Chapter 8

Through gritted teeth the knight said, "You're mistaken. You need to explain who you are now before I throw you in the dungeon."

Lucy stepped in before her spirit could make things worse. "It's my Celestial Spirit Magic." She held up Loke's key, attached to all the others. They sparkled as she showed them off. "I summon different spirits with these keys, and they come from another realm known as the Celestial Spirit World."

"Her magic is celestial like your Heavenly Light Magic!" Prince Natsu said to Lucy beside him, who had her arms crossed and was busy glaring at Loke.

"That's just like Jellal." Lucy commented. She made eye contact with the angry knight, who perked up at the mention of Jellal. Her mind flashed back to their shared dream other Lucy had almost fainted when she heard his name, but she wondered about their connection.

"About him-"

"Is everyone just going to ignore me?" Loke whined. "This is not a joke, Princess. Once I found out where Lucy, as in my keyholder, was, I spoke with the Spirit King and did research on this world. I know you are the true Princess of Hearts."

Jellal forgotten, Lucy's eyebrows furrowed at his words. "How… how? Before I came to the castle I was a servant for the Queen of Hearts. She hated me, I know that. But I am not her daughter."

He shook his head. "You're not. But that's the part I'm unsure about. I found out that the King and Queen of Hearts were Jude and Layla. They had two children… one of which was you. After six years, all mention of them vanished, and no one knew where they had gone. Suddenly Ur and her children were royals. No mention at all of the true Heart family or where they had gone. It was like they had been erased from history."

"I've never heard of a Queen Layla or King Jude. As far as I can remember Ur was the queen. I was even friends with Prince Gray when we were younger." Prince Natsu said.

Lucy took a wobbly step back from the cell, not able to believe what Loke was saying. She almost fell, but gripped the prince's shoulder. She shut her eyes tight. The air was tense.

"You said two children." Natsu pointed out.

He did. Lucy Heart's parents were the same as her own, but she knew she was an only child. Of course this being another world, that didn't mean everything was exactly the same… Gray, Lyon and Ultear were biological siblings here it seemed.

Again, Lucy recalled the vision the Spirit King had shown them. Ur was torturing Jellal, talking about a mysterious "she" who had escaped from the palace. She said that the escapee didn't remember Jellal. She knew that there was only a forest separating the Diamonds and Hearts, so this "she" would've come here to this kingdom.

Lucy Heart must've escaped the palace. She would've come here. Judging by her reaction to the name Jellal, he must have some significance to her she can't figure out because she can't remember him.

Loke continued, but Lucy already knew what he was going to say. "Right. Before the birth of Princess Lucy, The King and Queen had a son a few years earlier… His name was Jellal."

A loud bang resonated in the castle. Screams were heard above ground, and panic began to set in Lucy Heart. The other Natsu and Lucy looked at each other, eyes wide. A frantic guard ran into the hall, almost slipping and crashing into her.

"Lady Lucy! We are under attack! Guards have reported seeing Prince Lyon in the gardens. Erza was headed his way. There are Hearts soldiers everywhere. Their cavalry is storming through the city, and archers have set up on high ground."

"Where is the king?"

"No one knows."

"Damn it!" The knight cursed. Or was it princess? Either way, she sighed. This was the moment they had been planning for for years. She had spent so many meetings bickering with the rest of the court and laying out several plans, even putting in extra passageways for the royal family and staff. Now, Ur was finally at their doorstep. She just didn't anticipate things to turn out like this. She didn't have time to dwell on it too long, but she had come to her own conclusions about what Ur had done to her family in order to take the role as Queen. Except for Jellal, who seemed to be alive. Living a tortured existence, but alive.

Jellal, her brother. As soon as Lucy's spirit said it, she remembered him. There must've been some kind of memory lock spell on her, and it was broken once she was told of the truth. Vivid memories flashed in her mind of her older blue-haired brother, helping her with their shared celestial light magic. He was meant to be king someday, but now Ur had him locked in a dungeon.

Why? Why keep him alive? Or herself for that matter? If only she had a few more minutes, she could speak with the other Lucy and her spirit. Then they could figure things out. She shook her head. No time to think about what ifs. She took a deep breath and went into commander mode. But she hesitated. The other Natsu and Lucy were here, and they looked just like them… She could use them to her advantage.

"Prince, you will go through with your practiced escape plan. However, take the other Lucy to escort you instead of myself."

"What?" The other Lucy squeaked. She looked pale, and Lucy Heart was almost sorry to have to involve her.

The knight (or princess) turned to her doppelganger and kneeled. If she was going to beg she was going to do it properly at least. "Please Lucy, I need your help. We can use your Natsu as a distraction while the prince escapes. I trust that you can protect him. You are me, after all." Despite the anxiety bubbling in her stomach, she gave her a smile. She would prefer to see to the prince herself, but the king's whereabouts being unknown left a bad taste in her mouth.

