It was darker than a demon's gullet in the pits of hell.
Wendy shivered as she walked noiselessly across the courtyard of the Dragon Assassin's bunk halls, taking care that the others did not hear her.
It was incredibly awkward when she found out that all the Assassins slept in one room. The other men, though hardened killers through and through, were decently kind enough to offer her the furthest corner of the drafty room, and Gajeel (the one with the steel piercings) actually helped her cover up that corner with a thick sheet.
"Mind you, we'll be taking this down once you grow out of that flat chest of yours." He warned her. The others chortled, and she blushed.
Right now, she had to get away from the SNORING. Heavens above, all of them snored louder than Vulcans making their mating calls. Only Rogue didn't snore. He was, in fact, awake, doing some sort of tai chi with odd ritual-looking gesticulations, accompanied by his somewhat empty-headed page, Frosch.
Her newly assigned page, a pale-haired girl named Carla, was always fussing over her. Wendy made friends with her right away, but right now she had to be alone for a bit.
Wendy let her wings propel her onto the awnings of the courtyard, climbing onto the roof where the roaring lamps were lit. Then she realized with a start that she wasn't alone.
A boy about her age was tending the blazing lamp, his dark hair mussed with sweat and his face smudged with charcoal. His wings were large and slightly flame-colored, but oddly shaped, as if they were deformed. She remembered seeing him in mess hall the other day, talking with a group of other cadets. Sting had pointed him out as the Lamplighter.
He glanced up with surprise as she ducked down in embarrassment from staring. "Oh. I didn't realize I had a guest." His voice was slightly hoarse, but warm. He swung down to greet her.
"I'm sorry for disrupting your work." Wendy was blushing again. Geez, she was such a girl. "I'm Wendy." "I know you. You're the new Assassin." He spoke the word with some distaste. "I'm Romeo."
"Hi." Wendy felt the first flutter of apprehension quiver through her. "Do you not like Assassins?"
"One killed my mother." He said bluntly, and Wendy flinched, probably visibly. "A long time ago." He added quickly.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Romeo shook his head. "It's not your fault." He sat down, and began wiping his soiled hands on an orange handkerchief. "Your wings are pretty." He said suddenly, and it made Wendy reel from the unexpected subject change. "Are they always white like that?"
Wendy shrugged, making the said wings roll along with the motion. "My mother's wings were white too." It made her heart ache to speak of her pale, glimmering, beautiful mother, the mother who had urged her to learn the arts and not killing.
"She must've been pretty. Like you." Romeo smiled a bit, and Wendy blushed for the UMPTEENTH time today.
"It reminds me of that star girl." He pondered, and Wendy started. "What star girl?" Was it jealousy she was already feeling? Silly Wendy, get it together…you were better trained than this….
"That star girl Natsu brought back from the Star People's place." Romeo smirked. "She was just pale as you, just a lot more garish. AND scantily clad."
"Natsu brought back a star girl? Isn't that against the treaty?" Wendy felt that shudder of apprehension again. Romeo mistook the shudder for chills and gave her his scarf.
"It was a direct order from the Alpha himself." Romeo said in a hushed tone, as if giving away a great secret. "I heard Cobra say that it was maybe even a hierarchy test."
"A hierarchy test?" Wendy felt a bit bowled over. "I've only read about it in the textscrolls. It's supposed to be a rare occurrence."
"It may be rare, but the oddest things are happening these days." He touched her shoulder, urging her to look heavenward. "Look. The moon is awfully thin today. It's not round like it used to be."
Wendy noticed this, but only barely with Romeo's fingers still grazing her shoulder. "W-why is that odd?" She hated her nervous stutter.
"Well, maybe cause the Moon Princess of the Star People is distraught. Word is from the couriers that the Sun Princess is missing from the Star People." Romeo gestured to the prisons. "And where else could she be but here?"
Wendy felt her heart sink. Her mother had warned her of war-incitement, occurrences that provoked anger or wrath that would eventually lead to conflict. Acnologia had seemed dark and hulking to her, and now it was proof that he was much more than that.
Somehow…she had a really, really, REALLY bad feeling about this.
O.O
Acnologia swept his way down to the darkest dungeon. His robes slid across the floor, brushing against his bare feet. Natsu led the way, his hand slightly on fire to use as a torch.
He finally stopped in front of a glowing cell. Well, the cell itself wasn't the cause of the illumination. The Star Princess was GLOWING. Her hair was a golden fire, and her normally mild eyes flashed with anger and suppressed wrath.
The Star People often glowed like fireflies, but her radiance was fiercely defiant, lashing out until he had to shield his eyes. "Now now, Princess. Such a welcome for the King of the Dragon People!" Natsu chided her.
"It's alright, Natsu." Acnologia waved his arm lazily, and at once an oppressing darkness swept over the prison, blanketing and blotting out the light emanating from the startled Princess. She didn't cower, though she did retreat a few steps.
"What do you want, Dark Dragon?" She said haughtily. "Are you aware that my abduction is a direct violation of the treaties set so long ago?"
"Precisely, Princess." Acnologia sat himself down in front of the cell, observing her livid eyes. "So long ago that they are nothing more than ancient fairy tales."
