IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT NOR THE COVER PHOTO: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!
Thanks a bunch to those of you that voted.
AND IF YOU HAVENT THEN GO AND VOTE SOON BECAUSE IM NOT GONNA HAVE THIS POLL UP FOREVER
(pls)
*Profanity Warning
The flashback to Lucy's hearing will be all italicized!
Enjoy!
(I'm sorry if Freed is OOC)
"I'm not the same as yesterday
Ooh... It's hard to explain
How things have changed
But I'm not the same as before
And I know there's so much more ahead
I can barely believe that I'm here
And I won't surrender quietly
Step up and watch me go"
-Era : The Magic Council Headquarters-
Lucy wailed as she was dragged back into the cellar. She violently thrashed her body around and dug her heels into the ground in an attempt to stop herself from moving, but ultimately did nothing to prevent herself from delving deeper into the prison block. She shrieked as her cell came into sight and, by some sort of miracle, managed to stop herself from moving any further. Her muscles screamed in protest as she forced her frame gainst the runes and a spark of heat flared up in her side as she continued to strain her body. Yet despite the pain that her reopened wound caused, and how badly her body told her to stop, the blond still found the strength to fight back. There was no way she was going down now!
"Oi, Freed! Don't overexert yourself!" Evergreen yelled in concern as glanced at her friend. The green-haired wizard had begun to shake from Lucy's harsh response and a bead of sweat formed on his brow as he desperately tried to keep his magic activated.
Moving a struggling body was harder than Freed originally expected, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't having a hard time keeping Lucy captive. Stationary runes were simple to write because you only had to focus on encrypting one single place or object at a time, and used up very little magic when they were cast. Enchanting moving people or objects, however, were not as easy to cast. Freed had to constantly write, and rewrite, his runes to perfectly fit the environment or else the person inside would escape. And while it was impossible for Lucy to physically break the magic barrier by herself, her constant attacks against the already weakened runes caused a great strain on his magic and concentration. Nevertheless, he continued trying.
Lucy was someone who helped him realize his mistakes during the Battle of Fairy Tail; someone who fought to the best of her abilities to protect her comrades despite all the odds counting against her. She was one of the first people in the guild to forgive Freed and the rest of the Thunder God Tribe for their errors and even went as far as to accept him as a friend. Not only that, but Freed could even recall countless times that Lucy humored him with answers to his endless questions about her magic. What type of person would he be if he gave up on her now?
Freed grunted and sent the brunette a small grin. "I'm fine Evergreen. Don't worry about me."
His smile did little to reduce her concerns, though, and if possible, it made Evergreen more anxious. It was blatantly obvious to tell that Freed was struggling, and she just couldn't understand his reasoning for pushing on. He could easily write an enchantment that would cause Lucy some pain and then, boom, no more struggling. But for some odd reason, he didn't do that and continued forward with a peaceful approach. And for what? For some privileged little girl?
It was beyond Evergreen why the guild the guild was so adamant on getting the blonde back. What was the big deal anyway? She was a member of a dark guild for Pete's sake! And it's not like she was ever a strong wizard in the first place, so why was everyone going through all the trouble of taking her back to the guild? Last she'd heard, Lucy had been with a bunch of people in the guild. Maybe Freed was hoping to join the list when she got back?
"I really don't understand why you're trying so hard to help her! Just zap her real quick and get the whole thing over with. Besides, I'm pretty sure the broad would like it! From what I hear she's been with a bunch of guys already. She's probably a masochist!"
Evergreen stumbled backward at how quickly Lucy's eyes had narrowed into a glare, and she choked on her spit when a low snarl came from her mouth. Although, before she had the chance to say something, Freed interjected rather surprisingly: "Don't talk about her like that, Ever. You know those were just rumors!"
She scoffed before glancing at the blonde condescendingly. "Fine, if that's not reason enough, then how about this? Have you already forgotten that she hurt people on purpose? She doesn't deserve nice treatment, instead, you should rough her up a bit!"
