Anyone else kind of love stories with prophecies? My husband hates them, but they're one of my guilty pleasures.
Moon'n'Tide: Those answers will come later.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
Loke took a step back as Natsu's roar assaulted his ears. "Natsu, what the hell, calm down!"
Natsu's golden eyes snapped open and he stared at Loke with an intensity that almost worried the angel. He barely sensed an attack coming as Natsu charged forward and swiped at his chest. Loke avoided being grabbed, but Natsu's claws ripped through his shirt and jacket like they were nothing.
"Seriously man, stop changing! It's the middle of the afternoon people are going to see you!" Loke was at a complete loss. He could understand Natsu being upset, but his reaction was so much more than he had anticipated. Loke was on fire himself, ready to charge into any fight to retrieve his charge, but his anger was nothing compared to what he sensed coming off the half dragon in front of him.
"Damn it, Natsu," he mumbled, jumping back from the hybrid. He clapped his hands together and cast out a barrier. A web of pale strings expanded until the whole yard was surrounded, keeping human eyes from seeing what was happening inside. The barrier wouldn't hold long, but Loke hoped it would it block them from human eyes long enough for him to snap Natsu out of whatever was happening.
Natsu jumped forward and swung at Loke again. The angel could see patches of scales beginning to appear and his horns were beginning to poke out from his hair. Loke continued to dodge Natsu, his speed surprising the angel, but not moving so fast that Loke couldn't avoid his attacks. "Natsu, what the hell man. Why are you freaking out so much? And on me! I didn't take her!"
Natsu roared again and then jumped in his direction. Loke barely managed to dodge as Natsu kicked at his chest. As he leaned back to avoid the blow, Loke stumbled and nearly fell, giving Natsu the chance to finally hit him. The angel hissed as his wings unfurled and he took to the air, blood dripping from the wounds across his chest. "Damn it, was I right all along? You really are no more than a lowly demon, aren't you?"
Natsu leaned forward and Loke watched as Natsu's shirt disappeared and his wings began to emerge from his back. After a moment, Natsu attempted to fly up to him, but his wings were barely poking out of his back. The hybrid continued to scream at the angel and jump towards him, but he couldn't get into the air.
As he watched, it dawned on Loke that Natsu's transformation had stalled. A demon's magic in the human realm hinged upon their contract. Loke had sensed when his bond with Lucy had faded, and if Natsu was suffering similarly, then he wouldn't have enough magic to transform, or perform any of his spells. Not only that, if he lost too much magic, he ran the risk of dying.
"Shit." Loke sighed as he lifted a now glowing fist. "I'm sorry Natsu, but I have no choice. I need your help if we're going to get Lucy back." The angel waited, and just as Natsu fell back towards the ground after another failed jump, he flew down at the hybrid and punched him in the face. Natsu groaned as he bounced off the ground and his eyes shut as his body went still. Sensing that his barrier was nearing its end, Loke quickly grabbed Natsu and drug him inside. After stretching him out on the kitchen floor, Loke left Plue to check over the hybrid as he did a scan of the space.
He could tell that Levy, Cana and Juvia had also been over, and judging from their scents, they had left right around the time his bond had faded. Ignoring the possible implications, he continued to search the apartment. Pausing outside Natsu's room, he contemplated not entering, but decided he needed to see everything. As he opened the door, something sailed passed his head into the hallway. The angel quickly raised his hands, but paused when he saw the small blue cat on the bed.
"You don't belong here," the Exceed said, his fur standing on end.
"Of the two of us, demon, I'm the only one who should be here."
Happy blinked at him. "How do you know I'm a demon?"
"I assume you came here with Natsu, so that would mean you are most likely a demon. And while I have never seen an Exceed in person before, I know how they are supposed to look. Plus, you're blue and can talk, so you're definitely no human world cat."
The Exceed's fur smoothed out a bit as he eyed the other being. "You're the angel, aren't you?"
"Yes," Loke answered, "I am. Who are you?"
"I'm Happy."
"Since you're here, and I'm assuming you're close to Natsu, do you mind telling me what the hell's going on with him?"
"What do you mean?" Happy tried to stand, but he only managed to pull himself forward a little.
