All the guards in the gardens spun around and saw the two bandits standing there, including a large, panty-wearing cow. The girls were wide-eyed, like a deer caught in a car's headlights, but the bull walked in front of them protectively, wielding a giant ax.
"Lucy, Michelle, I'll handle this and protect you twoooooo beautiful ladies." He mooed angrily, busting through the doors and charging at the dozen guards running towards them, "go!"
There was only a split-second hesitation, but the girls bolted. Michelle lagged behind Lucy, but the elder sister grabbed onto Michelle's hand, tugging her along and pulling her up if she tripped. Her heartbeat was wild as she unclipped a Key from her belt and she screamed, "Open, Gate of the Lion and Crab, Leo and Cancer!" the two Spirits appeared next to her, easily keeping up pace.
"Maid— screamed— guards know—" she shouted to them breathlessly. Michelle was panting behind her, but Lucy pulled her along, almost roughly. The blonde's Spirits understood, especially when a battalion of red-wearing soldiers wielding long spears blocked their way. Leo and Cancer charged, easily taking out the dozen.
"Go!" Leo cried, kicking a guard away.
"Ebi!"
Lucy and Michelle dashed for the next corridor, where there were seemingly no guards. Lucy's Spirits chased after them, pursued by what looked like a hundred angry soldiers.
Igneel and Grandine woke up to the sound of a loud scream. They opened their eyes, wiping sleep out of their eyes, as a guard knocked loudly on the door.
"Come in!" Igneel called. The frightened soldier burst into the room.
"There was a scream on the other end of the castle," he told them frantically. Igneel nodded, getting out of bed, slipping on a bathrobe.
"You sleep. I'll handle it." Igneel told his wife. She nodded, knowing full well he could handle himself, and turning over in the bed. Another red-clad guard ran up, coming to escort Igneel to the disturbance. The redhead snorted, already hearing where the problem was.
The two men bolted for the scene. "There seems to be... two bandits at the south end of the castle..." the man panted, trying to keep up with Igneel. While the soldier was running, the King was merely quick-walking to their destination. "The Golden Spirit and the girl that was here before..." he thought for a moment, the answer on the tip on his tongue.
"Michelle?" Igneel inquired. The guard nodded. "Spirit's come to break her out, correct?"
"Most likely."
The redhead nodded, in thought, but increased his pace. He ran through the hallways, where there was a huge commotion.
Gray was there, trying to push through the sea of guards. Some quieted down when they saw Igneel, but most continued charging at the two bandits and people surrounding them. Igneel got a strange, foreign scent from them; and it only confirmed his suspicions when the golden-haired bandit waved a Key in the air and another person appeared. Spirit had stolen her Golden Keys back from him.
"Gray!" the Ice mage turned around.
"Lord Igneel. Michelle has made a reappearance and the Golden Spirit has come back for her," the raven-haired man explained quickly.
Just then, his son ran up to them, wearing an amusing combination of clothing; baggy blue shorts and an open purple vest that didn't match at all, his regular sandals, and his scarf was wrapped hastily around his neck, leaving a lot hanging off his shoulders. He turned and looked at the bandits. Igneel thought he saw a tiny bit of shock and worry deep in his onyx orbs, but it was quickly covered up. Interesting...
Lucy socked another guy in the crotch, [who cared if she played dirty or not? She was a bandit, after all,] pushing him away towards one of her Spirits. Cancer gave him a bad haircut with a few slashes of his scissors and threw him into another dozen soldiers, making them scream and the battalion tumble.
"Lucy!" the bandit spun around, looking at Michelle, who was screaming her name. A female soldier was dragging her away, even through the smaller girl was kicking and thrashing furiously. The small blonde bit the woman's arm, making her scream and drop the kid. Lucy rushed forwards; steadying Michelle, but the guard made a wild grab, fisting her cloak, but Michelle changed into a fierce mountain lion, scaring her off.
ROAR!
