You have the right to hate me, even if I gave you an extra-long chappy. I don't own FT!
Lucy's eyes widened as the person threw themselves in front of her. Pink flashed before her eyes and then a frightening crimson. The guards stopped their attacks, and everyone froze.
The bandit's mouth fell open and she gasped. Seemingly on cue, the guards rushed forwards, almost tripping over themselves to make sure that the man that took the bullet wasn't dead. Everyone ignored the bandits, checking to see if the boy was alright.
Lucy was frozen, surrounded in guards but her mind couldn't function right. She dimly felt someone tugging on her hand, and she followed along blindly. There were lots of noises and sounds but to Lucy it was all a swirl of meaningless colours. Time seemed to stretch, and the few seconds seemed like millienia. She couldn't make sense of things.
"Lucy? Why are you crying?" it was the voice that pulled her from the mishmash of chaos. The sweet voice like Lucy knew like the back of her own hand. The bandit snapped out of it and realized that they were hidden in the bushes.
Outside the castle.
But instead of feeling joy, she felt miserable. She looked over at the little girl crouched beside her. "Crying? I'm not—" She lifted her hands to her face and felt, indeed, there was water streaming down her cheeks. She felt the tears run around her fingers before pulling them away fast, wiping her face with her forearm, leaving a blotchy red mark.
"I-I... Let's go." She snapped, rubbing her cheeks one last time before heading deeper into the forest, fighting away useless tears as they hiked through the bushes.
Meanwhile, Gajeel was facing off with Minerva.
"I don't care if I did something you consider 'wrong.' I want retribution. Balance isn't wrong. She gave my plan away, she'll get hurt." Minerva smiled sadistically, stepping forwards, letting the clack of her heel echo around in the halls.
"Balance." He scoffed."Coming from you. You abused this girl for your stupid Kingdom and their stupid wants. You don't deserve to be a princess. I usually don't hurt women, but if you take one step closer I'll attack." His anger was reaching its peaks and the dangerous glare in his eyes told everybody he was not to be messed with. But, with a smirk, Minerva stepped forwards. As soon as her foot touched the ground, Gajeel launched himself forwards, making his arm into a pole and crushing the ground where she once stood. He growled, keeping his back to the door. She had disappeared, but her scent told him—
He shot another pillar at a space to his right. There was a startled yelp and she appeared again, throwing her hands out and, even though he couldn't see the attack itself, shooting a blast that made the air ripple. Gajeel leaped, and the doorway where he once stood exploded. Levy was on the far corner of the infirmary, so she was okay.
The Iron Dragon Slayer pounced, expecting to knock the lady down easily but Minerva disappeared again. The black-haired man caught onto her dress though, and the bottom shredded with a loud rip.
For a long second, there was silence. "That was fine Aries silk, you moron!" Something clubbed him on the head, which didn't hurt much. Minerva came into view, dress shredded and looking very angry.
"I'm a dude. I don't give a crap about your clothes." His cheeks blew up and he blew a blast of metal shrapnel at the woman. She snarled, sending a blast to counter it. The attacks collided and bits of metal and Magical energy was thrown everywhere. Minerva got many cuts from the sharp projectiles, but they didn't affect Gajeel.
Using the distraction as cover, the Iron Dragon Slayer punched the woman in the jaw, making her fly up and backwards. There was a large, angry purpley-red marking already forming there as she landed, completely unconscious.
Gajeel smirked, but then the woman on the ground faded. He scowled a split-second before he was kicked in the jaw, his head snapping to the side with the motion. Minerva laughed and danced away.
"My Space Magic can create copies of me with Magic while hiding the real me in a Spatial Pocket. You cannot win, Iron Dragon Slayer Prince." She howled. Gajeel launched himself at her again, turning his arm into a chainsaw and ripping the floor where she once stood. She was above him now, crashing down with her heel dug into his face. He face-planted into the ground, wincing from the pain, but coughed dirt from his mouth, standing up again and rubbing the red heel-mark from his cheek.
"You can't beat me, you can't beat me." the voice echoed through the halls and Gajeel winced. He couldn't find the source of the voice like that, the sound bouncing all over. His nose was less accurate.
