lucy turned her head in surprise to find none other than Gray in his signature white coat. A beautiful smile made its way on her face but faltered when she noticed how cold his eyes were. He glared at the stranger, who paled and took a step back, apologizing profusely before scurrying off deeper into the train station.

The blonde hesitated. "Uh, Gray..."

His expression softened when he looked at her. "He wasn't bothering you too much, was he?"

She smiled. "You saved me the trouble of using my right hook."

Before Gray could say anything, Natsu stomped up to the both of them with Happy in tow. The pink-haired fire mage was grumbling under his breath, but when he caught sight of Gray, he gave a full out groan of frustration.

"I hate this!" Natsu growled at Gray. "Teaming up with you is the worst idea ever!"

Gray frowned, rolling his eyes. "I'm not exactly happy about this either."

"Erza made a huge mistake asking you to come along!"

The ice mage coolly raised a brow. "That's funny. I'm more qualified than you, Flame Brain."

"How about you just take care of it yourself, Ice Princess. I don't want to be here anyway!"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Then I get to watch Erza beat you senseless."

Lucy could only sweatdrop as fire and ice clashed once again. So much for trying to mediate the two. She didn't really want to cause more of a scene, so she decided to just stay put. Despite Mira's sage advice.

"Do they always have to do this?" Lucy whined softly to herself.

"Hey, Lucy," Happy greeted, hopping onto the empty space beside her. "What are you doing here?"

"Mira told me I should tag along to learn. Plus, she wanted me to make sure Gray and Natsu don't fight too much."

"Well, you're not doing a really good job," Happy pointed out, nibbling on a piece of fish.

Lucy sighed. "They're hopeless."

"Sorry I'm late," Erza announced as she showed up.

Lucy suppressed a giggle when Gray and Natsu froze.

"Have you been waiting long?" she asked.

"No, not really," Lucy shook her head. She turned to face the redhead and gaped in amazement because of the huge amount of luggage she was casually dragging on a wooden dolley behind her.

"Ready to go, Natsu?" Gray asked, roughly wrapping his arm around the fire mage's shoulders.

"Aye!" Natsu squeaked.

Lucy blinked, shocked how they were able to change their behavior so quickly. She sighed, giving up at this point. This was the new normal.

"Good," Erza gently smiled. "I love to see the two of you getting along." She looked at Lucy. "And what was your name? I believe I saw you at the guild yesterday."

"My name's Lucy, and I just joined Fairy Tail," the blonde introduced. "Mira asked me to come along with you guys because she said I'd learn a thing or two. I hope that's okay with you."

"The more the merrier," the redhead agreed.

"Thank you so much," Lucy smiled. "I just hope I won't get in the way."

"Nonsense," Erza smiled. "I've heard a lot of great things about you from Gray yesterday."

Lucy blushed. "Oh, um, okay."

"I've heard that you have pure magic like my own. He told me you're still very inexperienced, but you pack quite the punch. You even punched Natsu without a problem apparently."

"It was an accident," she muttered, flustered.

"It's okay, Lucy," Erza chuckled. "It would be great to have a wizard like you on board."

"Thank you," Lucy bowed.

"Of course," Erza said. "Thanks for your help."

"It's my pleasure," Lucy replied.

"One more thing," the redhead began. "I've never heard Gray talk about anyone so highly. He sees a lot of potential in you, so I was wondering if you would like me to help train and hone your magic as well as your physical capabilities in combat? It'll help your confidence. How does that sound?"

Lucy's eyes shifted to Gray, who had Natsu in a chokehold at the moment. She smiled fondly at him before sliding her eyes back to Erza. "I'm honored. I was actually going to ask you for pointers as some point anyway."

"Great," Erza smiled. "We'll figure something out once we get back."

"Sounds good," Lucy smiled back.

The blonde felt an easy connection establish between the both of them. She thought it maybe had to do with the fact that Erza's magic was also pure, but it was more than that. Erza herself was just an amazing person, and Lucy couldn't help but feel so thankful to have met someone like her. It was like she was the older sister she wished she had when she was younger.

"Hey Erza," Natsu called. "I'll only come with you under one condition."

"Natsu," Gray warned.

"Oh?" Erza looked at him with interest. "Then let's hear it."

"Okay," Natsu smirked. "I want a rematch when we get back to Fairy Tail."

