The Girls of Fairy Block
Chapter 2
The Spider in the Cage
Dreams can be amazing. They can elevate you to new levels, give you experiences impossible in real life. By contrast, they can also be remarkably cruel. On her first night, Lucy dreamed of Natsu, going to one knee, taking the ring out of his pocket. She'd cried. He'd cried too, for he would be losing her soon. He'd proposed as a way to promise that he'd wait for her.
In the end, Lucy could not take the ring with her, so Natsu had promised to wear it himself, to keep it as a reminder. It just about fit on his little finger. It was a goofy idea, but it meant something to them. Then the dream had turned darker, to an older life, just a few years ago. Minerva's cruel face replaced that of Natsu.
A tangled web with the cruel spider at the centre, pulling on the strings, making Lucy dance to their tune. At last, they snapped, and Lucy fell into darkness, iron bars coming up to surround her, cage her. And still, the spider was there, in the cage. She had nowhere to run from it.
===][===
As morning came, Lucy awoke to find her hair matted with her own tears. It really had been a bad night, but the day that was coming began to wash it away quickly. Being alone with one's thoughts did not seem possible now. It was time to be cast out into the prison population.
The only thing to look at was Levy, sleeping across from her. She made this delightful little chirruping sound as she snored, reminding Lucy all too much of her kitty, Happy. He had blue fur too! Despite the situation that she found herself in, she couldn't help but giggle. The gentle noise woke Levy, who stretched and yawned. Lucy again pondered how this girl could be a lifer, but remembered that asking was strictly taboo.
"Good morning, Lu! How are you feeling now?"
"Um…I think I'm strangely excited to see how a day progresses around here!" Lucy responded somewhat sheepishly. Levy smiled in return, recognizing that feeling well. Every girl went through what Levy called the 'adventure phase', where prison was exciting by the simple dint of being new.
"Well, you look a little messy there, so why don't I show you the showers?"
===][===
Apparently, Levy always kept a spare towel if a new girl needed one. Lucy understood that the only way for the inmates to buy things was through their limited commissary, which went to show a level of kindness that Lucy had not expected to find in this place. Levy led her to the shower block and Lucy baulked.
"There's so many people going in!"
"No, that's good. You never want to shower alone, Lu. That's when you're vulnerable and anyone with a vendetta can take it out on you. If there's a lot of girls, none of them act up. It might get a bit rowdy, mind."
Taking off her clothes had never felt so uncomfortable. These were women, so why did she feel so on display? She felt a little ashamed, realising that Levy already stood naked next to her. She couldn't help but notice a faded scar on the little girl's skin – it ran for about three inches horizontally along her waist – what was that from?
"Whoa there, the new meat looks really tasty!" Cana chuckled as they entered the show, making Lucy blanch and cover her breasts with her hands.
"Oh, shut up, Cana," Levy replied good-naturedly. "Don't let the words bother you too much, Lu. It's mostly talk."
"Mostly!?"
"Mostly. This is a prison, you know. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it's all sunshine and rainbows. But rule number one to survival is to stay out of trouble as much as possible. That means that you're going to get a few bumps and bruises along the way." Seeing that Lucy was looking queasy, Levy patted her on the back. "But stick to me and Erza and we'll see you through, I promise."
===][===
"Juvia doesn't like it. Her curves are just in the right places."
"Juvia, leave her alone," Erza sighed, massaging shampoo into her flame-red hair. "Stop glaring across the shower hall like some kind of pervert and just wash yourself. You normally love shower time."
"It is true that Juvia likes water, but she is impossible to ignore!" Juvia ground her teeth together. "Blonde hair, big boobs and long legs are the top three items on any man's list! How can Juvia compete!? Gray will fall in love with her the second he sees her!"
"It doesn't matter! Neither you nor Lucy can date Gray! How many times do we have to tell you; he can't date an inmate. It would be illegal. If he kisses either of you, he might lose his job and even be sent to jail himself."
"Then Juvia can date him freely!" She cried, perking up at the thought.
"Yeah… except this is a woman's prison," Erza deadpanned. "He'd be miles away behind more concrete walls and iron bars. Really, Juvia, your solutions are just making worse problems!"
