𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙈𝙮 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 • ɴᴀʟᴜ

Chapter 13 • Her Truth

Lucy's P.O.V

Dammit, why am I crying? Stop crying.

I feel the breeze dance through my hair and sweep over my shoulders as I make it out of the hotel and just keep running.

I have no idea where I'm going. I don't care anymore. I just need to get away from there. Away from him.

The adrenaline pulses through my veins as I keep running and running. I pay no attention to my surroundings. After a while, though, the adrenaline begins to die down as I finally stop to catch my breath.

I rest my palms on my knees as I take in deep, raspy breaths. In, out.

Finally, I stand up straight and take a look at my surroundings.

"Where am I?" I look around. I appear to be in the middle of some kind of forest. The trees are very, very tall and well spread out. A few meters ahead of me, there appears to be a huge body of water lying inside of a big crater in the ground.

"This must be the Bohemian Pine Forest.. I read about this online." I begin slowly walking around, amazed by the huge trees.

Wow.. this is breathtaking. I've never seen anything like this place.

Because I got roomed with Natsu, I've been way too distracted dealing with his maid shenanigans that I completely forgot what I was really here for..

After a few minutes of walking, I hear a few sticks break. I jump at the sound and quickly turn around.

"Lu!!" I hear the familiar, high-pitched squeal of my best friend, Levy.

"Levy?!" I say, "what are you doing here!?"

There in front of me stands Levy and her gangster boyfriend Gajeel. They're both in... safari outfits?

"Gajeel and I decided to explore the pine forest! It's so beautiful out here!" Levy says full of excitement in contrast to her boyfriend who seems like he's only here for her, but is just happy because she is.

"The outfits weren't necessary. She just thought it'd be, uh, cute, for us to dress up." Gajeel says a bit flustered.

"Aww, don't be shy sweety!" Levy looks up at him with a wide grin, rubbing his arm. He looks down at his feet to hide his face.

It's so.. weird to see a girl like Levy with a guy like him. It's also weird that a guy like him is being so bashful and awkward. Talk about ironic.

"We've been exploring around here for a few hours now. I guess it's time we get going. Oh--!! Lu, do you want to go somewhere with me so we can catch up??" Levy asks exictedly.

We haven't really had a chance to have a serious talk about everything. This is the perfect opportunity.

"Yes, yes I would love to."

Levy jumps up and down with excitement. She and Gajeel escort me out of the forest before she kisses him goodbye and Gajeel drives off.

"The Fairy Cafe is not too far from here," Levy says turning to me. "Come on!"

***

"I'll just have a coffee," Levy says to the waiter. "What about you Lu?"

"I'll have tea please." The waiter writes down our orders and then walks off.

"So, I guess I should start from the beginning." Levy begins cupping her hands.

"Yes," I lean forward, "what on earth happened? How did you end up in Japan and here?" And... with that guy?

"I made a deal." Levy says, all enthusiasm she had moments ago gone and is only left with a serious face.

"A deal? What kind of deal? with who?"

Levy shifts uncomfortably in her seat, a look of guilt spread on her face. Oh Levy.. what did you do?

I gulp as I begin to feel nervous, waiting to hear what words are about to come out of my best friend's mouth.

"I haven't.. been completely honest with you," she sighs. "A long time ago.. gosh, we couldn't have been more than 10 years old. Do you remember that time when we were up very late playing in your room, when I was actually supposed to be back at my shack?"

I nod, still eagerly waiting for her to get to the point.

"Well, when we noticed how late it was, I had to sneak out of the castle without being caught.. which was basically impossible. Me being young and stupid, I thought I could just somehow sneak past the guards and go out the main entrance. So, I tip toed down the staircases and made my way through the huge hall, on my way to the entrance. As I was passing through the hall, I stumbled upon the meeting room. The door was shut, but I could still hear everything." 

She continues, "your father was having a meeting with some other men. Your dad was making a deal with Metalicana, the leader of the Tetsuryū gang in Japan. Metalicana is also Gajeel's father."

I shiver. This must be connected to how Levy ended up in Japan and met Gajeel.

"The deal revolved around resources. Your father would give them some of the Kingdom's resources, and vice versa. However, their deal was supposed to be secret because the Tetsuryūs are allies with the Igneel Organization, the one Natsu is from. The Igneel Organization was actually planning an invasion on your kingdom for their resources. If they found out the Tetsuryūs were involved with them, well, there would be cut ties and possible war."

War...? I've never even heard of this gang. My father always did keep me out of his work business and had me isolated... it's no wonder I'm so oblivious to everything.

"Anyways, the castle is heavily guarded in the main area so I was obviously caught. They didn't know what to do with me. They didn't want me to get the word of the alliance out in town. But, we came to a compromise. On the day of your wedding to Gray, I was to be sent to Japan to the Tetsuryū's main base. There, I would be betrothed to his son, Gajeel."

"Gajeel was to be the next leader of the gang as soon as his father stepped down, and his father wanted to secure an heir to Gajeel as soon as possible to be safe. None of their allies had any daughters to marry Gajeel to, so I was the last-minute choice. I was scared, and I didn't want this. But they threatened to have me executed because I knew of their deal. So I had no choice."

"(After all), they said, (you have no family left. No mom, dad, siblings.. we can provide a much better future for  you) is what they told me."

"So, that thing I had to take care of? It was me being stuffed into a helicopter and sent to Japan. The wedding took place in 3 months, and in those 3 months.. I actually got feelings for Gajeel. He had such a tough exterior, but he was a sweetheart on the inside. I wasn't ready for marriage, though, and neither was he. In fact, he didn't even want the whole gang life in the first place. It took a fight, but Gajeel quit his gang to go live the life he wanted. And he took me with him. We got an apartment together, and later ended up taking a trip to the Bahamas... and that's how I found you." She finishes.

I have.. no words. All this time, Levy got wrapped up in this stuff right under my nose. And my father would have had her executed if she didn't comply...

I dig my fingernails deep into my palms with rage. How could he? As if part of me didn't resent him before, I feel like I hate him so much now.

"Why didn't you try to find me?" I ask sadly.

"Once we left, we had no access to any of the gang's resources anymore. There was no way for me to use their equipment to find out where you went... and I couldn't try to find you while we were still there because if I did, then I would have compromised your location and others would have found you." She says.

I nod in understanding before standing up and hugging her. She goes weak in my arms and begins sobbing. She's been through so much and I had no idea. But we're together again, and that's what matters.