They say mirrors are never to be trusted.
This mirror in particular was a beautiful lie, stirring all of humanity's unpleasant thoughts and revealing only vice and folly. Such a wondrous item, with its gleaming, polished sheen and its large, ornate border, was a mere distortion of reality. The joys and loveliness of life—unnoticed. Yet the ugly aspects? They were magnified, exposing only flaws and hiding brilliant truths.
Nonetheless, this magical mirror remained hidden, locked inside a tower high in the heavens. Not a single human soul had ever come across it, and all thought it would remain in such a way—
Until it fell, shattering into thousands and thousands of tiny splinters. Like little icy snowflakes, the mirror tumbled back to Earth, its cold glass fragments piercing the warmest of hearts and the brightest of eyes.
And thus their hearts grew ice-like and cold like the mirror, their eyes only seeing ugliness and evil.
"This isn't like you, Luce!" Natsu absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, staring at her in frustration.
"It isn't?" Lucy sneered, a strange expression that marred her normally cheerful face. "What would you know, if you're only a stranger who dragged me off the streets of Hargeon?"
They had been on the road, the lights gently releasing them onto a path beside a riverbank. Only the cheerful chirping of crickets, and the gentle trickle of the river could be heard in this silent summer paradise. The air had been warm, the sunlight glistening down upon their backs—when suddenly, Lucy clutched her heart with a frown, and began to complain of the cold.
Complaints turned to anger, and anger turned to biting, harsh comments that made Natsu wonder if this Lucy wasn't his Lucy at all.
"That's awful to say." He pointed out, hurt. "We're best friends, Luce."
Lucy smiled cruelly, as if that was the reaction she was searching for. "Oh, is the little boy upset? Going to run off for another year and cry over his dead Daddy?"
Natsu recoiled backwards.
"Don't worry, I don't mind. I didn't think of you once in that year you left." She trilled in a sing-song voice.
Each bitter word was like a stab wound, each cut stinging and raw. He couldn't bear to look at her scornful face, that ugly expression so out of place on the normally kind girl. Suddenly, he was running—he had no idea why, but he wanted to leave, leave behind this spiteful girl who was most definitely not his Lucy—he refused to believe it was her.
It just couldn't be her, could it?
Lucy shivered. She had never felt so cold, this aching numbness that swept through her senses like waves crashing into the shore. She could hear herself say something to Natsu, could watch as he ran, but strangely, she found that she just…didn't care. A tiny part of her begged her to chase after him, but she ignored it, squashing the little voice down until it grew silent.
"How…cold of you."
Lucy peered into the trees, searching for the voice that had called out to her. A woman stepped out onto the path, blindingly white in her robes—no, they were not robes. She was surrounded by snowflakes, the little white flurries clustering around her like bees drawn to honey. How long had she been watching?
"Snow in this weather?" Lucy only felt a dull sense of curiosity, for she was still shivering too much to care.
"Look again." The woman's voice was thin and delicate, as fragile as ice.
And Lucy reluctantly did. The trees, previously dripping green foliage, were now coated beneath an icy layer of purest white. The river had frozen over, its immobile surface begging to be skated upon. Flurries of snow swirled in the wind like dancing butterflies, and for some strange reason, Lucy was filled with joy.
"I am the Snow Queen." The woman stepped closer towards Lucy. "Never have I seen such a bitter heart in so young a girl. The way you treated that boy—"
She took Lucy's face into her hands, staring at the unfazed girl. Just how could such a petite woman hold so much acrimony? Then she began to laugh, for she had seen the glass deeply embedded in Lucy's deadened eyes and recognized the mirror's magic at work. "You amuse me greatly, icy one."
The Snow Queen pressed her cold lips to Lucy's forehead, delighted with her latest plaything. "Do not worry; I will take the cold away from you." She murmured softly. "Join me, little girl."
Lucy tried to struggle, but her limbs had relaxed under her newly granted warmth.
