HAD TO RE-UPDATE. FORGOT A PART. THANKS!
Natsu woke up to the sound of knocking on his door. He groaned and rolled over, eyes flying open and the wind knocked out of him when he crashed down onto the floor.
He spluttered, but got onto his hand-and-knees, using the bed for support before getting up and walking to the door. He glanced at the clock, checking the time. 6:20 in the morning. Natsu inwardly groaned.
Natsu twisted the door handle and pulled. "Yes?" he muttered sleepily, rubbing the gunk out of his eyes. It was the redhead, Erza something-or-other, standing there in...
"Why are you wearing a suit of armor?" the prince asked, looking at the female's attire. It was a metal breastplate with a pleated skirt and a sword in her sheath. Natsu blinked.
"This is my regular attire, Prince Natsu. If it bothers you, I can change." The redhead started glowing, and Natsu had to cover his eyes from the silver light. Quickly, it faded, and Erza was now in a formal but simple blue outfit.
"Uh... you're a mage?" Natsu asked. Erza nodded.
"I use a Magic called The Knight. It allows me to change armor and weapons whenever I wish." The woman explained. "I was famous back in my hometown for destroying a hundred monsters trying to raid my village." Natsu's eyes widened. She said it with such ease...
"Wow... impressive, I guess." The prince blinked. "So, you're here to hang out with me for the day?" Erza nodded.
"Okay, let me get changed. I'm, uh, still in my PJs." Erza looked down, and then back up at his face.
She bowed. "Yes, take as much time as you need, Prince Dragneel."
Before he closed the door, he told her, "Don't worry, Erza. You can just call me Natsu. I don't like the whole title thing unless it's necessary." Natsu closed the door, and quickly got changed into his normal black and gold attire, with baggy beige trousers. He kept his scarf around his neck, as always.
He opened the door, and Erza backed up so he could get out. "So, what would you like to do?" Natsu asked, looking beside him.
Erza thought for a moment. "I don't really know. What about we explore the castle for a bit?"
"Sure."
So, the two walked around, Natsu pointing out rooms and their purpose. They walked for awhile, but stopped at the prince's training room. "Well, this is my training room," he told her, opening the door, showing off punching bags, weights, and a large clear area for fighting. Natsu noted that the crater in the wall from him punching the punching bag into it hadn't been replaced yet.
Erza walked into the room, looking around. "It's a fine room. I'm guessing that that area is for fighting?" she pointed to the clear space, and Natsu nodded.
"Yeah, usually Gray and I practice on one another, since I find it's good to keep in shape." He walked up behind her.
Erza nodded. "I agree. What about we practice, you and I?" she asked, looking at him.
"Er... sure, but... I don't go easy." He said, unsure. He didn't want to pummel his possible future wife into the ground.
"Then I won't either." The scarlet told him. She walked to the opposite end of the field, and Natsu got into a stance. Erza remained in the same place.
"Go!"
Natsu dashed forwards, and the silvery light returned. Within seconds, it disappeared, and a sword was pointing at his neck. The prince rolled, avoiding himself being impaled, but the weapon changed once again. Erza jumped over his punch, using a yellow rod with a blade at the end to stop herself and quickly spin around.
Suddenly, the ending crackled, and Natsu only had enough time to leap out of the way before there was a small smoking crater where he once stood. He swallowed, lighting his hands and charging. Erza changed her blade again, she still hadn't changed armour, tripped him, and he fell flat on his face. He rolled, just to avoid her sword.
Natsu panted, but the scarlet didn't even seemed winded. She dashed forwards, taking him by surprise, and a few slashed later, the prince crumpled to the ground, a little chibi ghost flying from his head.
Erza turned around slowly, pointing her sword at the heap. "Can you stand?"
"N-No..."
"Then I win this fight." She told him, smiling.
"But seriously, can you get up?"
