Rated M
M is for MATURE, people.
If I can pretend to be, then you can too!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! *sob* However sometimes I wonder if Mashima-sama used to follow me and my friends around to help him dream up a few of his characters!
At least let a girl dream!
*~.🌒.~*
One Truth
Waking in the morning under a red leaf weeper (as the breed was called here in Fairy Tail) was just as lovely in the morn as it had been at night. The way the sun beamed in through thousands of holes in the tall tree's canopy filled their room with rays of the sun's glory. Lucy lay there, next to her approved fiance and marveled at its beauty. Things such as this must have been why poetry was so much better before industrial revolutions. Less distractions must help a person see one's own heart more clearly.
Her head turned to look upon her dragon... Natsu the mad hatter. What was she going to do with him? Would it really be possible for her to live happily ever after here in this world? The thought was marvelous... but terribly irresponsible. Would her mother approve? Had mother not returned from Wonderland (if indeed this was where she met this Mavis character), there would not even be a Lucy to lay here and consider the same return. Hmm... Let's dial back, take it one problem at a time. There seemed to be a lot of big problems that she was in no sort prepared to tackle currently, perhaps something small. A small problem.
An engagement gift for Natsu seemed fitting, and quite doable. But what would he want? That triggered a blush, and a rather coy smile. No, not that. Maybe she could at least... try the negligee he'd made for her...? No. No...? No. Not that. What else? It was rather discombobulating to think that in this world, she had nearly nothing to give. Utterly destitute. Why in her world, she might offer him estates, a portion of the company, perhaps even his own ship. Hell, she'd at least be able to serve him a proper meal! She had no earthly idea how to cook on a campfire. She'd been trained in the art of ladyship, and none of that included scouting, unfortunately. Though perhaps that is something she could try to change. The ladies of Europe were terribly under prepared for situations just like this.
No. That's dangerously close to one of the bigger problems she did not plan on dealing with today. She wondered if Levy had made it back yet... Lucy was sure she could help, just as she had with the mirror.
THE MIRROR!
Oh gods bless that wonderful pirate, her mirror could take her right to her bedroom! She could dash in, grab Natsu's hat, and return with no trouble at all! Lucy was so excited she nearly threw herself out of the bed, but fortunately she remembered how easily the Hatter could wake. Carefully, so not to rouse the beast, Lucy crawled off the mat, silently thanking the stars that it wasn't a plush mess like her bed back home. Tip toeing lightly, she sneaked to the writing desk and slowly opened the drawer. Her mirror still sat there and she lifted it up smugly. Should she grab a few other things while she was in England? Something to maybe spruce up the home Natsu had made for them here?
She froze when she heard movement coming from behind her. Turning her head, and only her head, she saw that Natsu had simply rolled over. Whew...
Holding up the mirror met with her own reflection. She frowned, remembering precisely why she was only in her shift. How humiliating it would be to crawl off her mantle in naught but this if a maid was there tidying up? Quickly and quietly, she pulled out a violet blouse with straps that wrapped around both the neck and shoulders, and dark pants that fit the leg loosely and ended well above her ankle. Looking in the mirror now, Lucy smiled brightly. She looked similar to others she'd seen in Castle Town. If she had a rustic vest she might even pull off the look of a pirate herself. The bit of middle showing from the much too short top made her look exotic, especially with how her belt and keys hung loosely on her hips—she loved it! Not proper England attire at all. Not to mention she couldn't even remember the last time she'd worn trousers. Perhaps when she'd gone riding with Yukino last?
It did not matter. She needed to retrieve that hat before Natsu woke. Holding the mirror close to her mouth, she whispered as quietly as possible, "My bedroom, please."
Her reflection faded into her bedroom and she smiled. First, Lucy checked to see that the coast was clear by moving the mirror about. Empty. Thank goodness. Now... how to fit through such a tiny mirror? Experimentally, Lucy touched the glass, then began to grow very dizzy. Suddenly she found herself in the strangest of rooms. With a mirror for the ceiling, and a mirror for the floor, she stood in a rectangular space. Behind her was what she had to surmise was the willow's canopy, and in front of her was her bedroom. "Oh man..." She jumped at the overwhelming echo her voice made and did not speak again. Though her mind flipped over itself wondering if she was actually in the mirror currently. What a fabulous place to hide, should she need to.
