Hi everyone! A pleasure to see you again!
I had a great question in a review last week about where in the timeline this story takes place. This starts maybe a month after everyone returns from Edolas, which is why Lisanna is struggling so much with the transition. She's had just enough time to get over her glow of reunion and is running into the ugly reality of being caught in another world for two years. Lucy does have all her keys and isn't gifted with the Stardress; she will instead be learning it. I threw in a couple more active combat power moves because it sounded fun. I know that's not quite canon, but it does work better with the plot line and focus of this fic.
Enjoy the chapter, everyone, and please drop me a line and let me know what you think!
Lucy flopped down onto the ground with a moan. Sluggishly, she rolled over and stared at the sky, panting heavily. The stars were just starting to come out. She marked out Aquarius, smiling lightly. Then, grunting, she dragged herself up and stumbled over to the cooking fire where Torin was ladling a thick stew into bowls.
They'd spent two and a half weeks traveling to the mine, and the last few days had been mind numbingly exhausting. They'd been able to take a train for a bit, but once they hit the mountains their journey was continued by wagon, and then eventually by foot.
It hasn't helped, Lucy thought, that we've had to move faster than the caravan we took out. The sooner we get there the more time we have until they realize something is wrong.
They'd been able to stay on the roads, at least, until a few days ago. The mine lay two days by wagon from the nearest village, and when they'd reached the turnoff leading to the UnderLords' hideaway they'd deemed it too dangerous to stay on the path. So, using Gemini's maps and Pyxis, they'd struggled through treacherous woods.
Despite the need for speed, Lucy's training had continued. She'd worked on meditating with Rai and requipping with Torin while on the wagon, and each night after they had set up camp she continued to hone her combat skills, both magically and physically.
She could finally requip, although her speed was still improving. It was thrilling to know Aquarius would never drown her for dropping her key again. The meditation had sharpened her awareness of her magic and begun to expand it as she practiced drawing in power.
The Stardress was still, maddeningly, just out of reach. But Lucy could now draw on raw power, forming little globes of celestial light in her hands and shooting them forward in a mini version of Urano Metria. She'd reminded herself painfully of Natsu when she'd missed a target the other day and set a tree on fire.
Of course she hadn't received a reply to her letter, and she'd agonized over it for days. Did he read it, or did he throw it out without even looking at it? Was he angry? Did he understand?
She'd dithered over sending another one, and finally broke down and posted one at the last town before the mountains. It was probably at Fairy Tail by now. Did he read it, or did he throw it out? Was he angry?... for the thousandth time she cycled through her worried thoughts.
Lucy slurped down the last of her stew, ladylike manners forgotten. She'd peed in the woods, for Spirit King's sake. There was no going back now. Besides, she was starving. The Celestial mage deliberately ignored the pang of longing as she was forcefully reminded of Natsu's eating habits.
Oh, man, she had it bad. How insane was it to miss his monstrous manners? She had got to get her head in the game!
Bidding the team goodnight, she crawled into her sleeping back and stared up at the stars. For practice, she requipped each key into her hand, one at a time, finding their constellation and wishing them goodnight. They warmed in response, and she was able to slip into unconsciousness.
They woke up and broke camp in the predawn light. Lucy could feel the tension in the air. By tonight they should have reached the mine. But before that, another few hours of hiking apparently followed by a ravine they would have to cross unseen.
Breakfast was a couple granola bars while they marched, and lunch was a hunk of cheese and a large piece of bread, also while on the move. Lucy estimated they were nearing mid afternoon when they broke through the trees to be confronted with what she could only describe as an abyss.
Fifty feet across and however many hundreds of feet down, the chasm gaped before her, running into the distance in either direction. Worse, the tree line ended twenty feet before the drop off on either side, leaving her feeling exposed in these hostile woods.
How the hell were they going to cross that?
Torin stepped up to the edge, considering the terrain. "Well, that is a long way down. Too far to jump, even with anti-gravity. The only bridge we know of is the one guarded by the UnderLords, huh?"
Lucy nodded, "That's what Gemini thought, anyway. And these guys really don't like people sneaking up on them, so they probably wouldn't tolerate another bridge."
Rai sighed, "Dammit. This always drains me."
