Chapter 9
Run Away
After packing her backpack with a spare blanket and a few selected essentials from her room, Alu quickly changed out of her Celestial Garments and into her regular cloths. Once she was dressed, she stopped and stood where she was for a moment.
She had to prepare herself for the hardest task of all: sneaking into her parents' room and taking Aquarius's key from her mother's dresser without waking them up.
Alu swallowed hard and wiped the sweat from her palms onto her vest. She knew that she was going to have to be extremely careful with this task. It wasn't her mother she was worried about catching her.
It was her father.
Natsu and Alu both had the sense of Dragons. That also meant that Natsu had ears like a bat. It didn't matter if he was a heavy sleeper, if he ever heard anything out of the ordinary, he would be wide awake in a second.
Alu remembered this when some burglars were dumb enough to break into the house about three years ago. They only got as far as sneaking in through one of the windows before they were met with a fully awake, and fully enraged, Natsu. They didn't even have time to steal anything. The moment he heard them open the window, he was up and out like a rocket.
Fortunately for Alu, unlike those bundling burglars, she was a pretty good sneak. After all, she was able to steal all the drinks from behind the bar yesterday, and go unnoticed for two hours. That took skill, if she did say so herself.
Of course, this mission she was about to take had more riding on it that simple prank did. She would have to rely on all of her sneaking skills for this one.
"Okay," Alu whispered, "let's get this over with."
After carefully opening her door, Alu crept down the hall. Rolling her feet from heel to toe with each step she took, she snuck to her parents' room. It was open just a crack, which was good for Alu. It meant she didn't have to worry about turning the knob. Still, she had to be careful when opening it. Slowly, cautiously, she pushed the door open. Much to her relief, it didn't make so much as a squeak. When she opened it wide enough for her to slip through, she side-stepped into the room.
She stood where she was for a moment, holding her breath and pressing herself up against the wall. Even though the room was dark, and only had limited amount of moonlight spilling in from the windows, Alu could tell that both of her parents were asleep. Natsu had stopped snoring by now and was just breathing as regularly as any other person sleeping soundly would.
"Okay," Alu thought to herself, "so far so good. Now, let's see."
Alu looked up and frowned. Her mother's dresser was clear on the other side of the room.
"Of course it would be all the way over there. Ugh, why does everything have to be so complicated? Oh well, I'll just have to be extremely careful."
Alu crouched down on all fours and began to crawl. Hardly daring to breath, she began to make her way around the bed and towards the dresser. She stuck as close to framework of the bed as she could to conceal herself from her parents' line of vision in case they happen to wake up. It should be able to work, considering how dark the room was. And provided that Natsu's keen sense of smell would still be dulled by sleep.
As Alu neared the furthest bedpost, she heard her father begin to stir. She froze right where she was, her heart-rate spiking in alarm. She cupped her hand over her mouth and nose to prevent herself from breathing loudly. She waited for one fearful moment to see what would happen. Luckily, her sensitive hearing picked up the sound him just groaning and turning over onto his other side. She waited for a second to see if he would do anything else.
Nothing happened.
Alu let out a relieved, silent breath of air and slowly stood up. She then crept over to her mother's dresser.
"Okay, which drawer was it in?" she thought anxiously. "Oh right, it was the top one on the left."
Alu grabbed the handle of the drawer, and it easily slide open without making much of a sound. She couldn't see very well inside the compartment, but she was afraid to use her Dragon Fire for light. She would have to feel for it. She remembered what the box looked like and how it felt in her hands before. So all she had to do was feel for the box with the wave patterns carved into it.
"Oh, I just hope Mom didn't put it under anything," she frowned.
Gently, Alu began to feel for that box. She lightly touched all of the contents within the space for any sign of her intended target, but all she was feeling was necklaces, rings, bracelets, watches, and other large jewelry boxes. Cold sweat began to form on her face with each passing moment. Now she was really worried that her parents were going to wake up any moment.
She was about to lose her nerve when her hand landed on a small object. Feeling a thrill of hope, she felt all around the exterior and felt the wavy carvings. This was the box, it had to be.
Alu picked it up and immediately opened it. She smiled brightly and her eyes seemed to sparkle when she saw that it contained the hilt of Aquarius's key.
She found it!
She was so elated by her accomplishment that she almost forgot about the situation she was in. The moment she picked the key out…
The box slipped out of her hand and fell into the dresser drawer with a small wooden "clank".
Alu jumped in alarm and turned around sharply. To her horror, the sound had wakened her father. Even though he was turned away from her, she could hear him starting to wake up.
She had to hide before he saw her! But where?!
With time running out, Alu looked around franticly for a place to conceal herself.
