Hey guys! Apologies for running late again. I kinda had a rough night's sleep, so was too groggy to update this morning, and then work kind of exploded in my face. Again. I really should pay more attention to that probability on update days...
Anyway, do enjoy the chapter, and I'll drop it onto tumblr a little later on! Mslead should be back with you all by the next posting day!
THIS FIC UPDATES EVERY THREE DAYS: Post, Break, Break, Post!
CHAPTER 20
Selkie
Selkies are mythological creatures found in Scottish, Irish, and Faroese folklore. Similar creatures are described in the Icelandic traditions. Selkies are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land.
Lucy groaned as she slowly became aware of the sound of gulls flying overhead and the ocean surging. She shuddered as she realized she was getting wet every time the water surged , and in her current clothes it felt disgusting.
She slowly opened her eyes, and nearly instantly regretted it as she discovered she was covered in sand and grit. All of which seemed to be trying to get into her eyes at the same time.
"Ugh." She moaned and managed to brush the sand off enough she could scrub the grit away from her eyes and sat up a little to look around.
They were... on a beach.
At first the significance of that didn't register except as a kind of dull confusion about why they would be washed up on a beach with the remnants of a boat around them, but as soon as her eyes landed on Chelia it all came rushing back.
The trip to Tenrou, the unexpected appearance of Tartaros, and their frantic attempt to escape the demons that ended in an encounter with a ship, and some kind of something that created the tidal wave that tore apart their boat.
She vaguely remembered hitting the water, and being disoriented until strong arms wrapped tightly around her and pulled her to the surface.
It was kind of hazy after that, but considering Natsu was beside her she was willing to guess who her rescuer had been.
"I guess we made it to Galuna." She murmured dazedly, and shook her head to try and clear it a little more as she started nudging at Natsu, "Wake up Natsu. We made it." She looked around, "Levy! Gajeel! Chelia! Are you guys alright?"
Natsu let out a quiet moan before he coughed harshly. He pushed himself up onto his elbows with a shuddering sound escaping him and he shook his head.
Immediately as his senses came back to him, his gaze snapped around him, frantically searching for her no doubt. When they found her, he relaxed and slowly laid back down on the sandy beach.
"Lucy, are you okay?" He croaked, rolling sideways onto his back.
He licked his lips and forced himself to sit up. Water was pooling around his waist and he shook his numbing fingers.
"Come on Lucy," He held a hand out to her, his eyes still assessing any damage done to her, "I'll get you dried up."
Lucy smiled at him as she unsteadily got to her feet, "If you're okay, help me get the others up first. We shouldn't stay here much longer. There might be search parties or something."
She stumbled a bit over to where Gajeel was sprawled, Chelia and Levy both near him. Had he saved them both? Probably.
The growly dragonslayer really did have a few squishy spots.
However, she said nothing about it as she shook his shoulder, "Gajeel! Wake up!"
The large man groaned a little an wrinkled his face before sitting up suddenly and spitting out a mouthful of sand, "Ugh." He gagged and scooped up a handful of seawater to rinse his mouth out. He looked up at her blearily for a moment before his gaze sharpened.
She could practically see him working through their situation before he nodded and began shaking Levy awake.
Satisfied that Gajeel could handle the rest Lucy headed back over to where Natsu was still sitting on the beach and reached out to help him up, "I'll take that drying now if the offer's still open."
Natsu grinned a little and started gently running his hands over her, no doubt searching for injuries as well as drying her off and dusting the sand away. She just wished he wasn't doing it so...sensually.
Seriously. It was probably one of the most intimate caresses she'd ever felt and romance had nothing to do with it!
And why was she noticing Natsu and his warm hands all of a sudden anyway?
Natsu's hands stilled when she sucked in a sharp breath when his fingertips probed a tender area on her side. There was a hooded sort of expression on his face when she looked up at him. It was one she couldn't explain.
"Uh, sorry," Natsu murmured, shifting his weight a bit. His brows furrowed, as if there was something bothering him, but he seemed to shrug it off.
Slowly he dragged his hands along her sides, this time intentionally moving so slowly so not to aggravate an injury.
"It's okay," Lucy managed to stutter out around a breath, a little confused over why she was acting the way she was.
She swallowed when his large hands came around to cup her face. It wasn't right for her to be reacting the way she was. It was so beyond bad, it had jumped straight into insanity.
Natsu cocked his head at her. He was sensing something strange from Lucy, but he couldn't figure out what it was. She was flushed and seemed nervous about him touching her, but it wasn't fear or disgust causing it. He was pretty sure he would recognize that. This was something else.
