The Fairest Of Them All
Chapter 2: Runaway
The carriage travelled at a fast pace, the horses' hooves stomping on the muddy roads. The dirty rainwater splashed onto the townspeople walking down the stone paths, but the animals finally skidded to a stop in front of a gigantic house. It was a few moments before a skinny young man jumped down from his seat and hurriedly opened one of the side doors.
Taking the hand that was offered to her, a woman with auburn hair and impossibly blue eyes gently stepped out onto the ground, frowning when she felt the mud squelch under her boots.
The young man bowed to her, and she tore her hand out of his grip with a small nod.
"Have the carriage ready when I return. This shouldn't take too long." she sniffed.
"Of course, Mrs. Mara." He bowed once more.
"Thank you, Jerry." the woman said quickly.
The man nodded, climbing back into the carriage.
The woman turned away from the carriage and took a few steps towards the front gate. Behind her, she heard the crack of reins and the sound of her horses galloping away.
She gave the oak doors three clear raps, clasping her hands together and waiting patiently to be welcomed inside the house.
"Just a moment, please!" someone yelled from inside.
The doors swung open, and an old man greeted her with a polite nod. She returned it, taking a step through the doorway.
"Welcome, Mrs. Mara. I was asked to take you to the gardens. The other ladies have already arrived." he said, motioning for her to follow him.
They passed through two more sets of doors before arriving outside. On the grounds, the woman took her time admiring the many beautiful flowers.
In the very centre of the gardens, several women sat seated around a table, laughing and gossiping.
"Lilith!" a smiling brunette cried, standing up from her seat. Her hair was twisted into an elegant bun beneath her hat. "Come sit!"
"Hello, Cecilia." the woman, Lilith, said. She moved towards the table, taking a seat next to the brunette and greeting each of the women in turn.
"Oh! It's been so long since we've seen each other. How have you been?" Cecilia cried, her smile growing even wider.
She pointed towards a teapot, and the other woman nodded. Taking a clean teacup and placing it on a saucer, she gently poured some of the hot liquid and passed it to Lilith.
"I've been quite well, thank you for asking. The family business keeps expanding, and I'm hoping to find Brennan a bride soon. Honestly, though, I'm not all that worried about him. I am very proud of him, and I'm sure he'll choose a fine young woman to marry." the redhead said, smiling at her friend and taking a sip from her cup.
"Speaking of young women, have you heard about Jude Heartfilia's daughter?" Amelia, one of the women, spoke casually.
"Jude Heartfilia? He has a daughter?" Lilith asked coolly, taking another sip from her cup and grabbing a sandwich from a platter.
"Yes, and I hear she's a beauty, too. My husband and I met with Jude the other day to discuss an arranged marriage between his daughter and my Jacob."
"Is that so? I seem to recall that Jude married Layla. Did you see her while you were there? How is she?" she asked with a fake smile, though the other woman didn't notice.
"I wouldn't know. Mrs. Heartfilia passed away many years ago."
"Oh? How...unfortunate." Lilith said simply.
"Yes, how very unfortunate indeed. Didn't you know Jude Heartfilia, Lilith?" Cecilia asked innocently.
The woman in question froze, taking a moment school her features before answering.
"Yes. Before I took over the family business, my father thought it'd be a good experience for me to work at a non-Mage merchant guild. That's where I met Jude. We were actually very good...friends." she said the last part with a slight twinge of anger in her eyes.
"Really? I imagine you're not in contact with each other anymore."
"No, we're not. He left the guild very suddenly one day, and we never spoke again," she said.
"Oh. I see." the woman spoke awkwardly.
"Enough about Jude Heartfilia! Have you heard the news? The ladies around town have been saying that..."
Cecilia filled in the silence quickly, changing the topic. The women engaged in a lively conversation after that. Though Lilith stayed silent through most of it.
She took one last sip from her cup before placing it down on the saucer, a plan already forming in her head.
When she marched down the path, as ordered before, Jerry was waiting patiently at the front gate. He bowed to her in greeting, offering her a hand to help.
"Back to the mansion, Mrs. Mara?" he asked.
She nodded, hoisting herself up.
"And I need you to send out a job request to all the Black Guilds in Fiore." the woman commanded, settling into the plush seat.
