Chapter 9: Lucy and Juvia's Reward
The damp, mineral scent of the cavern hung heavy, now undercut with the sharp tang of blood – Lucy’s blood. She sat curled near Erza, licking tentatively at the cracked scales on her shoulder, a low whimper escaping her golden muzzle. The vacant crimson glow in her eyes was dimmed by pain. Gray’s ice encased his forelegs almost entirely, radiating waves of unnatural cold that made the nearby fungi flicker. Natsu paced, claws scraping stone, each step a barely contained explosion. The fire inside him churned, threatening to scorch his own throat. He couldn’t look at Happy hovering anxiously near Lucy, nor at Wendy’s wide, sky-blue eyes watching the injury with dazed confusion. The echoes of Draco’s command – Make them want to obey – were chains tightening around his mind.
He stopped pacing, turning his draconic head towards the immense dark shadow resting against the far cavern wall. Draco’s crimson eyes glowed like banked coals, observing them with languid satisfaction. Natsu forced the words out, rough and grating. "They fought hard. Like you said. Lucy. Juvia. Should… should be rewarded." He felt Gray’s icy gaze snap towards him, a silent question laced with horror.
Draco’s low rumble vibrated through the stone floor. "Reward?" The word dripped with dark amusement. "Ah. The bonding instinct. Strong in young drakes. Especially after exertion." He shifted his massive purple head, scales shimmering with dark energy. "A useful reinforcement. Yes, Captain. Show them the… pleasures of the brood." His crimson eyes fixed on Gray. "And you, Ice-Scale. Do the same for your eager water sprite."
Relief warred with revulsion in Natsu’s gut. He dipped his head sharply. "Okay." He turned towards Lucy, whose ears perked up slightly at the word 'reward', the pain momentarily forgotten. "C'mon, Lucy. Got a quiet spot." He nudged her gently with his snout, avoiding the injured shoulder. She scrambled up, wincing but her tail giving a hopeful flick. "A reward? For me, Natsu?"
Beside him, Gray was rigid, the ice cracking minutely around his legs as he moved stiffly towards Juvia. "Juvia," his voice was brittle, frozen air puffing from his jaws. "With me." Juvia’s azure form practically shimmered with delight, water rippling excitedly across her scales. "A private reward? From Gray-sama? Juvia is the happiest dragon ever!" She surged forward, nuzzling Gray’s icy flank, oblivious to his flinch.
Natsu led Lucy deeper into a side tunnel, the main cavern's glow fading, replaced by the softer, bluish luminescence of different fungi clinging to damp walls. The air was slightly warmer here, the ground softer with thick moss. Sounds of the others – Wendy’s soft questions, Gajeel’s low growl, the constant drip-drip of water – faded into muffled echoes. He stopped in a small alcove, the moss forming a surprisingly yielding bed.
Lucy looked up at him, her golden eyes wide in the dim light, the crimson glow softer now, almost innocent. "What's my reward, Natsu?" she asked, tilting her head. The question, so trusting, so utterly unaware, was a knife twist.
Heat flooded Natsu’s body, a different kind than his battle-fire. It was primal, insistent, twisting through him under Draco’s enforced command. The sight of her, golden scales catching the blue light, the vulnerability mixed with hypnotized eagerness… it wasn’t him wanting this. It was the dragon form, the brood instinct, poisoned by Draco’s will. "Just… gotta get closer," he managed, his voice thick. He lowered his head, nuzzling against the uninjured side of her neck, inhaling the scent of ozone and starlight that was uniquely Lucy, now overlaid with the metallic tang of her blood and the damp earth. Scales rasped softly. She leaned into the contact, a low, pleased rumble vibrating in her chest.
He pressed closer, his larger form dwarfing hers. One clawed foreleg draped carefully over her back, avoiding her wound, pinning her gently but firmly to the moss. She didn't resist. Her tail coiled loosely around his hind leg. The heat between them intensified. "Feels… warm," Lucy murmured, her breath puffing against his neck scales.
Natsu’s own breath hitched. The command, the primal drive, surged. He positioned himself, the unfamiliar draconic urgency overwhelming. He pushed forward. There was resistance, then a yielding. Lucy gasped, a sharp intake of breath that wasn’t pain, her claws digging momentarily into the moss. "Oh!" Her body arched instinctively against his.
He moved. Scales scraped. The sensation was overwhelming – heat, pressure, a terrifying intimacy forced upon them both. He could feel the frantic pulse beneath her golden hide, hear the quickening rhythm of her breath. His own fire flared involuntarily along his spine, sputtering jets of flame escaping his nostrils, momentarily illuminating the alcove in harsh orange light as he struggled for control.
