Chapter 3: Stars In Her Eyes
"Oh, Lucy Heartfilia? The human? [laugh] Yeah, I remember her. Star girl, as some would call her, she was obsessed with constellations. People used to say she was born from a wish upon a shooting star, and perhaps, they're right. Though, I admit, I don't really see what's so shining or spectacular about her, she came with love and all the gross human diseases. Well, Natsu did tell me she's awfully good at making poems, so that's a plus." —Romeo Conbolt from an interview with Fiore Times
There was a lot of things he still had to learn about Lucy. She was a cluster ball of a million mysteries, none of her ancestors could be traced back and he couldn't find any records of her parents or the village she came from. Of course, he would ask her, but he other matters to attend to and she was kept secluded in the other side of the castle. Natsu rubbed his forehead and released a sigh, it had only a day since the incident and he had to admit, he was still a bit overwhelmed by the situation.
Humans were strange. They felt a lot warmer than normal vampires and they seemed much more… lively. But maybe that was because they weren't over a thousand years old. He wasn't sure if it was just Lucy, but her scent was strong and admittedly… intoxicating. He had only seen a few humans in his life, the ones he fought in war and hostages he found at enemy camps. Usually, they were dead. This was the first time he was this close to a human, the first time he held a human, the first time he had a proper conversation with one. It was fascinating but he knew he had to keep his guard up. Who knows what would happen.
Natsu found himself standing in the meeting room with Erza and Gray. Their mouths spilled with updates, consulting him about how their battles were lost and won, how many brave men were struck down and speaking quickly of what their next move was going to be. Their words were tuned out as his eyes were trained on the map riddled with symbols and words while his mind was somewhere else.
"We found this in Lucy's belongings." Erza's words managed to pull him out of his thoughts. She placed a pendant on the war table, its surface decorated with zodiac symbols, "According to Levy, she said it belonged to the Heartfilia tribe, notable for their discovery and knowledge of the constellations. They weren't fighters, in fact, they were quite the opposite. Their members were made up of scholars, writers, philosophers and so on. They lived in East coast, residing in one of the quieter areas where it…used to be safe from the war." She murmured the last part quietly.
"What do you mean by used to?" Natsu inquired.
Her eyes shifted to the map and her fingers slowly took a marker and drew a red line across the words 'EAST COAST'. "They're extinct. Sabertooth wiped them out a few days ago and only a handful of them managed to escape. We can only presume that some of them became hostages of Sabertooth, seeing as Lucy was one."
Natsu frowned, silently wondering how Lucy managed to pull through all that. "Gray," He said firmly, catching the ice-cold knight's attention, "Tell one of your men to search the remains of the East Coast for anything that could help us. Erza, work with Levy to find out as much as you can about Lucy."
"Yes milord." They said in unison before they made their way out of the meeting room. When they had left and he was alone, his eyes caught the glint of the pendant that sat on the wooden table. He carefully took it into his hands, his fingers smoothing the texture of the zodiac symbols as a smile tugged briefly at his lips.
Natsu crossed into the great hall, nodding curtly at the staff he passed by. As he walked slowly through the dark interior, he wondered what a human castle would be like. Would it be filled with light? Filled with colors and flowers? He never went to one, but he longed to. For most of his life, he had been secluded behind castle walls, trapping himself in darkness and everything that was red and black.
For once, he thought to himself bitterly, he just wanted new color drapes.
His attention was caught by a dark feminine silhoutte at the end of the hall, which led to the dining room. He furrowed his brows and made his way towards the light glow that emitted from within. What was that girl up to at this time at night?
He stood at the doorway as he watched Lucy, who sat at the very end of the long table that stretched across the room with a bundle of candles placed in the middle. She had changed into a pink nightgown that ended at her kneecaps, which he had to admit, looked pretty good. Her mouth was filled with food as she kept trying to stuff in as much as she could. He felt his lips twitch, slightly amused at the sight before him.
"Nashshu?" Lucy said through the bits of food and attempted to swallow it down
"Hungry?" Natsu flashed a quick smirk and made his way to the seat next to her, "Did Mirajane not tell the chefs to prepare a meal for you?"
"Oh," She said quietly, carefully placing her utensils down. Natsu glanced down and noticed she was biting her lip shyly. He looked away quickly, trying to fight the color that was rushing to his cheeks. "She did, but I—uhm, can't eat blood."
He mentally slapped himself. He had forgotten most of their meals consisted of blood and only blood, that was all the chefs knew how to make. He stared at the small meal she had prepared for herself, it was bread, meat and some potatoes. It seemed dull and empty to him, perhaps a dash of blood as gravy could fix it up?
"I'm sorry, I should've realised-"
"It's okay, it's not your fault. I made myself a meal anyway." She flashed a smile at him, but he could tell she was faking it. They way the corner of her lips quivered and the redness in her eyes-
She had been crying.
But he realised, she wasn't crying because she got dragged into a kingdom filled with blood sucking vampires or the time when she was held hostage as one of Sabertooth's victims- no, she had been mourning over the loss of her tribe. She had heard the news from Mirajane, who left her in the confines of one of their guest rooms to weep. The scent of her tears were still strong on her skin, yet, she didn't show it.
He felt his heart give out a painful throb at the thought. What seemed to boggle his mind even more, was the fact that she could still manage to smile at him… out of all people, after everything she had been through. Natsu had to admit, that was a certain human quality of hers he admired in some way.
"Lucy." He said, and found himself liking the way her lips slipped out of his lips. He shook his head, pushing the thought into the back of his mind as he turned his attention to the blonde that looked at him with those big brown orbs, "Are you…okay?"