Loke moved forward to kneel next to the bed. "Why are you so weak? You don't look injured."
"Someone came for Lucy," Happy said, his lip quivering. "I didn't smell them or hear them or anything. When I finally sensed whoever it was, they vanished, along with Lucy and the girls. Ever since I've felt really weak, but I don't know why."
"Shit," Loke whispered. His worst fear had been that they'd caught all four of the girls, and it seemed he'd been right. Loke decided to focus on the Exceed and worry about one problem at a time. "How are you here? Are you connected to Natsu's contract with Lucy somehow?"
Happy nodded. "I was part of Natsu's conditions."
"So that means you're relying on Natsu's magic to stay, correct?" Happy nodded. "Okay, I need to ask you a couple questions, and then I need you to send yourself home. Is it possible for you to do that?"
"I've never tried. Usually I have to run low on magic in order to get sent back if I'm summoned. For Natsu's contract, Lucy usually sends me back when I wanna go."
"Okay, well, after you answer my questions I'll try to send you back, okay? You being here is a drain on Natsu's magic that he can't handle right now, and even though I don't like the demon, I need him."
"Dragon," Happy said quietly, his eyes closed.
"What?"
"If you're going to refer to him as one of his races, refer to him as a dragon. He's always been more dragon than demon."
"I'm not so sure after what I saw out front."
Happy's eyes flew open. "What happened? Did you tell Natsu someone took Lucy?"
"I did and then he flipped out."
Happy groaned. "That's not good. Natsu hasn't figured it out yet."
"Figured out what?"
Happy looked away. "I can't tell you. And you can't tell Natsu about what happened."
Loke raised an eyebrow. "I can't tell Natsu that he flipped out and attacked me?"
"Exactly." Happy forced himself to sit up and stared at Loke as seriously as he could. "Natsu has to learn about his lapses and what they mean on his own. If you or someone else tells him, it could mess him up, possibly even his magic, so you have to promise me you won't tell him."
"You know I have no obligation to listen to you, right?" Loke asked.
"I know, but you have questions, and you need Natsu. I can refuse to give you the answers you need and convince Natsu not to help you if you refuse."
"You know if Natsu doesn't help me, Lucy is the one who will suffer."
Happy barely hesitated. "My loyalty is to Natsu first. He's the one I have to protect, not the human."
Loke could tell Happy didn't fully mean what he said, but he wasn't going to challenge the demon. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose if he didn't agree to lie to the still unconscious hybrid. "I'll lie to him if you really wish."
Happy nodded as he sank back down into the bed. "You have to. And you'll have to keep an extra close eye on him when you go save Lucy, too."
"Why is that?"
"I already told you I can't tell you."
"Is it because Lucy is special to him?"
Happy's ears twitched. "She's his friend, of course she's special. All of Natsu's friends are special to him."
Loke recognized a non-answer when he saw one. He studied the Exceed as he tried to recall anything he'd learned about dragons or demons eye color changing or going berserk over losing someone. Was it because of the contract? He'd never heard of a demon getting so worked up over losing their master before, but Natsu was half dragon. Perhaps it was the dragon part. Come to think of it, his eyes had reminded Loke an awful lot of Igneel. Had Igneel ever said anything about his kind that was relevant? He knew Natsu was a hybrid, but perhaps-
Loke's eyes widened as he finally realized he knew what was going on.
"The ice dragon half breed," he whispered, causing Happy's eyes to flash open in a panic. "He's bonded with Lucy."
"You can't tell him! You can't! If you know the story, you know what's happening and you know you can't tell him!"
Loke sat down, hard and began to chuckle. "To think it would be Lucy and Natsu." He rubbed his face with both hands, sighing as he finished. "This is just freaking great. What am I going to tell the king?"
"You don't have to tell your king anything, this has nothing to do with him," Happy said angrily. "Now promise me you won't tell Natsu!"
"Does Lucy know?" Loke asked curiously.
"She knows something is going on, but she doesn't know he's bonded, and she's already promised not to tell Natsu about his lapses. You have to promise, too."
"I'll do my best," Loke said.
"That's not good enough!" Happy said angrily. "You have to promise, right now!"
Loke studied the Exceed for a long moment before he finally nodded at him. "Fine, I promise."