"Oh no," Happy sighed.

Gray rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Geez..."

"I'm a lot stronger than I was last time," Natsu continued. "This time will be way different because I'm going to beat you."

Erza gave a small smile, closing her eyes as if to sense Natsu's magic. "Yes, I can tell that you've improved. As to whether or not that you can beat me, I suppose we'll have to see." She stared him in the eye. "I accept your challenge."

"Oh yeah!" Natsu yelled, his body lighting on fire. "I'm all fired up!"

5 5 5

Just as the train lurched forward, Gray could only shake his head as Natsu's face turned green. The dragonslayer had beads of sweat running down his face, and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. What Gray didn't understand was a dragonslayer's vulnerability to moving vehicles. Laxus didn't really have that problem, but then again he didn't like to show any weakness. He was also a second generation dragonslayer, so maybe that was it too. Or maybe Natsu was just overly sensitive.

"I swear," Gray deadpanned. "You're totally pathetic, Natsu." His eyes glanced to the fire mage slumped beside him. "One minute you're picking a fight and the next you're like this."

"It must be tough on him getting place to place," Lucy said, eyeing Natsu with pity and concern.

"Don't worry," Erza waved off. "He'll be fine."

"Erza, can you...?" Gray trailed off, tilting his head to Natsu as a signal. The last thing he wanted was Natsu retching all over the place.

She only nodded. "Lucy, you wouldn't mind switching places with Natsu, would you?"

"No, of course not," she complied understandingly.

"Natsu, come sit here with me," Erza smiled gently.

Said fire mage pathetically crawled to the other side of the compartment and took Lucy's place. The blonde in turn sat down next to Gray, and Happy contently jumped into her arms. He purred as she scratched between his ears.

"Just relax," Erza coaxed.

"Aye," Natsu responded weakly, leaning onto her.

Gray watched in amusement as Erza took her fist back and solidly punched Natsu in the solar plexus. The dragonslayer's eyes bulged, and he gasped for air before falling onto Erza's lap, officially out cold.

"There," Erza said. "That should make the trip a little easier on him."

From the corner of his eye, Gray could see Lucy's complexion whiten slightly. He could only guess that she was thinking Erza seemed normal up until now by the look in her eye. His eyes trained themselves back to Erza, a load of questions on his mind. The fellow S-class mage wasn't exactly clear about what was going on. The way she sounded in the guild made him uneasy. Uneasy because Lucy decided to tag along, and he didn't want her to get hurt.

His midnight eyes snuck a furtive glance back to the beautiful blonde.

He'd would just have to keep an eye on her.

"So Erza," he began seriously. "I think it's about time you started filling us in. What kind of mission are we going on here?"

"Of course," Erza inclined. "I have reason to believe the dark guild Eisenwald is planning something big. I'm not sure what exactly, but it has to do with a magic item called Lullaby."

Gray's eyes clashed with Lucy's alarmed ones.

"That's the..." she trailed off, looking at him worriedly.

"Yeah," he muttered, remembering that day very clearly and how she almost slipped through his fingers and into the shadows. He jaw clenched. "We ran into some wizards coming back from a job, but some shadow snatched them off. They must've been from Eisenwald."

"I see," Erza murmured.

"I'm not positive," Gray replied. "But Lucy said they mentioned something about Lullaby."

"Yes," Lucy nodded. "They were scared."

"It sounds like they were members who dropped out of the guild and went into hiding," Erza analyzed. "Perhaps they wanted no part of whatever it is that's coming."

"It must be pretty bad if it even scares dark wizards," Gray commented.

"I'm only hypothesizing," Erza stated. "But whoever you saw dragging off those wizards that attacked you must've been from Eisenwald. It's obvious that they didn't want their plans getting out."

"What do you think they're going to try?" Lucy whispered, clutching onto Happy.

Erza closed her eyes. "Let me start from the beginning. Just the other day I was heading home after completing a job, I stopped by a pub in Onibas that I knew was a gathering spot for local wizards. There was this one group that caught my attention. They were antsy about something. They mentioned about finding Lullaby's location and some sort of seal that was blocking their access to it. I believe one of them in their group is a specialist with seals because he said he'd be able to figure it out in three days time."

"Lullaby," Lucy mumbled under her breath. A pensive expression came across her face as she chewed her lower lip."A song that sings kids to sleep..."