Drowsily, Natsu sat up and looked around. He was sure that he had heard something like a small woody crash, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then again, the room was dark and he couldn't really see much. Except for what the moonlight allowed his eyes to see.
However, Natsu did manage to see that one of Lucy's dresser drawers was open. Curiously, he removed the covers and swung he legs over the side of the bed. His upper body was completely bare. All he had on was a pair of loose pants that went down to his ankles. He slowly stood up and walked over to the dresser. When he reached it, he lazily raised an eyebrow.
Was that open before? He tried to remember if it was, but his mind was still groggy.
He pushed the drawer closed and looked around again. Still he saw nothing. And his senses were still rather drowsy, so he couldn't really get a clear smell of anything other than what was inches in front of him, which wasn't much at all.
Finally, he just gave a shrug, dismissing the noise as just his imagination. He then turned around and walked back to the bed.
However, although Natsu had looked all over the room, there was one crucial direction he didn't think to look.
Up.
Holding herself flat up against the ceiling, Alu pressed her hands and feet up and out against the rafters with all the strength she had. The look on her face was one of near-comical terror, and her whole body was beginning to shake from both the adrenaline coursing through her, and the force of her muscles trying to keep her from slipping.
Just before her father had gotten up and turned around, Alu had swiftly leapt up on to the dresser and jumped up to the ceiling. There, she watched agonizingly as Natsu made his way to the dresser. Her heart nearly stopped beating entirely when he stopped directly under her and turned his head in every direction for any sign of her.
The whole time, the only thing that was going through her head was, "Please don't look up! Please don't look up! PLEASE don't look up!".
Finally, much to Alu's deflating relief, her father just gave a shrug and went back to bed. She was also lucky that he decided lay down on his side instead of his back. In just few seconds, he was out like a light.
"That…was too close." Alu's thoughts sighed. "You know, all that training Dad gave me is really paying off."
Taking in another deep, soundless breath of air, Alu braced herself and let herself drop down to the ground. Her feet barely made any noise when they made contact with the floor. She got back down on all fours and snuck out of the room. She took only a moment or two to catch her breath before creeping back to her room.
Knowing that Happy was sleeping out in the living room, and not wanting to have another sneak that could possibly give her a panic attack, Alu decided to leave by way of her bedroom window. After silently closing her door, and gathering up her backpack and Celestial Keys, she carefully opened the window to her room and jumped out.
Alu ran just a few yards away from the house and took in deep, refreshing breath of nighttime air.
"Ah, glad that's over," she said out loud to herself. "Now all I need to do now is wait for Aquarius, and we're on our way."
Just then, a snooty, arrogant voice came from behind Alu.
"Tch, you wait for me?"
Alu jumped and sharply caught her breath to keep herself from screaming. She whipped around to see Aquarius and Aries standing just behind her. She scowled at Aquarius. That was her voice that startled her, and she knew Aquarius did that on purpose.
"Don't scare me like that!" Alu snapped at the Water Spirit. "I've already almost had a heart-attack trying to get your stupid key!"
"Well, you sure took your sweet time getting it." Aquarius said self-righteously. "We've been waiting for you for the past hour."
Alu snarled at the remark. It didn't take her that long to retrieve Aquarius's key hilt and that pompous Spirit knew it.
But before Alu could snap back, Aries quickly stepped forward.
"I'm sorry," she said, trying to be assertive in her own little shy way, "but shouldn't we get going?"
"Hold on, you're coming with us?" Alu asked the Golden Ram Spirit, becoming curious. "I'd thought you'd stay in the Spirit World until I summoned you."
"Well, um," Aries replied coyly, twiddling her fingers, "the Celestial Spirit King said I could join you. I just want to make sure…I just want us all to get along. And don't worry about losing magic, I can use my own magic to keep my gate open for you."
"Okay." Alu said. "Well, I do want to get a good distance away before my parents discover I'm gone. The Celestial Spirit King said the Valley of Gates is east of Magnolia, and it's going to take us three days to get there on foot. And another thing; Celestial Spirits can't survive long in the human world. So, I take it you guys have a way of making sure you don't run out of life force energy while you're here."
In response, Aries opened the blue and pink hip pouch around her waist. She reached in it and pulled out a small vile filled with a strange kind of lilac-colored liquid that seemed to be glowing.
"This is Astral Elixir." Aries explained. "The Celestial Spirit King gave me and Aquarius three viles each. Each vile will last for one day in the human world. It'll regenerate our life forces and Magic Power."
"Good." Alu nodded. "So, you guys ready?"
"Yeah," Aquarius replied contemptuously, "was ready a long time ago. Just waiting on you, slow-poke. And if you don't mind, I would like to get this over with. I have a date with my boyfriend coming up, and I don't want to miss it because of some little scruff munchkin like you holding me up."
