I never expected to do a story using Fairy Tail characters and such, but when I thought this up, not typing it would've been torture to MY SOUL. And thank you for even clicking on it because it sounded interesting haha.
So with that, continue on to chapter one of
'Burn this City to Ashes'
Chapter 1: The False Flame
Modern-day
Brothers' and Co. Printing Company
Afternoon of August 12th
The clicking of keyboards, nails upon plastic, heels upon concrete, an assortment of voices, all unfamiliar, it annoyed the hell out of her. Though being in a cubicle is supposed to be like being in your own room, to her, it seemed more like being in a rundown apartment complex in which there were thin walls and loud neighbors. She clicked her nails angrily, only adding to the already incessant noises. Bobbing her foot up and down in her current legs crossed position was the only way to keep in her insanity.
"Miss Heart."
She turned after hearing her recently given nickname, to which she was not at all found of, ceasing her nail clicking entertainment. "It's Heartfilia." She stood up from her chair and massaged out the wrinkles in her knee-length pinstripe skirt that was standard office wear.
"Oh, but isn't calling you 'Miss Heart' so much cuter?" The woman who called out to her seemed persistent, as all of the people in the division were. It seemed as though if she didn't allow the woman to do so, she would take away the only entertainment that was being provided to everyone. She told herself it was just the way people were, if they had something comedic to take up time during their own boring breaks, than it was at least common courtesy for her to play along.
"I suppose." She adjusted her dress shirt, making sure everything was in order before she went out of her so called 'private room' of a cubicle, "Am I being called for the meeting now?"
The woman nodded, smiling ear to ear at the inside joke that she thought she was hiding so well, "You know where to go, he said you could go right in." The woman left her cubicle through the gaping hole where the said 'door' would be in a 'private room.' She leaned over to check her stockings, making sure she had no runs in them. After nodding in satisfaction, she slipped on her high black heels that she would otherwise not wear, choosing to walk in barefoot rather than subject herself to the annoying clanking that sickened her. As she was about to leave the cubicle, with said papers for meeting in hand, she turned back towards her chair, pondering if she should wear her jacket. After looking down at her chest, as if it would have gotten any smaller, she decided that wearing it was in her best interests.
She stepped out of her cubicle, trying to walk as softly as possible, though gave up after awhile, seeing that it made no difference in noise level around her. Eyes gazed at her as she passed down the hall of other 'private rooms.' The gazes so fierce from women that they could pierce through her inner being, and the looks from the men so disgusting and vulgar that even not meeting their eyes gave her chills. Making it past the water cooler without oogles of eyes on her behind was impossible. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the elevator, seeing as she had it all to herself. Her tensed posture became relaxed as she calmed down from the encounter in the lion's den just earlier.
She turned to her side and looked at her reflection in the mirror that coated the elevator walls. Her blonde hair up in a bun, only her side swept bangs hung loose, no accessories, for they brought more attention to her than she already had. She blew air out of her lips, up towards her bangs, making them fly upwards before returning messily down again. "Here we go." She looked back towards the ascending numbers on the elevator till it made its stop on floor number fifteen, the floor where her boss' office was.
She stepped out of the elevator, standing tall, leaving behind the anxiety just let out in the elevator. The secretary beside the main door waved a hand, not even looking directly at her, for her to go ahead inside. It seemed as though she was disliked even high up in the floors of the office building. She stood in front of the door, gathering her courage before finally entering.
"Good Afternoon Miss Lucy Heartfilia."
She closed the door behind herself, avoiding the gaze of the person who just called out to her. "Yes, a good afternoon to you as well sir."
Lucy walked up quickly towards his desk and placed a manila packet onto it, sliding it towards it for emphasis of its importance. "My Transfer." She stepped backward, trying to make herself tall and proud looking in front of her boss. "You said yourself that I was not suited to this kind of work."
Her boss reached out for the packet, carefully opening its contents, yet not taking his glazed over eyes off of Lucy. "Not suited to our printing company, yes, though a transfer to an events specialized company? More than that, I believe that secretary work is better for you. You know that too, don't you, Lucy?" The way he spat out her name gave her chills; she took a step back as he reached one of his grimy hands towards hers.
