Chapter 9
It's been about two days since the start of school and now, it's the weekend. It didn't really matter though. Everyday is the weekend now. My tutor only comes in once every week on Mondays. Virgo, Michelle and Loke are helping clean out my apartment back in Magnolia. Daddy says I can't be anywhere near there. Everyday's been boring. Nothing to do but lay around 1 hour everyday before I start my morning routine; ballet class, kendo class, mixed martial arts, literature, business, fencing, etc.. Daddy was never at home. Only on occasion would he be able to stay at least one night in this house.
But I don't complain. I don't want to be anywhere near him. He's a bastard. I never liked him and I never will. The only good thing that happened this week was hiring the previous Fiore High's PE teacher, Aquarious. Daddy says that she had to at least work for us for 10 years so she won't be evicted from her home back in Magnolia. That's what she gets for ratting me out. But lucky for her, she found love with our gardener, Scorpio, who has an amazing talent with Japanese Gardens.
Saturday. Michelle offered to come and play with her in the Daisy County's State Fair, but I turned it down. I felt like shit. Come to think of it, I always felt like shit. I never really felt OK. I always stayed curled up in my blanket, in my behemoth room in a behemoth castle in a behemoth estate in a behemoth Heartfilia property. I read Dear Anjali; I hate that you're dead countless times while listening to soap operas. I was always sleepy yet I can never bring myself to fall asleep. I was always alone. It was always quiet, aside from the high notes blasting from my ham radio. And when it was quiet and alone, I would always think. And when I would think, I would find myself falling off a fourth floor balcony.
Today, I broke my legs. Both of them. And my right arm. I never really stopped to think about why that is. I didn't feel a thing when I hit the ground; probably because I was overdosed with pain killers. But despite my disability to walk and to hold anything with expertise, I awake again to a right arm gushing with blood and a left clutching a kitchen knife. Now how can that be?
The princess... has tried committing suicide 5 times in a span of 3 days. She broke her right leg on the day her father slapped her across the face. She broke her right arm the same day, making a swan dive 5 meters above the empty pool. She broke her left leg jumping off her balcony and she gradually broke her sanity as the days passed. We called a doctor, and when we came into her room, she was passed out on her bed, her right arm cut the length. It... It was a horrible sight.
I haven't seen her for years and I come back to an empty shell wanting someone to finally notice and understand. But no matter how hard I try- no matter how hard we tried, there was no way we would feel what she feels. She's an undestructable piece of work, can only be destroyed by herself.
Today, Sunday, she was taken to a high end therapist. The best in the country. He talked with her for hours and hours and only managed to get one intelligable sentence; We're all gonna' die one way or another. Might as well die by my own hands than yours or time.
It made sense to me, though the therapist says so otherwise. He doesn't agree with that type of logic and it makes me wonder why he even chose this job. They're supposed to make you understand that what you're doing isn't an act that benefits anyone and everyone, but all he's doing is attempting to dig everything out of the little doll and trying to fix it- no that's not how it works! Only she can fix herself and the credit goes to anyone who can make her realize it. He just doesn't get it...
But the doctor also says that she has a severe case of absent-mindedness, coming into effect whenever she feels suicidal. She constantly forgets what's she's doing, almost like she's unconscious when she's really awake. That explains why she looked so clueless when she woke up in the middle of stitching her arm. She's taking countless pills each and everyday and I become baffled whenever I lay eyes on her wasted vessel; was this really the girl who lived with Levy and the other, alone in her own room for six straight months. This was the girl that had somehow enchanted Natsu Dragneel into sulking for the rest of the week due to her lack of presence. Of course, I was forbaded to tell anyone why she wasn't there or who she really was but it was pretty obvious that freedom is what she needs.
Explaining this to the doctor and the therapist proved to be useless though, when they threw me out saying I was a mad man, imagine she would've already killed herself if that were to happen they said. Stupid. But this isn't just on Lucy.
Natsu was also in a bad situation. He was love sick, or so I say so. His father and the others gave up on the theory that he actually fell in love. But he's been out of it since the day after our fight.
"OI! Lobster!", Gray screamed from down the hall. Michelle, with her wavy, dirty blonde locks flying behind her, turned her head back. The half naked teenager ran towards her, skidding to a stop just inches away.
"Yes?", she smiled kindly, despite his rudeness to her best friend the week before.
"Where's Lucy?", he demanded.
"Pardon?", her fine eyebrows crunched atop her head.
"I asked you-. okay, where's Lucy?", he breathed, trying not to get impatient.
"And why exactly should I tell you?"
"Because I'm asking nicely.", he bowed sarcastically. When he saw Michelle staring blankly at him, he sighed at himself before continuing. "Natsu- you know him, of course you know him. Well, he's not okay right now and I'm pretty sure it's because of her.. happy?"
Michelle smiled mischieviously. "I don't suppose he's uh-.. Love sick for the girl?"
Gray groaned. "Yes, yes, I know. The Great Natsu Dragneel had fallen for someone and that someone isn't the easiest person to get. So I need your help-"
"No, why don't you ask Loke?", she concluded, turning to walk away.
"Oh, you know damn well Loke's not gonna' help us.", Gray grabbed her arm. "We... we did something horrible. We thought that Natsu was just on one of his phases, we thought he was gonna' get it over with, just like his other play toys. So we brought him down, we critisized him and we were against him playing with Lucy's heart."
