All she could see was fire. Fire and blood. A girl lay surrounded by both, her clothes and hair showing only the slightest of blonde in between the red. A guttural scream sounded over the fire and a single word echoed through the room. "Lucy!"
"Carla? Carla, are you okay?" Wendy gently poked at the white feline. Carla just shook her head and went back to her tea. She really wished this wasn't one of her visions, but she knew the truth. Lucy Heartfilia was going to die.
Two days. It had only been two days since Lucy's house arrest and yet she could already feel herself beginning to break. It didn't help that she was constantly being watched. Lucy thought back to her first night back in this house.
"Miss Heartfilia, we meet again." Lucy spun to face the voice. Standing in the darkened corner of her room was none other than the Southern Wolves thug that had broken into her apartment. Looking at him now, she saw what she hadn't a week ago. The man was tall, not crazy Elfman tall, but tall enough. Thick wavy black hair framed his face and stubble coated his chin. A scar ran across a crooked nose and Lucy suspected it had been broken more than once in his life. His eyes were what creeped Lucy out the most. They were black. Not a slight grey or any other variation of the colour. Pure shadow. They held a sense of madness that made Lucy's skin crawl. He was in his early twenties but anyone who looked in those eyes could tell he'd done more than a few sadistic things in his short life. "Tch, tch, have you forgotten the rules already?" he nodded towards her keys. She'd subconsciously taken Leo's key out of the pouch and grasped it tightly against her palm. The metal began humming slightly and Lucy forced her magic into a barrier to stop the lion spirit from calling himself forward. She put his key back and looked at the man.
"What are you doing here?" she remembered the way he'd touched her last time and shifted her feet into the stance Gajeel had taught her, her thumb coming to rest across the knuckles of her fists. He chuckled at her defensive attempts.
"Why, I'm your new babysitter of course." He stepped forward, "I've been hired to keep you from being naughty. Your father has given me permission to use whatever means necessary to keep you in line." He moved closer until he was in front of Lucy. Once again, he'd moved his shadows and she couldn't move. Without Virgo to clean her up, Lucy decided not to bother trying to escape. He reached out and grasped her chin, tilting her head up to face him. "That means, essentially, that I can do whatever I want with you, as long as I deem it necessary of course. Like this." He turned her head and licked her cheek, Lucy trying not to be sick as his breath fanned across her face. "You see, you'd been crying, so it was necessary to get rid of those delicious tear stains." He released her from his grip and moved to the door, "Seeing as we'll be spending most of our time together, I suppose you need something to call me. Maleic will do." He gave her a sickening smile, "We are going to have so much fun together." He left, leaving Lucy to wallow in her misery.
That had been two days ago, and Maleic had used every opportunity to touch her, to make her squirm just because he could. He'd told her when they first met that she wouldn't like his idea of fun. It didn't take Lucy long to agree with him. She finished fastening her dress and looked into the mirror. For the first time, his reflection wasn't there. Now that her father had actively given him orders, Maleic had given up his pastime of making Lucy change in front of him. For her protection, of course. It had been humiliating but she'd had no choice but to obey. Now with him gone, she felt herself relax a miniscule amount. The dress she wore was no ordinary dress. This was her engagement party dress. It was a deep ruby red and had one of the deepest necklines Lucy had ever worn. The fabric fell to her ankle on one side of her legs and was gathered on the other, bringing the hem line up until it rested just below her hip, causing most of her left leg to be exposed. Though this was her engagement party, Lucy knew she was still on display to be sold. If someone decided they wanted her and were willing to offer more than Duke Fornax, her engagement would be cancelled and she would be sold off to the highest bidder. She was livestock and this was the auction. As depressing as this thought was, Lucy couldn't help admire her reflection. She wondered what Natsu would say if he saw her dressed like this. Would he like it? Or would he be as oblivious as he usually was and not notice any difference? Lucy sighed. Probably the latter. She allowed herself to be encased in her delusion, imagining that she would walk down the stairs and waiting in the ballroom would be her true family. She imagined each of her friends congratulating her as she made her way over to him. He would take her hand and she would fall in love all over again. She wouldn't be engaged to some stranger, instead, a pink haired dragonslayer. He would kiss the ring he put on her finger and they would dance all night, celebrating the life they would soon start together. A knock brought her out of her paradise and Lucy sighed. Time to return to reality.
Lucy smiled. Not a real smile. She hadn't smiled properly since she'd left Magnolia and her face ached from keeping her face in a false position. The music ended and she gave a small curtsey to the man she'd been dancing with. She'd lost count of how many men she danced with already tonight, each one of them more handsy than the last. She politely excused herself and made her way towards the bar. Ordering a drink, Lucy allowed herself a moments rest, her feet aching in the ridiculous heels she'd been made to wear. A few more hours and Lucy would retire to her room, taking a bottle of the strongest alcohol she could find with her.
"May I have this dance?" Lucy screamed internally, just wanting a few minutes to herself. She turned, intending to politely decline. Instead she found herself frozen in shock. His usual black suit had been upgraded to something more formal and his sunglasses were nowhere to be seen. She quickly scanned the area, noticing her father speaking to a group of men she'd already danced with. Taking his ringed hand, Lucy allowed herself to be led towards the dance floor. Once the music had started and she was sure no one was paying her any attention, Lucy frowned at her partner.