She kissed Lucy's forehead a second time, wiping away any trace of lingering doubt from Lucy's mind. "That's right, dear. Let yourself forget…" One kiss would numb the cold, but a second? A second kiss would take away her warmest memories, the guild and Natsu slowly fading away like melting ice.
"Once to numb the cold, twice to numb the mind." The Snow Queen laughed, taking Lucy's hand. "As for the heart, why bother? You clearly don't have one."
And with those chilling words, they disappeared into a swirl of snow.
Natsu regretted running off immediately. Lucy was undoubtedly still upset over the time he had left her, right? He just needed to talk to her, to clarify everything that had happened. Surely she had not meant the cruel words she had said? Or maybe he had done something wrong? Either way, he desperately needed to find her.
"Where did she go?" He turned back, stalking back down the path. There was not a trace of Lucy ever being there, but—
"Snow." He breathed. The lights had carried them to a place of sunshine and summer, yet that had all been replaced. It appeared winter had come several months too soon, its icy touch gracing even the tiniest leaf.
But that still revealed nothing. Where on earth had Lucy gone?
Perhaps she had fallen into the river? He shuddered, praying he would not find a frozen corpse. Natsu bent down and touched the frozen river, the ice receding from his warm touch. The joyful gurgle of the river returned, its water beginning to run once more.
"She's gone to the Snow Queen."
Natsu jolted out of utter shock. "W-who?" As ridiculous as it sounded, he could have sworn that the voice was coming from—"The river?" He said aloud. "You saw Lucy go with this Snow Queen?"
"You melted the ice." It bubbled, its voice flowing and smooth, just like the water itself. "I have no greater way to thank you but to tell you of the difficult journey ahead of you."
"How can I find her?" He asked urgently.
"Follow the snow." It whispered. "Save your friend."
Natsu straightened, turning back towards the snow covered path. The river had refused to say another word, only implying that Lucy was in grave danger.
"Your Lucy has been cursed." It had said, and then it fell silent once more.
The snow had not been an easy trail to follow; for Natsu's fiery heat melted it almost instantly at the slightest touch.
Before long, he had stumbled upon several things willing to aid him in his quest. The river had led him to the house of an enchantress, who warned him that the Snow Queen had likely stolen Lucy's memories. "She will be more likely to obey if she recalls nothing but her love for the Snow Queen." Porlyusica had told him, not unsympathetically. She had offered no solution in how to restore Lucy's memories, however.
The enchantress's words had chilled him, so he sought the knowledge of anyone who had ever confronted the Snow Queen. Only a few miles away, a passing crow had revealed that Lucy had been taken North to the Queen's palace, a stormy labyrinth of winter and ice. He had thus proceeded north until he had neared exhaustion, stumbling into what he had thought was an empty cottage along the way.
The cottage had not been empty. "You seek the Snow Queen." An old woman stoked the fireplace, her back still turned.
"H-how?"
"The crows told me." She pretended not to notice as Natsu hungrily devoured the flames, not making a single remark.
After his hunger had been sated, Natsu had spilled the entire story—Lucy's strange behavior, her disappearance, and the warnings of all the creatures that he had come across along his journey.
"Ah…she has been cursed by the mirror."
This had been the first time he had ever heard of the mirror. "What do you mean?"
And so she told him of how the cursed mirror had shattered, its glass falling to earth and piercing through the hearts of humanity.
Natsu sat back in frustration. He could handle any physical opponent, but a mirror? How could he rescue Lucy now?
The old woman must have sensed his anger, for she quickly soothed him. "I can give you no greater power than you have already," said the woman; "don't you see how strong that is? How nature and animals are obliged to serve you, and how well you have got through this bitterly cold world. You cannot receive any power from me greater than you now have, for you carry fire in your heart and strength in your bones."
"Then, what must I do?"
The old woman sighed. "If you cannot obtain access to the Snow Queen, and remove the glass fragments from your Lucy, we can do utterly nothing to help her...Take him along with you to speed you along your way." She nodded towards the reindeer fastened to a post outside the cottage.
"Does he have a name?" Natsu asked suddenly.
The old woman shook her head. "You can give him one, if you like."
