Previously on Eyes of Stone and Hearts of Fire...
Lucy smiled, "Sure, you have to apologise to Natsu first though"
Gray looked around, "Yeah, where is flame breath?"
Lucy smirked and moved her left foot slightly, Natsu felt the ground underneath him shake and suddenly he was flying through the air. He landed next to them with a large thud.
"Lucy?...what the hell was that for?"
Hauling him to his feet, Gray apologised and the two made up under Lucy's gaze.
"Okay guys, now you two have made up. We've got to go somewhere"
Natsu and Gray followed Lucy as they walked through the now empty streets. Everyone else was inside telling their loved ones that they loved them while the heroes walked the streets.
"Where are we going, Lucy?" Natsu asked, Lucy didn't look back.
"We're going to see an old friend of mines, she's an expert on wars and tactics. We'll only use the library if we need to"
Gray pondered for a minute before saying,
"War expert, huh? What's she called? I might know her"
Lucy grinned before replying, "Hisui, her name's Hisui"
Book 1: Earth
Chapter 7: Two girls, two fights and a labyrinth
The trio were headed for the large tower Natsu had spotted earlier. The top of the tower seemed to disappear into the sky, the body was a pale green colour similar to jade. The front door was a beautiful pearly white colour surrounded by white and green flowers that sparkled, there was a single window high up in the tower, it was a rectangle with a pointed top and stained glass. It reminded Natsu of Rapunzels tower.
Lucy walked up to the door fearlessly and knocked three times. A large man with blond hair opened the door, facing the small girl. Natsu and Gray stood a bit behind simply observing.
"Good afternoon, I assume you are Mr Arcadios?" She said, voice unwavering.
The man stared at her, completely emotionless. "Who's asking?" He demanded.
"Princess Lucy Heartfilia, Daughter of Layla and Jude Heartfilia. I require assistance"
The man scoffed, "Layla and Jude do not have any children, do you have proof?"
Pulling off her back pack, she rummaged in it for a minute before pulling out a regal looking book. She opened it at a specific page and held it out to the man.
"This is my royal crest, only given to members of the royal family. It says at the bottom Lucy Heartfilia. Do I need anymore proof?"
The man stood, slightly shocked. "No, you don't. I'll lead you right in, I assume the two suspicious looking men behind you are with you?"
Natsu and Gray scowled, muttering something along the lines of 'I'm not suspicious' and 'I bet it's you he's looking at'. Lucy smiled.
"Yes, Gray and Natsu are with me now, I require War Chief Hisui. Is it possible to speak with her?"
The mans face darkened and he stood aside.
"Please, all of you come in, I'm afraid Miss Hisui has gone missing"
The meeting room was cold and formal. Lucy sat up primly and properly with her hands clasped neatly in her lap. Discretely kicking he boys if they were 'not socially appropriate'.
"It was about a week ago, Miss Hisui was very agitated, very distressed. She disappeared during the day at random intervals to go to a hidden library somewhere"
"Could it be the one we're going to?" Gray interjected. Lucy nodded.
"Yes, it would seem so. Mr Arcadios, please continue"
Arcadios nodded briefly before continuing, "Thank you, this time last week she was stressing about the Heartfilia family actually, predicting an attack on them that turned out to be true. After it Hisui got worse." He took a brief moment to compose himself before continuing.
"She was snappy, spent all of her free time in her room with different scrolls and books, then one day she came out in a hurry. Muttering something about there was only one thing left that she needed from the library but she never came back..."
Natsu slouched a little and rested his chin on his hand in thought.
"Kina reminds you of Lyon, doesn't it?" Gray tensed but nodded.
"Yeah, it does. Too much so" Lucy hummed,
"We should go to the library anyway. That's where we were headed in the first place" Lucy said, "Mr Arcadios, did Hisui leave anything behind?"
His eyes widened suddenly and he placed his hand on the large marble table.
"That's the other odd thing, when she left she took everything, nothing was left. I checked."
Nodding, Lucy signalled to Natsu and Gray to stand up, she bowed politely and walked to the large staircase that lead to the streets.
"Thank you, I promise that we'll bring back Hisui"
"Thank you" was the only reply they got before they descended down the stair case to the bustling streets.
The streets were finally getting busier after people had gotten over their blind panic of an attack. Gray stretched his arms and yawned.
"Geez, that was boring. How did you manage to seem so interested, Lucy?" Gray asked. Popping her back, Lucy shrugged.
"Just used to it I guess. Man, my back aches now. Anywa- What the hell?!" Lucy shrieked. Natsu began roaring with laughter. Gray was now standing in his underwear, socks and shoes in the middle of the street.
"Dude!" Natsu guffawed, "You're a stripper!" Gray scowled and managed to retrieve his shirt, trousers and coat.
"Shut it, Pyro!" He snapped. Natsu pulled his collar to his face,
"Make me, Ice bastard"
"Fire breath!"
"Stripper!"
"Shut it!" Lucy roared to the two males, her face was bright red and her glazed eyes were glaring at them.
