45Lucy was becoming desperate.
They were stalking her, had been since the Grand Magic Games. Levy had explained why, but that didn't help, at all. It only made her more afraid. She crammed herself deeper into the back of the cupboard. I hate men. It's decided. I'm moving to a remote island and devoting my life to raising bonsai trees.
She wouldn't really, but Lucy was running out of options. She was beginning to understand how hard it was to avoid a dragon slayer intent on capture. Her apartment was a disaster, the guild hall was a wreck, and Magnolia was steadily becoming a war zone as dragon slayers sought her out.
They were accosting her from all angles. Except Gajeel, thank the spirits, he had Levy. Apparently, Lucy was a one-in-a-million girl who had the most exquisite scent a dragon slayer could detect. According to Levy, she gave off a pheromone that smelled different to each dragon slayer, but was totally irresistible to all of them.
Therefore, she was hiding. And she never planned to come out.
Lucy breathed in deeply, which was difficult in the cramped space of the cabinet. It's not like they were trying to KILL her! Just trying to... uhhh... yeah. She was never coming out.
"But why now?!" she had railed at the blunette.
"Yer entering your most fertile years," Gajeel had supplied for her. "The pheromone just woke up."
"Why doesn't it bother you, Gajeel?"
He had blushed and looked away, but Lucy knew it was because of Levy. He was already mated, whether his mate knew it or not, and was not affected by the smell.
"So how do I avoid a horny dragon slayer?" Lucy asked. So far, her apartment had been destroyed by Natsu, and the guild hall had been wrecked by Sting Eucliffe. Lucy needed a plan, to get them out of her hair and keep the rest of Magnolia damage free.
Gajeel smirked, metal studs winking in the light of Levy's various lamps. She had a room like some gypsy caravan, filled with books and scarves and low-lighting. "You don't."
Lucy put her face in her hands. Was her situation totally hopeless?
"Really, it's either gonna come down to who's the most powerful, or who finds you first. My bets are on Rogue," Gajeel said, picking his teeth calmly, like Lucy wasn't being preyed upon by dragon slayers from all over Fiore.
"Gajeel!" Levy said with a smack. "This isn't the time to be joking around like that!" Levy turned to Lucy, wrapping a big blanket around her. Lucy was still shivering from when she had had to duck into the massive freezer at the guild to avoid Natsu. Mira had instantly understood why she was hiding and told Natsu she was in her apartment. Of course, now her apartment was destroyed, but better that than being squirreled off to who knows where by Natsu.
Levy got a pen and paper and settled cross legged on a big chair. Lucy huddled in front of the fire, fingers cupped around a steamy mug of hot chocolate. She had been in that freezer for a while.
"So, we need to formulate a plan here," Levy said, putting her pen to paper. "Lets lay down the bare bones first. Who all is after you?"
"Sting, Rogue, and Natsu," Lucy muttered. She felt bad for avoiding her nakama like this, but she felt nothing but irritation for the Sabre
Tooth mages. They had tracked her all the way back to Magnolia from the Grand Magic Games.
"And why are they after you?"
"Because I release a pheromone that they can't resist."
"And what does this pheromone do?"
Lucy choked out the words, "It makes them want to keep me."
Gajeel snickered. "Yeah, and fuck you into oblivion while pumping you full of more slayers."
Levy snarled at the man, and he subsided with a grin. He really was having too much fun with this.
"I can't just avoid them all forever! Especially not Natsu!"
"It's okay, Lu-chan, we're gonna make a plan."
An ominous whistling sound predated a massive blast that shook the foundation of Fairy Hills. Levy peeked cautiously out of the window, barely ticking the thick curtain away from the pane of glass, and then whirled around, wild eyed. "Lucy, run!"
Lucy bolted to her feet, cold forgotten, panic quickly heating her up from the inside out. "Which one is it?"
"Rogue!"
Lucy sprinted out the door, thankful it wasn't Sting again. He had been a trial to avoid these past few days. As Lucy sped around corridors and flew past gilded doors, the building vibrated with the force of a battle. She heard crashes and growls, and one war cry that sounded suspiciously like Erza. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," she said like a mantra as she fled down the wide steps. Just as she reached the front door, it burst inward. Silhouetted by the light from outside, a slim, dark figure stood. Red eyes glowed as they arrowed onto Lucy with frightening intensity. Rogue Cheney stepped toward Lucy, and she squealed and backpedaled.
