A/N:I just realised that Lisanna's name is not suppose to have double 's', the way I wrote it in the first chapter. I hope no one was too bothered by it, I have corrected the error.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

Lucy had just returned from her mission, it had been a successful mission, and she was happy about it, but thoughts of the mysterious figure she met and the words he said plagued her. She was prepared to throw out the letter but found herself keeping it in her desk drawer instead.

She got into her now monotonous routine of walking to the guild for breakfast. Opening the doors to her usual boisterous guildmates, Lucy yelped as a bench narrowly missed her. She hissed angrily at Elfman who threw the bench, only to realise that she may as well have been as unnoticeable as a fly who just flew into the guild when another bench came flying at the very spot she was just standing at moments ago, as everyone continued in the fights they were engaged in. Lucy made it through the war zone and slide into a seat at the bar. She finally managed to get her strawberry milkshake and breakfast set after like, fifteen attempts at getting Mira's attention. Lucy's mood plunged down to how it was two days ago, she decided that she wasn't about to spend her whole day at the guild being ignored by all her friends, if they even were anymore. She decided that she would go on a mission to pass time.

Lucy was about to go to the mission board to do just that when Lisanna came up to her."Lu-chan!"Lucy couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the overly familiar way Lisanna was calling her, usually Levy was the only person in the guild who called her that, and she was barely close to Lisanna. Lucy was curious as to why Lisanna seemed so excited so talk to her about something.

"Lu-chan, I was wondering if you want to go on this mission with me?" Lisanna asked, holding up a job flyer, it was a mission to take down a demon which has been going on violent rampages at Freesia for a reward of 300000jewels."Taking down demons is totally my forte with my take over magic! Besides, we haven't got a chance to know each other very well, this will be a perfect chance!" Lisanna continued, rambling on excitedly. Lucy was very surprised that Lisanna had came forward to her with such an offer. It was definitely unexpected, she was unsure of how to react.

"Lisanna, are you sure you don't want to take this job with Team Natsu?" Lucy replied tentatively. "But Lu-chan,I really want to go with you!" Lisanna whined, pouting cutely. There was seemingly no way to reject Lisanna's invitation without coming off as being rude at this point. "Sure Lisanna, I will go on the mission with you if you insist." Lucy relented with a warm smile.

Both of them took the flyer together to Mira. Mira was completely paranoid about Lisanna going on a mission to defeat a demon with just Lucy. Mira questioned Lisanna several times if she was sure about the mission and if she needed more backup. She reminded Lucy more than several times to make sure that she will stay with Lisanna at all times. Lucy felt like a huge weight was placed on her shoulders. It was ironic how this responsibility was placed on her, of all people. She was starting to feel a knot form in her stomach, as if something was going to go very wrong on the mission.

Timeskip

Lucy and Lisanna finally left the guild after reassuring Mira that nothing is going to happen to Lissanna. They walked quietly without a word on the way to the train station until Lissanna broke the silence.

"Lu-chan,I heard that you joined the guild two years after I went missing?"

"Yeah, Natsu brought me to the guild after we first met each other at Hargeon. I was still a completely inexperienced mage then." Lucy was trying to make a conversation, not liking the awkward silence between the both of them either.

"I see...say, Lu-chan, do you like Natsu?" Lisanna just dropped the million-dollar question like a bomb.

"WHAT?!No...no Lisanna! What were you thinking? I have no such...erm...feelings towards Natsu! Why would you even think that was a possibility?" Lucy sputtered, tripping over her words as she uselessly denied Lisanna's assumption. Very smooth, Lucy. She thought snarkily to herself.

Lisanna stared blankly at Lucy for a few moments, before bursting into a fit of giggles. "Your too cute when you try to lie, Lu-chan!"

Lucy turned into a bright shade of red as she looked away, huffing, trying to return her flushed cheeks back to normal. "Whatever."

The easy conversation Lucy was hoping for took a turn for the worst. She decided to just keep quiet for the rest of the walk to the train station.

Timeskip-Arriving at Freesia town

It was still pretty early for the mission when they reached Freesia town at late afternoon. Lucy and Lisanna agreed that it was a good idea to go shopping and explore the town until they had to go meet the chief of the local security squad in the evening.

