Once again, thank you all so much for your feedback! It makes me so happy!
This chapter might be a little weird since I really wasn't sure what to do, so I just hope it's not awful…
I do want to mention something, though: the only spirits that show up or are mentioned within this story are the 13 Zodiac spirits, which is why I made Plue a human in the first chapter.
Also, I know who I want the 'big bad' to be in this story, but wasn't sure who to have working under the main guy, so I decided on Avatar (saved me from coming up with a new group name. Plus I liked the way it sounded). However, not all of the main characters in Avatar will be the same - I'm sort of going to build my own Avatar team. Sorry if any of you dislike that idea. Also, I apologize if some of the characters I chose to be Avatar are some of your favorites (I will probably end up picking some of my own bad characters that I actually like or were redeemed, so it will be painful for me, too). Don't hate me, please.
Sorry for the long author's note! I will let you get to reading! Let me know what you think!
"Dude… Erza's going to kill you."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?! I got her, and so far nobody has found us, and it's already been a week!"
"Juvia can confirm… Erza is going to kill you."
"Oh, come on!"
"Natsu, we had a plan. We were going to distract the guards and keep you hidden while you snuck off with her. Instead you went full dragon mode and caused a huge scene," Gray said.
"So I didn't follow through with some stupid plan. So what?"
"The plan was Erza's," Gray deadpanned. Natsu sagged, shoulders dropping and head looking down at the ground.
"Erza's gonna kill me," he whimpered. "Any idea when she'll be coming around?"
"All Juvia knows is that she's still tending to some business regarding a group of rebels," the blue haired woman said.
"So where is she?"
"At the bottom of the ocean," Natsu said sarcastically. "She's in the giant ass tower right there, you snowball!"
"Watch it, pyro, I was just asking!"
"Maybe if you'd check the surroundings, you wouldn't have had to ask!"
"Maybe if you-" the bickering duo were quickly silenced when they were both doused with water.
"Since Erza is not here to keep you two from arguing, Juvia will take it upon herself. Now cut it out," Juvia said cooly. She received stubborn glares, but the two decided not to anger her further. "What's she like?"
"The princess? She's a spoiled brat, that's who she is. She thinks everything I'm doing is for her and that everything needs to go her way. I built her a tower for crying out loud, and she hardly seems very grateful for that. I could have kept her in a cave, but-"
"Natsu, she grew up in royalty and was treated as such for eighteen years. You can't expect her not to think that someone should be treating her respectfully. Juvia can only imagine you were quite rude."
"I am not rude, and she needs to consider this a wake-up call, then. Not everyone is gonna fall to their knees and worship the ground she walks on."
"You are definitely rude, flame-brain. I'm pretty sure she doesn't expect that of people, but right now, to her, you're some stranger who drugged and kidnapped her, then locked her away in a tower. She'd be insane not to be a little hostile," Gray said, leaning against a nearby tree.
"Juvia agrees with Gray. You've been rather short-tempered for a while."
"Well can you blame me? I mean I've been waiting three thousand years for this princess to be born, then eighteen more until I could actually get her. I'm tired of waiting for action and all this pent-up energy is driving me insane! Whoever wants to get their hands on her needs to make their move already!"
And just like that, a loud scream resonated from the tower.
"It's about damn time!" Natsu yelled as he ran out of the forest and towards the tower in the clearing. His wings sprouted from his back as he took on his draconic form and flew up to the window where Lucy's bedroom was located, only to find it closed and locked. Of course, that wouldn't keep Natsu back, and he burst through the glass, jumping into the room with flames burning from his hands. When he found the room empty, he ran out to one of the other rooms, picking up her scent and following it to the library, where Gray and Juvia were already inside.
"How the hell did you guys get in here?" Natsu shouted, ignoring why he was there in the first place.
"You have a door, you know," Gray said, rolling his eyes.
"Will you shut up and help me out?" Lucy cried out to Natsu. The three turned to her to see her standing in the center of the room.
Completely alone and untouched.