"Lucy?" Gray asked, raising a concerned brow.

"It's just that the name seems incredibly familiar," she explained. "But just the fact that it was sealed..." she trailed off.

"Yes, it must be very powerful magic," Erza continued.

"You sure the guys you saw at the pub are with Eisenwald?" Gray asked.

"Yes," Erza scowled. "I can't believe I was such a fool that day. I didn't recognize his name, but one of them mentioned the name Erigor. Erigor is the ace of Eisenwald. He only accepts assassination requests, which is why he's earned the name Erigor the Reaper."

Gray felt Lucy tense beside him.

"When the council outlawed assassination requests," Erza went on. "Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the council's rules. As a result, they were kicked out of their wizard league six years ago, but that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders and remain active to this day."

"Um," Lucy began unsurely. "I..."

Gray could easily see the fear in her eyes, and it was radiating off of her in waves. "Don't worry," he said. "Like I said the other day, I'll keep you safe."

She nodded shyly, a tiny smile on her lips.

"How could I have been so careless?" Erza grumbled angrily to herself, slamming her armored fist into Natsu's head. "If only I had recognized Erigor's name that day I could have pulverized them. I could have forced them to reveal their scheme to me."

Lucy paled while Happy muttered a small, "She's scary..."

"So, basically," Gray summarized. "Eisenwald's planning to do something with this Lullaby, and you want to stop them because after what you overheard you're sure it's going to be something bad."

"That's correct," Erza said. "And I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can take on an entire magical dark guild all by myself. That's why I asked for you and Natsu's help – we're storming the Eisenwald guild."

"Sounds like fun to me," Gray smirked.

"I wouldn't call that fun..." Lucy sweatdropped.

There was a sudden knock at their compartment door when the train attendant stepped in with a cart of food and drinks. Before anyone could blink, Erza had already ordered a tray of sandwiches and two slices of strawberry cheesecake. Gray held in an amused sigh as his fellow S-class guildmate's eyes sparkled as she ate atop Natsu's head. If someone asked him what he thought of Erza Scarlet, Titania, the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail, the first thing that would pop into his mind would be that she was a sucker for sweets, especially cheesecake.

"Um...Erza," Lucy questioned curiously. "If you don't mind, what kind of magic do you use?"

"I practice–"

"Erza's magic is really pretty," Happy interjected with a creepy grin. "She makes her enemies bleed a lot."

An irritated mark appeared on Gray's forehead. He wanted to smack that cat for making Lucy really nervous now.

"Let's just say I'm a specialist with weapons," Erza offered. "As for pretty magic, I would have to give that title to Gray."

Lucy smiled. "Ice magic is really pretty."

Gray felt his cheeks heat up, so he quickly looked out the window. He could see Erza look at him through the window with a slight smirk on her face. He glared at her, but it was half-hearted as he tried cooling down his cheeks with a bit of his magic.

"Wait," Lucy said, turning to him with a delicately arched brow. "On our first mission, you said you knew three types of magic. You have Ice Make and Teleportation. What's the third?"

"Ice Devil Slayer magic," Erza answered. "That's where he got his alias, the Ice Devil."

"Devil slaying magic?" Lucy echoed in awe.

"Yeah," Gray said grimly. "It's kind of like Natsu's dragonslayer magic, except it's for demons."

"So you can eat ice to gain more power?"

"Precisely."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Lucy beamed.

"I usually stick to Ice Make because it takes less magic power," he explained.

"Makes sense." She paused, pursing her lips as a thought came to her. "Fire and ice... Is that why you and Natsu don't get along? You know, polar opposites?"

Erza chuckled. "I never thought about it like that."

Gray scoffed. "Nah, I just hate his guts."

Lucy gave him a knowing smile, so he nervously avoided her gaze.

5 5 5

It was maybe an hour later when the whole gang arrived at Onibas Station. It was Lucy's first time being there, but she knew it was no time for sightseeing. Gray was the first one off the train and mentioned something about renting a magic-mobile that would help them get around easier and faster. Erza got out second and started gathering her luggage while Happy sat and watched with a piece of fish in hand.

