Author's Note:
Hello all! It's Sunday, and you know what that means... a new chapter. ;D
As always, HUGE thanks to all my wonderful reviewers out there. Big hugs and kisses to: valerioux, sakshishetty3003, SistershoOk, stranger1999, Anna5949, DarkTwil, Jedi Jelsa777, Starstruck-MJ, Bugseey, Melga92, AshleighLeeann17, NarukoSon, neffateri13, , CathJorda, and Cino2K. You guys are all awesome. :D
Alrighty, on with the show!
Thursday night rolled around sooner than Lucy would have thought possible.
She collapsed back onto her bed and stared up at her canopy… having just gotten back from showing Brandy her route on the westside.
"What are you doing just lying there like a lump of potatoes? Get up and put on your nightgown!" Aquarius barked at her from the foot of the bed.
"Alright, alright… I'm doing it," she sighed, sitting up and reaching for the white shift that Aquarius had tossed on the bed beside her.
"Tsk… look at you. All dazed and useless. You'd better snap out of that before tomorrow or you'll be caught before you reach the first farmhouse," the fussy bluenette huffed, still bustling around the room.
Yesterday, Lucy had told Aquarius her plans, and the other woman had taken it surprisingly well. She'd actually been very supportive, helping Lucy pack and iron out details she might not have thought about.
"Don't forget to take your bag with you tomorrow. And for god's sake, don't forget to take it out of the cart when you leave it with Brandy."
"I know… we've gone over this many times already."
"Because you're bound to forget it if I don't beat it into your head!" the maid snapped as she paused her fussing around to smack Lucy with a random folded pillowcase.
"Gah! Okay, okay! I get it!" Lucy squawked and threw her arms up to fend off the angry older woman.
Aquarius stepped back and tsked again, giving her a sharp eye. "It's just as well you're leaving now. Spending so much time around that boyfriend of yours has degenerated your manners. You wouldn't last much longer in court."
Lucy pouted at her. "You know I don't use court speech and court manners outside of formal situations."
"Maybe, but your attitude is different now…." She ran an appraising eye over Lucy and pursed her lips. "That man has changed you in more ways than I think you know."
When she turned away, Lucy couldn't tell if her comment had been positive or negative, but a slight curve of her lips suggested it was the former.
Still, she didn't really know how to respond, so she stayed quiet until Aquarius barked, "Alright! Go through this one more time, and make sure you have everything you need."
The bluenette threw the heavy backpack at Lucy – who was lying down on the bed again – and it landed on her stomach with a big 'whump.'
"OOF! Aquarius! Come on!" Lucy yelped, wincing as her sore ribs protested.
"No whining! Just go through it!"
"Okay… jeez…" Lucy grumbled softly under her breath and sat up with the bag on her lap.
She unzipped it and rustled through the contents, calling affirmatives to Aquarius as she started listing things.
"Keys? Toothbrush? Toothpaste? Pain pills? Healing salve? Bandages? Three changes of clothes? Underwear? Socks? Hairbrush? Magic hairpins? An extra pair of glasses? Contacts? An extra pair of gloves? Flashlight? Sleeping bag? Meal bars? Money?…"
And so it went. Luckily everything that Aquarius listed, Lucy was able to find in the bag, and by the end of the exercise it looked like she was totally ready. She didn't intend to take anything for sentimental reasons… everything in her bag had been chosen because she thought it would be useful, and she had only packed what she absolutely needed.
After finishing up the checklist on her bag, Aquarius said, "Good, now go over your plan again."
"I'm going to get a good night's sleep tonight, and tomorrow I'll attend all my lessons as usual to avoid raising suspicion. Once my last lesson is over, I'll head out as Lady Luck with Brandy and show her the last route-"
"And where are you going to put your bag?" Aquarius interrupted.
"In my cart with the food. And as soon as I set up in The Lion and Rose, I'll take my bag out. Then Brandy will finish handing out food, and Natsu and I will leave. I'll go first, and after a couple of minutes he'll follow. Once I can see the huge blue farmhouse he described, I'll stop and wait for him to catch up."
"Good. You two should be able to make it to the train station before anyone realizes you're gone but be extra careful about your disguise just in case."
Lucy nodded, grateful for the run-through. "Thank you, Aquarius… for everything. Really, I don't think I could have done this without your help."
"Oh you could have done it on your own, but you would have messed it all up," the bluenette dismissed, but Lucy was sure she'd caught a small smile on the other woman's face before she turned away.
