Chapter 31
When Lucy wakes up at eight o'clock, she cannot go back to bed. All she can do is stare up at the ceiling as she thinks about what happened when she arrived home. She does not want that happen to again. She wants to stop whoever did it so there is not a chance of it happening again. But what can she do? She has no leads. She has no clue as to why she is being targeted.
Having had enough of her mind making things worse, Lucy finally rolls out of bed. She passes by her dresser, notices her massive bed head in the mirror, and does not care. When she opens her bedroom door, she can hear Capricorn and Virgo talking. It looks like they beat her to being productive first.
"The princess should be aware of this," Virgo says.
"Perhaps we will tell her after breakfast," Capricorn says. "We can see how she is faring from last night."
Lucy finds the two are in the family room, standing next to each other.
Capricorn notices her first. "Miss Lucy."
"Tell me wha–" Lucy starts saying, but cuts herself off. She notices there is an envelope in Capricorn's hands, just like the one from before. She does find it odd that he is wearing gloves in order to hold it. "Oh, did you get the photos back already?" she asks.
Neither Capricorn nor Virgo says a word.
Lucy does not like their silence. She is wary because of it. "What's going on?"
"This envelope was found not too long ago," Capricorn begins. "While Virgo remained here, I looked for possible signs of who could have left it behind. A neighbor of yours was out in the hallway when I was there, but he said he never saw someone put this on your door."
"The police are already on their way here," Virgo adds. "Your father has been notified as well."
All Lucy can do is stare at the envelope. A part of her wants to know what is inside while the other part wants nothing to do with it.
"Virgo used her phone to take pictures of it taped to the door and while I was removing it," Capricorn explains. "The gloves are because I don't want my finger prints on it."
"Have you seen what's inside?" Lucy whispers.
Capricorn merely nods.
"More photos?"
Again, he nods.
"Should I see them?"
"It might be best if you don't, Miss Lucy," he answers.
Instead, Lucy holds out a hand.
Ever so reluctantly, Capricorn walks over to her and hands over the envelope.
"Princess, shall I fetch gloves for you use?" Virgo asks before Lucy makes contact with the envelope.
Lucy fingers close around the paper. "I don't think it'll be necessary for me." Then she takes a deep breath, bracing herself as she reaches inside. The quantity of photos seems to be less than what the first batch had.
From head to toe, she grows numb when her eyes take in the first photo at the top.
Lucy and Natsu walking to his vehicle from when she saw Jude at the hospital for the first time. Lucy and Natsu walking into her apartment that same day. Natsu walking into her apartment building by himself. Lucy and Natsu eating dinner outside at a restaurant. Lucy and Natsu walking around together, holding hands and laughing. Natsu walking out of Makarov's Pizzeria while wearing his uniform.
There are some more to go through, but Lucy cannot look at them now. Maybe in a little bit. She needs reality to settle in.
"This explains why Natsu wasn't in the photos from before," Capricorn says.
"There was a special packet just for us and him." Lucy shudders. "They know where he works…" He had been wearing his uniform from the earliest photos, but there are a couple of locations around for Makarov's Pizzeria. They must have followed him to figure out which one he does work at.
"Princess, what do you want to do now?" Virgo inquires.
Lucy tears her gaze away from the photos in hand to look at Virgo. "What do you mean?"
"Are you going to tell your friends?" Capricorn asks.
She bites her lower lip. At the very least, maybe she should tell Natsu. He does have a packet of him, with and without her. When she does tell Natsu she can only hope he will not freak out and leave. Although, maybe he will be safer that way if he cuts ties with her. "I'll tell him…"
Then Lucy keeps going through the photos and finally comes to the last one. A tingling sensation runs down her back. It is another shot of her and Natsu together, but it is different due to the red X over him.
"What does this mean… ?" she whispers. Then she looks up at Capricorn and Virgo, speaking in a louder voice and holding up the image for them to clearly see. "What's this mean?"
"I didn't see that one when I quickly looked through," Capricorn says, sounding slightly surprised. "I only looked through the first few just to confirm who they were about."
Lucy starts panicking. "Is Natsu a target? Are they going to target him now? They didn't cross me out from what I've seen!"
Capricorn takes the photos and envelope away from Lucy so she cannot look at them anymore. He is quick to slip the photos inside. "We don't know that."
"We don't know why they targeted you in the first place," Virgo points out.
Lucy thinks of three valid enough reasons. "The possible things I can see this happening is because I'm a Heartfilia, I'm Ashley, or he's a model." Not to knock Natsu down a peg, but she believes it is not because of him. He is a model, but he is not that famous. "But I highly doubt it's because of Natsu."
"One way or another, we'll get down to the bottom of this," Capricorn assures her. "We'll put this to a stop."
Lucy just wishes that can curl up into a ball and disappear. That seems like an easy way out of this living nightmare. Someone, or a group of people, has been following her and photographing her who she is with. They know who she is connected to and who she is closer to.
