GOING ON ANOTHER TRIP IN A FEW DAYS. READ A/N FOR MORE DETAILS.
Levy McGarden shivered, trying to put air into her lungs. She was in a feeble, curled-up position, surrounded by violet walls that seemed to radiate frosty air. It was frigid cold. Blank and depressing and so very hard to breathe in here. The walls were dark purple, and Levy only had enough room to sit in a loose ball position before she elbowed into some possession of Minerva's that she carried around.
She was put into Minerva's Space before the lady went to dinner. Levy didn't like the cold Space at all, and she was having trouble getting air into her lungs. If this was good airflow, she definitely didn't want to get on the woman's bad side, Levy thought helplessly.
Levy was claustrophobic, even better. She didn't like to be stuck in a small space like this and was beginning to panic. Tears welled in her eyes and she clutched her knees helplessly, wishing that someone, anyone, would save her from the lady who put her in there.
Suddenly, there was an opening, and a hand grabbed her arm roughly. She was pulled outside, and landed on red plush carpet with a dull thud. She yelped, but Minerva, standing above her, only snorted. She had her arm in one hand and something metal in the other.
Minerva tugged Levy up, enough that the petite girl was eye-to-eye with her. This woman was strong, despite her thin, twiggy looks. Minerva thrust her other hand at the bluenette, and she felt something wrap around her neck and click. The lady dropped her onto the floor, and she hit her head hard, the wind knocked out of her.
Everything spun, and Levy tried to fist something. She dimly heard Minerva snap, "Get up." she blinked, trying to push herself up on her hands and knees, but couldn't.
Minerva was getting annoyed. "Get up, brat!" She bent over, grabbing Levy's sea-green dress roughly and practically tossing Levy up on her feet. The girl quivered in front of her, and Minerva smirked. It felt good to be feared.
The lady gestured to the collar. "Now look, that collar prohibits Magic, so even if you get your Script pen back you won't be able to use it. It detects negative thoughts, and shocks you when they're directed at me. If you even open your whiny mouth, it'll shock you. If you go out of the room without permission from me, it'll shock you." The cruel lady told her. "you're my pet for as long as that collar stays on."
Levy quivered violently with tears in her eyes. If she only had her Solid Script pen she could— there was a stinging sensation on her neck, and Levy yelped, pulling at the collar. Minerva smirked, moving to the door.
"I'm going to meet up with the Prince." She smirked, then added, "Accidently, of course." The woman said behind her, smiling wickedly, closing the door.
Levy waited for a few moments before tugging at the collar until she could no more, because the burns were beginning to really hurt. She tried everything; pulling, tugging, even trying to pry it off with a letter opener, but the thing was as hard as steel. The aqua-haired girl pouted, more tears forming in her eyes. She was usually creative with her ideas, but this thing wouldn't break.
All seemed lost. Water streamed down Levy's face as she settled against the bed, covering her face with her hands.
Minerva walked down the hallways, leaving her stupid guard in his room. She would get scolded lightly later, especially if she bent over for the man, and certainly not knocked out of this competition.
The lady focused, probing the castle. She'd done her research; she knew the whole castle inside-out. She imagined the blueprints that she'd so rigorously studied for weeks, [she was confident, not stupid,] and slowly, she could sense people.
Her Magic related to Space, meaning she could twist it to make her own private Spaces or sense people moving around Space, up to a certain distance. She could barely sense people around the edges of the castle, but could certainly sense the ones walking down the nearby hallways.
She sensed the pink-haired prince walking down a hallway not too far down from hers. She spun around on her heel, walking down a few hallways, and then, miraculously bumped into him. The pink-haired idiot didn't seem to acknowledge her, continuing to walk down that hallway.
Minerva scowled behind his back. "Hello? Prince Natsu?" the man turned around, seemingly surprised.
"Yes?" he asked, eyes wide, trying to inch away from the raven-haired woman.
"Where are you headed? May I accompany you?" the lady asked, doing a bow, slightly annoyed that he ignored her at first.
"I'm... uh, headed to my roo- the bathroom," Natsu stammered. "I... uh, really gotta go."
The lady inwardly scowled. She couldn't follow him there. "Yes, prince. Do not allow me to stop you." Natsu ran off, and the lady walked back to her room, scowling.
That was too close.
