A/N – Decided that the year this story takes place will be X795 – My math goes like this: Lucy was born in X767 and the story starts in X784 when she is 17. Because no time passes between then to the S-Class trials and 7 years go by to X791 (yes, I did the math, lol). Then, again no time passes between the GMG and Tartaros, Natsu leaves and the guild disbands for a year for the time frame to come to X792.

In the manga, it says a year passed from there to Lucy getting her writing award (at least, I believe I remember that being there), and then they went on the 100-year quest. I am taking a stand that for the duration of Team Natsu being on the 100-year quest, finding Aquarius' key, and defeating Ignia (which I am pretty sure will happen), they will be on that for AT LEAST six months. Let them at least rest between battles and actually have time pass, Hiro! And the start of this story happens one year after they get back from Guiltina.

This means, technically, Lucy is 28 year-wise, but physically 21.

Reason I am stating this is cause I needed to figure out how long it has been since Lucy told her father off, and I am sure others have done the math before, but I wanted to make sure I knew it for this story. So, there you go!

Former Arrangements

By Genavere

Chapter Ten

Lucy stared up at the canopy top of the four-poster bed in her gilded cage. It reminded her of the one she had while growing up. Another cage that many on the outside dreamed of while she yearned to be outside.

Though she had wanted to reconnect with her father and had been denied that chance, she found it almost comical that he had a hand in both cases. But, she did not blame him for this.

No, the blame all laid on Duke Sawarr Junelle in her opinion. While she knew her father had changed from the letters he sent her and the stories Michelle told her before the clock fiasco, the man who had told her he had his eye on her had not changed a bit since she had prior to running away.

Every day since they had been brought there, he had made her share each meal with him, and every night she had to sit in his office while he worked and just watch him provide for her. If he did not have valuable maps and information all over his office, she would have gone crazy sitting there for hours before he released her to her room.

The only reason she allowed them these measures over her was to keep Natsu safe. Yet, she knew that a time limit hung over her before she had to act. After five days of tight corsets, threats to her partner, being constantly monitored, and having no magic at her grasp, she finally had a plan coming together.

The night before she had managed to calculate where exactly they were based on the maps the duke had in his office. Even without Pyxis, she would be able to get them going in the correct direction based off the sun and stars. The challenge would be getting down to the dungeon without being seen and having enough time to get Natsu out of his cell and chains.

She stared at the heavy fabric above her again around the posts. From what she had learned being with Natsu, certain fabrics were better at catching fire than others. The satin sheets below her would not be the best, but those would. And there was enough wood and kindle to keep it going.

If she set the stuffy dresses in her closet around the room to help it spread to other areas, a big enough fire would spread and disrupt the household. With everyone in a panic, she could make her way down to the dungeons.

It was a plan that had to be flawless.

But one issue kept it from being so. Bear Flint, the scarred-face bounty hunter from Eclipse Nexus, made sure to remind her that he wanted his payment, one way or another. Part of the contract that Duke Sawarr had issued perfectly with his lawyers had been in the fine print. For any payment to be received, an official marriage had to take place and the first signs of pregnancy had to be confirmed by a doctor.

Her stomach churned.

With the magic seal hidden behind her ear, there would be no chance of children until Levy removed it. That meant the hunter would never leave, and a future of countless nights of unwanted attention from the duke. She refused to accept that future.

When she had first woken up the first morning, she had already been striped, bathed, and changed into proper sleeping attire that had made her skin crawl and itch. A collar studded with gems encircled her throat and the lack of magic told her it was made of sealstone. It had likely been made to look like a choker necklace, but it reminded her of a slave collar some of the romance novels she had read used. That, or a dog. Neither offered comfort.

In the new surroundings, she had tried to remember what had happened to land her there. She had teased Natsu to the point of being taken against the tree—her face flushed at the memory. Then she remembered burying her face into his scarf and neck to inhale his scent. The maid outfit was mentioned, then pain.

