Pain sliced through her as she pried her eyes open, blinking blurrily. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was-

Lucy shot straight up, panic making her move quickly despite the dampness she could feel spreading on her shoulder. Her hands grasped tightly at the blankets that covered her lap, her eyes wide with fear as she -

Wait. Blankets?

Her line of thinking was immediately diverted from its original path as she took in her surroundings, this time with more care. She was in their room at the inn, and had been tucked carefully into the bed. Her blonde hair had been carefully pulled out of her face, and it took her a few moments to realize that her wounds had been cleansed and bound with bandages, though she suspected she had torn them open again by her movement if the blood soaking them was anything to go by. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

So someone had heard her. She had heard someone call out her name before she'd lost consciousness. She grimaced, giving a soft gasp when pain suddenly slammed down on her hard, making her nearly pass out a second time.

So it was much to her relief that Wendy chose that moment to step into the room, eyes filling with absolute happiness when she saw her. "Lucy! You're awake!" she cried, darting over to give her a careful and gentle hug. Her hazel eyes became concerned. "You're bleeding again...stay right here! I'm going to go let the others know you're awake, and then I'll heal your wounds, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy agreed with a faint smile. She watched with amusement as Wendy scrambled out of the room, then came back only a few minutes later with a glass of water in her hands, as if knowing the celestial mage would be thirsty. She squeaked, however, when someone tried to shove into the room behind her and scolded in an almost adult-like voice, "I'm sorry, Natsu, but you can't come in yet. After I'm done." She promptly proceeded to slam the door shut in his face.

Lucy couldn't help it. She burst into hysterics - both laughing and crying at the same time. She'd been so sure she'd been about to die, yet here she was, listening to Wendy tell Natsu he couldn't come into her room. Sobbing into her hands, she barely heard Natsu shouting through the door, demanding to know what was wrong as Wendy comfortingly placed a hand on Lucy's arm before setting to work on tending to her wounds.

Wendy carefully stripped the bandages off, working quietly and thoughtfully with gentle hands. Lucy tried her best to keep still as Wendy probed and pried once she'd stopped crying though a laugh would escape her every now and then. As she worked, Wendy explained what had happened.

Erza had stopped Natsu from killing Gray and had been shouting at him herself when Natsu and Wendy had heard Lucy's scream. Natsu had been out the nearest exit - a window nearly three stories above the ground - in a matter of seconds, shouting for Happy to go with him. Wendy had quickly told Erza, then sprang lightly after him, pleading with Charle to help her catch up. Erza, uncertain, had stayed behind with Gray.

They'd arrived just as the creature had pinned her and was tearing into her shoulder and back, snarling and hissing with a gleeful joy as it spattered the ground with her blood. Natsu had been furious, Wendy told her, and had gone after it with a vengeance when it fled, not returning until she'd tried to move Lucy a bit and Lucy had given a cry of pain. Happy and Charle had kept an eye on Wendy until the fire mage had returned, his gaze set with rage. He'd told her that he wanted to kill Gray because Gray had been the reason Lucy was out and about.

So, after healing her as best as she could for the time being, Wendy had gone ahead with Charle to warn Erza what had happened. Erza left to try and track down the creature that had attacked their teammate, and it hadn't taken long for Natsu to arrive, carrying Lucy with great care.

As she told the story, Lucy found herself rolling her eyes at the way Wendy hinted at certain things. She'd been hanging out with Mirajane way more than she needed to.

They'd bandaged the celestial mage up, tucked her into the second room's bed, alerted Gray of what was going on, then waited for Erza, who'd returned with nothing much to the requip mage's frustration. And then they'd waited.

Lucy had been unconscious for four days, making it a week that they'd been in the town. They'd kept their guards up, but Natsu and Erza suspected the strange humanoid-bug thing had left town.

"Um, Gray's been feeling really guilty," Wendy told her as she examined the wounds, then gave a small gasp. "L-Lucy?"

Lucy frowned, trying to twist and see, but gave a small gasp of pain and stopped. "What's wrong? Wendy?"

Wendy's finger gently began to trace a shape Lucy couldn't see, but the twinge of pain that accompanied the touch made her wince. The blue-haired girl hesitated before answering. "There's...there's something...it's like it..." She shook her head, unable to clarify and gave a small and high distressed call for Natsu to get Erza but to not come in himself.

"What is it?" Erza questioned as she walked in, keeping Natsu out with ease as she strode in. She paused to give Lucy a look that the celestial mage interpreted as her "we'll talk later" look, then stepped around, armor clinking as she peered at the shape that had been carved into Lucy's back. "A spell."