Lucy looked at her, confused, as Rai started stomping up a hill near the edge. The other two followed her, so Lucy trailed along, too. Why were they going up a hill? Was Rai going to jump? Use her magic to make really, really long stilts?
When they reached the top of the little rise she took a moment to appreciate the view. All around her were mountains, covered in pine trees except for their peaks, snow capped even in the late spring. The chasm stretched away, a jagged wound. She couldn't see the bridge from here, but knew it was about a mile to the north. They'd played it safe by coming this far south and would pay for it with the extra hiking.
Lost in her thoughts, she was drawn back to the present by the purple glow that was Lona practicing her magic. The lunar mage had pulled out her moonstones and was holding them one at a time to her heart. She glowed lightly before the stone began to pulse with it's own radiance. Good thing they weren't doing this at night.
Lona attached the stones to all of their packs and then tied them to each members' wrist. While she did so, Rai sat cross legged, meditating. As she did so, delicate tattoos slowly inked their way across her skin, curling themselves all the way up her neck and around the outside her face, outlining her features. When she opened her eyes, the ink had seeped in, making them pools of darkness.
Lona caught Lucy's slack jawed expression. She nudged her gently, "Relax, Lucy. This is her version of my glow. It's how her power expresses itself when she gets really serious," Lona winked at her, "Once we fully realize your stardresses you're gonna look like a crazy badass, too."
Oh, man. Now she'd really be focusing on that. She was so close, too!
Rai stepped up to the very top of the ridge. She took a deep breath and pushed, hunching forward into an awkward ball. But her strange position went uncommented on because wings, huge, delicate bird's wings formed from ink, were bursting from her back.
Lucy stepped forward and lightly ran a finger down one. The wings were insanely detailed, each feather individually defined. No wonder she was sweating. Damn, Lucy hoped one of her stardresses had wings, because that was cool as fuck.
Rai strapped on all the bags with the antigravity moonstones, then tucked her wings into her body and started sprinting down the hill. When she reached the edge she jumped, and the wings snapped out on either side and allowed her to coast safely to the other side. She dumped the bags and repeated the process to glide back.
Torin was waiting with some rope. He bound Rai to his back and took off down the hill. When he jumped, the wings came out, and they just barely made it over. Lucy gulped.
"Sooo, uhhh, do I have to run her down the hill? Because I mean I know we've been working out and all but like..."
Lona dissolved into giggles as Rai came back, definitely sweating now.
"You're good. With the moonstones she can carry you. A six foot tall man is asking a bit much, though."
Thank goodness, Lucy thought. Rai directed the blonde to monkey hug her, and Lona carefully strapped them together. Lucy wasn't afraid to admit she squeaked and tightened her grip to strangulation level as Rai started running. She saw Lona waving and laughing as they went down the hill, and then they were launching themselves over the edge and she saw only sky. She carefully peeked over to her left and watched Rai's wing carefully lift and tilt, the feathers working to land them safely on the other side.
It was over in a moment, Rai stumbling to a landing. A few seconds passed.
"Um, Lucy? You can let go now. I still have to get Lona."
"Oh! Right, yeah, totally," Lucy unlocked her legs stiffly from around Rai and plopped onto the ground. She was so, so glad she hadn't been facing the ground when they jumped.
She sat and pondered death by ravine for a few minutes before Lona and Rai all but crash landed on top of her. They were forced to stop for a few hours to let Rai recover, and Lucy took the time to call out Loke.
He appeared in a whirlwind of golden light, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. "My princess," he purred, "this is not where I had anticipated our first coupling, but I am here to fulfill your desires."
Lucy snatched her hand back, cheeks burning. "God, Loke, I have got to call you out in clubs more often. Clearly you have some energy to work off. We're here to work on my stardress, nothing else!"
He pouted, but straightened his glasses. "Alright, alright," he sighed, "we'll carry on. You've already been able to hold my stardress for a few seconds; I assume since you've called me you want to work on holding one for longer before moving onto the others?"
"Yes. Although, I have to ask…" Lucy beamed up at Loke, "will any of my stardresses have wings?!"
The lion thought about it, frowning, "Ah, maybe? It's been awhile since I've seen a lot of them. I don't think the Zodiacs do, but some of the silver keys out there might."