Right, they were electrocuted! That kind of pain was easy to remember, especially having a Lightning Dragon Slayer in the guild.

Everything after that was blurry, at least trying to remember what had been said. It was as if her hearing had been underwater and it all came to her muffled. But she remembered the man with scars, of carrying Natsu on her back and summoning her spirits, that she hid their most precious items, and then nothing.

There had been no sign of Natsu, his scarf, or her keys, so she had hoped they were all safe back home. They had only been after her, she figured. That had to have been the reason she endured all those years of being followed and losing the safety of her apartment.

Though, a blush warmed her cheeks and a smile tugged at her lips, it was rather nice sharing a home with her partner finally.

Thoughts of her fire-eating dragon slayer were soon interrupted by the one thing she had completely forgot about living the life of a noble: the lack of privacy. Once the door to her luxurious jail cell had been open, it seemed a whole army of maids had crowded into the room. Another bath was drawn and she was scrubbed till she feared all her skin would be rubbed away.

Lotion was then rubbed into her raw skin even as she argued and tried to pull away from the hands grabbing her. It had been a long time since she had let anyone besides Natsu or the other women of Fairy Tail wash or touch her like this. It was uncomfortable and left her feeling exposed. That feeling persisted even after all the layers of clothing were piled on her and cinched up so tightly, she felt barely able to draw breath.

The saving grace came when they sat her at the large vanity to begin on her hair and makeup.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she took a slow breath in. This was tolerable. Cancer helped her with her hair all the time, so she imagined it was him pulling and twisted her hair into ringlets and nets. As she sat there, taking care to learn to breath again, her ears perked at the chatter surrounding her.

Even with the fumes of perfume and lotions, the headache from the brutal beauty treatment, and the tightness of her large chest squished against her ribs, she remembered a valuable lesson from her younger days. Gossip was a keen way to gather intel.

It had always been the best source of information when she was younger in her father's manor. From listening to those she leaned on the most in her younger days, she had learned when her father would be gone long enough for her to run away without getting caught. The hired help, those who were always there, but remained unseen, were always the ones who knew the most. That was a lesson most who had money never learned.

Unfortunately for her, what she gleaned from listening to them left a cold pit in her stomach and her nerves on edge.

Since the day she had refused her father and the arranged marriage, the Junelle family had bought everything from her family—that much she had known since her father had lost everything and they saw the opportunity to swoop in. None of that really bothered her. The money was nothing she cared for, and in the letters her father had sent, it seemed he had been happy after he remembered that money was not everything.

What bothered her was that Sawarr had already married three times and had multiple children from them and mistresses. He had been over ten years older than her when the paperwork had been drafted for their marriage, and now he was closer to twenty after she had been in the Fairy Sphere for seven years.

One of the maids caught her attention with a subtle squeeze of her shoulder. "Not to be rude, my lady, but we all thought you would have been here after the war as the Duke went to the Queen for you to be brought to him."

"I heard the Queen refused him," another maid said. "That under her rule, such things would not be upheld."

"Really? Do you think she thought it odd that his last wife died so mysteriously?"

The hairs on the back of her neck stood.

"Shhh," a maid looked between them all with a finger over her lips. "Remember what happened with the last maids who spoke of the former mistress."

"But it has been almost four years, surely it would be all right with our new mistress—"

"No," the word was firm. A final warning. "Get back to work all of you."

Silence fell over the room. An oppressive fog that made Lucy's skin feel sweaty. Or, it was from all the lotion and oils, she thought dryly. Then, unable to stand the quiet or the chance to talk, the maid doing her hair smile. "Still, could you imagine if the Queen changed the laws and nobles had to marry for love? They might all die of shock!"

All of them giggled and continued to talk amongst themselves, but Lucy tucked that information away. If she did the math correctly, the death of the last wife would have been only a few months after Fairy Tail had disbanded. A spike in the stalking had been around that time, too. It aligned up almost too well in her opinion, but she knew it was gossip and did not prove anything.

