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 Six
Teaspoonful of Poison Makes the Medicine Go Down
6 6 6
The two goddesses hastened Lucy down another dark corridor after they exited from the breakfast dining hall. There seemed to be no end to all the hallways and doors in this palace. The thought of getting lost seemed very probable to Lucy.
Lucy tried to slow down, but they just quickened their pace. "Where is the banquet going to be held?"
"In the Emerald Ballroom," Erza said.
"What's it for?"
Erza smiled. "Cana was right. You do ask a lot of questions."
Lucy sighed tiredly. "Yeah, being human in a new godly world happens to do that."
Cana laughed. "Nothing wrong with that."
"Well, the banquet is an annual gathering of all the gods and goddesses. They are held in a different place every year," Erza explained. "This year, Gray has been chosen to host the banquet. It's basically a whole get-together where goddesses can gossip, gods can boast about their latest achievements and...they make fun of humans." She glanced at Lucy carefully. "However, not all of us participate in those nonsensical things."
Lucy smiled weakly. "That's nice to hear."
"Yeah, there's also food and booze!" Cana added happily.
Erza rolled her eyes. "Right, but the main event is the arrival of the Emperor and Empress. They give an account of last year's achievements and set rules for the coming year." She gave Lucy a reassuring look. "Don't worry about the Emperor and Empress liking you. They're very kind to mortals. They are the first ever in their line of royalty to have that mentality and attitude. Empress Mavis and Emperor Zeref are very kind."
Lucy nodded. "So what do they rule over."
"To be honest, no one knows the full extent of the Emperor's powers. It's understood that he's all powerful and whatever, but I guess that's where Natsu gets his unlimited power from," Cana mentioned, trailing off.
Lucy was confused, but Erza filled her in. "Emperor Zeref is the older brother of Natsu."
"Yeah," Cana continued. "The Empress on the other hand is the Goddess of Life. She looks like a thirteen-year-old girl, but she's actually 600+ years old. It's kind of weird sometimes because her son, August, looks like he's sixty or something."
"That...is a little bit weird," Lucy agreed. "They sound like quite the characters though."
Cana laughed. "You have no idea!"
"Yeah," Erza nodded. "Let's get a move on. Gray did tell us to hurry, remember?"
Cana made an annoyed expression.
They turned a corner and continued walking until they came upon an isolated hallway with only one door whose height reached the top of the ceiling. The door was an opaque emerald, and there were gold dragons on each side of the double doors.
Erza gestured to the doors. "You first."
"What, no sphinxes?" Lucy asked dryly.
Cana snickered. "Of course not. This one has a much greater security system."
She placed her fingertip on the eye of the dragon, and the eye gleamed a dark ruby, and the doors swung open.
"It responds to our natural magic signature," Erza explained.
They quickly walked inside and were immediately greeted by a rush of servants who were carrying various plants and silk curtains. There was a loud clamor and everybody was calling the room to attention. All the servants stopped what they were doing and faced them and then bowed in greeting.
"Lady Cana! Lady Erza!"
"Thank you," Erza said. "As you can see, we will be joined by Lady Lucy. Some of you might know her as Lord Gray's bride."
Murmuring followed. A few whispered and eyed her curiously, some with awe, and a handful with disdain. Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable by the attention she was receiving.
"If my ears ever pick up the word 'mortal,' you will be sent to the Emperor's palace," Erza warned, her eyes steely as her voice. "Do you understand?"
The servants paled at her words, and they nodded in compliance.
Cana chuckled throatily. "Now, we'll need everybody to leave, and we'll be planning for half an hour. At half past eleven we need everybody to report back here, yes?"
The servants nodded and bowed their heads as they shuffled out. Cana grabbed one of the servants before they could make it out.
"Tell the kitchen to send up some tea, please."
He nodded hastily and moved on, eager to escape the Wine Goddess' hold.
Lucy blinked in wonder. "Wow, that was...authoritative."
"Thanks," Cana winked. "Anyway, what color should we have the curtains? I was thinking an eggshell white but then maybe a cream white would be better." She frowned, deep in thought.
"Really?" Lucy asked dryly. "Eggshell white and cream white? That's a tough one. What about snow white?"
"Lucy, this is of the upmost importance," Cana informed her seriously.
"We'll do the curtains last," Erza cut in. "We need to decide on the menu first. Remember last year when Lord Sting nearly choked on the Haricot Vert Salad? The damned pine nuts got clogged in his air pipes. Lady Yukino wasn't too pleased about that. I'm not going to have something embarrass me like that."
Cana sighed irately at the memory. "Well, if Sting didn't suck up his food like an elephant then maybe that wouldn't have been a problem, now would it?"
Lucy made a face as an image popped up in her head of an elephant eating a Haricot Vert Salad.
Erza couldn't help but somewhat agree with Cana's statement.
