The demon inside.
By: LemonSherbert
Chapter 15: Entwined.
I do not own any of the characters in this story, they are owned by the creator of Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima, do enjoy and don't forget to review.
Levy held her breath as Lucy stood in front of her, the scowl deeply etched on her chocolate eyes as her hands came out, making Levy squeak and flinch as she waited for Lucy to hit her, call her a monster... everything she thought she would do. When her arms wrapped around her shoulders Levy opened her eyes, her face promptly being buried in Lucy's chest as sighed and relaxed in her arms.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Came her soft voice as Levy returned the hug and Lucy rubbed her back as if trying to console her little friend, Levy shrugged with a small smile.
"I don't know... it wasn't really a conversation starter and... I was scared you'd hate me... scared you'd think I was a monster" Levy confessed and Lucy laughed, hugging her tighter before pulling her back with a grin.
"Of course not, Levy if you were a monster then you would have hurt us by now... honestly, you can be so silly sometimes!" Lucy smiled and Levy smiled back, she honestly wasn't expecting acceptance for what she was but it was a nice surprise. Levy looked over at Natsu who was still looking as confused as ever and Wendy gave her a large smile as she walked forwards to sit by Igneel.
"So let me get this straight, you all find out that we've been in the presence of a Demon for years and not even known it and you're not even mad?!" Gajeel exclaimed and Levy looked back to see his oddly adorable yet disgruntled face as Lucy let Levy go and put her hands on her hips.
"Gajeel Redfox she has not once tried to hurt us or take our souls and she's been hiding out of fear of being judged by people like you, if anything I'm mad at you for treating her like she is and monster!" Lucy yelled and Igneel chuckled as Gajeel opened his mouth then snapped it shut as if he couldn't find a convincing argument. It kind of upset her that he still wanted to find a reason to dislike her but the fact that her best friend hadn't shut her out made her unbelievably happy.
"Right... now that cat is out of the bag, I need to make some calls, Levy, please stay here for the time being, we'll need all the information you have, I'll inform Jellal to come back, honestly his mistrust of our ability to believe him astounds me but then again he did use to...never mind!" Igneel scoffed as he stood up and began walking out of the room, he patted Natsu on the head in a loving way as he went and Natsu grinned.
"Levy... what's going on?" Natsu asked when his dad left the room and Levy shook her head, she didn't want to cause them to panic and frankly, she didn't want to talk about it.
"It's nothing... your father is dealing with it... speaking of which I need to call my mama, she'll be frantic with worry!" Levy gasped and Lucy pulled out her phone as if she kept it for such an occasion and Levy sighed. "Thank you so much!" She smiled and Lucy nodded as Levy walked out of the room and beside the front door, Lucy had Levys parents numbers in her phone and she found her mothers number. Levy held it to her ear as it began to dial and she waited, thinking of some sort of excuse as she heard her mother pick up.
"Hello Lucy darling!" Her mother answered cheerfully and she gulped, she hated lying to her parents but she didn't want to involve them, it was too dangerous.
"Mama... it's me, I was just calling because I'll be out with Lucy tonight" Levy said slowly, the lie sitting in her mouth like tar and making her grit her teeth.
"Oh... okay sweetie, what will you be doing?" She questioned.
"We arreee... doing a study session, yeah... a study session so I don't know what time I'll be back!" Levy said and there was a pause as her heart thumped.
"Alright sweetie, you be safe, get something to eat okay and ring me when you're coming home" her mothers said and she nodded despite the fact her mother couldn't see her.
"I will mama... I love you" Levy told her and her mother let out a light laugh, the laugh she always did when Levy said she loved her... as if she didn't believe her but she had come accustomed to it.
"I love you too cherub, now go have fun, I'll see you later" she said and Levy sighed, ending the call as she chewed her lip, sometimes her relationship with her parents was awkward, like they weren't quite sure if they did love her. Levy plastered on a fake smile, pushing her worry and fears in a vault inside her head, it was a problem for another day. She opened the sliding door and walked in, everyone going quiet and she turned to see them staring at her... not her but lower and her tail flicked slightly.
"S-sorry... I forgot" she said with slight shame as she shook away her Demon attributes and walked towards Lucy, handing her phone back to her as she walked over to Gajeel whom no one seemed to be sitting next to and she placed herself down.
"Sooo... Levy, this whole time you've been a... Demon?" Natsu questioned and she nodded. "Cool... and you don't get the urge to eat people?" He asked and she shook her head.
"My body rejects human blood after I... well something happened and now if I drink human blood, I throw up, sometimes I get the hunger but I normally have pigs blood or I eat lots of food... human food and I go on runs... you know, keeping myself busy to stop my Demon urges" she explained and they nodded.
"Why, don't you want to be a Demon?" Lucy asked and Levy shook her head, her hair had dried a little and waved in wet clumps at her shoulders and she stared at her neat, filed nails.
"No... I don't, not that being a Demon isn't good, I mean I have enhanced healing, I age slower and my senses and actions are better than humans but... I don't like the stigma, I'm not evil, I don't want to hurt people, I don't want to have to watch everyone I love die while I live for a hundred more years... it's not what I want" Levy said and the room went silent. "You know, all humans are told they should see themselves as beautiful no matter what but Demons, they're always told they're monsters so how are we supposed to not be, when you tell someone that they are... stupid, for example, over and over then they started to believe it..." she said and clenched her fists in her skirt. "I try to see myself as more than a monster but everyone around me is telling me how evil and grotesque Demons are, how am I supposed to not want to change who I am, I want to walk down the street and not put up a front, I don't want to hide who I am but that's impossible right now" Levy explained and she sniffled back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Every day she had been told how Demons were nothing but monsters, how she was nothing but a monster... but she wasn't, she didn't want to be and it wasn't fair.
"Levy no one said you were a monster..." Lucy said soothingly and reached out to put her hand on the little bluenettes creamy hand but Levy pulled it away. She wasn't angry, she was hurt, now she wasn't hiding, she could talk and they had all... at one time or another called Demons monsters with no exceptions but she just smiled and nodded.
"You have, everyone has... every day I've listened to people indirectly calling me a monster because of what I am, I didn't choose to be this way, if I could change it don't you think I would, in a heartbeat I would but I can't and I'm condemned to people painting me as a killer, a soul stealer... a monster, it's not fair!" She gulped and she felt something thump behind her making her look up and Lucy's gasp filled the room.
"You too... how many of you are Demons... Natsu, Wendy, are you Demons too?" Lucy squeaked and Levy met his stern, midnight eyes, his Demonic aura filling the room as his lion like tail beat behind her contently. Natsu giggled and pulled Lucy into a hug.
"No you idiot... I'm not, you've seen me bleed before, I'm not a Demon and neither is Wendy, Gajeel... he just, there was an accident and the only way to save him was to fill him with Demon blood so now he's kind of a Demon... I guess" Natsu explained and Lucy's face scrunched up in confusion. Levy stared at Gajeel and his... odd attempt to make her feel better by outing himself, thankfully no one wanted to throw stones at them. The small group sat talking contently and Levy slid closer to Gajeel, smiling when she felt his soft tail slide over her legs, curling around her. It thumped slowly across her thighs and she twirled her fingers around the tuft of fur, stroking it as she smiled down at her hands. His display of odd affection made her feel much better and she let her human look slip away, letting go of his tail as her own curled from her skirt and found its way round his own. The touch of his tail on hers sent shivers down her spine and she bit her lip as he entwined their tails even more until it was hard to tell which tail was whose as she let a small smile play on her lips, her head gently placed on his hard forearm and she closed her eyes...