"That is only a copy of transfer, I already sent in the official papers signed by my team manager to the higher-ups." Lucy almost took another step back after seeing the way his face changed, though managed to stop herself and keep calm. She bowed to her 'former' boss, now that she had delivered her paperwork, "Thank you for your time." She wanted to quickly dismiss herself; however, her sweaty boss was already walking behind her while she was on her way to the door.
"If you need any help at all, I'll be pleased to consult you Lucy." He caressed her forearm, making her lose all of the self control that she might have had. Lucy grabbed his hand and twisted one of his fingers backwards, making him stumble away in pain.
"Don't," Lucy raised her heel to him and kicked him in the groin, "Touch me!" Her former boss fell to the floor, a clear signal that it was time to leave, and straight away. Lucy opened the door, closing it firmly behind herself. She ignored the slightly ticked off secretary at the desk and walked quickly for the elevator. This was the only time when elevators seemed to go 'too slow' for her. As soon as the door opened, she raced for her cubicle for her personal items. She hurriedly grabbed her bag, which in case of an emergency, was packed beforehand. She bowed to her cubicle, "Thank you false private room," before walking down the hall; waving and smiling to everyone she passed. "Goodbye. Thank you for taking care of me." Before they could even react to the sudden goodbye, Lucy was already taking off down the stairs, learning from experience.
Fairy Boulevard, "Sushi Tails"
Evening of August 12th
The quiet sound of the television drowned out the drizzle of rain that had been coming down since that morning. Both staff and customers of the restaurant seemed to know how to appreciate such a serene evening, and that is with as little talking as possible. Though to most people, it would seem too quite, Lucy thought it suited the place fine, after all of the things she had to listen to just this morning, it was quite a nice place to be. She ate slowly, making sure to savor each taste of her 'celebratory' sushi. Due to her excitement, she decided to order the large plate, deciding that she would take some home to eat after her bath. The shop was empty due to the rain most likely, but at least, Lucy could eat in peace without having to put up with the many stares she would get anywhere else, that's why she enjoyed frequently going the restaurant for the most part; that and the great tasting sushi.
"That it for you?"
Lucy was drawn out of heaven by a voice from her left. She turned toward the black haired man, and nodded. "Yes, thank you." She assumed he must have been a part-timer there because he looked around her age, 19. Lucy stood up and bowed to the man, "Compliments to the chef."
"I think he knows, seeing as how you come here so frequently." The man reached down for her empty plate after gingerly setting the leftovers in a to-go box and then into a bag.
Lucy, confused due to the fact that she didn't even notice the man until now, simply nodded at his comment and reached for her wallet. An icy cold hand stopped her before she could pull it out of her bag, "Yes?" Lucy looked back up at the man, whose hand was now on her arm, not expecting him to be staring straight into her eyes. After awhile, the coldness of his hand begun to sting. Lucy yelped a bit in pain, recoiling her back a bit in the process. The man, who seemed to only now notice what he was doing, let go immediately.
"I'm sorry." His voice didn't stutter as a persons' voice should after inflicting such pain, instead it was a sort of forced 'I'm sorry.' As if he didn't say it often. The man passed to her her to-go box and bowed, "The sushi is on the house," he pointed outside, "An apology for the current weather."
Lucy, even more confused than before, nodded again to the stranger, "Thanks," and walked towards the door. She grabbed her clear, see through plastic, umbrella and opened the door, making the bell at the top of the door ring. She turned back before walking through the doorway, towards the man from before, who was scrubbing down the tables as if nothing had happened. She felt an unnatural chill run down her spine, as if the aftereffects of the touch of his skin were just starting to kick in. She got a bad gut feeling inside, but decided to ignore it and continue on her way. She walked through the doorway and out into the rain, towards home.
Pegasus Drive, On-route to Jewels' Apartment Complex
Evening of August 12th
Lucy walked towards home in no hurry, even stopping to get a hot dog on the way. She walked with a spring in her step as she listened to the sound of the light rain, drip drip dripping on the concrete sidewalk all around her. She twirled her umbrella, watching as the water bounced off of it. She looked down at her feet, they were aching from the earlier run that morning, obviously, high heels and running down multiple stair cases cannot be done without repercussions. She looked up, trying to see exactly where she was again. "Just a little farther down." She spoke out loud, not caring if the other passersby heard her. Through the light fog that the rain was creating, she spotted her apartment complex. A small Mediterranean looking complex with only four apartments. Lucy was lucky to even get the apartment in the first place, seeing as how it's last owner was moving out the exact day she happened to be passing by looking for a place to stay.