"Alright, now, let's go over it all again. One more time," she said from across the room.
Lucy took a deep breath and nodded, starting back at the beginning.
To be honest, she was very anxious about tomorrow, so going over it again and again helped settle her nerves a bit. Somehow she just knew that something was going to go wrong… but she tried to dismiss the feeling as paranoia.
…
For at least thirty more minutes they kept going over the plans, ironing out every little possible kink that might come up, and by the time Lucy went to bed she felt better about things. However, that little niggle of dread just wouldn't leave her alone, and it made her sleep very fitful.
The following day, she was a little groggy from lack of sleep but managed to successfully go through her normal daily routine without any hitches along the way. Everything went according to plan, and by the time she got to her last tutoring session she was starting to feel like it would all turn out okay after all.
Naturally, that was when she received a summons from her father to come see him in his study.
Anxiety hit her like a slap to the face. She almost cut and ran right there, but then she stopped and reminded herself that there was no way he could have gotten wind of her plans. Logically speaking, leaving now would be a really bad idea… it would only make him aware of her absence faster, and they would have much less time to escape. Whereas, if she just brownnosed and went through all the motions until he let her go, she could continue on as if nothing had happened.
Since she trusted the plan they'd come up with and still thought it was their best chance of getting away, she girded her loins and headed for her father's study.
When she got there though, one look told her that something was very wrong. First of all, King Eisenwald was there… and both he and her father looked way too pleased with themselves.
Trying to hide her growing apprehension, she asked, "You called for me?"
"Why yes, Lucy. I'm so glad you chose to grace us with your presence," King Heartfilia replied smugly, undoubtedly thinking that she was only behaving properly because of his threats. "I'm sure you remember King Eisenwald?"
She dutifully turned to the other man and smiled, meeting his creepy calculative stare despite the shiver of revulsion that went through her.
However, her tone held a hint of bite as she murmured, "Yes… distinctly."
Instead of seeming put off by her subtly cutting remark, his smile only broadened. Just like before, he gave off an air that made her uncomfortable… as if he found her rebellion entertaining. To her, that only meant he was eager to try and 'tame' her.
"That's wonderful…" her father intoned, drawing her attention back to him. "Because I have decided to accept his proposal for your hand."
Time stood still for a long moment as she absorbed that information, and she barely even perceived King Eisenwald murmuring, "I can't tell you how delighted I am to have you as my fiancé…"
She was going to marry this… this… Natsu's voice filled the void in her mind and supplied the word, 'jerkwad.' Imagining how he would react to her calling him that almost made her laugh, but she was currently too perturbed to produce such a sound.
"I…. see," she finally managed, though her voice sounded weaker than she would have liked.
It irked her to no end when her father's eyes glittered, like he was happy to see her distressed, and she realized that he was doing this to punish her for her little rebellion a few days ago. Steeling her spine into a stiff rod, she squared her shoulders and put her chin up, thinking fast. Panic was beating hard and fast inside her, but she caged it to the best of her ability so she could try to think.
Swallowing her pounding heart, she somehow managed to speak calmly. "And has the date been decided on?"
"Yes, we will be wed in three to four days, depending on how long it takes to get back to my kingdom."
"Your kingdom?" Lucy slowly repeated, the panic growing harder to contain.
"Indeed. I have informed all my servants and people to prepare for a lavish ceremony as soon as we return. It's customary in my country to bring our brides home and hold the ceremony there. Your father has been most accommodating."
This was even worse than she'd thought… she had to get away right now or risk being taken and imprisoned. King Eisenwald seemed cunning enough that she suspected it would be difficult to escape his kingdom once he had her there.
All she could hear was her heart hammering in her ears, but her mind was racing to find a way out of this situation.
"Oh… how lovely," she finally mumbled, trying to play along and avoid suspicion. "I'll go and pack immediately for the journey."
"No need, I've already told the servants to pack for you," her father cut in.
At that point, she began to suspect her father had warned King Eisenwald that she might try to make a run for it, and they were intentionally making it hard for her to do that.
"I have some keepsakes of sentimental value that cannot be replaced, so I must insist."
"If that's the case, you can ask your maid to go pack whatever you wish to bring."
A random maid that Lucy barely knew showed up, and she was sure that wasn't by chance either. They had probably predicted that her maids might try to help her escape in some way.
