The Girls of Fairy Block

Chapter 1

The First Night is Always the Hardest

"Lucy Heartphilia."

Her name had never sounded so rotten, like a death sentence. Perhaps that was slightly melodramatic, but she couldn't be physically all that far from death row. After all, Magnolia Penitentiary had to be the largest female prison in the country. Surely they had a place to conduct executions? Stop it Lucy, your thinking is too bleak.

"Lucy Heartphilia."

The guard at the desk looked annoyed now, and Lucy made to step forward. She was held back by the tight grasp of her boyfriend's hand around her own. Natsu, her ever-positive, ever-happy boyfriend had never looked so sad, like his life was ending. She hugged him tightly and whispered into his ear.

"It's only going to be eighteen months. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"I already miss you."

"Me too, babe, me too."

"Lucy Heartphilia!" The tone said that this was the last call. The next one would involve physical contact. Lucy hurried across the to prison guard behind the desk. He was an older gentleman with a neatly trimmed moustache. His nametag read 'Macao Conbolt'.

"Um… hi, I guess that I'm Lucy," she said timidly. She didn't really know what to expect. How many people walked into a prison knowing what to expect? Macao laid a tray on the desk, telling her to put all of her valuables on it. All Lucy had brought was a few dollars and bits of identification that she'd need when she was released. While she was doing that, Macao had dumped a pair of slippers and awful, pale grey scrubs on the counter.

"You will take these clothes and head through the gate. There is a changing room. You will change and leave your clothes with the attendant there. Then you will proceed through the second gate to the shuttle outside. I suggest that if you have anything to say to your beau here, you do it now."

Lucy turned to Natsu, and it felt like there was an enormous gap between the pair, an insurmountable distance. Despite that, Natsu marched across it and hugged her fiercely, taking his turn to whisper to her.

"I promise that I'll wait. I'll be here for you, I promise."

Trying to stifle her tears, Lucy nodded dumbly and turned to go through the gate.

===][===

Lucy exited through the second gate out into the cold winter air. The scrubs felt stifling despite their lightness, as they removed all sense of individuality. Worse was her current lack of socks, making her feet freeze.

Outside waited a shuttle bus with the logo of the prison printed on it. The driver waited, leaning against the door. Lucy was surprised to see the woman was in scrubs too, though she had a jacket and boots to augment that. Did they make convicts drive the bus here? The woman had beautiful fiery red hair drawn back in a loose ponytail.

"Jeez, just a single new meat today?" She asks crassly. "Is today goody-two shoes day or something?"

"Um… sorry? Is there normally more?"

The red head shrugged. "Usually three or four. Most I ever had was six. Now, since I guess that you don't want to get frostbite, I suggest we get on our way."

Oh sweet merciful Jesus, the inside of the van was blessed warmth. Lucy sat quietly in the back as the woman who called herself Erza rattled on and on about some of the rules and a few quick pointers. Rule number 1: never ask someone what crime they committed. Everyone here was innocent, of course. They were all driving to church, took a wrong turn and ended up in prison.

Rule number 2: never fuck with anyone. Ever. Particularly the girls from C-block. Lucy learned there were three blocks to Magnolia prison, A, B and C. She was going to A-block, the same place that Erza came from, and known affectionately as Fairy Block by the inmates.

Rule number 3: watch your back at all times. Some of the people in here were just nasty people. Others were desperate and might want your stuff. Another hazard of the prison is that it seemed to breed the worst kind of lesbians. Lucy hadn't thought that the old adages about dropping, soaps and showers would apply to a women's institution. Also, some of the prison guards took delight in tormenting the inmates, and unlike the inmates, retribution there was suicide.

"Commissioner Makarov's a nice guy," Erza concluded, "and Macao and Wakaba are pussycats when you get to know them. Watch out for Giemma, Jose and Ivan, though. Particularly Ivan. He's fond of conjuring reasons for a full body search."

Lucy shuddered. She'd never even considered the feds to be one of her problems. "What about the other girls? What are they like?"

