A/N: How would you define a villain? Is the mysterious woman a villain or not? Read to find out.
Please enjoy!
"Is this the place?" Lucy asked herself as she checked her note again before looking up to find a hut in the middle of the forest. "Please don't tell me a witch lives here..." She debated to just turn around and leave, but before she could even decide what she could do, she heard a voice.
"Welcome, dear Lucy." The voice rebounded and echoed throughout the trees, so the Celestial mage could not determine where the voice came from.
She clutched the note tightly in her hands, now sure that this was the place. She pocketed the note into her pocket and took a deep breath. "Where are you? Show yourself!" She said while staring at the hut in front of her.
"Please... come inside." The voice beckoned as the door to the hut opened on its own.
Lucy gulped as the door creaked as it opened. She couldn't see any lifeforms from where she stood. Does it look like she has a choice? But she needed answers. With a deep gulp, she decided to risk it and approached the hut and stepped through the door.
It was dark and when she stood in the middle of the room, the door closed behind her. Lucy turned around with a little jump. This place is giving her the heebie jeebies. Just like a haunted house. Where's the light switch? She was scouring for the walls when she heard the same voice again, but much clearer.
"Glad you could make it here, Lucy."
The blonde froze, keeping her back to the mysterious person. Slowly, she slowly turned around, only to find a woman behind her. It took her a moment to put the pieces together. "Daphne?"
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Daphne smiled with a small bow. "Follow me, I have some snacks for you. And of course, we'll talk."
Lucy stared at the woman as she turned and walked away. She glanced at her surroundings with a shiver. She made a no-brainer decision to follow the suspicious woman. Better than being in this room alone. There are probably spiders hiding, waiting to attack her. And she does not want to be there when they decide to do so. Nasty little things.
After following Daphne through a room and into a hidden passage behind the bookshelf, they descended the stairs and soon, they were in a really nice lair. And if Lucy was being honest, this place was a lot nicer than her place. "Wow." Was all she could say.
"Please take a seat, I'll get some snacks and we can finally talk. I've been wanting to talk to you." Daphne said before walking away, assuming to get snacks as she said she would.
But Lucy felt alarmed. She never met this woman before, so why would she want to talk to her? Despite that, she took a seat. Looking around, she noted that there weren't any picture frames on the walls or on the shelves. Just decorations. And there was a nice fireplace in the corner. Very medieval looking and very nice to look at. The flames were even gentle and beautiful to watch. This place is really a nice place.
Lucy blinked a couple of times before she let herself be lost with the beauty of this place. This was no place for her to be taken in by the beauty of it. First off, this was the place of a weird woman that gave her the creeps. But she's nice, right? Seems nice.
"Ah, see you're already feeling at home." Daphne appeared with a tray of snacks and drinks and set them on the table and took a seat across the young blonde. "So, how are you feeling?"
Lucy frowned at the food, which seemed to have been made by a professional. She looked up with a question in mind, ignoring the question that the woman had asked. "Who are you really?"
"Hmm, I have a lot of titles, but right now, they don't matter." Daphne answered and pushed the tray towards the young mage. "Eat, you must be hungry."
Lucy was almost tempted to take one of the crackers, but quickly pulled back. "N-No, I didn't come here to eat. I came here for some answers!"
"Why not eat and talk at the same time?" Daphne smiled as she herself grabbed a cracker and ate it. As if she was proving that the snacks have not been tampered with. "After all, we do have lots to talk about."
Lucy stared at the tray of delicious looking snacks and gave up. She doesn't sense any ounce of hostility from this woman. And it would be a waste to let these snacks go to waste. So, she took one and took a bite out of it. "Wow, these are good."
"Right?"
"Where did you get these?" Lucy would love to know where to get these.
"I stole them from this rich dude."
"Eh?" Lucy accidently dropped her snack and it crumbled to the floor. But she paid no mind to that and stared at the self-acclaimed thief. "You stole them?"
