The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 23

Lucy squinted as she looked onto the battlefield, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. It hadn't taken long for a fight to commence once they made it to the palace she knew her father would be, and it bothered her how there were so many demon forces compared to the angel's. She was glad that it'd make the fight easier for them, but it sucked to know the soldiers of her home would be so overwhelmed. 

Last night, Lucy brought up the conversation she had with Mavis to Natsu. He'd told her that they'd just carry on with their plan, and if things got too bad, they'd retreat and consider their options then. It wasn't hard for her to agree seeing as that was basically what she had decided she wanted to do, and Natsu shared her suspicions on just why Mavis decided to tell her all of that. 

They'd brushed it off as the fairy queen just looking out for her, but Natsu was thinking that Mavis just wants this war to end quickly so she can give birth in peace. Lucy didn't tell him about their own baby just yet, she really wanted to be here.

The forces from Alvarez decided to stay back until necessary, so Lucy sat in an airship with the top fighters of the kingdom, far from the battle. She was a bit surprised to see Alvarez had such few soldiers, but it had been said that they were all a force to be reckoned with. 

"This is all so bothersome." Lucy turned to Brandish, the woman sitting against the wall looking unamused. "...Yeah." She agreed. It wasn't necessarily fair for Alvarez, or any of those soldiers fighting out there, to be dragged into this mess.

"I didn't want to reunite with the celestial kingdom this way, but oh well." Brandish grumbled, raising her brows when Lucy approached her.

"You were once a part of the celestial kingdom? I guess that's why I found you familiar, then…" The Alvarez soldier nodded once as she slouched where she sat, completely uninterested with everything. As she looked around the skip, it became clear to Lucy that none of them were interested. 

"Be on guard. The celestial kingdom's 'Zodiac' are much more powerful than anticipated." She flinched when Zeref suddenly entered the skip, her eyes widening when his word hit her.

"The Zodiac..?" Zeref watched as Lucy seemed to be inwardly panicking, the blonde slowly making her way towards the exit of the airship. "...Maybe I should go out there…" 

"Are you sure?" She turned to him, staring into the king's eyes with more confidence than ever before. "Yes, the Zodiac are no joke. I can try to lesson their effects on the battlefield, or..." 

Zeref said nothing, looking between Lucy and the large land ahead of them where the heat of the battle was. She looked determined, swiftly turning away from him and taking confident strides towards where she could hear sounds of swords clashing and magic chanting. 

Her eyes glowed brightly, golden hue acting as a bacon. As she neared the fight, it didn't take long for Lucy to draw attention to herself, everyone ceasing their attacks to look at the bright light. The crowds of people parted to make way for her, neither side up for causing her any harm. 

She stood still, glancing at each person, the soldiers of the demons looking at her curiously and the celestial soldiers sporting sullen expressions. 

"Lucy." 

That voice was all too familiar, and Lucy couldn't help but hesitate before she looked forward to be face-to-face with the celestial queen. 

"Hello, Anna." 

The blondes had a stare off, neither showing any traces of trepidation as the two closed the distance between one another. 

"Lucy, please surrender. End this war at once." She scoffed, it sounded like Anna was reciting a script. She was glad that she ran into her, though. Anna was much like her mother.