Unfortunately, the what was eluding him.
However, they didn't have time for him to think it through. Lucy was right. They needed to get off the beach before Tartaros spotted them. So after he was certain the worst injuries she had were bumps and bruises he grinned at her and pulled away.
"Alright! Who's next?" He beamed at the others, but didn't wait for a response before moving over to Chelia. Unlike his careful inspection of Lucy, however, he just ruffled her hair and sent a surge of warmth around her. It had the same effect of drying her, but without the injury inspection.
"Thanks." The younger wizard smiled, and moved over to Lucy, "I noticed you were a little hurt. Hold still and I can heal your wounds."
"You can do that?" Lucy asked in surprise, and was rewarded with a slightly impertinent smirk.
"I'm a sky godslayer." She replied, "It means I can manipulate air like you saw, but sky magic is also healing magic. I didn't mention it before because I didn't think it would be needed. But with Tartatros after us that's changed."
"That's amazing!" Natsu gushed as he too edged in closer to Chelia to get a better look at the strange new magic she would be casting on his mistress.
His eyes went wide as black magic seemed to form around Chelia's hands, a gentle rush of it breezing around them to coat over Lucy's bumps and scrapes.
Before his eyes, all signs of injury were gone, and Lucy was straightening in surprise.
"Wow!" She gasped and looked at her hands, "That's incredible Chelia!"
Gajeel nodded, shifting over there to look at her, "Sky magic huh. That's some rare stuff. I can count the people who can do that on one hand with fingers left over."
Natsu moved his hands over to Levy next, drying her off with a breeze of heat that left her giggling. He glanced at Gajeel, "you know someone else with magic like this?"
Gajeel lifted his shoulder and shook his head, "Not personally. But the word goes that Igneel's queen is a sky dragon. She's one of the most powerful healers ever to exist."
"Even I know of her, even if it's just rumors and legend," Chelia murmured, her eyes glancing hesitantly at Gajeel, "It's said her healing magic is good enough to help those even touched by death."
"Really?" Levy asked in excitement over new knowledge she had never heard of before, "What else is there to know? Mr. Grump over here is barely telling us anything!"
Chelia grinned a bit sheepishly as they started moving inland, "Not much that isn't legend." She replied, "The sky queen's magic works differently from my sky magic." She shrugged a little, "But that's probably the difference between a godslayer and a dragon."
"I do know she eats air like I do." Chelia began ticking off on her fingers, but Lucy looked sharply at her.
"Hold on, you eat air?" She asked in surprise, "And this dragon does too?"
Chelia blinked a little in surprise and shrugged, "Yeah. Supposedly all dragons eat their element, and I've never met another godslayer, but I can too so I guess it's a normal thing." She cocked her head curiously, "Why?"
Lucy glanced at Natsu, "Natsu eats fire." She explained, and eyed the demon, "Maybe you're like a godslayer too?"
Natsu frowned and crossed his arms, "I dunno. Maybe. But my fire isn't all black, so I'm not sure that's quite right."
Lucy shrugged a little, "Maybe, but it's something to keep in mind. We don't know if the color means anything to a godslayer or not, and it might explain a few things."
"If it helps," Chelia offered, "I learned my godslaying from studying an ancient book. If there was a similar book for fire godslaying the knowledge could've been implanted in you somehow?"
Natsu's frown got a little deeper, "Yeah maybe." He whined slightly in frustration, "It just doesn't feel quite like the right answer though."
"We can think about it later." Lucy promised and looked back at Chelia, "Do you know if anyone lives on this island? Maybe they can help us out a little since we lost our supplies."
Chelia nodded, "There's a village roughly southeast of us." She pointed, "If we keep going in this direction we should run into it."
Chelia shifted nervously, "I think...?" She admitted
"Like I said before, no one who has come to Galuna Island has ever return," Chelia's eyes flashed around herself, now seemingly nervous as she remembered where they were.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts," Gajeel smirked at her, all sharp teeth and cocky laughter.
"N-no!" Chelia protested, but her trembling and pale face spoke to the contrary.
Levy swiped at Gajeel's shoulder, giving him a firm glare that even had the dragonslayer taking a wide step back, "Quit teasing her! This place is really spooky!"
"Wuss," Gajeel teased Levy back instead even as her small fists flailed at the air. She might have been tiny, but her rage was anything but.
"Well if no one has been able to make it off the island before, how do we know there's a village here?" Lucy asked reasonably. She set her hands on her hips.
