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, Imprisoned—The Keys Are Still in Her Hands
Cold.
The feel of stone against her cheek was the first sensation to return.
Lucy Heartfilia slowly opened her eyes.
What swam into her vision was a dim orange glow. Damp air. A choking stench that mingled mold, rusted iron, and something rotting.
"...Where... am I?"
Her voice came out raspy. Her throat was desperately dry. She tried to sit up and realized both her hands felt heavy.
Clank—the sound of metal scraping.
Looking down, thick iron shackles were clamped around both her wrists. They gleamed with a dull black luster, tightened so hard they bit into the skin. Chains extending from the shackles were connected to fittings driven into the wall.
"What... is this..."
With a muddled head, she desperately tried to trace her memories.
Behind the guild. Cleaning up in the storeroom. Sorting monster materials. After seeing Natsu and Happy off, she'd stayed behind alone.
And then—
A purple magic circle rising at her feet.
Wrapped in that eerie light, her consciousness had faded.
"That's right... I... that light..."
A chill ran down her spine.
She frantically looked around.
It was a narrow stone room. Walls on all four sides, iron bars in front. Floor, walls, ceiling—all made of darkened rock. High on one wall was a single small hole like a light window. A faint trickle of outside air flowed in from it.
It was a cell.
No doubt about it.
"No way... Why am I in a place like this..."
Her voice trembled.
(Calm down. Calm down, Lucy.)
She told herself inwardly.
(First I need to assess the situation. Where am I, and why am I captured?)
She reached for the belt at her waist.
"...Ah."
The pouch containing her Celestial Spirit keys was still there. Confirming the feel of the leather, she felt just a sliver of relief.
But.
(The keys are here. But...)
She focused her awareness on the shackles at her wrists.
The mana that every mage possesses—the power to draw in energy from the atmosphere and output it as magic—she could feel that flow being severed cleanly at her wrists.
The shackles were siphoning her magical power.
"No..."
She pulled a single golden key from the pouch. The key engraved with the Aquarius symbol—Aquarius's key.
" Aquarius... can you hear me? Please, answer me."
She gripped the key and closed her eyes. She tried to channel her magic into it.
...Nothing happened.
Normally, there was a sensation of connecting to the Celestial Spirit World through the key. She'd hear Aquarius's annoyed voice. But now—
Silence.
" Why... Please, Aquarius..."
She called out again and again. She gripped the key tighter. Her fingertips went white.
But the key remained cold.
(My magic... it's being drained by the shackles, so it can't even reach the key.)
Celestial Spirit Magic was an ancient magic that summoned spirits from the Celestial Spirit World using the caster's mana and the key as a medium. If her magic was sealed, the keys meant nothing.
" No... way..."
Heat pricked behind her eyes.
(What's going to happen to me?)
That was when it happened.
Click, click—footsteps echoed from down the corridor.
Multiple people. Slowly approaching.
Lucy hurriedly tucked the key back into her pouch and pressed herself against the wall. The chains clanked.
Beyond the iron bars, the figures of men appeared.
Two of them. Both wore filthy coats and had swords at their hips. One was skinny, the other built like a bear.
" Oh, you're awake. Little lady."
The skinny man spoke through the bars with a leering grin. His teeth were yellow. His breath reeked of alcohol.
" ...Who are you people? Where is this place?"
Though her voice shook, Lucy glared at the men.
" Whoa there, no need to be scared. We're just couriers—delivering you to our employer."
" Employer... who?! I'm a mage of Fairy Tail! Do you think you'll get away with this?!"
It was the best bluff she could muster.
But the men exchanged glances and burst into vulgar laughter.
" Fairy Tail, she says! You hear that?!"
" Yeah, yeah, heard it. So scary."
The two of them doubled over laughing. They weren't taking Lucy's words seriously at all.
" You don't even know who captured you, do you? This here's Gran Noir. Phantom Lord's headquarters."
"...Phantom Lord."
She'd heard of it.
A hundred and eighty kilometers northeast of Magnolia. An abandoned mining town at the foot of the Vermillion Mountains. A lawless zone even the Kingdom's knights couldn't touch. A dark guild that made its money through illegal activities, holed up there.
(I was... kidnapped to a place like that?)
The blood drained from her face.
" So, about your employer—you've got a guess, don't you?"
The man peered into Lucy's face as he spoke.
" ...What...?"
" Don't play dumb. It's your father. Jude Heartfilia. That rich old man hired us. 'Bring back my runaway daughter,' he said."
Lucy's mind went completely blank.
"...What?"
" Didn't hear me? Your daddy paid us to bring you back, even if it meant kidnapping you. We already got part of the fee upfront. The rest comes when we deliver you—and it's a hefty sum."
" That's a lie... Father would never..."
" A lie? Here, this is the contract. Want to see?"
The man pulled a parchment from his coat and waved it tauntingly. On it, she could indeed see the Heartfilia family crest and what looked like her father's signature.
" ...Why?"
Her voice cracked.
(Father... did this to me...)
She knew running away from home was wrong. But she'd only wanted to live her own life. She'd only wanted to escape that arranged marriage.
(But that doesn't mean... hiring a dark guild to kidnap me...)
Something deep in her chest turned cold.
" Come on, don't be so down. You just go home, and we get paid. Everyone's happy."
" ...You've got to be kidding! I'm not going back! I have my own path to follow!"
Lucy shouted.
The chains rattled. She pulled desperately at her wrists, trying to tear off the shackles.
" Hey, hey, don't struggle. Those shackles will drain a rookie mage's magic dry in an instant. Give up the pointless resistance."
