~Chapter Three~
Confused Anna
"She's so pretty," said the girl. She'd been staring at me for a while now, so I'd gotten a bit used to it.
"Thanks again," I said, "You've already said that, though."
The girl, her brilliant blue hair shining in the light, suddenly snapped out of her daze. I jumped. "Um, are you alri—"
"I'm so sorry! That was terribly rude!" she said, her face red. I smiled.
"Don't worry about it."
"Three minutes and forty-two seconds," said the white cat.
"Huh?" asked the girl.
"That's how long you were staring at her," said the cat. Talking cats. Eh. I'd adjusted.
The girl looked even more mortified, "I'm sorry."
"My name is Carla. This is Wendy. Excuse her manners, she's still young," said the cat. I nodded.
"My name is Anna," I said with a smile. Somehow, being here, I couldn't stop smiling.
"I'm not that young," Wendy argued.
"Shall we get to the point?" Carla asked promptly. I blinked. Point?
Wendy nodded, delighted, "Are you injured anywhere?"
"Um…" I hesitated. I gave myself a quick once over. My knees were a little bruised from tripping so many times on my dress, but otherwise I was perfectly fine. Gray and Natsu had taken good care of me. I suddenly wanted to see them.
"I'm not hurt, thank you," I said.
"Let me see your legs." She reached for me and I was suddenly self-conscious.
"It's really alright," I said, "I don't need any—"
"Ah, you have bruises everywhere!" I winced as she touched my bruised and battered skin.
"It's really alright," I said, "I don't need any medicine. I wouldn't want to use up your supplies."
"What medicine are you talking about?" she asked, positioning her hand over my knees. Just as I was about to ask what she was talking about, a soft blue light emanated from her palm. I stared, my jaw dropping. "I use Sky Dragonslayer magic. I'm a healer."
"Magic…" I mumbled, "Of course." I didn't bother asking what a Dragonslayer was.
"Wendy, how is she?" shouted a voice. Four people burst through the door at once. I jumped and fell off of my chair, groaning and holding my head.
"That hurt a bit," I mumbled.
"Oh my gosh, Anna are you ok?" said a worried voice. I opened my eyes and saw Lucy's concerned face hovering above me. I nodded and smiled.
"I'm fine," I said with an embarrassed smile, "So tell me, which one is the real Lucy?"
"Oh my god! Seriously?" she asked. I laughed and stood up.
"I was kidding, worrywart," I said with a gentle snicker.
A strong hand grabbed onto my arm and started shaking me, "Are you dead!? Did you die?!" It was Natsu, clearly. His shaking of my entire body sort of made it hard to make out, but I could tell it was him because of the pink hair.
"I'm not dead, Natsu," I said. He stopped shaking me and stared at me.
"You're sure?" he asked.
"Is he serious?" I asked, turning to the woman with red hair who was standing with her arms crossed over her armor-clad chest.
"He was very worried," she said with a slight smile. I turned back to Natsu and patted his head.
"That's so cute," I said with a grin. He reeled backward.
"You called me cute!"
I blinked, "Yeah."
"Knowing Natsu, he probably took that as an insult," Gray said.
"Yeah, well...it wasn't," I said, "Actually, it was a compliment...or maybe it was revenge for tossing me out a window."
He glared at me, "You mean for rescuing you?"
I smiled, "If that's what you want to call it."
"Hey, what are you guys doing in here?" Wendy asked.
"Uh, checking on the princess. Duh," Natsu replied instantly. I smiled.
"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Just a few bruises," I said.
"The princess needs to rest!" Wendy insisted, "And she can't do that with you guys looming over her!"
"I do agree with that statement. She's been through a lot this past day, so perhaps we should leave her to get some sleep," said Carla the cat. I fought my urge to pet her soft-looking head. Something told me that would be weird; in addition, I didn't want to offend her.
"She doesn't look tired, though," Gray pointed out. He looked at me for a while and then glanced away. I raised an eyebrow.
Lucy sat next to me on the bed and took my face in her hands, "I think that's because she's so pretty. If you look closely, you can tell." I'm pretty sure I blushed.
"Uh...thanks. Same to you," I said. Lucy smiled kindly and stood up.
"Yeah, but seriously. We should leave," Lucy said. I didn't necessarily want them to leave. I actually enjoyed their company. They were a funny gang. Still, I couldn't lie and say that I wasn't tired. Between being mysteriously transported to this 'Fiore' place, nearly getting married, and being hurled out of a window...I was pretty beat. I mean, I'd slept last night, but that bed was weirdly foreign; plus, I'd had that dream again.
