AN: WOW 100 REVIEWS ALREADY THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!I am so happy nobody thought that I was rushing with the nalu because I was really worried that I was! Anyways, I posted the first chapter to my new AU nalu story and I accidentally put a chapter from one of my ulquihime stories (how embarrassing). So if you saw that, I am sorry and I fixed it! I hope you all give that story a shot as well! Don't worry, I'll keep updating this one too :)
Chapter 13
Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she let out a painful groan. Her throat was dry, definitely from dehydration and it felt as if she was kicked in the gut ten times. Slowly turning her head, the blonde took in her surroundings, memories of what happened finally clicking in her mind. The room she was in was small and dirty. The walls and floor were made of cracked cement and she could see bugs crawling around, making her body quiver from disgust. One wall was made of bars as if it were a jail cell. The mage then heard whimpering from behind her, causing her to jump up and wince from feeling her injuries all over again. In the corner behind her was a young boy with shaggy brown hair, his head buried in his arms as he cried.
"This must be the clients' son," Lucy thought as she stared at the boy.
"Hello there," she said, her voice raspy as she forced herself to smile. "What's your name?"
The young boy reluctantly lifted his head to meet her gaze and answered, "Lucas."
"It's nice to meet you, Lucas. My name is Lucy. Your parents hired me and my friends to bring you back. Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here, I promise!"
"And how do you expect to do that, Miss Lucy Heartfilia?" a new voice rang from behind the girl.
Lucy turned around facing the barred wall and found none other than the enemy's leader staring back at her. His blood-red eyes pierced her soul and sent shivers throughout her body. The blonde then found her keys in his hand, sending both rage and fear throughout her.
"Give. Those. Back," Lucy seethed, her teeth grinding in anger. "Give me back my keys, or else."
"Or else what?"
"I will kill you, that's what."
"You cannot expect to be able to defeat me while I have your keys."
"Watch me."
Lucy's body began to glow as magic circles appeared in her eyes. She began to mumble, chanting the words she needed for one of her most powerful spells. It had been a while since the mage had used Urano Metria, but she knew there was no time to be hesitant. Instead, Lucy was glad that she spent so much time practicing the spell with Gemini and Loke. Now, she no longer needed to summon Gemini to use the spell, though she still would if she had her key to conserve some of her own magical power.
When the spell finally activated, Lucy felt a decent amount of her magical power diminish. The girl could never see anything when she used the spell, her vision always tended to blackout. She was told that the attack was unbelievably bright and wished she could see it for herself. Thus, the girl was highly startled to find that the enemy was left standing unscratched in front of her.
"H-How did it not affect you?" she asked, her chocolate brown eyes wide with fear.
"Oh, you mean that silly little spell of yours?" the man asked. Lucy had a feeling he was smirking underneath his mask. "I simply surrounded your body with portals and sent all of the planets somewhere else. Now, how about we have a civil discussion, shall we?"
"What the hell do you have to say to me? Why did you even take me in the first place?"
"It's simple. Celestial mages are extremely rare these days, especially since many of them had been massacred, what? A year ago? Maybe two years ago? Anyways, you could imagine my shock when I found one in front of me that had nine of the twelve zodiac keys, can't you? Just one of these keys could be sold for an extremely hefty reward."
"Don't you dare even think about doing that!" Lucy cried out as she lunged towards the bars. She grabbed onto them and tried to pull them apart with all of her might but it was to no avail. She was utterly stuck.
"Hush now, woman. Anyways, I wondered how it was possible one measly girl could have all of these rare keys, so I decided to take you with me. I looked into you, and I'm sure you know by now what I found out, right? You are none other than Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia! One of the wealthiest families in all of Fiore!"
"So what? You planning on holding me hostage like Lucas? Sorry to break it to you, but my parents are dead, you can't get any money off of me."
"Now, now, just let me speak. We haven't even properly introduced ourselves. It is nice to meet you, Lucy. My name is Takeshi. It is a pleasure to meet you-"
Lucy used all of her courage and spit right into her captor's face. She smirked as she saw disgust flash across his features. Not even bothering to stifle a laugh, the blonde burst out with laughter until she felt her head being slammed against the bars. Takashi had reached in and clutched her hair to pull her towards him and slam her head into the hard metal.
"That wasn't very ladylike of you," Takeshi stated, his voice low and menacing. "Anyways, I am well aware your parents are dead. Such a shame. But that doesn't mean I can't get money from other people. How much do you think that little guild of yours would pay to get you back?"
Lucy freed herself from Takeshi's clutches as she replied, "Fairy Tail will destroy you for picking a fight with us! Just you watch!"
"Oh really? Because the three we defeated earlier were apparently of high ranks in your guild and we managed to defeat them rather easily."
Lucy was about to retort a comeback when she heard Lucas crying once again. The girl had forgotten he was even there. Guilt ran through her as she remembered promising to help him out, but being easily beaten. She then faced Takeshi once again.
"Is that all you want from me?" she asked, venom lacing every word. "If so, you are dumber than I thought."
"Of course not. That was simply phase one," Takeshi answered. "You aren't just good for money. You make a great hostage because it seems everybody loves you. Once they come with the money, we are going to kill all of them. Once the strongest guild in all of Fiore is massacred, we will target the Council. We'll kill each and every one of them and free everyone they have locked up so they may become my minions. Then I will have complete control of Fiore. Soon after, I will mobilize an army and I will take over the surrounding countries and eventually the world."
Lucy responded by sighing and saying, "That is such a ridiculous plan, I don't know if I should laugh or cry at your stupidity."