"There's about two hundred of us at any one time. About half of those are here for short stays, so we never really get to know a lot of them. But most of the old hands from Fairy Block are alright. B-Block's full of snitches and narks, though. And definitely watch out for C-block. You seem like a nice girl, probably in for running a red light or something. You don't want to mess with them. Some of their lifers are terrifying, and I don't scare easy!"

"Umm… how long have you been in here?"

"About three years now. Seen a lot of faces come and go in that time. If you're in A-Block, you're one of mine, and I'll look after you as long as you play the game. Don't fuck me, you hear?"

"Yes… yes, I hear."

"Good. As I say, you look like a sweet girl. You read much?"

"Yes, I like books. I… I was… I mean, I am an aspiring writer."

"Really? That's great. You need to meet Levy. Sweetest girl in the whole place. Shame she's a lifer. No justice in this world kid, I tell ya, no justice. She runs our library. She'll be glad to have another egghead around for company. You look like the lefty, liberal type. You believe in the big guy upstairs?"

"Um…I…" Lucy floundered, unsure of what to say. Erza held up a hand.

"Say no more. But inside those four walls, you believe, you hear me? Life's just easier if you turn up to the sermons and nod your head along like the good little sheep that we're all supposed to be." Lucy nodded to the words, still finding it hard to talk.

The shuttle pulled up at the main gate and as Lucy got back out into the numbing air, she looked up at the enormous, razor-wire tipped fences and the guard towers. This was it, she was actually in prison. There was nowhere to run anymore.

===][===

The youngest of the prison guards was a man in his early twenties called Gray Fullbuster. He was generally liked by the girls for being one of the kinder guards – as well as being young and attractive. He always tried to ignore the occasional catcall or whistle, understanding that these women were very pent-up and just looking for some release.

Although some were more obsessive than others.

"Juvia, what are you doing?" The blue-haired woman jumped, having been peeking around the corner at Gray. Or more precisely, Gray's posterior. She turned to peer at the woman who had spoken to her, a petite little thing with similarly coloured hair. She clutched a book to her small frame, as usual. Juvia instantly turned back to watch Gray.

Levy sighed a little. Juvia was a borderline basket case. Compared to some of the sentences here, Juvia's was light. She'd be out by Easter if she didn't do something stupid and get an extension. Now, according to Erza's best guess, Juvia was probably in for stalking or something equally creepy. The goal of Fairy Block was to prevent her from doing that stupid thing, so as to not miss her exit date.

The smaller blunette eyed Juvia up and down, trying to see if there were any suspicious bulges in her scrubs. Something that might warrant a pat-down from Gray. She'd tried that before. For the moment, she appeared to be clean.

"You know that he's a guard, right? He's not allowed to date an inmate. That'd be an abuse of his power. So… if you want to date him, you need to stay clean and wait until your release. Then, he's allowed to date a citizen, creepy though she may be." Juvia watched until he rounded the corner at the end of the corridor and sighed contentedly. Levy smiled wryly, her mouth twitching into a small grin. "You know, just talking to him politely would be so much better, you need to set the ground work so he sees you as a good girl."

"Oh! How long have you been there, Levy?"

"You didn't even see me!?" Levy shrilled, quite offended. She shook her head irritably. "I came to get you, since Erza should be back soon. There'll be another girl in the Block. I thought that you might want to say hi."

"Juvia thinks that is a good idea. She needs to warn the new girl to stay away from her man."

===][===

Lucy followed Erza nervously, trying to stay behind her, since the girls walking the corridors seemed to avoid being in the red head's way. However, they all seemed to be very interested in the 'new meat'. She was struck by how 'normal' they mostly seemed. A few were tattooed to high heaven or sported bizarre hairstyles, but most looked like they could just be your normal girl next door. And any of them could be a murderer.

Eventually, they came into a long hall. There were lots of partitions along the two long walls, each shorter than a person so you had unobstructed view. Each partition contained a bunk on each side. Lucy assumed it was so that there was always someone watching over you.

