Fire is catching
Chapter 25
Authors Note. Sorry for the late update! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Thank you for more than 250 reviews, this is more than I had ever imagined!
The hot air hits me like a wave and the vicious smell tries to hijack my brain immediately, but I won't let it.
Wendy and I start running as fast as we can, leaving everything behind us and before I even notice it, we already arrived at the top of the stairs. In a crazy speed we tumble down the stairs, each of us almost tripping and falling a few times, but we steady each other and make it downstairs safely.
Just as we enter the tunnel, our hands still locked, I hear the voice of a furious Erza cut though the air: "Who ate my starwberry cake?"
Wendy and I grin at each other and we just can't help it, we burst out laughing, the happy sound echoing inside the tunnel, repeating infinitely and we can't stop. By the time we get out of the tunnel and reenter the main part of the arena we simply drop onto the meadow of flowers being unable to make another step, holding our stomachs because we're laughing so hard.
We did it, we really did it! Two ordinary girls tricked the careers, stole their stuff and got away with it unharmed! Maybe it's just the relief after the immense shock and tension, but I can't stop laughing, this situation is just so ridiculously wonderful and I feel so light, as if I could take off like a colorful balloon any time.
After an amount of time that feels like forever Wendy and I both relax and finally get a grip. Wendy's incredible sense of orientation guides us back to our cave and as I enter the pleasantly cold room it's almost as if I'm coming home.
To celebrate our glorious victory, we eat a meal consisting of meat and even a slightly warm cookie, it's the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. I try to take small bites and chow slowly, because if I wouldn't, I'd just stuff it all in my mouth at once. The cookie crumbs are so crunchy and sweet, tasting them puts me in a joyful trance.
Neither of us wants to talk or think about how incredibly lucky we were, how this could've turned out a lot worse. What would've happened if there was no second exit? Or if we wouldn't have heard the careers coming closer? I don't even want to know. Right now, I'm just enjoying the moment, the warm happiness that's bubbling up inside of me. Seeing Wendy smile, cheeks flushed with a healthy, rosy glow,eating a real meal and talking enthusiastically about our great success makes it totally worth it.
The wave of exhaustion hits her about an hour later and she falls asleep on my lap. Not minding the weight of her head on my legs, I leave her there, wishing I could've spend time with Wendy not being in an arena full of people that want to kill us. She's just like the little sister I always wanted.
Not being able to sleep because I'm still too excited, my heart is still beating too fast, my thoughts wander off to the book in my pocket. Careful not to disturb Wendy, I fetch it out of my skirt pocket and run my fingers over the old, slightly yellow paper. I take in the smell of ink and paper that immediately puts me in a good mood. Looking at the table of content I find classics like Snowwhite, The Beauty and the Beast orRapunzel. Thanks to my mother I know a lot of fairy tales and they are my secret passion, so I'm quite surprised as I find one that I don't know. It's called The dragon princess. Flipping to page 56 I start reading, feeling a warm glow inside of my stomach.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful young princess living in the kingdom of Fiore.
Fiore? My eyes are fixed on that word. Why does it sound so awfully familiar? The sound of it sends shivers down my body and fills me with a pleasant warmth. It feels as if there are thousands of memories connected to that place, but I'm pretty sure I've never heard of a location like that. It's fictional, made up, not real and it means flower in Italian, but that shouldn't make me feel as if I came from there. Nevermind. Shaking of that strange feeling I continue reading.
The princess lived in a huge white castle with countless towers together with her parents, the kind queen and the wise king. They were really loving parents and did everything they could in order to educate their daughter, so that she could once marry a handsome prince and rule the country with him. The king and queen were good rulers and they cared a lot about their people, making sure that everybody had enough food and granted the citizen of Fiore a happy life. Everybody was satisfied, everybody except Lucia, the princess. In order to grant her safety she wasn't allowed to leave the secure walls of the castle, although it was her biggest wish to go outside and explore the world. She knew that her life was perfect and million girls would give up everything, just in order to be a princess for one day. But Lucia didn't want to be lectured about tea ceremonies and manners and she didn't want to wear pretty and expensive gowns, all she wanted was to experience a real adventure. She hated the fact that she didn't have any friends her age or that she spent her days inside listening to the lectures of the best private teachers of the country or that she already knew who she was going to marry: Prince Dan Straight, a handsome knight in shining armor. And again, almost every girl would've killed just to give him a kiss, but although Lucia had never met him, she hated that guy already. She wanted to decide whom she was going to marry! Maybe she didn't even want to marry at all and rule the kingdom on her own?