"Hot!" Lucy gasped, but it was followed by a surprised, breathless laugh. "But… good? Feels… strong." Her hips pushed back against his movement, meeting his thrusts. Her tail tightened around his leg. The vacant crimson glow in her eyes seemed to melt into something warmer, dazed with unexpected pleasure. "Natsu..." her voice was a sigh, lost to the rhythm.
Nearby, in a similar mossy hollow barely separated by a curtain of hanging roots, Gray faced his own torment. Juvia pressed eagerly against him, her cool, watery scales surprisingly yielding against his frost-rimed hide. Her adoration was absolute, terrifying. "Gray-sama… rewarding Juvia…" she breathed, nuzzling his jawline. Gray recoiled internally, but his body, under Draco’s will and the enforced brood instinct, responded. Frost crackled along his flanks as he moved stiffly, his movements awkward, mechanical.
He entered her. Juvia cried out, not in pain, but in ecstatic surprise. "Ah! Gray-sama!" Her azure body writhed, water cascading off her scales in shimmering droplets. She arched, pressing back against him with desperate need. "More! Please! Juvia belongs to you!" Her cries echoed faintly in the confined space. Gray shut his eyes tightly, ice spreading faster, encasing his torso like jagged armor. Each thrust felt like a violation, amplified by her eager, hypnotized acceptance. He could feel the chill emanating from him sinking into her, making her shiver with a different kind of intensity. "So cold… like Gray-sama's heart… perfect..." she moaned, her pleasure twisting the knife in his soul.
In the main cavern, Laxus stood like a lightning rod anchored in stone. He heard the muffled cries from the tunnels – Lucy’s breathless sighs, Juvia’s ecstatic moans. Arcs of white-hot electricity snapped furiously across his scales, earthing into the damp ground with sharp, angry cracks, illuminating the grim faces watching. Gajeel’s iron claws gouged deep furrows in the rock beneath him, a low, grinding growl emanating from his chest. His crimson eyes burned with impotent fury.
Wendy huddled near Carla, her sky-blue wings wrapped tightly around herself. She flinched as another of Lucy’s sighs, high-pitched and unfamiliar, drifted out. Happy buzzed anxiously near the tunnel entrance, looking confused. "Weird reward," he muttered, tilting his head. Erza sat rigid, her crimson scales seeming darker, her gaze fixed straight ahead, unreadable. Carla, perched silently, her pristine white scales absorbing the shadows, watched the tunnels impassively. "Physical bonding reinforces hierarchy and loyalty," she stated coolly, her voice cutting through the tense atmosphere. "A logical reward structure."
It couldn’t last forever. Natsu felt the peak rushing towards him, a tidal wave of unwanted, inescapable sensation born of Draco’s command. Lucy shuddered violently beneath him, a keening cry escaping her as her own climax triggered, her claws tearing at the moss. "Natsu! Fire! Burning...!" He stifled a roar, fire erupting in a final, uncontrolled burst from his jaws, scorching the cavern wall above them as he spilled his essence into her, the act complete. He collapsed beside her, panting, scales steaming, a profound shame washing over him as the primal haze receded, leaving only the horror of what he’d done.
Gray was already pulling away from Juvia, frost cascading off his body. Juvia lay sprawled on the moss, water still rippling across her scales, a blissful, utterly vacant smile on her draconic muzzle. "Gray-sama... Juvia is yours... forever..." she sighed. Gray turned away, ice crackling loudly as he forced himself to move, unable to look at her.
Natsu nudged Lucy. She blinked, the crimson glow returning fully to her eyes, the dazed pleasure fading into simple, obedient contentment. "That was the best reward," she chirped, nuzzling his shoulder. The wound on her own seemed forgotten. The words were a fresh brand on Natsu’s conscience.
They emerged back into the main cavern’s eerie light. Lucy padded beside Natsu, radiating a satisfied warmth. Juvia practically skipped beside Gray, beaming. "Gray-sama is the best!" Laxus’s lightning crackled with renewed fury. Gajeel’s growl deepened. Wendy looked away. Erza’s gaze flickered towards them, then back to the ground. Happy darted to Lucy. "You okay, Lucy? Sounded loud!"
Lucy nudged Happy playfully with her snout. "Natsu gave me the best reward!" she announced brightly. The cheerful declaration hung in the air, grotesque against the backdrop of Gajeel’s grinding claws and Laxus’s furious sparks.
Draco’s low, satisfied rumble echoed through the cavern. "Synchronization improves," the dark dragon observed, his crimson eyes fixed on the two blissful, obedient females and the broken pair of males forced to create that obedience. "The brood strengthens." He settled his immense head back onto his claws, scales shimmering with dark energy, a monstrous architect surveying his perfect, shattered design. The damp air clung, thick with the scent of moss, ozone, spent fire, ice, and the bitter aftertaste of violation.