"Get some rest, Princess Anna. We'll be back soon. The Master undoubtedly wants to meet with you," said the armor woman.
"Master? Alright, then. Oh, but what was your name again? I don't think I ever found out," I said, pressing a finger to my chin curiously.
She smiled, "My name is Erza Scarlet. It's nice to meet you, Princess." I smiled.
"If you don't mind, would you stop calling me Princess?" I asked. Erza stared at me for a moment, looking confused. She slowly nodded and turned to leave.
"Of course," she said before she left the room.
"Why don't you want to be called Princess?" Natsu asked, leaning unnervingly close to me. I flinched at his closeness and held up my hand so he wouldn't come any closer.
"Um…"
Before I could answer, Natsu was jerked away from me. His head ended up in an armlock, specially delivered by Gray, "Don't ask a lady questions she doesn't want to answer!" Gray nodded to me, "We'll be seeing you, Anna."
I watched as Gray dragged Natsu out the door. They disappeared behind the old-looking wooden doorframe, but I could still hear Natsu's shouts of protest quite a bit later. Wendy soon followed after them and waved shyly to me, "Call if you need anything. I'll be close."
"She's cute," I said, staring after her, "Just like a little doll."
"I know. She's actually a more recent addition to the guild," Lucy said. I jumped again and clutched my chest.
"I forgot you were still in here," I said, trying to catch my breath. Jeez, I was seriously too jumpy for my own good. My mom had always been like that too. I felt my heart twist a bit at the thought of her, but I wasn't sure why.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," Lucy said as she took a step towards me.
I held my hand up as if to apologize myself, "No, it's ok. I tend to jump like that. At least, I think I do." I couldn't help but remember how I hadn't even flinched when Skylar's arms encircled me from behind. That's weird. Maybe it was because I was so familiar with him that it didn't occur to my subconscious that he could potentially be a murderer. Hmmm…
"I just wanted to ask you something," Lucy said quietly.
"Yeah? What's that?" I asked.
"Why did you go along with it when we came to kidnap you?" she questioned. She stared at me. I had to ponder for a moment. The first thing that popped into my head was Natsu. As soon as he'd reached his hand out to me, I was more than ready to be kidnapped...which was stupid. You'd think that maybe I would have been a bit wary of my kidnapper...nope. I wasn't about to tell Lucy that I was alright with being kidnapped because of some girlish reason like 'because it was Natsu.' No way.
"Have you ever lived in a castle?" I asked. She stared at me for a moment.
"No, not really," she replied. I nodded.
"Try living in one for a bit, then tell me if you'd want to be kidnapped or not," I said with a sigh.
"Oh, so it had nothing to do with the marriage?" Lucy asked. She looked almost disappointed for some reason.
I smiled, "Well, there was that, too." Lucy nodded and headed towards the door.
"Someone'll be outside your door. Talk to them if you need something," Lucy said with a small smile before she vanished as well. I sighed and flopped onto the bed. It really had been a long dream. Still, at this point I wasn't really sure about anything. It was a freakishly long, lifelike, and surprisingly entertaining dream...if it was a dream at all. I decided that if I slept again and didn't wake up in my bed in the cold attic of my house, I would take this whole weird situation seriously.
I ran my fingers slowly through my long hair and closed my eyes as I began to think. My mind automatically went to Silas, to the prince I'd abandoned, to the life I'd run away from. Had I been an idiot to willingly accept abduction? I mean, these people were rebels. Rebels, as far as I've heard on TV news channels, are generally violence-wielding radicalists. These rebels seemed a bit different, though. They were legitimately concerned about my injuries, which was strange if they only intended to mistreat me. They seemed like a group of friends instead of actual enemies. Plus, there was Natsu…
I don't know why he was so interesting to me. There was something about him that'd caught my attention, though. The minute I saw him, I was curious. My curiosity is normally unquenchable, which made the whole situation even worse. I wanted to know more about him. I know that sounds weird and stalkerish, but I was genuinely interested. Maybe it was because, out of all the people I'd met in Fiore, he was the only one who hadn't given me a second glance. It was strange how I used to wish people would look at me and see me as beautiful, but now I was practically fascinated by the one person who wouldn't. I sighed as I felt sleep drift over me. I seriously had to get my head on straight.
"Anna? Can you hear me?" asked a voice. I silently cursed it, wanting to return to my peaceful sleep. "Anna?" The voice really wouldn't stop.
