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Strange Bedfellows	By : stellabomb Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 9473 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and am not making any money off of this work.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Chapter 9: The Calling

A/N: Apologies for the wait. I've got many excuses. The holidays, I got sick, but mostly because I want to give the next chapters more time to simmer in my head.

Lucy refused to sleep with Sting, in the end. She followed him to his room to receive the book, he made the moves on her, but at the last moment, she pushed him away and told him she couldn't do it. He was a little pissed off, but he wasn't surprised.

Lucy walked back towards her apartment. The middle of her chest was sinking with dread. At first, she tried as hard as she could to not think of anything, but obviously that sort of thing doesn't work. As she passed the river that ran by her street, she stopped a few blocks short of her apartment and sat down on the ledge that lined the river.

Lucy didn't sleep with Sting that night, but they got close. Very close. The realization of what she's doing sunk in. Technically, Lucy wasn't in a relationship with Sting or Natsu, so she wasn't cheating on anyone per se… But she also wasn't the type of woman to just sleep around. It was fine when she was just messing around with Sting as a way of getting over with Natsu. With Natsu back in the picture, whatever she ends up doing with Sting isn't just "messing around."

The easy answer should have been to resume pursuing Natsu because he was obviously returning her feelings. Natsu was responding to her physically, for sure, and he's catching up emotionally. This is what Lucy had wanted all along. And the whole guild pretty much expected it, especially after Natsu picked a fight with Sting. By all accounts, Lucy should choose Natsu. And now, everything was set up perfectly for it. She has feelings for him, he knows it and he seems to feel the same for her.

Even Sting was well aware of this, which was why their arrangement had no real strings attached. Sting didn't act as though he wanted to be her boyfriend or anything. If she wanted to stop seeing him, Lucy could have easily done so.

So why hasn't Lucy walked away from Sting yet? Lucy couldn't wrap her head around the reason. What troubled he the most about this was how easily she gives into Sting. Even when she's mad at him for undermining her abilities, even with Natsu is in the picture. When Lucy and Sting's bodies come into contact, everything else seems to fall away and she gets drawn in.

Lucy leaned over and buried her face into her palms. Why couldn't she choose? Why was she so intent on digging herself into this trap? The guilt and confusion got to her. Tears pushed their ways through the back of her eyelids. She started crying quietly, cursing herself for making a real mess out of her love life.

"Lucy?" said Natsu's voice.

Lucy looked up to find him standing a few feet away from her. "Natsu, what are you doing here?"

"Sting came to the guild for a drink, so I left," Natsu replied. "He seemed mad."

At first she said nothing because she couldn't think of anything to say. He was looking at her carefully, his nose slightly sniffing around her. His curious expression slowly turned into anger. It dawned on Lucy that she had been crying and Sting's smell was all over her. These were not good signs.

"Na… Natsu…" she said slowly getting up, trying not to startle him.

But it was too late. Natsu had dashed back towards the guild hall where he knew Sting was having a drink.

The second fight between Sting and Natsu wasn't as bad as the first. No one was seriously injured, nor were any buildings destroyed. But there was still damage to the guild hall and Mater Makarov was furious. He called Lucy, Natsu, and Sting into his office. Erza was already there, standing behind the master.

"All three of you need to leave," the master said, annoyed and frustrated. "Stay away from this building… No, stay away from this town!"

"But where are we supposed to go?" Natsu asked.

"I'm sending you three on a job that will take time to complete," Makarov said. "We need time to make repairs and I don't want another fight to make things worse. You two already know the city and Magic Council have their eyes on us."

"But… All three of us?" Lucy said feeling a little nervous. "The two of them… and me?"

Makarov gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Lucy," the master said. "I know you didn't do any of the damage, but these fights are obviously about you. I don't think they'll fight if you're with them. RIGHT?" Makarov glared at them, enlarging his head to highlight the point. The two dragon slayers hung their heads low and nodded. "Erza will come along as well," Makarov added.

As Sting, Lucy, and Natsu left the office, Makarov turned to Erza. "Keep an eye on Lucy," he said. "It's going to come down to her, in the end."

