A Week-long holiday, oh the joy. It's strange when you're in your first years of school and think a week is nothing for a holiday/ vacation. When you get to your last year and have loads of exams to prepare for like me, a week it bliss. I should really be revising, but I prefer to upload and write stories like this. Aha~ I'm such a bad student _.
Shadows
Chapter 8: Trap Door
"Lucy~" Natsu moaned, following behind sluggishly. "We've been walking for ages!"
"Stop complaining, Natsu! We haven't walked that far." Lucy grumbled, her attention focused elsewhere.
In truth, they had been walking a long time. Lucy lead the way, stopping quietly at every junction. At a seconds notice, she would randomly dart in one direction. It was like a wild goose chase, as far as Natsu was concerned. The poor dragon slayer was just able to keep up. It was difficult to follow her random movements.
It wasn't like he could loose her anyway. That scent of sweet strawberry and soothing vanilla was engraved in his mind. Even with the faintest scent, Natsu could pick it out of a thousand others.
Lucy refused to tell him where they were going. So, in order to keep an eye on her, he had to keep up.
"Lucy, where are we going?" Natsu moaned again, catching up to her at a T-junction. They were in front of a closed bakery. It's hanging sign moaned in the cold breeze, looking rather spooky with all it's lights out.
"You'll know when we get there!" Lucy growled impatiently, taking a second of her time to glare at him over her shoulder. Natsu's mouth snapped tightly into a pout as his big arms crossed over his chest. Lucy couldn't help but find it absoloutely adorable.
A wave of calm energy flooded her body, sooth the anxious nerves fluttering in her stomach. For a little while, she let her world slow, into the moment. With a gentle shake of her head, Lucy sighed and turned on her heals to face Natsu with a cool level stare. Small hands reach out confidently, placing themselves on his warm forearms. "Look, Natsu, I appreciate you coming with me and everything..." she began.
"Well, you need someone to protect you right?" The dragon slayer mumbled, a small pink blush creeping up on his cheeks.
"Yup." Lucy agreed, a smile lighting up on her lips.
"HEY! MOVE OUT THE WAY!" A voice bellowed, followed by the thundering rattle of wheels racing across cobblestone.
"WHOA!" Natsu gasped, quickly pushing his hand against the side street, pinning Lucy back with his free hand. Clattering wheels rocketed past, the carriage just missing them by a mere few inches. Rattling wood and harsh shouting faded as the carriage drove furiously down the street.
For a while, Natsu and Lucy stayed still, catching their breaths. Natsu finally let out a deep sigh, dragging his free hand down the length of his face. "That was close..." he breathed reluctantly.
"Natsu..." Lucy's voice rumbled beside him. Goosebumps prickled up his arm, freezing him from the inside out. A dark aura burned near him, radiating malice. Uh- Oh. Raven eyes daringly and dreadfully traced along his arm. He held it straight at shoulder length, reaching Lucy easily. His hand spread out, pinning her against the wall. That wasn't the problem. The issue lied with his hand. It was on her chest. Natsu's whole body froze in surprise, dark eyes staring at his hand in disbelief. His throat scratched together like sand paper as he tried to swallow the dread in his throat.
Since he saw it coming, he thought it wouldn't hurt as much. Physics didn't work that way. Natsu managed to peel himself from the man-shaped dint in the brick wall. "Sorry Luce!" Natsu sheepishly apologized, feeling oddly 2-D.
Lucy huffed a reply, turning her back and sticking out her chin. Brown orbs moved on to search about the street. The next turn was unknown to her. It seemed her fragmented memory stopped at the junction. But where next? An old butcher's, bakery and abandoned smith were her only clues.
Brown eyes watched the creaking sign baring a black anvil, swing with a rusting creak. Metal jangled in the wind of an open window. The smithy seemed old, untouched and out of work. There was no 'For-Sale' sign, so Lucy assumed it was an owned and neglected property. Eyes found themselves peering into the building. She hadn't really noticed it there before. She had lived in Magnolia long enough to know the area. A strange pressure on her eyes tried to make them look away. Lucy ignore it and swept closer to the door. The strain began to prickle at her body, like she was trying to push through some kind of malleable and thick skinned bubble.
Natsu scrambled up behind her, rubbing his sore cheek that glowed with a red food-mark. "Luce, what are you-"
"Shush!" Lucy hushed him, pressing a finger to his lips. she slipped her hand around the iron door handle. She tried it, leaning her weight quietly against the door. It let out a creak in protest and refused to budge. Lucy tried two more times but still couldn't move it.
"Damn." Lucy growled. "Looks like we need the key."
"Breaking and entering, huh?" A familiar voice grumbled behind them. Stiff ice jittered up the pair's spine, freezing them in shock. Slowly, their heads creaked around. Stood behind them, was no one other than a black-haired, half-naked, ice mage with his hands on his hips. A smug smile pulled his lips from one ear to the other; Proud for catching the pair red-handed.
