Hello everybody, this is my first Fairy Tail fanfic and its one that I've been looking forward to writing for along time. hope you all enjoy this first chapter.

Lucy smiled as she watched her guild mates continue to celebrate the return of Lisanna from Edolas and while Lucy didn't know her that well herself she was happy for Mirajane and Elfman. It had been almost a week since Lucy and the others had returned from the other world and the party showed no signs of slowing.

Surprisingly, however, Natsu had yet to show up at Fairy Tail today. He had been right beside everyone else last night, grinning from ear to ear and throwing a fiery punch at whomever pissed him off. Today on the other hand he was mysteriously absent.

"Eh, he probably just slept in." Lucy shrugged to herself as she walked over to the request board to find another job, her rent was coming up and she was short this month.

"Oh? Looking for a new job Lucy?" Erza asked as she walked over to the request board.

"Hi Erza, Ya I'm a little low on cash for rent this month so I thought I should take on a quick job." Lucy responded as she looked back to the request board. "The only problem is that Loke told me that apparently my celestial magic is going to be unstable for the next few days. Something about the "Dark Matter" or something being thicker than normal." Lucy said as patted her whip at her side. "But I figured with Fleuve d'étoiles here I could at least handle some simple monsters."

"Lucy, one should never underestimate their opponents, it is in those situations that fate can turn against you." Erza warned in her usual manner before smiling at Lucy. "But I suppose that I do feel in the mood for a mission, shall I get Gray and Natsu as well?"

"Really Erza? Thanks!" Lucy exclaimed as gave a quick hug to the older woman.

Erza smiled as she walked back into the mass of guildmates to look for Gray while Lucy walked over to the counter to let Mira know Team Natsu was taking the job. Shortly after Mira checked the request in Erza, Gray, and Happy approached together.

"So we're finally going out on another job huh?" Gray commented with his usual smirk. "Finally, I haven't gotten the chance to cut lose since we got back from Edolas."

"Aye!" happy agreed as he landed on Lucy's head and flopped down.

"Hey happy, what happened to Natsu today? I haven't seen him." Lucy asked the blue cat.

"Hmmm, he was at our house this morning but I haven't seen him since then." The blue cat mused as he put a paw to his chin. "I'm sure that he just went to buy some fish." He concluded.

Lucy facepalmed, "that's something only you would do Happy." She said sounding exhausted.

It was at that moment however that Natsu made his presence known. "H-hey guys." He muttered out in an uncharacteristically low voice.

Everyone turned to look at him with varying levels of concern on their faces. They had never seen the Salmon haired dragon slayer so low key and, gods forbid, nervous.

Happy flew over to Natsu's shoulder as he stared at his partner with concern on his face. "Natsu…?" he questioned tentatively. Natsu smiled down at Happy and patted his head but said nothing.

"Well, whatever, we're going out on a mission. Are you coming with us flame brain?" Gray asked in his normal challenging attitude.

"Yeah…sure." Natsu answered completely ignoring Gray's attempt to start something, only leading to more concern from Lucy and the others.

"Natsu, if you're not feeling well you can stay here." Erza said with entirely too much concern in her voice as she patted his untaken shoulder.

"Hey! What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Natsu yelled, regaining some of his normal cheer.

"Well maybe if you didn't come in here looking like a heartbroken teenage girl we wouldn't have to ask fire freak." Gray said as he walked past.

"What! Want to say that to my face Striper!" Natsu yelled in rage. The two were about to butt heads when Erza stepped between the two; and with a single glare ended their fight.

"Enough you two, we have a job to complete and I won't tolerate lollygagging." Erza declared in a low tone that left no room for discussion.

Lucy laughed at the usual antics of her team. Guess it's just another normal day in Fairy Tail.

The train ride to the job site was uneventful as always. Natsu sat slumped against the back of the booth, while Erza ate her cake and Gray stared out the window.

"Now that I think about it, what exactly are we supposed to be dealing with?" Gray asked out of the blue as he turned to stare at Lucy.

"Ah, right, the request was to slay some demon creature that appeared recently. The request called it a "Hellhound"." Lucy explained, drawing the attention of Erza as well.

