I'M BAAACK! WHOO! MORE CHAPPYS COMING!
Disclaimer, I don't own FT. *pouts*
Lucy swallowed; suddenly her throat felt dry "Who are you?" she asked cautiously, stepping forwards and inspecting the girl inside the cell.
Other Lucy regarded her coldly. She was leaning up against the wall, brown eyes searching her face. Lucy stared back at the scarily similar girl watching her frostily in the cell. Other Lucy was leaning on the wall sitting atop the thin sheet of foam they called a bed. The girl in the cell seemed unimpressed and not surprised seeing her doppelganger on the other side of the bars. Even in the dull light, Other Lucy's hair reflected it slightly, a reminder of why she was nicknamed The Golden Spirit.
"Who are you?" the girl in the cell asked, raising an eyebrow. Everything was the same. The one-piece suit, the gloves, the combat boots, the belt, even miniscule details like the cloak tied up to her backside, almost completely concealed to the average eye.
"I'm Lucy. You're some weird imposter." Lucy pointed to herself, pressing the finger to her chest, and then pointed an accusing finger at the Other Lucy.
"How do you know that you're the real Lucy?" she said, getting up and walking up to the bars. She had the grace of a wildcat, hips tilting side to side as she strode forward. "Cause I'm pretty sure I'm the Real Lucy."
"I'm the Real Lucy. It's a fact." Both Lucy's protested. The girls blinked, recoiled, then stepped forwards, faces almost pressing into the bars. The only difference between the two was Spirit was scowling, eyes flashing dangerously, while Other Lucy was smirking.
"Hey!" their faces accusingly inched closer to the bars.
"Stop copying me!" They both shouted.
"If you don't stop I swear I'm gonna go over there!" if it wasn't for the bars, their faces would be pressed together by now. "I'm Lucy!" They shouted at the same time. Suddenly, Other Lucy's face burst into a grin. Spirit stepped back.
"Why are you smiling?" she demanded.
"Cause you're so predictable!" Other Lucy told her. "I got you good, Luce." Her voice sounded strange; higher and lighter. There was a poof, and a cloud of pink smoke later, Michelle was standing in front of her in the cell.
Lucy gaped. "wha— you... what the..! Holy crap!" she couldn't form a complete sentence.
"Hey Luce." She smiled widely, enjoying the look on her sister's face.
"What the hell, Michelle!" Lucy demanded. "Why can you..?"
"Why can I turn into you?" she grinned. "Well, I was planning to show you once I perfected it, but I think I did well enough now! The look on your face was hilarious!" The smaller girl laughed. Spirit was still dumbfounded.
"How'd you learn Transformation Magic?" as far as she knew, Transformation Magic had three levels. The first was you could change your form, second was clothing and form, and third was changing your body shape completely. Michelle was using high level Second Transformation Magic, which surprised her. Michelle was simply never a mage until now. She couldn't even summon Plue.
"Well..." she ducked her head. "I was walking through Magnolia, and there was this man. He kept following me. I went into the forest, but he kept on my trail. I was really scared, but I couldn't shake him off. Suddenly, he caught up with me and suddenly he was staring at another him. He was scared off, and then I realized it."
"And why didn't you tell me this sooner?" She demanded.
"Cause I knew you would probably hunt down that one guy and torture him to death," she admitted. Lucy ducked her head, blushing a furious red. It was probably true. Strange thoughts of an evil, fire-breathing Lucy came to mind.
"Give me the stalker!" she roared, crushing yet another house. The people screamed and ran in panic of the giant Spirit, collecting meager supplies and running for the hills while Lucy cackled. The woman shook her head, wiping the thoughts from her mind.
"Fine, whatever. Now let's get you out." Lucy said, changing the subject. Michelle shook her head.
"No. I'm staying here, and you're running." She told the girl outside the cell. Spirit blinked in confusion.
"Wha..? No, Michelle, I'm gonna break you out." Just then, Capricorn poofed next to her.
"The guards will be back in about two minutes, Lucy." The look on his face was strained, and he quickly poofed back to the Spirit World.
