So, let go, let go
Jump in
Oh well, what you waiting for?
It's all right
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown

- Let Go, Frou Frou

Chapter One: 30 Million Jewels

The light was too bright for her eyes, uncomfortable and hot in her vision. She hated it, but she hated the dark too; she'd rather stay in the grey where it couldn't get her. She wandered aimlessly around, but she couldn't see anything at all. She wasn't even sure if it was bright or dark at the moment.

Lucy frowned and looked back, seeing the blinding light again. Turning back to the other side, it was pitch black. She bit her bottom lip, chewing on it as she tried to choose a choice. The blinding light was fading out fast, but she had no idea if the black tunnel would ever disappear. Her fingers trembled, and she gripped the hem of her pink dress. She noticed her tiny fingers, and observed them as if they weren't her own.

When did they get so tiny?

She sniffled and glanced back towards the white light, which was nothing more than a speck now. The blackness was starting to overlap with the grey, eating it in lashes, and then the light was gone. She could feel it; the darkness, crawling towards her on all fours, pricking her skin and wrapping its long, slender fingers around her ankle. Her scream was hitched in her throat like a pebble, unwilling to come out.

It twisted her down, and someone was holding her wrist, the fingers small and chubby like her own. The callous on the hands felt familiar, rough but comforting. But she was slipping fast. Her heart raced against her chest, his other hand gripped her arm, trying to heave her up. Something warm and sticky dripped down the arm, and she could see it; the blood. It slipped under the cracks and openings between the person's fingers, causing the grip to slip.

"You gotta let go." She felt the words form in her mouth, but it didn't taste bitter as she thought it would.

She felt relieved for some reason. She definitely didn't feel happy; rather, she felt more content. Then, water slipped onto her hand in droplets, making her own heart drop at the sight of it.

The person was crying, and it made her just more curious as to who this person was- but her vision was so disoriented she would've mixed up a block of cement for a house. She reached with her other hand instinctively; she wanted to touch their hand for reassurance.

Then she was falling, falling, and falling, with their blood on her wrist.

Lucy laid there for a few minutes, hours maybe. She didn't know, but she only knew she was awake from the tight feeling in her throat and how constricted her whole body felt.

Stiff as a wooden board.

She'd had to get up some day, she knew that. Her eyes were crusted shut, but she didn't know why. She glanced down at her floral patterned pillow, seeing it damp she realized she had cried when she woke up, or maybe it was when she was sleeping? She didn't remember. Her floor was scattered with pictures and writing, probably from her last night endeavors, she didn't remember that also.

She didn't really remember what happened the last few days, besides the one fact she had in her head: Leave.

She licked her dry lips, glancing at the wooden chest residing near her bed. As silly as it sounded, the mere thought of it made her flush red, she had a lifetime supply of quilts and blankets in there. She asked for them every Christmas, lying to Jude that every winter was getting colder so she needed more blankets. She was planning to make a rope to tow herself out of the tower.

Hey, it could work. As unreasonable as it sounded, she was willing to try anything now.

Lucy glanced down at her left arm, wincing at what she saw. The strange markings didn't make her feel any better. She searched around for the glove she had thrown across her room last night, finding it under a pile of paper. She wouldn't call it a glove; it was more like a black arm sleeve. Tight and suffocating, but every time she looked at it, it gave her the shivers. She tugged it on, and the image of the black curves disappeared from her mind.

They always reminded her of thorns, like briar thorns. It laced up her left arm like a tight rope, but stopped right below her elbow. She made the arm sleeve out of her old clothes, since it gave her nightmares every time she saw the weird markings on her arm.

She darted her eyes from the scattered paper, to the open window. It was drizzling outside, quiet and comforting. It was still lonely though, and then decided it wasn't comforting at all. She let out a sigh, picking up the paper and sorting them out. Luckily, she numbered them in case this ever happened. She was already at forty-two pages, but she never reread them. She didn't want to, because she was afraid the urge to get out of the tower would be unbearable for her, and she'd think irrationally. She wouldn't be able to carry out her plan until at least two days later, when Jude would leave to go to Fiore. As long as he was far enough, she'd be able to get out of the hole she had to call home for seven years.

She almost smiled at the thought of getting out, and her heartbeat just went a little bit faster than usual. Her smile faltered though. She didn't want to smile if it was halfhearted; she was planning to save it.

