IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN ANY FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT NOR THE COVER PHOTO: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!
PROFANITY WARNING
In which it's revealed that Lucy has scars from other people.
"There's a dark room inside of my head
Developing images I'd rather forget
You laced your tongue with a poison
And it makes me remember
Every night I look out my window
Afraid you might return for more."
- Magnolia Town : Fiore -
With a startled gasp, Lucy's eyes flew open in a panic as she bolted upright; frantically looking around her bedroom as if she were in some foreign location instead. After realizing that she was, in fact, within the confines of her own house, and not somewhere else, she sighed and buried her face in her hands. Shakily, Lucy straightened out her back and ran a trembling hand through her hair (cringing upon finding out that it was matted with sweat) as she fought to catch her breath. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at the tiny lacrima sitting on her windowsill, which displayed the time, and groaned when she saw in big, red blaring numbers just how early it was.
Yet again she had woken up at the ungodly hour of 4:45 in the morning, an occurrence that had happened every night since she rejoined Fairy Tail two weeks ago.
In annoyance, Lucy threw the covers off of her legs and shifted in her bed so that she could stand up. Knowing full well that no matter how hard she tried or wished she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, the blonde started toward her bathroom at an almost lethargic pace. Hesitantly, Lucy flicked on the light to the tiny room and glared at the reflection that was displayed in the medicine cabinet above the sink.
"Even with bedhead, you're still so pretty, Lucy-chan! I'm so jealous~"
Wincing, the Stellar Spirit Mage clutched onto the counter in front of the sink. Behind her eyes burned the image of bloodied hands, dripping with the red liquid like something straight out of a horror movie. Lucy's throat started to constrict as the picture got clearer, revealing a set of hands that were her own, and a sob almost tore through her throat as gurgling sounds roared in her ears. Without having to look, she reached out and turned the nob on the sink to turn on the water before grabbing the bar of soap to her left.
"Your hands have to be one of the prettiest things about you, though. They're one of my favorite things about you!"
Lucy had to clench her teeth to keep her screams in; the phantom image burning brighter than ever inside of her head. She continued to scrub her hands with the bar of soap, using an almost punishing strength, to the point that her skin could be rubbed raw if she kept her bruising pace up. Nausea bubbled up in Lucy's throat as memories she locked away started to resurface; wanting nothing more than the haunting pictures flashing within her head to just disappear.
In her frenzied state to clean her hands of any invisible grime, Lucy accidentally lets go of the bar of soap causing it to drop down to the bottom of the sink. Only the sounds of running water and her harsh pants echoed throughout the room, leaving the Stellar Spirit Mage's sanity nothing to hold on with. Quickly, she rinsed off her hands and turned off the water, abandoning the soap in favor of a speedy escape. Not soon enough, Lucy slammed the bathroom door shut; almost sprinting back into her room.
"That happened months ago," She scolded herself, "stop thinking about it already; what's done is done. You only did what you had to. This wasn't your fault."
Lucy knew from experience that by agonizing over past events would only make things worse, so she quickly found tasks to busy her mind with. First, she made herself a cup of tea, which proved to be difficult with her shaking hands, that went undrained, and a breakfast that was never touched. After cleaning her dishes, Lucy scurried back into her bedroom and made her bed. All around the house, she tidied up anything else that looked like it needed fixing before collapsing back onto her bed.
"Such a busy body, all of the time! Don't you ever get tired of doing so much work on your own, Lucy-chan? You can always ask me for help~"
If she could have, the blonde Stellar Spirit Mage would've left her apartment and found somewhere else to go. Hell, she'd even willingly spend time with Natsu if that meant getting the chance of leaving the house and escaping her thoughts, but that, of course, was nothing more than a fantasy. Precautionary measures had to be made (according to Evergreen, at least) to make sure that Lucy had no way to escape her apartment when unsupervised, and because the blonde mage didn't want to be watched over every second of ever day, Freed placed down some runes around her building that restricted her from leaving without the company of a few, select Fairy Tail wizards.
And since it wouldn't be a few more hours until Erza, or somebody else, came to fetch her, Lucy was stuck inside a cage with nothing to do but face the demons she tried so hard to wash away. Just her luck.
"Don't worry Lucy-chan, it'll all be OK! I'll always be here for you!"
"I love you, and I know that in due time you'll love me too!"
"Aw, don't act like that! I'm all that you need."
"It's just you and me now, Lucy-chan."
"Why do you look so afraid of me?"
"I know I can make you happy."
"You can't leave me!"
"Say you love me."
"Lucy?"
Groaning, Lucy threw an arm over her face. She had half a mind to start yanking chunks of her hair from her head when the voice continued speaking had something unexpected not happen immediately after. You know what they say, after all: "Speak of the Devil and the Devil shall come."
