Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.
"Sonja, I am so sorry. I tried to grab Count. I wasn't counting on Cain having a dozen shadow demons with him," Lucian with his head hung low.
Sonja put a comforting hand on Lucian's shoulder, "I don't blame you. You fought hard and you saved them from Count's anger." She put on a smile to hide the fear that was currently dwelling inside of her.
Gildarts was trying to get a hold of Erza and Laxus and bring them home, Sonja was growing impatient, "We need to get them now!" she raised her voice just loud enough to get Gildarts attention.
"We need to plan first," he said back.
"You don't know what those demons will do to them!" she responded.
"Sonja what do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Me, Gray and Gajeel will go get them," she said.
"They defeated everyone here and you are going to do that with just three people?" he asked.
"Yes," she said with a nod, "I promise that they will come back unharmed."
He was tired of arguing with her, she might be able to do it, "Just go, once Erza and Laxus come back we will aid you."
Sonja nodded, "Gray, Gajeel let's go" she said as she walked out of the door. The two mages followed her out of the door.
Once a safe distance away from the guild Gajeel asked, "What's the plan princess?"
"We are getting Natsu and Mira back unharmed," she said.
"How?" Gray asked.
"Just follow my lead," she said.
"Do you know where you are going?" Gray asked.
"Yes, Cain is not hiding himself I can feel his magic," she said, "they are in the sky, they need someone's magic much more powerful than Cain's to keep it up there though."
Back at the guild hall...
Lucian looked up from an injured Droy to see where Sonja was, he could not see her. "Where is Sonja," he asked Gildarts.
"She left, she took Gray and Gajeel with her," he told him.
Lucian looked at Gildarts weird while thinking about it, he knew that Sonja could not take down them all without help and Gray and Gajeel alone would not be much help against a demon horde. "Did she call any Gospels?" he asked.
"Not before she left, she took Gray and Gajeel with her instead" he said, "why?"
"What did she say, exactly?" Lucian asked.
"She promised that she would return them all," Gildarts said with a shrug.
Lucian was always wary of Sonja, she had very little self preservation, she always thought for everyone else's benefit and never her own. He thought about the fact that she never lies and that she enjoys word games, "She didn't say 'we' will return?" he said. He knew that the demons took Natsu as bait, he figured that he wouldn't even be harmed in his and Mira's stay. If he was it would only serve to piss Sonja off. If Sonja figured out of way to save Natsu and Mira without harming anyone in the guild she would even give her own life in the process.
Gildarts took a second to think about it, he remember she said "them" instead of "we", "No, why?" Gildarts asks.
Lucian thought about it, "Shit, she is planning to sacrifice herself for them," Lucian said. He couldn't believe he wasn't paying enough attention to see her leave, she probably planned it that way. He started to concentrate he needed to find her, "Shit she has blocked off her whereabouts," he said. He looked around quickly for Gajeel, he had the best nose without Natsu being here but then remembered she took him. He couldn't believe how perfectly she was able to stall him. Gajeel would have been able to track her because of his dragon instincts and Gray wouldn't have let her go to begin with, she took the two people that would have been able to stop her.
"What is going on?" Gildarts asked, because he was concerned his voice was louder than he meant it to be.
"Sonja knows that as the princess of hell there are a lot of demons that would love to torture her, she has made her own enemies of her own kind by protecting humans. Sonja practically started a civil war with her and the Gospels on one side and the rest of the demons and monsters on the other. She also knows that if the demons planned to attack this guild they need her out of the way. The only way that she could think to save everyone was to trade herself for the lives of Natsu and Mira and to make sure that we aren't attacked while she is away," he said flustered, "I need to gather the Gospels and find her." Sonja wasn't terribly complex, she would always put her life on the line if she knew it would save her friends.
"Is there anyone that can sense her?" Wendy asked, "Maybe I can catch their scent."
"Kizak might be able to, and Sonja doesn't have a scent. It would take too long to find them that way," Lucian explained. He concentrated and called Kizak, Velkan, and Talon.
Kizak could tell something was off by how the guild hall looked when he arrived and he was concerned that it was Lucian who summoned him and not Sonja. "What the fuck happened?" Kizak yelled.
"I did not think that she would run off," Lucian defended.
"Well she did," Kizak said. He focused, "Shit she is hiding herself from me," he said as panic filled him, "just give me a second I need to calm down." Kizak took two deep breathes and looked for her magic instead of her aura. "Found her, she is in the air so we can't pop up on her," he explained.
All of the Gospels ran out the door.
5 miles away….
Sonja just made Gajeel some wings, his wings looked dragon like. They were the color of precious metals, beautiful gold and silver that shined brightly during the dusk that was slowly creeping over Magnolia. Gajeel looked at them with pride. She told him the same thing she told Gildarts. The Iron Dragon Slayer learned quickly, "This is what it is like to fly as a dragon," he smiled to himself.
"Come here, Gray" Sonja said warmly.
Gray was nervous but he trusted Sonja, he stepped up next to her and waited for her to gather more magic. He was worried about her; Sonja looked so tired her eyes were sunken in her face paled. "Are you okay?" he asked.
She shook her head to wake herself up a little bit, "Yeah, just using a little more magic than I am used to" she explained.
