Summary: In hindsight, Lucy should have been prepared for the Interdorm Magift Tournament, but spending all that time with Leona left her too close to see what has happening right in front of her.
a/n: I started writing for Lucy and Leona about four years ago now and though there have been a lot of changes to Lucy’s character and to little bits in their relationship, there have been 4 moments that never changed: the way they met, the week before Leona’s overblot, the day before Leona’s overblot, and the evening after. These bits are so integral to how I write both of these characters that even when I AU my story and Lucy and Leona aren’t dating, 99% of these events happen. I consider the three fics that take place during Book 2 a trilogy, so this is basically part 1.
*This is part of my Misadventures of Unlucky Lucy series which can be found on my Twisted Wonderland Masterlist.
It was hard keeping track of time with Leona around.
For a short while, Lucy was good at counting down the days, piecing together a timeline of the seven overblots she knew would happen over the course of the year with what little information she knew about each one. The timing wasn’t clear, but Lucy knew they weren’t occurring one directly after the other in most cases. There was time, she thought, to enjoy some of the world she’d spent so much of her free time back home invested in.
And she was certainly enjoying it, especially during the hours spent sneaking off with Leona to one of his hiding spots during lunch or free period to talk or nap or maybe make out on occasion. Then there were the handful of weekends where they’d steal away from Ruggie or Grim or anyone else that might interrupt something a bit more... physical.
But that was the problem plaguing Lucy for nearly a week since the last time they saw each other they had done something very physical. Time had gotten away from them that night and the next thing Lucy knew, she woke up with one of Leona’s arms draped over her and his skin pressed against hers. Leona had the decency to walk her out of the dorm, but their flirty exchange before she left was the last time they spoke. Since then, it almost seemed like Leona was avoiding her.
Yes, it was hard keeping track of time with Leona around but Crowley’s appearance with another task for his new, magic-less gopher brought her dream life crashing to reality. A handful of students suffered some suspicious injuries and once Lucy finally put two and two together, her stomach dropped.
A whole month had slipped through Lucy’s fingers and Leona was going to overblot in one week.
Crowley finished his proposition for help with a motion towards Grim, who was practically shaking with excitement on the sofa next to Lucy, “Should you solve the case, I’ll generously permit your dorm to ender the Magift tournament-”
“We’ll do it!” Grim stood suddenly, pumping one of his paws in the air with a determined grin, “You let me be in the tournament and we’ll solve the mystery, right Lucy?”
“No,” Lucy’s words hung in the air, the words and the feeling of Grim’s surprised, sad eyes on her feeling heavy. She spoke without thinking, of course, speaking from her gut without taking into account how hurt Grim would be if she didn’t help. She shook her head as she scrambled to find a way out of Crowley’s clutches while still keeping Grim’s feelings intact.
But then there was the issue with Leona. Lucy knew the reality of the accidents, and wanted to stop the overblot but if Crowley intervened, what would happen to Savanaclaw? There was no way Leona wouldn’t be severely punished or even expelled.
There simply had to be a way out of this without hurting Grim or Leona. She could always go along with things and lie but-
“I mean, I don’t know, Crowley,” she started, her mind working on overdrive to find some answer to what to do, “How many jobs are you gonna pile on us while we’ve also got school to think about? Plus, people are getting hurt this time. I don’t have magic and, no offense to Grim or anything, but he can’t control his magic well so this job might be dangerous.”
The Headmaster’s smile widened and even though Lucy couldn’t quite see his eyes under his mask, she knew they wouldn’t show any kindness as he spoke, “Well, Ms. Ortiz, need I remind you that I am graciously allowing you to live on campus until we can figure out the travel accommodations for your return? Your time here has already garnered and will continue to accrue a variety of living expenses that will need to be covered somehow. It only makes sense that these odd jobs will go towards repaying my gracious generosity!”
Lucy groaned and put her head in her hands. Of course, greedy asshole Crowley was leveraging homelessness against her. What other options did she have? There was no way Riddle would allow Grim and her to stay for longer than a night at Heartslabyul, if that. And she hadn’t gotten close with anyone else at school other than Leona, not that she was even sure what their standing was at the moment.