Lucy prided herself on her stubborn will and strength of heart. But being run ragged to the ground by dragon slayers for four days straight was proving to test even her ability to go on. She turned and darted to the back exit.
He went after her. Right when she felt his fingers brush her arm, Gajeel rammed into him with the force of a train. "Run, Bunny-girl!" he yelled as he slammed Rogue into the wall. Rogue snarled unintelligibly and beat at Gajeel with shadow magic. Lucy didn't need to hear him twice, and after witnessing the normally calm dragon slayer's animalistic side, she flew out the door like a woman possessed.
I hate men. I really hate dragon slayer men. Oh my god, this is awful. Lucy fled in the direction of Fairy Tail. If she could hide anywhere, it would be there. They wouldn't expect her to hide where she had already been.
A roar from behind her, and Lucy squealed. A dark shadow loomed from the direction of Fairy Hills, Rogue on the rampage.
Another roar. Lucy turned in time to see a pink and red blur crash into Rogue and send them both spinning off into the forest. Lucy had never been so thankful for Natsu's habit of rushing into battle as she was right then. Rogue would have no doubt caught up to her if Natsu had not slammed into him.
It was an uneventful run back to the guild hall. No slayers lurked in waiting on the streets, so she counted it as a success. There was one harrowing moment where she nearly tipped over a fruit stand, but it was all okay. Lucy burst into the guild hall, out of breath and shaking from the exertion of running so fast and so long. Guild members looked up at the ruckus she had caused and laughed. Many had taken bets on who would catch her first, and were expecting large payouts before the end of the week. Lucy was too preoccupied with avoiding overly powerful men to worry about her guildmates' taking advantage of her situation.
Lucy, conspicuously standing on the front landing, froze and plastered herself to the wall. Paranoia had taught her a few things recently, and she knew she was prey that was out it he open. She slunk along the wall, eyes darting here and there to search for the characteristic pink, blonde, and black hair. Reaching the bar in one piece, Lucy ducked behind the long wooden slab and peered over the edge. Only her big honey brown eyes and some locks of blonde hair were view-able. Mira casually whisked by, carrying mugs of beer, and giggled at the sight. She knew who her money was on...
The celestial mage hunkered down, back to the bar, and listened intently. No sounds of approaching battle, or boisterous slayers. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt anxiously. Oh, why, of all horrible things to happen, did this have to be it? And why couldn't she attract, oh, I don't know, nice NORMAL guys?! Was it too much to ask? She huffed out a breath, blowing hair around her face. Yes, it was, because the universe hated her.
"Why me?" she moaned, putting her face on her knees. "What torture is this?"
Once in an eon, one girl has the perfect combination of heart and strength of will to stand up to the might of a dragon slayer, Levy had read. That girl will be pursued to the ends of time by dragon slayers, lured by her alluring scent and enticing form. When caught by one, they will form an unbreakable bond that not even the great gods of old could contest.
Lucy groaned and banged her head against the sharp juts of her knees. Levy's stupid little book had ruined all hope of getting out of this stupid situation. An entire chapter in a dragon slaying book was devoted to Lucy's strange predicament, titled "Mating Frenzy." In another passage, it detailed the exact way the pheromone worked: her body naturally secreted and exuded the chemical combination to produce exactly what each dragon slayer thought smelled the most enticing.
When the pheromone had first emerged, Lucy had been totally blindsided. Now she knew exactly what was going on, and wished she didn't.
The little problem had been discovered when Lucy had walked by and then sat next to Natsu at the guild. He had turned to her, grinning about something, when his eyes had snapped wide. Natsu's nostrils flared, and he inhaled deeply, muscles in his jaw popping and releasing as the scent infiltrated his body. His obsidian gaze had turned clouded as he greedily sniffed around Lucy.
"Uh, Natsu?" Lucy had said, leaning away from his questing nose. She discreetly sniffed an armpit. Nope, not that. "What's wrong?"
Natsu grabbed her by the shoulders to forcibly hold her still and buried his face in the hollow of her neck and shoulder. Lucy made 'help me' faces at Gray, but he only smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"Lucy," Natsu murmured against her skin. Then, he licked her.
