Fire, Blood and Stars

Chapter 6

A skull was growing in the tree. Most people would stay clear of such a thing. "Don't go near that", they would say. "It's dark magic", they would say. It was dark. Not the dark that you couldn't see in, but a dark aura that was all-encompassing. It seemed as though the whole world held its breath, as a man grabbed the skull, and ripped it away. "Lullaby is mine!"

Natsu woke up, sweating. How many years had it been, since he had had a nightmare? There was something about it that haunted him. He did his best to dismiss it and went back to sleep.

In the morning, Lucy went to the guild and found it in a state of uproar. She grabbed the person closest to her, who happened to be Gray, and asked him, "What is all this ruckus about?" Gray looked at her with eyes full of fear. "Erza is coming." Lucy started fangirling a little. "Erza Scarlet? The Erza Scarlet?! Oh my God! She's the most powerful female wizard in Fairy Tail!". Then she looked at his face. "Why do you look so scared?" "She's so strong, she can destroy a mountain with one kick! Imagine if that kick were to be used on us."

"Don't be silly, Gray", said a certain blue cat, from behind Lucy. "She could probably destroy two mountains with one kick." "Happy!", said Lucy, smiling. "Where's Natsu?"

"He's right here", said a voice from behind her. Gray yelped, and Lucy smiled wider. "Natsu! Hi!" Natsu looked confused. This girl was happy to see him. Why? Gray's reaction made more sense to him. He was scary. So why, why did this girl not flinch away, or look the other way? He briefly entertained the thought that she was strong in her own right but dismissed it just as quickly.

All of a sudden, the doors burst open. Everybody except Lucy and Natsu ran behind tables and chairs, although, to be fair, Lucy was behind Natsu already. A redhead entered the room, tugging a gigantic horn. "Gray, Natsu, I need help."

Gray crawled out from beneath the chair he was hiding under. "Oh, hey, Erza."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

Erza looked down, her pride hurting slightly for asking the dragon slayer for help. "It's to destroy a dark guild, Eisenwald. They plan to use something called Lullaby to do god-knows-what, and we need to stop them."

Natsu was going to turn her down, until she said 'Lullaby'. "Are you sure that is the name of the object? Lullaby?"

"Yes, it is."

"I'll go with you."

Erza gasped. She hadn't thought that it would be quite so easy to get him to go with her. She said, "And you, new girl? Wanna tag along?"

Natsu refused. "No way. She is not going on a mission like this. It's too dangerous for her." Erza recoiled from his gaze.

Natsu felt a tug on his cloak. He looked at the offending person, ready to throw them across the guild hall, but his eyes softened at Lucy. That was becoming a bad habit of his. "You'll be there, so what do I have to worry about? I'm in more danger here", she said, pointing at Wakaba, who was staring at her predatorily. Upon catching Natsu's fearsome expression, he quickly grabbed a job and ran out of the guild hall.

"Fine, you can come along, but do not leave my side, understand?" Gray, who expected him to fry her to a crisp, and Erza, who expected to have to stop him from doing so, were both stunned. What just happened?!

They were leaving the guild hall, when Erza looked back at Natsu and said, "Natsu, after this job is over, fight me!"

Natsu just nodded. Everybody treated it as a normal occurrence. While walking, Lucy asked Gray, "Hey, why did he agree to fight Erza, but not you?"

Gray looked at her like she was crazy. Then he said, "Oh right, you're new to the guild. OK, see, the thing is, they have a deal. If he wins, he gets to drink her blood. He survives on blood, as a blood dragon slayer."

"Where does he get blood otherwise?"

"He takes requests to capture criminals and drinks their blood. He just prefers our blood because, according to him, while the blood of criminals is enough to survive on, the blood of actual good people is like a delicacy. It's like forest berries and roast pork." Gray shuddered and added, "He also likes the feeling of people struggling under him helplessly while he drinks their blood."

Natsu could hear all of their conversation. He knew that this was when she would cringe or look at him with horror. But she didn't.

"Isn't that like eating meat? You do eat meat, right? And he isn't killing anyone! That's nothing to ostracize someone over! I mean, he gave me his blood to save my life."

"HE DID WHAT NOW?!!"

Lucy jerked back. What's so horrible about that?

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