How terrible it would be if the mirror broke with her in it.
Such a thought had her running to the bedroom, where she stepped through just as she had with Jellal before. Ducking down to fit through the large mirror over her mantle, she carefully put one foot on the floor and then the other. Glancing back, she was relieved to see that her reflection still wasn't there. Only red leaves and white blossoms of the willow tree.
The room was loud with the sound of raindrops outside. London summer rains... it'd felt like ages since she'd heard such noises that used to be so familiar. Rubbing her arms she had to ask herself, why is it so cold in here? Had the servants not been doing their due diligence to keep her rooms warm? Lucy frowned, moving to her closet. She supposed they wouldn't feel a need to, what with her disappearance after meeting with Jellal. Oh the romantic fables the servants must be spinning about them. Idly she wondered, as she shifted through coats, if her reputation was intact—or if it even mattered. She didn't feel all that British these days, what did it really matter what others were whispering about? Locating one of her favorite coats brought a smile. Light and breezy, it was meant to protect one from drafts and not much else. Though its cut was meant to fit over a dress, she found that the pale black fabric looked rather dashing in how it reached nearly to her pant's hem. Its knitted cuffs and collar added a wonderful effect to the ensemble as well.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, now tying her hair back, she suddenly realized what she was doing and grew flushed. She was dolling herself up for her affianced. Willingly! Stopping immediately, Lucy turned around and snatched Natsu's hat from the dresser. ...Then as an after thought, grabbed toiletries from her wash basin.
"Princess?"
Barely stifling a scream, Lucy flew back around to find Virgo standing behind her. "Gods, Virgo! You scared the life out of me!"
"Should I be punished?" Virgo asked, holding her wrists out to Lucy.
Rolling her eyes, Lucy asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Loke requested I watch for your return, as he needed rest."
"Needed rest?"
"Yes Princess," Virgo nodded. "He has been watching over your home ever since you shut his gate. He will be very disappointed to learn that he missed you."
Guilt weighed on the star maiden's features. "So you guys really can't see me, when I'm in Wonderland?"
"We cannot. Though I'm sure if you were to perish, we would know—as we can still feel our bond."
"Good to know..." Lucy replied sarcastically bitter.
"Shall I be punished now?"
"No Virgo! Would you stop asking me that?!" Lucy grumbled, then quickly covered her mouth. Someone might have heard that!
Virgo took a bag from the closet and held it open for her. With a quick thanks, Lucy dumped her hair brush, shampoo, and various other what-nots into the bag before taking it and whispering. "I've got to go."
Bowing politely, Virgo bid her farewell and helped her climb onto the mantle. Back inside the mirror, Lucy waved to Virgo and traversed back to Fairy Tail. Climbing back through the hand mirror was disorienting, for though she walked through the mirror, it felt more like pulling herself out of a pond on the other side of it. As she climbed over the mirror's rim she looked around...
It was the same... but different...
Noticing she stood on wood instead of carpet, she realized what had changed.
Gods damn that horrible pirate! She couldn't be more than ten centimeters tall! Standing next to her mirror on the writing desk where she was well and truly stranded. Stepping away from the desk's edge, she looked over to where Natsu still slept, then to his hat in her hand. Well, some surprise this was... she'd gone and shrunk his hat. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her growing nerves. There could be several ways she could still live a long and fruitful life as a miniature. She just needed to come up with at least one bright side first...
Her mind was a blank. "...Natsu!"
"Mmmhmm..." the Hatter hummed contentedly.
"Must my voice be small too?" Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "NATSU!"
This time the hatter moved an arm and Lucy frowned as she wondered exactly what he'd hoped to grab onto when he roused at the discovery that she was not there. Sitting up, Natsu scanned the area. "Juice?"
"Over here!"
Following his nose, Natsu stood up and came to the writing desk. As he started to peek behind it, she called for him again. Noticing her at last, the Hatter smiled brightly at her. "Why Juicy! You found my hat!" Bending over with hands on knees to lower himself to her eye level he asked, "what are you doing down there? And..." Natsu poked at her with an extremely large finger, "where did you get such a tiny coat?"