"Busted." Natsu grumbled, giving a gruff sigh.
"You're a terrible look out, Natsu!" Lucy grumbled.
"Hey!" Natsu snapped. Gray shook his head at the pair, pushing passed the squabbling couple and examining the locked door.
"Ice make..." Gray whispered, pushing a fist into his palm.
"Natsu!" Lucy whined in frustration.
"Lucy!" Natsu mimicked.
"Don't copy me!" Lucy snapped.
"Well, It's your fault we got caught!" Natsu retorted.
"What?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. "You were the poor look out!"
"Lucy!" Natsu growled.
"Natsu!" Lucy copied.
"Don't cop-" Natsu rebuted.
A loud, ancient creak cut through their bickering with a grimacing screech. Both pairs of eyes darted back to Gray. The ice mage stood next to the doorway, assessing it with satisfaction. "You needed a key right?" Gray spoke, turning to face the astonished pair. An obnoxious grin stretched his face as he spun the ice sculpture on his finer. A key of ice, that coincidentally happened to fit the lock.
Lucy gave him a sly smile, shaking her head. Natsu dropped his jaw, scowling at Gray.
"I could have done that too." Natsu mumbled, pushing past him.
"In your dreams, matchstick." Gray retorted.
"Oh yeah, twinkle toes, want me to melt that little key of yours?" Natsu growled, stepping up to the challenge.
Lucy watch them with pity. A small chuckle escape her lips, sliding past the squabbling boys. Lucy left them going at each other in the doorway and moved into the darkened room.
A cold draft rattled a collection of steel tools hanging off hooks in the ceiling. Grey coal stones sagged and crumbled throat the rusted black pit. The dark outlines of large rusted anvils were barely visible. Wooden panels on the ceiling matched the floors, standing sturdy, collecting dust and housing a collection of cobwebs.
"Wow." Lucy whispered, finding herself strangely marveled at it's unique aging. It felt like it had so much character. Lucy could smell the combustion and steel that must have lingered from its days of use. Even so, Lucy felt something was odd about the place. At first, she could only conjure up one word- Fake.
"This place is creepy..." Natsu muttered, looking up at the empty ceiling.
"I don't like this place either." Gray agreed. For a second, they both were calm. One second later, and their eyes snapped into a glaring match. Lucy sighed, she had given up hope for the two of them long ago.
Moving around them, Lucy shuffled her way passed the metal instruments, racked up against the wall and took a look at the back. Plain iron horse shoes hung on hooks on the wall, all different sizes, shapes and widths. "How strange..." Lucy mumbled, picking up an iron horse shoe from the wall. Natsu and Gray's chattering faded into the background; something about how it was a good idea they didn't bring Gajeel.
Hands flipped the metal over and over in her hands like dough. Lucy picked up another shoe of the wall, weighing them in either of her hands she was a balancing scale. Then she put down the second shoe examining the first again.
It looked like the standard shoe but, it felt a little lighter than the rest, not to mention it was rounder, which seemed like it should be significant somehow.
"Hey, look at this." Gray's voice called across the room, breaking her train of thought.
The other two mages circled up to the ice mage, crouched low to the floor. Dark eyes studied the foot of a heavy-looking anvil in the near-center of the room.
"What is it?" Lucy asked, tracing Gray's gaze. "A hand print?" There was a four-fingered hand shape leaving a fresh print on the thick layer of dust covering the edges of the anvils.
"Look." Gray commanded, swiping a handful of dust of the anvil.
"The hand print!" Lucy exclaimed in slight horror as Gray distorted its shape.
"Just look." Gray replied. Brown orbs traced his eyes. Dust clumps gently floated to the floor like little clouds, sinking low in the musty air.
Suddenly, the little cloud got swept into a current and dragged fast down. A wind flow made them disappear through a gap in the panel of the floor. Gone.
"A draft?" Lucy muttered. To Natsu's surprise, her body collapsed against the wood, her cheek laying against the crack.
"Luce!" Natsu gasped.
"Shush!" Lucy hushed him sharply. Natsu sighed in relief; That surprised him. "Gray, you're right!" Lucy spontaneously exclaimed, launching back up to sit. "Quick, move that anvil!" She commanded, pushing Natsu forward.
"Why is it I'm only useful to you when its for physical labor!" Natsu grumbled, glimpsing Lucy a scowl. Lucy ignored him. It took both Natsu and Gray to shift the weight of the heavy lump of iron from its place.
As soon as it was out the way, Lucy dived straight in. It was unnoticeable to a unaware eye, but there were gaps, a little larger than the gaps in the wooden slacks, marking out a square shape in the floor.
"It's a trap door." Gray evaluated, crouching down next to Lucy. A hand raked back through his messy black hair as he studied the carved shape. "What's that?"
