Book One in the Unexpected Keys Trilogy

Chapter 12: Friend or Foe?

F: Friend or Foe?

Unknown's P.O.V.

It was almost time. We were literally right in front of the Guild. Just a few more centimetres and-I could feel myself getting drowsy. I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. We had barely walked a mile before she collapsed.

I sighed. We were in no condition to do what's needed to be done. I begrudgingly walked back to the hotel that we were staying at for the night. Well, nights if it goes according to plan. I laid the annoying pest in a separate bed before I slumped lifelessly onto my own, clothes and all.

This'd better be worth all of the trouble it's put me through.

Lucy's P.O.V.

I woke up to a delicious smell coming from my kitchen. I groggily got up and walked to the smell, stretching my sore muscles and popping a few bones. I looked and I saw the girls setting up the kitchen table.

With platters of sausages, pancakes, eggs, and toast that had my mouth watering. "What' small of this for?" I asked them with my eyebrows raised. They all just smiled at me in return. It was Mira who answered me.

"Well, we all thought that since you have to go to the mountain in only a few days, we'd figure that you deserve to be pampered while you still can. So, today we are going to treat you like the Queen you shall be treated like whether you like it or not." She finished

When I realized that it was the girls against me, I sighed in defeat. Besides, being pampered for a day couldn't be that bad...could it? But the girls took my sigh of defeat as a sign that they could do as they pleased.

They all but ushered me to the table and plopped me down in my chair. They put helpings of the food onto my plate, and then did the same for themselves.

That made my feel better, at least they brought some sense of familiarity with them. It made me feel better that they weren't treating me as though I was a powerful dragon slayer.

In fact, they treated me like I was still the celestial spirit Mage that needed her keys to fight, but wasn't even close to being a weakling.

It made me feel normal again. Ever since I had been using my dragon slayer magic, I felt like I was creating a huge hole in my chest that kept getting bigger and bigger until it consumed me entirely, and then, I would be Lucy from Fairy Tail anymore.

I' d be Lucy, the dark dragon slayer. And I would be the Mage to take down on a request. I missed the times before this. When I was Lucy the celestial Spirit Mage, and I had friends, ones that I looked up to, ones that looked up to me, ones that I was scared of.

Now I only have one of those.

I missed being a Celestial Mage, and just that. Nothing else. I missed my friends: Aquarius, Tauros, Plue, all of them. I missed it so bad. I guess that all good things that cone to those who wait don't come, after all.

However, I was brought out of my thoughts by fingers snapping in front of my eyes. Levy was looking at me with a playful irritated expression, one of her eyebrows raised.

Damn, how does she do that?

"Lu-Chan-sama, are you quite done looking off into space? You haven't touched your food."

Lu-Chan-Sama...has a nice ring to it. I smiled sweetly at her with sugary goodness detected in my voice. "Oh, I'm quite alright," I paused be fore adding "servant." The look on her face was absolutely worth it.

I couldn't help it, I burst into hysterical giggles. She joined in with me, so I assume she's alright with that. "Well? What are you waiting for? Consent? Dig in!"