Chapter 1

No time to waste. Lucy ran after the mage on the right, hoping that he was the real one. The beach ended pretty soon from the water, and instead faded into a forest full of snow and tall pines. She hugged herself as she ran, kind of wishing Natsu was nearby so she could warm herself up. Lucy changed back into her regular clothes, hoping to fight away the frostbite she would inevitably get if she spent too long in this cold.

"Halt!" A voice called. That voice... Natsu? Did he turn around? Lucy actually stopped, but the illusion mage didn't. He was struck by some blue magic, and fell face down in the snow. Ice bound his ankles and hands together.

"Now my Lady always tells me to be careful, but didn't I handle myself fine right then? Ha!" The voice was clearly Natsu's voice, but his words sounded foreign. He sounded so... noble?

Not-Natsu stepped out from behind a tree, adjusting his sleeves. He was wearing a dark suit, while his pink hair, a bit shorter than usual, was spiked up like normal. Instead of the Fairy Tail emblem on his shoulder, there was a golden patch, and his clothes bore an elaborate diamond pattern. The quality of his clothing was so fine, Lucy thought he might be royalty.

Not-Natsu's eyes widened when he saw Lucy. She replayed the past ten minutes in her mind. The strange pocket watch, the magic circle, the portal... of course! The pocket watch was something like Anima after all! They had ended up in another world, and so this must be this world's Natsu.

"Lady Lucy? What are you doing here, especially with this strange attire?" Natsu tilted his head. It was sort of cute, but his manner of speaking was way too strange with that voice which was typically more simple and excited.

Before she could even attempt an explanation, something large landed next to her. It was the illusionist, all tied up! She turned to where he had been tossed from and ended up looking into her own eyes.

It was herself.

It was hard not to look as the other Lucy seemed to radiate light and power. The magical energy coming off of her made the air heavy, and her beauty was astounding. Her face wasn't too different from her own, but something about her determined brown eyes was darker and unfamiliar. She would almost call it rage. The other Lucy was wearing some dark pants, boots, and a thick white winter coat, and had long waves of blonde hair flowing down her back. She had a sword sheathed at her side attached to a brown belt. The emblem on her coat was also a diamond, like the Natsu before her. She was holding on to another tied up person. Now this someone, with pink hair and scaled scarf, was someone she recognized.

Five minutes hadn't even passed yet and Natsu had gotten himself caught by the authorities, even if said authorities were herself. Well, her other self.

"Your Highness, I managed to capture the illusionist we've been looking for, as well as an impersonator of yours." She threw the tied up Natsu on the ground next to the illusionist. She smirked. "Hm."

Your Highness? So this Natsu really was nobility? A prince at that!

"Seriously? You caught me off guard! Free me so I can fight you fair and square Lucy!" Natsu yelled.

Lucy finally got Natsu's attention by waving her hands in front of herself. He smiled at her. "Lucy! Help me so I can fight you! Uh, I mean her!"

Lucy face palmed. He needed to get a clue.

"It's Lady Lucy to you! I am a royal knight and you will address me as such!" Knight Lucy snapped. Was it just her or was her other self kind of a hot head? Lucy blushed, it wasn't like she couldn't be a hot head herself. Natsu could get on her nerves sometimes. But a royal knight?

"Calm down my Lady, there are other issues at hand. Such as," Prince Natsu cleared his throat, "the twin illusionist's we've caught." He gestured toward the tied up illusionists. The one trapped by ice started to twitch until he simply "poofed" out of existence. Both Natsus and Lucys just gaped at the empty space.

"Ugh." The one caught by the Knight Lucy groaned and consequently passed out on the floor. It seemed as if he had called his double back into himself, then passed out from using too much magic.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you." The knight pointed her finger at Lucy, who held her hands up and laughed nervously.

"Me? Haha, what did I do?" Knight Lucy was too similar to an angry Erza for her taste, and the last thing she needed was to get into a fight. She wasn't even sure if she could really use magic right now. Back on Edolas, she was only able to because of that weird pill Mystogan gave her.

