Lucy's Shadow

The figure was hidden under its long black cloak that stopped less than an inch from the floor. Their face was hidden in the shadows the hood of the cloak provided. I took a sniff of the air, and apprehension crawled up my back as I inhaled the stranger's scent, a sickly sweet smell, like that of rotten flowers.

The figure moved forward, entering the guild silently. Everybody was watching as the stranger made their way over to the center of the guild. The only out of place sound in the immense silence was the clacking of the strangers heels, which appeared in glimpses along with a flash of dark purple jeans.

The stranger stopped in the middle of the guild hall, and their voice, which sounded brand new and extremely old, high, and low, feminine and masculine at the same time, and filled with knowledge and sorrow resounded throughout the room. The stranger spoke softly yet powerfully, her voice filled with authority.

"You are looking for a girl named Lucy Heartfillia, and I am looking to regain my kingdom. I believe we can help each other."

At the sound of Lucy's name, I stiffened. "How do you know where Lucy is?" I growled threateningly.

"Well, if you keep looking at me like I'm your enemy that you are going to kill if I say the wrong thing, I'm not going to tell you," they replied looking directly at me.

I looked away from her, and after a moment, when they were satisfied that I wouldn't kill her, she spoke.

"Lucy Heartfillia is a part of a long line of cured beings. Her particular curse is a gift as well. She can control and communicate with the Fallen, a race of spirits that rebelled against the Spirit King, and got cast out because of it. This led to them going to war against the humans on earth.

"I won't go into detail about the war right now, but to summarize, a clan of humans fought back against the Fallen, and drove them into the underworld with the help of the Celestial Spirits. The problem was that the Fallen could just leave, they needed a lock on the underworld. That is when the curse was made, and put on the daughter of the clan, the ancestor of Lucy Heartfillia," they stated calmly, completely ignoring all of the reactions of my guild mates.

"What was the curse, and what does the fallen want with Lucy?" Levy asked, eyes wide with curiosity of the new revelations.

"The curse locked the fallen in by forcing control on them. They physically cannot disobey the one who bears the curse, which is the youngest of the bloodline, Lucy. To break the curse, and set the fallen free, Lucy has to succumb to the darkness, the madness that the curse causes," she told everybody," I don't know how, but Lucifer, the leader of the fallen has figured out how to get through the barrier for a certain amount of time. From what I have observed, and from what I have guessed, he is trying to manipulate her into freeing them. He is highly manipulative, that's why he's their leader."

Something was nagging at me though. While they were explaining, I realized what it was. "Why do you wanna help us out with Lucy? I mean we don't even know who you are?" I asked.

"Well, when the Fallen were cast into the underworld, there was a lot of turmoil. Beings fighting right and left for power. I had won and was crowned the Queen of the underworld. I quite liked my position, but Lucifer rallied a group of followers to free themselves, and then he stole my crown. If Lucifer is stopped, then I can regain my position of power, Lucy will come back to you, and we will all be happy," they explained calmly.

"How are we supposed to trust someone when we don't even know what they look like or what their name is?" Erza asked bluntly.

The stranger looked at Erza for a solid minute before they nodded slightly. They reached up and in one fluid movement their hood fell down, revealing a face that would have been considered flawless, goddess-like, and beautiful, if it was not cracked with a scar that stretched from the right side of their forehead to the left side of their chin.

The stranger had beautiful deep violet eyes, like the end of sunset, and their hair was a deep golden, with streaks of black interwoven in the long locks that, now free from the cloak, fell down to mid-waist in a wavy tide.

It was very clear now that the stranger was indeed a female, or at least looked that way. As she spoke through the silence that had fallen throughout the guild, the unknown voice grew more feminine, although it retained its ageless quality as she spoke one simple sentence that changed not only the fate of Lucy, but also the fate of the world. She said," My name is Elisabeth, Queen of the underworld, and I have come to help you save the world."

^