So, she forced a smile and described several pieces of jewelry that her mother had given her to keep up the façade. The maid curtsied and said, "Yes, Princess, right away," before bustling off to pack them.
Of course, that did literally nothing to help her run away, so she scrambled to think of something else. If she could only get to her room, she could change into her costume and escape through the window… but she just didn't see that happening. They obviously already expected her to do that and were going out of their way to keep her from her chambers.
As her father stood and ushered them out of his office, she meekly followed, keeping her eyes peeled for the best escape route and planning to make a mad dash as soon as she could. Luckily her father's study was a long way from the front doors, so she had a good length of twisting halls to make her move. She also began to gradually slow her pace by tiny increments, eventually managing to inch behind the two men who had been flanking her. They were still close enough that if she turned and ran, they would see it in their peripheral, but if she played her cards right she might just be able to slip down a side hall without their notice. She doubted her father expected her to make a dash for it in front of them – though he obviously didn't trust her enough to let her out of his sight.
All of her senses were on high alert as she watched for an escape route, so she immediately noticed when a door cracked just a little way down the hall. The movement was so subtle she doubted her father or King Eisenwald had noticed, but it seemed very suspicious to her.
It might be her way out.
Her heart jumped and then pounded even faster, her fingers nearly tingling and burning with all the blood shooting to her extremities. This was going to be close… if there was someone behind that door ready to help her, she had to be on her toes. She would have to get in there within a few seconds and completely silently, otherwise they would be on her tail before she could escape.
To give herself as much time as possible, she shortened her stride even further, desperately hoping that her two opponents wouldn't notice. Luckily they were too busy talking with each other to pay attention to her pace.
The seconds ticked by like hours, and her skin felt like it was crawling with anxiety and tension. Then, suddenly she was right in front of the door.
It opened silently, and with the speed of a striking snake something snatched her up and she was whipped into the space beyond. Somehow, she held her breath to keep herself from making a surprised sound, and she watched with shock as the door silently closed and locked behind her. A hand grabbed her arm and she was immediately being forced into a near-run down the tiny servant's hallway she found herself in.
That was when she finally got a good look at her rescuer, and it wasn't a particularly huge surprise to see Aquarius dragging her along.
"Thank you…" Lucy whispered urgently, almost tearing up a little.
"You aren't safe yet. It's going to be nearly impossible to get you out of the castle, so prepare yourself for the worst," the bluenette snapped, sounding irritated and intense.
Lucy had figured as much, but the reminder still sent a fresh wave of terror through her body, and she hurried up even more.
"If only Brandish had shown up to work on time… she could have just shrunk you down and smuggled you out," Aquarius growled, which explained some of her frustration.
The sound of voices was growing louder by the second as people started searching the servant halls for her, but thankfully Lucy and Aquarius quickly came across a storeroom and they were able to duck inside. Right as they closed the door, they heard footsteps rushing down the hall towards them and Aquarius reopened the door like she was leaving.
Lucy hid behind the wall as several servants skidded to a halt right in front of the older woman and asked, "Have you seen the princess? She's gone missing and a castle wide search is in progress!"
"So I've heard. I just checked this room, she's not here," Aquarius answered firmly, sounding utterly unsuspicious and very authoritative.
"Damn it…" one of them huffed, and thankfully the sound of their retreating footsteps rang through the hall as they rushed on.
As soon as the sound faded, Aquarius slipped back inside the room and locked the door.
"Why do you think they were so frantic to find me?" Lucy whispered.
"Your father probably offered a reward to anyone who does… or a punishment if you aren't found."
"Oh…" she muttered, her gut clenching. Not only would she have to worry about the guards, but now she had to worry about the servants too… and they would be a lot harder to avoid.
"Stop worrying and start stripping," Aquarius snapped, already doing the same.
For a second Lucy had no idea what was going on, but she caught onto the idea of swapping outfits very quickly and did as her friend suggested. Instead of wasting time on her corset when they got to it, Aquarius made a blade out of water and just cut through the ties…. which was as alarming as it was impressive. But Lucy didn't comment because she was too busy wiggling out of the rest of her clothes.
Then they traded off and Lucy was rushing to put on Aquarius's maid uniform while the bluenette neatly dressed in the princess's ensemble. How she did up all the buttons in the back, Lucy had no idea… and once again she didn't have time to ask.
