Ohayō, my gakis! Haha, I'm nearly hitting 100 reviews with this story! Just one more push consisting of 3 reviews, and we'll hit the mark!
YAY! *Balloons fall from nowhere and glitter cannons explode.*
On another note: I have been seeing Fairy Tail everywhere! I bought a new singlet on the weekend, and I really liked it and all, but it was made ten times better because it was a Layla top! Awesome! And just a few days ago, I saw someone's graffiti tag on a wall, and their street name was Jose.
Fucking weird…
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoy your support. It'll seem a bit filler, but that's only so we can set the scene for the Phantom Lord arc to begin good and proper.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, as I would've never been able to think of those new and incredibly awesome celestial spirit designs in the anime!
Warning: Huh, I have no idea. Let me get back to you…I'm back, and I say that there's some violence, as well as realistic injures and mentions of 'suicide' – I'll let you ponder over that.
3rd Person P.O.V.
Sighing softly to herself, Lucy ran slender fingers through her unbound hair, careful to not tangle her fingers in the leather bands, feathers and beads meticulously braided into her hair by the Galuna Island women.
The trip back from the island had been long and exhausting; with Natsu complaining and trying to run away from transportation, and then suddenly fighting with Gray. Erza had been no help, as she had decided the best way to fix the situation was to stop them and yell at them, before punishing them with physical pain.
Usually, Lucy would stop her with some quiet and logical words, but occasionally she couldn't help but agree with the red-haired demon that the boys needed to be disciplined; preferably with as much pain as possible.
With those holdups, the return trip was significantly longer than getting to Galuna Island, but Lucy was just glad to be back. She loved travelling around more than anything in the world, and she would've loved to spend a week or two with the Galuna Island occupants – something that she might do at a later date – but being with three, loud and rowdy people in such close quarters was really rubbing her the wrong way; she was ready to throw in the towel.
The only real highlight was that she had a shiny new golden key to fiddle with on her trip home; Sagittarius was only more than happy to have a new owner after so long, and was ecstatic to go and visit his old pupil, Cenas, again.
"If you don't mind," Lucy addressed her travelling companions, managing to hold in a sigh when she saw them all fight again – in the midst of the Magnolia train station, no less! "I would like to head to my apartment and set my belongings down." The blonde tugged on the knapsack-like bag slung over one shoulder casually. "And maybe freshen up while I am at it."
"You aren't trying to get out of your punishment, are you?" Erza asked dangerously, eyes flashing as she summoned a sword that shone just as brightly. "Because if you are-"
"No, Erza." Lucy replied tiredly, only just forgoing the urge to run a hand down her face. "I will not escape my punishment from Master. I am simply wishing to go home and unpack. Then I shall sleep this ordeal off, if you have no protests. And, no," Lucy said shortly, having noticed Natsu's eyes light up, "you can not enter my apartment and sleep with me tonight, Natsu."
With that, the blonde turned sharply on her heel and stalked off through the crowds at the station, with the soundtrack of Erza's roars of 'Beseeching a maiden's virtue, Natsu? I shall have to punish you!' and Gray's uproarious laughter at the situation playing loudly.
Carefully placing the last of her recently hand-scrubbed washing out onto the line that she had strung in her bathroom for such purposes, Lucy stood up and stretched, sighing blissfully when several air bubbles popped in her back.
Lowering her arms and looking around, Lucy nodded approvingly at the task she had just completed, before heading out of the surprisingly large room, intent on sleeping in her bed, regardless that it was only seven in the evening.
'That's the first big task down…' Lucy mused to herself as she slipped under her skin blanket. Her eyes instantly turned to look out of her open window, searching for her beloved spirits in their star form. 'Next up is Phantom Lord. I'm not sure if I will succeed so well in this arc as I did with the last one. The foes are so powerful…'
While Lucy knew that she was strong (stronger than Lucy had been at this time, at least), she wasn't too sure of how she measured up next to all of the other mages in the series. While it was evident that she could defeat someone of Sherry's calibre, it only showed that she was stronger than the real Lucy had been, which she was already aware of.
No, she was very concerned about opponents such as Gajeel, Juvia, and that man Sol. All of them approached Lucy at some point in the series, and Lucy knew that she would have to face them down if she wanted to change anything in this arc; she would not be captured and beaten so easily like Lucy had been. No way in hell.
But, on the other hand, Lucy had to take in the consideration that she had stood up already to Jude, and that he might not even be coming after her. There was that chance and, no matter how slim it was, Lucy could hold onto the hope that she wouldn't have to deal with Phantom Lord, even though she knew that Jose would come after Fairy Tail at some point and attempt to destroy them. She also needed to collect Juvia and Gajeel at some part, maybe even snag some other mages from the rival guild as well…
Well, Lucy just had to wait and see if the arc would happen; she wasn't too sure if she wanted it to happen or not, after all.
Maybe nothing would happen and she could go hunting for Ultear, since she had sent a lacrima message to the Magic Council informing them of the betrayal. The lacrima had been borrowed from a next door neighbour, and Lucy had thought the conversation with one of the council members had gone quite well, if the mental breakdown the man had was any indication.
Yep, things were going quite well for our heroine Tia, who was stuck in Lucy's body. Quite well indeed…
The luck only lasted an hour.
Having not gone to the guild, and only remembering the main parts of this arc, even though it was one of the ones she had watched repeatedly due to interest, Lucy had completely forgotten that Gajeel had already attacked the guild.
So it was with great surprise that she shot up in the beginning of the night, finding a figure creeping in through her open window.
Sensing that it wasn't Natsu's magic, Lucy acted on instinct and grabbed the person's ankle as they tried to step down onto the bed. Hands latched firmly around the offending appendage, Lucy ignored the distinctively male yelp as she swung him back into her apartment. She twirled him around once to pick up velocity before tossing them out the window.
Hearing them yell hoarsely in surprise and fear, Lucy let a small smile of satisfaction cross her face. However, when there were several more yelps, Lucy became more concerned; how many were attempting to attack her?
Slipping out of her sheets and snagging a knife hidden in the frame of her bed as she did so, Lucy leapt up onto her windowsill, landing with light feet as she did so. Standing upright and leaning out of the window so that she didn't hit her head on the framework, Lucy scanned stormy eyes on the figures sprawled out on the street below. "Who goes there?"
"Geez, Luce," groaned a familiar voice, "why'd ya have to toss Gray out of the window so that he hit me? So not cool."
Relaxing her stature, Lucy lowered the knife she had held at ready. "Seriously; what the fuck, guys? I'm tired and I want to go to bed, why can't you guys go to your own homes and sleep there?" She really wanted to add that she was sick of their presence and didn't really want to see their faces until necessary, but Lucy was too polite to say such a thing.
"Why did you throw Gray out of the window, Lucy?' Boomed out Erza's voice as she extracted herself from the dog pile that she and the two boys had formed when Gray fell down on them. Happy floated over her head, giggling at the fact that they had been hurt and he hadn't.
Taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment to soothe her rising anger, Lucy replied as steadily as she could, given the situation. "Maybe because someone just attempted to climb in through my window."
"So?" Gray demanded, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. "Natsu does it all the time, according to him, and you're fine with that."
