This doesn't really have much to do with the prompt of "Sharp" I'm afraid. It's more of a filler chapter. The next chapter will fit the prompt instead.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 3:

Skulking Is Not Polite

Lucy awoke to a dark, unfamiliar room. Clothes sticky and cold, she threw an arm over her eyes. It stank of sweat, but she left it there nonetheless. The weight was comforting, somehow.

The dregs of her dreams refused to drain away, like the dried tear tracks on her face. Fragmented, she'd watched again and again as the golden furred demon forced her to choose between her friends. Only in her dreams, she did choose. Sometimes one, sometimes the other. Sometimes it wasn't Levy and Wendy, but Cana and Freed. Chelia and Lisanna. And whoever was chosen would look at her - betrayed and lost. The remaining one would stare at her with horror equal to that reserved for the monster that squeezed her throat, his sharp claws digging into her flesh.

Each and every iteration had felt so painfully real. Lucy had smelled the crushed grass underfoot, felt the warmth of the breeze on her cheek.

Fresh tears caught in the sleeve of her pajamas, and the ones that escaped rolled down her cheeks. Lucy shivered as a droplet fell into her ear.

How was she going to do this? How was she to work alongside of someone that had looked overjoyed at her suffering? His grin was seared into her memory - the curve of his fangs, the twist of his mouth, the way the skin surrounding his eyes had crinkled at the edges in delight. His laugh, too, echoed in her skull.

"I can't do this!" she whispered.

"An interesting thing to conclude, given that you have yet to begin."

Lucy bolted upright at the strange, deep voice in her room. Fumbling for the light by her bedside, it took several tries before she was able to flick the device on. Bright light poured out, and Lucy flinched. She blinked rapidly to clear the firework bursts dancing along her vision.

The stranger laughed, deep-throated and almost cruel. "With a reaction time such as that, perhaps you shouldn't after all."

Her vision cleared, Lucy peered beyond the circle of light provided by her lamp. This new room God Serena had set her up in was far larger than her previous dorm room, and the lamp didn't quite reach the far corner.

There was a soft whump - a book snapping shut. It was a sound Lucy was intimately familiar with. Then the owner of the voice leaned forward and stood. Stepping into the pool of light, he dragged his fold-up chair with him. Once he was beside her bed, he took up residence on it once more. He leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. His book sat in his lap, and his long, delicate fingers rested upon it in turn. Narrow and dark, his eyes regarded her critically.

Lucy wasn't entirely certain how a person could exude so much regalness while sitting in a cheap, plastic folding chair.

Experimentally, she cleared her throat. Her heart beat erratically in her chest. Lucy was all too aware of the room's exit positioned too far away for her to reach, even if she wasn't still drained from the earlier events of the day. And the man knew his superior position as well, if his smirk was anything to go by. "Who... who are you?" she settled for, her muscles tensed to defend herself if she had to. "And why were you reading in my room in the dark?"

He rolled his shoulders. "Was waiting for you to wake up. And if one possesses near perfect night vision, it would be a shame to not use it."

"That wasn't answering my question."

"Incorrect - it was the answer to one of your questions." His smile broadened slightly. "As for the other..." He paused, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, and his lips pressing together a little more tightly. If Lucy hadn't had so much experience reading people when she lived at the Konzern, she likely would have missed it entirely.

Did he... not know how to respond to the question?

"Mard Geer," he announced. Lucy jolted in surprise, and his smile grew. "Mard Geer is how I am addressed."

She stared at him for a long moment, unsure how to process his statement. "But not your name?"

"For all intents and purposes, it is," Mard Geer replied smoothly. "It serves well enough as a name."

The longer she spent in this man's company, the more convinced Lucy became that he was a very, very dangerous individual. Although... he kind of reminded her of Invel. It was the cold calculation in his gaze - a predator lying in wait.

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "What are you?"

"A demon of Tartaros."

Lucy inhaled sharply, retreating until her back pressed against the headboard of her bed. Though she wasn't familiar with what he meant by 'Tartaros', Lucy knew enough of demonkind to be wary.

If anything, this only amused him further. "Invel requested my summoner's... assistance. Therefore, mine is included as well." He bowed from his chair, sweeping and full of mockery. "Underworld King Mard Geer, at your service."

Swallowing thickly, Lucy stuttered, her voice an octave higher than normal, "Pleased to meet you!" She nearly slapped herself for that. What was she thinking?! This was a high class demon! In her room! While she was more or less defenseless! And here she was, falling back onto her old nobleborn habits!

Mard Geer straightened up, mischief in his eyes that hadn't been present before.

...Wait. Was he just jerking her around?

"To the crux of things, then," he stated, pointedly ignoring her ill composure. "You summoned a demon with whom I am... unfortunately acquainted."

"Oh good," she muttered. "Nice to know that I'm not the only one he leaves that impression on."

The demon snorted.

With that simple, very human action, Lucy no longer felt as if she was in as much danger as before. As if she'd undergone a trial he'd set forth for her (given her limited knowledge of the demon race, this was very likely the case), and had passed. She felt some of her tension easing, and she allowed a small smile onto her face.