Gajeel growled, looking behind him at the sleeping Levy [how she'd managed to stay unconscious this whole time, he didn't know,] but he liked it better this way so he didn't have to protect the little shrimp running around screaming anyway.
Minerva struck, lunching forwards and finally going on offense. Gajeel was having trouble keeping up with her kicks, being thrown around with sudden Magical Blasts appearing behind or beside him. The raven-haired lady laughed, timing her blows when a Magical blast hit and not giving him time to recover.
He'd had enough. Shrimp was behind him and he wasn't letting this lady get through him. Gajeel didn't like being tossed around like a doll either.
He Roared at her, and Minerva wasn't expecting the quick bounce-back. She got hit directly, making her scream. The lady's dress was torn and even more cuts appeared on her body from the razor-sharp metal. Gajeel leaped, the second after his attack faded, and punched her in the stomach. She choked, and instead of catching her, the Iron Dragon Slayer let the woman fall to the ground unconscious, smirking.
"That's what you get." At that moment, Grandine and Metalicana appeared around the corner, eyes wide and looking at the mess.
"What happened?" the woman screeched, making the other two Dragon Slayers wince. Gajeel looked around, noticing the damage he had done to the stonework and— not to mention, the giant gaping hole Minerva had blasted into the wall.
"I caught the bandit everyone was looking for." He scoffed and pointed to the unmoving body. Metalicana grinned, seemingly oblivious to the damage done that accompanied this act.
"Good job!" The elder Redfox patted Gajeel on the back, the giant hand making even Gajeel stumble a bit. The youngest Dragon Slayer growled but sweatdropped. He had noticed Igneel's happy behaviour and hoped it didn't have to do with their Dragon Slayer Magic. He would hate himself if he became like that.
Grandine scowled, looking at the damage, but sighed. "We'll get this fixed eventually. At the moment, my husband is focusing on the Golden Spirit; apparently she's trying to break the child out. Again." The Sky Dragon Slayer frowned upon this. She and Igneel had decided that Michelle would have to be transported to an orphanage, to bring Spirit somewhere else, but with the competition going on they were a little short on guards that could handle a Transformation mage as, Grandine had to admire her skill for a moment, talented as Michelle. The Queen had ever seen Transforming Magic as good as hers was, and especially not at such a young age.
"Okidoke!" Metalicana nodded and grinned fiercely. Grandine facepalmed.
Igneel was charging down the hallways, ready to finish this Spirit issue once and for all. Inwardly, he was fuming that he didn't get to beat up Minerva, but Spirit was the next best thing. She had been a thorn in his side for the past two weeks and he was going to put both bandits in a cell if it was the last thing he did.
He walked into the Grand Room, seeing the dozens of guards surrounding the two bandits. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Igneel was blinded. He blinked, his Dragon Senses working faster to adjust, and he saw that another Spirit belonging to the bandit had appeared, distracting the guards. But, his mouth twitched upwards when he saw, Bisca was aiming a gun at the duo. Bisca and Alzack were the best shots here, and he was sure she wouldn't miss, aiming for somewhere that wasn't too fatal.
He only saw the head of pink hair at the last moment. The gun shot, and his son threw himself in front of the bullet. Igneel gaped, then roared, charging forwards as the two bandits escaped, Michelle seemingly pulling a limp Spirit out the Grand Doors. Igneel didn't care at this point, pushing past the guards roughly to get to his son.
Lisanna and Gray were the closest, already trying to cover the wound up. It hit him in the stomach, closer to the right side, and his eyes were wide, looking down at the hole. The boy's eyes started tearing up from the pain.
"Natsu. Natsu!" Igneel had to shout to get his attention. His eyes were glazed over now, but he turned his head slightly to say that he was listening, or at least trying to. The pain in his stomach was incredible, it took all his willpower, which was a lot, not to black out.
"D-Dad..?" he murmured.
Igneel kneeled next to his son, looking down with fierce onyx eyes. "Why did you block that shot? You knew Bisca was there..." he looked down at the wound. "You used yourself to block the bullet, and now you have this. Why did you block it for the bandits?" at that moment, Natsu's head flopped to the side. He had fallen unconscious, not giving an answer to the King. He sighed as he was put on a medical stretcher and wheeled away.