"Loke, what the hell are you doing here?" the Lion spun her gently before bringing her close and resting his hand on her hip.
"Well, Princess, is that anyway to greet your hero?" he smirked at her. Lucy groaned.
"I didn't call for a hero. What are you doing here? You can't be seen!" Lucy gave another glance around the room and led Loke towards the door. Making her way down the corridor, she made sure no one was around before shoving him into a spare bedroom and locking the door behind them. "Seriously, Loke, why are you here?"
All cheerfulness evaporated from his face, "Are you kidding me? You haven't called any of us out for ages and you actually blocked my gate the other day. Your spirits are worried about you. This was the only way you'd tell me what the hell is going on!" Lucy felt her tears coming again and sat on the bed, her face in her hands. Loke barely heard her whisper 'I'm sorry'. Giving her a soft smile, Loke sat on the bed beside her and drew her in for a hug. "No need to apologise, seeing you in that dress is sorry enough." Lucy gave a choked laugh and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest. "Now Princess, care to explain the situation? Where are we anyway?" Lucy sighed and pulled back, taking his hand in hers.
"We're at the Heartfilia Konzern. I left Fairy Tail." Loke stared at her in shock.
"Why the fuck did you do that?! Fairy Tail's your home!" Lucy squeezed his hand in an attempt to calm him down.
"Fairy Tail was my home. They didn't need me anymore," Loke made to interrupt but Lucy kept talking, "and I did it to save them. My father, he promised he'd destroy Fairy Tail if I didn't do what he wanted. It wouldn't have been like last time. Phantom Lord was a legal guild and they weren't strong enough to take them down. This time he was going to send guilds from under the Balam Alliance. Not just one either. His company is in trouble. You don't know my father; if he wants something, he won't stop until he gets it."
"But how does dragging you back here save his company?"
Lucy didn't bother to stop the tears this time, "Tomorrow I'm to head to Lupinus where I'll be married to Duke Fornax. He will then give my father the financial means to keep the company going. I had to leave Fairy Tail and marry this stranger otherwise the Guild would be destroyed and everyone would die." Lucy looked up at Loke and he was shocked by how utterly broken she was. It hurt to see her like this. "I can't put them through that again. Not after the Phantom Lord battle. You guys were fighting for me and I almost got you all killed!" she buried her head in his chest again and sobbed, "I can't do that to you guys again, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'd kill myself before I'd let that happen." Lucy felt hands tighten on her arms and she was wrenched backwards. Loke snarled at her, his face closer to that of a real lion then Lucy had ever seen before. She stared at him in shock.
"Don't even fucking joke about that! You saved my life and I'm sworn to save yours. Don't you ever say that to me again, you got it, Lucy? I wouldn't let anyone else hurt you, why the hell would I let you do the same to yourself?"
Lucy hugged him again, "It doesn't matter anymore, I won't have to do anything," she whispered so he could only just hear her. Suddenly she jerked herself away from him and stood, pulling her with him as she exited the room and made her way towards another. She dragged him inside and locked the door again. This time Loke knew it was her room. Little pieces of Lucy littered it. An inkstained desk sat in the corner and pictures of her with an older woman were everywhere. She let go of him and made her way to the cabinet beside her bed. Opening the drawer, she pulled out her keys. Loke tensed, ready to stop her from forcing him back to the Celestial Spirit realm. She sat on the bed and stroked the keys lovingly, a type of sadness Loke had never seen clouding her features.
"Lucy-" he began.
"There was another condition my father put in place, you know. You wanted to know why I hadn't called any of you out?" Loke felt as if someone had just kicked him in the gut. This wasn't going to be good. "There were two things I had to do. One was to not call on my spirits. If he found that I had, it wouldn't have mattered if I stayed or not. Fairy Tail would feel the consequences. He made sure I was being watched so I couldn't even if I wanted to. The second," Lucy stood and walked over to him, "was that I had to give you up." She reached up and held his cheek gently, "I know you swore you would protect me, but that's not your job anymore." Realization dawned on him and Loke made a sound of protest before she put her finger to his lips. Normally he'd be happy at how close she was, how soft her fingers felt on his lips but Loke felt nothing but agony. "I'm so sorry, but I have to do this. Please forgive me. Make sure everyone goes to a good home. I couldn't bear to see them get hurt any more than they already have been. Keep Aries with you. She needs you." Lucy tucked her keys into his hands and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before stepping away.
"Lucy, please, don't do this. We'll figure something out, I promise." Loke was crying now and she smiled gently at him.
"I've been putting this off for as long as I can."
"But you can't! We love you. Lucy, I love you!" he took a step forward and she moved back.
Smiling through her tears, she drew on her power, "I release my spirits from their contracts!" Loke felt as though something in him had broken. He reached out as he felt himself being torn away from this world, his body already glowing golden. She passed through his hand, his body no longer solid. "I'm sorry," she said again, her words breaking as sobs racked through her, "I love you too." She slowly disappeared as the spirit world assembled around him. Suddenly he was alone. Looking down, he saw he still held her keys, though he could no longer feel the link to her from any of them. He let out a feral scream into the emptiness.