Knowing him well enough by now to know when he was teasing, Lucy stomped her foot. "The hat was meant to be a surprise! How was I supposed to know I'd come back barely larger than a mouse?"
"How else could you crawl through a mirror that size?" Natsu asked in a tone that pretty much said 'duh.'
Adjusting the strap of her bag she had across her chest, Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. With not a single thing else to say, she folded her arms and remained silent.
Natsu laughed at her petulant expression and lifted up to retrieve his coat. "Nothing else to be done, your minuscule demeanor has usurped the day."
"What? Hey!" Natsu lifted her up, as delicately as he could, and slipped her into a front coat pocket. As she rummaged around, trying to peek out of it, Natsu chuckled. "A portable Juicy of my very own, I must be the luckiest hatter in all the world!"
"Har har..." Lucy grumbled, sticking her head out of the pocket. "Where are we going? Hey! Don't forget my mirror—and be careful with it!"
Natsu turned from where he was exiting back to the writing desk. Lucy muffled a yelp as he grabbed a tussle of fabric from within his coat. Lifting up the mirror, he wrapped it around the fragile glass before returning it to the pocket within. Looking down at Lucy he said, "I'll care for the mirror, you just see that you're wearing that hat when we join Mira for cake."
"Why would I ever want to meet with a queen in this condition! No way Natsu! Turn around, NO!"
^.^
Jellal found solace in imagining the constant drips to be something more like ticks. How wonderful would it be, to have a clock always running, always keeping perfect time on nothing but the power of water? After all, the two were not so different. Water flowed just as sure as time passed.
One could not be sure how long it had been when a dull light began to illuminate the shadow he'd been swallowed in; light that took the shape of a crescent moon. Time grimaced a sigh. All he could see during the conversation was that smile, broadening or lessening as the Cheshire Cat exchanged words with him in the vast darkness.
"I see your situation has improved much! Finally taking some time to pause and reflect, are we?"
Jellal harrumphed.
"Oh don't be like that... I bring news!" The Cheshire purred, "Now say something nice so that I'll be more inclined to share it."
"You wouldn't be here, harassing me if you didn't want to share it already." Time muttered.
"Untrue!" The cat's smile spun around, "I had to agree to a date, to get my friends out before it was too late."
"A cat speaking in rhymes." Time was growing tired already. "How original."
"That didn't sound very nice..." The smile drifted closer.
Rolling his eyes (and swearing to never let a cat board his ship again) Time spoke in a monotone. "Your teeth are very white."
Cana giggled, the smile bouncing just a bit, "Now was that so hard?"
"Excruciating..."
A contented chuckle was his reply, followed by Cana clearing her voice and speaking seriously (had it not been all the merriment she didn't try very hard to conceal) "It was been decreed, that until your old love, that's Erza, hunts down and captures your new love, heh, that's Juicy, you will rot here." The Cheshire's voice lifted an octave as she almost sang her next words, "all so that she may execute the both of you together—for she is merciful."
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..." Jellal muttered over tortured remorse. Let us hope the pirate was learning a little lesson on honesty. For in a way, Time was laying in a bed that he'd made—even if it was done for what he believed were the right reasons. There is no good deed...
"Is that a saying you learned in the land of humans? Hmm. I like it."
"This does not count as our audience, cat."
"No? Aww..." The smile drifted further, "I'll honor that I suppose..." The smile curled to inhuman proportions and vanished with only an echo chuckling in time with the water droplets. "Provided you, of course... don't loose your head..."
Drip, drip, drip.
~.~
Altering his course at a scent that called to him, Natsu walked up to the Inbetweener square with the fountain honoring Mavis. Lucy looked out from his pocket silently, with worry creasing her brow. The Hatter had told her that he had smelled Levy, but not Gajeel—and that was enough of a reason to investigate in Natsu's book. He stopped at the square's perimeter and squatted down, lifting Lucy out of his pocket and setting her on the red and white tiles. Then he pointed to a pile of leaves that had blown against to fountain's edge. Lucy turned to look, then nodded back to him and walked across the marble field to get there on tiny feet. Slowing once she came closer, Lucy could hear quiet sobbing. Tentatively, she called out for Levy.
"Ju-Juicy...?"