The complex was just a few blocks down and across the street. She walked quickly to get to the crosswalk before the red turned green. A sudden person in a red hoodie was standing by the side of the road, completely drenched from head to toe. Lucy, being in a hurry, decided to not even take a second glance at the person, instead just passed by. After all, a hooded person on the edge of the street is hardly anyone not dangerous. However, out of all of the people who the person could've stopped, it must have been some kind of twisted fate that she would be the one who was.
"Hey."
The surprisingly warm voice that came from the hooded figure startled the already tired Lucy. She turned after being called after, pointing to herself and looking around to make sure that she was really the one he stopped.
"Do you know how to get to Fairy Boulevard? These streets are always confusing."
Lucy nodded her head and pointed down the street, "Just keep going down until the next crosswalk, take a left, keep going down until the next crosswalk, take a right and you're on it. It's really close." The hooded person nodded as he listened to her instructions. After finishing, the hooded person rubbed the back of his hood, making some of his hair ruffle out of it. A streak of pink was all she could see in the mist. Lucy was about to be on her way until the hooded person suddenly reached out toward her chest, making her jump backwards before he even said anything; she dropped her half eaten hot dog and ran to the crosswalk, making it just in time to cross the street and make it back to her apartment. Just the thought of having him touch her sent her into a sweat, she started to strip after locking her door, and let down her hair from its bun, in preparation for a bath. For some reason, her body was unusually hot all of a sudden, especially for such a wet day outside.
Paradise Lane
Sieg. Rain Events Planning Company
Morning of August 13th
Lucy stared up at the building, which seemed to be more than at least seven stories high, much smaller than her last job's building was. However, its size seemed to have no affect on the amount of work it brought in. A man bumped into Lucy in his rush for the door, making her stumble forward, though he was gone before she could retort to his action. People were rushing in and out of the doors, carrying all kind of papers and boards with various writings in various fonts. Lucy decided that it was best to make her way into the building before she got hit upside the head with a poster board.
The lobby was even better than she expected. Dark brown marble floors, tan walls, long curtains, fancy furniture. The clanking of heels against marble was even less than she expected it to be, a good change in her opinion. She walked forward toward the desk in the middle of the lobby and pressed the bell on the counter, making a little ting sound come from it. The woman at the desk looked up from her work on her computer, annoyed, "I am right here, no need for that."
Lucy's hand recoiled away from the bell, less enthusiastic about her first day now, "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that."
"They all do."
Lucy clenched her fists at the way the woman was automatically grouping her with all of the people before her. Though she let it go, after all, being at the front desk is not fun. Lucy knew this from experience. "Lucy Heartfilia. I was told to come to the front desk to receive my room assignment." The woman at the desk eyed Lucy from the top of her head to the middle of her stomach, for which that was all she could see due to the counter separating them. She clicked at her computer, and within a few clicks, she looked back up again at Lucy.
"Floor five. Main Branch C of the Planning department." Lucy lifted her hand, about to ask a question when the woman interrupted her, "And before you ask, all you have to do is go to the elevators over there, get on, go to floor five and then down the hall till you reach planning room C. Not that hard right?" Her sarcastic demeanor irritated Lucy, but, the question she was going to ask was answered before she could even open her mouth, so at least the woman was efficient. Lucy bowed before turning on her heel, steadying her bag at her side as she walked over towards the elevators, with miraculously, no stares towards her.
Phantom Lane
Sieg. Rain Events Planning Company
Floor Five, Room C
Morning of August 13th
Dead silence after Lucy opened the door to the unsuspecting co-workers, or more actually, only one co-worker in the midst of the six desks that sat front to front, forming a huge table in the middle of the room. Rows of books and other assorted items lined the shelves around the room, a row of large windows in the back of the room, across from the door of the room, in which light poured through them. Her co-worker looked at Lucy for a while, before looking back up at the clock, then back at Lucy, "You're early Lucy." Lucy was startled at the quick familiarism her co-worker showed. The woman stood up and walked over to Lucy, holding out her hand as if waiting for a handshake, "Nice to meet ya, my name's Levi McGarden, 19 years old."