"G-Gray, put on your shirt. Natsu, stop fighting. We need to get to this library! And pronto" Natsu let go of Gray who began to put on his coat.
"Gray, can you lead us to the library?" He nodded and gestured to them.
"Yeah, let's go now"
Gray led them outside of the city then to the left. Not noticing how the dirt slowly transitioned into sand and not noticing how Lucy began to sway and stagger more and more. About an hour passed and there was nothing left. The city was far behind them, the barren sandy lands were all around them. Just as the dirt disappeared Lucy stopped walking,
"Hey, guys" she said nervously, "uh...I'm just gonna...stay here. Yeah, you guys go to the library yourselves and I'll wait here for your return"
Natsu blanked, "Lucy? Why don't you want to come?"
"Yeah," Gray added, "I mean you can see well enough"
Lucys shoulders sagged and she mumbled something incoherent.
"What!?" Natsu asked, Lucy glared at him and crossed her arms.
"I said! I can't see on sand!" She huffed, pursing her lips into a pout. Gray opened his mouth and closed it again.
"Y-you're blind?" He burst out. Lucy only replied by smiling sarcastically and waving her left hand in front of her face before scowling again and crossing her arms.
"Well I can't go any further, so good luck!" She snapped. Natsu sighed and crouched on the ground.
"Get on, I'll give you a piggyback" he said, Lucy blushed, slowly in crossing her arms.
"Y-you sure? I might be too heavy..." Natsu huffed in annoyance.
"Lucy, I'm the avatar. The raining you out me through had be balancing a three-hundred pound boulder over my head using earth bending. I'm sure compared to that, you're a pebble" Lucy blushed further but walked over to where Natsu was crouching,
"If you're sure..." And she slowly stood over Natsus back, he hooked his arms around her legs and slowly stood up. As he straightened his back, Natsu gave an overly dramatic huff and staggered slightly.
"Geez, Lucy, you really are heavy!" He said, Lucy scowled and hit him over the back of the head.
"Hey, shut it you!" She shouted and Natsu laughed warmly. Gray rolled his eyes and coughed loudly.
"'Kay, lovebirds? Can we go now?"
Natsus cheeks were tickled pink but he nodded.
"Yeah" was all he said.
"What the hell?" Was the first sentence that came out of Grays mouth. About two hours later and the sun was low in the sky, painting the backdrop red.
"What is it?" Natsu asked, hoisting Lucy further up on his back. Gray scanned the wasteland quickly before stamping his booted foot in the sand.
"I swear it was right here!" He cried, gesturing to the ground. Lucy pouted for a minute and tapped Natsus head.
"Let me down" she said, Natsu nodded and crouched on the sand. The girl walked forwards for a few steps them stopped. She walked left, then forward, then right. Her eyes narrowed in focus.
Gray gave Natsu a look of confusion and he shrugged, they both watched the girl wander around. Suddenly she stopped and stamped her foot. Her eyes brightened and she quietly exclaimed, 'aha!'
Walking back over to Natsu and Gray, she stamped her foot every so often until she stopped and frowned. Lucy dropped to her knees and began digging.
"Little help here?" She asked and the boys obeyed. After digging for a good few minutes Lucy hit rock.
"Okay guys, stand back" she announced. Gray and Natsu stood back a few steps. Digging her nails into the stone, she grunted as she pulled up. Slowly the rock moved up, sand poured off it in mounds. Digging her other hand just below, she pulled up harder.
Slowly, a large building began to emerge from the sand. It was a colossal cylinder made from worn stone. There were no windows but there were large holes where the rock had been worn away or forcefully removed. It got bigger and bigger until a door emerged from the sandy depths. Creating three large stone slabs that held the tower from falling back into the sand. Lucy wiped the swear from her brow and pointed to the building.
"This is?" She said breathily, jabbing her thumb at the tower. Gray grinned.
"Yup, that's it"
The library was massive, to say the least. There were shelves and shelves of different books of all shapes, sizes and colours. Lucy gasped when she walked in, holding her hands to her mouth as she breathed in the sight.
"There's so many" she gasped, pulling one from the shelf and carefully tracing her fingers over the spine of the book.
"T-he...L-o-ve-si-ck...P-rin-c-e-ss...The lovesick princess! Natsu, can I take it with me?" Lucy asked eagerly, Natsu shrugged.
"If you want, it's not like anyone's going to miss it" Lucy squealed and put it in her backpack.
"We should split up" Gray said, "We'll cover more ground that way, I'll take left. Lucy, you go right and Natsu you go up the centre. If we find anything, Lucy you move the ground. Natsu you make a controlled fire and I'll send ice everywhere. See you later"
Waving one last time, Gray shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off. Lucy and Natsu nodded to each other before going seperate ways. Not knowing what would be next.
It was Natsu who found someone first, walking along the empty hallways the familiar sound of singing filled the air. He hastily followed the singing to a large room. In the room there was a clock thing, it was weird. There was a sun, planets, and many moons. There was a clock that showed the current day, time and year however on closer inspection the numbers seemed to be on a spinning platform so they could be changed.
