The only excuse I have for the long wait is that school is killing me… Plus, my computer i annoying since a while, UGH
Btw, thank you very much for all your lovely reviews! It warms my heart so much!
Here's the chapter to thank you! :)
Illumines the Darkness.
( Chapter 3 : «You should be careful, or you'll be eaten." )
"I know how we can do it!"
"Huh?"
It was early in the morning, but everyone was awake, eating a well-deserved breakfast. This sudden shout of joy was from a hopping Mirajane who has just arrived, still in what seemed to be her pajama. Lucy and Wendy yawned as one, watching her with half-asleep eyes.
"About what, Mira-san?" the blue head made the effort to ask.
"I know how we can let Lucy go travel in the Underground without being caught!"
It immediately woke up the concerned. But she didn't even have the time to ask as the answer was already given, when Mirajane threw some scientific equipment in the table, excitedly. It made Lucy look at this mess confusedly.
"W…What is that?"
"The way we can let you go in safety!"
Wendy, who was still a little dazed, looked attentively at all the tubes and magic and chemical ingredients. Then her thought got clearer, almost in fear.
"M-Mira-san! Isn't it Levy-san's equipment you got there?"
"Only a small part." Winked the white in an amusing way at her.
After Lucy asked her "what the hell was going on in her head", the monster explained that they'd transform her, temporary, in a humanoid monster herself. Like this, she would travel without problem, if she's not acting suspicious. Of course, the transformation wouldn't last for too long, but Mirajane said that she would have just enough time to access to a certain Dr Levy's house, a friend of them who didn't want to hurt humans. She was apparently the Royal Scientist, and a person you can fully trust.
The problem was, she lived in a region of the Underground named "Hotland", in a strange laboratory.
And this region was under the responsibility of a monster famous for his incomparable hatred for the humans.
Natsu Dragneel.
"Do I… really have to drink this ?"
The only response the blond human had was an intense glance from Mirajane, and an almost-pitiful glare from Wendy, who looked with worry the scary substance Lucy had to drink.
She gulped, not really ready when she saw a disturbing bubble of gas escaping the glass containing the potion which would make her become a monster. But, she had to do it, and unfortunately for her tongue, she did it.
She almost vomited, but she did it.
The effects were shown right away. Even… a bit too much.
She could tell that something was wrong when she realized she was getting smaller. And the astonished glares the two monsters gave her weren't helpful at all. She started shouting.
"What happened to me? Mirajane!"
No response.
"Why did I become so small?!"
This time, the only response she got was a unexpected hug from the goat-mommy.
"So cute…"
Was she crying? Why was she telling her she's cute? Could just someone tell her what happened to her?
Wendy, this angel, seemed to be the only one hearing her distress.
"E-Everything is fine Lucy-san, don't worry… It's just that…" she blinked, "More than just becoming a humanoid monster… you transformed into a cute child."
… Oh.
After this short explanation, the little dragon monster took a pocket mirror, and shown Lucy how she looked, because she obviously still couldn't get off of Mirajane's hard embrace. And she had to admit that what she saw… was really cute.
She utterly transformed into a small golden bunny monster. Her face was still her human's one, but she got a bunny nose on it, with little whiskers. There were two long bunny ear, falling by her side, perfectly according to her long golden hair. She also got a bit of golden fur here and there, like Mirajane. She didn't see if she had a bunny tail now, but… she could feel it. To be honest, she was feeling really strange, but it was kind of amusing. But, while she was watching herself in the mirror, she noticed something.
Her clothes had fallen, and she was now naked, in front of Mirajane who has just let her out of her long embrace. Before she could scream of shame, Wendy told her she could lend her some magical clothes, which will "grow up" with her when she'll become an adult human again. Which reassured her, because she never wanted to pass through this again.
After Wendy came to give her these clothes, Mirajane's enjoyment weakened. Lucy was about to leave, but there was a lot of obstacles she didn't know were waiting for her.
She knew she couldn't trust her friends, they all were too obsessed to kill humans if they'd go through one one day. But…
She at least had a bit of hope with Gray, she just hoped that her feeling would remain good.
That's it, she finally was out of this place.
Not that she wasn't comfortable with her two new friends, but it started to be slightly boring in this cute chalet.
Mirajane has told her some important things at the last minute, and she promised her she would be safe… long enough to find her true home.
"Listen up, Lucy, what I'm going to tell you is very important, so don't forget it. Like you know, your transformation won't last forever, and you will lose your monster's form naturally in maximum 48 hours. But, the transformation can be vanished before this timeline if you pass trough too much stress, or if you injure yourself too much. So please, I'm begging you, travel by the forest. It's the longer way to go to Hotland, but you will certainly have less issue with monsters by this way, trust me."
Watching the giant door behind her, the exit of The Ruins, where she said goodbye to Wendy and Mirajane, Lucy frowned at the last thing she heard by the white.
"There's one more thing. If you encounter a man with black hair and a tendency to undress himself, if you're still in your monster form, you can trust him."
"Now go, little bunny, and find a way back to your home. I hope we can meet again sometime!"
