Just to be clear, the chapter starts out with AU Lucy then switches back to Lucy Heartfilia. Sorry for a later update than usual, life got in the way a little. I also had to spend some more time writing a chapter than usual because even though I have major points set in place for the story, from this point onward I don't have half written chapters or anything like before. Enough of my excuses, onto the story!

Chapter 7

Lucy Heart opened her eyes and found herself in space. Her eyes widened and she tried to hold her breath, but she soon realized that she could breathe just fine. Was this some kind of lucid dream then?

She was walking on the rings of an unknown planet, marvelling at the beauty and color of the spirits floating around her. At least this dream world was nice. Of course she had never been here before, but she felt sure that the stars would guide her.

"Old friends." A deep voice echoed, and she turned around. She tried to take her sword out, but she was dressed in her nightgown. The voice wasn't coming from behind her, but from inside her mind. She shivered at the thought, but continued on her path.

Everything became foggy, and she couldn't see where she was going. She held her hands out in front of her, feeling around for something, anything. There was nothing. When she looked down, she just saw white.

"Hey, hey!" A voice called. The other Lucy came running up to her, then stopped to catch her breath. This was so confusing, why was she here in her dream? Why was this dream so empty? Usually she saw herself in some kind of battle, reliving the forest fire or any other kind of memory. It was never anything so vague.

"Is this real?"

"I-I think it is." The other Lucy said. They watched as the white space around them changed to show a vision.

A figure in shadow was chained up by their arms, their identity unknown. Queen Ur stood in front of them with a dagger in her hand. She was scowling at the prisoner, demanding something from them and pointing the dagger at their face.

"Tell me. Tell me where she is!"

The figure replied. He appeared to be a man, but his voice was cracked and hoarse. "Or what, you'll kill me?" He said, his voice barely above a whisper. Despite the torture he must've gone through, he was bold.

"She escaped from this palace today." Ur smirked. "How does it feel to suffer for someone who doesn't even remember you?"

Through gritted teeth he said, "It feels great, knowing she's far, far away from you."

"You better watch your tone." She warned, pointing the dagger ever so slightly closer to his throat.

"Face it Ur, you need me. I'm the only one who can get you what you want."

"You're wrong! You're not enough by yourself!" Ur screamed and threw the dagger to the ground. She lit her palm on fire, lighting up the dark cell and showing the man's face. He had blue hair, tattoos, and scars all over his body. He wasn't a man at all, but a teenager. The dark bags under his eyes, scars, and weary voice aged him considerably. The other Lucy gasped at the sight, and cried when she saw his condition.

"Jellal!"

The vision abruptly ended, leaving Lucy with more questions than answers. He was named Jellal… but who was he?

She felt dizzy all of a sudden. She stumbled around, unconsciously gripping onto the other Lucy for support. Her head was throbbing, and she felt like she was on the verge of remembering-

"My old friend."

The voice from before came back. The other Lucy seemed to hear it too because she faced the sky and shouted, "Spirit King!"

"Find him… Lucy."

Lucy woke up crying. She stifled a sob by covering her mouth. So that was Jellal in this world then. But what was Queen Ur doing with him? She couldn't even be sure if that vision was current, and if he was still alive judging by how he looked with those wounds.

She needed to see the other Lucy, and if she knew anything about him. But more importantly, she had to talk to Loke.

She turned her stiff body side to side, wincing at the cracking sounds and stretching her neck. Not only did she sleep like a rock, but it seems like she had slept on a rock too. She yelped as she heard a quiet snore behind her. Turning to see, she realized that there was someone sleeping next to her. She glared at the patterned scarf that covered the culprit's face. Eyes shifting around the cell as she sat up, she remembered where she was.

Yesterday afternoon they were led down to the cells by an overly enthusiastic guard. She was glad he hadn't thought to confiscate her keys or even search them at all (though that did make her suspicious.) He gave them some rules, but Lucy couldn't keep up with the guy at all, speaking faster than he could take a breath.