"Yo Erza, who's the buxom blonde?" A tall brunette called lustily with a large, cheeky grin. Lucy blanched, remembering the warnings about the feral sexuality that sprung up in places like this. Erza caught the expression.

"Don't be worried about Cana, she's harmless while sober. And the length of her sobriety is coincidently the same as the length of her incarceration."

"Tell me about it," Cana replied, rolling her eyes. "I swear, the first thing I'm doing once I get out of here is to party as hard as humanly possible. My liver won't know what hit it!"

"Indeed," Erza muttered wryly. They continued walking down the room with a couple of curt introductions to a few girls. Lucy tried to remember some of the names she'd heard. Mira, Laki, Kinana. None of whom seemed like criminals. Then again, she didn't really seem like one herself, did she?

A woman with blue curls and dark eyes stepped in front of Lucy, startling her. "Umm… hi?"

"Stay away from Juvia's man. That is all." And just like that, the woman had gone, leaving Lucy absolutely perplexed. Erza simply chuckled, as if that was perfectly normal and acceptable behaviour in here. They carried on until they reached a partition near the middle.

"Okay, this is your bunk," Erza announced. Lucy looked at the little cot with dismay. A simple, thin mattress on top of a metal frame. A linen blanket and pillow was all that adorned it. There was a little metal cabinet at the back, but she was currently staring at everything that she could say that she owned. Erza carried on, clearly aware of the distress she was feeling. "And this is your bunkmate, Levy. Levy meet Lucy."

Lucy looked over to the other bed, on which sat a small, blue-haired girl. She sprang up to her feet, and her height barely changed. She had large and clear eyes, which gave her a dazzling smile. She shook Lucy's hand warmly.

"Nice to meet you, Lu!" She said, instantly shortening her name. Now, Lucy was thoroughly puzzled. This was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Why on Earth would she be in this damned place? Erza had called her a lifer earlier. How was that possible? Her thoughts were interrupted as Erza clapped her on the back.

"Well, I'll let you get settled in. Don't worry, Levy will take good care of you. She's the sweetest thing in these four walls – though I'm sure that Juvia would disagree." Erza leaned in. "The first night's the hardest. You'll get through it, okay?"

"Inspection!" A deep voice barked. The girls all scurried to stand next to their bunks. Lucy looked around blankly, but Levy pushed her into the correct position, urging her to stay still and quiet. A security guard entered Lucy's line of sight, a tall man with a bushy beard. This was Ivan Dreyar, one of the guards on A-Block.

He advanced languidly down the row, not appearing to be looking for anything. Had he called for inspection just because he was bored? He stopped by Juvia, who was looking at the floor.

"Hey now, I've seen the look you give one of our boys, why won't you give me the same puppy-dog eyes?" Ivan said in a sickly tone.

"Juvia… Juvia does not know," she replied evasively, not making eye contact. Ivan merely chuckled and carried on down the line. What a pervert, Lucy thought bleakly. This was the man in charge of her now? Ivan stopped by Erza and met her eyes. Perhaps wisely, he carried on.

"Pedo-bait, you were slow getting into position. Explain."

"Please don't refer to me as that," Levy asked in a thin, purposefully neutral voice.

"Answer the damn question."

"I was merely trying to help the new girl find her position before I took my own."

"Ah?" Curiosity flared in Ivan's eyes as he looked over at Lucy, who went rigid in fear. He actually licked his lips in a disgusting display as he eyed her up and down. "Damn, you look tasty, new girl. I look forward to your first body search. Such lovely melons will need me to dig deep to make sure that you're clean."

Lucy gulped at the thought. In a moment, Ivan had passed, but it left her trembling. Oh god, what was she in for!? How on Earth was she going to survive the next eighteen months? Natsu, I wish you were here to protect me!

