Hey folks. Just logged back onto this site on my laptop after a while. I can see y'all want more of "Ice Devil's Angel," which makes me happy to hear. However, to get back into the groove of things, I've been given a golden opportunity by none other than the famous GraLu author, LadySVI, to take on her story "Bride of the Ice God," which originally belongs to the author writer4everr.
The reason Lady-san abandoned it was because her idea of where it should've gone didn't match with the plot of what writer4everr had and decided to pass it on to me to publish. So, that's what I'll be doing for the next couple of months for you guys while I try to re-establish my ideas and outline with "Ice Devil's Angel."
Anyway! Hope everyone is doing well!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its character. I do not own this plot. This plot belongs to writer4everr.
Bride of the Ice God
Chapter Two
Hello There...
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Lucy's thoughts were jumbled and incoherent as the Wine Goddess led her to the palace. The blonde wondered how in the world she got stuck in this mess. She looked down at her marked hand in trepidation.
"We're here," Cana announced.
Lucy's eyes traveled to where Cana was pointing and her eyes widened. A tall, crystalline palace lay in front of glacial mountains. The entrance contained a wide gate with two women standing guard with white face masks.
"Wow," Lucy murmured. "Am I...staying here?" she asked hesitantly.
Cana nodded. "As will I. I usually prefer to reside in the cottage I have, but I have a room in the place too." She shrugged. "Many gods and goddesses visit each other's palaces. It's very common. The God of Fire and Goddess of Knowledge currently reside here too. I think the God of Thunder also came earlier today. I'm not sure if he left yet or not."
Lucy only stared at her blankly. She felt Cana roll her eyes at her and was eventually pulled along beside the goddess. They approached the gate and immediately the two female guards approached them. They wore ice blue kimonos and masks that concealed their appearances. Upon closer inspection, Lucy realized the mask wasn't blank but was in the form of some animal. She shivered in realization.
"Lady Cana, we didn't realize you'd be back so soon," one said.
"Lord Gray put myself in charge of the banquet," Cana explained. "Speaking of him, we ran into a complication." She gestured over at Lucy.
Their heads whipped into the blonde's direction. Said girl could only manage a weak smile.
"She's a mortal," they hissed venomously. "Mortals are not permitted within the Ice Palace."
Cana glared and grabbed Lucy hand and lifted it. "Look," she commanded.
Their eyes fell upon the mark of the crescent moon, and one of them breathed in sharply. They stood aside and opened the gates to the palace with a firm nod.
"Please proceed, Lady Cana. We apologize for our rudeness."
"Sorry about that," Cana said as they walked in. "There's a bit of prejudice towards mortals, as you can see. The handmaidens are worse about it."
"And you?" Lucy found herself asking. "You don't have a problem with me being a mortal?"
She shook her head. "Gods no. Granted humans can be stupid but so can immortals, right?"
With that, Cana walked ahead of Lucy and continued on approached the double doors of the palace. Lucy hurried to keep up with her and was soon inside the large, crystalline palace. It was almost blinding being inside the palace. bright chandeliers lit up the foyer, and the marble floor glistened in the light. There was a large spiral staircase, which led up to many levels of the palace, and Lucy had to crane her neck upwards to try and see where the floors stopped.
"Stop gawking, will you?" Cana shook her head.
"How old are you?" Lucy blurted out, no longer able to contain her curiosity.
While the Wine Goddess looked her age, she was an immortal, and Lucy couldn't help but wonder how long Cana has been around.
"I'm 243 years old," Cana answered flatly. "Satisfied?"
Lucy nodded meekly.
Cana turned toward the staircase. "Lisanna!" she called.
Almost immediately, a woman came running down the staircase to meet Cana. She was cute and looked about my age and had short white hair and crystal blue eyes. She wore identical robes to the guards outside, but in addition to her ice blue robes was a silver sash around her waist. She bowed to Cana and then turned to Lucy and bowed just as deep.
"Welcome," she greeted.
Cana pushed her back up. "Oh, come one, Lisanna! You know you don't have to do that crap around me!" she complained.
Lisanna sheepishly laughed and scratched the back of her head. "But there's someone else in our presence..." she trailed off, slightly embarrassed.
Lucy smiled and gave a slight bow. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia."
Lisanna smiled brightly in return. "Lady Lucy, you are very pretty indeed," she complimented. Her voice suddenly lowered. "Are you a sacrifice?"
Lucy nodded. "Yes, well, I suppose I was, but..."
"Lord Gray does not accept sacrifices," Lisanna cut in, puzzled. "Your village must be desperate to resort to this; however, Lord Gray has been in a foul mood lately."
Cana waved her hand. "Yes, but things have changed. Lucy's bound to Gray now, and he told me to put her in your care."