"We hurt people too, Evergreen, in case you forgot." Freed critically pointed out. "And if that's your reasoning for harboring this unexplainable hatred for Lucy, then shouldn't I treat you the same? Shouldn't the rest of the guild reject the Thunder God Tribe too? We attacked people the same way Lucy did; we're just as guilty as she is."
The woman rolled her eyes before dismissively waving off Freed's speech with her hand. "But we had a real reason to do it! It was all for Laxus-sama. Besides, at the time we didn't really know what we were doing. We were just blindly following our leader's orders."
Finally, the green haired wizard got Lucy moving and he internally sighed in relief. He was worried that if he didn't get the blonde to her cell soon that his magic would cut off, ultimately setting her free, and then all hell would break loose. Much to his reassurance the guards moved forward and opened what, he could only assume, was Lucy's cell. He just had to hold on a bit longer!
Glancing at Evergreen from the corners of his eyes, he said, "And you think that Lucy joined Trinity for no reason? I don't think that she realized what she was doing at the time either. If you don't want us to be punished for our crimes for forever, then why should Lucy have to? You can't have a double standard here."
The brunette slapped her face in aggravation and finally snapped. "Because this is different! What do you not understand about that?!" Evergreen countered as Lucy was finally shoved into her cell.
"You know, there was a time when all of us were willing to kill for Laxus' sake too. You're right, this isn't the same as the Battle of Fairy Tail. But that doesn't mean we can't treat Lucy with the same kindness she showed the three of us after that was over. Don't you think that she deserves our kindness? No one deserves to suffer forever." His blue eyes darkened as he added: "I came close to killing Elfman, you know. Does that mean that if I was in Lucy's position then you'd treat me this way too?"
Evergreen sighed in exasperation. "Of course not!"
"Then why does Lucy deserve to be treated differently?"
"That doesn't matter!" She groaned. "Listen, we need to go. I'm sure that Master Makarov will be giving instructions on what to do upon her arrival soon." Evergreen explained as she tugged at Freed's arm. She bid Lucy a quick glance over the shoulder and scowled. "See ya blondie. Try not to hurt anyone else while you're in there!"
Harsh, ragged breaths echoed throughout the cellar as everything was plunged back into complete darkness. The blonde bit her tongue as a wave of nausea settled in the back of her throat, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from gagging, but it didn't end up quelling the queasy feeling because she quickly staggered over to the darkest corner of her cell. Lucy dropped to her knees with a harsh cry and she couldn't do anything to stop the sob from leaving her mouth as she started to forcibly throw up.
"Then I hereby announce that Lucy Heartfilia shall spend the rest of her sentence under the care of Fairy Tail."
Shakily Lucy rose to her feet before stumbling to the other side of her pen. She slid down to the ground as Gran Doma's ruling mockingly bounced around her head. It was a cruel reminder that within the next twenty-four hours she was going to be surrounded by the very people she grew to hate and that she would have to spend, likely the rest of her life, with Fairy Tail.
Lucy's head spun and she instantly noticed that everything hurt. But instead of tending to her wound or even trying to calm herself down, the blonde slapped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut; her body shaking uncontrollably as she screamed into her palm. Even when her voice grew hoarse, threatening to die off, Lucy didn't stop and continued to wail in anguish. One of her hands curled into a tight fist and she couldn't stop herself as she threw it on the ground. Lucy punched at whatever she could get her hands on until her knuckles grew bloody and red. Her skin cracked from the rough abuse, and a particularly hard blow sent a wave of pain spiraling up her arm, but even then she just couldn't stop.
"Luce has always been a member of the guild... She deserves to come back home. I vote yes!"
Lucy gasped for air that couldn't seem to meet her lungs, and she grabbed handfuls of her hair as she tried to stop herself from hyperventilating. She pulled her legs into her chest and bit her lips to keep from crying; furiously denying that her ruling had just happened. This was just some sick, twisted dream her brain thought up as a joke. There was no way that she was being forced to rejoin the guild. There was absolutely no way that Master Makarov thought she was innocent. This was all just a morbid game the Council thought up in order to rile her up, right? This wasn't happening, right?
