chapter twelve: freedom

"Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

Rogue sat up. His whole body hurt from the pain of having his magic drained from him. He crawled over to Lucy, who was breathing heavily. He grabbed her hand, and felt that it was cold. "Don't die on me Lucy."

"I'm just weak," Lucy said. She tried to sit herself up. "Uh…"

Rogue's face turned red when he realized that they were both naked. "S-sorry. I didn't see anything."

Lucy sat up, covering her chest. "Where are we?"

"I think we're back in our cell." Rogue leaned up. He noticed that neither one of them had cuffs on their wrists. "They didn't put the cuffs on us this time. They must think that we're not a threat if we had our magic drained."

Lucy looked at her own wrists. The cuffs were no longer there, but they felt like they were. What's going on? she thought. Why are they doing this?

Rogue looked over at Lucy, who was pointedly looking away from him. He turned away from her. We need to get out of here, and fast. But I can't muster up the strength to bust down the door, and Lucy still doesn't have her keys. He looked over at Lucy. Lucy seems to be getting worse with each passing minute. Dammit.

He crawled over to her. "Lucy, please stay strong. You have to stay strong. Natsu will be here soon."

"It's hard for me to be strong when I'm feeling so weak," she told him.

"I know. But we'll be out of here soon."

As they lay on the floor of their cell, Lucy looked over at Rogue. He was in pain, just like her, but she could tell that he was trying to get some strength back so he could bust their cell open. She mustered enough strength to lean up on her arms. "Rogue?"

"Yeah?"

"Still think we should talk to Natsu and Sting if we make it out of here?"

His eyes widened. "That's up to you."

They lay there for a few more minutes. Rogue drifted off into a haze of sleep, thinking about what could be going on outside of their prison cell. He noticed Lucy's breathing had finally regulated and she was resting. Sting… where are you?

"Lucy! Where are you?" someone yelled from outside their cell door.

Lucy bolted up. "Uh…"

"That was Natsu," Rogue said.

"Rogue, where are you?" came Sting's voice.

Rogue tripped trying to stand up. "Sting! We're up here!" he yelled out.

He watched as Sting and Natsu came over to their cell door with the help of Happy, Lector and Frosch. His Exceed flew through the bars and hugged him. "I missed you, Frosch!"

"I did too!" Frosch cried.

"Stand back," Natsu said. He heated up the bars with his hands and pushed them apart. He and Sting stepped into the cell, and Natsu ran over to Lucy. "Lucy, are you okay?"

"We're okay, now," Rogue said. He tried to stand up.

"Wait, where are your clothes?" Sting asked him.

"Gone. As are Lucy's."

Sting and Natsu's faces turned red. "We didn't realize you guys were naked…"

"It's not by choice," Rogue said. "Lucy also doesn't have her gate keys. We need to get them back."

"Leave that up to us," Happy said. "Come on, Lector."

Lector nodded. They flew out of the cell and down the corridor. Sting waited until they had left before turning back around. Natsu had put his cloak around Lucy's shoulders so she wasn't as exposed and was helping her stand up. Sting pulled Rogue up and tossed him the sheet from the bed to cover himself up with. "We need to hurry and leave."

Rogue nodded. Frosch stood beside him, worried. "Are we going to be okay?"

"Yes, Frosch."

"We're back!" Happy said. "We couldn't find Lucy's keys."

"We looked everywhere, too!" Lector said. "I wonder where they could be."

"I might know," Lucy said. "I think I saw them in the room where they took me and Rogue."

"Then that's where we need to go. Do you think you can find your way back?" Natsu asked her.

Lucy nodded. She still felt weak, but right now she needed her keys back. She tried to steady herself with Natsu's help; Rogue finished tying a knot into the bedsheet and stood tall. He tested out his magic and was pleased to see that it came easily to him.

"Let's go, before the guards realize we're gone," he told them. "Lucy, are you able to walk?"

"Yeah. Come on, you guys," she said. They crawled through the hole in the cell door, and began to run down the narrow corridors. Rogue led the way, his nose guiding them. Lucy and Sting followed him and Natsu brought up the rear. Happy, Lector and Frosch flew alongside them.

"What exactly did they do to you guys?" Sting asked.

"They drained our magic power," Rogue said. "It left us weak for quite some time."

"But why were you two naked?" Happy asked. "They could have drained your magic with your clothes still on you."

"I know. I think it was to humiliate us."