Even knowing it was gossip, she wondered if Hisui had known about the duke wanting to marry and the rumors around his last wife. Was there a reason why she had not reached out to warn her of his intent or maybe she had not thought he would have gone to the lengths of kidnapping to get what he wanted. In all honesty, she had not thought about the overweight duke since she left her father in his office all those years ago.

After the maids had finished with her, a group of armed guards escorted her to the dining room for breakfast with the duke. What she had been expecting had been a ridiculously large table that she could sit at the farthest spot away from him. Instead, she had been led to the secondary dining room for less former arrangements like her home growing up had. A place where her parents and her had shared many happy meals intimately together before her mother's death.

At the small, round table, Sawarr stood from his seat and pulled out a chair for her. She felt her eye twitch in annoyance.

How many times had she dreamed of a prince-like gentleman pulling a seat out for her at a fancy restaurant, giving her his full attention, and being completely charming—more than she wanted to remember. Now, she only wanted her dragon to smash through the grand windows and steal her away from here like he had since the day they met.

"Lady Lucy," he gave her a smile that accentuated the wrinkles and folds of his face. Sweat lined his forehead, and she could tell his hair piece was a wig. It made her wonder if he had any hair left under it. There was a lot about this man she wondered about in that moment, but she would rather die with none of them answered than having to sit across from him.

A hand gripped her shoulder just enough in pressure to give her a warning. The duke's eyes lit up. "Mr. Flint! It is good of you to join us. Please, escort our lovely guest over so she can be seated." He motioned to the chair he stood behind.

With further pressure from the hand, she resigned herself to the charade and took the offered seat in an elegant and posed manner. Men like Sawarr would not listen to anyone they deemed beneath them, and being a woman already put her at a disadvantage. Acting 'uncivilized' would make it even more so that he would never listen to a word she said.

Once seated, the owner of the hand took a step to the side of their table to lean against the wall and she was able to glance at Mr. Flint. The shock that went through her at the sight of the man.

From the fuzzy memories of the attack, she recalled the man with the three scars across his face and the animal skin around his shoulders. Anything he said or abilities he might have shown, she could not recall, but she could feel the strength of his aura just standing there even with her sealstone collar on.

"My associate, Mr. Bear Flint of Eclipse Nexus," Duke Sawarr said was a wave to the wizard, "has been working quite diligently on tracking and bringing you to your proper home."

Servants brought in food and drinks for the two of them as the duke spoke. Her stomach growled at the smell of the food realizing that she had not eaten since she had been at Fairy Tail. How long that had even been, she could not say. It had also been a long time since she had eaten richly prepared food. Most of the restaurants were too expensive or did not suit their tastes for the night.

The last time she had such foods…she thought about it for a moment, it had to have been after they finished the 100 year quest and Hisui had honored them with a royal feast for their accomplishment.

When her food was placed in front of her, after Sawarr's, which annoyed her, she was dismayed to find only a thick broth. Across from her, she saw his spread of lamb meat with sauce, a small pot pie of vegetables and chicken, a hearty stew with beef and potatoes…the look on her face must have shown her confusion.

"I am sorry, my dear," he gave her a sheepish smile. "You see, Mr. Flint explained to me that wizards are usually quite muscular. As my wife, you will not need any of that and you should have more padding to better carry our children."

Any appetite she might have had left her and the bowl was pushed aside. Bear flint took a step forward and their eyes met.

"Eclipse Nexus," Lucy said and leaned back as best she could in her tight corset. "I presume that is a dark guild." Nexus had been the name of a dark guild aligned under Tataros, but it had been eliminated when the demons wiped out those under their alliance. But the last time she had looked at any roster, there had been no registered guilds called Eclipse Nexus, dark or not.

Bear Flint grinned at her. "Didn't expect you to actually have brains with that kind of chest."