" Shut up! Let me go!"
" ...Shut your mouth."
The big man kicked the iron bars.
CLANG!!
The tremendous sound made Lucy flinch and shrink back.
" Don't you get your situation? No matter what we do to you here, no one's coming to save you. Your friends don't even know you're here."
" ..."
" Come on, don't scare her so much. She's a fine piece of goods. If we damage her, we can't answer to the employer."
The man set a bucket in front of the cell. It was filled with murky water.
" You're thirsty, right? Drink up. This is your meal for today."
Lucy didn't answer.
The men left down the corridor, laughing vulgarly again.
Their footsteps receded and became completely inaudible.
Lucy leaned against the wall and slowly sank down.
" ...How awful."
A single tear traced down her cheek.
Frustrating. Scary. Lonely.
All sorts of emotions churned together, becoming tears that spilled over.
(Natsu... Happy...)
She wanted to call for help. But her voice wouldn't reach them.
The two of them were off training—not at the guild.
(Gray and Erza said they were on a distant mission too.)
There was no one she could rely on.
(I'm all alone.)
That fact was the most terrifying thing of all.
---
Meanwhile.
On an unpaved mountain path stretching southwest through the Vermillion Mountains.
" Damn it... another steep slope."
The boy with spiky cherry-blossom-pink hair—Natsu Dragneel—wiped the sweat from his forehead as he climbed what was barely more than an animal trail.
Clinging deftly to his back was a small blue-furred cat—Happy.
" Natsu, aren't we there yet? I'm hungry."
" Shut up. You just ate dried meat a while ago."
" That was three hours ago. It's already digested."
" Your digestion's way too fast!"
They traded banter, but neither stopped walking.
Natsu had set out on a training journey to get stronger. His destination was a cave rumored to lie deep in the mountains, where a fire spirit dwelled.
" Still, this mountain path is tougher than I expected. All muddy from the rain."
The rain that had been falling since yesterday made the footing terrible. Every step, mud clung to his boots.
" Natsu, don't push yourself. It'd be awful if you slipped."
" Don't worry. Who do you think I am? The Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail, that's who."
Natsu's face as he said this was as confident as ever.
That was when it happened.
" ...Hm? Hey, is that a person?"
A short way up the path, he saw a traveler sitting down. An older man, still wearing his pack, resting as though utterly exhausted.
" Old man, you okay?"
When Natsu called out, the traveler raised his head.
" Ah... sorry, young man. I'm on my way back to Magnolia. The rain's caused a landslide, and I'm stuck."
" You came from Magnolia? I'm from a guild in Magnolia too."
" Oh, is that so! A Fairy Tail mage! Well now, that's reassuring."
The traveler smiled with relief.
" Hey, old man. Did you see anything strange on the road? Lots of monsters, maybe?"
" Monsters... there were some. But I heard a rumor more frightening than that."
The traveler's expression suddenly clouded.
" A rumor?"
" Phantom Lord... those dark guild folk. They say they took a girl."
Natsu's heart jumped.
" Took... a girl?"
" Aye. I don't know the details, but a young woman was carried off near Magnolia. Kidnapping's that guild's specialty, after all."
" ...Near Magnolia."
A bad feeling spread through his chest.
(No way... It can't be Lucy.)
" Natsu, what's wrong?"
Happy peered into Natsu's face.
" ...Nah, it's nothing. But it's bugging me."
Just then, a small pouch at Natsu's hip began to tremble.
" Hm? What's this?"
What he pulled from the pouch was a palm-sized transparent crystal. A type of magical tool—a "communication crystal" that allowed conversation with someone far away.
The crystal gave off a faint light.
" It's from the guild."
Natsu took the crystal and channeled his magic into it.
"Natsu!? Is that you, Natsu!?"
The voice from the crystal was a guildmate's, strained with urgency.
" Yeah, what's up? Something happen?"
"It's bad! Lucy... Lucy's gone!"
" ...Huh?"
For a moment, he couldn't grasp the meaning of the words.
"She's been missing since last night. There were traces of some kind of magic circle behind the guild. Probably teleportation magic. Lucy... there's a high chance she was taken."
" Taken...?! By who?! Who took Lucy?!"
"We don't know yet. But from the residual magic at the scene... we think it was Phantom Lord's doing."
" Phantom Lord...!!"
The rumor the traveler had just mentioned crashed into Natsu's mind as reality.
(That girl... was it Lucy?)
" I'm coming back right now! I'll head back and go save Lucy!"
Natsu shouted. His body felt like it was burning with rage.
"Wait, Natsu! You're too far from Magnolia right now! And the rain's caused landslides on the mountain paths. Even if you head back now, it'll take days!"
" I don't care! You expect me to just sit here and do nothing?!"
"Calm down! The guild is discussing how to respond. First, you need to get back safely. We'll handle Lucy!"
" ...Damn it!"
Natsu slammed his fist into the ground.
A dull thud, and mud splattered.
" Natsu..."
Happy gently placed a paw on Natsu's shoulder.
" Natsu, calm down. Right now, we need to gather information first. Panicking here won't help Lucy."
" ...I know. I know that. But..."
Natsu gritted his teeth.
(Lucy. Please be safe.)
His trusted partner was too far away right now.
That was unbearably frustrating.
---
Inside the cell.
Lucy had no idea how much time had passed.
The light coming through the small window shifted from orange to a deep indigo. That told her night had come.
(A day is about to end.)
Her tears had dried at some point.
Crying alone wouldn't change anything.
(That's right. This isn't the time to cry.)
Lucy slowly raised her head.
And she stared intently at the shackles clamp
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