Lucy was gathering the rest of her things when she heard an audible groan from the ground. Her eyes widened as she immediately knelt down beside the dragonslayer. If Natsu hadn't made a sound, she would've walked right off the train without him. They were all just so busy talking that she almost forgot. She cast Natsu a sympathetic look because his magic was swishing around in a nauseous sort of way. His face was pale but not that sickly green when the train was moving.

"Natsu," she called, gently shaking the dragonslayer. "Natsu, you need to wake up."

He only groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, but we really have to go!" Lucy urged. "Gray, Erza, and Happy are waiting!"

When she didn't get a response, Lucy sighed and wrapped Natsu's arm around her shoulder. She stumbled a little before righting herself. Geez, this guy was heavy and the heat that was radiating from his body was ridiculous!

Suddenly, the conductor announced the train was about to depart. Lucy struggled through the compartment door, but she wasn't fast enough since Natsu was literally hanging onto her like a lifeline. Much to her horror, the train lurched forward and began speeding up. Natsu's face immediately became green and held his hand to his mouth to prevent himself from spewing up his breakfast.

"Miss, we're going to have to move you and your friend back to economy since you haven't paid for the compartment for this part of the trip," a train attendant explained apologetically.

Lucy waved her hands. "It's quite all right, but I hope you don't mind giving a hand."

"What do you need help with, Miss?"

She silently pointed to Natsu, who groaned on the floor.

"Oh my! Of course!"

Between the both of them, they were able to move Natsu into a different train cart and accommodate him on the seat. She sat near the window and thanked the attendant before sighing and wondering how the heck they were going to meet up with the others. Lucy glanced her brown eyes around their new train cart and was surprised to see no one there except for them and some guy up front.

Natsu's magic restlessly whirled within him, and Lucy couldn't help but place her hand on his shoulder and rush her calming magic through his body. His sickly green face returned to a somewhat more normal color, but he still clenched his stomach.

"Did that help?" Lucy asked worriedly. "Or did I make it worse?"

Natsu flickered his slated eyes to her. "You're...full of...surprises," he managed to utter out with a pained smile. "Thanks, it's a bit more bearable now."

"Glad to hear," she smiled.

"Well, looky here," a voice said. "Fairy Tail wizards."

Lucy snapped her gaze up to see the man that was at the front of their train car earlier. Her magic shifted uncomfortably, but she didn't understand why since she couldn't really feel his magic. But if her magic was reacting like this, this guy only meant trouble.

"How's the guild treating you these days?" he asked. "Is it worth sticking around?"

"What?" Natsu groaned, finally looking up.

Lucy gasped and flinched when the guy suddenly kicked Natsu in the face. He roughly smothered his shoe.

"Don't act all high and mighty just because you're in a legal guild, Mister Fairy," the guy growled, eyes glinting maniacally. "You guys just blindly follow the rules of the magic council."

Despite Lucy's fear, she found her voice. "The rules are there for a reason."

"Rules are always meant to be broken," he scoffed.

She scowled at him. The aura he was giving off was repugnant and just plain wrong. What business did this guy have with them anyway?

"You guys are nothing but harmless little flies."

Natsu silently glared up at him, his fists becoming ablaze, and shoved the guy off of him. The dragonslayer stood up and got in a fighting stance.

"Lucy, step back! I got this."

"But–"

He gave her his fiery stare, and she couldn't help but hesitantly oblige.

"I'm going to turn you to ash," Natsu snarled.

"Oh, looks like I hit a nerve," the guy taunted.

"You–"

The train shook a bit. Lucy couldn't help but facepalm as Natsu's fists of fire became nothing but smoke as he clenched his stomach in pain.

"What kind of magic is that?!" the guy laughed. "Let me show you how it's done!"

An intricate dark purple magic circle appeared beneath the guy's feet. Before Lucy could even blink, three shadows lunged from the magic circle and hit Natsu squarely in the jaw. The shadows wisped around him, almost like they had a life of their own. Her eyes widened, as did Natsu's. That magic! It was the same they encountered two days ago!

"Natsu!"

"Yeah, I know!"

The train suddenly pitched to a harsh stop, the wheels screeching and sparks flying in the air. She yelped as she fell backward and slammed against the back of the train cart. Natsu rolled backward while their assailant tripped forward, something came flying out of his coat. It was a wooden flute of some sort with a three-eyes skull at the top.

"No way," Lucy breathed shakily, eyes wide in horror. "Natsu, grab the flute!"

