"Frankenstein"
Who is the true 'Monster?'
The next morning Lucy found herself up and full of energy despite her previous exhaustion and late night reading.
She wasn't the first out of bed, by any means. In fact, she'd slept through both the sounds of the port city stirring in the early morning, and what would've been her usual wake up time back home. It hadn't been until Natsu had managed to prod her awake by slapping a fish on her face, and how he'd gotten one of those she had no idea, that she'd actually stirred.
After reflexively smacking the dragon, and doing a fair impression of his own roar, she'd been happy enough to get up. For some reason she felt better rested after one night here than she had in three nights back home. Maybe it had something to do with this world's magic. Or maybe just the fact that today she had a real plan in place.
Granted, it wasn't a complicated one, but it didn't need to be. And unlike her lingering uncertainty about Lamia Scale, despite finding out they were good friends of Fairy Tail last night, she had faith in Fairy Tail's ability to help her.
Nor did she doubt they would turn her away. After all, all this concerned them too.
So she'd happily kicked Natsu out of her room, and gotten ready for the day. Once that was done she'd practically skipped to breakfast, and waited for Jura or Lyon to show up.
She smiled as Jura arrived while she was sipping at something they claimed was coffee, but tasted smoother than anything she'd ever had.
"Good morning." He greeted politely, a small smile adorning his grave face, "If I may say so, you're looking much refreshed and rested."
The wizard saint pointedly ignored the bottomless pit that was Natsu attempting to eat the Inn out of house and home.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better now thanks." Lucy replied.
"Good. Have you given any thought to what your plans are going to be?"
Lucy sighed as she sat down her mug, "I have." She replied, "And I hope you won't take this as an insult or anything, but as much as I'm enjoying Hargeon I'd like to ask if you could help me get enough provisions to get to Magnolia."
She blushed a bit when Jura's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "It's just, that's where my first gate came out." She explained nervously, not wanting to bring up her book if she could help it, "And I thought maybe if I went back I'd have an easier time trying to build a new one to go home or something."
Jura's expression smoothed into one of understanding, "Of course." He agreed, "That makes fine sense, and I'm sorry I didn't think of that myself. Might I recommend you seek out Fairy Tail when you arrive? They're the city's dominant magic guild, and Makarov is their leader. He's also a good friend of mine, and well versed in a variety of magics. He may be able to help."
Lucy felt a palpable surge of relief at his words, and she nodded with genuine gratitude, "I definitely will!" She exclaimed.
Jura nodded and rose, "Then I will see to some provisions and transportation for you, and a letter that may help explain things to Makarov." He smiled kindly at her, "Don't worry Lucy. I'm certain my friend will be able to help you get home."
To say she was relieved Jura had put the idea of Fairy Tail and Makarov out in the open was an understatement. Already she could see Natsu's shoulders stiffening at the mention of the magical guild. Had she not spoken to Jura about it, Lucy was certain he would have dragged his heels about it.
Now he could complain all he wanted, but Lucy was determined to go. She straightened up and rose from her seat, eager to see the sights of Hargeon before they got going. If she was going to be trapped in a magical world where everything was upside down and on its head...
Well she was at least going to enjoy it.
"Come on Natsu" She called to her sullen companion, heading to the door to force the dragon up onto his feet. His dark eyes flashed towards her, sulky and filled with petulance. He really was like a real life six year old.
"Alright, keep yer hair on," Natsu grumbled, shoving his fists into his pants, the raggedy fabric hanging low on trim hips. Lucy's eyes followed as Natsu brushed past her, eyes fixated on observing him clearly.
He was taller than her, and his features were sharp, angular and focused. It was strange, but the grumpy pout on his face didn't look as if it belonged there. Perhaps it was the optimism from her rest, but she thought it was better suited to smiling.
Strange though were his clothes. For a dragon who supposedly coveted wealth and treasure, greedy for all manner of objects... he dressed in rags.
It was almost as if he had not worn anything new in a great many years. He needed a change of clothes just as much as Lucy had, but at least she had been provided with a new set thanks to Sherry's generosity.
Curious, she kept her gaze lingering over the dragon as they were escorted to the piers. There Lucy was able to look at the bustling port town, the scent of fish and salt heavy in the air. She was absolutely thrilled to see the sights.
Now that she wasn't hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, enjoying the view was fully possible.
The townsfolk were all extremely friendly, if a bit wary whenever Natsu drew near. She was surprised by his lack of reaction to the humans shooting him looks of either fear or hatred, but grateful for it all the same. After remembering the stories she had read about Natsu razing the towns and forests around Hargeon though, she couldn't blame them for their reactions, and didn't want to deal with the fallout if he lost his temper.
And Natsu, he seemed completely unaffected by whatever he had done to these people. Instead he was staring boredly out at the horizon.
As if sensing her eyes on him, he glanced over his shoulder at her and gave her a searching look, "What're you lookin' at ya weirdo?"
Lucy rolled her eyes, "Like you can talk about weird." She retorted, but there was no edge of anger to her tone, "And I'm trying to figure you out."
