Song Of Hope: I had this idea in my head, so I had to let it out. R&R
In a quaint horse drawn carriage, two almost identical girls, one fully grown, the other a small child, were on their way home, heading through a woodsea. The little girl was playing with a doll in a blue dress, as well as a couple of other toys, such as a teddy bear and a pink bunny.
"And then Michelle and Mr. Snuggles lived happily ever after! The end!" The woman smiled at the young girl.
"Well, you have quite the imagination, don't you Lucy? You could grow up to be a famous writer with how well you make up stories." Lucy beamed at the woman.
"You really think so Mommy?!" Her mother nodded.
"Yes, I do." Then, the carriage came to a stop. A bit concerned, her mother got out of the carriage and talked to the driver. "Is something wrong Jonathan?" The driver shook his head.
"Nothing to worry about Miss Heartfilia. It's just a fallen tree. We have to take a different path." She smiled at him.
"I've told you, I'm just Layla. And we don't need to take a different path." She held out a golden key, smiling. "I'm glad I chose to keep my keys instead of giving them away, in case of emergencies. Open, Gate of the Goat, Capricorn!" In front of her appeared a goat man wearing a suit.
"How can I serve you Miss Layla?" She smiled.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but can you possibly remove that tree from the path? You are my most powerful spirit, and I'd hate to take the long way and be traveling in the dark. After all, Lucy can't stand the dark unless she's at home in her bed." He nodded, smiling.
"That I can do easily." Walking up to the tree and carefully examining it, he hit it carefully in several places, and it turned into a pile of wood that he easily cleared away. Layla smiled, but was breathing heavily. Capricorn looked at her with concern. "Perhaps you should've given me to Zoldeo like you had originally planned. Using your magic is making your health deteriorate faster." She smiled at him.
"It's alright. We'll stop by a magic store on my way home, and I'll pick up a potion for my health, and it'll restore whatever magic and health I've lost for this little escapade. Until the next time, return home Capricorn." In a golden light, Capricorn disappeared. The driver looked very concerned.
"He's right Miss Heartfilia. You don't look so good." She smiled at the driver.
"The only problem right now will be that I can't summon any more spirits for a while. Well, let's keep moving." Layla got back in the carriage with Lucy, smiling. "Don't worry. We'll be going on our way now." Lucy smiled at her mother.
"Yay! And then can we have cake?" Layla laughed.
"You can't have cake every night, only on special occasions, like your birthday. It's not ladylike to eat cake often." Lucy pouted as the carriage started going again.
"But I didn't call Grandma an old lady even once!" Layla laughed.
"Yes, but that's something called common courtesy, and it's also common sense." Then, the carriage went over a large bump, but Lucy heard something above them.
"What's that?" Layla looked at her, slightly confused.
"What's what?" She pointed up.
"I heard a noise on the top of the carriage." Layla's face instantly went into one of awareness and suspicion, holding out her Gate Key for Capricorn.
"I should've noticed how suspicious that fallen tree was. There haven't been any storms lately, so there's no reason for the tree to have fallen over." Lucy looked up at her mother, her eyes full of concern.
"What's wrong Mommy?" Then, the carriage stopped again. Layla's concern only grew.
"Jonathan, why are we stopping again?" No response. "Jonathan? Jonathan!" Lucy clutched onto Michelle very tightly.
"Mommy, I'm scared." Just then, the carriage door on Lucy's side was thrown open. A big, burly guy grabbed her. "MOMMY!" She screamed that over and over again. Layla shouted.
"LUCY!" She held out her key. "Open, Gate of the-" she was cut off by a gag from behind, where her carriage door was thrown open by a skinny guy. The guy also grabbed her wrists with one hand and took her keys with the other.
"Can't have you summoning those spirits, can we?" He laughed. "If you're wondering, we're not going to take you, just your little girl. If you want her back with her memories intact, you're going to do exactly as this note says." He slipped the note into her hands. "Follow this information and you'll get your little Lucky Lucy back." He then used his free hand to cast a spell over her face before letting her go. Her eyes started drooping as she looked at her daughter.
"MOMMY!" She held her hand out to her daughter as she slowly lost consciousness, the card slipping out of her hands and onto the floor of the carriage.
"Lu…cy…" Then, everything faded to black.
Outside the carriage, the same wizard who had knocked out Layla was using a spell on Jonathan, who had been knocked out. Then, he opened his eyes and cracked the reins on the horses, making the carriage go forward, without Lucy inside. Lucy kept holding her hands out to it, one hand still clutching onto Michelle tightly.