Michelle shook her head. "Lucy, your Spirits don't work in here. No offensive Magic other than Dragon Slayer can be used in here. Meaning no Spirits. I can't even do Third Level Transformation Magic. Now go before they find you!"
Lucy rattled the bars frustratingly. She couldn't break them without a strong Spirit like Taurus or Leo or even Virgo would be helpful right now. The key wasn't down here. It was likely on one of...
Gray! Lucy spun around. "I'm getting you out of here, I promise, Michelle. Just stay here... and pretend to be me." she told her, spinning on her heel and running to the staircase.
Lucy ducked her head outside. She'd only just noticed, but as soon as she exited with her Keys, an almost mental pressure was lifted. It was like a drone in the back of her head, but it left as soon as she started climbing up the stairs.
She sighed, poking her head out. There were no people, but instead of heading up the second staircase, she turned towards the grand doors that led outside. Lucy knew there were probably guards, so she summoned Gemini again. Although, she was beginning to get tired.
"Okay Gemini, transform into Roger again and distract the guards." The Twins, knowing their time was short, changed and ran out the doors. Lucy kept a hand on their Key, and when it gave a little pulse, Lucy slipped out the gates and hid in a bush, letting out a breath.
She remained there, collecting energy as Gemini/Roger ran up and poofed back into their Key.
Lucy stayed there for a good five minutes, taking in deep breaths until she ran enough energy to summon at least two more Spirits. Just in case, she didn't want to be underprepared.
Spirit snaked through the hedges, following them until the exited the castle walls and soon, there was nothing stopping her except a few, empty meters of grass.
Looking up, she saw guards on the wall, watching. This was gonna be an easy one. Lucy was skilled in tiny tricks like this that helped her through her eight years of stealing.
Lucy picked up a small rock, just large enough to fit in the palm of her hand. Spirit turned around, and flicked it upwards, so the rock bounced against the stone floor, creating a loud bang behind the guards. They spun around, searching behind them, and Spirit bolted for the safety of the forest.
Giving one last glance to the red-and-white castle, she blew it a raspberry before heading back into the forest.
Spirit walked for awhile, until her throat was parched and she could only see the tallest spires of the castle over the treetops. She stumbled through the deep forest, avoiding low-hanging branches and large insects.
"Stupid me..." she should have known better than to waltz into a forest like this! She was getting thirsty, and wouldn't be able to go on for much longer without water. She stopped occasionally at a berry bush and ate the tiny fruit that she recognized, but the dry, sun-baked berries did barely anything to squelch her aching throat.
She stopped once again, not daring to hunt because it would be wasted as she couldn't light a fire. Too suspicious. Lucy stumbled through the forest, throat parched and dry, limbs shaking from lack of nutrition, brown eyes dull with fatigue. She stopped momentarily and leaned on a tree. Neck aching, she looked up and with the position of the sun, estimating the time.
She'd been walking for only an hour. That was just sad. The food in the cell not being very nutritious plus not having moved in awhile was not helping. Her stomach rumbled and she was very aware of the dryness in her throat. The sun beat down on her, the canopy of leaves doing nothing to repel the (just her luck,) intense heat.
Spirit sighed, but continued walking. If she didn't get food or at least water soon she would collapse she was sure of it. But Michelle was still down there, so she wouldn't stop. Spirit breathed through her nose, because dry air on her throat was really painful at this point.
Not too later, Lucy sunk to the ground on her knees. She blinked sleepily at her shaking limbs. She was stupid not to hunt earlier. Now, she could barely stand, much less hunt for food. Her meager supplies of berries she'd found on a stray bush had run out, and the chances of some dumb rabbit stumbling by before she collapsed was nonexistent.
Lucy smiled drowsily and finally fell forward, face splattering into the mud. Not that she cared. Her last meal was... How long ago? She could almost imagine hearing the slow trickle of water if she thought hard enough. But Spirit could just stay here and fall asleep. Take a nice long nap in the mud.
...
Mud?
Lucy scrambled onto her hands and knees, eyes widening in realization. Her hands squeezed the thick brown stuff in her hands. Mud meant water. Lucy smiled triumphantly and pushed through the reeds, which she recognized as cattails that only grew around rivers and lakes.
