FAIRY TAIL: What If Natsu Never Rescued Lucy from Phantom Lord?
What If Natsu Never Rescued Lucy from Phantom Lord?
Lucy Heartfilia ran away from home to join Fairy Tail, chasing freedom and a place to belong. But when the dark guild Phantom Lord sets its sights on her—and on Fairy Tail itself—the boy who was supposed to come for her is already gone, training far beyond Magnolia.
In a world where Natsu never returns in time, Lucy must face the shadow of her past alone. With the guild she loves under siege and her own secrets dragged into the light, she'll
FAIRY TAIL: What If Natsu Never Rescued Lucy from Phantom Lord? - The Celestial Spirit Princess's Daily Life and the Vanishing Smile
"I'm gonna come back way stronger!"
The boy with the cherry-blossom hair shouted it toward the town of Magnolia, bathed in the colors of sunset. Perched on his back was a small blue cat, bobbing along.
"Natsu, you're too loud. The whole town can hear you."
"Shut up! Spirit's gotta be shouted out loud, that's the whole point!"
Standing on the cobblestones in front of the guild, I watched the two of them go back and forth and couldn't help but laugh. I mean, they really were just being their usual selves.
"Lucy, we're heading out. You've got your keys on you, right? Not letting them out of your sight?"
The blue-furred cat—Happy—twisted his head around to look at me. His big black eyes caught the sunset and sparkled. I patted the little pouch hanging from my belt.
"Of course. See? They're all in here."
"Go grab some food or something. We'll be back before you know it."
Natsu said it bluntly. His dark eyes weren't on me, but the tips of his ears were just a little red. I already knew that was his way of hiding how embarrassed he was.
"Take care, both of you."
When I waved, Happy answered with a cheerful "Aye!" Instead of waving back, Natsu gave a little huff through his nose and started walking. His back grew smaller and smaller against Magnolia's white cobblestones.
The row of magnolia trees along the Fiore River swayed in the wind, rustling softly. The spring blossoms had already fallen; in their place, young leaves glowed gold as the sunset shone through them. From across the river came the voices of merchants packing up their market stalls.
"...They're gone."
Left alone, I murmured it to myself.
Somehow, it suddenly felt so quiet.
Something in my chest tightened.
(Is this... loneliness?)
But admitting that felt kind of frustrating, so I shook my head vigorously.
"All right! I've gotta do my best too!"
That's right. I had plenty of things to do myself.
The cleanup work Master Makarov had assigned me was still only half done.
In the storehouse behind the guild, monster materials were piled up in a mountain. I had to sort through all of it. Just thinking about it made me sigh, but there was no way around it.
After all, it was basically my punishment for the mess I'd made.
---
I thought back to that morning.
I'd woken up in my room on the second floor of the "Sleeping Lion Inn," a lodging house in Magnolia.
The morning sun pouring through the window was so bright that I pulled the covers over my head without thinking.
"Mmm... five more minutes..."
But I couldn't afford that. Today I had to go to the guild and report on my job.
I crawled out of bed and peered into the washroom mirror. Staring back was a girl with a terrible expression and blonde twin-tails exploding from bedhead.
"Ugh, awful... Can I even fix this...?"
I brushed my hair for all I was worth and wrangled it into my usual twin-tails. White blouse, blue skirt. On my belt, a pouch with golden Celestial Spirit keys dangling from it. Yep, that's the usual me.
Celestial Spirit keys.
They're the precious catalysts I use to summon the spirits I've contracted with as a Celestial Spirit Mage.
Celestial Spirit magic is a rare ancient magic, even in this world—there are only about twenty practitioners on the entire continent. My mother was a Celestial Spirit Mage too, and the keys I inherited from her are now my greatest treasure.
"Good morning, Aquarius. How are you feeling?"
I took the key of Aquarius from my pouch and tried talking to it.
The key glowed faintly, and a grumpy voice answered from within.
"You haven't forgotten the day your contract needs renewing, have you? Our contract's about to expire, you know."
"Huh!? I-it is!?"
"Honestly, what a useless master. Whatever. We're doing the renewal ritual right now, so hold the key."
I hurriedly gripped the key with both hands.
"L-like this?"
"Don't move. ...In the name of the contract, I open the door to the Spirit World. Let the power of Aquarius reside within you. ...And seriously, your mana flow is way too sloppy!"
The next instant, a massive torrent of water burst from the key.
"Gyaaaaaah! It's cold! Stop! My room's getting soaked!"
"You brought this on yourself. A master who can't even remember her contract renewal date deserves at least this much. Come back and try again later."
The water stopped dead.
Still dripping wet, I slumped to the floor.
"...That was mean, Aquarius..."
Soaked through first thing in the morning.
Today's fortune might be the worst.
---
After changing and leaving the inn, Magnolia's morning air felt wonderful.
The cobblestones along the Fiore River were damp with morning dew. The white granite road glittered in the morning sun. A small cargo boat floated on the river, its boatman lazily working a pole.
This town is a regional city in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Fiore. Population around fifty-two thousand. It's a good three hundred twenty kilometers east of the capital, Luminous, but thanks to being the home base of the mage guild Fairy Tail, it's plenty lively.
Fairy Tail is an official guild licensed by the kingdom's Magic Council, and it's been around for over a hundred twenty years now. The members are a colorful bunch, and there are plenty of troublemakers, but everyone cares about their comrades—they're warm people, all of them.
I, Lucy Heartfilia, am one of that guild's members.
I'm still a newbie who joined just a few months ago, but I've teamed up with Natsu and Happy, and every day's a good time.
...Well, that "good time" includes plenty of failures like today's, too.
