Natsu waited at the top of the staircase for her, just in enough that you couldn't see him outside. Lucy could only see his silhouette in the darkness-light contrast. He leaned forward, inches from her face.
"Now look, I know you're stubborn and won't listen to a word I say. You're going to look for your Keys, right?" She nodded. "Well, fine, if you're caught, not my problem, but I don't want this owing wasted. Most of the servants and guards, you could probably handle. Do not face anyone with a uniform like Gray's. Those uniforms represent mages, and we have strong ones. Especially a yellow-haired one, Do Not cross him. You'd be screwed in a second."
"Either way, the thing you most want to avoid is my family. Wendy, she's a little kid, but if you accidently meet her without your Keys, you're screwed. Meet my mom you're screwed. Meet my dad, you're dead. Got it?" She swallowed, but nodded. Watch for the uniforms, don't get into fights, and watch out for the Dragneels. And a yellow-haired mage.
He stepped out into the light, acting nonchalant. Spirit heard him hiss, "The room's clear. Go."
Lucy poked her head from the staircase, looked around, and saw Natsu walking away to what Lucy guessed would be the kitchen. Spirit watched him leave, then, like what he said, scrambled up the stairs and snuck through the hallways.
She was determined to find her Keys, and hopefully find Michelle as she searched. She guessed that her Key's were in Lord Igneel's room, seeing as he was the man of the house and where Natsu would likely give the rare items to.
She guessed that his room would likely be centered somewhere, showing he was boss. It was a Male Ego thing. So, Lucy snaked through the hallways, looking to see if there were any 'you are here' signs around. That would have been helpful, because this castle was so big!
Lucy looked very out of place with the marble-white hallways. Lining the walls were murals, mostly of Dragons, Lucy noted, and the occasional knight in armour. As she passed one, Spirit noticed that the stone knights held real weapons, so she took a knife, and a bow-and-quiver with a dozen arrows. She grinned, popping the knife into her belt [they only took its possessions, meaning she lost her old dagger,] slung the quiver over her back, and loaded the bow with an arrow. She'd stolen quite a few and knew how to use them quite well. Inaccurately, she could shoot two at a time, but a single arrow was good enough for a distraction if she needed one.
Spirit, dressed in her black one-piece, looked very out of place indeed. She hid in only the darkest of shadows if a guard waltzed by; she tugged up her hood to hide her obvious golden hair.
She tiptoed through the halls, turning the bend and seeing two grand, reddish-brown doors. She grinned wickedly, poking her head around the bend behind her, saw no one, then turned around and pressed her ear to the door.
Either it was Magically soundproofed or empty. But, being a Celestial Wizard, she specialized in sensing Magic power, so she pressed her hand against the door. The door didn't feel Magicked, so she hesitantly pressed. The doors swung open silently.
The room was grand, with plush red carpeting and huge bookcases lining the walls. Lucy stepped in, looking around cautiously for a guard or anything. She was very disappointed. Spirit had practically waltzed though the castle without being seen!
Idiots.
Vaguely, she heard someone shout. It sounded like Natsu, but the sound was too far to make out exact words. Their plan was working. [She really didn't like calling it their plan.] Lucy walked further into the room, going up to the desk. She sensed her Keys, making her giddy. They were silently screaming her name, letting out pulses of frantic energy release and calling to her.
She opened the top drawer, where she sensed them stored, but frowned. It was locked. Spirit tried again, then sensed there was a magic spell on it.
Lucy jumped back when Runes started typing themselves out on the drawer. "Only people with Dragon Slayer Magic can open these drawers, unless you can find the key." She read. It was simple English, but the problem was finding the key to the drawer.
She guessed it was somewhere in this room, but she had to find it quickly. Lord Igneel would likely check here first. Luckily, his room was the opposite side of the castle, giving her an extra few minutes before he came, likely going to snap her head off and feeding it to the guard dogs.
She swallowed.
Lucy snarled softly to herself, looking around the room. There was nothing but books, [strange, she didn't see Lord Igneel as a frequent reader,] and a strange Dragon statue. She deadpanned. Spirit lifted the head off the dragon, reached inside with her free hand, and lifted out a key, placing back the head. DUH!
Lord Igneel was stupid, definitely.
Lucy unlocked the drawer, and grabbed her whip and Keys. They hummed softly in her hand, making her smile. "I missed you guys too..." she told them, rubbing her thumb across the Golden and Silver Keys. Now, she was ready.
Lucy ran outside, going into stealth mode once again. She'd put the key how it was before, she closed the doors, and made sure nobody had seen. She strapped the bow back onto the quiver; she didn't need it anymore with her whip, and attached her Keys to her belt. She almost laughed when she sensed the angry energy humming from Aquarius's Key. "I missed you too, Aquarius." Lucy smiled in mock sweetness. The Key almost bucked in irritation.