Daphne laughed. "No, I'm joking. I used magic to make these."
The Celestial mage frowned and leaned back. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?" Better to just get to the point and not worry about whether these foods were stolen or not.
"Your dreams, did they help?"
"My dreams? Why would yo-" She paused before she took the note out of her pocket, the note that she found under the bed. "So, these ingredients were used for that... drink? But an old man gave me that."
"Ah, right." Daphne raised her hand in the air and a familiar man that Lucy recognized appeared from thin air. It was that same old man that treated her injuries and gave her that mysterious liquid. "I used magic to change my appearance to help you."
"Why go through all that trouble?" Lucy asked with a frown as she stared at the stationary misty man, who stood like a statue.
Daphne moved her hand and the man disappeared. "In the past, whenever I tried to help people, they wouldn't let me help them. So, I tried a different method and made myself look like an old man. Believe it or not, it worked." She sighed and crossed her legs. "People would trust an old man and drink an unknown potion. If it was a woman, they'd reject it."
"I wouldn't have taken it regardless of gender." She muttered silently to herself. But then again, she had hit her head, so Daphne must've taken advantage of that. "So, have we met before? Or... why bother to do all of this?"
"Your friend came to me for help."
"My friend?"
"She wanted advice on how to help you with your... inflictions."
The only person that comes to mind is Erza. Just what did that girl tell this woman? "What did you tell her?"
"Just what she needed. When your friend left, I couldn't sit by and do nothing. I wanted to make sure that you're on the right path. And I'm pleased that you are faring greatly than I expected."
"On the right path? Why do you even care? I'm just a stranger."
Daphne stared at the girl with a dark expression. An emotion full of dread and loss. "I was five years old when my father committed suicide."
Lucy sat with wide eyes, not even expecting this kind of conversation.
"Of course, as young as I was, I did not understand what happened. So, it didn't really affect me. However, five years later, my older sister committed suicide."
The young mage remained silent.
"In that moment, I understand the grief and anger when your loved ones commit suicide. I was angry that my older sister didn't confide to me. I was angry that she left me behind. And I was sad that I no longer have a sister."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Then, when I was 18, my best friend attempted to kill himself. I stopped him and tried to help him. I thought it worked, But, two days later, I found him in the bathroom."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Strangers or not, I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through. I did research on suicide and the temptations to do so. When your friend came in, I could tell how much she cared about you. All I could think of is, if you did succeed in killing yourself, how would you think your friend would feel?"
"I came to the same conclusion not too long ago. It would be an insult to keep doing it." Lucy sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "I only came here to find answers for this potion you gave me."
"The potion materializes the fear deep inside of you. It is evident that it has worked." Daphne nodded with content.
"But I have more questions than answers. Why did my father from my dream tried to make me choose between me or my friends? Or the keys. Or Erza-... Two of those aren't even what I fear."
Daphne stared at Lucy for a quick minute before she stood up. "I see. You continue to deny your feelings." She turned around and walked to her bookshelf. "The longer you deny your feelings, the harder it will be to accept them." She grabbed a book and took it out and opened it.
"I even had your father released so you two can have a proper confrontation."
Lucy stood up angrily. "You released him?"
"Though I thought it was a step in the right direction, but did you really have to punch him in the face?" The woman muttered before walking back to the table and sat back down.
"You had no right to interfere with my family problem." The blonde said with anger in her voice. While it was relieving to have punched the man, she would've had preferred to not to even see the man.
"Let's see here..." Daphne mumbled as she read through the book in her hand, and soon started to recite the passages. "Layla Heartfilia passed away due to unforeseen sickness. The husband, Jude Heartfillia grew into depression and began to abuse their only daughter, Lucy Heartfillia."
Lucy didn't even notice what she was doing, and before she realized it, she had grabbed the book and threw it across the room. She turned back to the woman. "Don't go digging through my privacy. Just what the hell do you want?"