As soon as they were both fully dressed, Aquarius shoved a maid's cap on Lucy's head and stuffed all her hair up into it. Then the other woman pulled a pair of glasses and a bag of makeup out of nowhere. Within a few seconds, the bluenette had brushed contouring makeup thickly onto the princess's face and finished by slapping on the pair of glasses.
"There… you'll pass a cursory look, but don't stick around in one place too long. And put this on…"
She snapped a golden chain around Lucy's neck – from which dangled her celestial keys. As soon as the clasp clicked into place, the chain briefly glowed and disappeared. Lucy gasped and grabbed for her keys, worried that something had happened to them, but as soon as she touched them the chain and her keys became visible again.
"What is this?" she asked, amazed.
"The chain is magical. It can't be broken, and only the wearer can take it off or see it. Your keys should be safe as long as you keep them on this necklace."
"This is amazing, Aquarius! Thank you so much!"
"Well I didn't have a choice did I? If you didn't have something like this, you'd lose them right away. Now get going, we're running out of time. Run straight to the exit and don't look back… I'll try to buy you as much time as I can by leading everyone around on a goose chase."
The maid tied her blue hair up in a tight bun and grabbed a small decorative throw blanket off one of the nearby shelves, draping it over her head like a hood to hide her hair and face.
"I can't ask you to do that for me! You'll be fired at least… and possibly imprisoned for helping me escape."
"Don't worry about me," her friend retorted sharply and shoved her out the door.
Before she could do anything to stop her, Aquarius had taken off down the hall and all Lucy could do was accept the help. If she ran after the other woman, she would probably just expose them both and waste all of Aquarius's effort and sacrifice. So, as much as it hurt her to, Lucy headed in the opposite direction and hoped for the best.
Before long, she was surrounded by servants, and she had to force herself to match the pace of everyone else to blend in. Luckily, nobody paid her any attention… they were obviously looking for a runaway princess, not one in disguise.
Before long, somebody shouted, "She's been spotted in the east wing!" and Lucy tried to keep herself from cringing. She sent up a silent prayer that Aquarius would be alright.
Everyone started rushing that way, and Lucy had to carefully extract herself or risk drawing attention to the fact that she was going the wrong direction. Somehow she managed to lose them without anyone noticing her, and she immediately picked up her pace a little to put some distance between herself and that particular group.
She kept trying to imitate and match the movements and pace of any servants she ran across on her way towards the exit, and her luck held surprisingly well through most of the castle.
However, right as she began to grow optimistic, naturally she ran into her violin tutor… almost literally in fact. As she rounded a corner, she nearly collided with him.
He stumbled back and glared at her, sputtering, "Watch where you're going, Maid! Stop dashing around like it's the apocalypse…. Honestly, you'll do anything for the smallest reward. It's disgusting."
Lucy was hardly surprised by how prejudiced he obviously was. Though he'd never treated her that way, he was just a generally unpleasant person, and it wasn't a shock to find out that he was also bigoted.
Unfortunately, he also knew her very well, and she felt a zip of sharp anxiety sting her when he stopped and stared. She hurriedly bowed and made to quickly hustle around him, but his hand lashed out before she could take more than a few steps. He latched onto Lucy's wrist and yanked her back.
"You! You seem awfully familiar, and I never make it a habit to remember maids' faces…"
Thinking fast and going with the first thing that came to her mind, she made her voice raspy and barked, "Lemme go! I got shit ta do!"
He scoffed and his grip only tightened on her when she yanked against his hold. "You speak like a newly hired maid who hasn't learned her manners yet, but nobody can fool my ears. I remember voices like I do instruments, and you are no maid… Princess."
Dread soaked her down to the bone, but panic made her strong. She used the surge of adrenaline to plant her heels and wrench her body around, throwing all her weight to the side. It was enough to break his grip on her, and she barely stumbled before she was off like a shot.
Once she'd put a little space between them, she slowed down and tried to blend in again… but that only worked until she heard guards yelling at each other nearby.
"Mr. Aquila said she's dressed as a maid! Quick, grab every maid and search her!"
After that, she didn't even try to pretend and just started rushing towards the exit. However, she kept a maintainable pace and didn't run very quickly… actually, her speed was closer to powerwalking so she could conserve her energy for any sprinting she would have to do.
She somehow managed to avoid encountering any guards on her way to the kitchens, but unfortunately her luck ran out before she got there.