"Good. Thank you."
"Alright, so Natsu has bonded with her, but the dummy hasn't realized it, and when I take him to help me get her back, he's probably going to react like a psycho. That's going to be fun."
"I don't know what he did to you, but from what I've seen with Lucy, you just have to break his focus on her somehow to bring him back to his senses."
"Got it. Guess I have a good reason to punch him now."
Happy sighed. "Please Loke. I don't know you, but Lucy likes you, so I'm hoping I can trust you. Natsu is my best friend and I hate that I'm going to have to leave him when he needs me most. Please help him. Please. I don't want anything bad to happen to him." Tears welled up in Happy's eyes. "Please help him."
Loke leaned forward to pat the Exceed on the head. "Don't worry, I'll do whatever I can to help Natsu get through this."
"Thank you," Happy whispered. "I'm getting more tired. I think I'd like to go home now. What other questions do you have?"
"It was really just about what's going on with Natsu."
"He doesn't usually get upset when he zones out like that. He usually just gets really focused on Lucy. His eyes change to gold every time, that's the easiest way to figure out that it's happening."
"Got it." Loke looked around the room. "Is there anything in here I can use to draw your mark?"
"I don't think so," Happy whispered, "but Lucy keeps a copy and some tracing paper in her desk."
"Go back and forth a lot?" Loke asked.
"A bit. I've been trying to give them some alone time recently. And Natsu has me doing some research for him, too, so it's just convenient this way."
Loke held out his hands. "Do you mind if I carry you to Lucy's desk so you can direct me?"
"I don't mind."
The angel leaned forward to carefully lift the Exceed, then stood and made his way to the living room. Natsu was still passed out on the kitchen floor, so Loke tried to stay quiet as he followed Happy's directions to the correct drawer and pulled out the papers he found there.
"All you have to do is lay the tracing paper over the symbol and trace it," Happy said, curling up in Loke's lap.
"Alright, let's give this a shot." Loke set up the papers and began to trace over the symbol. "Is there anything you want me to do before I send you back?"
Happy sighed. "No. Just make sure you keep Natsu safe. He can be hot headed sometimes, but he's a really good guy. And try not to give him so much heat about his demon blood. He doesn't like it anymore than you do."
"Got it," Loke said, as he finished the inner flame.
"Loke, is Lucy in a different world?"
"Yes, she is, so I need to get Natsu and leave as soon as possible."
"Is it the demon realm?"
"No."
"Okay, good."
Loke lifted the pen from the paper. "Why is it good that we're not going to the demon realm?"
"If you were, I was going to ask you to keep an eye on his scarf," Happy murmured.
"What's so important about the scarf?" Loke asked.
"It helps Natsu control his power and keep his demon side in check. It's a very powerful item, and a lot of demons have been trying to take it from him for decades. If he zones out around them, he might not come to soon enough to stop someone from taking it, so I had to make sure you weren't going there. To most others, it would just seem like an ordinary scarf, but demons can sense how powerful the magic in it really is, so Natsu has to be careful around them."
"I will keep that in mind." Loke returned to tracing the Exceeds' symbol. When he had a small line left to finish the outer most circle, Loke paused again. "I'm about finished. You ready?"
Happy nodded. "Just remember to protect Natsu for me."
"You have my word, as leader of the Zodiac, and right hand to the king of all angels, I will keep an eye on him."
"Thank you," Happy sighed. Loke finished connecting the lines, and as he watched, Happy blinked out of existence.
Loke stood and glanced down at his shirt. The wound had closed but he still had both wet and dry blood all over his chest. As he made his way to the kitchen, he used his magic to change his clothes, hiding the still stinging wounds on his chest.
He went to the sink and filled a glass with cold water before moving back towards Natsu. Loke sighed. "Just when I thought you couldn't cause me any more problems, you just had to bond to Lucy of all people, didn't you? I swear to the gods, I've never met a more problematic demon or dragon.
"While it might actually be better for me to go alone given this new information, you just might be the ace in the hole I need to save Lucy, so I'll just have to deal with your extra personality for now."
He held his hand away from him and said, "Time to wake up, dragon," before dumping the water on Natsu's face.
