Shadows
Chapter 9: Jump
Everyone exclaimed in shock as the slayer was swallowed up into the darkness. Their surprise was shattered by the loud crashing and yelps from the hole. Before she knew it, Lucy was plundering forward towards the hole. She didn't even have time to make a decision as her feet rushed in, plunging her into the dark.
"Natsu?" Lucy called. She was surprised to find solid, stone beneath her feet, a few feet down from the gap. She walked along it, hearing her footsteps smothered by a heavy silence. A sandal took a step forward, only to find, that her stone path had come to an end. She startled in surprise as there was no more ground underneath her. Lucy's squeal cut off sharply as her legs jerked at the stone meeting her foot. Her body still moved forward with the moment, hitting hard against stone that slowly descended down. Stairs? Lucy didn't have time to contemplate it as she raced down the steps, practically flying over them.
Suddenly, the rock turned soft under foot, radiating a familiar warmth. A groan echoed hauntingly beneath her. Lucy screamed in fright and went tumbling forwards. Her beautiful, youthful skin met a face full of concrete.
"Urgh." Lucy grumbled, sitting up sorely.
"LUCY!" Voices screamed from above. It was dark, darker than Lucy imagined. Light from the streets that lit the dark smithy were engulfed in black. There was no light to guide her.
Realization hit her like a slap in the face. She remembered why she leapt blindly into the hole in first place. "NATSU!" Lucy called. It went quiet for a long moment until Lucy heard a loud grumble at her feet. "NATSU!" Lucy exclaimed, shuffling forward. Grit, cold wet and painful dug into the skin of her knees as she crawled across it's rubble stone floor.
Warmth caught her by the ankle and ripped her backwards. It's burning heat wrapped around her shoulder. In blind panic, Lucy threw her foot forwards. Something soft with an underlying strength met it and was knocked backwards.
Lucy froze, her eyes adjusted, making out the faint shape of the figure on the floor. It was familiar. Her foot had felt that face many times before. "Natsu?" Lucy whispered. "Natsu!"
"Aye..." Natsu's voice groaned.
Hesitantly, Lucy reached out in to the darkness. When she felt his strong, warm build on her palms, she let out a small, involuntary squeak, pulling her hands back. "Natsu?...Are you okay?" Lucy whispered.
"I've had better days." Natsu replied, his hands reaching blindly into the darkness until he found Lucy's. Strong hands slip over hers, lacing around her wrists. "Found you!" Lucy squealed against as she was dragged into Natsu's arms, wrapping around her back.
"Natsu what are you-" Lucy squawked.
"Shush." Natsu whispered. Soft lips shut tight with a pout. Brown eyes scowled in the dark at the dragon slayer. "Wow. You actually listened to me." Natsu's voice chuckled, sounding genuine surprise.
"WHAT?" Lucy exclaimed, breaking free of his arms. "Urgh. If I could see, I would slap you so hard right now!"
"Aha, Sorry Luce." Natsu laughed, acting a little amused and a little distracted. Goosebumps prickled up his warmly tanned arms. It was the murderous energy, Natsu could feel practically pouring out of the girl. "Uh-huh...Lucy?"
"Natsu!" Lucy growled. An overwhelming urge to duck pushed his body back against the ground. It was just in time. The breath of air that whipped his face just missed. Not at all too soon later, the crack of a leather whip echoed in the darkness. "Natsu..." Lucy growled again.
"Ah, Luce!" Natsu gulped. "I- I was kidding..." Open palms raised in the air in surrender. Thunderous whip-cracking continued as Lucy obviously wasn't feeling merciful.
Gray, Erza and Happy slowly moved down the steps, weary of their footing and balance. "Natsu! Lucy!" Happy yelled. Blue paws clung to the steel edges of Erza's shoulder plates as a guide through the darkness. "Where are they?" Happy sheepishly mumbled.
"Dunno." Gray bluntly replied, somewhere behind them. "Natsu, the idiot, just carelessly jumped in and obviously fell down the stairs. Then Lucy went running down after him. I think from the screams we heard, she found him." Gray ranted angrily, throwing around stiff hand gestures. "Jeez. Those two..."
"But...but what if someone caught them?" Happy wailed. "Hey, Erza, Erza, what if Lucy and Natsu have been ambushed. I heard yelling earlier."
"The lock on the trap door was rusted. it doesn't look like it's been used in a while" Erza replied rather smoothly.
"That doesn't answer my question!" Happy cried. A large grunt growled behind them as Gray charged passed Erza on the narrow stairs, marching straight down, stomping his feet as he went.