"..Luce? Are you OK?"
Wide-eyed, Lucy was practically gaping as she rolled over onto her stomach and looked out of the window next to her bed. Out on the street below stood Natsu, half of his face buried underneath his scarf, with his hands shoved into his pockets; the same stunned expression tugging at his lips.
The Stellar Spirit Mage was disgusted with how flustered she suddenly felt, the walls around her heart going up with full force upon recognizing the pink head of hair.
"What do you want?" She spat causing Natsu to grin sheepishly.
Rubbing the back of his neck, the Fire Dragon Slayer looked at everything except for the person that was once considered his close friend. Idly, he kicked at a pebble laying in the middle of the street as he thought up a proper response.
"N-nothing," He coughed, awkwardly, "I ended up having a pretty bad dream and I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to go out for a walk... For some reason, I ended up all the way over here, though, and I saw you from the window." Daringly, he looked up from his feet only to flinch as he saw Lucy's unimpressed glare. Tensely, he asked, "So... Are you Ok?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business seeing as we're not even friends."
Natsu nodded his head. "Well, technically you're not friends with me, but that doesn't mean I'm not friends with you. It's kinda like a two-way street, you know? Just because you decide to be mean to me, doesn't mean that I automatically have to change my own feelings. Nothing's ever gonna change the fact that I have the right to be concerned for you, either. And," he smirked playfully, "there's nothing you can do right now to make me leave, so I guess you'll just have to deal with my mini-interrogation."
"That is totally not how relationships work!" Lucy scoffed, exasperated at the boys reasoning. "The feeling has to be mutual for the relationship to work! I'm also pretty sure that you'll take that last part back when Erza kicks your ass for waking me up. Do you even know what an interrogation is, Dragneel?"
He chuckled. "You know, you were already awake when I was over here; I'm just an innocent passerby who happened to walk by at the same time. Besides, it's not like it would be the first time Erza's ever given me a beating either, so I'm not really all that worry about your empty threats."
"You say that now, but it'll be a whole different story when she's actually around to do it."
"Yeah, yeah," Natsu waved her off, "Are you going to answer my question or are we just going to continue and waste time by dodging the subject?"
Lucy scowled. If she could open her window she would've thrown something at his stupid pink head by now. "Are you going to continue to bother me or are you actually going to go home?"
"I've got all morning to be here, you know. You're the one who's stuck inside without anything to do. You should be grateful that I showed up to entertain you."
The Stellar Spirit Mage rolled her eyes. "No," She corrected, "you're the one who should be grateful that I haven't called Erza over here by now."
"Then why haven't you already?"
Lucy's breath hitched. Why hadn't she? Why hadn't she?
It was suddenly as if the exhaustion suddenly hit Lucy all at once, and within an instant, her stomach was swelling with anger. The real question was why she had even wasted her time talking to Natsu in the first place? This was the root of all of her problems; the direct cause of the majority of her pain. Natsu's insults hurt the worst, his betrayal the one that caused Lucy the most suffering.
Natsu seemed to recognize the change in the atmosphere almost instantly, and his body stiffened when Lucy suddenly snarled at him; eyes sharp just like daggers, blazing with a fury that he was unaccustomed to seeing.
"I don't if you're here to capture some scandalous picture of me, or if you're just here to try and find evidence to create another lie about what I did last night, but I suggest that you hurry up and fucking leave. I don't know how many times I have to say it, but we're not friends. And the next time I see you around here I'll make sure you realize it was the biggest mistake of your life. Don't fuck with me."
Natsu's heart clenched when the curtain's to Lucy's window fell shut, not giving him a chance to respond. The words that were dangling on the edge of his tongue retreated back into his throat, refusing to be heard. He made a mistake, he knew he had, but just like he did all those months ago, Natsu walked away when Lucy may have needed him the most. He was going to leave her alone to fight her demons, without ever knowing why they were there in the first place. Just like back then, not knowing the truth was easier than the trouble it would take to grow close to Lucy again so that he could know it.
Lucy buried her face in her knees, the sound of Natsu's fading footsteps reverberating deep within her soul.
She never had the opportunity to thank him for making the voice go away.
He never had the chance to say he was sorry for everything.
Both of them went out the rest of the morning with regrets.
- The Fairy Tail Guild : Later That Day -
Levy glanced around the guild in confusion, the steady murmuring that had started some hours before now far more intense than when it had started; becoming a dull roar as if the people involved couldn't contain their excitement for the situation at hand, but were desperately trying to keep it down. Everyone, save for a few individuals and the bookworm herself, seemed to be animatedly whispering about the same thing, and the young Solid Script Mage couldn't help but feel like there was something incredibly wrong happening right before her.
