Chapter 1

Seventeen years ago, Fiore was a prosperous kingdom. It gained its riches on the common flower found only in their kingdom. The Aura Blossom. It could be used to create a wide variety of exquisite colors, and it's roots could cure a mass variety of illnesses.

The king and queen of this nation were loved by almost all.

The queen was pregnant and later had two sons and a daughter. Fiore rejoiced in the new life. But the happiness was short lived.

A terrible sickness overtook Fiore. The victims had their minds slowly etched away, until they were driven to the point of insanity. The kingdom searched for a cure. They brought doctors from all over the kingdom, and even they couldn't see what may be causing it.

Friends murdered friends and families were devastated. Hearts suffered and voices cried out to the heavens, cursing them for taking their innocence.

The king and queen, seeing how fast the sickness was spreading, had no choice. No choice but to travel to the lands they owned in the neighboring kingdom. On the days before the night they were to set out, the king fell to the illness. He killed his queen and two sons, until only the daughter was left. Before the king could kill his daughter, Gildarts, head knight of the Royal Army, stopped the king. Gildarts took the baby girl and rode away to the small town of Magnolia.

Gildarts was labeled as traitor to the royal family, and a bounty was put on his head. He found out about his bounty and built a cottage in one of the meadows a good distance away from Magnolia.

There he raised the girl as his own, hiding the origin of birth her birth from the girl.

The kingdom of Fiore Gildarts had once known had changed. Everyone knew the king was mad. But anyone who tried to stop the king or even peacefully talk to the king were executed.

One of the gifted doctors in Fiore had found the cure. It was an uncommon herb found by streams that cascaded along the mountains. But even knowing this didn't change anything. The king couldn't be cured. He was too long gone.

The cause was discovered later on. The cause of this disease had been the very flower Fiore had been built upon. Most chose to rid the flower of their lands. Others protested against the removal, saying it would ruin their businesses and put them in bankruptcy.

After much chaos, the king had finally put in a word about this. "Keep the wretched thing," he had simply said. The king sent out letters to the major businesses in Fiore to keep running as though nothing had happened. To show what happened if they "went against the crown", he hung many of the doctors in Fiore, including the doctor who had saved many of the townspeople's lives with his discovery.

Though many deaths had been avoided, many still died. Many couldn't make the journey to the mountains. And since people kept taking the plant, it became almost uncommon to simply stumble upon. Groups of bandits profited from taxing people to cross their lands and back. And soon the kingdom went from an estimated three million to seven-hundred thousand.

The people and former supporters of the royal family created guilds, made to overthrow the king. Others heard of this idea and made their own guilds, for their own reasons.

Other guilds rose up, and a system of guilds were created.

Three years later, a guild had been formed to rebel against the kingdom. It went by the name of Shattered Moon.

Gildarts bought the girl to this guild and she became acquainted with many of the other guild members her age. A year later he suddenly disappeared from the guild, leaving nothing behind.

Apparently, Gildarts had left for a dangerous job. The girl waited for Gildarts to come back for two years, staying pent up in their small cottage.

One day, a guild member had found Gildart's sword, in which Gildarts had fought many battles with. Shattered Moon searched by horse for many nights, and three months later, they'd given up completely. Most of them believe Gildart's disappearance meant his luck had finally run out.

He'd finally been captured. They would execute him soon.

The girl was given the sword. The center of the hilt had an icy blue gem, with a fiery red center. The edge gleamed against the dim light, like a ember that wouldn't lose it's flame. It's was beautiful, but not exactly what you'd describe as 'elegant'. The sword weighed tons, and was nearly as tall as the nine-year-old.

Ever since the day she'd learn the news, she lived in isolation, training day in and day out. She came back to the guild and took many of the jobs there, rarely speaking to anyone else besides Lisanna, her best friend since Gildarts was captured.

As time passed by, Lucy Cressida had quickly become one of the most skilled sword wielders in Shattered Moon.

And now we go back to the present..


The sky outside was a rosy pink, which meant it was almost time for Lucy to go. Lisana needed money for rent, so she asked if Lucy could pick a job and they could go together tomorrow.