Natsu almost smiled, but the situation was far too grave for any display of cheerfulness. "I think…I think I'll call him Happy."
Lucy sat on a balcony of ice, her skin barely perceiving the cold. She was dressed in silken robes, which she had requested to be a peculiar shade of pink. Although her head pounded and ached every time she tried to recall something, her mind was adamant about this particular shade. This color…this color was important to her.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Lucy?" The Queen sailed onto the balcony, almost as if she was floating. "Have you solved the puzzle yet?"
Some aspect of her mind must have remained somewhat awake, for she had begged to be released from the Queen's care. The Queen had laughed, half-surprised at Lucy's willpower and half-irritated by the thought of losing her latest toy.
"You must be stronger than I thought…" The Queen had mused. "Very well, you may leave—if and only if you are able to solve my puzzle." She had tossed several pieces of ice onto the floor, watching with amusement as she watched Lucy pick them up. Like a Chinese puzzle, the pieces could be arranged to form words or symbols. "Spell the word 'eternity', darling, and I shall let you leave. Or perhaps I should say, 'never ending'?" She had seen the words floating in Lucy's mind and plucked them out, dangling them in front of her like bait.
Lucy had paused, wondering why those words struck such a chord inside her.
Lucy's fingers continued to move the pieces, almost mindlessly. "Not yet, Your Majesty."
"I thought so." The Queen said triumphantly. "I'll leave you to your task, Lucy." She laughed mockingly as the poor girl fumbled with the pieces, knowing that she would never solve the puzzle.
Lucy kept arranging the pieces, even as her mind wandered. Pink was important to her…but why?
"Lucy!" She looked up from her work, although her fingers never strayed. Had she just imagined it?
"Let's go, Happy! We gotta find Lucy!" She cocked her head. Why was she hearing voices?
"Oy, flame-bastard! Let's fight!"
"Love Rival! Lay your hands on him again and I'll—"
"Who dares touch my cake?"
Who were these people? Why were they haunting her, like ghostly specters on a midsummer's evening?
Her fingers flew faster and faster.
"It's always more fun when we're together." That voice…sounded almost like her own.
"Let's save the tears for when we win."
Her head was roaring, and her fingers were moving wildly beyond control. She was gasping for breath, her body trembling. She looked down slowly, studying the symbol that had been created.
It was indescribable, yet its curves and edges were so, so familiar.
The Fairy Tail insignia.
Lucy's eyes filled with tears.
Suddenly, everything came rushing back. Her name was Lucy Heartfilia, and she was a member of Fairy Tail. Her best friend in the whole world was Natsu Dragneel—and she had said terrible, terrible things to him.
Her fingers slowly went to her cheeks, feeling the warmth of her tears.
The splinters of glass in her eyes had melted away.
"Oy! Lucy!" This time, she shot straight up, knowing she was not imagining things.
"Jump, Lucy!"
Jump? She was fifty feet in the air, suspended on a frail balcony made of ice—never mind. Her legs were already standing on the very edge of the rail.
"I'll catch you!" Natsu shouted.
She didn't doubt it, and jumped without a second thought. He would catch her, just as he always would.
As she felt herself nestled in Natsu's comforting arms, she slowly lifted her right hand, and stared happily at the pink Fairy Tail insignia tattooed on the back of her hand.
"I feel…so warm." She sobbed, her heart finally beginning to thaw.
A/N: This extra scene is loosely based upon the Bonus Nalu Prompt "Cold ", and is set after Beauty and the Beast (right after chapter 22). I wanted to write something about Lucy's love for the whole guild, so I hope you enjoyed it! All of these are additional chapters, so they are not necessarily associated with the plot :) This is also loosely inspired by The Snow Queen, which I highly encourage for everyone to check out!
Thank you all for bearing with all of my bonus chapters, especially those who are eager to see the main story return! I apologize for writing yet another one, and thank you guys for your patience :) I hope I can make up for it by revealing the next chapter title, which is 'The Swan'. It will be published by Friday at the earliest :) Any guesses to which fairy tale that might be?