"Yes, could I come in?" She didn't wait though, Lucy began slipping under leaves until she reached the creature, bundled up in a little ball.
"You're," she sniffled, "you're teeny."
"And you're distraught." Lucy knelt down in front of the little mouse and stroked her head. "What's wrong?"
The Dormouse closed her eyes and shivered, "It's... it's Gajeel... he's... Oh Juicy! He's a red!"
"What?!"
"No he's not!" Both the girls jumped when Natsu's voice roared out at them.
The Hatter brushed the leaves away and squatted in front of them, "He ain't no red! Whatever he did he did cuz—"
"Cuz he's the Jabberwocky?!" Levy yelled, first standing on her hind quarters, then transforming back into a woman so that she might hover over him. "You weren't there! Gajeel, he..." Loosing the will to stand, the Dormouse slumped back down and held onto her legs. Lucy patted her ankle, not understanding anything other than her friend's distress.
"Levy... If anyone ever found out about this—"
"They'd what, Natsu?" Levy yelled out, still clinging to her legs with a face drenched in tears. "They'd feel lost? Betrayed? Frightened? All this time with you two, all this time—the little mouse walking, parading with dragons—and neither of you thought it prudent to enlighten me of the fact that I bonded myself to the Breaker of Crowns? I..." The Dormouse buried her face in her arms and Lucy wrapped herself around her ankle as she sobbed.
"Where is he, Levy..." Natsu asked, though he did not sound a question.
"I don't know!" Levy's voice cracked, "somewhere out there, serving the queen as a fully-fledged iron dragon. Queen Erza came in the night and... and there was so much screaming, and then roaring. Then suddenly there he was, Gajeel, but as the Jabberwocky."
"Damnit." Natsu cursed, digging hands into his hair.
"Natsu, you knew of this?" Lucy asked.
"Course I did," Natsu peered at his love. "That was so long ago though, and Gajeel didn't want to serve under anyone after nearly loosing his head to a dreamer. So I gave him a new persona." He lifted his gaze back to Levy, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's not that guy anymore, as his mate, you of all people gotta know that."
"Then why wouldn't he just tell me? Why did he just let me believe he'd always been the party's March Hare?"
"Because he has been! Ever since you script mages reported Alice's victory over the Jabberwocky, he has been! What, do you think I woulda just let her slay one of the few dragons left in Fairy Tail?"
"Yet you couldn't tell me about him?" Levy bellowed at him, rising to her feet again.
Natsu met her rage with his own, lifting up as well and yelling, "It wasn't my secret to tell!"
Lucy raced over and kicked Natsu's toe, "Don't you yell at her!"
With both sets of eyes now watching her, Lucy continued. "Levy, we'll get Gajeel back, somehow, I promise."
"Aye," Natsu agreed. "Levy, I swear to you, whatever spell Erza's got him under, Gajeel doesn't want it! We'll get him back and I know he'll do, or tell you whatever you need to get you to forgive him. Dragons mate for life, and you got a good one. He ain't no red! Not anymore."
"First though," Natsu bent over, lifting Lucy up again and holding her out for Levy with his palm. "We gotta get to Mira's for some upelkuchen."
Drying her eyes, Levy nodded and held her hands out for Lucy. With the blonde now on her hands, Levy lifted her up to her face. Lucy smiled up to her and patted her cheek, "It's going to be okay, Levy. We'll get him back and put him in the biggest doghouse you've ever seen."
This brought a small chuckle from the Dormouse. "Hey, you went back to London without me, I see that hat there. You're in the doghouse too, little lady!"
"Hey! Easy on the little lady stuff, Natsu already wore all that out!"
Natsu walked ahead of them, trying to give Levy some privacy to man-bash his comrade. If there had ever been a skill to shut off his ears, now would be when he'd activate it. It wasn't easy listening to all the things that displeased her about her mate. Are these the sort of things Lucy might blab about the next time Natsu screws up? Levy spoke so... candidly. As certain subjects came up, the Hatter wanted to turn around just to see if his Juicy was blushing, but—somehow—he restrained from giving into the urge. The Dormouse had been with the March Hare for a long while now, so venting was probably what was best for her at the moment.
Natsu suddenly stopped, realizing his own thought process. He was thinking so clearly... and he wasn't even looking at his Juicy.
