AN: Hello everyone! Bad news, I couldn't fix my laptop. Good news, I ended up buying a new one and I have all my files back. :') So the updates shall continue! :D
Chapter 38
Important Conversations
Natsu woke due to Happy's tail swishing on his face. Yawning, the dragon slayer sat up in bed and chuckled at his friend's happily sleeping face. He figured the cat must've been dreaming about fish. Gently nudging Happy, the pinkette woke him up before getting ready for the new day.
Natsu searched the drawers for anything valuable he could take and perhaps pawn or use for himself. Usually stealing made him feel a bit guilty, but stealing from Gray excited him. But alas, the only thing he found was a marker and a notebook. Holding the marker, he turned and grinned mischievously at his partner in crime.
"Oi, Happy," Natsu began, "are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
The cat snickered and answered, "Aye!"
The two left the room and tiptoed in the hallway towards Lucy's room. As quietly as he could, Natsu turned the knob, suppressing a cackle realizing it was left unlocked. The two then sneakily ventured in the room, their eyes landing on their target, who was still sleeping peacefully in bed. Luckily for them, her face was out in the open, ready to be drawn on.
Uncapping the marker, Natsu stifled a snicker as he carefully dragged the point over Lucy's skin. He applied just enough pressure to draw but not enough to wake her up. Luckily, Lucy was a heavy sleeper, making it that much easier for them.
Natsu nearly laughed aloud after finishing his drawing. He drew a black circle over one of Lucy's eyes, making it look like she had a black eye. Handing the marker over to Happy, he watched as the cat doodled a fish on the girl's forehead.
"Give her nose hairs and a unibrow!" Natsu whispered in excitement.
Happy snickered and did as he was told before noticing the small writing on the marker. "Natsu, this marker is washable. This was for nothing!"
"Not for nothing, buddy. Imagine Lucy's face when she finds out. If she finds out!"
"Aye, that'll be funny!"
Once they were done with their masterpiece, they capped the marker and stashed it away in one of Lucy's drawers. Once the evidence was gone, they woke the blonde up, stifling their laughter. The girl stirred and rolled over, shooing them away. Natsu grinned mischievously at Happy, who understood him perfectly.
The two climbed on the bed and began jumping on it. Lucy squealed and groaned, glaring at her partners. Was it how she wanted to wake up? Not at all. Still, the smiles on their faces seemed to be contagious and she found herself smiling as well.
"Alright, alright, I'm up!" Lucy exclaimed with a giggle. "You can stop now!"
Natsu grinned and replied, "Alright! Hurry up and get ready! I wanna leave Popsicle Princess' castle already! It reeks of strippers."
"Do you have to be so mean to Gray?"
"I ain't mean! But yes, yes I do."
Lucy giggled again. "Alright, get out then so I can get dressed. I wanna leave this snowy mountain too."
Knowing she might not be able to shower for a couple days due to their newest journey, Lucy took her time in the shower, letting the water relieve her body of its aches. She still wasn't completely healed since her battle with Sherry and still had some bruises and scrapes left. When finished, the girl glanced at her options of clothing and chose the outfit she wore when she first arrived in Earthland.
Slipping on the black mini skirt and pink tank top, Lucy smiled. She was glad to have at least some clothes from Earth. Even though her clothes from Earthland were cute, they were very different than what she was used to.
Opting for leaving her hair down that day, Lucy packed her things in her bag- one that Gray supplied her with so that she didn't have to share with Natsu and Happy. Her fingers grazed her baby blanket and she frowned.
"I wonder what my parents are up to right now," she thought. "I wonder if they're looking for me right now."
Shaking her head, Lucy forced herself to focus and she packed her blanket, clothes, and other necessities. Not wanting to be a horrible guest, the girl made her bed and tidied up the room before leaving.
Lucy walked down the halls and smiled at the staff that passed by. She was proud to say that she learned some of their names during her stay. Entering the throne room, the blonde was shocked to find an all-out battle happening.
