Natsu Dragneel stood in silence as the sevants rearranged the chamber, dragging the giant oak table and ornate chairs into the center of the room. They had a council meeting in three minutes. He hardly heard as Gray took his leave, saying he had to tend to some royal duties. Natsu just rolled his eyes.
Lucy had killed a man and his wife. And Natsu's father ordered it. Natsu had barely been able to look at his father. He wanted to find Lucy. Not sure why but he wanted to. So Natsu left the throne room to find Lucy.
With Lucy
Lucy strode quickly and quietly down the hallways and stairwells, taking the now-familiar route to the castle sewer. It was the same waterway that flowed past her secret tunnel, through here it smelled far worse, thanks to the servants depositing servants refuse almost hourly.
Her steps, then a second pair - Natsu's – echoed in the long subterranean passage. But she didn't say anything until she stopped at the edge of the water, glancing at the several archways that opened on either side of the river. No one was here.
"So," Lucy said without looking behind her, "are you going to say hello, or are you just going to keep following me everywhere?" she turned to face him, the sack still dangling from her hand.
"Uh, yeah Hello. Um do you have two different personalities? One is the King's assassin and the other is Lucy Heartfillia, I'm guessing?" In the torchlight his onyx eyes glittered.
Of course Natsu would notice a difference; he seem to notice a lot about even if they just met. She couldn't tell whether it pleased her or not. Especially when there was a slight bite to his words.
When she didn't reply, he asked, "So, how was Hargeon?
"Oh, so the new guy wants to know? I'm impressed that our first meeting is you being nosey." Lucy replied with a smirk. "That's not what it meant. We are going to be working with each other from now on. Sorry I didn't mean it like that." Natsu said as he dropped his head with his bangs covering his eyes. Lucy started laughing and he picked up his head shocked.
"I was just teasing and the trip was fine." She said with a smile. He gladly returned it.
"So did he fight back?" Natsu jerked his chin toward the sack in her hand.
She shrugged and turned back to the river. "Not really. Even if he did it would be nothing I couldn't handle." She tossed the sack into the sewer. They watched in silence as it bobbed and slowly sank.
Natsu cleared his throat. Lucy knew he hated this.
"You know we will begin our mission tomorrow right?" he asked.
"I know. I need rest." She added quickly when he frowned. "And besides, it'll only take us a day or two to figure out how guarded Jellal is. Jellal may have been by himself but knowing him he will have an army. Hopefully we won't need the month that King Igneel gave us." She said looking at Natsu. And hopefully Jellal would have answers about how and why he got on the Kings list. And what plans, exactly, that the king had alluded to. Then she would figure out what to do with him. Lucy turned back around to stare at the water.
Natsu stepped beside her, still staring at the filthy water, where the sack was undoubtedly now caught in current drifting out into the River and the sea beyond. "I'd like to debrief you."
She raised her eyebrow. "Aren't you going to take me to dinner first?" His eyes narrowed and she fake pouted.
"It's not a joke. I want the details of what happened with Macao."
She brushed him aside with a grin, wiping her gloves on her pants before heading back up the stairs.
Natsu grabbed her arm. "If Macao fought back, then there might be witnesses who heard-"
"He didn't make any noise," Lucy snapped, shaking him off as she stormed up the stairs. After two weeks of traveling she just wanted to sleep. Even the walk up to her room felt like a trek. "You don't need to debrief me, Natsu."
He stopped her again at a shadowy landing with a firm hand on her shoulder. "When I heard rumors that someone was responsible for Macao death, I knew it was you. Isn't there someone underneath all this killing? I may have just met you myself but I know who you are. For some reason I have this feeling that this is not you.
She loosened her breath, her face suddenly warm. "I understand what you mean. Now that we are partners you have to understand that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but that doesn't mean I won't need your help. I am the Kings Assassin after all." She paused before continuing. "Just, don't let me die….okay?"
Lucy didn't have time to brace herself as Natsu pulled her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her.
"I won't. But you also have to promise me that you won't let me die….okay?" you could tell he was smiling as he talked.
She didn't hesitate before twining her arms over his shoulders, breathing in the scent of him. He smelled of fire and spice; they may have only met but Lucy was sure they would become great friends.
Natsu's nosed grazed the nape of her neck. "God's above you smell horrible," he muttered.
Lucy hissed and shoved him, her face burning in earnest now. "Carrying around dead body parts for weeks isn't exactly conducive to smelling nice! And maybe if I'd been given time for a bath instead of being ordered to report immediately to the king, I might have-" She stopped herself at the sight of Natsu smirking. And smacked his shoulder.
"Idiot." Lucy linked arms with Natsu tugging him upstairs.
"Come on. Let's go to my room so you can debrief me like a gentleman." Natsu snorted and nudged her with his elbow but she didn't let go. He was glad she had another side to her that wasn't all about killing. Her smirked to himself maybe he could teach her about the meaning of love.
Lucy's Room
Natsu finally got every last detail from her and left her the promise to return for dinner in a few hours. And after she let Virgo fuss over her in the bath and bemoan the state of her hair and nails, Lucy collapsed onto her bed.
Plus her dog leaped up next to her, curling close to her side. Stroking the dog's silly white coat, Lucy stared at the ceiling thinking about today.
The king had believed her.
And she met Natsu who never once doubted her story as well as the one who will be accompanying her on her new mission. Well not just one but all of them. But sadly Lucy still felt guilt. She had lied about Macao waking up and not making any noise. He awoke just before she killed him, she sliced his wife's head to keep her from screaming. And Macao did try and fight back but I sliced his head off just before anything really happened. Lucy also throw in real details, the storm, the servant, the balcony….the best lies are always mixed with the truth.
Lucy clutched the amulet on her chest. The Heartfillia crest. The one who gave it to her was Levy McGarden, she hadn't seen Levy since their last encounter in the tomb; hopefully now that she was the Kings Assassin she could see Levy.
She squeezed it hard. If the king about what she did – what she had been doing these past few months…
She had embarked on the first mission intending to quickly dispatch the target. She'd prepared herself for the kill, told herself that Sir Elfman was nothing but a stranger and his life meant nothing to her. But when she got to his estate and witnessed the unusual kindness with which he treated his servants, when he saw him playing lyre with a traveling minstrel he sheltered his hall, when she realized whose agenda she was aiding….she couldn't do it. She tried to bully and coax and bribe herself into doing it. But she couldn't kill him.
Still she had to produce a murder scene and a body
Jellal. Lucy wanted to fake his death as well as Elfman's. But how is she going to fake his death. He was so popular, especially with Erza, and very well known. The real problem is Igneel enslaved the entire continent so how could Jellal possibly escape now.
There were other continents of course but she had to figure out a way to get him out of this one. Also the matter of where he would stay once out of this continent.
And why would the rebel movement about kingdoms on another continent like theirs. So the plans must be about this land and continent.
Lucy didn't want to know. She didn't want to know what the king was doing, what he imagined for the empire . She'd use this month to figure out what to do with Jellal and pretend she never heard the word plans. And one more thing to worry about was Natsu. Would he agree to her plan? Would he still even go on missions with Lucy? And most importantly will he like her better for this decision?
Lucy fought a shudder. She was playing a very, very lethal game. And now that her targets are in Fiore and now Jellal was involved….she'd have to find away to play better. Because if the king ever found out that she let people escape besides Macao…..
He would destroy her.