"Huh?" was his intelligent reply. "You mean that weird thing?" he asked, pointing to the object of their future demise.

"Yes! It's Lull–"

"Shut up!" the guy barked, grabbing hold of the deadly flute.

Lucy squeaked as she barely dodged a shadow heading her way.

"Asshole!" Natsu growled, one of his fists lighting on fire. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Dark Shadow!"

Lucy shielded her eyes with her arms as the explosion rocked the train and blew off the roof of the train car. The windows shattered, spraying glass everywhere, and the seats were nothing but debris. The blonde coughed as the smoke billowed out into the sky.

"Little fly, huh?" Natsu sneered.

"Lucky shot," the guy spat.

"Attention all passengers, our emergency stop was a false alarm. We will be departing again shortly," the PA system announced.

"Aw crap," Natsu blanched. "Lucy, we got to go!"

"Hold it right there!" the guy yelled. "I'm not letting you get away that easily! You're messing with Eisenwald now!"

Lucy's brows furrowed. If he was with Eisenwald and had the flute... That meant he was the one Erza was talking about! The one that was good with seals!

"Eisenwald, huh?" Natsu scowled. "I'll show you what happens when people mess with Fairy Tail!" He cracked his knuckles. "How about we take this outside?"

"Natsu, we need to leave because the train will–"

As if on cue, the train jolted causing Natsu to slouch forward with his hand over his mouth. Lucy staggered with the momentum of the train, but she was able to catch herself just in time to save herself from a painful face plant.

"Let's...get off this...bloody thing," Natsu wheezed.

"Right behind you," Lucy agreed.

He wrapped an around her waist.

"Wait, Natsu, what are you doing?"

He silently perched himself near the broken window, getting ready to jump off the speeding train.

"No," Lucy refused, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Are you crazy?!"

Natsu grinned.

Lucy screamed as the dragonslayer jumped.

5 5 5

Gray was in a foul mood.

He glared at the papers in his hands, more specifically at the outrageous amount. Renting a magic-mobile wasn't usually expensive, but this was ridiculous. He was thinking of threatening the guy when some army officers walked by, so he thought better of it. He decided he'd get back at the renting company through Natsu's hate for moving vehicles.

The ice mage sighed as he made his way back to the platform. He easily spotted Erza as she finished stacking her crapload of luggage on the wooden dolley. He saw Happy nibbling on some fish, as he always did, atop the stack of luggage.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Erza nodded.

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

Gray furrowed his brows, noticing they were two short. He flicked his eyes and scanned the surrounding area, but he couldn't see pink or gold anywhere nor could he feel their magic in the vicinity. He grew concerned.

"Where's Lucy and Natsu?" he asked.

Everyone froze when they heard the train whistle in the distance.

"Uh oh..." Happy panicked.

Gray remained silent as he quietly seethed at the stupidity of everything.

Erza swore. "I was so busy talking and gathering my luggage I forgot about them!"

Gray just sighed. "Knowing Lucy, she was trying to help Flame-Brain off the train but was a little too late..."

"Aye..."

"I am such a fool!" Erza scolded herself. "This is all my fault! Gray, I need you to come and hit me for my penance!"

Gray bonked her on the head. "Erza, focus."

"Right, I apologize."

"How can we catch up to them?" Happy asked.

Gray waved the papers in his hand. "We have a magic-mobile, but we'll need to stop the train first."

"The emergency brake!" Erza realized.

The three of them traveled to the mechanical room, and Gray sweat-dropped when Erza busted the door open with a powerful kick. Unnecessary but flashy, just like Fairy Tail members usually were. Gray could only watch as Erza, in all her glory, pulled the lever much to a worker's dismay.

"What do you think you're doing lady?!" he yelled. "You can't pull the emergency lever without permission!"

"It's for our comrade," she explained. "Please understand."

"Are you kidding me?!" His voice was exasperated.

"Now, I would like you to take our luggage to the hotel," she told.

"Do I look like a bellhop?!"

She ignored the worker. "Gray, Happy, let's go."

"Erza," Gray began slowly. "You do realize once we leave he's going to switch the lever, right?"

"Is that so?" Erza gazed at the worker, impassively summoning a sword out of nowhere.

He paled before passing out.