An oval shape indented the wooden floor. "Look's like a key shape, a lock maybe?" Lucy theorized.
"Right..." Natsu mumbled ,stroking his chin thoughtfully. Dark eyes glimpsed around the room. Finally, he sighed and turned back to the other two. "Let's break it open." Natsu declared, igniting his fist with destructive power.
Water gushed over his head, drowning his entire body from head to toe. Smoke hissed from his fist as his flame died pathetically. Natsu's body froze for a long moment of delayed shock. "LUCY!" he snapped, turning quickly on his heels. "Huh? Happy?" Natsu exclaimed. An empty bucket sat in the palms of the floating blue fur ball with ice-white wings.
"Aye sir!" Happy cheerfully smiled. "Sorry about that Natsu, it wasn't my idea." The kitten's expression turned sympathetic.
"This whole place is lined with gun powder, Natsu!" A voice grumbled behind him. In one second flat, a heavy metal gauntlet crashed against his head.
"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed. The towering, armored, red-head towered over the pink haired boy with a scowl. Slowly, the dark freezing glare set on the other two. Lucy heard Gray gulp behind her, feeling every muscle in his body tense.
"You two disappeared! Lucy we can't protect you when you go off like this!" Erza scolded, her fury set on the blonde.
"Urgh...so...sorry...Erza." Lucy apologized, her gaze incapable of rising past her feet.
"And you." Erza twisted her glare onto the ice mage. "You were sent to find the two of them and never came back!" The blazing reequip mage growled.
As Erza continued to rant at Gray and Natsu, both laid crippled in pain on the floor, Lucy's attention slipped back to the mysterious key hole. Fingers traced the circle in the ground. The ridged feel of the bottom of the shape bubbled against her fingers. Lucy's consciousness fell back into a simple world of thought. She found the odd horseshoe she picked up earlier, folding over and over in her palms. She ought to put it back. After contemplating it, Lucy gave up and stood to take it back.
A loose nail caught her foot as she rose sending her staggering reached out to catch the nearest table, letting the horseshoe fly free from her hands. Somehow, she managed to stabilize herself, just as the horse shoe landed with a ringing clatter against the floor. Lucy recovered and quickly moved to retrieve it.
It rolled and came to a rattling stop above the trapped lock door, half tipping into the circle hole.
Lucy weaved around Erza and Gray, still in the middle of a lecture, and crouched down beside it. Lucy's hand reached to pick it up, but came to an abrupt stop.
The horseshoe?...It was lighter than the others, Lucy thought, remembering weighing it on her palm. It was also shaped a little differently. Lucy gasped in realization as the thought crashed into her mind. The shape of the horseshoe; it was rounder!
Natsu perked up, dark eyes flickering back to the door. Lucy was crouched onto the wood, fiddling frivolously with the handle. Brown eyes were gleaming with excitement. "Luce?" Natsu muttered, rubbing his sore head. The dragon slayer got to his feet and moved towards her and asked "Whatcha' doin'?"
Lucy's eyes flickered up, taking him all in, in one moment. Staring at him with such overwhelming emotion made his face burn a crimson red. When they moved away, Natsu felt a strange sense of relief. Sometimes Lucy could be really intense. It wasn't until after her eyes released him that he realized how his heart was frantically beating inside his chest. It was probably left over fright from Erza.
"I figured it out. I've got the key!" Lucy exclaimed. In her hand, she held a small, circular horseshoe. "Lucy that won't fit-" Happy popped up beside them. Apparently, he was wrong; It did fit. Perfectly actually. It filled half the lock, sitting snugly into the oval shape.
By now, Erza had stopped shouting and moved back to Lucy, followed by a sullen Gray. Lucy's finger pushed against the iron metal shoes. It began to move smoothly against the wood, rotating smoothly around the circle. It moved painstakingly slow, building tension in the atmosphere every second. Finally, it completed one full turn.
Suddenly, a loud gasp of air whistled out the cracks of the door. A screeching clang rattled the air, flying the door open with a bang. Lucy squealed in surprise, almost being crushed by the swinging door. Natsu managed to drag her out the way just in time.
"That was close..." Lucy wheezed weekly, collapsing against Natsu's arm.
"Yup." Natsu panted next to her, looking at the door inches from his toes. "Too close..."
"I don't think I wanna go down there." Happy whined, peering into the open trap door.
Darkness echoed into the chilling pit. Cold, whistling fog poured up of the edge like a cauldron. Silence.
"Maybe we should just go back..." Happy whined, tugging Natsu's scarf pleadingly. Onyx eyes jumped to Happy, to Lucy, to the gap and back to Lucy, and returned to the chamber again. Sandals picked himself up, moving over to the dark hole in the middle of the smithy.
For a painstaking long moment, Natsu stood looking deeply into the hole, his eyebrows knitted together in consideration. And then...
He jumped.
Find out what happens next Monday!
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-A-ccentric