"Lucy. Lucy wake up."
"Mm hmm..." The said girl slowly got up. "Yeah?"
"We're here." Loke told the half awake girl gently.
Smiling in appreciation, the girl looked out of the window. They had finally reached a town at the edge of Iceberg that connected them to Bosco, and as the name suggests, the place was covered in pure white
"Snow..."
"Well, it is that time of the year too." Loke pointed out.
"Yeah... Well, let's get going."
As the duo got off the train, Loke began flickering and the two looked at each other, understanding what this meant.
"You should go back for now." Lucy told the boy.
"But-"
"I'll be fine, I'll call the others if I get into any trouble." She reassured.
"Okay..." And with a glow, Loke disappeared.
Okay... looks like it's just me now...
Lucy looked around the train station and found it hard to not smile. Despite having Christmas weeks away, the town had already entered the festive cheers. Children ran around happily playing tag while their parent either tried to keep them in check or watched them with loving eyes. Inevitably, both the fond and bitter memories of her Christmases came back to her, making her unsure of whether she should cry or smile. Deciding to go with the latter, she slowly made her way to the nearest inn.
"Stop right there." A man called out to her.
Pausing to look around, she realised the man was talking to her.
"Me?"
"No, the idiot in the reindeer costume." The man bit back sarcastically.
Frowning, she asked, "What?"
"Is your name Lucy Heartfilia?"
"That depends on who you are."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Lucy was starting to dislike this man more and more.
"Who are you?!"
"The name's Joel." The man finally introduced himself, putting out an uncharacteristic hand to shake.
Lucy slowly reached out, unsure of what to do. But, before she could even take his hand, the man pulled it back.
"Too slow."
And cue Lucy's frustrated groan.
"What is it with you? What do you want from me?"
"Well, I can tell you. But you've got to promise me something."
"No guarantees."
Scoffing, the man walked closer to the girl and jabbed her in her neck, knocking her out. Again.
"What are you guy's doing?! Why aren't we going after Lucy?" Natsu began struggling ferociously against the binds that tied him down.
"Because we have no leads!" Master told him for the umpteenth time.
"I can track her!" Natsu argued.
"And then what?"
Natsu froze for a bit. It was no secret that Natsu's thinking skills are nil.
"We can't just waltz around like we usually do. These people, whoever they are, are dangerous. They are obviously very well planned and prepared. No evidence, no trace. For all we know, they most likely have Lucy as a hostage right now. We can't act rashly."
Natsu just sat there, slowly absorbing in what the Master said. Sighing, Master walked up to the boy and patted his shoulder.
"If you really do care about her, then wait. It's the least we could do right now."
"Alone my dear?" The inn keeper asked.
"Yes... and... do you have any winter props?" Lucy asked sheepishly.
Although Lucy did have winter clothes, a certain someone's note had convinced her to get more proper traveling clothes.
Taking out a room key, the lady replied, "All that we have are in the shop to the right."
Smiling thankfully, she paid the lady and slowly made her way to the shop, hand rubbing her neck from the spot the man jabbed.
30 Minutes Before...
"Urg..."
Lucy was getting tired of getting knocked out and waking with a throbbing headache. When she realised she was in an alley way and recalled what happened, she immediately reached for her keys only to panic when she couldn't find it.
"Don't worry, your keys are with me." The man spoke.
"And how exactly does that make me not worry?" Lucy questioned in spite.
"Well, I couldn't risk you going berserk in the middle of the streets and also needed someway to explain who I am without you, well, panicking."
"So you decided knocking me out the same way you did back at the warehouse would help simplify things? Swell." Lucy ended sarcastically.
Before the man could say anything, Lucy spoke up first.
"What do you want." A strong dislike in her voice.
"Well, your background for one."
Lucy glared at the man in disbelief.
"And why should I tell you?"
The man said nothing but dangled the keys in front of her face. Lucy immediately reached out to grab them but the man pulled them back.
"What the hell does the Kyle want with you?"
"Who the hell's Kyle?" Lucy questioned back.
Sighing in impatience, the man replied, "The man who had beaten you up. Don't tell me you don't know him."
Wrecking her brain for any data on that name, Lucy came back with the same answer, "Look, I seriously don't know who on Earthland is that guy nor what does he want from me."
Joel frowned and stared at Lucy intently.
"I'm serious!"
Sighing, the man dropped his gaze.
"I know." Pausing for a bit, Joel sat down on the alleyway too, head seeming to be deep in thought.
After awhile, Lucy realised a rather disturbing fact and decided to voice it out.
"Why didn't you tie me up?"
Frankly speaking, ever since the incident with 'Kyle' Lucy had a certain phobia for ropes and any binding devices. Bludgeons included.