As she approached her chosen exit, she heard several guards coming up fast from a hallway perpendicular to hers, and she skidded to a brief halt, thinking for a second about running back the way she'd come. However, from the sound of their gaining footsteps she knew that there was no avoiding them… they would see her before she'd rounded the corner.
There was only one thing left to do, and her feet acted before her mind had fully processed it, causing her to sprint right across their path and towards the kitchens. She heard shouts behind her as they undoubtedly saw her shooting down the hall in front of them and took chase. She didn't even bother to look behind her and just continued to run, bursting through the kitchen door at full tilt.
Mr. Yajima spun with a sputtered oath, and Mey-Rin and Baldroy did something similar. As much as she wanted to, she didn't waste time trying to explain… she just ran through them towards the door that would let her out into the gardens. The kitchens were quite large and had several islands and worktables breaking up the space, so her path was far from straight and she didn't make it out before the guards had followed her in.
At that point, Yajima and the others would've had to be idiots to not realize what was going on.
As she dashed around the last set of worktables, an enormous explosion of sound erupted behind her… yells, curses, banging, and all sorts of undefinable noises clattering through the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"Fuck!"
"What the hell is going on?! What are you doing?!"
"Oh no! Please watch out!"
"Watch out?! You watch out! What is this mess?!"
Risking a glance back, she saw that Baldroy had apparently toppled over an entire stack of dishes, pots, and pans directly in the path of the guards, while Mey-Rin had spilled a variety of slippery foods on the floor. Both of them were still milling around, bumping into everyone and everything as they apparently "panicked" … which continued to create food related havoc that slowed down her pursuers.
Her wild eyes briefly caught Yajima's, and he winked and jerked his head at the door before promptly entering the fray with a steaming cauldron full of something probably very hot. Loud yells sounded seconds after and she heard him launch into a full-on lecture about how dangerous kitchens were and that they shouldn't be in there.
Lucy used the distraction to run out the door and into the kitchen gardens. Of course, naturally as soon as she escaped that situation, a new group of guards saw her and took chase…. and even worse, they were coming from the direction of the castle gate. That meant she had to run into the gardens and away from the exit, which made her want to scream with frustration.
By that point, she was basically running blind and didn't have a plan at all…. If she could just find a place to hide and think for a moment, maybe she would come up with a way out. But as it was, she didn't see that happening. The grounds were swarming with guards, and every way she turned she ran into more of them.
They saw her too of course, and it wasn't long before a whole troop of castle guards were on her tail. She managed to dodge them for a while by ducking into the bushes and behind trees as she led them on a merry chase…. But that wasn't a good thing, because it just meant she exhausted herself faster. No matter how she tried to lose them, they kept on coming, and someone was always there to see her and shout her location whenever she attempted to hide.
It also quickly became obvious that they were making a concerted effort to keep her away from any escape route, and she just ended up running in circles. Before long, they seemed to be on all sides – shouting to each other, circling her, and closing in while she dashed around trying to find a weak spot in their ranks. What scared her the most though was that they weren't making mad grabs for her anymore…. that was her first clue that they were organizing a trap.
They were ruthlessly efficient, herding her into an open grassy spot in the gardens and then making a tight ring around her, all of their spears held sideways like a rail between her and escape.
"Please surrender, Princess, we wish you no harm," the leader of the group called to her, sounding pretty out of breath.
She got a little satisfaction from the sound of his heavy panting, knowing that she'd at least put up a good fight… but she still wasn't ready to give up just yet.
It took a little mental scrambling to come up with a possible escape plan, but luckily something did occur to her relatively quickly. She had her celestial keys thanks to Aquarius, and they could very well be her ticket out of here… as long as she was able to activate them. It had been over a year since her mother had told her how to use the magical artifacts, so hopefully she hadn't forgotten anything important.
With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and dug into her memory, trying to recall everything Mom had told her about celestial magic as she prepared to use it for the very first time.
From what she could remember, first she had to find the magic that was dormant inside her body and tap into it before she could do anything else. While her eyes were still closed, she tried to quiet her mind as much as possible and ignored the sounds of clinking armor around her. Focusing inwards, she reached deep, desperately searching for her magic even though she had no idea how to locate it.
For a brief, terrifying moment, she was scared that she either wouldn't find it in time or that there simply wasn't anything for her to find. Even though her mother had been a mage, that was no guarantee that Lucy had magic abilities too. But right as she was about to give up, she touched something warm that she'd never felt before and tingles suddenly shot through her body. Something bright and beautiful came to life inside her and she lit up like a lighthouse, making her feel like she had swallowed a star.
