Chapter 1- Escape

"Ms. Heartfilia! Ms. Heartfilia, where are you?!"

Lucy covered her mouth in an attempt to conceal her heavy breathing. She held her Celestial Spirit keys in her right hand to prevent them from jingling. Lucy currently possessed 10 out of the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys and 5 Silver Keys. There was no way that she would return to that prison that people called a luxurious mansion with these in her possession.

"Lucy, your father is worried about you! Please come back!" The voices began to fade as the searchers moved further from her position.

Lies. There was no way that that terrible, dictatorial man was worried about her. He just didn't want his perfect businessman-image to collapse.

As soon as the pursuers were out of sight, Lucy treaded softly behind the forest of trees, careful as to not make any noticeable noises. She let a sigh of relief escape her lips before carefully tip-toeing towards the nearby town that was opposite of the direction her pursuers had taken.

"Fresh fruits for sale, fresh veggies to sale! Everything for sale! Come on down now to get these items for sale!"

"Come get these beautiful dresses for a bargain price! These should not be missed out!"

Lucy looked around her. The town of Magnolia was a lively place filled with merchants and shops and stalls. She realized that not many citizens had blonde hair like hers, so she quickly bought a baseball cap worth 500 jewels and shoved her hair inside of it.

She looked in the left pocket of her white shorts. 10,000 jewels left… Why hadn't she brought more? Lucy silently cursed and vowed to plan any other run-away-ing more carefully. Not that she planned to run away again any time soon. It was a risky, tiring thing.

"Excuse me, sorry," a deep voice said. Lucy instinctively placed her hands into her pockets to secure her money and Keys and moved out of the way. A flash of pink hair caught her eyes, but when she turned around, the source of the color was gone.

An extremely loud horn made Lucy jump. "WE ARE LOOKING FOR OUR MISTRESS!" she heard.

Oh no.

Lucy covered her face and ran into a tight alleyway. She threw herself into a (not that smelly) garbage bin and closed the top, making sure that it would not lock by wedging a crushed can in between. Several shadows passed by, and a voice yelled, "She doesn't seem to be here!"

"Goddamnit, I thought we got her. The master isn't going to be pleased."

"Who cares? He's such a - anyway. We only work for him 'cause he's rich."

"SHH! There are people around, you dunce!"

Lucy waited until the voices faded once again and then relaxed. She decided to stay in the garbage bin for a little while longer just to make sure that she wouldn't be found.

After about 20 minutes, Lucy decided that it had been long enough and cracked her knuckles. Just as she was about to place her hands on the top panel, it flung open.

Lucy held in her scream.