Fairy Tail: Falling Towards the Chaos

Chapter 9

The following morning hadn't been as pleasant as her evening.

Waking up the cries and shouts of people outside her window, she barely managed to escape Natsu's grip to peer out at the street below her. Erza and Gray came to her door shortly after, urging them outside, and so they went; walking hastily towards Magnolia's central park. Lucy carried Happy in one arm, the cat still waking up, while Natsu pulled her along by her wrist, so she would hurry.

"We're from their guild, please let us through," Erza commanded, clearing the way of whispering and gawking citizens.

Lucy didn't think she'd ever forget the imagery of Levy and her teammates, Jet and Droy, strung up the large tree. Their clothes were tattered and bloody as they hung limply, unconscious, being held up by metal handcuffs nailed into the tree. Levy's shirt was ripped and the emblem of the Phantom Lord guild was brandished there on her with a collection of injuries she'd sustained. The group seethed with rage while Lucy stared in shock at the sight of her new friend. She'd just spoken with her last night, how did this happen?

"L-Levy!" She cried out, hand flying to cover her mouth. Gray voiced the same concerns for Jet and Droy but it was futile.

Natsu tugged her into his chest, hiding her face so she wouldn't have to look anymore. She cradled Happy closer to her, the two sobbing together. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pressing her to him while the other clenched into a fist. He stared pointedly at the mark on Levy's stomach. They all knew what this meant.

This meant war.
-----

"Let me go with you! I want to fight!" Lucy begged the team who looked at her with sorrow.

It was decided that they'd go and attack Phantom at noon and the guild had began preparations immediately. The time approached but Lucy found herself being left behind by none other than Natsu.

"I said no," Natsu said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. The little disagreement had spanned a little over ten minutes and time was wasting.

"We'll be outside with the others," Erza informed them, shoving Gray and Happy out with her, the two protesting as the door slammed shut. Lucy let out a garbled noise of frustration, glaring at Natsu. He matched her glare with his intense stare, walking up to her and staring down at her face.

"You don't get to make any decisions for me, I know we had a moment together last night but you don't need to treat me like I'm helpless," Lucy snapped.

"Phantom is powerful, its better if you stay here and look after Levy and the others," Natsu stated after a minute, staring at the wall behind her.

"Even Happy gets to go! Why can't I? What makes you think I won't be able to handle myself?" Lucy retorted, getting into Natsu's face. She could tell she was pushing his buttons a little bit with the why he clenched his jaw. "I'm a wizard just like everyone else and I'm perfectly capable of — "

"You're not. You are not capable of handling yourself, much less fighting." Natsu retorted. "What if you have a seizure or you can't get a spirit to pass through the gate? What are you going to do then?" He pressed, staring pointedly at her. She turned her head away from him, hot tears running down her face. It hurt so much because he was right. What use did she have anyways? All she did was cry.

All she could do was cry.

So, she turned on her heel and made her way to Levy's bedside where her chair sat. She sank into it, taking deep breaths. Natsu stood there idly, watching her before he made his way to the door and instead of counting to ten like she usually did. She counted every footstep Natsu took as he walked away from her.

That was a few hours ago though and Lucy took it upon herself to do some retail therapy to cheer herself before she went back to the infirmary for the afternoon. She hummed, walking back to the direction of her apartment before a drop of rain fell on her nose.

"Seriously? Rain?" She groaned and abruptly, the light drizzle she felt turned into a downpour.

"Juvia brings rain,"

In front of her stood a monochromatic blue woman, clutching a pink hearts umbrella. They locked eyes for a moment before the rainwoman moved to walk past her.

"Non, non, non! Juvia, you can't just walk away from your mission,"

A man formed from the ground, melting into the Earth, conversing with the rain-woman in an unknown language which sounded strikingly similar to French.

"My, we've come from the great Phantom Lord to welcome you!" The man with the monocle exclaimed cheerfully and instantly, goosebumps rose all over her skin.

"P-Phantom? You're the guys who attacked Levy!" Lucy stated, grasping her keys protectively, ready to summon Taurus but she couldn't. She wasn't fast enough. A ball of water encased her in a second. Water. She couldn't breathe. She struggled, trying to move, break out but it was useless. She pounded on the sphere relentless as she screeched, losing air quickly. She didn't want to die like this!

Outside, she saw the lips of the two Phantom members moving briefly but she couldn't hear a thing. Her ears rang and she was panicking. What about Levy? Jet? Droy? Did they come to finish the job? She couldn't let them!

But what could she do?

Her eyes were beginning to slip shut even as she fought to keep them open. She saw a flash of pink before she slipped under and into the darkness.

-----

When Lucy woke up, her hands were bound by rope and found herself in a dingy cell. Phantom had taken her.

She wasted no time in beginning to fiddle with the rope but it was knotted securely, she groaned but kept trying. They'd taken away her keys and groceries, leaving her with only the clothes on her back.

"Lucy Heartfilia? Are you awake, my dear?"

She hadn't heard her full name in a long time and her head snapped to the direction of the voice. Finding a man with a tall hat peering into her cell through the metal bars. He chuckled, opening the door and stepping inside. Lucy backed away from him, looking at him distrustingly.

"I'm Phantom Lord's guild master, Jose," he said, introducing himself and when he realized he wasn't going to get a response, he carried on, "I apologize for tying you up and putting you in this filthy cell but you're a captive so please try to understand." Still, Lucy refused to acknowledge him much less speak, staring at the ground instead.

The man sighed, unhappy with the silence.

"Depending on your attitude, we might even treat you as VIP guest — "

"What do you want with me?" Lucy asked, finally speaking up.

"Ah, we were just tasked to get a hold of a certain individual who turned out to be part of Fairy Tail," Jose smirked and Lucy felt all the colour drain from her face. It couldn't be — he would never.

"Who else could it be? Ms. Lucy Heartfilia, daughter and debutante of the Heartfilia family."

Hearing that sentence felt like a slap to the face.

"You kidnapped me for ransom? That's it? I hate to tell you but my father won't spare you a penny," Lucy chuckled humourlessly. She didn't like the look on his face as he grinned widely.

"On the contrary, Ms. Heartfilia, I think its quite the opposite," the guild master drawled, "after all, he was the one who gave us this task."

To be continued...