Lucy looked down at her hand, a slight warm feeling grew in her chest that she hadn't felt from anybody before, "Yes, Nice to meet you too. Lucy Heartfilia, 19 years old." Lucy shook her comfortable hand and smiled, an act she hadn't been able to show for real for a long time. The woman, Levi, rubbed the back of her blue hair, not at all put up or neat, just held back by a loose orange headband, and looked around the office.
"Sorry about the emptiness, we all thought you wouldn't be here until the afternoon and everyone is out on work. So here I am, all alone for the time being," Levi looked back towards Lucy, looking her up and down, "Well not alone, I'm here with your formal self." Levi laughed at Lucy's white dress shirt, black pinstripe skirt and black stockings with heels. Levi herself stood in the office wearing a pair of light blue skinny jeans, pink and gray vans, a black belt with multicolor studs and a t-shirt with the words 'Love Me' written on it in pink and an odd design of a familiar looking white dog with an orangish yellow cone for a nose in the background of it. "But don't worry about it, it's your first day so of course you wouldn't know," Levi pointed at Lucy's heels, "It's hard to run things in and out of the building in uncomfortable clothes and the work wear here is casual, so just come in anything comfortable to you. Oh! Unless it's inspection time, though we'll give you a notice ahead of time."
Lucy nodded, then looked down at her heels, her inside thoughts singing praise that they would be inside the closet for at least a month. Levi walked around the middle section of desks, to a desk to the left diagonal of hers, "Your desk is right here, feel free to settle in. Our Room Manager won't be back until tomorrow anyway, so you won't get anything to do today." Levi walked back over to her desk and sat down, kicking her legs up on top of it, "I will be listening to radio football." She titled her head forward, grinning, meaning that most likely, there was no work to be done and that her team was winning the game.
Lucy sat down, this place was definitely more laid back than her last job place was. She slipped off her shoes underneath her desk and shifted for her laptop from her bag. She opened it and turned it on, glancing at the door of the office to make sure that no one was entering anytime soon. She logged into a webpage, opening up a blog by someone by the name of 'LuLu.' Lucy logged into the blog, her blog. The avatar picture showed the same familiar white dog with the orangish yellow cone nose. "That's where I knew it from." Lucy concluded with a faint smile on her face as she glanced back towards Levi, whose team had apparently scored a point, since she flailed her arms around in such a happy manner. She looked at her shirt with the same dog on it and nodded in approvement of such a thing.
Lucy glided her finger across her laptop's sensor, double tapping the sensor so as to select the 'add new' in the blog section of the webpage. She rested her hands onto the keyboard and took a breath in, calming her nerves. She began to move her fingers across the keyboard, forming words on the blank space on the webpage. She typed.
'This is my thirtieth blog since just two months ago (since I have decided to do one of these every two days or so) and I must say, a lot has changed since I left home. I still slightly miss the people I have left behind, though I am managing and I'm sure that they don't miss me much anyway.'
Lucy stopped herself, thinking back on her memories. The smiling gardener, chefs, even the people who swept the front of the house whenever the leaves would fall off of the trees. Though it seemed fake at first to her, all of their eyes would smile, and Lucy knew how to spot fake smiles, so soon they became dear to her. Her heart ached as she read what she had typed, she started to delete it, determined to retype that horrible sentence.
All of a sudden, Levi jumped up from her seat, causing her rolling chair to fling backwards and the things on her desk to fall over, "Yes!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and raised her fists up, startling Lucy enough to make her fall backward, away from her computer. Her arms reached out for something to grab onto and succeeded in grabbing onto the edge of the computer, preventing her from falling over, however, it caused the sensor on the computer to double click on the option 'post blog' on the webpage. Lucy looked up at Levi, who was jumping for joy, then back at her posted blog. She rubbed the back of her head, making the bun of her hair loose and messy. She reached down to click 'edit blog' when Levi leaned over the table to catch her attention.