"I can hear you," I mumbled.
"Anna! You're there?"
"Stop talking! I'm sleepy," I grumbled.
"Anna, you need to wake up. Something happened, and now we're-"
"I thought I said to stop talking," I interrupted, "Who are you?"
"Anna?" asked a gentle voice. I smiled. It seemed familiar and warm. "Wait, Anna. Don't go yet. I need to tell you-"
"Anna, wake up."
"What'll you give me?" I asked. The sleep was starting to leave me. I'd practically already forgotten about whoever it was who was trying to tell me something or other. It was probably a dream, anyway. Wait, can you have dreams inside of dreams. Can you even sleep inside of dreams? Well, somehow I'd managed it.
"I won't burn you to death," Natsu said. I opened my eyes and looked up at him.
"Well, if you put it like that…" I rubbed my eyes and looked up at him, "How long was I asleep?" He sat beside me.
"Just a few hours," he answered. I looked down and realized that there was a wool blanket draped over me.
"Did you put this here?" I asked. He nodded.
"You looked cold." I smiled and nodded back.
"Thanks."
"The Master wants to see you. You'll get food after that," he said. I nodded and yawned, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. I frowned.
As if reading my mind, Natsu said, "There are clothes over there. You should change out of...that." He gestured to my ripped and dirtied dress.
"What, you don't think I look good?" I jested.
"Never said that," he said as he strolled out the door, "I'll wait outside. Be quick. I'm not really a patient guy." He shut the door behind him and I frowned.
"Clearly," I whispered under my breath. I walked over to the table across the room and looked at the clothes that were laid out. They weren't much, just a simple black t-shirt and some ripped jeans. I smiled. "Just like home," I said. At least they had normal clothes in Fiore; I guess it was just the princess who had to wear such embarrassing dresses all the time. As I changed, I couldn't help but wish that I had my familiar sweatshirt to cover up my exposed shoulders.
I yawned and rubbed my shoulders as I headed towards the door. I pulled it open and nearly slammed into Natsu. "Jeez! What are you doing standing so close to the door like that!?" I yelled. He'd legitimately startled me, so I had a right to yell.
He smiled amusedly, "You really don't seem like a princess. Are you sure you're the real deal?"
"Shut up!" I said and marched down the hallway ahead of him.
"Anna!" he called after me. I stopped walking and turned to look at him. I channeled as much sass as I could into one look and shot it his way.
"What now?"
Natsu smiled, "You're...going the wrong way." I could practically feel the blood draining from my face. I nodded resolutely and tried to hide my embarrassment.
"Yeah...of course I am. Hey, it's my first time here!" I said as I marched past him; the marching didn't really have the same effect as it did earlier...it was sort of pathetic now.
Natsu followed after me and I stopped walking. He stopped a few feet in front of me and looked at me. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" he asked. He bowed his head to he could look at my face better. I shook my head and looked up. I was about to admit that it would be better for him to lead the way, but right as I lifted my face, he did something I can't say I had been expecting.
"I th-" I began, but my words were cut off my utter shock. Natsu took my face in his warm hands and tilted my head up. He leaned forward and...pressed his forehead to mine. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Uh...um...what are you-"
"You don't seem like you have a fever," Natsu said, "But if you don't feel good you should still go to Wendy again." He pulled away and headed down the hallway, continuing our journey. I just stood there like an idiot and stared after him. When he didn't hear my footsteps after him, he turned, "Can you not walk?"
"No, I can," I said, suddenly feeling really self conscious. I rubbed my bare shoulders awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot.
He walked towards me again and put his hand on my shoulder, "On second thought, you do look a little red." Crap! I didn't realize I was blushing that much!
"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Shoot," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall casually.
"Why...do you care?" I asked. It was a stupid question. I mean, seriously...what did I expect? 'Because I care about you.' No, that would definitely not happen. My hopes were up, and that was dumb. Wait, why did I even want him to say that? Was I seriously that needy? I meet a guy and the next day I cling to him like a little girl? A therapist would probably tell me it had something to do with, for a lack of a better term, 'daddy issues.' That was stupid, though, just like me. I refused to give into that notion...or to be clingy. I raised my hand to stop Natsu, "Actually, don't answer that. I don't really care."
Natsu stared at me, his mouth still hanging open as if he were about to say something. I reached forward and snapped it shut with my pointer finger. He looked really confused...and maybe a little hurt? Nope, that was probably just wishful thinking. I mentally pinched myself. Don't be an idiot, Anna!
