Iron in the Stars
AN: Story is my idea, but I do not own anything Fairy Tail.
SO, I just have to apologize. I took a hiatus from the story and just didn't write anymore. I promise that this story will end; I just go through spurts where I do and don't want to write. Some times I just want read instead. Plus I was volunteering for the political season which wasn't a great time….Let me tell you…when you have one political leaning and you live in a state that leans heavily on the other side – it's sorta hell. I hope everyone had wonderful Holidays! Thank you for sticking with me.
Chapter 21: Marcone
"Wake up princess." It was a pleading voice that brought me to reality. My head was pounding and I could feel something sharp in my side. My blood pumped with adrenaline, which I knew would wear off sooner rather than later. "Princess, please stop tensing. I am trying to stitch your side up." Virgo.
"My magic feels completely drained, did you come out on your own?" Well duh. It was such a stupid question. "Sorry, my brain feels fuzzy, I don't know why I asked that." I hissed a little at the needle making another stitch on my side.
"I'm sorry Princess. I am trying to be gentle." She gave me a miserable glance and I smiled at her apologetically for making her feel like she had done something wrong. My spirits were so good to me and I could never repay that kindness.
I sighed as I turned my head to look at the room we were in. It was actually fairly nice. The cream colored walls matched the carpeted floor nicely and the wood paneling looked like it came from a different time. The bed was a glory all in itself. It was a king sized bed that centered the room. It gave the room a dark element that balanced suitably. The dark wood of the four-poster bed allowed a cream colored canopy to fall to give the illusion of privacy. The sheer fabric shimmered, but it was clearly for decoration only. The dark maroon comforter was soft to the touch and felt too warm for a prison of any sort. There was a desk that matched the bed in color on the wall as well as a bookcase next to it. There were two doors in the room, one to the right of the bed near the desk and one in front of the bed. "Virgo?"
She hummed for a second as she was finishing what she was doing. As soon as she put the needle down she looked up at me with a small smile on her face. I knew that smile was there to give me comfort. I smiled back knowing that it could be far worse. I, after all, knew I was being held somewhere against my will, but I had a nice prison and still had my friends with me. "Yes princess?"
"Do you have any idea where we are?" She looked away again. I could see the grief in her eyes.
"I am sorry Princess. I tried to snoop, but I cannot leave this room. It is the same in our realm as well. We can see each other, but only if they are contracted to you. It is very strange." I gave her an apologetic look.
"How are Leo, Levin, and Capricorn? They are healing alright, correct?" As if he heard his name, I felt a warmth come into the room. "Leo, just because I said your name doesn't mean you should just appear." He put his hand over his heart as if I wounded him. He looked to be completely fine though. "You look alright, how is your brother and Capricorn. Have they healed alright?"
"You always make my heart expand with love Princess. You care so much for us. I know you think it is the natural way of things, but I have to tell you how special you are. You are truly amazing. To answer your question however, they are fine. How are you feeling? I felt your magic drain very low."
"Honestly, I'm sore and tired, but I am pretty good. How long have I been asleep?"
"Just a few hours. As soon as I my wounds started to heal I was able to get to Virgo and have her take care of you. Your wound wasn't life threatening or I would have had her come sooner. We all need to get all of our strength though if we intend on getting out of here soon so please rest. You may call on any of us at any given moment." With that he kissed my forehead and disappeared. He was right. I was still very tired and could use more rest.
I looked over my body quickly to see what kind of damage I was working with and was surprised to see some bruises forming and the stitches that Virgo did for me, but that was about it. I gently touched the stitches and felt the stickiness that was on them. I didn't notice before, but she must have put a numbing cream of some sort on me. I smiled appreciatively and tried to push my love to her hoping she could feel it. Her key warmed up in my hand responding to my thank you. I closed my eyes with my keys curled in my hand and fell asleep.
There was a knock on the door that made me jump alert and awake. Leo must have felt my tense energy because within an instant he was there in front of me. Shielding me. Whoever it was knocked again before opening the door. "Ah, good, you're awake. Oh look, you even have a friend with you this early in the morning. I hope I am not intruding." The smile made Leo growl and my stomach twist. "My Lady, I would like to give you a proposition." I watched as he stepped closer going to sit at the desk near the bed. Leo was on high alert and I watched as his hands lit ready to fight. I touched his shoulder in warning. We didn't know where we were and if we started the fight now it could be our last. We needed time and information for going for the attack. "Relax Leo the Lion, I do not wish to harm your Master. She is far too valuable to me to harm her yet."
