Fairy Tail High
Chapter 10: Hide and Seek
By: xSteleAliniax
It was a long and very unsuccessful game. The pair searched through countless doors, most of which teleported them to some random, far off place. Sometimes a door would open right back up into the very room they were already in, and for a brief moment the two stared back at themselves. It was an odd feeling, seeing oneself, as if through a backwards mirror.
"So, we suck at the whole 'seek' part of Hide and Seek." Loke commented. Lucy sat on a heart shaped love seat in a room that looked like some honeymoon suite. Hearts and red everywhere. A heart shaped bed with heart shaped pillows placed neatly on its silky red duvet. Red walls with pink hearts. A fireplace with no wood or fire tools. A small spa tub in the shape of a heart. And a heart shaped rug in the center, upon which the love seat sat with more heart pillows.
Lucy sat with her head in her hands, breathing ragged. She was tired from wandering around this huge castle for God-only-knew how long, and her emotional energy was also starting to reach its peak. Tears threatened, making her eyes sting from the effort to hold them back.
Loke rested against the back side of the sofa, having no need, or desire, to sit down. He simply stood thoughtfully, puzzling over everything in his mind and trying to come up with a solution. So far, he hadn't come up with anything helpful.
"This isn't fair!" Lucy wailed. "Why is it so difficult to find four people?!" She was frustrated. She didn't understand how she could spend so much some searching and still not find a single person. "We haven't even run into any of the Raven Tail guild." Loke snorted.
"Did you want to run into those monsters?"
Lucy sighed. "Well, no. But still. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that not one of them has shown themselves in all the time that we've been here? We have to have been here for at least two hours already! And we haven't exactly been quiet." Lucy's bare toes curled into the plush red rug at her feet. It was a habit of hers whenever she was stressed out or anxious.
"Has it been that long?" Loke mused, unconcerned. Lucy growled. "I'm sorry, Princess. Your stunning beauty has distracted me from this most unfortunate situation."
"Oh, put a sock in it, Loke!" She snapped, then sighed. "I guess we should get back to our search. Before someone finds US first."
"Yes, that would be most inconvenient." Loke agreed. He stood up straight and stretched his arms over his head like a cat. Lucy stood as well, smoothing out the fabric of her dress, which was looking a little worse for wear after traipsing around in it for hours. Not that she was bitter about it. OR the fact that she no longer had shoes. Where was Virgo with a new outfit when you needed her?
"Let's move on." She said. Loke nodded and followed silently behind her. The duo walked to the only door in the heart room they hadn't already tried-the first door they tried had led them back to the room with the spinning floor (and Lucy was certainly in no rush to repeat that particular experience), the second door they tried brought them to a freaking JUNGLE and they just barely avoided getting eaten by a huge cougar, and then there was the door they'd come in from, which had mysteriously disappeared. That left one more.
Lucy held out a hand on the knob, hesitating.
"Do you wish for me to go in first?" Loke offered, ever her gallant lion. She shook her head.
"No. I have to be brave. I can't be afraid of this stupid house, or of Raven Tail."
"As you wish, Princess."
Lucy took a deep breath and then twisted the knob, pushing through the door and nearly stumbling through to the other side. The door slammed closed behind her. She winced at the noise.
"Miss Diamond, you are very late to my class."
Lucy spun around so fast her back cracked painfully. She winced again. Her eyes went wide as she stared around the brightly lit room of her Biology class. Mr. Col's dark eyes glared over at her from where he stood at the white board, pen in hand. He looked smart as ever, in a tailored charcoal gray suit with a navy tie and black shoes. She didn't remember ever seeing him in this particular suit, so this couldn't be a memory, could it?
"Eh?!" She gave a start of surprise. How had she gotten HERE?! Wasn't she still at the Raven Tail mansion? Was this more teleportation magic? And if so, why the hell would she end up back at school?!
She flipped around in a full circle. Where had Loke gone?
"If you're not going to take a seat, Miss Diamond, I'll have no choice but to send you to the office." Mr. Col snapped. Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but then a familiar voice spoke up from the back of the room.
"Luce! Where ya been?!"
She turned and saw the pinkette grinning over at her. She gaped. Huh?!
"Natsu?!" She exclaimed, ignoring the seething glare Mr. Col was giving her. "When did you get here?!"
"Uh, thirty-six minutes ago. When class stared." He frowned over at her, now looking concerned. "I waited for you by your locker, but you never showed."
"As much as I adore listening to this lover's quarrel," Mr. Col interrupted, voice dripping with sarcasm. "This is a classroom, Mr. Dragneel. If you have things you wish to discuss, do it on your own time." He sent Lucy another glare and then pointed to the back of the class. "Have a seat, young lady." Lucy gulped, but headed to her seat. She sat down next to Natsu, who sent her another worried look.
