So, I just wanted to start off this chapter by apologizing to anyone who cares about the missing members of Crime Sorciere. I sort of…forgot?... they even existed when I started this story. When I realized what I'd done, I just didn't care enough to somehow write them in. Let's just say the missing members joined others guilds and are living happily ever after… oops
The mages of Crime Sorciere stood behind a wall of Midnight's illusion magic, shielding them from the man they were stalking. The impressive strength of the illusion kept them concealed even while speaking.
"Can this guy possibly get more cliché?" Sorano asked in a snarky tone. Meredy giggled as Sorano added," Seriously, a hooded, black cloak and a staff with a magical, glowing rock? What the hell is up with this guy?"
"I still can't believe his name is Ken." Cobra mused, adding in his thoughts on the man. "That shit has been on my mind for weeks. What kind of dark mage keeps his name when it's a pansy ass name like Ken? He could've went dark and poetic with something like Dante, or made some shit up like Kilaton."
"Kilaton?" Sorano asked with an eye brow raised.
"Yeah, kill-a-ton." Cobra explained, smirking when they all laughed. "It suits the bastard with all the people he's abducted."
Midnight scoffed in disgust then said, "And look at his eye liner. It's terrible. It's like he found a lump of charcoal and let a child smear it all around. When did people stop caring about symmetry and clean lines?"
The other mages looked at Midnight in quiet disbelief, which he took as a que to continue. "His lips just make it worse. What the hell is that, anyway? A powdered drink mix applied as lipstick? Pathetic. Even I've never stooped so low."
Cobra snorted and the two women snickered, disagreeing with the last bit but not saying so aloud.
Midnight ended his ranting with, "This guy definitely needs to die."
Incredulously, Cobra asked, "He needs to die because of his poor cosmetic choices?"
When the other man only grunted noncommittally, Cobra went on, "I was thinking more along the lines of because children have been disappearing, or because he's gaining a following from all the other assholes in the country, but I guess we can tell the council we offed him because he had shitty make up."
Midnight shrugged and Jellal chimed in before the conversation could devolve further, "Are you all done giving yourselves a pep talk, or do you need more time to prepare?"
"Fuck off, blueberry," Cobra snapped at him, "the shit going on in your head wasn't any better."
"Yes, well, we should begin." Jellal said as he stood from where he'd been kneeling a few feet away. The group had done all the recon they could to prepare for the encounter and now needed only to confront the man. Even with a team of such powerful mages, Jellal was having doubts of their success.
The group had been watching the man, Ken, for weeks after getting word of a mage growing in power while leaving behind a trail of missing people. A few of the missing turned up dead, but many were still unaccounted for. The investigation led them to believe the source of the man's growing power was the stone glowing with a bright yellow light in its perch atop the wooden staff. It was always with the man and seemed to be a bit brighter and more powerful each time they spotted him. Today was their first attempt to overtake him, having waited so long because they were unable to determine the type of magic he used. The general assumption was that the man had no magic of his own.
Even Cobra couldn't get much info from him. Something about the stone, or so Cobra guessed, prevented him from reading the guy's soul. He picked up bits here and there, like the fact that the guy's name was Ken and he was actively looking for the next person he intended to abduct, but nothing very helpful. The guild had to move on him now before he could capture his next target. Cobra wasn't sure who the unlucky person was, but he had deduced the target was essential to the next step in Ken's plans with the stone.
Jellal told Midnight, "Drop the illusion."
Once the magic in front of them cleared, the group moved forward to spread into their planned attack pattern. They would surround and overwhelm the man, then take his staff. If he needed to be put to death, they would take care of that after he was disarmed.
"Well hello, mages." Ken said with a smile. "I've been wondering when you would show yourselves. You've been watching me for awhile."
None of the mages responded as they moved, so Ken went on, "No one wants to talk? Then I guess we should proceed."
The cloaked man beat the end of his staff into the ground in three measured taps. A rush of energy seemed to spread from the tip of the staff after the third strike. As soon as the energy came in contact with Sorano, Meredy and Midnight, the three mages collapsed to the ground. Cobra felt the power when it came in contact with him, stealing his breath and making his muscles lock up for an instant, but then it released him. He gasped and turned to look at Jellal who was unaffected.
"What the fuck was that?" Cobra demanded.
"It didn't work on you. " Ken cocked his head to the side as if curious, then shrugged and said, "No matter. You won't be enough to stop me."
The man moved to attack, swinging his staff at Cobra's head. He ducked and swung a fist up into the man's chin, surprised when the obvious counter move connected, as if the man had no fighting experience. When Cobra's hand came in contact with the man, he received a flash of information. Ken intended to drain his target's light magic to fully power the stone he wielded in the staff.
Before Cobra's magic could be fully blocked again, he picked up just enough to warn him of the incoming swing of the staff, so he quickly moved out of its path. Jellal engaged the man in hand to hand combat, overwhelming his opponent with the speed of his hits. The staff quickly became more of a hindrance to Ken, its length too long to be useful at close range. With poison laced claws, Cobra struck out at the man's stomach, stabbing into his gut. The two remaining members of Crime Sorciere fought in practiced tandem with one another, moving in and out of the dark mage's reach as they worked together to overtake him.
