Our Princess

The Keynapper

"So you're saying" Erza started, slowly and unsure, "That the dragon cry is just some kind of celestial key?" 

"Not JUST some kind of celestial key," Lucy said. "The ultimate Celestial key, the key of the Celestial spirit king." 

"I would have thought myself to be the only person currently on earth who is able to summon him, but apparently there is someone else who not only has somehow gained knowledge of the Dragon cry, but seems to think that they are up to the task. My guess is they are sabotaging the town in order to create hysteria around the key to be able to steal it and use it for their own means." 

"So why don't we just give it to them?" Natsu asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "The town has no use for it, and you don't exactly need the Spirit King to kick some arse." 

"I wouldn't trust anyone on earth with this level of magical power, I've seen how this type of thing can corrupt a person, and I especially wouldn't trust it to someone who uses cheap tricks to get it, or puts people in harm's way," Lucy said. 

"She's right" Erza encouraged. "Whoever is doing this is committing a crime, it's illegal, people are suffering. I don't want to know what will happen if they get their hands on the dragon cry."

"so what do you suppose we do?" Gray asked, speaking for the first time in a while. 

"I'm not sure, give me a second" Lucy said trailing off at the end. 

"What if we set up a trap?" Wendy offered. 

"Maybe you could summon the king Lucy? and ask him what to do?" Natsu suggested.

"I think the best course of action would be to keep the Dragon cry safe in the castle go looking for the perpetrator." Erza pointed out. 

"I don't think we should rush into it like this" Gray said, halting them. " The mage is obviously powerful if they seriously think they can summon the king, they must be dangerous." 

"I don't think we should wait, I was hoping to be back at the hotel before dinner," Lucy said dismissing him. 

"So what are you thinking?" Erza, who had had the leader role stolen from right under her nose asked Lucy. 

"I'm liking Wendy's idea, but a trap doesn't mean it has to leave the castle..." she said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The origins of the dragon cry have been discovered. All celestial mages in town are asked to attend the castle at once." 

The blonde frowned. This felt wrong, but surely they must not know of the Cry's true power. As soon as she got her hands on the Cry the battle would be over after all. She knew there had to be more to this, some kind of security measure, something that wouldn't make this so easy. But she had to go. It would displease the master otherwise. She had no choice. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you seriously think they're gonna fall for this?" Erza asked. The three girls of the group were making there way to the front of the castle to welcome any celestial mages that responded to the summons. Lucy had pointed out that if the perpetrator were to turn up they likely be the first to do so as they were clearly situating themselves near Fiore and Celestial mages were so rare. 

"To be perfectly honest I'm not sure they'll have much of a choice in the matter." She said seriously. "There's no way on this earth a random person would have knowledge of the dragon cry's true powers, so my guess is someone else had told them who already knew. Someone less random, who I'm guessing is in control." 

"Someone like you." Erza finished for her. Lucy nodded. No one asked what that meant. 

"Why didn't you want to summon the king?" Wendy asked sweetly. "I saw you when Natsu suggested it, you pulled a funny face at the idea." Erza, who hadn't noticed this, looked up in interest. 

"I just didn't think it was wise," Lucy said. "The spirit king.... he's not that fond of me... we don't work well together." 

"How comes?" Wendy asked cautiously. 

"Well..." Lucy said hesitantly. "He's sort of scared of me..."

Erza frowned. The level of magic power that came with Lucy being around was surprisingly easy too, not forget, but get used to. It was little reminders like this that set Erza on edge. She seemed nice, and she didn't think that Lucy was somehow bad... but she could kill everyone in a second if she really wanted to, Erza was sure of it. Even when you're friends, that's a scary thought. 

"Oh," she said quietly. They walked into the waiting room and were shortly after greeted a pretty girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She introduced herself as Anna (Not related to Lucy in this fic) and explained she was a celestial mage who owned many of the core zodiac keys, and seemingly innocently, asked how she could be of help. 

Her magical aura was not something too impressive being almost nonexistent. It irked Lucy visibly, but there was something about her that made her certain she was right. Some kind of invisible suspect that rested uneasily in her stomach. She was rarely wrong after all. A couple of years older than her a milifraction as impressive, and yet she somehow knew of the dragon cry and seemed to think herself capable of wielding it. If she wasn't certain before she was now. There was no one else on this earth who could have known what the cry was, and she had a feeling that there hadn't been much distance between them. The first celestial mage he had come across he had recruited. He didn't care anymore. For anyone. 

"Hi Anna," Lucy said sweetly. "I was wondering why you have been sabotaging the city?"

There was a second of silence and the tension swelled followed by a short deft, "arrest her."

Quick as a flash she made a move for her belt buckle, pulling a key in front of her. Before Anna could even speak the key was shot out of her hand in a flash, similar to the shooting star attack used on Mirajane, her key flung across the floor leaving her hand red like a bad burn. The guards restrained her. 

Lucy moved quickly towards her, wasting no time, moving her mouth to the other girls ear to quietly talk to her. 

"What is she saying?" Erza whispered urgently to Natsu. Gray saw Lucy's eyes flicker to him. She'd heard. 

"Go tell him that this will not work. And that I am here and I know where to find him." if she didn't hear before she definitely did now as the idiot casually answered Erza's question at normal volume. Erza made an exasperated noise. Lucy smirked. 

"Let her go," she told the guards as if it were the most normal thing to say in this situation, and she moved across the room to take the key that had been flung there and give it back to the girl. "I said let her go." Erza didn't protest her ridiculous order this time, just squinting slightly but making no move to stop the girls as she looked a Lucy offering the key to her with a terrified glare. She hastily snatched the key back, running away without a second thought. As team Natsu watched her leave, Gray spoke up. "Surely it would have been wise to at least confiscate her keys, even if she was just a puppet, she broke the law."

Lucy shook her head. "Spirits are friends, she understood that. I'm a very good judge of character. We're done here." 

...............................................

"I almost feel as if I've done nothing," Wendy whispered, sounding a little down on herself as they made their way to sit on the train. 

"Nonsense," Lucy piped up, smiling kindly at the girl. "the idea for the trap was yours remember." 

They relaxed into their seats and Gray pulled out his phone, a new text notification popping up on his screen. 'thank you for the rose gray-sama my darling, of course I forgive you my lovely sweetheart'- Juvia. Forgive huh? Sure maybe he was rude this morning, but she was being crazy. He stole a glance at Lucy, who to his shock was looking right back at him. He frowned before he shot a quick text back. 

'What rose?'