Summary — Lucy has been trapped in a government base and used as an experimental pawn for thirteen years, though she has never escaped. While she was living in the grim, dark, gray reality of prison, a group of Anarchists dubbed "Fairy Tail" managed to do the impossible and break Lucy out. Great. She's out, now she can start her life again with her father, right? Wrong. The government's not done with her yet. AU/NaLu/Experimental FF
The Criminal
Chapter One
As the morning sun rises, a streak of light seeps through the bars of my out-of-reach window. It warms my shoulders and the torso of my body, causing me to shift from my blissful rest and grow conscious again. Yawning, I prop myself on my elbows, making multiple clicking sounds with my tongue to check the moisture. Unfortunately, the saliva has drained from my mouth once again, leaving my tongue with the texture of sandpaper. Judging from the sunrise, Erza will be in with my water and my morning meal in a few minutes. I'm never really accurate with the timing, but I'm always close enough to know how long to wait.
Until then, I sit up against the wall, bringing my knees to my chest. My posture is so terrible these days that my back doesn't even touch the cold, stiff steel wall. My shoulders droop over my knees, and my head lies between them.
I stray from the light my small window has to offer; I've grown hostile to the sunlight. It used to symbolize freedom to me, the freedom I've been craving for the past dozen years. The day I walk through the halls, accompanied by maybe one or two guards, walking out of the prison that has contained me for so long and let my body bathe in the warmth of the sun. That'll be the day they release me, or maybe the day I escape. Now the sunlight symbolizes false hope, and as Doctor Mochida likes to quote to me: "Hope breeds eternal misery."
I couldn't agree with him more.
Click, slam!
Erza enters the room. The first thing I notice is my food; an orange and a flavored granola bar, which would taste foul together. I scan over the tray and... Crap, no water. There's some grape juice, which would make the whole meal taste even more foul. The second thing I notice is that Erza got a haircut.
Erza is an exceedingly intimidating woman. If I recall correctly, she managed to tear the dubbed "strongest" soldier in her base to shreds during their lunch, and unfortunately that's the main reason why men in the base respect her. She's intimidating to everyone, except me. That's probably because we're friends, kind of friends anyways. She's been with me for two years now. Her old, lengthy, beautiful scarlet hair was so that it passed her waist, and somehow she managed to combat with it. They added some femininity to her already intimidating person. Now she cut her hair in a rough, short bob fashion. She looks very different.
I chuckle before asking: "What the hell did you do to your hair?"
Erza took out the key to my cell and unlocked it. She smirked as she walked in, placing the breakfast tray a few feet away from me before returning to her original position and locking the cell again. "I wanted to try something new," she replied. "What do you think, Lucy? Someone of your nature would like my hair, surely."
"Hate it," I replied without hesitation, chugging down my grape juice. It was an exaggeration, of course. I actually like her new hair. I just miss her old one. "Next time grab me some water or I'll kick your—"
"Lucy," Erza scolded. "Watch it. I don't appreciate that language. Want me to send you to the gutter?"
I laugh, unwrapping my granola bar. I take small, nimble bites, being sure to chew as slowly as I can, and then my thoughts drift to Erza. Erza and I have a strange relationship, not the typical guardian-prisoner relationship. She's hostile enough; I'm hostile enough, so somehow we've been allowed by the high ranks to keep our small, internal alliance. Or friendship. Whatever you'd like to call it. Erza says the authorities want me to have someone to look forward to everyday, but I find that hard to believe.
"Sooo," I said sarcastically, "What's the schedule for today? Any appointments? Oooh, what about an experiment? Got any one of those?"
"You're scheduled nine thirty for a small experiment. It'll just last about one session, so you'll spend most of the day in your cell."
"Wonderful," I smirk, gulping down the chunk of bar I bit off. "One session? I think you guys are starting to spoil me."
x
"Insert the receptors," one scientist says to another, strapping me down to a metal reclining chair. I never know if the experiment they're testing on me is a painful one or just one where I clench my teeth and after a few minutes it's over, but I've stopped getting nervous about it a long time ago.
I remember the first time I came to the government base. I was six years old, five months till my next birthday. Strange how I remember each word, but I can't remember much detail.
"When will I get out?" I used to ask the same scientist daily, a petite lady with messy brown hair and red glasses. She was always holding a clipboard for some reason.
The scientist never looked at me in the eye. "When we're done testing you," she replied, the same exact answer I'd been given for the last thirteen years.
I also used to ask, "How's my moma and papa?"
"They're doing fine, sweetheart," She'd always reply back, but reflecting on it, she wasn't exactly the most credible source of information.
"Can you tell me why I'm here?"
"I'm afraid I can't."
If I remember correctly, I used to be very curious as a girl. I lost my curiosity about a year after I got kidnapped. Now the only question I ask is:
"How long will this take?"
"A few hours. You won't feel anything though, and Doctor Sturly is playing some instrumental music, so you can just relax."
I sigh in relief. I've always loved music, all kinds of it in fact. They just add another dimension to my dull, monotonous life. I recline on my back and close my eyes, listening to the calming classical music as the scientists drug me and begin the experiment.
During the tests, I sometimes like to think about where I would be if the government never stole me away from my family.
I have no idea what my parents would be doing; I forgot what they did for a living. They never really talked to me about their jobs, and if they did, I probably forgot it. I don't think my moma did anything for a living, but I know whatever my papa did, he became wealthy as a result. I'm still waiting for them to come rescue me, but I'm sure that they've stopped looking a long time ago. Otherwise they would've found me already, or at least contacted me. Thirteen years isn't a joke.
There's a very good chance that all my elementary school friends have forgotten all about me too. I mean, I'd forget about me. I was the nerd who would read and write for fun during class and just disappeared one day. I was probably on the news for a while, but after over a dozen years, I'm pretty sure I've been put at the bottom of the bookshelf. I only had a small group of friends in first grade, and they'd definitely get along just fine without me.
I feel the drugs kicking in, stealing me away from consciousness. The last thing I see before I drift to slumber is one of the scientists staring at me like a kindergartener watching red and blue mix, holding a dangerously sharp instrument in his hands, his lips curling into a devious grin. That's never good.
x
That night.
I'm sleeping all alone in my cell when the chaos descends.
It wasn't hard to wake up. I jolted from my sleeping position, strands of hair glued to my tongue and scrambling my hands over the floor, trying to get a grip, trying to find a sense of stability. The cacophony blares from the sirens, and bright, flashing, almost blinding red lights are spiraling between the walls and the floors as if they're chasing something. The noise overpowers my ears, causing a headache similar to the ones I'd get after experiments. The contrast was that after I was experimented on, I was drugged, groggy, and in the same position for six hours. This was pure noise.
I screamed. I screamed and screamed, covering my ears as much as I could.
"AAAAAAAGGH! WHAT IS HAPPENING?" I shout at the top of my lungs, and almost as if it was their cue, a group of 15-20 security guards run up to my cell. They don't even bother pulling out keys, or a bobby pin or anything. They make space for the bulkiest guard I've ever seen in my life to walk up and kick the cell door with sheer force, about five times.
Clank,
Clank,
Clank,
Clank,
CREEEEEEEEEEEK!
The door collapses inwards, making a terrifyingly loud boom as it fell down to the floor, and a swarm of guards fill up my cell.
Four of the guards grab me by my arms, and they weren't friendly about it. They lurch me up from the ground, and practically strangle the life out of my arms as they drag me out of my cell.
"What are you doing with me?" I shout, although nobody answers my question. I rush to a state of panic, squirming beneath the security guards' grips, but all that does is cause me more physical pain. They're not budging at all.
My long, uncut hair is in my face, blocking most of my vision, but then I glance at one of the security guard's faces. Though their heads are protected by helmets, their faces are protected by a thick barrier of glass. Not that thick. Thick enough so that they're protected, but thin enough so that they can still depend on their eyesight. When I see their faces, the color drains from my face. They don't look afraid, or frightened. They look… angry. Angry yet focused. But angry. Frustration?
That's when it clicks in my head. This is an invasion.
"Heartfilia has been retrieved and is currently being evacuated to G14!" one of the guards yells into a walkie-talkie. "I repeat, Heartfilia has been retrieved and is currently being evacuated to G14!"
"Roger that!"
There was buzzing. Sounds of guns firing in the distance and battle screams and cries and chaos and the sound of several pairs of feet running down the hallway and sounds of metal meeting metal and announcements from the speakers and more chaos.
Suddenly the tight grip around my hand is released. The guard to my furthest left drops to the floor, then the next one, then the one on my right, then the one after that. It all happened so systematically and so quickly that the reaction time we all had was close to zero seconds. I gain control of myself again, planting my feet on the ground and stumbling before regaining my balance. I notice that all the security guards that were rushing me through the hallway are now all on the ground, on their stomachs, with darts engraved on their necks… except for one guard.
That one security guard is holding a dart gun, and my mouth drops. She darted every single security guard without them being able to defend themselves. And the darts went through their uniform, their armor! How?! That's impossible, and insane!
"Move!" the guard yells at me, "Or I'll drag you myself!"
Honestly, I don't know what made me follow her instructions. I just did. It could've been that the tone of her voice was threatening, but it didn't matter. I ran with her alongside me, down the hallway, not knowing which way to go or where I was going. I was just running.
