Lucy gulped. Just where was she this time?

Really, there were so many better places she could have landed. A field of exquisite flowers, the glittering white sands of the beach, a picturesque forest, perhaps? All perfectly lovely.

And this place was most definitely not lovely.

It was dark, gloomy with the scent of something earthy—mildew, maybe? She gingerly felt the ground that she was sitting on, noting the strange silkiness of the floor. This was the softness she had felt earlier, but what was it? Her eyes strained to see past the darkness. The only light that existed filtered through the window in strange horizontal lines—moonlight creeping through the barred window.

Lucy let that thought sink in. Things were clearly not looking up for her. Was this a jail? A dungeon? A…cage? Which would mean…dare she say it? I'm not alone…

As if to answer her, the floor creaked loudly. Someone—or something was coming toward her.

She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. "N-natsu?" She called out, her eyes screwed shut.

The creaks came closer, ignoring her.

Creak.

Creak.

Lucy could feel her heart thudding. She was helpless, her legs shaking too hard to get up. Okay, this is it. I'm never going to write my novel again, eat cake with Erza, get revenge on Natsu and Happy for their pranks…there's too many things I haven't done yet! I'm too young to die!

And then she was hit by something with the force of a steamroller. She fell backwards onto the ground, a heavy weight pressing into her stomach.

Lucy shrieked. The sort of shriek she normally reserved for spiders or Gray stripping or worst of all, freaky voodoo dolls (what? She had been on some awfully weird adventures with Natsu…).

To her surprise, she was not the only one shrieking. If possible, this was even more deafening than hers was—high pitched and sharp as glass.

In the darkness, Lucy could make out the faint silhouette of someone sitting on top of her, pressing a knee into her gut.

"Y-you! What the hell are you doing in my tower?" It screamed, brandishing a rather terrifying frying pan.

"I—I didn't mean any harm! I was just passing through!" Lucy tried to say, but the words never came out of her mouth.

It was hard to talk after you had just been walloped by a frying pan, after all.


Natsu had landed in a much more comfortable situation than Lucy had. Well, unless you were Natsu, of course.

The expensive interior of a carriage had caused his face to rapidly change colors. He was curled up on a rather repulsive cushion, his sick, green complexion clashing horribly with his pink hair.

He gagged pitifully. The clattering wheels of the carriage he had suddenly appeared in reminded him of his precarious state every few seconds. There was only one thing in the world that could stop him, the very bane of his existence!

Transportation. Those evil moving things that caused his stomach to gurgle and his head to spin in dizzying circles. Those very things that Lucy made him take every time she was too lazy to walk. Did she not see the pain he was going through?

Why? Why must his short life draw to a close in such a terrible way?

Just when Natsu really thought his nausea would overtake him, the carriage thankfully stopped.

"Oh, bless the lords." Natsu moaned, stumbling his way out. "I'm free!"

He fell to his knees, kissing the ground. "Civilization! I have returned!" Content to remain in his position, Natsu decided to wait for his queasiness to subside.

His relief was interrupted by some very loud, very boisterous cheers. He looked up, still reeling from his traumatic experience. A crowd of people formed around his carriage, barricading his path.

"Your Highness has arrived! The Prince is here to rescue our beloved maiden!" They shouted.

"Three cheers for our Prince!"

"We have been saved!"

Natsu stood up and looked around, swaying slightly. Where was the Prince everyone was talking about? He felt a quick rush of anger, remembering the awful Prince he had punched before he had disappeared into the golden lights. As soon as he found the Prince again, Natsu would give him another firm smack down after what he had done to Lucy…

He tried to step past the crowd, but the tugging of his sleeve stopped him.

A pair of rugged hands had clasped his and clutched them to her heart. Blue, vibrant eyes looked into his, sparkling with wet, unshed tears. "Prince…please help our princess!" A stoutly midwife cried, grasping Natsu's hands tighter. "You are our last hope!"

Wait a minute. Had that lady just called him...the Prince?

He was the Prince?!

If only Lucy could see him now...


Lucy forcibly opened her eyes, whimpering a little at the throbbing pain in her head.

"So, you're awake." A feminine voice said coolly.

"Is this how you typically greet your guests? Smack them with a frying pan?" Lucy quipped. Her hand reached up to try and rub her bruised forehead, but it was instantly tugged back—she was tied up.

The voice snorted. "Don't try and act like you're the victim here. You were here to kill me, weren't you?"

"Kill you?"

"You're really living up to your hair, blondie. Stop being stupid…or was that not an act?"

"I'm not here to kill anyone! Look, there were these lights, and then they took me here and—"

"Way to reinforce the stereotypes." Lucy could practically hear the girl roll her eyes. "Do you ever make sense when you talk? Look, someone as dainty and prim as you shouldn't be in here unless there was a really, really good reason."

"Here? Where exactly is here?"

The sky was already beginning to lighten, threads of pink slowly weaving between shades of navy blue. The darkness of the room was finally fading with the coming of sunrise. Lucy could already see the faint outline of a girl, a cunning smile gracing her face.

"Here, you ask? This is…my prison." The girl whispered menacingly.

"P-prison? But…why? Who are you?"

She laughed disturbingly. "Would you like to hear a little story, sweetheart? My story?"

Lucy didn't reply. Gone was her previously snarky attitude—there was something deadly in the air that warned her to keep quiet.

"Once upon a time," She cackled in a singsong voice. "There lived a happy couple, whose daughter was the brightest spark of joy in their pitiful existence. They led honest lives, toiling away in the dirt in their tiny garden. Although they could rarely fill their stomachs, they were content nonetheless. But right next door, there was a beautiful garden, filled with vibrant fruits and luscious vegetables. And every single day, their young daughter would crawl over the wall and wish that she could taste those wonderful vegetables, and soothe the growling hunger in her belly. And do you know what this girl did?"

Lucy shook her head.

"She decided one day to cross the wall, and take just one, mind you, just one head of rampion. And she took it home, where her family gratefully devoured the stolen food. But this wasn't enough for the little girl. So she stole away the next night, her hand reaching out for yet another handful, when the old witch next door caught her."

The girl laughed again. "And this is the part where it gets good. 'A thousand curses to rain upon your head, my sweet!' The witch cried in anger, waking up the entire town."

The girl turned her piercing eyes towards Lucy. "The villagers began to call her "Evergreen" for the few limp leaves she stole. They laughed at the girl and her petty thievery of greens." She growled. "The entire town agreed that the witch could do what she wished, and she took the girl away to punish her and lock her up for all eternity."

Lucy's blood ran cold. This story was strangely familiar…

"And so the girl grew up in a towering prison. And she learned to hate every day, to seek revenge, against all those who had let her suffer this fate. For seventeen years, she had yet to see a single soul but the old witch. And so, sweet Evergreen was mocked throughout the entire kingdom. But that was not the only name she went by, for the old witch had given her another one. "

Right then, sunlight flooded the room in a wash of brightness.

Lucy gasped. It was indeed Evergreen's face, but this one had lost all traces of its softness. No, this face was harsh and cruel, entirely different (Well, perhaps just somewhat different...Fairy Tail's Evergreen was terrifying!) But that wasn't the reason Lucy gasped. The softness on the floor she had been sitting on, the ropes binding her hands—

It was hair? Glossy, brown hair?

"But perhaps, you are more familiar with the name…Rapunzel?" The girl finished, her silky brown hair trailing down her back and gliding gently across the floor.