"We should respect and honor them for the role they played in history!" The Princess shrieked, on the verge of bursting a blood vessel. Acnologia smirked. The girl had spunk.
"I have nothing against your views, Princess, no matter how archaic they are." Acnologia leaned in, grinning in pleasure as her sweet and cold scent wafted near. "Your beauty discredits your words."
"Monster, troll, ogre, and son of darkness, my people will make you pay for this atrocity!" She lunged for his neck, fingers suddenly blazing, and he jumped back as the Princess knocked her head on the bars and bounced back, yelping with pain.
"That is the point, lovely one." He sneered, watching the girl moan and hold her head. "War will bring about the goal I so desperately pursue. And you, Princess Lucy," he brought his head close to her fiery presence. "will be a major catalyst. The board is set. Are you willing to play your part?"
O.O
"My daughter is missing?!" The Celestial Spirit King rose form his throne in distress. "When? How?"
"Judging from the evidence in her quarters, I'd say last night or so." Erza stood straight in front of her king, fiddling with the kunai in her belt. "The intruder broke a window and killed two guards. Their wounds indicated a Dragon Assassin."
The whole court gasped in one voice. Then arguments broke out, some saying it was long in the making, others protesting that the Dragon People wouldn't stoop to such blatant measures.
"Abductors! How dare they treat her like that!" Prince Loke jumped up from his smaller throne next to his father. "I tell you, Father, that dark King of theirs at the bottom of this, and I intend to find out."
"Sit down, Leo." The Celestial Spirit King said in a reprimanding tone. Loke sat down, but he had a fierce look on his face.
"Is it true, Captain?" Princess Yukino's quiet voice carried gently through the babble of the court. "Has it been truly determined that a Dragon Assassin did this work?"
"Sadly, yes." Erza's voice unconsciously softened when speaking to the milder Moon Princess. Everyone knew that the glimmering Yukino possessed more wisdom and graciousness than her impulsive siblings Lucy and Loke, and for that, she garnered tremendous respect. "The guards had burn and bite marks on their throat."
"I see." Yukino leaned back wearily. Erza watched the pale Princess with a small degree of worry.
The Two Princesses drew strength and magic power from each other like unending reservoirs. One without the other was weaker, more prone to deadly sicknesses from exposure to the powerful orbs called the Sun and the Moon.
Last night, Yukino had sent the Moon afloat, as she had always done before. This time, in the process of lifting the silvery ball with her hands, sending it soaring into the sky, she had stumbled, and the Moon had ending up weaker in light than was custom. "Lucy….where are you…"
Now, Yukino was leaning on her hands, soft brown eyes thoughtfully staring at the marble ground of the palace floor.
Every line of her suggested composure. But Erza knew Yukino better than that, and peered closer at the Moon Princess. Ah, there it was. A tiny spark dancing feverishly in Yukino's eyes.
The Moon Princess was plotting something.
O.O
Gray cheered to himself as Juvia blushingly opened the great black forbidden doors to him. "You only have about five minutes or so." She whispered. "Starting…now."
"Thanks." He squeezed her arm in thanks and strode hurriedly into the office, leaving her staring dreamily after him. Lyon's lessons had paid off.
The first thing he registered was the scent of smoke. He wrinkled his nose at it, and quickly made a beeline to the big black desk in the back of the room.
Papers littered the wooden surface, mostly the customary reports regarding borders, taxes, and all that political jargon. Gray riffled through them with disinterest, and set them down carefully, being sure that they had not moved from their last position.
He checked the drawers, coming across various knick-knacks, flotsam and jetsam, and other paraphernalia usual to a King. Sighing with annoyance, he sat back. There was nothing out of the ordinary. So much for his sixth sense of danger.
Gray checked the time. He had three or so minutes left. One last look-over and then he would never bother the Alpha again. He tapped the floor with his boot gently, listening for that hollow sound that usually promised secrets.
Aha! There it was. He quickly bent down and pried up a rickety wooden board with his clawed fingers. A box with an unfamiliar insignia looked up at him, and Gray examined it with confusion. "A cache?"
Juvia made a fluttering motion at him with her hands, slight panic gracing her features. "He's coming early!"
Crap, crap, and double crap. He snatched a random box with the same insignia on it from the Alpha's drawers and placed it into the niche.
Pounding the board back into place, he hastily slid the rug over the board and tucked the box of evidence under his arm. Already he could hear Acnologia ascending the dungeon stairs, a mere walk from his office.
Gray then strode purposefully out of the office and grabbed Juvia. "Follow my lead." The Alpha was about to turn the corner, and would no doubt ask him why in hell was he doing right at the door of his office.
Well, only one way to dissuade him. Gray swept Juvia off her feet and kissed her soundly on the lips, making her squeal and squirm a bit in his arms. Acnologia materialized around the corner and laughed loudly as they separated guiltily (all in play).
"Getting a head start on populating the Fullbuster line, Captain?" Gray feigned embarrassment, as the Alpha clapped him on the shoulder warmly and strode into his office, closing the door behind him. Gray relaxed. "That was close."
But the prize, hidden under his elbow, promised a juicy…JUICY…reward.
TO BE CONTINUED.