Fairytale

Chapter One: Demon Crosses

I'm doing the right thing, I repeated in my head for about the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. I was on my way to Estonia to save my father from a Dark Guild, apparently and I couldn't bring any of my guild members with me. I had called Infra and the others, though. Hopefully, they would really help me and Natsu wouldn't pick up my trail.

I looked out the window and daydreamed for a while. I hadn't said anything to Gray yet since he was gone somewhere, probably on a mission. I hoped I would get back soon so I could talk to him then.

"Miss?" said the stewardess suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, "There's a phone call for you."

Nani? I thought, having not anticipated this. How could they know what train I was on and so soon? I got up though and went inside the small booth with the phone, "Hello…?" I said hesitantly.

"Lucy Heartfilia?" said a deep voice, not at all like anyone in Fairy Tail.

"Who is this?" I asked, glad my voice wasn't shaking as much as I thought.

"That isn't important. The point is that I'm a member of the Dark Guild, Demon Crosses, Aston."

This man wasn't very bright but I decided I obviously shouldn't point that out, "And why are you calling me?" My voice was dropping lower until I could barely hear my last words. I was lucky no one was sitting near since they'd think the girl in the booth is having a meltdown and probably call the doctors.

"It's good that you decided to come and save your father," Aston said darkly, "Like a sweet little girl."

I waited for him to answer my original question.

"And why are we calling you? It's pretty simple, to make sure that you are coming because if you weren't, well, we're just going to have to hunt you down."

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. So it was a good thing I decided to come in the first place.

"Why are you targeting at my father anyway?" I said, "What's the point of all this trouble?"

"Well, obviously, I can't tell you now," said Aston, "Not when you can still tell our plan to your guild. When you are safely in our hideout in Estonia with no way to communicate with your little friends, then I'll tell you."

Lucky this guy wasn't the brightest man around. I took down mental notes in my head: Demon Crosses had a hideout in Estonia and whatever they were doing had something to do with Fairy Tail.

"So, basically, the whole point of this call is to make sure I'm coming. Well, I am so can I hang up now?"

"Sure," said Aston, sounding as if he were smiling, "We'll be there in a minute, anyway."

"Nani?" I said, just as he hung up. I put the phone back and stepped out, just as the roof of the train broke and three people suddenly jumped in. One of them must be Aston of course but I had no idea who the other two people were.

"Lucy Heartfilia!" bellowed one person. He looked around and saw me standing there, staring, "Here!"

A smart stewardess called the security and tall men in uniforms rushed into the carriage, yelling at the three people.

The third person pulled back the hoodie of her cloak, revealing a rather pretty face in a tomboyish sense. She had short, black, spiky hair and sharp, deep purple eyes. She seemed to have a slim figure, only I couldn't really tell because of the cloak. I could see flat leather boots peeking out from underneath the black material though.

"Foolish people," said the girl, probably around the same age as me, only her voice had a deep note. She blinked and looked at the security with a knowing smile on her face. I knew that smile from somewhere…

Suddenly, the guards froze and turned to stone. I nearly gasped aloud as I recognised the magic used. Evergreen's magic? And her smile too? What is this?

One of the men stepped forward to me as the other passengers in the carriage began fleeing to another. He had short, spiky purple hair with a few streaks of black that covered one eye and a little mole under the other. His cloak was covering him but he seemed lean and fit. He was also wearing black sandals underneath his cloak, "You're Lucy Heartfilia, I assume?"

"Yeah," I said, thinking this person reminded me strikingly of Freed. I also suspected he might use Rune magic. I managed to sound braver than I felt. If the third person, who I suppose was Bickslow, had the same abilities as him, I wouldn't stand a chance. I was suddenly grateful I had called Infra and the others.

"Good, that saves us the trouble of searching for you through the train. I'm Aston," he said, though not offering to shake my hand obviously. Just staring me down since he was several centimetres taller than me, "This is Retina," he gestured at Evergreen doppelganger, "and this is Araluen," he gestured at Bickslow doppelganger. His tongue was even sticking out in that way I always thought was strange.

"Anyway," said Araluen in a deep voice, completely unlike Bickslow, "We would like for you to come with us. We need to make sure you get to Estonia as per agreement."

I wouldn't call in an agreement, more like blackmail, I thought bitterly. The deep voice seemed so out of place with his tongue lolling out.

But, since I didn't see any way to get out of this situation if you compared my power and magic level with theirs, I nodded, "OK. What's your transportation?"

"A carriage," said Aston, "Although it shouldn't exactly matter since you're coming with us no matter what."