Juvia sighed and her shoulders slumped. She'd find a way. But, she had to make sure that Blondie over there didn't interfere first.
===][===
Lucy felt a little relieved with her clothes back on. With the exception of Cana continually trying to grope her breasts, it hadn't been that bad. Depressingly authoritarian and devoid of any luxury, but overall it was alright. Then Levy had informed her that it was time for breakfast.
"Oh man, are prison meals as bad as I've heard?"
"Lu, I'm not really up to date on how the outside world sees us. All I can say is the variety isn't that bad. With government guidelines and fears of lawsuits, a variety of vegetables and fruits is a relatively cheap way of keeping us all healthy. The problem is the chefs. They're all inmates, so the quality of cooking is directly proportional to the skill of our most proficient inmate."
"So… who runs the kitchen now?"
"The girls from B-Block," Erza answered, butting into the conversation as they walked through the halls. "It didn't always use to be that way, with volunteers throughout the facility. But, over time they gained more and more traction. Now, no one gets into the kitchen without B-Block's approval."
"Look, one of those rules about avoiding trouble is to not insult the food, okay?" Levy pointed out. "This is a federal prison, so our food is actually not too bad. Much better than the garbage that state gets. Also, Risley's pretty good at cooking, so we're currently in a culinary renaissance."
Both Erza and Lucy raised a brow at the small woman's choice of words.
"Look, I'm fed up of dumbing everything down," Levy groused. "We in good time fer grub. Happy now?"
Erza leaned next to Lucy to whisper into her ear. "Don't mind her too much, she's just a little repressed in here. Frankly, I wouldn't be too surprised if she was a genius." Coughing, she went on talking in a normal voice. "Breakfast is usually fine. Either it's cereal – which can't be fucked up – or it's a lucky cooked breakfast day. And that's easy, cuz it's always the same. Even a dog can learn to cook with enough repetition."
"Urgh, seeing baked beans cooked in a vat makes them look far less appealing," Levy responded with a grimace that suggested unpleasant memories.
"You're exaggerating. It's just a large fryer."
"Guys, you're not helping me here," Lucy moaned.
"Maybe if you're lucky, they'll have the duck a l'orange," Erza teased. Pleased with watching Lucy blush angrily, Erza became more serious. "Stop focussing on the food and start focussing on the people. Ninety percent of prison fights start in the canteen. It's where we're all grouped into one place and tensions can run high."
"Ninety percent? That sounds like a bull statistic, Erza!"
"The word is bullshit, Levy. You're a convict – you can swear, you know!"
"Words are weapons," Levy replied smugly. "I shan't use them poorly!"
"Shan't? Come on Levy, you're just gonna get beaten up again if you keep using words like that."
"My point is, fights also occur in the showers, the bunks, the toilets and the yard. I don't think you can say the canteen is the main place fights occur. Oh, err… I think we're scaring Lu." Indeed, Lucy had become quite pale faced during the conversation of the frequency of fights. "Come on, Lu! You'll feel better with some food inside of you!"
===][===
"Lucy always made me breakfast." The realisation had surprised Natsu far more than one might expect. He was beginning to understand just how much of his life had been done by Lucy. Now that he thought about it, did he know how to work the washing machine? The dryer? The oven? His hand reached slowly towards the oven's knobs, but he withdrew it quickly.
"Goddamnit Natsu, you're a fireman. The last thing you need to be doing is setting the apartment on fire." On the table top, Happy meowed in agreement. "You can shut up, you've been fed. I've gotta figure out a way to get enough nutrients to survive the next eighteen months."
Rummaging through his pockets for change, Natsu decided to go and visit the café for a fried breakfast. He would have to figure out a more permanent solution later. He sincerely hoped that Lucy was having a better morning than he was.
===][===
Cereal. In a bowl. With milk. This was completely normal, right? A completely normal breakfast that anyone would have at their kitchen table or in their living room or wherever. It was completely normal, just with the addition on two hundred or so convicts surrounding her. But let's not focus on those!
"Juvia is sad. Gray is not on duty this morning." The blue-haired woman slumped over her bowl, seeming to lose all energy.
"Go on, Juvia. I dare you to start a topic of conversation that doesn't involve Gray," Cana said snidely. "Just one, pleasant, normal conversation."