"And here's your cell!" He announced. It was a cramped, mostly empty space. But most importantly,

"Only one?"

"One what?" Natsu asked.

"One bed!"

"I'd hardly call that a bed, Lucy." She face palmed. Clearly he didn't see a problem. They stood in silence for a moment, and she blushed. Maybe she was overreacting. It was a cell for goodness sake, not some love suite in a hotel room. She had camped with this guy and had to suffer through endless nights of his snoring in heat and snow and all sorts of dangerous conditions. She could handle this.

She sat on it, crossing her arms. "W-well. Alright then." Damn it. She couldn't' even keep from stuttering. Remember, not a big deal Lucy!

"Alright?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, confused at her weird behavior. He sat down next to her, seeing as the only other seating option was the floor.

They sat in silence for the rest of the evening. Even though they wanted to talk about the trial, Loke, and everything in between, the guard assigned to them from before was keeping a close eye on them. In fact, Lucy thought, too close of an eye. Instead of sitting at the typical guard's post, he sat in a chair pulled up practically in front of their cell. He watched them the way one would watch a caged animal in a zoo, curiously and somewhat amazed.

Finally, Natsu got impatient with his staring and spoke up. "Do you need something buddy? We're not gonna try and escape y'know."

The guard blushed. He stood up and cleared his throat. "I apologize! You two just look so much like Lady Lucy and the Prince. It's amazing! I wonder what kind of magic that is. No one around here tells me anything at all. I work so hard, and for what! I'm barely acknowledged." He continued to ramble on about his positive work attitude deserving some kind of commendation and that he was trying his hardest to prove himself as the new guy.

Their stomachs rumbled as a reminder that they hadn't eaten anything for a long, long while. The two shared a look, and Lucy cleared her throat, regaining the guard's attention.

"Right… I wanted to ask something, actually."

"Ask away!"

"When will we be served dinner?"

The guard laughed all of a sudden. "Oh that's gold. You won't of course."

Lucy's jaw dropped. Natsu stomped over to the bars and gripped them as he yelled, "What do you mean we won't? I'm starving!"

"Ahem."

"We're starving!"

The guard walked away then, back to his proper position but still keeping a close eye. Lucy felt like bursting into tears. Perhaps she seemed childish for wanting to cry over dinner, but she felt like everything was spiraling downhill fast and they were losing control of their plans. Their sentence was inevitable, summoning any one of her spirits was impossible right now, and she hadn't eaten in ages. Not to mention that she was still cold!

The sun set, and she crawled into the poor excuse of a bed, hoping to at least sleep the hunger away. That annoying guard was still watching them.

Natsu joined her soon after, her childish embarrassment from earlier forgotten. She was glad that out of everyone she could've been stuck with, it was him. That didn't mean she didn't love the rest of the team, Erza or Gray or her friend Levy, but Natsu was… different.

They were facing each other, and Natsu's dark eyes were locked on hers, contemplating. She didn't know what though. She was on the verge of tears and definitely red from the cold. She shivered as they didn't even have a blanket at the very least, and an open slot near the ceiling let in chill air from the outside.

Finally, he settled on shuffling closer to her with his chin on top of her head. He put an arm around her waist and draped his scarf over the both of them, sharing his warmth.

Natsu murmured something in his sleep, and Lucy decided to wait until he was awake to summon the spirit. She would've kept sleeping too if she could. The cell they were in was horrible; cramped and dark, furnished with only that horrible, cold cot to sleep in. She couldn't see much in front of the bars. Still, it was more than yesterday with that guard blocking the view. They were at the end of a hallway, since she could look out towards the empty rows of cells and the new guard that had nodded off by the door at the other end. It seemed as if they were the only ones in there. Maybe this was just the holding cells before a trial, and the real dungeon was deeper and scarier. She gulped, not wanting to find out what that was like.