"What's everyone talking about today?" The bluenette casually questioned as she glanced at her two companions, Jet and Droy.
Jet shrugged his shoulders, not all that interested in anything that didn't involve his female friend. "I don't know."
"I think it has to do something with Lucy, Levy-chan," Droy interjected with a small nod of his head, happy that he knew something his love-rival didn't, "Apparently she fell asleep at the bar when she first got here this morning and hasn't woken up since. I think I overheard Evergreen talking about some plan to get her back on her feet."
Levy's eyes furrowed. "Evergreen?" She asked more to herself than her two friends, "Knowing her it can't be anything all that good. Just what exactly is she planning?"
A simultaneous "I'll go find out for you, Levy!" sounded from Jet and Droy's lips immediately after the girl's statement, but was left unheard by Levy herself as she continued to squint in the 'Fairy Woman's' direction. Yet again, that same feeling of uncertainty bubbled up in her stomach when her eyes landed on the girl who was once her best friend. She was sitting at the bar with her entire upper body slumped forward, the side of her face balanced in the palm of her hand, as her head bobbed back in forth in a seemingly soundless sleep.
Levy had noticed that within the two weeks that Lucy had rejoined the guild, she had come in looking increasingly more tired each day, sometimes looked so exhausted that the bluenette was worried that she would drop to the floor out of fatigue. As if the dark, black bags that hung under her eyes wasn't enough evidence within itself, the fact that she was asleep at the bar only confirmed the bookworms suspicions.
The Solid Script Mage wanted nothing more than to get up and demand to know what Evergreen was planning to do to her old friend, but she found herself rooted to her spot; frozen in fear of what the guild would think of her if she did. Levy wanted to defend Lucy the way she should have when they were still friends. She wanted so badly to defend her the way every person deserved to be while in such a vulnerable state. Yet she was frozen, unable to move as history repeated itself.
Her heart lurched in her chest as Evergreen rose to her feet, making her way over to Lucy's sleeping figure with long, purpose-filled steps. A confident grin pulled up the corners of her face as she came up behind the blonde, the evil glint in her eyes betraying the seemingly harmless front she was putting up as her sinister plan was set into action.
Time seemed to flow in slow motion as she reached out, the murmuring louder than ever (growing to a borderline cheer), and wrapped her hands around the back of Lucy's neck. With one solid pull, the Stellar Spirit Mage was thrown to the ground, a yelp tearing through her mouth she was roughly woken up from her deep sleep; eyes wide in surprise. Her body collided with the ground with a loud, painful 'thump, and just as she was getting her bearings Evergreen dumped an entire smoothie over her head.
The Guild erupted into a roar of cheers; their cruel laughter bouncing off of the walls as Lucy laid on the ground, too stunned to move.
Levy watched as Natsu, Erza, and Gray rushed to the blonde's side, eyes wide in disbelief as they attempted to wipe away all of the remains of the drink. Titania quickly tried to clean off Lucy's face, hands moving in a fluster as if she didn't know where to start, while the two male members of the team barked curses at Evergreen. As if what the Fairy Woman had done wasn't already enough, Cana shoved Erza onto her back and yanked a card out of her deck from her back pocket.
"Here, let me help you with that!" She sneered as she splashed Lucy in the face with a glass of water, further drenching her clothes.
Everyone exploded into another fit of cheers at the second sign of abuse; lacrimas being yanked out in an attempt at capturing the 'hilarious' event on tape before it was too late and disappeared. Lucy, who hadn't said so much as a word since the whole incident started, looked down at the pool of liquids that had gathered around her in confusion, still unsure as to what had happened to her in the first place. Levy, who still hadn't gotten up from her spot in the back of the guild, opted to slap her hand over her mouth in horror as the Stellar Spirit Mage continued to sit, lost in the chaos, instead of actually doing anything to help her.
Erza, who had just stood back up, shoved the Card Mage back with a dangerous snarl; a sword clenched tight in her fist as she advanced on the brown-haired woman with a furious intent. Suddenly, though, before Titania could do anything herself, a leg shot out and clipped Cana so hard in her ribs that it sent her flying directly into Evergreen. Lucy yanked the weapon out of Erza's hand before she could even comprehend what was happening and used it to pin the Fairy Woman's dress to the floor, effectively keeping its owner on the ground as well lest they want to expose what they were wearing underneath.
Without so much as a pause, Lucy grabbed a handful of Cana's hair and used it as leverage to bash her face into a table. A sickening 'crunch' sounded throughout the entire guild upon impact before blood suddenly started to gush out of her nose; dying the whole lower half of her face red. Quickly, the blonde Stellar Spirit Mage spun around and kicked Evergreen, who was still bound to the floor, right in the gut, and ducked when Cana ran back in her direction; causing the Card Mage to trip over her body and to land directly on the woman below.