"There's something in here," she shouted, gripping a pillow from the sofa in her hands as a weapon. The three just stared at her. "I mean it! Something was creeping around, and it was knocking things off of the shelf behind me and even attacked me, see?" Lucy held out her arm, revealing four long red cuts all parallel from one another. Natsu immediately slumped.
"You're kidding me," he whined, burying his face in his hands.
"Excuse me?" Lucy snapped.
"Nobody attacked you," Natsu muttered, shaking his head then turning to go to the sofa.
"Excuse me? You're the one who said there were people after me, and now - what are you doing?" she asked when she saw Natsu get on the ground and look under the piece of furniture.
"Come on, little buddy. I think you freaked her out enough." Natsu stood again and this time he cradled a small kitten in his hands.
"What?!" Lucy cried out, and the kitten just hissed at her. "Since when do you have a cat?"
"Since always," Natsu said, rolling his eyes. "His name's Happy."
"Is it blue? You have a blue cat?"
"Yeah, and my hair is pink. Got a problem with it?"
"I thought you said it was salmon," Lucy drawled out mockingly.
"It is!" Natsu shouted, gritting his teeth.
"But you just said it was pink."
"Oh, you -"
"You must be the princess," Gray said suddenly, snapping the two out of their argument. Lucy flushed, only now realizing there were others in the room.
"I… yes, I am," she said, setting the pillow down and straightening herself. "And you are?"
"Gray," he said, reaching his hand out to her. She eyed it skeptically, then took it into her own.
"Careful, Gray, you may have just offended her by not bowing and kissing her feet," Natsu spat. Lucy's hand tightened around Gray's at the dragon's words, then quickly released when she realized what she was doing.
"Oh, I apologize!" she said. Gray shook his head, despite the pain in his hand.
"Don't worry about it. He pisses me off, too." Lucy couldn't help but smile softly at him. The sound of someone clearing their throat drew Lucy's eyes to the woman in the room. She had blue hair, like Levy, only her's was much longer. And the woman seemed to have a less-than-friendly expression, her hand grasping one of Gray's arms almost possessively, though the raven-haired man didn't seem to pay it any mind. "Oh, yeah, this is Juvia."
"Juvia? That's a nice name," she said. She wasn't exactly looking to make friends, but she just wanted to not be on this woman's bad side. She looked like she could cause serious damage. The woman eyed her for a moment before giving a short nod.
"Juvia thanks you," she said. Her other hand found its way onto Gray's arm to join the first, and Lucy quickly realized that Juvia felt threatened by her. Lucy cleared her throat and nodded, then Natsu began laughing.
"Hold on, you were seriously thought you were going to be attacked by a cat?"
"I didn't know it was a cat!"
"A-and you were going to defend yourself with a pillow?" Natsu was laughing almost hysterically at this point.
"It was the only thing I had! Back off!"
"Your first thought," he said between peals of laughter, "was going for a pillow… instead of using any of the thirteen zodiac spirits you have? That's priceless!" Lucy's eyes widened and her face flushed brightly. How could she have forgotten?
She glared at Natsu then for making fun of her and picked up the pillow again, throwing it at him.
"Hey, watch the kitten!" he shouted, and she glared at him, then straightened.
"I want to go outside," she said defiantly. Natsu raised a brow at the sudden request that seemed completely out of place, then scoffed.
"Yeah, right. Like I'm letting you do that."
"And why not?" she asked, hands on her hips.
"I don't know, maybe because you'll try to escape?" Lucy rolled her eyes.
"You're a dragon. You could easily out-run me."
"Okay, I'll let you outside," he said, walking closer to her after setting the kitten down, a devious look in his eyes. He held out his hand palm-up, and Lucy furrowed her brows in question. "Just give me your keys, first."
"What?!" Lucy cried out, her hands going to her pocket in the dress she wore protectively.
"I'm not stupid, princess. I know what you're planning." Lucy glared at him, silence stretching between the two of them, then huffed.
"Fine. It looks like it's going to rain, anyway." She then turned and left the room.
"Rude," Juvia whispered.