The job Makarov arranged involved multiple deliveries of supplies along the northwest tip of Fiore. The distance wasn't too bad, but because the group was traveling with two dragon slayers, they were limited to traveling solely on foot. The area itself was mostly forest and mountains with a few small towns and villages dotting the path. The towns and villages were fairly isolated, making some of their beliefs, customs, and culture rather unique compared to the rest of Fiore. At times it felt like a different world. Lucy enjoyed learning about the difference locales, but she had to admit there was something about being out in the boonies made her feel uneasy. She dismissed the thought. It could just be her unease with traveling with both Sting and Natsu at the same time, which has been strained to say the least. While the two didn't fight physically, there was notable tension in amongst them. Each time one of them inched any closer to Lucy, the other would tense up as though he were ready to do something in reaction. With Erza in the background, the two held whatever anger was flaring up, but only barely. Lucy stayed awkwardly in the middle.

Surprisingly, though, the trip to make the deliveries went without incident. The two dragon slayers begrudgingly kept their distance from each other, keeping silent most of the time with their anger sitting just below the surface. It took them a week to make the deliveries and it should take a few days for them to return.

It was raining the night that they made the last delivery so the four of them stayed at a tavern for the night before making the trip back home. They had dinner at the bar and the settled in for a few drinks. The air between Lucy, Sting, and Natsu continued to be heavy, even though they didn't say much to each other. It felt like one wrong word from one of them would lead to an explosion.

"What's wrong with them?" the bartender asked Erza as he handed her a pint.

Erza looked at the three and let out a heavy sigh. "A lover's tiff, you could say."

The bartender laughed. "If that's the case, you should warn those three!"

"No, they'll be fine," Erza said putting her hand up in apology. "Hopefully those two boys aren't stupid enough to start another fight."

"Oh no, it's not that. They better be careful on the road."

"Why do you say that?" Erza asked curiously.

"This area isn't as populated as it is in cities like the capital. It's not uncommon for travelers to fall prey to the tricks of the local deities. A lover's quarrel is perfect kind of fodder for their traps."

"Deities? Surely, that's all just folktales."

"It could be," the bartender acknowledged. "But I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of the stories are true. People have gone missing."

Erza was still skeptical, but she could see that the bartender was being completely serious. "Well, we'll keep that in mind on our way back."

Erza signaled to the other three that they should head to their rooms for sleep. The exquip mage arranged for two rooms that were right next to each other. Lucy entered one of the rooms first. Sting was next coming up the stairs behind her.

"What are you doing?" Natsu said sharply.

"Going to sleep," Sting bit back.

"Not in Lucy's room, you're not!" Natsu said, his body getting heated.

Sting scowled in response. Things immediately began to crackle. Erza stood between them, pushing each of them aside.

"Lucy and I are sharing a room," Erza said firmly.

Natsu looked at the extra room and then at Sting. "I'm not sharing a room with this guy!" Natsu said furiously.

"It's either this or sleep outside," Erza said.

Natsu paused, unsure of what to do. He definitely did not want to share a room, but he also didn't want to sleep outside on a night like this. Sting scoffed and headed back down to the lobby.

"I'm getting my own room," Sting said coldly.

Natsu gave a look to Erza and headed into the other room. Rolling her eyes, Erza entered her own room where Lucy was sitting on her bed. Lucy looked very apologetic.

"Is everything okay?" Lucy asked quietly.

"I think so," Erza replied.

Erza could tell Lucy was feeling bad about this situation. The blonde mage had been quiet the whole trip. Each time either Sting or Natsu tried to approach Lucy, she would thoroughly avoid them. Erza could see Lucy struggling with whatever is going on in her mind. Erza sat next to Lucy.

"Lucy," Erza said. "You know things can't go on this way."

Lucy made a pained expression. "I know.. I just… I'm not sure what to do."

"I don't know what's going on in your heart," Erza said gently. "Do what's right."

Lucy said nothing, but Erza could tell by the look on her face that the blonde mage struggled with "what's right" for her.

The following day, they set out for Magnolia. As with the rest of the trip, they walked in silence, though the tension between Sting, Lucy, and Natsu was as overbearing as ever. Lucy, for one, wanted desperately to get home and be alone. She knew the master wanted for the three of them to work things out, doing it this way was too awkward and too tense. Perhaps the heaviness was getting to Lucy because the more she lingered on it, the more she felt that unease she had when they first got to this area.

They were walking along the same road they came from, but there was something strange about it. It almost felt like a different road, which was odd because there was only one road to travel on. They were traveling in the right direction, but the further they went, the less familiar the road felt. It had different looking trees, different insects sounds. The air felt different too. It was slightly heavier, a little more humid. At first Lucy thought she had been inattentive the first time they passed by, but she's definitely felt something was wrong.