He knew Natsu had been acting strangely lately. Could those bandits have something to do with it? Igneel growled and started following the nurses to the infirmary.
Lucy's foot squelched in the mud as she looked up at the cabin in the middle of nowhere, holding Michelle's hand tightly. She had pushed her out-of-the-blue emotions to the side, focusing on locating the house because at one point the duo had to backtrack a bit. Finally, she was here, with Michelle, ready to run to a new country or somewhere where nobody had ever heard of the name 'Golden Spirit.'
But why wasn't she happy? In fact, she felt opposite of that, sad and depressed as she opened the door to the Strauss household. Almost instantly, she was blown backwards by two arms wrapping around her neck and landing backwards with a heavy weight on her chest. She was thrown, quite literally, out of her stupor, looking up in surprise.
"Lucy! We were worrying about you for so long!" Mira cried, eyes wide and sparkling. Elfman's snores came from the other room, and Michelle had sidestepped, looking at the older women in surprise.
The silver-haired mage got off of Lucy, looking over at Michelle. She crouched down, eye-to-eye with the girl. The dark-blonde seemed torn between staying or bolting, until Mira beamed widely and held out her hand.
"Hello. My name is MiraJane, but you can call me Mira. I've heard a lot about you, Michelle." The little girl shook the mage's hand, smiling slightly.
"I'm Michelle. I'm Lucy's sister." She said shyly, looking down. Mira grinned, standing up, only then noticing Lucy's red and puffy eyes.
"What happened?" she demanded, noticing the shredded clothes and, Mira was almost scared, what looked like a red, fairly fresh crimson spot on her suit. Lucy looked at her feet, and the silver-haired mage started fearing the answer. "Did something happen to Lisanna?"
She shook her head, more tears welling in her eyes. Mira shuffled them over into the tiny living room, running into the kitchen to get the tired bandits soup. The Take-Over mage put the bowls down on the table, the broth still steaming, and sat down. Neither of the blondes took a bite, however enticing the food smelled. Even Michelle was looking down at her feet guiltily.
"It's not Lisanna. It was Natsu. He took a bullet for us..." Mira gasped and her hand flew over her mouth.
"Was it fatal? Is he okay?" Lucy shrugged half-heartedly, her bangs covering her eyes. Tears started streaming down her face. Mira sat next to her on the opposite side from Michelle and pulled her in close, rubbing her back. Lucy didn't fight it; she fisted the silver-haired mage's dress while Michelle hugged her from behind.
"I-I was such a j-jerk to him but he didn't care! He took a bullet for us and now he could very well be dead!" she cried. Mira patted her back.
"What about you go see him? Sneak in again to see if he's alright? Elfman and I could watch Michelle here while you go see him." Michelle recoiled at her words, pouting and shaking her head.
Lucy frowned and pulled away. "But—"
"Lucy!" Someone burst through the doors, yelling the bandit's name. The girl looked up to see Lisanna, eyes wide while she walked towards her. "Are you okay?" she demanded, looking over at the girl. Lucy smiled shakily but nodded.
'I'm fine..." she said quietly, looking down at the floor. Lisanna understood her misery.
She said it quietly. "The Prince is going to make it. The bullet missed anything important. Wendy and Grandine are working on him." Lucy looked up, eyes wide and shining. Unknowingly, her mouth stretched into a grin.
Suddenly, there was another knock at the door. Four pairs of eyes widened and everyone made a frantic scramble to stuff the two bandits under the bed. Lucy didn't dare breathe as Mira opened the door.
"Makarov? What are you doing here?" Lucy blinked. Makarov?
"My name is Makarov, but everyone calls me Gramps." He told her. The bandit blinked, but remained where she was in fear that it was just another soldier with a similar name.
"Tell Spirit that there's a small window in the infirmary. The guards change at 10 o'clock; the space is free for a few minutes when they go on break. And there are no guards inside after that." Lucy bolted from underneath the bed, scaring Michelle slightly and making Mira look behind her at the disturbance. She jumped forwards, but the petite man had disappeared.
