It had been any other day. Lucy gallivanting about with Natsu, who was either going to save her life with his power or set her hair on fire in a little fight with Grey. He'd heard she had purchased a cute little house for herself in town only to be invaded by the rest of her so-called team. Loke had wandered by one occasion, not to check on her. No. Of course not. He had just so happened to be walking in the complete opposite direction of his house for no reason at all only to stumble upon the dainty little place where the power of a celestial wizard was at its strongest because of its resident. Obviously, it was a completely innocent wandering mistake on his part. Through the window – not because he was looking though, obviously – he had happened to catch a glance of Natsu and Grey, who naturally seemed to have lost his clothes somewhere along the way. Luckily, Lucy hadn't been in the room given the way Grey had lounged around on her furniture like some naked pervert. Still, with the two of them in a room alone, it was a wonder the entire block hadn't been demolished.
That had been weeks ago and now they were all off together on some job again. The guild hummed and buzzed with chatter as usual, the noise dulled and unfocused to Loke. Eventually, he had slunk on home, alone for once, to curl up under the covers. When he returned…
The guild had been desecrated by iron rods that shot through the walls like fists. The master urged everyone down to the basement, where they had worked together to set up tables and the job board, but even his waning senses could detect the underlying layer of rage everyone was keeping locked tight inside of themselves. Somehow, all he wanted was to push those intrusive rods from their home and rebuild it. The only home he had and now it too had been taken from him. Leaning against a pillar in the center of the room, he kept quiet and plotted. Schemes he was too weak to carry out, his power a mere cub to the veracious roar of strength that used to surge through him before. But oh, the murderers he committed in his head that day.
When Lucy and the group returned, he almost laughed. For the first time, her entering a room meant nothing. His spirit, like the rest of the guild members, were for once all in harmony. There was only despair and anger here. Keeping his position by the pole, he watched Lucy cross the room under the cover of his shades. Her tight pink bodice left a little too much definition and her pleated black skirt flirted along her thighs with every step. Given much more time and his pants would've been showing a bit too much definition too. Though he couldn't hear what the master was saying, he could guess. It had been Phantom Lords, those cowering fools who knew they could never win if they left the shadows.
A sting of possessiveness shot through him when the master's hand somehow ended up on Lucy's ass, but well he couldn't really blame the old man. In times such as these, he might as well go with his instincts. With instincts that were too dull to do much good these days, Loke relied upon his shades to do most of the concealing for him, tracking his pretty prey though he couldn't say why.
That evening some of them chose to stay behind and watch over the guild, Loke's original intent. However, Lucy took off on her own, chatting up her little spirit pet the shivery snowman. Prowling after her with his hands in his pockets, Loke tensed up as she balanced precariously on the very edge of the road next to the river that ran past. Some boatman called out something at her, but again, Loke's senses refused to cooperate. He recognized this road and when they closed in on the house, he recognizes the signs that other people were home. From over Lucy's shoulder quite a ways back, Loke could pinpoint the red flash of hair as Erza, the smell of lava as Natsu, and the chilling air as Grey. So she wouldn't be alone tonight. Not like him, though everyone in Fairy Tale had been assigned others to keep everyone safe. And back to the guild he went, hurrying to escape the inevitable pull of the celestial wizard.
When the news came that 3 members, a girl and two boys, had been found in the park, he felt his heart stop. It wasn't the stop he'd been expected for years, but rather that of a fist wrapping around the organ and squeezing until it had bled dry. All in a few seconds. But then he stopped and for a few precious moments of clarity he just knew. Even if Lucy did hang around with Grey and Natsu as a general rule, it wasn't her. He just…knew. This ability was definitely not one he was eager to expound upon though. In the march to the Phantom Lords, locked his powers down deep, trying to store them up. Whatever he had to give, the guild deserved it for this revenge. He was focused and well not powerful, certainly determined. Natsu politely knocked – honestly it wasn't their fault the door was so weak that a tiny, fiery punch resulted in an explosion right? – and Loke locked eyes on the first he would go after.
They had left the celestial wizard behind; Lucy would watch after Levy and the boys. More importantly, she would stay out of this herself, which meant she wouldn't have to open the celestial gates for the poor spirits forced into the human world to defend her and feel the pain of separation.