Chapter Three: Just Like you
Lucy and Erza had been talking for a while now and since he was told by Erza to watch the door, Natsu was anxiously waiting outside with his ear pressed up to the door. He wasn't the patient sort and he really worried about what Erza might be telling her. He promised to make Lucy smile, so it started to gnaw at his insides when he thought she might be crying.
"What are you doing?" A half dressed man asked as he stopped in the hall to stare curiously at Natsu.
Salamander flinched and turned to see Gray and Juvia, probably on their way to the training grounds since neither of them were in formal attire. Natsu sighed in frustration and stood back in position. "None of your business," he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Gray smirked now, "Is Erza already punishing you for your screw up in the cells? Who would have thought that Igneels heir would let a bunny slip by. Maybe the Fire tribe should name a new leader?" He teased.
Natsu practically steamed as he turned to glare at Gray, "You were the one that distracted me!" he insisted.
Gray flinched and leaned in a little to meet Natsu's leer with his own, "Are you saying it was my fault?!" he demanded.
"What did you think I was saying?!" Natsu growled back.
"Gray-sama would never do such a silly thing..." Juvia said finally, "he is always so diligent in his work."
Neither of the men seemed to hear her as they stared one another down. The door burst opened and shocked the two when Erza stood there, looming over the two.
"What are you two doing?" she asked simply.
Both of them separated at once and stood at attention nervously.
"Nothing!" they answered together.
Lucy came walking up slowly behind Erza and her expression was rather solemn. Natsu moved to greet her, but Gray was a little faster and spoke first.
"You must be Layla's daughter, I heard that you were in the palace." He started as he approached her and took her hand to kiss it gently. Simply following etiquette. "I am Gray Fullbuster, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Lucy was still a little numb on the inside to say the least, but all her years in the palace had sort of placed her on auto-pilot with meet and greets such as these. She smiled a little and nodded, "A pleasure..." she started quietly. Glancing over Gray's shoulder, she noticed the lovely girl behind him. Her sapphire curls sat on her shoulders and her eyes were beautiful. She might have seen the gentle heart of the girl if Juvia wasn't glaring at her in a blind fury. Lucy tried to smile at the girl, but before she was able to interact with her, Natsu shoved Gray away from Lucy with his shoulder and pat her back.
"Ready to see yer room?" He asked with a grin. Gray growled at Natsu, but with Erza there, he dared not start a fight. He simply cleared his throat and looked at Lucy once more.
"I look forward to talking with you another time." He said simply as he turned to Juvia now, "Juvia, you ready to go?"
"Of course!" Juvia replied happily, losing her menacing aura at once and proceeded to hug his arm. Gray looked as though he was trying to push her off as they continued down the hall.
"You will see them again, but for now, you should rest. It's been a hard day for you..." Erza said quietly as her armor vanished and she was now in a more simple set. Still wearing armor over her chest, arms, and legs, but now wearing a skirt.
Lucy nodded. She still was not used to all this magic, but she found it easier to observe, rather than ask Erza to explain it. After all, the two had been talking for hours now and she found out quickly that Erza went into far too much detail when asked a question.
"Natsu will take you to your room...and you can call for me when you are ready." Erza added before she turned to leave as well.
Natsu watched Erza leave before he turned to glance at Lucy's face. Her face was somber and he could see that she had certainly been drained emotionally with all this new information.
"Come on, you probably want to rest a bit, huh?" He asked, tilting his head a little to try and get her attention.
"...Yeah," she replied simply, her voice void of feeling.
Natsu was troubled now. He didn't like that she was upset and he really didn't know enough about her to offer any words that might help here. She was Layla's daughter, but beyond that, he didn't know anything about her at all. He rubbed the back of his neck a little, staring at the ground while he tried to think of something to say, but instead, he saw the old photograph placed in front of his eyes. He looked up at once to see Lucy holding it out to him with a small smile.
"Thank you. ...for showing me this," she said quietly.
"You're not gonna keep it?" he asked in confusion.
"It's yours isn't it? ...Erza told me that my mother gave it to you."
"But you should keep it. You know, to-" Natsu began before Lucy placed the photo in his hands.
