In her small, cozy apartment, Lucy had been walking back and forth.
"What do I do?" she muttered.
She just got back from a job with her team. She didn't realize the next crucial event was coming, for she had been busy enough with her emotions and rebuilding of the guild.
When she had seen Loke eating in a sushi bar, Lucy remembered the next event: Loke's fate between existing and not existing. Obviously, Lucy needed Loke to exist, but how would she do it? In the previous timeline, she managed to grab the Celestial Spirit King's attention due to her emotions. Of course, Lucy still wanted her friend to exist, but the knowledge Loke's future could possibly influence her emotions. She didn't know if the result would still be the same.
Lucy stopped pacing around her room and opted to sit on her sofa, heaving a sigh whilst rubbing her temples.
"What are you sighing for?" a voice asked.
Alarmed, Lucy abruptly stood up and scanned her surroundings. She saw Laxus standing beside her bed.
"Laxus," Lucy said, "how did you get in?"
"Through the window," he responded.
"Is going through windows a Dragonslayer trend?" Lucy muttered, remembering how Natsu constantly entering her apartment through the window.
"Not really."
"So… what are you doing here?" Lucy asked.
"Making sure you're alright," Laxus answered. "I notice you've been frantic since you came back from a job."
If she were the Lucy a few days ago, she would have said, "I'm alright. Thanks for the concern, Laxus."
However, she wasn't the girl who keep her burdens alone anymore. She had Laxus with her now. She could open up with him.
"I'm actually not alright," Lucy said.
Immediately, Laxus grabbed her shoulders and looked around her body for visual injuries, his eyes narrowed in concern. "What do you mean, Lucy? What happened? Were you hurt?"
Lucy was quite surprised. She didn't expect a quick reaction, especially worry, from Laxus. In fact, he mostly used two expressions: arrogance and indifference.
"Hold it! Laxus, I'm fine. You can stop checking me for injuries." Lucy slowly and gently pushed the taller blonde back.
Laxus raised his brow. "Then what do you mean? You said you're not fine."
"I didn't mention either about my mental and physical health, Laxus. I meant about the next problem I'm facing." Lucy gestured at her sofa. "Sit down. I want to discuss this with you."
Laxus complied. When he sat down, Lucy sat down beside him.
"You know the events, right? After the Phantom Lord Incident, next will be…" Lucy said.
"… The Tower of Heaven, right? I know. I heard that Jellal was the mastermind behind the incident," Laxus continued.
"That's right. My team was taking a short vacation in Akane Resort."
"So? What's the problem then?" Laxus asked. "You could just get the tickets and do whatever you did in the previous timeline."
"That's the problem." Lucy nodded
"Getting the tickets?"
"Exactly."
"Money problems? I always hear you complaining about your team being too destructive."
"That's not really the problem…" Lucy answered, "… I got the tickets from Loke… after I saved him from disappearing."
"Then just go save him," Laxus answered instantly. "It couldn't be that hard, right? You managed to save him, and since you know what's going to happen, just do the same thing."
"I can't reenact the situation, Laxus." Lucy answered. "I think I was lucky that time."
"Okay. This situation is really bad if you can't even come up with a solution."
"It is." Lucy agreed. "I managed to save Loke in the previous timeline because the Celestial Spirit King showed himself. I don't even know why the king himself appeared in front of me and Loke. I was too caught up in my emotions."
Lucy was seriously in a dire predicament. No matter how much she used her brain, she couldn't find a way to make the Celestial Spirit King show himself. She could probably look for ancient books to summon the Celestial Spirit King, but she was running out of time.
Lucy stared at Laxus, waiting for his response. She wanted to know what he would say. Lucy realized that his mouth would spout out words of wisdom just like Master Makarov's. Apparently, Laxus didn't just inherit power and heart from his grandfather. Laxus also inherited his grandfather's wisdom.
"You know," Laxus said, "instead of thinking, why don't you just act it out?"
Lucy raised a brow at him.
"I mean…" Laxus continued, "… you're thinking about this too much. You feel this strongly for your friend. Those feelings will surely reach the Celestial Spirit King."
Lucy glared at Laxus. She expected wisdom to come out of his mouth, not stupidity.
"Laxus," she yapped, "I can't just act through my feelings. I have to think this through. I only have one chance to save Loke."
"I think you're being Lucy the Fairy Tactician, not Lucy of Fairy Tail. Right now, Loke doesn't need the help of the Fairy Tactician. He needs help from Lucy… just Lucy."
"I'm telling you, Laxus. I don't need emotions right now. I need a solution!"
"Sometimes, thinking doesn't solve a problem."
"And you think using instinct could solve one? I think it's reckless… and stupid."
Laxus chuckled. Lucy didn't know what was hilarious in her situation. It was supposed to be dire. Laxus should be panicking with her.
Laxus stood up and patted Lucy's head. "You think too much. If you were able to save Loke last time, what's stopping you this time?"
"Why are you so confident that I'll be able to save Loke? There are endless possibilities!" Lucy slapped away the hand patting her head.
She looked away from Laxus and stared at the pink walls of her apartment. She didn't want to see his face, for she might kick him through the window.
"I trust you because you're the only person I have in this world." Laxus strode to the window. "I should get going. I still have a couple of Dark Guilds to hunt. See you, Lucy."
Lucy shifted her gaze to watch Laxus jump out of her window. She thought about his words.
Warmth filled her chest. Lucy didn't know the reason, but after hearing Laxus words, she didn't want to let down Laxus's expectations for her.
"Geez." Lucy smiled. "How could you say those stuff without getting embarrassed?"
Lucy smiled. She stood up and grabbed her keys on her desk, walking to her apartment door. She would trust Laxus's advice.
