-in bosco-
It's only been three days….and Lucy can't move. The normally bubbly blonde had fallen into a simple routine. At least that's what she told herself to feel better. Since that first day of training to see where she was in terms of everything related to magic and combat there was a lovely schedule set up by Kaleb. Lucy was to wake up at 5 am and start her day with a "delicious" healthy shake. After finishing that she was to run a mile warmup and work on her stretches. She had to be done by 5:45 and meet up with Kaleb for meditation/emotional therapy dump until 6:30 at which point Lucy was dragged by Cristoff to *shudder* lift weights. He'd torture Lucy for an hour at which point she'd take a rest. Until about 10 when Bickslow and Vander would work on acrobatics and magic with her. Then the night belonged to her. And Vander of course.
Lucy was currently having lunch down in the guild hall and trying to stick to the food that Capricorn insisted was good for her. If it tastes awful why would it be good for me? Why can't sugar be the vegetables instead?
Lucy's thoughts were conducting up a wonderful world where strawberry smoothies were healthy and Kaleb was trying so hard to not only listen to her. Her mind was his favorite to just tune in to because of how unique it was. He knew that she loved Bickslow but Bickslow was not in a place to help her overcome anything.
As Lucy would meditate in the mornings he'd catch random glimpses of memories and the like in her subconscious. Once the Mindbender mage realized that if he asked a question her subconscious would answer he began to ask anything and everything. There was a lot that had happened over the years with her team. While it was obvious the team meant no real harm or ill towards the lovely blonde, they were very callous and insensitive with how they spoke to her.
Erza Scarlet was a main offender at keeping Lucy from progressing, mostly out of wanting to protect her so he couldn't fault her entirely. Her heart was in the right place just...not the best way of handling things. Erza honestly appeared to feel that Lucy had no need to train in combat because Lucy shouldn't go anywhere without someone to protect her. Gray Fullbuster was probably the best behaved. If he could respect her privacy when it came to her writings and her home. Rarely caused damage or said too many hurtful things unless egged on by Natsu. Natsu….the main offender. He and his cat had told Lucy that she was fat so many times that she'd evidently resorted to extreme methods to keep her weight down.
Kaleb frowned at remembering seeing how Lucy had drastically tried to lose weight. He'd have to ask some of the women how to approach that subject since he did not want to mess up that conversation. He also had seen in Lucy's memories how much she was called weak by others. Not on purpose but she was constantly compared to her destructive teammates and everyone was blunt in how they perceived things.
In actuality Lucy's magic reserves were absolutely enormous and her mind was one of the best for strategy he'd ever seen. Yet her teammates refused to listen to her ideas and just went with whatever forceful attacks they could.
Kaleb let out a heavy sigh. He sure had his work cut out for him when it came to helping Lucy learn to stand her ground. She was a brilliant and wonderful woman and needed to finally demand proper respect.
Kaleb stood and walked over to Lucy, startling her and the group of friends she was starting to gain. Laughing at how all the women immediately went to different imaginings of sex positions he bent down and moved Lucy's hair from her ear. "May I take you to my office to speak privately?" The sweet blonde blushed a deep red while nodding. Kaleb listened to where her thoughts had turned smiling gently. He had to hold back from outright laughing when she again began chastising herself for thinking that way. Blaming a woman named Cana frequently. Kaleb would have to ask about her sometime soon. In the meantime, he planned to directly confront Lucy on her fears and insecurities.
Finally in his office he closed the door as Lucy looked around in awe. It was on one of the upper floors and had a wall full of windows with a balcony. Looking out over the city she could see everything. The bustle of the market below, the yells from the training grounds, even the street performers were out at this time. The city was alive with its people. She couldn't get enough.
Looking to Kaleb, Lucy shifted nervously. Kaleb had figured a lot out about her from her subconscious. He obviously wanted to discuss most of that with her. She was worried she was in fact too weak to stay here and that he'd give up on her too.
"Stop that line of thinking Lucy. You are very far from weak. I do however want to discuss some of what I've heard from your mind. You seem to be stuck on the idea that you are weak and useless. Although you've proven time and time again that you are far from it. I believe that your team are huge contributors to that.' He put up his hand to stop Lucy from interrupting, " they are all very strong in terms of how destructive their magic is. You have a strategic advantage over most opponents because you have many different types of magic at your disposal. Your team does not think before a fight of any sort. They charge in recklessly because they can get away with it. You are fighting in a way that doesn't work with your magic, or yourself for that matter. When you eventually go back, I'd recommend looking for a new team or even going solo. You are worth much more. But because your magic doesn't have the same explosive force that your team does you are cast to the side. This doesn't seem to be done on purpose throughout your guild. But from what I've heard and seen in your memories...they are to be blamed. Your magic reserves are massive. I know a few spells I'd like to teach you based on that." At this point Lucy was smiling and very happy. She hadn't gotten over the fact that she was weaker (because no one is going to change after just one conversation.) but she was at least starting to see Kaleb's point. Now she'd have to prove to herself that she can be stronger with this training. Now for the more difficult part of the conversation…
"I also noticed that you seem to eat very little. You normally have a smoothie or shake for breakfast, a very small salad for lunch, and some soup for dinner. Your only indulgence seems to be those strawberry smoothies. I'm very concerned because with how much Bickslow states you use your magic and train, you are not eating enough to maintain the muscle development. Now before you try to deny anything I do know this is on purpose. I also know it's because a certain idiotic cat calls you fat and that a friend does nothing to stop him." Lucy at this point looked close to tears, hanging her head in shame. Kaleb softly shook his head and wrapped her in his arms for a much needed embrace. "You are beautiful Lucy. You don't need to lose weight. At all. If that cat is so blind as to see he is really hurting you then he needs a big wake up call. I also noticed that in your memories he never calls you fat near anyone except for Natsu. I know Natsu going to school will help him a bit but it won't really change how you see yourself. The main reason I wanted to talk to you is to address this. You obviously know the dangers of eating like this or less because you have no food. I won't lecture you on that. But I would like to ask if I could join Vander in the night lessons. We won't push you further than you want. Part of being a sudepah is teaching someone comfort with themself. That comes first." Taking the chance to have some fun, Kaleb leaned down pulling Lucy closer and whispering in her ear, "The opportunity to see you unravel is a very close second though." Lucy blushed brightly and stuttered for words, but she didn't push away. Like they thought, simple exposure to the fact that everyone wants her is helping her come to terms. They'd have to make sure she wasn't too compliant though. She would still need to fight off many others.