"Don't worry, darling. You won't be alive to see the end of my plan anyways. You won't be able to laugh or cry ever again. You are nothing but a stepping stone in the right direction. However, if you remain a good hostage I may keep you alive and use you for experiments or sell you into slavery. Up to you."
With that said, Takeshi turned around and walked away to who knows where. Lucy used this opportunity to check on Lucas once again. To her surprise, the child wasn't physically harmed in anyway, though this event was sure to leave him traumatized for a while.
"Don't worry, Lucas. My friends will save us," the blonde finally said as she let the boy cuddle up with her. "Your parents are so excited to see you again. I'm sure you want to see them too, right? Then you have to be brave, okay Lucas?"
Lucy smiled gently as the little boy nodded his head and wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face.
"Now, all I can do is wait. You better hurry, Natsu."
Natsu's eyes slowly opened and he was staring blankly at a plain, white ceiling. The dragon slayer tried sitting up, only to feel a sharp pain in his stomach. Immediately, he remembered what had happened and his heart stopped. Lucy was taken and he didn't have any way of knowing where to. Ignoring the pain in his stomach, achy bones, and throbbing head, the boy forced himself to sit up and take in his surroundings.
The room was rather large in size and had a fancy chandelier to dimly light it. Floral wall paper and crisp, white furniture gave the room a regal and elegant look. Gray and Erza were nowhere in sight, though he did find a small note on the nightstand beside the bed he inhabited. Reading it, the pink-haired boy discovered that his friends were downstairs waiting for him, though it wasn't like he needed it considering he could smell them from miles away.
Natsu limped down the stairs and toward the room his team first talked to their clients. The dragon slayer could hear the group of people talking in hushed tones, probably so as to not wake him up. When he entered the room, his heart shattered as he found Lucy still wasn't back. He had hoped Erza and Gray went to retrieve the girl while he was sleeping.
Erza was the first to spot him and gave him a sad smile. "How are you feeling, Natsu?"
"Where's Lucy?" he replied, completely ignoring the red-head's question.
"As you are aware of, she was taken. We need you to get some rest and heal so that we can find her."
Natsu's body instantly started to heat up and he began to breathe heavy. Just how did she expect to find Lucy when nobody knows where they went? Feeling something plop into his chest, the boy looked down to find Happy flying into him. It was clear that he was also distressed about their missing partner. Thus, Natsu did everything he could to calm his nerves. Thinking rationally was their only option, after all.
"Alright," he began, "how are we going to find her?"
"I have come up with a suggestion while you were sleeping," Amber answered with a solemn look. "Before they left and while you were all unconscious, their leader told us to come with money in return for our son. I believe that is why he took your friend: so that he may hold her as hostage as well. If you come with us, I'm sure you'll run into them again."
"You can't seriously be thinking about listening to their threats, are you?" Gray chimed in, finally joining the conversation.
"If it is for our son's life, we will gladly give up anything," Johnathon answered. "If you truly cared for your friend, I imagine you would do the same."
"No, we won't do that," Natsu stated. "And neither will you. We are going to meet them there and tell them we refuse their offer. Then we have a rematch."
"You couldn't beat them before, what makes you think you can now!? I'm not letting you risk my son's life!"
"Don't worry about it," Natsu replied as he began to walk back towards his room. "They took something of mine and now I'm angry. I won't lose this time. I'm all fired up." With that, the dragon slayer marched back into his room to get whatever rest he could before their next showdown.
Erza sighed as she watched Natsu's retreating figure finally vanish from her sight. "I apologize for his behavior. He and Lucy are best friends- probably even more, though they don't care to admit it. He is right, though. They took one of our friends, now we have to pay them back a hundred times more. Not only that, but now we have experience with their fighting abilities, making it easier for the next confrontation."
"I hate saying this, but I agree with Natsu," Gray added. "I refuse to be beaten again and let them hurt Lucy- especially with all the work we went through bringing her back."
"Aye!" Happy exclaimed.
The older couple stared at the mages in front of them, knowing that they were right. Even if they did give them all of the money in the world, they would probably still end up killing Lucas along with them themselves. Their only option was to fight.
"My, my," Amber started, "you kids surely are a rowdy bunch, aren't you? Alright, we'll go along with your plan. What do we do first?"
"First," Erza began, "we come up with a strategy."
AN: I am sure you are all disappointed in the lack of nalu that is sure to come, but just wait it out! This arc is really just to show the strength they've (mainly Lucy) gotten while they were gone and some other things I won't spoil! :D
Mavis Chase: I am so glad you don't think I was rushing it! And I know, she just had to be taken when they were figuring out their own feelings haha! Thank you for another review! :D
Fire Shifter: Chapter 1: Thank you :) Chapter 5: Yes I love Erza controlling things haha! Chapter 7: Thank you that is my personal favorite chapter hahaha! Chapter 12: Haha thank you for the support! Hope it wasn't too long of a wait! :)
12Rayne: Hahaha yes, poor Nab! I personally love Natsu being a dense idiot and I just had to make him think it was Nab hahaha!
Thebooknerdgeek: Thank you! And it really all depends on what you consider to be a damsel in distress! If you want her to be the one killing all four of the mages, that isn't happening haha sorry! BUT! Even though it seems like she's just some damsel in distress, I can guarantee that won't be happening because I personally love Lucy's strength and I agree that she shouldn't just be some weak hostage! :D Thank you for the review! :)
MirrorFlame: Hmm other ships... I love Jerza and I love Gale! Now, this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't actually ship Gruvia as much as other people do! Like yes, I do think they are cute together and if they get together then yay! But at the same time I don't love it like I love the other ships! I also ship Mira and Laxus haha I think they are cute! :D What about you? :)
Alexa: I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long! I am so glad I still have your support! :D
Guest: Thank you for the review :D