"Ohh? Sounds like quite the formidable beast." She said with a grin on her face, likely imagining the battle to come.

"Right! What about you Natsu? Are you "Fired up"?" Lucy said as she tried to make Natsu feel better.

But contrary to what she expected, Natsu did not reply and simply stared up at the ceiling with a strange look on his face. Lucy gave him a strange look at first but in the end simply decided that his motion sickness was worse today than normal.

Lucy jumped over a log as she sprinted after Natsu and Happy as she cursed under her breath. The person who had posted the job request told them of strange four legged animals that had been prowling the woods behind their town and that the creatures were unsually aggressive. The townsfolk feared that it was only a matter of time till someone got attacked and so they had sent out the requests for help. Team Natsu of course was happy to respond and entered the forest almost immediately after finishing talking with the mayor about where the beasts were located.

Unfortunately they encountered two problems. One was that a storm was moving through the area causing heavy rain and thunder to fall upon their heads. The other was that there were multiple of the strange creatures and that had forced their team to split up, Erza and Gray fighting off some while Natsu, Happy, and Lucy perused some that had run deeper into the forest.

The Hellhounds truly lived up to their namesake. They looked almost like wolves covered in scales with blood red eyes. Their appearance had been so terrifying that Lucy knew that if she had taken the job by herself as she had originally intended she would have likely failed.

"Happy, do you see where it went?" Natsu yelled out to the blue cat that was flying just over the tree line in order to avoid lighting strikes.

"Aye, it's just ahead Natsu! It's trapped against a cliff." Happy confirmed as he returned back down to their level.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Natsu yelled as fire gathered around his fists and as he jumped forward at the beast that had turned and snarled at him.

Natsu lunged at the creature, brining his fist down straight at the monsters head. The creature however appeared to be much more agile than anyone had anticipated and had jumped out of the way of Natus's fist. As Natsu landed the beast almost instantly lunged forward, intending to rip his throat out, but Lucy lashed out with her whip and managed to divert its attention.

The battle against the Hellhound continued for what felt like hours as the creature continued to move further south along the cliff before at long last Natsu managed to score a hit on its skull while Lucy had it tied down with her whip. The beast gave one last pained growl before slumping down in a heap and ceased moving.

"Ha…finally…ha." Lucy exclaimed as she slumped down on the ground and tried to catch her breath. Natsu remained standing but looked equally as tired with Happy spralled out on his head.

"Aye…" the blue cat said sounding just as tired as Lucy felt. It was at that moment that a explosion sounded off in the distance they had come from. All three arrived at the same conclusion that Erza and Gray were still likely locked in combat.

"Happy, would you mind going and seeing if Erza and the Pervert need any help?" Natsu asked, "We'll be right behind you as soon as Lucy is back up."

"Aye!" Happy responded as he unfurled his wings and took off into the rain.

For a moment the only sound left was the sound of the rain constantly pattering down and the occasional boom of thunder before Lucy finally stood back up.

"Thanks Natsu." She said with a smile

"What for?" the boy turned with a strange look on his face.

"Well…I could see that you weren't really that into coming on a job today and we're only here because of my rent again." Lucy responded sheepishly as she averted her gaze. "I just thought that I should thank you for your help.

A pained look passed over Natsu's face for a moment before turning away. "No it's not that, I just have something that I have to deal with…something that I am dreading" he trailed off as he stared off into the storm with one of the most contemplative faces Lucy had ever seen on his face.

Lucy instantly walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Well don't hesitate to confine in me, after all we're partners right?" she said with her smile growing even wider.

Natsu turned back to face her with a small smile on his face and placed his hand on hers. "Thank you…Luce."

Even through the rain, Lucy could feel her face heat up and quickly turned and started fallowing the cliff face back the way they came. "I-it's nothing, that's what friends are for. We'd better get back to the others now, by the sound of it looks like it's over after all." She stuttered out as she walked forward, the sound of Natsu's footsteps right behind her.

The two walked in silence for a while as the rain continued to fall. But as they reached a particularly dangerous part of the cliff Natsu finally spoke, but what he said only confused Lucy.

