Hey guys, here's chapter 2! Thank you so much for the follows, favorites and reviews :) Seriously, seeing those in my inbox really makes me happy.
A special thanks to dragfillia, who was able to tell me the story behind the picture. Apparently it's a parody for the anime Amnesia. I had no idea it actually had a back story of sorts. If anyone finds out the original artist, I'd like to know!
Disclaimer: I regrettably do not own Fairy Tail. Nor do I own any bacon at the moment. It's quite a tragedy, really.
Lucy could feel the warm sun on her face as the rays of light filtered through her apartment window when she began to stir from her slumber. The sound of soft breathing and rustling sheets filled the air. It was surprisingly a quiet morning; usually the screaming arguments between the old elderly couple that owned the apartment complex she lived in could be heard day in and day out. Now nothing was stopping her from getting out of her warm bed, she could sleep in as long as she wan-
"LUCY PICK UP. LUCY PICK UP. LUCY PICK UP," her phone screeched at her. The blonde winced at the horrible ring tone her friends set for her phone. With the wedding being so close, they had to make sure that she was actually going to pick up her cell instead of losing herself in her literature and forgetting about the world. She groaned, risking her arm to the cold of her apartment for a few seconds to grab the annoying device from her nightstand.
"Hello?" She slurred, her tongue still thick from sleep. On the other end she heard about five different voices trying to talk to her at the same time. They were blending together to make a strange, strangled roar. Lucy imagined that the roar belonged to a giant beast, one that hasn't been seen by the human eye for hundreds of years...and was somehow able to use a cell phone. She sighed mentally. Technology always seemed to ruin her delusions when they were getting fun.
"Lucy, are you there?" The roar stopped. Juvia had finally reigned in the other girls, her stress filled tone filling Lucy's eardrums. Perking up, Lucy grunted as a response, words still not possible. She looked over to see the time to be 7 am. Ugh, so early. This hour should kill itself. Huh, time stopping via suicide. That could be-
"LUCY HEARTFILIA!" Her friend Erza screamed into the phone when the party noticed the line was more silent than appropriate. The girl snapped herself out of her thoughts and turned her attention back to the phone call.
"Yeah?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes. There was no helping it now- sleep was about as far away as the moon at this point. There was a collective sigh on the other end of the call, but at this point in their long friendship her friends were way to used to her antics. A slight wrestling of the phone and Juvia was victorious in getting back to the point at hand.
"Do you know what tonight is?" Her friend asked excitedly. Lucy had the answer in mind, but as she gazed out the window she decided to have a fun conversation before her friends decided to whip out their inner therapists. The sun was so beautiful this morning, no need to ruin it with their questions, though she knew they all meant well and loved them dearly.
"National Bacon Day?" She quipped. At the thought of the wonderful (and fattening, but who cares? Bacon is a beautiful blessing that was bestowed upon this earth from the Bacon Gods) treat, she started to drool. Might as well get up now instead of sulking because she couldn't get back to sleep. There was yet another sigh on the end of the line as her friends realized what she was doing.
"No, Lucy, there is sadly no bacon involved," Lucy could practically hear the eye roll at the end of the statement, but the giggle gave away her friend's amusement, "Since this conversation will only make Juvia hungry for food, she will just say it: IT'S THE BEST BACHOLORETTE PARTY EVER!" Lucy held the phone away from her ear as the echoed screams from the girls threatened to rupture her eardrums. She set the phone on the table and started to rummage through her fridge. Hmm, where did she put that last package of bacon?
"Lucy, you know we love you, and it would really make Juvia happy if you came tonight!" She pleaded, making Lucy pause in her search through her fridge. She stared at the bright yellow walls of her small kitchenette, fighting with herself, but resumed with the search for her breakfast. "Please Lucy, it'll be really fun! So, what do you say?" There were echoes to her question in the background. Probably Bisca, Levy, Erza, Juvia and Mira were scrunched around the phone awaiting her reply.
Lucy wanted to make her friends happy, but she really didn't think she was ready to be around that many people, not in the place she assumed their group was going to go to. No, she wasn't comfortable at all. In fact, she was about to tell her friends this exactly when at that moment she spotted the prize she was searching so valiantly for. "YES!" She whooped, holding the package of bacon in the air like a trophy. It was silent for a moment before both parties digested what just happened: Lucy realized her mistake, and the girls thought that their friend just said yes.