"Fine," I said, walking over and getting my bag, their eyes on me the whole time to make sure I didn't make a run for it, "But, only if you free the security guards first."

Retina looked pissed off at me telling them what to do but she did it and the guards were back to normal and barking at me to stay back.

"It's fine," I spoke up, surprising the security, "They're… friends," I said through clenched teeth, "I'm just going to go and we'll leave you be."

The security bought my lie shockingly and stayed back as I walked towards the trio. They led me away without a word and jumped off the back without waiting for the train to stop.

"Why can't we wait for the train to stop like normal people?" I complained.

"That's not really your choice," said Retina behind me, "Now get off or I'll push you off. The longer you stay here, the longer you have to walk to the carriage."

I scowled but jumped off, landing on the dusty ground and jarring one of my ankles.

"Ow, ow, ow," I said, putting a hand to my ankle. It wasn't broken but there was an awful pain as I touched it and moved it around. Probably a sprain, I concluded. I looked back and saw Retina in mid-air. She was as graceful as a gymnast performing a leap. She somersaulted once and landed without wobbling a bit on the ground, exactly next to me. I gaped at her. Retina scoffed at me and walked ahead without helping me.

We're going to be best friends, aren't we? I thought sarcastically, as I pushed myself up and forced myself to follow after her, hauling my bag along. When I reached the carriage, everyone else was preparing to leave.

"Follow me to where you'll be," said Retina with a bored tone and looking at me as if I were a piece of trash. I followed her up to the back of the carriage to a small, cramped room with no door or window except the door leading into the room. So basically, I wouldn't get any light except the small square of it coming in from the door that led into the room.

"We'll give you some food and water sometimes," said Retina, stressing the last word, "Don't bother trying to escape though. You'll never beat us."

"I'm not going to run until I find my father," I said firmly which made her surprised, just a little, "Got that?"

She recovered her cold face, "Your loss. Whenever you save something, you lose something else. In this case, it's your life." With that, she turned around and left, shutting the door behind her, leaving me in the dark. I listened to the commotion outside as the people began preparing the horses until finally; the carriage began moving and rumbling about. I hugged my knees to my chest and listened to the sounds before finally drifting off to sleep.

Natsu went into the guild, shouting randomly at everyone, Happy following suit. They went to the table where Erza and Gray were, back from their missions and talking to each other.

"HEY!" shouted Natsu at the top of his lungs even though Gray and Erza weren't a metre away, "I'm back from the mission! Got a load of cash too! Ha, ha, ha! And aren't you still supposed to be away?" he asked Gray.

"So have we," said Erza, flapping a stack of notes. Gray pulled out his own roll of payment.

"I finished the mission early," shrugged Gray, "There was no reason to stay so I came back."

Natsu grinned and sat down, "Hey, where's Lucy?"

"Probably on a mission," said Erza, eating a bite of shortcake, "She might have gotten one since the mission boards are finally full again."

"Are you talking about Lucy?" said Mira, walking past with a tray loaded with different food and drinks, "She hasn't taken a mission that I'm aware of. She's been gone for a while now. I'm starting to worry about her."

"Maybe the Master knows," said Gray.

The four of them went to the office and knocked.

"Come on in!" called Makarov's cheery voice.

They went in and saw Makarov burning some papers from the Council, "Damn orders. Oh, kids, what can I do for you?"

"Has Lucy taken any missions lately…?" said Erza.

"Not like you to ask about other people's missions," said Makarov, raising an eyebrow, "That concerned, huh?"

"She's not around or anything…" said Erza, "It's natural to wonder, is it not?"

"Perhaps," conceded the Master, "But you should have some faith in Lucy. She won't go into any reckless behaviour and she's a strong, stubborn girl. She can take care of herself."

"Gramps!" protested Natsu, but Mira raised a hand to stop him, "Mira?"

"Stop it, Natsu," said Mira gently, but firmly, "The Master is right. We can't pry into other's business. Although she might not be here now, maybe she has her own reasons."

"All right," said Gray, "But if Lucy's still missing by a couple days, we're going to come back."

"Suit yourself," said Makarov, shrugging, "She'll be back."

When they left, Makarov went back to burning orders and papers from the Council but his mind wandered. Where was Lucy? He had to sound brave for the sake of his children but really, now he was worrying as well. It wasn't like her to suddenly go somewhere without informing someone first. She hadn't come to take any missions or anything for her to be absent. He rubbed his head, suddenly having a headache. Within a couple of days, he decided, then we'll see what happens.