"Ew! Oh gross Natsu!" Lucy squealed, jerking away. Natsu shuffled awkwardly along the bench to follow her, nose twitching. "What is wrong with you?!"
"You smell so good, Luce," Natsu moaned, reaching for her. Lucy deftly evaded his reaching hands and sprung to her feet. "Like fire and smoke and caramel that's been burnt."
"Are you sick?" Lucy backpedaled away from the pink haired mage, intent on avoiding his iron grip. "A little help here. someone! Natsu's going crazy!"
Cana perked up. "Crazier than usual?"
"Yeah, crazier than usual," Lucy said. Her statement rose up into a screech at the end when a steel bar slid around her shoulders and across her breastbone. Her neck tickled as another nose was shoved into the sensitive crook.
"MMMmmmm, spice and roses," a voice rumbled beside her ear. Lucy jerked away from the new voice, sending herself sprawling over a table. She sat up hurriedly as two hands slammed down on either side of her knees and a body wedged itself between her legs. Lucy looked up into the piercing blue eyes of one Sting Eucliffe.
"Oy, how did that mutt even get in here?" Gray bellowed from somewhere to the right. "And get that thing off of Lucy!"
Sting grabbed one of her hips with both hands and grinned rakishly before throwing her over his shoulder. One hand was draped proprietarily over the curve of her butt, and Lucy wriggled in indignation. "Don't give me any ideas," he said darkly.
"Luce!" she heard Natsu yell as Sting shouldered his way through her angry guildmates to the front exit.
"Sting, must you cause trouble?" she heard one voice ask silkily. A flash of dark hair and red eyes revealed the owner of the voice to be Rogue Cheney, Sting's comrade.
"When it comes to this, yes, Sting said without breaking stride. Lucy bounced on her perch and cursed creatively as she slammed her fists onto Sting's back. "This one is mine."
Red eyes came into her line of focus as Rogue perused her. "Why do you insist on taking the girl... ohh," Rogue murmured, eyes going wide as his nostrils flared. "Dark chocolate and midnight." Rogue smoothed one hand over her hair and Lucy tried to bite him. She was getting tired of domineering dragon slayers.
Just when Lucy was waiting for his hand to come within biting distance again, she was plucked from Sting's grasp and deposited on a beam high above. She dug her fingers into the wood, confused from being whisked away so quickly. Gajeel calmly chewed a rusty nail as he watched he massive fight brewing below. "Lucky that shortstuff recognized what was goin' on, bunny. Otherwise you woulda been stolen away and bonded before we could blink."
Lucy looked at him. "Huh?" She heard a yell and a crash as someone broke something, and then the familiar heat of Natsu's magic on her feet. She looked down, at where a three way battle between the three dragon slayers was forming. "What the heck is going on?"
"I'll let bookworm explain."
And now she was here. Crouched behind the bar like a coward. She couldn't bother herself to care about her cowardliness at the moment, when it was saving her from what was surely a horrible fate. Her life, irrevocably bound to Sting, Rogue, or Natsu? No thank you.
What Lucy needed to do was get rid of this pheromone. It was a scent, naturally secreted by her body, that made dragon slayer men frantic. Wendy, when told what was going on, had blushed and stutteringly added on to their sparse information, that it only affected the males. She was horrified by the actions of her fellow slayers, but could do nothing about it. "It's their instinct," she had said, smiling sweetly. "They can't help it."
Lucy cursed. This entire predicament was turning her vocabulary darker than a sailor's.
How do you get rid of a smell that your body naturally creates? Well, deodorant worked on B.O. If she could find some kind of 'pheromone deodorant' to mask the smell of the pheromone, then maybe everything would calm down. But, dragon slayers had incredibly heightened senses of smell. Whatever she used would have to be extremely powerful to fool their noses. Now think, Lucy. What had a powerful smell that could make even a dragon slayer wrinkle his nose?
Lucy grinned. She had solved her problem.
Okay, the only way to see if this plan worked was to test it. And to do that, Lucy had to walk out... into the open. Where the dragon slayers were fighting right now. All three of them.
Okay, Lucy. Any second now. You can do this. Lucy breathed in deeply, steeling her nerves and her resolve. Garbage hung like grotesque detritus from her body, due to her dumpster bath. Lucy had dove in and immersed herself in the guild's overflowing dumpsters, until every single inch of her was coated in something nasty and disgusting. It was most definitely the most repulsive thing she had ever done, but it was necessary. This stupid situation had to reach its end somehow, where she WAS NOT bonded to a dragon slayer.