"What's with you all of a sudden?" He whispered when their teacher had their back to them.
"Me?!" She hissed back. "What's with you? And how did we get here? What door did you go through?" She glanced around the room, thinking Natsu had to have come in through a different door than she did, but she only saw the one.
"What are you talking about? I came through the same door as always." He gave a shake of his head, then turned his attention back to the front of the room. "Geez, you're weird today."
She blinked several times, trying to figure out what the hell was going on! Okay, so she was just at the Raven Tail mansion, right? She was in the heart room with Loke, went through a door, and ended up back at Fairy Tail High... But, how? And what's more, Natsu was here too! But he seemed to have no memory of being at Raven Tail's base. Either she was going crazy, or something weird was going on.
She glanced over at the door she'd just come through. She could just make out the neat row of grayish-blue lockers that lined the walls of the school through the small, square window. She found that to be the most confusing part. All the other times she had gone through one of the spelled doors, there hadn't been a door on the other side to get back through. And when there HAD been a door, such as the times she and Loke had wound up back in the very room they were just in, all you could make out from inside was a dark hole. Plus, she'd never encountered people from the spelled doors before.
"Miss Diamond, I asked you a question." Mr. Col's voice snapped her back to attention.
"Uh... I'm sorry?" She squeaked out. "Huh?!" When she glanced back up, she noticed that the classroom was now empty, apart from her and Mr. Col. She glanced beside her to where Natsu had just been, but even he was now gone. "Wh-Where did everyone go?" She stammered, feeling a chill run down her spine. Mr. Col smiled, but the expression was most definitely not friendly.
"Oh, everyone has left, I'm afraid." His voice changed, going lower and turning more menacing. She sunk into her chair, terror making her body feel numb. "It's just you and me, Lucy Heartfilia."
"H-How do you know my name?" She managed to get out. Mr. Col still stood by the white board, but instead of a marker in his hand, he held a purplish card. What the-?
"We've been looking for you, Lucy," he went on like she hadn't spoken. He flipped the card into the air before him and it split into a second card. They fell back into his hand. He peered at them casually, then looked back up at her with an evil smirk. "It was really quite foolish on your father's part to send you to Fairy Tail High, of all the schools in Fiore." He laughed a bitter laugh, making Lucy cringe. She reached for her keys at her hip, only to realize that she didn't have them. Crap! Well, she couldn't just sit there acting helpless.
She slid out of her seat, legs slightly shaking from fear. Mr. Col, or whoever he was, didn't seem even remotely phased that she had gotten up. He obviously did not see her as much of a threat, a realization that made anger burn through her. She would show this jerk what she was made of. She balled her hands into fists and took up a fighting stance. He smirked at her and let out a low chuckle.
"Ooh, a little girl is going to try and defeat me, the master of Raven Tail? How intriguing."
"Huh?!" Master? She paled. The Mr. Col look alike laughed loudly now.
"Do you like my illusion, little girl?" He spread his arms out wide for emphasis. Illusion? So... This room wasn't apart of some spell-trap? She guessed that made sense, seeing as Natsu had been there. Lucy swallowed hard and resisted the urge to bolt. She stayed firm, holding her battle stance.
"Where are my friends?" She demanded. He raised an eyebrow.
"Friends? You mean all those pitiful wizards?" He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know... Where did I last see them...?"
"Give them back, or else!" Luce pointed a stern finger at him. He looked at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
"Simmer down, little girl. I do not wish to engage with you." He slid the cards between his fingers. "At least, not yet. I still have plans for you, Celestial Wizard. However, that doesn't mean my minions can't have their fun." He grinned widely. "Be gone!" He threw the cards at her. She shrieked and covered her face with her arms. Something slammed into her, hard, and then came the sensation of flying, or perhaps more accurate would be to say, falling.
She landed hard on her hands and knees, wincing as pain shot through her. The room she was now in was dark as pitch, giving no indication of its appearance.
"Crap," she whispered, tears pooling in her brown eyes now. She was such a failure! She wasn't having any luck in finding her friends. She'd been searching for what felt like hours already with no luck! There was just no way to find them in this huge house! Especially when every other door she tried led her to some place that was nowhere near this house or even Magnolia. And now she had lost Loke, too! If her friends were having similar trouble, then it was unlikely she would be able to find them. They could be stuck in this house forever.
"No!" She wailed, slamming a fist into a hard-tiled floor. She sobbed there, unable to hold back her frustrations any longer. This was an impossible task! She was completely alone now. Alone in this twisted wizard home. What was she supposed to do? She would never get out of here at this rate!