"You wouldn't be the first to think that." She looked him over carefully, noting his height and bulk was near Elfman's, Similar to the pelt over his shoulders, he reminded her of a beast ready to jump at his prey.

"Lady Lucy," Sawarr called for her attention again. A roll of sweat rolled down his face as her dark eyes pierce him. "Our fathers signed a contract that we were to be married. My patience can only go so far."

"Your patience?" The nerve of this guy! "That contract was terminated the day I told my father I was Lucy of Fairy Tail and not his daughter. Your floundering patience is your own inability to realize that."

"Contracts are not that easily terminated, my dear." He tsked her as if admonishing a child. "If you had been diligent in keeping with your studies, you would understand that. Now I can understand the reasoning for insurance."

"Insurance?" A stone, cold and heavy, grew in her stomach.

"Mr. Flint suggested taking extra precautions and have some insurance to keep you in line." Her eyes widened at the implications. Bear Flint had been there during her capture, and if he decided to have insurance…

Duke Sawarr stood with a startled gasp as the table was flipped toward him. All the food that he had on his side landed either on his expensive clothing or the floor with all the dishware.

Lucy stood, her chair falling back to the floor to match the table she pushed at him. Even without her star dresses or her magic, she trained with Natsu and she was not a push over. "You listen here you pompous asshole," she shoved her finger into his chest. "You are not my father, you are not my fiancé, you are a kidnapper! By stalking and taking us against our will, you have made an enemy of Fairy Tail and of a very protective dragon slayer."

She grabbed the front of his stained clothes, rage burned in her eyes and through her veins. "Now tell me, what have you done with Natsu?"

"M-Mr. Flint!"

A hand grabbed her scarred wrist. Her eyes widened. "N-no! Let go!"

She felt herself be wrenched upwards and her feet dangled above the marble flooring. Bear Flint's wretched breath heated her face as he brought her toward him. "Weaklings should know their place."

Heat pulsed around his grip on her. Frantically, she pulled at his grasp, desperate to get let loose as panic struck her chest and kept her lungs deprived of air. Nothing but the heat and hold on her wrist registered in her mind. Not the jeweled bracelet bending at the bruising grip, how her arm ached at holding her body weight as she struggled mid-air, or that his grip continued to tightened.

Dilated eyes stared at him, but the scars were gone and a cruel, handsome face framed by flaming hair grinned cockily at her. The heat of the room grew to such extremes to burn her flesh and boiled the blood that tried to escape her body.

Gone was the fancy dress and richly decorative manor of the dining room. The slip of a dress she had been given was stained with blood and torn from the claws of the dragon god. He dragged her down into the suffocating heat of the caverns deep below the stone castle where he had kept her. Lava poured into deep pools and lit the walls in an orange glow.

She missed the coolness of the castle, but him bringing her here told her one things: Natsu was coming. He would not have brought her to these depths for any other reason. Not after he had expressed consideration of attempting to see how powerful half-dragon children could be once he had seen her power. There were no other dragons for him to consider at that point, so a strong mage would be better than nothing.

Now, with Natsu on the way, all that mattered was this final fight and then carrying on his legacy. If he scarred or maimed her, it mattered not.

The grip on her wrist burned deeper and she cried out at the pain. "Please…Ignia! You don't have to do this!"

"You have no idea the power you have over him." The shadows played over his arrogant face. "I have watched you carefully, and he will fight his hardest when you are under threat of danger."

Claws swiped deep across her stomach. Her scream echoed against the stone walls of the cavern.

"Don't die too quickly, human." Her body felt the heat of metal bars burn into her back and legs as she was locked in a birdcage-like cell and suspended above the lava pits. The heat slowed her bleeding, but she knew unless her friends came soon, it would not matter.

"Look."

She frowned. That was not Ignia's baritone voice.

"Look!"

Gasping, she felt the cold air of a dungeon chill her from the heat of the flashback. The wetness brought the urge to find any water and drink it to cool her desperate throat. And, while she feared the flames of the once dragon god, her body and mind ached desperately to feel the warmth of her dragon slayer—who she spotted in front of her.