"I thought it was," Wendy mumbled, "I wasn't sure. What kind of spell is it?"

"There's a spell?" Lucy tried to twist again and gave up when she became dizzy. "What do you mean there's a spell?! Erza!"

"The creature," Erza murmured, spitting that out in disgust, "Appears to have carved a spell into your flesh. It is a rare magic, one that is practiced even less then Lost Magic, but it is occasionally brought back. It's a primitive version. I don't know much more about it," the red-haired mage admitted. "Levy may, however. I believe it would suit us best to return to the guild as soon as possible."

"Mm," Wendy mumbled in agreement. "Maybe the guild master will know something...or Levy, too, just like you said..."

Lucy rolled her eyes, frustrated. She wanted to see whatever they were talking about, too! "Come on, guys, share the information!" Nothing. Giving up, she huffed, then grimaced. Tip to self: don't breathe too deeply. "Can we be done soon?" she snapped impatiently. She really couldn't blame Gray for his temper now.... "I swear I see smoke coming from that door." She raised her voice. "Natsu Dragneel, if you burn down this building, I'm going to personally kill you!"

Erza's eyes flashed as she stormed towards the door, the only other sound being heard being the one of feet hitting the wooden floor as Natsu desperately made a run for it. Wendy and Lucy shook their heads in exasperation when a shout of pain was heard and the door swung open to reveal singed wood.

Only Natsu.

XxXx

Are you sure you're okay to be traveling, Luce?"

Lucy forced herself to smile brightly at Natsu, who was gazing at her with a mixture of concern and illness as he mentally prepared himself for the upcoming train ride. "I'm fine, Natsu," she reassured, though it was mostly a lie. She was anything but alright. Everything burned when she touched it and it physically exhausted her to take so much as one step, making her lean a little bit more than normal on Wendy when the young girl appeared beside her.

"Liar," he accused, glaring, then made a face when the train came into view.

Lucy ignored him in favor of allowing her brown eyes to glance in Gray's direction. The ice-make mage looked just as badly as she did, covered from head to toe in bandages. To make him feel better, Erza had reluctantly agreed to allow him to go without a shirt, but only after he'd given Lucy a muttered apology for his harsh words though he hadn't looked at her while giving it. Lucy had muttered a word of forgiveness just as quietly before turning away.

They boarded the train fairly quickly, Erza making Gray sit in the same private booth as they were when he went to walk the other way. He sat on one side of a it, beside the window. Wendy was beside him with Charle in her lap, the Exceed giving the ice-make mage dirty looks on occasion, and beside Wendy was Erza with Happy in her own lap, though he didn't look very excited about it.

Across from Gray sat a fairly ill looking Lucy, nearly matching the look on the face of the dragon slayer who'd decided her lap was a good place for his head. The train hadn't even begun moving yet and he was feeling sick.

"Well aren't we a sight for sore eyes," Charle said drily from Wendy's arms, sniffing in irritation when Happy offered her a share of the fish he had left over from earlier in the day.

"It's not our fault," Wendy protested.

"No," Erza agreed, "It is what happens when you fight as a mage, though. And the damage isn't quite as bad as it has been before. Nobody was near death this time, that is a small comfort."

"Maybe to you guys, not so much to me," Lucy muttered, affectionately pushing some of the hair from Natsu's face. "Some of us weren't thinking that way at the time."

The train began to move and Natsu gave a groan, making the celestial mage have to fight back a broad smile. She felt bad for him, she really did. It must really suck, the motion sickness he got whenever he wasn't traveling on his own two legs or being carried around by the blue cat that currently held residence in Erza's lap. But it was really hard not to find it amusing.

"Jeez, Natsu," she muttered before glancing up again when Wendy said firmly in her quiet voice, "The first thing I'm doing is going to Master Makarov or Levy. Maybe even to Porlyusica. She might know a thing or two about that strange spell. You'll go with me, right, Charle?"

"I suppose," Charle said tersely, looking unhappy about Wendy being involved in any of this. Then again, the Exceed rarely looked eager to involve the sky dragon slayer in anything involving Fairy Tail despite both being a member of the mentioned guild. Not that she didn't have a good reason. Look what had happened to Gray and Lucy this time, and that wasn't counting the dozens of things before.

"Thanks," Wendy said with a happy smile, patting the white cat's head before becoming serious again when Lucy rested her head against the window. "Are you feeling alright, Lucy? I can try healing you again..."

"No, no," Lucy insisted, shaking her head and wincing when the world spun around her. "Gray needs it more than I do, whatever that medicine we gave him was is wearing off...I think I just need to sleep a little bit."