A paw gently rested on Lucy’s shoulder. She looked up to see Grim, whose wide blue eyes made him look more like a cat begging for food or attention than usual.
“Come on, Lucy. You’re the brains and I’m the brawn, remember?” Grim whispered, “You’ll help me so I can play, right?”
Lucy sighed, giving in. If there was no way out of this, she’d just need to do things like Riddle’s overblot: go through the motions, follow the events of the story, and everything would work out in the end.
Unfortunately, this was easier said than done after Trey’s accident.
Lucy hadn’t been to Heartslabuyl since the unbirthday party, and she didn’t even like being present for that much. It was a shame since the dorm was beautiful and whimsical and everything she’d expected out of Twisted Wonderland. Plus, there was an unbirthday party at least once a week which Ace and Duece invited her to every time, but Lucy had to politely decline each invitation. Any time she even looked at the dorm’s portal, she felt sick. All she could think about when Heartslabyul came up was Riddle’s overblot— the metallic smell, almost like blood, which permeated the air, the ooze of the ink across the ground and the enormous creature that emerged from it, the piercing scream Riddle cried as the darkness embraced him then engulfed his body in one wave of muck. Lucy locked eyes with Riddle the moment before the blot took him and the fear and helplessness on his face still haunted her.
Though she was currently in the Heartslabyul lounge and not the gardens where everything went down, Lucy still had to fight the pit in her stomach. Maybe she really should have hung around Heartslabyul more often so it could have been a reminder of the hell Leona was about to be put through.
“Lucy, do pay attention. This was your task after all and you’re lucky we have the time to help,” Riddle’s scolding snapped Lucy out of her thoughts, but his tone and look softened when he saw how she jumped, “Are you alright?”
There was something about his look of concern which made Lucy’s heart sink, but she did her best to hide the feeling when she replied cheerfully, “Yeah I’m good! I just... had a long day. Grim and I have been running around all morning trying to figure out what’s going on, so I’m sorry for being out of it.”
Grim scoffed and crossed his front paws, “Oh sure, and it has nothing to do with your dumb boy problems...”
“Grim!” Lucy snapped and sent the creature a death glare, but before she could deflect the conversation, Cater honed in on the potential well of gossip presented to him.
“Boy problems?” it was the first time he put his phone down this entire conversation. There was something about the glint in Cater’s eyes that set off Lucy’s fight or flight.
“Right,” Ace chimed in, almost like some pieces were starting to click into place, “come to think of it, you haven’t been cutting out with that beastman much anymore. He giving you trouble?” There was maybe a speck of concern to the statement but he mostly sounded as giddy as Cater looked.
Deuce sounded legitimately concerned when he chimed in, “Did you need us to step in?”
“No! It’s fine,” Lucy grimaced as she felt a heat spread across her cheeks. The thought of Deuce trying to rough up Leona would have been both sweet and comical if it weren’t for the fact Lucy was about to pass out due to sheer embarrassment.
“Besides, there are way more important things to talk about than my personal life, so if we could just focus.”
“Quite,” Riddle’s annoyed sigh and headshake made the others back off for the moment as he gave the others a look. Lucy also sighed from pure relief. Thank the Seven or whatever they said around here Riddle’s ability to keep the others in line didn’t fade after his overblot incident.
He continued, taking a sip of his tea, “Really now, gossiping at a time like this. And about cutting class no less...”
Riddle trailed off and exchanged a look with Cater over the rim of his teacup. There was no time to process the panic which set in for Lucy before Cater quickly scooted forward in his chair to lean forward and start prodding for more info, “Hold on, what’s this beastman look like?”
So much for Riddle dousing the flames to the fire. Lucy shook her head, “Now wait a second, I don’t think-”
“I don’t know, he’s a Savanaclaw guy,” Ace didn’t miss a beat in responding as if they guys were having a regular gossip session over tea, “Pretty tall, long hair- I think he’s a cat?”
“A lion maybe?”
“Deuce!” She felt a stab of betrayal as Deuce joined in but at the very least, he winced apologetically after she called him out.
“Leona Kingscholar?!”
That was more than enough info for Riddle and Cater who both gasped at the same time. Riddle seemed a little surprised and embarrassed by his reaction while Cater looked like he was foaming at the mouth for details.