After that long talk they just stayed in the office. Kaleb doing paperwork and Lucy helping manage the finances. Finding a few holes in their current way of doing things that caught Kaleb off guard. Looking at her Kaleb couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy. Bickslow was one of the luckiest men and had no idea.
-in Fiore-
The guild was a wreck. After getting told just how they'd treated the girl with the brightest smile no one felt right. Erza and Gray were taking it harder than most though. Erza knew she'd been keeping Lucy from training, but she was worried that with more training Lucy would be more likely to be fighting in the front. Erza didn't think she'd be able to live if something happened to Lucy. So she'd done her best to keep her from the worst. Yet all she'd done is put her sister at risk for getting hurt. She'd done nothing to help her. She'd let the team walk all over her and took advantage of how forgiving she was. Gray wasn't as bad in his actions but he let Natsu do whatever he wanted. He didn't stand up for her. He should've. Lucy always respected them, unless they had earned a Lucy kick.
Suddenly Wendy came rushing in, squealing in what seemed to be joy. Holding a communication lacrima she rushed up the stairs and held it high. Showing everyone that Lucy was there. Chaos erupted. Many shouted their apologies while some just begged forgiveness. Lucy smiled as Laxus got everyone to calm down a bit to let Lucy talk.
"Sorry everyone. I've been a bit busy and haven't had time to talk too much. I just woke up and it's my first day off of training so I thought-"
"Wait who's training you Lucy?!" yelled Gray.
"What are they training you in?" asked Wendy.
"Are they being honorable in your training?!"
"That's enough! Let the woman speak for crying out loud. I'm sure she'll tell us everything there is to know if you just let her." Laxus finally shut everyone up with that and all looked to Lucy.
Lucy let out a sigh, "I'm training with Bickslow's siblings. Kaleb is training me to help expand my magic containers and will be training me in a new magic soon. Cristoff is helping me with strength and loves to torture my arms. Bickslow and Vander are helping with acrobatics as well as working with my whip. Emzadi loves to spar and sometimes helps with my strength. Xally prefers to be my study partner and is looking up information on the best healing magic to teach me for emergencies."
Silence. Some of the guild just gaped like a fish. Others couldn't figure out what to say. While a few had massive smiles on their faces at how powerful Lucy would be if she was able to learn all those types of magic.
"I'm excited to hear all of that Blondie! That's a lot of magic though, do you think it's wise to learn so many different types? Wouldn't it get confusing?" Laxus had to ask. No one else was going to.
At that there was a disturbance from behind Lucy as the whole guild saw a man wearing loose fitting sweats walk up from behind Lucy. Obviously having just woken up, his hair was messy and his eyes weren't quite open yet. Laxus immediately knew this to be Vander, the biggest player of all of Bickslow's siblings. Lucy looked back and smiled softly at him while he made his way to her side. Plopping down on the couch.
"She can handle the magic just fine. Her magic containers contend with Kaleb's. Her mind already has to manage different types of magic with her spirits so I doubt it'd be hard for her. Oh for those who don't know me, hi. I'm Vander. Letting loose a killer smile her wraps an arm around Lucy. With no reaction from their normally shy and innocent blonde. Laxus glares at Vander with a clear message that they will be talking later. For now everyone was content asking Lucy how her training was going and how she was handling all the new magics.
Laxus was excited, but was worried about what was going on. He knew that Bickslow loved Lucy. So why was Vander over first thing in the morning looking like they'd spent the night? That didn't seem like Lucy. But Laxus could tell Lucy was changing. She was still full of love and forgiveness. Yet she seemed stronger. More confident in how she held herself. Well, here's to hoping nothing crazy happens.
Author's Note:
I'm sorry it took me so long to get this done! I've had a bunch going on in life. Hope you guys all love this. Next chapter will have Lucy and Bickslow hanging out so don't worry. I'm just wanting everyone to get some explanation with their relationships with Lucy. As always I love to hear from you guys and I do try to take all recommendations into consideration. Thanks for all the support!