• Message •

Everybody froze. No one dared to make a move for a moment, it's like they're frozen in time. Magic was supposed to be wiped out in Edolas and restored back to Earthland yet here it is, right before their own eyes someone is using it.

Mystogan snapped back to reality when more men and women appeared. He run towards the man who's currently attacking the blonde which awaken everybody and start unmounting their legions and prepare for a fight. Mystogan use his unsheathed sword and hit the man at the back of his neck. Lucy's screams faded, lost consiousness and fall on the ground. Men surround the blonde before Mystogan can even reach her.

Their intention of kidnapping Lucy is still unclear to him but it seems they're eager to take her more than what Mystogan expected. The man in front of him took out a wand and point it in him, he barely dodged the fireball that was sent to him, leaving him a slash in his arm. The ground start shaking rapidly, causing a few of his men including him fall on the ground. He watch as the members of Lamia Scale took out a small chip and the next thing that happened left Mystogan and his army eyes widen open.

They disappeared

And they used . . . magic

They disappeared along with their headquarters.

Erza clenched her fist and throw her weapons at the ground, cursing out loud. They used the same tactic Fairytail always did every time she tracked their location and apparated in thin air when she used to be a Fairy Hunter. But how? How can they use magic when it was supposed to be gone in Edolas?

Mystogan regain his composure and run towards the unconscious blonde. He put her head in his lap and start tapping her cheeks.

" Lucy . . . Hey Lucy, wake up " He check her pulse and fortunately there is. He wrap his arms around her and carry her in bridal style. He turn towards his army, " Track Lamia Scale as soon as possible "

He mount his Legion and fly away

-0-

It's been three days since she was rescued. Three days locked in a room with no one else to talk to, it's just either the servants who brings her food from time to time or the head of the servants, Madame Molly, who's treating her wounds. For her, this is a torture.

Lucy let out a sigh and close her eyes. She let the memories of the event that happened three days ago flash back in her mind. She was just reading a book inside this room trying to feed her boredom until a group of men surrounded her. She tried to defend herself, used her learnings of her years training in combat, martial arts and in physical strength but it wasn't enough. They were too many, a number of men she's not capable to defeat. She tried to call for help but no one can hear her, it seems the room is casted with some spell. She tried to run away but she can't open the door and windows. She's vulnerable, she don't even have any weapon to use to fight them and the last thing that surprise her is that she can't use what they can— magic. They had a hard time fighting her but in the end, they captured her.

It was hard to believe that Mystogan came to retreat her, half of the armies of the Captains behind him. She's not important and after all, she's just Mystogan's . . . ex-guildmate. Hours after she was rescued, she woke up and found Coco guarding her, she explained their intention of kidnapping her is to buy time. It's like it was all planned out pretty well, seems like they already knew Mystogan will come after them to retreat her. In a short period of time, they managed to enter the Royal Palace and stole the Anima Portal.

Lucy already know why. They stole it to restore magic in Edolas from Earthland, or worst only for themselves. They all know what would happen if the Anima Portal falls in wrong hands. But what shocked her the most is that the persons who are behind all of this is Lamia Scale. She can't believe Lamia Scale is a dark guild in this world, also an organization who are behind most of the crimes happening in Edolas. They abduct women and children and sell them as slaves. They were once a Legal guild but when Faust start disbanding guilds, Lamia Scale is one of them. From what Coco told her, after all magic in Edolas was restored back to Earthland, the former members of Lamia Scale start rebelling and reformed their guild, recruited those who are against of Mystogan banning magic in Edolas.

" You're awake "

She gaze towards the door and came in contact with a pair of brown orbs.

" What do you feel? " Lucy put her palm against the sheet of the bed to support herself to stand up but in the process she hissed in pain, enough to answer Mystogan. He rush towards the whimpering blonde's side and help her sit and lean her head against the headboard.

" Where are my keys? " Mystogan look at her and meet her gaze again.

" My Celestial Keys and my whip. Where are they? I already asked the servants if they saw my possessions but they didn't. Do you know where are they? " Lucy asked him.

" When you arrived that night here, you don't have anything with you, not even your keys and whip " Her eyes widen and tried to speak but no words came out of her lips. She look away, still frozen.

" No, it can't be. I'm sure I took my keys and whip with me when I left the Inn. Don't tell me it was left behind. It's not, right? " He watch the blonde panic. As much as he want to tell her that her keys are here, he can't knowing it's not true.

He take both of Lucy's hands and envelope them with his larger ones, " Let's just hope that your keys are in good hands "

Lucy shook her hands and felt tears building up at the corner of her eyes, " But what if not? What if someone found them? I can't afford to loose them "

He stare back at her, looking deeply into those brown orbs she own. She still look like the same the last time he saw her. Though it's been almost a decade, he can still remember the first time they met. She look like she only aged a year or two. He snap back to reality and sooth her knuckled with his finger, surprising her. Sighing, he gave her a smile.

" I may not be a wizard anymore or a Celestial Mage but as far as I know, contracts between a spirit and a Celestial mage can only be broken when the mage is arrested, releases the spirit or dies. Nevertheless, you're not going to loose your spirits, you're just going to be away from them temporarily. And even if your keys are in your possession, you can't summon them knowing we both know you can't use magic here " Slowly, Mystogan pull Lucy towards him and lean her head in his chest, sooth her hair with his hand. He heard her sob and felt his shirt start to become wet. He'll deal with his shirt later, first, he need to comfort the lady in his arms.

" Let's just hope they're in good hands " He repeated.

He felt his lips curved upward, felt Lucy starting to relax in his arms. He never felt relieved like this way. Maybe it's because he forgot comforting someone after leaving Wendy in the care of Cait Shelter and this is the first time in sixteen years he comforted someone, someone he does not completely know.