Michelle, disguised as Natsu, walked around a foreign part of the castle, looking around nervously. She was scared. That woman got her lost. Usually, she took the same route to Natsu's room every two days or so, but she had no idea where his room was now that she'd taken a different path.
Natsu's nose was irritating her too. Transformation Magic gave you the physical abilities of the person or animal you transformed into, and the Dragon Slayer's nose was hyperactive compared to her regular one. There were too many scents in the air that she couldn't distinguish and it was giving her a headache.
She was terrified. If she didn't get back to the cell in a few minutes, the guards would find the cell empty. If they found it empty, they would hunt Spirit. Not her.
Michelle couldn't trace her way back. This was apparently a common part of the castle, because she would occasionally pass servants or woman walking with soldiers behind them, and the scents were mingling together confusedly. She just wasn't experienced enough to distinguish the smells from one another.
The girl turned around again, trying to follow the path she came from, but she only ended up even more lost. Every mural and hallway and suit of armor looked the same to her.
Michelle wanted to cry. She was lost and alone in an unrecognizable place without her sister. Her Magic reserves were beginning to wear out and if she didn't return to the cells soon she would be caught. Never mind talking to the Real Natsu right now.
The little girl/prince leaned back on a wall, taking a rest, trying to determine where she was. The hallways were all the same to her. She was so lost.
Suddenly, a door opened not too far where the girl was sitting. She bolted up as two girls walked out. Two silver-haired and brunette girls, saying farewells to each other. The brunette walked past him, knocking on the door beside her. The silver girl winked at Michelle and closed the door, leaving her confused.
The door opened, and a mage guard [Michelle had already learned how to distinguish the two,] came out. He looked beside him at Michelle, making both girls, the brunette and current pinket, freeze.
"Hey, Natsu." The guard greeted him.
"Hi. I, uh..." she made up a lie. "Kinda hit my head, and uh, got lost. My room..?" The guard smirked and pointed the other way.
"Wow, you must have hit your head hard to ask for help." The dark-haired mage smirked. "Down that hall, take a right, turn left at the second hall, and up the staircase." He told her. Michelle/Natsu nodded gratefully.
"Yeah, thanks." She eyed the brunette next to him. She was purposely trying to ignore him, it seemed, because she was focusing on a mural to the right, nose wrinkled. The guard and girl turned around and went the opposite way.
"See you, Flamebrain." The guard waved behind him, but Michelle was already gone.
She bolted down the route the mage told her, and soon, she was on a recognizable path. She ran down to the Grand Hall, quickly shifting into a mouse and slipping past the guards, unnoticed. She scrambled down the stairs.
Soon, the effort to keep that small form from the Spells around the cells was too difficult, and Michelle shifted into her own form. She squeezed through the bars just as she heard the guard coming down. She changed into Spirit as the guard came into eyesight. Michelle glared at him coldly.
The man was a regular guard, in a well-fitting red outfit, carrying a metal tray of cold food. He had dark hair and brown eyes, and he was quite fidgety under Michelle's frigid glare.
The guard swallowed, and quickly deposited the cold food inside, leaving quickly. As soon as the small girl couldn't hear his footsteps, she changed back into her own small body, sighing. Her Magical levels were dangerously low, so she ate the bread and cold soup gratefully.
She was so, incredibly tired. Sleeping; forget about it. If she slept without the Transformation Magic then the guard could come down and catch her in her normal form. Michelle only got a few hours of random naps throughout the day. She was beyond exhausted.
The little blonde lay down on the foam that she now called her bed, releasing the Transformation Magic. She would have to collect some Magic before she fell asleep, because she would need to hold the spell during a catnap.
She reminded herself of why she was doing this. It was all for her sister. She didn't deserve to live like this, and Michelle had to repay for everything that Lucy had done. Without her, the little girl would have died. They supported one another, protecting and defending.
The girl smiled at all the fond memories. Lucy and Michelle playing hide-and-seek. Climbing up trees. Running away from soldiers. She let a smile grace her lips, but her eyes started fluttering closed. She fought sleep away, remembering faintly that there was a reason she couldn't, but it was only on the back of her mind.
Michelle yawned, and she slumped over to the side, fast asleep.
Natsu lay in his bed, checking the rusty clock on his wall again before settling back into the covers. It was late, and Michelle said she would be here tonight to check up on news. But she wasn't here.
