Lucy's POV
Natsu is being bad again, hearing his purrs was almost enough to make me forget about Laxus passing out across the cabin from us. But I was good, for now anyway. When the train was slowing down I hissed at him telling him everything I was going to do to him when we were alone again, making sure that even Natsu had a hard time hearing me let alone Laxus if he were somehow awake.
He grinned and dragged Laxus off the train for us, the man was still out cold, and he dumped him on a bench. Natsu didn't wait two minutes before getting a bucket of cold water and dumping it on him. Which was so great. I was on the ground heaving silently trying to breathe from laughing too much. Laxus just looked at us in a no nonsense kind of way but the fact he looked like a drowned rat just added to the comedy of the whole thing.
We finally found him somewhere he could change into dry clothes and when he was done we went to the clients house. He told us a story about how the monster looked like a large black shadow that could hurl rocks and lava at people and even the town. We thanked him for the information and Natsu and I split up talking to a bunch of different people and gathering information.
When we found out that it all pretty much matched what we were told from the client we formulated a plan. Laxus was just outside of ear shot and was closing in when we high five, leading the way to the volcano. Thankfully this monster stayed in one place. We scouted the area and when we found out that most everything that we were told was true with the exception of its size. It was probably a good 10 meters taller than we were told. But that didn't really affect the plan.
"Are you ready?" I asked Natsu who nodded and Laxus took a seat as if he were in for a show making me roll my eyes at him.
I summoned Griffin and put on his stardress before mounting him, making Laxus raise an eyebrow at me but he didn't say anything. When I took off Natsu stayed behind waiting for the signal as I made my platform barriers where I wanted them to be. I summoned Sagittarius and placed him on one where he could shoot arrows close enough that Natsu could grab them.
On another I placed Aries and gave her instructions to blind the thing using her wool once I shot a single flaming arrow straight into the sky. It wouldn't last long not if it used the lava to melt it away but it should give us our opening. Once I was in position I looked to where I left Natsu where he was waiting for the go ahead.
I called forth my bow from my Sagittarius stardress and lit it with a blue flame before shooting. It was time. Ares dropped the extra large pink wool blanket on its face, surprising it and Natsu shot himself into the air like a cannon slamming straight into the monster with a fire dragon's iron claw attack. I made it rain down arrows until I was out and then using my wings from the stardress I was already in glided towards the now blinded monster gripping Cancer's duel swords in my hands.
The fight honestly took far too long but we were doing okay until he figured out how to see again. The same trick did not work twice. I ended up closing both Aries and Sagittarius' gates because he ran out of arrows as well. I knew I couldn't keep Griffin's gate open so he put up one last barrier blocking the giant from hurling either lava or boulders towards the town and I closed his gate. I need a new plan, but the only other thing I had was Lust and Envy, at this point I had taken a lot of damage and I'm not sure if I twisted an ankle or not but now is really not the time for it.
I summoned the duel sins and used their combined stardress, I could hear Natsu screaming for me not to do it far down below but it was already too late. My body now the same inky black as their wings and tails I looked like I was only wearing a black leather knee length skirt with a slit almost all the way up my hip, my top appearing to be completely bare was actually covered with a skin tight black snake skin, the white of my eyes and the blond of my hair a matching fiery scarlett that put Erza's hair to shame it almost looked like it was actually made of fire the way it lights up around me.
I looked down on the monster before me barely touching the barrier that was already there before my wings unfolded. The three of us sent a claw-like shock wave tearing the beast to shreds before seemingly melting into the lava below only leaving what could be it's skin behind.
I closed their gates and flew down to Natsu grabbing him and flying high again so that Laxus could definitely see what I was doing, but I didn't care.
Natsu's POV
Luce was holding me up with her sheer strength, my feet dangling in the air. I managed to put my feet over her now claw-like feet, looking every bit an evil demon ready to devour the world as she saw fit. We were high in the air and I could see her black pupils scanning me over looking for the perfect place to sink her pearly white fangs into. The combined Lust and Envy stardress all but made Luce a true vampire. The kind that fed on the blood of their victims before discarding their lifeless bodies.
"I need..." she started and I relaxed seeing that she was still in control of herself for now at least.
