Author's Note: Well I'm really glad to see that some people actually liked this idea! Reviews make getting motivation to write the next chapter so much easier. ALSO I have decided that the pairings will go like this since they are pretty much canon:
GrayxJuvia
ErzaxJellal
LevyxGajeel
.
..AND either
LokexLucy
or
NatsuxLucy
Anyway give me some feedback concerning this! I already have one review leaning towards NaLu so I have no problems with that. Anywho onto chapter 2.
Disclaimer: We already know I don't own Fairytail but to apease Fanfiction I have to say it. Here ya go you annoying bastards.
Chapter 2: Betrayal of the Heart
Walking around the apartment the Lion spirit looked for his master, but to no such luck. Feeling panic rise in the pit of his stomach Loke stormed to the bathroom and threw the door open.
"LU-" he never finished his call as he noticed the bathroom was also completely empty. "Where is she?" Leo knew better than anyone that Lucy had her keys on her at all times and to not have them with her worried him immensely.
He was about to leave the bathroom after searching when a flash of red caught his eyes. Turning around the lion quickly pulled the towel that had been stuffed behind the garbage bin free and looked at its red stained surface.
He sniffed once.
His eyes widened in panic as he dropped the towel, that smell belonged to only one person, Lucy. As he glanced around once more he quickly realized there had been no struggle so the chances of kidnapping were extremely low, but with this evidence the worry that had plagued him had shot up tenfold.
Going back into her apartment Loke looked around for any indication of his masters whereabouts and quickly found that her winter jacket was gone from its rightful place on the coat rack and that the door to her apartment had not been closed fully.
Setting the stuffed lion down, Loke grabbed up Lucy's keys and shot off into the winter night. Hoping with all of his might that his celestial mage was safe somewhere.
The lion knew in the pit of his stomach however that that wasn't the case.
Lucy blinked her eyes several times and found herself standing in a dimly corridor, the stone walls that surrounded her towering over her small frame.
"Where am I?" The blonde asked as she looked around herself in panic, unsure of what to do. A low laugh echoed as a woman draped in a long dress appeared before her. Looking up Lucy was shocked to see the mirror image of herself looking back at her.
"Hello Lucy," the woman, her mirror image greeted, her lips curling into a wicked smile, "what a pleasure it is to meet you in person."
"Y-you're" Lucy stuttered as she stumbled backwards, "You're me!" Landing on her hands the blondes eyes widened in horror.
"Not quite," The duplicate explained as she trailed closer to Lucy, "though that really doesn't matter now, does it?"
"What do you want?" Lucy shot back, trying to keep her voice from wavering, "What's going on?"
"Now, now," The other Lucy clipped her tongue distastefully before shaking her head, blonde curls bouncing, "I can't tell you that cause you see that would ruin the fun of this game."
A large cracking noise echoed around Lucy startling the blonde. Soon after the noise resounded Lucy felt the stone underneath her hands begin to crumble away as a dark mist rose from the cracks. Screaming the blonde tried to crawl away from the darkness that was seeping upwards and towards the grounded blonde.
A cackling came from the duplicate as she lowered her eyes towards the panicking mage on the ground.
"Let the game begin."
"LUCY!" the low base voice echoed throughout the snow covered streets as an orange haired man raced through the ice looking for his celestial mage. Slipping slightly Loke cursed in frustration as he quickly caught him and set himself back balanced on his feet and took off running once more.
Where could she have gone? The lion spirit thought in panic as his eyes searched quickly through the deserted streets, his green orbs only coming into contact with abandoned carts and iced over stone. She couldn't have gotten very far, he assured himself, I would have felt a great distance between our bond if she had.
Jumping over a huge pile of snow Loke threw his hands up around his mouth and let out a loud call, "LUCY! ANSWER ME!" His voice echoed eerily before fading into the distance. No response came.
"Shit," he murmured as he hands came into his hair, tugging on the locks in frustration, "how could I have let this happen?" A million scenarios played through his mind as he imagined all of the horrible things his owner could have been going through at that moment.
"No, this can't be happening," He groaned to himself, "I can't let this happen again. Not like with Karen. Not Lucy..." Letting his voice fade out the spirit looked up towards the night sky and noticed just how dreary and gray the entire town appeared under the gray blanket of clouds.
The only time it actually snowed in Magnolia...
Shaking his head Loke willed his thoughts to get back on track.
"Think Leo," he chided himself, "THINK!" He considered the idea of going to the guild, knowing that was a great chance that was where Lucy had been headed, but that was still a great distance away and there was the possibility that she collapsed between where he was and the guild. He shook his head, going to the guild was a bad idea he had to be thorough with his search. Besides some underlying instinct within the lion told him that his owner was not at the guild.