"Natsu?" Came Lucy's voice, sitting on Levy's shoulder. "Is everything alright?"
"Uh... yea," he agreed, without looking back at them and continued walking. How odd that he seemed so focused. Perhaps he was more worried about Gajeel than he'd let even himself realize.
Eventually the tile path began to favor white, signifying White Country. And sure as trees whistle, the territory breach brought on the Tweedles. Both the large man and petite woman stepped into Natsu's path as one. The large one stating, "How do you do?" And the woman stating, "And shake their hands!" She immediately took both of Hatter's hands and shook them hard enough to make Natsu chuckle. Lisanna's eyes darted behind him and spotted Levy, then went, "Aww! Lookit the pint-sized dreamer!"
"Haha!" Elfman smirked, "someone's been getting into the pishsalver!"
Lisanna giggled, "A dreamer riding on a mouse! Haha! You two should go on stage! It would be quite an act!"
Levy frowned, as did Lucy, and Natsu scratched his head, "Yeah... uh, Tweedles... we need to see Mira, asap."
Tweedle Dee's brow furrowed and she placed a wrist to Natsu's forehead. "You okay? You're acting weird."
Natsu dodged around her and kept walking, "Let's hurry guys."
Levy passed by them with an awkward wave, but Lucy couldn't help but feel petty pleasure at Lisanna's surprise when Natsu refused her touch; though she didn't realize that was what she'd felt at the time. Natsu and Levy trekked on with Tweedles following until they reached the same dilapidated building they'd seen the last time. No repairs had been made... idly Lucy wondered if they lacked the manpower.
Lisanna and Elfman raced past them to open the door.
"Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
escort these two point three
Maybe just maybe
They'll join our jubilee!
"Jubilee?" All three Mad Tea Party members inquired.
The double doors opened to reveal Queen Mirajane behind the pub's counter. Upon seeing them, she tossed the glass she'd been cleaning into the wall behind her in excitement, "Levy dearest! It is so wonderful that you have come! And right when we needed a script mage most!"
"Don't know what kinda party you're throwin, but we don't have time." Natsu walked up to the counter.
Mira pouted, "Not even for a tiny reading?"
Levy walked up next, and as Mira said, "Oh my," at the miniature Lucy upon her shoulder, Levy spoke as well. "We've got terrible news, your majesty..."
Right when Levy's voice started to crack and tears began to well, the queen was over the counter and gripping the Dormouse in an embrace. It'd been so quick that Natsu had to snatch Lucy from her shoulder. As Levy struggled with her words, Natsu gently placed Lucy onto the counter.
"Levy-dear, I'm afraid I can't understand you." Mirajane tried pointing out.
"Look," Natsu interrupted, "I'll fill you in, but couldja maybe whip us up some of that upelkuchen for Juicy here?" Then he quickly added, "the new kind! The one that enlarges her and the stuff on her! Don't leave my hat too small!"
"Oh..." Mira looked down at the tiny woman, "but she looks so adorable like this. I'm sure it would be easier for Porlyusica to examine you at this size."
"She doesn't need that quack anymore!" Natsu barked.
Mira gave them a knowing glance as she guided Levy to a bar stool. "My goodness, Natsu... still as protective as ever for this one, hmm?"
Lucy blushed when he just came right out with it, "Course I am. We're engaged now."
"WHAT!?" Came every single other voice in the room.
As Mira rejoiced at the news, Lisanna fled and Elfman followed, calling after her. Levy lifted her head to look at Lucy, "Really? Why didn't you tell me?"
Lucy stuttered out, "It-it hardly seemed the time, what with... uh... everything..."
Frowning, Levy's mouth wobbled, "I'm so sorry Juicy..."
Placing her hands on Levy's large arm, Lucy shook her head, "Don't you dare apologize, Natsu and I can wait until we get Gajeel back."
"Yo Mira," Natsu nodded to the queen. "know anything about weddings?"
"Hatter, focus!" Lucy stomped her feet.
"Right! Uh, cake! Mira, can we have some of that cake now?"
Mira frowned, "Hmm, I shall have to whip some up. Come, follow me to the kitchen."