Lisanna eyes widened in surprise. "I would be honored to care for the Bride of the Ice God."
Lucy held up her hands defensively. "Wait, hold up. I never agreed to becoming his bride," she protested.
Lisanna became confused. "But the fates have ordained that you and Lord Gray be together."
The blond shook her head. "No, I don't even know him." She was confused herself. "I just met him."
Cana sighed. "Lucy, you'll be staying here. So at least go along with this. We'll provide you food and shelter. We're not planning to dice and eat you up, okay? You're lucky you're even bonded! Lisanna over here is having trouble bonding to the man she lov-"
Lisanna clasped a hand over Cana's rambling mouth. "Forget what she said," she smiled weakly. "She didn't say anything!" She let out a weak laugh and pulled Lucy by the arm. "Here, I'll show you to your room, yes?"
She pulled me up the plush carpeted stairs and went along so fast that we were up the stairs in a matter of minutes. She started walking briskly but turned to me. "I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Lisanna Strauss, head handmaiden at the Ice Palace. I'm in charge of taking care of all that goes around here. Visitors are my specialty."
Lucy nodded and wondered, "Do you think...you could possible help clear this 'bonding' thing that happened?"
Lisanna shook her head and laughed. "Unfortunately, I'm not an expert in that. You'll have to ask Cana or Lady Levy about that later. Oh!"
She stopped all of a sudden, and Lucy turned to see why she had paused. A handsome pink-haired man was approaching them with a bright smile. He had onyx eyes that lit up like coal, and a strong jawline. His aura was a big contrast to Gray's. It was lighter, happier, less broody.
Lisanna gracefully curtsied, a light blush on her cheeks. "I wasn't aware you were about, Lord Natsu. I apologize that I wasn't-"
He grinned. "Hey Lisanna. It's fine. I was just going out for a quick breather." His onyx eyes landed on Lucy. "By the way, who's this lady?"
"That is Lady Lucy. She's Gray's bride."
Natsu eyes widened. "Bride?!" He then guffawed. "You're kidding me. That heartless bastard finally bonded to somebody and a mortal no less."
Lucy sighed. She was tired of being referred to as this jerk's bride and also as a "mortal," like she were some sort of specimen.
"Lucy Heartfilia, at your service," she curtsied as well.
He nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, also known as the hottest god around because I'm the Fire God!" He seemed to chuckle at his own cheesy joke, and Lucy couldn't help but uncomfortably smile in his attempt to crack a joke. As expected, an awkward silence ensued before he finally cleared his throat and spoke. "Well, uh, I'll let you guys go. See you around."
Natsu brushed by Lisanna, and if Lucy blinked, she would've missed it, but she didn't. Natsu had slipped a note inside of Lisanna's hand as he walked away. It piqued Lucy's interest, but it was none of her business. However, she couldn't help but smile smugly when she noticed Lisanna trying to act nonchalant, but her cheeks were a tomato red.
"I-I'll show you to your room," she finally stuttered out, moving along.
Lucy nodded and followed, still curious about the nature of Natsu and Lisanna's relationship.
Lisanna pulled out a key and went to a room at the end of a hallway and inserted it, letting the door swing open. Lucy was about to walk in when she noticed Lisanna still lingering outside. She seemed to notice her hesitation.
"Oh! Pardon me, but I'm not allowed to be inside the guest's quarter," she explained. "So just make yourself comfortable, and if you need anything, just call for me."
She gently ushered Lucy inside and then closed the door, leaving the blonde inside the big room all by herself. Not that Lucy really minded. She was relishing the peace and quiet after being transported to the supernatural world. She swiveled around, and sure enough, her room was grand enough for a goddess, which was probably the point. It wasn't meant for a mortal.
The thought bitterly settled in her stomach. She was homesick all of a sudden.
Beyond frustrated at her predicament, Lucy collapsed on the sheets. She knew she was going to be hear for a long time, and if she was already homesick then she didn't know what she'd feel in the time to come. She'd learn how to deal with it. She supposed she should be freaking out more, but what good would that do?
"Um, am I interrupting something?" a voice asked.
Lucy squeaked in surprise and bolted upright, realizing there was someone else in her room. She blinked, taking note of the person before her. A young man a bit older than herself sat languidly on her window sill with a somewhat bored expression. His hair was a spiky blonde, and a scar bearing resemblance to a lightning bolt was settled over his right eye. He wore gray robes, almost resembling dark thunderclouds, and it was tied by a white or silver sash. She couldn't tell.
He raised a brow. "Oi, how can so much noise come out of a little mortal?"