"Loke!" She cried, trying to pull open his gate. "Virgo! Gemini! Somebody!" Violent sobs wracked her body. It was no use. She had no magic energy left, and without their keys it was next to impossible anyway. Her friends were missing, her spirits couldn't pass through their gates to help her. She was alone.
"Uh, oh. Poor itty bitty wizard." A voice cackled from somewhere in the room. Lucy sat up straighter, peering around the impossibly dark room. Not that alone...
"Who said that?!" She yelled out, slowly backing toward the wall.
"No, no, wittle wizard." A hand clamped down on her shoulder, holding her in place. "I'm not done with you yet. I still want to play!" A high-pitched laugh. Lucy winced.
"What do you want?!" She wailed, tears still dripping from her eyes. Her luck was not with her this evening. First Flare, then this whole damn house, and now this crazy chick! Was she a part of Raven Tail, too? Maybe she was one of the minions the Raven Tail master had spoken of... "Let me go!" She pulled against the hand that held her shoulder but it didn't so much as budge. She kept a firm grip on Lucy.
"I don't think so, little girly." She hissed in Lucy's ear. Lucy growled. She wished everyone would stop calling her that! "I know! How about we play some catch! I'll throw you across the room, and you try to catch yourself before you slam into any sharp objects!" The woman laughed menacingly. Lucy froze.
"N-No, stop! Please!" Lucy begged. She was completely defenseless without her spirits! She couldn't fight this woman without them!
"Ready?" The woman picked Lucy up by the arm with one hand. "Catch!" She threw Lucy hard and she flew across the room impossibly fast, slamming hard into the opposite wall before falling to the floor. Her arm hit something sharp, like a knife. She cried out in pain. What was that?
"Ahahaha!" The woman cackled loudly. "That was great! Let's have another go!" In a flash, Lucy felt the woman beside her, pulling her up roughly by her arm, the injured one. Lucy cried out again. "You want to know what I do for fun?" She squeezed Lucy's hurt arm roughly. "I like to make art out of boards and nails. Let's see if I can make you stick to one of them! I have a whole wall over there covered in my beautiful art work!"
"What?!" Nails?! This would not be good. Lucy struggled against the woman's hold, terrified. "Stop! NATSU! Someone! HELP ME!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The woman only laughed.
"No one is going to hear you, wittle girly. It's just you and me in here! And soon, you'll be a more permanent feature in this room." She lifted Lucy up, despite her struggles, and gave her another hard throw across the room. Lucy screamed loudly and braced for impact. She was going to die here. She would never help her friends now. Never see Levy again, or Mira, or-
"LUCY!" Natsu's voice cut into her thoughts. His strong arms caught her as she flew toward the wall of nails, just in time. "Lucy! Are you okay?!" He set her on her feet but kept his hands on her arms.
"I t-think so." She whispered pitifully, body shaking.
"Don't worry, Luce. I'm here now." He cracked his knuckles and peered over at the other woman.
"Hmph," the woman grumbled from across the room. "This just got terribly unfair. Two against one?"
"You hurt Lucy." Natsu's voice was a low growl. "You're gonna pay for that."
"Don't be so possessive, little dragon." The woman sneered. "You can have the blonde bimbo. I'm bored now. She doesn't even put up a fight!" A whooshing wind blew past them, blowing Lucy's hair back.
"HEY!" Natsu groaned in frustration.
"What happened?" Lucy asked. She was really tired of being in the dark!
"She's gone." He sighed heavily. "Wait," he sniffed the air. "Luce, are you bleeding?!"
"Huh?" Was she? Oh, right, she'd fallen on something. "Oh, it's just a scratch, I think."
"Hold on," he stepped away from her and she could hear his footsteps walking across the room. Suddenly a bright burst of light filled the room.
"Ah," Lucy squinched her eyes shut and covered them with her hands. "Too bright."
"Sorry," he came back over to her and pulled gently on her left arm. "Let me see." She let her arms fall loose. She blinked at the sudden brightness until her eyes were finally able to adjust. Natsu had narrowed eyes as he looked at her wound. "It's not deep. I think you'll be okay. But still," He let the arm go and then pulled his t-shirt off and ripped a strip off. She gaped at his exposed chest, feeling her cheeks heat. He had a finely chiseled chest with taut muscles. Not that she was staring... He wrapped the strip of fabric around her injury and tied it into a knot.
"I've always wanted to do that," he said with a grin. She stared at him in disbelief for half a second before a laugh sputtered out.
"You're so weird. But thanks. You saved me."
"Anytime, Luce!" Those full lips pulled up into a smile. For a moment, she just stared at them, wondering what it would be like to feel them with her own. She flushed and looked away.
"Uh, so how did you find me?" She asked. Idiot! You can't be thinking about kissing at a time like this! What is wrong with you?!