"What do you want?" I glared over to him. He looked amused at Leo, as if we didn't threaten him in the slightest. That worried me more than anything else could. "Why did you drag me here?"
"Well, My Lady, you have an enormous amount of power inside of you. Power that you haven't even tapped into yet. I want to help you with that, but I do expect something from you in return. I expect your willingness to join me. You would be an asset to my personal team and an asset to this universe. We wish to make a team of elite soldiers. In this title I can give you anything your heart desires. I could bring you riches, enchanting jewels, power, and luxury, whatever it is that you wish I would grant it to you. You just need to say yes." I grit my teeth. I wasn't going to be a puppet in his game of power. I did however need to get more information.
"Why are you creating a team? What would my purpose be?" Leo, being more a fighter and less a thinker looked at me as if I had wounded him. He didn't understand that I just wanted to push for as much as I could get. The man looked at me softly.
"It is always nice to see someone as powerful as you take caution. You will do well in life. By my side you shall even excel. You are very brave My Lady and intelligent. Our elite team will be assembled to bring the worlds together. See, not all the worlds hold magic and our world holds far too much. It is time to rectify that and eliminate the unworthy blood that carries this magnificent gift. It should be treasured, but instead it is abused. Look at those two ladies that were with you last night. They do magic no justice. They are weak. They don't deserve to hold magic. You are a beautiful flower. You fought well and hard defending your own right and because of that you are worthy. Plus with you on my team soon your slayers will follow. I wish for us to be the army that holds the key to magic. We will decide who is allowed to have it and who is not." I was horrified by what he said. Eliminate magic? There was no way we could live in a world where only a small group on individuals would be able to use it. There were far too many people that used it.
"What would happen to the mages that you don't deem worthy of their magic?" He laughed at this. It caught me off guard. It was a laugh of true humor and not malice.
"You have such a large heart. Your compassion will be your downfall. You must learn now that you are here for you and you alone. Everyone will eventually turn on you if you give them the opportunity to. Please do not mistake my explanation as a stupid old man. I do understand that you are not interested. Your eyes give you away, however you will be on my side in due time and I feel it is necessary to inform you before then. Your friends may know that I have you, but trust me when I say they won't be able to find you. This place is well hidden and the magic is concealed. I have been kind enough to give you your own suite with a large bathroom and you will be comfortable here, but I want you to study your craft while you are here and I will work with you to make you stronger. I have the power to take your will away and I do not wish to do so unless you force my hand. There is a button on the door if you need anything while you are here. There will be food and beverages brought to you during meal times unless you wish to join us during meals."
My anger showed within my eyes and I gripped onto Leo's shoulder for support before getting off of the bed. I stood up so I was over him and said slowly so he would understand, "I will never join you. I don't care how long I am here. I will find a way out and my friends and I will take you and your plan down. Do not think for one second that you are stronger than us because you are not. We will beat you." I went to turn away from him, but it was like my mind and my body didn't want to work together. Apparently, my body felt more violent and I watched as my hand smacked him in the face, hard. His eyes got larger and he looked at me with a little surprise in his eyes. There was something else there though too. Delight.
"I didn't expect that." He laughed again and stood up. "You surprise and excite me My Lady and I can't wait for you to be on my team. Be grateful that I did not take your spirits away. Please train with them and learn more. Someone will be by shortly with some tea and breakfast." Leo growled again and went to attack him before he got to the door. The man, for argument's sake I am just going to call him Dick, saw the attack coming and moved his crystal in front of Leo. His attack instantly died and he fell to the ground clutching his head.
"Loki!" I fell to his side trying to give him solace. I heard the door open and close, but there were no other words exchanged. I did feel a cold rush run down my spine once the door was magically locked from the outside. I had to find a way to get out of here. This made me feel like I was back at home. Trapped. I got out then and I can do it again. I looked down at Leo with sadness in my eyes. Because of me he had been hurt. "Are you okay?" He took a deep breath and moved me from his side so we were facing each other.