"MOMMY! MOMMY!" The man holding her started getting pissed.
"Can't we do something about her screaming?" The other man laughed.
"She's a child who was just taken from her mother. Do you expect her to react any other way?" He held up the Gate Keys that he had taken from Layla. "It's a good thing I grabbed her Gate Keys though. I wouldn't want a guy like Capricorn on my ass." The big burly guy pointed at Lucy.
"Can you just make her shut up?!" He laughed again.
"Fine, but only if you'll do the same." He held his hand over her and put her to sleep. "It'll make it easier to move her around anyway." He took his hand away from the girl's head, the magic light disappearing, leaving a golden yellow mark in the middle of her forehead that looked like the bird's eye view of a brain. The burly guy laughed while he threw Lucy over his shoulder.
"Perfect!"
Layla woke up in a state of panic.
"Lucy?! LUCY?!" She looked outside the window of the carriage and saw that it was almost sunset. "It was early morning! She's been gone for hours now, without me!" She started shouting to Jonathan. "Jonathan! Turn around! We have to get Lucy back!" A monotonous and dull voice answered her.
"Straight to the manor. Straight to the manor. Straight to the manor." Layla had a concerned looked on her face.
"Jonathan?"
"Straight to the manor." She tried to open the door, but it was stuck. She then noticed a magical seal on it, most likely to keep her from getting out and stopping the driver. She tried the other door and got the same result. She clutched her sides.
"I thought I would be safe there! I thought that the rumors of dragons there would protect us! Now my baby's gone! She's gone!" Her frustration and grief got the best of her. She pounded her right fist on the carriage seat and shouted, screaming and crying. "NO!" She then collapsed in on herself, crying and screaming.
At the Heartfilia Manor
A tall man with blonde hair, a blonde mustache, and brown eyes was sitting at a desk in an office that looked more like a library.
"Hm. This collaboration with Goodwin Steel might be slightly detrimental at first, but in the long run, it would probably benefit us." Then, a woman came barging in, holding a card. He looked up at the worried woman. "Yes Mrs. Supetto?" Said Mrs. Supetto looked extremely distressed.
"Mr. Heartfilia, Lady Layla has come home, but she's having a fit of sorts! She's screaming and crying hysterically!" He stood straight up, his chair slamming into the border of the window, which kept it from going through said window, and his hands slamming down on the desk.
"What?!" She nodded.
"Jonathan became unconscious as soon as he arrived, and another thing. Miss Lucy wasn't in the carriage! She's nowhere to be found! She's gone!" He pounded both of his fists down on the desk.
"I shouldn't have let them go alone! Lucy was probably kidnapped for ransom! I should've hired someone to protect them, but Layla convinced me that her Celestial Spirits would be able to protect her!" Mrs. Supetto came up to him and held out a card.
"This was at the bottom of the carriage." Mr. Heartfilia walked over to her and grabbed the card, reading the information. He crumpled it up in anger. "I don't mean to pry, but what does it say?" The rage was obvious in his eyes.
"It wants me to leave 300,000,000,000 jewels in a bag at an abandoned warehouse in Hargeon in one year. If I fail to comply, then Lucy's memories will be completely erased, and she'll be sold into child slavery in a foreign country." Mrs. Supetto gasped.
"But she's only a child!" Mr. Heartfilia nodded.
"That's why they're threatening her like this. She's physically weak, and wouldn't be able to defend herself. Not only that, but she doesn't know any magic. She might not even be able to use it, so she would have no magical defense either. They also gave me a year to accumulate the money, probably knowing that Heartfilia Railways doesn't have that kind of money just lying around, but can very easily be accumulated in the time span. In the meantime, they can move Lucy around as they please with ease, which would be much harder to do with an adult. That's why they took Lucy, rather than taking Layla." He looked at her. "Where is she?"
"She's still in the carriage. No one can get close to her." He nodded.
"I'll go down and talk to her."
Far Away
Burly and Skinny were sitting by a campfire on logs with a tent not far away from them, eating some fish. Burly looked over at Lucy, who was still sleeping and clutching onto her doll.
"When's the brat gonna wake up?" Skinny smiled.
"She'll wake up whenever I lift the spell, and because of the way it works, it'll still be working even when I run out of magic. She's as harmless as a blade of grass." Burly took a bite out of his fish.
"And what about those key thingies you took from her mother?" Skinny laughed, pulling them out of his pocket.