"Believe me," Alu snarled with irritation, "I want to get this over with as much as you do. Now, let's get moving."
With that, the little trio set their course due east and set out. While Alu and Aries ran, Aquarius levitated beside them, making undulating motions with her tail as if she was swimming under water.
Before they were out of sight of the house, Alu stopped and looked to look back at her home.
"Mom. Dad. Please don't worry. I promise I'll be back soon."
Alu then turned away and ran to catch up with the two Celestial Spirits.
The Next Morning…
Lucy, dressed in a white bathrobe, was cooking breakfast for her family. She was frying up some scrambled eggs and along with some bacon. On the counter beside the stove, Happy was sitting down and munching on the last of his fish breakfast. Pretty soon, Natsu walked into the kitchen, dressed in his usual outfit. He stretched his arms and gave a big yawn. That was a sign to Lucy and Happy that he was still waking up.
"Morning, Natsu." Lucy greeted her husband with a smile. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah, for the most part." Natsu replied, walking up beside his wife and putting an arm around her shoulders. "You?"
"Well, aside from your relentless snoring for two hours, it was fine." Lucy grinned sarcastically.
"Aye." Happy said. "You should probably consider getting that checked out, Natsu. I could hear you all the way from the living room."
"Very funny." Natsu replied indifferently. "You've lived with me for years and you haven't complained about it before."
"Yeah, but back then it wasn't as bad."
"Whatever."
Natsu then turned his attention to the food sizzling in the frying pan.
"So, eggs and bacon for breakfast again?"
"Yes." Lucy replied sharply. "It was quick and easy to make."
"Hey, I'm not complainin'. Just making an observation." Natsu shrugged. "So when are they gonna be done?"
"In a few seconds." Lucy simply replied. "Why don't you go get Alu?"
"She's not up yet?" Natsu asked.
"I guess she decided to sleep in." Lucy said. "I haven't seen her all morning."
"I'll go see if she's up yet." Happy offered, his Aera Wings already appearing on his back.
"Okay." Natsu nodded. "Thanks, little buddy."
As the little blue Exceed flew out of the kitchen and down the all to Alu's room, Natsu took his arm off of Lucy and turned to go sit take a seat at the table. But as Lucy turned off the stove and carried the frying pan over to three plates, he turned back quickly and snatched a piece of bacon from the frying pan. At first, Lucy was startled by this and nearly dropped the pan. She quickly recovered and turned to Natsu with an irritated expression.
However, her attitude changed in an instant and she laughed along with Natsu as the pink-haired man shoved the bacon onto his mouth.
"Just so you know you're not getting an extra piece for that." Lucy warned playfully.
"Yeah, fine. Whatever you say, Lu." Natsu replied carelessly, his mouth full of bacon.
Natsu was about to sit down when both he and Lucy heard Happy give a startled scream.
"NATSU! LUCY!"
Natsu and Lucy both jolted and looked up in alarm. Lucy set the frying pan onto the counter, and she and Natsu ran to where they heard Happy scream. They hadn't gone down the hall when Happy flew straight at them and slammed into the center of Natsu's chest, making the Dragon Slayer grunt. Happy turned his head and looked up at Natsu with panic in his eyes.
"Happy, what's wrong?!" Lucy asked, worried.
"It's Alu!" Happy cried. "She's gone!"
"WHAT?!" Natsu and Lucy shrieked in unison.
The two them ran down to Alu's room. The both stopped and stared in horror when they saw that the window to room was left wide open, and Alu was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, they also saw that Alu's backpack was gone as well.
"Oh, no!" Lucy cupped her hands over her mouth. "Don't tell me that she ran off again!"
Natsu scowled with concern as he took in the situation. Alu had snuck away from them to go on solo missions before, but never like this. There was something definitely wrong.
He turned sharply to his wife.
"Lucy, get dressed!" he ordered. "Happy and I will head down to the guild! If hurry, we might still be able to catch Alu! Or at least find someone whose seen her!"
"O-Okay!" Lucy nodded. "Just hurry! I'll be there as soon as I can!"
"Right! C'mon, Happy!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy replied.
With that, Lucy headed back to their bedroom to change while Natsu ran across Alu's room and jumped out of the open window. Happy flew close behind him. The moment Natsu was outside, he set out in a dead-sprint toward the city of Magnolia. He didn't stop running, even after he got within the city limits. He didn't even see the pedestrians in front of him as he ran down the streets. Happy had to scream to everyone to make sure they got out of the way of the Dragon Slayer's charge.
The only thing that was on Natsu's mind was finding his daughter before it was too late.
"Alu," he thought with concern, "this better not be another one of your stunts!"