"Luce…I'm so sorry." He said in a voice that sounded on the verge of tears.

Lucy stopped in a panic and was about to turn around and ask what was so wrong when something impacted her back with such force she wasn't even able to cry out past the pain. Slowly, Lucy looked down to find something that she just couldn't understand.

Natsu's hand, covered in her blood and alight in flames had pierced straight through her stomach.

…Eh? Was all Lucy could think past the pain that seemed to be consuming her body from the inside out. The situation was so far outside what she could understand but when she tried to turn she only fell to her knees powerlessly. The Rain was louder than ever, sounding like a swarm of Locusts flying around her head.

Natsu's hand withdrew from her body, sending blood gushing down her legs and pooling below her. She could hear his pained breaths behind her but still she could not turn her head and look to him. she tried to scream out, she wanted to ask why he had attacked her, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a gurgling noise as she choked on her own blood.

"I-I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry Luce!" he screamed out from behind her but still he made no move to aid her.

Finally her knees gave way and she collapsed down the side of the cliff and as she fell the only thing that she could see was before darkness overtook her was Natsu starring down at her with a look of horror on his face.

The man's head jerked up as he felt the overwhelming power sweep into the room. It had been years since he had felt the presence of someone who was calling out to him with such desire and with such power. The power swept through his chambers like a wave, intoxicating him and drawing him to his feet. However, the power felt just as weak as it felt strong like the final death wail of an animal. Well, well well, it appears that my new contractor is already in quite the bind. The man thought to himself as he smiled and fixed his tie. It appears that these coming years will be quite the joy. He smiled the smile of a predator about to pounce as he swiped his hand across his chest. Within a second the shadows in the room gathered together before him, forming a swilling archway of darkness. The man quickly but confidently strolled forward into the inky darkness with anticipation that was barely contained. He could not wait to see the one who was worthy of his pact.

Lucy's consciousness remained hazy as she starred at the raging river before her. Her body screamed in agony after falling down the cliff face and her blood continued to pool under her but Lucy could do nothing but allow the tears to fall down her face. Despite the severity of her situation and the pain that her body was currently in her mind remained reletivly clear but was slowly sinking back into the darkness. In her mind she screamed out for her friends to find her, to save her, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen. After all it had been Natsu who had dealt the blow that was slowly but surely leading to her death.

Why?..Why Natsu?! She screamed in her head as the tears continued to fall. You were my family, my comrade, why would you try to kill me!? But no matter how much she screamed in her head there were no answers for her, only the cold embrace of death.

Slowly, her panic, fear, and sorrow gave way to a new feeling: Anger. I can't accept this! I can't die here at the hands of one I trusted with my life, at least not until I do the same. The tears continued to fall as her face contorted in pain and rage. Damn…damn it! I won't die Fairy Tail! Just you wait! I will have my revenge!

"Oh my… I can see why your power felt so weak underneath your desire." A voice Lucy had never heard before sounded from somewhere behind her. "None the less, I cannot allow such a powerful pact bearer to die before me." The voice continued on in a tone that seemed to care nothing for the girl lying broken before them.

Lucy could hear the sound of footsteps as the man approached and stood directly in front of her. She did not have the strength to stare up into the man's face and could only see his shoes, which were immaculately white and polished to a shine even here in the middle of a forest.

The man stood for a moment in silence. "Tell me young lady, do you desire to live on? Do you desire your revenge against those who have wronged you? Even if the path ahead of you will leave you broken and worse off than you stand now?" the man questioned in a tone of voice like he was asking for directions.

Lucy struggled to turn her head up to see the man but her vision was beginning to blur. The only thing she could make out was the man's green eyes, staring down at her with a look of happiness. "…I…d…o" she struggled to say past the coughing and the blood and her head fell back down against the coldness of the rock as darkness began to creep into her vision.

The man was silent for a moment before letting out a light chuckle. "As expected from one who was able to call out to me." Lucy heard him speak as her consciousness continued to recede. "Very well then Lucy Heartfilia, henceforth our pact is bound. You shall have my power." And with his declaration Lucy finally succumbed to the darkness.