She gathered magic than placed her hand on Gray's back and allowed the wings to take form. She was tired now. After the last two weeks of using magic so she and Gildarts could travel faster and the magic drain from the dark guild she used up about fifty percent of her total magic once she got Gray and Gajeel to the hideout she would be near empty. She prayed that her Gospels were coming so they could take all of the mages back to Fairy Tail.
Gray's wings were beautiful, they were bat like but made of beautiful ice, they were transparent and slightly cold to the touch, "I am going to use my magic to fly us up there just keep moving your wings," she told them. She made her own wings and grabbed the boys and took off.
The hideout was about 1,000 feet above ground, Sonja almost screamed for joy once she seen it. She could sense Natsu was close and that he wasn't in pain. As soon as she landed their wings melted away. She ran up to the castle like structure.
"Hello Mistress," Count said as she approached.
"Fuck off Count, I am here to talk to Cain," she snarled.
Cain walked out, "Hello," he said with a bow.
His arrogance was pissing her off, she was tired, cranky and was now craving blood, if she didn't see her mate soon she would taste his blood again. "Where are Natsu and Mirajane?" Sonja asked.
Cain clapped his hands as both Mira and Natsu were presented in shackles, "Sonja?" Natsu said.
The relief was plain on Sonja's face to see Natsu but she looked up at Cain with hard eyes and determination, "I am purposing a trade," Sonja said.
Cain's eyes lit up, "hmm, that sounds interesting. What do you have that I want?" he asked her.
"Me," she said simply but sternly. "You and your demons are allowed to do whatever you want to me for six months in exchange for the freedom of the mages I have here and also to leave the Fairy Tail guild alone," she told him.
"NO!" Gray and Natsu said at the same time.
"We do not sacrifice friends," Natsu said.
"Natsu, I am not arguing with you," she said coldly, "do we have a deal or not?" she asked Cain.
"Hmm, who would I be to deny a princess," Cain said. He snapped his fingers and shackles came and clasped her wrists together.
"No!" Natsu screamed as he struggled against the shackles that were on his wrists.
Sonja looked at him, he looked more pained by the fact that she was surrendering herself than the shackles that were now cutting deep into the flesh of his arm, "Stop, Natsu!" she told him.
Natsu looked up at her, his eyes were watering. She couldn't meet his eyes, she felt guilty for putting him through that. When she was about to give in to Natsu's pleas and fight them, her Gospels showed up. She sighed in relief, even though it would be hard not being able to see Natsu she knew it was the best way to end the demon threat that was now against Fairy Tail.
"Gospels take the mages out of here, take them back to Fairy Tail," she ordered.
"Like Hell!" Gray said.
"There is no way we are leaving you here Sonja," Talon said.
"I am not asking, I am ordering you to take them to safety. I made a promise, I keep my word," she ordered them. Train Fairy Tail, if this is going to happen they need to be ready. I am counting on all of you to protect our precious guild, she said to them. She looked at them with sad soft eyes, they knew it was her way of apologizing.
Talon was the first to move, he gently hugged Mira from behind and then looked up at Sonja, "Mistress, I do not agree with this plan," he told her. He looked back at Mira with a softer expression on his face, "Close your eyes," he told Mira in a calm voice. Mira closed her eyes and suddenly they were gone.
Lucian moved next he grabbed Gajeel, he didn't say anything nor did he look at Sonja as he disappeared with him. Both men had their muscles flexed and their jaw locked, it was clear to Sonja that they didn't wish to leave her there but would do so because they knew they couldn't stop her.
Velkan, sensing that Sonja was not going to change her mind, moved. He grabbed Gray. Gray snatched his arm away, "No, I will never leave a friend behind! Please Sonja don't do this," Gray begged. Sonja looked away, Velkan grabbed Gray, "I am sorry, she has a plan we can't do anything," he muttered to Gray. Sonja looked at Gray he was reaching out to her and trying to break away from Velkan, he had a sad look in his eyes that burned in Sonja. Her eyes started to water as they disappeared.
Kizak was the last to move, he walked to Natsu. Natsu backed away, "no, no. I can't she is my mate. I can't leave her, we are supposed to be together," he said through clenched teeth. Kizak flinched when he said mate. He wasn't ready to give her up yet, he loved her, and he had been with her through countless years. This was just as hard or harder for Kizak as it was Natsu.
Train him personally, please, she ask Kizak. Kizak looked up to meet her gaze, he seen the pain in her eyes. He shook his head to let her know that he would take care of Natsu.
"Come on, Natsu," he said. Natsu struggled some more, "I am sorry," he said before he slammed a fist into Natsu's stomach hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs and knock him out.
"Thank you, Kizak," Sonja said with a nod of her head. Kizak disappeared.
"You are getting far too soft for these cattle," he told her as he wiped a stray tear off of her cheek. "Shall we finish this with a blood pact?" Cain asked as he walked towards her.
"Yes, let's make this official" Sonja responded. She faced her right hand palm side up so he could cut it easily.
Cain sliced her hand and then his own, "I agree to the terms that Sonja had stated earlier, me nor any other demon will attack Fairy Tail or any of its members during the six months that Sonja will be here," he shook her hand.
"I agree to the terms stated by Cain, that I will stay here, on my own will, and allow Cain and his demons to do with what they wish," she shook his hand.
Sonja felt the magic drain that came with this pact, if either of them broke this pact they would die. Even though she just signed her life away for six months Sonja breathed a sigh of relief knowing that her friends and guild would be safe.