Lucy saw Loke in a cliff. He was kneeling in front of a grave. Lucy still remembered this scenery vividly. The wide waterfall sparkled as its water descended and hit the bottom. The night sky was adorned with different brilliant colors of light from stars far away. She took silent, steady steps towards him.
"Loke," Lucy called out.
Loke turned his head around. "Lucy…"
"Hey there."
"What are you doing here?" he gave her a dazzling smile.
Lucy closed her eyes. She organized her thoughts, constructing sentences in her head. She had a million of responses to say. She opened her mouth but stopped when Laxus's advice rang through her head: "I think you're being Lucy the Fairy Tactician, not Lucy of Fairy Tail. Right now, Loke doesn't need the help of the Fairy Tactician. He needs help from Lucy… just Lucy."
Opening her eyes, Lucy observed Loke. He was still giving a charming smile. To any other person, he would seem happy, but Lucy thought otherwise. She knew how deep the pain that Loke harbored. Loke didn't need logical answers. He needed someone to assure him.
"I know," Lucy said. "I know who you are, Loke."
His eyes widening, Loke looked at her.
"Loke… no… Leo of the Zodiac, one of Karen Lilica's spirits. You were banished by the Celestial Spirit King for committing a grave sin…" Lucy continued.
Loke chuckled. "I see. I didn't expect you to realize it. Then again, you're a smart girl."
"I knew the moment I met you, Loke."
Lucy wasn't lying. In this timeline, she already knew because of her memories from the previous timeline.
"You're a great Celestial Spirit Wizard. You take care of your spirits so well. If Karen was like you, then I wouldn't have killed her," Loke said.
"It's not your fault." Lucy responded.
"It doesn't matter if it is my fault or not. I killed her. That's that."
"You didn't kill her, Loke. You were protecting your friend, Aries. You were doing what you think was right."
Loke quietened. He gazed down on the earth, staring at it. Lucy wondered if he was sifting through memories with his previous owner.
A minute of silence passed before Loke continued speaking. "You know what will happen now right? I'll fade away from existence."
"That won't happen, Loke," Lucy said, "I'll stop that."
"You can't stop it, Lucy. I managed to survive for these three years. I don't think I can manage one more day in this realm."
Lucy ran up to Loke and grabbed his shoulders. "I'll save you. I'll do whatever I can to save you! Don't give up!"
Laxus told her to act based on her feelings. She didn't trust herself, but she trusted Laxus.
Pouring out magical power, Lucy grabbed hold of Loke's shoulder. She would make sure to save Loke. She promised her spirits to get them back. She would make sure to keep her promises.
"Open! Door of the Lion!" Lucy screamed.
The two were encased with a dazzling shade of golden light. The light was bright like a star. The air around the light whirled around it, circling around the two people.
"Stop it, Lucy! If you continue, you'll fade with me as well! Please, don't do this…" Loke tried to escape her grasp. He pushed her shoulders, hoping that his remaining strength would be enough to shove her.
Lucy ignored his plea and held onto him. She didn't stop pouring out magic power. She would have to be a reckless idiot this time. If she died, she would definitely haunt Laxus.
"Open! Door of the Lion!" she screamed once more.
Lucy didn't know what will happen. She was just doing the same thing as the previous timeline, hoping that her power would be enough to at least open a door to the Celestial Spirit World.
Lucy opened her eyes, and she saw a majestic gate gradually fabricating in front of her.
"The gate!"
She couldn't believe that she managed to open a gate of an uncontracted spirit. Was she slowly gaining her strength from the future?
Loke looked behind him to see the door slowly constructing. "No… way."
Lucy wondered if the seals in her body were slowly disintegrating from the constant expulsion of magic power. She needed her strength to save her friend. Testing her theory, she poured out more magic power.
Lucy felt one of her seals in her body crack and disintegrate. A large amount of magic power surged into her body before it was expelled.
"Loke! Hang on, the gate is almost done…" Lucy groaned.
"Lucy, stop! You'll strain your body! Don't add more sins to my life!"
"Your kindness isn't a sin!"
Suddenly, everything around the area stopped. The atmosphere changed. Both wind and water stopped. Time and space froze.
A large figure loomed above the two.
"You've got to be kidding me… why are you here?" Loke asked.
The large human-shaped figure was colossal. He floated above the two Fairy Tail mages. Donning his full set of plate armor, the Celestial Spirit King had his arms crossed. His oversized, white mustache was a striking feature that possibly brought many either to awe or fear the spirit.
"Old friend, we who pledge oaths to humans… we who bear keys, we are forbidden from killing," the Celestial Spirit King said. "Though not directly, you did cause this indirectly, Leo. It is forbidden for you to return to the Spirit World."
The Celestial Spirit King made an appearance.
A/N: Hello readers. I apologize for not posting a chapter last Saturday. I have no excuses for the lack of update. In fact, I was coming up an idea for this chapter. Sadly, the chapter isn't as noteworthy as it seems. This chapter is mostly filled with dialogue, and there wasn't much proofreading. As I have stated in my previous chapters, I would not proofread this work until I either have a lot of free time in my hands or not. In addition, I have written a warning in the first chapter for the following scenarios: slow updates, rewriting, hiatus, or discontinuation. If one of those scenarios happen, I hope that you would neither nag nor threaten me. Unfortunately, one of those scenarios will happen. Starting next month, there would be a hiatus until the beginning of August. I will confirm that I will still continue this work, so don't start crying. I will be going on vacation in my home country. My place over there has no internet, so I would most likely spend my time reading books, writing stories, or becoming one with nature. If I have not updated the following week, I must have been busy for applying for universities. Be sure to fave, follow, and review this chapter.