NOTICE: my blurbs at the top and bottom of my chapter do sometimes contain IMPORTANT INFORMATION about the status of my updates and WHY I can't update quickly. Please read them and please do not ask me to "update soon" if they say it may take a while.
Since college has been preventing me from updating in a timely fashion, and since I'm on Spring Break now, I've been cranking out updates for my readers. Perhaps this one should have been attended to first, since it's been waiting the longest of my main stories, but I couldn't help it. My ideas for Perpetual Rain and Blood and Iron were already, for the most part, fully formed and my ideas for this one have been scattered. I know what I want, but as of right now I can't find the notebook where I detailed the events of each chapter…so I've been putting it off a little. I sincerely apologize for your wait, and I have resolved to do my best to adhere to the original plotline from memory.
Without any further ado, I introduce chapter 8 of Fueling the Fire, "Accomplices".
The footsteps outside the cell that Lucy shared with Levy simply passed by, and Lucy was extremely glad that she had taken care to relate her plan to Levy in a low voice. If they had heard her true plan in being captured, she would be doomed to failure, and unless Fairy Tail could find enough evidence on their own, Natsu would be convicted…and executed.
"You said you had others to help you," Levy said, "but I can't imagine Gray and Erza letting you risk yourself like this. Erza would insist that she be the decoy, and both of them would prefer breaking down the front door and waltzing in to infiltrating your way. If that's the case, who in all of Fairy Tail did you get to help you?"
The celestial spirit mage almost laughed at how oblivious she was—of course the only person who would think Lucy's course of action was even remotely plausible would be Gajeel. He'd been in with unsavory characters in the past…though his current attachment to Levy was what had made Lucy seek his assistance in the first place. She knew that he was furious about her capture and that he'd be willing to consider any means of retrieving her…and he was smart enough to realize that getting information while in the enemy's base would help Natsu's case tremendously.
"You'll find out," Lucy grinned and, glancing around to make sure that no one was at the door, gingerly stepped up onto the cot, took a spare hair ribbon from her pocket, and tied it to one of the bars in their low window.
"Lu-chan…" Levy was bordering on impatience.
"Don't worry, Levy," the blonde assured her, "they're more than capable of handling themselves."
Yes, indeed, they were.
"I'm sure they are, because everyone in the guild, aside from me, can handle themselves—"
"You can handle yourself, too," the blonde cut her blue-haired friend off. "The only reason they captured you with little trouble was because we were in the middle of a guild brawl and when that happens, there are no friends among us, unless it's teaming up to take down Erza or someone like that. You were distracted, is all."
A small, shy grin crossed the solid script mage's features, and Lucy was relieved that she could still smile. "Alright, if you say so, Lu-chan. I'll believe it because it's you. And I'll believe that whoever your accomplices are, they can handle themselves."
"Good!" this time the celestial mage grinned. "Now…let's talk about this case we'll have to build for Natsu…"
Those Demon Card bastards had taken off with Bunny Girl so quickly that Gajeel and Pantherlily didn't have any time to hide the evidence of their scuffle. They wouldn't be able to hide her capture from the guild like she had hoped, but surely they wouldn't attack just yet. They had to think that Demon Card was provoking them again, so they would curb their anger.
That's what the iron dragonslayer assumed, at any rate.
It was hard work to sneakily follow the blonde's captors since they were moving quickly through the forest, so after almost losing them twice, Lily picked up his dragonslayer partner and they began weaving through the trees, getting closer and then backing off, idling behind a trunk for a few moments before gliding after the kidnappers again. It was obvious that they knew these woods well, which threw up a red flag for Gajeel. Their base wasn't on the edge of these woods, so what reason would they have to know them so intimately?
And then he got his information.
At the base of a huge oak tree, they stopped so suddenly that it was hard for the two in pursuit to check their pace enough to stay hidden. The man hefted the unconscious blonde more firmly on his shoulders and the woman traced a few runes near the trunk with a light pen. A door then opened, and they ducked inside quickly.
"Did you catch what runes they used?" Gajeel asked Lily in a low voice as the letters began to fade.
"Yes," the dark exceed responded.
"Good. Let's see if we can get inside before that closes, then."
Lily flew forward and dropped Gajeel lightly to the ground, alighting on his shoulder as the dark-haired man slipped forward to peer through the crack in the door. When he was satisfied that no one would see them, he slipped inside. The door finished closing behind them, and they melted into the shadows, following the sound of footsteps ahead of them.