"What's this?" echoed a voice that was both masculine and feminine. "We can feel intense emotions calling out… Doubt, desire, confusion… All of them wrapping into one another in beautiful turbulence…"

Lucy looked around. No one except Natsu, Sting, and Erza were in the immediate area. It looked as though Natsu and Sting had heard the voice as well. Erza, on the other hand, seemed to be unaware of what was going on.

"Come to us…" the voice said again. "Allow us to indulge…"

Lucy suddenly felt as though he were running out of air to breathe. Her neck started feeling tight. She clutched onto his throat. Looking over to Sting and Natsu, Lucy could see they were experiencing the same thing. Everything was going black. In the distance, Lucy could see Erza frantically saying something to them. Erza seemed to be fading further away.

"Struggle in your emotions until you become ours…"

Makarov was sitting on the second floor of the guild hall overseeing the work being done to the hall. All of the repairs that needed to be done were cosmetic, but there was a lot of it that needed to be done. It's been a little over a week since Erza and the others left and Makarov had to admit it was nice having continual peace at the guild hall. He could only hope something good came out of forcing the three into a job together.

It was already evening when Makarov heard people shuffling around outside of the hall, the crowd outside seemed alarmed. Makarov heard Sting and Natsu's name being uttered. Afraid that the two came back prematurely and are fighting again, Makarov rushed down. Just as he reached the first floor, Wendy came in followed by Gray and Erza who between the two of them carried Sting, Lucy, and Natsu.

"What's going on?" the master asked.

"We're not sure," Gray said. "Erza just came in with these three in a carriage. It looks like they're unconscious."

Erza and Gray laid Sting, Lucy, and Natsu on the ground. Makarov looked at them close. All of them had black marks wrapping around their necks. The marks almost looked strangulation marks, but the coloring was too black to be a bruise. A seal perhaps? Makarov kept staring at the marks. They do looking like something, but he can't quite recognize the shape. He turned to Erza.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"We were walking and they were ahead of me," Erza explained. "Lucy stopped and looked like she was hearing and seeing things. Eventually, Sting and Natsu seemed to be experiencing the same thing. I didn't see any of it. I kept trying to say something to them, but it looked like they were having a hard time hearing me. After a few moments it looked like their bodies were becoming transparent. When they became fully materialized again, they were all unconscious."

"Have they been unconscious this whole time?"

"They came in and out of it during the ride here."

Makarov asked Wendy to do a quick check on them.

"Their vital signs are all normal," Wendy said. "Rather than saying they're unconscious, I think it's more like they're in a deep sleep."

To demonstrate Wendy shook Natsu on the shoulder vigorously. Natsu stirred, mumbled something, and then closed his eyes again.

Makarov nodded. He and Erza brought the three to Polyusica to be checked out. After a thorough examination, the three were put to bed while the former Edolas resident spoke with Makarov and Erza.

"I don't see anything physically wrong with them," Polyusica said. "Everything is normal except for this state of deep sleep. Each time I try to wake them up, they seem to be able to stay awake for a little longer, so the sleepiness may eventually wear off."

"The marks," Makarov said. "That has to be something."

"I agree," Polyusica said. "I don't know what they are. Without knowing what it is first, there isn't much any of us can do."

Makarov closed his eyes, thinking.

"The locals," Erza said remembering what the bartender had told her. "The bartender at one of the taverns said something about their deities playing tricks on travelers."

"If their immediate health is fine, we won't have to send them to the hospital," the master said, turning to Erza. "I want you, Gray, and Happy to each look over Lucy, Sting, and Natsu. We'll try to contact that bartender you mentioned to see what we can find out."

Erza agreed, but felt uneasy. What really concerned her was the fact that it looked like they were disappearing.

Comments: Some of the feedback for chapter 8 respectfully observed that chapter 8 was a little rough around the edges and I have to say that I do agree. I'm considering doing a revision some time. I just wanted to note that to let everyone know I do read every review and take comments into consideration.

Related to that, I think I'm going to need a beta reader. If you're interested in beta reading the rest of the chapters (not for spelling/punctuation, but to make sure the story makes sense and is not confusing), please let me know. 18 years or older, please. This is an M (to MA depending on where you're reading it) rated story, after all.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!
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Strange Bedfellows