"Sometimes," Lucy replied, "but I recognise his magical signature, and I've already taught him to knock when I don't expect him. I thought that someone was attacking me, and I have the right to physically harm whoever tries to trespass on my property."
"But we aren't just 'someone,' Lucy." Drifting up to face the girl, Happy pouted at her. "Aren't we?"
Reluctantly, Lucy shook her head. "But that still doesn't give you a reason to break into my apartment; I have privacy, and I like it."
"Phantom Lord attacked our guild," Erza informed Lucy shortly, "we need to stay together in groups so that they don't separate us and attack us." She expected the blonde to be horrified, and maybe even thankful for their protection, but she was surely mistaken.
Sure, the collected group outside could see the slight widening of the white of Lucy's eyes, but they were quickly swallowed up by her dark eyes and drawn eyebrows. "You guys can go stay at one of each other's house, but there's no way you're staying here."
The three mages began to protest against this – Natsu being the loudest since he was usually allowed to stay – but Lucy quickly cut them off. Her voice was full of anger and unusually harsh. "Shut up. There are innocents trying to sleep and your noisiness are keeping them up; have some common courtesy." Her deadly tone quickly shut them up. "Besides; I have my spirits, so I don't need anyone to watch over me."
"But, Lucy," Gray started, genuinely concerned for his friend's wellbeing.
"But nothing," Lucy replied shortly. Her face softened slightly after her abrupt words. "If it makes you feel any better, Happy can stay over, and I'll summon one of my spirits now."
Happy let out a quiet cheer at these words and quickly darted inside the apartment, lest Lucy change her mind. As he did this, Lucy quickly asked mentally for one of her spirits, and Plue appeared with a flash, landing with a splat on Lucy's head. The little dog seemed quite happy, though, and settled down soon enough on the slightly bedraggled blonde hair.
None of the Fairy Tail mages on the street were very happy, but after assuring them a few times too many Lucy got fed up with them and slammed her window shut, locked it, and swiftly went back to bed to snuggle up with Plue and Happy.
Dumbfounded, Erza, Gray and Natsu looked at each other before degrading into an argument on where they would stay the night.
It was only when one of Lucy's neighbours stuck their head out of their window and screeched at them to 'stop your racket and go the fuck home!' that the mages finally decided to go to Gray's house – much to his annoyance.
The next morning, Lucy found herself staring up at the beat and broken forms of Jet, Levy and Droy as they hung, crucified crudely on one of the biggest trees in Magnolia Park. Next to her, Natsu steamed, literally, while Erza and Gray stared up at the tree, hands clenched and auras palpable with murderous intent.
It wasn't long until Makarov shattered his staff in his anger, and declared war. Something that only too many roared proudly about, already rushing off to prepare for the assault.
Lucy let them all run, uncaring that Natsu, Gray and Erza had abandoned her to avenge their beloved nakama; she didn't mind at all. Instead, she simply stood there in silence, eyes boring into the slumped faces of the people that she shared a guild with. Specifically, the delicate facial structure of the only female in the group.
Having only spent a week of getting to know the blue-haired girl, Lucy was slightly shocked to feel herself having to push down tears at seeing her condition; when – how – could she have got so attached, so quickly?
But the light-hearted words of Levy, along with her tinkling laugh, rung in Lucy's ears, making her squeeze her eyes shut to preserve those happy memories, rather than to create new ones with the bloody visage in front of her.
"I-I beg your pardon, Levy-san."
Startled, the blue-haired girl looked up from where she was fiddling around with a bunch of runes, locking gazes with a strangely bashful Lucy. "Y-yes? Lucy, isn't it." It wasn't a question. Levy knew who this girl was; the strong, stoic blonde with the sword strapped onto her back and an assortment of spirits at hand; the girl who had dealt with Yakuza, and could go toe-to-toe with Erza verbally if needed to; the girl named Lucy who, frankly, scared Levy some.
"Yes, it is," Lucy replied respectfully, bringing Levy out of her thoughts. "I beg your pardon for intruding upon you in your free time…" the blonde shifted nervously again, dark brown eyes darting up to meet Levy's gaze before chasing something that only she could see around the room. "But I just…" The girl visibly steeled herself. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot, as so to speak, and I wish to make amends with you. This is for you, if you want it."
A small, slightly beat-up book was thrust forwards. Still shocked, Levy gingerly took the book, as if she was scared that it was going to bite, before carefully beginning to flip through it. "What is…" Suddenly, the girl gasped. "Oh, my! This is-"
"It's a book on the Galuna runic language, as well as verbal translations." Lucy looked upon Levy with a more happy expression on her face. "I was given two copies by the Galuna leader when I completed the mission, and I…well, I thought that you may like it, since you're a genius with language and all. Is it to your liking, or…?"
Levy leapt up from the booth she was sitting at and hugged Lucy in answer.
Initially stiffening from the surprising contact, Lucy slowly relaxed and placed a hesitant hand on Levy's thin back. "I take it is to your liking, then."
Levy retracted, her eyes gleaming brightly. "Oh it is! This is a wonderful present, Lucy-san!" The blue-haired girl abruptly stopped the happy bouncing she had been doing since she relinquished Lucy, a pensive look on her face. "Do I have to add san to your name, or can I just call you Lucy?"
Lucy shook her head. "I don't mind what you call me, Levy-san."
"Then I can call you Lu-chan, and you can call me Levy-chan!" Levy replied excitedly, before seeming to remember who she was talking to. "Only…if you want."
A dazzling smile came across Lucy's face, like a sun coming out from behind clouds. It was the brightest and happiest smile Levy had ever seen on the blonde before. "I would love that…Levy-chan."
Gritting her teeth angrily, Lucy stepped forwards and kicked her right foot into the trunk of the massive tree that held her nakama captive. Her foot imbedded itself deeply into the wood, powered by her emotions. Kicking up off her right foot, Lucy swung her left foot back and slammed it into the tree, digging it into the wood for another foothold. The blonde continued this mechanism until she reached high enough to face level with Levy.
A few fellow Fairy Tail members watched her from the ground, standing as a silent guard. They knew that from the girl's expression and body language that she was angry, and this was the best way for her to deal with it. They stayed close, though, eyes always on their hurt nakama; watching and waiting.
Lucy looked into Levy's blank face and took a moment to brush tender fingers against her bruised skin. Closing her eyes briefly, Lucy opened them again to reveal eyes blazing with a fiery anger. Her hands snaked out to grab the iron rods bent like staples that held Levy up.
Snarling deeply, Lucy yanked on the right one. Her feet dug into the tree, causing the tree to swallow her boots up, but she managed to pull the bar out of the tree. Tossing it disdainfully away, she caught Levy's half-slumping body with one hand before proceeding to yank the other one out.
Laki, having hung around to help the blonde that she occasionally chatted to, walked forwards to taken the small girl from a stoic Lucy. The purple-haired girl stepped back, carefully cradling the petite body in her arms.
After that, two male fairies stepped up to accept Jet and Droy from Lucy after she freed them.