"The main cause of your suffering is your father. While you think that confronting him with a punch in the face will work, it will not last." Daphne stood up and walked over to pick up the book. "Have you ever thought about forgiving him?"
"No. That man does not deserve anything." Lucy gritted her teeth at that thought. "The scars that he gave me tells plenty on what kind of man he is."
Daphne shook her head with a sigh. "Nothing I say will make you see it from another perspective?"
"No. My mind is set. I don't care what happens to him."
"I see." Daphne said with a dark solemn voice. She walked back to her bookshelf and put the book back in its rightful place. She opened the drawer and took out a box. "Then I have no other choice."
Shivers ran through the Celestial mage, and she knew that she needed to leave this nice-looking place. But before she could even do anything, Daphne had tossed or blew powder/dust or whatever it was towards her direction.
Lucy waved her arms around to try to get rid of whatever it was, but it was already too late. She soon lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Daphne set down the box and walked towards the girl and rolled her over onto her back. "I can only hope that you'll wake up from this."
...
Erza was knocking on Lucy's door, as it was well past noon. She built up some courage for her to directly ask Lucy about whether or not she likes someone, or... maybe confess? Ugh, this is so stressful.
"Come on, I know you're in there..." She muttered silently to herself as she knocked on the door again.
Maybe she had spooked the blonde with her mini outburst? No, that wouldn't be it. Perhaps... did something happen? Erza looked around before peeking through the window. Or at least she tried to, the blind was blocking her view so she couldn't see inside. She stepped back before she raised her hand and equipped a key. Better than knocking down her door again. She approached the door and unlocked it.
She opened it and half expected the blonde to yell at her for barging in unannounced. But it was silent. Erza closed the door behind her and examined the area. "It's too quiet... I know she's not at the guild, I just came from there..."
She made her way to the bathroom and opened the door. Whatever she was expecting, she didn't find it. It was empty. She then moved to the kitchen and noticed that there was an empty cup on the counter and half empty cup on the table. "Hmm."
Erza walked to where the bed is and noticed that it was neatly made. "She didn't sleep last night, did she?" Where is she? She couldn't find a single note from Lucy. It was as if she left on a short notice. "Where are you, Lucy?"
She stood in the middle of the room, confined by the silence in the empty apartment. Worry began to grow. Lucy wouldn't disappear like this, not without a note. Unless...
She quickly left the apartment, but not before she locked it. And ran back to the guild. When she arrived, she began to scan the room for a specific person. Once she spotted him, she approached him.
Natsu, on the other hand, was scarfing down his delicious food and Happy was on the other side of the table, eating his yummy fish. But when the cat saw the redhead approaching, with an intimidating aura around her, he froze. Erza stopped just behind the dragonslayer, who had yet to notice her.
"N-Natsu..." Happy whined, to get his attention.
Fortunately, he looked up. "Hmm?" His little companion pointed at something behind him, so he turned his head, only to see an angry Erza. He fell off his chair and started spouting nonsense. "I swear, I didn't eat your cake, I didn't knock down your cake. I'm sorry, please don't grill me alive! You can have Happy!"
"Hey!" The cat complained.
"Shut up." Erza sighed. Why do the boys have to be so damn irritating every time she approaches them? Whatever, it's not that important. "I need your help."
"Hmm?" Natsu stood up from the ground and looked at Erza confusingly and curiously on why she would need him. "What is it?"
"Lucy's gone; I need you to find her."
The look in Natsu's eyes was quickly filled with determination.
"I'm going to find Wendy. She has the same sense of smell as you do." Erza said before she took off to find the tiny little dragonslayer.
Natsu watched as the redhead left to find the little girl. But he didn't want to wait. He turned to his cat companion. "Let's go and find our friend."
"Aye Sir!" Happy sprouted his wings and grabbed Natsu and they both flew out of the guild.
A/N: And the plot thickens!