"So you organized last year's banquet too? Do you normally stay at Gray's palace?" Lucy inquired curiously.
"Oh no," Erza shook her head. "That's always Cana's job. Besides, it's much too cold here for my liking. That's why I live closer to Natsu's palace more. I only come up here for big events and sometimes whenever I feel like it. Got to keep Gray in check. Speaking of which, Cana told me you weren't pleased with your bonding." She glanced at Lucy while rearranging the place mats on the silver tables.
Lucy shrugged. "Well, being a mortal here isn't exactly fun, and Gray hasn't exactly warmed up to me."
"Does he warm up to anybody other than his teddy bear?" Cana giggled. "Remember when we were little he used to have that teddy bear named Kuma? Oh my god, he wouldn't let us play with it because he was so afraid we would steal it," she chortled to Erza.
Lucy's eyebrows rose. He had a teddy bear named Kuma? She made a mental note to make fun of him for that later.
Erza laughed. "Of course I remember, how could I not? I was the one who nearly popped Kuma's head off after I got so mad at Gray." She turned to Lucy. "Anyway, Gray's a good guy. He might seem a little cold at first, but he means well. He's just a little cautious, but you know..." she trailed off.
"Yes?" Lucy prompted.
"I think he likes you," Erza stated.
Cana nodded in agreement.
Lucy blanched. "Wh- No, no way."
She felt herself flush deeply. She tried forming words, but she was left speechless, looking like a fish out of water. So she opted to just shake her head furiously.
Cana put her hands on her hips. "Come on, I have never seen Gray hold anybody - at all. Even though he's like 200+ years old, he still thinks girls have cooties," she scoffed.
"It wasn't anything. I'm telling you the-"
A knock came at the door and interrupted Lucy. A voice came from the other side. "Lady Cana, Lady Erza, it is Amaya."
Cana waggled her finger at the door, and it opened magically.
A girl around Lucy's age, or appeared to be Lucy's age, stood at the door. She had deep purple hair and striking silver eyes. The handmaiden came in gracefully, and she had a small smile upon her face. However, the little lift of her lips unnerved Lucy. It just didn't sit right. In her hands, she held a tray of three cups, and as Lucy was about to reach for one, she stopped her politely.
"Oh, Lady Lucy, allow me."
She placed the tray down on the glass table and began preparing the tea. One she finished, she handed everyone a cup and bowed.
"Please enjoy."
Shrugging, Lucy lifted the cup to take a small sip of it, and she felt a drop of the hot liquid slide down her parched throat. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the teacup in her hands exploded into several tiny pieces. One of them cut her fingers and drops of blood slipped down her palm.
"Oh!" Lucy let out a gasp and jumped backwards.
"Tell me you didn't drink any of that!" Cana demanded.
Lucy looked up to see Cana's furious face. Her eyes changed from their beautiful purple to a sharp gold. "U-Uh, just a little bit. Why?"
Cana cursed and turned to Erza. "Get her to the medics immediately!"
Erza pulled on her arm, but Lucy resisted. She had no idea what was going on. She needed to know, but Cana continued on in a rage toward the girl Amaya.
"I'll deal with this little conniving wretch!"
With a snap of Cana's fingers, the handmaiden let out a sharp cry of pain as she clutched at her throat, writhing on the floor in pain and misery.
"I'm sorry, Lady Cana!" the handmaiden sobbed. "She doesn't deserve him!" She clawed at her throat. "Just make it stop!"
Cana's eyes narrowed. "You thought I wouldn't notice? If I hadn't, Lady Lucy would've consumed more and died. Is that what you were hoping for? I may just be known as the Goddess of Wine and Festivities, but I know what's in a drink, and those poisonous herbs were stink bombs to me," she growled. "Especially the Mahi Herb. You were planning on rendering her incapable of speech and movement."
The air suddenly became thick.
"I a-apologize, L-Lady Cana!" the handmaiden panted out with great difficulty. She bowed her head and tried to move towards Cana, begging for the goddess to stop the pain.
Lucy urgently grabbed Cana's sleeve. "Cana, stop torturing her. I feel perfectly fine."
Cana turned to her in shock. "You should be on the floor writhing in pain. How are you still standing?" Her eyes flickered to the War Goddess. "Erza, how is she not hurt?"
Erza stared at Lucy. "You drank it, yes?"
Lucy nodded. "I'm sure of it. I was really thirsty, so I recall the liquid going down my throat," she clarified. The blonde was confused to say the least because this poison apparently didn't affect her whatsoever.
Erza turned back toward the handmaiden, glaring at the quivering girl. "You did use the Mahi herb, didn't you?"
Amaya sniffled. "Y-Yes, I did. I used copious amounts of it too. I just wanted her away from Lord Gray. She doesn't deserve him! She's a filthy mortal!" she spat.
