Building Castles in the sky

Ripped from Natsu's grasp, Lucy wakes up in a prison cell where she soon finds out that she is captive to an ever-growing castle floating in the sky fuelled by the power of stellar mages. Ruled by Seto, a self-acclaimed god, with the desire to create a perfect race, Lucy needs to find a way to stop Seto without help from Natsu or her guild mates, since they cannot walk on castle grounds without stellar mage power.

Rated T – M

Enjoy~!

Chapter 1: In the End – Linkin Park

Fall

In the dark, the subtle sound of brick and metal which moved against one another was paired with the icy condensation of the stone floor. Just short of iron bars that would have held an inmate, the room took on the familiarity of a tower prison cell adorned with a collapsed ceiling. Through the darkness, brown eyes opened themselves while flu like symptoms pulsed through the body. Exhausted and weak, Lucy pulled herself off the ground as she gazed around the hollow void that held her. Once her balance was found, Lucy lowered her hand toward a belt with the expectation to find a holster but fabric was felt where leather should have been. A feverish panic filled the mage's body while she frantically searched the dark room for answers. Where ever she was, it was clear that her magic was the target and she needed to keep whatever she had left in reserve.

As Lucy tried to piece together the memories that led up to this moment, only one came to mind. A dream that repeated it's self for three weeks about a castle built in the sky. Lucy could always tell the difference between a dream and reality but for a mage, dreams were very important and sometimes were the subtle hints of the future to come. In the dream, sinister white beams shot through the dark grey abyss like spotlights on stage while flashes of lightning shot through the air. An illuminated silhouette of an incomplete castle with the similarities to a ruin of an ancient civilization appeared as a small voice echoed, "I had to fall, to lose it all."

Suddenly the dream started to go erratic as the spot lights lit up faces of women with keys in their possession, Celestial spirit keys. 'In the end, it doesn't even matter.' One by one they flickered through until one particular mage caught her eye, the face of a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, "Momma". Quick as they came, the women were replaced with an image of someone unknown who walked through the rain. Dressed in white monk robes and a large orange umbrella in hand, the strings of beds chimed eerily as lightning once again lit up the sky and changed the image into a large circular white room where tall red throne sat in its center, red fabric draped over iron beams. A handsome man sat in the throne as his is pale, almost sickly, complexion made his unique shade of green eyes glow against the dark shadows of the dream. The name 'Seto' echoed through the air.

Warm brown eyes snapped open to the sound as Lucy sat up from her bed, cold sweat gathered along her brow. A glance towards her clock had a disappointed result as Lucy groaned to herself, there wouldn't be any more time for sleep and with a look out the window the day looked just as bleak. The mage was greeted by heavy rain in a dark sky and upon closer inspection, large tower like masses could be seen within the grey billows of mist. While she squinted towards the weather outside her window, lightning flashed which revealed a castle within the dark clouds. Lucy's eyes rounded with worry as she let out a loud scream as she accidently fell out of her bed onto something a bit more soft then hardwood flooring. A groan that didn't come from her lips reverberated through the small apartment as Lucy searched for the source of the sound, it wasn't very long before a shirtless rose-haired man and a blue ball of fur appeared underneath the blonde mage.

"Lucy, what's the matter?" Natsu questioned through an irritated yawn.

"Do you need to go to the washroom?" Happy asked.

Cheeks started to burn as Lucy realized her predicament. While she straddled her partner, she forgot about the small amount of clothing she wore to bed the previous night, a set of boy-short panties and a very opaque top that left little to the imagination. Lucy panicked as she tried to come up with a plan when her train of thought was interrupted. Her body quivered as Natsu's finger tips brushed against her thigh, the hem of her top caught within his grasp. While the soft fabric was pulled along to Natsu's eyes, he lazily rubbed the onyx-green orbs when the sudden large clump of soft fabric caught his attention. As he started to follow the trail of cloth only to witness straps tangled within blonde hair, the Dragon Slayer looked on in confusion as he mentioned, "It's tangled," while he continued to pull on the fabric.

As Lucy's top was swiftly pulled over her head, she let out a loud shriek while she pulled the blanket on top of Natsu's half naked body to cover her own, almost naked, body. "Natsu, what the hell are you doing? Get out of my room!" Lucy roared while she forced her pink haired friend from the ground towards the door, her top still in his grasp.

"Lucy, that wasn't very nice," Happy yawned.

"You too, Happy," Lucy bellowed as she booted the cat out the door.

Still groggy from the sudden wake-up call, Natsu stretched his arms to crack his shoulders and knuckles into place. After, he took a moment to let the morning event sink in and deemed it too early for 'games' with Lucy. As his body dropped to the ground with a loud thud, Natsu placed his back against the door and let out a loud yawn as he once again rubbed his eyes whilst Happy curled up beside him on the floor. As Lucy leaned her back against the oposit side of the door, she slid down and also sat on the ground while she buried her head into her hands. Due to Natsu's good hearing, Lucy tried to muffle breathless sobs when a soft knock came from the opposite side of the divide. "Lucy, was it the nightmare again?"