"Of course, Mrs. Mara. Is there anything else I can do for you?" the man asked. The woman paused, her lips pursed in thought.
"Yes. I'd like you to find out some information on Lucy Heartfilia. I want the folder placed on my desk by tomorrow."
"As you wish," he said, carefully closing the door.
"Excuse me?" Lucy turned towards the voice, her shoulders tensing slightly.
The boy standing in the aisle couldn't have been more than a few years older than herself, and the girl blinked in surprise when she saw a small blue cat standing next to him. The boy cleared his throat, tugging uncomfortably at the scarf around his neck, a frown on his face.
"Are these seats taken?" the blue cat asked, and the blonde's eyes widened.
"Er…no," she said, never taking her eyes off the talking animal.
The boy huffed, throwing his bags onto the seat in front of Lucy and plopping down, crossing his arms unhappily. His cat climbed onto the spot facing him, glancing around the train.
"There are many more people today," he said, more to himself than to his two companions.
The boy grunted, running a hand through his salmon coloured hair. The cat's eyes landed on Lucy and he smiled at her.
"My name is Happy! And the boy next to you is Natsu," he introduced, and the girl nodded, grinning back at him.
"Lucy," she said, shaking hands with Happy.
Natsu said nothing, his onyx eyes trained on the family sitting across the aisle from them. Happy sighed, looking apologetic as he spoke to the blonde.
"Sorry about him. He's just really grumpy because he hates the train."
Lucy nodded again, using the armrest to steady herself when the train lurched forward, starting towards their first destination.
The pink-haired boy beside her groaned, clamping a hand over his mouth, his face a sick shade of green.
"-and then he and Gray screamed like little girls!" Lucy cackled, tears in her eyes as she tried to contain her laughter.
"It wasn't that funny…" Natsu mumbled, wrapping his arms around his stomach.
The train skidded to a stop, the conductor's voice blaring through the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our stop in Hargeon. Please proceed to the exits and enjoy your trip!"
The blonde grabbed her suitcase, squeezing past Natsu and waving happily at the two, making her way down the aisle.
"Bye! Good luck finding Igneel!" she called.
The streets of Hargeon were relatively deserted as the few passers-by sloshed through puddles, umbrellas held high in the air. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as everyone minded their own business. No one batted an eye at the figure darting down the sidewalk, the hood of her cloak pulled tightly over her head and hiding her face.
Lucy slowly stilled to a complete stop, shooting into an alleyway. Her suitcase clattered noisily when it hit the wall, and she silently cursed. Soon after, three guards strolled passed, talking loudly and completely oblivious.
She watched their every move as they walked away, but didn't pay much attention to their conversation.
When they eventually moved out of sight, she let out the breath she'd been holding and left her hiding place, continuing on her way at a quicker pace than before. Blonde hair was stuck to her forehead, but she didn't seem to notice as she finally arrived at her destination.
"That was her, wasn't it?" one of the guards asked, pointing to where the blonde had been hiding.
The second one nodded. "She matches the description perfectly."
"Mrs. Mara will be very pleased."
Seeing the Open sign stuck to the window, Lucy pushed open the creaky, old door. The little bell hanging in the doorway tinkled lightly, alerting the shopkeeper of her presence.
"Just a minute!" a voice sang from the back room, hidden by a purple curtain.
Lucy's shoes squeaked noisily as she walked around the shop, stopping from time to time to examine an object or a book that caught her eye. She flinched in surprise when she turned towards the checkout counter and found an old man staring back at her with a small smile.
"Welcome to my shop! Are you looking for anything in particular, miss?"
The blonde smiled awkwardly, tearing her gaze away from his nose, which resembled a pig's snout.
"Not really. I'm just looking around."
The old man nodded, his pointy, dark green hat nearly slipping off his bald head. He grabbed the cane that had been leaning against the wall and started walking back towards the back room.
"Actually," Lucy began, prompting him to turn back to her. "I was wondering where I could find the other magic shops in town."
Though she didn't have many jewels- and every single bill had to be spent wisely- she still found it important to acquire as many new Gatekeys as she could in order to practice her magic.