"Up here!" Lucy said. They turned a corner and found themselves in the room from before. Lucy turned her head away from the drain machine and instead began looking for her keys on a nearby table. "I'm pretty sure I saw them here."

"We'll help you look for your keys. Natsu, can you keep an eye out and let us know if anyone comes our way?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah," Natsu said. He positioned himself by the door.

Sting ventured over to the tables where they had drained Lucy and Rogue's magic. I can't imagine the torture they went through. I'm just glad that Lucy and Rogue are okay. He looked down and saw something glinting on the floor. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a ring full of Celestial Spirit keys.

"Lucy, look! It's your keys!" Sting said. He held them out to her.

"Thanks so much!" she said. She clutched her keys tightly. "Now I can help out."

"Guys, someone is coming!" Natsu said. He backed away from the door and went to stand in front of Lucy. Sting and Rogue did the same.

" … how did the two prisoners escape?!" came a voice. "They shouldn't have been able to!"

"I told you we should have put the anti-magic cuffs back on them after we drained their magic!" a second voice shouted. "Now they've busted out!"

"Find them! Capture them alive!"

"What are we going to do?" Happy asked.

"I know!" Lucy said. She held out a gold key - Virgo's. "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"

"You summoned me, Princess?" Virgo asked, appearing.

"Can you dig a hole for us to escape through?" Lucy asked.

"Of course." Virgo dived down into the ground.

"Lucy, be careful. Your magic hasn't fully come back yet," Sting said.

"I know. But this is necessary," she said.

Virgo popped her head out of the hole. "Princess, I have dug a tunnel leading outside."

"Thanks, Virgo!" Lucy said.

"Is it time for my punishment now?"

Rogue and Sting gaped at Virgo. "Did she just ask to be punished?" Sting whispered to Rogue. He nodded in reply.

"No thanks," Lucy said.

"Princess, I brought both you and Sir Rogue a change of clothes from the Celestial Spirit World," Virgo said.

"Oh wow, thanks so much!" Lucy said.

"They're getting closer!" Natsu said.

"Let's hurry and get in the hole!" Sting said.

"Virgo, can you lead us?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. let's go," Virgo said, grabbing ahold of Lucy and jumping in the hole.

"Maybe that's a sign that we should fly you guys down?" Lector said.

"Yeah. Let's go," Sting said, and Lector grabbed him and followed Lucy and Virgo.

"Frosch are you ready?" Rogue asked Frosch.

"If Rogue is ready, then I'm ready!" Frosch replied.

"Let's go Happy!" Natsu said.

"Aye, sir!"

The two of them followed Sting into the hole. As soon as Natsu landed, he heard a rustling coming from in front of him. He lit a small fire with his magic and saw that Lucy was busy changing into her clothes.

"Put that fire out, pyro!" Lucy told him.

"Calm down, I'm trying to look at the tunnel." Natsu pushed past her and walked ahead.

"Here you go, sir Rogue," Virgo said, handing Rogue his change of clothes.

"Thank you, I deeply appreciate this." Rogue began pulling on the fresh clothing.

"Princess, I must take my leave. Here," Virgo handed Lucy a fleuve d'étoiles, "please use this to conserve your magic energy."

"Thank you, I will," Lucy said.

"Until next time." Virgo vanished, leaving Lucy with Natsu, Sting, and a fully-dressed Rogue, alongside Happy, Lector, and Frosch.

"I can see the layout of the tunnel now," Natsu said. "Come on, before they follow us."

"Lucy, you go in front of me, since your magic is low," Rogue said.

"It's okay," she said.

"You used up what magic you recovered when you summoned Virgo. And I'm still recovering mine."

Lucy smiled. "Okay. You have a point."

As Natsu led the way, Happy, Lector, and Frosch flew alongside them. Lucy and Rogue were quiet as they walked. Only Sting was making any kind of noise.

"Hey Natsu? Think we can hurry it up a bit? I think they're following us."

"We've reached the end of the tunnel. Let's go," Natsu said.

Happy, Lector, and Frosch grabbed Lucy and flew out into the open air. Natsu followed after them, followed by Rogue and lastly Sting. They took off running through the woods.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked him.

"You'll see!" Natsu said, grinning.

"I feel like I'm gonna regret hearing that," Lucy said.

"You're not gonna beat me there, Natsu!" Sting yelled, and pushed himself to run harder.

This is just one of the things I like about you, Rogue thought, watching Sting run ahead, before following him.