On the other side of the hall, Igneel and Natsu winced; the loud sound ringing in their powerful ears. This is getting too crazy... The king thought. He began pushing through the crowd, the guards moving once they saw who it was. The fighting quickly ceased, the only thing between Igneel and Natsu from the bandits was a few meters of space and air.
Lucy and her Spirits halted once the shouts stopped. The blonde held a man's arm in her hand; her boot grinding into his back. She put on a cold glare that could freeze Hell over, but it didn't unnerve Igneel.
"Spirit. Michelle. Could I ask you politely to come with me?" Igneel demanded. "I am sure we can sort this out peacefully." He liked to fight, don't get him wrong, but unnecessary fights were frowned upon.
"Peacefully," Lucy spat, pulling on her captive's arm tightly. The man yelped, and for a split-second, Igneel had to be impressed with her battle-slash-torture techniques. "Coming from you. Hilarious." Oh well, I tried.
Igneel's body lit on fire, and Lucy's Spirits moved to protect her. They were blown aside easily, turning into golden sparks as they returned to the Spirit World.
Igneel roared, the sound as loud and as fierce as a Dragon's. The targeted girl knew she didn't have a chance, if any, but Lucy snarled, letting go of her prisoner, kicking the man out of the way while bringing out her knife, preparing for battle; but she was stopped by something large and dusty bowling the king over and tussling with him.
It was a furious, snapping, sandy-coloured mountain lion, better known as a Transformed Michelle. The giant cat was rolling around with the king, trying to pin him down to the floor. Igneel's fire was quickly burning off patches of fur, and quite obviously hurting her, but the cat pressed its full weight against the redhead and snapped at his head threateningly. Igneel growled, trying to push her off.
"Lucy! Go!" the cat roared, turning its head for a split second before she was engulfed in guards. They were trying to pull her off without getting burned, but dozen's of hands reached for her. Michelle tried to snap while keeping Igneel pinned; unfortunately, the distration allowed the king to throw her off. She reared, swatting anyone too close with her giant paws, but someone tackled her down in a bear-hug. Guards jumped on her back and her legs were tied together, making her trip and fall to the ground. Michelle tried to squirm, but a dozen hands subdued her; tying rope around limbs and muzzle, placing a Magic Dispel collar on her, turning her back to her normal, nine-year old self.
The girl tried to get up, but got pushed down by dozens of hands. She yelped, the dull thud hurting the terrible burn marks on her body, and her movements were getting slower.
Lucy watched, with a horrified expression, as her sister was enveloped in guards. Everyone seemed to be walking in molasses, but the bandit caught Michelle's blue-eyed gaze for a split second before her head slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Time seemed to stretch, seconds turned into years, and Lucy's vision turned cloudy. Something small and wet rolled down her cheek.
Her feet seemed to move by themselves; Lucy bolted down the corridor behind them, wrenching herself away from guards who grabbed onto her limbs. Everything was a blur, but she dimly remembered finding the staircase to her new, so-called 'home', and running up it, taking on the form of Lyra and crashing into the bed, pretending to be asleep.
She could barely contain her sobs as the guards peeked in, checking the area and her unmoving form before getting out and searching the rest of the castle. Lucy waited ten seconds before getting up, releasing the spell and finally breaking down in her bed, her imagination working furiously at creating horrifying situations her sister could be put through.
A few minutes later. "Lucy?"
The named girl looked up, still crying, even though she was shocked at the two presences at her door. A silver-haired female mage and a pink pyromaniac, looking at her from the entrance. It was Natsu who spoke.
"D-Don't call m-me that." She protested feebly. That was the name Michelle could only call her.
Lucy tried to wipe away the tears, it was instinctual, nobody should have seen her in a moment of weakness right then, but tears continued streaming down her face. She didn't want anyone seeing her tears, she was a loner, and would forever be one,
Except for Michelle... Lucy cried, covering her face with her hands. Michelle was with her the whole time. She could call her by her true name, and only she could see her tears. She didn't want the prince to see them, because it only served to remind her of Michelle, and how she wasn't courageous enough to save her. She simply froze in her tracts.
