Okay, here's where we start bringing it up a notch.
I don't own Fairy Tail.
She awoke to the smell of acrid smoke.
Lucy covered her mouth, stifling a cough as rose from her bed. Fire, she concluded immedietly. An attack against the guild, undoubtably.
She briefly thought over a list of enemies that the guild had, but she came up with a blank; none of them were strong enough to even think of attacking them. Who would dare...?
It's not your place to question the motives of others. Find the master and protect him.
She didn't bother changing into regular clothes; there was no time for that. The smell of smoke was starting to get stronger, and she needed to find the source. That would be her first step.
Find the masters.
She padded along the hallway, bare feet cold against the tile. The sound of yelling could be heard, and the distant sounds of magic being used. She was dimly aware of a few terrified shrieks of people that were close to her, but she didn't bother with them; she hid, and once she was certain they were gone, moved ahead, not glancing back. Whether they were alive or dead was of no concern. She had to move.
The sight, in the main hall, was chaos. There were brawls everywhere, unfamiliar faces throwing themselves at members of her guild, their faces scrunched up in a way she wasn't familiar with.
Regular people are so ugly, the little voice whispers. They are not worth your time. Do what you are told and go.
She quickened her pace and ran along the sides, trying to avoid the worst of the fray. Any time anyone came near, she lashed out, whether it was a simple blow to the head or a sweeping kick. One of them managed to catch her off guard, and a shard of ice pierced her leg. She stagged slightly, before returning the favor with a swift kick, dancing away as he tried to attack her again.
Ice mage. Do not engage in physical combat.
She glanced over at him, before shaking her head and moving on. She heard his indignant shout, but ignored it, choosing instead to grab the collar of a older male, someone bearing the mark of the guild.
"You!" the man exclaimed, though whether it was from anger or fear, she couldn't tell. All feelings were the same to her. "What do you want?"
"A distraction," was her blunt reply, and she yanked at his collar, pushing him in front just as the ice mage fired a blast of magic towards her. She didn't wait to see what happened; she moved on, and didn't bother to look back when she heard a pained scream.
They are not your concern.
Lucy moved to avoid another collison with an unfamiliar face, who looked ready to fight, but did a double take when they saw her face.
"Leave."
The female didn't get a chance to respond; Lucy moved, slamming her elbow into the girl's ribcage and sprinting forward. They were like rodents, everywhere and constantly multiplying. She eyed the area, before letting out a scoff.
"Pathetic."
She rounded the corner, taking off at top speed; her top priority was the safety of the Master. She couldn't afford to be distracted.
Of course, not even she noticed one of the fighters pick his head up at her scoff, and watched her go.
"Master?"
The room was dark and empty, the only source of light coming from the small orb in the center of the room, an orb that looked vaguely familiar. She couldn't bother to remember it, however; it must have been important to the master, but why had he left it behind?
"Master?" she called again. She waited for an answer, but there was nothing.
He's gone.
Lucy released a small sigh, which was the most she had ever expressed; if she hadn't known any better, she would have said she was annoyed. There was no point in staying here; she would leave and track him down quickly. The guild members could afford to defend themselves. Wordlessly, she had stepped into the room, ready to investigate. He had to have left a clue behind somewhere.
She strayed closer to the orb in the center of the room, eyeing it with her own version of curiousity; vague staring, though her attention was beginng to drift to the more important matters at hand. Her fingers were about to brush the smooth surface of the dim orb, head tilting as she stared at it.
"Where is he?"
The voice made her turn around, hand dropping to her side. The voice was unmistakably male, though she couldn't see his features clearly. His fist was literally flaming (a fire mage; she had dealt with one of those before), making the shadows on his face dance. She couldn't see any defining features, despite the light the fire was providing. She could see that his face was twisted into an ugly expression, teeth bared at her in what she assumed was an unfriendly gesture. It might have been a trick of the light, but even his eyes seemed to be on fire.
"Where is he?" the male repeated, his tone layered with what she assumed was emotion. Lucy frowned slightly; all people talked in different ways. Why couldn't they all sound the same?
"The Master?" she inquired blandly. "Gone. Even if I did know, I would not be permitted to give that information to you."
The lines on his face deepened, and his lip curled. The fire on his fist shot up his arm, stopping at his shoulder. Lucy could feel the heat from over here.
"I'll beat your Master to a bloody pulp," he snarled, starting to advance. "But he isn't who I'm looking for right now. I'm looking for Macao Conbolt."
Lucy ran the name through her mind. "The one the master captured," she mused aloud. "You're from the guild the master wanted out of the way."
He took another step. "Where is he? I'll make you all pay for even thinking about trying to hurt Fairy Tail!"
The blonde girl shrugged, and responded by stepping forward as well. The flames were hot, and she could practically see the shadows on her face. "I don't know where he is. It is not my concern. I was only searching for the master."
The lines on his face disappeared, and he looked at her with something that was akin to surprise. She got that reaction from a lot of people, when they first looked at her face, though didn't have the slightest inkling why. It only made her job easier, which was all that mattered. But then they returned, and he wasn't focused on the look of her face.
"Tell me. I'm not afraid to fight."
Her expression remained unchanging. "That is not information I can give."
With a roar of rage, he launched himself at her, the flaming fist swinging at her, but she jumped out of the way with alarming speed, stepping away from the orb as she did so. She ducked as he swung again, then bringing a bare foot up to kick him in the chest. That barely did any damage; he didn't even look winded, but he stepped back slightly. He inhaled sharply as he did so. Lucy stepped back, recognizing the change in the air; he was ready to use magic, but it wasn't something she had seen before.