It was lucky that Bunny Girl had chosen these woods for her capture. There was no guarantee that they would have taken her through this same secret passage had she been elsewhere.
And now…her accomplices knew a way in.
Happy tried not to fret too much about Lucy, and tried not to give anything away. It was hard for him, but whenever he wanted to tell someone her plan so they could go save her, he remembered Natsu's scarf. The blonde had trusted him enough to keep it safe while she was gone, and had trusted him enough to keep her going a secret. He couldn't break that trust no matter how worried for her he was.
It was just so hard, when he'd had Natsu ripped away, to have to wait and see what would happen while Lucy was in the hands of those jerks that had framed him.
So as Lisanna fawned over him, comforting him about the loss of the two who were now closest to him and promising that the guild would do everything in its power to get them, and Levy, back…he just did as he wanted to do and snuggled against her. Doing so prevented him from giving away any of what he was sworn to secrecy about, and it also gave him some comfort.
He didn't doubt that they would do everything they could to save the three, but he still feared, deep down, that 'everything they could' would still fall too little too short.
"Did she give you any reason to believe she'd be going out on a job?" Erza's voice came out sharply as she questioned someone else. It was the same question she'd asked at least seven other people concerning Lucy and her behavior in the last few days. "Did anyone see when she left?"
"I-I'm sorry, Erza, I didn't notice anything different!" Laki was under a lot of pressure from the intimidating Titania, and her voice cracked as she answered the redhead's multiple interrogations.
"Did you notice if she left with someone else?"
"Erza," Mirajane's voice came across the room gently, but firmly. "You need to stop scaring everyone. We all know you're worried because all of us are, but if anyone noticed anything don't you think they would have come forward by now?"
The redhead looked straight at the white-haired woman blankly for a few moments, then her face contorted in a pained expression and she turned away, squeezing her eyes tight and gritting her teeth. She could barely keep herself from crying.
Happy watched Erza sorrowfully, in even more turmoil by the pain he could see in her features. Her every action screamed that she was upset, that she was in pain, and that she just wanted to do something about it. He could tell she was distressed, and he could appease her distress by telling her…but he wouldn't. He could tell her but then again he couldn't. The only consolation the blue exceed felt was in thinking that, if Lucy's plan came to fruition, Lily would come talk to Happy sometime in the next couple of days with news that there was a secret entrance, that Lucy's plan was working, and that soon they would be able to save everyone.
He had to hope for that much, at least.
Once Lucy had given what details she could clearly recall for Natsu's case, Levy furrowed her brow and started to ask other questions. If they jogged the blonde's memory, she gave more information, which was often the case, but there were also some questions she didn't know the answer to or couldn't remember the answer. They spent their time like this for several hours, occasionally pausing when footsteps went by. After a while they decided that the guards wouldn't be worried about them discussing Natsu's trial or the trivial evidence they might have had, so they weren't as worried about it being overheard. Nevertheless, they were careful to keep their voices lowered just in case.
"That's a lot of information," Levy observed at length, "but all of it is really simple, and doesn't have much substance. We can form some kind of defense with it, but we'll need something much stronger to be able to save Natsu…"
"Exactly what I had been afraid of," the celestial mage acknowledged, "which, if you remember, is why I came here."
The look on the blue-haired young woman's face made it clear that she did remember, but she would rather not. Lucy knew it must be because this plan had worried her, but the blonde wouldn't falter. This had been the only plan that seemed like it could afford her any success in building Natsu's case, and she was willing to risk everything to make sure he survived, even her own life.
"What kind of information do you think you'll be able to find here?" Levy questioned after another pause, and Lucy felt that it was also asking, why did you let yourself be captured? What made you think it was worth it?
Lucy rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve the stiffness that had set in, as she answered, "Well…firstly, I hoped to learn something of their motive for provoking Fairy Tail and framing one of our own. They have to know that we go to almost any lengths to fight back once we've been threatened. Of all the guilds, the only one that dares to push the Council like us is Demon Card themselves, though so far they've stayed out of the way of the Council's searching eyes. And secondly, I wanted to find the mage with blue fire magic. If at all possible, capturing him would be ideal…but I know I couldn't do that much alone."
Levy seemed astonished that there was more than just finding out their motive, but after a moment her expression softened and Lucy could only assume that her intelligent friend had realized that knowing who the fire mage was would be highly significant to their case against Demon Card.
