Chapter EIGHT

Jellal followed Lucy into her apartment after she had unlocked it.

"The others aren't here." Jellal noted.

Lucy nodded, then listened for the faint static sound at the back of her mind. "Darque, who are the others?" She asked out loud.

Before Darque could reply, Jellal smirked. "It's a secret."

'Oh, okay.'

Lucy crossed her arms and faintly pouted. "Hey!"

Jellal smiled, then paused. Hadn't Darque been talking to him? He glanced at Lucy, surprised.

'I can talk to both of you at the same time, you know.'

Lucy let out a faint "Oh."

A familiar black mist began seeping out of Lucy's key pouch and Darque appeared again. A bright flash followed and Virgo appeared after her.

Lucy smiled at her spirits. "Hi guys." She smiled. Darque smiled back and jumped onto Lucy's couch while Virgo stood there with her stoic expression. She offered Lucy a bow. "Hello princess, punishment?"

"Hi Virgo. Er...no punishment. I just need you to prepare something to eat for..." She turned to Jellal. "At least tell me how many people are coming."

Jellal grinned after he had recovered from the 'punishment' comment. "Sure princess." He said.

Lucy sighed.

"Me, you..." He trailed off. "Um, one, two, three." He said, counting each one off with his finger. "Five including you and me."

Lucy nodded curtly at him, then turned to Virgo. "Five people. Please prepare something to eat for five people."

Darque sat up. "I think one of them has a huge appetite." She said.

Jellal wondered if she was talking about him, then remembered the huge appetite Natsu had and decided she was talking about Cobra, as Rogue didn't seem to be the type of person to stuff their face.

Lucy frowned. "Uh, then something to eat for six people." Lucy looked at Jellal. "This would be way easier if you would just tell me who the 'others' are." She glowered, but Jellal could see the faint smile playing on her lips and decided that he would be alive for the next couple of days. He had heard from Natsu about how scary the blonde could be, and he had had injuries to prove it.

What kind of things would Lucy have picked up from a certain demonic red-head? After all, Lucy was Erza's best friend, right?

"Please bring the food when the 'others' get here." Lucy instructed.

Virgo bowed, then disappeared in with a flash of gold light.

Lucy nodded to herself, looking satisfied, then she turned to face Darque. She tapped her foot impatiently against the ground. "Darque, why can't you tell me?" She asked.

Darque moved so Lucy was standing directly between her and Jellal. She winked, making sure Jellal couldn't see her. "It's a secret." She said, mimicking Jellal's tone.

"Hey! I do not sound like that!" Jellal protested.

"You do!" Darque said.

Lucy grinned. "No you don't." She said, and Jellal shot a triumph look at Darque. "You sound even weirder."

Jellal paused, as if he was trying to wrap his mind around what Lucy had said. "Wait, what?"

Lucy burst into a fit of giggles. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a knock on her door. She strained her ears, and heard multiple voices. She moved to open the door but Darque stopped her.

She turned to Jellal and gestured towards the door. "If you please." She said.

Jellal sighed, but did as asked. While he moved towards the door, Darque pushed Lucy onto the couch. "Sit, and don't freak out."

Lucy nodded uncertainly. A moment later, Lucy heard a voice that seemed to be tugging a certain memory at the back of her head, though she couldn't remember exactly where she had heard it.

Lucy turned towards the corridor leading to the door to meet Cobra's disbelieving gaze. Darque tapped Lucy's head reassuringly then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The poison dragon slayer turned to Jellal, who had appeared behind him. "She's your partner?" He asked skeptically. Jellal nodded. Two others appeared behind him. Both Rogue and Midnight glanced at her before offering her a slight nod.

Lucy sat there in shock. She was supposed to work with them? She remembered Darque telling her to stay calm and just about managed to restrain herself from screaming bloody murder.

She took a couple of deep breath then looked at the new comers again. She met Cobra's smirking gaze and she resisted the urge to beat the crap out of Cobra. What was his problem? She ran through a list of insults in her mind, wanting to get a reaction out of him. He could hear her thoughts, right?

When Cobra's smirking expression didn't change, Lucy frowned slightly.

'He can't hear you, if that's what you're wondering about.'

Lucy's frown deepened. "What? Why?"

'Lets just say I exist in your thoughts as well, and I'm protecting it. As long as I'm here, you wont have to worry about people taking over or reading your mind.'

Lucy smiled. "Oh, okay, thanks." She glanced at the other people in the room and noticed that they didn't look very surprised. Jellal must have told them.

A flash of gold distracted her from her thoughts and Virgo appeared. "May I set the table now princess?"

Lucy nodded at her. "Yes please." Virgo bowed, then moved over to the table. The spirit brought out a huge plate from who-knows-where and placed it onto the table. Lucy nodded, satisfied, and turned back to her new 'teammates'.

She sighed, wondering what to say when Jellal stepped forwards.

"Okay. I am pretty sure that you guys already know each other, but lets start with introductions. After that, Darque, can you come out and answer everyone's question?"

'Sure.'

Jellal nodded. "Then, I'm Jellal Fernandez, ex member of Crime Sorcière." He paused. "I use Heavenly body Magic and I'm one of Darque's owners and a Shade type mage." He gestured at Lucy.

"Well, I'm Lucy Heartfillia. I'm a Celestial mage of Fairy tail and I'm Darque's other owner. I'm also a Shade type." She glared at Cobra and when he smirked, she looked away.

Cobra plopped down onto the floor next to Midnight, who looked asleep. "Cobra. Former member of Oración Seis and Poison Dragon Slayer. Darque type." His expression was unreadable.

He nudged Midnight with his elbow. Midnight's eyes flew open. "What? Oh, yeah." He yawned. "Midnight. Former member of Oración Seis. I use Reflector magic. Darque."

He grunted at Rogue who sighed. "Rogue. Shadow Dragon Slayer. Sabertooth. Darque type."

Cobra leaned back and threw his hands up. "What is this, make friends day?"

'Says someone who looked excited about the whole thing.'

Lucy laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. Even Jellal was grinning.

Cobra glared at them. "What?"

Lucy grinned at him and shook her head. "Nothing."

Jellal nodded, backing her up. "Now, Darque. Will you..."

Mist swirled out of Lucy's key pouch, taking form into a human. Darque nodded, all the mischievousness gone. She looked at Rogue, Midnight and Cobra. "I do not know how much you have heard from Jellal, but I will start from the beginning."

Don't forget to Review and tell what you think~ X3

Are the characters OOC?

The votes for pairings are still ongoing. Vote at the poll on my profile, PM me, or just post as a review.

Pairings so far:

Jellal x Lucy: 42

Midnight x Lucy: 31

Cobra x Lucy: 33

Laxus x Lucy: 18

Rogue x Lucy: 15

Sting x Lucy: 7

Natsu x Lucy: 5

Gajeel x Lucy: 5

Ideas and suggestions are welcome.