Chapter 1 - As Deranged As It Gets
Lucy awoke to a sudden chill, she startled, curling into a ball, she awoke in this bed a lot, sometimes on the floor of this room. Her eyes cracked open slowly, a single unwanted tear rolled down her face. Zeref had opened the balcony doors, the curtains blowing in the morning breeze. He did this daily on working days, he awoke early to catch the sunrise. Lucy found this curious, he appreciated the world's natural beauty but he could still live his life as a hitman and do the horrible things he did daily.
This was one of the many glimpses she got of his routine, she crawled across the bed and stood up by it, she often became unbalanced when she first got to her feet in the morning after the rough treatment Zeref would give her the night before. It didn't scare her anymore she could handle the feral beast within him, she lifted the black bodycon dress from the floor, slipping the small dress onto her thin frame, she finally found her black thong thrown in a corner of the room she slid her feat into her soft black leather ballet flats.
Zeref ignored her as she slipped out of the room, she thought she'd had it easy this morning until she collided with a rock hard chest. Her hands came up to the chest she'd unceremoniously walked into, she looked up. Natsu Dragneel, Zeref's younger brother glared daggers at her pale face. He pushed her, smacking her ass as she was thrown into her journey forwards, she kept walking, not noticing as he watched her go, his eyes drifting from her small feet up her creamy legs to her thin hourglass figure and watching the way her hair swirled down her back, in slight waves almost straight. He knew Zeref didn't truly appreciate the beauty he had handed to him on a silver platter.
Lucy now had a thin line of tears streaming down her face, just silently crying as she walked down the hall. She didn't understand Natsu's intentions or how he had grown up seeing his dad getting girls attention in that way. She wasn't a whore, she grew up as well as one could around the mafia. She thought she'd end up marrying one of these fucked up men not being used by them. After her mother died she knew that life would get worse she didn't realise how greatly it would change. At the agonising memory, Lucy's crying became quiet sobbing.
She sat on a window seat staring out at the barely risen sun, leaning her face against the cold glass, she breathed deeply stopping her crying. Lucy became calm and continued her walk to her room, twisting the door knob she entered the small bedroom which had an adjoined dressing room and bathroom, she had a quick shower noticing the time, it was almost 7:30am she changed into a short pale pink skater dress and applied a small amount of makeup: foundation, blush, mascara and a cherry blossom lipstick. She wore a black mock tattoo choker to hide the small love bite on her neck.
She padded down stairs in the same shoes, that she wears most days, the same black flats. Natsu stood at the bottom of the staircase, with a tall dark haired, pale man she knew as Gray. They paid her no mind as she sat on one of the window seats at the front of the building, it was now 8:03 and Zeref and his father came down the stairs slowly in conversation. Zeref and Natsu's father was a deranged and evil man, he was in charge of the mafia and everyone feared him, including his sons and especially Lucy. He had been known to kill people just for looking at him. Natsu and Gray both bowed before Igneel, Lucy knew she had gone unnoticed so she would remain hidden for now a thick pillar protecting her from view. Igneel called for her, barking her name because he expected her to be far away, she stood immediately, walking quickly towards him, she bowed as she approached him. He glared at her as if she annoyed him, there was no way to know what she had done this time, but she knew she would be punished for whatever it was.
Igneel raised his hand and she automatically flinched, terrified. He combed his fingers through his unruly hair, she almost sighed in relief. He gestured to Zeref to hand her the files he held, "take these" he said watching as Zeref handed her the huge weight in paper. She held them without complaint but as she readjusted the weight in her arms a single piece fell off the top of the pile. Unable to pick it up without dropping more she looked pleadingly into the eyes of Zeref who had noticed her predicament, he held a small twisted smile.
So she began to lean down in attempts to pick it up, before she knew it there was a mess of paper all over the floor and Igneel glared at her furiously, "you incompetent piece of shit!" Igneel slapped her across her pale face, with such force that she was knocked unconscious, a thin trickle of blood ran down her cheek, as she lay sprawled across the floor. "take her away," Igneel spoke to Gray, Gray watched as Igneel gestured to another girl like Lucy who 'served the house'.