"I'll be back to check on you when I get back. Winter here is getting a bit chilly, isn't it?" Jude gave her a small smile, stroking her cheek in a fatherly way. She grew rigid at his touch. It made her want to bite his finger, to push him out the window down to his death. She pushed the thoughts aside and nodded back.

"I'll be waiting, for your safe return of course." She mustered up all of her strength to toss a smile to him, in which he accepted whole heartedly.

"Don't worry, Lucy. You'll get out of here as soon as I come back, and then finally, you'll be happier, I promise." He told her before he went back down the tower, down the stairs that she couldn't get access to. He was the only one who had the keys, and the trap door was the same material as the floor: rock. And as sturdy as Jude's cold heart.

What surprised her even more was the new news he brought back. He was going to let her out? Finally? What was the sudden change of her mind? The more she thought about it though, the more suspicious she got. She sucked her lips in and pondered. She had already planned to leave tomorrow, but if he was going to let her out when he got back, she'd only have to wait a couple more days. Where was he going to take her anyways? She shuddered at the thought.

It would be WAY better to leave by myself, why would he be nice to me now? Lucy thought, nodding in agreement to herself. There was no way she was going to just go with him after what he did to her. She shook her head at her stupidity that she had even thought about going with him. She could've laughed at herself, almost falling for his stupid promises, she knew better.

It was almost sunset, which meant he was probably halfway to Fiore by now. The sky looked funny, the vibrant orange, yellow, and red were milky, mixing in with each other as she stared out. She could see miles upon miles of trees. The hill stooped sharply up, so she couldn't see farther than at least ten miles, which made her want to grind her teeth because it was killing her, not knowing what was on the other side.

"Oh, what's there to lose? I'll go right now!" Lucy exclaimed to herself excitedly as she grabbed her knapsack from the closet. Another creation of hers that she had made while spending her time up here, now she finally had a use for it. She stuffed as much clothes as she could in it- sadly, they consisted mostly of skirts and tank tops with the occasional long sleeved shirts. She had a pair of leggings; they'd have to help her last through the nights in the forest.

The one thing she didn't have though, were shoes. Lucy puffed out her breath angrily, slumping her shoulders forwards. Of course she wouldn't have shoes, why would Jude give her any anyway? It's not like she ever went outside of this stupid dumb place. Lucy pushed the thought aside; she'd just have to be careful on her way to the other side of the cliff. She grabbed another knapsack, sticking a blanket or two in there. She was debating whether or not to bring her papers, but decided to leave it. It wouldn't be of any use of her along the way anyway.

She wrapped the food in another piece of cloth, stuffing it into her knapsack also. She had a collection of her mother's keys tucked under her desks, and took them out, placing them carefully in the knapsack full of clothes. She knew what they were, she knew what her mother was, and she knew what she was. She hadn't been able to use the keys though; with the cuff on her wrist she was unable to use magic at all. The moment she got her cuffs off, Lucy knew she would definitely find Jude again when she was stronger and… and do something. She wasn't just going to keep running from him, but for now, she had to get out before it was too late. The chest let out an eerie creak as she opened it, seeing the old dusty blankets, their vibrant colors had faded over time, leaving them dull.

Her fingers worked fast as she weaved them together, creating a long, thick rope of blankets. It took an hour, maybe two, or three. She wasn't entirely sure, but the sun was gone beneath the hill, so she knew it was a bit risky going out at night. "Probably better to leave early morning…" Lucy murmured to herself. As she stretched, she yawned, her body aching from sitting down the whole time. She was exhausted, mentally and physically from the sudden urge of adventure- surely she would get it, and she would definitely treasure it.

"This is what we're going to be doing for the next few days!" Natsu declared, slamming a piece of paper in front of Erza, Gray, and Wendy. They peered at the flyer after Natsu removed his hand from it. It was a picture of a girl with medium blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes and milky skin. It wasn't a photograph though, just a sketch and coloring of her. "They don't have a photograph of her, which is annoying, but look at the amount of money we'll get if we find her!" Natsu jabbed roughly at the money: thirty million jewels.

"Thirty million? How ludicrous! Why would anyone want someone for so much?" Erza retorted back, already suspicious of the request already. "Why would anyone want a girl for that much?"