I walked past him, "This way, right?" He nodded and jogged to catch up with me. He'd clearly already forgotten the previous topic, (or rather, source of confusion in his case and source of embarrassment in mine), because the next he spoke, he didn't even remotely mention the previous focus of our conversation...if you can even call it a conversation.
"Yeah, we've probably been keeping him waiting long enough by now," Natsu said. I suddenly had a bunch of images of this mysterious 'Master' pass through my head. The most prominent of which was a big burly man who had a handlebar mustache and rippling muscles. He ended up looking a bit like a commanding officer from the army that you always see in those blow-it-up action flicks. Man, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was pretty shocked when I saw a tiny guy with tiny wisps of white hair and a stately, gentlemanly mustache sitting right on the bar. If you asked me what a dwarfish wizard looked like, I would almost perfectly describe this dude; then again...he was a dwarfish wizard…so I guess that makes sense.
"You are Anna?" he asked me. I nodded awkwardly and Natsu gently shoved me forward. He whispered in my ear as other people, strangers, gathered around to witness the interaction that was about to happen.
"Don't worry. He's harmless...just...don't piss him off," Natsu said. I made a semi-squeaky dying sound as he glided past me. I glared at him; he just grinned back.
"Come closer, child," said the Master. I obeyed. He didn't seem like he was going to hurt me, but I still used an appropriate amount of caution when approaching the guy. There was something about him that seemed...powerful? That was a strange thing to think of such a small human being, but he somehow seemed strong...superior to the rest of the people in the room. Of course, that included me, (which also made sense, me not being able to use the magic that seemed to be fairly evident in this world).
"Here you go. Tell me if you need anything to make you more comfortable," said a friendly looking lady as she set down a chair beside me. She smiled and nodded to me, but soon afterward her silver hair disappeared back into the crowd. I looked back to the Master as I sat down.
"Yes, my name is Anna," I said honestly. Hey, it wasn't a lie. I might not be this 'princess' they're looking for, but I wasn't lying in saying that my name was Anna. Who knows, though; maybe I really am a princess and my whole other life was just a dream. It seemed to realistic to be a dream, though. I was seriously starting to get confused at this point. Nothing in Fiore made sense. I still wanted to believe that I was just regular old Anna from California with no life and no worries. I sort of missed that life for some reason. I'd never thought much of it until now, though. It's sort of a shame that I had to have that life, my mom and my friend, (singular), ripped away from me before I realized how much I appreciated them. God, I missed my iPod.
"Tell me, Anna, why did you come to us so willingly?" the Master asked. Wow, getting straight to the point, huh? I had to think about this one for a moment. It wasn't like I could tell the truth. I'm pretty sure this whole thing is a dream, so I figured 'why the heck not, right? or 'I just felt like it as soon as I saw Natsu. Yeah, no. I came up with the closest thing to the truth that I could muster, what I thought that the real Princess Anna would say, (if I wasn't her...gosh, this whole thing was rather confusing).
"I was being forced into a marriage I didn't want. It was a very much welcome escape," I said, bowing my head a bit. The Master was silent for a moment, so I looked up again curiously. He just stared into my eyes.
"You didn't want it? Why?" he asked. The whole room was silent and I could feels way too many stares on me for me to be comfortable. I was seriously starting to sweat there.
"Because I'd never met him, and you shouldn't marry anyone unless you love them," I said honestly. Well, it wasn't a lie; it was, however, a stupid thing to say in front of the entire posse of rebellious hoodlums. I heard several laughs in the crowd and I wanted to go and hide in a corner. That was a sort of embarrassing thing to say in front of them. Still, I held my head high. I wasn't about to show weakness over something to trivial.
The Master smiled slightly, "That was the only reason?"
I blinked, "What other reason were you thinking of?"
"To stop the Union," he said with a straight face. I blinked again.
"The whaaa?"
"The Union. You don't know, do you?"
"All I know is that you rebellious hoodlums want to stop the marriage between the kingdoms to preserve the fude. No?"
The Master shook his head, "No. We have a much better reason for not wanting the two families to be married."
"And that is…" I said expectantly. I probably crossed the line there, because the Master looked at me and only smiled.
"All in good time," he said, "But there is something that is bothering me. You're clearly hiding something important from us. I would like to know what it is. I understand you not wanting to tell us yet, but perhaps in due time you'll change your mind."
"What makes you think I'm hiding something?" I asked, (though he was spot on).