That was good enough for Lucy. She set Loke's key on her chest, ignoring her spirit's pervy look, and focused her magic. Gold swirled around her as the spell settled over her form. Lucy grinned fiercely. This transformation was a lot faster than the last one.
She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a lot black dress with a slit up the side. Her hair was in an elegant updo, contrasting with the messy pigtails she'd thrown it in this morning. A gold sash wrapped around her hips, and her feet were outfitted in entirely impractical flats which somehow didn't hinder her at all.
Lucy took a moment to feel out the spell. It was holding steady. She lit up a fist in a much stronger version of the light balls she'd been practicing with and gestured to Loke.
"Let's fight!"
Two hours later she made her way back to camp, tired but satisfied. She'd only had to recast twice, holding the spell much longer than usual during a spar. She was still a long way from beating Loke, but she had definitely improved.
She got to camp in time for Torin to hand her more stew, which she slurped down, before they broke their makeshift camp and turned their faces north.
By the time the sun was starting to touch the tips of the peaks, they were creeping around the remains of an avalanche to peer down at a tall timber wall with several long, low buildings inside.
They'd chosen their position well had spent the better part of an hour picking their way over the terrain unseen. Lucy especially had insisted on caution, her new scar reminding her of traps laid by enemies.
Peering through their binoculars, they could make out individuals hauling carts of dirty rocks to stack them in larger carts. Then the slaves were herded into the poorer built of the buildings. The overseers not guarding that building went to another barrack-like structure. There was also a shelter for what looked like oxen, and one larger cabin that managed to put on airs despite its surroundings. Lucy was sure the mine leader lived there. It reeked of self-imposed eminence. But despite their observations, not much else could be gleaned from the view.
"Hmmmm," Rai murmured, "I don't like this. We can't see the entrance to the mine shaft because of the wall, and it's also going to prevent us from seeing most of the activity there. From this vantage point we've mostly got the tops of buildings and some of the main area. What if there's a whole weapons stockpile or something?"
"Yeah, this is pretty bad. Especially since we still don't know what they're mining or how deep the shaft goes," Torin rumbled, "It'll take twice as long to scope the place out and a lot more sneaking around and climbing trees."
"We don't have time for that," Lucy added, "they're expecting the next caravan tomorrow. They'll be suspicious if it's late by even a day. Plus with all that maneuvering we're more likely to have to take out a guard."
"What if we did get a guard? Could use Gemini again," Lona suggested.
Lucy shook her head, "We could, but would we be able to plan and implement an attack before they realize he's missing? I can't send Gemini in as the guard while we prepare, and from what little I can see they work in pairs."
Rai huffed, "Even in the middle of nowhere these assholes are more careful and prepared than the damn army. Guess that just leaves the shit alternative, then."
Everyone looked at her. She tucked her binoculars in her bag and started smearing dirt on her cheeks, "Infiltrate, guys. We're gonna infiltrate."
"Aw, geez," Torin groaned, "That's a terrible idea….but I don't have a better one. Gotta hide that we're mages, though."
"From what we learned in Portico, they don't send mages here," Lucy said thoughtfully, "Could have them on staff, though. We'll have to surprise them."
Lona was busy hiding their packs under a rock, "Ok. Let's get in there, take tomorrow to gather information, and tomorrow night we'll take 'em all out. Nice and simple."
Now in agreement, they settled in and waited for night to fall.
Lucy looked up at the wall towering over her. It hadn't seemed quite so tall from up on the mountain. Nor had the spikes the wood was sharpened into looked so menacing. But she supposed they wouldn't be climbing over anyway.
"Virgo!" she whispered, requipping the proper key into her hand with pride. Wow, was this handy. Virgo appeared in a whirl, and with a bow to the rest of Team Ceartas started drilling a hole. One by one they dropped into the tunnel, crawling along and emerging through the other side. Virgo carefully refilled her work and vanished as the group crept along the wall, sticking to the shadows.
The compound was quiet, although Lucy could still see two pairs of guards at the gate and several more stationed around the slave quarters. That could make getting in difficult…at least, she thought so until Lona slipped up behind the closest pair, tapping them both on the shoulders.
