Okay, so I lied. Have a new chapter. Angst week is killing me, so I decided to write up another chappie.
She didn't know how long she sat in her mother's chair, holding her mother's case to her chest, crying because of the memories that kept flooding into her mind, like a dam finally allowed to burst. She'd shoved all this away, let her father's indifference rule after her mother's death. She'd forgotten the good times she'd had her, and remembered only the bad. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at the velvet case. Now that she was focusing, she could see the tiny dots of gold against the black, like stars in the sky, and had to wonder just what connection her mother had had with the stars. How was she able to call upon the stars for help? Had her mother been more than human, or was Astraea just in a good mood and decided to help her mother out?
Surely, a star just didn't decide to help a mortal for no reason, right?
Hopefully, whoever she was supposed to be 'saving' would have answers. She turned her attention back to the case, running her fingers over the lock; almost without thinking about it, put in the combination, a part of her already knowing what lied within. The case opened with a small 'click,' and Lucy wasted no time in opening it. Set within the velvet cushions were keys, about five inches long, and looking decidedly dusty. Lucy frowned. How could they be dusty when they'd been enclosed in the case? She ran her fingers along one, and jolted back when she felt the ice cold metal. Sure, the house was no longer heated, but there was no reason for the keys to feel as if they'd been dunked in ice water.
Stranger still, no dust had come off the key. Lucy flexed her hand, and then lifted one that looked like it had an axe on the end, trying to ignore the cold. The key had obviously once been gold, but the color was dull, not from dust, but reasons Lucy couldn't figure. Had the metal simply tarnished over the years it had sat in the case? A flash of color caught her eye, and she sat the axe key gently back into its case. She blinked at one of the keys…it looked like it was brighter than the rest. She touched the key that had the slightest glow to it. The light swelled for an instant, then faded like a sigh. Heat pulsed from it, and then faded in a constant rhythm, like a heartbeat.
Lucy lifted the key, and the pulse increased, like encouragement, or a racing heart. She looked at the enlarged end, the end meant to be held, and blinked at the strange dark red symbol that stood out on the white, surrounded by metal. The metal around the white was carved, but Lucy wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be. She could make out eyes, and fangs. Lucy closed the case, but kept the strange key in her hands. She stood and scanned the room, her mouth open to thank Natsu for respecting her need for silence, only to blink at the empty room.
Where was he? Lucy blinked and realized she hadn't heard from him or Happy in a while. She opened the door and was going to investigate when the key's pulse increased a bit. She looked down at it, trying to remember where she'd seen it before…and why she knew it was connected to the man who needed her help. A memory floated to the forefront of her mind, the man in the suit again, the one who liked to laugh, he was smiling, glowing, and she…she was crying.
"You'll see me again,"
She tightened her grip on the key, hoped that Natsu and Happy were okay—she hadn't heard any explosions—and turned away from the front stars, running towards the back of the house. Her heart raced, beating in time with the key, her hair streaming out behind her. With every step, more memories made themselves known. That man holding her when she'd hurt herself, joking with her mother, reading her bedtime stories.
Holding her when she realized her mother was very, very sick. Holding her when she couldn't go see her mom. Wiping away the tears. Dealing with her tantrum, her screams, when she didn't understand what that mean doctor had meant when he said that mommy wasn't coming back. She'd hit him, she remembered, kicked and yelled, bit and beat her tiny fists against him when he dragged her away from the room that held her mother. Looking at him as he wiped her tears away one last time, as he glowed and faded.
"You'll see me again,"
"You'll see me again,"
"You'll see me…."
"You'll see…."
"LOKE," She screamed, bursting out the back door of the house, the name coming to her out of the blue. The key heated, and flashed brightly, responding to the name. Her heart slammed in her throat, and tears clogged her throat. Where was he? Was he close? Trapped like Natsu? The back gardens were worse than the front ones, a veritable jungle. Was he in there somewhere? Where was he?
"LOKE!" She called again. She closed her eyes, dragged air into her strained lungs and tried to think. She had the key. It was dull, and she knew something was wrong with it, as well as the others. But it was responding to her, it had responded to the name, and she knew she had to be close to him.
At least, she hoped she was close.
She held the key out in front of her, and tried to access her magick. So far, she'd only done it on accident or when in mortal peril. She slowed her breath, allowed her body to relax. The magick was a part of her, and she had full rights to use it. It flowed through her, gentle and soothing, like her mother's hand brushing against her cheek. The key's beating increased.
Lucy.
