chapter eleven: confessions
"Ow!"
"Sorry."
Lucy pushed Rogue away with her feet. "God, this is so embarrassing. Why did they have to take our clothes?"
"Stop pushing my left side! That hurts! And I don't know," he said.
Lucy lowered her feet. "Where are we?"
"Hell if I know. But we aren't in Magnolia."
Lucy sighed. "This sucks. How will they be able to find us?"
"Did you forget that our friends are dragon slayers with incredible senses?" Rogue asked her.
Lucy sat back against the cold wall of their cell. Being imprisoned with Rogue was not at the top of her list. He sat opposite her, staring down at the floor. He avoided eye contact with Lucy.
"We're not fully naked, you know! You can look at me!" Lucy told him.
"It's not that," he said. "I stayed behind to make sure you were okay. But I failed. We were both kidnapped." He turned his head away. "I had one job, and I failed."
Lucy looked at him. "You didn't fail. I'm okay, aren't I?"
Rogue looked at her and smiled. "Yeah."
"Now we just need to figure out a way to get out of here and find our clothes!" Lucy said.
"I would break us out of here, but my magic is being suppressed by these cuffs," Rogue said. "It's near impossible for me to break them with my own strength."
"They took my Celestial Spirit keys and my fleuve d'étoiles as well," Lucy said. "But Loke can pass through the gate on his own!"
"One of your spirits can come and go on his own? I don't recall any of Yukino's spirits being able to do that," Rogue said.
"It's a long story that'll take awhile to explain." Lucy moved herself to where she was on her knees. "I wonder how I can get him to come through the gate here to us, though."
Rogue collapsed. He was out of breath from trying to break his cuffs. "Damn, what are we going to do?!"
"Rogue, don't worry. We'll find a way out of here." Lucy tried to stand up, but fell over onto his lap. "Sorry!"
"It's fine!" Rogue wheezed.
Lucy rolled off of his lap and onto the concrete floor. "We're stuck here."
Rogue raised his head to look at Lucy. "What's the deal between you and Natsu?"
Lucy blushed. "Huh?"
"You don't have to worry. I'll keep it all a secret."
Lucy heard him shuffle his way to her. "Well, see…" How do I put this?
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."
"It's not like that," Lucy said. A sad expression crossed over her face. "I like Natsu, really, but I'm afraid that he doesn't like me."
"I know what you mean," Rogue said. "At least, how you feel anyways."
Lucy blushed. "You aren't saying you - "
"No. How do I put this…" Rogue tried to put the words together. "I like Sting, and I don't think he feels the same way about me."
"What? Oh. Ohhhh." It suddenly clicked in Lucy's head. "Have you ever talked to him about it?"
Rogue shook his head. "Admitting to your best friend that you have feelings for him isn't something that's easy to talk about. Right?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I guess we are in the same boat."
"If we both get out of here, let's make a deal," Rogue said.
"What kind of deal?" Lucy asked him.
"We talk to Natsu and Sting. Tell them how we feel. And then we go from there." Rogue stood up. "But until then, it's us against them."
"Yeah. Us against them."
As Lucy stood up, a guard came around the corner to their cell. "I've been told to get the two of you."
"What are you going to do to us?" Rogue asked.
"Nothing special." The guard held out his hand and used magic to unlock their cell door. "It's all up to Zeref what happens."
"Zeref?" Lucy whispered.
"Is he really here?" Rogue said.
"He will be. Go on," the guard said, poking Lucy in the back. "And don't even think of making a run for it or I'll kill your friend here."
Lucy grit her teeth. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. I won't cry, not here!
As the guard ushered Rogue out of the cell, he made sure to whisper in his ear, "And if you make a run for it, I'll make it so that there's not even a sliver of blondie left, and I'm not even talking about this one here."
"I'll kill you for that!" Rogue shouted.
"What did I just say?" the guard said.
Rogue was brimming with fury. He had just threatened Sting's life. Sting… Dammit!
After being led down a long flight of steps, they emerged into a wide room with two angular-standing tables with cuffs, a strange device that was hanging overhead, and a remote switch beside it. Lucy barely had time to look at the device and figure it out. She looked over at Rogue, and saw he was looking at the device with horror.
"You can't do this to Lucy!" he shouted. "She won't survive it!"
"She'll survive it. She is, after all, the key," came a young man's voice.
"Y-you!" Lucy cried.
Rogue watched as Zeref came walking toward them. I'm shaking… this man is making me scared, fearful for my life. He's got that kind of power.
"What are we waiting for?" Zeref asked, snapping his fingers. Lucy and Rogue collapsed to the ground. "Let's get started."