I look into her eyes, knowing that the beautiful chocolate brown eyes I loved lay waiting just under the firey red. "It's okay, I'm here. Take us to a platform and you can take what you need." I tell her softly, careful not to startle her.
She nodded and did as I told her and when we were safely on top of what was probably the largest and farthest one from Laxus, she let me go and waited. I removed my scarf and leaned to one side, letting her in. The feel of her fangs puncturing my skin smooth and pleasurable as she drank from me. She probably didn't take a whole lot just enough to curb her lust before releasing her stardress and using Griffin's stardress to make a little room for the two of us where no one could see in. In fact once we went inside no one would be able to see where we went at all, it was as if we had vanished.
We spent what were probably days there trying to satisfy her need and when we finally did we cleaned up putting on fresh clothes before returning what would have been only half an hour on Earthland. We have learned she can change and bend whatever was in the barriers she created to her will, including time, although she couldn't stop it completely.
Now we will have to try and explain to Laxus what the hell just happened and unless Luce was willing to lie that meant everyone would find out we were mated unless we were very lucky.
Lucy's POV
I froze, stopping where I was shocking Natsu into turning around, my magic was almost singing inside of me. I looked around only to be answered by a musical voice, "You are a glutton for punishment aren't you?"
I smile warmly, feeling at ease with the presence, "Do you want to make a contract with me?" I ask almost purring as I did.
"I am Pan, a satire, my sin is gluttony." he tipped an imaginary hat to me. "If you accept my power, dancing will actually make you more powerful but everyone needs a partner to dance." He eyed Natsu patiently waiting for him to speak up.
"If it's for Luce then anything," he purred, still very much sated from our earlier activities. Pan laughed and when I agreed we made our contract sealing it with him handing me his crystal key and disappearing into the celestial realm.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Laxus screamed at us as we got closer apparently recovering from his shock far sooner than Mira had but that could be just because he was warned ahead of time that we were actually amazing.
Natsu's POV
Luce just shrugged before saying, "I used one of my stardresses to defeat the monster. There were no rules on how to do it only that it needed to be gone." What she didn't say was why Succubus and Incubus took the monster's skin with them effectively leaving nothing behind at all of the monster.
"What the hell did you do to Natsu?" he asked, looking ash white searching my already healed neck where he saw her bite me, the opposite side of my mating mark.
I yanked away from him rubbing my still sore neck before grumbling, "Geeze what the hell do you think she did to me?" Walking away like he was crazy. Luce followed me and shrugged when she caught up like she didn't understand him at all either.
"But I saw..." Laxus trailed off as if he was no longer sure anymore.
"Are you coming? We still have to claim the reward for the job." Luce called back to him. I leaned on Luce's shoulder trying to act naturally when Luce jumped up like she just had the best idea. "Let's call Griffin!" I nod in agreement and he allowed us to mount him. He only allowed me to do this after Luce had made me weak from one if not both of the activities that Succubus and Incubus' sins urged her to do.
Laxus was left standing on the ground and he had to use his magic to catch up to us giving me a little more time to recover without being watched. We claimed our reward and started to head to the train where Laxus finally caught up to us right outside the clients house. He took his agreed amount for taking us and we were supposed to split the rest. Instead Luce called Loke who took the amount in hand before stepping back into the celestial realm again refusing to make eye contact with Laxus as he did.
We boarded the train and when I could finally lay my head down on Luce's lap I only stayed awake until I saw that she had already fallen asleep her fingers tangled in my hair. I could however tell that as miserable as Laxus was he was wide awake watching us. My scarf was loose around my neck, easily showing him my smooth skin where Luce had drank from that to him was only an hour or so ago. My scarf was however bunched up like a pillow on the side my mark was on effectively hiding it from anyone's prying eyes.
It felt like I only blinked when the train came to a stop and it was time to get off. Laxus was still very awake as he hobbled off the train. Luce and I made our way home going around the late night street market so that Laxus wouldn't be able to track us going home. When we got there we probably slept for a few days straight.
Lucy's POV
When we finally woke up the sun was rising and we were filthy, we were still in the same clothes we went on the mission in and I could tell that we had been there a few days thanks to the smell. I dragged myself to the bath and set the water. When it was done I slowly lowered myself in the tub and I noticed Natsu slowly getting undressed as well to join me. We soaked for a long time before washing ourselves. We knew we had to go to the guild today. Don't know exactly how long we were gone but soon enough someone would come looking for us.