"These key thingies, as you call them, are our ticket to being rich. Celestial Wizards will pay a lot for at least three of these keys since they're Zodiac Keys. There are only twelve of these babies in the whole world, and three of them are right here. Of course, they're useless since they're contracted to Layla Heartfilia." Burly raised an eyebrow.
"Then how are we gonna sell them if they're useless?" Skinny laughed.
"Very few people know this, but Lady Layla Heartfilia is in very poor health. In fact, she should've stopped magic years ago because of it, but by balancing her meals and drinking the right potions, she can't improve her health, but she can keep it from getting worse while still being able to use magic. However, with the stress of seeing her daughter kidnapped right in front of her, not to mention her loss of her precious Spirits that she loved so much, her health will quickly decline, and she'll die. Once a Celestial Wizard dies, all of the contracts that they had are broken, and the Celestial Spirits are free to make new contracts with new owners. We just have to wait for her to die. I'd give it about a year. If she doesn't die soon enough, then I have a buddy in Eisenwald who can easily make it look like she died of natural causes for a really cheap price." Burly laughed.
"I see! We're gonna be rich! 300,000,000,000 jewels just for this kid, and who knows how many else for the keys!" Skinny nodded.
"And, since we don't actually have any intention of returning the kid, we can sell her into child slavery. There are some old perverts who would love a blonde girl her age. Add the Gate keys, plus the 300,000,000,000 we're tricking Jude Heartfilia into giving us, and the price this pretty young thing will fetch, and we'll be sitting pretty in Swisslanden for the rest of your lives, especially since Swisslanden never let other countries interfere with them." Suddenly, Lucy started tossing and turning, groaning. Burly eyed her suspiciously.
"Hey, I thought you said that she wouldn't wake up unless you wanted her too?" Skinny nodded.
"Yes, I did say that. There's nothing to worry about though. She's probably just dreaming, and from the looks of it, a nightmare. Go put her in the tent. At least it'll make her a little bit quieter. And throw these in there with the brat." He threw the Gate Keys to Burly. "Who knows, maybe they'll calm her down. They were her mother's, although she probably won't realize that." He laughed to himself at the little joke he made. Burly picked up Lucy and carried her into the tent, tossing her to the ground, and tossing the keys next to her, barely touching her free hand. He walked away from the tent and let the flap closed. Lucy, without even waking up, grabbed the keys and stopped groaning, but was still breathing heavily.
A pink haired boy with hazel eyes was trying to skewer fish in a nearby stream. He was getting very frustrated.
"I can't catch a darn thing!" He stopped trying. "Maybe Dad will give me some fire tonight since I can't catch any fish. Yeah, we can just exchange fire!" Suddenly, his nose pricked up. "Wait, I smell fish cooking, and fire! Maybe they'll let me have some of their fire, and their fish! Yeah!" He ran off towards the smell, smiling like an idiot.
As he got closer to the site, he could also smell the people there. But as the smell got stronger, he slowed down, frowning.
"Something doesn't smell right." He sniffed the air. "There's two guys and a girl, but there's something else in the smell." He took several deep, good smells, and his eyes widened in realization of what the weird smell was.
Fear.
Skinny looked at the tent.
"Looks like I was right. Those keys did get her to shut up. The moment we take them away though, she'll probably start whining again." Burly nodded.
"Yeah, I guess so." Then, they both heard rustling in the trees. Skinny stood up and held out his hand to his side, as if ready to cast a magic circle. Burly stood up, ready to give him a pounding.
"Who's there?!" Then, the young boy came out of the woods and into the area that they had made came in.
"What's going on here?" Burly laughed.
"It's just a kid!" Skinny smiled and held his hand out to the kid.
"Hey, what are you doing out here? Are you lost little boy?" He glared at Skinny, looking quickly at the tent before looking back at him, glaring.
"Why is the girl in there so scared?" Skinny was a bit shocked, but then smiled sweetly.
"There's no girl in there." The boy got in a fighting stance.
"Now I know you're bad guys! I can smell her, and I can smell how scared she is! If you're lying about her being here, then you're the ones she's so scared of!" His fists set on fire. "Why is she scared?!" Burly threw several torches at the boy, but before he noticed, he just ate the fire from the torches. Burly stopped throwing them, realizing it.
"You're, you're eating fire?!" The boy nodded, looking confused at his confusion.
"Yeah, I'm a dragon's son. Why wouldn't I?" Burly was freaking out.
"I had heard rumors of dragons in this forest, but I had never believed them! Dragons don't exist!" Skinny nodded.