She leaned against the railing they were next to, "I just don't understand what you have against everyone. I mean, why are you so mad at people?" She gestured vaguely to the town at large, "These people are nice. Maybe they're not perfect, but they're good people. How could they have possibly pissed you off so badly?"
Natsu blinked at her in surprise, not having expected that at all.
She wanted to know why he was so angry? She thought that was his normal state of being?
Okay he could see why she would think that. She hadn't exactly been given much to work with so far. And he was pretty cranky about quite a bit at the moment. But still, the naively innocent questions were hilarious, and in moments he was choking and snorting in mirth before roars of laughter burst from him.
"You think I do this 'cause I'm mad?" He cackled, "Aw man! You got it all wrong!" He grinned toothily at her, "I do it 'cause I enjoy it." He purred, almost seductively, "It's fun."
Alright, so that wasn't the whole truth, but she didn't need to know that.
Lucy just sighed and shook her head, trying not to blush at the tone of his voice. It was completely unfair that the villain in this story was not only good looking, but had a voice that would melt any woman's heart.
It was even more unfair that she couldn't help noticing it now.
"You ever stop to consider maybe you'd have more fun if you tried protecting people instead of making their lives miserable?" She drawled wryly.
She was rewarded for her question by a Natsu making a face at her, his lips pulling up into a sarcastic grin. He crossed his arms, a heavy sigh escaping from his lungs.
"Why the hell would I do somethin' like that?" He asked her, head tilting to the side, completely oblivious to Lucy's inner thoughts. For which she was grateful for, because she had a feeling the dragon would try to take control of any advantage he might perceive.
"Seems like it's too much work to invest in people who don't got nothin' to give me for my hard work," He dug a finger in his ear, scratching.
"'Sides, humans got their silly guilds to help 'em out against monsters like me," Natsu shrugged dispassionately, "You're not from around these parts, so I guess I can excuse you for not knowing how it's done. But my kind don't mingle well with yours."
Lucy met his dark eyes. Eyes that seemed so sure of this indisputable fact, Lucy couldn't help but try to look for reasons beyond what he had given her.
Finding none she frowned, pulling a face as her brows dragged down into a sharp V. A chilly spread of air spread from the ocean, pushing past Natsu. The heat from his body naturally warmed the cool air and brushed across her cheeks. It was almost as if it was a gentle touch from the sun itself. How could something so nice come from someone so cruel?
"Why not?" She asked simply.
Her question seemed to fill the empty air between them. It was an innocent enough question, but he looked surprised. Slowly, Natsu blinked, considering her question.
And Lucy knew, just by the look on his face, that he did not have an answer for her. Not that she expected he would.
She wasn't a stranger to lines drawn in the sand. Between the wealthy and poverty stricken, or even between races. In her world she had lived through such boundaries and fought against them. Perhaps it wasn't the same thing here, Lucy was fresh and had no idea what kind of racial tensions flowed between her species and his...
But they were travelling together, and Lucy wanted to know his reasons.
Natsu looked mystified and his mouth opened to answer her, sharp fangs gleaming like sharp pearls before they snapped shut in consideration.
"They just don't alright," Natsu pouted, his eyebrows slanting into a grumpy point, "Monsters attack humans, humans fight off monsters. It's fun, entertaining and just the way things are."
He gave her a considering look out of the corner of his eye and Lucy was unable to stop herself from rolling hers up to the sky.
"It's just a thought," Lucy pointed out, "It seems kinda lonely just torching villages and bullying people."
Natsu blinked in surprise, a little thrown by the comment. A bully? He'd never thought of himself as such. Though he guessed he could see why she would call him that. She didn't really seem to understand the idea of how monsters worked. Which made him wonder just what sort of screwed up rules they had in her world.
Because he could tell she was sincere. There was no way she could hide that from him. She really didn't understand. Were monsters nice in her world or something?
He scoffed a little to himself. There was no way. Monsters were monsters, and they'd terrorized and fought humans for millennia. Since before he was even born. It was just how things were.
He was a monster so he did what monsters do. And he enjoyed it. He liked setting things on fire, and it was fun to beat people up and take their stuff. His hoard was vast and he lived comfortably. Just as a king should.
"Shows what you know." He snorted derisively, and crossed his arms, "There's nothing lonely about having fun, and those weak idiots get what they deserve."
For some reason she didn't look very convinced though. He couldn't imagine why, but whatever. He already knew she was weird, so it wasn't any skin off his nose.
Lucy just sighed, more convinced than ever that she'd inadvertently hit the nail on the head.
She'd seen the discomfort and unease flicker through his eyes, even as dark and mysterious as they were, and could tell that despite his words she'd prodded at something he didn't like.
It seemed her demon dragon had more depth than he was willing to admit even to himself. Perhaps especially to himself.
Somehow that made him seem more human.
"If you say so," Lucy allowed, letting it go for the time being. Natsu seemed the type that would lash out if shoved into a corner and she didn't care to drive him into one. Not when he was going to be dragged behind her all the way to Magnolia.