Wendy looked unconvinced but left it at that. "We can move Natsu to the floor if you'd like to lie down," Erza offered seriously, making her laugh softly and Natsu shoot Erza a grimace. He liked where he was, though he wouldn't say it.

"No," the celestial mage repeated. "I'm comfy here. And if we try to move Natsu now, he's going to be sick all over everyone."

"Will not," Natsu tried to protest, as if he was offended by the mere thought of her words. But then he made a face and decided to keep quiet to avoid being knocked out by Erza, who had cracked her knuckles in preparation.

Lucy giggled, exchanging amused looks with Wendy, who then proceeded to lean away from Gray when the ice-make mage suddenly tensed up, clenching his jaw as pain raced through him. It appeared the medicine they'd given him had worn off. Ice crept along the seat he sat on when he grabbed it with white knuckles, and Wendy hurried to find the medicine she'd shoved into her pocket.

Grumbling as the temperature dropped quite a few degrees in their section of the train, Natsu gave Wendy a pleading look, and the sky dragon slayer gave a soft sound of annoyance. Why not make everyone feel better? After creating a Troia spell for the fire mage, she went back to work on Gray, grudgingly grateful when Natsu was able to heat the area back up from the suddenly numbing chill while smirking, remaining where he was despite Lucy's flushed face as she attempted to push him off of her lap.

And then he realized she wasn't just embarrassed about his position. No, Lucy was flushed because she was quite literally hot, feverish at the moment to the point that her hair was sticking to her forehead. Upon realizing that, the dragon slayer sat up quickly, and Lucy gave him a grateful look before resting her head against the cool glass of the window again, relieved when the heater beside her simply became a normal over-heated Natsu again, allowing the chill of Gray's ice to fill the compartment again.

"Natsu?" Erza questioned, looking confused. But the confusion vanished when she saw the semi-conscious Lucy, who looked sicker than she'd ever seen her. Concerned, she moved to assist - just as Lucy suddenly tipped forward.

Natsu dove forward, and Lucy found herself gasping for air as pain radiated through every inch of her body when he caught her. She couldn't figure out what was wrong. She'd been fine not even moments before! Just seconds before this, she'd been able to keep herself upright, and now...

"Lucy?" Natsu snapped, trying to get her to respond. The feverish girl blinked at him, vision blurred as she gulped down air like it was a lifeline. "Wendy, she's-"

"I'm coming!" Wendy threw herself down beside the ill celestial mage and the pink-haired mage cradling her with care. "Erza? Could you see how far we are from Magnolia?" she asked politely. Erza slid out of their compartment and Gray hesitated before speaking up.

"Do you want me to, err, lower the temp in here?" he asked. Wendy cast him a look of surprise. He looked exhausted, like he just wanted to sleep, though that had been from lack of sleep from the night before.

"Yes, please," she answered, flashing him a brilliant smile. At least he was trying to help!

Cautious, Gray let ice creep around the compartment, decorating the window and the ceiling in beautiful patterns while reluctantly telling Erza he'd pay for the damage when she returned. "Only an hour," Erza reported, kneeling beside Wendy and Natsu to study Lucy. "Will she be alright?"

"Her fever's going down," Wendy mumbled, a hesitant smile flashing across her expression when Natsu heaved a sigh of relief.

Happy, who'd been dumped on the floor, gently patted Lucy's cheek with a paw in reassurance while Charle, who, too, had been abandoned on the floor, watched cautiously. Something wasn't right about the entire matter, and all of Team Natsu could sense it.

"Lucy !"

Her eyes snapped open. "What?" she mumbled tiredly. She just wanted to sleep. Nobody responded, however, so the celestial mage simply allowed herself to rest with her eyes shut, her head held carefully in Natsu's lap, in reverse of how they'd been sitting earlier. The fire dragon slayer was beyond concerned for his partner, his hand darting to check her forehead and cheeks for fever every now and then as Wendy returned to her seat to rest for a little bit, needing to in case she was required to heal again before their arrival in Magnolia.

"She'll be okay," she heard Erza say distantly, though sounding uncertain.

"She better be," was Natsu's dark response.

"She always is," Gray said simply.

And then silence filled the compartment as Team Natsu impatiently awaited the arrival of the town they called home.

XxXx

Lucy gave a soft moan of disapproval at her current state. She didn't want to be carried into the guildhall on Natsu's back. She wanted to walk into it on her own feet, just like she'd always done when entering the large building, but Natsu had insisted on carrying her. Secretly, she appreciated the sweet gesture and gave him a tiny squeeze for it, but mostly, she was frustrated. She should have been in better condition than Gray, but he was walking and she was being carried! How the hell did that happen?