We finally arrived at the guild and Natsu was so tired he didn't even kick the door open. In fact the guild seemed to be empty still except for Mira and Kinana at the bar setting up. Instead of going back home we found a booth and just before we could fall asleep I said very clearly, "Infirmary." Natsu nodded in agreement and we ever so slowly made our way to one of the cots before laying down to sleep. Natsu's warm arms around me.
***
"Yo I found them! They are just sleeping in the infirmary!" I hear Gray yell. Mavis if it wasn't for the fact that I felt like I had been put through a meat grinder I probably would have beat him senseless, forget Natsu. From what I could tell he was still sound asleep.
I groan and very tenderly turn into a more comfortable position sighing when I was done.
"Oh my Mavis! They look terrible," I hear Wendy gasp before I felt her healing magic sooth my tired and sore muscles. I moaned softly and Natsu tightened his grip around me. Shit he is still very much passed out but he was stiffening against me. I groan like I'm hurt which had the desired effect of him going soft again but now he was holding me tighter.
After several minutes I opened my eyes and found it wasn't just Wendy either, all of team Natsu was there. If you could still call it that now that Natsu and I very rarely go out on missions with them anymore.
After about a minute of just looking at them I say, "Hey guys. What are you doing here?" I know it must have sounded dumb the way they were all looking at me like I was just crazy. I looked around some more to find Natsu was actually pulling me closer.
"Natsuuuu!" I whined as I half heartedly tried to push him away, "What did I say about my bed?" I grumbled before seemingly passing out again snuggling into his warm arms. "warm," I mumbled once before going silent...
"What the hell?" Gray asked slightly shocked.
"This is an everyday thing actually," Happy tells them. "Natsu and I usually sneak into her bed because it is super crazy comfortable to sleep in and she normally kicks us out in the morning when she finds us there."
"You break into her apartment and crawl into her bed?" Erza seemed to ask him.
"Aye sir, but I didn't know he was still doing it since she told him no..." Happy trailed off. I felt Natsu start growing hot and realised he was awake as well, listening to our friends.
"Why are you so noisy in the morning?" Natsu grumbled pretending to realize where we were and how he was holding me. He ever so slowly untangled himself from me acting like I was some kind of bomb or something. I guess I did kind of go off on him whenever I found him in my bed before.
When he was safely away Gray yelled, "Hey Lucy, Natsu's in your bed!" as loud as he could.
I jumped up and yelled "Lucy Kick!" and instead of hitting Natsu, I hit Gray. Acting all tired and out of it. "What are you doing in my bed?" I groaned instead of yelled my head now throbbing as I sank back down into the cot.
"Yep, that's normal." Happy said as if he was overly satisfied with himself and Natsu was laughing so hard I could swear he was about to pass out.
"Well that answers that then," I could hear Erza grinning as she spoke.
"Lucy, I need you to wake up please. I need to give you a check up!" Wendy cried.
I slowly sit up with one hand cradling my throbbing head, before slowly looking up at her trying to focus. "What's going on?" I ask her almost silently. I look around and see Gray still on the floor with a shocked look on his face rubbing one side of his face as he did. Natsu was laughing on the floor clutching his gut. While Erza stood just behind Wendy in front of me, Happy flying next to her.
"What happened? Your magic is so low I had to replenish a lot of it before I could even wake you up." Wendy asked, worried making Natsu's squeals of laughter come to an abrupt halt.
"You said you took enough," Natsu's voice was low and dark as if he were the one to be afraid of.
I just look at him and smile a little. I reach for him and he comes and hugs me lighting himself on fire to mask what I was actually doing. If anyone could see what I was doing which I doubt because of the way the infirmary is set up and how we were positioned, it would have looked like I was eating his fire. What I was actually doing was kissing him. Us being mated it helps me to regain strength just as it does for him to just breathe in his essence, to taste him.
After a few minutes of silence I released him and he stood back. I laid back down and Natsu covered me again, as I tried to go back to sleep.
"What the hell was that?" Gray yelled. I'm really getting tired of his yelling.
"Can you NOT say anything without screaming like a fucking banshee?" I whispered lowly, glaring at him. I could see him visibly shiver and when it was obvious I was done with his crap I turned back over to sleep.
