Levy was in her chambers reading when Lucy knocked on the door and came in. Guess she forgot to lock it again. The blonde came swaying side to side and collapsed on the bed, face first into the sheets.
"Levy put me out of my misery."
"What happened this time?" The blue-haired girl asked, glancing from her novel. Even though Lucy was an assassin, she had a love for books as she did, and the two had become friend their first encounter. Lucy was like a sister to her.
"The fight at the mountain, training with Natsu, and also having to deal with Erza's bad mood, that woman is terrifying." Lucy cried.
It was true. Levy had seen what the general considered 'training,' but it was more like a death trap, one that had arrows, pits of snakes, and people standing on one foot for three hours over a caldron of boiling oil. Erza did have her friendly side, that is if the strawberry cakes didn't run out.
Levy shivered remembering the strawberry shortage three years ago.
"So how's the search coming along? Did you find out who the seal belonged to?" The blonde peeked up from the quilt to look at her friend.
Levy shrugged her shoulders. "The symbols, if separated, belong to two different men, but they have nothing on coming and live in separate kingdoms. But what I find interesting is the sword."
"The sword?" Lucy asked. "How is that strange? it looks like a sword to me."
"It's not a command style used in the human world. But I have seen it used by a certain demon and his followers, but I'm scared to accuse him of anything."
"Who is it levy?" Lucy stood up, her face serious. When levy didn't say anything, she looked at her friend dead in the eyes. "Seventeen demons are missing, Levy, three of them are children, and Zeref knows what's being done to them now. What do you know?"
"...The high minister, Mard Geer, has the same symbol. The Kris sword."
Dead silence.
"I told you, I can't come out and say, 'hay master END, the most loyal demon in this realm is possibly kidnapping his own kind because he has some sick fantasies or because he's just up to no good, either way, we need to arrest him because this symbol looks like his official seal.'"
"Ok, ok, I get it, we need more proof, but it wouldn't be wise for us to overlook this. I've never heard of someone combining their seals before, but if someone did, then Mard Geer and someone else may be working behind these disappearances, it's best we report this to Nats- I mean his lordship END."
Levy smiled. "I know you like him, Luce, so don't worry."
"Is it wrong?"
"Is what wrong?"
"Me liking Natsu?" Lucy shifted uncomfortably. "I mean I was only eight when I met him, and I always thought he was special. I don't remember a time I didn't love Natsu after I came here."
"Why do you think it's not right?" Levy asked.
"Natsu, he...he's supposed to be a man with no equal, so what chance does a human have at being his equal? As a wife? I doubt anyone would expect a human to give them what they want, least of all Natsu himself. Look at what my kind are doing to this world."
"But you not like them, Luce."
Lucy looked away ashamed. "I sometimes wish I could act human. I want to act nothing is wrong and not hide behind a cloak and daggers to protect myself. I often ask myself what it would be like to live among other humans, or what it would be like to have lived peacefully on a farm somewhere."
"Do you not want to be here?" Levy asked, a bit worried.
"No! no, I want to be here, but I also wanted to know the world I came from." She looked back at Levy with fear-stricken eyes. "Please don't tell anyone."
Levy hesitated. She could only understand some of what Lucy was going through. Being a demon, Levy was born and raised in Tartarus, but he knew the longing of seeing her own kin. Her parents had died and left her orphaned at such a young age; Levy couldn't remember their voices or faces. Sometimes, she'd be scared think of how she might look and act different then they had wanted. How if they were alive, they'd look at her and be disgusted.
"I won't."
A promise. But could she keep it?
Lord Strauss observed his eldest daughter. She had always been rebellious, and her sharp mind was almost equal to his.
"Mirajane it's a shame you won't be coming with us to meet the king. You should get to know your future brother-in-law."
Lisanna clenched her fork and nearly stabbed it into the table.
Mira never once lost her smile. "Father, I'm afraid I won't be seeing you as much from now on. My husband and I will be spending more time together, and I wish to be with him more than anything. He has been gone for three weeks, and I can't wait to be by his side again."