A small stream. Lucy almost shouted her delight but didn't waste time; she cupped the fresh, cool water in her hands and drank greedily. The water felt so good and refreshing on her throat. Finally, she pulled back, only now noticing the small cabin in front of her.
Wow... I nearly collapsed from dehydration and hunger in front of a house and stream... I'm a fail, Spirit scolded herself. Cautiously poking through the reeds, the inspected the strange cabin in the middle of nowhere. It appeared empty.
She noted there were clothes hanging on a line attached to the back of the house and a tree. There was people inhabiting here, but they weren't here. Lucy peered at the line. There were large muscle shirts, dresses, and smaller t-shirts hanging up.
Eyes darting around nervously, she crept up to the line, quickly pulling a long-sleeved shirt and pair of blue breeches down and darted back into the forest. She wouldn't dare going inside the house, even if she was hungry. She wouldn't be able to escape if the inhabitants of the house walked in as she was stealing.
Spirit walked a bit before stripping from her dirty, torn, one piece and changing into the new clothing. She tucked the black cloth, and reluctantly her cloak, into the high branches of a tree. Without her cloak she almost felt naked. It was against her nature to dispose of the thing that could hide her from sight. Plus, the shirt she was wearing was white; if she wore black it would make her more recognizable, but Lucy wasn't comfortable wearing such a bright colour. She even disliked Celestial Spirit clothing, as soft and nice as they were.
Now that Spirit was hydrated, she started for the castle again. She climbed into the high branches of a tree and waiting for a bit until an unfortunate rabbit passed by. Luckily, Lucy had good aim and the arrow shot it down quickly. The Celestial Spirit mage scampered down quickly and picked up (with the tips of her fingers,) the carcass and summoned Virgo.
"Hello, Princess. How may I be of service?" the Maiden asked. Lucy smiled.
"Hey Virgo. Could you get me a pan, a tarp, and some rope?" she asked. The Spirit poofed out, and then quickly returned with the items. She deposited them on the floor and bowed.
"May I be of any more service, Princess?" Lucy waved her off.
"No, I'm fine, thanks. You may leave now." Virgo disappeared, and Lucy set to work. She tied the rope to the tarp and attached the end to nearby tree branches. Underneath, she made a small campfire and set it alight. The smoke was caught in the tarp.
Lucy put the pan on the rocks and (extremely disgusted,) peeled small strips of raw flesh from the bones of the rabbit and put it on the pan. She had done it before, but the fact did barely anything to stop herself from gagging.
Spirit waited impatiently for the food to cook and kept the meager fire going. If it was made too big either the inhabitants of the house or the soldiers of the castle would be able to see her, but the small fire meant food was going to cook slowly.
Eventually, the strips of meat were deemed cooked enough by Lucy and she ate quickly before extinguishing the fire and getting rid of the evidence. She called Virgo to take the tarp and pan back. She wrapped the rope around a loophole in her belt, hidden underneath her shirt, and turned back to the direction of the castle.
Back at the Dragneel Fortress, Natsu was once again in his room thinking. His eyebrows were furrowed together and his lips were formed in a little pout. His onyx orbs were searching the ceiling restlessly.
Was it a good idea to let the bandit named Lucy go? Natsu wondered. He recounted the little girl and older man waiting at the gates that day. The Dragon slayer should have searched for Fried faster. Maybe then Lu— Spirit's mother wouldn't have died. He assumed that had happened.
But what happened to her father? Spirit clearly distasted him. There was a flash or pity for the poor girl who had to take care of a child on her own in the forest, but Natsu knew she wouldn't want it. He could almost imagine what she'd say.
Pity won't get you anywhere. Or something like that. He still felt sorry for her though.
Once again he wondered about Spirit's father. "My father? He can go die in a hole for all I care," she'd said. Maybe she'd run away? Natsu could never imagine leaving the castle. Sure, he did on jobs and such, but never forever. He'd have too many friends to leave, and there was Igneel and Grandine and his little sister too.