Spirit snuck through the hallways, checking every corner before crossing. Eventually, the sounds of shouting got louder, and she hid behind a suit-of-armour to listen.
"—ou said the Golden Spirit got loose!" Lucy frowned, listening harder to the conversation. That sounded like Queen Grandine.
"Sorry, she was hiding! In the... dumping area! I didn't see her!" Natsu.
"Well, don't raise a false alarm like that again, son." Using her sneakiness, Lucy snaked to the corner, where she saw the whole of the Dragneel family, all facing a timid Natsu. Their backs were to her, but Natsu's eyes flickered towards the hiding girl. He seemed genuinely surprised, and Lucy's head ducked as the family turned to see what he was looking at. She scowled; the stupid prince almost gave me away.
The family turned back around. "Well, just don't scare us like that, okay?" Grandine scolded, letting out a huff.
"Yeah, sorry." Natsu apologized. It wasn't very sincere though.
"Hey, have you guys seen Michelle?" she heard Wendy ask, way too close for her liking. It sounded just around the bend. Her voice was strange though. "We're playing hide-and-seek, but I can't find her."
Igneel chuckled. "Let me guess, you put that clip on your nose so you couldn't smell her out?" a pause, Lucy guessed that the princess had nodded, "Well, you can't ask your family if we'd seen her. That defies the point of Hide-and-seek!"
Spirit heard the family dispersing, Wendy passed the corner. Luckily, Lucy was hiding in a deep corner, but if the blue-haired princess turned around... She held her breath.
Wendy walked further, further... around the bend. Lucy waited a few extra seconds before letting out a quiet huff, relaxing. But then, Natsu rushed around the corner, scaring the sh*t outta her. She whipped out her knife and held it to his throat.
"Whoa, whoa!" he hissed, recoiling. Lucy reluctantly pulled back, grinning sheepishly. "Don't forget who broke you out!" He snapped.
"Yeah, sorry. You surprised me." Natsu let out a breath.
"Bad news, my mom isn't letting me do guard duty, as I raised a 'false alarm,' and scared everyone. You're out, but who's in the cell now?" he asked.
"Whaddu' mean, who's in the cell now?" she frowned.
"I thought you did some sort of spell or something down there. You're still locked up in the cell!" Spirit gaped at him.
"But I'm here! Outside!" she hissed. She was getting uncomfortable at the proximity of the boy, practically pinning her there against the corner.
"Uh, no, you're not. There's another Lu- Spirit stuck down there."
She blinked. "You're sure?"
"Yeah!"
She stood up, surprising him and making him fall on his butt. "Well, I'm gonna go check it out." Lucy said. She peered round the corner, sneaking past when she saw no guards. Once she was safely across, the prince followed nonchalantly. Once they were out of sight, Natsu pushed her against the wall and held her there fast. Lucy glared at him, but he didn't flinch or loosen his grip.
"Look, there's two guards at the entrance of the cell, mages. You're gonna have to wait before you do anything, then you'll have to explain why there are two Luc- Damn it, I keep calling you that! Spirits. They're gonna catch you if you try seeing the other Spirit and they'll lock you up too." Natsu's keen ears caught someone's footsteps; he pushed Lucy in between two suits of armour as Wendy's head poked around the corner.
"Hey Natsu!" she grinned at her brother, walking up to him.
"Hey little sis!" the prince ruffled her hair, scooting over to the side discreetly so that Wendy's gaze was away from Spirit. If she so much as tilted her head, she would see Lucy, squished there between the suits of armour. "Did you find Michelle yet?"
Spirit's chocolate eyes widened, she didn't dare move. Wendy was practically within reaching distance, with her back to her, but even with one deep breath in with her Dragon Slayer senses she'd spin around and trap Lucy against the wall. The Stellar Spirit's heart caught in her throat, she didn't dare breathe as Natsu lead Wendy away slowly, chatting with her, but it was clear that with a backwards glance she would see her.
Lucy's hand inched towards her Keys, in case she'd have to fight. She was sure if Wendy saw her Natsu would have to team up with her too. Wild speculations and plans ran rampant through her head as their figures retreated, they disappeared around a corner, and Lucy let out a breath, clutching her breast to stop her speeding heart. Finally, Lucy stood up, hearing their voices fade away. She tiptoed in the opposite direction, not staying there and waiting for the prince.
Lucy had always had a good sense of direction, she was good at memorizing details therefore the trip to the other end of the castle was speedy. She reached the grand room with ease, only stopping to hide from the occasional guard and making one or two turnarounds.
She stopped at the top of the staircase, peeping out and seeing what Natsu said was indeed true. There were two guards at the entrance, standing tall and proud. At a distance, Lucy inspected them. One had black, upwards spiked hair, with a small tuft coming out on his forehead. He wore the regular Mage uniform, but added on his feet were a pair of what Lucy could only describe as cowboy boots. The other mage was slightly larger than the other male, with dark, slicked back blue hair, thick moustache, and tanned skin. He looked in his forties, and the black-haired boy looked about in his thirties.