Mard Geer inspected her for a long moment. "My summoner, Mirajane, has asked that I assist."

Lucy frowned, perplexed by what he was getting at. "I'm sorry?" she asked. "But... I thought you already said that."

"No," was his terse answer. He uncrossed his legs, and then swung the opposite one from before up and over his knee. "Invel is the one who ordered that I do something." The demon tilted his head slightly. "I care little for Invel, or for dealing with Jackal. But it seems you did Mirajane a favor today in standing against him and his perverse game. So she made the request of me as well."

Blinking rapidly, Lucy attempted to process what Mard Geer was telling her. Not just in his tone and posture, but also in his choice of phrasing. It tickled the back of her mind; igniting memories of polite words hiding vicious intent. His words were saying far more than she was hearing.

Was she understanding correctly that Mard Geer was obeying only because he'd been asked by his summoner? Implying that he would have refused if it had been an order? Could summons even do that? Ignore a direct order?

It cast him and his relationship to Mirajane in a strange light. Was it a contrary partnership, indulged simply because the demon felt the whim to do so? Or was it built more on mutual trust and understanding?

She wondered if she could attain the latter with her own demonic summon, if that were indeed the case. It gave her a little hope.

Lucy hesitated, something occurring to her, setting her on edge again. "Excuse me but... where is your summoner?" Lucy asked. It was odd that a summon would appear without their partner. Downright strange, actually. Lucy couldn't recall a single instance of that happening. Summoners usually kept their summons within line of sight at all times - it was more to protect the summon, but oftentimes the beings were dangerous enough that only their summoners could reign them in. She had trouble believing that a high class demon would be left to wander on his own.

"Her younger sister was in the crowd when you performed your ritual," Mard Geer replied smoothly. "Mine was not a needed presence, so I decided to take a more proactive approach."

"Oh." Lucy paused, and then guessed, "Meaning that you're here without her knowledge."

Mard Geer held his hands up and began to clap slowly.

She'd been wrong before. He wasn't a jerk at all.

He was an asshole.

The blonde decided to put that aside for the meantime. She had her fair share of experience in dealing with people that looked down on her. She wasn't about to let a demon get the better of her for the second time in one day. Instead, she asked, "What can you tell be about my... my summon? Since you said you know him. I need to understand him if I'm going to be working with him."

With a small shake of his head, Mard Geer explained, "I doubt you'd be able to understand him at all, quite frankly. What you need to know is how to manage him. If you can, at any rate."

Lucy's sheets bunched in her fists as she gripped them in her anger. "I held out for as long as I did, didn't I?"

"Ah, yes." His lips twisted in a wry smirk, his eyes narrowing in delight. "As he held you by the throat. Tell me, did you feel strong then?"

Spine stiff, Lucy refused to dignify that with an answer. This demon was just like the businessmen with whom her father worked. Less interested in her answers than in watching her squirm. She hadn't given them the satisfaction, and she wouldn't for this demon either. And unlike with those men, she didn't need to give Mard Geer a smile. Lucy leveled her best glare at the demon instead.

Mard Geer's face relaxed back into casual arrogance. "Your demon's name is Jackal."

"Jack...al. Jackal." Lucy ran the name over her tongue, testing it. How fitting; it perfectly suited a furry.

"Our creator was not especially... well... creative with names," Mard Geer acknowledged. "I myself was named for a type of pole-arm common to the era."

A pole-arm? Basically a stick with an extra pointy end, right? Yeah, Lucy could see that. Not much else could fit Mard Geer's personality, except maybe a thorny vine. She was beginning to think that the demons' creator was actually brilliant.

"Anything else I need to know?" Lucy pressed.

"He's rash, volatile... explosive in every meaning of the term. He has a peculiar sense of reason and rationale, but he's far from imbecilic. Crass. Vulgar in all manners. And a decidedly formidable opponent when he stops playing, though getting him to abandon his games is difficult at best." Mard Geer's smile as he spoke was the same one he'd worn the entire conversation; as if he was doing no more than debating the merits of the day's weather, not how Lucy was going to prevent her demise. "As you have witnessed firsthand, that playful drive and his unwavering obsession are a lethal combination and difficult to handle."

Lucy repressed a shudder. "Are you suggesting I cannot handle him?"

"Stating. Jackal cannot be tamed, no more than you might tame a tornado. One does not direct a force of nature."

Catching on, Lucy finished, "But you can mitigate the damage."

"Precisely." Mard Geer's eyes gleamed oddly in the dim lighting. "You are quick to adjust your thinking. You will need that with Jackal."

"Is that how you handled him?" Lucy inquired. "I can't imagine him being easy to deal with, even for a King of demons. And he doesn't seem the loyal type, no offense."

Mard Geer shrugged. "You are correct. What he respects is... overwhelming force. Which you distinctly lack. So outsmarting him is your best option."

