Nalu: The Lone Slayer

Hargeon

Lucy's POV
When I woke up, I immediately knew I wasn't in my room, even without opening my eyes. For starters, I didn't recognize the presences I felt around me. I wasn't in a bed, but on a cold floor. Seeing as I had lived in a cave for a large portion of my life, this didn't really bother me. In fact, it may have even been a bit comforting.

The next thing I noticed was the familiar scent of a camp fire. Now, unless someone suddenly decided that they were going to roast some people alive, which gives off a very bad smell by the way, that was even more proof that I wasn't at the estate. I also wasn't being burned like you would have been if you were in a fire.

The last thing I picked up on were the noises around me. They were all too familiar. The crickets, owls, and frogs. I guess that means I'm close to some sort of water source.

Finally, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was laying on the ground with a blanket covering me. Looking through the leaves above me, I could spot the beautiful night sky. I looked passed the fire to see the face of a blue haired spirit. She looked to be asleep.

Slowly, I picked myself up off the ground, fighting off a headache. I rubbed my head as memories came flashing back at me, causing a dull ache to form in my head. I must have let out a whimper or something because, next thing I knew, Aquarius was right next to me, helping me keep my balance on my shaky legs.

"Lucy, what were you thinking? You can't be up right now." She said.

"I feel fine." I attempted to lie.

"Lucy, you have a severe concussion and a fractured rib. I also wouldn't be surprised if you were a little sick after laying on the forest floor in the cold for so long."

"I'm fine." I weakly said, once again.

"No, you're not. Lay down and try to get some more rest. We are leaving for town in the morning. It's a fair distance from the estate so you should be okay if you stay there."

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't let this go. "Alright, I'll get some rest, but promise you'll wake me up in the morning."

She gave me a small smile. "Alright."

The Next Morning
I opened my eyes after hearing Aquarius' voice saying my name. I sat up, making sure that I didn't cause another headache, and looked at her. She had put the fire out, already, from what I could tell. She had also picked up the things she had taken out of my backpack.

"Come on, Lucy. It's time to go."

"Alright." I said, as I watched her shuffle around. "Hey Aquarius?"

"Yes?" She said, not really looking at me, only giving me a glance to tell me she was listening.

"How long was I out?"

She tilted her head back and forth, humming as she thought. "I'd say you were out for a couple of days." I nodded, not really phased by it. I mean, what did you expect. It happens sometimes, and knowing that, I still let myself fall asleep.
After finishing whatever it was she was doing, she looked over at me and said, "Come on. We have a long walk ahead of us."

***

When she said long walk, I didn't think she meant four hours of walking without a break. This probably wouldn't have been to bad for me, had I not had a fractured rib. By the time we reached the town, sweat had covered my body, not only from the journey, but from the pain I was feeling in my side.

I had just reached the tree line, and I felt like I was going to collapse. I sent Aquarius back through her gate I while ago. She is a strong spirit, but she usually isn't able to handle more than a few hours in the human realm at a time. By the time I had woken up, she had forced herself to stay in the human realm for a day. She was in a lot of pain, so after about twenty minutes of walking, I forced her to go back to the Celestial Spirit World.

Before she left, she gave me a little bit of information on the place I was going to. Apparently, she had heard about it from other spirits. Their key holders had traveled there before. The town's name is Hargeon.

After giving myself a little break, I pushed myself to move through the pain in my ribs and move towards the town. Once entering, quite a few people gave me worried and concerned looks after noticing the state I was in. I didn't really blame them. I would look at myself like that, too, had I not seen people be tortured and killed before. I had seen much worse than how I looked right now.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by my stomach grumbling. Honestly, now that I think about it, the last time i had eaten was the day before I left the estate. I hadn't eaten for five days.

I looked around the town square I had somehow wondered into and found what looked like a restaurant. I stumbled over to it and saw the open sign. I opened the door, barely noticing that my vision had gone slightly hazy and that I was falling forward.

I had almost touched the ground when I felt two arms push me back up. I looked up to thank the person who caught me but didn't see anyone there. I was confused until I heard someone clear their throat below me. I looked down and saw a short, old man.

"Are you okay, miss?"