After another punch that connected with Ken's face, Cobra picked up on the man's next move. "Jellal! Move! You're the target!"
Jellal activated his Meteor magic, wrapping his body in a heavenly glow as he sped away from the man's reach. Frustrated by his lack of success, Ken screamed and jumped backward, away from Cobra's next swing. When his feet hit the ground several yards away, Ken's face looked crazed as he pointed at Cobra with the hand holding the staff and said, "You will not interfere further. Die!"
With the last word, Ken dropped the staff and used the same hand to send a blast of dark magic at Cobra. The staff's shield around Ken's soul ended, but by then it was too late for Cobra to dodge. The darkness exploded into Cobra's chest knocking him onto his back.
"No!" Jellal shouted, moving to Cobra's side. He knelt over Cobra's prone form to check on him. Cobra gasped out, "Move, idiot! He's trying to abduct you to drain your magic."
Jellal jumped away just as Ken's staff swung through the air he'd just occupied. Assuming the staff could somehow immobilize him, Jellal moved quickly to stay out of its range and he began a spell. As soon as he was prepared, he stopped moving and raised his hands into position as he shouted, "Grand Chariot!"
The bright seals formed, creating a blast of heavenly magic that slammed into Ken, though the magic didn't dissipate once it hit. As Ken fell to the ground, he dropped the staff, which seemed to be drawing in the magic of Jellal's attack. A swirling vortex of bright magic spun around the fallen staff until it spiraled down into the stone and disappeared.
"That's really fucking bad," Cobra groaned from where he lay. He'd immediately drilled into Ken's soul once the man released the staff and now knew the extent of the dark mage's plans. Cobra needed to get up to check on the others and inform Jellal of what he'd discovered but he couldn't move. Whatever the spell was that hit him, it was draining his life force. He'd finally uncovered the secret of Ken's magic: Death Magic.
…
Lucy's galeforce reading glasses sat perched on her nose as she quickly flipped through the pages of the ancient tome in front of her. She shared a table with Levy at the back of the guild where the two were busy speed reading their way through the pile of books acting as a barricade between the women and the rest of the guild. Gajeel was at the table, too, but only as Levy's cushion instead of assisting with the research, so Lucy paid his grumbling no mind.
The guild was unusually noisy with nearly all the members present. There was nothing special going on, just a lack of job requests. It was another lull brought on by the local paper releasing another story about working mages causing property damage – nothing related to Team Natsu, thankfully – so there just weren't a lot of requests for the guild.
"Hey, Lu, I think I found something." Levy said as she pulled her glasses from her nose and handed the book to Lucy. The script mage pointed at a paragraph and said, "Read this one and the next. Let me know if you need help with the translation."
Lucy read the text slowly, allowing her mind to translate and understand the ancient words. Apparently, soul magics weren't rare a long time ago, as in several centuries ago. There was a lot of good information in the old books the women uncovered in the guild's library, but it was slow reading. Most of it was in foreign languages, and even the books in the common tongue were hard to understand since the dialect was outdated.
The unintentional soul bond Lucy shared with Cobra had been on her mind constantly since he left days before. With nothing better do to, like taking a freaking job to earn some money before she went poor, Lucy focused her efforts on an information hunt. She'd set aside a few books she thought Cobra might want to read, since he'd mentioned not knowing much about his magic.
Involving Levy had been brilliant, since the petite woman was just as dedicated to solving mysteries as Lucy. The woman had been overcome by the romantic sounding bond, which Lucy reassured her was not all that romantic. It actually leaned more towards being frustrating with the person on the other end of the bond constantly cutting her off or overloading her with his bad attitude.
A heavy body hit the seat next to Lucy, drawing a startled yelp from the blonde woman as Bickslow said, "This looks familiar." He snatched the book from Lucy's hands, ignoring her protests and flipped to a section further in the back. "You're probably looking for this."
He handed the book back to her, unfazed by her glare, and tapped the section he wanted her to read. "You could have saved yourself a lot of time if you'd just come ask me your questions."
"I planned to talk to you too, but you know how much I love to read. I couldn't pass up the chance to read through these ancient texts!" Lucy's excitement baffled Bickslow.
"You're crazy, Cosplayer." He said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"Well since you're here, why don't you save me some time and tell me what this says. I can read it later." Lucy marked her place with a satin ribbon that wouldn't damage the delicate pages and turned her attention to her friend.
Flirtatious as usual, he leaned forward with his tongue out as he asked, "What will I get out of it if I do?"
She leaned forward batting her eyelashes, something Bickslow found more disturbing than alluring. "I won't tell Laxus you've been spying on him with Freed."
The tall man gulped and leaned back, terrified of being outed to his team leader. He only wanted to confirm his suspicions that Freed had finally managed to win Laxus' heart. "You play dirty."