But Lucia did everything she was told, squeezed herself into tight dresses, attended her private lessons every day, studied the art of good behavior and she knew that she was going to marry Dan Straight. Why? Because she knew that it made her parents happy and proud, and her family was the one thing she treasured more than her dream of freedom. So Lucia simply accepted her lifestyle, until one fateful night.
Lucia was lying in her bed, staring out of the window at the starry sky. She felt a deep longing inside of her, the night was calling her name and she simply couldn't stand it anymore, she had to get out. So she sneaked to her wardrobe and put on the only pants she owned. They were made of brown leather and fit her perfectly. She dressed herself in a white blouse made out of a flowy material and wrapped herself into a green cloak that would keep her warm in the cold night. She attached a rope outside of her window and slid down into the outside world, it was as easy as that.
The air was deliciously fresh and cold and she breathed it in deeply. The stars were twinkling above her head and a soft breeze played with her long blonde hair. She felt the wet grass under her bare feet as she took her boots of and ran through the grass. As a princess, she wasn't supposed to be running, she was only allowed to walk slowly and gracefully, but there was nobody to criticize her now, she was free! Lucia ran and jumped and screamed and squeaked, she had never felt so alive. She didn't plan to run away though, she only wanted to enjoy a few hours of liberty before getting back into the castle and living her normal princess life again. Little did she know.
Wandering through the night Lucia found a nice meadow and lied down. Observing the stars, feeling the soft grass tickling her skin and breathing in the cold air, Lucia felt insanely happy. Her eyes fixed on an especially bright star that glowed yellow reddish, she'd never seen it before, but then again, this was a night of firsts. It took her some time to realize that the 'star' was getting closer and closer to her, growing in size. As it turned out, the star wasn't a star at all, but a reptile like creature that looked like it was on fire. Flames surrounded his gigantic scaled body as it flew through the night sky until it hovered directly in front of her. It stood on the ground, revealing its true size. The creature was at least as high as a big house and was covered in red scales. At the end of his legs and arms were dangerously sharp looking scales and it had two huge red leathery wings. His eyes were a dark onyx color which reflected the dazzling flames at it let out a roar as loud as thunder: it was a Fire Dragon!
Lucia couldn't believe what she saw, of course she had read in books how dragons captured pretty princesses and kept them locked up in a secret tower until they were saved by a heroic prince, but she wouldn't have thought that this would ever happen to her. She started screaming as the dragon reached out with his claw and scooped her off the ground. He was hot, the flames licking at her clothes, but she didn't burn. She kept screaming and screaming until her throat was sore. The lights went on in the castle and she heard shouting voices, giving orders. She could see a lot of people running around, guards heading out to save her, but it was too late. The Fire Dragon flapped his enormous wings and took off, leaving the ground below them.
Lucia's eyes widened as the castle grew smaller and smaller underneath her feet and the people started to look like small toy figures. Her feet dangled in the air, her weight only hold by the strong grasp of the dragon's claws.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she started to shiver from the unbearable cold up there as she and the dragon flew through the night sky.
This was the last time the princess was seen.
Authors Note: Haha I hope you don't mind me including this fairy tale in the story. I just had this idea and I really wanted to write it down, so I hope you enjoy it as well. Let me know what you think about it.
Natsu: What the hell is this, Author? I thought this was a hunger games and fairy tail story, with blood and killing and drama, not some bedtime story fairy tale!
Author: Pffft, shut up, will you? This is a story within a story, it's genius!
Natsu: Yeah, sure. You know that you're not the first one to do something like this. It's O-L-D!
Author: What?! Yeah…of course…I knew..it's not like I thought that this was my idea and I was so proud of it and thought I just made the world a better place by inventing this and I already claimed the Nobel prize for literature or something…that would be ridiculous, right? *hysterical laughter*
Natsu: You're one hell of a stupid weirdo.
*silence*
Natsu: Author?
*silence*
Natsu: Hey Author, what happened to your dumb answers?
Authors: SHUT UP I'M DROWNING IN MY MISERY! *goes back to emo corner*
Natsu: She definitely needs help.