Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Chapter Five: Putrid Eyes

Back to where we left off….
Magnolia; Outside the Fairy Tail Guildhall

Natsu and Gray walked together as they left the guild. The two had been itching for a fight but with no leads on the Seven Deadly Sins they were now starting to get irritated. Natsu would occasionally glance to Gray and noticed him looking down at his hand and flexing it. "You okay, Gray?" he asked. It was pretty clear from the look on the Ice Wizard's face that something was troubling him.

"Back at the monastery, when we got attacked by the seven…" he shivered as he remembered that crushing defeat, "Whatever those guys did to me, if felt weird. I couldn't use my magic at all."

"So?" Natsu asked, arms behind his head. "So what?"

Flying beside them, Happy scowled down at his best friend. "Natsu! Isn't it obvious? One of them stole Gray's magic. I bet it was the one named Greed."

"That's not it," Gray said, looking back up at Natsu and Happy. "It was the girl with the scars. When she took my magic, it felt…"

"What?" Natsu asked, coming to a stop.

Gray looked at his hand again and frowned. "I felt like I never had magic to begin with. It was like she made me just a regular guy."

"Well," Natsu cracked his knuckles and grinned, "I don't care if she is a little brat, she'll pay for messing with Fairy Tai-"

Both Happy and Gray stared at Natsu as he suddenly swirled around, sniffing the air. "What is it, Natsu?!" Happy asked frantically. The look on Natsu's face told the two everything they needed to know.

"I smell blood." Natsu sniffed the air again and his eyes widened in horror. "Lucy!"

Meanwhile….
Lucy's House

Lucy could barely feel her heartbeat as she stared down at the demon before her. "H-hi?" she muttered, slowly backing up.

Envy held up the doll in her hands. "Wanna play?" she asked, giving Lucy a smile that would have been cute, but the scars and her evil, yellow eyes gave her a terrifying appearance. "I don't have anyone to play with."

Sweat rolled down the side of Lucy's face. The last time she was face-to-face to face with this demon, the little girl froze Gray with his own magic. 'If she's envy…then can she take a person's magic?' she quickly thought. 'Does it work with Holder Magic like mine?'

Lucy took the doll from Envy with her shaking hands and nodded. "O-okay…" she said as Envy walked past her and entered her bedroom. She watched as the little girl in the black dressed hopped up onto her bed and resumed playing with her dolls. "So…what's your name?" she asked with chattering teeth, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes darted to her ring of keys sitting on the nightstand just a few feet away. 'If I can get to my keys…maybe I can beat her with Taurus or escape with Aries….'

"Envy," the girl identified, holding two dolls together. "That's what Pride called me. I had a name before, but I don't remember it," she said in a low monotone voice. She looked up at Lucy with her sickly yellow eyes, making the girl fight back a cringe. Looking at Envy was like looking at a literal plague. Setting down the doll, Envy looked Lucy up and down. "You're pretty…" she said softly.

"Th-thanks…" Lucy said, afraid of the look in her eyes. "Um…you're pretty too."

The girl gave a terrifying smile. "That's what my sisters said…before I killed them." Her eyes narrowed and her yellow eyes pulsed. "You remind me of my Mama…you're so pretty and kind…" she said while sliding off the bed. "I hate pretty things."

Lucy felt the ominous shift in the room and leapt off the bed, reaching for her keys. As soon as she grabbed them she turned around to see that Envy hadn't moved an inch. Fear clenched her heart as she pointed a golden key at the demon. "Open! Gate of the Golden Ram: Aries!" she shouted.

But nothing happened.

"What?" Lucy looked at her key before looking at her free hand. She didn't feel that underlying hum of power within her, the fuel for her magic. "What's going on?"

"You've pretty keys…."

Envy started to stalk towards the frightened Lucy, the look on her face enough to drive fear into the bravest of warriors. Lucy backed away from the girl until her back hit the closed window, leaving her with nowhere to run. When Envy held up her hand, Lucy gasped in surprise. "How'd you get my keys?" she demanded, realizing that her weapons had been mysteriously snagged.

Envy ignored Lucy and inspected the gatekeys. "Wow…they're so pretty, just like Greed's…" she looked up and glared at the terrified blonde. "I'm so jealous. Everyone has such pretty magic. But not me. Envy doesn't get to play with magic. She gets laughed at while she plays with stupid dolls! Well…" Envy gripped one of Lucy's keys and pointed it at her. "I'm laughing now."

When a logical thought crept into Lucy's mind, her nerve became enforced with steel. "Don't bother," she said defiantly. "You don't have a contract with any of my spirits. Even if you summoned them, they won't obey you."