"That's right. Dragon's don't exist. This kid is clearly delusional. Perhaps we should take him to a mental health institute." The boy seemed offended.
"I'm not crazy! Dad's real! And I'm his son, Natsu Dragneel! And I can prove it! Fire Dragon ROAR!" He roared straight up in the air, and fire erupted like a volcano out of his mouth, straight up into the sky. Burly fell on his ass from the power of it.
"That, that's quite a bit of power you have there!" Skinny laughed as Burly stood up.
"You're not a dragon's son! You're a Dragon Slayer, aren't you? So, how long have you had a Dragon Slayer Lacrima?" Natsu was getting really mad.
"I don't have a Dragon Slayer Macarena! I learned all of my magic from Dad, and he's a dragon! And he's gonna come to prove it!" He got back in a fighting stance. "Until then, I'm gonna beat you guys up for making her so scared, whoever she is! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" With his right fist on fire, he leapt forward, punching Burly in the gut and, though not unconscious, decided not to get up in hopes that Natsu would leave him alone. Said Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, he's really that weak? How is he making someone so scared if he's that weak?" Skinny laughed.
"He's not making her so scared!" Natsu turned around, glaring. "I am! I'm a Mind Magic user, and I can make her happy, sad, angry, scared, I can do whatever I want with her, and what I want to do is use her to get rich! I'm gonna make so much money off of her for selling her alone, not to mention everything else, and you can't do a thing to stop me you little brat!" He laughed. Natsu was even madder.
"You're using her to get rich?! You're awful!" The wind started picking up. "You're the kind of person Dad says are bad, and bad people need to be stopped!" Skinny laughed.
"Like you can stop me. My magic will allow me to mess with your head all I want! You can't do a thing about it!" Natsu smirked, folding his arms over his chest.
"I think I can beat you, but even if I can't, Dad can, because he's a dragon!" The wind started getting violent and fast, until Skinny realized something.
"Are those beating wings?" Natsu smiled, looking up at the sky and shouting, waving his hand in the air.
"HEY DAD! I'M DOWN HERE!" Skinny looked up, and his eyes widened as he saw the powerful red-scaled beast flying above him. Said beast looked very annoyed as it looked and finally found a spot to land, putting his head by Natsu.
"Natsu, why would you call me so late at night?" Natsu pointed at Skinny, who was stuttering about the dragon's appearance.
"He and his buddy didn't believe me that you were real! They also were making a girl scared." He pointed at the tent. "I could smell her fear. They lied about her being here, and then they said they were using her to get rich. Something about selling her, but I don't know what he meant by that." The dragon nodded in understanding, sniffing the air for himself and coming to the same conclusion.
"I see." He turned towards Skinny, but still going to Natsu. "Go and help the girl. I'll deal with things out here." Natsu nodded.
"Okay!" He ran over to the tent, while Skinny stood in horror and fear.
"Um, Mr. Dragon sir, I don't mean to intrude on your business, so I'll just go now!" He tried to run, but the dragon pinched the back of his collar between his claws. He was air running for a few second's before the dragon made them be face to face (or rather, face to snout).
"I can smell your magic on you. You use Mind Magic, and you put that girl to sleep. I know for a fact that Mind Wizards can use spells to put people to sleep for an indefinite amount of time, and I know you used that spell on the young girl in the tent." Skinny was freaking out even more.
"How did you know that?!" The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"I didn't, at least not for certain, but your attitude gave hints towards it. Now I know for certain, and your reaction also tells me that you did put a sleeping spell on her. undo it now, before my son figures out that she's not waking up." Skinny pulled a blue crystal out of his pocket, scared but still thinking.
"To hell with the risks and losses! I'm not risking waking her up when she's gonna use that to turn me in! I'd rather loose the 300,000,000,000 jewel and the Gate keys than that! Teleport Crystal! Base!" In a flash of blue light, he disappeared. Burly, who was still on the ground, realized what his partner did. Not wanting to be interrogated, he stopped pretending to be unconscious and did the same as his partner, also disappearing in a flash of blue light. The dragon's frustration was evident in the smoke coming from his nostrils and the deep rumbling in his throat. Natsu came out, carrying the sleeping blonde on his back. She was still clutching onto the keys and the doll.
"Hey Dad, she's not waking up! I think she's really tired." The dragon sighed.
"One of those two here was a Mind Magic Wizard. A Mind Magic Wizard has the ability to put people to sleep, and not wake up until the spell is lifted. However, unlike most Mind Magic spells, someone else, even those whose main magic is not Mind Magic, can easily lift it. I think I know of someone who can wake her up, but she's rather far away." He lowered his head down so that Natsu could climb up onto his head. Natsu did so, and Igneel took off. "We should be there by daybreak. You can sleep until we get there." He shook his head.