Lucy felt her jaw drop. This was about that smug jerk? She poisoned her because she bonded to Gray? Was this girl insane? Things like this only happened in super dramatic tales that were supposed to be myths and fiction!
She frowned. "Look, I didn't mean to bond with him. It just happened."
Amaya let out a screech of anger and tried to rise and claw at Lucy's face, but the spell Cana had on her reactivated, and she fell back on the floor screaming in agony.
"I've b-been here f-for decades, a-always wi-with him and serving him. Th-Then you c-come in, a mortal, and y-you bond with him!" she snarled, eyes an angry, violent red. "It should've been me!"
Cana's golden, furious stare dialed down back to her pretty purple eyes because of the stupidity of it all. She sighed, a deck of cards appearing in her hands out of thin air. Lucy blinked, fascinated more than terrified. She heard Erza sigh as well. Before Lucy could blink again, Cana threw the cards toward the handmaiden, and they circled around her, the face of the cards toward Amaya. There was a crackle and a spark and then eventually a lightning bolt formed and zapped the handmaiden's body for a good, solid seconds because ceasing. The power the cards held was ridiculous. The force of the lightning bolt would've made Laxus proud.
Erza hummed. "You love being dramatic, don't you?"
"Yup," Cana smiled. "Couldn't help it."
Erza's hand glowed and out of nowhere a sword materialized in her hand. "I'll keep her in check. She's been grating on my nerves for a while. I cannot believe she had the audacity to pull this stunt."
Cana patted Erza's shoulder. "Yeah, go for it. I had my fun with her." She turned to Lucy. "Let's go to the medics, yeah? We need to make sure you're fine, and why the poison was diluted." Her face was thoughtful.
Lucy followed her out of the banquet hall and as they turned the corner, they bumped into Gray. He was breathless, and he looked like he had just sprinted over. He yanked Lucy aside, his eyes boring into hers with a slight mix of concern.
"What happened?" he demanded.
Lucy struggled to respond, a bit surprised. "I... Well, uh - how did you know?"
Gray let out an exasperated sigh. "We're bonded, remember?"
"Calm down, Gray," Cana said, an amused smile on her face. "It was nothing but a poison attempt. Lucy seems to be immune to it though," she shrugged as if it was the most normal thing.
Gray glared at her. "Who tried to poison her? You know whatever affects her will affect me." He turned to Lucy. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
"I-I don't know," Lucy admitted, looking down. "I didn't even know I was poisoned."
Cana made a face. "Oh gods, save me! Why is it that I'm standing in the middle of you two?! The sexual tension between you two is suffocating."
Lucy whacked her lightly on the arm and shot her an unappreciative glare. Gray just shook his head as if he was used to hearing these types of comments from her.
Cana rolled her eyes. "Well, thank the gods that out of all the people you bonded to Lucy. She seems to be immune to poisons."
Gray sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Who tried to poison you again?"
Lucy shrugged and looked at the Wine Goddess.
Cana cocked her head to the side and folder her arms. "Amaya. I kept telling you to send her away. I told you of her obsessive tendencies, but did you listen? No, you told me to stop being paranoid." She threw him a dirty look.
It was Gray's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah, fine, fine. Whatever you say."
Cana scowled. "Anyway, what are you going to do about her?"
"Send her to the Emperor's Palace," he decided.
Lucy rose her eyebrows. "Isn't that a bit harsh?" she asked worriedly. "I mean, it was an attempted poisoning, she didn't actually poison me."
"It's only temporary," Gray reassured. "Shouldn't you be angrier? She tried to poison you," he stated wryly.
Lucy gave a small chuckle. "Well, I was, but Cana went wild with her flying cards, and Erza's currently threatening her with a magical sword. I think she's gotten enough punishment."
Gray blinked, slowly nodding and then asked, "What was the reason for the attempted poisoning?"
Lucy frowned, glaring at him. "Apparently you're pretty popular around here."
Realization dawned on his face, and his lips formed a thin, grim line. "I'm sorry. I'll deal with this accordingly."
Lucy's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't believe her ears. That jerk actually apologized.
"What?" he asked, leaning slightly closer.
She flushed slightly, waving him off nonchalantly. "Nothing, nothing."
Cana giggled in the background. "Hey Gray, why don't you take her to the medical center for me, will you?"
"Huh? Wait, what?"
"I'm in charge of the banquet, remember?" Cana gave him a sly smirk. "I'm just doing what you told me to do, my dear Gray! Have fun you two!" She disappeared down the hallway, her laughter echoing and bouncing off the walls.
Lucy and Gray stood in silence next to each other as they watched the Wine Goddess go. The Ice God then sighed and turned towards her. Lucy could only stare back as some unnamable tension filled the air between them, and she couldn't help but think this was a staring contest that she was going to win.
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 :)