The blue-haired man shifted uncomfortably. "So... what's up?" the other man remained still, but a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Are you ever impatient, Macao. We've only been on guard duty for..." the black-haired boy lifted up the sleeve of his uniform, where he checked his watch, "an hour."
Macao, Lucy supposed his name was, shifted again. "I know, Al. But seriously, Natsu made a mistake and now we're stuck here. Who's gonna break her out of the cell?" Well, Macao, would you believe it was Natsu himself in the first place? Lucy thought amusedly.
She was gonna give them an answer, alright. What the blue-haired man said gave her an idea. Creeping out of sight, she turned a couple of bends to a quiet part of the castle, not too far away from the cell staircase. Spirit unclipped two Keys from her belt. "Open, Gate of the Twins and Goat, Gemini and Capricorn," she cried softly.
The two dolls poofed into view. "what" "may we" "do for" "you?" they asked. The humanoid goat stood proudly next to them.
"Meh duty is to serve you." He said. Lucy began explaining her plan.
"First, Gemini, you'll need to transform into the first servant that comes by, but do it secretly, okay? We can't have them see you." The dolls whizzed off and returned not a minute later, poofing next to her side again.
"It is" "done."
"Sweet." Lucy fistpumped the Twins. "Okay, Capricorn, go further into the castle, and make some noise! We need to make a huge distraction and get as many people as we can, as far away from the cell as possible." The Goat smiled.
"Yes, mistress. Are you sure your Magic levels will be okay?" he asked. She nodded at him.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine, it's only a little strain. Just return to me if you're injured or anything. Now go!" Capricorn bolted behind the bend.
Not after long, there was a loud crash far away from them. Lucy smiled, got up, and willed Gemini to follow her. She touched the Twins Key to wordlessly transmit the plan to them. Gemi and Mini nodded.
She turned the corner, and stopped, peering down at the two men. They looked concerned from the loud banging on the other end of the castle, but remained at their stations. They were well-trained.
Gemini poofed into the servant, a lanky pale man with brown hair and brown eyes, and ran into the room. "There's a Goat... in the castle... we need..! reinforcements!" he panted, seemingly winded. Lucy watched, amused as the two men perked up, and ran up to Gemini.
"Are you okay Roger?" Al asked the sweaty man.
"what was that about a goat?" Macao frowned.
"I'm... fine. Just go! They... need you..." 'Roger' panted.
They ran, but the Spirit put his hands on his knees. "Go... without me... I'll just take... a breather." He waved them off tiredly. As soon as they were out of sight, Gemini poofed back to normal. Spirit high-fived them.
"You guys are awesome," she told them. They disappeared back into the Spirit World.
Lucy ran down the stairs, and into the dark, cement-walled hallway, where she went down another staircase.
She turned the bend, and there she was. Another Golden Spirit, dressed in a black, zip-able one-piece, with long golden hair and big doe-brown orbs. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail, a thick brown belt was around her waist, and she regarded Lucy with a cold edge that was commonly found in Spirit's eyes.
It was like standing in front of a mirror.
MWAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm going on my trip tomorrow, AND I'M GONNA LEAVE YOU WITH A CLIFFY! MWAHAHAHA- *Cough!* ... Ahem, anywho... I will be leaving tomorrow, and I'm gonna be blunt about it. I'm evil for leaving you all with a cliffy. [the next chappy is half-done!] But, I leave you all to guess JUST WHO IS OTHER LUCY! haha!
But, if you want some more awesome [also recently completed,] story action by me, check out my other story Four Magics/ Fireflies, a two [possibly three, in the future,] story fic! More NaLu ensues!
To my awesome Reviewers:
1fairytaillover: hmm... maybe, maybe not..! keep reading, trust me, it gets better!
Mythandfairytaillover3: I know, right! I think I made Wendy a little too stupid though... meh, Whatever! :D . Yes, Lucy's sex appeal didn't work.. as always. That's a lot of 'keep up the good works,' But I will though!
Aitanna: Haha, I wish, but I've already planned the next few chappies very specifically. You'll see what happens... *evil cackle* MWAHAHAHAHA!
AngelTheSwordMage: LUCY IS FREE! YAY! But just who is Other Lucy? *dramatic music* DUH DUH DUUNNN!
GoldenRoseTanya: I knowwww! I'm so mean! Natsu [indirectly] killed Lucy's mother! I'm a sadist towards those two... XD
08: you are indeed correct! I wanted this story to be a little more original than Lucy's a damsel in distress and Natsu's always the one saving her behind, I NO LIKE-Y. BAD STORY. lol. Lucy gets a little more spotlight in this, so Yay!
Sofia3: for some reason I laughed reading your review. I love making readers laugh, it makes me happy too! Hehe, Fried. "I haven't seen you, in like, FIVE YEARS!" lol.
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