Natsu shot her one of his famous Natsu grins. "C'mon, Luce," he teased, "It's not too bad."

"One more word," she threatened, though her voice held no threat. "One more word and I will end you, Natsu Dragneel. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you, I hear you," he answered, rolling his eyes, then grinned again when she swatted the back of his head with as much as force as she could muster.

"At least you feel better," Happy mused, giving the two a sly look. Erza shot him a warning look. She'd already warned the Exceed not to bother either of them too much. The events on the train had left Lucy void of any physical strength and Natsu drained of emotional. Both were stressed enough as it was, and Erza didn't want them having to deal with any more.

Lucy scowled, reaching up to swat at Happy, who flew alongside Team Natsu. Wendy stuck close to Gray, making sure the ice-make mage didn't fall over. They'd run out of medicine and she was rather eager to get both of her patients to Fairy Tail's infirmary.

A few people recognized the team as they strode quickly through Magnolia and stepped aside to allow them past quicker when they realized that something was wrong. Natsu picked up the pace just a hint when Lucy rested her head against his, too tired to do much else now. The fever was coming back, he realized. Why wouldn't it stay away?

They reached the guildhall soon after that, and Natsu sped through the lower floor without a pause to return any of the greetings thrown at him and Lucy by the startled members that had gathered there. "Natsu?" Mirajane called, coming out from behind the bar to follow, her eyes filling with concern. "What's-"

"Get the master," Wendy interrupted, voice serious as Juvia came over to assist Gray with tears already forming in her eyes. "Um, Levy?" she called over to the bookworm, who'd looked up from where she was reading a book near Gajeel. "Can you come, too? Someone needs to get Porlyusica, too..."

"On it!" Lisanna called, hurrying out the door of the guild, her magic already changing her form.

Lucy grumbled something unintelligible in Natsu's ear, but the dragon slayer didn't respond as he lowered her into the infirmary bed. Levy kept close beside Wendy as the already exhausted girl set to work on attempting to help the celestial mage again. "What happened?"

"Stupid bug-thing," was the only statement Lucy could choke out as fire seemed to race through her veins, making her cringe in pain. This must be what the acid had felt like when it had covered Gray, she thought. She wrenched away from Natsu's naturally over-heated touch, her face tinged green, and Levy had enough sense to shove a bucket into her arms just in time.

"There's some kind of spell on her back," Wendy explained hurriedly as Lucy vomited into the bucket Levy had supplied. "We wanted to see if you knew what it was. Erza said you might be able to know or find out if you didn't know."

"I can try," the solid-script mage said firmly. "I'll have Gajeel and Pantherlily help me. Let me see it really quickly - sorry, Lucy," she added hastily when her blonde friend gasped as she forced her shirt up to inspect the spell. One look was all it took and then she was scrambling out to fetch the mentioned two she wanted assisting her.

"What happened?"

The master's voice was a relief to everyone gathered in the infirmary - which was just about as many could fit, excluding Levy, Gajeel, Lily, and Lisanna. "Out!" he demanded, "All of you but Mira, Erza, Natsu, and Wendy - and, oh fine, Juvia!"

Reluctantly, most of the members of the guild left the room, Cana pausing to demand as she hauled Happy and Charle out, "We want to hear, too!" before closing the doors behind them.

"There," Wendy said softly, patting Lucy's hand tiredly. "That should...that should hold for-" The young dragon slayer pitched forward, unconscious, and Mira quickly caught her. They'd seen Wendy work overtime before, so nobody was concerned. Wendy was just exhausted. So the ex-S-Class mage gently tucked her into a bed before returning her attention to the others.

"What happened?" Makarov repeated, sparing a glance towards Gray, who'd collapsed gratefully onto the edge of a third bed.

Natsu glared at Lucy - though not because he was angry with her. It calmed him to at least try and help her, but he couldn't when she was overheated. "Gray," he growled, "Do that thing you did again."

Gray huffed, glaring at Natsu for daring to order him around, but muttered a softened spell so that ice grew along the ceiling again, slowly but surely cooling the air around them down. Makarov said nothing, simply waited patiently for an explanation - which Erza gave willingly.

"We accomplished our job," she said bluntly, glancing at Lucy, who no longer looked as violently ill. The young woman had perked up a bit and was soothingly touching Natsu's arm. "But Gray was injured, as the monster was full of acid. He said something rather nasty to our Lucy, who left. According to Natsu and Wendy, who went to find her when she screamed, she was attacked by a creature who I suspect cast a primitive spell on her...Lucy, show the master."