The guards whipped around, weapons coming up, only to halt as Lona passed her hands across their faces. They both looked vacant and slightly confused, staring off in different directions. As the team snuck by them into the barracks, Lucy giggled as a line from a book flitted across her mind. "These aren't the wizards you're looking for," she whispered to herself.
All levity stopped, however, once she got in the door.
The smell hit her first, an overpowering stench of overcrowded, unwashed humanity. Then the noise. It was a large building and the rustling and whispers suggested that it was packed. It was hot, too. Lucy supposed the captors here weren't too keen on proper ventilation.
At first it had seemed pitch black, but as she stood for a few minutes her eyes were slowly beginning to adjust to a minute amount of light provided by some sort of glowing fungus. Gross. Handy, but gross.
She could see outlines of people, slumped over on the ground, sleeping wherever they could. Lucy felt a white hot stab of rage run through her. How could people be kept like this? She wanted pull on her Stardress, run outside, and start smashing everything in the compound. She had never wished for Natsu and his destructive powers so much. This entire mountainside could burn.
She closed her eyes and settled into her meditation breathing exercises. The whole point of being here was to make a plan so they could demolish the mine. Focus, Lucy. She felt rather than saw her team creep away to find places to huddle on the floor. She picked her way over to a wall and hunched down. Her hand touched the floor and she fought a squeal. It was slick with gods-knew-what.
She closed her eyes and tried to return to her breathing exercises, but it was a long time before she slept.
The doors slamming open and a wash of light woke Lucy abruptly. She flailed a moment, getting her bearings, and looked around wildly. The overseers were kicking at the people nearest the door, shouting at everyone to get up.
She rose, warily. Around her, the rest of the slaves were dressed in rags that thankfully didn't all match. Lucy didn't know where she would've gotten a uniform. She was glad she'd gone through the tunnel last night, because everyone was dirty.
Lucy ducked her head and tried to think unobtrusive thoughts as she followed the girl next to her past the overseers. They didn't seem to realize she was new, and since there were no shouts or explosions she thought the rest of the team must have slipped by as well.
There were nearly 300 slaves, she estimated as they were shuffled out into the main square. A bowl with some brownish glop was thrust into her hands, along with a cup of brackish water. Lucy wrinkled her nose but sat quietly along the side of the square as she forced it down. Now that she was inside and it was light out, she took her time casually looking around.
It was definitely oxen in the shelter; she imagined they were needed to pull the carts of ore. There were a few smaller one-room structures they hadn't been able to see from above: the cookhouse and another, from which men were emerging with shackles and picks. There were a lot more slaves than guards, and for a second Lucy entertained the idea of a revolt. But every guard held a cattle prod like she'd seen in Portico, and the slaves had clearly seen enough of their use to sit quietly, cowed by fear.
The people around her ate fast and she copied them, knowing they probably weren't allotted much time. As one man started banging on a tin drum, ordering everyone up, she took her last bite and placed her bowl into a bin with the others and got into a new line.
Everyone paired up and Lucy found herself next to a tall, thin woman with sunken eyes. She couldn't tell her skin or hair color: everything was covered in a layer of caked on dust. The slavers moved quickly, chaining each pair together by the feet. Only after they'd been secured were they both given picks and led to the mine shaft.
They were shoved in the elevator in groups of twenty and winched down slowly. Lucy tried to fight her sudden claustrophobia.
At the bottom, a horizontal tunnel stretched into the distance with several smaller tunnels carved out on both sides. Lucy's 'team' was walked to one at the farthest end. The lighting was from irregularly spaced light lacrimas, leaving some sections in shadows. Lucy's partner lifted her pick and swung it into the wall, chipping off a small piece that she kicked behind her. Then she repeated the process. Again, and again, and again.
Lucy's arms were murdering her after about twenty minutes, but she carried on gamely as a warden strode by. She was just congratulating herself on keeping up appearances when her partner turned to her.
"You're insane if you think you can get us out."
Lucy dropped her pick. Scrambling to pick it up, she sputtered, "I, um, I don't know what you mean. I've been here since-"
"Since last night. You and your friends. The guards might not know or care who most of us are, but we're not idiots. You get to know people fast, living like this."
