The Fox and the Dragon

"Dragons and legends...It would have been difficult for any man not to want to fight beside a dragon."

― Patricia Briggs, Dragon Blood

"Daddy, when can I go see the fox lady again? I really liked her. She was nice and smelled nice too. Her snake was funny too. I wanna play with him. When daddy?" Ila asked her father, Laxus while he was getting her tucked into bed at their home outside Magnolia. He growled a little at the thought of his precious daughter being anywhere near that woman. He tolerated her presence at the guild only because she was in a wizard's guild in Sin. He did speak with her Guild Master, Sam Saxe, who reassured him that she was not asking Fairy Tail for protection, only Wi-Fi service. The auburn haired man laughed at the reason Piper wound up at the Magnolia mage guild. Sam had explained to Laxus the reason Piper was sent to Fiore in the first place. It wasn't the first or going to the be the last time Fairy Tail was a 'hide-away' for wayward wizards, even if she was only using the Wi-Fi.

Ila's little growls and nuzzles brought him out of his thoughts. She hugged the big man. She was his weakness. She had his blonde hair and her Dad's lavender eyes. She also had her dad's calmer disposition. She was a unique little girl. At the age of 6-years-old, she was a dragon slayer but also showing the beginnings of mindbender magic. Kaleb had made her a dainty choker matching his own to help control her fluctuation of magic. Laxus tickled her and growled more while his daughter laughed and cackled, "Stop Daddy! It tickles!" She continued to laugh.

As she laughed Laxus asked his daughter through their laughter, "Why does a dragon want to play with a fox, hmmm? A dragon could eat a little fox in one bit."

Ila giggled and tried to tickled her daddy back but the size difference and the wiggling of a six year old didn't deter Ila from saying something that made Laxus think about Piper's situation, "But daddy the fox is lonely. Uncle Bixy accidentally scared her, and she likes a gray snowman. Daddy how can snow be gray? I thought it was white."

Laxus let out a big sigh, "I think my little dragon is worrying about things that little dragons shouldn't worry about. Yes snow is white not gray. And Uncle Bixy didn't mean to scare her. Now give me nuzzles and kisses and go to sleep and dream of happy hatchling things."

"Ok daddy but I want to play with Flick too. He's fun." The little blonde said and she kisses her daddy and snuggled into her bed with her stuffed animals.

Laxus turned off the light and went downstairs to find his mate on the couch drink tea and looking at his tablet. He could see the tell tell grin on his face. "I'm not even going to ask because you already know, Dad." Laxus half-heartedly growled. "She's 6. How am I supposed to answer those questions about foxes and gray snowmen?" he sighed as he grabbed a beer from the fridge, walked over, and plopped next to Kaleb.

Kaleb put the tablet down and kisses his mate on the cheek, "That's exactly the problem, she's 6 and is able to reached into someone mind but not able to understand what she sees. Ila can really only see imagery right now anyway. Whereas I have been doing it for a lot longer and I am a Wizard Saint, I can see, and will have Bix confirm this; there is more to your guest at the guildhall than we originally thought. Ila was only able to see, do, and talk to Piper because I helped her. As far as the gray snowman, think about it Laxus. Who in your guild would be a gray snowman to a 6-year-old?"

Laxus was not in the mood to deal with the mental workings of a grown ass woman's mind and why Ila seen a gray snowman. He just growled and grumbled as he drank his beer. He knew the woman would be trouble when he first met her the first day but there was something that wafted over him that calmed his inner dragon and made his let her keep coming to the guild. "Kaleb, why would she have a calming effect over my inner dragon? I refuse to think about snowmen. I feel…I dunno…calm towards her…nothing romantic of course, but there is just this…calming presence about her. I've seen it happen with the other dragon slayers in the guild too. Natsu and Gajeel don't fight so much. Wendy is still Wendy and Cobra actual tolerates the woman being within conversation distance of him and lets her call him Erik, only Lucy is allowed to do that…"

"Yes, that's all your 'dragon' slayers, dear…" Kaleb leading him. He hated when his mate did this. Laxus wasn't stupid. He was a smart strategist on the battlefield. He could detect the strength and weaknesses of his foes and use his guild to exploit those weaknesses and diminish those strengths, but his own weakness and his mate's strength was subtleness. He didn't have any other dragon slayers in Fairy Tail. White Sea had Cristoff and Emzadi, and then the twin dragon slayers in Sabertooth. He looked over at Kaleb who held a smirk on his face. "What? I don't have any…more…slayers…" like a light bulb that turned on with his own lightening, "…Fullbuster…gray snowman…DEVIL slayer…No Kaleb! This is not my problem."

Kaleb laughed and felt a bit sorry for his husband of seven years, but he was a bit slow on the uptake of personal issues in his guild. His guild, White Sea, was more open with relationships and everything that came with it. Fiore was prudish when it came to matters of relationships and sex. "No Laxus it normally isn't your problem when two mages decide to engage in a relationship, but this is different," Kaleb started then his toned turned serious, "The reason why this is your, our, problem is you have a devil slayer that is starting to develop strong emotions for a non-magical human. A non-magical human who is not even from Fiore or Bosco, I might add. The reason Ms. Hatchet is so calm to you dragon slayer is she has magic infused in her and on her. It's an ancient magic similar to your dragon magic. It reminds me of Nurem's magic, but not quite. With Ila going on and on about foxes, I'm suspecting that Ms. Hatchet is either been possess by, infused with or possibly marked by a kitsune. It would explain all the dragon slayer behavior and the fox things Ila is talking about and why she's drawn to her. That's not our issue. The issue is of your devil slayer opens his magic up to her in an intimate moment then the demon that shares his soul will drive her insane and possibly kill her. If that happens, you and I will have a pissed off kitsune spirit or actual kitsune here wreaking havoc upon our family and guilds. If I had a choice between a raging dragon or the wrath of a kitsune, I would take the raging dragon any day because you my dear husband will eventually calm down. The wrath of a kitsune, if my research is correct, is a long slow burn."

Laxus absorbed and processed what Kaleb had told him. He was right a raging dragon would eventually calm down, but he knew nothing of kit-whatever thing. If their wrath was long and slow burning he didn't want that for his family. He thought of his little hatchling. "Fine so what do I need to do to keep ice balls from fox girl? Kick her out of the guild? I can't actually send her back to Sin. I spoke with her guild master. She was sent here to live with her father while they settled things down where they are located. The Thunder Legion is off on a long mission, Team Nastu is on a close by mission that is taking longer than expected, Erza is sick for some reason…I have a literal fox in the hen house. I need another beer." He growled, ran his hands through his hair and got up to go to the fridge for a cold long neck.

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Mt. Hokabe was warmer this time of the year. That meant least snowfall, warmer temperatures. Anywhere else that meant t-shirt shorts lemonade a summer thunderstorm, on the mountain range that meant Lucy didn't have to wear five layers of clothing. She could get away with three layers of clothing and a good pair of boots. The wind wasn't as piercing this time of the year. Of course, for the boys it didn't matter how cold it was, Gray walked around with no clothes on most of the time and Natsu just increased his body temperature.

Lucy yelled over the howling bursts of wind, "Gray put some pants on or your dick is gonna freeze off and the ladies of Magnolia will be in mourning!"

"Huh? Oh...shit! Where are my pants?" Gray asked as they hit him in the face. Lucy picked them up a few hundred feet back. He was lost in thought he was thinking about how he was going to ask Piper out when they returned from this stupid job that was taking too long. He knew she was going out on a date with Bix so how in the hell was he gonna up his game to outdo the Boscan who was a level above him in the playboy department. He was so lost in his thoughts he almost missed his demon talking to him.

Oy! Dipshit! Stop thinking about the lovely and start payin attention to yer surroundins. There are two demons up ahead. I think they may have possessed the vulcans you guys are after, we won't know until you find them.

"Lucy! Natsu! Up ahead there are the Vulcans we are after but two of them may be possessed by demons." Gray warned his teammates.

They made their way up the trail and as they round what felt like the hundredth corner, they saw tracks that were freshly made that led into a cave. They crept up onto the cave and sure enough in the cave were about ten large Vulcan and two of them were larger than the rest and were looking a bit different from the rest. Gray was able to determine that those two were the possessed.

"The two bigger uglier ones are possessed I'll handle those. You two take the others. Natsu, try not to cave in the cave. Lucy and I would like to get back to Magnolia in one piece." Gray planned.

"I know why Luce wants to get back to Magnolia. She's got a snake to charm. What are you going to do? Keep pining over a certain purple hair vixen?" Natsu teased.

"Shut the fuck up you pink hair fireball!" Gray hissed.

Lucy chimed in, "Seriously Gray, just ask the girl out. You've been horrible and Natsu isn't going to stop."

Gray didn't even answer he had already let the demon part of his soul come to the surface. The black marking on the right side of his body showing, his shirt already gone, his right eye red and his hair flowing up and back, he glared at both his partners and rushed the bigger Vulcans while he heard Natsu yelling his infamous line and Lucy pulled out her bull spirit with matching spirit dress form.