The blonde tugged her feet out of the tree with some effort and flying splinters, before leaping down to the ground with a heavy thud. Uncaring of the fact that her boots were trashed and her hands were sore from ripping the bars out of the tree, Lucy stalked forwards to inspect Jet and Droy, having not payed much attention to them when she pulled them down. Looking up into the faces of the men holding two of her guildmembers, Lucy quickly ordered them to take them back to the guild's infirmary and guard them.
Resisting the urge to click their heels and salute to the assertive girl, the men raced off, with Laki following close behind with Levy in her arms.
The last remaining members looked to Lucy for direction. "What do we do now?" One of the males asked, his young voice betraying his fear of the entire situation.
Casting the boy a sympathetic look, Lucy directed him quietly. "If you do not wish to fight Phantom Lord, head back to the guild and guard the injured; I am sure that many more will come soon. Prepare yourselves, and get the infirmary prepped."
"Okay!" The boy nodded before heading off, almost all the mages following him.
"They aren't really battle-based," a women explained to Lucy, her familiar hat doffed low on her head. "They are very young, and inexperienced as well. You did a good job directed them, Lucey-Lou."
"I see," Lucy mused, "thank you very much, Astoria." She nodded gratefully at the women she had spoken to first when she had come to Fairy Tail, taking comfort in her familiar presence. They may not be close friends, but Astoria had already become someone valuable to Lucy, with her sound logic, kind heart, and fair and suave attitude. The two spoke often when Lucy wasn't waylaid by one of the members of 'the strongest team in Fairy Tail,' or recently, by Levy McGarden.
"Where are you heading off to?" Astoria continued, taking out a lollipop to place in her mouth and roll around – a habit that she was found of. "Me and me boys want to head to Phantom Lord and fight them, but I think we'll be a bit late with the fun." Here, she nodded to the two blokes standing behind her. Both were members of her team and both wore hats of their own; a fedora and cowboy hat respectively.
"I can help you there." Lucy cracked a weak smile. "I'll head up with you guys; I normally don't do revenge, but I'm more than willing in this case." Reaching for the keys in the pouch of her belt that was slung casually across her chest, Lucy brushed her fingers across a silver key. "Andromeda?"
The beautiful woman arrived instantly, cool gaze locked on Lucy. "Hello Lucy. What can I do for you today? I see we're not in battle for once. How odd."
Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at this, and Astoria joined in, drawing Andromeda's attention to her. A small smile lit the spirit's face when she took in who she was looking at. "Hello again, Astoria."
"Howdy, sis." Astoria dipped her hat at the spirit, lilac eyes shining through her tangle of dark brown hair. "How's my favourite lady goin'?" She shared a secret smile with Andromeda, both of them being rather close, as Astoria was the only human Andromeda approved of in Fairy Tail, and the only one she would talk to (excluding Lucy, of course) whenever she was summoned there.
"I am quite well," replied Andromeda, "but I believe idle chat should come at another time; I am needed, no?" The last part she directed at Lucy, who nodded in return. "It would be of great help if you could send the four of us," Lucy gestured to herself, Astoria and her two boys, "to Oak Town; we need to go visit Phantom Lord."
Taking in Lucy's dark expression, Andromeda wrinkled her pert nose in disdain. "That filthy guild again? Hmph, I expect that you'll be taking it down, then? Well," Andromeda didn't wait for an answer, "I guess I can do that, but I'll have to ask you to not call me for a week; a jump like that with so many people will drain my power significantly."
"Of course," Lucy agreed, "take a vacation, Andromeda, you've earned it."
"We'll see," was all Andromeda said before she ushered the two men, hovering uncertainly nearby in the face of the wrathful spirit that had seen around the guild occasionally, in close. Lucy held Andromeda's right hand in her left, which prompted Astoria to grab her other. After some prodding, the two men hesitantly touched the spirit's shoulders, before they felt themselves get twisted and turned, their vision warping with golden threads streaking wildly across the splashes of black, browns and blues.
Eventually, everyone's vision straightened out and Frank, the man with the fedora, instantly stumbled away to throw up.
"It can be quite disconcerting the first time," Lucy remarked, eyeing Frank's retching form, "but it'll clear up in a few minutes, so don't worry, Joe."
"Not worrying," squeaked the man with the cowboy hat, face slightly green. "Not worrying at all!"
Shaking away the last of her trip through space and time, Astoria focused her gaze on her surroundings. "Oh my lordy-lord…" She took in the massive, castle-like building in front of her, eyebrows quirked. "I certainly didn't expect for us to be right on our enemy's doorstep; it feels like Im'ma little girl again and 'bout to set a bag of doo-doo on me neighbours front porch and set it aflame."
Slightly baffled by the juxtaposition, Lucy nodded hesitantly in answer. "O~kay then." The girl then perked up, realising that her spirit wasn't around anymore. "That trip must have taken a lot out of Andromeda; she's already disappeared home." The blonde could only feel proud at her spirit's ability to take them so far, before she remembered where she was, what she was about to do, and the situation that started it. Her expression turned serious.
Noticing the change, Astoria swirled her lollipop thoughtfully around her mouth. "It's about to begin, isn't it? We're gonna fight Phantom Lord 'til one of us drops." The stress of the situation had her usually indistinguishable Western tang thicken, words slurred by the sharp-sounding accent.
"Yes," Lucy replied shortly, gaze cutting towards the horizon, "and here comes the cavalry."
Right on time, the rest of Fairy Tail came charging over the hill that led up to Phantom Lord's guild. Their expressions were grim and deadly as they sprinted, eyes promising pain and blood in retribution to what Phantom Lord had cost them. Leading the group was Erza and Natsu, both of them serious as they ran beside each other, their Master right behind them and already barking encouragements.
Upon seeing four of their guildmates standing in front of Phantom Lord's guild, waiting for them – Jason and Frank having recovered enough to stand beside their team leader – a fair few of the charging fairies' eyes widened, before they picked up the pace to come to a skidding stop in front of an imposing-looking Lucy.
"How-" Erza began, before she was cut short by Lucy. "I have a spirit who can transport long-distances, that's all you need to know."
Registering that this wasn't the time for chat, Erza nodded briskly before dropping back to stand with her fairy brethren. Taking the opportunity, Astoria, Jason and Frank slipped into the crowd of avenging mages, seamlessly joining the ranks. Only Lucy was left up front, facing a very serious Makarov. "What of Levy, Jet, and Droy's condition, Lucy?"
Visibly straightening up, Lucy replied in crisp, clear tones, like she was a soldier reporting to her General. "I assigned twelve mages to take them back to the guild's infirmary and treat them; they are setting up a perimeter of defence so that Phantom Lord will not take them unaware; they all did so voluntarily, sir."
Makarov nodded at this, face stormy. "Excellent. You did well, my dear. Are you going to help us pay back our nakama's pain? Are you going to help us show Phantom Lord why you don't mess with Fairy Tail?!"
"Please, Master," grinned Lucy grimly, "I don't need an inspirational speech to convince me to fight for Levy-chan's sake; I shall fight until my magic's gone! Then I will drag myself up and fight until my body breaks and my swords dull; but I won't stop until their spirit's broken and they understand what it is like to feel your loved ones be injured in front of them!" The girl's eyes blazed as she drew her sword and held it above her head triumphantly. "They shall know…FAIRY TAIL!"