"Natsu!"

The pink-haired fire mage stayed silent, hung from the ceiling from his wrists. His chest was bare, as were his feet, but he still had his pants on, she was relieved. Any form of protection would be better than none.

Warm breath against her ear brought a shudder down her spine.

"We watched him take you against that tree, you know." Bear Flint's lips pressed against her ear, his voice and breath too loud and to close for her. "It was a shame you didn't scream, but I am sure I will hear it enough when that pig of a noble up there takes you. And it won't be in pleasure," he chuckled.

There was no energy left to be embarrassed that they were seen, or even to fight against the bounty hunter. If they had Natsu, they were willing to hurt him in order for her to follow their demands. That was their insurance.

"Don't worry, he won't wake up for a couple more days," he said. "I put enough of my venom in him to take out a dragon if they still existed. After watching both of you for years, I knew I could not risk under-dosing him."

Years? A sob escaped her then. The flash back, seeing her partner strung up like he was, knowing they had been hunted for so long, and the sheer exhaustion of it all broke the strength she had to stay strong then.

"Why? Why all this? Why us?"

"Just putting some jewels in my pocket," he said and pulled her up to her feet. She had not realized she had been kneeling on the cold ground and the dampness had soaked her dress. "You need to ask your husband exactly why."

"He's—he's not my husband…" Only one man would fill that role, she vowed, no other. Not even by force.

"Keep telling yourself that, lady. I want my payout, and to get that, you will be married and with that pig's baby." His grip on her arms tightened. "I don't care if I have to hold you down each time he forces himself on you. Actually," a chuckle rumbled through his chest, "that might be pretty fun to watch."

As he dragged her up from the dungeons, she tried to watch what hallways and turns they took. She could not stay there, and she refused to leave her partner. The fog in her brain and the exhaustion of her body made it a difficult task, but she was confident she could get back with only a few wrong turns.

How she would free him from the cell and his chains without her keys would be an issue she would have to figure out before she attempted anything.

And now, days later, she still had no idea how she would get him out of his bindings, but knew how to make enough of a diversion to make it so she could get to him. That would be the first task she had to challenge, then everything after would have to be figured out from there.

There was only a week left until her supposed wedding. An ugly dress with more poofs and pearls than necessary had been selected for her with sleeves designed to hide her scars and guild mark. If anyone saw in her that abomination, they would think she was a snowman brought to life.

There was little say in anything she had for anything. The contract that had been written up had stated that a marriage between the Junelle and Heartfilia households would be held, with or without consent of both parties. Her father had known she would refuse, since she had run away once already.

But Duke Sawarr, was not his father, who had been the one with the business mind as she remembered. Her wannabe husband had been raised with a golden spoon in his mouth and had never been told no. Everything he had, had been given to him without lifting a single finger.

He considered her a prize, a token to show off to the rest of the nobility. None of the technicalities of what he would be causing for himself when their guild found out about his actions or Queen Hisui. If the crown had already denied the contract being valid, there was nothing he could legally do to marry her besides threaten her.

So, she would make Natsu proud and burn everything. There would be no contract, legal or not, if it was reduced to ash, she smiled. He really was rubbing off on her in ways she had never expected.

"Natsu…" she closed her eyes and pictured him in his cell. If he had woken up, would they do anything to him since she had been following their orders, she wondered. The lacrima they gave her that would broadcast any punishments he received was off, which meant she had not angered them—yet. To be honest with herself, there had not been any time for her to anger them since that first day. An escape plan would not plan itself and took time to formulate. Any information she could pull from her surroundings and the staff, she would.

All she needed now was some luck and the right moment to strike.

It was time to see if her namesake, Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, proved useful.

A/N - While editing this, I ended up changing a lot of areas that I wanted to add more to and ended up adding well over another 1k words. Hope you all enjoyed it!