A/N I deeply apologize for taking too long to update. You see, I've been crazy busy these past few weeks… since (I don't know if you're interested to know why, but I'll still say it) I had to practice for my upcoming graduation. Yes, and that includes interlude and graduation rehearsals, blablabla… And I fell sick because of that. I didn't know preparing for graduation could be this stressful. Thank you again *bows, bows, bows* An endless thank you for those who put this story on their alerts and fave lists, to those who reviewed, and even to those who read silently. You guys are AWESOME! You should know I love you all. All responses were placed at the end of this chapter. Special thanks to Bareerah123 for this beta'd chapter. Enjoy! :)
Notice: All review responses are removed from this chapter. :)
Chapter 3: MARKED HER FIRST
"Lucy, keep in touch with us, he won't hurt you… I don't feel any danger from this man." Mavis gave Lucy an assuring nudge. The blonde could tell the first master's unfathomable frustration towards Master Makarov, but she couldn't bring herself to trust First's sureties with regards to Sabertooth, right? The people on this guild are monsters disguised as humans.
"B-but First…?" Lucy uttered inaudibly, "…what am I supposed to do?" Everything happened fast, one moment she was vainly contemplating how mean most of her guild mates were for joining the silly contest for other reasons other than her, and of course, she was at ease that Fairy Tail would surely win… how did it end up like this? She felt like fainting.
Before Lucy could even speak again, he found the Sabertooth leader standing before her, he bent, lifted her up by the waist and flung her over his shoulders as if she was a sack of potatoes. Her ribs colliding painfully against his collar bone. She released an involuntary squawk in protest as she felt his hand encircled over both her legs to hold her in place. Lucy was deeply mortified, she flapped her arms and her legs, "M-master~~!" she called out, her cry getting louder.
Makarov dramatically bawled out too, so much for being the emotional master, he was certain, the rest of his brats would kill him tomorrow. But before that, he must strangle Cana first. And so, before Lucy disappeared on his sight, he chanted a silent tracking spell. Even though the First master trusts this kid, there's no way I'd allow anyone hurt any child of mine. I'm such a bad parent. He thought.
Despite crying like the entire world had come to an end, Lucy still tried to look dignified, like she was a princess being carted around by her cruel butler – or maybe she should call him her manservant. The other members of the Sabertooth guild following Sting like dogs, obviously surprised by what their leader was up to, they were all speechless.
The night was deafening, and Lucy could tell they weren't headed to the Grand Magic Games' designated room for Sabertooth. "A-ano?" she whimpered.
"Call me Sting-kun, put the –kun alright?" the man carrying her ordered haughtily, "You're my property from now on, until I return you to your guild."
Lucy's eyes widened, how could she end up in such an unfortunate situation? With all the courage she could muster, she asked, "Uh, S-Sting-kun, w-where are we off to?" she sniffed, her body now getting uncomfortable.
"Train Station," Sting answered, forcing his brain to sober up, "We're going back to our guild." And he wasn't planning on showing signs that he's almost at his limits.
Now Lucy was about to cry a river, there's no way she'll go there.
"Sting-kun, are you serious? You're taking this Fairy-san to our guild? But she's a member of Fairy Tail?" Lector couldn't hold his tongue any longer, his partner was confusing him.
"She's a member of Fairy Tail!" the exceed next to Lector chirped.
Sting halted, everyone did so too. He gawked at his exceed partner, "Got a problem with that?"
"But Sting, you do know that she's from another guild and Maste –" The white-haired girl instantly froze as she felt the intense stare of their leader on her. "…you're just drunk. You'll regret this tomorrow." She concluded, as a shiver crawled up and down her spine.
Sting raised a brow, he could feel a lump of air about to be released from his throat, "hic," he jolted a little, "Oi, Orga, carry this blondie." The leader spun his head towards Orga, who in turn, walked closer to him.
Like you're not a blonde yourself, calling me nicknames? Tch. Lucy couldn't help but be annoyed. She had to escape, there's no way she's leaving Crocus in this state. Now her mind's finally calming down, she had to think fast.
And now, she's been carried by a scary-looking mage, how worse can this night get? "Ne, ojii-san?" Lucy whispered cautiously to the muscular man carrying her.
Orga, a bit taken aback, "Eh, are you talking to me?" he whispered back.
