Full Summary: Lucy Heartfilia (apprentice to none other than the Fairy Godmother) is in for the adventure of her life when she is enrolled in a boarding school for the sons and daughters of Fiore's greatest (and not so greatest) villains.
It's soon discovered that somewhere within the school is a Gate Key that's been manipulated to produce the darkest magic ever documented. Lucy finds herself in a race to find the Key, since the holder must be pure of heart; meanwhile, the friends that she's made along the way must decide whether they are going to stand to help their new friend, or risk deliberately going against their parents, as the Villains too desire the power of the mysterious Key.
Broken promises, changes of heart, potential first love…
And it's only her first semester.
disclaimer: I own nothing
There was a boy in Lucy's dorm room, or rather, what she thought was her dorm room.
The blonde in the doorway tightened her grip on the handle of her suitcase, her eyes widening a bit at the boy's ruffled appearance. Briefly, she found herself wondering if his pink hair was natural, or if he'd slipped a pixie a little something extra to obtain that certain hue.
Stepping one foot back out into the hall, the girl quickly double-checked to make sure the engraved plaque did in fact say Girls.
It did.
Just to be extra cautious, she triple-checked to make sure it was the correct number: Room 777.
It was.
Looking back into the dorm room, upon closer inspection there appeared to be a girl there as well, though that was far less concerning. Shifting her weight uncomfortably from side to side, Lucy realized for the first time that she seemed to be interrupting something.
"Uh, sorry," Lucy cleared her throat, gaining at least the boy's attention; the girl with blue hair never even lifted her head at the sound of a new voice. "Am I in the wrong-"
"No, you're not," the boy sneered, cutting her off and sounding cross while not sparing Lucy a second glance. He kept his attention on the other girl seated in the corner of the room with her head in a book.
"Levy," he said, his tone shifting from annoyed to desperate. "Please-"
"No," the girl was quick to cut him off, pushing a skinny pair of cranberry-colored glasses up the bridge of her nose as she did so. "I spent all last semester helping you out, yet you still failed to show up for final exams. We're friends, but I'm not wasting my time again helping you study just for you to purposely screw yourself over."
Harsh. Lucy winced at the girl's words, feeling for the boy even though he hadn't exactly made the best first impression.
"You sound just like Erza right now! I told you, dammit," he was quick to retort. "Something came up!"
Lucy watched as the girl didn't flinch in the slightest at the boy's rising voice. She merely licked the pad of her thumb before calmly turning the page of her book.
"Is that the same excuse you gave Mad Mim when grades were sent home?" she asked coolly. "Speaking of which, how would your mother feel if she heard that you're practically begging Maleficent's daughter for help right now? You know our mothers don't exactly get along ever since the infamous PTA meeting of 2004."
The boy threw his hands up in the air. "Forget it," he scoffed, running a hand through his mop of hair before whirling around on his heel, breezing past Lucy at the door. The blonde's eyes widened just the slightest when he accidentally bumped shoulders with her in his haste to leave.
The strange boy was gone, but the doorway lingered with the scent of wood chips and cinnamon toothpaste.
Once his footsteps had all but disappeared down the hall, Lucy shook her head and refocused her attention on the girl in the corner.
The blue hair she possessed was a bit wild, pushed away from her face with the help of a thick headband that was probably against some sort of dress code. Part of Lucy wondered if her scowl was part of the welcoming protocol, while the other part was too busy struggling beneath the weight of her suitcase to care.
"A little help?" She asked, not really expecting it.
The girl huffed, not looking up from her book. "You the new girl?"
"I guess, yeah."
She turned another page, and Lucy wasn't quite sure if the girl had actually finished the page or if that was just her way of being passive-aggressive.
"Your bunk is the one closest to the door."
"Thanks, but I meant help with my actual bags-"
"Closest to the door," she repeated. "On your left."
Lucy took a deep breath in through her nose, rolling her eyes before dropping her things onto the correct bunk. She leaned forward, her palms pressed flat against the top of her bags to steady herself as she shut her eyes.
She found herself wondering for the hundredth time why Grandma Verna–more commonly referred to as Fairy Godmother to those who weren't her apprentice, like Lucy was. She wasn't really her granddaughter, but the elderly woman had taken in Lucy at a very young age due to her Father's request after her mother's passing, so she may as well be hers– had ever thought this school would be a good idea.
She didn't belong here, and she was sure that her new classmates would spend everyday reminding her of that.
Her roommate was even getting a head start, by the looks of it.
Lucy scoffed. A school for the wicked wasn't a place for someone like her.