Natsu shrugged lazily, putting his hands behind his head. "Beats me, all that matters is the money. That's one hell of a load though; that'll last us months!"

"Why doesn't she have a name? Wouldn't it be easier to find her then?" Wendy asked quietly, staring hard at the picture. Something about it seemed off, it made Wendy feel a bit sad.

"No idea. It'll be easy to spot her, apparently she's a charged with first degree murder and she's either heading towards Magnolia or she's already here." Natsu responded back as he paced back and forth. "Don't kill her either; they want her back alive, not dead. And tell everyone else to contact one of us if they find her, I want to make sure she doesn't get away or kill one of us." Natsu ordered, heading out towards the door. "Gotta find her before we lose her to someone else." Natsu smirked; he could already feel the weight of the jewels in his pockets.

Natsu tapped his pen on his desk, watching the flicker of fire on the candle as he did. He sighed, standing up and bumped his wrist at the bottom of the table. The clang vibrated throughout the room, and his head whipped down to his wrist, seeing the beaded bracelet unharmed. His heartbeat slowed down as he saw it was unscathed and released the breath he had been holding in.

He sat back down, examining the bracelet now. It was plain and simple: small black stones, all square shaped, but were different sizes. His dad, Igneel, had given it to him before he had suddenly disappeared after the invasion in x777. Natsu dropped his arm bitterly and rubbed his eyes angrily. He didn't want to think about the bracelet, or the dad that abandoned him with a burden that weighed him down.

His thoughts shifted of the blonde haired brown eyed girl. It would've been a lot easier if there was a name for her… but he wasn't going to complain. Thirty million jewels? He would have enough to add more additions for the HQ, living quarters, offices… anything for the mafia really. He took out the flyer again, examining every small detail of the drawing. Her face expression wasn't anything like a fugitive. She looked soft, her eyebrows were relaxed, and her mouth was slightly downturned into a frown. She wore a white skirt that extended just below her knees, and wore a pink blouse.

Natsu nodded slowly as he came into a conclusion, smoothing out the paper. "What a sorry human being."

Lucy snatched every flyer of her off the walls, crumpling them up and tossing them into the trash cans. Her face was flushed from disbelief and anger. How did he realize so fast that she had left? It had only been a day since she escaped, and the moment she stepped into this town there were WANTED posters of her everywhere. She covered her face with a shawl, and had changed her clothes before going into town. What was even more ridiculous was the price he had set up for her. Thirty million jewels? It pissed her off on how he treated her as an object and that he went as low as to frame her as a fugitive. She brought her shawl around her face even closer as the density of people increased. Her eyes darted everywhere and she felt jittery with every step she took.

Talk about being overly paranoid.

It wasn't like anyone was going to find her in this huge mass of people.

Hopefully.

She was completely broke, since she had no money in her tower at all. How was she going to sleep for the night? She couldn't get a job here since she was a criminal at the moment. Charged for 1st degree murder. Lucy still scoffed at that sentence; the only thing she should be charged for was for the murderous thoughts she had when she thought about Jude. One thing she was sure of was that he didn't want her to die, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about gun shots or knives.

Or magic, but hardly anyone used it openly.

Or so she heard from Jude, she didn't know if she should believe him on that though.

Maybe she should've stayed at the town over the hill? But it was too close to her tower that it was risky for her. She had to trade in some of her nice gowns that Jude had brought to her for money so she could buy a ticket to the farthest suburban town from her tower.

Although Magnolia wasn't all that suburban to her, the lady she sat next to on the train ride did tell her it was one of the larger suburban towns, which was better for her. But apparently Jude had many connections if he was able to so quickly post up all the flyers in less than a day.

She glanced down at the metal band around her wrist bitterly. She found a canal filled with clear water. It gleamed up at her brightly, making her squint her eyes from the shininess. "Well, never hurts to see if it works…" Lucy grumbled as she shoved her right hand into the water. The bracelet surged through her body like electricity, and she yelped as she pulled it out. It crackled and groaned; a small sliver of smoke rose from it as the blue flashing dot turned dull. "Are you serious?" Lucy grumbled in annoyance. If it was that easy to destroy it… Lucy shrugged it off. She grabbed a sharp piece of metal, deciding to cut off the bracelet once and for all. He could be tracking her from the bracelet anyway.