"What if the spell breaks and she wakes up? I wanna be there when it happens, to make sure she's okay. I'll sleep when she's awake." Igneel shook his head.
"The spell won't break on it's own, and the wizard who cast it needs to be within a certain distance to lift it, and he's probably too far away to do it by now, which would be the point. Just sleep. She'll still be sleeping when you wake up. Trust me. I'm Igneel, the dragon who raised you." Natsu nodded.
"Okay, but can I have some fire first? I'm really hungry because I couldn't catch any fish, and I'm not gonna be able to sleep until I have something in my belly." Igneel sighed.
"Only because we're in a hurry to help this girl." He let out a breath of fire, catching it in his talon and holding it up for Natsu to grab and eat. Natsu did such, but made sure that the girl on his back wouldn't fall off. He smiled.
"Your fire is the best Dad!" Igneel chuckled.
"Just make sure you don't let her fall off my back. I can easily catch her, but I'm sure the fall wouldn't be good for her, even though she's asleep." Natsu nodded, bringing her to be in his lap instead of being on his back. He looked intensely at the young blonde girl.
"Hey Dad, can we keep her?" Igneel would've raised an eyebrow had he had any.
"Natsu, she's a person, not a puppy." Natsu nodded.
"I know, but I meant, if she wants to stay with us, can she? She might not have anywhere else to go, so I think it'd be best if she stayed with us. Please?" Igneel considered telling his son the truth, but knowing that it was far too early, just nodded.
"Alright then, but only if she truly had nowhere else to go. But that means that you'll have to protect her always, from any form of harm, since you are the one who wants her to stay." Natsu cheered.
"Alright!" Igneel sighed.
"You're too energetic to sleep now, aren't you?" Natsu nodded, causing Igneel to sigh again. "I guess there's no point in trying to get you to sleep now." Natsu shrugged.
"Well, I'm not tired, but I'm really bored!" Igneel chuckled.
"Well, why don't you try talking to the girl? Most people can hear others in their sleep, and she still seems scared, so maybe your words can calm her down." Natsu smiled.
"That's a great idea!" He looked at the girl. "Hi, I'm Natsu, and the guy we're riding on is Igneel, the Fire Dragon, but I just call him Dad!"
In the Morning
"And that's just about everything I can think of!" Natsu smiled proudly at his story telling. Igneel looked at a house in the woodsea.
"We're almost there. I'm warning you right now, the woman we're visiting doesn't really like people. She'll have no problem with me since I'm a dragon, and no problem with the girl since she's asleep, but, for now, it's best if you just remain silent, or else she'll beat you." Natsu nodded.
"Okay then." An old woman with pink hair and red eyes came out, having noticed the intense winds. She glared at the great fire dragon with her hand over her eyes like a visor.
"The only reason why you would come is if you brought humans! You know how much I hate them!" Igneel nodded, landing in front of her.
"Yes, but I have no idea where Grandeeney is, and not to mention she has a girl of her own. You're the only one who can help." He turned his head around. "Natsu, you can get off with the girl now." Natsu nodded, trying to follow his father's rule of staying silent. He held the blonde girl and jumped off of Igneel's back, holding her, but he couldn't keep from speaking.
"She's under a spell and won't wake up! Can you please help her old lady?" The woman was deeply offended.
"OLD LADY?!" Igneel put his claws in between them so that a fight wouldn't break out.
"Please, excuse the boy's manners. But, he is correct about her. A Mind Wizard put a spell on her and now she won't wake up. Sleeping spells are easily broken, so we were hoping you could help her. Please Porlyusica." Porlyusica looked rather annoyed.
"Fine, but that boy of yours had better be silent while I deal with this! He says even one word, and I stop! Bring her in." Natsu, while wanting to cheer, stayed silent as he carried in the blonde girl. Porlyusica told him where to put her and then to sit down and stay silent while she did some preliminary work. Closing her eyes and holding her hand over the girl's head, her hand glowed a light, sky blue. When the glowing stopped, she lowered her hand, her eyes opening. "So, that's how it is? Looks like I'll need to use my magic rather than my preferred herbs." She crossed her arms in front of her, moving them around as her hands glowed. "Nami kara daro bama. Rachti komo fita bara. Sani endara manati elipusa. Kari nomo katara!" The girl glowed with the same blue as Porlyusica's hands. When the glow faded, she took in a sharp breath before her chocolate brown eyes snapped open. She sat up and looked around, confused, looking half asleep. Natsu jumped up, dancing and cheering.