The woman had not stopped digging while they'd been talking, and Lucy hurriedly followed suit as another guard went by.
"How do you know I'm here to get you out?"
"Why else would you come here and pretend you're one of us? It won't work, you know. Now that you're here, they'll keep you. There's no way out," the woman sagged slightly, defeat in every line of her body, "If you try, they kill you. Although people don't last long in here anyway. Ah, at least we've got some crystal today. If we don't make the quota we won't eat tonight."
Lucy looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was a faint glimmer peeking through the rock. Lucy frowned as they chiseled away at it. This didn't look like any jewel. She cleared her throat of grime, "What is it?"
The woman knocked the chunk from the wall, placing it in a bucket at their feet, "Rough lacrima, I think. One of the guys here used to work with it. He said this kind stores power better than any other. Figure they're making weapons or something."
Two men shuffled down the hall, swinging their bucket noisily. Lucy's partner turned to the wall, shielding their vein of lacrima. She carefully pushed the bucket further into the shadows. Her attempts were for naught as one of the men grabbed her roughly by the arm. The other herded Lucy back against the rough stone.
"Hey, there, Anise. You wouldn't happen to know where we could get some crystal, do yah? We'd hate to not meet our quota," the man leered, pushing his pick up against the woman's neck.
She trembled, "Please, Nyles, I need to eat tonight. Don't-" she was cut off as the pick pressed cruelly into her skin.
"But you can always get some more, can't you? Me and Karl here are big guys, we need our calories. You two," his eyes fell on Lucy. He frowned, "who the hell are you?"
Anise spoke hurriedly, "Don't you remember Mia? She came in with me."
Nyles stared at Lucy hard for a moment before turning back to Anise, "Maybe. I'll take that lacrima, now." Karl let go of Lucy to reach down for their bucket. Lucy, incensed, moved to knee him in the face, only to be stopped by a light touch on her wrist. Anise had reached over from where Nyles still held her against the wall. Her hand on Lucy was a warning. Lucy forced herself to relax back against the rock as she glared back at Nyles.
He smiled at her his Karl straightened up with their hard earned lacrima, "A pleasure, ladies." The partners turned and continued down the hall, rattling their bucket as they hunted for new victims. Lucy thought she saw Nyles glance back at her as they went. It sent chills down her spine; that guy was seriously a creep.
She turned to Anise, "Are you alright? I can't believe those guys! Who does that?"
Anise rubbed her throat, "Be careful around them. They're in with the guards. If you stand up to them they'll get you beaten. If they don't do it themselves, anyway." She turned tiredly back to the wall and raised her pick again, "Come on. I think we can get enough to eat tonight with this vein."
Lucy followed her lead, but inside she was fuming. She couldn't wait for tonight.
When they came up out of the mine shaft Lucy thought she was going to die. Her arms were on fire, she was choking on dust, and her stomach was wrapped around her spine. She hoped Torin could requip some sandwiches or something before they made their move tonight, because she was going to need the energy.
Everyone turned in their picks and buckets. Their lacrima were inspected by a heavyset guard. He carefully picked through Lucy and Anise's shards of crystal. Lucy held her breath. Would it be enough for dinner?
The man looked up after what felt like an eternity and shoved the bucket back at them. "Go put it in the cart," he grunted. She heard Anise let out a sigh of relief. They emptied the bucket and were unshackled by a guard before collecting their bowls. Lucy saw a few unlucky souls set directly back to the large shack, looking longingly at the food. She gripped her bowl a little more tightly, and made her way over to Rai, Torin, and Lona. She sat down, wincing as her muscles screamed at her, and put the first bite of tasteless gruel into her mouth.
A shadow fell over her, and as she lifted her head her vision went white as pain washed over her senses. She blinked rapidly, clearing her vision enough to see that the world had turned sideways. She made out Torin, laying on the ground, and as she tried to reach out to him, confused and hurt, a guard clamped heavy manacles on her hands and feet. She was lifted and dragged, head lolling, barely able to make out her teammates in the same position.
Desperately she tried to requip Loke's key, but found her magic muted and unresponsive. Oh, god. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod….the last thing she saw before she succumbed to the blackness at the edge of her vision was Nyles' smirk as he picked up her food to eat.