"Right? I mean-"
"I'm pretty sure she meant you, Natsu, not Lucy," Gray said.
"What? You expect me to let her outside with her spirits? I know she doesn't like the circumstances she's in, so she'll take any chance she can to get out of here."
"Does she know how to use her keys?" Juvia asked.
"I don't think so. They were taken from her at a young age, so unless they trained with her before then, I doubt she knows how to do anymore more than summon them."
"So what's the issue if she can only summon them? She may have enough energy built up to summon two at a time, but that may be the most before she tires out."
"Because if she summons the right one," Natsu said, lowering his voice in hopes of preventing the princess from hearing him, "she may be able to keep me occupied long enough to get away."
"Okay, then why did you give her the keys?"
"Because -" Natsu stopped. Why did he give her the keys. He racked his brain in hopes of finding his answer, but it didn't come.
"Exactly. See? This sort of thing wouldn't happen had you stuck with our plan. As I said, Erza is going to kill you."
"Stop saying that!"
"Who's Erza?" The group turned to see Lucy, arms crossed over her chest. "I wanna know more about whoever everyone is saying is going to kill him. I may ask to join in."
"Didn't you go to your room?" Natsu bit out.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I was now only allowed to spend time in my room all of the sudden. And I would be there, but it looks like some idiot broke my window, and I was right - it is raining. I would like to remain dry right now if I could," Lucy said, and Natsu clenched his jaw.
"You little bi-"
"Erza is the queen of the fairies," Gray cut in. "She had this elaborate plan on how we could get to you without causing a big scene, but this jackass decided to ignore it all. She is very serious about her plans, so yes, Erza is going to kill him."
"Wait… there was a plan to kidnap me?"
"Like I said, princess, I'm not doing it because I'm bored," Natsu muttered. "If Avatar and whoever else gets a hold of you, the whole world is in danger, not just you. I've told you this, but you refuse to get off your high horse and just listen."
"I am not - how dare you! I don't know who you are -"
"Yeah, you kinda do."
"- but who gave you the right to talk to me like that? I may not be your princess, but what the hell have I done to piss you off so much? It's not my fault I have this 'great and powerful magic' inside of me, and it's not my fault that someone apparently wants to use me to destroy the world!"
"No, but it is your fault that you act like a brat all the time and treat me like some sort of servant."
"I think it's a basic human right for a person to ask their captor for food!"
"And request gaudy meals? And turn up your prissy little nose when something isn't presented on a silver platter?"
"You know what, if you're going to be such a jerk, why not just hand me over to another dragon? Or these two?" Lucy shouted, gesturing to Gray and Juvia, who looked at each other with wide-eyed expressions as if to say they certainly do not want to take her in.
"Another dragon? I can assure you, princess, they won't be nearly as pleasant to you as I have been," Natsu snarled.
"Pleasant? You think you've been pleasant to me?"
"I said as pleasant, sweetheart."
"Well based on what Levy has told me about him, I think even that Gajeel guy would be better than you!" Natsu let out an incredulous laugh.
"Oh, really? Let's see what you'll say to that when he has you suffering through his singing and making you dance next to him like a showgirl!" Lucy didn't exactly like the sound of that, but she was pissed.
"Sign me up if it means I won't be dealing with you!" Lucy shouted. Natsu straightened, his expression becoming more calm, and yet darkening.
"All right, if that's what you want, princess, be my guest." Natsu stalked towards her and grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder, then left the room.
"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Lucy shouted, pounding her fists against his back and even pulling at his hair as it got in her face.
"I'm bringing you to your new home."
"Natsu, this isn't necessary," Juvia said. "You're upset."
"Damn right I am! But who am I to deny a princess of what she wants?"
"Since when do you care what I want?" Lucy cried out.
"Natsu, enough!"
"Fuck off, Gray!" Lucy saw broken glass on the ground and she knew she was in her room again, but then he climbed the window sill and jumped. Much like the first time he had done it, she screamed, even though they didn't fall. She opened her eyes and saw that they were hundreds of feet above the ground, and her breath left her body, her hands grasping Natsu's long hair like a lifeline.