Her guild roared in agreement in front of her, powering up their magic in preparation for the legendary battle that was about to begin. As they did that, Lucy charged her own magic into her legs.
Jumping up and pirouetting neatly, Lucy lashed out with her softly glowing legs. They hit the big oaken door that marked the entrance to the guild, and sent them flying inwards with a spray of splinters.
Taking over as the blonde landed in a crouch with her sword at the ready, Natsu leaped forwards with his hands already coated in fire, a challenging roar echoing out of his throat and making the ground tremble.
Behind him, but in plain sight, Makarov looked upon the shocked Phantom Lord members with a heavy glare. He blinked once before his eyes shot open and screamed a challenge, veins pulsing on his head. "WE ARE FAIRY TAIL! COME AT US WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT, PHANTOM LORD!"
Before the startled Phantom mages could react, Erza bounded forwards and led the stampede of revved up fairies into their guild. Almost instantly, there was chaos.
Calmly beginning to wade through the turmoil as the two guild met, Makarov, flanked by a fierce-looking Lucy, headed towards the stairs that led up to the topmost part of the guild. The two never paused, even when mages came flying at them; either thrown by one of the numerous fairies around the room, or simply thinking that they could take on the guild master (a wizard saint), or the sword-wielding blonde next to him (a severely pissed off female).
At every moment that one of these foolish mages came at them, Makarov would lift an enlarged hand and bat them aside without blinking, or Lucy would raise a golden leg to boot them away. Either way, those that approached the two deceptively slow-walking mages were sent flying away to crumple at the corners of the large guild hall.
Upon reaching the second flight of the guild, Makarov turned to his self-appointed bodyguard. "I shall have to ask you to stay down here, my dear, this battle will be too dangerous for you get involved in. It would break my heart to see one of my children injured by my fault."
Face twisting with sorrow – she knew what was to happen next! And he called him his child! No one had done that in years! – Lucy reluctantly bowed her head in respect and submission. "As you wish, Master." She straightened up and looked into the tiny man's eyes, trying her hardest to not let her emotions bleed through the dark orbs. "Good luck, sir."
"So polite," Makarov chuckled before he disappeared up the next flight of stairs in pursuit of the man who had started this whole thing; Jose.
Sparing one last glance towards where the great man had disappeared, Lucy rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, visibly steeling her resolve. "Let's get this party started."
Summoning her newest spirit, Sagittarius, Lucy ordered him to stay up on the balcony and pick off the Phantom Lord members in the level below with his arrows. Meanwhile, the blonde prepared herself to defend her loyal spirit from those enemy mages that were perched along the balcony that stretched around the entirety of the guild. They obviously had the same idea that Lucy had; pick off the opposition from a safe distance.
Baring her teeth in a savage smile, Lucy leapt forwards to parry a large-set man's flaming staff with her own sword. Much to the man's bewilderment, the sword sliced through his wooden staff and curved up towards his chest.
Expecting the sword to smash into him and knock him back like most other weapons he had met with, the phantom man was surprised to have the sword slice a large cut into his chest, a spray of his own blood splattering up on his face.
The shocked expression on his face was still etched there when he released half of his staff that he managed to keep and collapsed back into unconsciousness.
Cursing, Lucy quickly sheathed her sword. "I forgot that this sword doesn't have the spells on it to make it inflict blunt force; it's just a regular sword!" The girl scrambled back to dodge the earth-encased fist of her next opponent, a bulky woman who screamed 'my bark is bigger than my bite, but you should still be worried, bitch!'
Sagittarius spared his summoner a worried glance as he paused his massacre of arrows on the phantom members below, but Lucy quickly waved him off as she leapt back again to dodge another haymaker by the brutish hulk of a woman.
Scowling at each other, the two females began to engage in a fight based in close-combat. The phantom swung fists heavy with earth, and stomped into the hard ground to send spikes of earth arcing up towards Lucy, attempting to skewer her. Lucy, for her credit, dodged with an elegant grace that many onlookers found mesmerising; whenever the phantom swung bulky fists and launched dangerous spikes, the blonde would slide and twist under and around them, the earth barely brushing her as she did so.
The two continued the out-of-proportion dance for a while, getting a feel for each other. It wasn't until Lucy decided to strike back that the tempo of the dance picked up.
Leaning back to dodge another fist and placing one hand on the floor to steady herself, Lucy kicked one leg up to boot the woman right under her chin and send her stumbling back. The shocked girl didn't have enough time to register the pain of the kick as Lucy transferred her gravity and lashed out with a leg sweep that knocked the girl to the ground.
Pouncing on the off-balance woman, Lucy knocked her unconscious with a blow to the temple and then moved on to her next target.
The Celestial mage was a whirlwind of activity as she took down a large selection of Phantom Lord mages only using her physical prowess, telegraphed her attacks further by pushing magic to course through her limbs.
Smashing through a group of confused mages by sliding across the ground and knocking them down with her legs, Lucy leapt to her feet and looked wildly around for her next opponent. Finding no one in the vicinity, the blonde relaxed her stance and looked around, confused as to why there were no more mages coming towards her with the intent to kill.
Her unspoken question was answered as she spotted scattered all around the balcony was the sprawled, groaning forms of all the mages that had positioned themselves upon the higher ground. Most were unconscious, having been dealt heavy blows to the head, or even had their nerve clusters pinched to enact sleep upon them forcibly, but there were a couple that were simply lying there, nursing bruised and battered bodies.
The Celestial mage blushed lightly at this sight, and that she had gotten carried away, as she rubbed at a bruise forming on her face. "I did not expect to beat these guys so easily; they must suck."
"No, moshi moshi!" Sagittarius spoke loudly from behind the girl, startling her by his sudden appearance. "Your skills are very high, Lucy, and you defeated them with your own strength! I am proud to have you as my owner!"
"Not owner, Sagittarius," Lucy corrected gently, "but friend. I am your friend, and I don't want to be seen as someone of high power who you can't approach; that's not me. I only wish to have you as my friend, and to aid me in battle whenever is possible for the both of us." The girl offered the taller person a smile, which the cosplaying spirit returned happily. "Okay, moshi moshi! Is there anything else you need me to do, Lucy?"
Lucy shook her head in answer. "No. You may go home if you wish, Sagittarius." As the spirit saluted her and began to disappear back home, Lucy quickly asked a question. "I'm just a bit curious; how many people did you shoot down?"
The horse-man sent her a devilish smirk, startling Lucy with the uncharacteristic expression. "Thirty-six. I mean, thirty-six using only one shot each." He then disappeared to the Spirit World, leaving Lucy to wonder just how good that certain spirit was at archery.
Her ponderings were interrupted by Erza, as she bellowed for them to retreat, tears streaming down her face. Lucy started, before realising what had happened. She placed a hand on the railing that enclosed the balcony and vaulted over it, flipping through the air to land with barely a sound in the middle of a crowd of jeering Phantom Lord mages.
At feeling someone else in their midst, the men and women stopped their mocking of the retreating Fairy Tail to look back. At seeing a blonde that they didn't know, but hadn't seen fighting alongside the fairies, they were understandably confused. However, one female recognised her, and began to tremble lightly, alerting the others around her to her predicament.