Mira frowned, looking at the empty space. "How did he know?" she asked quietly, looking over at Lucy concernedly. The bandit ducked her head outside, checking if he somehow ran away [although, with his short stubby legs she doubted he was very fast in the first place,] but the space was empty. She scowled but returned inside. Michelle was standing up, and her eyes followed the elder bandit as she sat on the bed and cradled her face in her hands. She groaned.
Natsu probably never wanted to see her again. She had run away like a coward, and the thought made her heart sink and squeeze painfully at the same time. Lucy pouted, staring down at the floor. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead right now and Michelle wouldn't be safe.
But he still wouldn't want to see her.
Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder, making her jump. Lucy looked up to Lisanna's warm blue eyes. "You should go see him. You know that he still cares for you, right?" she smiled back slightly and pulled Lisanna into a hug. The silver-haired mage was surprised but hugged her back tightly.
"Besties forever, right?"
"Right." Lucy bent down to Michelle's level. The girl's eyes were wide, searching Lucy's while pouting. She had a feeling she knew what was going on.
"You going?" Michelle sulked, looking down at the floor.
"Michelle, I'll be fine. You'll be safe with Lisanna and Mira. You can trust them." Lucy smiled brightly, making the smaller blonde smile back. "I won't be gone long, just for the night." Michelle nodded and the elder bandit stood up.
She turned to the Strauss siblings. "You'll protect her if anything goes wrong? If..." she swallowed, but shook her head, trying to stay positive. "Nevermind. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
Michelle hugged her from behind, and Lucy turned to look at the little girl. "Come back safe, alright? Promise?" She whimpered. Lucy nodded.
"A Celestial Mage never breaks her promises."
... I'm sorry. School just started last week and I've been running around trying to get everything organized and start/finish projects and homework, yes, ALREADY, {highschool sucks.} and I have no labels for my duotangs so I'm kinda just stuffing things into my binders and now I can't find anything. *sighs* I have just found NO TIME to type! I am SO SORRY! but I am so disappointed in myself. I was planning on posting last night but my mom told me to go to bed and I didn't have enough time to write this really long apology letter. SORRY! I woke up an hour early just to post this. {god I'm so tired.}
I got this really nice review last night, and I almost jumped for joy. It was really long and had plenty of g compliments and questions... and it took up all my reply space... an extra long thank you for waiting so long, Talia, 8XxAnimexX8, Sabrina, 1fairytaillover, prettykitty280, ftastarossa, Alycat, DeathBerryHime, HikariYume, BlossomsCherry, TheGrammarQueen {I lolled on your review,} Sofia3, Dog'sPawBurningInHotAsh, ElodieKumari, LiLyRoSe, BellatheNerd, MythandFairyTailLover, Feathers15, another apology to Sofia3! (no hugs? *pouts* I'm sowwy...) A special Thank you to Guest! I have a really long reply that you deserve, but I wish I could PM you!
Guest: um, neither. Sure, I like making cliffys, [isn't it fun making readers squirm,] but usually I update every 1-2-3 days. this is... well, I apologize for the long wait. (my excuses are in the paragraph above.) Yeah, I'm thirteen, and thank you! I want to ecome an author when I grow up and I thought fanfiction would be a great start to get opinions. ha, yeah, the kiss thing was hard. I had to run round and ask: is this okay? cause I didn't want it to be gross more soft and sweet but I had no idea what a 'soft and sweet' kiss was like. Symbolism! its works, as Lucy's a cold bandit who doesn't trust anyone [except Michelle,] and Natsu's a fire-using Prince who wants to become *cough cough* friends with her, it kinda worked. GaLe! I added that in cause, well, who doesn't like cute GaLe? I don't really do crack pairings, (except StinEredy, which is a meh,) and I needed filler space. It wouldn't really make sense if Gajeel married this random girl that came out of nowhere, so I decided to give them some Backstory. I was having trouble with that part and I just decided to close it off there cause I couldn't think of any motivational speeches, {which is common in FairyTail,} to squeeze in there that sounded good. well, here's an extra-long chappy for you and MY AWESOME READERS WHO I APOLOGIZE TO FOR MAKING YOU WAIT SO LONG!
I'm Sowwy... Review your hatred! *runs away from mob*