"I will be fine, that crystal is what gives him his power. I could feel it vibrate and call to me the entire time he was here. For some reason I don't think it calls to you the same it does to me. I couldn't even attack him even though I wanted to until he had his back to me. Until that crystal wasn't facing me. If I had to guess I would assume it has the ability to manipulate you." He stood up bringing me with him and took another deep breath grounding himself. "We need to get out of here. I don't know why that crystal doesn't call to you the same way it does to me, but I don't want to find out if he can use it against you with us." I nodded at him in agreement. I sat in the chair.
"Any ideas on how to get out? I can't even tell the guild that I'm okay. They're probably freaking out. I can't even imagine what the Slayers are going through. I'm fucking kin to all of them. They're probably shitting bricks. I mean for the time being I suppose we can take advantage of me being stuck here and do exactly what he suggested." I put my head on the desk frustrated that I was stuck here.
"We can try and find anything on that crystal of his. Crux can bring you books and some gale force reading glasses so we can go through the books fast. The more we know the better. Plus I would recommend keeping out some of us to help on your own magic. This will at least start to expand your magic in a more comfortable way. Just don't wear yourself out too much just incase you need to fight." There was a knock on the door before it was opened and a tray came in to view. I looked over to the man in a suit who was clearly a butler.
"Good morning my Lady, Master Marcone requested I treat you like a princess during your stay so I have prepared multiple different things for your liking. Please relax while I set your food on your desk for you." He started to pour tea for me while putting it down in front of me with some sugar honey and cream as well as a huge assortment of food. He put down a plate of fruit exotic and regular with other plates filled with eggs, bacon, toast, sweets, and a bowl of what looked like a flavored yogurt. "The yogurt is Strawberry my Lady. If there is anything else I am to get for you please do not hesitate to ask. My name is Sebastian and I will be at your beckon call. " I looked at Leo when he walked out the door and I couldn't help but drool a little. They at least knew how to take care of their prisoners well.
"I know they're worried, but damn, this shit looks good. Are you going to eat with me Leo? He left extra silverware and cups if you do. I'll even call out Crux and Capricorn to help." You didn't have to tell Leo more than once. As soon as I closed my mouth he was eating the bacon on the plate. I had to laugh at his enthusiasm. I called out the others explaining what we were going to do and everyone was on board to help me. Crux disappeared only for a moment to reappear again with multiple books and my glasses. As we munched on the food together we all looked inside of the books.
"Miss Lucy?" I put my book down to look at Capricorn. "Please, just clarify something for me." I nodded to him. "The crystal had the power to knock you out when he wanted it to so it holds something on you, but it doesn't draw you into it's powerful inclination, right?" I bit my pencil in concentration. I suppose he was right, but how can it have affect on me and not at the same time.
"I guess. I think it was because he was controlling the crystal then. It seems that when he isn't controlling the crystal then it's power may be looking for a willing host, but when it's in his hands he is the host taking the power and bending it to his will. That could also be why I've been able to hit him twice. He may just think I am overpowering the crystal somehow, but in reality it's not distracting me. Does that make sense?" Capricorn smiled and picked up his book again.
"It makes sense when you put it that way. I think that the crystal is a magic lacrima similar to what's in the dragon slayers. The only thing that worries me is that the slayers had magic before the lacrima was implanted into them and this isn't implanted so either Mr. Marcone hasn't truly shown us his magic or he doesn't have any. Either way that crystal is very dangerous given to the wrong host. If we want a way to get out of here it will have to be taking that stone."
AN: I'm sure most of you noticed the one nod to another anime/manga, but I did have a nod to a favorite book series as well in there. Marcone is from Jeff Butcher's Dresden Files and I thought he was perfect in this role so I kinda used the name (I don't anything there) Plus the other one was of course Sebastian from Black Butler always doing everything perfect. Well, I will go back to regular updates as best as I can. Mainly because I have another idea for a NALU story that I want to write and I refuse to start posting chapters on that while I'm doing this one. I think that one is going to be an AU though. Princess/Prince story. Any comments about that?