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Beastly Possession	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 26740 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I make no money, I just do this for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Disclaimer: I am now stalking Hiro Mashima on Twitter. I shall discover his weakness, and then my droid army will dispatch to claim the copyright on Fairy Tail. It's only a matter of time! MWAHAHA! Until then...damn that mangaka for making Loke look sexy despite (or maybe due to) those cat ears!

Chapter 14

Torment for the Heart, Hope for the Soul

Lucy sighed as she sat outside a farmstead babysitting Gray. The Ice-Make mage slumped his elbow onto his knees with his chin in his hands, glaring in the direction of the quaint house in the midst of wheat fields.

Softly, he grumbled to himself. "I don't see what the big deal is. Does Erza think I'm not civilized enough to talk to some damn country bumpkins?"

"Erza didn't like saving your butt at the last farm," Lucy explained, jotting some notes in a tablet she brought along in case she got ideas for her novel. The view right now of the valley, tamed by the calloused hands of a farmer, was too inspiring not to write about it.

"Seriously, that was not my fault," Gray protested in irritation. "I was questioning people just like she told me to do. I said nothing rude at all, just the same questions we've been asking every farmer. Those people shot at me for no reason."

"Gray," Lucy sighed, "you stripped to your boxers while cornering the farmer's daughter against a haystack. What was her father supposed to think you were doing? When you told him you were asking her if she'd seen a pink beast, that really didn't help."

"It's not my fault if the farmer had a dirty mind."

Lucy sighed to ignore the whole humiliating incident. She stared out at the clouds that threatened rain to the south. Luckily they were heading northwest, following clues. It seemed like Natsu had the sense to keep to farmlands and not terrorize large cities. However, that made gathering clues about him next to impossible. There was no pattern to his attacks, other than they were farm animals. Once it was a cow, then three goats, another farmer reported five butchered chickens and all the eggs eaten raw, another showed them the carcass of his prized horse and demanded that someone pay for killing the stallion. That was the one who took a shot at Gray and might have hit him if the chronic stripper had not been so quick at forming an ice shield.

Finally, Erza, Freed, Mirajane, Wendy, Happy, and Charle returned from the farm with news.

"A single sheep was killed out in a pasture," Erza told the other two. "No one was around, so they thought it was wolves, but the farmer said all he found were human tracks, someone wearing sandals. He also said a neighbor's son saw a young man fighting a cougar barehanded, spouting flames like a dragon."

"Definitely Natsu," Lucy nodded. "When was this?"

"The dead sheep was found yesterday. The cougar was early this morning."

Wendy looked excited. "We're really close. I went out to the field, and I could still smell Natsu. It was a fresh scent, although...not a good one," she mumbled, looking immensely troubled.

Mirajane hugging the little girl's shoulders in emotional support. "There was a lot of blood and..." The white-haired woman stopped short, blushing a little. Luckily, Wendy had no idea what she was smelling, but Mirajane figured it out easily enough. Semen! She had searched that whole field, horrified that they might find the body of a female victim. Luckily, there was only the single dead sheep, torn to ragged bits. Just the memory of the smell of that fly-infested carcass was enough to turn her stomach. "It was a mess," she summarized. "Wendy began to get a headache from the smell. She said something about Natsu's smell is really wrong."

"It's Natsu," Wendy assured them, "but it's almost not him at all. I can't explain it. We need to find him quickly. I can probably follow his trail from here, so long as he doesn't fly away again."

"One sheep," Lucy hummed. "Natsu could have eaten more, so he must have left after people arrived."

"I spoke to the shepherd on duty that night," Freed told them. "He said he heard growls and the sheep bleating. He blew a horn to warn for wolves, but he didn't go to chase the creature away since he only had his staff. He briefly saw red glowing eyes in the dark."

Lucy shivered as she remembered what those burning eyes looked like. They were something out of a nightmare. "Natsu would have been able to smell him," she realized. "Yet he didn't attack." She held her chin as she considered this. "This is the third time someone has actually seen Natsu in his beast form, yet not once has he attacked a human. He's only hunting animals. With the feral creature, it hunted anything, animal or human. Maybe a small part of Natsu doesn't want to hurt anyone. That means he still has some control." She smiled with hope. "He's not too far gone yet, but we need to find him."

"Agree," Erza nodded. "Let's go."

They returned to a gravel path that lazily weaved between copses of small trees and snaky rivers. Wendy walked ahead with Mirajane, sniffing the air and trying to follow where the scent led. Erza pulled their cart of supplies, with Happy sitting depressed on top of the massive pile and Charle trying her best to cheer him up. Freed walked alone, tagging along since his skills were needed once this manhunt reached its target. Bringing up the end was Lucy and Gray. Her eyes shined with the hope of seeing Natsu again soon, but Gray's expression had been getting darker as they drew closer.