"O-oi," one of them nudged the trembling girl, "what the hell's up? This is probably just some dumb fairy that's gotten battered around so much her wings and crooked and she can't fly; we'll just have to direct her to the nearest exit!" The smirking male stepped forwards to apprehend the blank-faced blonde currently standing, waiting patiently, and in the centre of the loose circle the collected phantoms had made, but a hand clasping his arm caused him to stop. "D-don't!"
Startled, the man looked back to see the girl staring past him, fearful eyes on Lucy. "What is it?"
"S-she's a monster," the girl whispered, "she managed to take out Reginald, and everyone else up on the balcony…using no magic, and no weapons."
Severely shaken now, the man shifted a step back from the stoic blonde, his fellow guildmembers following him. "N-no way!"
"Way." The subject of their conversation finally spoke up, shocking a few members by the fact that her honey voice that was marred deeply with frosty edges.
"She's bluffing!" Another phantom shouted out, eyes crazy with the tenseness of the conversation. Several of his friends agreed, all of them completely ignoring the other fairies sprinting past them to join up with Erza, who was beckoning them urgently out the door. "Lucy!" She called out, seeing the blonde 'trapped' in the centre of a mob of phantoms, worry etching deep lines into her beautiful face. "We need to go!"
Taking a moment to nod back to the redhead, Lucy looked back at the mages surrounding her with a light twinkling in her dark depths. "I'm very sorry, but it seems that I won't be able to play with you today. It was charming, really, but I must go." Just as she was about to push her way through the crowd, Lucy spotted a young boy, injured severely, hanging at the fringes of the crowd, ignored by everyone else.
His dark hair flopped over his face, but his red eyes still pierced through the thick strands, looking at Lucy with innocence that she found refreshing, after having been surrounded by teenagers with pain-filled pasts for so long.
Mind made up, the blonde began to make her way over, only to have several enemies block her way. Undeterred, she jumped into the air to plant a foot on two different mages heads, supressing a smile when she heard them yelp with surprise and pain. Lucy proceeded to walk forwards, like she was walking on regular ground, using the Phantom Lord mages heads as stepping stones.
As she reached the last man's head, the dark-haired boy slowly began to back away, panic beginning to creep into his bright eyes. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to run before Lucy snatched him up and tucked him under her arm. Powering magic to her legs, Lucy pushed off the heads of two phantoms (sending them sprawling to the ground in the process) and flipped over several of their heads.
The boy in her arms squeaked as they hit the ground, but the sound was quickly wiped away in the strong wind that picked up around them as Lucy picked up the pace. Throwing the guild of Phantom Lord one last look, Lucy dashed out after Erza, who had just ushered the last Fairy Tail mage out, with one of their youngest mage under her arms.
"Why do you have one of Phantom Lord's men with you?" Erza asked the blonde with a thick voice as they went hurtling down the hill to catch up with the rest of their guild. "Sorry. Boy."
Hefting the boy up in her arms a bit more, Lucy answered loudly, so that her voice could reach Erza through the slipstream of their fast movements. "He's like Natsu, if you get what I mean, and an innocent; he doesn't have Phantom Lord's influence tainting him yet."
"And how do you know this?" Erza asked after she got over her shock. It was strange that she wasn't angry at the withholding of information, but she had gotten used to being out of the loop whenever she was with Lucy; it was part of being associated with her, the sword mistress guessed.
"I gathered information about dragons and their slayers, remember?" Lucy replied with no bite, eyes trained on the backs of her guildmates as they caught up with them. She couldn't hear Phantom Lord behind her, which was odd, considering that they had chased and jeered after Fairy Tail in the series, but she just guessed that they were lucky.
"You know about my dragon?" It was the first words that the boy had spoken, and his voice was still high with youth, but both Lucy and Erza could hear the nice, matured voice that it would become in the future – Lucy more so than Erza. "You believe that I'm a Dragon Slayer?"
Lucy spared the boy a smile as he peeked up through his fringe at her from his position under her arm. "Of course I do; we've got one in my guild, and you already have one in yours, so why wouldn't I believe you're a Dragon Slayer?"
The boy hung his head. "None of the people in Phantom Lord believe me; they say someone so weak would never be trained by something as strong as a dragon, but they're wrong!" The boy's face was crumpled into a frown as he spoke, and Lucy absently trailed her fingers through his silky hair to calm him down. "It's okay, we in Fairy Tail will always believe you; we will never consider you weak, as well. No matter what level your magical or physical strength is, if your heart is large and your will strong, you are considered powerful. It's the power of friendships that keeps you going, remember that."
Nodding his head, surprise written all over his face, the boy went to answer, but he suddenly jerked around to catch sight of something. "G-gajeel-sama!"
Eyes widening, Lucy shoved the boy into Erza's arms and thrust her away from her. The redhead went tumbling down the hill with the boy tucked into her arms, rolling with a surprised expression on her face until she bumped into the back of Loke's legs, causing both of them to stop.
"Erza?" Loke stated as he looked down at the shocked girl lying on the back of his heel, a small boy in her arms. "What? Who's tha-"
"LUCY!" Erza cut across the secret-spirit, jumping to her feet and dragging the boy with her. "LUCY!"
Her cries attracted the rest of Fairy Tail's attention, and they turned collectively to see their residential Celestial mage, a hundred metres or so up the hill, get completely blindsided by a fast-moving grey blur.
Several cried out in shock as the blonde and whoever attacked her went flying away from the road they were following, their bodies falling over the side of the hill to head towards the left of the Fairy Tail mages position. Many caught sight of Lucy stagger up to begin trading blows with the grey blur, who was revealed to be a man with long black hair, but she was quickly being forced back, the man pushing his element of surprise to boot the girl away from him.
Before any of the fairies could react, the two had disappeared over another hill, the man shoving what looked like an iron bar into Lucy's gut, and then propelling off the ground with another by his leg. It was enacted so quickly that several mages blinked and missed it entirely.
"W-what just happened?" Stuttered Elfman, arms cradling the sickly Makarov. "What just happened to Lucy?"
Natsu had the answer for him. He hissed out the name with contempt, fire beginning to roll off him once more. "Gajeel."
Lucy P.O.V.
Gasping out as Gajeel's iron rod hit me in the gut, I couldn't do anything as I felt my feet actually lift off the ground. The hovering lasted about, oh, a millisecond, before I went hurtling through the air. Gajeel's grinning face kept up with me as he extended one leg into another rod and sent himself through the air. "Not so tough now, blondie?"
"You're so cliché," I managed to choke out. I mean, I did have an iron rod in my gut, trying its best to break my stomach and mash my intestines, you know, but that doesn't mean I can't have a sense of humour.
To my surprise, Gajeel cackled in answer. "Oh! We've got some spunk on this one, do we? I love the ones who fight back, they're always so much fun to break."
Before I got snap back an answer, our trajectory changed and I went hurtling backwards towards the earth. I only had enough time to glance towards the ground before looking up at Gajeel's grinning face in horror. After that, I heard a crunching sound that mixed in with the absolute pain I felt up along my body, before my consciousness went snap.