Natsu blew out a breath and threw back his shot of firewhiskey. Almost a month, and not a trace of Lucy. He honestly didn't know what he'd done with himself before she came along. Mira had kept the action heavy missions coming his way, but it wasn't enough. He was sick of lying awake at night, pretending his fallen star was her, just out of sight. He was sick of imposing on Happy and Lisanna all the time; they were great, but he knew he was trying to fill an impossible void with their friendship. He'd stopped talking about her to his friends, the emotions her name brought up made it impossible to maintain the image of the happy-go-lucky dragonslayer everyone expected him to be.
He was angry. At himself, at Lucy. She could've at least fucking written him. The master had taken pity on him and let him know whenever the team checked in via lacrima, even if he wouldn't tell Natsu where they were. The last time had been three days ago.
He was angry at himself for the sick pit of worry he got when he thought of her in danger, and the longing he felt at night when he lay alone in his hammock. For all intents and purposes she'd deserted him, and all he could do was sit at home hoping she was ok. He swallowed back another shot and almost coughed it back up as Gray slammed an ice cannonball into him.
"YOU WANNA GO, STRIPPER?" he roared, secretly relieved at having something to take his mind off Lucy, if even for a moment. He saw Erza watching, but for once she let them, let him, have this fight.
Lisanna leaned against the wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor. Carefully, she opened Lucy's latest letter. She'd convinced Mira that Natsu didn't want to talk about the letters because he missed Lucy so much, but she knew that wasn't true. He didn't even talk about her anymore! He didn't want to hear from that bitch.
She supposed she could've just thrown the letters out, but she had to know. What was Lucy writing him? She untucked the first letter from it's spot in her jacket and set it next to this new one.
Dear Natsu,
Hope you're doing well, and not making Master cry from property damage expenses. I'm getting so much stronger-I can requip my keys now, and I've able to pull out my first stardress! Only for a couple minutes at a time, but it's really improving. I might have to fight you when I get home.
We're going on a pretty dangerous part of the mission. I wish you were here with us. Even though you go overboard and it would've taken forever to walk across the country, you always make me feel safer when we go into a bad situation.
I guess I don't really have the right to say that, since I left you behind. But I do miss you, and hopefully we'll be back soon and you and I can talk. About everything.
Say hello to Happy and everyone else for me,
Lucy.
Lisanna's eyes narrowed as she reread the letter. Ridiculous. Anyone could see she was just leading Natsu on. She'd always known Lucy was a hussy.
If this was what she put in a letter, what would she do in person? Ugh, Lisanna didn't even want to think about it. Unfortunately, it was becoming all she could think about. About everything, Lucy had written. What was everything?
She read both letters once more, then hid them back in her jacket. As she emerged into the main room again, she found Natsu struggling on the floor with Gray, both clearly worn out. She went to him as he lay on the ground, panting.
His eyes met hers and he smiled lightly, "Hey, Lis. I think I'm gonna head out. Think I tired out the popsicle over there."
She ignored Gray's retaliatory insult and pulled him to his feet, marvelling at his warmth.
"Do you want me to walk you home? I wouldn't mind," she smiled at him, leaning in.
He ran a hand through his hair, adorably bashful. Was he nervous? "No, no, that's alright. I'd hate to put you out," he said, "Have a good night, Lis."
She watched through the window as he walked down the street before giddily turning back to the bar and ordering a celebratory milkshake. She, Lisanna Strauss, takeover mage stuck between worlds, made Natsu Dragneel nervous. That had to mean something good, right?
She was too busy watching Mira whip up her shake to see that Natsu hadn't turned toward his place, but was instead walking in the direction of Strawberry Street, turning over his fallen star in his hands.
And it's a wrap! What's gonna happen to Lucy and co. at the mine? Can Natsu keep his feelings at bay by fighting everything that moves, or will he lose it completely? What the fuck, Lisanna?
Author shoutout this week goes tooooo (drumroll, please): Satyrykal! If you want some insane sexual tension, look no further than the recently updated 'Boiling Point.' I have to fan my flushed cheeks just thinking about it!
As always, huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Lady Lutka.
See you all next week!