He rushed the bigger Vulcans and used his demon slayer ice magic to cage one and engage the other with a large broad sword. He squared off with the ugly Vulcan. He went in with a thrust but the Vulcan was quick because of the jump demon that possessed it. His own demon adjusted for the quickness. They circled each other; the Vulcan lunged for him; he dodged it easily. Gray came from the left with an upper slash and cleaved the Vulcan in half, leaving the other demon in the cage. He turned to face the caged demon only to see that that demon was no longer in that cage. He kept his sword at the ready looking around the area for it. He listened, Natsu and Lucy were holding their own against the regular ones.

"Gray…Gray…come here my love…" the voice carried through the resonance of battle ranging behind him in the cave.

"Huh? What the fuck…" Gray said aloud as he followed the sound of the familiar voice. He had become entrance by it.

"Oh Gray…I love you…come over here to me so we can be together…" the voice said. As Gray came into view, he saw the face the purple hair and yellow citrine eyes that haunted his dreams at night, Piper. She was naked standing there her arms reaching for him. "…Gray…I need you, my love…" she continued.

Gray walked up to Piper. He kept her at arm's length, still confused. "How are you here? In this cave, naked and not freezing?" He looked her up and down. Hairs rising on the neck, he looked into her eyes almost getting lost in there before he felt the burning sensation in left shoulder, but he was too enchanted by Piper. Piper wouldn't hurt him.

Dammit, boy! This is a fuckin' succubus! Snap out of it or I'm gonna take over completely and kill the bitch! That's not our Piper, ye idiot! Kill her! She's got a dagger in ye shoulder!

Gray snapped back to reality. The illusion faded to large Vulcan again that he was searching for. He blasted it with his devil slayer ice and froze it solid then made an ice hammer and shattered it into a million pieces. His shoulder burned and he was unable to move his right arm without severe pain. He felt the warm trickles of blood running down his arms and chest. The dagger had penetrated high in shoulder joint. There was a laceration that extended down into his pec. He knew he was going to need stitches. He put his left hand over the gash and worked his way back to Lucy and Natsu. He found his teammates finishing the last Vulcan. Lucy seen him first and ran over to him "Gray! What happened? Oh my god that's deep." She called out Virgo for first aid supplies. Lucy and Virgo were able to bandage him up and slow the bleeding down with pressure, but he still needed stitches and Wendy. They were two days from Magnolia. "Princess, he should be fine until you reach the guild hall. The bleeding will slow down."

"Lucy, I can freeze my wound if it's that bad." Gray added.

Natsu smelled the blood in the air. "What the fuck icicle? Forget how to fight a damn demon or two?"

"Shut it Natsu. One was a fucking succubus with illusions."

"Ahh. So that means she tricked you into thinking that she was someone you wanted naked didn't she?" Natsu grinned at his best friend.

"Always brutal and to the point aren't you?" Gray sighed. He was so done fighting. He felt a sudden exhaustion. Maybe it's from the blood loss. He did lose quite a bit from that wound in his shoulder. He held his shoulder and gritted his teeth. "We need to go."

"Sure Gray and you can fill me and Luce in on this lady that has you preoccupied so much so that a succubus tricked you briefly. It will make a great camp fire story. And Luce…we can talk about your problem as well…" Natsu said, as he help Gray get steady.

They managed to get out of the higher elevation to the more temperate climate. Lucy had Virgo set up camp with one tent. They were going to share it because the temperature may be warmer but it was still a balmy 40 degrees outside and still very windy. The wind made it unsafe for an actual campfire, so they used the next warmest thing, Natsu. They made Natsu lay in the middle and he increased his body temperature to a more tolerable one.

Natsu stretched out under the blanket with his hands behind his head. Lucy had curled up on her side and cuddled up to Natsu. She liked the warmth. Gray Laid on his back on the other side. His left shoulder ached. He had made an ice pack that molded to his wound to help ease the ache in it but it still had a burning sensation in it. He normally didn't sleep this close to Natsu but for some reason he was shivering and the heat felt good on him.

Natsu took a deep breath and grinned, "So since I have a captive audience thanks to Mother Nature. I think I'll start with the easier of you, Lucy. Luce, you have a dragon problem with a particularly snarky slayer, am I right?"

"Natsu, why do we have to do this now? You're getting worse than Mirajane. You're becoming a meddler." Lucy groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Your chest hurts worse doesn't it? The further we have gotten away from Magnolia and the longer we have been away. You feel like, well, shit and fight like shit. Don't lie. I saw it up there on the mountain. You're usually pretty on top of things and those Vulcans shouldn't have been a problem with Taurus out." Natsu said in a matter of fact way.