“You’re hooking up with Leona?” he pressed after a nod that Lucy could only interpret as a nod of approval.
“We’re not...” They weren’t what? They were hooking up. Past tense. Not that Lucy was in the mood to kiss and tell. Actually, what she really wanted to do was to crawl under her chair and die as she spoke through her attempted smile which wound up looking more like gritted teeth, “We might have hung out a little before.”
“A little?!” Grim stood on the couch to protest, “The other day you ditched me, and I had to spend all night alone in dusty old Ramshackle just me and the ghosts!”
That was it. It was the final blow to send Lucy’s heartrate skyrocketing. Heartslabyul seemed like a decent place to die since if she stuck around to haunt it, it was a much better livelier place than Ramshackle.
Riddle and Deuce were beet red while Cater and especially Ace were dying to hear more.
“Oh really?” Cater was so far forward on his seat now he looked as if he were going to fall off it. Ace leaned over to elbow Lucy but she pushed him away.
“Cut it out! Listen we’ve hung out a bunch before, but it’s done! It’s over. It’s nothing,” her voice was louder, harsher, and shakier than she meant it to be, but she took a breath to try to calm herself, “It... was nothing.” Lucy only just realized she had the kind of crack in her voice one gets when they’re about to cry.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the others shrunk in their seats, refusing to look at Lucy out of embarrassment, finally getting the memo. Riddle was the first one to meet her gaze. He watched her for a few moments, looking apologetic before sitting up and clearing his throat.
“Well, dating amongst students at Night Raven College is highly discouraged but not explicitly against the rules, so it would be unfair to reprimand you as a Housewarden,” there was a slight awkwardness to his tone as he continued, “You can always look at the positives, of course. This would leave more time for your studies and should be helpful as you aren’t from this world and do not have the same levels of compulsory education.”
It was overly formal, but it seemed like an attempt on Riddle’s part to cheer Lucy up. For that, she was grateful.
“Thank you, Riddle,” she smiled softly, “I appreciate the advice.”
Riddle gave a small, pleased smile in return.
But all the talk about Leona, the reminder that he was avoiding her, and the creeping memories of Riddle’s overblot put Lucy over the edge. If she didn’t leave Heartslabyul immediately, she felt as if she’d throw up.
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, “You know, I’m not really feeling too well. Would you guys mind if I head back to my dorm to rest?”
The others all shook their heads and gave quiet responses of “sure” and “okay” with an extra concerned send off from Grim who said, “What good is a henchman if they’re too sick to do their important henchman stuff?”
Riddle spoke before Lucy could leave the Heartslabyul lounge, “I apologize for any stress myself or my students have caused.”
She shoved down the pang of guilt that threatened to turn her stomach, “It’s no problem.”
Lucy knew she should actually return to Ramshackle. She knew that it would be easier to go back to her room and hide until the interdorm magift tournament was complete since events were already in motion. What more could possibly be done with so little time left? But before she could think about it, she crossed the dorm’s entryway gardens, walked through the Heartslabuyl portal and immediately entered the Savanaclaw one.
If going along with the story was too painful, then maybe she could stop the overblot from happening completely.
Lucy had been to Savanaclaw a few times before and it easily was her favorite dorm so far. It was warm without being too hot since there was always a breeze wafting through which carried the smell of grass and herbs across the fields. The dorm building itself was cool with a homey, comforting feel to it despite the occasional rowdy students causing a commotion with each other. It also had the advantage of not being tainted with memories of a horrific overblot… yet.
Lucy spotted Leona immediately and made a beeline for him across the courtyard. He was going inside with a few larger guys Lucy assumed were other third or second years and Ruggie in tow. She hadn’t gotten very close with the other dorm members yet and wouldn’t normally make a fuss in front of them, but she was so focused on speaking with Leona, she didn’t give it a second thought as she walked up behind him and called out.
“Leona.”
The group stopped quickly and even though she only called their housewarden, the others turned to face Lucy before he did. She couldn’t quite place the looks on their faces— expectant, maybe? She wasn’t exactly intimidated by the Savanaclaw guys, but she could see how others wouldn’t want to pick a fight with them. It wasn’t until Leona turned around that the creeping anxiety from Heartslabyul threatened to make Lucy change her mind.