"Lucy! They won! That's six hundred dollars from Billurd in Planning Room F!" Levi began to do a dance around the room, completely overjoyed at her early shopping money just earned, "Let's go Lucy! Lunch is on me today!" Her overly friendly co-worker skipped over to the door of the room and grabbed her black leather jacket, "C'mon my new co-worker!" She bobbed up and down at the door of room C, expecting Lucy to follow along.
Lucy looked back down toward her computer at her blog for a moment, wondering if she should edit it now or later and she gave in. Lucy closed her laptop and set her bag onto her desk, slipping it back into its rightful place inside it and slipped back on her heels, "We're getting sushi right?" Lucy smiled at the confused Levi.
Magnolia Station
Subway train on-route to Pegasus Drive
Evening of August 13th
Lucy stretched her sore legs, which were yanked left and right after leaving work with Levi, who seemed much too excited for her own good. They ended up going to three sum-odd restaurants, trying every single thing on the menu, completely spending all of the money that Levi had earned just hours earlier. Lucy laughed outwardly remembering all the things they ate. She lifted her tired hand up to her chest, where her heart lay underneath; a warm sensation swirling around inside. Lucy wouldn't call her a friend, though just calling her a co-worker seemed already too modest.
She was about to enjoy a quiet moment on the train when her phone started to vibrate. She shuffled it out of her bag and flicked it open to see that she had an email. An email notifying her that someone had posted a comment on her blog just an hour earlier. Surprised, Lucy went to her blog page, not bothering to log on, and read the comment. The first comment she had received since beginning it. It read 'Idiot! Go back to the people who care about you and never leave again!' Lucy flinched at the harshness in it, she pouted at the screen, dissatisfied.
"What?" Lucy flicked the phone back shut angrily. Even though she was going to edit it, she still got scolded for even thinking such a thought, by someone by the name of 'Dragoon.' Someone she didn't even know acted like they knew everything. Lucy felt her anger rise inside of herself, making her loose sense of her thoughts. She flinched when the train stopped to let more passengers onto the train. She breathed in and out, managing to calm herself and make such feelings go away, soon she was back to normal.
No one got on the train at the stop, which was unusually even at that time of night. Lucy dismissed it as nothing and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the clanking wheels of the subway train as it made its way forward on its tracks.
A sudden rumble of the car of the train made her grumble, narrowlingly opening her eyes, jumping when she spotted a red hooded person in front of her, their legs opened wide into a man's posture; both hands laid on his knees. Lucy continued to stare at the person as she had sworn that no one got on at the last stop and there was no one in the car besides herself even before that. Another rumble of the train caused the hooded person's hood to move back slightly, revealing a pink streak of hair in the process. Lucy jumped up, remembering him, "You're!"
The hooded man looked up at her, not surprised in the least that he met her again, "And here I was trying to avoid moving vehicles." His head launched forward as his hands shot up against his mouth. Lucy noticed the sweat coming off of him.
"H-Hey," Lucy couldn't help but feel nervous, especially with this burning sensation tingling the whole of her body, "Um. Did you ever get to Fairy Boulevard?"
He ignored her question and looked back up at her, his shaking eyes trying to get a better look at her face. "That girl from before?" He leaned back, satisfied with his conclusion, "Erza said there wouldn't be any civilians on this train." The train continued to speed down the tracks, at a noticeably faster pace than before. The man huddled over again, this time, the color from his face drained.
Lucy stumbled towards him, unsure what to do, and slightly shaken by the train's speed, "Are you having motion sickness?" She reached out to touch him, her fingertips grew hot with every inch she made closer to his face. A sudden jerk in the train caused her to fall back, grabbing onto the railing of the seats. "What's going on?"
The man stuttered a laugh at her before looking up again, "You. Should…Run."
The back door of the car of the train suddenly crashed open, making the car shake violently. Lucy held onto the railing as her body shook in fear as she watched what came out from behind the smoke of the explosion.
A large, black animal, looking something like a bull, except with black shimmering scales revved up its large horns on the side of its head. Its jaw snapped open and closed like a crocodile's, a slimy liquid pouring from its fangs. As if the stench of it wasn't enough to snap Lucy back into reality, a hand suddenly reached out in front of her, grabbing her and yanking her backwards. She yelped as her shoulder slammed onto the iron floor of the train car. She pulled herself up to see the guy in the red hoodie, leaned over, standing up in front of her, facing the beast.