Lucy just groaned and flipped over on her other side putting her back to the fire dragon slayer. "And what would the great fire slayer king want his little peasant to do about it, huh? It's not like it was me who broke up with him. He broke it off with me IN A TEXT. He won't talk to me or anything. We haven't even done anything remotely intimate other than make out once. So tell me oh great knowing fire slayer king what am I to fucking do about it, hmmm? Walk up and grab him by his balls and drag him home with me like a cave woman?" Lucy seethed at pink haired mage.

Natsu just smiled and said, "You said it not me and your welcome, your king is grateful for your servitude. Although I have heard Bixlow talk about grabbing dragons by the balls before about something not sure…Who knows its Bix, dude's crazy." Natsu just rolled with the sarcasm that Lucy was serving up on him. He knew she was irritated at him, at Erik, at the pain she was feeling. He just nudged her in the right direction. Sometimes a dragon slayer just needed a firm hand to guide them where they needed to be or a fist in the face.

"Will you two shut up. I feel like shit over here. I'm feel like I'm freezing to death over here. Natsu can you make it hotter?" Gray said through chattering teeth. He had his arms wrapped around himself trying to make himself warmer. He was covered in sweat. Lucy sat up and looked over Natsu at Gray. She saw he was cover in a sheen of sweat. She reached over and felt his forehead. He was burning up.

"Gray you're burning up! Cool yourself down. Natsu help me change his bandages." Lucy said urgently.

Natsu sat up Gray as Lucy quickly removed the saturated bandages. The bandages weren't soaked in blood like she was expecting but had a sickly greenish drainage to it. The wound that she and Virgo had thoroughly cleansed was red and inflamed on the wound edges but the center of the laceration was black and oozing the green drainage. It smelled horrible. Both Natsu and Lucy made a face over the smell of rotting flesh. Gray was very pale everywhere else and hot to the touch. Lucy felt his pulse on his right arm and it was faint and was unable to feel one on his left arm. He was quickly losing his battle with whatever was afflicting him.

"Natsu what do we do? We are gonna lose Gray to I don't know what. We need to get him to Wendy but we are so far out, I don't think he will make it. What are we gonna do!" Lucy was starting panic over the thought of losing Gray. He was like her brother. She couldn't stand the thought of losing him. She looked over at Natsu with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Natsu was at a loss. He didn't know what was afflicting his buddy. He didn't know how to help him. He knew whatever it was it smelled horrendous and like sulfur and rotten meat. He knew Lucy could smell the odor to a degree but not on the level his dragon senses could. He could also hear Gray's heart rate going faster and fainter. He looked at Lucy with her tears glistening in her eyes. He never felt so helpless.

Gray felt so cold. He could get warm. He felt Lucy's hand on his head and her say something about ime being hot, but everything was starting to sound muffled from there. He barely felt Natsu sit him up a bit so his bandages could be looked at, but that was the last thing he remembered.

Ye've been poisoned by that succubus bitch, boy. Yer so weak from it, I need to take over control of yer body. Think ye can let me do this time to save our hide? No response? I'll take it as a yes then.

Natsu felt Gray's magic stirring in him. He watched the familiar devil slayer magic take over his limp friend's body. The marking grew further than they normally did. The blackness covered almost Gray's entire torso and both his eyes were red. Gray sat up and look at Natsu and then over at Lucy. In an unfamiliar voice that the two didn't recognize from their friends body, "Oi! This boy is dying. We need to git 'im out of 'ere and back to Magnolia for the little blue haired dragoness and the poison dragon to heal him. I can keep him alive for a little while longer, but he's been poisoned by a succubus. Nasty bitch from the lower regions of hell. That's why the poison is spreading so quickly." Gray said in a matter of fact voice.

"Who the hell are you? What happened to Gray?" Lucy demanded. She had her hand on her keys ready to defend them. Natsu held his hand out to stop her from summoning any spirits. "Luce, it's ok. I think this is the demon that inhabits Gray and gives him his devil slayer's magic, like the dragon inside me and I guess my demon." The fire slayer explained.

"Well look whose payin' attention, Mr. END 'imself. If me roomey 'ere had time to chat I would love to but I need to git 'im outta 'ere. Blondie, I need a key, not one of your golden ones. Gimme your house key…that will work, and a silver ring. Whose has a silver ring?" Gray said in a deeper than normal voice. Natsu and Lucy looked at Gray as if the being that shared his body should have known that Gray wore one on his middle finger. "Oh right, he wears one. OK I got everything I need. Now END shield Blondie there. This won't be pretty."