Michelle stared at him, waiting to hear more of an explanation.
"But for the past few days, he's been blank. Nothing inside, almost like he's depressed or something.", he sighed. Michelle's eyes squinted at the sound of the word 'depressed'; she knows full well what that means and the pink hair bastard is not depressed.
"He's love sick...?", Michelle suggested. Gray closed his eyes and nodded, ashamed but worried that his team captain is love sick.
"And it's hurting the team good, too. He hasn't made a score in an easy-ass game."
"So are you worried about Natsu, the team or Lucy?"
"Okay, I'm worried about Natsu and the team, you're worried about Lucy, I hope we can make some-"
"Lucy's problem has nothing to do with this. But, since I'm sorry that she has something to do with your problem, I'll help on her behalf.", she slowly explained.
"So, you're gonna' help us?"
"Out of pity.", she responded, earning a groan from the stripper, who's pants had misteriously disappeared.
"Okay, so where's Lucy? I need to talk to her-"
"N-NO!", Michelle protested, stepping back. "I uh.. L-Lucy's-"
"Yea, she hasn't been in school for a few days, what's up with that?"
"Um... she hasn't been well, right now.", Michelle hesitantly laugh before saying in a very small voice and running away. "I don't think she'll be back, better if your friend forgets about her, sorry, I don't think I can help- ooh! I think I hear my... my..- something, I-I should go now, sorry! Bye!"
Gray stared at the mustard wave of hair flowing behind the flustered, escaping girl. Now he was suspicous. Something was up with Lucy and if no-Lucy, then no-Natsu getting better and that's it for the winning streak of their team.
Michelle rang the doorbell to the Heartfilia estate. Her retro orange, volkswagen beetle parked on a circle of bricks surrounding a marble fountain. She stood on the marble porch for 10 seconds before Virgo, Lucy's trusty maid opened up the door, her white apron stained with blood, her blank face hid wretched agony and horror.
Michelle's eyes widened, realizing the seriousness of the situation; again. She pushed the frozen maid out of the way and rushed to Lucy's bedroom, knowing damn well that that was where the commotion was. She slammed open the slightly open door and looked down at the puddle of blood surrounding her white all stars.
Her breath caught in her throat, afraid to look up. She heard Virgo walk up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She heard someone in the room as she watched the red liquid soaking into the white fabric of her shoes.
"M-Michelle..?", a weak, rusty voice echoed in the dead silent. The mustard-haired girl clenched her fists, taking her eyes off the floor. She cautiously layed eyes on a messy pile of blonde threads sitting atop of a lifeless body on the floor. Blood... sick, thick gore covered the area around it. Loke, her best friend, stared at her in disbelief.
"M-Michelle..! What are you doing here- you shouldn't be here!", he growled. His once neat appearance of black tuxedos and maturity, was now a bloody, damp vessel of childish terror.
"Loke, she's my friend too-"
"Not right now, Michelle.", he stated quite roughly. "L-Lucy's... Lucy's sick right now-"
"And you don't think I know that?!", she argued, stomping on the ground, resulting drops of blood to splatter onto the carpet more. "L-Loke, I want to help! I-Is she okay...?"
Loke, having given up, watched as his lady friend approached Lucy's body closer and closer, then kneeling down onto the red pool just to bury her face into her hands and weep. He felt bad, not because of how much pain she and everybody else was going through, but because there was nothing they can do. Only decisions were made by her father and most of the time it affected her harder than it should have.
"I-I don't understand...", Michelle cried. "Just a week ago, she was okay... she was fine and she was with us! She was normal... what happened.. what happened, Lucy-chin.. what happened..."
Loke placed a hand on her salon hair, ruffling it lightly.
"Loke...! What happened..", she demanded in her weak voice. The boy closed her eyes, sighing. He had just stitched and bandaged up the blonde's arms, halting the blood from leaving her body completely. He wasn't allowed to move her, touch her in any way, or the bleeding might start again and they were now, currently waiting for the family doctor to come, again. He was on edge; everybody was.
"Her father had... Mr. Jude had cut off her communication to the outside world completely. The reason you and me are here is because Virgo let us and because he's away on a business trip."
"I.. I surely thought she was fine...", Michelle took Loke's hand in hers and squeezed it.
Now it was Virgo's turn to speak up, "Her depression had gotten better over the years. She had just stopped taking meds before she moved out... but a few days ago... I guess.. I guess her father had beaten it back into her system.."
"Beaten?!", Loke yelled, clenching his fists. "That-! That son of a bitch!"
"There's nothing we can do..", she whispered under her breath.
"We have to try-!"
"What makes you think we haven't.", Virgo explained calmly. "We've tried everything we had the power to.. but compared to a man owning a company making billions annually, we're just ants messing with the boots. We're just servants working for him, I'll have you know."
"Maybe..", Michelle muttered. "Maybe you shouldn't fight back as servants... he may be a billionaire, but he's still human. You're human. Maybe.. you should fight as humans protecting their friend.."
Virgo's eyes widened, realization hitting her like a brick. She quickly rushed out of the room, leaving the two behind with Lucy's carcass.
Yea, yea I know. Too dramatic.. ? Eh, I kinda' got caught up with context high, too much drama and sadness results in more drama and sadness. It gets better, I tell you.
-The Author
I do not own Fairy Tail, as much as I would like to.