The voice floated into her mind, and she recognized it as Loke's. The man who had called her for help. The one who had loved her so much when she was little, and had taken care of her when her mother could not and her father couldn't be bothered to. She owed him. She had to find him. He'd said she knew where he was. It had to be here. The grounds were immense. There were hundreds—if not thousands—of places to hide. She could really use Natsu's help.
You know.
She ground her teeth in frustration. She'd explored this place so much, and while she knew she'd never been everywhere on the estate, there were few places she hadn't been. How was she supposed to figure out where one stupid man was?
It seemed she was doomed to be surrounded by idiots.
She sighed, and determined to do this on her own—after all, she was the one who owed Loke so much, not Natsu—she tried to think of places he'd be.
It clicked then, it was so obviously simple. The key warmed again, and she took off in a run. She charged into the 'jungle,' following the paths lost to time, somehow sliding through the growth with ease. She ran into the shadows of ancient trees, who whispered secrets no one could understand. She ran past weathered statues whose eyes no longer saw, whose stone was beaten by the wind and rain, and were slowly being reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Vines twisted through wild hedges, flowers left to grow were untamable, brilliantly colored, surrounded by a hundred shades of green. In a wild, raw sort of way, the gardens were still beautiful.
She couldn't dwell on it though. She had a goal, and she needed to reach that goal. She pushed through the last of the vines, and entered the one place in the gardens that seemed to have escaped Mother Nature's attempts to reclaim what was hers. No trees were close here; the gigantic circular garden had a clear view of the heavens above. Statues were everywhere, mixes of people and objects. They seemed to glow with a faint light. The key was practically having a heart attack now, and one of the statues was pulsating in response. She set the case down, being careful make note of the place she'd put it. It lay on a small stone bench, one meant for a child. She made her way over to the statue, passing several others. She took little note of them.
The statue she stopped at was a large, roaring lion, several times bigger than the real thing. Carved into its chest was a small key, the same one she held. Below the key was a keyhole. She looked at the key, which was blinking rapidly, and wondered if it could be so simple as to put the key into the lock. Having no other ideas, she slid the key into the lock, her magick practically dancing within her. Nothing happened at first, and on a hunch, she turned it, as one would unlock a door.
A golden lion roared out of the lock, fading away before it touched Lucy. The statue and key glowed, blinding Lucy. Magick exploded upwards, screaming towards the sky. The light touched the sky, and the sky darkened, turning to night. Stars erupted out of the dark, and the black of night ate the light of day. Lucy couldn't let go of the key, and she knew some of her magick was wrapped up into…whatever was happening. The entire sky was dark now, and the stars were connected with thin, golden lines, showing the constellations clearly. Hundreds were alight in the sky. Each constellation shot a beam of light to Earth, hitting the corresponding statue.
Voices shouted in joy, both male and female, some of them didn't sound human. With a sound like an explosion, Lucy was thrown away from Loke's statue, and the world went black.
Lucy stirred and opened her eyes in time to see the blue sky returning. Whatever had happened was over now.
"I told you you'd see me again," Someone said in an amused voice. Lucy shot up, and looked at the man who leaned lazily against the lion statue. He wore a suit, one she remembered so well, and his sunglasses glinted in the sun. Utter joy lit inside her and she found herself running to him. She slammed into him, and found comfort in his hug, just as she had when she was a child.
"You stupid lazy lion," She scolded remembering her mother had said the same, once upon a time. "It's about time." She felt guilty that she hadn't remembered him until now, but she had a feeling he'd known she'd forgotten.
His grip was tight, and his laughter rang out in the air. "Sorry." She didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking. "You know lions like to sleep twenty hours a day,"
"You'd go crazy if you didn't move for that long." She muttered into his chest.
"Got me," He sighed, and gently leaned her back. "Thank you, I knew you could save me. Save us."
"Loke," She swallowed. "What did I save you from? Who is 'us'? What's going on-"
"I promise I'll answer your questions," He interrupted. "But we unleashed a ton of magick, and that's bound to attract some not to friendly demons." In a smooth motion, he moved them from a full on hug to his arm being around her shoulder, all the while grabbed the key from the lion statue. He handed her the key. "I'll explain better later, but if you need me, hold out this key and call me alright? Do you remember what to say?"
She opened her mouth to say, no, no she didn't when she remembered her mother holding out a silver key, and calling forward a small, strange looking dog. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo?" She questioned, changing the words to match Loke instead of the dog she'd played with as a child.
The key flashed in her hand, and Loke grinned. "Exactly. The other keys should be okay now. Go back to Fairy Tail. We can talk safely there. In the case, there should be a key ring. Put the keys on there, it'll keep us close." His grinned turned wicked, and he swept her up in his arms. "Oh, Lucy! What a beautiful woman you've become!"