"I shared my energy with her, what else?" He answered otherwise ignoring Gray and all the weird looks everyone was giving him.
"So what happened to you two?" Wendy asked about to cry again.
Natsu's POV
"That mission Laxus took us on was a bit much for us. We did it," I grin at Gray before continuing, "but we are wiped." I stretch again about to lay down with Luce again. "I'm going back to sleep," I say before I feel Erza grab me by the ear and drag me out of the infirmary behind her. "Ow!" I yell at her before whacking her hand away in front of everyone in the guild hall.
"What the hell Erza?" I rub my ear as I glare at her before looking around to see the guild completely full yet quiet. "What?" I asked looking around.
"Natsu?" Master sighed and I looked up at him to see Laxus standing next to him. I frown, what the hell is this all about now? I waited for him to go on but everyone just stared at me.
"What?" I asked finally giving up on waiting him out, I'm to tired for this shit.
"Natsu, what did Lucy do to you?" he asked looking darkly at me.
What the literal hell? I looked at him like he was crazy. Because at this point I'm pretty sure they all are. "What?" making sure to keep my glare on Master and not Laxus.
"Laxus has already told us how you two defeated the S class mission without any help and how at the end Lucy grabbed you and possibly hurt you." he explained.
I groan and glare at Laxus, "Just how could Lucy hurt me? She is my best friend." I relax now, they are Fairy Tail and we are family even if they are being stupid at the moment. I yawn and stretch turning to leave this time glaring at Erza almost daring her to try and stop me. "I'm going back to sleep, wake me up if you have any real questions."
I was at the bottom of the stairs leading to the infirmary when Gray yelled out, "If Lucy told you no, why are you still hanging off of her all the time?" My hand that was already on the railing squeezed, shattering the piece of wood. I shot at Gray like a bullet grabbing him by the throat slamming him into the wall behind him, all before anyone could so much as blink or for the splintered wood to finally settle on the ground.
"Do you know what it is like to have your own magic turned against you?" I could see the fear light up in his eyes as he gaped at me. "Do you know what it is like to be stripped of your very self as your own fire rips you apart fraying every muscle, strand by strand making you wish you could just die so that the torture could finally end?" I slammed him against the wall again making sure I had his full attention.
"How could you? How could anyone here possibly know what it is like to have your own body twisted and played with in a way that makes living a fucking hell?" I let him go, stepping away looking around to see all the shocked faces around me, Gray slumped to the ground his hands rubbing his neck in shock. "Where were all of you while I lay there dying?" I whispered before walking back to the infirmary slamming the door behind me knowing full well that they all heard me perfectly.
I want to cry thinking back to just before Luce and I mated. How when I would let her go I would collapse on the ground and not be able to get up without her soothing the pain away and then only with her help. Rage filled me, even if Luce didn't love me the way she does she still stayed by my side. Knowing I needed her more than anything else in the world. No one else was there and Wendy and Gajeel actually did pretty much tell everyone what was going on. Gajeel actually said it, 'your going through the change' and Wendy told us how stupid we were to be out because I could literally die. She screamed it actually in the silent guild hall, where everyone could hear her. They all knew, yet not one of them asked or showed up let alone looked for me. They didn't care.
How can they blame Luce for not loving someone? You can't force someone to love. Only hope, Mavis I'm so happy she said yes. I look around to see her looking at me tiredly. She gave me a sad smile and reached to me, it was like I couldn't resist her pull. I was laying next to her holding her like my very life depended on it, tears running freely as she tried to soothe me. Running her fingers through my hair and whispering how everything was going to be alright she was there.
I can't help thinking, she is here, she has always been there for me. Ever since I first met her she had pretty much made it her mission to help me. SHE cared.
My Luce is here in my arms. I squeeze as tight as I could without hurting her only to feel her squeeze me back. "I will always love you," she whispers into my chest as I hold her.
"And I will always love you," I whisper into her ear. After several minutes of laying there I groan and release her. "Let's just go home. They should leave us alone for a while now." I smile when she nods her head and we walk out our heads held high, tear stains visibly etched on our faces as we leave the guild. This time no one tried to stop us, they simply made a path for us. Not willing to see that side of me again. The hurt that I felt and they chose to ignore all of this time.