Leona smiled and tilted his head in that flirty way he’d do when Lucy usually approached him. But just for one brief, disquieting moment when their eyes met, something was very, very wrong. Just as quickly as it happened, the dark look flashed away, leaving Leona with the same casual demeanor he usually used when he waited for Lucy to approach him.
“Lucy, it’s been a while,” he sounded flirty but the look he gave her earlier gave a sour taste to the words.
But Lucy was determined to try to stop this. She just needed to try. “We need to talk.”
Leona eyed Lucy for a few moments, the others staying in place until he finally nodded back to them to have them head inside without him. His eyes never left Lucy’s even when Ruggie tapped his arm to get his attention. He just waved the Hyena off who rolled his eyes in response before following orders.
Leona only spoke when the door clicked closed behind his students, “I’m assuming you want privacy for this little chat.”
“Yeah, I’d prefer it,” the other dorm members seemed okay with her, but Lucy wasn’t sure what would happen if they heard her trying to talk their leader out of his plan, “Seems like the students here are a little gossipy and I don’t want too many people overhearing.”
Leona barked out a joyless chuckle that made Lucy jump, “Don’t I know it.”
It felt wrong- dark and tense in a way that Lucy hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was because Leona was so close to overblot? No, Lucy could stop this. She just had to pull him aside and talk him off the ledge.
The two walked a bit away from the dorm building and magift field, out of earshot of any beastmen that might have been milling around. The silence between them weighed heavy until they made it to an alcove in some boulders under the arch of what looked to be a giant elephant ribcage and Leona stopped short with his hands in his pockets. He was no longer flirty and that tension in his voice and eyes were gone. Now he was just cold, his stance and face unattached compared to the warm, confident flirtation Lucy was used to.
“Listen, if this is about how little we’ve talked since the last time, don’t take it personally,” he shifted, eyes darting to nothing in particular in the distance before meeting Lucy’s, “I’ve been… busy.”
This again.
“How am I not supposed to take it personally? What am I supposed to think when you’ve been avoiding me right after we f-” she stopped herself.
Because of course that’s what he thought this was about! It was the only thing on her mind this past week until she as reminded of Leona’s inevitable near-death experience. But if it was on his mind too, why didn’t he come to her? That must have been why he was acting so strange since she got here. Between the stress of the Heartslabuyl guys bringing up their fling and how unattached Leona seemed about the situation, Lucy didn’t have the patience to talk about now. She needed to focus. The overblot. She needed to stop Leona’s overblot.
She took a deep breath before speaking again, trying to set aside the way Leona’s distant eyes made her feel, “I mean, this isn’t about… that, but I guess it’s kind of related.”
Leona’s ear twitched back in irritation and a curious look crossed his face, “What does that mean?”
The way he spoke made him sound as if he already picked up on the actual reason Lucy was there, so she began to explain herself as cautiously as possible. It was an impulsive decision to come talk to him, so she wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Maybe starting with facts would help.
“Crowley asked me to do a favor for him. Said there were some strange incidents happening where students kept having suspicious accidents and told me to investigate,” Lucy bit her lip nervously, “He told me my housing’s on the line if I refuse.”
“You’re on gopher duty. That’s a shame, the geezer really should be doing his own work,” Leona sucked his teeth and leaned on the stone wall, crossing his arms in front of him, “You know, if you wanna get out of it, you’re welcome to stay with me.”
His eyes trailed along the neckline of her collar which made Lucy angrily button up her shirt more. Where’d he get off checking her out and offering to stay over his place again after last time? She huffed, “No, I don’t wanna be a bother.”
“Of course not,” the Lion set his jaw, “you seem kind of stressed about all this though. Seems like you’ve been busy, too.”
“Well yeah, I’ve been on Ruggie’s trail all day and he’s been busier than both of us,” again, the words came automatically, sharp and on edge because Lucy felt like she was spiraling.
“What does Ruggie have to do with this?” Leona’s gaze darkened, his suspicion growing.
