Note: This is unedited.

Shit shit shit. Lungs heaving for air, Lucy did her best to stay upright as she ran down the cliff that had suddenly appeared. She should have known stopping for the night was a bad idea. She'd been told when her father sent her on this blasted trip that the carriage would not stop for anything. He'd sent enough guards to rotate drivers specifically for that reason. She'd tried to argue when they'd stopped the previous evening, but they had ignored her because she was female and dumb.

She should have known.

They'd disappeared at some point in the night, more than likely on purpose for the ones chasing her, and now she had no idea what to do. Because of where she was going, she had left her dagger and whip behind so she had no way to defend herself.

She suddenly tripped and slammed headfirst into a tree. She hissed as her forehead began to bleed, her vision cloudy as her head began to pound. She tried to get to her feet, but she was suddenly slammed back down as the men caught up to her. She heard laughter as rough hands began to feel up her body, one disappearing beneath her dress to run up her leg.

"Check her quickly. They said she usually carries a couple weapons."

Lucy desperately tried to push them away but failed to escape their grip. "She's clean," the one above her said as stood. Lucy wiped the blood from her eyes so she could properly see the three men in front of her. "But not for long."

"I got dibs," said the shortest one. His belly hung much lower the his shirt and jiggled as he laughed. "It's been too long."

"And how's it that you get dibs?" A tall, reedy man glared down at the one who had spoken. "I's say it should be me. I's the one that got us the job!"

"I caught her," the bearded man in the middle said, "so I get her first."

"Fine, but then I's gonna go next," the skinny one said.

"In yer dreams!"

"If you two are done." The bearded man leered down at her. "Nothing against you, lady, but we need the money. Don't worry, though, we won't kill you. You're no use to us dead."

Lucy was having trouble breathing as panic slowly set in. She couldn't let them touch her, she couldn't. If they did, she would never be able to find a respectable match. No one would want to marry her if she was spoiled by these heathens, and if that happened... she'd never be able to get out from under her father's thumb. She'd lived the rest of his life under his roof, doing as his said. A spinster, all alone until she eventually died on her own.

When the man grabbed her arm again, her body responded on its own. She twisted her arm and shoved her palm up, pushing his arm away. His wrist cracked due to the odd angle and he howled in pain. The fat one rushed forward, but Lucy threw out her foot as she braced her body with her hands. She kicked the man's knee, forcing it to bend the wrong way and sliding to the side just as he fell, yowling as he clutched his leg.

"What'd you do?" she whispered. She frantically looked at her hands, but they looked the same as ever. Still, her muscles weren't cooperating. She got to her feet, her breathing level once more, even as she continued to panic. "What did you do?!"

"Time to settle down little girl." The last one standing grabbed a rope from his hip and began to swing it at his side, ready to lasso her. "Fightin' won't make it any easier on ya."

She willed her muscles to move, but her body remained frozen as he stepped back. When he finally released the rope, Lucy's hand snatched it out of the air and pulled it taunt. A flame appeared around her hand and suddenly the entire rope was ablaze. Lucy screamed but couldn't do anything as it continued to burn around her, eventually covering her head to toe in bright, golden flames.

All three men shouted as they ran or hobbled away. Tears flowed down Lucy's eyes as her fear continued to multiply. The flames didn't hurt, but she had no idea where they'd come from or why she couldn't move. What was happening to her?!

"Hey pyro, you're scaring her," said a lazy voice.

The voi barely penetrated her consciousness as the flame disappeared and her body went limp. She was crying too hard to see, but a frantic voice next to her began to babbled as something helped guide her body to the forest's floor. "Shit shit shit, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to scare ya, I was just trying to help. Please stop crying!"

"Yeah, that's going to help. Tell her to stop crying. I tell you to stop being an idiot every day and it hasn't accomplished a damn thing yet."

"Shut it, ice dick!"

"Watch your language around the lady, you fire clown."

There was a growl at her side, but the fighting seemed to stop as the person next to her began to rub her back. It took some time for her to calm down, but eventually she was able to get herself back under control. Taking deep breaths, she worked on cleaning up her face before she looked up. Glancing around, she found that she was alone.

When had they left? Not that she could blame them. She'd been a mess. No proper lady should behave in such a manner. She sighed as she tested her arms and hands, making sure she had control of them again.

"Don't worry, I ain't in ya anymore." Lucy yelped and jerked to the side, but she still saw nothing by her. Something grabbed her hand, but there was nothing there. "You're okay, you can calm down now."