The rest of the day had to be spent in the infirmary. Erza had apologized greatly [I apologize deeply, Lord Igneel, I have a tendency not to know when to stop,] and Natsu decided that this lady was not going to be his wife.
He was not marrying a woman who could beat himself in a fight with ease. So, no redhead.
Erza stayed next to him the whole time, not even getting up to eat or have breakfast or lunch. She remained there by his side the whole time. Natsu would have thought that her legs would have fallen asleep on the uncomfortable chair, but Erza didn't seem bothered.
"So, what importance to you is your scarf?" she asked suddenly, making the severely bandaged Natsu look over at her. "If it doesn't intrude. I was just wondering, because the nurses seemed very strict as to not take it off or even touch it."
Natsu smiled slightly. "It was given to me by my dad. He was leaving on a long trip and he gave it to me before he left. He said to me that the scarf was passed down through the Dragneel family, just as our Magic was," he explained, remembering that day like it only happened yesterday. That trip was when I met Spirit for the first time... he realized. He shook his head, trying to dispel those thoughts.
"But, uh, yeah. My scarf is really important to me." He finished. Erza nodded, eyes softening.
On the other side of the castle, Lucy was pacing nervously, preparing for supper. It had been a fairly simple day, taking trips around the castle with Gray while plotting out the building and worrying for Michelle. Lisanna had been planning too, but more focusing on the power level of the guards, just how Spirit had instructed her.
Lucy sighed, getting another simple red dress on before going downstairs for supper. Gray was waiting for her already, taking her arm and escorting her to the dining room. Once again, she was sitting next to the scary redhead Erza and Lisanna. The silver-haired mage sent her a wink and turned back to Igneel, who was standing upon the final people's arrival.
"Hello! This is the second day of the Dragneel Redfox's marriage ball! I hope you are all having fun! The only announcements are that Meredy Pink, Pearl Imotache, Flora Pengin, and Sue Phanord will be with their respective princes tomorrow." Lucy froze at his words.
The order of females chosen to go out with the princes was wrong. That meant the girls chosen to hang with Natsu for the day was completely random. Meredy was chosen after her as the last voted... This meant she could have the chance of being stuck with the prince soon, or a week from now.
Her mind started thinking in overdrive, so much that she didn't even notice food being placed in front of her. Lisanna purposely nudged her with her elbow, and Lucy looked up in surprise with troubled eyes. Lisanna smiled reassuringly, understanding her thoughts. They returned to their plates, Lisanna eating at a normal pace, but Lucy picked at her food half-heartedly.
If the bandit was chosen to go out with Natsu for that day before she broke Michelle out, it was game over. Lucy swallowed, finally deciding.
Tonight, I'm breaking Michelle out.
Michelle sat in the cell, in her normal form, looking at the floor helplessly. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold the act up.
Lucy's far, far away from here by now, Michelle thought. She leaned back, reassured. She would have to stay here until the guards caught her disguise. Then...
Well, she didn't know what would happen. Sure, she had Prince Natsu on her side, at least partially, and she could use Magic to defend herself, but getting up and checking on Natsu for reports while keeping her disguise on was taxing.
She was lucky, this morning. She had fallen asleep last night, and forgot to put on the Transformation Magic. The guard had come down to deposit her breakfast, seen her, bolted up the stairs, but by then, Michelle had been startled awake and changed back to Lucy before the other guards came down.
The little blonde sighed, tucking her knees closer to her body. As far as she knew, Lucy hadn't come back to the castle, according to Natsu, but Michelle couldn't totally believe that.
She knew her sister. She knew that Lucy, and herself, was attached to one another. She would never expect the elder bandit to leave her here.
Once again, Michelle wondered where Lucy was and what she was doing right now. Michelle inhaled slowly, putting on the Transformation Magic again, taking the form of Lucy, before falling asleep for a catnap.
A few hours later, the spoken bandit was lying in her new plush bed, waiting for the light of the sky to fade and everything to turn black before she broke Michelle out.