"I'd love to," Lucy said sarcastically, tone sour. "If I could see it myself."

"We'll show you later," Natsu muttered irritably. "Just show the gramps."

"Natsu," she threatened. With Erza's help, she showed Makarov - and Natsu, who hadn't seen the mark the previous few times - the mark that had been carved into her flesh, hissing in pain when Erza accidentally brushed against the wound with her armor. But then they left her be, and she carefully twisted to lie on her stomach, wanting to sleep. Nobody told her to do otherwise, but she remained awake anyways, listening.

"Have you seen anything like it?" Erza's voice asked as she closed her eyes, sounding uncertain.

"No," Makarov answered, though he didn't seem eager to admit it.

"Then what do we do?" Natsu growled, furious.

"We wait," Gray said tiredly, "And we hope that Levy and whoever's helping her finds anything or Porlyusica will know what to do."

"Juvia agrees with Gray," Juvia supplied.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something," Mira murmured.

Lucy had to fight back a snort of amusement. Only they would think this way. The pain was surging back now, fading away, and she felt almost normal. That was a relief. She thought she was going to die again for a moment there, though it had probably been an exaggerated thought.

"Now out, all of you," Makarov announced. Natsu made a sound of protest, undoubtedly glaring at him challengingly, and Lucy, too tired to put up with the idiot's protests, reached up with one hand and shoved him away. She didn't want the heat he unintentionally provided just yet. Gray's ice would suffice. Gray snickered, but the sound of rustling blankets told her he'd made himself comfortable in his own bed to get some rest.

Mavis, how pathetic the two of them must have looked.

Finally peace and quiet was inevitable, and she found herself dozing off.

It was a disappointment that what seemed like only moments later there was a sharp voice in her ear demanding she wake up as a pair of fingers snapped near her ear. "Wake up! I don't want to be here longer than I have to, and I've already been here longer than I do!"

Porlyusica had arrived.

Groggy, Lucy pushed herself up off of her stomach - she thought it a miracle she'd been in that position the entire time - and grimaced when the world spun around her. The illness was coming back, just like the last time, and by the splash of water around Porlyusica's feet, it looked like Gray's ice had melted away...leaving her to feel as if the world was on fire.

Porlyusica bustled around Lucy's bed, ignoring the celestial mage's squeak of protest when she shucked the shirt right off of her. Thank Mavis Gray was still asleep and would hopefully stay that way until the crazy pink-haired elderly woman was done! It looked like Wendy had left, too... Porlyusica hurried to remove Lucy's bandages, ignoring the small sounds of pain that occasionally escaped the girl, then stood there examining the mark. "Hm..."

"What?" Lucy demanded, then was startled when the woman gave a light yet sharp smack on her cheek. She stared at her in shock. "What'd you-"

She did it again. "Don't speak," she snapped, taking in the spell's mark with a critical eye. "Bah, I've never seen this. I don't understand why they thought I would - don't you dare do that, young lady," she added sharply when Lucy gagged. "You're being quite pathetic about the entire matter."

Unable to help herself, Lucy snapped, "I don't see you being the one trying to not be sick!"

That earned a rather harsh poke on the back that had Lucy doubling over with a hiss of pain. Why did Makarov's good friend have to be so harsh?

"What's going on over there?" Gray had woken up and, in her panic, Lucy squealed and hugged a pillow to her chest when he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. It appeared the healer had gone to him first, because he didn't look nearly that bad. In fact, he looked nearly healed now.

"Young man, I suggest you leave this room," Porlyusica said without looking over, her tone enough to send the half-naked ice-make mage scrambling to leave. At least he felt good enough to start stripping again, Lucy thought.

Finally, Porlyusica decided she was done with whatever she was doing and shoved a small package full of plants into her hands as she said bluntly, "I have no memory of whatever that marking is. I suggest you apply these to the wounds, however. It will scar. And if you make a tea out of these, the illness you're feeling will be cured. You should be able to return to your normal life within the next day or two."

"Um...thanks?" Lucy said uncertainly, glancing at Porlyusica with a confused look.

The healer merely sniffed and grabbed her possessions before leaving.

"Okay then," Lucy mumbled. The celestial mage was just reaching for her shirt again, deciding to wait on Wendy or maybe one of the other female members of Fairy Tail to help her with the salves Porlyusica had given her, when the door to the infirmary flew open. She screamed in surprise, shocked that she could still create such a high pitched sound while still not feeling too well.

Natsu stared at her for all of a few seconds before whirling away, slamming the door shut again with his face aflame despite the fact that he'd seen her in such a way at least twice before.