Not a moment passed before the girl brightened. "All right, leave it to me!" She held her fist up, and the spirit put his hand on her shoulder. "Lucy's got us on her side, we can handle it."

"I hope you're right." She made a promise to King Igneel to always protect his son. She wasn't sure what he would think of her entrusting him to a stranger, especially if that stranger didn't have intimate knowledge of his disorder and limits. Hopefully he'd make an exception if said stranger was… her. Strange times called for strange measures.

"What about me?" The other Natsu said.

"You're coming with me." He nodded, almost calmly. Lucy was glad they didn't need much convincing. At least they realized the gravity of the situation.

The other Natsu embraced her doppelganger, holding her close. Her face was red, but she hugged him back tightly. Lucy smiled at the sight, when a voice came into her mind.

"Lucy?" It echoed. Meredy! So Team Shadowgear was back?

"I'm here! Update me." She pressed two fingers to her temple. It wasn't exactly necessary, as Meredy's Link magic allowed people to simply "think" at each other, but it helped prevent a headache.

"Levy is fine. Her men are too, excluding Jet and Droy. They were injured, but they'll live. We are near the entrance of the castle, but I see Hearts soldiers are here."

"I trust Levy knows what to do. You are of course, head of communication. Get to the tower, and keep me connected with the rest of the court. Can you link me to Erza?"

"On it."

A moment later, she heard Erza's voice. It was out of breath. "Lucy."

"Erza! What are you doing now?"

"Defending my home. Prince Lyon is here, but there's never ending waves of soldiers defending him. I believe he intends to burn down the garden."

"Erza…"

"Lucy, I can not let my tree be burnt down. Not again. I will protect all the spirits in the garden if it kills me."

"Be careful, Lady Titania."

"Always."

Meredy's voice came back. "Lucy, we found some alarming things back at the Golden Palace. First of all, a dungeon that was forbidden to all servants. Only Ur went down there. I wanted to Link our senses so I could see what was there, but you forbade me from doing so."

"It's too dangerous." Lucy's heart beat faster. A restricted dungeon, like the one from the vision?

Before she could ask about anyone being down there, Meredy said "We've got trouble, so I gotta go. I'll get to the tower soon. Stay safe Lucy."

"You too."

The communication cut off then. If all the knights stuck to their positions, everything would go well. Citizens would be evacuated by now, and the castle would be properly defended. But King Igneel was nowhere to be found, and she hoped to take the other Natsu with her to look for him. She didn't even know what kind of magic he had, but she would have to hope it was enough.

She turned to her Natsu then, tempted to kiss him (and blushing at the thought.) If they never saw each other again… no. She refused to think like that. He would escape with the other Lucy, she would find his father, and they would be evacuated. Ur would be defeated, and things would end well. She stood on her toes, because even with her boots she was still a few inches shorter, and kissed him on the cheek. The prince took her hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

"I'll see you soon." He smiled at her. She ignored the butterflies in her stomach.

"Very soon." She repeated. She took her keys and uncuffed the other world mages. Natsu and the other Lucy (and her spirit) took off.

She turned to the other Natsu. It was amazing how much two people could be so alike, and yet so different. This Natsu was a lot rougher around the edges than the prince. Not necessarily dirty, per se. Just more antsy, like he was itching to get into a fight. He was muscular, with a scaled pattern scarf and black coat. He had the same pink hair, but it was spiked up and much more messy. When he smiled, he revealed slightly pointed teeth.

"What's your full name?"

"Natsu Dragneel."

"Alright Dragneel, let's go. I need to get my armor, but this place will probably be crawling with enemies."

He smirked. "Not a problem with me. What's your plan?"

"I need to find King Igneel. He's missing right now, and no doubt Ur is trying to kill him. He's very strong, but he's older now and not as able as he thinks he is. He won't hold out for long. First, I need my armor from the armory above us. It's not too far."

He nodded and ran beside her. Once they left the prison, they had to take the stairs up to the ground floor. From there, they needed to exit the hallway and enter the training area where the armory was located. They'd have to run through a field, but she was mostly worried about the hallway. She could fight in her coat and boots, but she was more vulnerable without her sword and armor. Attacks were harder to avoid in an enclosed space, and with her magic, she could easily destroy the hall.

Another thing crossed her mind. If Natsu was meant to be the prince's decoy, he had to look the part too. They had a lot of places to go, and not a lot of time to do it.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they opened the door to the hallway. As expected, Hearts soldiers were waiting.

"Get them!"