"Wh-what about my clothes?" she said when she finally found her breath after closing her eyes again. Much better than looking down.
"Those are all things I gathered for you, princess. Gajeel isn't that kind. I'll be nice and let you keep this one you're wearing, but that's all you'll get. Your new home is going to be a cold, stone floor, where you'll eat, sleep, and sit all day, every day. That's what you wanted, right?"
"No! It's not! I was just angry, like you were! Put me down! I don't want to live with him!"
"Of course you do! He'll be so much nicer than me!"
"I said put me down!" Lucy shouted, jerking hard at his hair. He cursed loudly and fumbled with her when she began squirming, her foot kicking at his side.
And he dropped her.
He looked down and saw her falling, but drowned out her screams and sighed.
"Gajeel probably wouldn't save you!" he called down to her.
Lucy could feel her throat going raw with how much she was screaming. Eventually, her voice gave out and she could only close her eyes and brace herself for impact, which came in the form of a pair of arms. She was just about to scream at Natsu for letting her fall, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into dark green eyes under blue fringe. He had a strange tattoo above and below his right eye, but she found herself more focused on the fact that someone else had caught her. Does that mean she was nearing the ground?
Lucy looked up and realized she was actually still in the air, though not too far up. The man who had caught her had wings sprouting from his back and a shocked expression on his face. She felt him land softly on the grass.
"Are you okay?" he asked, but all Lucy could think about was how handsome of a man he was. So rather than answering, she just looked like a fish out of water, opening and closing its mouth without making a sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Natsu land.
"Oh, hey, nice catch, Je-" Natsu suddenly froze, eyes wide. Without a second thought, he raced forward and snatched Lucy from the man's arms and took off.
"Natsu, what the hell are you doing?" Lucy screamed as she looked up at the dragon, pounding her fist against his chest.
"We gotta get out of here," he said, jumping into the air to fly off.
"Wait.. You let me fall! You -"
"I was going to catch you!"
"You were not!"
"Stop complaining, will you? And stop yelling at me! You're going to gain unwanted attention," he said, glancing back briefly. Her eyes then widened.
"Was he one of the people after me?" Lucy asked fearfully, but Natsu shook his head.
"No, but wherever that man is… she isn't far behind."
"Who?" Lucy asked.
"Erza," the dragon said through his teeth.
"Wait… You're scared of her?" Though, Lucy couldn't exactly blame him. She sounded pretty scary from what she's heard.
"What? Hell no!"
"Then why are you running away?"
"I'm not running." Lucy rolled his eyes. Smartass.
"Okay, why are you flying away?"
"Because I can."
"I thought you were taking me to Gajeel?"
"Yeah, well, that's gonna have to wait."
"You are scared of her!"
"I am not!"
"You look terrified."
"I will drop you again," Natsu said, looking down at her sharply. Her eyes widened, then narrowed.
"You wouldn't dare," Lucy hissed. But, of course, he would. He loosened his hold on her and she screamed as she began to fall, but was caught by her ankle. The bottom of her dress fell around her head and she squeaked, forcing the fabric back up to cover herself. "Pull me up!"
"Not gonna happen," he said, glancing down at her.
"Don't look, you pervert!"
"Don't flatter yourself," he said, looking forward again. Lucy looked made the mistake of looking down and seeing just how high above the ground they were. She made to scream again, but Natsu dug his nails into her ankle.
"Scream again, and I will drop you."
And so, Lucy remained upside down the rest of the way back to the tower. She was brought into her room, her face flushed and her head fuzzy from all the blood that had rushed to it, and tried to maneuver herself to the bed, all the while mumbling curses under her breath at the dragon standing smugly in the center of her room.
"Hate you… so much," she whimpered as she fell against her bed, clutching at the blankets.
"The feeling's mutual, princess," Natsu said. She heard the sound of glass clinking together and could only hope that Natsu was cleaning up the broken window. She didn't exactly have shoes, and would rather not slice her foot open when walking around her room.
A muttered "oh, shit," was the last thing Lucy heard before she passed out.