Yet, no matter how furiously Lucy denied what happened, she knew that it did. She was incredibly lost on how the Magic Council came to the decision that they did, and that Fairy Tail even voted to have her come back to the guild. How could she allow things to end up this way? How did she get here? What mistake did she make to have given the people that she hated such an opportunity? How did one person end up having complete authority over her life? Where did things go wrong? She just couldn't understand.
-1 Hour Prior: The State of Magnolia v. Lucy Heartfilia-
"Such a big audience for little ole me? You shouldn't have!" Lucy snickered as she playfully waved at the people.
Various members of the Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus guilds sat among the spectator area, including Jura Nekis, Lyon Vastia, Sherry Blendy, The Trimens, and Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki*. Lucy had trouble not laughing as they literally squirmed under her sharp stare, and she would be lying if she didn't say that it brought her the smallest inkling of joy. A sour taste settled in her mouth, however, as she remembered that these were people that she was once very close with, and it only grew when she realized how long it had been since she'd see any of them. In fact, if her memory served her correctly, the last time she'd even talked to any of these wizards would have been during the Oraciรณn Seis incident. What made them think that they had any right to act like they cared about her now?
Lucy quickly dismissed the angry thought, though, as soon she saw the people that sat next to them because she felt a bubble of amusement bloom in her chest upon seeing their terrified questions. She smirked as she glanced at the band of Faries, her chin balanced in the palm of her hand as a wave of memories hit her like a freight train. There sat, in all of its glory, the very guild that she trained herself to hate.
Team Natsu and the Thunder God Tribe, the Strauss Siblings, Wendy and Gajeel, Juvia, Cana, and Levy all sat several feet away from the other two guilds, with their fair share of bewildered expressions. Levy flinched as she held her gaze and the blonde couldn't stop the harsh laugh that left her mouth.
"My, my, if it isn't my so-called 'best friend'," Lucy mockingly exclaimed causing the solid script mage to flush. "And just how have you been, Levy-chan? It's been quite a while since we've seen each other! What's wrong? You're not happy to see me?"
Lahar sighed as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose before noisily clearing his throat. He was in no mood to play any games, and there was absolutely no way that he was going to let Lucy toy with him the way she did everyone else. "Ms. Heartfilia, I'm going to be asking you a series of questions the Magic Council has provided me with. You should answer them to the best of your ability since it will determine the severity of your sentence. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
The blonde inwardly rolled her eyes at the man's stiff personality but nodded her head nonetheless. "I would prefer it if you called me Lucy," She explained. "But yes, I do follow what you're saying."
"Ms. Heartfilia, is true that you were affiliated with a Dark Guild known as Trinity?"
"Hm. Lemme think about that," Lucy hummed as she tapped on her chin thoughtfully. "Considering that you found me at the scene of the crime shouldn't you know the answer to that already? No matter, I'll humor you. Yes, I admit to being associated with the guild. I was one out of four members and went under the alias of 'Alex'. I used water magic for the majority of the time that I was there, but in my final battle as one of their members I switched to my Chaos Magic."
Lahar nodded along with what the girl had said before fiddling with a few papers on his desk. "I see. Do you admit to knowingly breaking the laws of the Magic World by joining a Dark Guild, and to several counts of theft, vandalism, and murder?"
For a moment Lucy's expression faltered. "Technically," She raised her hand, "I didn't 'join' a Dark Guild, I helped create one. Originally Trinity was just a place for gifted wizards to join where they could be protected from people prosecuting them for their magic. They were the ones that sought me out, not the other way around. It was only after I was convinced that their Guild Master died that I helped them make it into one. Mind you, it was only because the Magic Council wouldn't legalize us as a legitimate guild that things turned out this way. Things could have been different, you know."
"So I've heard. It's my understanding that Master Arlen wanted you for this 'Exitium' Magic that you have obtained, and that in the process he was accidentally injured. Hana Green confessed to manipulating you into believing that he was dead which is why you didn't come forward to the authorities." Lahar explained causing Lucy to shrug her shoulders. "Ms. Green also admitted to killing your guild mate, Aiden. She also told me something else that I found very interesting, so I'll ask you again, do you admit to one count of murder?"