Her head throbbed, and she rubbed her temples. She really needed more sleep. The adrenaline of running from Erza and the awe as they marched through the capital kept her up, but now she was exhausted from only taking a nap after the two days in a row she spent awake. Not to mention that weird dream-slash-vision she had with the other Lucy and Jellal. She was sure the spirits were involved, but it made her uneasy. She'd never had her magic involved in her dreams.

Natsu sat up behind her and rubbed his eyes. At least the crappy cot was able to accommodate two people. Although, she thought bashfully, last night they slept close enough that it didn't matter. "Morning Lucy!" He greeted, cheerful as ever.

"Seriously?" She whined. How was he not tired? Did he really expect her to believe he got a good night's rest in this thing?

"What, are you not gonna say it back?"

Lucy glared at him, and threw her pillow right in his face. Instead of fighting back like she expected him to, he just picked it up off the ground and set it back on the cot. She then noticed the dark bags under his eyes and realized that he was probably just trying to make the best of their situation. She felt a bit guilty for throwing the pillow. He hadn't eaten or slept anymore than she did either.

"So…" He started.

"So..." She hoped he had some idea for escaping their cell so they could search for the artifact, although he was just as tired as she was so the chances of that were basically zero. She wouldn't say no to something insane, like setting fire to the courtroom. After all it had worked before, right?

Lucy contemplated the plan for a moment, then remembered she was running on three hours of sleep. She should probably summon Loke. No, she should definitely summon him.

"I'm hungry."

"Deal with it." She quipped. Her stomach growled. She was pretty hungry herself.

The guard at the end of the hall was startled awake by something, and he left the room for a brief moment. Low voices echoed in the empty hall. The pair shared a look, and stayed quiet as they tried to catch what they were saying. Or mostly Natsu did.

He shook his head, saying that he couldn't really make anything out. Lucy shrugged, and resolved to summon Loke now that Natsu was awake and the guard left.

"Open, gate of the lion, Leo!"

Although Loke loved his flashy entrances, he opted to keep the light as he passed through the gate discreetly dim. In the dark cell he seemed more like a celestial being than ever, with his faintly glowing skin. Perhaps the spirits were affected by Wonderland.

"Natsu, Lucy, good to see you guys are well."

Natsu greeted him with a "yo" as Lucy sighed. "Not that well. The trial is soon, and I had the strangest dream… anyways, I wanted to talk with you and figure this out."

Loke opened his mouth to reply, but his eyes widened as he looked at the people approaching from behind her. Lucy looked to see none other than her other self and Prince Natsu headed their way. They must've been the ones talking to the guard.

Ah well. It was too late to send him back now. She held a hand up and let him know she wanted him to stay. They had already seen him.

Once their visitors saw there was someone new in the cell, they quickened their pace. Prince Natsu looked especially amazed. Loke looked shocked to see them, probably recognizing them from his research on this world.

"Who is this?" the knight demanded. "I wasn't told that there was a third person."

"I'm the leader of the Zodiac, Leo. At your service, Princess." He bowed.

The bewildered knight just crossed her arms. "Princess? You've got it wrong."

"Ignore him, he's just flirting." Lucy sighed. Now was not the time, she thought as she glared at her stupid spirit.

Loke gasped dramatically. "Excuse me? Now you've got it wrong. I'm addressing her as per her proper title!"

"My... proper title?"

"Knock it off." Lucy said through gritted teeth. She wasn't sure if Loke was trying to lighten the mood or what, but she was confused at why he was being so weird. Yes he did like to flirt, but he also knew when to be serious.

An awkward moment of silence passed. "...You don't know."

The other Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Know what?"

"That you're the real Princess of Hearts."

Even in their conditions I managed to sneak in a cliche "have to share the bed" trope lol. Also, shocker! Knight Lucy is the missing princess! (More of a shocker to her than to us, but oh well.)