"I am happy...that my mother had friends here. ...and I'm sure I'm not the only one that misses her." she said simply as she looked at him with a stern expression.
Natsu's smile crept on his face once more and he grabbed her hand to suddenly run with her. She gasped as he tugged at her once more and forced her to match his pace as they ran down the hall.
"Wh-why are we running?" She asked in a sort of panic, the dress she wore wasn't exactly ideal for sudden sprints.
"I wanna show you something!" he replied, rushing her through a few doors and through a few more hallways. If she had time to look at the scenery, she might have admired the beauty of the castle, but Natsu was pulling her so quickly that there were times her feet almost didn't touch the ground. When they finally stopped, Lucy placed her hands on her knees and panted for breath.
"Y-you don't...need to rush..." she insisted between breaths.
Natsu shut the doors on the room they had entered and everything went dark at once, but only for a moment. Lucy was startled at first. She looked up when the lights went out, but was quickly in awe as a sky full of stars surrounded them. The ground beneath her feet was covered in a light silver fog that seemed to swirl around the circular room and surrounded a small circle of water in the middle of the room. It was beautiful to say the least and she felt at peace almost at once.
"...What is this place?" Lucy asked finally, reaching up as she stepped further into the room. The bright stars seemed so close that perhaps she could touch them.
"This was where your mother would come to commune with her spirits or meditate. It's a room for Celestial mages. So...it's yours now. Since you are gonna be just like her, right?" he replied happily, watching Lucy as she gazed up at the stars.
His words seemed to hit Lucy hard. After learning what she did, all she thought about was getting revenge. She never considered what else it meant. She was going to become a Celestial mage...just like her mother. Her eyes watered as she imagined her mother in this room, training, talking with her spirit friends. Lucy took the golden key from her pocket and held in her hands with a sad smile. She felt very numb after talking with Erza, but now, she felt such a rush of emotions. This was the start of a new path for her. No more lonely days in the palace. No more searching for a connection to her mother. This was it. She would follow in her mother's foot steps and become the gate keeper. That was how she could remain close to her.
Lucy turned to Natsu, wiping the tears from her eyes as she smiled.
"...Thank you, Natsu. For bringing me here." her voice shook a little, but she was happy now.
Natsu nodded and pumped his fist in excitement. "I can't wait to see what you can do. But we should probably get you to your room before Erza finds out I took a detour..." he started as he turned to opened the doors.
Lucy nodded and stepped forward to leave, but Natsu seemed frozen as he held the handles to the double doors. "Natsu?" she asked as she approached him, "something wrong?"
"...I...can't open the doors." he admitted nervously.
"What?!" she exclaimed before she grabbed the handles and they both pulled together. Sure enough, the doors didn't budge an inch. "Wh-why wont it open?!" she asked in a panic as they both released the handles now.
Natsu looked a little nervous and avoided Lucy's eyes at once.
"Uhh...I forgot...that only a Celestial mage can open the doors..." he started, "you know...with spirit energy."
"What?! But-then how did we get in?!" she asked in a brand new panic now. The room was lovely, but she didn't want to stay in here forever.
"The...the doors were already open. They haven't been closed since Layla was in here last..." he admitted, "I...forgot...that no one was supposed to close them..."
Lucy flared up a little, "Are you kidding me?!"
"H-hey! But it's okay! You're spirit mage by blood. So you should be able to open them." he added.
"Except I already tried and they didn't move!" she replied.
"Well...concentrate this time." he suggested, stepping back from the door for her.
Lucy looked at him for a moment, then back at the large door handles. She took a deep breath and gripped them tight in her hands, preparing to pull. Closing her eyes, she tried to steady her breathing and concentrate as best she could. This was something she knew nothing about, but if it was in her blood, perhaps that was enough. If there was an incantation or something, they were simply stuck here. Lucy simply prayed to the stars, the spirits of her mother that she didn't know yet, to Aquarius that was with her now in key form...all she could do was pray that the doors might open. After a few minutes of silence, Natsu saw a faint silver glow start to form around Lucy's body and without warning, the doors gave way and almost tripped Lucy backward. Natsu reached over quickly and supported her back with his hand.
"You did it!" he exclaimed as he looked down at her face.
The princess stared back at him in surprise. She wasn't sure that she could do it, but she did. She was a celestial mage. She was one step closer to becoming like her mother. Lucy smiled wide and got to her feet with Natsu's help.
"I did! I did it!" she replied with excitement. Her elated expression really set Natsu at ease now. It was so much better than the blank stares from before.
"Pretty soon, you'll be able to open the gates. I can't wait!" he said as he headed out the doors and looked back to make sure she was following after him.
"Neither can I..." she replied as she pulled the key from her pocket once more, "I can't wait to meet you, Aquarius..." she said softly to the key. Her Mother's spirit had been with her all this time. She could imagine what Aquarius was like or what they might talk about, but it comforted her to know that there had been someone with her through everything.
Natsu and Lucy made their way to her bedroom finally and though it was a fairly simple set up, Lucy had no complaints. There was a bed, wardrobe, connecting bathroom, it was all she needed really. Even if she was a princess, it didn't mean she needed fancy things.
"There should be clean clothes in the dresser already, ." Natsu said as he watched her look around the room.
"Do you live in the palace?" Lucy asked as she placed the key down on the vanity table and sat at the edge of her bed.
"Yeah. In the east wing with Happy." he replied, resting his hands on the back of his head, "It's comfortable I guess."
"Happy...is that blue, flying cat, right?"
"Yeah. He's my partner. He's probably taking a nap or something." Natsu answered, actually unsure where Happy had been all this time.
"This place is so different from home..." Lucy said with a sigh, "Magic, flying cats, spirits...it's the kind of stuff I would read about, but never thought I would actually see. It's still a little hard to believe," she admitted, "even after seeing it with my own eyes. I guess this just hasn't really sunk in yet."
"A world without magic doesn't sound like any fun. I think you'll like Fairy Tail a lot better. Especially after you learn how to use the keys. I've never seen Celestial magic, but I heard it's pretty powerful. I'm really excited to get the chance to fight one."
"Fight one? They're used to fight?"
"Yeah! I heard once that when a celestial mage gets really strong, they can summon all twelve at once to fight for them." He replied with an excited grin.
"...but...that's almost like using them for a shield. ...I'd prefer to fight with them, rather than hide behind them." Lucy just couldn't see herself using a friend as some sort of shield to cower behind and somehow, she was sure that her mother would have felt the same way.
"That's the spirit!" Natsu exclaimed, placing a hand on her head, "You should train with me some time. I'll teach ya' to fight!"
"Sound's like fun." replied Lucy sincerely. This place made little sense to her, but that's part of what made it exciting. She could follow in her mother's foot steps and perhaps...really belong here. Instead of being a princess, she might be able to make her own life here. A life that wasn't decided by money and status.
Natsu was glad to see that she didn't seem quite so down anymore. In fact, she seemed pretty happy. That room was a good idea after all, and it served to prove her lineage, not that she really needed to prove anything to him.
"Okay, I'm getting hungry. I'm gonna go find Happy and grab some food. You rest up so we can get started on training!" he said happily as he headed for the door. Lucy waved goodbye as he left the room and once the door was closed and she was left alone, she let herself fall back against the bed with a deep breath. She was ready to simply relax for a while and let this all finally sink in. Natsu and Erza were right, a little rest was really going to help now. Erza had explained much and most of it was hard to follow, but the one thing that rang clear, was that she didn't have much time to find the other gates and close them to prevent Zeref's return. That was a lot to put on her shoulders, but if this was what her mother wanted, she would finish the job. In any way that she could.
For now though...she closed her eyes and tried her best to get a little sleep before she started on her mission to find where her mothers keys had all gotten to. No doubt it was going to be a long task to complete and Lucy wanted to do it right.
A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading.
I hope that you will continue to follow Lucy and Natsu in the next chapter when their journey begins and the search for the keys gets it's first lead.
Since it's sooo late from here, I didn't really proof read this well. I'll take another look at it later and replace it if I have to. Thanks for your patience. :)