"Juvia doesn't see the point." Cana threw her hands up in defeat. At this rate, it'd be a miracle if Juvia made her release date. The woman was a manic obsessive looney! Trying to steer the conversation away, Levy and Erza began pointing out some of the women from the other blocks.
That severe looking woman in the kitchen was Kagura, de-facto head of operations. Not the best chef, but apparently very skilled with a knife. A fact that was most troubling considering her incarceration. Perhaps she was too skilled with a knife?
The plump lady was Riley, apparently the best chef they'd had here in years. The hyperactive one was Milliana. The popular assumption was that someone she'd murdered someone over her love of cats. It sounded a bit crazy to Lucy, but she wasn't in a position to argue. Most of the other B-blockers weren't of too much interest to the girls to bother explaining.
But the C-blockers were a different matter. The smaller woman with white hair was Angel. A certified religious whackjob if there ever was one. She spent more time listening to the voices in her head than those around her. Lucy didn't ask, but she assumed that Angel was a nickname, rather than her actual moniker.
Then there was Seira. Apparently, she was a fantasist, preferring fictional worlds to reality. Who knows what she might have done, seeing this world as irrelevant?
Lucy shivered as she saw Kyouka. Her eyes were so icy blue that she almost appeared to have no irises. Her shimmering black hair went almost down to her ass. According to the girls, she was malicious and cruel – one to avoid for sure.
Then Lucy's eyes moved to Kyouka's neighbour and her heart froze.
"Minerva," she said so softly that no one heard.
"Minerva," Erza stated. "She's the daughter of one of the guards here. She uses that to get preferential treatment. Be careful around her; she has less consequences than the rest of us, and she's nasty. She's also kind of sophisticated, so don't expect her to just hit you, but be careful. She practically runs C Block."
"I'll… I'll remember that," Lucy replied weakly. From across the dining hall, Minerva met her stare and smiled triumphantly.
===][===
"Come on, Juvia! It'll do you some good to get out to the yard for some fresh air. Clear your mind of all the boys running through it," Erza offered companionably. Juvia didn't look very interested. Erza sighed irritably. She wondered how to break through that shell, and get at the woman underneath.
"Don't waste too much effort on Crazy Eyes," Cana suggested. "She'll be outta here in a few months. If she gets arrested again, she'll probably be sent to the funny farm instead."
"Don't joke about that!" Erza snapped. There was one belief amongst prison folk. No matter what hell prison might seem like sometimes, it was heaven compared to psychiatric detention. Padded rooms, straight-jackets and medication. You ceased to be a human and became a drug-addled zombie. "I want to make sure that Juvia is as stable as humanly possible by the time she leaves this bloody prison."
At that point, Gray went past the door at the end of the hall. Squealing happily, Juvia scurried after him. Cana turned to Erza with lidded eyes.
"Yeah, good luck with that."
===][===
"Has Lu's commissary come through yet, Mira?" Levy directed the question a beautiful white haired woman who ran the small prison shop. They talked through a small window that was heavily barred to prevent theft of stores.
"Yep! All of her paperwork was in order. So, what can I do you for, newbie?"
"Oh my god!" Lucy thrilled. "Do you have chocolate bars over there!? And different shampoos!?"
"Uh-huh. Prison must seem like a miserable place, but you can spend your own money on some luxuries."
"Lu, I can see the look in your eyes, but you only get a maximum of three hundred dollars to spend a month. We need to get you set-up first. Mira, can you get Lu a jacket and some boots? Otherwise she won't be able to get outdoor time. Well, she'd freeze, anyway."
"What size feet do you have?" Mira asked, somehow accurately sizing jacket size up by mere sight. The jacket was brown leather with a warm wool lining. It had the prison logo on the breast. She then brought out the boots after getting the shoe size.
"Be grateful," Levy said mirthlessly. "They don't have clothes in my size. Everything just hangs off me."
"What about a hoodie like you've got? That'd be warmer now."
"It's about pacing yourself a bit, Lu. You can get one, but it'll cut into what you can afford later on this month. My experience has been that the first month is the one where'll you want to hold back a bit to afford a few luxuries later on, to keep you sane."