It was a little overwhelming.
And even though it was strange and new, it also felt incredibly familiar. Her mother's magic had felt the same… warm and sweet and golden, like honey shining in the sun.
She teared up a little at all the happy, loving memories that flooded her, but she quickly pulled herself together and focused on what to do now that she had accessed her magic. Following what she remembered her mother telling her to do, she drew on the magic and pulled it towards her chest, where Layla Heartfilia had placed a permanent magic circle.
It was an ancient spell that had been passed down through the generations of her mother's family, one that would give her access to another world called the celestial realm… a land of stars and otherworldly beings called celestial spirits that could grant her special magical powers if they decided to form a contract with her. Each of her keys opened the gate to one of these celestial spirits, though there was no guarantee that they would forge a contract with her. Some required a mage to complete a series of challenges before they would agree to any kind of partnership.
It was risky to do right here, since she wasn't entirely sure what would happen once she opened a gate to the celestial realm – whether the spirit would come into this world, or if she would be sucked into the other – but she didn't have any choice. This was her last chance to escape.
So, she drew all her magic power into her chest and opened her eyes to see if it was working. When she looked down, she was astounded to see that she was glowing with gold light… especially the middle of her chest where a magic circle had appeared on her skin. Three rings surrounded a center filled with intricate scrolling, and in the very middle of the bullseye was a large decorative keyhole. Both the innermost and outermost rings were made of magical symbols bracketed by heavy lines, and between them was a thicker band of strangely empty space.
Lucy knew that every celestial spirit had a symbol naming them, and the empty ring on her chest was reserved for the names of any spirits she made a contract with. Her mother had possessed four, and her magic circle had almost looked like a compass marking the four cardinal directions.
Unfortunately, that was as far as she got.
Before she could even grab for a key, one of the guards had shouted, "She's using magic! Quick! Handcuff her!"
Several guards tackled her and she felt metal snap around her wrists. It all happened so fast that she didn't have a hope of retaliating or fighting back as one wrapped her in a bearhug from the front and another grabbed her wrists from behind. Several more came from the sides to help stop her from flailing around, and it was all over in a matter of seconds.
As soon as the anti-magic handcuffs clicked into place, she felt her new power cut off like scissors had severed her connection to it. The loss left her feeling cold and even more helpless than before, and she hated the sensation intensely.
Once she was cuffed, all the guards dropped away except for two – who took positions on either side of her, each firmly gripping one of her elbows. They started frog marching her back towards the castle, grunting a little and straining as she dug in her heels and balked. She did everything she could to make the trip as unpleasant for them as possible, though she didn't have any hope of getting free. Every now and then she tested them by throwing her weight to one side or another, making both guards stagger and curse, but they never let her go.
Her goal was more to protest the treatment than anything…. at this point, going meekly to her fate would just add insult to injury.
It wasn't long before they were dragging her in front of her father and King Eisenwald. The former was visibly seething, but the latter actually looked amused – which was almost more frightening.
The silence was broken by King Eisenwald, who started to chuckle a little. His eyes looked her up and down, and his lips curled into an amused smile.
"A maid's costume… how clever. You're even more spirited than I expected, Princess."
Her father flinched, and Lucy felt dark satisfaction as he kowtowed to the other man.
"Yes, I'm afraid she is rather… strong-willed. Normally she has much better manners I assure you, but it seems this whole business has awakened a rebellious side. I apologize for the inconvenience, I'm sure she will come to her senses soon."
"Oh, you misunderstand me. I quite like that she has a little fire… it will make our marriage even more entertaining than I'd hoped. I do love a good challenge."
The smile he sent Lucy was not particularly friendly. There was a gleam in his eyes that left her feeling itchy and cold all over, and she knew that what he wanted with her was not going to be fun.
Sneak Peek
"What are you doing here?!"
He recognized that pissy tone, and immediately perked up as Lucy's blue-haired maid appeared out from behind the wall of water he realized he'd plowed right into. She looked different somehow… but he didn't really notice or care.
"You! You're Lucy's maid right?! Where did she go?!"
"I assume you heard that her fiancé took her back to his country?"
"So it's true?!"
Hang in there Lucy! Natsu's coming to save you!
It sure looks like our beloved protagonists are in a pinch, doesn't it?
If you want hints about what's coming up, I might hand them out. ;D
