Chapter 51: Paying the Price
Lucy's servants at the Heartfilia estate had instilled in her from a young age to be wary of bad people when she was out. Her etiquette and decorum training also included lessons in poisons and basic subterfuge. She was all too familiar with the faint, chalky smell of sleeping pills, especially when dissolved in wine.
"You better get this straight," Lucy said, her voice dropping its polite, bubbly tone and becoming cold with disgust. "I want to join Fairy Tail. I don't want to be your woman."
Although she desperately wanted to join Fairy Tail, and giving up a little bit of her pride to flatter this fool was acceptable, she would never give up her body for it.
"Haha... you actually found out." Bora's slimy smile widened, turning into a sneer. "You're such a troublesome girl. If you had just obediently fallen asleep, you wouldn't have to suffer..."
Seeing his little trick discovered, the man who called himself 'Salamander' stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.
"Ah?"
Just as Lucy was a bit bewildered, her danger senses screaming...
Suddenly!
The heavy curtains behind her were suddenly pulled open. Two large, rough hands shot out and grabbed her arms, yanking them behind her back. She was made completely unable to move.
"Oh, as expected of Mr. 'Salamander'."
"It's been a long time since I've encountered such good merchandise. This one's a feisty blonde, boss!"
Lucy then saw that behind the curtain, a group of fierce-looking, thuggish guys had been hiding the entire time.
"What are you doing?! Who are all of you?!" Lucy cried out in a panic, her magic keys just out of reach.
Whack!
Bora's right hand grabbed Lucy's chin, forcing her to look at him. A sinister, leering smile was on his face. "Welcome to my slave ship. Behave yourself, little girl, until the ship reaches Bosco."
[Akarin's Note: Bosco is a country to the west of Fiore, notorious in the Fairy Tail world for its legal, and thriving, slave trade.]
"Bosco... Wait?! What about Fairy Tail?! You said you'd get me into Fairy Tail!"
"Didn't I tell you?" Bora laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world. "This is a slave ship. From the beginning, I planned to take all you gullible girls as commodities. Just give up."
One of his men cackled. "Mr. 'Salamander' anticipated that women under the influence of his Charm magic would deliver themselves right to him."
"This one's Charm-resistant, though," another one said, grabbing a handful of Lucy's hair. "It looks like she'll need some... good training."
"Hehehe!"
The surrounding human traffickers all laughed maliciously as they looked at Lucy's hot figure, their eyes filled with greed and lust.
Lucy panicked at these words. She hadn't expected to encounter such a thing right after running away from home. She had been so careful!
Abusing magic, deceiving people, human trafficking... is this what Mages of Fairy Tail are like? She felt her dream, the shining, golden image of Fairy Tail, instantly shatter.
"First," Bora said, his voice dropping, "let's brand you with the slave mark. It'll be a bit hot, but it'll pass if you bear with it."
He took a red-hot branding iron from a nearby coal brazier, the metal glowing with an evil, orange light. He was preparing to brand Lucy with the slave mark, so that once she reached Bosco, she would be treated as a slave wherever she went.
Lucy gritted her teeth, tears of indignation and pure, terrified rage streaming down her face. "Mages... Mages of Fairy Tail... are truly the most shameless..."
Suddenly!
Crack—! BOOM!
The ceiling of the ship's cabin suddenly shattered in an explosion of splintered wood and canvas.
A figure, screaming, fell from above and crashed headfirst onto the deck.
"NATSU?!"
Lucy was greatly surprised to see the newcomer—the rude, pink-haired kid from the restaurant.
"It's that kid from earlier?!" The Fire Dragon, Bora, also recognized Natsu, the kid who had burst in and ruined his charm-spell earlier in the day.
"Ugh... No..." Natsu groaned, pushing himself to his knees. His face was a sickly, pale green. "I'm so... dizzy... Ugh..."
"Eh?! So useless—!"
Lucy thought her reinforcements had arrived, but Natsu collapsed face-first onto the deck less than a second after his dramatic appearance, completely overcome with motion sickness.
"What's going on? How did this kid fall from the sky?" Bora growled, annoyed. "Never mind. You guys, go break this kid's arms and legs, then throw him overboard to the sharks."
The Fire Dragon ordered the other human traffickers.
"Yes!"
Two human traffickers cracked their knuckles and immediately rushed towards the incapacitated Natsu.
Suddenly!
BOOM—!
The entire, solid-wood cabin door imploded, flying in directly from its hinges and crashing into the two human traffickers who were about to attack Natsu.
"Ugh!"
The two human traffickers screamed as their bodies were sent flying by the door, which pinned them to the far wall in a heap of broken wood and broken bones.
"Seriously. He knows he gets seasick, yet he still rushes in so recklessly."
At this moment, a new figure appeared at the shattered doorway, stepping calmly through the smoke. Ren, in Ulquiorra's attire—a pristine white outfit with a black sash—appeared at the entrance. His hands were in his pockets, and his face was a mask of cold, emotionless indifference.