"Oh," Lucy looked a bit crestfallen. Levy cocked her head to the side, looking up at the blonde.
"Mira, can you get Lu a hoodie and put it on my commissary please?" Mira looked down at Levy for a moment. Such moments of altruism were rare within these four walls, but most of those moments did stem from the bookworm. She went to get the garment.
"Lev, I couldn't possibly…"
"Save it, Lu. It's not a big deal. Look, I'm going to use the restroom. Just wait here until I get back, okay? It's safe by the commissary – there are always guards nearby." Lucy watched Levy scurry away, feeling ashamed. As Mira brought the garment, she aired her thoughts.
"She's so nice to me. I suppose it's hard to spend three hundred dollars in a month in here, though."
Mira looked at Lucy sharply. "Three hundred dollars is the maximum limit. It prevents little stuck-up rich girls from getting everything they want. Levy doesn't get nearly that much. And don't forget where you are. It might not be wise to owe someone in here. Even someone as nice as Levy."
===][===
"Even in the desert, there can be an oasis. And this is it. My little piece of calm in an otherwise hostile world." Levy pushed open the door to reveal a tiny library on the inside. Immediately inside the door, there was a table on each side, with about four chairs each. Behind that there were six bookshelves, arranged in two rows of three with an aisle down the middle.
In many ways, it was pitiful. In a prison of two hundred, this room could hold a dozen at most. The books and shelves looked to be mostly dog-eared and old. In another way, it was the Promised Land, a place of sanity in an otherwise harsh place, as Levy had said. Lucy began to work her way down the rows, having a look at what was here.
There were basically two kinds of book here. Old, worn novels that ranged from Dickens to trashy newer stuff. They probably came from donations. And then there were textbooks that were mostly in better condition, relatively new. Lucy guessed that was some initiative to better educate the inmates. Yeah, that made a lot of sense.
From behind the shelves, Lucy heard the door open, the hubbub of the outside corridor pouring in before it shut again. To her surprise, Levy didn't greet the newcomer.
"Greet your superior, Runt." Lucy's breath caught as she recognized the voice. No… so soon?
"H-hello, Minerva. How are you today?" Levy's voice replied, clearly a little shaky.
"I am in a good mood, Runt. You see, I got some very good news. A good friend of mine has been interred here just last night. Isn't that great?" Lucy stood perfectly still as the footsteps advanced down the aisle. There was nowhere to hide. Minerva leaned on the bookshelf, studying the blonde haired woman arrogantly, clearly feeling secure in her position.
"Hello, Lucy. Are there no manners in this library today? Are you not going to greet me either? Particularly for an old friend?"
"We're not friends," Lucy stated plainly, pale-faced in fear.
"Of course we are!" Minerva purred, reaching out a hand to stroke Lucy's hair. "We're old friends. Right until the time that you screwed me, and I wound up in this dump. Still, no need for such unpleasantness. That's all water under the bridge now."
"What do you want from me?" Lucy choked out, trying to control the primal fear this woman instilled in her.
"Eighteen months. That's how long you'll be in here. No need to rush a fine meal. We must take our time and savour each course as it comes. I am not a rash woman. I will extract everything I need from you these eighteen months, Lucy. And I promise you that you will rejoin the world, a broken husk of a woman."
===Author's Note===
Aaaaaaaaaaand I've still not told you anyone's crimes! I'm such an asshole. But you guys love me for it. *prepares for a beating*
===Replies to Reviews===
Cloy552: No, she didn't… rape… what? Anyway, I won't tell you their crimes even if you torture me!
Cuteandfierce99: She… stole a book from the library and didn't return it!
Ulcaasi: At ease, soldier. Without giving too much away, this fic is set in the 'real world' so no super powers, etc – Gajeel can still be badass, but he isn't going to be blowing through prison walls.
Guest: Short and to the point!
SakuraIchigoDark: Levy stepped onto grass near a 'do not walk on the grass' sign. She's a monster.
Kraziness kills: Should be every Friday!
Shizuka23: I promise you that Gajeel will get involved. I promise.
Lucy Ashley From Fairy Tail: I shall endeavour to do your favourite character justice.
Wolfgurl1318: Erza's not a guard, she's an inmate. Did I write that so badly?