She may have left Magnolia on a train but that idea also soon sprouted holes in its logic and become flawed. If she was traveling that far she would have taken her keys with her regardless. Though, the man thought sourly, if she was as ill as it seems she may have forgotten...He shook his head. No, Lucy would never be that careless regardless of what state she would have been in, she loved her spirits too much to leave them unattended for too long.
Then where the hell had she gone?
Running through several places she could have made off to an idea suddenly hit him.
Focusing his magic to the front of his mind he willed the image of Lucy to appear before him as he searched through his magical archive for his bond with her.
After only a few moments of submersion in his inner magical power the lion quickly caught sight of the gold string shimmering amongst his magic and reach out to touch it his hand coming to rest on the strong magical connection-
He found her. Panic swelled up in his being through as he felt her presence through the contact. He could feel her, she was weak, near death even.
His eyes flew open.
Wasting no time the spirit began making his way through the maze like streets of Magnolia, never slowing as he drew close to the location. Turning a final corner Loke could feel her presence but couldn't see her. It took him a moment before he realized the collapsed lump covered in inches of snow was Lucy.
Lucy let out a horrified scream as the black mist wrapped around her, beginning to seep into her skin.
"Do you feel that?" The other Lucy asked, her head cocked to the side in amusement, "That is the feeling of true power. Of darkness." An amused grin graced her face, "Let it in. That is if you're strong enough to not let it kill you."
The real Lucy lashed out against the darkness screaming in frustration.
I can't win, she thought in fear, it's too strong there's just no way...She felt her body go limp as the darkness begin to dig even more painfully into her skin, embedding itself into her.
"Giving up so soon?" The imposter sounded shocked, "I thought you had more fight in you than that. No matter, you're just trash if you can't control it." A smile graced her features, "Guess we were wrong in assuming you could handle it."
The end was growing closer, Lucy could feel it. She could feel herself letting go...
A flash of pink hair danced through her mind.
"Lucy!" His devilish grin as he threw his hand up in the air greeting her. "Let's become a team!"
The same boy only stronger appeared.
"The strongest team."
I can't let it, she thought to herself as she squinted her eyes against the pressure of the blackness, her back coiling against it, I can't let it win. I have to live.
It wasn't going to win.
"Lucy..." Loke muttered, his voice filled with horror. Not wasting a single moment the man slid next to the blonde and quickly began removing snow from her body.
Slipping his arm underneath Lucy Loke soon had the limp blonde pulled up in his lap. Panic coursed through his veins, Please he begged, please be okay.
As her form came to be pressed against his own the man almost shrank away at how cold she was. She was colder than ice, and her body was thoroughly soaked. Not to mention how uncannily still the girl was in his arms.
"Lucy," Loke suddenly pleaded, his arm hooked safely under her shoulders as his other hand held her limp head up, "LUCY! Don't you dare die. Lucy." his hands pushing her soaked bangs from her face, as he willed some of his warmth to transfer to the girl.
Where the HELL was Natsu when you needed the bastard?
"Come on Lucy," Patting her face lightly, Loke felt his gut twist even more as he noted how blue her lips were and that her face was a ghostly white, "I know you're in there. Work with me here." Willing the pounding of his heart to silence the lion spirit pulled the girl up closer to his body.
Pushing her face up to his own Loke listened carefully, hoping to hear breathing from the girl. Nothing came.
"Shit." Pulling her wrist into his warm hand he quickly pressed his fingers into her frozen, holding his breath he waited. The slightest pulse moved beneath his fingers. She was still there, but only barely. Tears were burning at the back of his eyes, he had failed her.
"Lucy," Loke began in a shaky voice, "I know you don't want me to have to do this and I'd rather you be conscious when we share our first kiss-" No response came from the frozen girl, "Please Lucy, breathe. Come back to me. Please." Still nothing.
"Shit," Loke hissed as he pulled the girls head up , preparing for the worst. A breath suddenly brushed his nose however as he came close to her. Loke pulled back, relief fluttering through his system.
"Lucy!" He cried out noticing her brown eyes were beginning to flutter, "You're okay-" Her palm came to rest on his face.
"Lucy?"
Yelling the blonde felt power boil up beneath her skin as push out through her skin, searing the blackness and making it recoil against the light.
"What the hell is this?" The imposter barked, her eyes narrowing, "This isn't possible!"
The blackness was suddenly consumed in golden light as it released its hold on Lucy, allowing said girl to drop towards the ground. Landing on her knees, Lucy felt her bangs cover her eyes. A thousand voices swirled through the girls mind, chanting various things and edging her forward.
"You bitch," the other woman snarled, the darkness beginning to wrap around her palms, "If they can't finish you off I will-" The woman's sentence was cut short when Lucy's hand suddenly gripped her face, power beginning to crawl beneath her skin.
The woman looked up in panic and almost instantly felt the tension fall from her shoulders. The girls eyes were onyx, the curse had managed to embed itself. The woman chuckled, her mission was finished.