As the queen fussed about the kitchen behind the bar, Levy filled her in on Gajeel's disappearance. Mira stayed quiet through it all, and after she put the cake into the oven, she stood up straight and spoke as she wiped her fingers down with her apron. "So the Red Queen has awakened the Jabberwocky." She sighed, "I had hoped it would not come to this..."
"Queen Mira..." Levy bit her lip, "can Gajeel ever go back to the man I knew?"
"Yes, yes, of course, love!" Mira replied soothingly, "he has become a reformed man! The March Hare has always suited him much better and you sealed it with your love. As the Jabberwocky, Gajeel would have never found love, but as the March Hare... he found you, Levy McGarden. Do not fret. We will knock some sense into him."
"We?" Levy asked.
"You don't think I would have my friends face my sister and her champion alone, do you?" Mira chuckled.
"I dunno about that, Mira." Natsu shook his head, "if we go in there with Whites backing us, we'll never be Inbetweeners again."
"Fifty years is a long time, Natsu... do you really think that the return of a dreamer and the awakening of the Jabberwocky coincidence? Mayhaps it is time for the Bandersnatch to rise as well."
Natsu narrowed his eyes, but did not speak.
Levy and Lucy looked between the two but before their think got too far, Mira clapped her hands. "Well! It will be a bit before the cake finishes, Levy, I shall ask you again." The queen took the Dormouse's hands and asked with much sincerity, "Won't you please, please, read for us?"
"Read what?" Lucy asked as Levy replied, "I'm afraid I don't have anything prepared..."
"We could just grab that wedding thing instead, that'll sure be sumthin' for your jubilee." Natsu pressed.
"A wedding would be marvelous!" Mirajane clapped again, already listing out the things they would need in her head.
"Natsu!" Lucy yelled up at him, "We mustn't hold such a celebration while Levy's... plus one is under Queen Erza's thrall!"
"Aww! But Juicy! You heard her!" The hatter motioned to the White Queen. "She's ready to wedding us right now!"
Folding her arms and glaring, Lucy countered, "I'm beginning to think you want to get married for all the wrong reasons."
"No way!" The Hatter sputtered.
Concerned that the Juicy and Hatter were about to argue again, Levy tossed up a suggestion. "I could tell a story. Any requests?"
"Aww, but—" Natsu started though Lucy cut him off, "Tell us about Mavis!"
"Oh!" Mirajane smiled, "tell us of the one truth!"
"The one... but Queen Mirajane..." Levy paused.
The queen flipped from happy, to regal and commanding so suddenly that everyone gave her their ear. "As the only dreamer in many years, and with war on the horizon, the Juicy should know the truth dwelling among twelve lies. I feel that this is as it must be."
With ears drooped, Levy still hesitated, but consented. "Very well your majesty, the jubilee will be as you say."
And Mirajane switched to flamboyantly cheerful again. "Wonderful! Give me a moment as I retrieve the Tweedles, and we shall begin."
When the queen left, Levy took a deep breath. Lucy looked up at her with concern, "Levy, you don't have to do a thing you don't want to."
The Dormouse shook her head, "It's my job, I am a script mage. If a queen requests, it's my duty to indulge, an honor even."
"She woulda been just as happy to give us that wedding..." Natsu hummed, placing his hands behind his back and bending over to look at the cake in the oven.
Lucy pressed her lips together to keep from frowning. She should be happy he was trying to do as she'd asked, but the whole thing seemed like terrible timing. If she was to be wed, she wanted Levy there—without a shadow looming over her. Why couldn't Natsu see that?
Levy, bless her, came to her aid. "Ease up Natsu. Just as I would never wed in my mouse form, I'm sure Lucy doesn't want to while she's the size of one."
Natsu glared at the stove, "I coulda cooked this thing faster."
Laughing, Levy added, "Crispy on the outside, doughy on the inside! The Juicy would have come out of it with one leg bigger than the other!"
Lucy covered her mouth in terror, "I might become asymmetrical?! Oh man!"
The Dormouse winked at her, "Just don't let the future hubbin bake any upelkuchen and you'll be fine."