At night, they camped by a waterfall to restock on supplies. Mirajane and Erza went to take a shower in the falls, but Lucy just quickly washed up, hating the icy cold water. Freed was out in some nearby woods using his runes to hunt; his ability to snare wild game worked with amazing accuracy. Wendy and the two Exceeds prepared dinner, with the little girl making vegetable stew while Happy tried to show off his barbecuing skills, usually just burning the meat until Charle yelled at him and sent him to go fish while she cooked.

Lucy drifted away from the camp to look at the stars. She smiled up at the constellation Draco the Dragon. One of these days, she would have to get that key just to make Natsu happy, although he would probably only want to fight it. She laughed quietly to herself as she could practically hear his voice.

"A celestial dragon? That's so cool! Hey Lucy, call him out. I wanna fight him!"

Yes, that's precisely what he would say.

She heard Gray's steps approaching and did not even need to look around. The Ice-Make mage cautiously came nearer, watching his steps in the darkness.

"Hey," Gray said with a heavy voice. "Um...nice night."

"Mmh," she agreed. Lucy leaned back a bit, feeling relaxed by the distant roar of the waterfall, the babbling stream at her feet, soft rustling in the trees around her, and the silence of the stars.

Gray sat close beside her. He also looked up at the stars for a while, but he quickly lost interest. He gazed at Lucy instead. They were teammates, yet he could hardly help but think she was incredibly cute. Of course, he thought Erza was lovely, too. Juvia was rather pretty as well. He might think Levy wasn't half bad, but Gajeel would kill him if he said so! Still, there was something pure about Lucy. The way her brown eyes gleamed in the starlight, how her face glowed pale silver in the moon's rays, and the glittering of gold from her hair, like a halo around a saint...sometimes he wished for more between them, something closer than just teammates, and sometimes he was happy just to gaze upon her like a work of art.

"I don't get it," Gray finally sighed, surprising Lucy. "Why are you defending Natsu?"

She blinked her wide eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier, you were going on about him having control. Obviously, he doesn't! He's slaughtering farm animals, for crying out loud!"

"He's not hurting people..."

"He hurt you," Gray snapped, and the inner fury simmered in his eyes. "I won't forgive him for doing that, either."

She looked upset at being reminded of that dark attack. "I've already forgiven him, so you should also. He wasn't in control..."

"Precisely! And he's still not. If anything, when we find him, he'll be worse, and you're going to be his target."

"I know the risks," she assured. "I'm the one who volunteered to be bait."

"You need to be ready for the worst, Lucy. You're getting your hopes up, and that's worrying me. For all we know, he might be too far gone to save."

"Even so, I'm not giving up on him. I don't think he..."

"Do you think you can forgive him and everything will go back to normal?" Gray argued. "Look, I want to find that flame-brain and bring him back home, if only so I can castrate him for hurting you. I really do hope we catch up to him soon, but I'm worried about you. You keep saying you're okay, that it's all fine and dandy since it was Natsu. That's wrong, Lucy! Whether it's Natsu or me or anyone, taking you by force is wrong. Yet you're ready to welcome that jerk back with a laugh and a kiss on the cheek. You're only letting yourself be used. Even if you love Natsu, that bastard assaulted you, he stole your virginity, he hurt you so badly..."

"Shut up!" she shouted, and her hands covered her ears.

Gray backed off when he saw tears in her eyes, but he still did not like Lucy's complaisance. "You can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"I...I know," she whispered, slowly unplugging her ears. "I know what happened, and I'm not defending the beast. I hate the beast, but I...I love Natsu, yes," she confessed. "I wanted it to be Natsu, and I was scared, so I..."

She sniffled, and Gray could see that it was taking all of her strength not to break down completely into sobs. She had been raised and trained to be a noblewoman, never showing emotions in public, even the fiercest anger or deepest sadness. She was relying on that training now to keep the tears from touching her cheeks.

"I tried to take comfort in telling myself it was Natsu, and that's why I didn't fight him. I wanted it to be him...but it wasn't. I saw when Natsu woke up. He looked confused. He was horrified when he saw what his body had done. Definitely, he didn't realize it had happened. He probably lost all consciousness. Natsu wasn't in control when it happened, Gray," she told him, staring right up into his blue eyes with stubbornness laced with tears. "As much as it's comforting for me to think it was Natsu, I know it wasn't! The beast took my virginity." Anger surged into her face, and she screamed at Gray, "Can you imagine how hard it is to admit something like that?"

That sapped away the last of her strength. She had been fighting to maintain control over her emotions for many days, but even her high-class training was not enough. She collapsed to the ground and covered her face as the tears overtook her in unrestrained sobs that shook her whole body.

Gray was left with a dropped mouth. He honestly couldn't imagine it! He had a little idea about how girls felt about virginity and such. "It's like losing the most precious personal thing," Mirajane once said to a group of guild girls, and Gray had been listening in. "If you're going to lose it, you want someone special to have it."