"I have an incredibly remarkable perceptive ability...not to toot my own horn or anything of the like; that is how I know you're withholding something. However, I also know that you've not lied. I'll take that as hope for the future friendship I wish to achieve between us."
"Friendship? But...you abducted me," I said, "You're the rebellion."
"I'm afraid you've been horribly misinformed about us. I do not intend to allow any harm to come to you, or to the Fiore."
"Then why did you stop the wedding?"
"All in good time, remember? There is one thing I would like to ask of you, however," he said as he turned away from me, "Try to make friends here. They're all rather nice people. Some are a bit...rougher than others, but you'll find that they all are very good people, very good wizards. Perhaps, you'll find the answer you're looking for here?" With that he leapt from the bar and strode majestically out the door, (I don't know how the little guy managed to stride majestically...but he did).
I stared after him for a few moments before his words sunk in. "Wait, how did he know that I was confused about something?" I asked.
"Master just sometimes knows these things," Lucy said as she sat beside me, "Are you feeling ok? Natsu told me he thought you might have a fever. He was really worried."
I sighed, "I'm ok. Just a little tired. It's been a strange few days, to be honest."
She smiled, "Yeah, getting kidnapped was probably a bit of an energy-drainer for you, no?"
"Yeah, but it's more than that. Maybe one day I'll tell you...maybe."
She looked puzzled for a moment and then shrugged, "We're all entitled to our secrets."
"That's what I don't get about you!" I said immediately, turning to her and looking her right in the eye, "Why aren't you grilling me for information to bring down the monarchy or something? Isn't that what happens in the movies?"
Lucy blinked, "I really don't know what you're talking about right now."
"Perhaps you would enlighten us?" I practically slid out of my seat. I turned and saw Erza sitting behind me. It was strange that she managed to sneak up on me. She seemed to be a particularly attention grabbing person, so I'd have figured I would have caught her sneaking up on me.
"I just...expected something different from you guys," I said quietly, picking at one of the holes in my borrowed ripped jeans.
"Then the feeling is mutual." Yet another one of my rebel acquantances joined us. Gray sat next to Lucy and leaned back so he could still see me, "I definitely didn't expect you to be the way you are. I honestly thought you would be some spoiled little girl."
"Wait, then what am I?" I asked curiously.
He looked away and spoke, "A normal person."
I blinked and looked to Lucy, "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Compliment!" Gray practically shouted, (sort of desperately, I might add).
I nodded to make sure he knew I understand, "Calm down, I won't hate you if you call me weird. I'm sort of used to that." That was the honest to God truth. I'd been called strange, ugly, or weird so many times in my life. Then again, that wasn't in Fiore. Reality was sort of starting to blur together at this point.
"If you're normal you might not fit in here, though," Natsu said, leaning against the back of my chair, "We've all got our quirks."
"I'm normal compared to you," Lucy said, raising her hand as if she were waiting to be called on by a teacher. I smiled when everyone stared at her blankly.
"Well, maybe only a little more normal," Lucy said, ducking her head. I heard a few people laugh a few tables over. Apparently they'd been listening in on our conversation. I looked at them, and a girl with bluish hair smiled at me. That was something else you didn't see in California: hair of every color in the rainbow. Well, unless you count Katy Perry.
"Sorry, you're sort of the talk of the guild right now," Lucy said.
"Who would not be interested in her, though. She is a princess. It's just like something from a fairy tale," Erza said dreamily. I swear I saw sparkles in her eyes.
"Not to mention that you're really pretty," Lucy said, poking my arm.
"Um...thanks," I said awkwardly, "I guess." I'm not sure I liked being called beautiful. I mean, of course it was nice. If I had to blame it on something I would blame it on me missing my California life. I sighed and propped my chin on my palm.
"What's with that sigh?" Gray asked.
I smiled, "Maybe I'll tell you one day...maybe."
"Wow, you're mysterious..." he said.
"...for a princess," Natsu added. I turned and tried to punch Natsu, but he dodged. I cursed my delicate figure silently. I grumbled under my breath while Natsu laughed.
"You're a jerk," I mumbled.
"And you're quick to throw a punch," Natsu pointed out.
I smiled, "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" He laughed and I felt an annoying sense of fulfillment. Shut up, heart! You suck!
So, chapter three. I'm only continuing this for you reviewers who actually care. If you're really enthusiastic about the story, make sure to review. I'm actually starting to like this story, though; who knows, I might finish it? It's up to you, my wonderful reviewers. :)