Because Lucy shouldn’t know about Ruggie’s unique magic. She hadn’t seen it in person before and she wasn’t close enough to Ruggie for him to tell her about it. Why would she know Ruggie was involved? She hesitated a moment before speaking again.
“Grim told me Ruggie stole that sandwich he nabbed for me the other day. He said his paw moved towards the guy on its own,” That should be more than enough right? The assumption that Ruggie did something to Grim to make him act out of character could be evidence, “It’s not hard to put to and two together. Ruggie’s taking out the interdorm competition for you somehow.”
Leona’s brow knitted together in faux confusion and his catlike pupils slit just a bit, “So Ruggie slick talked that ear of yours out of lunch and you think it has something to do with… what?”
“I figured it had something to do with magic. Grim wouldn’t willingly give up food like that to anyone, including me,” Lucy pursed her lips.
“Magic? Did that pet of yours tell you that?” He let out a dark chuckle, his smile bringing attention to his sharp canines, “You know he isn’t exactly the brightest creature on the island. He probably wouldn’t know he’d been spelled even if you casted it to his face. Besides we’re Savanaclaw. Why would we need to handicap the competition when we could destroy the other dorms in any physical challenge easy?”
“Not Diasomnia.”
Ghosting, doing something dangerous and stupid, lying directly to her face, and now dragging Grim— Lucy was here because she was worried about Leona but he was making it more difficult by the second. So she made a dig of her own. “I know what happened at the last two tournaments. You got your asses handed to you by Malleus because he’s too powerful to take down,”
Leona straightened from the wall, his eyes narrowing and he ran a tongue along this fangs, “Watch yourself, herbivore.”
“The others are a warm up for the big leagues, right?” despite the change in demeanor, Lucy still took a few steps closer to Leona and repeated herself slowly, “Right?”
The quiet tension between the two simmered in their standoff. And although Lucy looked up at Leona with barely contained rage, Leona’s face remained unchanged and emotionless. Then suddenly, his eerily quiet calm gave way to a malicious amusement.
“Lucy,” he took a step forward, using that low, smooth tone he’d pull out just before he’d pull Lucy in before a make out session, but his eyes were all wrong like before, “it’s usually pretty entertaining for me to try and figure you out but there are still a few holes in your story.”
He took a step forward, looming over Lucy with a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “So we’ll start from the beginning. Why did you want to talk to me?”
Lucy never felt unsafe around Leona. He was gentle and patient and even when it seemed like he was getting annoyed with her, he never snapped at her. Leona never pressured her into anything she didn’t want to do and because of that she trusted him, even though they hadn’t known each other for long. But, at this moment, Lucy found herself wondering if maybe they should have had this conversation closer to the dorm halls where they weren’t as alone.
She backed up a step and crossed her arms in front of her, “I’m just worried, okay? I realized what you were doing and I wanted to talk you out of it. It’s dangerous.”
Leona let out another joyless laugh that made Lucy’s stomach curl, “Dangerous to who? A bunch of clumsy kids who easily could have gotten hurt themselves? Ruggie’s taken out a lot more than the ones recently you know. I’m surprised Crowley’s only just picked up on it. All the injuries are minor anyway.”
No, no. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this…
“Oh I know, you hang around those Heartslabyul froshes, right?” Leona sneered, “Ruggie was aiming for Rosehearts but his boyfriend got in the way. I bet they’re pretty wound up about that over there. You don’t want any more of them getting hurt-”
“I don’t care about the others!” Lucy took another step back, mind racing. Why wouldn’t he just listen?
“I mean, I care, I just know they’re gonna be okay. I’m worried about Ruggie and especially you, Leona. Someone could get really hurt.”
Please, just understand what I’m saying.
But Lucy’s words had no effect on him. Leona just straightened up and began to close the gap between them, “Oh, look at you. Stumbling into this school, not a lick of magic, thinking you know better than me and showing up in my territory like you own the place—like you can come here and tell me how to live my life.”
He continued stepping forward until he had Lucy pressed against the wall, his face inches away from hers, “So what are you gonna do, go tattle to Crowley about it? I can stop you by force you know.”
This whole thing was a mistake.
“No, Leona, it that was my goal Crowley would already be here and this would be over!” Lucy pushed him away and managed to squeeze out from between him and the wall, “Ugh, I don’t know why I even bothered.”