Sloppily, Cana jumped to her feet and wiped away the majority of the blood on her face with the back of her arm as she yanked out her Magic Cards from the deck in her back pocket. Using her body as a shield for Evergreen against any attacks Lucy might send their way, she produced three cards from her deck, each with a different image on its back.
"Card Magic: Heaven! Reverse Death! Mountain! Summoned Lightning!"
Lucy watched with a blank expression as the blueish-green lightning formed an arc directly over her body and stood still as it shot down directly at her. Cana screamed as she suddenly switched places with the blonde, the brute force of her own attack hitting her instead of its original, intended target. Gasping in pain, the brunette tried to stand back up, only roughly fall back to the ground. With electricity still surging through her veins, muscles all around her body twitched violently, unable to muster up the strength to hold her up.
Hissing, Evergreen swore as she had to tear the bottom of her green dress in order to stand up; the sword Lucy lodged into the ground too deep to be pulled out by one person alone. She glanced at Cana with wide eyes, stunned by the fact that she was defeated so easily, before turning to look at the Ex-Trinity wizard in rage.
"You know, that look is pretty rich coming from you." Lucy scoffed as she ran a hand through her wet hair, the other finding purchase on her hip, "Considering that if anyone here should have the right to be mad is me."
"Shut up! Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
Lucy moved to summon up a swell of her magic, palm tilted toward the sky as she prepared to create a shield for herself by using Open Cluster only to have Natsu and Gray jump directly in front of her; shielding her from the tiny gold-like bullets Evergreen sent out.
"Card Magic: Heaven! Wind! Wind Edge!"
"Solar Wind!"
When the two attacks collided, blades of wind were sent flying in every direction and accidentally ended up hitting Gajeel in the back of the head (who was, ironically, at the time sleeping). Startled, he turned one of his arms into a giant Iron Lance that shot out and hit Elfman in the face, who then went and punched the person to his left (who just so happened to be Bickslow), until everyone in the Guild was suddenly fighting; turning out to be an all out brawl.
Evergreen and Cana continued targeting Lucy whilst dodging all of the attacks going on around them, while Natsu, Erza, and Gray attempted to protect their blonde friend at the same time. The Stellar Spirit Mage stumbled forward when a chair collided with her back, sending her straight into the arms of a completely different person. Her eyes widened when she was engulfed in a familiar embrace, a red tie, and black suit consuming her vision as her legs gave out.
Clutching onto the person's chest, Lucy glanced up at them with a wide, awestruck gaze. "L-Loke!"
"Hey, Princess!" The Lion Spirit winked as he pulled the blonde forward before she could be crushed by Elfman's Beast-Soul Takeover, "Long time no see. We need to talk about what's been going on with you. Have a few minutes to spare?"
"Of course you big idiot! Where the hell have you been?! Where are my keys?!"
Loke chuckled nervously, his worries confirmed when he saw such a reaction from his Master. "Now, now, let's stay calm and rationally think about this before we decide to do anything-"
"Where. Are. They."
Lucy was in no mood to play any games; she was going to get her Gate Keys and she was going to get them now. It had been months since she'd seen any of her Celestial Spirits, and she'd be damned if she was just going to let this go when one of them showed back up in her life so easily. Somebody in the guild had her keys, that was all that mattered.
"Juvia has them."
The Water Mage jumped when Lucy suddenly appeared before her, a dangerous snarl falling from her lips as she grabbed a handful of her shirt; yanking her face close to hers. "I've been here for two fucking weeks. Just when exactly were you planning on giving me back my keys?"
"W-well, you see..." She stuttered nervously.
Juvia was in big trouble, wasn't she?
"There's a fire inside of my bed
Made of coals that I deeply regret
Oh, you left me burning with the embers
And I barely made it out alive..."
...Broken bones and empty screams
Sleepless nights in burning sheets"
Lightning strikes behind my eyes."
-Jaymes Young "Come Back For Me"
A/N: Holy crap, I really just wanted to say how much I appreciate the support and feedback you guys have given this story. It still amazes me that people even take time out of their days to read what I write, let alone leaving a review for me to see or just favoriting/following my story. I don't think I will ever be able to express the gratitude I have for all of you and the appreciation that I have for all of the patience and time you've given me thus far. Thank you so much!
*Trying my best to make sure Lucy isn't too OP which is why I made Team Natsu jump in and help. Sorry if this chapter was kinda boring, I felt the need to have a chill one before things really started heating up.
-xxTheNightmareBeforexx