"Hai~" the Fairy tail mage used the sweetest tone she could pull out, "Can you put me down? I'm kind of… uh, getting uncomfortable now. I'm not drunk, so I can walk properly…" she inquired, praying hard that the man was as idiotic as he looks. This would be her only chance, looking at their current surroundings, she could tell that they were approximately, if not almost, close to the station.
"Sting-kun had ordered me to carry you." he said, much to her disappointment, yet she found the humor at the man addressing another man with endearment. He looked like he was a loyal follower of the Sabertooth leader.
Lucy was left with no other choice, slowly, her free hand reached for her fleuve d'etoiles attached on her waist, when she got a grasp of it, she glanced at the other members and was grateful that the other four members were ahead of them, with their exceeds. She then pulled it front and whipped the feet of Orga, making it twirl around his legs, causing him to trip over. With Lucy's quick adrenaline rush, she jumped quietly away from the man, Orga groaned, clearly frustrated. But no, Lucy won't give him a chance to attack her back, or call for the rest of his guild mate's attention, she quickly kicked him straight in the face.
Wrong move! She knew she had pissed him off, and by the looks of it, he was clearly infuriated. Lucy had to move fast, she instantly stormed out the opposite direction of where they're heading. Not until a strong pair of hands grabbed her forcefully. Damn! She was so close!
"Don't be stubborn, blondie…" the owner of the hands said, she looked back to meet the eyes of her captor.
Oh, Kami! Sting eyed her with annoyance. "Let me go, I won't go there! I don't want to leave!" she yelled, hopeless. Lucy's cry filled the air again.
"You're fond of crying, eh? Crybaby?" Sting commented, his grasp getting tighter as she struggled hard to break free.
The leader pulled her fleuve d'etoiles with one of his free hand, this startled Lucy. Just then, Sting bit the handle of the whip and started to munch it. Lucy's eyes grew wide, "W-what are you doing to my whip!" she yelled as one of her free hand slapped the leader's mouth in an attempt to save her weapon from being eaten, making him bite her hand in the process. "H-hey!" she panicked, his teeth digging deeper into her skin.
She pulled her hand instantly, a small piece of her fleuve d'etoiles chomped up, she could only curse inwardly, and finally noticing bits of blood from her hands. "Your blood tastes good." Sting said, tilting his head smugly as he fixed his eyes on Lucy.
Lucy shuddered, just what the hell is this guy? "W-what are you, some kind of monster?" He's creeping her out.
Sting looked at her with raised brows, "Not marked by Natsu-san yet, eh?"
Lucy couldn't help but take one step backward, just then, the pissed Orga shot a black lightning straight at her, which almost hit her, if not for the Sabertooth leader blocking it.
The blonde celestial spirit mage of Fairy Tail froze, not even blinking because of the shock, she was dumbstruck at the sight before her. She was sure the black lightning hit Sting, but why was he still standing in front of her, hand still tightly gripping into hers, and… with an expressionless face. The gray fur that on his vest was now burning, "Y-you're burning!"
"Orga, what are you doing?" Sting asked monotonously, not even bothering to look at the attacker.
Hesitation spread across Orga's face, he couldn't control himself, especially when he feels as if he was being embarrassed. Though, he doesn't have anything against the Fairy Tail mage, he was displeased when the girl kicked him in the face.
Just then, Sting let go of Lucy's hand, a smirk etched across his face, which baffled Lucy even more. The leader charged towards Orga, "I know she thrills you, but no… She's my property, so you can't fight her." Sting hissed, more like averred as he releases a fist blow straight to Orga's face even before the latter could react, that sent the attacked man flying.
Wow. Lucy dropped her jaws. That was quick?
Rouge just watched his partner as the latter got back to grab a hold of Lucy.
The Sabertooth girl, on the other hand, ran after the flying body of their comrade.
Rufus just let out a smug smile, "I will certainly memorize this, this makes a good memory." He stated.
"Sting-kun's the best!" Lector declared enthusiastically.
"Fro agrees too!" the other exceed backed up.