"Really? THANK YOU SO MUCH LUCY JUVIA LOVES YOU WITH ALL HER HEART!" Juvia screeched into the phone with joy. Lucy's eyes widened and she tried to deny her friends that just happened. They weren't listening to her at all; the excitement was way too much and it was starting to effect Lucy as well. "Listen, we'll pick you up at 9, okay? Just get dressed in that dress you bought last time we went shopping," Lucy scrunched her nose in distaste at the thought of that thing, "and be ready to party! Talk to you later. Love ya!" The final click of the phone sounded like the click of a gun. Lucy slowly raised two fingers to her temple and fired, falling back into one of her beat up chairs.
"Oh, what have I done?" She groaned, letting her head fall so her forehead slammed onto the table. She continued to hit her forehead on the slightly splintery tabletop until a burning smell reached her nostrils. "NO! NOT THE BACON!" She screamed in horror, running to the frying pan and ripping it off the stove top. Dejectedly, she stared at the charcoal that was supposed to be her delicious breakfast. She sighed as she opened her trash and dumped the remains into the trash. This was like an omen of what was about to come. Of course, her mother would always say to her that a bad omen was always a good thing in disguise, so maybe her bacon was sacrificed so her night won't make her want to kill herself. Oh, that's a cool story idea. A hero sacrificed his bacon... Lucy ran to her desk and took out her mighty quill and notebook. Words seemed to pour out of her and soon she was lost in a world of adventure and misfortune and bacon warriors.
Lucy liked this world. Here it was safe from the painful emotions her normal life seemed to love to bring her way. Nothing could hurt her here. Not even those men could touch her. Really, who could blame her for wanting to stay there forever?
"Natsu, get up!" Someone was violently shaking him awake. Natsu cracked open an eyelid, squinting against the sunlight that was streaming in through his small window. The mystery person was just a large blob in his sight, not taking any shape. However, judging from the fact that it mostly consisted of pale skin and a dash of black, Natsu could guess only one person.
"Go die, Gray," he hissed sacrificing one of his pillows to throw at the icebrick's head. He heard the whoosh in the air that told him Gray was able to avoid the attack. The pillow was thrown back to him with much more force, making Natsu groan in pain. "Go put some clothes on before fighting me!"
"Natsu, what are you talking ab- WHAT THE HELL?!" Gray looked down to find himself almost naked once again. Ever since the boys started working at the House, his stripping habit grew even worse then it already was.
"C'mon, we gotta go soon!" Gajeel yelled as he burst into the room. Natsu wondered for a moment as to why he agreed to share an apartment with these horrible people. Oh, yeah, they were all dirt poor and no one would let them get a good job! Funny how life plays out, huh?
"What is so important that it requires me to get up?" Natsu groaned. The two boys looked at each other, both repressing the urge to face palm, and instead chose to summon Elfman, who had agreed to stop by today. The muscled man walked in and threw Natsu over his shoulder. Gray and Gajeel rushed past them and started grabbing their stuff. Natsu was still dazed and confused, especially since the time read 11am. They usually never had to go in before 6 or 7 pm.
"God Natsu, you're so slow," Gray groaned. Gajeel threw Natsu his heart uniform, including yet another brand new t-shirt since he used the burn trick again.
"We have three private group entertainments today," Jellal popped out of nowhere to explain. Natsu couldn't suppress the high pitched squeak of fear that escaped his mouth, and he fell over with his shirt still stuck over his arms. He heard similar reactions from the other three boys, though they were much more controlled. "Sorry, guys. Your door was open," He shrugged and ignored the glares shot his way. The boys used to be able to take their friend's ninja moves in stride when he lived with them. About a year ago, Jellal met a some girl named Erza and moved out of the small apartment. He never did bring her to the house to show her to them, but the boys understood he wanted to keep as much of his life a secret as possible for now. The girl never knew that he was living with friends in the first place. Elfman, though he visits so often he practically lives there, lives with his two sisters in a house twenty minutes away.