Gray gathered Lucy in his arms lifting the thin, light woman up and carrying her to another room, he lay her down on a couch and watched the way the light caught her hair and her peaceful expression seemed to make her look especially beautiful. He was slowly beginning to understand why Natsu was jealous of Zeref. Natsu had spoke about his feelings towards Lucy to Gray a few times now, how he seethed in anger on nights when he lay awake knowing how Zeref treated the girl, how he wanted to comfort her when he saw her crying silently, how Natsu had no idea how to go about making her notice him. Gray knew that if Natsu wanted to fuck her he could at the snap of his fingers, but Natsu didn't want that. Gray understood how hard it was for Natsu to have a semblance of a normal life in the Mafia family he was born into. Sure Gray worked for some of the scariest people in the world but he could go home and be with his girlfriend. Natsu lived this hell every second of every day.
Gray took an antiseptic wipe to Lucy's scratch, she mumbled something in her sleep, whimpering at the ebbing pain, Gray paused momentarily as she shifted in her sleep, he then noticed the row of scratch after scratch across her forearm. He sighed hopelessly, he felt like he had been watching her die over the last few months, since she got here, alone with no one to turn to. He wouldn't mention this to Natsu, it would only upset him.
Not long after Gray had sat down across from the blonde, she awoke with a startle, standing up quickly fuelled with adrenaline, after she looked around, she almost fell back down as if intensely tired. Gray took in her appearance awake, she seemed terrified, week. He wondered when the last time was that she'd eaten. "Hey, the others left to go to the office."
She looked at him attentively before turning her gaze away towards her feet. "Oh, are you going to take me there...?" she trailed off, her small pale hand rising to her cheek where Igneel had struck her. Gray frowned, at her quiet question, it would be an understatement to say he felt pity for the girl.
He thought for a moment "...Let's go get food somewhere first, you haven't eaten today have you?" he watched her expression as if rusty cogs where turning slowly, grinding in her mind.
"I don't think I ate yesterday either." She all but whispered, the loud silence hanging in the room weighing on every word. He watched as she twisted the hem of her dress in her hands, fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Stay here for a moment, okay?" he said calmly to her, he didn't know how to respond to her statement, simply walking out the room when she nodded, he wanted to hear her talk more just to reassure him that there was still a person hiding in that thin body. "I won't be long," He said as he clicked the door shut behind him.
"He won't be long," Lucy muttered to herself, she wondered if he would continue to be so nice to her or if he said that because he wanted her body. He's taking her for brunch or he's grooming her so she won't cause a fuss. She wanted to believe he was a nice guy. It hurt where Igneel had slapped her and she honestly was beginning to believe she deserves it, she was pitiful, anyone would look at her and believe the world would be a better place without her. But what did Igneel care about making the world a better place, he didn't.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as Gray walked back into the room, he held a dark grey Chesterfield coat which he was midway through pulling on, he passed Lucy her brown overcoat that she put on tying at the waist it was fitted and flared at her waist, finishing just above her knee. "Are you ready, Lucy?" he asked gently.
She nodded again, she hadn't heard anyone say her name nicely in quite some time. It was odd to hear after such a long time. She followed him to his one and a half million pound blue Mercedes, he opened the door for her with a small smile, she got in carefully, noticing the gun strapped underneath the dash. Gray shut her door walking around the car, he drove carefully unlike how Zeref drove, he probably cherished his car more than most other things in his life, she mused. Gray noticed her smile, "what's funny?" He asked.
"I was just thinking that you drive really carefully, this car must be important to you." He smirked at that, glancing at her, they pulled up to an expensive looking café.
"Yeah, perks of the job." He sighed, "do you like her?" He asked as he locked the expensive car.
"Yeah," she gave a small giggle at how he gave the car a gender, "she's a nice car." Lucy put emphasis on the 'she'. Lucy took in her surroundings, the tall trees dotted around the car park to the café.
Lucy started walking towards the front of the building but Gray stopped her taking her arm. "This way," he said, guiding her towards the back of the building, instead of bins and a dirty smoking area like she expected there was a closed door with a well-built man standing next to it, Gray winked at the tall muscular man. To which the man glared.
"Nice to see you, Gray-kun, Juvia-san just got here." The man spoke with a smile. He wore a black suit with an earpiece fixed to his ear, he was bald and stood tall, towering above them with an intimidating stance despite seeming like quite a nice person with the way he spoke and acted otherwise.
Gray smiled back at him, "thanks, mate, keep an eye on the car will you?" the man nodded and let the two enter, they walked down a quiet stairway, approaching a door Gray held it open for her, Lucy was exposed immediately to a warm atmosphere people smiling with croissants and lattés and men in suits doing business over wooden tables. Gray approached a table where a woman who had blue delicately curled hair sat with a mocha and she instantly recognized him and sprung from her seat to greet him.