Silence filled the room as Envy stared at Lucy, her eyes pulsing yellow. "You know, I take it back…you aren't pretty," the girl said, narrowing her eyes, "You're as ugly as my sisters. Open: Gate of the Centaur: Sagittarius "

A burst of smoke later and the Celestial Spirit in horse cosplay appeared. Lucy opened her mouth to try and order Sagittarius to attack Envy but paled when she saw the Spirit's eyes.

Sagittarius's eyes were a sickly yellow.

"Kill her," Envy commanded. "And make it hurt."

"Sagitarrius!" Lucy screamed as the archer drew his bow back. "Don't!" But her words fell on deaf ears. It was only by a hair that Lucy dodged his point-blank arrow, the window shattering behind her.

Taking her chance, Lucy dove out the window, rolling onto the street as she hit the ground. She winced as pain erupted from her shoulder. Reaching with her left hand, she drew it back to see blood covering her hand. Apparently when she dove out the window she cut her shoulder on a piece of glass.

Lucy didn't have a moment to spare. She made it to her feet just in time for an arrow to hit the spot she'd landed in. Looking up, she saw Sagitarrius and Envy standing by the window, the Spirit already reaching for another arrow. Cursing herself for having to leave her keys in the hands of her enemy, Lucy sprinted away in the direction of the Fairy Tail guildhall. 'I gotta find Natsu! Or Erza! Or Master Makarov!'

She passed by a shop on a street and ducked when she saw something coming right at her in the reflection of a glass at the front of the store. Sagittarius's arrow whizzed past her and shattered the glass to the store. "Dammit!" she cursed, forced to duck into an backstreet when another arrow lodged itself in the bricks near her head.

Lucy ran for her life, dodging arrow after arrow. She saw the streetsigns she passed by and realized what Envy was having Sagittarius do. 'She's driving me away from the guild! What do I do?' she thought as she ran down the street. Thankfully it was nighttime and the streets were emptied of pedestrians who could've been caught in the mad Spirit's crossfire. 'What do I do?! I can't use magic and even if I could she's got my keys! Someone hel-'

A scream echoed throughout the silent city when Lucy felt an arrow pierce her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground. Rolling onto her back, she saw Sagittarius standing a few feet away, another arrow pulled back and aimed at Lucy's head. Beside him stood the evil Envy, whose eyes gleamed with malicious intent.

The little girl grabbed Sagittarius's arm and lowered it a hair. "No, don't kill her. Not yet…" she said with a sadistic smile that made her scarred face even more hideous. "Shoot her in the stomach. Then her arms. Then her other ankle. She's a Wizard." Her eyes locked with Lucy's and the blonde's heart grew cold from the look in her eyes, "I don't show mercy to Wizards."

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, the pain in her ankle making her mind numb. She braced herself for an arrow to the stomach and flinched when she heard the arrow fire. But when she felt no pain, no sign of being maimed, she opened her eyes cautiously.

There, standing in front of Lucy was Natsu, who'd caught the arrow. "Natsu!" Lucy cried out in joy.

Sagittarius ignored the intruder and drew another arrow, only to find himself a pincushion for ice arrows. "Guh!" the spirit groaned, coughing up blood before beginning to disappear. Before it faded, the yellow glow in his eyes faded and he looked at his mistress with pleading eyes. "Please forgive me, Lucy…."

"Gray!" Lucy cried out as the Ice Maker hopped down from a rooftop, a bow of ice in hand.

"Lucy! Are you alright!" Happy shouted as he flew down.

The girl cringed as the pain in her ankle hit her. "No…my ankle…." She looked up and saw the battle-ready face Natsu had on. "Natsu! Be careful! She can steal a person's magic."

"I know," Natsu said, slamming his fists together. "But that's not going to stop me from kicking her ass!" He pointed a finger at the demon, who was looking at the meddling trio with her usual blank stare. "I don't care if you are just a little kid! You hurt my friend and now I'm gonna pulverize your demon butt!"

As Natsu and Envy stared each other down Gray crouched to Lucy's side and grabbed the arrow lodged in her ankle. "This is gonna hurt, Lucy. Just bear with the pain."

When Gray yanked the arrow out of her, Lucy screamed in pain so loud Happy had to cover his sensitive ears. Luckily, Gray created a cast made out of ice around her foot to stop the bleeding and numb the pain. "Happy, take Lucy back to the guild. Natsu and I can handle her."

"But Gray!" Happy protested, "You heard Lucy, she'll steal your magic again!"

Whipping off his coat, Gray scowled as he looked over at the demon. "Whatever dark magic she's got, she can't steal both of our magic at the same time. That's her Achilles heel." He looked back at Happy and scowled. "Go! Lucy needs your help more than we do right now!"