"Ugh, great. More women- wait, they're all women right?" Gray and Gajeel nodded their heads, "More women throwing money at us so they can play out a fantasy before they get married," Natsu almost hanged himself when he scoffed while tightening one of his chokers. The other boys nodded in agreement.
"Actually, Natsu, I'm pretty sure one of them is for a recently made single woman," Jellal chuckled at Natsu's hardly suppressed groan. The boy shot him another death glare.
"Hey, do you want to fi-" He started toward Jellal but Gajeel pushed in front of him and shot him a look, tilting his head to the floor. Natsu looked guiltily at the floor, the burn marks weren't looking good against the carpet at all, and backed down. "Anyway, where were you last night?" He changed the subject abruptly, the others looking curiously at their friend for his answer. They were used to his sudden disappearances but have never heard the reason for them.
"Something came up and I had to run out," Jellal offered vaguely. The boys just decided to drop it; when Jellal was in his mystery mode there was never a way to coerce him out of it. Gray's eyes drifted to the clock, noted the late hour, and cursed.
"Shit, we're late!" He yelled. The boys shared a few choice swears as they grabbed the rest of the things they needed for work and ran out of the apartment. They probably looked ridiculous in the garb they were wearing, but people around here were used to it. It was one of the, well, not poorer per say, but not the most middle class of areas.
It started to rain as they ran towards the downtown area. Natsu looked up to the sky, pausing in his sprint to stare at the clouds. He was trying to decide whether or not it was a bad omen or something when a car came up and almost splashed a giant puddle of muddy water on him.
Bad. Definitely bad.
Lucy started at herself in the mirror, trying to fix her hair but it just wouldn't fall right. She was already dolled up in the "party dress" the girls had made her buy a few weeks back. It was a bit too revealing in her opinion; it was a sleeveless dark magenta dress with a low v-neck and a slit running up the side of her right leg. If it was up to her, she'd be in a sweater and jeans, but apparently that was just her "emotional damage" speaking, as her friends called it. Her eyes drifted to a wooden box one the corner of her desk as she thought about the summer when she was ten and her current pickle. Her fingers reached out to graze the lid against her will, but a knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. She reluctantly walked over and opened the door, grabbing her purse on the way out, and joined her friends in the hallway.
"Lucy, you look amazing!" Mira exclaimed. The rest of the girls nodded and shared similar compliments. Lucy shifted awkwardly and mumbled a thanks but she still felt incredibly uncomfortable in her outfit. Juvia and Erza looped their arms through Lucy's and started to lead the girls out of the complex.
"Come on, Lucy, have some fun!" Levy skipped in front of them. She looked like a fairy in her dress; it was orange and came down to her knees, with long sleeves and a white trim around the edges. She was so small, even in her high heels, lightly stepping on the floor in a nice rhythm that resembled a dance.
"Yeah, nothing's more fun then being with a crowd of pervy clubbers! With their peopley peopleness and facey faces and whatnot," Lucy exclaimed with mock enthusiasm, causing her friends to laugh. Lucy really was an oddball to them; though her strange behavior could caused some trouble they all loved her just the same. None of them really knew why she acted the way she did, all they knew was that it was something in her childhood.
"Ah, but what you don't know," Juvia started grandly, "is that this is a different club. Instead of random men stripping down into their underwear, the boys are entertainers and we are the guests," she re adjusted her tiara and slid into Bisca's minivan. Lucy still couldn't see the difference between the two ideas; frankly, they both meant the same thing to her.
"Lucy, get in!" Erza called from the backseat. Lucy stared at the open door for a moment, trying to decide.
Get in or run away?
And thus concludes the second chapter! So, what will our weird Lucy do? Who are the mysterious men she was referring to? Why is bacon so important to her? Is Natsu and Lucy's omen good or bad? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON HOUSE OF ACES!
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Sorry, I've always wanted to do that. But, leave a review and tell me any theories you make up and stuff!
Also, if it is annoying you, I apologize for the extreme out of character acting here. Basically everyone in this story was affected when they were little, so as time wears on Lucy will become Lucy and Natsu will be Natsu and everything will be back to normal. We just have to wait and see.
-NeverMakesSense