"I-I dreamt about my mom," Lucy let out quietly not surprised that he could hear her.

A moment went by and another loud display of thunder and lightning shot across her windows. Lucy winced at the display and the memory it brought back. A glimpse towards the blanket revealed Natsu's scarf partially hidden amongst the folds and with a smile, Lucy tightened the blanked around herself, "Natsu?" Lucy whispered while she played with the tassels.

"Hmm,"

"Why are castles built in the sky?"

A moment passed and Natsu tried to make sense of her enquiry when he realized two things: one, it was too early for this kind of conversation and two, every time she had a nightmare she'd ask a silly question. Anymore nightmares and silly questions would make him lose sleep, not that it hasn't already. With a sigh he looked at his exceed friend and decided to answer. "The same reason why a fish builds its nest in a tree," Natsu replied with a yawn.

With a smile Lucy pulled herself onto her knees and reached for the handle and opened it just enough to peak her head out. As she realized that her partner leaned against the door, Lucy witnessed the scar on the Natsu's neck. Even though it was faded it was still a sign that the Dragon Slayer, powerful and reckless, was still human.

"A fish can build a nest in a tree?" she asked as she gently placed the scarf over his thigh.

With a glimpse towards the scarf then back to his partner, Natsu replied, "If castles can be built in the sky, why can't a fish build a nest in a tree?"

"Wouldn't it be great if they did? It make catching them a lot easier," Happy drooled.

Later that morning the weather had yet to lighten up. As the group of friends entered the guild, Lucy shook off her umbrella and placed it close to the doorway as Natsu wringed out his clothes. "Natsu, I had another umbrella. You should have used it, or at least joined Happy and me under mine."

"I was too busy trying to keep that umbrella from turning inside out, woulda' been much easier without the damn thing."

"Then I'd be all soaked like you are," Lucy commented, gestured to his soaked clothing.

"One less shower for me," Natsu waved off as he walked past his partner.

"That's so gross," Lucy shivered at the Fire Eater's reply.

"My, my, you two are loud this morning," Mira giggled as she past Lucy, drinks in hand.

"Good morning Mira-chan," Lucy replied back.

After polite conversation, Lucy made her way towards a table where her blunette looked over a newspaper article. As Lucy sat down, it didn't take long for her to see Levy was worried about what she had just read. "Levy, are you ok?"

"Lu-Chan, Have you seen today's paper?" Levy asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

"No haven't, something good?" Lucy replied, light hearted.

"Well, I'm not sure about good but it is about Celestial Spirit mages," Levy commented while she handed Lucy the paper.

The article Lucy read explained that in the world of Earthland, every known mage is documented within the magic council's record department. While the books had the names of each mage along with their style and guild, it however does not record personal details. In the event of a mages death, their name is crossed out from the books but is still kept on record. The reason behind the records is simply to keep an eye on population. In accordance to the council, it was shown that a large amount of mages possessed the Celestial Spirit style of magic, 90% of them were female due to a genetic bond, but in the past ten years the population of Celestial Spirit mages had decreased. The record keepers had come across several incidents where names had erased, as if the mage was never recorded, while over thirty Celestial Spirit mages have died in the past fourteen months which had left style borderline nonexistent.

Lucy's lustrous skin turned pale as she placed the black and white paper on the table. Then she wondered if the castle was connected to the missing mages. A fake smile was worn to ease her friend concerns as Lucy started, "Wow, there are quite a lot of Celestial mages out there, most are female."

Levy did not buy her friends charade as she looked at the blonde with worried eyes. "You don't look too good, Lu-chan. Are you sleeping ok?"

"It really is a shock to see that so many Celestial Mages disappearing," Lucy replied as she avoided the topic of sleep. "Funny how we only know two or three-"

"With everything that's going on it might be a good idea to stay away from the job board for a while," Levy cut off her friend, "just until this gets cleared up. Kay?"

"But I'm always with Happy and Natsu. Nothing will happen if I'm in a group," Lucy replied with a warm smile. "Anyways, I need the money." A glance out the window threw the rain left Lucy to search for the castle in a daze. She needed to see the castle again as proof that her suspicion had some sort of lead but in the midst of her daydream, Lucy was distracted as Lisanna stated, "Not the happiest of days isn't it?" while she sat beside the blonde.

"Oh Lisanna, morning," Lucy replied back.

Lisanna smiled sweetly in return. "Good morning to you. What are we talking about?"

"Lu-chan's lack of sleep," Levy answered.

"Hmm, did you have a bad dream?" Lisanna asked curiously.