Lucy's eyes narrowed into a nasty glare and she couldn't help but scoff. "No, I don't. I'm not a killer."
"But Ms. Green said-"
Everyone flinched when the blonde suddenly slammed her hands down onto the stand before jumping to her feet. Several guards stepped forward to detain her only to back down when Gran Doma raised his hand. He wanted to hear what she had to say.
"If I'm such a cold hearted murderer then why didn't I kill Erza when I had the chance? Everyone here knows that I'm not on good terms with Fairy Tail so why didn't I get rid of her while I had the chance?" She questioned. "Why didn't I kill any of them, huh?! You seem to know a lot about me already, so what's the reason?!" Lucy demanded.
"W-well," Lahar stuttered as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"Exactly. You don't know a thing about me or my past. You think I wanted to join Trinity? You think that I planned that this was going to happen?! All I wanted was to learn a new magic! I was going to go back to Fairy Tail and prove that I was strong! I never even wanted any of this to happen!" Lucy confessed.
Gran Doma stroked his beard thoughtfully before nodding at his fellow council members. "Lucy, was it?" He hummed. "It has come to the Council's attentions that we cannot adequately determine the punishment of your crimes. While you did conspire with a Dark Guild and break the laws of the Magic World, you have also saved countless lives during your time as one of Trinity's members. Several people have come forward with stories of how you saved them in the middle of an attack or warned them of upcoming raids." He explained. "It seems to me that you barely acted like you were affiliated with a Dark Guild. Your track record shows that you went on the most missions yet had the lowest fatality rates."
"So?"
"What the Head Chairman is trying to say is that the board doesn't think you should spend the rest of your life in prison for your crimes. After all, you did just confess a moment ago that you never wanted this to happen. However, we cannot just allow you to walk out of here without having a proper penalty in place. Accident or not you did break the law and you have to own up to your crimes." Org explained.
Crawford Seam sighed when he noticed that the girl still didn't follow, and gestured to the band of Faries. "We can't allow you to leave without knowing that you can be sufficiently watched over, which is why we asked Master Makarov to gather several wizards from his guild. They're going to vote on whether or not they think they can watch over you, and depending on what happens you might be set free."
"W-wait!" Lucy stuttered. Her heart lurched in her chest and she had to quickly hide her hands under the stand before anyone could see that they were shaking. This was not how things were supposed to go! "Don't I have a say in this? They can't really have complete control here! This is my life!"
"Actually," Crawford Seam chuckled, "you do."
"Then I vote no for myself. I don't want to rejoin that guild; I'd rather live out the rest of my sentence in prison."
It was ironic, really. The very guild that she despised, the group of people that stabbed her in the back so long ago, were in complete control of her future. And for some reason, that prospect made Lucy nervous. There was no way that they would really let her back into the guild, right? There was no way that she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life in prison, right? Fairy Tail never liked her in the first place, so she had nothing to worry about, right? There was absolutely no way that this was going to happen!
Lucy blood roared in her ears and she had a difficult time paying attention to the things going on around her. Her gaze snapped to the left as she saw six people raise their hands and felt her heart lurch in her chest. That was funny. When did everybody start voting?
She didn't find it that surprising that the three Strauss siblings voted against her, in fact, Lucy suspected as much since she was a co-conspirator in Lisanna's kidnapping. It was no wonder that they must have held some grudge against her, so their votes were understandable. Cana, Evergreen, and Juvia's votes, on the other hand, were not as predictable. Don't get her wrong, she didn't want to have to rejoin Fairy Tail in the first place, but she was slightly confused why they voted against her. There wasn't a real reason for them to be angry at her so their votes didn't really make all that sense.
"Juvia is sorry Love-Rival, but I don't think that we can watch over you."
"You hurt my little sister. I don't think I can ever forgive you for that."
