DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL OR ITS CHARACTERS.
Chapter 1
{Lucy's POV}
Ahhh, what a nice breeze! It makes it less stuffy in this place.
Wait, breeze? I'm in a bandit hideout, so where did the breeze come from?
As I was thinking, I heard a loud crash. I turned around, only to step on an unconscious (he should be on death's doorstep actually) bandit. Oops.
'Are you alright, Hime?' asked Virgo.
'Yep, just fine,' I replied. 'What just happened?'
'You were knocked out, Hime,' said Virgo. 'Is it time for my punishment?'
Sweat. What is wrong with her anyway? How in the world does this link to punishment?
'No, no punishment. Now, Virgo, let's stop talking and…Hang on, knocked out? How?' I was puzzled.
'It was Natsu-sama,' replied Virgo. 'You just happened to be in his path.'
Oh, I see. So that's what happened. Well, accidents do occur…AS IF!
'ROAR OF THE FIRE DRAGON!'
I heard the dreaded voice and seconds later I saw a huge wall of fire headed my way.
'EEEK!' I shrieked, running away with my hands up in the air. Why is it always me?!
I ran past a huge hole where the wall should've been. Oh, so there's where the breeze came from! Oh no, does this mean there's going to be a deduction in our reward again? My rent!
Suddenly, a pillar of golden light appeared behind me. The next thing I knew, I was swept up into an embrace and moving faster than I had been running.
'My dear Lucy, your prince on a white horse has arrived!'
I glanced at Loke, who flashed a very charming smile at me. I felt a rush of heat and I had to avert my eyes. Not good. How can he be so darn handsome?
He leapt over a mound of bodies (undoubtedly Erza's doing) before settling me down on the ground. I still could not look at him because I knew my face was probably red. I saw Gray, hands on his hips as he surveyed the bandit hideout. I looked around once more, and my heart sank. This place looked like a post war relic! Hopefully there won't be more destruction, or we're really going to get it.
{Loke's POV}
My lovely goddess did not seem harmed, so I was relieved. But she wasn't looking at me, which made me slightly upset. Instead, her eyes strayed to Gray. I immediately felt like pulverizing Gray for taking Lucy's attention away from me.
'Lucy, it seems that you and I have a very strong connection,' I said, turning on my flirty mode. 'I do like showing up and sweeping you off your feet. Perhaps you should try dating me, no?'
I was in no danger of her saying yes. I understood Lucy very well. Therefore, this amount of flirting was basically harmless.
'Yeah right,' snorted Lucy. 'Why are you even here anyway? I didn't call for you.'
'Ah, that's because our love is strong enough to break down the barriers between us, my love.' I sang.
I was instantly rewarded with a faint blush across her cheeks. Oh, how lovely she looked! I heard her mutter along the lines of 'what love…nonsense' but I didn't pay any attention to her words. How cute! Maybe I should tease her a bit more.
'Have I told you how adorable you look when you're embarrassed?' I teased.
Ahah! Look. At. That. Blush. Hopefully she does not display such reactions to anyone else. I so don't want to share.
'That doesn't answer my question,' said Lucy, looking flustered. 'Why are you here?'
'Well, you are my princess, so naturally I, your prince on a white horse, have to show up and save you from the nasty, mean dragon.' I smirked as I saw Lucy grow more flustered.
I was about to say something else, when something hard landed on my head. My face got crushed into the gravel and the force was strong enough to actually shatter the gravel.
'What prince on a white horse? All I see is a cat on his high horse.'
Oh. My. Regulus. I know that voice.
{Lucy's POV}
I stared wide eyed at Erza, whose armor-clad foot had claimed my Lion Spirit's head as a footrest. Judging by the state the floor was in, I dare say Loke wasn't going to be looking very charming when he got up. (ahhhhh, that face is probably ruined!)
'Erza? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be wiping the floor with the bandits' faces?' I asked.
'We're done,' answered Erza. 'Natsu went after those who ran away. We should be leaving soon.'
Oh right, that fireball should be done by now. I was grateful for Erza's interruption. I wasn't so sure that I could handle Loke much longer. I was a major sucker for his prince facade.
I brushed my skirt as I got up from the floor, not forgetting to perform a forced gate closure as I did. Erza's foot met the ground as Loke vanished, landing on the gravel with a loud thump. Ahhhh, the floor…
Gray joined us, sauntering over with a pleased expression on his face. I sighed as I pointed at his bare chest. He let out a yelp as he started hunting down his clothes. I thought I heard a 'KYAAAA, Gray-sama!', so that probably meant that Juvia had been stalking us (specifically Gray). I thanked my lucky stars that I haven't been close to Gray on this job, or I would have to face Juvia's wrath. As much as I liked taking a long bath, I don't appreciate taking one in my clothes.
As soon as Natsu came back, we set off to town for our reward. I looked back as we reached the foot of the mountain and I stopped, stunned. You call this a mountain?! The top was literally flattened! The forest was burning, and I was standing on what looked suspiciously like a landslide. I groaned. This is not looking too good.
'My rent!' I sobbed mentally.