Lucy's POV
As soon as the news spread around Raven Tail about Fairy Tail's attack, my father made sure to move me to Raven Tail's safe room with Flare and four of her men as my guards. I played with the gold ring on my finger as I sat on one of the two lounges, anxiously waiting for a chance to escape. I wondered how my friends were going to get passed Raven Tail's defences and find the safe room. The room was hidden behind a wall and the only way to access it from outside was to find the hidden panel.
Suddenly I noticed the middle red jewel on my ring faintly and slowly blinking. 'It's a tracking device!' I thought with anticipation for my rescue. I quickly covered my hand over my ring, so my guards didn't notice. After another minute of anxiously waiting and thinking of a way I could escape, there was a small explosion outside the safe room and then the door slid open.
Standing on the other side was Gray, Juvia, Mira and Wendy. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed that Natsu wasn't with them but I was really happy to see my friends. One of Flare's men roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as Flare and her men open fire on my friends. My friends immediately hid behind each side of the door frame to avoid being hit by bullets.
I knew I had to help them somehow, so I took a step back and grabbed my whip from my hip. Two men groaned and fell forwards as I cracked my whip against their backs. Flare and the other two men paused their firing to see what happened and then my friends took their chance to attack. "Blondie" Flare growled as she glared threatening at me.
She was reminded that we were in the middle of a fight when one of Gray's icy bullets hit one of the men's legs. Thick ice travelled up the man's leg from the gunshot, freezing his leg all the way up to his knee. Flare aimed her flaming Crimson Hair whip towards Gray but I intercepted it with my own whip. Both our whips wrapped around each other and then we both tugged it tight. "Master is going to be furious" she said. Something about the tone of voice she used, sounded like she was more scared for herself than trying to scare me.
We both unwrapped our whips and then cracked them beside us. She aggressively cracked her whip towards me which I slapped away with my own whip. We continued to clash whips over and over. Flare was on the offence while I was on defence trying to find an opening. The men around us were dropping like flies thanks to my friends until Flare was the only enemy standing. After my friends finished taking down the four men, they stayed back from my battle with Flare to avoid being hit by one of our whips.
Flare began to panic and her whip movements became more frantic when she noticed she was the only one left standing. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Master will kill me if you leave" she said as her whips slashes became harder and out of control. I think I understood her situation now, she's terrified. My father must've threatened and abused her which explains the bruises I've seen on her whenever we passed each other. Deep down she might be a good person but my father's influence might've hidden that side of her.
As our whip war continued, I was beginning to get a sore arm but kept looking for an opening. Because of her frantic movements, I found one and slashed her left side with my whip. She screamed in pain and fell backwards onto the floor while holding her wound. Before she could get back on her feet, Gray stepped in front of me, shirtless I might add, and pointed his Ice Demon Slayer gun at Flare. I swear I heard Juvia mutter "Love Rival" in an angry tone. "Let me handle the next part" Gray said but I needed to stop him. "Wait!" I shouted as I moved in front of him and pushed down his gun.
Everyone including Flare looked at me with confusion. "What are you doing Lucy?" Gray asked. "First of all, put a damn shirt on" I said trying to ignore his bare chest. "Shit!" he exclaimed and then quickly went to fetch his discarded shirt. Once he was back, I turned to Flare. "My father threatened and abused you, didn't he?" I asked her with a hint of concern. Flare looked away but then hesitantly nodded.
"Why did you join him?" I asked. "A few years ago, I came to Fiore to search for where I belong. I grew up with people different from me so I wanted to find others like me but I became scared of the 'new world' that I was discovering. Soon after, I met Ivan and a few other members and they taught me the ways of this 'new world'. I thought I finally found the place I belonged until things began to go south. He began to hit me whenever I upset him..." she trailed off.
"Why didn't you try to leave?" Wendy asked. "Because if I tried, I would've been killed. If you leave the Raven Tail mafia then it's the same as being a traitor in Ivan's eyes. You either die on the battlefield or die as a traitor by Ivan's hand" Flare replied, more tears falling down her cheeks.
"How about you come with us?" I suggested and then she looked up at me with more confusion but also a spark of hope. "Are you sure about this Lucy?" Gray asked but I ignored his question. "What?" Flare asked in bewilderment. "Escape with me. Leave Raven Tail and my father behind and start a new life" I said and then held out my hand. She stared at my hand and hesitantly reached out to grab it. Her eyes glanced up to my eyes as if she's searching for any lies. When she didn't find any, certainty flashed through her eyes and she grabbed my hand. I pulled her up to her feet and then walked over to Gray.
"Where's Natsu and Laxus?" I asked the niggling question that was on my mind. "Dealing with Ivan" Gray replied, with a bit of hesitance behind his voice and I immediately understood. A small part of me was sad to be losing another parent but I knew this was for the best. Ever since mother died, father has never been the same.
"Oi Ice Princess, have you found Lucy yet?" we suddenly heard Natsu's voice. His voice sounded like it was coming from a radio or something. Gray groaned while rolling his eyes. "Speak of the dragon" he complained quietly while pulling out a handheld radio from his pocket. He held it in his hands but didn't do anything. "Aren't you going to reply?" I asked. "I will...in a minute. I want Natsu to squirm" he smirked.
After a few more seconds, he brought the radio up to his mouth. "We got her Ash-for-brains. She's safe and sound. We're bringing her to the extraction point" Gray said as he looked at me with a smile. After a short moment, we heard Natsu happily reply. "Great see you there soon!" His happy voice made me smile but then it turned into a frown when I realised something. I forgot I told Natsu that I love him! Oh Mavis, how the hell am I going to face him?!