"It's so dangerous, Lu-chan," the timid mage murmured after a few moments of careful consideration. "How will you even start to get the information you want? They won't give it up that easily, will they? It would take a lot of persuasion, or even some sort of provocation on your part. It's too dangerous!"
"I'll do whatever it takes," Lucy firmly stated, glancing out the window. Night was falling, so the time for Levy to find out who her accomplices were was drawing nearer.
"Don't put yourself in a situation you can't get out of, Lu-chan!" Levy immediately scolded. "We don't have any other help here, so if you get yourself badly hurt because you push them too far, there's no one who'll be able to help you! What do you think Natsu would do, even if we could get him acquitted, if you weren't around?"
"Calm down, Levy," the blonde was aware that the solid script mage's voice had been rising ever-so-slightly in the midst of her protests. "I'm not entirely reckless. I have a plan, and if it goes well then you need not worry about my safety."
"Lu-chan—"
"You were right, Bunny Girl. They've got a secret entrance."
It took a lot for Levy not to cry out in surprise, instead stumbling back a few steps with her hands pressed firmly against her mouth. Lucy started slightly, but since she had been expecting him at any moment, she turned with more composure to face him.
"Gajeel! Did they bring me in through it?"
"Yeah," he glanced over at Levy and Lucy knew by the hardness in his expression that the first things he saw were her scraped up knee and her bruised cheek. "How're you holdin' up, Bookworm?"
"F-fine!" she almost squeaked, her cheeks slightly pink.
"And you, Bunny Girl?"
"I'm fine," Lucy dismissed his question easily, then continued, "and Fairy Tail? Were you able to hide any of the evidence of my capture so they wouldn't worry?"
"There wasn't time. Those bastards carried you off so fast it was hard to keep up without makin' too much noise," his gruff voice betrayed that he was upset about admitting a failing to do something he had been asked, but it was of little importance.
Lucy sighed softly before beginning again. "That's okay. We couldn't hide it from them for long, anyway. You still remember the plan, right?"
The iron dragonslayer nodded, his face mostly in shadow.
"Good. You'd better go then. I don't know if they send patrols around at night or not, so you should be careful. I won't start really prying until the day after tomorrow, so nothing big should happen. You should pop in at the guild for a while so they know you haven't gone missing."
He grunted an affirmative, and she noticed his eyes go to the silent solid script mage again. Worry was evident, but she could also tell he was relieved to see her better than they had all feared. She was able to move with relative ease, and she had only a few minor injuries to be noted. A few moments longer and he pulled his eyes away, mumbled a gruff, "Take care of yourselves," and melted away into the night.
"Gajeel's your accomplice?" Levy found her voice again. "Why didn't you say something sooner? You know I—well, that is…" she turned red at what she had almost blurted out. Her voice had risen again and she lowered it once more. "You know how I feel. Why didn't you say something so I wouldn't be so unprepared?"
"I'm sorry," Lucy apologized, somewhat insincerely, "I just didn't want you to fret unnecessarily before he got here."
She was teasing her blue-haired friend, and in response Levy frowned at her. Lucy knew it probably wasn't the best time to be playing around…but it gave more life to Levy's eyes and she knew it had been a good thing for her.
"We should get some sleep," the blonde suggested after a few moments of silence. "We'll need it in the next few days."
Levy made a noise of assent and both of them settled down for the night in what little comfort they could achieve.
Lucy fell asleep satisfied that the preliminary phases of her plan had gone so smoothly. The only hiccup was that her Fairy Tail nakama would know of her capture before she had wanted them to, but that was a small price to pay for the rest going as smoothly as it had. To even have the fortune of ending up in the same cell with Levy was beyond her original hopes.
I apologize for this being shorter than some previous chapters. I also apologize if it's in any way rushed. I don't feel like it should be, but I could be wrong. At any rate, I hope you enjoyed it!
NOTE: Updates will NOT be very quick for at least a few months. I have too many classes and too much homework at present to have much free time at all, and what free time I have is spent playing Dragon Age because it's fantastic, and I only get a few hours in a week. I do think about my fanfics, and occasionally jot down a few ideas, but I must repeat: UPDATES ARE LIKELY TO BE RATHER SLOW.
Telling me to update soon will not change that, and are likely to just upset me. Please understand.
Thank you so much for reading!