Chelia shifted a bit anxiously and rolled her shoulders as she summoned up her bravery, "well, passing by boats can see the lights of the village along the coast. But whenever someone tries to investigate where they come from..."
"Sounds more like monsters to me," Lucy patted Chelia's arm. She smiled at her, "Besides, we're all together now."
Natsu had his head lifted to the air while they were discussing whether or not this place was haunted. He was settling in the camp of 'not' by the moment.
"Hey Gajeel, you smell that?" He asked.
The dragonslayer looked up, nostrils flaring as he caught wind of whatever Natsu picked up on.
"Good news for you two," Gajeel smirked wickedly at the two, "there ain't ghosts or monsters here on this island."
Levy followed Gajeel as he caught the scent and began to walk where they were heading with long strides. She almost had to run to catch up.
"What makes you say that?" Levy demanded as the rest of their group followed.
"Last I checked," Gajeel pointed across a ridge where a smoke stack was lifting just over the tropical trees, "Ghosts don't cook."
"That's a relief." Lucy breathed, "Most monsters don't cook either. That must mean there's some other explanation to why folks don't come back."
"Well it is a tropical island." Levy offered, "There might be rocks or a reef or something that keeps people from getting too close."
"Well whatever it is, we're about to meet it." Natsu pointed out as they rounded a bend in the trail and found themselves not far from a fortified village, "Looks like we're there now."
However, before they could get too close they were brought up short by a half dozen spears in their faces. Spears belonging to demons.
Lucy gawked in surprise. These guys were lower level demons, but they were obviously intelligent. What were they doing out here?
The leader blinked in surprise as he caught sight of Natsu and hastily lowered his spear and knelt, "Forgive us Lord Etherious!" He exclaimed, which prompted the other demons to do the same, "We did not realize who you were!"
Natsu stared at them in confusion, "Lord Etherious?"
"Etherious is a rank of demon." Lucy explained, "It's reserved for the most powerful demons Zeref ever created. There are only maybe a half dozen demons with the title." She looked at the terrified looking group, "We're sorry we scared you. We're not going to hurt you."
Natsu chose not to mention how close he had been about to do just that in defense of Lucy, but this information about demons pulled him up short.
Lucy looked hesitant, her natural distaste for demons seemingly pushed aside for what seemed to be mostly harmless and weak demons. They didn't look like they could inflict a lot of damage.
Even stranger though, they were seemingly more intelligent than other kinds.
"Really now?" One of the elders looked at them, "We saw Tartaros' fortress looming nearby and we feared the worst. Especially when they fired so close to the island."
"You are not with them?" He asked.
Natsu shook his head, "No. We're not. I've never met-" He hesitated and glanced at Lucy, "I don't have any memory of meeting them before."
It was likely he had met those demons in the past, and he found he couldn't lie to them about that.
The demon's gaze shifted over them, falling to the others around. His eyes widened as they fell on the humans and then snapped back up to Natsu.
He said nothing, only gawked at him until Natsu patted at his cheeks, wondering if there was something weird on his face.
"So uh, you all are demons that don't like Tartaros?" Levy asked.
"Dislike isn't the correct word." The elder replied, "But we have no great love of them either. Our tribe was originally created to be used as hard labor for the mines, farms, and ores Zeref's followers required. We were bred to be the perfect laborer. Smart enough to think for ourselves, strong enough to do the work of any ten humans, but too weak to fight against our superiors."
"It sounds like something happened." Lucy murmured, "Because I've never heard of demons like you before."
The elder nodded, "Zeref chose to conquer humanity instead." He replied, "After all, why create an infrastructure from scratch when one is already available, and breeds much more easily than demons despite the drawbacks?"
He shrugged, "Our forefathers were cast aside. The higher ranking demons didn't even want them as personal servants. So we drifted around until we decided to remove ourselves from the world entirely and came to Galuna. As long as we attract no attention and cause no trouble we're ignored."
"So you see... we have no particular enmity against Tartaros, but neither do we love them for they could destroy us all with ease." He fastened his gaze on Lucy, "The same is true for humans young lady. If they knew of us we would be wiped out without a second thought, but all we want is to live peacefully."
Lucy blinked and touched her hand to Natsu's arm. He looked at her curiously but said nothing.
"This is the demon END," Lucy said clear and plain to the gathered tribe. It was a gamble to admit such a thing to them, but Lucy had a somewhat crazed and wild thought that she hoped panned out.