Before Lucy could even think about a spell, Natsu roared and summoned fire. The orange light flickered in her eyes as she stood there, speechless.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

He ignited his palms and slowly brought them apart until he was holding a ball. He launched the fire at the soldiers, and the fire roared to life in an explosion. Some of the soldiers escaped the initial blast, and he added more power to the growing beast of flames. Most of the soldiers were out cold at this point. Or rather, out hot.

Lucy snapped out of her daze, amazed at the fire wizard. But forget his magic, the hall was full of giant drapes to cover the windows and flammable carpet. If the fire grew any stronger, they'd be trapped in here too!

"Hey! Cool it, you'll burn this whole place down!" She yelled. The fire creeped closer, and she instinctively jumped away from the heat on her back.

"I can't really put it out!" He yelled back. Her eye twitched, and she grabbed him by the scarf.

"Let's get out of here!" They ran out to the end of the hall, and Lucy was admittedly grateful that Natsu had made quick work of the soldiers. She wasn't exactly eager to let him steal all the glory though. She knew her magic was impressive, and she was hoping for a chance to show it off.

Once they were outside, she asked, "What kind of magic is that?"

He smiled, flashing those slightly pointed teeth. Weird to see Natsu like this, but in a way it was oddly fitting. "It's Dragon Slayer magic. On Earthland, Igneel is a dragon, and he taught me magic."

A dragon! "That's amazing. Dragons haven't existed for thousands of years."

Natsu shrugged. "Kind of the same back home, but it's a long story."

She nodded. They ran on the path, with Lucy leading the way. There would be a fork in the road soon, the left path leading to the gardens where Erza was, the forward path would be where the Prince and other Lucy went, and the right led to the armory. She wished she could help Erza or see her prince again, but she had a job to do.

They ran to the right, into a mass of soldiers with swords at the ready.

The Kingdom of Diamonds was a bitterly icy place, cold all year round and only letting up in what would be the summer months.. Rich in minerals but not so rich in plant life, the King had no choice but to bubble the gardens and seal them off. There was plenty of natural sunlight, but all the soil and diversity in nature was only there because of the hard work of talented nature mages and potion experts from all around the kingdom.

It was a beautiful space, reminding Erza of her old forest home. Thanks to the work of the mages and the protective dome surrounding it, they created an eternal spring where Erza and other nature spirits had taken root in. No other dryads unfortunately, but plenty of small fairies and some pond nymphs.

At the center of the gardens was a massive tree, born from the mixture of magic and potions that had laid the groundwork for the gardens. It wasn't a tree you could find in the wild (that she knew of), but it was beautiful, and at night its normally pink leaves glowed in all colors of the rainbow. Erza had taken this tree as her home, connecting her life force to it. On a night full of turmoil she would come home to this tree and feel the warmth in her chest.

All of this beauty, love, and magic was being threatened now by Lyon and the Queen's soldiers. If she didn't stop them, she'd be forced to see her home burnt to the ground again, and this time she'd burn with it. The mere thought made her gnash her teeth in anger.

She was still in her human form, and she used her sword to fight the soldiers. Currently she was only facing three, which was better than she could've hoped for. More were coming, but that was for later. She had to find Lyon.

One slashed at her, and she parried his blow. He grunted as she pushed back at the soldier, knocking him into his ally. While two of them were stumbling over each other, she faced the third.

She faked a swing and he tried to move out of the way, but he overestimated and lost his balance. With another whack into his side he corrected himself, but Erza had depended on this and smirked and she kicked his shin. The other soldiers had regained their balance and found themselves crashing right into each other again. She almost laughed at them.

One recovered faster than the rest, and striked again. He was strong, but she dug her heels into the dirt and blocked his attack. She pushed back, knowing that he would underestimate her strength. Even in a human form, she was still physically stronger than most.

In his surprise she saw an opening, and went for a critical blow. He crumpled to the ground, and she prepared to face the other two again.

They attacked her at once, and she found herself on the defense more often than not. She ran behind a tree, using it as a shield between herself and the soldiers.

Now she was able to fight them one on one. She closed the distance and elbowed one in the jaw. He dropped his sword and screamed in pain. Another strike, and it was over.

One left.

He pinned her to the tree and held his sword at her throat. Erza gulped. She had been caught.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, not liking the way the point was pressing into her.

"I'm taking you to Lyon."

A small note about how the knights in Wonderland fight: they do have weapons, mostly swords but also bows and lances that they use. The type of magic the soldier has determines how much or how they use their sword. As a nature spirit/ fairy-like creature Erza can fly, and she's fast and strong but she doesn't have requip so instead I have her rely on her sword. Lucy has something like Heavenly Body Magic so she relies on that but uses her sword when it's more convenient than casting magic.

Typically in the episodes when there's a "final battle" thing going on, everyone's split up and the show cuts to each individual fight. I'm trying to emulate that kind of feeling here (but in writing of course.)