"Lucy, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" Natsu's voice panicked.
"Natsu?" Erza called out.
"Huh? Erza?" Natsu replied distantly. Faint muttering followed, getting louder and louder the closer they descended.
"NATSU!" Lucy's voice snapped. She sounded furious.
"Lucy! Shush!" Natsu hushed her in frustration.
"Don't shush me! Natsu get-" Lucy bickered, followed by a loud muffled noise.
"Natsu?" Gray called out again, only a little further ahead than Happy and Erza.
"Here!" Natsu called. A whistling hiss escaped into the air. Orange glowing light beamed like a torch in the constricting darkness. Natsu's fist flickered like a candle, lighting the narrow tunnel walls with an illuminating amber. Black stone walls were covered in dying, brown moss, leaking tears of water, or so it seemed, across its damp stone.
The tunnels were, as said, surprisingly narrow. Both side walls could be reached with extended arms. Contradictory to the width of the walls, was the height of the ceiling. It reached to about four times the height of Natsu and Gray like the roof of a church.
"Natsu! What are you doing?" Erza exclaimed. Natsu's strong, muscular body crouched over the body of the struggling blonde, pinning her down. Lucy squeaked and squawked, trying to claw the dragon slayer's hand off her mouth while he straddled her waist.
"Eh?" Natsu questioned, pink eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Dark eyes stared at Erza for a long time. They turned to carefully study himself, Lucy, and their situation. As he turned back to Erza, a hot pink blush was heating up on his cheeks as it dawned on him. "Erm...It's not what it looks like, Erza." Natsu gulped, laughing nervously. "I swear!"
Metal mercilessly collided against his face. Natsu's body was sent flying backwards into the nearest stone wall with shocking force. Darkness quickly swallowed up the remained glow of the flame. A small 'WHOOMPH' sound echoed as Natsu's body trickled down into a heap of aching skin and bones.
Lucy took a large, deep gasp, picking herself up off the floor. Erza reached out a gauntlet to help her and she took it gratefully.
"Oi, get up!" Gray grumbled. It was hard to see but Gray could just make out the outline of the pink hair spiking in random directions.
"You wanna go, ice princess?" Natsu's body whirled around, instantly stepping up the ice wizard. Apparently Erza's punch wasn't hard enough.
"Are you fighting...AGAIN?" Erza's voice growled threateningly. The temperature seemed to drop a little more. Natsu's throat tightened as he tried to gulp back his fear.
"Aha, sorry Erza." Natsu replied innocently.
"Natsu, do something about this light." Erza commanded. That was right. They were still puzzled with the problem of light. Lucy's brown eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness easier than she had planned. Faint outline of people and walls could be seen as dark shades, separated from blackness. The blurred shape of the walls seemed a harsh sheen of grey. It was strange, the walls of all things, seemed oddly familiar. Before Lucy could continue to probably over think, a sizzle snapped her from her thoughts.
Golden flames lit up around Natsu's fist. Illuminating light poured out over the walls and burnt away their familiarity. Maybe she was just seeing things.
The walls looked old and dreary, leaning in a curve over their head. Wet drops of foul-smelling water dripped down the collar of her shirt, sending an icy vibration through her bones. Moss squeezed and cosied its way into the crumbling concrete in between the large mismatched stone bricking around them. Stone-covered steps lead up to the little trap door at a dangerously steep incline. It looked monstrously high and small, looking up at it. Lucy wondered how far she'd fallen before she hit the stairs and stripped over Natsu. It looks like she must have missed at least ten. The pink-haired devil seemed to be thinking the same thing. Onyx eyes, glittering a golden-tar under torch light, gazed thoughtfully up at the trap door. "It's pretty high, isn't it?" Lucy moved next to him, following his line of sight. "We must be deep underground."
"Yeah, I suppose." Natsu half-heartedly replied. His absent-minded attention followed as he called over the blue feline. His gaze stayed rooted at the square patch of dim light in the ceiling as the flying cat sprung up beside him, following his gaze up.
"Yeah, Natsu?" Happy asked, looking back between the gap and Natsu, trying to make some kind of connection.
"Isn't this normally the part where the trap door shuts behind us?" Natsu asked. Happy let out a squeal of surprise and fear.
"This isn't like some horror movie, you two." Lucy moaned.
"Only idiots would-" Gray began. A loud bang cut him off. All eyes jumped instantly back up to where the trap door should have been. Darkness had swallowed the patch of light which was the door. Lucy shrieked darting back up the stairs in panic. Her feet hit the steps at a sprint, shooting her upwards.