With a blush that bloomed over her face, Lucy replied "Y-yeah, I think it was about my mom and-" Lucy stopped to look out the window in search of the fortress but after a moment she decided to skip that part of the dream. "It was a rough morning in general. "

"Natsu and Happy have been spending the night at your place a lot more haven't they?" Lisanna asked.

"Sometimes it feels like I only figure it out after I wake up," Lucy sighed as Lisanna giggled in response. "What's so funny?"

"just we know where to go if we need to find Natsu in a hurry." Lisanna smiled as she looked towards the Dragon Slayer's direction. "You're like his scarf. He can't be away from it for too long.

"What?" Lucy squeaked out, "common, we went through this-"

"He likes you and you like him," Levy simplified with a smile. "No revenge about it."

"Well it does make sense doesn't it? Typically he finds job's you'd like or if it's something random, you're the first person he looks for to join him," Lisanna commented. "You just agreed that he spends most nights with you."

"Don't forget that they both arrive and usually leave the guild together," Levy also added.

"No, that's not it at all. I'll prove that there isn't anything," Lucy huffed as she grabbed the newspaper off the table and headed towards Natsu and Happy.

"What do you think, Levy-chan, denial?" Lisanna asked in a hushed tone.

"Of course, ever since day one they've been together," Levy answered.

"But it does bring on a bit of concern."

"Concern, how?" Levy asked.

"Well, Natsu already lost someone very precious to him, Igneel. From what I'm told when he met Lucy, things slowly became better for him," Lisanna explained

"That's good isn't it? We all know that he has a special place for Igneel, but if he's coming to terms… No, you think he's changing his dependency to Lucy, don't you?" Levy asked only to receive a short nod with worrisome eyes. "You're giving this too much thought."

In the middle of their conversation, Levy's attention was brought to a loud argument from the general area where Lucy headed off to. As she took her leave with a promise of return, Lisanna looked on with worrisome eyes as a loud smack shot through the air.

"Ugh, you're such an idiot!" Lucy shouted out after her attack on Natsu's cheek. "And to think, I put my trust in you." The newspaper was thrown onto the table as the Celestial mage stormed out of the guild as she braved the rain.

Levy made her way over to the group to investigate the sudden outburst, a conversation between Wendy and Happy caught her attention, "A quest?" Wendy asked.

"Aye, Lucy said that she knows where some mages are being held captive," Happy stopped to look over at the enraged Dragon Slayer who barked angrily at Grey and Gajeel.

"But Natsu called it a stupid idea and what half-rated mage would allow themselves to be captured so easily," Happy whispered sheepishly. "I think he hurt Lucy's feelings."

Just as Levy was about to jump into the conversation, her attention once again was drawn to Erza as she made an appearance. "You are an absolute idiot, Even I could hear what you did from across the guild," The red-head shouted out as she stormed the argument.

When the Ex-quip mage removed the newspaper from the table, without hesitation she beat Natsu over the head as swells of smoked flesh resulted in the assault, "If you would have read today's paper or at least gave Lucy the chance to explain, you would have found out that many Celestial mages are reported dead or missing,"

Natsu's eyes widened at the news as he rubbed the welts that swelled on his head. "Go apologize to her, dumb ass!" Erza ordered as she pointed for the door.

"Aye sir," Natsu commented as he ripped the paper from Erza's armored hand and snatched a job he eyed up previously off the jobs board.

"Natsu, are you off to find Lu-chan?" Levy called out to the Dragon Slayer as she met him at the guild entrance. "How you were with her a moment ago, it was odd. But I'm sure the last thing she wanted was-"

"-to have her friend, let alone her partner, shoot the idea down without hearing the whole thing through," Gajeel jumped into the conversation as he cut the bluenette off.

Natsu's face became washed over with shame as the previous events cleared in his mind. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Damn straight the squirt's right! She's probably one of the smartest out of us all. I'm actually insulted that you would even doubt her." Gajeel stated with a strong yet proud voice as he placed an arm around Levy's shoulder.

"Gajeel, Natsu never disagreed with me," Levy stated with a blush.

"If you're gunna' make a move on Levy, you could have at least been here for conversation," Natsu commented back with a smirk.

"Look who's talking, At least I can make a move without insulting anybody." Gajeel growled out as he unknowingly started to tighten his grip on Levy's shoulder.

"Ah, Gajeel," Levy said while she winced in the sudden tightness on her shoulder.

"Who says I was making a move?" Natsu argued back as a fire was lit in his eyes.

"Why I otta' rip that smug look right off your ugly face."

"Boys!" Levy shouted out.

Both Dragon Slayers stopped their argument when Gajeel froze at the sight of his arm around Levy's shoulder. When Gajeel pulled away with a stiff look on his face, Natsu let out a loud laugh.

"Try to hear things out next time, okay?" Levy returned the smile and nodded her head towards the door.

With another smile, Natsu nodded back in approval and took off after Lucy as he dreaded what he might have to do in order to apologize.