The three of them left the kitchen just as Mirajane was leading Tweedle Dee to a table near the back wall. Lucy tilted her head at the sight, for it appeared that the cat girl had been crying. Levy walked up the steps to stand on the pub's modest stage as Natsu stepped to a table in the front with Lucy on his shoulder. Before either could speak, the White Queen Mirajane made an announcement as she walked to the stage. "Considering the intimacy of the story being read, I have opted to make our 50 year jubilee more of a private affair. Please, pay heed to the script mage's words as she tells us all of the One Truth."
Lucy's heart went out to the Dormouse, for it was clear that she was nervous. Though when Natsu gave Levy a carefree grin when she looked at them, the girl smiled, nodded to herself and began a storytelling the likes of which Lucy had never seen.
Closing her eyes, the colors of the white curtain fringed in red behind Levy mixed together in swirls and faded into many colors.
"Thirteen tales, the cat tells...
Only one truth, wrapped among twelve lies.
Just as true as the cat's single tail.
This one tale survives through us scribes.
Twelve Fairy Tales for Mother Titania, Queen Mavis and Mother of FairyTail."
The colors behind Levy blended together to paint a moving picture of the tale she told. With Lucy's world a few decades away from Edison's bet with a horse and accidental flip book it caused, this was witchcraft of the finest caliber. They first took the form of the woman from the fountain with free flowing blonde hair. She danced about a meadow with bare feet, as butterflies and dragonflies flitted about her—except as Lucy kept watching, the creatures were not insects. They were fairies, tiny dragons, and even smaller flying unicorns.
"They say, throughout the twelve,
A Dreamer the mother be.
But the one truth is where we delve
And the truth rather more dodgy.
For the Mother of all was never a Dreamer, but the first Dreamer's best dream."
In the image, Mavis walked into a lake, reaching toward a darker image... a Nobody, standing there alone. As she got closer, the Nobody backed away. Fear tortured Mavis' childlike features, but still the shadow reversed; until it clutched its head and sank into the water as Mavis dove after it.
A true love story neglected,
The first Dreamer gone forever
Mournful Mavis' sad ballad
A lover lost, the world's anchor.
Protect Titania's legacy, hide Mother's truth under the weight of twelve lies.
Levy's song ended with Mavis in a white gown with the very crown Mirajane now wore on her head. She sat on a throne next another where a short, older gentleman dressed all in red sat. His crown red, and looked just like the one Erza wore during the Summer Solstice Ball, the Red King Makarov. Levy bowed to the image, and all was silent while the magic melted away back into the curtain it was before.
Elfman stood, slamming his hands on the table. "You're telling me that the mother isn't a Dreamer at all?! What a load of crap!"
Lisanna called, "Aye," and much to Lucy's surprise, Natsu did the same.
It was the fervor of which the three called her truth poppycock that made Levy become fearful. In her already delicate state, she had been made to lay the truth out for people that had never known anything but that the Mother was the first Dreamer. The Dormouse shrank into her mouse form and scurried under the stage's curtain backdrop.
"Levy wait!" Lucy called. Mirajane scooped her up and ran after the mouse.
Once behind the curtain, the queen placed the tiny blonde down when she heard a ding. "I must check the oven! Levy, that was beautiful, and they will accept the truth, fear not dearie." Then Mirajane ducked back out to bolt to the kitchen.
"Levy?"
"I've... I've never had to tell that story before. We're... we're not supposed to unless royalty demands it." It was hard to hear the little mouse's voice coming from the darkness, as the Hatter and Tweedles were still arguing about how it couldn't possibly be the truth.
Lucy walked toward the voice, into a large shadow. There she found the sweet little dormouse, shivering. "Oh Levy..."
The mouse had tears coming down her eyes as she pressed her forehead to Lucy's chest, crying. "I miss Gaajie, Juicy! Why did this have to happen? I'm so scared!"
Lucy embraced the mouse, and listened as she wailed.
When the White Queen came back out of the kitchen, Natsu and Tweedle Dum were brawling on the floor. "Oh my," she gasped. "Dee? What on earth are they fighting about?"
Lisanna shrugged, and Mirajane frowned. "That's quite enough you two!"
They both stopped and looked to her while pointing at each other, "But he said—"
"No!" The White Queen demanded, "the truth is not an easy thing for any of us to bear, but bear it we must. Whether Mavis was dream, or Dreamer, it matters not for she is still everything she was!" Yes, in the world of Fairy Tail, a statement like this made perfect sense and the two ceased their quarrel. "Hatter," Mirajane continued, sounding more fierce than anything, "the Dormouse is one of your closest friends, and you just scared the daylights out of her! You go make things right with her and send the Juicy to me!"