When I came to, it was to the most unpleasant sight of severe pain burning across my body – my back being the worst – and a smirking Jose who leered at me when he saw my eyes were open. "How lovely of you to join me, Miss Heartifilia. I was wondering when you would wake up."
"You're all so cliché in this world," I managed to slur out through my pain-induced haze and last shreds of unconsciousness. "Do you guys all read the same evil person quotes: handbook edition whenever you do something diabolical, 'cause it sure seems that way."
"Gajeel was right," Jose chuckled, "you do have some spunk in you! But all that attitude won't do you any good in this situation; it'll just cause you pain and more discomfort." The man jerked his head towards me, creepily glittering eyes focused on something below my face.
'This better not be my chest,' I thought before managing to tilt my head down, my neck protesting the whole way. 'Oh, it's not.' No. Jose was gesturing towards my wrists, which were bound tightly with massive handcuffs that glowed with runic symbols that were engraved deeply into them. Well, shit. What the heck were these things?
As if reading my mind, Jose answered with obvious excitement. "Those are magic-restricting handcuffs; expensive, but necessary for someone with your obvious skills." The man smirked to himself, barely seeming to focus on me. "I know all about you, you know? When your father hired me to collect you, I followed your path to Fairy Tail. Well," he looked mockingly abashed, "I actually had to work my way back from your entrance to Fairy Tail." The man with the pencil-thin moustache finally focused his gaze on me, dark eyes locking onto mine with a sort of sick fascination. "You're hard girl to find, Lucy."
I wanted to reply with an 'I try my best, really.' But that seemed a bit far out of my current capabilities. It was taking all of my strength to focus on what Jose was saying; it was kind of wavering in and out though. Very disorientating, but I was extremely happy that I didn't get sea-sickness.
"There was no evidence of you before Werkshore," Jose continued, not noticing my obvious wooziness. "You seemed to disappear from your estate's gates, and it was only when someone caught sight of a blonde-haired girl riding on the shoulders of what appeared to be a giant bull that someone reported to my client." Jose grinned, showing his amusement of that statement. "But then you disappeared again, only to show up with those lovely red streaks in your hair." Here, the guild master stepped forwards to run crooked fingers through my hair, severely repulsing me. "And it was only your lovely brown eyes that gave you away. Apparently you look a lot like your mother."
Jose looked into my eyes once more, and I tried my best to reflect my usually persona of an aloof girl to protect my inner thoughts. It didn't seem to work by the fact that his amused smile made another appearance. He stepped back, though, which I was happy about, and began to talk again.
"Then the rumours came; of a blonde girl who took down the dark guild Draken, and defeated their leader so fast that the onlookers missed it; a beautiful girl who managed to take down a whole nest of wyverns with only a man with scissors beside her; a girl with brown eyes that glowed with golden power and who managed to free a whole encampment of illegal slaves that were being kept captive on an offshore island to the north of here."
A sharp smile came onto Jose's face, and I shifted slightly in unease. "And even here, in Oak town, my domain; a girl named Lucy who managed to infiltrate and disband a large chain of yakuza who ran their business across the streets, and right under my nose." The thin man leant forwards and I felt uncomfortable in the line of his sight. "Do you know how humiliating it is to go to an annual meeting of the Wizard Saints and the Magic Council, only to have the old farts moan to me about how only one of their roving mages, a young girl of seventeen no less, could defeat a bunch of mobsters, and yet my guild – the most powerful guild in Fiore! – couldn't even take them down, even though they were right next door?" He didn't wait for an answer, his face twisting cruelly as he spat spittle towards me with his next words. "DO YOU?!"
When I didn't give him an immediate answer, he backhanded me. My head cricked painfully to the side and fire bubbled down my back, following the curve of my spine. I had to bite my tongue so that a cry of pain wouldn't leave my lips, and instantly regretted it as blood filled my mouth from the injured appendage.
Spitting the blood to the side, I glared up at Jose with as much anger and hate as I could muster – which wasn't much of a challenge. "Phantom Lord isn't the strongest guild in Fiore; that title belongs to Fairy Tail."
I instantly was repaid with my snide comment with another backhand, but it was totally worth it to see that look of shock and anger cross Jose's face. "Shut up, you filthy brat. Even if you are an heiress, your manners could do with a lot of work; is that any way to talk to someone of greater power than you?"
"I only talk respectfully to people that deserve it," I breathed out, my right eye closed so that blood didn't drip into it from whatever cut Jose's ringed hands had managed to form. "And I am no heiress."
"Sure," Jose drawled disbelievingly, "why else would your father send me to find you if you were of no worth?"
I coughed weakly, the breath rattling in my throat. That didn't sound too good. "I am only of worth when Jude sells me off to a suitor; I have no money on me either than the money I make myself doing jobs at the guild." I grinned at him with bloody teeth. "I am no worth to you, Jose, so don't even begin to think of using me for your own gain."
Anger twisted his face again, Jose lashed out, and this time he kicked me in the gut, making me nearly hurl from the pain of the strong kick and the lingering pain of Gajeel's attack earlier on. Something was probably broken there. "Shut up! You're got lots of money on you! Your name means instant cash, so don't throw around weak bluffs like that!"
I laughed then, just to psych him out and annoy him more. "My name?! My bloody name! Oh, that's a riot! None of my nakama know I'm a Heartifilia! And when I left the estate, I took only the money I had scrounged up over the years; barely a thousand jewels. What makes you think I'm living it up in style, Jose?"
The Phantom Lord Master cursed me out with colourful language, lashing out at me in a flurry of punches and kicks that had me curling up in a ball, but not stopping me from laughing so hard that I was sick; this man was just sad.
After a minute or two of this abuse, Jose let up, panting as he glared down at me. "I've had about enough of your tongue, bitch. Stand up and I'll lead to a room with accommodation more suited to your personality."
Looking around the barren and slimy dungeon room we were in, I barked out another coarse laugh, sensing the irony and sick humour in Jose's comment. Deciding to follow his instruction, though, I attempted to drag myself to my feet using my shackled hands, but it was hard with Jose kicking at me when I was to slow, and the shattering pain in my back. I hoped it wasn't broken, but I was moving, so that meant something good.
When I finally managed to get to my feet, I let myself take a moment to let my eyes get back into focus, my pounding head only made worse by Jose's screams. When I wasn't seeing double, or a splash of colours, I stumbled back a step. I could hear the howl of the wind as it whipped around the open wall of the dungeon-room I was in – I was in the same room that Lucy had been kept in during the series. Good.
"Where are you going?" Jose sneered at me, taking a step forwards whenever I snuck one back. "Forwards is towards your new accommodation, backwards is towards a very flighty death." The man grimaced again in a mocking version of a smile and advanced towards me again.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva that tasted strongly of iron – bloody blood – I shuffled back a few more steps. I could now feel the wind tugging at me, and making my long hair – now unbound, as I had somehow lost my hair tie from the point of being hit by Gajeel and waking up here – and the loose sleeves of my battle top flutter in the wind. The flames on the shirt looked like they were really burning. Cool. "Death is sometimes better than life, but only if it is done justly."