Natsu cackled as he decked Lyon in the face but yelped when Gray hit him with an ice hammer. Even Yuka, Toby, and Sherry were there. Juvia cheered for the Prince on the sidelines while Meredy cheered for Lyon. Ultear stood, shaking her head at everyone's behavior.
"Natsu, stop it!" Lucy barked.
The dragon slayer obediently stopped, only to begin laughing at her. Everyone faced her and joined in on the laughter.
"W-What?" Lucy questioned, her cheeks rosy with embarrassment. "Why are you all laughing at me?"
"L-Looks like the marker wasn't washable after all!" Natsu cackled, tears escaping his eyes.
"What marker?" Lucy walked towards a mirror and gasped at her appearance. Then she glared dangerously at the dragon slayer and his cat. "Natsu! Happy! I'm going to kill you!"
Ultear chuckled as she waved her hand. The maker on Lucy's face began to fade away until it was completely gone.
"Thank you," Lucy stated, smiling at the woman.
Ultear mirrored the expression and replied, "It's the least I can do for the savior."
"Lucy! Juvia wants to talk to you before you go!" the blunette suddenly exclaimed, dragging the blonde away before she could object. She winked at Gray before leaving.
Gray nodded, glad that Juvia was able to distract Lucy. He then narrowed his eyes at Natsu.
"We need to talk," he stated.
Natsu could tell that it was serious and sobered up immediately before reluctantly following the Prince. He motioned for Happy to stay put. Whatever Gray had to talk about, he could handle by himself. Thus, he followed until they were deep in the castle, approaching a room he hadn't seen before.
Gray opened the grand doors and closed them behind Natsu, who surveyed the room. It appeared to be a study, filled with books and documents. In the center was a desk and a large, velvet chair behind it. His eyes continued to scan the room until they locked on a portrait hung on the wall behind the chair. It was a portrait of two couples.
One man was clearly Gray's father with black hair and stubble. Next to him was a woman with equally dark hair that fell in waves. Standing next to her was King Heartfilia, surprisingly with a smile on his face and his bushy mustache trimmed to perfection. And lastly, there was the deceased Queen, Layla Heartfilia.
The spitting image of Lucy.
Natsu had seen pictures of the King before but he never knew what the Queen looked like. And now, he had absolutely no doubt in his mind that Lucy was their daughter. She was basically a younger version of Layla.
"Lucy is the Princess, isn't she?" Gray finally asked. He didn't need to ask, but he wanted to know if Natsu was aware of not.
Natsu faced Gray with hard eyes. "Yeah. She is."
"And you knew this whole time?" Gray asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
"I did."
"Then why the hell haven't you told her?" the Prince barked. "Since she's been here, all she's talked about is wanting a family. She could have that if you told her. So why haven't you?"
"Because what she wants are loving parents. The King ain't so loving," Natsu answered.
Gray shook his head. "No. That's not it. You're afraid that if you tell her she's going to leave you, huh? That's why you haven't told her."
"Shut up."
"No. That is wrong, Natsu. She deserves to know who her family is and who she actually is! What were you going to do? Hope that she just gave up? Well she won't."
"So why are you talking to me about this?" Natsu sneered. "Why haven't you just told Lucy?"
"Because she deserves to hear it from her best friend," Gray answered, still glaring at the boy. "So you can either keep lying to her, or you can man up and do what you should've done the moment you saw her."
With that, Gray stalked out of the room, leaving Natsu to succumb to his guilt.
"Lucy, are you in love with Natsu?"
Lucy choked on her saliva and began flailing her arms around, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment.
"W-What? What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, no longer able to feel the coldness of the mountain because warmth was travelling through her body.
Juvia smiled and stated, "Juvia thinks Lucy is in love with Natsu."
Lucy stared at the girl with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to deny it but no words came out. Instead, her face grew hotter. Was she in love with Natsu?