Lucy and Lisanna had a blast trying on tons of clothes, from branded, elegant dresses to silly outfits they laughed together about, from store to store, leaving each one with new shopping bags hooked on their arms. The awkwardness they had between each other melted off like an ice wall as they discussed about all their fashion choices. They went to have ice cream afterwards.

"That was fun!" Lisanna announced as she flopped down on a window seat. "Yeah, but I can't believe I spent the last of my savings on all these clothes!" Lucy lamented. They laughed about the amount of clothes they bought and ordered their ice creams.

(Lucy POV)

Wow, I never thought that hanging out with Lisanna could be this fun. It was almost as good as going to the bookstore with Levy. She was so sweet too, it was no wonder that everyone in the guild loves her. Maybe I should have attempted to talk to her earlier, we might have became great friends already! I guess it was a right choice to go on this mission with Lisanna.

Timeskip

It was nearly the agreed time to meet the security chief. Lucy and Lisanna made their way to the security headquarters. Arriving at the building, a rotund and cheerful looking man was already expecting them at the front door. He introduced himself, "You must be the mages from Fairy Tail that will be helping us subdue the demon! I am the chief of security in Freesia town, I am so thankful towards you for taking on this mission! You can call me Sam" voice filled with hope and gratitude.

"Yes, we are." Lucy and Lisanna nodded, "Are there any more information about the demon other than what's on the flyer?" Lucy inquired.

Sam's expression turned grim. "The demon has been appearing on the outskirts of Freesia, the countryside with nothing but woods surrounding it. We concluded that the demon came from the woods. It has only ever appeared at night, so it is very likely to be nocturnal. The demon has been visiting the populated village in the countryside, going on violent and bloody rampages every few nights. The security squad has been sent out for several times to fight against the demon, only to return with more casualties and no success each time. Its was just too strong, our non-magic guns can't do anything against it, and resorting to spears didn't make anything better, the demon's skin was practically impenetrable. The countryside is also quite a distance from here, the full force of the security squad is not always able to reach there immediately after getting a report. We are really at our wits end on how to help the villagers, so we turned to mage guilds for help." He solemnly detailed the information of the demon and the situation.

Lucy's heart went out to the villagers after hearing Sam's words, she decided that she will do anything in her power to help them. "Sam, we will do anything we can to help the villagers." Lucy beamed at Sam reassuringly.

"Yeah! We will definitely get this job done perfectly and stop the demon from terrorising the villagers once and for all!" Lisanna piped in excitedly.

Lucy felt that Lisanna was being a little too overconfident about the job. Listening to the information Sam gave, she felt that the mission was going to be more challenging than it seemed initially.

Timeskip

Lucy and Lisanna arrived at the small village in the countryside. A dreary atmosphere hung in the air. The tension present in the village was palpable, almost thinning the air. The few villagers who were out and about stared bleakly at the both of them, clad in black from head to toe. Lucy tried not to shrink under the fixed gazes of the villagers. She figured that the villagers were probably still mourning for the lives lost from the last attack a few days ago. A sense of foreboding hit Lucy, the knot in her stomach tightened. Taking in a shaky breath, Lucy picked up her pace, with Lisanna following suit, as they headed towards the clearing between the village and the woods, where they were suppose to be stationed at.

Reaching the clearing, Lucy and Lisanna rested in the tent set up for them, and patiently waited for nightfall.

Timeskip

Darkness started cloaking the land, shadows disappeared and the air got chillier as the night got deeper. Lucy and Lisanna were getting more alert, peering out of the tent every few moments, keeping a lookout if the demon should emerge. Abruptly, a low, guttural growl was heard. Lisanna looked at Lucy, they both silently agreed to move out with a nod. Apprehensively, they lifted the flap of the tent, and the sight that greeted them a few feet away make both of them take a sharp intake of breath in shock. The demon was covered with black and scaly skin, matted fur grew from the top of its neck down its back like a mane. Massive claws as long as a meter hung at its sides. It was huge, although not as massive as Deliora, Lucy knew it wasn't going to be an easy feat with her and Lisanna alone. Lucy found her knees turning weak from the amount of bloodthirst the creature before her was exuding.