Lucy sucked in her breath and stiffened in the white dragon slayer's firm grasp on her one arm. She had made him cautious, alright? And how could she be stupid enough to trigger that? She was getting hopeless, and she's getting desperate, she had to fight. She must stop cowering around and do something at least. The train was about to leave. When the train starts, he'll get a motion sickness, and that's her perfect chance. Her free hand slowly reached for her keys, when some other hand grabbed it first away from her. Shit! Not again. Her gaze landed on Rouge, the same man who snatched her keys.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Lucy-san. Sting is considered one of the strongest mage in Fiore for a reason. You have no hope in defeating him. Just relax and enjoy the ride. If you're lucky, he'll snap out of it sooner." The shadow dragon slayer exclaimed grimly. "Lector," Rouge called one of the exceed, "Keep this." He then threw the bunch of keys to the cat who quickly caught it on his paws.
Lucy's jaw dropped animatedly , "Hey!" Lucy's temper was bubbling over, and she couldn't handle much more than this. "Don't just throw them like that!"
Rouge and everyone ignored her, heck, even Sting wasn't paying attention to her. The leader just held her tightly, like she was some kind of a new bought pet. Damn! She turned her head and leaned her face closer to Rouge, "At least take good care of other people's valuables if you're going to just snatch it like that!" she hissed, her fear was now overtaken by annoyance.
She doesn't care anymore if these mages were members of the strongest guild in Fiore, she won't forgive anyone who treats her keys like a trash. They're her spirits, her friends…
Rouge, however, slowly faced her coldly, his arms folded across his chest, and his face too close to her own that she could faintly smell his breath.
"Aren't you leaning too close to my partner, blondie?" Sting suddenly spoke out, just then she realized the close proximity she had with the shadow dragon slayer. She pulled her head instantly only to bump at Sting's muscular arm.
Shit! She could tell she was now blushing madly. "B-but my keys?"
"Keys?" Sting raised a brow, "Oh, your magic?" realization spread across his face. "Why are you blushing, then?"
Lucy couldn't believe this, what's with this creep? "H-huh?"
And before she could move, Sting pulled her close to him and leaned down on her shoulder, her eyes almost popped out in shock, her thoughts frozen. Moving swiftly, he latched his mouth onto her neck and bit down without even bothering to brush off the strands of her hair on its way. An exasperated gasp forced itself from her lips as a dull pain caused by the bite hit her, she feared that jerking her body away would cause her neck to tear open. But as sudden apprehension took its blow on her, she forcefully pushed the Sabertooth leader backward as she jump away from him.
The blonde boy stumbled rearwards, almost losing his balance but recovered quickly, his eyes squinting slightly as he focused his sight towards the Fairy Tail Mage. He smirked, "Marked."
Though she couldn't understand what he's meaning to say, she forced her brain to work, "Y-you pervert!" Lucy yelled, her sanity resurfacing, she brought her hand on the spot where the dragon slayer had bitten her, she was sure, it was bleeding "WHAT ARE YOU? A vampire or something? What the fuck did you just do!" she nagged, and she wasn't planning on ending it with that… She had to say more, but Sting didn't give her the chance… as he sealed her mouth with his own lips.
Lucy couldn't believe this, a stranger just stole her first kiss. Even before she could react, she felt chills crawling on her skin, she saw dragon scales started to slink on the white dragon slayer's face. The kind of scales that also appears on Natsu or Gajeel or Wendy when agitated, she moaned, and then everything around her blacked out.
The rest of the Sabertooth members watched the two in horror and disbelief, even the injured Orga forgot about his pain and the usual expressionless Rouge had his eyes widened and mouth left open. As if on cue, he rushed towards Sting, who was still kissing the passed out blonde and smacked him in the head. "Sting! You idiot!" he yelled.
Feeling this, Sting pulled his lips away from the blonde who limply fell forward to his arm and chest, he turned to look at Rouge and smirked, "What? She's pissing me off."
"You marked her, you freak!" The shadow dragon slayer scolded, yet still looking calm. "Are you crazy? Quit playing around!"
"It is of my intention to mark her," the blonde man answered, now carrying the Fairy tail mage and placed her down on a seat. "That's what she gets for being unfaithful to her master."
Rouge could only sigh. What's done is done, and they must deal with it tomorrow… when his partner was sober enough. Then, the train started to move… Lucy missed her chance.