"Lucy, you shouldn't-" Happy tried to warn her, but gave up as she reached halfway.
A rumble growled from under her feet as the hard stone steps suddenly smoothed out under her feet. The ground evened-out into a damp, slippery slope. One she couldn't possibly climb. Lucy screamed as she went tumbling backwards, rolling rapidly down. Lucy reacted quickly, catching a key from her belt as she continued to fall, whirling it in the air above her head. "Gate...of...the...ram...I...open...thee!" Lucy stumbled, letting light shimmer at the end of the golden key. "Aries!"
Gold dust sprinkled the air, collecting into form. It merged into Aries, dressed in her pink and white wool, seconds before Lucy landed.
Soft, fluffy cotton clouds surrounded her like a comforting blanket, breaking her fall. A sigh of relief sailed out of her lips as she landed safely.
"Nice timing, fluffy" Happy winked, giving a thumbs up to the shaking lamb.
"I'm sorry." Aries whimpered.
"It's okay, thanks Aries." Lucy gave her a grateful nod, standing up on her faintly weak legs.
"I'm sorry." She whined again, disintegrating into golden particles that faded into the air.
"You alright Luce?" Natsu chuckled with half concern.
"Yeah, fine." she grumbled bitterly. She was more irritated at the stairs than him. "The stairs suddenly flattened."
"It's just like a horror movie!" Happy exclaimed with gruesome delight in a tangle of fear. Natsu laughed at the cat, showing a similar twinkle in his eye. The laughter died as his face went from the feline to Lucy's.
Brown eyes glanced around nervously, sizing up every brick and slab of concrete that could possible come alive and try to hurt her. A warm hand set on Lucy's stiff shoulders, making her flinch. A small, far-away pang echoed distantly in the dragon slayer's heart, like a pin prick to the chest. It distracted him a little, making him awkwardly pause with Lucy's big brown eyes staring up at him curiously.
"Don't worry, Luce. There's nothing to be afraid of." Natsu tried cheering her up, beaming with his full-of-confidence smile.
Just as a little tension ceased from her muscles, a cold blast of air raced through the tunnels. Natsu's flame jumped, flickered and died with a whistle. Quickly, Natsu re-lit it, lighting everything up again. Tension coiled up again in Lucy's jaw, her anxious eyes set on him. Natsu gave a sheepish grin, chuckling nervously.
"Let's go!" Erza's voice instructed. Erza stood at the edge of the light beginning to creep into the darkness. Lucy didn't say anything. She just listened and walked closer to the equip mage. 'Well that went well' Natsu thought bitterly, 'Nice job reassuring her, Natsu!'
Natsu sulked behind Lucy, keeping up pace so that light still shone like a little orb around them.
After a short while of walking down the corridor, Lucy wandered closer to the dragon slayer, keeping a cautious eye on the flame gloved around his fingers. Although it danced gracefully, it would be dangerous if she got too close. Natsu, Lucy thought sadly, could be like that. The pink-haired boy's brilliance was the same as his flames. They were strong and powerful, destructive and unpredictable, but also graceful and kind. They could protect what they loved and burn anything that would threaten that. What would happen if the thing that threatened him, was something he loved?
"There's something up ahead!" Erza called distantly, as if she were a few feet way. In fact, she was stood only a couple of metes in front of the blond. It seemed it was Lucy who was far way, lost in deep thought in her echoing heart. Lucy left her numbing thoughts for later, catching up to the scarlet-haired mage. Erza had already quickened her pace. Lucy had to double hers to keep up.
"What is this place?" Gray grumbled. Black iron bars began to protrude out of the wall. Stone cave-like cells swallowed in darkness lurked on the other side. They were small, no windows or doors. Gray wondered how they even opened them. At the corner, Gray spotted his answer. A small, two-squared foot, dog gate built into the edges of the bars. You'd have to crawl to get through. Low, claw marks scratched into the concrete, shimmering in the light, a silvery-grey.
"That must be how they forced people in and out of the cells." Erza added, looking at the gate coldly. Dark eyes caught the shallow marks and she hesitated. A small unnecessary breath escaped her lips, as she stood and gazed ahead into the darkness. Gray wondered if it brought up any unwanted memories of her childhood in the tower of heaven. He stopped, realizing it was not the time for the ice mage to be picking at Erza's thoughts. Gray stood up from his crouch by the door and moved over to the reequip mage. Natsu took a quick glance at the gate and so did Happy. Lucy didn't even turn. She carried on, head straight as if she knew what was there and didn't dare look. They all moved on after her.