"You're still invisible, you idiot," came a dry reply.

"Oh shi- shoot, yeah. Hold on." A faint glow started at about her eye level and expanded into a small flame. As it burned, a form was revealed, made of soft yellow light. The flame was burning in the center of the... man's? chest. His arms, chest and head were humanoid, but from the waist down...

"You're a ghost."

"What? Hahaha, no I'm not. I'm a ghoulenish."

"I mean, we're related to ghosts, so you're not super wrong." Lucy turned to find another shape similar to the first, but this one was made of a pale blue light, with what looked like a shard of crystal in its chest.

"But ghosts can't do this!" The yellow disappeared and suddenly Lucy's arms were moving on their own again. They reached up and squeezed her cheeks before patting them lightly and then booping her nose. The light reappeared next to her and all Lucy could seem to do was stare.

"You freaked her out again, moron."

"I am not a moron," the first voice growled before turning her way again. "Please don't cry!"

"You should ask permission before taking over a body."

"Well you should-"

"He really isn't going to hurt you," the blue voice said.

"Don't ignore me!"

"Neither am I." A blue hand grabbed hers gently and shook it. "My name's Gray. This idiot-"

"Hey!"

"Is Natsu."

Lucy struggled for a moment to find words. "So... what are you?" Mythical creatures were nothing new to her. Some of her best friends were stars, and she'd even befriend a fairy who was dating a drake (not that she'd met him yet, but some day she would). But she'd never met anything like these two.

"We're basically souls that died because of extreme exposure to an element. Natsu was burned as a witch and I drowned in a frozen lake."

Lucy frowned. "But witches aren't illegal."

"They used to be," Natsu said.

"Yeah, but that was over a hundred..." Lucy trailed off.

Natsu grinned. "Yep. I've been dead a long time. Twinkle di- uh, idiot over here has only been dead for a few years."

Gray slammed into Natsu's back, who flipped him over and punched him in the face. "Frozen ass clown!"

"Lava breath!"

"Frost queen!"

"Alright, can you guys just stop now?" The pair pulled roughly apart, leaving their backs towards each other as they mumbled under their breath. "If you don't mind, I need to get home."

"Oh we can help with that!" Natsu cried.

"Speak for yourself, I've got plans tonight."

"Dude." Natsu cocked an eyebrow. "You so don't have a chance with that mermaid."

"Are you kidding me? She asked me out!"

"I don't need both of you anyway!" At this point, Lucy wasn't sure she wanted either of them, but she needed to get home. "I don't want to interrupt your lives or anything, I just need to get home and was hoping for some help."

"Then you only need one of us," Gray said. "Only one can inhabit you at a time, and our magic isn't very strong as ghosts so at best I could only throw some hail at them."

"He's a punk anyway," Natsu said. "I'm way stronger than he is!"

Gray tensed and then muttered before disappearing. Lucy wasn't sure why, but she felt a little safer only having one of them around. Perhaps because then she wasn't at risk for being attacked by anything while they were fighting each other. "So... can we go?"

"Sure! Uh..." He flitted around her. "Do you want me to be inside you now or just if you need me?"

Do you want me to be inside yo- "Just float!" Lucy blurted. Face hot, she got to her feet and almost immediately fell over.

Natsu caught her, his ghostly hands surprisingly warm. "You're awfully klutzy for a princess."

"I'm not a princess, I'm the daughter of a lord."

"Same difference to me," he said as he let go and began to lead her.

"There is a huge difference!" Lucy argued.

"Meh."

"Listen here, ghost-"

"I told you, I am a ghoulenish."

"Same difference."

"No it's not!"

Lucy smirked as she began to walk. "I don't see it."

Natsu launched into a heated lecture about the difference between ghosts, ghouls, poltergeists, ghoulenee (the plural of ghoulenish) and skeletons. Although she didn't see how they were involved, she didn't care. Talking to Natsu kept her from thinking about what had happened and how dangerous her current situation was. So she continued to walk with him, bickering a little, but mostly asking questions as he walked her home.

If, perhaps, at the end of their trip, her new friend offered to help her out if she was ever kidnapped again, then that was just fine with her. It meant that she was that much safer from the dangers of the world.

And that much more cared for.

I had an idea and I ran with it. It makes me want to work on a story idea I've been knocking around for a while (that isn't a fanfic, so it wouldn't end up here). I remembered that I wanted to write another part for the dragon one shot I made earlier, so that'll probably be my next mini project in the near future, so keep an eye out for that!

And as always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!