For a second, he worried. Is she okay? Was she caught? He knew the little girl was clever, and he shouldn't be worrying for her, as she was a bandit and he was a prince and she was the one who tricked him in the first place, but he couldn't help worrying for her.
He noticed he had been restless these last couple of days; he needed to find something to do, or he swore he was going to go insane. Probably the stress of everything that was happening lately, but Natsu was... it felt like he'd lost a boot and he couldn't find it. It was annoying him, and he needed to look for that article of clothing because he couldn't go walking around with one boot. Other boots wouldn't feel right.
Damn boot.
He glanced at the clock again. 9:53. She should have been here by now. Despite himself, he did worry for her.
Natsu rolled over, fisting his precious white scarf in his hands before his eyes fluttered shut.
Lucy stared at the ceiling, feeling irritated.
At what, she didn't know, but something was bugging her. Very. It was like an itch on her back that she couldn't scratch, and it was driving her insane.
She didn't like that she was in this competition, not one bit. The only reason she was here was for Michelle. At the moment, she didn't know how long it was going to take until she could break her out. She wasn't going to charge in like a maniac and get herself and Michelle killed.
But even being here bugged her. Would this have happened if Michelle and I hadn't been playing hide-and-seek that day? We wouldn't have met Natsu and this whole situation wouldn't have happened.
"Hey Lucy!" The little blonde cried, running up to the addressed girl. The bandit smiled and turned around from the small campfire that she'd made for breakfast.
"Yeah?" Lucy smiled faintly, wondering what Michelle was asking for.
"After breakfast could we play hide-and-seek?"
It was barely two weeks ago and yet it felt like a millennia. Lucy huffed, turning over in the bed. She was proud that Michelle could somehow get Natsu, the prince of the Dragneel Kingdom, on her side, but Lucy wouldn't let the little girl go. She wold fight an army to break Michelle out, and nothing was going to stand in her way.
Lucy knew that tomorrow, the scary redhead named Erza would spend the day with the Prince tomorrow. She dimly remembered that Erza was the first one called up on the stage, so the bandit supposed they were calling in order, meaning Lucy had nine days to break Michelle out and avoid Natsu and the rest of the Dragneel's.
Lucy closed her eyes firmly, and slowly, her muscles relaxed and her breathing slowed.
Heh... I'm sorry guys. I TOTALLY forgot to mention I was going on a trip... for a few days... and likely on another camping trip in the next two/three days... Whoops... sorry for no updates... *sheepish grin* FINALLY got this chappy done. Me no likey though. I didn't want to redo it, so, well, deal with it, cause I'm tired because I had to handle all five of my cousins for the past four days. Still had fun!
Sorry for not being able to reply to you all! Lots of questions and long paragraphs I have to answer! Thanks to JazzinAces, 8XxAnimexX8, Dyeni, GoldenRoseTanya, JoeyJoelleTwinOtaku, MythandFairyTailLover, 08,and ZeloraNDZ for reviewing! I'm sorry I can't reply to you guys!
natsuandlucy4ever: "YES! grab your torches!" Minerva=beach [if you get what I mean.]
Axlorg89: Haha, lol, I laughed reading your review. GaLe, GaLe! I never know if I should pronounce it Gale [one syllable] or Gay-lee. Am I weird? NaLi, I know, I was too attached to NaLu to really see NaLi. apparently Hiro only brought Lisanna back to life because of the anime director. GaLu? NOOOOoooo...
Talia: me, hyper? Who am I and what have I done with myelf? People would not usually describe me as hyper... I'm actually a fairly mature person, I find. I'm a smarty-pants, and actually not very social if you don't know me that well. Whatevs! *throws a random stack of paper over shoulder*
Sofia3: DO NOT GO TO THE FORBIDDEN DARK SIDE! ha, lol, I ship NaLu, GaLe, JeRza, GrUiva, CaPpy, StiKino, uhh... I don't really do crack pairings...
4ever Dreaming: thank you for the many reviews! here's your update!
TALIA: ha, no, I update like, daily. No specific schedule, but I update quite frequently nearly every day or the second. I'm sorry for not updating for the past four days! I totally forgot to mention I was going on another trip. *sighs* Well, I'll be going on yet another camping trip in two, three days, FYI, so expect one/two more chappy before a slight halt. I'll be typing ASAP though!
REVIEWWWWWwwwwww...