Lucy brushed a greasy hank of hair, stiff with who knew what, out of her face and walked into the courtyard in front of the guild hall.
The battle, joined by Sting, had moved there during the day as they followed the trail of Lucy's scent. Each dragon slayer was scored with cuts and bruises and held a feverish gleam in their eyes as they tried to keep the others from reaching the blonde mage. All of their attention immediately turned with laser-like focus on Lucy the moment she stepped into the courtyard.
With bated breath, Lucy held still as the dragon slayers prowled forward and circled her like predatory animals, sniffing and snarling. Rogue was the first to snap out of it, shaking his head roughly and sitting on the edge of an enormous ornamental fountain that had miraculously escaped damage. Sting came next, jerking back as the stench of garbage consumed his senses and sent him reeling down next to Rogue. Natsu backed away and scratched his pink hair sheepishly. "Luce," he began.
"It's okay, Natsu," she interrupted, assuming he meant to apologize for his behavior these past few days.
"Luce, you smell awful," he said, pinching his nose shut.
Lucy heard the grumbles of guild members from behind the sneakily cracked door. Money exchanged hands as bets were lost and one. Mira cackled evilly when asked who she had betted on winning. "Oh, you'll see," she said.
Levy skipped to Lucy's side, nose held closed. "Good job, Lu-chan! You came up with a way around it by yourself! But," she asked hesitantly, "are you going to live in the garbage or something to keep the smell on you?"
"I guess I have to do something to keep them sane," Lucy said, not looking forward to more dumpster dives. It had taken a huge force of will to set toe in the first dumpster. She didn't know if she could go swimming in that murky mire of rotting food and unmentionables again.
"Funny, it worked exactly like it said it would," Levy said. "The most powerful dragon slayer was able to smell you the best, so Natsu took longer to snap out of it. I wonder if an even stronger dragon slayer would have been able to smell right through all of that trash?"
Lucy experienced the disorienting sensation of, once again, becoming airborne when she had before been firmly planted on the ground. She splashed into the fountain, the clear, clean water washing away the refuse she had donned as armor easily. Sputtering, she rose from the stone rim, to glare at the culprit of her impromptu bath. Her protests died quick deaths before leaving her mouth when her eyes locked with a stormy blue-green gaze. "That trashy shit was blocking your scent," Laxus said gruffly, lightening crackling around him. "Had to get it off."
She had never heard someone sound so unapologetic.
"Do you understand what you've done?" Lucy whispered, as Natsu, followed by Sting and Rogue, shook themselves and then looked at her, dazed.
Laxus grinned, a feral baring of strong white teeth. "I've read about you. That one girl, in all the ages, that can be mine." He inhaled deeply, and growled darkly, a sound that vibrated through Lucy's body. "Thunderstorms over the ocean with vanilla hints."
Sting made to leap into the fountain with Lucy, and Laxus didn't even glance in his direction before punching the other dragon slayer, sending him sailing through the air. "Weaklings," he commented with a heated glare at the remaining slayers.
Lucy, aware that the most dangerous dragon slayer was talking her with powerful, even steps, began to back away. He was at her side in a flash, big hands tight on her waist as he looked down seriously in Lucy's face. He towered over her, and his broad shoulders blocked out the sky from view, so all she could see was Laxus. She released a small noise when he tilted her chin up with one finger, to catch her eyes with his. "Mine," he growled, before taking her away with him in a flash of lightening and a boom of thunder. Natsu, who had leaped for the two, collided with the center support of the upper tiers of the fountain and collapsed to the watery pool below. Rogue followed a half second later, landing atop the fire dragon slayer.
The guild stood gathered just outside the doors, mouths agape. No one had foreseen this turn of events. It always slipped their minds that Laxus was the most powerful dragon slayer alive.
Mira smiled sweetly and held out a hand. Macao grimly handed her a wad of cash, her winnings. "Told you so," she said before flouncing back inside. Her voice called out like shining bells from the interior of the guild. "Laxus bet on himself too, so pay up!"
Everyone groaned loudly and slunk back inside to enjoy a good cry over lost jewels.