Lucy fiddled with her covers for a moment, mulling over the information Mard Geer had given her. To be honest... none of it was particularly helpful. Analysis of her own would have led her to the same conclusions eventually. So why was this demon even here? Was he judging her, still? Why? He clearly held no love for Jackal.

"Why is Jackal so obsessed with me?" she blurted out. "What did I do to deserve this? Why me?"

The demon did not hesitate in his answer. "You murdered him. Most people take deep offense to that, I believe."

Surprised, Lucy recoiled. "I didn't do that! I think I'd remember murdering someone! And seriously, if I couldn't even fight back earlier, how could I have possibly killed him?! I was the one about to be murdered!"

"It was you," the demon said. "At the same time... it wasn't. I trust that your curriculum has covered alternate worlds by this point?"

Slowly, Lucy nodded. "Yeah. There are places separated from this world, in which dwell the demon, fae, and various spirit races."

"Jackal and I come from a world even further away than those," Mard Geer explained. "In that world, the both of us perished. It would seem that artificial demons - with our artificial souls - do not have a place to go to when that happens. I entered a limbo space between universes. It was there that I heard Mirajane's call, and lacking other purpose, answered it. Subsequently I found myself surrounded by very familiar faces." He smirked then. "Amusingly enough, Jackal preceded myself in death. I suspect that with more time to - as they say - stew, his obsession and hatred could do naught but intensify."

Lucy furrowed her brow as she stared hard at him. "So you're saying another me killed him. A stronger, more capable me."

"At its essence, yes. Your counterpart was quite powerful."

She pounced on the slip. "So you met her? This other me?"

Mard Geer's face slackened for a moment, and then his constantly amused expression returned as if it had always been. "Not directly. A summon of hers did cause quite a bit of trouble to me. In fact... it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that she started the chain of events that led to my death as well."

Terror spiked in Lucy's chest, cold spines prickling in her veins.

But the demon's expression remained unchanged. "Unlike Jackal, I do not much care for holding grudges," Mard Geer stated bluntly. "Even if I were..." He pursed his lips. "Killing a girl in her bed while she slept would be... boring."

Lucy suspected that he'd been about to say something else. Letting it drop seemed like the better option, however. There was no reason to antagonize Mard Geer into changing his mind and attacking her.

A quiet knock sounded on the door.

"It's open!" Lucy called out. Hoping that it was, in fact, unlocked. Who knew, really. There was a demon in the room after all. A demon with a professed, legitimate reason to want her dead.

The door cracked open a fraction. A woman with long, white haired peered into the room. "Is it alright if I turn on the lights...?"

Lucy flushed. "Sure!"

Bright light flooded the room, causing Lucy to wince. By the time her vision cleared, a tall woman was standing at her bedside. Her blue eyes shone from within, and her hair was so pale it cast halos. Her hands on her hips, she stared down at the demon. "What are you doing here, Mard? I'd wondered where you'd gotten off to!"

"Mirajane," Mard Geer greeted calmly. "Decided to visit here first before I spoke with Jackal."

So she'd been right after all. He had just been here to take measure of her, not to inform her of anything.

His summoner didn't seem to be buying the excuse. "Oh really? You needed to visit with someone who was unconscious?"

"She's not unconscious anymore," he retorted.

As they spoke, Lucy's eyes flicked between them. Mard Geer's body language was subtly different than before. His shoulders had dropped, and his gaze was completely focused on the woman in front of him. There was an ease to their banter as well, Lucy decided.

Mutual trust and respect?

Then Mirajane turned towards Lucy with an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry for his rudeness. She bowed low to Lucy. "If he did anything untoward, please let me know. I should have kept a better eye on him."

Honestly, she needed to start that right now. Mard Geer was already out of his seat and halfway to the door.

"N-no," Lucy replied, allowing the demon his escape. "He did frighten me a bit by skulking in the dark, but that's all."

Mirajane frowned deeply, surveying Lucy's condition. Then she whipped around. "Mard!"

He paused, and turned his head towards his summoner. "Yes, Mirajane?"

She hesitated, and then the frown on her face was replaced by a kind smile. "Do be sure to give him a good talking to, yes?" Mirajane giggled, and the sound of it sent prickles of fear crawling up Lucy's spine. How could something sound so cheerful and yet so... empty at the same time?

The demon returned Mirajane's smile with a crueler copy. "Understood." With that, he departed.

'He ran away,' Lucy thought, sweat sliding down the back of her neck. 'He totally just ran away.'

Pulling up Mard's vacated chair, Mirajane sat down and made herself comfortable. The smile she directed at Lucy next was a far cry from her prior one - warmth and kindness seeped out of it.

"I'm sorry for the belated introduction! My name is Mirajane Strauss. I'm Lisanna's older sister."

Tentatively, Lucy smiled back at the older woman. "I'm Lucy."

Maybe with Mirajane she could finally get the advice she sought.

After all... if Mirajane could keep a being like Mard Geer in line, Jackal should be no problem, right

Or at least, Lucy hoped so.

To be continued…