They passed cave after cave, each with their own set of iron bars. Rust had began to spiderweb itself around the edges, crisping black into brown. Lucy might have stayed in one of those cells, Natsu thought, she could have lived in that darkness. The thought made him shudder. Raven eyes found themselves drawn to the plain, stiff face of the celestial mage. Brown eyes pointed straight into the darkness ahead like there was nowhere else to look. h
"This is getting pretty creepy now." Happy whined, hovering close to Natsu's side. Natsu nodded shortly, glancing around the empty cages.
The rows and rows of cells came to a stop. Dark stone walls washed up again in the darkness. "This one's open." Erza stated, swinging open the normal-sized gate. It let out a horrible creak as it swung open. Natsu felt Lucy's body completely stiffen. Jet eyes jumped towards her. Brown eyes were fixed on the open door, staring with a boiling intensity that could probably burn holes right through it. "Luce? You alright?" Natsu called, waving a hand in front of her face.
Lucy snapped back into reality. The horrible screech of the gate had frozen her body and paused her mind, letting the sound drag infinitely in her head. The sound seemed to vibrate through her bones like the chime of a clock tower.
Somewhere in the far away world, Natsu's voice called to her. Lucy found herself blundering back into life. Big onyx eyes stared at her inquisitively. She could see him balanced between concern and curiosity, unsure of which way to turn. Before he decided either, Lucy gave him a reassuring smile, settling his temped concern. The smile seemed genuine enough, but her heart wasn't in it. Natsu seemed to have noticed it too, but he decided to play along. It was more than comforting to the celestial mage. It was so strange how Natsu always understood her on some deeper level. Then again, there were days she doubted that. Like the day she needed to go shopping and Natsu and Happy complained all day until she took them home. He was the one who wanted to come along. Really, they were just like a bunch of kids, Lucy thought. A gentle chuckle slipped from her lips when she realized how mildly amusing it was. Dark eyes caught it and his lips pulled into a smile, relieving him of a little bit of tension twisted up in his muscles.
"What's so funny?" Natsu asked, nudging her gently in the arm. Lucy just shook her head softly. Big brown eyes turned to him and stared. For a long moment, her orbs held his, igniting the pulse of electricity that shot through his veins. It wasn't that he felt uncomfortable, but something just wanted more. It wanted to be be closer to her, like an invisable rope pulling them together.
Before Natsu even finished contemplating the unfamiliar feelings, Lucy smiled and said "Nothing." turning back to Erza. Natsu shook off the remaining pins and needles sensation prickling in his hands, legs and chest, moving up to join them.
"This cell's different from the rest." Erza grumbled thoughtfully, looking in the dimly lit room. Natsu moved in with his flaming fists, brightening up the place.Although, 'Brightening up the place' wasn't the right phrase.
Dreary, empty walls glittered with a cold, slimy membrane. Chains attatched a small bed to the back wall. A metal toilet and sink fixed on the edge, discolored with limescale and rust. White sheets layed neatly on a thin, spongey materess with soft, fluffy pillows. It looked, in Erza's opinion, strangely nice for a cell. It was especially true when comparing it to the cells they already passed. The others were barren and small, this one was a little bigger with a few extra essentials.
"It looks, in compariosn to the others, better." Gray stated, taking the words right out of the equip mage's mind. His voice sounded twisted and unsure, unable to find the right words he needed.
"I wouldn't say better." Natsu grumbled, scrunching up his sensitive nose.
"The whole place isn't very nice at all." Happy added unnecessarily.
"This kind of cell is better than the other ones they have." Erza gestured back down the corridoor. "It must have held someone of higher...quality." Erza grimaced, finding difficulty in expressing her words too. In fact, she couldn't find any words to pin point exactly what she was trying to say.
"I don't think you can describe a person in terms of quality." Gray muttered sourly, examining the space between the bed and the cell bars.
"Kidnappers probably don't care." Erza bluntly remarked, shading her eyes away behind a veil of red. Cells of the such, brought up too many unwanted memories.
"Who then, would be more important than the rest?" Happy asked aloud, hiding somewhere near Natsu's shoulders.
"It was mine." Lucy said.
Find out what Lucy means next Monday, on the 24th of February! Also, read for the return of a very unwelcome character.
If you liked Shadows try checking out some of my other stories.
Don't forget to review, favorite and recommend to others.
If you want more Shadows don't forget to follow!
-A-ccentric