"Because the human Council wants to use him as a weapon, we have been hunted out of the city. And the demons of Tartaros have already made a play to try and take him by killing me," Lucy breathed out through her nose.
Natsu gave her an alarmed and somewhat worried look. He was afraid she was saying too much, but belatedly realized she must have had a plan he hadn't caught on to yet.
"All we want is peace, but our world - our whole world, including this island, is on the brink of destruction," Lucy looked at Natsu standing next to her, "END - Natsu, is our best chance to fix the way things have been. But we can't do that if he's taken before we get to our destination."
All at once, Natsu figured out what Lucy had ages before him.
Tartaros was still in the area. More than likely, they were very close.
And if they chose to investigate - which they would, it wouldn't take long for them to be discovered. After all, with a destroyed boat, they had no way of moving anywhere.
The Galuna demons all looked at each other. It seemed crazy that END would care about peace or anything else. None of them had been alive when he was active, but they'd all heard the stories from their parents and grandparents.
"Do you share your mistress' opinion Etherious Natsu?" The elder asked gravely, "Are you truly willing to fight against Tartaros and make this a world where demons like us might be welcomed in human society?"
Natsu nodded firmly, "Definitely. Zeref's reasons for going to war are stupid, and it's dragged on way too long. It's way past time we ended this."
The elder sighed and shook his head, "You are a strange group." He told them, "I never imagined humans and demons could agree on anything. Let alone something so important."
He glanced at the young leader they'd originally met, and he nodded, "I think we should help them father." He said with certainty, "Our reasons for withdrawing and hiding might've been good ones, but what the other Etherious are doing is madness. I've flown beyond the island myself and seen it."
"Very well." The elder replied, "There is an underground waterway beneath the temple in the center of the island that leads directly to the sea. The temple itself is protected by holy magic. It's too powerful for us to penetrate, but perhaps not too powerful for an etherious."
"That's good, but won't that mean Tartaros can get into it too?" Lucy asked, and the elder chuckled.
"Yes they can. And while they're searching the temple and underwater passageway we will be preparing to send five of our young hunters off on a 'trading voyage' to some of the non-human peoples on other islands. They may perhaps even try contacting the dragons on Tenrou on our behalf." He shrugged, "Who knows how long they'll take to get back."
"You're a clever old guy, aren't you?" Natsu said enthusiastically, which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Lucy.
"Hey you be polite, he's trying to help us out here and he doesn't have to," Lucy grumbled and murmured an apology at the elder.
"It's quite alright, it seems END hasn't quite gotten the hang of manners," The elder's eyes narrowed at the demon, who looked rather embarrassed.
"Sorry," Natsu mumbled in apology, fixating his eyes on the short man.
In hindsight it was almost hilarious to see. Natsu apologizing to a scrawny looking demon he could easily kick into the next century. Lucy smiled a little at his sincerity, and she shook her head.
"Quite fine," the elder waved for them to follow him, "now hurry. Lets get you inside and changed into some clothes. We will shift our forms to look like your human friends so you may blend in more easily."
"Thank you." Lucy told him as they headed into the village proper.
It seemed word had already gotten back as some of the villagers were quickly changing into their human forms and greeting the group with familiar waves as if they were long lost friends. Lucy privately had to wonder if maybe Zeref and Tartaros underestimated the intelligence of these weaker demons.
"Aw, you guys look awful!" One of the ladies said with a knowing grin, "The hunt must've been a bad one huh?"
Lucy blinked and realized belatedly that they were already trying to make the cover story believable in case Tartaros was close enough to watch. The thought sent a shiver down her spine, but she smiled back as if she were exhausted, "Yeah... We kept having to start over thanks to those two."
The demoness laughed, "Well I'm sure you'd like to get cleaned up from that! C'mon! I was getting ready to head to the bath house myself! You can tell me all about your hunt while we soak!"
She eyed the two men, "You should get cleaned up too." She leaned close to Natsu and Gajeel, "You want to look good for your lovers don't you?" She stage whispered with a smirk.
"Wha-?" Lucy spluttered while Levy went red, but they were both shooed along by the demoness until they were out of sight.
"Lovers?!" Lucy exclaimed once they were at the baths, and the demoness nodded.
"Demons don't generally have any of your human inhibitions about sex." She explained in a low tone, "We make love as passionately as we hunt and fight. So it's not often you'll see an unattached pair together for long periods of time. Since you're not bonded to each other you must be serious lovers considering a handfasting to be so close."
She looked at Chelia, "Or family. You would pass for the pink haired one's little sister."
