The crystal blue of the water swirling underneath her feet did little to quench the void that was fast growing in her heart. She sat on a bridge and let her legs swing, ignoring the stream of tears that fell from her eyes and anyone who might happen to see her. Her hand, still healing from a dark burn, were clenched around a set of gold and silver keys.
A familiar bright glow shined from behind her, but she paid no mind to it. At this point, she didn't have the energy to care. If someone were to try pushing her into the river, she doubted she'd fight back much, if at all. A hand landed on her shoulder and gripped it firmly, but not enough for it to hurt. She wasn't quite sure why, but she was almost sad that it didn't.
"Princess," she turned her head around to meet the concerned, dark eyes of her spirit and friend. Almost immediately, her body convulsed into itself as she began to sob. Loke's arms wrapped themselves around her; his hand soothingly running through her blonde locks. "You're alright. I got you, let it out" He whispered other sweet nothings into her ear, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. His magic screeched to be let out and destroy the ones who had hurt his mistress, but he forced himself to reign it in. He had to make sure she was on the track to being ok. That meant not sitting on a bridge at the risk of jumping.
Letting out a small sniffle, Lucy pulled herself into Loke's chest and wiped away her tears, only for more to come spilling out. She looked at him, hopelessness reflected in her bloodshot eyes. Loke brought her head back into his chest and bit his lip. His shoulders were tense but he kept rubbing her back, trying to relax her.
It felt like only minutes, but the sky was already beginning to darken; the water losing its brightness and becoming murkier. Loke moved his hands to her shoulders and positioned her so he was staring into her shining brown eyes, glistening with the last of her tears. With a tender but still very cautious gaze, Loke brought her burnt hand to his face so he could see it more clearly. "Please, tell me what happened Princess."
With shaking hands, Lucy let her fingers curl into themselves until her nails were digging into the palm of her hands. "It was Natsu...and Fairy Tail." Her voice was hoarse and broken, nothing like the usual light Loke was used to. He sighed, asking with his eyes for more details even though he was scared of what she might say.
Lucy sighed and took her hand from his grip. "I walked into the guild like normal, you know." She started gesturing wildly as she began to recount the days events. "We were supposed to go on a job, me and Natsu, he said he wanted to spend more time with me." Her voice was becoming hysterical. "But when I got there, everyone was so mad. Erza yelled at me, Gray wouldn't even look at me! And Natsu..." She began to break down again, her voice went quiet. "Natsu said I wasn't fit to be his partner and I was holding him back." Lucy began to sob again as she grabbed Loke's arm and stared at him, searching for answers. "Is it true!? Was I really not-" She trailed off and fell to the ground, scraping her knees. Her shoulders dropped. Except for the noise of her tears hitting the ground, it was silent.
Loke knelt and lifted her chin up. "You're the strongest person I know Princess. No one else could have saved me. If you put your mind to it, you could do anything. I know you're hurting right now, but this is only a setback. You'll be okay. Maybe not today, maybe not even in a few months, but someday the hurt will lessen. Don't let this be the thing that destroys you, Lucy." He smiled a bitter smile and green hair and a purple jacket flashed in front of him. Shaking his head, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up next to him. Lucy's legs wobbled, but she stayed standing. She took a step forward, then another.
She took a gulp of air and expelled it, turning back towards her spirit. "Come on Loke, lets go." She marched away from him, towards the forest. Loke jogged to catch up to her and matched her brisk pace.
"Where to, Princess?" He smiled softly.
"Anywhere really. I can't stay here. But I don't want to run into anyone else so we're going through the forest. After that, I'm not sure." Loke nodded and together, they made a start to the trees, a start to a new life.
They walked through the forest, taking in the sounds of the night life. It had been a few hours since they started; the moon hung high in the sky. As they walked, the trees eventually gave way and they entered a clearing where a lone creature stood in the center. As the leaves revealed their entrance, it's head whipped around. Lucy gasped. Its eyes were a bright red, and its fur was as if darkness was given form. Its fangs were still dripping blood.
Loke stepped in front of his holder, magic already lighting his hand with its golden glow. The monster jumped at them, taking a swipe with it's large claws. Grimacing, Loke pulled back his arm and let it fly, hitting the monster in the stomach. It flew backwards, but it wasn't deterred. It raced at them, even more ferocious now. There wasn't enough time.
Before it could sink it's fangs into him, he was pushed out of the way. He could only watch in horror as it burrowed itself into Lucy's side, its claws piercing her shoulders so it could get a better grip on its prey.
She screamed. Her body was on fire and every nerve was pulsating. Lucy couldn't feel anything else; she didn't even hear Loke crying out her name, or the sound of two men running into the clearing, one in white and the other in black, but she regret nothing. As long as her friend was safe, she didn't mind this being the way she went out. A bright light threw the beast off of her, but her eyes were already closed.
The newcomers ran at towards her, the one in white quickly picking her up and bringing her battered body towards his chest. He turned towards his companion in a panic. "Come on Rogue, if we go fast, we can still save her!" Rogue nodded and they looked at Loke who was still staring horrified at her body.
"You're a spirit right?" Loke nodded, still too in shock to say anything. "Sting and I will do the best we can to help her, but you should go back to your world." He nodded and let himself dissolve in a shimmer of gold. Sting and Rogue took off running, intent on making it to Sabertooth and helping the woman bleeding out in their arms.
OK, so this story is going to go through a lot of changes. I wrote it in middle school so big oof. I'm not going to promise any update schedule cause I'm really bad at sticking to that, but thank you to everyone who read it. I love all of you! Also I'm thinking of starting a discord but not really sure on that so yeah. I'll update you guys on that if it does happen. Review if you think that would be good, or really for anything. But thanks for reading and being patient in advance. 3