It's Monday! So the Strauss swamp saga continues with... (as the title said) The Elf Man.
Irina: In the film, there are three different trials in the swamp. They didn't make sense to me, at least not in this format. They were far more impressive on screen than in text. Now... Lisanna is a sweetheart. As for her siblings, I guess it depends on what you're into. :P And I'm glad Xebec entertained you. Introducing people to new ships (or getting them to give old ones a second chance) is #LifeGoals. I would definitely give drabbles another try in the future. Thanks!
- K. Chandler
"That was… interesting," said Gray, as soon as Lisanna was out of earshot.
"I'll be glad when we're out of here," said Lucy.
With the frog-girl behind them, they sloshed their way deeper into the swamp. Water had seeped into his boots and soaked its way up his shirt.
It was cold and unpleasant, but Gray was used to it. Years at sea had accustomed him to the chill and the dampness. Besides, it could be worse.
"Oh, come on. Cheer up," said Gray. "Now we know why this is called the Changeling Swamp. We've met the changeling. How much worse could it get?"
"This is new," remarked Lucy.
"What is?" asked Gray.
"You're being optimistic, for once? What about her brother and sister?" asked Lucy, planting a hand on her hip.
Gray shrugged. "Fifty-fifty," he said.
"Fifty-fifty?" echoed Lucy.
"Fifty percent chance that she was making it up," said Gray.
Or not.
Gray caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A large, hulking figure moved through the mist. It officially got worse.
"Why would she do that?" asked Lucy, who didn't seem to notice the approaching figure.
"She lives here," said Gray. "Would you want random people trashing your place? No. You'd threaten them with a father or a big brother, so they'd play nice," he said, trying to sound reasonable and reassuring. The last thing he needed was to freak Lucy out.
He caught hold of Lucy's hand, pulling her along, trying to keep the thing in his line of sight. If they were fast, they wouldn't run into… well, whatever this was. He really didn't want to fight it if he didn't have to.
"You don't think they're real," accused Lucy.
Gray glanced back at the incoming figure. Through the gloom, Gray could just make out its wild mane and two wicked horns that jutted up from its skull. It looked pretty real.
"Like I said, fifty-fifty," lied Gray, locking eyes with the beast. He pulled at Lucy insistently, trying to get her to move faster. "For all we know, Lisanna may be the only changeling in the swamp. That could just be a story to keep everyone on their best behavior until they get out of here," he lied.
An inhuman yowl split his eardrums. The ground shook as the beast bounded over, sloshing across the marshy ground to tower over them. Gray found himself staring straight at the creature's knees. It had the claws of a cockatoo, curving into five rigid, black talons that looked like they could shred him without too much effort.
"Of course, that leaves a fifty-percent chance that everything she said was true," added Gray, shouldering in front of Lucy protectively.
Lucy whimpered, clinging onto Gray's arm. "I think I liked frog-girl better," gulped Lucy, her voice squeaking.
"Who's trespassing in my swamp?" growled the beast, eying them up as if they were something to eat.
"Are you Big Brother Elf?" Gray tried.
"Who wants to know?" asked the beast, his voice low and grating.
"The trespassers," said Gray.
"Gray!" hissed Lucy.
"You think you're clever," snarled the beast, clenching his massive fists. The wiry, red fur that covered its bulging arms and back bristled at the creature's irritation.
"That really depends," said Gray. "Does that mean that you'll challenge us to a battle of wits? I'd totally be okay with that. Or we could see who can hold their breath underwater longer."
"I don't think so, puny human."
"Okay, your game, your rules," conceded Gray. "I know that you're supposed to challenge us. What do you propose?"
"I think you should stop talking and take your beating like a real man."
The beast swiped, it's powerful arm nearly detaching Gray's head. Gray ducked just in time.
"Stay behind me, Lucy," said Gray, his magic at the ready.
"Oh, be careful," breathed Lucy.