Gray quickly drew a summoning circle, took a deep breath and prayed to whatever god or goddess would listen to a Duke of Hell because his roomy needed it, "Te accerso Seir iter demonem inferni. Veni serve unus ex loco superior duces pro regibus in infernum." Nothing happened at first, then the air in the tent started to swirl. The air swirled with a nice breeze within the tent as if it knew who had summoned it. A fog started to appear. Natsu pulled Lucy closer and put himself between the fog and her to shield her. After a few minutes, a man on a horse appeared in their tent. The man dismounted off the horse and sent the horse away to wherever they had be summoned from.

The handsome man looked around the tent. He saw a young man that housed the demon END shielding a blonde woman. He looked long and hard at the blonde woman. He could feel her celestial magic and knew she didn't summon him. He turned his back to the couple and faced a rather different sight. Another young man covered almost completely in a demon's markings. The man radiated the power of a duke of the Underworld. "Ah so you must be my summoner." The man said in a silky smooth voice as he bowed. He knew it was a duke but not sure which one. "And which Duke of Hell requires my assistance?" He said with as he brandished a smirk towards Gray.

Gray shook his head. He felt his body growing weaker. "Shut it with the pleasantries, Seir. I need you to get us to the Fairy Tail guildhall ASAP, before my host's body bites the dust because some succubitch poisoned him." Gray gritted out as he held his injured shoulder.

"Ah as you wish Duke Astaroth. I would recognize your gruffness anywhere." Seir said as he bowed.

For Natsu and Lucy, the air in the room started to swirl again but this time it was including them in the vortex. Natsu kept hold of Lucy never letting her go because instincts told him not to do it. His dragon and his demon both telling him to protect her in this demonic magical cyclone. The fog rolled back into the tent and washed over everyone in the tent. For a split second or two he heard the whispers of power in his ears about how he would be more powerful than Laxus or Erza if he would let his demon magic loose on the world. He didn't listen to them and held tight to Lucy.

Lucy held a firm grip on Natsu as she felt the whirlwind engulf them. Once the fog overcame them both, she started hearing voice whispering about how she wasn't good enough to be a dragon slayer's mate. That was the real reason Erik didn't want her. She wasn't worthy of him. She didn't believe them and continued her death grip on Natsu.

When the fog faded away and the air subsided, they stood in the middle of Fairy Tail. Their guild mates frozen in whatever activity they were doing staring at them. Mirajane was the first one to recognize what was happening, "Someone find Wendy and someone get Porlyursica. Get Laxus here NOW!" She sprinted over to the trio that was standing in the middle of the guildhall. She grabbed Gray first since he was already down on one knee holding his shoulder. People scrambled to offer aid in any form, but quickly realized that Natsu and Lucy weren't injured merely bewildered about how they arrived to the guild hall.

Once Mira had Gray settled on an infirmary cot and undressed the wounds, she allowed one of her Satan souls to bubble to the surface to speak to the demon that was keeping her guild mate alive. She only had a subtle change in her appearance. Her eyes were no longer her baby blues but deep red. Her voice stayed the same as she spoke, "Duke Astaroth, how long have you been hiding in this mortals body? I sensed his demonic power and his ability to slay our kind but I never would have guess it was you. You have been missing for quite some time. It was also surprising to have Seir show up unexpected with the three of you as well."

"Ah Sitri, my old friend. I was hoping I would get to talk to you again one day. Do you have the sky dragoness and poison dragon coming? I've been poisoned by a succubus. His body can't process the poison like yours. I'm bound to his soul only. I'm only able to maintain control of his body because he loss conciseness a while ago. He getting weaker, Sitri. If he dies then I die."

Before Mirajane could respond, Wendy burst through the door, "Gray! What happened Mira?" The bluenette started working her magic over the festering wound on his right shoulder and pec. It improved some but not to her liking. She pushed as much healing magic into him as she could to stabilize him but Gray was not improving much. "Mira I can't get it to heal like I normally can. I can sense some kind of toxin running through him but it won't respond to my healing magic. I've never felt toxins like this. Do you know what it is?"

"He told me he was attacked by a succubus Wendy. We need Erik to help with an antidote. The problem is he left yesterday for a month long job." Mira explained with a concerned look on her face.

Wendy thought about the condition of her friend. He had a toxin or a poison in him. Cobra wasn't near for them to cure it. "Mira I'll be right back I have an idea." Wendy left the infirmary. She past Natsu and Lucy on her way down the stairs. She waved at them and told them to sit with Gray and that she would be back soon. She pushed through the doors and was a half a block away when she heard a familiar lightning strike nearby. She knew Gray was in good hands. She just needed help with the poison and knew of only one other person in town who could hopefully help her.