I didn't really want to die, but it was better a merciful death than to be subjected to torture before being handed over to Jude, who would probably keep these cuffs on me all the time and marry me off to some bastard. Call me weak for not wanting to go through any of that, especially the torture, but I couldn't care less; I was a girl who roved. Being tied down like that would kill me anyways, just more slowly.
"Really?" Jose feigned interest as he reached a hand forwards to grab me. "How quaint."
Just as he was about to touch down on my shoulder, I reared my head back to slam it headfirst into his own, doing a very sloppy, very painful head butt that had him lurch back and let off a string of fanciful curses again.
Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, and trying my best to ignore my own swimming vision, I pushed myself backwards to fall ungracefully off the edge of the building.
I could hear Jose's roar of fury as I fell, the winds curling around me and making the sound warp oddly. Even though I was either about to die, or break every bone in my body – if some weren't already broken – I was oddly calm. There were no more second chances after this. No more waking up in someone else's body (I hope). I was going to die. Lucy Heartifilia was going to die here and Tia would die for the second time alongside her, unknown by everyone except a few spirits that jangled on my hip in the fall. It was a pity that I couldn't summon them, what with the magic-restraining cuffs and all. It would've been nice to live for a while longer and say my goodbyes to them. I hope my spirits will be sad to see me go, but not overly; I don't want them to be depressed or anything.
Wow. I was getting a lot of time to think here, what with the big drop and all. It's such a difference to my last death. I might as well say my last goodbyes and all.
Bye bye Tia. It was nice being you for fifteen years. Even though you had a fairly sucky life full of loneliness, either than your little sister, who wasn't much of a companion until she was seven years old. And even though you were always getting into trouble with the law, you were a spitfire and I liked that.
Goodbye Lucy. I'm sorry that I couldn't fix your life up for you. I tried my best, I swear. It was nice being you for a year, though. I liked having magic. I liked making so many friends. I liked that I could act so aloof, like the persona I had built up to deter my parents and not let their absence hurt me. It was…nice. Everything was nice.
As I smiled and closed my eyes, not wanting to see the ledge I fell off disappear into the sky, I finally felt at rest since I'd first found out that the world was a cruel place, and that my parents wouldn't notice me, no matter how hard I tried.
But, as I said my last goodbyes to the world and mused over a few of my regrets, I slammed into something hard (but not the ground), nearly blacking out again from the pain that shuddered up my back.
I don't feel ashamed to admit that I screamed as loudly as I could when I went tumbling across the ground. My back was on fire and I was nearly choking on blood as I bit my tongue again. My stomach was rolling unpleasantly with pain, and that mixed badly with the horrible taste of blood in my mouth and throat. That all didn't matter though, because I was alive! I was fucking alive!
Opening my eyes and blinking away the blood smeared on my right globe, I tried my best to focus my gaze on whatever had saved me.
"Are you okay, Luce?"
Whatever was under me began to rock and move, and I couldn't bite back the strangled gasp that escaped my mouth as my body's nerves flared in distress. The object I discovered as Natsu stilled underneath me, and I could almost taste his nervousness. "H-hey! Are you alright?"
"Just shove me off you," I panted out. Shortly after, I began to curl my hands in anticipation as Natsu tensed underneath me. "One…two…"
"Jesus Christ!" I blew up. "JUST DO IT ALREADY!"
Not wasting a second, Natsu shoved me off him. I screamed again as I rolled. If something wasn't screwed in my back, then I was going soft. Maybe I needed to beat up a few trees when this whole shit with Phantom Lord was over. Yeah, that would be therapeutic…wow, I must be seriously screwed up in the head right now to be able to joke about anything.
"Geez, Luce. What the hell happened to you?" Warm hands gripped my side and slowly rolled me over so that my face wasn't in the dirt and rubble from where (I guessed) Natsu had slammed into the wall to break our fall, just like in the series.
"Jose didn't like me talking back," I rasped out, eyes blurrily taking in the bright colour of Natsu's hair as he leant over me. "It's funny, though. I'm normally very good with talking to people; maybe he needs to work on his people skills."
I didn't know if Natsu laughed at my delirious comment, but I felt him kneel into the earth next to me and begin to run his hands across my arms and legs. "Fuck. He really did a number on you." He hit a particularly sensitive spot by brushing my forehead, and I growled to inform him of not poking there too hard. He instantly took his hands away from there, but continued to check over my body physically. I could've sworn I felt his hands heating up with every passing second. Odd.
"What did he do to you?" Natsu's voice came out as a snarl, surprising me into answering truthfully. "He hit me because I told him the truth."
Okay, his hands were definitely heating up. I let out a whimper, trying to inform him of my discomfort, and I was lucky enough to have Natsu back off. I was starting to make out his face now, and he didn't look very happy at all. I wonder why.
"I'll have to pick you up and carry you back to the guild," Natsu informed me, "you're too injured to walk on your own."
Oh. That must be why he's so angry looking; I must be a liability. He has to put up with my weakness for a whole walk home. That must be annoying.
Natsu's voice cut through my thoughts, sounding as hot as his hands which were carefully picking me up. "You're not a liability, Lucy! You're not weak at all! I don't know why that bastard Gajeel kidnapped you, but you're not weak for standing up to this Jose guy and taking a few hits!"
The boy continued to rant and rave, but I was more interested in how he knew what my thoughts were. Was he a mind reader or something?
"Lucy." Natsu's change in tone made me focus back on him. I was swaying now, which meant we were walking. "Yeah?"
"You don't realise you're talking out loud, do you?" Natsu's tone was now amused, and I was starting to see his face with sharper focus. "What?"
"Never mind, weirdo."
"You shouldn't call me that." My head lolled slightly from its position over Natsu's forearm, and I felt myself get adjusted so that I didn't hurt my neck again. "It's not my right to be called that."
I vaguely heard Natsu ask why, but his face was blurring out again and the edges of my vision were getting dim. Man, falling unconscious sucks royal hippogriff.
3rd Person P.O.V.
Bustling around the salvaged infirmary (luckily this room in the guild hadn't been hit so hard by Gajeel's iron pillars; you did have to make sure you didn't coat hanger or trip over some here and there, though), Mirajane tended to the Fairy Tail members that were injured from the attack on Phantom Lord; most weren't grievous, and there were a couple of males putting it on in hopes that Mirajane would nurse them back to health (preferably in a sexy nurse outfit), but the barmaid was happy enough to help out everyone where needed.
Just as she finished the last of her check-ups on those that were healing (paying special attention to the still comatose Jet, Levy and Droy), someone burst through the door. Someone with another someone in their arms.
Upon realising that Natsu was clutching a half-conscious Lucy to his chest, Mirajane had to visibly wrestle with her shipping senses for a moment, before she became all business at seeing the blood caked onto her forehead. "What happened?"
"Dunno," Natsu replied, carefully placing Lucy on a free bed. "She's saying something about Jose getting angry at her for telling the truth and kicking the shit out of her for it, but I only know that she's badly hurt." The fiery boy had an equally hot look on his face, eyes blazing and arms crossed as to not clench them until his fingers broke. "He really did a number on her. She keeps complaining that her back hurts."