Lucy smiled, watching calmingly the falling snow. She took the time to wonder how there could be snow in a place deprived of clouds, and began to walk into the deep forest. At first, she thought the vegetal in the Underground would be totally different from where she lived, but it was surprisingly almost the same. This forest seemed to be a forest of pine, and she smelt this fresh odor with happiness.
While she was walking, silently listening to the sound her shoes did with the snow, Lucy was watching attentively her new outfit. The pullover she was wearing was incredibly soft and warm, it was a dark blue stripped with two purple lines. Her legs were covering by just a dark blue short coming down till the middle-thighs, and long white socks. Her shoes were kind of simple dark blue sandals. Her golden hair –matching now her new cute bunny ears- were attached in a high ponytail, on the right side of the skull, thanks to a purple ribbon.
While she finished admiring her clothes, she heard a passing conversation, out of nowhere.
"The flowers? Yeah, I've seen it, they all became gold all of a sudden…"
"And you know what it means, right?"
"Well, I think, yes. But it's not like I care anyway."
"Tch, don't forget it's your job to watch if there's nothing suspect around there. Even if you don't want to, you have to care."
There was a long sigh after that. Lucy didn't pay attention to an other part of the conversation while she was too busy finding a place to hide from these people. After she was sure to not being seen, she started listening again to this sudden discussion.
"By the way, your troublesome brother has to come back to Snowdin soon, I again have to lecture him for not being vigilant when he's fighting some wild monsters." This voice seemed to belong to a mature woman.
"This hothead's really an idio—Hey! How many time do I have to tell this idiot's not my brother!"
The woman laughed, letting the man with who she was talking growling.
Lucy waited for at least 5 minutes for them to say goodbye to each other. When she was sure there was nobody around anymore, she went out of her hiding place. Then, she remembered she was now a little monster, and that she could have passed right in front of them without being suspicious, avoiding her having to hide in pines which pricked her skin during long minutes…
She slapped her front.
It's been an hour since Lucy was walking in this forest without end. Her good mood for adventures began to fade little by little.
But suddenly, she faced a strange creature.
She was startled at the surprise, she wasn't expecting to meet any monsters on her route. It was pretty dumb to think so, since she was in the Underground, but it still brought her out of her thoughts.
As she wanted to greet the little one, she completely forgot for a second that there weren't only kind monsters, but also wild one.
And this one was specially a wild.
She realized it when it began to attack her. It was a deer with his mouth put in vertical and trees on it horns. Now frightened, she wanted to let out a shout of distress, but before she could bring out a sound of her throat, something astonishing happened.
"Ice Make… Lance!"
A lance all made out of ice was stuck in the snow just between her and the monster.
Everything happened so fast, and she only had the time to see who her savior was when there weren't any danger anymore.
A man with black hair, and shirtless.
"You alright kiddo?" his face showed worry, but there was one thing Lucy couldn't afford.
He has just lost his pants.
Alright, Mirajane, I think I found the guy.
While it seemed her savior wasn't even aware he was almost naked in front of a child, Lucy took the responsibility to remind it in his head.
"Hum…mister, the little bird is going to fly away."
He looked at her with confusion, not totally understanding the sentence she said at first, but then noticed his lack of clothes and cursed while searching it, what made her slightly laugh. When he was all ready, his eyes watched her attentively, like if searching any wound on her small body.
"So… I see you're alright, that's already a good point." He smirked, and then squatted to be on her height, "What were you doing all alone in this forest at a time like this? Got a quarrel with your parents?"
At this word, Lucy's look incredibly saddened, but it wasn't because of what thought this man.
Well, "this man"… this humanoid monster.
It reminded her how much she was lonely before she met her two new friends, and that she was now all alone again, in a world she didn't know, with people who wanted to kill her. But, she couldn't go deeper in her sad thoughts as she heard him talking again.
"Oi sorry! Don't cry! Didn't mean to make you sad!"
She looked at him, watching attentively his monster's features. As he still was shirtless, she could see he has unnatural frost, almost like crystals, on some parts of his skin : under his eyes, on shoulders and arms, even on the back of his hands. Lucy noticed he has little horns, also made of this kind of blue crystals. She couldn't see if he has a tail or other behind his back, but it seemed like he has one.
Like always, she didn't know why she was almost sure of that. Just a feeling.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a big hand coming in front of her –now small- face. He smiled, waiting for her to take his hand back.
"My name's Gray, nice to meet you."
She didn't wait too long before taking his hand in her small one, shaking it.
"Mine's Lucy, nice to meet you, too." She smiled at him like he did, feeling like she could trust him.
Well, while she still was a little bunny, of course.
The fact she made another friend, even if temporary, made her shiver with a strange happiness.
And it filled her with determination.
It's been a while, isn't it ?
This chapter was funnier to write, hope it's good enough!
Btw, people asked me what my update schedule will be. The only thing I can say is that, for now and like it has been since the beginning of the story, I'm just going to post whenever I have the time to. I'm really happy to see that peoples would like to have a "rhythm" with this story because they like it, but for the moment it's impossible.. Like I said before, school is a torture, and I need to prepare my exams as much as possible :(
I'm so glad this story pleases to more and more people, and I hope my lack of "good English" isn't such a big problem when you read it :)
Have a good day/night!
- Daria.