The guild building faces the main street along the Fiore River, right in the center of town. It's a three-story stone building, with the guild tavern on the first floor. A request board, a counter bar, and twenty tables. About fifty members come and go every day.
When I pushed open the heavy wooden door, the usual lively voices came spilling out.
"Oh, Lucy! I heard about it—your reward got cut on yesterday's job, huh!"
"You fell in the river exterminating riverfish, right? Clumsy as ever!"
Ugh.
This first thing in the morning.
"...That's right. And on top of falling in the river, I didn't catch a single riverfish..."
When I said it dejectedly, the guild tavern erupted in laughter.
"You're a Celestial Spirit Mage—how do you even fall in a river!?"
"Because Aquarius was in a bad mood, and when I summoned her she water-blasted me along with everything else..."
"That's just her taking it out on you!"
More laughter.
Honestly, are these people looking forward to my failures or what?
"Now, now, everyone, that's enough of that."
From behind the counter, a small old man with short white hair poked his head out.
The master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar.
He's about a hundred fifty centimeters tall—much shorter than me. With gentle brown eyes and a wrinkly smile, he's like a father to the whole guild.
"Lucy, it's a shame about the reduced reward, but where there's life, there's hope. You only fell in a river—be glad that's all it was."
"Master Makarov... thank you."
"But failure comes with responsibility. Which means today, I'm putting you on sorting monster materials in the storehouse behind the guild."
"What!? All of that mountain of materials!?"
"Hah hah hah, a little hardship is good for the young. Do your best."
And so that's how it ended up.
Master Makarov is kind, but he doesn't go easy.
And I think that's just fine.
Because this is the path I chose for myself.
---
I was born the daughter of the Heartfilia family.
The Heartfilia family is a famous merchant house in the Kingdom of Fiore, one that made its fortune trading in ores and gemstones used for magical tool materials. They have a grand mansion on the outskirts of the royal capital, Luminous, with more than twenty servants.
But the house in my memories was always cold and quiet.
After my mother died, my father threw himself into nothing but work. He stopped looking at me.
Birthdays, promises—all of it vanished because of work.
"Father doesn't care about me at all..."
When did I start thinking that way, I wonder.
And then there was the marriage my father arranged for me.
The other party was a forty-year-old trader.
A man I'd never met, more than twice my age.
"I absolutely refuse to do that!"
I ran away from home.
All I took was my mother's keepsake—the Celestial Spirit keys—and a little savings.
I had nowhere to go.
But I just couldn't stand being in that house anymore.
My life is mine to decide.
I'm done being at someone else's beck and call.
That's what I told myself, and where I ended up was here—Fairy Tail, in Magnolia.
I met Natsu and Happy, joined the guild, and now this is where I belong.
---
Dusk, in front of the guild.
After seeing Natsu and Happy off, I headed around to the back of the guild.
Behind the guild building are a storehouse and a training ground. Inside the storehouse, monster materials brought back from jobs were crammed in wherever they'd fit.
"...All of this, by myself, huh."
I sat down on a wooden crate in front of the storehouse and looked over the mountain of materials.
Riverfish scales, giant wolf fangs, treant branches...
Every last one of them stank.
"Haa... I wish Natsu would hurry back."
But Natsu had gone off to train.
Happy too.
"Lucy, are you sure you'll be okay alone? Won't you be lonely?"
Before they left, Happy had asked me, looking worried.
"Of course I'll be fine. I can do things on my own too, you know."
It was bravado.
Honestly, I was a little bit lonely.
But I couldn't show that face in front of Natsu.
Because those two were going off to get stronger.
"I've gotta get my act together too—enough that I won't lose to them."
I stood up and started sorting the materials in the storehouse.
Monster materials get separated by type and packed into boxes.
Scales with scales, fangs with fangs, branches with branches.
Simple work, but there was so much of it that it just wouldn't end.
The sky gradually darkened.
The sun sank, and stars began to show themselves, one, then two.
Light still spilled from the guild's windows.
Inside, the remaining members were probably drinking and playing cards and making a racket.
Their happy voices drifted faintly to me.
"...Must be nice."
I wanted to join them over there too.
But the work wasn't done.
I sighed and kept my hands moving.
That was when it happened.
A cold wind blew, whistling.
An out-of-season north wind.
"...Huh?"
A chill ran down my spine.
Some kind of bad premonition.
I looked up and scanned my surroundings.
But there was no one around the storehouse.
Only the guild's lights glowing faintly in the distance.
"...Just my imagination. Right?"
I murmured it quietly and went back to work.
Then, a faint line of light ran across the ground at my feet.
"Huh!?"
Looking down, I saw a magic circle rising to the surface of the ground.
An eerie purple glow.
Inside the circle was a geometric pattern I'd never seen before.
"W-what is this...!?"
I tried to leap backward on instinct.
But my feet wouldn't move.
The light of the magic circle was coiling around my legs.
"S-somebody...! Help me...!"
I tried to raise my voice.
But my throat stuck, and no sound would come out properly.
The light of the magic circle grew stronger and stronger.
The purple glow wrapped around my body.
My consciousness began to fade.
(Natsu... Happy...)
Their faces floated up in my mind.
But the two of them weren't here anymore.
(Someone...)
I gripped the Celestial Spirit keys in my pouch with all my strength.
But I couldn't get any power into my fingertips.
The light swallowed everything.
And then my consciousness cut out.
---
In the guild tavern, no one had noticed a thing.
"Hah hah hah, let's drink tonight!"
"Hey, hey, don't overdo it. We've got jobs tomorrow."
Laughter, and the clink of glasses.
Just another night at Fairy Tail, same as always.
Only,
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