Planting a hand to secure a phantom hat, Natsu ran towards the stage, "Yes ma'am!"
Throwing himself behind the curtain, he stopped and landed eyes on Lucy and Levy in the corner. "Juice, the queen needs you."
"Oh... okay." She scratched Levy's forehead and took off, passing under the curtain with ease. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were arguing at their table as Lucy climbed down from the stage, one gargantuan stair at a time. To think she once thought this building small! She did, eventually make it around the bar and under the door to the kitchen where Mira stood at a table. "I'm here, Queen Mira."
Mirajane looked down at the door and smiled warmly at her. "Aha! I'm almost done!" Dropping whatever she held onto the table, the queen walked to her and offered her a hand which Lucy clamored onto. Hanging onto Mirajane's thumb, she was brought to the table (which was littered with baking supplies). When Lucy stepped off her hand, the queen returned to spreading icing onto the small cake she'd prepared.
"While I appreciate all the trouble, your highness, you really did not have to ice it for me."
"Stupid girl." Came a different voice Lucy knew all too well. "Everyone knows half the growth recipe lies in the icing. You'd do best to stay silent rather than opening that mouth and proving your ignorance to the world."
"Oh be nice Porlyusica." Mirajane said without looking up from her work.
"Come over here, girl." The Blue Caterpillar ordered, blowing a blue smoke circle at her.
Placing the hatter's hat onto her head and straightening her coat, she walked across the table to stand before the caterpillar. "Mistress Porlyusica, how do you do?"
"I was better, when I had thought I'd sent you away. As a dreamer, you are a poor comparison to your mother. She never grew weak with her summonings." She spoke so matter-of-factly, Lucy found it impossible not to take offense.
"I'll have you know I have gained much strength since we last spoke. I can keep two, maybe three spirits at once!"
"Mmhmm..." Porlyusica took another long drag from her hookah, "yet you were so easily bested and taken captive by the Red Queen, and with one of your strongest spirits no less."
Lucy scoffed, "I was—how was I supposed to know she'd react in such a way? We were her guests!"
"There is a certain amount of knowledge one should know before walking into another's den, yet you ran in blind, deaf, and dumb. Stupid girl."
"Now, now, dearies, that's enough." Mirajane attempted, but the Blue Caterpillar was not finished.
"The girl should know, Mirajane." Then the creature blew more smoke into Lucy's face, causing her to cough. "Your ignorance has condemned you. Are you really so stupid that you do not know that the Red Queen has ordered your demise?"
"What?!"
"Now that really is quite enough, Porlyusica." Mirajane frowned, "stay silent now please. You are here to portion out her serving. The cake is done, now, if you please?"
Under the Blue Caterpillar's direction, the small cake was cut into four pieces, and one was handed to Lucy. With cake in hand, she looked between the smiling Mira and the frowning caterpillar. "I... I just eat this?"
"Mmhmm!" Mirajane nodded as Porlyusica rolled her eyes.
Three bites finished off the little treat and Lucy looked back up at Mirajane. "It was good, but I'm not sure it worrrrrrrr...ked?"
The hat on Lucy's head pressed against the ceiling as her feet knocked a few bowls off the table. Mirajane rejoiced and then offered her a hand. "It worked! Even the bag you wear! Wow, am I good or am I good?"
Lucy giggled and took her hand, stepping down. "It's wonderful, your majesty. It feels great to be myself again."
"Pah..." Porlyusica grimaced.
Natsu and Levy burst in, "What's wrong?" Natsu yelled, "is Juicy okay?"
Timidly, the full-sized Lucy took off the Hatter's hat and held it out to him. "Happy... uh, engagement?"
Natsu's gaze held his Juicy, everything else gone from his sight. Rushing up to her, he brushed the hat aside and let it tumble to the ground. In the same motion, he cupped her cheeks within warm hands and brought her lips to his. It had been far too long since he'd tasted his beloved.
Dream big, and eat cake.
Seriphia
aka
Lick
*~.🍰.~*