Some mindlessly carnal beast, or the friend she secretly loved: which was special enough to take such a precious thing? He understood a little why Lucy would try to delude herself into thinking it was Natsu who did that to her.

Even for Gray, it was easier to hate Natsu for hurting Lucy, not some obscure possession hidden within the dragon slayer. For Lucy to be faced with whether to slip into the warm blanket of lies—telling herself it was Natsu so she could simply get together with him later on and reassure herself—or to admit that her first time was with some creature hidden within Natsu's body, something that the "Natsu" they knew was not even aware of...obviously, lies were easier.

Gray scooted over closer and hugged Lucy. She grabbed hold of him, clinging to his shirt, desperate for someone to be there as she faced this horrible truth.

"That's why," she hiccuped between sobs, "I can hate the beast...but I can't hate Natsu. Natsu had no control. Maybe it was his inner desires, but it wasn't his mind controlling it. He's probably tormented, too. Can you imagine what it's like for him?" she questioned, looking up to Gray. "He knows it was his body, but he was helpless. He probably has no memory, not until he came to and saw...saw what...what he had done." Her voice nearly faded away completely. "Imagine waking up to see you're in the middle of making love to Juvia, but you don't remember getting there."

Gray shivered at the thought! That would be a true nightmare.

"It's tormenting him, just like it's tormenting me. So please, Gray," she whispered tiredly, exhausted after the emotional release. "Please don't fight me on this. It took me a long time to decide this. I hate the beast, but I love Natsu. I want the beast banished, but I want to assure Natsu that he's innocent. I...I would like to...maybe...see if Natsu wants a relationship like that."

"Lucy!" Gray began to protest, blushing at what she was saying.

"If it's his inner desire, and it's mine too, isn't that natural?" she questioned, looking a little hesitant whether or not she was right to feel that way.

Gray sighed as he tried to see it from her point of view. "If you truly hold Natsu innocent, if you honestly believe he was not in control and not even conscious, then...it's up to you both." He gave a shrug. "I'll try not to castrate him when we find him."

She chuckled wearily. "That would be nice of you," she smirked.

Through the trees, they heard Wendy shout, "Dinner's ready!"

Lucy wiped her eyes and splashed some icy river water onto her face. She pinched her cheeks so they would look healthy and rosy, not pale from emotional fatigue. Then she looked over to Gray and gave him a smile.

"Let's go eat."

He helped her to stand, then took hold of her elbows and looked firmly down at her. "Are you okay?"

"No," she admitted, "but I'll make due until we find him."

"Lucy..."

"Gray," she interrupted.

"No, I...I just want to say..." He looked aside, and she saw a blush on his cheeks. "If you and Natsu...if you two...you know, hook up or whatever, I...I'll support your choice."

Lucy looked confused until she realized what Gray was saying. He also had feelings for her, but he valued their friendship above all else, so he would respect her decision. She reached her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

"Thank you, Gray." Suddenly, she realized she was touching his bare back. She opened her eyes and saw the guild mark on his chest. "Um...where did your clothes go?"

Gray pulled away and looked down. Not only was his shirt gone, but his pants as well. "Dammit, when did I do that?"

Lucy tittered softly as Gray hunted for his clothes. "Gray," she said as he struggled into his pants. "Even if Natsu and I hook up some day, we're not splitting up the team. I love all of you guys too much to do something like that."

It made Gray smile with relief. "Yeah, that flame-brain might be a pain in the ass, but we all make a damn good team."

"Mmh!" she nodded firmly. "Your shirt is on that rock, by the way."

"Huh?" He looked to where she was pointing across the stream. "How the hell did it get way over there?"

Once he was dressed again, Lucy and Gray strolled side by side together back to the camp. Lucy gave a soft sigh filled with worries. Roughly, Gray yanked her by the shoulder in a half-hug as they walked onward.

"Hey, no gloomy faces. We'll find him, and we'll cure him. Then you two can be gross and smoochie all you want."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and Gray laughed. It made Lucy giggle too, and instantly she felt hope returning to her. They would find Natsu. Then everything would be better...

Right?

End of Chapter 14

A/N: After a few readers expressed dismay about Lucy's complaisance when Natsu attacked her during the ball (Chapter 8), and her quickness to forgive Natsu saying "If it's you, it's okay," I realized I needed to explain her reasoning. It boils down to 'the beast is the beast and Natsu is Natsu. They have the same body but not the same mind.' If this stance is still offensive...too bad! Besides, I think this whole fanfic offends everyone at some point. Talking about pissing people off, although I got a warning months ago, Chapter 8 is back in its full and naughty form. No more going to some adult fanfic site to read the "real" version. If people are going to shut down this story, they'll do so from all the gore as well as that one little lemon, and I can't help it with either problem. That's just the way this story is.
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Beastly Possession