"Dinner's in an hour," the girl across the room informed her, sounding bored. "Change into your uniform before leaving the dorm or you'll get called down, and then we'd all get in trouble."
Lucy didn't feel like asking who 'we' was. Not that she was really given a choice anyway, considering the girl continued without so much as catching her breath.
"You're a Good Mage, okay," the girl sighed, never once looking up from her book. "We all get that. Just, don't go around thinking you're better than any of us just because your parents didn't spend any time in the royal guards' custody at some point, okay? You won't be given any special treatment around here for it." She turned another page. "If anything, it'll be the opposite."
Noted. Lucy's eyes fell on the neatly folded uniform that rested on the trunk at the foot of her bed, inwardly cringing at the school's colors.
Her mind flashed back to her meeting with the Headmaster of Balam Acadamy–a short, older man who was apparently referred to as Gramps, for whatever reason–where she had wrinkled her nose once told about the school's uniform policy.
"Oh, don't make that face," Gramps had warned her, flicking his wrist dismissively. "Didn't Verna ever tell you that your face could get stuck that way? Especially after eating one of the candies. Watch out for those in the cafeteria, by the way. Things get ugly around here around April 1st."
"Um, understood, sir."
The old man leaned forward so that his arms rested on the desk, his elbows crumpling the papers piled there. "Do you know how difficult it was to get a PTA of literal evil parents to agree on a set uniform for their children?" He shook his head. "Especially that Hades, oh my word." Gramps pinched the bridge of his nose, shuddering at what Lucy could only assume was the memory.
The girl wasn't quite sure when they fallen back on the subject of the uniform, but she nodded along sympathetically nonetheless.
"Hell fire everywhere," the headmaster shook his head, muttering under his breath. "Not to mention that pesky Jack Frost freezing over my library just because he could. That's the last time I let the PTA meet in this building, I'll tell you that much."
"Yes sir," Lucy bit her lip, wondering when she could leave.
Gramps had taken a deep breath, peering at the girl almost apologetically over his reading glasses as he refocused his attention on the student. "Verna is lucky I owe her a favor, or you wouldn't be here. And child," he said more gently, only after noticing the girl's hurt expression that she was failing miserably to hide. "That's more for your own sake than mine."
Lucy took a deep breath, ignoring her suitcase and putting off unpacking for the time being as she sat on the bed. At least the old man had wished her luck before she'd left his office.
She stared across the room where her unnamed roommate kept her back to her, never once looking up from a book that was thicker than Lucy's whole fist.
The blonde cleared her throat, tapping her toes nervously from where they barely touched the hardwood. "Let's start over. Um, I'm Lucy."
"That's nice."
Lucy nodded to herself, biting the inside of her cheek. Well, this was gonna be a fun school year. She tried again at playing nice, even though her roommate clearly wasn't interested. "What's yours?"
The girl let out a long sigh, and Lucy saw the pressed flower that she picked up from the desk to mark her spot before shutting the book with a heavy thump.
"Look, Lucy," she turned in her chair so that she was finally facing the blonde, "you seem like a nice girl."
Lucy allowed her hopes to raise just the slightest at the girl's words, though they soon settled back to rock bottom as she continued.
"Unfortunately," she sighed, as though she genuinely did feel for the blonde. "I think that's going to be your problem here."
Her roommate stood, tucking her book under one arm just as Lucy remembered that the boy from earlier had called her Levy.
Levy waved over her shoulder as she left the room, not even caring enough to spare a look at her new roommate as she left Lucy completely alone.
Lucy opted to skip dinner that night, not feeling like going through the awkwardness that came with standing alone in a crowded lunch room with just her tray, waiting until someone took enough pity on her to offer a seat.
Especially somewhere like Balam, where she couldn't even get a little sympathy from her own roommate.
Instead, Lucy dug around in her suitcase for her box of granola bars that she'd packed and, after changing into her uniform, grabbed her journal and set out to explore the campus.
Outside, it proved nearly deserted because of the time, considering everyone else had already made their way to the lunch hall. Pulling the school map from her pocket, she unfolded the paper to see where the library was located. Luckily, if she was reading it right, it didn't seem like it was very far from the girls' dorm, which would really come in handy for the bookish blonde over the course of the semester.
The girl sighed. It was a shame, really. Her roommate really seemed to enjoy reading as well, but it didn't seem like she was interested in discussing any good titles with Lucy anytime soon.
As she walked along, Lucy tightened her arm around her middle where she was holding the journal that Grandma Verna had given her as a gift before sending her to this hell hole. Lucy figured it was some sort of consolation prize for being sent into the heart of the enemy.