She jumped away as he exhaled fire, feeling the heat of the flames with a deep intensity. She landed on her feet, slightly unsteady, but turned to face him again. There was an unpleasant tingle in her arms, and Lucy knew she had been scalded; the pain was numbed, something that became a necesity over the past ten years. The boy himself looked shocked (at least, what she believed 'shocked' looked like), as he observed her.
"Your flames are useless," she said flatly, rolling her neck in attempt to remove the unpleasant tingle. "You can't hurt me."
"What have they done to you?" he asked; his tone was not something she had ever heard before. Despite this, she did not react, only stared him dead in the eye.
"They saved me from feeling anything."
His face twisted again, and he launched before she had the chance to dodge. He rammed his body into hers, making her fall and gasp for breath. She tried to roll away, but he had landed on top of her; she lifted her leg, and, mustering all her strength, kicked him off, forcing him off of her. He had moved again, his head bumping against the pedastal that held the orb. Something caught in her throat, which had never happened before. Lucy stopped, clutching at it.
She remembered her orders.
"Stop," she ordered as the stranger brought himself to his feet. "Don't move."
The pedastal was rocking. He glanced at it, looking uninterested, before realizing what it was. "What kind of lacrima is this?"
"Stop," Lucy repeated, moving forward. "I have my orders to keep that orb intact. Do not touch it."
He didn't seem to hear her, only re-lighting his fist and turning to face her again. "Don't try to distract me," he said loudly. He brought his fist up, but then yelped slightly as it smacked the pedastel. The stone swayed, before finally tilting over and falling on its side. The orb fell right along with it, smashing to the ground and splintering into tiny pieces.
The boy, for all his bluster and attacks, had the decency to look a little surprised, despite the situation. "Oops."
For a minute, nothing happened. Lucy stood there, eyes dull, muttering, "You fool."
She kneeled over and clutched at her throat, coughing. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. This was why she was never allowed to break the orb; it was for her own safety, to save her life.
Vaguely, she heard his shout of alarm, and another faint voice, sounding like a call of 'retreat!'. She tried to breathe again, but she couldn't. She clutched at her throat, gasping for breath, and looked up, seeing his eyes on hers, looking concerned.
She knew what concern was.
And that was when she felt it. The burn of the wounds he gave her, the ache in her shoulder from falling. She stared up at him, eyes wide, her dark, almost black eyes suddenly turning lighter, to a brown that seemed to waver.
"No," she whispered. For the first time in years, her eyes watered, and the tear trickled down her face. Her vision was swimming, and she fell forward, her vision turning black.
Lucy woke up to the pounding sensation in her head, something that had never happened before. She jumped up in surprise, clutching her head, eyes wide.
Surprise.
She stared at her hands, unblinking, watching as they shook as realization dawned on her. Memories came floating back, piece by piece. Her hands were shaking, her eyes were wide, and it felt like there was an electricity current running through her veins.
I can feel.
"You're awake."
Two people stepped into the room, a boy and a girl. The boy looked partly relieved and angry, tugging at the end of his scarf as he eyed her warily. His hair was a messy pink mass, which caught Lucy's attention almost immedietly. His eyes were a deep onyx, which finally made her recognize him.
"You're the boy that was trying to find the Conbolt man," she whispered. She hadn't seem much of him, but looking at him, she didn't have a doubt about it. "You knocked over the orb!"
He blinked; if the situation weren't so serious, his confused expression would have been comical. "The lacrima? That was what caused you to pass out, right? I'm really-"
It felt like her blood was on fire, and she stood up, grabbing the collar of his vest and bringing him close to her face.
"Fix it," she whispered, voice shaky. "I can't be like this. I'm not supposed to be like this. I can't be like other people. Fix it."
The girl that had entered cleared her throat, making Lucy release the boy and turn to her.
"So the rumors are true," the girl said, crossing her arms, eyes narrowed at Lucy. "You were the emotionless girl, the blank-faced. The girl who could not feel." She gave a side glance at the pink-haired boy, who looked more than a little miffed at Lucy's attempt to threaten him.
"I wasn't aware of any rumors," Lucy said stiffly, trying to make her hands stop shaking. She felt cold, and the sensations were new. Her train of thought was moving quickly, muddled with sleep and confusion; it wasn't clear like it was supposed to be. The unfamiliar feeling expanding in her chest made it difficult to breathe, and she clutched her heart, taking in deep, shuddering breaths.
It's not supposed to be like this.
"We've heard about you," the girl continued, flicking a stray strand of red hair away from her face. Her upper body was covered in armor, but beneath that, she wore a simple blue skirt and knee-length boots. If Lucy hadn't felt so panicked, she might have been intimidated.
That was exactly the problem.
"If you know so much about it," Lucy said, standing up straighter, forcing her voice to stop shaking, "then I suppose you can try to fix it, yes?"
The girl looked unimpressed, only shaking her head. "No," she said flatly. "Even if we could, we wouldn't want to. I'm only here to take you to our master."
Wouldn't want to...?
She had always thought that everyone wanted to have her ability; to have their minds clear, their choices not influenced by how they felt. Who wouldn't want something like that? It was a foreign concept to her.
"Well?" the girl said, crossing her arms. "Are you coming?"
Something in her tone said that Lucy didn't have a choice. Even without the orb to contain her feelings, Lucy could still think things through reasonably, which surprised her (before chiding herself on being surprised). If anyone could grant her wish, it would be their master.
"Very well," Lucy said, suddenly realizing just how much she depended on a neutral tone. "Take me to him."
The girl nodded once, before turning on her heel and stalking out of the room. Lucy followed, mouth set in a thin line. She refused to stay this way; what she could do was track down the master, and make him fix her.
She didn't want to be this. She wanted to be the girl who could not feel.