The shop owner shook his head, a happy smile still plastered on his face. "There are no other magic shops in Hargeon."
The blonde pouted, highly disappointed, and turned around to inspect a few items placed on an old bookshelf. From the corner of her eye, something glittered, and her face brightened when she realized what it was.
Grabbing the key of the White Doggy, she eagerly rushed towards the counter.
"I'd like to buy this," she said, slapping down some jewel bills.
A fire crackled in the background.
Lilith sat straight-backed in a chair, her reading glasses delicately perched on her nose, wearing a serious expression. A man stood in front of her, his henchmen standing in the shadows behind him. They were ready to defend their boss if it became necessary. A folder filled with various documents was laid out on the oak desk, the face of a young blonde heiress smiling up at them from the first page.
"So, Lilith," the man began, "let me see if I've got this right: You want me to find this girl, and then you want me to kill her?"
The woman huffed. "I want you to get rid of her. Do whatever you want, just make sure that Jude Heartfilia never sees his child ever again."
He nodded, looking towards the large map of Fiore framed on the study's back wall.
"Do you happen to have any idea where she might have gone?" he asked.
"All I know is that she left the Heartfilia Konzern on May 5th. I had someone question all the members of the staff at the mansion, and after a lot of...persuading," She struggled to find the right word, though the man thought that "torture" would've been much more fitting. "We learned that a man had taken her out of town by carriage. The man seems to have disappeared, though, so we have no way of knowing where he took her."
The man sucked his teeth, his eyes narrowing in thought. "That isn't enough information. You said you want this done as soon as possible, but I'd have to search all of Ishgar to find her. She could be anywhere."
The woman smiled evilly, picking through the folder and tossing him a paper. It was a picture of a cloaked figure dashing into a store. Although he couldn't see the person's face, a strand of blonde hair immediately caught his attention.
"You forget that I have eyes everywhere, young man. According to my source, the girl in the picture is the exact match to our girl. This was taken yesterday, in Hargeon Port." she said, leaning back in her chair.
"Hargeon is nearly five hours away by train. I'm honoured that you requested me personally, Lilith, but it doesn't seem like it's worth it," he said, crossing his arms.
"I'm prepared to offer you a reward of 100,000,000 jewels if you do this mission right."
Her blue eyes showed no hint of humour, so he knew she was entirely serious.
He gulped, uncrossing his arms and looking back at his henchmen. The two men stared at him eagerly and silently pleaded with him to accept the offer.
"Well, do we have a deal, Mr. Bora?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
He grinned. "Definitely."
"Are you sure about this, Happy?" a pink-haired boy asked his cat.
"Yup! I can only think of Igneel when I hear The Dragon of Fire. This 'Salamander' is definitely him!" The boy nodded along to the cat's words.
"But if it is Igneel, then why hasn't he come to see us yet? We've been going to every one of his meet 'n' greets in Hargeon this week, but we can never get close to him."
Happy sighed. "Those fangirls really are crazy. They wouldn't even let us pass!"
Hearing distant screams of 'Salamander!', the pink-haired boy smiled.
"Well, today's the day, Happy! I can feel it!" he said, rushing into the crowd.
"Salamander! Over here!"
"Are you sure this will work, boss?"
"Absolutely. It's worked before, so why shouldn't it work now? This girl could bring us millions of jewels, not to mention the reward money," the "boss" communicated telepathically.
"Please sign this, Mr. Salamander!"
The "Salamander" gladly did as he was told, enjoying being the centre of attention. "Ladies, ladies, you're too kind," he said, smiling at them.
"If you say so... Boss! There's a strange man with pink hair who's trying to push through the crowd!"
He turned to his right, where several girls were squealing. Cries of "Let me through!" could be heard in the ruckus.
"It's fine. I'll deal with him later." He waved off the person's concern.
"Salamander, you're so dreamy." He laughed at the girl's compliment, giving her a charming wink.
"Boss, she's here." He looked up at the person who'd spoken to him. They were standing on the bridge, and they pointed to a girl in the crowd.
Bora glanced over to where they were pointing, and he smirked when he saw the blushing face of Lucy Heartfilia. "Well, well, well. How nice of you to join me, Miss Heartfilia," he whispered.