Lucy felt her eye twitch as she heard "mortal" again. It was starting to piss her off, and she couldn't help but wonder if gods and goddesses had some kind of six sense to sniff out humans.
She glared at him. "What are you doing here? How'd you even get in?"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm a god. That kind of allows me to do anything," he responded arrogantly. "Besides," he shrugged, "I just wanted to see what the whole place was buzzing about. The new Bride of the Ice God." His stormy grey eyes focused on her, and Lucy couldn't help but feel small under his gaze.
The god dropped onto the floor with grace and extended a hand. "Laxus Dreyar, God of Thunder."
Lucy blinked, wary, as he stared at her expectantly. "Am I...supposed to curtsy or something?"
Laxus closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, as if her very presence was causing him a headache. "You've got a lot to learn around here," he muttered. "Guess I'll take it upon myself and help the needy mortal. It's something to lift the boredom."
"Hey!" Lucy protested. "I'm not needy. You make it sound like I'm a fish flailing around out of water."
He nodded. "Exactly. So let me or Levy answer your questions. You don't object to that, do you?"
Lucy was about to retort but faltered because the Thunder God had a point. Her brows suddenly scrunched down in confusion because he mentioned another name. Which meant...that there was another person in the room? Lucy immediately scanned her eyes around everywhere until they landed on a small blue-haired woman reading in the corner, completely oblivious to the world.
"Levy," Laxus called. "Levy!"
"Huh, what? Oh!" Levy beamed at her. "Hi there!"
"Um, hello?" Lucy responded.
"I'm Levy Redfox, Goddess of Knowledge! I'm here to answer any questions you have!" She rambled on. "I know big, scary Laxus here probably said he could too, but I'm much better at answering questions since I pretty much know everything."
Laxus scoffed in the background, rolling his eyes.
"All right," Lucy began slowly. "What is bonding? How come it happened to me?"
Levy nodded. "Bonding is a natural process in the supernatural world. It decides who we mate with and such. Bonding is a process of fate that tells us who our, well for lack of a better word, soulmate is." She made a face at the corny word. "Anyways, bonding only happens to two specific people. From the moment you arrived here, Fate decided you be bonded with Gray. So, say if you touched Laxus' hand, nothing would've happened. Another thing, bonding can happen whenever to the couple. It can happen when you first meet, like you and Gray, or it can happen after marriage, after your first kiss, or after you have sex. It's spontaneous really. Make sense?"
Lucy nodded albeit still slightly confused. "Yes, thank you. But...what does bonding do to the people who are bound together?"
"Well, it makes you more attuned to each other's presence," Levy said. "It's like a sixth sense but only with your partner. You are more sensitive to their emotions, their thoughts, and their pain. Bonding connects the mind together. However, because you and Gray just met, the bond isn't as strong as say – a couple who have been bonded for decades.
Lucy absorbed all the information, but then another thought occurred to her. Cana had said there was prejudice against mortals. "Isn't that bad though? For him to bond to a mortal?"
Levy was about to respond before Laxus cut in. "Yes, mortals aren't welcome in Fiore. Mortals have a bad name around. Where it originate from, I'm not completely sure, but it's frowned upon to be bonded with a mortal or even to befriend one."
"That's why Gray might have been eager to get you out of here," Levy added with a slight glare at Laxus for stealing her thunder.
Lucy bit her lip. Her pride as a human stung a bit. "Well, I'm not exactly happy to be here either. Lady Cana said I could be home in a few days."
Laxus snickered. "Nope."
Lucy frowned. "What do you mean 'nope'?" her voice rising anxiously.
"Well," Levy began gently, "since the two of you are bonded, that changes everything. Gray can't send you back. You're stuck in Fiore."
"Permanently?" Lucy squeaked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Laxus said with a shrug.
"Don't worry, Lucy! You'll grow to like it here!" Levy encouraged.
Lucy's heart nearly gave away as she fell back onto the pillows. She couldn't really begin to process that she was supposed to be here forever, so she decided not to think about it. Lucy began to pray fervently when she realized the reason she was stuck in this predicament was because of the gods. She hit herself in the forehead and suppressed a groan. She could feel Laxus' odd gaze on her.
"Damn mortals..." he muttered.
"Laxus, be nice!" Levy scolded.
A soft knock at Lucy door brought her from the brink of her downfall to insanity.
"It's Lisanna," Levy informed.
"Lady Lucy," said girl's voice chimed. "Lord Gray is now ready to see you!"
Lucy paled. Oh god.
Hope this brings back some hope to some fans who thought this was gone forever. Fear not, I have taken over and will finish this before I get back to "Ice Devil's Angel." Sorry if it wasn't as good as Lady-san's own personal style to it, but I'll just get this out for you guys.
Have a nice day :)