She looked out at the water and leaned against the railing on the pier.
The water was clear and unpolluted here, so translucent she could see the glittering of fishes scales darting just under the water. This was a healthy town, thriving even in its warring time. Lamia Scale must have done a good job keeping its town safe.
She hoped that also meant perhaps Natsu had a softer spot in him than he was willing to admit. Because there was no denying that if Natsu wanted to smash this town, he could do it. Well, if he hadn't been bound that was.
"How large is your territory?" She asked the dragon, curious despite herself. She wanted to know how far it spread out and if he shared territory with any other dragons like himself.
Because the way Natsu acted, it seemed almost as if Lamia Scale also landed within the boundaries of his land.
Natsu heaved a heavy sigh, dropping his forehead against the railing and pouting at her.
Seriously, more questions? Did this woman ever stop? Still, he was a little surprised. No one had shown this much interest in him in... centuries.
"Everything south of Crocus to the sea line belongs to me. The north belongs to a metal dragon who stinks like rust and oil," Natsu made a face. Then there were the badlands between the boundaries, but… he hadn't been there in years. He scowled and gave Lucy a critical look, "Why's it matter, we're not going any further than Magnolia anyway."
Lucy looked over at the bag of supplies entrusted to her by a young girl named Chelia. Earlier when they had been investigating vendors lined up at the docks, she had run up with the sack of goods and a cheerful smile. She had been just as friendly as anyone else from Lamia Scale and Lucy found she very much liked her. She was the younger cousin of Sherry, capable of a rare form of healing magic. Something Lucy was sincerely grateful for when she gasped and began to poke at Lucy's various scrapes and bruises from the previous day.
By the time she was done, all the remaining aches were gone. She left both of them with a wave, and extracted a promise from Lucy to tell their friends at Fairy Tail that Lamia Scale gave their regards. Within it were various strange lacrimas she wasn't completely sure how to use, along with a map, money, spare sets of clothes and toiletries. Most importantly was the letter tucked carefully in the side pocket, addressed to Master Makarov.
Most notably, there wasn't anything for Natsu within the bag, although she supposed that was because of his rocky relationship with the local guild. Jura, for a second looked over at Natsu, almost as if he were going to ask the dragon if he needed provisions.
The dark look he received had been answer enough.
Lucy rolled her shoulders and smiled at him.
"I was just curious about you, we're going to be spending a bit of time together, so we might as well get to know one another a little," She answered with enough honesty to make his head swivel towards her. Lucy picked through the bag to withdraw a bag of money and a schedule of times the carriages would be leaving.
"This land is so strange, you have carriages, magic mobiles, and trains," Lucy looked at the pamphlet. It was hard for her to understand how all of these things made sense in a world so quaint and technologically behind.
"If we hurry, we can catch the train to Magnolia," She turned towards Natsu with a pleased smile, "That should speed up our trip a bit."
Natsu managed, somehow, to keep from hurling at just the thought of being on any form of transportation. It was about the last thing he wanted, and he could feel his stomach churning uneasily already. However, he wasn't about to let Lucy know that if he could help it. So he scowled and crossed his arms sulkily.
"What do we need a train for?" He scoffed, "It's not that far to walk."
"For you maybe." Lucy replied with a slight roll of her eyes, remembering how he hadn't even broken a sweat during their hike to Hargeon, "But even going by road I wouldn't be up to hiking that distance in any kind of reasonable time. It's much better to just take the train and not worry about it."
She curled her hand around his wrist, tugging him along, "C'mon! It'll be fine."
Natsu seriously doubted that. Transportation hadn't agreed with him since he was a hatchling, and he had no reason to believe it would be any different now. Unfortunately, Lucy was determined, and he was having trouble thinking of a reason to argue without giving things away he didn't want to.
Or using other kinds of transportation.
Which also meant he somehow had to get dragged into the movable sardine can. Natsu internally cringed, resisting the powerful urge to drive his heels in the ground and make Lucy drag him onto the train. Only the fact she could simply walk away and he would be forced to follow her anyway kept him from doing something like that.
This was going to suck.
Alright guys so you got an early update because Kytrin is coming back to Atlanta over the weekend! I get to see her again! Hohohoho, be jealous. We had a few people talk about how odd it was that it took Lucy so long to put it together she was living information from the book. Lets give the poor girl a break, she's been running for her life since she got in this crazy place. (But, hey. She got a pet dragon so that's gotta count for something right?)
ANYWAY! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! - Owlcity2013 - Princessatj - MadamUranus - iamthewerepire - Weepingwillowfairy - fanficlove2014 - TheRealIgneel - Twishadowhunter - LoneStorm - Soul-less-mermai - HazelDragonNora - Snavej - brooke0315 - Guest - Avengerika - SakuraPetal91 - bakafangirl - Marie Allen - eternalstarrlight - oreobark - Ikityan - Saya Moonshadow - Wonderwomanbatmanfan - wisdom-of-me - HalfBlackWolfDemon
Your encouragement helps us continue writing! We really appreciate everything you guys do for us!