Lucy opened her eyes as she felt someone placing her down, she was startled to find Sting in front of her. She recalled everything that just happened and got her face flustered in anger. "H-heyyy!" she yelped, as she felt the ground with her hands, she fell butt first.
"Oh, you're awake." Sting chimed, tone full of mockery.
She gritted her teeth, unconsciously reaching for her keys and whip, she sulked as she realized that her keys and fleuve d'etoiles wasn't at her waist. "Get me back to Magnolia – or rather, Crocus!" she glared.
"Don't force me to claim you now and just do as I say," the white dragon slayer menaced, intensely glaring at her.
Lucy felt her knees tremble in fear, she could feel his intimidating aura again and she had to bit her tongue. What does he mean by claiming her? The arrogant guy just bit her neck like he's some kind of an evil fictional vampire and stole her first kiss roughly, that should be enough for one day – not even a day had passed, just a few hours.
He leaned his face closer to hers as she stepped back and looked sideward, "Ah-I will comply… S-s-suti –"
"Sting-dono, blondie." He smirked triumphantly.
Just then, the Fairy Tail mage dropped her jaw as she became conscious where she was… she was inside a closet. Sting stepped back and slammed the closet door.
Lucy sat down slowly, feeling hopeless, tears started to crawl down her cheeks. Shit!
Going back to the present...
"You'll stay here until that mark disappears." Sting said, he couldn't believe that he did something as stupid as that. He ruffled his hair unconsciously and tapped his foot. "What the hell!" he snapped out, turning to look at his partners.
Rouge merely shrugged, Lector thought of praising Sting but halted, realizing it wasn't the right time to do that.
"B-but?" Lucy tried to protest but nothing came out of her mouth as her eyes met Sting's. She really had to fight, if he won't let her go back, she'd do everything to escape… Desperate times call for desperate measures. She grabbed a key and swayed her hand, "Virgo," Lucy yelled, summoning one of her zodiac spirits.
With a puff of smoke, a pink haired girl wearing a maid's uniform appeared in front of them, "You called, hime?" the spirit bowed, "do you wish to punish me?"
"No," she sweat dropped, "Seriously, Virgo? Even at desperate times like this? Get me out of here!" she ordered.
"Eh? Where is this place, hime?" Virgo asked looking around, noticing the dragon slayer duo and an exceed, and squinted her eyes in understanding, "As you –"
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Sting said sharply, as he quickly grabbed the end of the chains attached to Virgo's hands.
Virgo twitched, "And I'd obey my hime's orders even if it means death." She released the chains, as golden light encircled her wrist, where another set of chain appeared.
"A spirit can't die." Lector chirped in, earning Virgo a sweat drop.
Lucy felt cold eyes directed on her, as she found the source of it, she decided to play safe. She had to summon another stellar spirit. She figured if she really wanted to get out of this place alive, she had to give out her best, "Caprico!" she yelled, and with another puff of smoke, a poised goat-like human appeared before her.
"Lucy-sama," Caprico uttered in deep respect as he bowed slightly, Lucy was about to give her order when the goat-like human suddenly tilted his master's chin, staring intently at – she assumed – the bite of the Sabertooth leader. "A… a… a dragon slayer's mark, meh? D-did Natsu-san –"
Even before Caprico finish his sentence, Lucy cut him off, "That vampire monster bit me in the neck, Caprico!" she squealed like a child grunting to her mom.
Caprico's face grew serious, he turned to look at the 'monster' Lucy was pointing, his eyes narrowed at him. He took in a deep breath, "Virgo, meh."
The maid stellar spirit turned to look at Caprico, giving Sting a chance to kick the spirit straight in the stomach, she flew against the wall. As soon as she recovered, she stood up, charging another blow to the dragon slayer she never once hit… but before she could move another step, Caprico called her again.
"Don't, Virgo." Caprico decreed in a voice full of authority. "Lucy-sama… has his mark, meh. A dragon slayer's mark."
Virgo's eyes widened, trying to comprehend the words spoken. Lucy, however, fell into the pit of perplexity. Why was Caprico defying her orders? "Caprico, why –"
"Gomen ne, Lucy-sama. But that mark, meh… signifies that your life and his life are linked together for now. As of the moment, meh, your lives are bonded." With that, the two stellar spirits disappeared, leaving Lucy in an even more confusing situation.
.
to be continued...