"I think it might be best to tell the Dragneel family about what's going on," Lucy voices. "Natsu is their son, but Wendy was in a few of the photos, too. Not to mention the fact I was photographed in front of their house."
"That can be arranged, Miss Lucy," Capricorn says.
"It can't be until this evening because I know Natsu works at Mak"-she realizes something and gasps-"He'll be working at Makarov's Pizzeria later! He won't get off until this evening!"
"Princess, do you want one of our people to follow him?" Virgo questions.
Lucy looks at Capricorn. "What do you think about that?"
"I believe it might be good to have someone tail Natsu to see if a suspicious person is tailing him," he responds. "I can have two people watch over Natsu if that makes you feel better."
She nods. "That would actually."
Capricorn looks at Virgo. "Tell Gemi and Mini they have orders from Capricorn to follow Natsu Dragneel."
"Of course." Then she bows at her waist, reaches for her phone in a pocket, and leaves the room to make the call.
Now alone with Capricorn, Lucy tries looking anywhere but the envelope in his hand.
He rests a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. "This will be resolved, Miss Lucy."
Needing more, Lucy steps closer to him for a hug. "The sooner the better."
x-X-x
By seven o'clock that evening, Lucy, Jude, and Capricorn are inside of the Dragneel's home. Virgo and some others are discreetly outside to make sure the area is secure. Everyone inside are all in various spots of the family room. Most are sitting, but some are standing.
"I'm sorry this is happening because of me," Lucy voices, having finished explaining the situation. "I believe I'm the target, but you all have a connection to me somehow." She quickly glances over at Natsu before looking around at the others faces. "Some a little more special than others."
"An investigation is already underway, but no one is sure how long it will take," Jude says.
"So let's just cross Natsu outta this equation," Igneel begins, the gears in his mind turning. "It's because of Lucy's family or her being an author, right?"
"That is what we have gathered so far," Capricorn replies.
"The last time I was photographed and labeled as a Heartfilia was when I was little," Lucy says. "Some time after my mother had passed away. After that, my father kept me out of the public eye. It was like I disappeared."
"By the time she surfaced as Ashley, there was no way to connect her as a Heartfilia," Jude continues. "She didn't want ties to the name when she published since she wanted to make it on her own."
"So did somebody connect that you're a Heartfilia?" Igneel inquires, looking at her.
"We don't know," she honestly replies.
"It does seem odd for all of the following and photos to happen because she's Ashley," Grandeeney admits. "Wouldn't the photos have at least popped up on the media somewhere?"
"I haven't heard anything about this from the Ashley-related accounts I follow," Wendy admits since she is still a fan.
"Which does make it more likely that she is a Heartfilia," Capricorn says.
Lucy agrees with that as well, but there is no definite answer.
"Wait, Jude's a Heartfilia, too," Igneel comments, and looks over at him. "Have photos of you popped up?"
"Nothing as of now," he replies.
"But he has more security than Lucy," Grandeeney points out. "Putting it lightly, she is an easier target to follow compared to him."
At least now Lucy will have one or two people accompanying her, whether she is inside our outside of her apartment.
"And she's out more in public than him," Wendy adds.
Maybe Lucy can just hide herself in her apartment and not leave until this all resolved–
Natsu abruptly stands up and speaks for the first time. "Hey, Luce? Can we talk? Alone?"
A/N Part 1: Tbh, I totally forgot to mention there were photos of Lucy and Natsu together since I wanted to make sure I had Lucy and others… So there was a special folder just of NaLu :P Then I added to it…
A/N Part 2: As for next week's update, I'll hafta see how that goes. I'll be turning 21 next weekend and I'll be away Sun-Tue. If I get the next update (since I try updating on my off days of Sun-Mon) done before, I'll be sure to post! If not, it might come during another part of that week… No promises, but I think the lil' break will do me good :D
A/N Part 3: Pokémon Go anyone? :D
Phoenix Deity: Yay for drama! But I can confirm that it isn't Dan! And you're most welcome! :D
Craycraynalufan: You're welcome :D
Bookwriter16: Hey, welcome to CAF :D I try and update weekly during my off days (Sun-Mon).
Anon: Ha, when you get the tiara, lemme know XD Capricorn Nanny is the bomb haha. I'm not sure when the end will be, but I least have this arc and a solid next one. Figuring out what I need to do after the upcoming arc.
Anon: But fighting requires effort… And I'm lazy…
Nalu_27862: Gah, thanks for reading my work! And welcome to CAF :D As for updating, I try doing that on my off days (Sun-Mon). I have a busy life, but I love writing a lot!
kittyelit: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you're liking it so far!
kuraudiachan13: Yay for drama :D Thanks for reading!
Guest: Surprise! Natsu has a part in the photos XD
AG: Pfft, I'm on a roll with causing Lucy and co. drama XD Well, Natsu woulda been at home when Lucy got to her apartment. Maybe in bed. But he doesn't know what happened to her :P I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Guest: More writing to come! And thank you :D