Lisanna transformed into her animal soul form, Harpy. Lucy took that as a sign to get her whip ready. Lisanna lunged forward in her max speed, gliding straight for the demon's head, her Harpy claws grazing its scaly skin narrowly missing its eye. The demon roared in irritation, baring its razor sharp teeth, attempting to use its clawed hands to flick Lisanna off. However, Lisanna being a speed type, easily dodged it, ascending higher into the air, she circled above the demon's head, out of its reach.

Just then, Lucy got into a good distance to use her whip on the demon. "Fleuve d'étoiles!" Lucy lashed out her whip, aiming at the demon's arm, successfully getting her whip to wrap tightly around it. Unexpectedly, before Lucy could react, the demon trashed wildly, waving its arm around trying to free itself, in the process lifting Lucy off the ground and slamming her into a few nearby trees. Lucy whimpered in pain from the impact, it felt like a few of her ribs were broken and her left leg was badly fractured. She quickly retracted Fleuve d'étoiles, releasing the demon's arm. The provoked demon advanced towards Lucy, she hastily pulled out Loke's key, "Open! The gate of the Lion, Leo!"

Loke appeared before her in a flash of golden light, and leaped towards the demon without hesitation, "Regulus Impact!" throwing a strong punch at the demon. The demon howled in pain, the surface of its scaly skin visibly charred from the attack, but was barely pushed back in its tracks. Lucy and Loke stared shocked at the fact that one of Loke's strongest attacks created so little damage. Loke charged forward once again, as he was closing in on the demon, the enraged demon swung its clawed appendage towards Loke, impaling him in his abdomen. " I am sorry Lucy..." Loke apologised as he coughed out blood.

"Loke!" Lucy screamed as Loke disappeared, returning back to the spirit world, her heart wrenched at the sight of her celestial spirit in pain. The demon continued towards Lucy's direction. Lucy winced in pain as she attempted to stand on her badly fractured leg, only to fail miserably she gazed anxiously towards the sky hoping for some back up from Lisanna as the demon heavily trudged towards her in an increasing speed, Lisanna only continued staying airborne.

Suddenly, a small gasp was heard from behind the demon. The demon turned at the sound. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of a little girl who looked no more than seven years-old, freezed up from the shock of coming face to face with the fearsome creature. The demon was ready to grasp the girl, with its hand outstretched. "Fleuve d'étoile!" Lucy used her whip to bind the demon's arm once again, she willed the whip to contract, using the momentum to propel herself rapidly towards the demon, landing beside the little girl, shielding the girl as the demon's claws swung at her exposed back, leaving three long lines of inch-deep scratch marks across her back, making her scream at the intense pain.

"Lu-chan! I will be going at my max speed to the guild to get backup! Hang in there!" Lucy heard Lisanna shouting as she struggled to hold onto her consciousness while enduring the immense pain she was going through.

"Lisanna wait! Take the girl with you! There is no way you can get backup on time! Magnolia is three hours from Freesia!" Lucy received no response, Lisanna was gone.

The demon raised its arm, about to take another strike at Lucy, she shut her eyes, preparing herself for the worst while holding tightly onto the girl. However, seconds passed and nothing happened. Lucy opened her eyes, and was stunned to see the same cloaked figure she met a few days ago, standing between her and the demon. He was releasing an incredible amount of magical energy, enough to make the surrounding air pressure spike sharply. It seemed to have affected the demon too, as it suddenly stopped in its tracks. If the demon was capable of displaying emotions, Lucy would think that it looked rather confused at that moment. The cloaked figure stepped forward, getting nearer to the demon, right arm outstretched, nearly touching it.

"Don't! Its dangerous!" Lucy yelled, trying to stop the man from taking the suicidal move.

The man paid no heed to Lucy's warning, right hand coming into contact with the demon's scaly skin, "Foxfire." a bright blue beam of light was emitted from his palms, shining through the demon's body, causing Lucy to squint.

Blinking away the discomfort from the glare of the sudden blue light, Lucy stared at what the attack did to the demon. An enormous, clean cut hole was made through the demon's body as if the bright blue light had skewered its almost impenetrable skin, burning through its flesh. A simple attack from the man in front of her did so much compared to Loke. Lucy was astounded by his strength, just who is this mysterious man? She wondered.