"I'm not complaining," Lucy slurred out, rising above the tide of unconsciousness enough to hear people and answer them. "You're the one who bitched about my weight." The blonde then giggled, like she was hearing an inside joke that no one else got. "Blasted cat."
"And she's delirious," Natsu added lamely. "She's been babbling all sorts of weird stuff since I caught her; I knew she was a weirdo, but I didn't realise just how weird."
Pushing down more shipping feels as she studiously began to bandage Lucy's cuts from the toes up, Mirajane spoke up with an even tone that didn't betray her thoughts. "Caught her? What do you mean by that?"
Natsu scratched his head absently before dropping into a seat next to Lucy's bed. He slung one leg over the other to get comfortable and tossed his arms over the back of the plastic chair to complete the cool look. "I mean I caught her when she fell from the weird tower-thingy that she was being kept in."
Before Mirajane could reply, Lucy spoke up again. The blood on her lips and chin cracked every time she moved her mouth, but the girl hardly seemed to notice. "Didn't fall."
"What do you mean you didn't fall?" Mirajane asked with a sense of dread pooling in her gut. Her hands didn't shake, though, when she carefully lifted up Lucy's shirt to reveal a large bruise forming there. "Your ribs might be fractured, Lucy, but I can't do anything about that; I don't have enough skills."
"'S okay," the blonde replied, showing how much she was rattled by her lack of polite words. "And I didn't fall; I jumped." The girl frowned slightly, brow creasing and causing the blood on her forehead to fold like peeling paint. "Now you're going to ask me 'why.' You're very repetitive today, Mira."
Pushing a smile onto her face, Mirajane replied sweetly as she applied a healing paste onto the bruise. "Well, sweetie, I just want to know what happened exactly. Why don't you start from the beginning?"
"Beginning of what?" Asked Lucy. "Beginning of my first life, or what? The second one?"
Ignoring the strange statement, Mirajane said gently, "Start from when Gajeel hit you away from us; we were so worried you know? When you got hit like that."
The blonde grunted. "He hits like a girl; I don't think I broke too many ribs, which is a first." Lucy seemed disgruntled by Gajeel's 'lack of effort,' but began to tell Mirajane and Natsu of how she had woke up in a dungeon and had chatted with his guild master, Jose. She then went on to explain of how she'd, well, told him off a few times, and then he basically beat her.
At this part, Mirajane's sweet face went sour, and Natsu burst into flames momentarily, only cooling down when Gray walked past to douse him with ice. The Ice mage then paused as he realised who was in the bed, and quickly sat down next to Natsu, who summarised what had happened – causing Gray to nearly get up a freeze this Jose bastards' dick off – before they listened back into the part where Lucy explained about her handcuffs – which were still on her wrists.
"We'll get them off shortly, Lucy," Mirajane said to the girl as she rubbed cream under the cuffs to soothe some of the raw skin there that had been caused by the cuffs rubbing against Lucy's skin. As she did so, Mirajane couldn't help but notice that the skin there was paler than the rest of Lucy's tanned body, like she had been bound several times before.
"Hope so," Lucy replied, eyes and words significantly clearer. "These things are really annoying; not being able to feel my magic is giving me the heebie jeebies."
"That's nice and all," broke in Gray, "but I still don't get how you fell off the tower; did Jose push you?"
Lucy attempted to shake her head, but found her neck burning as she did so, so she replied verbally. "No. He wanted me to come downstairs…" Here, her eyes got slightly haunted. "He wanted to bring me to 'better' accommodations." She looked down at her hands which were clasped in her lap. She was sitting up now as Mirajane looked at her back and carefully bound it, making sure not to hurt the girl, or lift up the shirt too much to reveal anything to Gray or Natsu. Lucy hesitated some more before answering. "I think he was going to torture me then. I…I was scared. I didn't realise it then, but I was scared of the pain that was to come."
At seeing Lucy's face crumple, an expression he had never seen on the girl before, Gray was quick to placate her, all the while trying not to show his anger. "It's fine to be scared of pain; it's only-"
"Human," Lucy said. "It's only human to feel pain, but that doesn't mean that I won't be ashamed of my fear. Fear is something that controls you, and it controlled me to take the other option. But then again," Lucy's eyes flashed, "I can't just blame my problems on something so easily."
"What other option?" Gray asked quietly.
Lucy looked at him dead in the eye, her brown eyes cooling back down to their usual dark shade, barring everyone from what her thoughts were. "Isn't it obvious; death."
"You were going to kill yourself?" Natsu exploded, the temper that he had been pushing down for so long boiled over in a flurry of movement and sound. His chair hit the ground with a clatter as he stood up. His dark eyes were bright with sparks of anger as he leaned into Lucy's carefully blank face. "Why the hell would you do that?!"
"What would drive you to do that…?" Mirajane murmured, aghast by the whole situation. Gray could only nod, a furrow deep between his brows, beside her.
"…Always with the 'what's and 'whys'…" Lucy's face was downturned. "You ask 'why would you do that,' or 'what made you?' The thing is…that's something personal, and not something I can give so willingly to people who don't know anything about me."
"We're your nakama!" Argued Natsu. "We trust each other; to throw away your life is to throw away your nakama's trust! Everyone's life is precious and-!"
"Save it," Lucy cut across, "I've heard it all before. This time, listen to what I have to say, since you clearly didn't get it last time; you guys don't see the dark side of life. You may all have had bad things happen to you in your youth, but those are tragedies. They are brief, and leave their scars, but they aren't there every day, looming over your shoulder and making you look around in fear. You haven't lived on the streets, cold and hungry, and in fear of the people surrounding you; people who look ordinary, but could just as well turn around and decide to hurt you."
Natsu opened his mouth to speak, but Lucy wasn't done yet.
"You guys think that every soul is pure and that everything, and everyone, can be forgiven; but there are things in life that you just can't forgive. Sometimes, you have to dabble in the dark to set things right. And sometimes, you have to make choices that are deemed completely wrong by other people, but that's just their point of view. I've made choices in my life that I regret, yes, but I know that I do those things for a reason, not just because I can, or because I think it's right – according to other people."
"What does this have to do with you trying to kill yourself?" Gray demanded.
Lucy's mouth twisted down unhappily. "I have no fear of death, it's merely another choice in life. I wasn't allowed to choose the first time, but I damn well will this time 'round, that's for sure."
Just as Mirajane was about to question the odd sentence – it seemed familiar – a massive thundering rumble echoed below their feet, the guild rocking with the movement.
Everyone's ears metaphorically picked up as they looked around, waiting for whatever had caused the minor earthquake to appear.
Lucy directed a small knowing smile towards her three guildmates crowded around her bed. Her now bounded forehead crinkled lightly. "Looks like we have an uninvited guest, hm?"
That was an odd chapter, hm?
Just to clear things up right now though; Lucy's not all suicidal and shit. She just accepts death and has no fear of it – she's already died once, what's another time around? And the reason that she thought she'd die was that she hadn't expected Natsu to come after her. That shows how much she distrusts people. YAY!
I'll see you guys soon, I hope. I'm going to be doing a lot of spring cleaning though, on all of my stories.
Ciao.