Happy looked at Gray and then at Natsu, who gave the cat a stern nodded. "Okay, but I'm coming right back to help," Happy said, activating his Aera Magic.

Envy blinked as the talking blue cat grew wings and scooped up the injured Lucy. "Pretty…" she said absentmindedly as she stared at Happy's wings.

When Envy's eyes pulsed, Natsu got a bad feeling. He turned around to see if Happy had gotten away with Lucy. "Oh no!" he shouted when he saw Happy and Lucy in freefall. "Lucy! Happy!" both he and Gray shouted as they ran to save them. Gray caught Lucy and Natsu caught Happy before they could hit the ground. "What happened? What happened to your wings?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know!" Happy said, scared out of his wits. "I was flying one second then the next I was falling like I was attached to a boulder!"

"That better not be another joke about me…" Lucy bristled offhandedly.

"Pretty…."

The group turned to see Envy floating in the middle of the street, Happy's Aera wings on her back. "So pretty," the little girl sighed as she flew.

Anger burned through Natsu as he balled his hands into fists. "How dare you!" he screamed before charging at Envy. "That's Happy's magic! GIVE IT BACK!" he screamed while charging up his flaming fist. "FIRE DRAGON'S…."

Lucy looked over at Envy and saw the girl turn her attention to the charging Natsu. Fear crept into Lucy's heart when she saw Envy's eyes pulse yellow again. "Natsu! DON'T!"

"IRON FIST!"

WHAM!

The three remaining Wizards all gaped in horror as Natsu suddenly went flying, crashing into a brick wall. When they turned back to Envy they were all stunned to see her hand wrapped in fire. "That's Natsu's magic!" Happy shouted, his wings suddenly appearing again. "She's stolen his Dragon Slaying magic!"

"Well, if she wants to fight me with fire…" Gray said, putting his fist into his palm, "I'll show her! Ice Make: Hammer!"

Nothing happened.

It was déjà vu all over again for Gray when he looked up and saw Envy standing two feet away from him, her fist no longer aflame. "You've pretty magic…" she said, her eyes pulsing as she stared up at Gray. "It makes me want it even more…."

"GAHHHH!" Gray screamed as the girl summoned a giant ice hammer and whacked him with it, sending him flying, ice covering his side from where the hammer hit him. Hitting the ground, Gray struggled to his feet, shivering from the cold…and then realized he was shivering from the cold!

"What the hell?" Gray asked looking down at his hand again. He didn't feel any magic like before but more than that…"This isn't just stealing magic!" he realized when he touched the spot where the hammer had hit him and felt the sting of the cold ice. "Even if she's stealing it, I shouldn't feel cold." He looked over and saw that Natsu hadn't gotten up from being put through a brick wall and knew something wasn't right. 'Natsu could take anything and still get back up. He only got hit once and now he's down for the count? What's going on?'

"Gray! LOOK OUT!" Lucy screamed.

"You keep racking your head for answers when it should be obvious."

Gray looked up to see the pointy end of Cold Excalibur pointed at his face. The little girl smiled as she had Gray at her mercy. "I know how strong you all are. You're wondering why someone as strong as him got knocked down with a single blow. I don't steal just your magic…" Envy's eyes pulsed with a mad, putrid yellow as she looked down upon Gray, "I make you human. A frail, weak and puny human. It makes you jealous, doesn't it?" Envy asked with a childish smirk, "To have such pretty Magic but you can't use it? It makes me so…so…jealous."

"GRAYYYYYY!" Lucy screamed as Envy swung the ice sword down.

CLANG!

Envy blinked when she felt the ice in her hands shatter. She stepped back when a flash of metal came close to slicing her face off. The intruder helped Gray to his feet, her red hair shining in the dark. "You alright, Gray?" Erza asked. She turned her head and saw the gaping hole in the wall. "Natsu! Quit loafing around!"

A hand gripped the side of the hole in the wall and Natsu hopped out, nursing the lump on the side of his head. "Yow! She sure packs a wallop!"

Glad to see her friends were safe, Erza turned her attention to Happy. "Happy, you need to get Lucy out of here. With her ankle like it is, she'll just be target practice for her." She reached into her pocket and tossed Lucy her keys. "Here. I grabbed these when she wasn't looking."

"Thanks, Erza…" Lucy breathed, glad to have her keys back. As Happy once again scooped her up she looked back at the redhead. "Are you sure you'll be okay without us?"

Smiling, Erza nodded before turning her attention back to the demon. "This demon, girl or not, made an enemy of Fairy Tail." Her armor glowed as she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. "I'll make her pay."

Envy ignored the flying cat as he carried Lucy away, her eyes fixed squarely on the Armored Wizard in her mighty armor.

"So pretty…."

To be continued