Nope, he would never leave the castle.
I wonder where Lucy is now? Despite himself, he did worry for her slightly. He did kinda owe it to her that she didn't get eaten by wild animals.
He didn't doubt her ability to protect herself though. Anyone that could fight The Natsu Dragneel and live to tell the tale without any burn marks on their body was a good fighter. Natsu reminded himself that the only reason she willingly came in the first place was because he'd caught her sister, but whatever.
Speaking of which, Wendy burst in at that moment, interrupting his thoughts. "Have you seen Michelle?" she asked, a hint of worry in her tone. Her voice was strange though because she still wore the clip on her nose.
Natsu looked over at her. "You haven't found her?" he said. She shook her head.
"No. I haven't seen her," he responded. Wendy sulked but closed the door. Natsu, with his super hearing, listened to her footsteps leaving.
Unfortunately, the thoughts didn't stop racing inside of his head. He worried for the bandit, but he had his own problems too. He had to marry someone in less than a month. The very idea was horrifying to him. Settling down with somebody? It would only hold him back from... whatever stuff he did. Like beating evil monsters destroying all of a towns crops, or capturing a group of rogue bandits, yeah, those type of things. He did not want to stop because of a girl. Besides, most girls that would want to marry him wanted to because of his money.
Natsu had never really depended on money; sure, he bought stuff now and then but most of it was kept at a minimum. Why buy more than you can carry?
The Dragon Slayer shook his head. He always followed his train of thought wherever it went, especially if it was off topic, it seemed. Natsu whipped his head back and forth again and stood up. He deemed himself thinking too hard, so decided to take himself on a walk.
Stepping through all the garbage, he opened the door and found himself surprised for the second time opening the door. Natsu was staring at... himself.
"Look, I only have a few minutes to talk to you," Other Natsu told him. The real Dragon Slayer blinked.
"First another Lucy and now another me?" he cried. Other Natsu rolled his eyes, pushing through into the room and slamming the door behind him. There was a poof, and Michelle stood in front of him. Natsu's eyes widened.
"First, don't call Lucy Lucy. She's Spirit to you. Second, I know you're the one who broke her out. I'm Other Lucy, but if they find us out, trust me, if you don't help me I'll drag you down with us, chapishe? Now look, you under no circumstances can tell that I'm not Lucy. And you can't let her get caught. She'll come back for me, I know, but I owe her for all the years I've known her because she took care of me and I'm doing this for her. If anyone sees her then we're all going down. You're lucky that your family didn't take in a long whiff of you. You smell like Lucy." she told him rapid firedly. He nodded in confusion, brain too muddled trying to follow the girl.
She sighed. "Me Other Lucy. If guards find that that 'Lucy' isn't there, we're both screwed," the little girl said slowly, doing airquotes. Natsu nodded in confirmation.
"Now look, I owe Lucy and for now, I own you. So help me." she told him. Natsu shook his head.
"Whaddu mean, you own me? Nobody owns The Natsu Dragneel." He scolded. She rolled her eyes.
"Look, I can tell how you broke out the super-dangerous criminal that is my sister, right?" Michelle scoffed. "'I can easily tell them the truth about you breaking Lucy out, Duh. Do you think Lord Igneel will appreciate his son breaking a criminal out of jail?" The Dragon Slayer gulped. No fire-food for weeks. Plus, he would likely marry him to the ugliest and most pesky girl on the planet to him and lock him up in the castle with her for the rest of his life. Bad idea. Listen to the kid, Natsu.
Natsu pouted, but realized that this small little girl had thought of everything. "Fine, I'll look out for her, but you have to answer some questions. I owed Lucy because I killed her mother an-" Michelle gaped at him, and before he could finish, she launched herself at him.
"You what!" she yelled, kicking and snarling, "My sister she loved her mom! She told me she died on pneumonia, but you killed her! You dirty little-" Natsu clamped a hand over her mouth and the girl spat into it, still trying to squirm out of his grip on the floor. The Dragon Slayer tried not to wipe his hand off.