"I heard you calling to me so I ran as fast as I could." He said, voice thoughtful. "I don't even really know where I came from exactly. But I knew that it was your voice. So, I raced straight forward until I found you!" She turned and saw another huge grin on his face.
"Well, that was good luck then." She said. "Have you found anyone else yet?" He slumped.
"No. I keep getting lost! This house is such a maze."
"Have you been inside the house this whole time?" She asked. By the way he was talking, it didn't sound like he had come across any of the spelled doors. Which she thought was strange since nearly every door she opened was spelled.
"Yeah, I just keep going in circles!" Natsu complained, scratching his head. "I open one door and end up exactly where I just was five minutes before! It's such a pain!"
"I was just in Mr. Col's classroom." Lucy said, pointing at the door she'd come through.
"What?!" Natsu gaped at her. "What do you mean you were in Mr. Col's class?!"
"Yeah, but I don't think it was really Mr. Col. He said he was Raven Tail's master." Lucy shuddered a bit at the thought. She decided not to mention that he himself had also been in that room, or that it had apparently been some strange illusion. "He used some strange magic to send me into this room. He could have killed me, but he didn't, and I don't know why!"
"Wait," Natsu interjected before she could continue. "You just went up against the master of Raven Tail by yourself?" He gaped at her.
"Well, yeah, technically, but he didn't try to fight me. He just threw me into this room."
"With a crazy woman who threw you around like a rag doll." Natsu deadpanned. Right... "Lucy, where did you come in from exactly?"
"Huh?" She glanced around the room, then pointed in the general direction she thought she fell from. "Somewhere over there, I think. It was really dark in here, though."
"Through that door?" Natsu pointed.
"I didn't just walk in here, Natsu." Lucy said, trying not to snap at him. "I told you I was sort of dropped in here by some spell."
Natsu ignored her and walked over to the door near the spot she had indicated, and pulled on the door handle, grimacing at the effort.
"It's-stuck!" He heaved, but the door wouldn't open.
Lucy stood and walked over to where Natsu still pulled on the door handle.
"It's probably one of those spelled doors." Lucy mused. "Supposedly they only open once."
"What do you mean?" Natsu stopped pulling at the door and looked over at her, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "What spell?"
"Loke told me-"
"Who's Loke?"
"One of my spirits!" She exclaimed. "Anyway, he told me that a lot of the doors here are spelled with transportation magic. I've been to some snowy mountain, a jungle, and just now I ended up in Mr. Col's classroom. A few other weird places, too."
Natsu's expression was pained when she looked back at him. "What?"
"Transportation magic?" His voice wavered. His face turned green. "That's... My worst... Nightmare..." Lucy rolled her eyes.
"It's not like that. It's more... Ah, teleportation magic, that's what Loke said."
"That's the same thing!" He groaned. "Either way your being transported somewhere!" Lucy laughed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, let's try not to get stuck in any more of those spells then, shall we?"
"Sounds good to me!" Natsu lifted his hand for a high five. Lucy rolled her chocolate brown eyes but slapped her hand to his anyway.
"Well, there's two of us now." Lucy said. "Maybe we'll have some better luck?"
"Yeah!" Natsu agreed with a crooked grin. "I'm fired up, Luce!"
A/N: First off, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you guys for supporting this story. 90 followers? 63 favorites?! I am so incredibly grateful and happy! You guys are amazing! And ever so patient. This is my first attempt at a chapter fic, since all I have done previously has been one-shots, and I've been so surprised (in a good way!) at how well this has done. I wouldn't have ever come this far without your guys' unwavering support. So thank you so much! I hope you know how much I appreciate all of you! Fresh baked cookies for everyone!
A/N 2: Oh, and a special thank you to yellowchickadee for always giving me play-by-play commentary on every single chapter and one-shot I publish, no matter what. Your support does not go unnoticed. Hearts for you!
A/N 3: ALSOOO, a thank you to ObeliskX for suggesting i write a Fairy Tail high school AU, in the first place. I wouldn't have even thought of this without your suggestion, so thank you!
Celestic1234: It is a very peculiar house, isn't it? XD Your excitement over this story makes me very happy!
Moon Stone Tiger Lily: Um, badass enough? XD She will definitely get her moment in the spotlight, as I am a HUGE fan of "Badass Lucy." We all know Lucy is no damsel, she just has to realize that herself! So you don't have keys, you're still awesome, Lucy!
Guest: Thank you for the compliment! I suppose Natsu is a bit OOC... I am trying to balance out his denseness and his sexiness, haha. And don't worry, they will definitey be spending some more time at the school! XD
xXPokeFictionXx: That would be something she would do XD Lucy needs some clothes, I think. Not that it's abnormal for her to fight in short skirts, haha.