Though it sounded like a typical reason for a woman not to see her family, Lisanna knew the real truth. Mira didn't want their father trying to control her or her baby. Laxus didn't even know, being away on a mission, he wasn't yet aware of Mira's condition.
Thankfully, neither did their parents.
"You two have been talking a lot, what's so exciting that you had to spend an hour hidden in your room?" Lady Strauss asked.
"Mira was just telling me how a bride has to work hard for her household and for her husband. She thought it might help me with the challenges Lord END had set up."
The lord nodded his head in agreement. "See my love," he turned to his wife, "our daughters are smart and will bring this family the title and wealth it deserves."
Lisanna forced a smile. "You flatter me father, but what if our Lord makes these challenges impossible?"
"Impossible?" The lord laughed. "The king may be relatively young, but he's not stupid. He will choose a bride just as his forefather's had done."
"But you forget END's mother didn't have someone choose a select group of half-witted men to marry from." Lisanna pointing out. The late queen had defied her advisers and married the fire dragon king, an act they did not wish to see repeat itself with their new king.
"And from that irresponsible choice, the royal bloodline was ruined!" Lord Strauss raged. "Though I agree it produced a strong heir, it doesn't change the fact the queen died trying to protect the child. She could have lived if only Igneel had been there to protect her. The dragons are unreliable."
Lisanna wanted to protest, but Mira clasped her hand from underneath the table and squeezed. The young demoness stepped down and returned to eating her food, even though she wanted to throw it at her father.
The dinner continued in quiet chatter, mostly from Mira. Lisanna, however, was thinking of ways to ruin the chance of her ever becoming queen.
Natsu yawned as he scanned over the documents. It was late, and he wanted to finish his work so there would be time to do what he wanted tomorrow. That, of course, meant spending time with Lucy.
That is if he didn't fall asleep.
The thought of the blonde made Natsu want to drift off and think about the things they could do tomorrow. Unintentionally, he did.
"Natsu is this a bad time?"
The sound of Lucy's voice made the pink-haired demon snap his eyes open and look up to see Lucy standing at the open door.
"Oh, hey Luce I was just thinking about you."
Lucy grinned. "Am I so boring to think about that you fell asleep?"
'No! I mean, sorry Luce, it's these papers, and I meant to say I was thinking about what we should do tomorrow for our day off."
Her grin only grew as she came closer to his desk. "You know I think giving your guards the slip and disappearing for a few hours isn't the typical day off. Besides what if we're caught?"
"Me caught? Please, I could sneak past my father while wearing a bright pink dress."
Lucy burst out laughing. "That's oddly specific, don't tell me you've done that before?"
"No. Hopefully I never will."
The two broke out into a fit of laughter.
Natsu loved how Lucy made him laugh. In truth, she was one of the only girls to get him laugh. Erza and Levy were two, but they saw him as their friend, Lord, and brother. Lucy? He didn't know what she thought of him.
Whipping a tear from her eyes, Lucy piped up. "How about we go to the market?"
Natsu frowned. "But haven't we already been to the market?"
Lucy started to fight with her hair. Was she nervous? He'd never known her to be nervous, especially about the market.
"I...I meant the...human market."
Natsu stilled.
Lucy's face was red with embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, I was way out of my place. Forget it let's just go somewhere else, like the beach, or Gajeel's workshop or-"
"We can go."
The blonde looked like she was about to fall over from shock. "W-What?"
"We can go to a human market." He repeated.
Lucy didn't know whether his lack of surprise or his answer scared her more. Did he once thing about going to the human world too? Is that why he seemed unfazed by the idea?
"But don't you think it's a bad idea?" She asked. "Most demons or dragons would flip out at the idea."
"To be honest, I want to see why they are attacking us. This is a perfect opportunity to see why and-" He winked, "get some cool stuff."
Lucy ran up and hugged him. "Thank you, thank you." She couldn't believe she'd get to see the human world. If this was a dream, she wanted nothing but to sleep the rest of her life.
"If we're going tomorrow then you need to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow in the west tower."
Lucy stepped back, never losing her smile. "Till then my Lord."
She disappeared behind the doors, and Natsu once again started to work on the boring documents, but this time he was smiling.