Lucy checked the clock. 11:34. She got up, and checked her belt again, [for the thirtieth time,] making sure that there was no possession of hers that remained in the room. The bandit zipped up her black one piece, hiding her golden hair, and kept her Keys in reach on her belt. She began to leave the room.
For some reason, she turned around at the last moment, and walked straight to the balcony. She took in a deep breath, looking over the forest with a faint smile. She turned around and closed the doors, exiting the room and tiptoeing by Gray's room. She pressed and ear to his door; there was loud snoring coming from the other side.
The bandit fought the urge to giggle, opening the door quietly. The well-oiled hinges didn't make a creak, so Lucy stepped in, making sure that no changes in the guard's breathing occurred.
The bandit looked around the room. It was simple, like hers, but blue and with no balcony, despite being so high up. Gray's uniform was hanging on the side of the room; the blonde shuffled through the pockets before grabbing the silver key ring. Grinning deviously, she crept out of the room, descending the stairs and into the hallways.
Her ears strained to hear, but everything was silent. An occasional guard past her every so often, but she would hide behind a suit of armor, her black suit melting with the shadows.
Eventually, she reached the Grand hall. She hid behind the corner, evaluating the guards below her. Two mages, but if she caught them by surprise she could slip past them.
The guards looked up as there was a flash of golden light from above. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" both were knocked backwards, and before they could yell, with a well-placed punch and kick, were knocked unconscious.
"Hello, Princess." Leo, her ginger-haired playboy Spirit, bowed. "how may I help you?"
"Help me drag the bodies somewhere where they won't be found." Lucy rolled her eyes. Both grabbed the first man by his armpits and ankles, and conveniently found a long curtain that nobody would look behind. They dragged both men over behind it, covering their limbs in cloth.
"It won't be long until they wake up and alert the other guards," Lucy estimated. "I'll have a few minutes."
Leo nodded. "I wish you well on your mission."
"Stay on guard. We'll never know if I need you in a split second." Lucy told him. He disappeared in a flash of sparks.
Lucy ran down the staircase, knife ready in her hand. It glinted in the poor light, but she dashed up to the cell. Another Spirit glared at her for a split second before freezing. "L-Lucy!"
Michelle turned back into herself and ran up to the bars, shaking her head furiously. "No no no no no no no! You can't be here! The guards are going to catch you!" She hissed, flinging her hand out, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes.
"No, they're not. Michelle, I'm never going to stop trying to break you out of here!" Lucy shouted quietly, twisting the keys into the lock and pulling the door open. Tears streamed down Michelle's face, and she shook her head.
"The exit is right outside of here. We have a safehouse barely an hour's walk away. I am not leaving without you!" Lucy told her, eyes sharpening in the darkness.
"No, I'm not coming with you. I don't want you to live hunted for the rest of your life." The girl said, choking back sobs. "I know you don't want to leave me, but I'm doing this for you!" She snapped, her lip trembling.
"Michelle...' Lucy's eyes softened. "I know you don't want me to live that life, but I don't want you killed. We'll travel far away where we'll never hear the name Dragneel again. I'm not leaving without you, and you know that." Michelle seemed unsure.
"Michelle, I will do anything for you. You know me, I won't give up until we're both free." The little girl's lip quivered, and she burst forwards, throwing her arms around Lucy, making her stumble a bit. Her cried were muffled in Lucy's suit, and the bandit wrapped her arms around her sister reassuringly.
"I appreciate the things you went through to help me, Michelle. I love you, you know that?" The girl looked up, eyes wide with tears. She smiled tightly, more tears threatening to spill. Michelle blinked them away, rubbing her nose with her forearm.
"Yeah. Let's go." She sniffled, trying to be enthusiastic. Lucy smiled at her brightly, before handing the girl her cloak. She gestured to the bright-ish clothing she wore now. Michelle slipped it on, drawing it tightly around her. She nodded.
