Thank you all so much for reading this story and being patient with my slow updates, I hope you will enjoy this new chapter! ^^
Thank you for proofreading CJ!
Lucy sat on the edge of her hotel room bed. The sheets felt cool to her thighs. She had gotten all ready to go to the pool party that evening, but the whole situation with Natsu made her reluctant to go. She could hear the muffled sounds of fun and laughter from the waterslides outside.
Mindlessly, she scrolled through social media to see what the rest were up to. Erza kept posting blurry selfies of herself with Gray and Juvia in the waterpark while Mirajane, Elfman and Lisanna took Makarov to the restaurant and Cana had been offline for hours.
Deep down, Lucy wanted to trust her, but there was a big chance she went to the bar after all. They hadn't discussed dinner yet and Lucy just aimlessly waited for her instead of having fun with the rest. All her messages were left on unseen and Lucy was close to giving up and ordering room service.
One last time, she scrolled through her feed. She was about to throw her phone aside when a pink-haired face suddenly filled her screen. A warmth flared up in her chest.
It was a picture of Natsu holding up a crab the size of his hand, sporting a toothy grin. Catching giant crabs at Akane Beach! #holiday #beach #gottacatchthemall the caption read. She couldn't help but laugh. Of course, he was searching for weird animals.
She reached for her bag on the end of her bed and took out the book she had borrowed from Levy. No matter how many times they had leafed through it, they never seemed to figure out what the key was for. If there was supposed to be a hidden message in the book, it couldn't have only been the golden key that had fallen out of the back. She knew the book almost by heart by now, but nothing so far was out of the ordinary.
She had even tried to let the engravings light up again by dripping her blood on the cover again. It only opened the back once again. The key that had fallen out of it at Levy's place didn't seem to do anything either.
Lucy leaned over to pick the key out of her bag. She let it twirl between her fingers, studying it for the hundredth time. It was coated with shiny gold and engraved with multiple figures. Even though it was supposed to be a key, the weird shape at the end didn't look like it could fit any lock; it almost looked like a sun shape. Lucy let her thumb trace the ivory inlay on the bow. To her surprise, she was able to make out a vague shape in red on the ivory plague now that sunlight was directly hitting it.
She narrowed her eyes and to her surprise, she could make out a circular shape with what seemed to be a tail. Her breath got stuck in her throat when she looked back from the key to the cover of her book. Along with the symbol appearing, the same symbol lit up on the wrinkly leather, along with the golden letters beneath it.
''Leo...'' Lucy whispered, ''...the lion zodiac.''
All of a sudden, the key burned at her touch. Lucy shrieked and threw it away in a reflex. As soon as it hit the carpet, a bright light flashed through the entire room. Lucy protected her eyes and ducked down next to the bed.
''What the hell?!'' a male voice resounded.
Lucy opened her eyes. The light had vanished as fast as it had appeared and had left someone behind. A young, ginger-haired man, dressed in black trousers and a golden blouse look around him in bewilderment.
Lucy's jaw dropped. ''Loke?!'' she squealed, ''what are you doing here?!''
He turned around skittishly like a trapped animal.''Lucy?!'' His messy hair was littered with confetti and his tie was half-loose. ''Just a moment ago I was having a blast at a party and now I'm at your...'' He looked around. ''...hotel room?''
''I don't know what happened either!'' she said, her eyes still saw black spots, ''I was trying to use magic and-''
''You summoned a prince?'' he smirked, ''well, it seems like it worked.''
She felt her face flush. ''You wish!''
Her gaze drifted back to the key on the floor and remembered the last words she had recited before the key had acted up.
''Leo...'' she whispered, ''the lion zodiac.''
A shock went through Loke's spine. ''At your service, mistress.'' he blurted out and immediately covered his mouth, shocked by his own words.
Lucy couldn't believe what was going on, but pieces started to fall into place. All the astrology in her family history, the weird key, the memories that kept popping up, his messy, red hair somewhat resembled a lion's mane... It all started to make sense little by little.
Loke jumped up. ''What the hell is going on?! I didn't mean to say that!''