Listening for the singing, Natsu looked around the room. Quietly sitting in the corner there was a girl with bright blue hair and chestnut brown eyes, clutching a book to her chest.
"Hey, are you okay?" Natsu exclaimed walking over to her, the girls eyes shot up. They were swimming in tears. Her blue hair was held back by an orange headband and she wore an orange dress.
"Who are you!?" She shouted, "how did you find me? Did my father send you?"
Natsu shook his head, "No, sorry. Actually we're looking for a Miss...Hisui...person"
The girl gasped and clutched the front of Natsus green tunic desperately.
"Please tell me you found her, is she okay?" Natsu, stunned by the girls outburst, simply replied.
"My friends are looking for her now" The girl pulled away and clutched the book tighter to her chest. Her breathing became erratic and her eyes widened, she began pacing back and forth over the stony floor.
"This is bad..." She mumbled, "This is really, really bad" Natsu fidgeted.
"Explain, what's going on, who are you, what are you doing and what's really bad?!" He said loudly. The girl stopped pacing and smiled apologetically.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Levy McGarden and I'm an Earth Bender. Not a very good one though, I came here with Hisui to work on finding out days when the fire nation was strongest and weakest and when the other nations were too. We had found out th-" she suddenly cut herself off, clasping her hands over her mouth. Levy then started shaking.
Natsu grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently.
"Oi, Levy. What's going on?" Levy blinked slowly and gulped.
"I can't say anymore..." She whispered. Natsus heart began to fill with fear.
"Why not?" Levy looked around carefully.
"I have important information, but no one else can get it. Every day, people come and try to force it out of us. Or force the hiding place out of us" Levy pulled back the hem of her dress to reveal an ugly looking scar. Natsu winced. A footstep was heard, then another, then another as a man walked out from the shadows.
"He's always listening..." Levy whispered. The man smiled cruelly, his hair was dark brown and one of his eyes was shut due to a scar running down from his eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. His other eye was a menacing purple.
"She's right you know, I hear everything"
Lucys 'sight' was as good as being colourblind. She could see certain objects but couldn't see colour, distinguish minute features or read. However, her advantage was that her sight was extended which is what she needed to take advantage of now. Someone was behind her and she wasn't sure it was Gray, Natsu or Hisui.
She took a minute to contemplate her surroundings, at ten moment she was stuck in a narrow-ish aisle. There was only enough room for her to stretch out her arms. Ahead, the aisle split left and right, behind her it did the same. If she was attacked- escape wouldn't be an easy option.
Breathing in and out, she walked forward making sure her feet picked up every little vibration. There was movement, and Lucy spun around lifting her arm in defence bringing the floor up as well. There was a clunk as a book hit the barrier Alice had made and fell to the floor. Lowering the barrier, Lucy put her hands on her hips and called out.
"That's public property you know, so you'd better treat it with respect"
A cruel laugh was heard and the clip clop of high heels accompanied it.
"My, what a small girl we have here..." The voice announced. Moving her feet, Lucy found she was tall with long hair and some sort of flowing dress.
"I believe in formal introductions, I am Angel, an Earth Bender. And you are...?"
"Lucy" Lucy spat, "If you're an Earth Bender then you must know of Hisui. Where is she?" The woman laughed, rage boiled inside Lucy, filling every crevice of her being.
"That girl has some very important information that we need, and she won't give it. If I don't get the information, I'll never fly among the Angels" she cried, Lucy stared. This woman's a nutcase, she thought.
"I'll fight you for her, I win you hand her over, You win you can choose a prize. Deal?" Lucy felt the woman smile sadistically,
"I love a challenge, but I'm warning you I won't go easy simply because you're a little girl"
Lucy grinned and got into her starting stance.
"I wouldn't expect anything else"
Gray stood. Still. Calm. Watching. Listening. Taking in his surroundings. Just like Ul had taught him. He was sure he had heard muffled cries for help, it was just where. This library was a labyrinth and there was a Minotaur somewhere waiting for him eagerly.
There was a faint tapping and buzzing, it circled him slowly getting closer. Gray listened for its movements, slowly shedding clothes as he prepared. Suddenly he turned around as quick as a flash and ice surged along the narrow pathway. There was an odd laughter. Gray turned around and the buzzing stopped.
"Too quick for you, Ice boy" a voice hissed in his ear. Before zooming off again, this time with Gray hot on his tail. This, he decided, was more than they had expected. He ran off into battle, his coat, shirt, trousers socks and shoes lay forgotten in a pile, where they would gather dust forever more.
END OF CHAPTER 7
Next chapter: 8. Fights, A Plan and Preparation
Hey, it's me, sorry for the delay and -pardon my français- shitty writing, although I prefer thei chapter over the next, anyway! Thank you all for the reviews and I'll see you next time!
Lyonsgirl: Thank you! Despite how much I dislike the movie, I prefer the methods of bending used, but then that's just me. Thank you for your input, i really appreciate it!
NatsutoDragneel: Hopefully, if this goes well (and I don't die or anything) then I'll be writing three more 'books' on this, so look forward to that! Enjoy the future chapters!