The blonde rolled her eyes at her own wording, berating herself for being so melodramatic. In truth, she knew there was a good reason for Verna to go through with this. If Lucy ever wanted to truly step up into her place someday, then she had to become familiar with both sides of the game.
Lucy made a mental note to write a letter to Grandma Verna later, letting the older woman know she was still getting settled in. She would just email her, but Fairy Godmother never had quite taken to electronics of any sort.
As she rounded the corner where the map said the library was, Lucy's breath left her at the sight.
It was a beautiful building.
Part of Lucy felt ashamed for the images of the campus that she'd been picturing over the summer, ever since she'd been told she'd be attending Balam in the fall. She'd imagined slimy walls and cracked foundations, and constant cracks of lightning sounding off in the background.
Really, Lucy should have known better now that she thought about it. After all, what self-obsessed, egotistical villain was going to let their child live in filth?
No, while the campus was certainly aged, it was arguably nicer than Lucy's old school.
She shook her head, quickly dismissing any thoughts of her old school and home before she could dwell on them, hurrying up the steps of the library and rushing inside.
She'd lost track of time.
Lucy hurried back to the dorms, thanking the stars above that she didn't run into any teachers out patrolling the halls for those breaking curfew. However, she did find herself jumping a little every time she heard a crow caw, and her spine crawled as she raced down the halls, feeling almost certain that the walls had eyes.
She shot into the room, quickly shutting the door behind her.
Then her heartbeat began to race for other reasons.
While earlier it had been just Levy, Lucy had been aware of the two other unoccupied beds that had been there at the time. However, over the course of the afternoon she'd forgotten what that would mean for her later on.
The beds were no longer unoccupied.
Two new sets of eyes locked onto the blonde, making her feel nervous under the apprehensive stares. It didn't last long, much to the girl's relief. However, she could have done without their eyerolls at her flustered appearance from having ran all the way back from the library.
Lucy tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, shuffling towards her bed.
"Hi," she said, hoping she'd have better luck with the new girls than she had with Levy earlier. "I'm-"
"Lucy Heartfilia, apprentice to none other than the Fairy Godmother, and daughter to the infamous rogue Good Mage Layla Heartfilia." The redhead in the corner had cut her off, soon returning her attention to her laptop.
"Uh, yeah," the blonde said slowly. "How did you…?"
"Levy is the editor of the school newspaper here," answered a bored voice from the bed across from Lucy's. There sat another girl with blue hair, who had her legs crossed as she bent over a corkboard with various photographs spread out on both her comforter and nightstand. The girl shrugged. "Levy knows everything about everyone."
"Not everything," Levy laughed from where she sat at the same desk from earlier, and Lucy found herself surprised that the girl was capable of laughing. She was sitting prim and proper in her chair as she played with a glowing, blue ball no larger than the size of an apple. On the desk in front of her sat a laptop, the screen showcasing a paper practically writing itself as Levy's hands never left the-
Oh, Lucy understood now. Levy was writing the paper, but she was using the ball to do so. It must be her Instrument.
While back in the day, during their parents' time, witches and wizards and warlocks alike had used wands to help transfer their magic, while the new generation had become a little more imaginative with their tools.
For example, Lucy had a single, golden key that she used as a stand-in wand that had been given to her by Grandma Verna, however, it'd technically belonged to her mother once upon a time.
The blue crystal ball must be Levy's stand-in wand.
Levy lifted one hand from the Instrument, and Lucy noticed that while the paper was still being written, it was now operating at a much slower pace. She pointed one finger in the redhead's direction. "That's Erza," she said, and the blonde followed her finger as the pointed to the bed across from Lucy's. "And that's Juvia. They're in the same grade as us, so you'll see them around often enough."
"Welcome to Balam, Princess." Erza smirked, and Lucy very briefly found herself wondering who the redhead's parents were when the nickname sunk in.
Princess… anywhere else, Lucy might've secretly enjoyed the title. It was common enough back home, at the very least.
At a place like this, however, Lucy knew it wasn't considered a compliment.
Welcome to Balam, Lucy. The blonde huffed, falling face first onto her mattress and wondering just how loud she could scream into her pillow without her new roommates noticing.
A school for the wicked wasn't a place for someone like her, and something told Lucy that the other students weren't going to let her forget it.
a/n: *squeals* YAY FOR NEW STORY! but, at the same time, i'm silently weeping because, really, what do i honestly think i'm getting myself into right now... but, moving on...
please tell me what you think of this! I'm really excited for how this could turn out and i would love to hear what you guys think of it too!(:
Until Next Time...