===][===

Natsu lay in bed, the streetlight outside illuminating the room. He could have pulled the curtains, but he didn't really feel like sleeping anyway. He reached over to the empty side of the bed. As he watched his hand touch the nothingness, he could see the glint of his engagement ring. Frustrated by the reminder he instead placed the hand on his head to ruffle his hair in annoyance.

"Oi, Happy. Aren't you gonna give a lonely guy some company?" The sleeping cat on the floor made no response. Typical. Normally he'd be fighting Lucy for her pillow. Now, he didn't care at all. Probably only wanted it because Lucy was there in the first place. Natsu sighed and collapsed back onto his pillow.

It's just day one. There's still five hundred and thirty nine to go. And, he assured himself, it was nothing compared to what Lucy must be going through now.

===][===

"Levy!" Erza hissed urgently from across the hall. "You can't be out of your bunk after lights out! It'll be trouble if you're caught!"

Levy shook her head back at Erza. Lucy was crying, and Levy would not let go of her hand. The first night was always the hardest, and Lucy just needed a little bit of comfort. It wasn't too much to ask. Suddenly, lights flickered on and a guard entered the room. Ivan Dreyar. With a squeak, Levy hurled herself into her bed. At least Ivan wouldn't have line of sight over the partitions.

"I don't know who's crying in here, but people are trying to sleep!" He shouted. Erza simmered angrily. He was on duty and shouldn't be sleeping. And turning on the lights and shouting had woken everyone up – the opposite of what he was arguing. What an ass. Lucy's tears stifled, petrified. Ivan stood there a moment longer, until he was satisfied with the silence and finally left them alone.

"We're not even allowed to cry?" Lucy wailed thinly.

"No, that's just Ivan being Ivan," Levy replied. "Don't worry, they're not all like that. Most of the guards are alright."

"Thank you for being so nice, Lev," the blonde sniffled back. Levy smiled, barely visible in the gloom.

"The first night is always the hardest, but that doesn't mean that the next one is going to be any fun. I'll look after you, Lu."

===][===

"Our lord who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done…"

"For fuck's sake, Angel! It's two in the fucking morning! Shut the fuck up, you fucking whackjob!" Minerva's angry shout did nothing to stop the quiet muttering, so she threw her hairbrush across the hall, hitting the white-haired girl in the head. With a frightened squeal, Angel stopped her prayer.

In the bunk next to Minerva, Kyouka sniggered, enjoying the display. The two women could have almost been sisters, so similar they were with their cold, vulpine features and black hair. Where Minerva's only reached her shoulders, Kyouka's flowed all the way down to the small of her back.

"Did you see the new meat?" Kyouka asked. Minerva shook her head. "She looks delicious. All blonde and bouncy. I think her name was Leanne or Luca or something."

Minerva frowned. Blonde? Bouncy? "Hey Kyou, do you mean Lucy? Lucy Heartphilia?"

"That's it!" Kyouka clicked her fingers in agreement. "Oh? Do you know her, Min?"

Minerva grinned a sickening smile. "Now that, Kyou, is very interesting news. Very interesting indeed."

===Author's Note===

Well, he we go again. My new story starts, with obvious inspiration from 'Orange is the New Black' on Netflix. It's been interesting racking my brain for all of FT's female characters, and the new additions of Kyouka and Seira helped to flesh out the villain's ranks a little.

This fic is NOT a shipping fic at its core, though there will be obvious ties to Natsu, and some love triangle status built up there. For my regular readers, yes, Gajeel will turn up later. Half the point of this story is to write about Lucy and Levy together, and putting them in prison sort of forces me to keep Natsu and Gajeel out of the story! Expect at least experimental Yuri later on. I think that it's mandatory in a women's prison story.

I kind of planned a four main character idea with Erza and Juvia, but I think my poor capability of writing Juvia will mainly put her into comic relief status. I hate the fact that I can't write her better. Erza will have a reasonable role to play.

I'M NOT TELLING YOU THEIR CRIMES! Seriously, that's to be revealed over time. Some are more plot-related than others. Finally, (wow, this is a long A/N) the characters are about three years older her. Lucy and Levy are twenty.