" I . . . I hope so, " He heard Lucy started, " I just can't afford losing someone again. It's enough I already lose more people than I expected . . . I don't know what to do anymore if I lose one more person again "

Surprised, those words left him dumbstruck. He know behind those words hides something deep, something that make her vulnerable. He don't know what happened on his years absence in Earthland but he know this is not the Lucy he met years before. They may had not talked more than ten minutes the first and last time they talked, but he remember seeing those eyes, he remember seeing light and colors in those orbs but now . . . he can't even see life, all he can see are despair, vain and loneliness.

As much as he want to ask her, he can't. He respect her privacy and he know that there is something she hide behind the walls she built that she herself don't want to break in.

They stayed in each other's arms for a while until he pull her away and found she's already asleep. His face become serious and carefully lay her back in her bed. He wrap the comforter around her body and stare at her for a moment.

" I won't let them take you, " He whisper, " Not even him. I won't let him or anyone lay a finger on you " And with that, he start to walk away. He have things to deal with, and top of it all is to keep Lucy safe.

-0-

" Aren't you going to tell her? She deserves to know "

Mystogan, whose back is facing them, keep his eyes focused on the window, seriously watching the blonde sitted perfectly still by the fountain in the garden from above.

" Not now "

Hughes sigh and comb his hair with his fingers.

He don't understand, how did he know she's here? Her whereabouts are supposed to be hidden, no one is supposed to know she's here aside the people inisde the Royal Palace. But how could the news of a girl from Earthland transported in Edolas got in their neighboring Kingdom?

Mystogan clenched his fists, still not taking the reports properly. He even thought his own ears are deceiving him when Hughes reported

that the person who is behind Lucy's abduction is none other than the King and Ruler of Freya, a neighboring Kingdom— King Lyon, his rival and mortal enemy who discovered that Lucy is from Earthland and bears magic within her body and paid Lamia scale to abduct her. From what Sugarboy reported, King Lyon don't have the Anima Portal and it turns out that Lucy's abduction is an opportunity for Lamia Scale to enter the Royal Palace and to steal the Anima Portal. But it doesn't explain why Lamia Scale can use magic.

" She needs to know as soon as possible. We don't know what King Lyon's plans are and if he do have plans, it's not what we can expect, we all know he play dirty, " Sugarboy paused for a moment to take a sip of his cup of tea and continue, " It looks like he's interested in Miss Lucy "

Mystogan's knuckles turned white which Hughes noticed and caused him to smirk, " You don't want to loose a bride, right? " He muttered, only thing other Captains heard.

" In case Miss Lucy is aware of the possibilities that she may be be abducted again, she can prepare and fight for herself " Sugarboy stated. Erza snickered while drinking her tea, she gently out it down and look sternly at Sugarboy, " Prepared or not, she can't defend herself. How can she fight if she's weak? "

Hughes raised a brow, keep hearing Erza out, " If I remember properly, she wasn't able to block my attacks years ago even if she's capable of using magic "

" And if I remember correctly, that was nine years ago. A lot had happened and I'm sure she has trained and enhanced her abilities " Hughes defended.

Mystogan sigh and throw one last look at Lucy before facing the Captains, " She will not fight "

Erza send Hughes a victorious smirk and cross her arms in her chest, " Even the King agreed "

Hughes want about to say something when Mystogan beat him into it, " What I mean is she will not be fighting. She will be under our supervision and a Knight or two should always accompany her. We should always keep her safe and the Royal Palace should be double secured from now on. No one from the outside should know about her whereabouts "

Byro, who's sitted quietly and patiently listening throughout the meeting, have his eyes widen. Sugarboy smirk and muttered something. Hughes snickered and Erza scoffed.

" Any suggestion who should accompany Lucy? " Mystogan raise a brow and wait for someone to answer.

" Coco! " Sugarboy almost spit out his tea from Hughes' sudden outburst.

" Coco? " The King questioned.

" Coco! There! " All eyes immediately turn towards the girl Hughes is pointing, who's not been noticed for a couple of minutes panting and trying hard to catch her breath.

" Your Majesty . . . . King Lyon . . . . has . . sent you a . . . message " She suddenly run towards the King and give him the parchment in her hands.

He immediately open the rolled parchment and almost growled at the message written. He throw the letter in the table and look away. Hughes caught it just in time and read what's written.

" Woah " He whispered.

Erza, pissed and impatient, grab the parchment and start reading the message.

Mystogan, King of Edolas

What a lady in your possession, I should be lying if I say she's not one of a kind. I'll make her mine, just sit back and wait.

-Lyon, King of Freya

" I told ya', he's interested in her " Hughes said.

" The parchment just arrived, Your Majesty. It was just suddenly thrown with a dagger at a Palace Guard. He barely dodged it and luckily, he just received a wound " Coco explained as she took out a dagger from her pocket and show it in front of Mystogan.

Mystogan take it and surprising throw it at the wall, almost hitting Erza.

" Erza, you'll be accompanying Lucy from now on "

• End Of Chapter 4 •

Author's Note :

I don't know what's the right reaction because of the comments from the previous chapter. Glad and shocked, maybe? A couple of readers was shocked because English is just my second language. But it's true, English is just my second language. Actually, I love both of my native language and English that's why I'm trying my best to improve them. I've been studying English better and of coarse with the help of my Father who's fluent in English and my favorite English Teachers.

So anyway, how's Chapter 4? Comment will do, they make my day so joyous because even though you make it short or bad, you put effort on thinking what to say and on typing. I appreciate it.

If you're interested, check out my other story. It's about Rogue and Lucy.

Here's the link : https/m./s/12460026/1/Taming-Shadows