"Now look, once we go up those stairs, there's gonna be lots of guards on night duty. We'll have to go out one at a time. I'll use one of my Spirits as a distraction, and then we'll escape, 'kay?" The smaller blonde nodded. "Now look, if somebody sees us, we're not gonna make it. If you can change into a guard quickly, they might take it as a trick of the light and ignore it. I'll just bolt for the exit. You'll have to follow more slowly."
"About an hour's walk into the forest, around a stream, there's a house. A cabin in the middle of the forest. Tell the silver-haired people there that you're Michelle and you know Lucy. That house is the safehouse, so I'll meet you there if we get separated, Okay?"
Michelle nodded. "You know, if you get captured, I'm not leaving you, right?" She told her. The bandit sighed.
"Yeah, I know." she wasn't going to bother arguing.
Lucy and Michelle climbed up the stairs, and Lucy made sure there was no one outside before climbing up the staircase in the Grand Room. "The doors have too many guards. We'll scale the Garden wall." She explained quietly.
Michelle followed, as silent as a cat, and the pair slipped through the hallways, their figures creating long, frightening shadows on the walls. Michelle swallowed, keeping close to her sister. Lucy gripped her hand reassuringly.
They passed suits of armor and murals, until they were finally at the doors to the gardens. They stopped, pressing themselves against the wall to not be seen by the guards outside.
Lucy inspected them. They weren't mages. Good.
The elder bandit handed the smaller girl her rope and grapple hook she'd prepared earlier. "Michelle, I'll send one of my Spirits to make a distraction, I'll help fight them off and you'll throw the grappling hook. Start climbing, and I'll see you—"
Suddenly, there was a scream behind the duo. Lucy spun around, already summoning Taurus, and the maid who happened to see them was knocked unconscious by the flat of the Bull's axe.
But it was too late. The maid crumpled to the ground, but the damage was done.
The castle was filled with shouts and the thudding of feet, all heading in the direction of the scream.
All heading towards Lucy and Michelle.
*CHANTS* I'm going on another trip, I'm going on another trip! And leaving you all with a cliff-y, and leaving you all with a cliff-y! Mwahahaha, I'm evil. *devious grin*
We've almost hit 100 follows! [97, to be exact,] and 200 reviews! Yay! Now, this story is on the 10th list on the Fairy Tail archives! And we're only half way through the story! YAY! this makes me so happy. I never would have expected that this story would be so popular! *sniffles* I am really evil leaving you guys with a cliffy... I feel bad, but I'm leaving tomorrow morning... *pouts* I'm thinking I could put a prize for the 200th reviewer, but I wouldn't know what at the moment...
1Fairytaillover: Thanks! I AM really evil leaving you all with a cliffy...
Sofia3: Where are you? Uh... in my house, on my laptop, typing this final chappy until I leave for my camping trip? And leaving you all with a cliffy? lol, I'll be back soon, trust me.
TheGrammarQueen: HMMM... I won't tell you. *evil laughter*
GoldenRoseTanya: I noticed, you review with a lot more sounds than words... hrm, whatevs! A review is a review!
: Michelle can use Transformation Magic, [Taken from the idea that in the anime, as the Key of the Starry Sky arc wasn't in the manga, was actually Imitia, the Master of Mimicry and Disguise.] and creeps around the castle to talk to Natsu for reports on Lucy [who she thought was running away.] Lucy, on the other hand, learned Transformation Magic from the Strauss siblings, got into the competition for being Natsu's wife to get closer to Michelle. *huffs* long explanation. Minerva! Hate that beach.
Prettykitty280: I will! Thanks! I will update ASAP!
Annie Blackheart XD: OMG, it made you cry! It makes me smile knowing that my story can pull at reader's heartstrings so much! [Great, now I sound like an evil sadist...]
So, TC will be on a minor break. I'll type ASAP though!
Rest, relax, and review?