"Look, I didn't kill her directly, she came to the castle ten years ago and asked us for a cure to the disease that her mother was dying from. I wasn't fast enough and I guessed that she died." Michelle stopped struggling and Natsu let her go. The girl glared at him, and once she got up on her feet, stomped on his foot. He yelped for the second time that day and held his stinging toes, biting his lip.
"What was that for?" he demanded. Michelle gave him a mocking-sweet smile.
"For taking too long. Lucy deserves a big apology. Did you know, every July 7th, we go travel back to her old village and pay our respects to Laylas grave? She's done it for ten years. She really misses her mom, since her dad was such a deadbeat after Grandma Layla died." Oh... That explained a lot.
"Second question. How did you get out?" he asked, still holding his foot. He swore she wore cement boots, his toes hurt so much.
Michelle smiled wickedly. "When I stomped on your foot the first time, I was carefully taking your details in so I could transform into you. And I'm small enough to squeeze through the bars in my normal form. Those cells aren't meant to hold children. So, I slipped through, climbed up the stairs quietly, pretended like I was still playing hide-and-seek with Wendy and was there all along to slip past the guards, took your form, sniffed my way up here, and now here I am. The guard will be down... In about four minutes to check up on 'Lucy.'"
"Yeah, fine, I'm going, I'm going." he mumbled. "Just make sure that you don't get caught."
She nodded, eyes sincere. For a moment, something passed between them, some silent agreement for a [temporary,] partnership. "I know. I can't get caught or Lucy will be in danger again. Just make sure you don't go for a few minutes, we can't have two Natsu's walking around." with that, she took the pink-haired prince's form [much to the surprise of Natsu, who still wasn't accustomed to the transformations,] and left the room, leaving the real Dragon Slayer behind.
O-kaay! I'm back, as I said before, and I came with a new chapter, yaaayyyyyy! I had a great time, got lotsa stuff and found a new anime to watch! [great, more things i'm crazy for...] [watch Evangelion, it's a really great anime!] well, either way, i'm sorry for the week-long wait! *sheepish grin* and I honestly think this is a crappy chapter, although long, for such a wait. I hope to make it up to you guys in the future!
hehe, review replies!
1Fairytaillover: nope! you got it wrong! ;3
MythandFairyTailLover13: OOOoohhh... now I get it *makes duckface*...
AngelTheSwordMage: Sting dressed up as Lucy..? no. you're right. just... no.
LifeIsWaiting: what happened to your account? nope, it's not Edo-Lucy! :D
axlorg89: I know! I'm too evil to you guys. VERY interesting question. you were like the only review I really remembered on my trip. I do find there's a tiny gap there too, but I tried to explain it there a little more this chapter. I totally see what you mean though. I reread and slightly winced at the awkwardness of the problem too. Lucy or Spirit, [whatever,] hates him cause she blames the Dragneels for being slow, seeing as if Natsu was faster her mother wouldn't have died, as she died minutes before she got there. yeah...
Tawny: HMMMmm... that's convenient..! yeah, Natsu lets Lucy go! yay! YOU are one of the two people to guess right! Remember, Michelle Lobster was actually Imitatia, the Master of Mimicry and Disguise! mwahahahaha!
Aitanna: here's your chappy! 3
.9083: "DON'T KILL ME!" *Runs away from an angry Sofia waving a stick around* "I-I'm back! h-here's your chapter!" I love the library too! funny story, I borrowed some books from there before my trip and I didn't finish them in time so I had to renew them before I could go! heh, whoops.
: I shall!
: Nope! :3 Here's your update!
Talia: yep, expect lotsa more action and ro-mance in next chapters! :3
Because this story is getting much more popular, I don't know if i'm gonna continue doing review replies. Don't get me wrong, I love replying to each and every one of my epic, totally awesome reviewers, it's just the amount of reviews I'm getting at this rate to squeeze at the bottom of the chapters is... well, kinda filling. I think unless if I get a minimum amount of reviews, I'm not going to be able to do them anymore, sorry! Of course, I will still name your name at the bottom, just not likely reply. I will PM [private message,] anyone who replied and has an account. Although, I may do one-or-two reviews randomly chosen to write.