Lucy started quickly making her way to the dorm’s portal back to the hub. There was no point in trying to stop Leona’s plan now since he was too far gone anyway. For all she knew, Leona’s blot had been building up this whole time. Hell, it could have been going on for years. Leona was right. She just showed up one day acting like she knew him. Who was she to tell him what to do?
Leona followed quickly behind, “Lu, you can’t run your mouth to the others.”
“Then I won’t! I wasn’t planning on it,” Lucy stopped short and turned to Leona, “Not that you’d believe me anyway since you’re so focused on the interdorms.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Leona still sounded upset, but his anger was quiet, desperate. Just a minute ago he looked and acted so imposing but now he seemed a bit small, “I need this. We need this.”
Wounded, that’s what he sounded like. If Lucy wound up in Twisted Wonderland years earlier, maybe she could have changed the course of fate. But now the clock was ticking and Leona was moving forward at a pace Lucy couldn’t stop.
Lucy stepped closer to Leona, reaching for his hand. He jerked back at first, but then relented, letting her fingers gently wrap around his. She ran her thumb against the soft leather of his glove with a deep sigh. If she couldn’t stop him, she could at least be there when Leona was about to go through what could be the worst, most horrific day of his life.
Lucy was a little scared, but she still trusted Leona at the end of the day, even if he didn’t have any for her.
“Listen, I don’t know what whatever this thing we have is, but I know that at the very least you’re my friend and I want to help you,” she looked up at him, watching his eyes carefully, “don’t you feel the same?”
In that moment, a familiar glimpse of fear and helplessness shown on Leona’s face. It could have been because he didn’t know how to answer, but it reminded her a little too much of that afternoon in the Heartsalbyul rose garden. Lucy’s stomach dropped and she instinctively squeezed Leona’s hand. Maybe, just maybe, he would snap out of it.
“Hey Leona!” a voice called from across the courtyard as some kids waved their housewarden down, “Got some Heartsalbyul kids wandering around!”
The moment was gone as soon as Leona let go of her hand and turned to the voice that called him. Before he started walking in it’s direction, Leona nodded to Lucy once and spoke a warning in an even, unattached voice, “Go get them out of here before I have my guys beat the shit out of them. And then don’t come back here again. Got it?”
Lucy’s words from before echoed in her mind ...it’s done! It’s over. It’s nothing. It...was nothing.
Without hesitating, Lucy nodded in return then ran out to the magift field to get Ace, Deuce, Grim, and Cater out of there unscathed. It took only a little bit of convincing and Lucy managed to keep most of the trembling from her voice. She wasn’t sure if it stoked or eased the suspicion from Cater, but she knew he could tell she was upset. Lucy supposed Cater would have asked her what she was doing in Savanaclaw if it weren’t for the fact that she fell to the ground sobbing as soon as they reached the dorm portal room. Ace, Deuce, and Grim made sure to walk Lucy back home this time. The rest of the day was a blur.
She was out of options, if she really had any to begin with. Lucy had to let the story play out.
Natsu: *constantly gropes Lucy, breaks into her apartment, and makes unwanted and rude comments about her weight/body*
Lucy: *expresses genuine discomfort and repeatedly asks him to stop*
Na/-\lu fandom: omg! Natsu treats Lucy like a princess! He’s so sweet and cares about her so much! Relationship goals!
Loke: *playfully flirts with and compliments Lucy, always wants to help and be there for her*
Lucy: *acts flustered and shy, blushes*
Na/-\lu fandom: Oh my god! What a disgusting pervert! Loke is such an awful person! He is such a disgusting creep to Lucy! She clearly hates him and wants nothing to do with him!
Leo gently rested his head against Lucian’s shoulder, half-curling into his side as they watched one of Lu’s lions with its cub. “I’ll never want to.” He promised softly. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now.” He reached out to lace his fingers through the other man’s, sighing in deep contentment. “She’s beautiful, you know. Sometimes I wish we could take your lions and run away from the circus, just raise them out on some big pasture of land and spend the days in the sunlight, then make love when the moon came out...still, I’m happy here. Circus tricks and constantly moving about and all. I love you, Lu.”