She recalled their journey together. At first Natsu was grumpy and annoying, but eventually he grew to become her best friend. She felt comfortable around him, comfortable enough to tell him about her situation in Seattle, about how she had been looking for her family and had no friends. And he was comfortable with her too, proven when he told her about Igneel.
And she couldn't forget the times she had woken up in his arms. Embarrassing as the situations were, the girl didn't want to pull away. In fact, it felt right. And she had known he was attractive since she laid eyes on him.
And then there was the time Natsu promised to give her a happy ending. The way he was so serious about it melted her heart and she knew she could trust him. He was there to protect her and look out for her. Lucy's eyes widened realizing that she would've been happy so long as Natsu was by her side.
She was in love with Natsu Dragneel.
"Holy shit," the blonde cursed. "I'm in love with Natsu?"
Juvia squealed and nodded. "Juvia knew it! Juvia is an expert at love!"
To the blunette's surprise, Lucy frowned. "It doesn't matter anyways."
"Why not?"
"There's a lot of reasons actually. For one, I'm supposed to go back home when all of this is done. Then there's the fact that Natsu is supposed to be Flynn Rider, the man that falls in love with Rapunzel. And I'm not Rapunzel, I'm the savior. And of course, there's the fact that Natsu doesn't feel the same anyways."
Tears pricked Lucy's eyes by the time she finished. She never knew her feelings until now and so far they only provided pain. To think that the man she would fall in love with would be tremendously unavailable sucked.
Juvia frowned and stated, "Juvia doesn't think Lucy should give up."
"How could I not?" the blonde questioned miserably.
"Because love is something people shouldn't give up on. Look at Juvia. Juvia went to the shore every year even though Gray-sama was never there. But right when Juvia was losing hope, she found Gray-sama. And now Juvia got her happy ending," the other girl explained.
"That's the thing though, Natsu's happy ending is with Rapunzel," Lucy groaned. "Not me. It's in the book. Or at least would be if the story wasn't ripped out. But the book doesn't lie."
"Well forget about the book! Think about what you want instead and go for it!"
Lucy sighed. "Easy for you to say when the book gave you your happy ending. Thank you, Juvia, for helping me realize my feelings. Even though they kinda suck, it's nice to know that I've finally fallen in love."
Juvia frowned. After Gray told her that Lucy was the missing princess and that he needed her to distract the blonde so he could confront Natsu, Juvia had a feeling that Natsu was Lucy's happy ending. And after hearing that Natsu was supposed to be in love with Rapunzel, the girl had no doubt in her mind that Lucy was in fact Rapunzel.
Juvia wanted to tell Lucy. After all, she helped her find love with Gray. But Gray was pretty adamant on not informing the blonde because he wanted Natsu to be the one to do it. So, she kept quiet.
"We should go to the others now," Lucy stated, smiling at the blunette and pushing her feelings aside.
Juvia nodded and wordlessly followed the blonde to the others.
Natsu kept his gaze glued to the snow once he saw Lucy and Juvia approaching. They were standing outside the castle, ready to leave. Happy glanced at his partner, knowing something was bothering him but didn't say anything.
"Ready to go?" Lucy asked, feigning a smile. "Happy, what's the next story?"
Already having the book in hand, prepared, Happy flipped through and answered, "The Wizard of Oz."
"What's that one about?" Gray questioned.
"Go ahead and read it, Happy. That way we can hopefully get a clue of where we're going," Lucy added.
Happy nodded and read aloud, "Once upon a time in the magical land of Oz, there lived a wicked witch who enjoyed terrorizing the land. The witch was cruel and enjoyed bringing suffering to those around. She was especially terrible to those that worked for her.
"The witch ruled over the land with nobody to defy her and eventually grew bored. With an insatiable craving for more power, the witch sought out a plan to achieve one of the most powerful spells that was lost in the records of mankind. There were three ingredients the witch needed: the blood of the heartless, the blood of the brainless, and the blood of the coward. The witch got what she needed and obtained the ancient spell, wreaking havoc on the land and bringing unimaginable misery. Nobody was able to stop her."