The monster rammed forward, lurching towards him, its horns tearing at his clothes as he managed to grab the base of its horns and hold it back. Lucy could see his olive shaded eyes, staring at her from his peripheral, as if yelling to her to run. Mid-struggle, his hoodie was ripped to shreds as he dodged a snap of its jaws, making his pink, spiky hair come free from his bonds. He struggled to keep up with the monster as it continued to charge forward. All he could do was step in front of it to stop it again. "Go!" Lucy managed to get up on her feet, staggering over to a pole on the edge of a piece of seating. The train continued to speed down the tracks. She pondered as to why he would be yelling at her when the monster was obviously after him.
Lucy looked up to the monster's face, which towered over his shoulder, its yellow, glazed eyes looking straight ahead.
Straight at her.
It was after her, not him.
She took steps back before pivoting quickly, almost tripping over her own high heeled feet, towards the door leading to the forward train car from where she currently was. She fumbled at the handle when a crash drawed her attention away from the lock. The, now un-hooded, man flew towards the window to the left of the monster, falling unmoving against the torn seating. Lucy looked towards the door of the train again, the train continued to move quickly down the tunnel. She took off her heel and hit it upon the glass of the locked door, trying to break the glass. She screamed as the monster rammed its horns just above where her head was.
Lucy collapsed to the ground, trembling as her eyes darted back to the man who still laid unmoving just a few feet from her, then back to the hungry eyes of the beast that stared her down. Hey eyes blanked in and out as the pain of her legs and arms grew heavier as the train came to an abrupt and unexplained stop. A sudden shadow hopped up onto its back and launched itself in between herself and the monster. The image of flames flashed in front of her eyes, making them try to focus on the being in front of her. The man, who was seemingly out of combat just earlier, stood between her and the thing that wanted her dead. "Don't know why it's after you but," He clenched his fists, causing the flames centered on them to grow bigger, "It makes me you even more interesting." He reared back his fist and pounded the startled monster. Making it go flying back down where it came from, though apparently, not for long.
Lucy got back on her knees and watched it shake off the blow and come running back down the train car with even more furiousity, "You just ticked it off more."
"I don't see you helping out any," the man ran forward, colliding with the monster as he had done before, though this time, he sent it flying back, as if the level in power was clearly set in stone. He turned around and walked toward Lucy, a wide grin playing across his face.
Lucy picked herself up to her feet, preparing to step forward when she saw a puff of smoke come hurling itself at his unknowledgeable back, she lunged forward, the images of his motionless body plaguing her mind, "No!" She reached out to him.
A sudden light engulfed the train car as water rushed from the windows out of nowhere, sending her backwards once more and ramming her back onto the wall of the train car, only to catch a glimpse of a fish's tail before it dissipated, leaving a worn out, charred and soaked bull like creature lying on the cold metal floor. Lucy fell to the ground, her messy bun had only grown messier, already out of its place, in waves in front of her face and tangled in different places. She massaged it out of her eyes as she tried to see where the man had gone. She spotted him in front of her, twisting his black t-shirt to drain the water out of it, he turned to her after noticing her glance, "That was pretty amazing lady." He took a few steps toward her, making her leap up from her slumped over position. The heat coming off of his body made her hair start to dry as he got closer. She looked around the train car, searching for her bag, spotting it safely stored at the top of the train car, away from the water and the damage that plagued the place. She got up and took it down from its high position, making sure it didn't get wet, hugging it when she realized it didn't.
"All of that and you're worried about your bag?" She flinched, suddenly remembering that this was not the time to be rejoicing, the train was stopped at the last station for the day, her station. She dragged her now shoeless feet over to the door of the train, looking around to find no one there. "What are you," before the guy of pink hair could finish, she bolted for the stairs leading out onto the street, yelling could be heard behind her, "I can't just leave it here. Hey!"
She looked back to him before the train got out of view, only to see his figure, standing inside the train car, looking up at her, the burning sensation within her made her instincts kick in as she ran, hearing one last thing before his voice was drowned out by the city lights and sounds.
"You can't run away from me!"
You also can't ran away from the review button! Mwhahahaha!...Not really...You can run...But that means that I wouldn't be able to hear what you think about it.
So review!
and tell me how you feel!...about the story haha