"What are you laughing about?" Lucy voice was not her own, the power that coursed through her veins felt extremely foreign and in many ways so entirely right but wrong. She felt like a stranger inside of her own skin.
"We win." The woman began to cackle.
Anger flared through Lucy, a feeling so unlike her. This wasn't her she knew, but for some reason she couldn't stop. Letting a roar rip from her throat black energy exploded in the woman's face causing an agonizing yell to fly from the woman's mouth.
Lucy felt her eyes widen, that didn't sound anything like-
Suddenly Lucy was thrown back into consciousness her eyes fluttering rapidly. It was Loke screaming. Lucy felt her eyes widen in disbelief and horror.
Darkness was swirling around her palm as it coursed through Loke's body, his face was contorted in pain, eyes dull from the agony.
"Oh my god!" Lucy yelled as she pulled her hands away from Loke. As soon as her hand came away from his face the orange haired spirit became lax as he tumbled backwards into the snow, his breathing shallow and eyes hollow.
Lucy scrambled to her feet, tears streaming down her face, what had she done? Looking at her hands Lucy felt disgust flare through her system as she let out a single heart wrenching scream that resonated throughout all of Magnolia.
Natsu grinned as he kicked Gray over a table and blocked a punch from Elfman, this was getting to be way too much fun.
"I'm all fired up!" The dragonslayer proclaimed, as flames came pouring through his first as he cackled in delight. A solid rod of iron hit him across the face sending the boy sprawling.
"Shut up you bastard!" Gajeel yelled as he pulled the rod of iron back, his body kneeling on the broken table.
"Ice make: LANCE!" As soon as the yell came out Gajeel looked up stupidly to see a solid rod of ice racing towards him. Having no time to move the block of ice collided with the iron dragonslayers face, knocking him from his perch.
"NATSU!" Gray roared, as he jumped up from the rubble.
"Bring it stripper!" The pink haired boy taunted, his hands waving for the ice alchemist to come at him, "I'll kick your ass all around the guild."
"ENOUGH!" A booming voice suddenly roared as a giant suddenly appeared above all of the brawling guild sending them all into a stunned silence, that is, except for Natsu.
"Alright!" Natsu cheered, "Gramps is joining in-" A hand collided with Natsu and slammed the dragonslayer painfully into the wall. Letting out a small squeak he slid down before landing with a solid thunk.
"Oh Natsu," Happy whined, facepalming, "You never learn."
"YOU SHITTY BRATS!" Makarov roared in his giant form, "CAN WE NOT HAVE A SINGLE MOMENTS PEACE?" Sighing the man slowly began to shrink back to normal size, annoyance written across his features.
"Settle down and quit your brawling!" The old man yelled before muttering something under his breath that sounded oddly like 'I should have retired when I had the chance.' Turning Makarov begin making his way across the wreckage back to where his alcohol lay waiting for him.
Natsu went to open his mouth to make a comment when a scream suddenly echoed from outside the guild and resounded throughout the entire guild hall. Everyone froze.
"Was that-" Levy asked, her eyes wide in horror.
"Lucy." Natsu growled, immediately recognizing the scream, jumping up he made a beeline for the doorway. It was mere moments before Gray and Erza quickly flanked him, followed by a panic stricken Wendy and Levy, with Gajeel trailing closely behind and the three exceeds flying quickly ahead.
It wasn't long before the situation settled in on the entire guilds mind and they were racing behind the others, worry and fear embedded in their hearts and one thought racing through each of their minds in unison.
What had happened to their celestial mage?
Stumbling to her feet, Lucy felt the tears streaming down her face unrestrained. Frozen in fear the mage could do nothing more than watch the feeble breathing of her most loyal spirit.
"..this curse will destroy anyone who tries to help, much the same way it will destroy you."
This was all her fault.
She was a monster.
A high scream suddenly tore through Lucy's mind driving the spirit mage to her knees. Soon her head was filled with screaming voices, all of them directed towards her.
"Murderer!"
"Killer!"
"Monster!"
She couldn't take it. Unaware of anything but the agonizing ear splitting racket in her mind Lucy failed to notice as she coughed up blood and as the weak voice of her spirit called to her in fear.
"Lucy!"
It fell on deaf ears.
Trying to escape the voices the celestial mage stumbled back to her feet and ran as quickly as she could. Her hands clamped down on her ears and tears pouring down her face without restrain. She had to get away, she couldn't harm anyone else.
The voices were singing now, a high dissonant tune that tore at the blonde's soul.
"murderer, murderer, you killed him, you killed him, who's next?"
Sliding through the streets Lucy quickly fled Magnolia, her feet pounding painfully against the icy stone roads. Hitting the bridge that was that entrance into the city the blonde quickly evaporated into the ice ridden woods, the snow leisurely covering up her tracks as she disappeared without a trace.
Author's Note: Well that was...intense to write haha. Hope you enjoyed it. Expect chapter three up either tomorrow or the next day (no promises though)