Before she knew it, Lucy found herself tied up. She was tossed on the ground next to Natsu and the knocked out illusionist.

"Hey!" Damn this Lucy was quick!

"Dispel your magic immediately. You are under arrest for impersonating a member of the royal family and a high-ranking knight." she commanded.

"Eh? I'm not impersonating anybody!" Natsu protested.

"I said dispel your magic or I will-"

"It's the truth!" Lucy shouted. Natsu should've been more careful. If she didn't explain herself properly now they were going to end up in a dungeon or whatever these people used to punish criminals. But Natsu wasn't Natsu if he didn't get her in trouble.

"I mean," Lucy cowered a bit under the knight's glare. Prince Natsu just stood on the side, amused. "We're not using transformation magic, or illusion magic, or anything like that. This is a total misunderstanding. I mean, we're not really from this world."

"You'll get a chance to explain yourself - at the trial!" She declared.

"What?!" Natsu and Lucy looked at each other. They soundlessly came to an agreement- they had to escape.

"Like hell I'm going to court!" Natsu boosted himself up with flames. He helped Lucy up and lit his body on fire. Although it didn't burn their restraints, it pushed the other Natsu and Lucy away.

"Stay back your Highness. It's dangerous!" She unsheathed her sword and covered herself and the prince as much as she could, but without a chest plate or shield they were in big trouble. The snow around them was quickly melting, and the flames would reach the trees soon. But Natsu had no intention to cause a forest fire, especially one this massive. He lowered the intensity of his magic and instead aimed to provide a smokescreen for an escape.

"Lucy, let's go!"

The flames covered their escape route. They had to hop away as fast as they could, and although they looked completely ridiculous all Lucy cared about was getting away. She didn't want to find out what the dungeons here were like.

They stopped behind some random tree and got to work on setting each other free. As she muttered under her breath about how reckless Natsu was, she untied his feet and hands.

"Man, I was totally hoping the rope would just burn off the first time. It would've been way cooler!" Natsu said as he freed Lucy.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "If you thought that would work, why didn't you just light it on fire when she first tied you up?" Natsu only shrugged.

"But why are your other world selves always so mean? I mean Edo-Lucy was super violent, and this Lucy was way too eager to tie me up. Did you see the look on her face?!" Natsu whined.

Lucy laughed. "Maybe these alternate worlds are trying to balance things out, because I'm too good to you."

"Yeah maybe." He grumbled.

Lucy blushed. "Well your alternate selves are always timid. You're a prince in this world, but it seems like he needs Lucy to protect him." She teased.

"Yeah yeah." Natsu waved her off.

At any rate, they couldn't keep hiding in this forest forever. The most important thing was that they find a way home. They tried to make their way through the forest quietly, but it was hard when her heavy boots crunched all over the random debris in the snow. Was it hard to believe she almost envied Natsu right now? Light sandals would be unbearable for anyone else, but just fine for the fire magic user.

"I think we should disguise ourselves. I'll change into a Star Dress, and we'll see what we can do about you."

In a flash of bright light, Lucy summoned Capricorn's Star Dress. Somehow she felt like it didn't take that much energy. Was she getting stronger? Or was it the effect of this strange world? Whatever it was, she was glad for it. The easier it was to call on a spirit for help, the better. After considering what she had to work with, she gave Natsu her sunglasses and helped him cover his hair as best as she could with his scarf. His bright pink hair stood out the most, and he could easily be mistaken for the other Natsu.

"Nice plan, but isn't your outfit kinda out of place?" Natsu snickered. Lucy looked down at herself and touched her head. Right, she forgot this dress also came with literal horns and two gigantic braids...

She shrugged. It got the job done didn't it? Honestly the real problem wasn't with the horns or anything, but with the little warmth this outfit provided. They were in a forest full of snow after all. Lucy stood a little closer to Natsu, hoping to warm herself up a bit. Thankfully, Natsu noticed and amplified his magic a little. The perks of having a fire Dragon Slayer as your partner.

