I just noticed that the timing of this story doesn't really fit in with the manga or the anime, so lets just say this story is set somewhere...
After
-Jellal and Merdy are the only people in Crime Sorcière and Lucy meets Rogue {Does that make it after the GMG and the dragons invasion thingy?}
Before
-The council members are killed {So, before the Tartarus arc}
Sorry, I don't really know
Chapter NINE
"I am Darque di Daemon, the gate of the Devil and one of the two keys of Afterlife. The other is Lite di Angelo, the gate of the Angel. Even I do not know the beginning of our existence. All I know is that ever since the beginning, we have been forced into a cycle, where the winner can have one wish granted, no matter how big it is."
"My magic is known as Hell magic, and I can control black elements from hell, like water and fire. However, if I need to fight full power, I can unseal my true magic, Cursed Darkness magic. With this magic, I have control over all Elemental energy. Lite's magic is Heaven magic. He can control the movement of objects. His true magic is Holy Light magic, which gives him control over all Kinetic energy."
"Since we are considered Celestial Spirits, we can make contracts with human mages and we can ask for their assistance in what I have come to call the 'Wish cycle'. However, as you probably know, we can contract with two different people."
"The two owners we chose are called 'candidates' and both Lite and I can tell when the other chooses a candidate. We are both dropped in a random location somewhere on the Human world. We are forbidden to engage in conflict of any sort until our candidates have been decided and the binding ritual is held."
"We split the world of mages into four types. Lite, mages who use magic related to Light, like fire magic and lightning magic. Darque, magic which is related to Dark, like shadow magic and poison magic. The mixture of both, which is the Shade type. People who are considered Shade type usually use magi related to the stars, like Celestial magic and Heavenly body magic. And there are the mages who aren't deemed powerful enough to form contracts with us, which we refer to as the monochromes."
"Us spirits are also allowed to ask for help from other mages with the same type as us. In case you have not noticed yet, all of you are Darque, or at least part Darque type mages. Since I am Darque, I can only recruit Darque type mages. Once you accept the recruitment process, you can recruit others with my permission. Darque type mages can only invite other Darque mages as well. However, Shade type mages can recruit both Lite and Darque. This is why we both always make sure our candidates are Shades."
"The reason we are both still alive is that there is a ritual that I can perform during the full moon, which restarts the cycle. The ritual forcibly drags me and Lite back to...where ever we came from before we are dropped into the Human world. There, we are put to sleep, only to wake up in a five hundred years time. However, the ritual needs a sacrifice. The more times I perform the ritual, the bigger the sacrificial demand becomes. I have performed it so many times, up to the point the sacrifice requires murdering people."
Darque glanced around the room, meeting everyone's eyes. "And in order to end this, I need to face Lite and win. This is where I would like your help." She closed her eyes. "But first, do any of you have questions?"
Lucy slowly raised her hand, her plate of food already forgotten. "You said recruit people. To do that, do we just bring people to you and you just tell us yes or no?"
Darque shook her head. "There's a ritual for that, which I shall explain later in more detail. It is nothing complicated."
Lucy nodded thoughtfully.
Cobra and Midnight glanced at each other. Cobra faintly nodded, then turned back to the spirit. "If we say no, what happens?" He stuffed another mouthful of food into his mouth.
Darque smiled. "This is entirely up to you, so if you say no, I shall let you go. I will not send you back to the prison and I will not report you. However, all your memories on meeting me will vanish, along with the knowledge about everything I have talked about previously, as well as the involvement of Jellal and Lucy."
Cobra nodded, as he had already expected that. "Another thing. If we decide to help you, what do we get out of it?"
"Even if we win, the 'grant one wish' rule only applies to Jellal, Lucy and me. In exchange for your help, I can grantee you my protection, from your enemies as well as the Magic council. I can give you a place to stay without the risk of being found. If there is anything you need, I will have it prepared, one way or the other. As for the wish, if you have one, I can wish for your wish to be granted." Darque grinned the most sadistic grin Lucy had ever seen. Her eyes widened, her pupil becoming slits. "I can offer you a life time of fun."
Cobra smirked. "I like the sound of that." He turned to Midnight. "We'll need some time to discuss this."
Darque nodded. "I understand." She glanced at Rogue, who hadn't said a word yet.
"Rogue?" She asked. "How about you?"
Rogue sighed, a tiny frown making its way onto his face. "Jellal has told us that he has left his independent guild due to the chance of involving and endangering his guild mate." He said. "I am not very happy with the way Sabertooth is running, but I don't like the idea of leaving Frosch."
"If you are willing to lend me your help, Frosch is welcome as well. So is Sting Eucliffe and his exceed, though you will have to ask Lucy or Jellal to recruit him." Darque said.
Rogue nodded, looking satisfied. Well, as satisfied as Rogue can look. "I would like to talk to Sting about this."
Darque nodded in understanding. "Of course." She pulled out a scroll form her cloak. "These are the names of the people which I have considered." She handed it to Lucy, who read it out loud.
"Guild, Fairy Tail. Lite, Natsu Dragneel, Laxus Dreyar, Wendy Marvel. Darque, maybe Gajeel Redfox. Shade, Lucy Heartfillia. Guild, Crime Sorcière. Lite, none. Darque, none. Shade, Jellal Fernandez. Guild, Sabertooth. Lite, Sting Eucliffe. Darque, Rogue Cheny. Shade, Yukino Aguria. Guild, Blue Pegasus. None, none, none. Guild, Lamia Scale. None, none, none. Guild, Mermaid Heel. None, none, none..." It's a list of people from different guilds.
Darque nodded. "I need to add a few more people." She said, and waved her hand. The words on the scroll swirled, and the name 'Gray Fullbuster' appeared right after Wendy's. She took the scroll when Lucy handed it back to her.
"Though it may be risky, you can find me with whether Jellal or Lucy." She smiled. "That reminds me. The recruiting ritual, also known as a binding ceremony, is a ritual where one has to swear their loyalty to one another. Either Lucy or Jellal must cut the recruitee, just enough to draw a little blood. All there is left is for me to drink it. Just a drop and you become one of us."
"Us?" Lucy asked.
Darque nodded. "I know this decision will most likely force you to leave your guild, and I am very sorry about that. I just though that maybe we could create our own guild. I know it wouldn't be enough to replace your guilds or anything, but just so you can feel the support of your new team mates."
Midnight blinked. "We're wanted criminals that have just broken out of prison. The moment we join a guild, we're gonna get arrested again." He glanced pointedly at Cobra, then Jellal.
Darque sat on the ground in front of him. "As I said, if you agreed to lend me your help, I will prepare anything you want. If you want to join a guild if we make one, I will make sure you guys can. Maybe I should just go and murder the council members."
Midnight still looked unconvinced, but he managed a small smiled. "A proper legal guild...would be nice."
I am aiming for 100 review with this chapter :D {Hopefully}
I still haven't chosen a prize, but there will {most likely} be one. You're gonna need a Fanfic account for this, so if the 100th review is a guest, I will pick review 101 as the winner
I WILL BE CLOSING THE POLL WHEN I POST CHAPTER TEN, WHICH MEANS THE RESULTS I POST ON CHAPTER TEN WILL BE THE FINAL RESULTS
Are the characters OOC? Don't forget to Review and tell what you think~ X3
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: 52
Cobra x Lucy: 38
Midnight x Lucy: 35
Laxus x Lucy: 19
Rogue x Lucy: 22
Sting x Lucy: 8
Natsu x Lucy: 5
Gajeel x Lucy: 5
Ideas and suggestions are welcome.