Gray massaged his temples, feeling an oncoming headache. Maybe Lucy was right when she said that Fairy Tail mages weren't normal, but he should be used to this by now. Speaking of Lucy, he hoped she was okay. He wasn't as worried because Natsu was with her, so if any trouble came on their end, he could trust him.

"He should be out for a while," Erza observed, grabbing her luggage. "Let's go while we still have time."

"Right, follow me," Gray said.

He led them to their rented magic-mobile and was not pleased when Erza forcefully stuffed him in the back with all her luggage. The ice mage tried to politely suggest that he drive because her driving skills were insane, not that he'd ever say anything, but the redhead wanted to as her job of atonement.

Gray swore when they hit a bump. The magic-mobile launched in the air, the luggage and himself floating in the air, before roughly landing and screeching along the dirt road.

Happy groaned, rubbing his head in pain. "Ow, that hurt..."

"You hit your head?"

"Yeah..."

"Need some ice?"

The car jerked again almost causing Happy to fly out the window if Gray hadn't caught him by the tail. He set Happy down with a block of ice for his head and grumbled when he wasn't able to find a damn seatbelt. So much for his money's worth...

"Gray!" Erza called, her voice faint.

He poked his head out the window, the wind rustling through his hair. "Yeah, what?"

"The train's up ahead! It started moving again! There's some smoke, which I'm guessing is Natsu! I'll drive faster to catch up so you can jump on to see what's going on!"

Before Gray could even put a word in, the redhead flowed her magic through the SC plug causing the car to surge forward jerkily. He steadied himself and squinted his eyes to see the billowing smoke come from one of the train cars further ahead. Wondering what the idiot could've dragged Lucy into, Gray climbed out the window to the roof of the car. He grabbed the edges of the car as the car flew and jerked over some uneven parts of the road. When it became smooth again, he forced himself into a kneeling position, his white coat flapping behind him, prepared to jump onto the moving train.

There was a sudden scream that froze all his movements.

The air suddenly left his lungs as a flash of gold barreled into him, his vision blurring from the pain. They flew off the roof of the car and should've landed on rocky terrain, but it was something much softer, almost like feathers. He turned his head to look, but his vision was temporarily blurred, so he couldn't really tell.

Soft hands held his face, and his eyes met...two blurry Lucy's.

"Oh my god, Gray! I'm so sorry!" she apologized.

The ice mage blinked forcefully until two became one crystal clear Lucy. Her hair and clothes were a bit disheveled but other than that she looked just fine. A heaviness on his conscious, that he didn't realize was there, lifted.

"Please don't make a habit of jumping off of trains," was all he managed to say.

She laughed, dropping her hands to his chest. "I promise."

His fingers gripped into the soft ground, and he lifted a handful of whatever they landed on. He was surprised to see they were indeed feathers. Not just white but with a tint of gold – a trademark of Lucy's magic. He had no clue when and how she did it so fast, but he was grateful.

"Are you two lovebirds done over there?" Happy snickered, his paws trying to stifle his smug laughter.

Gray was about to wittily retort when he realized just how close Lucy and he were.

"S-Sorry!" Lucy squeaked, blushing as she scrambled off of him.

Gray stood up and dusted himself off. He easily noticed the awkward atmosphere and now the mindful distance Lucy put between them. The glare he sent to Happy had the cat's hair on end. He was going to give that cat a piece of his fucking mind.

"Let's go check on Erza and Natsu," Gray suggested, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, okay," Lucy nervously smiled.

Erza had screeched the car to a stop up ahead and was currently attempting to wake the motion sick Natsu, but her efforts backfired since her incessant shaking led the dragonslayer to unfortunately retch his breakfast. Luckily, it wasn't on Erza.

"Are you guys okay?" Erza asked them.

"Yeah, we're fine," Gray answered.

Natsu groaned, standing up. "Damnit, ugh, why'd you guys leave us on the train?"

"Just be thankful you and Lucy weren't badly injured. I apologize, Natsu. I know how much you hate transportation," Erza acknowledged, slamming Natsu head into her armor as some sort of embrace.

"It's okay!" he yelped in pain.

"You too, Lucy! I'm so sorry," Erza apologized again.

"It's okay, Erza!"

"So, what exactly happened to you guys?" Gray couldn't help but ask. "We could see smoke coming from the train miles away."

