Found & Forgotten

Chapter 21

Lucy came to slowly, blinking a few times. She was aware of a dull throbbing in her head, but she couldn't remember what had happened to warrant a headache. Gradually, she realised that she couldn't see again, either. Which was strange, because she was sure her eyes were open... Lucy blinked some more, which did nothing. She made to scrub her eyes, only to find she couldn't move her hands.

Shifting around a little more, Lucy realised that the reason she couldn't see anything was because she a had a blindfold tied round her head, a little too tightly, which was probably the cause of her headache. She was sat on the floor, hands bound behind her. Yanking vigorously was her next plan of action, but that did nothing except rub the skin on her wrists raw. Too late, she deduced that her wrists must be bound to a pole or something.

A slight coughing sound caused Lucy to jump out of her skin.

"Wh-who's there?" She demanded.

"Lu-chan?" Another cough.

"Levy-chan? What's going on?" Lucy asked her friend.

"I think we got kidnapped," Levy replied. "Wait, where's the SunSphere book?"

A jolt ran through Lucy and she snapped bolt upright. Well, as far as she could sit bolt upright while blindfolded and bound.

"My keys!" She exclaimed. "They're gone!"

"Oh no..." Levy moaned. "If Shin Uchu have got their hands on those..."

"We're doomed," Lucy finished, grimacing. "They have the instructions and the zodiac keys..."

They sat in brooding silence for a while.

"Wait!" Lucy exclaimed suddenly. "I only have ten of the zodiac keys, right?"

"Hai!" Levy became excited too. "So long as they don't find Yukino, they can't do anything!"

"Who's Yukino?" Lucy asked.

"I'll tell you once we've figured out how to get out of here," Levy replied, refocusing Lucy on the task at hand.

"No, do tell us, who is Yukino?" asked a third, deeper voice.

Lucy heard a squeak emanate from Levy's direction but turned to face the third person.

"Who are you?" She demanded of the man. "What do you want? How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," the man said. "And to you, I am your worst nightmare."

Lucy grit her teeth against the man's cruel chuckles.

"Why have you kept us here? You have what you want." She pointed out.

"Why, yes, I do," the man replied, conversationally. "But leverage is never a bad thing to keep around."

"What do you mean, leverage?" Levy asked.

"He means us, Levy-chan. We're his prisoners," Lucy replied.

"Oh," answered Levy.

"Quite right, Lucy, love," responded the man.

"Don't call me that!" Lucy exclaimed.

In response the man just chuckled. Lucy heard footsteps, and realised the man must be walking away. Or so she assumed, until she heard the footsteps stopped right where Levy's voice had been coming from.

"Get off me!" Levy's voice sounded slightly muffled, as though she couldn't move her jaw properly.

"Now, now, Levy, dear, don't be like that," the man scolded.

Lucy could picture him grasping Levy's jaw and wagging a finger at her as he grinned.

"Pervert!" She accused. "Why don't you leave us the hell alone? You got what you came for!"

"Lucy, love, you should be more polite...especially since you are currently completely helpless and in my power." The man answered. "Now who is this Yukino?"

"I'll only tell you if you tell me who you are," Levy bargained.

The man considered this for a second. "And you'll tell me where I can find her?"

"No way!" Levy exclaimed.

Lucy mentally congratulated Levy at her attempt to weasel information out of their captor, even as she felt disappointment seep through her at Levy's plan's failure.

"I'm disappointed in you, Levy, dear," the man told her. "Surely you should realise you're in no position to bargain? I'll leave it there for today, but tomorrow I won't go so easy on you."

Lucy heard footsteps again, and then the sound of a door shutting and a lock clicking.

"Are you OK, Levy-chan?" she asked, worriedly.

"Hai, I'm alright," Levy answered, though her tone was downcast.

"It'll be alright," Lucy told her, wiggling her hands once more to try and free the bonds on her wrists. "I'll bet Natsu and the others are coming to get us."

"How do they know we've been taken, let alone where we are?" Levy pointed out.

This, more than anything, signalled to Lucy just how downcast Levy was. Even in the short time she'd known her, at least in the time she could remember, Levy was always optimistic. And now, she wasn't.

"They'll find us," Lucy comforted, as best she could. "We have to believe in our nakama, right?"

"Hai," Levy agreed, and Lucy could almost hear a small smile tugging at her friend's lips.

"That's the spirit!" Lucy told her.

Jerking her wrists up and down, Lucy tried to figure out what they were tied to. If she twisted her body slightly, she could feel something cool and smooth beneath her fingers, something metal. Further probing confirmed it to be a metal ring, set into the wall behind her. The floor, Lucy noted, was made of old, rough stone, and the air was cool and damp.

"Levy-chan..." Lucy began.

"Hai?" Levy responded.

"You-you don't suppose we're being kept in an...an actual dungeon?" Lucy asked, falteringly.

"I...think we might be..." Levy replied tentatively.

They lapsed back into silence again, the unspoken thought hanging between them that they had suddenly become a whole lot harder to find. Lucy set back to work on trying to loosen her bonds. If she twisted her hand just so, she could almost grab hold of some of the thick rope and pull it slightly.

What she assumed was around thirty minutes later, Lucy was nursing a most likely sprained wrist from her fruitless efforts. To add to that, her headache had gotten many times worse, which could not be a good thing, especially in light of the recent serious head injuries she'd sustained.

Deciding she might as well get some sleep, Lucy shifted into the most comfortable position she could whilst lying on a stone floor with her wrists bound to the wall.

Her last thought before she drifted into blissful oblivion was a plea that Natsu had heard her cry for help during the ambush yesterday.

Ohaiyo minna-san!

It's still exam period here, so I'm still sticking to the once a fortnight upload schedule as opposed to the once a week one. Only two weeks left of exams, though, and it can go back to normal after that! :D

This chapter is more of a plot filler than an action chapter. Ah well, at least it's an update, right? ;)

So tell me, who do you think is the mysterious man? Will Lucy and Levy be rescued by the others before whatever is planned for them for tomorrow? Will Natsu and the rest manage to track them even to an underground dungeon?

Hope you guys are all having a great end of term! Please COMMENT and tell me what you think! :)

AA