The adrenaline was pushing me forward. I've never ran like this before, and I could tell that I was awfully slow at running since the security guard passes me and grabs onto my arm to keep me at her pace. It was enough excitement just to keep up with her. I grinned like a maniac, realizing that maybe this guard is breaking me out. A surge of happiness filled my body, my heart was flying, my cocky grin inevitable. I'd be happy either ways: if I was just being evacuated to another government base, or if I was going on a homerun.
I felt like a madwoman, but I felt great.
Several other security guards pass us in the hall, but we get nothing more than a blank glance. "Go! Go! Go! Go!" a guard yells at his fellow comrades, all of them rushing past me without a second thought. The security guard with the dart gun and I pass a dead body, and I felt something come up my throat. I almost vomited at the horrendous and brutal sight.
It was a blur of grays, silvers, blues and crimsons after that. I just remember running, thinking about escape, thinking about the warmth of the sun I'd been craving so long. I was hungry for it, and I felt like a dog scratching the door restlessly, whimpering, crying desperately for someone to open the door and let me out.
"Hang on tight!" the soldier yells at me, her grip hardening. I wince like a hurt animal, my blood drawing due to her nails digging into my skin. Before I can give another thought, she shoves her palm into some kind of pedestal. Her palm sinks inside, and suddenly the ground around us gives up. We're falling into an endless abyss before I realize it.
My lungs exhaust themselves, and I continue to scream as we're free falling to the center of Earth. This was too much; I curled into a ball, covered my head with my palms and knees, and hoped for the best. Tears poured out as I tried to gather my thoughts, but in the state of panic I was in, that was impossible.
"Stop screaming, Lucy!" the soldier yells at me, slapping the back of my head.
"Keep your hands off of me!" I slap her away before my brain begins to function and I finally recognize the voice. "Wait! Holy shit, SCARLET?!"
"LANGUAGE!" she slaps the back of my head again. "We're almost there! Just cooperate and you'll be out of here before you know it."
The grin could not be wiped off of my face. "Erza! Are you serious?! Do you even know how happy this makes me?! I'm just... oh my God, I think I'm gonna cry!"
"Cry later, Lucy. Land on your back, hurry!"
I rotated in the air accordingly, somehow understanding her command despite being in total chaos moments before. I sucked in my breath and braced for the moment of truth.
Finally, after falling for a bit longer, I crashed into what could only be a mattress... a thick, thick mattress. As in The Princess and the Pea kind of mattress.
I sunk comfortably deep into it, as if it was quicksand taking me in. My insides calmed down, realizing that, great, I'm not gonna die! I'm somewhere foreign, I'm not in the prison! I'm free! Blinking, I look up and see that the opening Erza and I fell through was now shut with some chunk of iron lodged in. That wasn't there before, where did it come from?
"Yosh! Nice, Erza," someone from my corner of my eye thrust his fist in the air in triumph, though I couldn't get an eye at him because it looked like we had more running to do, judging from Erza's facial expression. I only noticed the crowd of people surrounding us after Erza stood up to confront all of them. They were all wearing the same clothes as Erza. I looked around, intrigued by the unfamiliar faces.
"Mina! Great job, we gotta keep going! Did we get all of them?" Erza asked. Oh my God, my Erza is the leader of these people?
A tall and muscular man with long, spiky black hair grinned, a girl about my age slung over his back. I couldn't see her face. Was she like me? "Yep, got puny here. Hope you don't mind me having to slug her, she didn't trust me and we didn't have much time."
"Gajeel, is she alright?" was Erza's response. The black haired man nodded, and then waved his free hand as if to say, Don't worry about her.
Then he grunted, said "Now let's get the fuck out of here," and began running through a tunnel. Several others followed him.
"C'mon, it's not over yet! They'll find out about our passage soon," Erza yelled at me before running to catch up with the others. She stopped once she realized she had to wait for me.
I laughed before running up to her and grabbing her hand, so she can drag me with her. We began to speed through the tunnel, and I could feel myself getting closer and closer to freedom. I have never been more excited or determined about anything in my life, but I could only hope nothing would go wrong with Erza's plan.
"Hope breeds eternal misery." Spencer Hastings, Pretty Little Liars
Mina! means Everyone! in Japanese. I just added the Japanese word in there because I feel happy when I picture Erza saying it to call everyone's attention.
So everyone's kind of OOC, but this is an experimental fanfiction, for me to explore and venture into horrible writing. Basically my scratch paper, a story for me, a story investing in my future stories. Probably made no sense, but IDC.
I hate the fact that Lucy could have been read as a damsel in distress in this chapter, but I promise she's not. I also promise she won't be as passive as she was in this chapter. She'll be exciting soon, and she'll end up interrupting the flow of this AU in the future.
—- Alice