"That's it?" Natsu questioned. "That was so short. Didn't even give any clues."
"That story was different than the one from my world. It didn't even have the main character, it was just in the witch's perspective," Lucy added. "Who was supposed to get the happy ending in that story?"
"Maybe it wasn't about giving a happy ending, but taking away the witch's since she was evil," Juvia suggested.
"I don't know… The pattern of the book so far is so that I give happy endings, not take them away. The book even says that I'm supposed to give them," the blonde replied.
"Well it doesn't matter," Natsu stated. "We can't let the witch get away with this."
"Aye!" Happy added in agreement.
"But where are we supposed to go now?" Lucy asked with a heavy sigh. "The book didn't give any clues at all! Unless there's a place here called Oz."
"There isn't," Gray replied.
"The book did give a clue," Ultear suddenly stated, her gaze glued to the ground as she bit her bottom lip. "It's just that you don't understand because you don't know what to look for."
"What do you mean?" Happy asked.
Ultear sighed and answered, "I spent many years thinking of ways to get revenge on Gray and had countless of possibilities. One day, I came across an old book that had countless of spells in it that were lost with time. That's how I learned Arc of Time. The spell that was in your book was in the book I read too. I was going to learn it and use it on Gray and his kingdom."
"Gee, thanks," Gray muttered. "Are you saying you're the wicked witch or something?"
"No, but I know where to find her," Ultear answered. "After finding the spell in the book, I spent weeks researching it until I found someone that was trying to learn it as well. I sought them out and found her. She rules over a land that is small and she only rules over it ever because she killed the man that King Heartfilia appointed to it."
"And nobody reported her?" Lucy questioned incredulously.
"Fear is strong within people. To be appointed by King Heartfilia himself means that you're strong and worthy. She killed the man that was viewed strong by the King. They're too scared to defy her, and those that do end up being killed before they could report her by one of her servants."
"So what happened with you and this witch?" Lyon asked. "Did you ever get the spell?"
Ultear shook her head and answered, "When I tracked her down and forced her to tell me about the spell, I found out that only certain mages can use it." She looked at Lucy and continued, "Celestial spirit mages. So then I came back and eventually settled on using Deliora."
"A spell only celestial mages can use?" Lucy questioned.
"That means you could use it, Lucy!" Happy exclaimed.
"It's apparently very hard to master," Ultear explained. "But given practice and patience, I'm sure you could do it."
"Well I won't," Lucy stated. "I would have to hurt other people to get it."
"Actually, the spell can only be used by those with pure hearts. Unless they sacrifice the blood, just like the witch is planning. Anyways, you three better hurry. You can find the witch north from here. North from Shirotsume as well. You'll know when you get there because the city is paved with yellow bricks."
"That's weird," Natsu stated. "Alright, Luce. You ready?"
"Yeah. I hope we see each other again before I leave," Lucy said, glancing at Gray and Juvia. The blonde along with Happy hugged everyone while Natsu only watched. "I'm going to miss you guys."
"We'll miss you too. Make sure to contact us if you need anything. And good luck," Gray replied, smiling at Lucy. "You're gonna need it travelling with Fire Breath over there."
"Shut it, stripper," Natsu growled.
"Good luck, Lucy!" Juvia exclaimed. "Thank you for all of your help! You too, Natsu and Happy!"
The three waved before continuing towards the steps, ready for their next mission. And with that, their time on Mt. Hakobe was officially done.
AN: I always get sad after finishing an arc because I love the characters but can't write much for them anymore. :') Gray and Juvia along with the rest of the finished arcs will make more appearances though. :)
Thank you to the reviewers: Holly Dragneel, Lunahartz, ThatPixleDino, Fin-Fish Jun-Tenshi, Still-On-Hiatus. I probably should've waited last time to post because I guess FF didn't let people know my story was updated so I only had a few reviewers that time but it's okay! I'm just glad I can keep sharing this story! :D