Hey guys, Clary's back! Without further ado, I present to you a belated entry for Colu Week Day 2 : Excuses.
Too Little, Too Late
Lucy Heartfilia prayed. She prayed for freedom. She prayed for rest. She prayed for the day her mother will stop looking at her as though she is not enough; as though she is nothing but a disappointment. She prayed for a friend – a living, breathing human being that wasn't a butler goat or a mermaid with anger issues or a weird crab with human legs (or is it a human with crab legs?). She prayed for that friend to be real; to be someone who cared and criticized and nagged and loved her all the same.
But most of all, twelve-year-old Lucy prayed for a miracle.
She loved her celestial spirits and her mother with all her heart and would die in a heartbeat for them. But she never really had a chance to truly bond with them. All their time spent together was only to train, train and train. Her mother told her that she was the destined; the child of the heavens – the Aurora of her time. And she was to fulfill the contract binding the Heartfilia line to the Celestial Realm.
But Lucy didn't understand what the damned contract was even about. To her, it wasn't even a 'contract' to begin with. It was a curse. A godforsaken curse that killed her grandmother, Lyanna, and all her other ancestors when they tried fulfilling the 'contract'.
She remembered her grandmother's screams. She remembered hearing her pained moans filling the air as her lips chanted the words to break the Heartfilia's contract to the Celestial Realm. She remembered tasting the metallic smell of blood on her lips. She remembered how her grandmother's guardian – Falcon – screeched as he watched his beloved master die.
Lucy Heartfilia may not understand what the contract was about. But she sure as hell knew what the contract did to her family.
And she wanted nothing to do with it.
She didn't want to be the most powerful Celestial Mage in history. She didn't want to be the only child capable of mastering the Seven Spells of Mildean either. She just wanted to grow up and have friends and bake cookies with her mother…not training hand-to-hand combat with Capricorn; not mastering water spells with Aquarius and most definitely not endurance and defense training with Cancer every single day of her life.
She only wanted a friend. Someone who could free her from these stupid strings of fate strapping her down to her 'destiny'. Someone to share her burden with.
She begged her mother for a guardian. But Lupus – Layla's wolf guardian – and the older blonde mage both agreed that it would be best if she was not attached to anyone, with her destiny looming in the near future.
Well, screw that oversized, mangy, blue furball. Lucy Lya Heartfilia sure as hell did not give a single shit about that wolf guardian or her rules.
So she did some research. Spending three whole days cooped up in the mansion's library was worth it in the end. She found spells –forbidden spells – that would help her summon a guardian on her own, without a mentor's help. If Layla did not want to help her daughter summon her own guardian, Lucy will just perform the summoning alone.
She already had the power capacity and knowledge of a professional mage so she knew she wouldn't overexert herself when summoning her spirit. There was nothing standing in her way.
And as though Lady Luck was shining upon her, Lucy managed to trick her mother in letting her 'train' alone in the forest for once.
If all went well, she wouldn't be lonely. Not anymore.
Letting her power seep through her skin and pump slowly outwards, Lucy closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. She focused her energy at one specific place in front of her and let her magic gush to her hands to form a pathway to the Celestial Realm.
Golden tendrils adorned the space in front of her as she continued to pump her magic slowly outwards to prevent herself from overexerting herself. She gradually opened her eyes and opened her lips to chant the ancient summoning spell she spent days memorizing.
A door was soon formed out of the magical particles that Lucy released. Glyphs of the forgotten language of the stars adorned the door that was formed. The young mage's breath hitched. The toll of the summoning spell was draining her more than she expected. Beads of sweat decorated her face and forearms as she started trembling due to the amount of magic the spell was extracting from her.
AN excruciating pain shot up her gut and she tried not to lose focus.
She was the most powerful Celestial Mage of her time. She was Lucy Heartfilia, descendant of the great mage Anna Heartfilia.
She would not fail.
Shutting her eyes in determination, she released the rest of her magic all at once.
The spell was almost complete.
Just a little further...
Days after, people from villages miles and miles away would talk about the blinding blast that made even the mountains shake.
Months after, an investigation concerning the missing Lucy Heartfilia would begin and rumours would begin to spread.
Years later, the Magic Council would still puzzle over the crater in the middle of the forest near the Heartfilia mansion that obviously couldn't be created by any human alive.
Some theorists say that perhaps it was the missing heiress who created that crater. Perhaps she was secretly a demon in disguise of an angelic, innocent child who came here to wreck an armaggedon on Earthland.
Some realists would counter by saying no normal twelve-year-old have ever been - or ever will be - capable of having such an enormous amount of magical energy, much less a Celestial Mage.
In the meanwhile, somewhere, far far away, in a foreign land known as Alvarez, whispers would fill the streets about a breath-taking, fair-skinned blonde goddess with a heart of gold and her loyal companion with dark, intense amethyst eyes that hid secrets and mysteries untold of.
Violet eyes - or rather, eye - blinked open, confused.