Lucy took a look through the many jobs on the board.

Catch Thief..

Babysit..

Dead or Alive, Hermano..

Criminal Hides Out In Forest: Five hundred thousand jewel to whoever kills this man.

Five hundred thousand? Kill? Could this guy really be all that dangerous? Lucy looked at the fuzzy picture nailed to the corner of the flyer. The only distinguishable features she could figure out was something pink..

"How am I supposed to find this guy?", Lucy mused to herself. Whoever made this job was obviously stupid. No wonder why no one had taken the job yet...

Lucy decided to call it a day. She'd contact the client and decide what to do from there.

Lucy calls over Plue, a small white trembling beagle with a strangely orange nose. She smiled as he jumped into her arms. Lucy felt Plue nestle up against her chest, short fur tickling the soft skin. She jogs through town, greeting the familiar vendors she finds along the way. She runs along the systems of canals that run through Magnolia. As she makes it to the edge of town, Lucy walks the rest of the way home.

A half-moon glowed on smooth granite boulders, turning them silver. The silence was broken only by the ripple of water from the swift black river and the whisper of trees in the forest beyond.

A small wooden cottage sat in the middle of a meadow in this forest. Light splashing could be heard from the waterfall a walking distance away from her home. She opens the light birch door as she hears light footsteps approaching, as well as not so light thumps.

Lucy begins to draw her sword as she sees a boy of eighteen surrounded by a group of army men. The boy was slowly cornered towards her home. Her heart sinks. Shattered Moon was well known for going against the king's ideals. If they were to see her, they'd be more than happy as to capture her. Worse, kill her right here and now.

The boy's clearly not too bad with a sword. He keeps a good stance, not letting any opening show up in his defenses. But the boy forgets one spot. His back. Lucy notices an archer hidden in the large cover behind the boy. The archer draws back his arrow. Lucy doesn't need to see clearly to know the archer's aiming for the boy's back, where the heart rested inside.

The soldiers are distracted. Lucy could run away right now. She could get away before she were discovered. Lucy could live another day to avenge Gildarts.

But Lucy's hand was already moving towards her sword. Lucy couldn't leave this poor guy to die. Then she'd be worse than man she despised.

She sneaks behind the archer and slams the hilt into the back of the archer's head. His body crumples to the night cool grass. He'd have one hell of a headache when he woke up. Lucy pauses to lay Plue down onto the ground, pointing towards their home.

Picking up her sword, she rushes between the boy and a soldier. Lucy meets her sword with his. The clang of metal against metal rings in the air. The man stiffens as he studies Lucy's features, horrified as if he's seen an apparition. She doesn't make haste. Lucy smashes the hilt of the man's jaw and punches him between the nose. He yells out and raises a fist toward Lucy's face. The boy stops fighting the other soldiers off, moving in to help Lucy, but Lucy stops him with an arm. She drops to the ground, crouching, and sweeps her leg. The large man goes down with a loud thud. The soldiers falter, staring at this sight. Lucy flies up to her feet and places her sword directly between the man's eyebrows. No one moves.

The soldier, most likely the head of this unit, stares cross-eyed at the point of the blade. Lucy mocks moving the sword forward. He almost immediately passes out. Lucy glares at the others, challenging them to move forward.

The other men stand horrified. Then one by one they run away. Only two scrawny ones are left. One takes the limp body of their leader, clearly struggling against the weight. The other helps him, and they carry him together.

Lucy stays alert until all of their figures disappeared behind the cover of the trees. Now it was only her and the pinkette.


A/N Sup guys! The intro was slow, so I felt like making the beginning of the timeskip's pace a little faster. I hope you like this fanfic!

Lucy is now faced with a suspicious character. Is he an ally or foe?

It took a long time to come up with the plot, almost entirely because of the clog in my creative flow. If you're a new visitor, THANK YOU. I hope we can go through this adventure together! Looking forward to the next chapter! ( . u . )

*Credit for the picture goes to Nanaruko (deviantart), THANKS A MILLION! :D*