"You think so?" Chelia tugged at one of her pigtails as they all got ready. She giggled at the way her two companions looked like they were getting ready to melt into the water.
"Would it really be so bad?" Chelia sighed as she drank in their red complexions, "You both would be in love, and there is no greater magic than that!"
"Except the magic of my utter embarrassment," Levy moaned when they finally got into the waters. The demons around them laughed and immediately got in after their guests.
Lucy's face was red as she imagined playing off the role of Natsu's lover. She didn't even know if he'd be able to act that out. Did he even know about anything of that nature?
Lucy wasn't sure. If he did, he never acted on any of it.
She patted her flushed cheeks and sank down back into the water.
If Tartaros didn't kill her, pulling this off surely would. Especially since Natsu would ask a million questions.
On the other side of the partition Natsu frowned in confusion at the giggles of the girls and looked at the others, "I don't understand. What's so special about a lover? I mean, what is that anyway?"
All movement around him stopped and he looked over at Gajeel and the other male demons staring at him incredulously, "What?"
"Ehm, you are familiar with sex my lord?" One of the demons, Bobo if Natsu remembered correctly, asked diffidently.
Natsu stared at him blankly for a moment, "No. And what's this lord stuff? My name's Natsu."
"Apologies Lo-er, Natsu." Bobo said quickly while Gajeel dropped his face into his hand muttering about idiot demons that didn't even know the basics.
"Hey!" Natsu huffed indignantly, "I know the basics! I know how to fight, and that food tastes good, and that I can kick your ass if I want to!"
Gajeel narrowed his eyes, but then smirked and leaned back in the water, "Yeah, but you wouldn't know what to do with that pretty little mistress of yours if she was beggin' for it would ya?"
Natsu suddenly felt defensive by his lack of knowledge. His shoulders hunched and he sank an inch or two under the water. His brow furrowed at Gajeel's insinuating tone, his brain scrambling to try to pick up what he meant.
It wasn't long ago he had learned how to speak, so his knowledge was a little spotty.
"I know only what my mistress needs me to know," Natsu growled at Gajeel, somehow irrationally angry over the hint he wouldn't be able to service his mistress in whatever way she desired, "If she doesn't want sex, then that knowledge hasn't been kickstarted!"
This made Gajeel snort, even as the temperature of the water raised in degrees.
It bubbled around Natsu's waist and he glared heatedly at Gajeel, the tips of his tapered ears turning red.
Gajeel's expression turned thoughtful as he considered Natsu's earlier statement. He frowned a little and tugged his hair from his face.
"Wait, so it's like that thing where you were actin' like a zombie 'n shit at the beginning? Knowledge trickles back in accordance to how much Lucy wants you to know about something?" Gajeel clarified.
Natsu shrugged, the water shifting around him, "I'm a golem, so I'm meant to serve a master. I'll have an understanding of it whenever Lucy needs it."
Gajeel made a sound, one similar to what Natsu imagined him choking on his own tongue.
"Or, Natsu," Bobo cleared his throat, "we could educate you on the task now should it ever become prudent for you to know. After all, you are a demon. You should know some things for yourself."
"Especially if ya wanna be convincing with Lucy," Gajeel smirked, "she's going to be your 'lover' after all."
"But she's my mistress," Natsu frowned petulantly, but let Bobo take his wrist and guide him towards the edge of the pool.
He was getting an odd feeling this was going to be an interesting lesson he wouldn't soon forget.
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She cleared her throat, somehow finding herself caught in his inquisitive eyes, shifting her load on the platter, "Uh, breakfast will be done soon. You may want to come to a stopping point."
The demon next to Natsu flashed her a knowing smirk that she dutifully ignored, and nodded, "This'll be the last batch then." He replied, "The rest can wait until later easily enough."
He took the meat from Lucy and started hanging it up, but Lucy was no longer paying attention. Natsu hadn't relinquished her hand yet, and she was captivated by his expression.
It was lidded and had a quality she'd never seen before and couldn't quite identify. It was both soft and predatory at the same time, and it made her heart thump in her chest.
She immediately tried to calm it down. It had no business thumping because of Natsu's looks no matter what they were, and that was final. Natsu was already a slave to her she had no business being attracted to him! End of story.
Her mind stuttered to a halt at her own thoughts. Attracted? Was she seriously attracted to him? No way. There was just no way that could really be true! He was Natsu for goodness sake! He might make a good friend and partner, but there was no way she could possibly be interested in him like that!
Unfortunately, her own thoughts, and the heat flushing through her told her otherwise.