What in Celetia's name were those pile vomit colored things?
And was that the sky? Why was it such a light shade of blue?
And why the hell was there a skinny, panting, human brat in front of him?
Wait a second - a human brat?
Oh, so he was in the human world, huh?
He looked at the girl in front of him, seeing her reach a hand outwards to reign her magic back in.
Hm, Cobra nodded in approval, smart girl. The last time he was summoned to be some shitty human's pet four hundred or so years ago, the weakling of a master let all that magical energy go to waste.
Looking at his summoner with a curious amethyst eye, he analysed the young mage. Surprise and shock flooded his senses as he realized how young she was - only twelve and yet she summoned him all alone with no mentor? He would never admit it, but Cobra was undoubtedly impressed. Being able to summon him - a high-classed demoneia guardian - at such a tender age without dying or even passing out from magic exhaustion was a feat few mages could boast.
He stood there, watching the girl as she stared back at him in awe.
Cobra wanted to scoff at her awe-struck expression. Using his magic to delve into his blonde summoner's mind to see what type of person she truly was, Cobra was more than surprised to find out that the young girl had built a mental wall in her mind so effortlessly. He tried to prod at the wall again to test how skilled his summoner was, when a voice cut through the air.
'Don't even try,'
Cobra's eye snapped back at the young girl. 'I'm not doing anything,' he snapped back in response, trying to cover up the fact that this blonde was hurling surprise after surprise at him and damn if he wasn't intrigued.
'I built a wall in my mind to keep people out. If I had the capabilities to do so, I most certainly have the ability to sense the people who prod at my mind,' she said, her voice hard but not unkind.
She lifted a dainty hand - which Cobra noted was covered in bruises and scars - to brush a few strands of hair away from her face. So she was a fighter. He smirked. This one isn't so weak.
'Good to know you aren't a dumb blonde, Bright Eyes.'
'My name is Lucy,' she emphasized, mirth leaking through her voice as her eyes seemed to sparkle.
She walked closer to him and smiled brightly at him, igniting a spark in the guardian that hasn't been there since Cubellious.
'Will you be my friend?'
Twelve years.
He had been her best friend, her companion, her shoulder to cry on, her rock, her guardian for a little over a decade.
Never once did she feel any fear or hate or apprehension towards him. Even after he confessed to her what he did to his previous masters - after he confessed how much of a monster he truly was - all he heard in her soul was sympathy and sorrow. Sure, she was shocked and confused when he first told her, but he didn't expect her soul to reach out to him to comfort him.
'You didn't mean it, Cobra,' she had said. 'You only wanted to be treated like everyone else. That doesn't make you a monster, no matter what everyone else says.'
She had hugged him tightly, her soft voice whispering sweet nothings as she reassured him that no, he wasn't a monster or a murderer, he was Cobra - her Cobra.
He felt something in him break.
And the dam in him burst open and suddenly he was sobbing in her arms.
Cobra does not cry. He was one of the most feared celestial guardians whose origin traced as far back as history itself and he has battled monsters larger than life. Even when he lost Cubellious, his only partner who understood what it felt like to be a guardian - an immortal with all the power in the world and yet caged within this accursed body for eternity - he never cried.
Long ago, he would have ripped his blonde master's throat out for even daring to touch him. But Lucy Heartfilia had changed him.
She was his miracle.
She was his undoing.
She was his friend as much as he was hers.
He told her his true name. He told her about Cubellious. He told her everything.
He finally let go because Lucy would never betray him.
She was his Bright Eyes, after all.
'What do you mean she's busy? She's been avoiding me for two months!'
'Princess has problems she needs time to resolve. She has specifically instructed us to stop you from leaving the Celestial Realm until she summons you.'
'What the hell are you talking about, Masochist? Bright Eyes knows how much I -'
'Yes, Princess is fully aware of your fear of being caged up, but the instructions she has given us -'
'Screw her instructions! Let me out or I'll rip your f -'
'Virgo, let me handle this.'
'Pussycat! Tell your freaky cosplaying sister to let me go!'
'Cobra, Lucy is busy consulting Crux at the moment, and they need absolute privacy.'
'I've been giving her 'privacy' for two fucking months already!'
'...'
'Tell me the goddamn truth, Leo. I need to know.'
'...'
'Please. I just - I need to know.'
'Lucy wants to break a contract.'
'What? She will never break a contract with her spirits. You of all people should know this, Leo.'
'Not a spirit contract, Cobra.'
'...'
'She wants to break a contract with a guardian.'
Cobra ran through the forest they were camping in. His thoughts raced to grasp what Leo had told him.
A menacing growl escaped him as his skin changed to scales and his body growing to his natural form.
How dare she. After what they've gone through, she's just going to,what, throw him away like a piece of used trash?
The guardian could barely think straight as his vision was clouded with red. Snarling, Cobra felt the blood lust he had kept buried for so long for Lucy's sake stir within his soul. He felt pleasure tingle up his spine as he relished how piercing her screams would be as he tore her heart out like how she did to him, regardless of what excuses she would cook up again.