She stuck it between her skin and the bracelet, shoving it up as she tried to rip it off. Blood oozed in between, and she bit her lip from the pain. Lucy jumped in alarm as the bracelet snapped in half, dropping it into the canal along with drips of her blood. It flowed down with the water, but it was separate, so distinct that it looked odd in the water, even if they were both liquid. She stuffed the piece of metal into her knapsack and tore a piece of her shawl to wrap it around her bloody wrist.

"Miss, are you okay?" Lucy whipped her head around, seeing a group of men behind her as they eyed her suspiciously. Lucy gulped and nodded, waving her hand. She really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment… especially if they looked as ruggy and gruff as them. "Aw come on, we can't see that pretty face of yours if you don't take that off." One of them cooed. He slipped a wooden blade beside her cheek, and Lucy didn't dare to move. The shawl fluttered off her head and hung from her neck loosely. The burning light pierced her eyes; all she saw was white. She shuddered as it reminded her of the dream.

Shit.

"Holy- we're so fucking lucky! it's the girl!" The man wielding the wooden blade shouted. Lucy felt a sudden jolt in her body as she realized that she needed to run. She flipped the shawl back over her head and darted away from them, running as fast as she could as she held onto the hood. She heard them whooping and yelling at her, spilling out nasty words. She wanted to run straight to them and stab them all, but she knew she would never win against five large men.

She tumbled over barrels and stalls, curses were thrown towards her as she crashed into people. She apologized briefly as she ran, but her energy was running away fast. By this time her shawl was long gone; she felt so exposed, naked even. Luckily most of the people around her were townsfolk, so they didn't seem to recognize her at all.

Crap, what did she do to have this happening to her? Lucy could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know if it was actually her about to cry or if it was from the wind that blared around her as she ran. She made a sharp turn into an alleyway, dark and reeking with a musty smell that made her cough considerably. She heard their scuffling shoes tumble closer and closer to her. Lucy hitched in a breath, leaning her arm against wall. She desperately felt her way in the darkness; the buildings were so tall and wide that the sun didn't make its way into the alley.

Lucy felt an unusual bump against the wall. It was as if it was cut out from the wall itself. She fit her fingers through the cracks and pried it open. It rumbled as she pulled it out. It was just like a door; the only difference was that it drained all of her remaining energy, since it was heavy as hell for her. She heard their coos and callings for her as she slipped into the hole. Hopefully she could stay there without any trouble. She leaned back, letting out a breath of air. She was waiting for the comforting impact of the hard wall behind her, but only felt it when she slammed against something steel and she was suddenly lying down.

Then she was moving.

Fast.

Like she was on a slide.

She screamed the whole way down, struggling to roll over on her stomach or to try to grab the walls; they were too far from her reach. She began tumbling down, rolling. She could only hear the shrill voice of her shriek. She knew when the ground had stopping moving; her hands were up defensively over her head as her body was sprawled out. She tasted the dirt in her mouth and spat it out, groaning at the taste.

Her body trembled from the sudden surprise and her stomach churned in an uncomfortable way.

She didn't dare open her eyes; she could already tell the room was spinning even in the dark.

"What the hell…"

She shot her eyes open at the voice, peering from between her fingers. She could see the boots walk towards her slowly; they were silent against the dirt. No wonder why she didn't hear it. The person was wearing baggy black trousers, and a black shirt with a black vest, outlined with a gold trimming. The scaly white scarf wrapped around his neck stood out like a fire in the darkness. Did she dare to look at his face? Lucy gulped her eyes trembling as they rose to outline his squared jaw and slightly parted lips. "Eh?" Lucy muttered as she caught the wisps of pink hair. It brushed his forehead with every movement he made.

Pink hair.

Are you kidding me? Lucy's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of him. His danger level for her just dropped ten folds. Lucy darted her eyes to his hand, which was holding a flyer.

Her flyer.

Well, now his danger level shot off the roof.

Eep sorry I HAD to rewrite this story, my earlier chapters were bothering me so much that I couldn't move forward! Well I hope you enjoy this newer version, because I certainly am!

Don't forget to review! If you want to ask anything visit my tumblr.

Thanks for reading!