"Alright! She's awake!" He tried to get really close, but Porlyusica held her hand out to stop him.
"Hold on boy! She's probably a little disoriented at the moment." Porlyusica gently went up to her, leaning next to her and talking gently to her. "Hello there. My name is Porlyusica. Cane you remember yours?" Natsu had an obviously confused expression not only on his face, but in his body language with his tilted head and side slouching frame.
"Can you remember? Why would she forget?" The little girl looked like she was concentrating very hard. She clutched the small doll in her hand tightly.
"I think, I think my name is Lucy." Natsu was even more confused.
"You think?" Porlyusica nodded.
"And can you remember where you lived? Your parents? Your last name?" Lucy shook her head.
"No, I can't." Natsu was confused, while Porlyusica nodded, standing up.
"Well, that's to be expected. You had an Amnesia Spell placed on you, and a horrible one at that. The specific spell takes away your memories of everything, including talking and walking. The fact that you remembered language and, motor skills, and your name in itself is miraculous, which means you must have a good amount of magic in you that combated the spell, but that doll of yours and those keys you have were also probably an anchor for you." Natsu looked confused.
"An anchor?" Porlyusica nodded, still talking to Lucy.
"Yes, they must hold a lot of sentimental value in your heart, and by having them, they helped you resist the spell." Natsu thought about it.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, you never let go of them." Lucy looked at the doll and the keys.
"But what are they?" Porlyusica, who usually would've been extremely mad, seemed to have some sort of extra patience for this young girl.
"That is a doll, and those keys are known as Gate Keys. They summon things that are called Celestial Spirits." Natsu looked confused, in the same position as his earlier confusion.
"Celestial Spirits?" Porlyusica was getting angry. She started beating him with a broom.
"Boy, don't go asking questions! Just fly off with Igneel and leave me in peace!" Natsu had his hands on his head.
"But Dad said Lucy could come with us if she had nowhere else to go! She doesn't have any memory, so that counts, doesn't it?!" Lucy looked confused.
"Go with you? Why would I go with you? And who are you?" Natsu grinned at her.
"I'm Natsu! So bad guys said they were gonna sell you or something, so me and my dad rescued you! He flew us here!" Lucy looked confused.
"Flew?" He nodded.
"Yeah! He's a dragon!" Lucy was amazed.
"A dragon! That's amazing!" He nodded.
"Wanna meet him? He's outside, since he can't come in here cause he's too big." Lucy nodded, trying to get out of the bed, but nearly falling over. Even though he was far away, Natsu's lightning fast reflexes allowed him to catch her before she fell over. "Are you okay?" She nodded.
"Yeah, but I don't know why I can't move my legs." Porlyusica had a sullen look on her face.
"It seems as if you've lost partial motor skills, particularly in your legs for some reason." Natsu put her down on the ground and got in a position where she could climb onto his back using just her hands/arms.
"Here. I'll just carry you. Get on." She did as he told her and got on his back, putting her doll and keys in her pocket first. He smiled. "There! Now we can see Dad!" He ran outside and towards the massive dragon. "Dad, she woke up!" Lucy stood (or rather, sat) in awe of the fearsome beast.
"Wow! He really is a dragon!" Igneel smiled.
"Yes, I am. My name is Igneel, the Fire Dragon." Lucy smiled at the large dragon.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy!" Natsu looked a bit concerned, but happy at the same time.
"Lucy doesn't remember anything. Does that count? Can she come with us?" Porlyusica walked out.
"She had a spell cast on her so that she would lose her memory. Probably a failsafe on the kidnapper's part to prevent her from going home in case something were to happen with the sleeping spell. She's not going to remember her past until whoever cast the spell lifts it." Igneel sighed.
"And that means she has nowhere else to go. I will allow her to come if she wishes to come, but Natsu, since you asked to do this, you must promise to protect Lucy." Natsu smiled.
"I was planning on that anyway!" He looked at Lucy. "Do you wanna come with us?" Lucy looked unsure. She had just met this person, he was certainly strange, and he was asking her to live with him and a dragon. But, she had nowhere else to go, and something inside of her told her it was okay. She smiled at him.
"Yes, I'd love to come with you!" Natsu cheered.
"Alright! Then let's go!"
Song Of Hope: Let me know what you think! I'll explain some stuff in the AN of the next chapter!