"Well, I've got your keys and stella spirt mages never leave their keys in the hands of another, no?"
Lucy frowned. He got her alright.
"But what if I cared for my life more?"
"You wouldn't."
Lucy was a little baffled by this man's confidence and didn't know whether she should be flattered or annoyed. Shifting her gaze to the man's slightly exposed collar bone, Lucy was able to fit the pieces together better.
"You! That mark! You're one of the Anonymous!"
Joel only raised an unimpressed brow.
"Then I should be asking you why on God's Earthland did you guys kidnap me!"
"I don't know okay! We take the jobs and we complete them. No questions asked!" The man snapped.
Equally frustrated, Lucy countered, "Then why are you asking now?!"
"Because things are getting too out of hand!" The man shouted back.
Both parties decided to stop and and catch their breaths for awhile.
"Urg..." The man rested his head on the wall in an attempt to calm down. "Well, at this rate, the Anonymous is gonna be destroyed sooner or later."
And being her compassionate self, Lucy couldn't help but try to understand the man, even if the man was a really, really, really, annoying man.
"What happened?"
The man stared at her for a bit before a smug smile reached his ear and made Lucy regret ever asking.
"Getting soft are you?"
"Urg..." Lucy grimaced.
Getting up, the man offered a helping hand, to which Lucy reached for but was once again pulled away from her before she could take it. Tired of the man's ungentlemanly ethics, Lucy could only manage out simple sigh. But what happened next took her by surprise. He gave her back her Keys.
"Wha-?"
"If you really do want to know more, meet me at the train station at 6 in the morning tomorrow."
"What?! So early? But I-"
And the man disappeared without a sound or sign. Just... gone. Lucy rubbed her eyes and took a double take. When she finally recovered, she opened her key pouch to find a note inside.
P.s. Your attire SUCKS are you on a vacation despite having a massive target sign on your forehead?! Get properly equipped, like proper traveling gear! Preferably white.
That, for obvious reasons, ticked Lucy off and she screamed to no one in particular, hoping that the man caught it from where ever he was.
"YEAH WELL... YOUR LANGUAGE SUCKS!"
A few passer bys who caught her yelling gave her odd glares, causing her to retreat into the darkness of the alley in embarrassment.
Sifting through the racks of the shop, Lucy picked out a white winter track pants and white winter coat that had a furry collar. And the fact that she looked more puffed up made her convert from beautiful to cute. Not quite her character but she'll have to stick with it for now.
"She's awake!" Wendy exclaimed as Lucy's landlady slowly opened her eyes.
Natsu's head immediately shot up and yelled, "Lemme see her! Lemme talk to her!"
Master shot him a pitiful look before stopping him.
"You might not be the best person for the job."
"But-"
"Natsu. Patience."
"I hate this whole being patient thing..." Natsu grumbled under his breath.
"M'am? Are you okay?" Erza asked the currently frail woman.
"W-water."
On cue, Wendy brought over a cup of water to Erza and Erza helped lifted the woman up before feeding her the glass of water.
"What happened M'am?" Erza asked gently, voice laced with worry, contrast to her usual firm tone.
"T-two men."
"Yes? Erza pressed in anticipation.
"T-they came in and asked for one of my tenant's whereabouts."
Erza and Wendy shot each other a knowing glance before asking the landlady their next question.
"By tenant do you mean Lucy?"
The landlady shot them a shocked look before nodding.
"Y-yes. They asked perfectly normally, but as soon as they left, my office exploded and the whole building caved in!" By the end of her sentence, the landlady had already curled into a ball to protect herself.
Nodding towards Wendy, Erza took her leave, leaving the landlady in her care as she shared the newly obtained information to the rest of the guild. However, as soon as Erza left, the landlady grabbed Wendy's hand and continued.
"B-but just as the building caved in, a blue sphere seemed to have encompassed me! It protected me from most of the rubble. Most, but not all..."
Giving the landlady a reassured smile, Wendy instructed the injured woman.
"M'am, I understand. Now, please rest."
Settling the woman back into the bed, Wendy took her leave.
"How is she?" Romeo asks her the moment she left the room.
"Fine. She showed some signs of trauma but it wasn't very severe, so she'll recover soon enough." Wendy's voice was filled with relief.
Smiling, Romeo made a harmless comment that made the girl blush.
"You're really kind."
"Drake, where are we going?" Kate asked quietly, half hoping the brute heard her and half hoping he didn't.
"Back to the guild. Back to Iceberg."
A/N: Okay, slightly longer chapter than before and I still couldn't snuff out their motives. Ah well, till next time =) And I just realised it's supposed to be landlady, not landlord... I'll make the changes now... Review! ^^