''Calm down,'' Lucy said as she gestured him to sit down, ''I think we met before.''
He gave her a puzzled look, but sat down right next to her.
''Your family used to go to the Akane Beach Resort all the time too, right?'' she asked.
He nodded.
''Do you remember anything about us playing at the beach here when we were young?''
He narrowed his eyes. ''I drank a lot and I was dancing just a moment ago, do you really think I can-''
''Think!'' she commanded.
''Yes, miss!'' he let out and covered his mouth again.
She couldn't hold back a laugh. Seeing the loud, cocky guy suddenly behave like a servant was surprisingly amusing.
His brows furrowed as he dug further and further into his memories. ''Didn't we build sandcastles?''
''Yes! Yes we did,'' she said, ''and further...?''
''Oh and wasn't there some weird kind of animal we chased?''
''Yeah, there was a baby landwhale on the beach that day. But its giant parent showed up and we ended up in danger. I rolled up in a ball out of fear, but you jumped in front of me and there suddenly was a-''
''A bright flash!'' Loke exclaimed, ''just like what just happened!''
''Yes! But it shot at the landwhale like a beam.''
They stared at each other with dropped jaws.
''Could this be...'' Lucy felt her heart clench in excitement. ''Our magic?''
They didn't get the time to figure out more, as Lucy's door lock clicked and the door was violently slammed into the wall.
''Lucy! You're not gonna believe what just-'' Cana yelled, but didn't finish her sentence when her eyes met Loke's.
''What the fuck Lucy?! You're seriously hooking up with two guys at the same time?'' She waved her hand out at Loke. ''I knew you are desperate, but not even I could pull this off.''
''Cana!'' Lucy let out, her face flustering, ''I swear, this is not what it looks like!''
Loke shook his head to emphasize her words, golden confetti flew out of his hair.
''Hey Cana! Wanna tag along to grab some pizza?'' a voice resounded through the hotel's hall.
As soon as Lucy realised who the voice belonged to, it was too late. Natsu ran up to Cana, but turned his head to meet her gaze.
''Oh.'' He said. His bright smile vanished like ice on a hot plate and his eyes narrowed in envy. ''I see you're already having a party in here.''
He turned around on his heels to walk back, letting his shoulders hang in defeat.
''No, wait!'' Lucy jumped up and ran out of the door. She ran as fast as her sandals would let her and was just in time to intercept Natsu before he entered his room.
''Let me explain!'' She firmly stated as she shoved herself between him and the door.
He looked down at her reddened face and raised a brow.
''If you hooked up with Loke, why not just tell me instead of all this stupid ignoring stuff?''
''Because that's not what happened!''
''I found my magic power, Natsu!'' Her eyes shimmered. ''The key was to summon Loke, who I can control to use light-based magic!''
His eyes widened.
''That still doesn't explain why you ditched me and pushed me away lately.''
''Because I-'' she stammered. She looked down in embarrassment. Her heart kept pounding louder and louder against her ribs, but she had to tell him. Right here, right now.
She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. ''Because I told Cana we're dating.''
Now it was his turn to be left without words. A bright shade of red coloured his cheeks and it made Lucy wish even more that she could just sink into the ground.
She looked away, but her eyes met with his palm planted against the door. She felt something prickle her ear and cheek on the other side of her face and realised she could feel his breath.
''Aren't we?'' he said so softly it sounded like a whisper, ''we did go on dates together, didn't we?''
His words against her ear and his body closing in with one step closer sent shivers down her spine and a warmth throughout her entire being.
''W-what? I mean, we are friends, but-''
''But what?'' He leaned back again and looked at her with burning eyes.
''You don't get it,'' Lucy said, ''I told Cana we-''
She didn't get to finish her sentence as he leaned in once more and landed his lips on hers. Her mind went blank and her body leaned forwards into his. All the times she had imagined this moment could never live up to what she felt right now. It was as if he lit a fire within her with sparks that came off their lips.
''That we kissed?'' he asked as he pulled back.
She nodded, still baffled by what had just happened.
He grinned. ''Guess you were right.''