"I got this," he said. "Relax."
Gray kept to his toes, his movements light, as he dodged the creature's attacks.
How was he going to counter this one? The beast wasn't like the ice mage or the swords man or even the dragon slayer. They were obviously human, and none of them were significantly stronger than he was. The beast, on the other hand, was definitely stronger. Gray wouldn't be able to win with brute force, not against an actual brute.
The beast didn't have any obvious weak spots either. Between the horns on its head and the thick fur that covered its torso, there wasn't much that one of Gray's ice weapons would be able to penetrate. Even its abdomen was armored with a thick wall of muscle, leaving no vulnerable underbelly to exploit.
What he needed was a distraction.
The beast punched again, but Gray danced out of the way. He formed a large hammer out of his ice, swinging it through the air, just out of reach of the monster.
With a cry of frustration, the beast swung wildly, trying to keep up with the mallet as it sped through the air. Eventually, he managed to catch hold of it, shattering it beneath powerful claws.
With the beast distracted, Gray pressed his hands together, trapping the beast in a cage.
"What do you have to say to that, huh?" he gloated. That was surprisingly easy.
"Oh, you think this is funny, do you?" snarled the beast. He grabbed for the bars of the cage, shaking them with all his might. With a furious roar, the beast crushed the bars, smashing his way out of the ice cage as if it had been made of glass.
Gray swore. If ice couldn't contain him, then—
The air left Gray's lungs in a whoosh as a gargantuan fist closed around his middle. His arms were caught, pinned awkwardly against his side. Gray struggled, trying to get free. He was useless without his hands!
"Don't you touch him!" Lucy cried, planting herself before the creature. Was she trying to fight this monster?
"Lucy, no!" he croaked. "Run! Get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
There was a sickening snap as a sharp pain shot through his right arm. Gray cried out, his vision darkening for a second as white stars flashed across his eyes.
"Gray!" shrieked Lucy.
"I'm… okay," he gasped. "Don't worry about me. Just go!" His arm was definitely broken, but that was the least of his problems. There was no way to get free, and there was no way to help Lucy.
"No! I won't. I won't leave you!"
The pressure around his chest increased. Then something gave. Snap. Snap! Pain flared at his side. He struggled to draw in air.
"Run…" he tried to say. But he couldn't. His voice was barely a whisper.
His lungs burned. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't breathe. Air…
"You're killing him! Put him down! Please!" sobbed Lucy. "Please…"
"Aren't you going to listen to your boy?" snarled the beast.
Lucy's voice seemed distant. She was crying. "If he dies, then I die too," she declared. "Do what you want to me. I'm not losing him. Not again."
Oh, Lucy. Gray would have smiled if they weren't so screwed. Brave, beautiful, stupid Lucy. For God's sake, just run! He would have told her as much if he had the air to do so. But it was all he could do to keep himself from passing out.
"Why would you do something like that?" asked the beast.
"Because… I love him," whispered Lucy. "Gray is my true love and I am not going to leave him."
Suddenly, the pressure at his chest loosened. Gray gave a desperate gasp, filling his lungs with as much air as he could handle, trying to ignore the agony in his side. Gray felt himself being lowered to the ground. The swamp floor was cold and damp through his shirt.
"L-Lucy?" he panted. He blinked up, feeling hazy and still a little breathless.
Lucy's face faded into view. "It's okay. I'm here," she said, squeezing his fingers. "I'm right here."
"The beast?"
Lucy nodded toward the spot the beast had stood. Gray turned his head to the side. Where the ferocious beast once stood, was a man. Still a giant of a man, but nowhere near as terrifying as the monster had been. He was hunched over, sobbing into his hands. "That's the most… beautiful thing… I've ever seen…" the beast cried. "True love… is beautiful! All right. All right. Y-you may pass," he sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
Still in tears, the man retreated.
"Wait!" called Lucy. "You're just the second guardian, right? Who's the last one?"