"Put me down!" She gasped out, startled by the sudden change in his personality. He'd never been like this when she was a child. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was trying to flirt! He wasn't looking at her though, in fact, he was grinning at the flying blue cat that was charging towards them, and she could hear Natsu yelling and tromping through the jungle.
"That would be my cue," He set her down, gave a stylish bow and began to fade into golden stardust. "Your knight in shining armor awaits your call!"
Dumbfounded, she could only blink as he faded completely, the key in her hand flashed gold, and the temperature was now simply metal warmed by her hand.
"Lucy!" Natsu slid to a halt next to her. "Who was that? You okay. Why didn't you come find us when you realized we weren't with you?"
"I-I'm sorry!" Lucy did feel bad about that. She hadn't meant to, but everything had felt so-urgent, that she couldn't have bared to stop until it was over. "Everything started to happen at once, but I wasn't in any trouble! That was Loke, the guy who asked for our help. I…I haven't seen him in a long time."
"What was up with the sky?" Happy asked.
"How did you know him?" Natsu asked. Lucy sighed and began to explain the events, realizing she felt exhausted. With the running and the magick she'd used, it was no wonder. She sat on the lion statue's paws, taking comfort in the slightly warmed stone, and wondered if she could just take a nap here.
Loke's warning, however, rang in her mind. It was hard to believe that danger could strike here, but she realized they'd lingered too long. Natsu was in no shape for battle; no matter how safe he made her feel.
"Let's head back to Fairy Tail," Natsu said his eyes scanning the statuary and the gardens. "That Loke dude's right. We shouldn't stay here anymore. 'Sides, I'm hungry. Aren't you Happy?"
"Aye!"
"You didn't do anything!" Lucy protested as they began to walk off the grounds.
"Because some stupid Rune barrier blocked me! Happy and I were looking for a hole in it when it just shattered and the sky went all crazy." Natsu pouted, obviously put out that he hadn't been of any use.
"Well, thanks for trying." She said hoping to try to make them feel better. She grabbed the case on the way out of the garden, quickly putting the keys into the leather-protected key ring and slipping them onto her belt. They jingled musically, and shone brilliantly in the sun. Natsu sniffed the air like a bloodhound, his face suddenly turning tense. "What?"
"Smell somethin' comin'," He said predatory eyes scanning the underbrush. "Let's move," He offered her a hand.
She didn't question, grabbing his offered hand and allowing him to pull her along. The dimensional split opened up again, and once again, she was exposed to the magicks of the portal. Only when the portal snapped closed behind them did the tension in Natsu's shoulders ease.
"What did you smell?" She asked.
"Demons. Nasty ones." He said rubbing his nose. "Can't get the smell out. About a dozen of 'em come to check out what happened. Some demons feed on magick; it was probably just a bunch of those lowlifes."
It clicked then that he meant they smelt bad, not that they were seriously dangerous. "I coulda taken them," He said as if that had come into doubt. "But you're low on magick."
"And she doesn't know how to fight," Happy added and though she wanted to retaliate—she did know martial arts after all!—she didn't think it would help against demons.
"It's not like I wanted to stick around and fight some demons." She said as they walked back towards Fairy Tail. "I want answers," She brushed her hands against the keys, wondering what Loke had to tell her. She still had to sift through the memories that had come to her; memories of the mother many had thought had died when she was just a baby.
They walked into the Guild together, and Lucy couldn't help but wonder if everything in this Demon world was so…easy. She'd simply walked into her old family home and walked out with someone who could give her answers.
Somehow, she knew that things were rarely so simple.
Internet brownies for everyone, since like almost all of you guessed Loke. XD. Our silly lion. So as I said above, Angst Week is killing me, but I have posted some stuff. Check out "Ever After's Perfect Disaster" if you're in the mood for angst. First one kinda sucks, but the second one is good and I shall be unleashing the third one in due time.
Guest Reviews:
HappyIsaHabit: Ah yes. Right on both accounts. Have some internet brownies. And yes, I plan on Juvia popping up more later. Lol. Yeah, he wasn't happy about it. Thanks for the new insults.
XDAnimallover: You're welcome! Haha, me to. XD Here's more!
LunarFlareBlu: I'm sorry you're angry. Please don't Hulk out on me.
Silaqui Nailo: Well her mother was mentioned a lot lol. But it's Loke. XD
Madeline B: Hmmmmm. I shall see what I can do about that!