"Who are you again?" The appearance of one uninvited guest after another was making the Fire Dragon somewhat annoyed.
"Ugh! Ren..." Natsu groaned from the floor. "Save... me~!"
"Ren?!!" Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard Natsu's words. This person... this pale, hollow-eyed, almost demonic-looking man... was the calm, handsome boy from the restaurant? The change was too great.
Happy, who had flown Natsu in, zipped over to Ren's side and, seeing Lucy, asked in surprise: "Lucy! What are you doing here?"
"Happy! He tricked me!" Lucy yelled, finally finding her voice. "He said he could let me join Fairy Tail, so I came to the party, but I didn't expect them to be a group of human traffickers!"
Ren tilted his head, his cold, green eyes landing on the Fire Dragon. A hint of disdain touched his lips. "Fairy Tail? You... with that?"
"What? Do you have an opinion?" The Fire Dragon, Bora, raised his chin and looked at Ren, puffing out his chest.
"Yes. I do have an opinion," Ren said, his voice a cold, hollow monotone. "I don't care if you abuse magic. And I'm too lazy to bother with your deception. Human trafficking is something the Magic Council deals with."
He took a step into the room, the temperature seeming to drop.
"But you should never... ever... impersonate Fairy Tail to do these things."
"Impersonating?!" Lucy was stunned by these words, her eyes widening as she looked at the Fire Dragon. "You're... you're an imposter?!"
The Fire Dragon scratched his face, his slimy smile returning. He said dismissively: "Huh? Who told you I'm an imposter? Do you have any proof?"
"Proof?" Ren stopped in the center of the room. "I'm standing right here, and you're still asking me for proof?"
"My words are the proof."
He looked at Bora with his dead, empty eyes. "Since you dare to impersonate Fairy Tail to do such things... are you prepared to pay the price?"
"Hmph! You brat, I'm too lazy to argue with you," Bora scoffed, unnerved but still arrogant. "Didn't anyone tell you not to board someone else's ship casually? You guys! Quickly, get rid of him."
"Yes!!"
Two new, burly human traffickers immediately rushed towards Ren, their fists raised.
"Oh no!! Dangerous..." Lucy saw the human traffickers about to attack Ren and quickly shouted a warning.
However, the two had just rushed in front of Ren.
Bang—!
They... didn't even get close. They just... stopped. And then, as if hit by an invisible cannon, they screamed.
"Ugh!"
The two screamed and were sent flying backward even faster than they had charged, smashing through the other cabin wall and disappearing into the night.
"What?!"
Everyone was startled by this sight. They didn't even see what happened. One second they were charging, the next they were gone.
The Fire Dragon, Bora, said angrily: "You idiots! He's a Mage! Don't you know how to use guns?!"
"Ah! Yes!"
The remaining human traffickers, now panicked, immediately pulled out guns from under their coats.
"Guns?!! Ren, run!!" Lucy's face instantly changed. Magic was one thing, but guns were another.
Bang bang bang!!! Bang! Bang!
Numerous human traffickers raised their guns and fired at Ren at point-blank range. Lucy immediately closed her eyes and turned her head away, unable to watch. She was afraid that in the next second, Ren's body would be shot full of holes.
Clink clink clink clink!!!
It was not the sound of bullets hitting flesh. It was the sound of metal hitting... iron.
All the bullets hit Ren's body, made a 'clinking' sound, and all of them bounced off, flattened and useless, falling to the floor.
"Ho-how... how is that possible?!!"
Everyone who saw this scene was dumbfounded. Someone could actually withstand bullets... with their bare flesh? Was this guy's body made of iron?
[Akarin's Note: Hierro (Spanish for "Iron," Japanese for "Steel Skin") is the Arrancar's defensive ability from Bleach, where they condense their spiritual power, creating an armor-like skin that is harder than steel.]
"Tch! As expected," Bora growled, sweating now. "A bunch of ordinary people are completely useless!"
He raised his hand, his own magic flaring. "Crimson Flame Typhoon!!"
A vortex of purple-red flame erupted from his hand and blasted Ren, engulfing him completely.
"REN!!" Lucy screamed, her heart stopping.
The Fire Dragon said smugly, panting from the effort: "Hmph! Kid, even if your body is made of steel, it will melt in my flames!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
A new voice—a different voice, cocky and amused—came from within the flames.
The flames... they weren't burning Ren. They were... receding. They were being sucked into his body, as if he were a vacuum.
Soon, a young man with freckles on his cheeks, wearing an orange cowboy hat, black shorts, and a bare upper body, emerged from the last of the flames. He was eating the fire.
"Ah, thanks for the snack," Ren (Ace) said, wiping his mouth. "But that's a pretty pathetic flame you've got there. You're giving fire magic a bad name."
[Akarin Note:
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