Lucy still wore her shredded black one piece, but she'd lost her knife and whip. But most of all, she'd lost Michelle. Water streamed down her face at the thought of it. "T-They're gonna k-kill her," she whimpered, bursting into tears.
Natsu frowned, not liking seeing the girl cry. Her clothes were shredded and her hair was dirty, but it was the tears that really got him. He couldn't imagine being in a situation like hers. He loved his little sister, he would do anything to protect her, but having her taken away violently like that... Something in his chest squeezed painfully.
Lisanna and Natsu moved in, sitting on the bed, but Lucy pushed the prince away feebly. "No..." she croaked, trying to cover her face. "Why is he even here?" Lucy whined, trying not to choke on her words.
"I told him," Lisanna told her softly. "He figured it out."
"When you were fighting, your scent, it was the same as Lyra's, and me and Lisanna met at the staircase." Natsu said, looking down. "I knew, so she told me the whole story."
Lucy shook her head. "They're gonna kill her," she repeated, oblivious to their words. "The Dragneel's are gonna kill her... You're gonna kill her..." she looked up, eyes fierce through the tears. She launched herself at Natsu, making them tumble over the bed. He yelped and Lucy punched him hard.
"This. Is. All. Your. Fault! Now. Michelle's. Gone!" she punched with each syllable, and finally, Natsu caught her wrist. Lucy wretched it away, breathing heavily, and Lisanna pulled her off the pink-haired man, whose eyes were wide with shock.
"It's all your fault..." Lucy whimpered, the fight escaping her like the air in a popped balloon, "you caught us that day... now Michelle's captured and they know that she tricked them... they're gonna kill her!" she cried desperately, almost screaming at Natsu. Lisanna's hands hovered by her arms, but she didn't speak.
Lucy's lip was quivering violently as she fought to keep the tears at bay. "It's your fault..." Finally, she gave away and collapsed in Lisanna's arms, bawling her eyes out. Natsu watched, saddened by the sight. Something in his chest twitched again.
Finally he spoke. "I'm not going to say I'm sorry... Because I know it's not going to be enough." He said quietly, standing up and walking quickly to the door. He opened it, and disappeared without a word.
HAHA, I'M BAAACK! Whoop, Pikaskye is in da house! My friend came over for a sleepover after we went camping, had sooo much fun. [S'MOREESSSSSS... *drools*] And we caught frogs with a little contraption I made with a branch, some string, a straw, and a paperclip. BOOYAH! I love my creative mind. I think I would definitely be closest to Levy in the 'what FT character are you' quiz. Actually, we're scarily similar... O.O" [Being smart, a bookworm, only our taste in guys is different. GaLe... *thinks hard* "WAYYY different."]
WE HAVE HIT 200 REVIEWS! God, I love you guys. Congrats Sofia3 for being the 200th reviewer!
Thank you so much, Otaku0610, 4Eva Dreaming, , Sofia3, SnowDragonSlayerTasha, Talia and MythandFairyTailLover, for helping me make it to 200 reviews! I am so sorry I cannot reply!
1FairyTailLover: CLIFFAYH! See, I'm an evil sadist of an author who loves making you guys scream and shout and cry at the computer. Cliffy's are the best way to do that. *nods head wisely*
ElodieKumari94: Err... I don't really know... You can look it up on google or the FT wiki site. Minerva= beach slap! Yeah, I thought it would be cute. Wouln't it be awesome if I married Natsu to Flare, put Lucy and Michelle behind bars, and call it a day? Lol, jk. You want NaLu? I'LL GIVE YOU NALU!
GoldenRoseTanya: Me: "What's onomatopoeia?", but then I remembered from English class. Yeah, I suppose. AND, otherwise, I don't care. a review is a review, Aye?
AnnieBlackheart: Funner. My cousin always says that and I always correct her. FUNNER is not a word. Drives me insane. Me: ISS NO PROPER GRAMMAAR!
PrettyKitty: *runs away screaming* Well, you've officially scared me off forever. No more chappies because you scared me away from computers. Lol jk, don't kill anyone... [especially me...]
Let's aim for the sky! 300!