"Man, we're pretty shaken up," Natsu started. "Lucy and I got attack by some weirdo on the train. I think it was the dude that dragged away the guys that were going to eat Happy the other day."

Gray frowned. "What did he want?"

"He didn't want anything from us," Natsu scowled. "That asshole was just picking a fight."

"Did he say anything else?" Erza pressed on.

"Said he was with Eisenwald or something."

"You fool!" Erza snapped, slapping the spit out of Natsu's mouth.

Lucy winced while Gray was glad that wasn't him.

"That is exactly who we're chasing after on this mission!" Erza yelled. "Why did you let him get away?!"

Natsu looked confused. "What the? This is the first time I'm hearing about this!"

"I explained everything on the train! You should listen when people talk to you!"

"Um, did she forget that she's the one that knocked him out?" Lucy tentatively asked.

"Yup," Gray nodded.

"That's Erza for you," Happy laughed.

5 5 5

If Erza didn't have so much luggage, the magic-mobile would have easily fit all of them. Sadly, that wasn't the case, so they had to make do with what they had. Since Lucy didn't want to sit neck to a sickly Natsu, and neither did Gray, the both of them ended up sitting squashed together on one side while Natsu hung his head out the window. Happy, as usual, magically had fish in his hand.

"Well, so what was this guy like?" Gray asked curiously.

"He...didn't..." Natsu struggled, wheezing for his breath. "Hate...transportation..."

Lucy pitied him, so she decided to answer for him.

"He didn't really look like anyone from a dark guild," she murmured. "I couldn't really feel his magic either, but something felt off about him nonetheless."

"Flute...thingy...three eyes...ugh..."

"Flute?" Gray repeated.

"Lullaby," Lucy clarified. "I knew it when I saw it."

"Is it a song played on the flute?" Happy asked.

"Sort of like that, yeah," Lucy nodded. "I wasn't sure until I saw it, but now that I did I know exactly what it is."

"I feel like I'm not going to like this," Gray muttered.

"Lullaby is The Cursed Song," Lucy said grimly. "It's death magic."

She could feel Gray still beside her, and the magic in his body almost roared to life.

"Gray?" she whispered.

"Like an incantation?" he finally inquired.

"I'm not sure," Lucy furrowed her brows. "I've only ever read about it in a book, but it's definitely a forbidden spell. I was able to get a glimpse of the flute, and it almost seemed like it was alive."

"It's not just some flute, it's a demon."

"Demon?!"

"A demon from the Book of Zeref."

No wonder his magic roared to life, or specifically his devil slayer magic. It was ready to be used after being dormant for so long. Lucy concentrated on Gray's magical entity and was able to separate his different magical abilities. His Ice Make was a crytal blue, his Teleportation a nice silver, while his devil slayer was a navy blue, almost black. She almost gasped at the sheer intensity it was emitting.

"Lucy?"

"N-Nothing," she stuttered. She could feel his gaze burning the side of her head. "How...how do you know?"

She could feel him smirking now. "I'm not a devil slayer for nothing. It's my job, and it would also explain why you felt that it was alive."

"That's right..."

"It's too ironic," Happy shivered. "A lullaby is supposed to sing kids to sleep, but this Lullaby apparently sings people into oblivion. And that means that Eisenwald's planning to play it."

"But where?" Lucy pondered.

"That's why we need to follow the guy who attacked you and Natsu on the train," Gray reasoned.

The magic-mobile suddenly jerked to the side as it made a sharp turn. Since the terrain was so uneven, the magic-mobile jolted up. Lucy yelped as she felt herself flying, but one of Gray's arms easily held her down so as not to hit her head. The magic-mobile roughly landed and continued speedily on its way.

Gray angrily rapped on the window that was stationed behind the driver.

"Erza, slow down!" Gray yelled. "You're using up too much of your magic driving this thing!"

"I have no choice but to press onward!" Erza replied, her voice muffled. "If what you and Lucy said is right, then we're running out of time! If Erigor gets his hands on Lullaby – trust me – lives will me lost!"

Lucy didn't even think it was possible, but the magic-mobile sped up even more.

"Curse them!" Erza snarled. "This is madness!"

She couldn't help but agree.

Sorry for the wait, but I finally got this baby done. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think, please! Have a great day, and smile because you guys are awesome!