Out of all the ways he could've phrased the question… are you okay? Way to go Natsu, he mentally swore at himself.
"To be honest, it's still a little hard to believe all this is happening to me." She chuckled weakly, her eyes shifting to the empty plate, "One moment I'm going through all the books on my shelf and the next— I'm in a kingdom full of vampires. Even when I pinch myself, I think I'm still in a dream."
He supposed he related to her on some level. Sometimes when he was out in battle and witnessing the men fall to their knees from a deadly blow to their chest or the pools of blood that littered the ground, he would always try to convince himself that it was all a horrible dream.
Most of the time, it was real.
"I never knew the sky could be so dark." She said quietly, her lips turned into a small smile, "There are so many stars here compared to the East, so many stars I've never seen or heard about." He could see excitement sparkle in her eyes. "On some nights in the East Coast, all I see is smoke and flames from afar, villages or forests being burned down."
"It's not much different here." His gaze riveted on her expression, "This is just one of the better nights. Most of the time, there aren't any stars."
"Then you should treasure it." Her smile turned bittersweet. "It's times like these that makes all of this worth while. "
It irked him. The happiness she carried, the innocence that reflected in her eyes and the way she looked at the world. How could someone be so positive at times like these?
"How do you do that?" He asked, his voice more throaty than he had anticipated it to be.
She flickered her gaze to his face before looking at the drapes that covered the stars.
"Count your blessings."
There was an easy silence that fell between them. Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but was unsure of what exactly he should say. During the few words they had exchanged to one another, he realised there was something… unique about the human that sat next to him. She was strong, perhaps not physically but mentally. A part of him wanted to feel what she felt when she looked at the stars or savoured the things she was gifted, yet at the same time, he was scared. Scared of feeling the warmth and happiness she felt.
"It's getting late, we should get to bed." He said as he reached his hand for hers. Once their skin made contact, her breath hitched and she instantly retracted her hand before a look of horror painted her face.
She was terrified.
"I know you don't trust me Lucy," His words caused her to sink further into her seat, "but you don't have many options at the moment. If we could bring you back to the East we would in an instant, but at the moment it's too dangerous to cross the border, it's heavily guarded with Sabertooth enforcements." He sighed as he rubbed his neck.
"I'm aware of that." Her words flowed from her, "I just… need some time." Lucy pushed herself up and shot him a confused look, "Where should I sleep?"
Natsu hesitated for a moment. There was no way he could leave her alone, the others could get to her. Leaving her in the ladies' dorm was also risky, since the pill wasn't in full effect yet and her human scent was still strong. He was still angry at himself, angry that he couldn't provide her a proper meal or even her own room.
"You'll have to stay with me for now." He took hold of her hand and noticed how soft and warm it was. He was cautious of how tight he held it, as though scared that if he put a little more pressure it would melt in his hands. Her fingers responded and laced themselves around his, he felt a flutter in his chest.
Without a second to waste, he guided her through the darkness of the halls as quick as he could and to avoid as much contact with the others as possible. She was desperately trying to keep up, calling out his name to slow down or to let her catch her breath.
Finally, they stopped in front of a large wooden door engraved with magnolian patterns. Natsu quickly ushered her in and closed the door behind them, slipping carefully past the guards. He turned back and found Lucy standing awkwardly as she observed the room she was in. She had been here once, why was she suddenly so curious?
"Do you have a bed roll or a—" Her voice trailed off. He raised a brow, confused by what she said. Soon, he realised she was referring to how there was only a single kingsized bed.
"Why sleep on the floor when you can use the bed?" He questioned, wondering what she was so worried about.
"Yes. O-of course." She stuttered, her hands clenched into two fists firmly glued to her sides.
Natsu made his way towards the bed, swinging onto it before he looked at her with a sense of impatience and confusion.
"Well? Are you just going to stand there and watch?"
Lucy swallowed thickly and climbed into the other side of the bed, quickly covering herself in the thick layer of blanket. She curled to her side facing away from him, inching closer to the edge of the bed. A content sigh escaped her lips as she began to drift off.
His throat felt awfully dry, he couldn't help himself from staring at her exposed neck. The paleness and softness of her skin taunted him. He could hear his heart pounding against his ears. There was a desperate urge to sink his teeth in, to relish in the taste of her blood and lose himself in her scent. He wondered what her skin would taste like, how would they feel if he nibbled or sucked on them and what sounds she would make as he did it.
Natsu released a low growl and turned away, squeezing his eyes shut and silently scolded himself. His cheeks felt warm and his mind ran with thoughts and ideas he never thought he would have.
Maybe he should've slept on the floor instead.
"Goodnight Lucy." He managed to keep his voice even, grateful that it was dark so she couldn't see the redness of his face.
"Sweet dreams Natsu." She replied.
He could hear the smile in her voice.
Author's note: HOLY CRUD! Only two chapters and already 163 follows, 80 favs and 25 reviews!? Thank you all so much! I honestly didn't expect this to get noticed at all. Your support and suggestions have been a huge motivation for these couple of months while i was away- and yes, it's been 6 months and I am extremely sorry about that. It's been a really hard few months for me, a lot of things have happened in my life and I was just a huge mess. Luckily, I'm all sorted now and I'm back to writing this bad boy.
This au is pretty large in terms of lore and there are just so many possibilities! So, I'm open to any suggestions/ideas of history and traditions that have to do with the West and the East, feel free to pm me about it (:
I apologise for the short, mistakes ridden chapter. I was rushing to get this out so to tell you guys I'm actually alive and I am definitely going to continue this story. Expect a long and much more detailed chapter soon!
As always, thanks a ton for reading and the support! Have a nice day everyone (: