Chapter Four: A New Look, a New Start
Lucy was more tired than she realized, waking up to a new day peeking through the curtains of her window. She sat up quickly in bed and looked around the room. She was still in Fairy Tail. A small wave of relief rushed through her. She was actually relieved to be away from home? She sighed with a smile as she slid her feet to the edge of the bed. As she did so, a furry blue tail slipped out from beneath the covers and the princess flinched before she lifted the blankets quickly. Revealing the winged cat that was sleeping in her bed happily.
"Happy?" Lucy asked aloud in her confusion. She stood up and noticed now, a sleeping Natsu, laid out on an arm chair that sat in the middle of the room. Her confusion was replaced with a violated outrage now. How in the world was this acceptable, and just when had he come into her room while she was sleeping? "NATSU!" She shouted angrily in order to wake him.
The dragon slayer groaned a little, but opened his eyes with a yawn. He saw Lucy looming over him with an angry expression, but he smiled at her. "Morning, Lucy!" he greeted with a grin.
"What are doing in my room?!" she demanded.
"I came to get ya for dinner last night, but you were still sleeping. No matter how much I poked you, you didn't wake up. So I just went to sleep too." he replied simply as he sat up in the chair and began to stretch his arms.
"Why didn't you back to your room and sleep?" she insisted.
Natsu didn't reply as he stood up and Happy flew over to him. The flying cat seemed overly tired as he slumped on Natsu's shoulder with a sigh.
"Breakfast...?" he mumbled.
"Yeah, let's go and get some food before we train." Natsu insisted as he grabbed Lucy's hand. The princess quickly jerked her hand from his in a huff.
"I need to clean up and change my clothes first!" she replied.
"Okay." Natsu sighed as he sat back in the chair.
"That means you need to get out!" she shouted as she pulled him from the chair and pushed at his back until he was out the door. She slammed it shut now and crossed her arms over her chest in aggravation.
Natsu certainly had a care-free way about him, but this was a little over the top. She took a deep breath and headed for the washroom to get cleaned up and change her clothes. It was the start of a new journey here and she had to prepare herself mentally for that. It didn't take her too long to wash and she was happy to find out that the appliances were not that different from home. Once she was clean, she pulled out the clothes that were brought for her. She hadn't known Erza for long, but something about the new wardrobe seemed to imply that she was the one who picked out the clothes. Her wardrobe seemed to consist of golden armor and frilly dresses, even what looked like a ballet outfit.
"Uuuh..." Lucy groaned a little as she looked through the clothes. There wasn't anything that looked too comfortable. She closed the wardrobe and as she turned to gather her old dress, she noticed some folded up clothes sitting on the vanity table next to her key.
When she held out the outfit to examine it, she was pleasantly surprised. Lucy had been forced to wear large gowns most of her life. Extravagant clothing that she always thought was difficult to move around in, but the outfit that was given to her now seemed rather simple.
Finally changed, she looked in the mirror and tied her back in a ponytail with white ribbon she had pulled from her torn up gown. Dressed in a blue halter shirt with long sleeves that only disconnected a bit at the shoulder to leave them bare. It was cross stitched down the chest and tied at the hem with the Fairy Tail patched just above her right breast. A black skirt covered her thighs and luckily didn't seem too short once she looked at herself in the mirror. There was also a leather strap with a key ring, no doubt for the keys that she would be gathering. She suck her Aquarius key to it with care and latched the strap around her hips. Once she pulled the brown, knee high boots on, she opened the door to her room.
Natsu had been waiting outside the door since she pushed him out. He was leaning against the opposite wall when Lucy opened the door and revealed her new attire. He was actually a little taken aback to see her like that. Lady Layla was always wearing a gown and when he met Lucy, she was wearing the same kind of gown, but now she looked like a different person. The clothes hugged her curves a lot more than that poofy dress did and he didn't even realize he was staring until he heard her voice.
"Natsu? Have you been waiting out here?" she asked as she approached him.
"Huh? Oh- yeah." he replied quickly as he pulled his eyes from her chest to look at her face. He cleared his throat a little and rubbed beneath his nose, glancing up at the ceiling a little.
"Do you like the new clothes?"
Lucy smiled bright and nodded her head, "I do. Training will be a lot easier in something like this."
Natsu glanced back at her and he smiled with her at once. At least she was happy.
"Well let's get going then! I'm starved."
Lucy let Natsu lead her through the halls and she did her best to try and memorize the way back to her room so she wouldn't need an escort every time. As they walked in silence for a moment, she found herself becoming curious about this man that seemed to be sticking to her like glue.
"Natsu...?" she started quietly.
"Yeah?" he replied, not breaking his stride as happy seemed to be napping on his shoulder.
"So...you live here. ...but what do you do? Are you a soldier...?"
"Uhh...something like that I guess," he started, " I came to live here and train with the others."
"Others?" Lucy repeated.
"Yeah. Heads of each tribe were sent here when the war started. I guess they wanted to make sure we were safe or something. ...So most of us grew up here after that."
Lucy started to connect a few dots in her head. So she wasn't the only one that lost someone during that war.
"So that means you are the heir to a tribe?" she asked, hoping to avoid the topic of parents.
"Hm, yeah. The fire tribe within the country of Fairy Tail. My tribe was ruled by a Dragon, my dad. Dragon Slayer tribes are kinda rare, but the other tribes were ruled by humans. Like Gray's Ice tribe. They had a ruler named Ur, but since she lost her child, she chose Gray to succeed her and run the village, so he was sent here too."
Lucy felt a little ashamed now. She made such a fuss yesterday about her mother, but it seemed that everyone here had a scar from that war. It must have been hard for them. The shock over talk of dragons aside, she felt completely ignorant here. Her country back home was enjoying a long period of peace, so she had never seen a war in her lifetime. She stopped walking and hung her head a little.
"...I'm sorry." she said quietly.
Natsu turned around and stared at her curiously before he stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, there is nothing to worry about!" he insisted, "you're part of Fairy Tail now, right?"
Lucy looked up at him now and was once again set at ease by his cheerful smile. She laughed a little and nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"We gotta make sure you get your mark before we start training." he added as he showed off the crest on his shoulder, "So after we eat, I'll take ya to see Mira. She'll set it up."
The princess placed her hand on his shoulder to run her fingers over the mark gently. Her mother must have had something like this too, right? Natsu stiffened a little while her fingertips traced his skin. He took a breath and quickly turned to head for the dining room again. It was so abrupt that Lucy almost tripped over. He must have been hungrier than she thought. She scrambled to catch up with him and they continued to exchange pleasantries along the way.
The dining room was already full and once Lucy arrived, everyone at the table stopped chatting and turned their heads to look at her. It was a rather long table and the head of the tables chair was empty. Erza was eating a piece of cake, Gray was already done with his food it seemed and was lounging in his chair without a shirt on, and Wendy was sitting with a white cat beside her. They were the only two that she actually recognized. Only a few more people were at the table that Lucy didn't know, but before she could speak, Natsu placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her from behind towards the table.
"Lucy's awake!" he announced cheerfully.
"How did you sleep?" Erza asked as Natsu and Lucy sat at the table.
Natsu wasted no time in grabbing food and filling his plate, but Lucy hesitated as she glanced at Erza.
"Just fine. I slept through the night at least." Lucy replied.
"I hear that Natsu slept in your bedroom." the white, female cat began as she wiped her mouth gently with a napkin.
Natsu didn't react at all, but Erza and Gray visibly flinched. Wendy panicked a little and turned to her cat, desperately trying to hush her. Lucy shook her head frantically, an embarrassed blush lacing her cheeks as she did so.
"It-It's not what you think! I didn't even know that he was there!" she stammered a little, not realizing exactly what she was saying.
Gray and Erza had stood from their seats already and glared daggers at Natsu, who only now seemed to notice the change in mood. He looked at the two curiously for a moment before Erza startled him by stabbing his plate with her sword and leaning over him from the table now.
"Er-Erza?!" Natsu asked in a panic as he leaned back in his chair with wide eyes.
"Nothing happened! REALLY!" Lucy shouted as she rose from her seat in an attempt to calm Erza.
"Is that so...?" Erza began as she removed her sword and letting it vanish in her hands before she stepped from the table and smiled at Lucy now, "That is a relief. Natsu is a little rash in his actions. All these years in the palace and he has learned nothing." she finished with a sigh.
Natsu didn't take his eyes from Erza as he slowly reached over and grabbed a turkey leg to nibble on. He was scared of her, but he was also very hungry. After that small misunderstanding, the rest of the meal was rather pleasant. Lucy observed them all happily as she watched them argue and laugh together. Since her mother died, she would eat alone in the palace, so this...this was comforting. She learned a little more about Gray, who seemed very proud to show off his magic. He was making ice swans and even went so far as to make a large ice sculpture for the table.
Lucy was in awe by his magical display and her elated expression only spurred Gray forward to show her something bigger. With each larger creation, the room was quickly becoming cold and not only that, but Natsu seemed a little put off as he watched Gray show off. He huffed a bit and stood from his seat, standing up on the table now.
"Watch this Lucy!" he shouted as he took a long, deep breath and blew fire out of his mouth like a torch as it melted all of Gray's creations. Lucy was impressed, but also a little concerned when the melted ice made quite the watery mess on the floor.
"Hey! Flame head! What was that for?!" Gray demanded angrily.
"I just thought that Lucy was getting cold." Natsu replied smugly, "besides, fire magic is more fun to watch."
"If it is a display you wish to see..." Erza started proudly, her armor changing in a bright glow to a silver iron gown, rising her into the air with wings made of steel swords, "than enjoy the beauty of my heavenly swords!" she announced as her swords danced around the room, flying through the air and cutting through the table easily. Lucy gasped and quickly left her chair and ducked for cover. The others seemed to have the same idea and once Erza was satisfied by her clearly superior display of magic, she reequipped back to normal.
Since breakfast had been so eventful, Lucy almost felt like it was time for bed once again, but instead, Erza asked to speak with her while Natsu and Gray cleaned up the dining room. Once the girls were alone in another room, Erza pulled out a map from her chest plate and displayed it for Lucy.
"I think we have a lead on where a key might be," she started, "there are reports of the Lunar village having some trouble with a beast. It's been described as a giant bull. Our Master thinks this may be Taurus. Natsu has volunteered to go with you to the village and investigate."
Lucy was a little alarmed by this. She knew that she would have to gather the keys, but she thought there would be more time to practice before she actually went out to get one. She had no idea how to fight, or what to do when she encountered one.
"B-but what do I do when I find it? I mean...will it know me? Or...um..."
Erza looked at her with sympathetic eyes, "I wish we could offer you more council on this, but your mother was the only Spirit Mage...and it is not something that I understand. That is why we are counting on you to know what to do."
Lucy felt panic flow through her and there was an immense pressure on her shoulders now. She really didn't seem to grasp how difficult this might be yesterday when they spoke, but if her mother did this once, she would do her best.
"Okay," she replied, "when do we leave?" she asked.
Erza smiled at her response and rolled the map back up before she handed it to Lucy, "As soon as possible. There will be travel money for you two, but use it sparingly. Also, this is an emergency Lacrima. Please use it if you are in trouble." Erza said as she handed Lucy a crystal rock. The princess wasn't sure how to use such a thing, but she nodded anyhow, hoping that Natsu could teach her.
"I'm ready." Lucy replied with a smile. With that, Erza escorted Natsu and Lucy to the gates of the palace. Gray seemed a little put off that Natsu was the one that got to go, but he didn't put up much of a fight about it. Lucy was only now able to see the outside and she was amazed that the scenery was much like her home. The blue sky, the green foliage, it all looked the same. That put her at ease a little more. At the very least, she would not seem to out of place. Natsu and Lucy were both given large backpacks with camping gear and Natsu was told to change his uniform. For all intents and purposes, they looked like a couple traveling the country side, which was just what Erza wanted. She even told Happy to keep a low profile. He was not allowed to fly unless it was necessary. Lucy was not sure why such rules were in place, but she was excited to get started. After never being allowed to leave her own Palace grounds, this was going to a great experience.
Erza waved them off as they headed out, and Gray glanced at her once they were out of sight.
"Do you really think it's okay to send Natsu on a low profile mission like this? If we really want to keep Lucy a secret from Tartaros...I should have gone with her." Gray said simply now as he and Erza began to head back into the palace.
"...and if you went, Juvia would throw a fit and follow you. Besides, Natsu insisted that he be the one to accompany her and I need to get back to the border to help the others..." Erza replied.
Gray's expression turned grim and he nodded his head, "how long do you think we can hold the demons back? ...the last report seemed bleak. Even with the old man there..."
"That is why I am returning. ...and you need to stay here with Wendy and Juvia." Erza insisted, "we can't allow the citizens...or even Natsu to know what is happening right now. ...We can just hope that Lucy Heartfilia will be able to gather the keys...and end this."
Gray nodded once more and sighed, "Good luck," he said finally.
"See you soon." Erza replied before she turned to head for the stables in order to take her leave.
The ice mage looked out a nearby window and stared in the direction that Natsu and Lucy had gone, "Don't do anything stupid, Natsu..." he muttered to himself before turning from the window and heading for the training room. He had no choice but trust Natsu for the moment. They may not always get along, but he had to admit that he was a good choice to keep Lucy at least until they could revive Mavis.
A/N: I hope that you all have enjoyed the light and happy chapters so far, because I'm afraid you need to prepare yourselves for the ANGST! I know, I'm sorry, but it's about to get a little heavy. Please don't hate me later! .;;