Gray embraced the blue haired woman in silver heels which allowed her to almost match his height, with him standing but a few inches taller, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Gray! I thought I wouldn't get to see you until Monday." She said as more of a statement than a question.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she continued to embrace him, "well there was a bit of an incident this morning and Igneel told me to stay with Lucy until she woke up and then to bring her to the office, so I figured I'd pretend she was unconscious for a little while longer." He smirked, gesturing to Lucy who was standing close by but keeping a bit of distance from the couple. "Juvia meet Lucy, Lucy this is my girlfriend Juvia." He introduced them politely.
"Nice to meet you, Lucy-san." Juvia smiled, holding out her hand to the blonde.
Lucy nodded, "n-nice to meet you too," Lucy gave a small smile back. Lucy hadn't met many people when she was younger feeling intensely lonely for the duration of her childhood, and even worse after the death of her mother. When Igneel bought her it was the most people she'd ever met at once when she returned to his home with him. Slipping back to reality from the memory Lucy smiled at Juvia.
"Sit down," Juvia gestured to the table she had been sitting at waiting for them, she smiled warmly, "I ordered some pastries for us," Lucy decided she quite liked Juvia, if she had the opportunity to meet with her again she'd certainly take it. Gray went up to the counter, speaking casually to a woman with long white hair, Juvia sipped her Mocha scrolling through Instagram quietly for a few minutes before Gray returned with two drinks.
Gray looked to Lucy smiling, "the lady at the counter is Mira and she enjoys guessing what people's favourite drinks are," Gray placed a coffee in front of Lucy, as Lucy's attention turned to the elegant glass. She took a sip and was overcome with joy, she heard Mira giggling from the counter. "Caramel Macchiato?"
Lucy nodded happily, "she's talented," Lucy looked to the white haired waitress, who gave her a warm smile and a thumbs up. The trio engaged in polite conversation for another hour, enjoying the pastries Juvia had ordered. Eventually Gray Decided it was around time to get going, Lucy allowed them to say their goodbyes choosing to go to the bathroom. She had found out that Juvia was going away on business for a few days and wouldn't return until Monday. Lucy returned to the couple after appreciating the posh restroom with warm lighting and beautiful mirrors decorated with swans, the orange scented soap and hand cream lingering on her hands.
Lucy wished Juvia a safe flight and said goodbye with a hug, Gray watched the pair glad he'd helped Lucy, he hated the way she suffered, it was nice to see her forget what she was put through daily. They both got in the car, seemingly reminded about where they where now going to go, Lucy's expression fell. This in turn lowered Gray's mood, he wanted to put her on that plane with Juvia send her far away from this wretched life. He knew that Igneel wouldn't hesitate to shoot him if he did.
Gray began driving taking them to the mafia's offices in the centre of the city, it was almost noon when they reached the tall building. Passing his keys to a valet, Gray waited on Lucy getting out of the car, he watched as his Mercedes rolled away, engine purring. Lucy and Gray walked into the office building receiving a nod from the man at the front desk to go ahead, they watched in silence as the numbers ascended on the digital display of the elevator.
"Thanks for a nice morning," Lucy smiled at Gray, as the elevator doors dinged open. Gray began walking towards Natsu's office.
"No problem, Lucy." Gray gave her one last glance before entering the pink haired man's office. Lucy knocked timidly on the door to Igneel's office. Igneel's voice resonated through the door, almost making her flinch. She opened the door quickly stepping inside and bowing out of respect but mostly fear. The smell of cigarette smoke hit her, the dense air filling her lungs and making her want to cough, she was scared to.
"I apologize for my incompetence this morning, Dragneel-sama, is there anything you would like me to do?" she tried to speak clearly, and withstand the harsh atmosphere. It was difficult.
"Lucy, I'd like you to show Mr. Heartfilia to the front desk."
A/N: Soooooooo... Please leave some reviews of what you think. 3
I began writing in 2016 but haven't published anything in quite some time I have improved tremendously since then and have been in love with Fairy Tail for many years. I keep my chapters to an average of around 1,500-3,000 words which although quite short keeps me to my deadlines. I will be updating weekly-fortnightly so stay tuned and I'm determined to stay committed to this story.
Thank you for reading and goodnight,
From your dearest Yui!