She wondered how the other member of their team, Happy, was holding up. By now he must've told the guild what happened. Hopefully some of their guild mates were doing their best to figure out how to save them. Currently, Natsu and Lucy had no way home and were just wandering around without a plan.

The forest suddenly dimmed. An almost physical darkness was closing in on them slowly. "Lucy, stay close." Natsu said. She gripped his arm and watched as the darkness came closer and closer.

"Are you lost?" A voice whispered in her mind. She shrieked in surprise.

"Lucy!" Natsu's voice felt far away. One blink, and Natsu was gone. She was standing in a patch of light, surrounded by the darkness.

A smile appeared in the shadows, stretching wide. Lucy reached for her keys. If this was some kind of attack she wouldn't hesitate-

"Relax. Can't a cat catch a chat?" The voice was Happy's! But, where was he? All she could see was a smile.

Two wide eyes opened up above the smile. Happy himself appeared on a branch, high above her head. He hopped down, humming the whole way.

"I'm certain you're searching for a solution to this... situation." said the cat. His grin was unfaltering. "For starters, I can clue you in on your whereabouts."

The cat was strange, and he could potentially be dangerous. Not to mention that she was separated from her partner if things went wrong. But the cat was Happy, speaking with his voice and smiling with his smile. Her fondness for him got in the way, so she let her guard down and nodded.

"Where are we then?"

"Wonderland, of course!" The cat cackled so hard he rolled over on his back. His entire head fell off and rolled down the tree. Disgusted and kind of terrified, Lucy moved away. The head continued rolling at her with a smile plastered on its face.

"Really, we are in the Diamond forest." The disembodied head spoke. Diamond? The diamonds on her other self and Prince Natsu's clothing made sense now. And if this was Wonderland, and if it was anything like the story…

"Who's the King of Diamonds?"

"Ask your associate."

"Associate?"

"I like alliterations; it doesn't always turn out well."

Seriously? For the first time since arriving in this strange world called Wonderland she thought she would get some answers. Happy jumped down from the tree and picked his head up. He accidentally attached it backwards though, and couldn't really fix it. What a disturbing sight. Lucy shuddered.

"I want to get home to Earthland. Where should I go?" She had to be specific. Of course this Wonderland wasn't exactly like the story, but she believed that Happy was this world's version of the Cheshire Cat, a mysterious and mad cat that would tease you and leave you more confused than you were. Even so, maybe getting some directions from him was a step in the right direction.

"Frankly I don't mess with magic." Happy said.

But his tone implied something else. He was going somewhere with this, meaning that he knows more than he's letting on.

"But I'll help you if you help me." There it was. A task to complete in exchange for information. She was willing to do it, if it meant they could get home.

"Wait just a second. I'll help you on these conditions: you lead my partner back to me, and we can both use our magic. Also, nothing that involves hurting another being unnecessarily."

"Relax!" Happy laughed. "Simple retrieval. Actually something was stolen from me and I just want it back. I can't really get it myself because I am merely a cat that doesn't mess with magic." Lucy held her tongue and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was obviously a magic creature, even if he didn't have Happy's wings. "My knapsack! Thieves took it from the base of my home, this tree and ran into the bar. It's not like I had human money in there anyways, so it was pointless."

"The bar... is there a town nearby?"

"Yes, that way. You'll know it when you see it." His tail appeared, pointing in the direction of the town. "They might still be there, so do your best!" Happy's smile disappeared, and the darkness creeped away until the forest was lit again. It was freezing cold, and Lucy rubbed her arms.

"Lucy!" Natsu came running from some unknown direction. He brought her into his arms. She blushed, happy he couldn't see her red face. He's always been somewhat affectionate, but lately he's more into hugging and the like. She couldn't say that she hated it, the opposite really, just that it felt like they were changing, somehow. Maybe she was overthinking this.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Happy must've teleported him some distance away.

"Yeah, and now we've got a job to do."