"I just think you'll be too dangerous to be around."
There was no reason to start panicking! So far there were 7 votes against her joining the guild, including her own choice, and there were still eight more people who needed to vote. Lucy only needed one more vote to get the majority which would ensure that she got to stay in jail. There was no way the votes would get tied!
However, much to the blond's dismay, Erza, Freed, Bickslow, Gray, Wendy, Gajeel, and Levy all voted for her to join the guild. That meant that all the votes, for and against her return, were at a deadlock (tied 7 to 7). This also meant that what Lucy predicted wouldn't happen did and that Natsu's vote would ultimately determine whether or not she spent the rest of her life in prison. This one decision suddenly made all hell break loose because everyone started yelling at once.
"Be a man and vote no, Natsu! Don't forget that she's the reason Lis was kidnapped!"
"No, you have to vote yes! Don't forget that Lucy was a member of our team!"
"She was your friend!"
"She's an enemy!"
"Don't forget that Lucy is the very reason that a lot of the guild got hurt!"
"She was a member of the guild!"
"Wasn't Bunny Girl close to you?"
"You owe her this much!"
"Say no! Don't bring that trash back!"
"You can't do this!"
Everyone was surprised to have heard the blond open her mouth, and Lucy felt her breath hitch in her throat as Natsu suddenly met her gaze. Her eyes narrowed into a nasty glare as she mouthed 'No', but Natsu already had his mind made up. Time froze as Lahar asked the boy for his decision causing everyone to sit on the edge of their seats.This was it! Her life was in Natsu's hands. The weight of Lucy's entire world was solely placed on his shoulders. His decision could make or break everything she fought for!
"Luce has always been a member of the guild... She deserves to come back home. I vote yes!"
She felt her heart stop dead in her chest as Natsu's words echoed throughout her brain. Gran Doma made his final ruling, and if she hadn't trained herself on how to keep her emotions intact she probably would have burst out crying, but she managed to continue facing forward with a blank face.
"Then I hereby announce that Lucy Heartfilia shall spend the rest of her sentence under the care of Fairy Tail."
Lucy was frozen. She couldn't focus on the Head Chairmans words or bother to fight back as one of the guards helped her out of her seat; she couldn't do anything. It was like she wasn't in control of her own body anymore; like she wasn't even there. They led her down the steps and gently pushed her toward her new guild, and just like that everything was set in motion.
All she could see was red and she couldn't stop her hands as they darted out to grab fistfuls of Natsu's hair. How dare he? How dare he ruin everything she worked for? Lucy felt a burst of pride settle in her chest when she bashed his face into the desk and felt even better when she saw the blood covering the lower half of his face. Erza and Gray darted forward and tackled her to the ground but she still fought to get to her feet. This wasn't happening! There was no way this was how things were going to end! She was going to make him pay for making her suffer through this hell.
"I can feel the storm
The winds have changed
Ooh... 'cause we're worlds apart
But just the same
But we won't leave the way that we came
And I know there's so much more ahead
I can barely believe that we're here
We won't surrender quietly
Step up and watch it go"
-Thousand Foot Krutch "E for Extinction"
A/N: I just really want to thank everyone that's been reading this story. It means a lot to me that you guys are so supportive and that you've even taken time out of your day to read what I put out. I don't think I'll ever be able to express my gratitude to all of you fully, but really, thank you so much.
-It's been a while since I've heard from anybody. Are you guys enjoying the story so far? Leave a review/PM me and let me know.
~I know that in the anime Freed and Lucy aren't the 'BEST' of friends but I needed to give him a reason to fight for Lucy's sake (other than the simple fact that she used to be a member of the guild) so I made them have a nice, innocent little friendship. ALSO I'M REALLY SORRY THAT I MADE EVERGREEN SO MEAN.
*This is Ichiya's full name (according to the Fairy Tail Wiki Page.)
!VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PAGE!
Also, the next update might take a few days because I still need more of you to go and vote on the poll so I can have a better idea of where to take things.
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(Sorry if this chapter was boring. The next one will be better.)