"Just Big Sis," sniffled the beast.
"Is that Elf?'" asked Lucy.
"No, I'm Elf," he said. He wiped his arm across his face.
Somewhere through the pain-induced haze, Gray couldn't help but notice that this giant of a man was as un-elflike as he could get.
"What's she like?" asked Lucy. "Oh, come on. After this, I think you owe us that much," she wheedled.
"I let you off because I felt bad. I don't owe you anything," Elf reminded them. "Don't worry, now that you've gotten past me, Big Sis isn't anything to worry about," he added, sniffling.
With that, the Elf-man disappeared back into the mist from whence he had come.
"When you say stuff like that, it makes me wonder," muttered Lucy.
Gray tried to sit up, a low groan escaping the back of his throat. Everything hurt and he couldn't take too deep a breath.
"Careful," said Lucy.
Lucy supported his head and shoulders as she maneuvered Gray into a sitting position. His ribs shifted painfully. Gray hissed, pressing a hand to his side.
"Gray?" she asked anxiously, her forehead furrowed.
"Might have cracked a rib. Or two," he grunted, remembering feeling two of them buckle beneath the monster's fist. Actually, he was pretty sure they were more than just cracked, but he wasn't about to say so.
Gently, Gray tried to move his right arm, already knowing what would happen. Even he could see that it was at an odd angle, not lying right. Gray hissed, cradling it to his chest with a grimace.
"Are you okay?" asked Lucy anxiously.
Gray nodded tersely.
"What about your arm?"
"Broken, I think."
With his uninjured left hand, Gray molded a sheet of ice along his side, letting the cold take the edge off the pain. He maneuvered his injured arm similarly, casting a sling to keep the pressure off of it.
One-handed ice wasn't as strong, but it would serve its purpose. He was looking for relief, not protection.
"Are you ready to get going?" he asked.
Lucy's expression was grim. "We… we should stop," she said."
"And do what?" asked Gray.
"What do you mean, do what? You're hurt."
"Sitting here isn't going to fix it," he said. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Lucy shook her head.
"What happened to that life we wanted?" he asked. "That castle that I'd build for you."
"I don't want any of that," said Lucy, shaking her head. "Not anymore."
"What do you want, then?" asked Gray gently.
"All I want is to be able to spend the rest of my life with you," said Lucy. "It doesn't matter if we live in a castle or on a turnip farm. We could even spend the rest of our life in this swamp! I don't care. So long as you're with me, Gray. We are not doing this anymore!"
"I think we can do better than a swamp," said Gray.
"You said that last time," Lucy reminded him. "And look where we ended up."
"We ended up together," said Gray. "'Ain't nothing wrong with that," he said quietly.
Lucy still looked uncertain.
"We've met two of the three guardians," he said. "So, we're more than half way through. Once we're out of the Changeling Swamp, we're home free. We're almost there. And then we'll be able to have a life together."
"Yeah?" asked Lucy.
"Believe in me, Lucy. Believe in us. We'll make it. But we have to keep going."
"Okay. Let's keep going."
Ooh, a little drama here. With Gray injured, hopefully 'Big Sis' is merciful.
For my film junkies, Elfman is my answer to one particular canon swamp-trial. And now that I've admitted that, then maybe you can answer a question for me. I could have sworn that our hero was entirely aware of this particular beast (in the film). He looked right at it and started pulling his lady love in the other direction whilst insisting that it wasn't real (which is why I wrote this chapter the way I did). Ed, who betas for me (and publishes the occasional fic here), insists that the hero had no idea that the beast was there, and that it got the jump on him. What do you guys think? Tell us who's right. (Yes, we're going to poll the audience instead of doing the logical thing and just watching the clip together to settle the disagreement, lol.)
Next time, in As You Wish, the oldest Strauss sibling and final swamp guardian: "Look, I've got one good arm. I can still mold. I can take her."
Stop back next Monday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.