Sensing his master's soul nearby, the maroon-haired guardian increased his pace.
His back went rigid as he heard her utter the ancient language to complete her spell. His eyes flashed from violet to red as he let a feral scream tear through his lips. All sense of reason escaped him as he saw his master turn around.
His hands tore at her body as she yelled for him to stop. His fangs sinking into her flesh as she cried out for him to listen.
He tried to relish the pain she felt. But somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew that it was wrong. This was Lucy.
This was his Bright Eyes.
She would never hurt you.
Erik, stop!
Cobra went rigid as Lucy struggled beneath him, whimpering in pain.
That voice, it sounded so familiar.
It was almost like -
'Erik! Stop hurting her!'
Cubellious.
All of a sudden, he snapped out of his reverie.
He turned his head to look at Cubellious to see if it was really her.
Purple hair and emerald eyes greeted him. But unlike when he last saw her, her eyes flashed angrily and she hissed as she shoved him away from the blonde mage underneath him.
He watched in horror and confusion as he stared at the blood-stained the ground where he attacked Lucy.
He attacked Lucy.
He tried to kill Lucy.
The thought of it made him gag and he keeled over to vomit in the bushes.
The smell of blood - her blood - was overwhelming. Make it go away, he screamed internally. He looked at his hands in disgust and terror as he desperately tried to scrub her blood off himself.
Hearing whispers and moans of pain, he swiveled over to find his long-lost partner bending over Lucy, her hands trembling as she tried to staunch the flow of blood.
'I-it's okay, Kina...' he heard Lucy whisper before a cough raged her body. 'A-at least I...I brought you t-two together.'
He clambered towards the blonde, tuning into her soul that was wavering. He expected to hear waves of anger and hate and betrayal in her soul directed towards him. He was the one who hurt her after all.
But he only heard contentment. Why the hell is she content? She was fucking bleeding out on the ground and Cobra - of all people, the very one who swore to protect her to his death - was her murderer.
He retreated back, unable to deal with Lucy's soul - so beautiful, so pure, so innocent, so willing to forgive and forget.
He reached out a blood-stained hand to cradle his master - no, his best friend's cheek. Unfocused brown eyes glanced at Cobra and she smiled. Oh, she smiled.
Cobra felt her love, her forgiveness, her pain all conveyed in that bittersweet smile.
His heart broke.
'E-Erik,' she choked out, blood splattering onto his cheek as she leaned onto his hand. He let out a whimper as he saw the dark blotches of blood spread across her shirt. 'G-give me...m-my keys...'
A soft hand clasped his shoulder.
He turned around, eyes rimmed with red, lashes clumping together.
Cubellious - or rather, Kinana - passed Lucy her keys and smiled at the blonde.
Lucy let out a shuddering breath as she clutched her keys to her chest.
A smile split across her face as she whispered something under her breath.
Her keys glowed in response.
Lucy looked at Cobra once again and she lifted her hand to caress his face; to reassure him that she was fine; that they would be fine.
Cobra let himself melt into her touch and savor what was left of them.
He let himself escape from reality one last time.
The warmth of her hand left him as abruptly as it came.
And her brown eyes fluttered shut.
He found out later that when Leo said Lucy was going to break a contract with a guardian, she meant to break Cubellious's contract with her master.
The blonde mage found out that Cobra's past friend and companion - Cubellious - was an abused guardian of an Alvarian citizen who illegally made the guardian his bedroom slave.
I want him to be happy again, she had told Crux, I want him to be reunited with her, no matter the cost.
Crux had warned her of the consequences of defying the rules of the Celestial Realm multiple times in a row - once to summon Cobra; a second time for Leo; the third time was for completing the Seven Spells of Mildean without permission from the Celestial King and now the fourth time.
It would be a miracle if the Celestial Council allowed her to keep living after breaking so many rules for her friends.
They told him that she slaved for weeks, looking for ways to create a spell to break the bond between guardian and master.
They told him that she was jealous. She was jealous of how much Cobra loved Cubellious; of how much he cared for the mysterious guardian.
They told him of her determination. The Celestial Council had threatened to strip her of her powers. but she had laughed at them. 'Go on,' she had said, 'do that and you will lose the last of the Aurorae. Do it and you will lose the most powerful Celestial Mage the world has ever seen.'
They told him that she loved him. She loved him so much she was willing to die to help him find happiness again.
And so he spared them, knowing that Lucy wouldn't want him to destroy her beloved spirits.
There were no excuses made on behalf of Lucy's death.
Everyone knew it was his fault after all.
So he gave them what they wanted.
Only death can pay for life, they said.
He would willingly die for her as she had died for him.
So as he stared at death in the face, a smile spread across his face.
He was going to see her again.
Not in this world and not in this lifetime even.
But one day, he knew, they were going to meet again.
And when that day came, there would be no excuse for him to avoid telling her then.