Lucy sat upright again with a bright smile as she said, "I know. So spill."
With an exaggerated sigh, he said, "The soul bond is usually created between two people devoted to each other, not necessarily in a romantic relationship, though that is the most common. Lots of people have links to someone they care about, but those bonds aren't the same. For it to be a link like the one you have, one of the pair has to have soul magic, so this bond is part of Cobra's magic. It's typically formed out of need versus want. For example, I couldn't just form a soul bond with some chick I liked banging just to keep tabs on her."
"That sounds a little stalkerish, Bixyboo." Lucy said with an eyebrow cocked. He looked away with a slight blush, thinking something she was sure didn't want to know. Had he done that before?
"Eh, it is, but that's what the bond does. Not only do you two share emotions," He paused to look at her, going on when she nodded, "you can also find each other through the bond. It'll work like a beacon. Sort of."
Lucy nodded slowly, thinking. "All of that makes sense, but I'd mostly already figured it out. What I really don't understand is where it came from or why he bonded with me."
Bickslow shrugged and hesitated a little too long before saying, "Like I said, the bond is formed out of need, so it was necessary for some reason."
Her brows scrunched as she thought about that. "Well, we both helped each other out a few times, so we did need each other, though not exactly. Anyone would have worked, it just happened to be the two of us each time in those situations."
Bickslow nodded, unsure if he should say more. He could tell her how broken Cobra's soul had been before latching onto hers, and how the brokenness likely affected him in other ways mentally and possibly physically, but that seemed like an extremely personal thing to say. It didn't sound like she and Cobra had talked about this much, so Bickslow didn't feel as if he should be the one to tell her how badly the dragon slayer needed her.
"You should just ask him about it next time he's around to see what he thinks." Bickslow said.
Agreeing to pick back up on the research later, the women put their books back on the stacks to instead talk with the men at the table. Lucy had been feeling strange the last few minutes but couldn't really put it into words. She knew the feelings were coming through the bond, though it was muted. From what she could tell, Cobra was in the middle of a fight with a powerful mage and Lucy didn't think the fight was going in Cobra's favor.
She looked at Bickslow when he placed a hand on her shoulder to jostle her slightly. He had just spoken to her but she hadn't heard him, not really. Her attention was too heavily focused on the soul bond.
Bickslow turned Lucy to face him with a hand on each of her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and unfocused with terror contorting her features. He shook her again saying, "Lucy, Lucy. What's wrong?"
Levy stood up from Gajeel's lap and shouted, "Natsu! Get over here!"
The Fire Dragon Slayer ran over to them and immediately noticed Lucy's state. "What's wrong with her? What'd you do?" Flames shot up Natsu's arms as he turned on Bickslow.
"I didn't do anything!" Bickslow shouted back. When Levy started squawking about the books catching fire, Gajeel extended an iron arm to push Natsu a few feet away.
Lucy seemed to snap back to herself, but immediately started crying. "He's hurt! He's dying! I saw it!"
Natsu extinguished his flames and pushed between Bickslow and Lucy to place both his hands on her face, forcing her to focus on him. "What's the matter, Luce? Who's dying?"
"Erik! A guy hit him with a blast of magic and now he's lying on the ground in the forest far to the east of Magnolia. He's dying, Natsu!" Lucy's voice rose with her hysteria, drawing the attention of the nearby mages.
A few of them rushed over to see what the commotion was about. Natsu turned and asked, "Does anybody know where Mest is at? He was here earlier."
Shouting across the guild, Mest answered, "I'm over here, Natsu!" He jogged over to the growing crowd and pushed through until he knelt next to Lucy and Natsu. "You need me for something?"
Lucy turned to Mest and grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Mest! You can go get him! Bring him here so Wendy can heal him!"
Confused, Mest looked at Natsu and then Bickslow asking, "Who the hell is she talking about? What happened?"
Bickslow explained while leaving out personal details. "There must have been a fight between Crime Sorciere and a powerful enemy because at least one of them is hurt, but probably more than just one."
Mest pried Lucy's hands away as he stood saying, "Alright, I'll go. Where are they?"
Bickslow looked back at Lucy as he spoke, hoping she had more details. "She says they're in a forest to the east but pretty far out."
Levy's voice shouting drew their attention as she shoved people out of the way. "Move people!" She was dragging Warren behind her through the crowd. When they made it to the center of everyone's attention, she said, "I found Warren and explained the basics. He's picked up on their location and can show you on his Magic Radar."
While Warren and Mest spoke, Levy pulled Lucy to her feet as she said to the other three men, "Get everyone to move. I'm taking her up to the infirmary. She'll need to be there when they get here."
Always one to take his woman seriously, Gajeel shouted, "Get outta the way, assholes. You've seen enough." He roughly shoved a path through the crowd as Lucy and Levy followed after him. The Iron Dragon Slayer waved down Wendy to have her head upstairs with them.
The crowd flocked back together looking for more details. Natsu looked at Bickslow and smirked as he said, "I'll get them to leave." Fire licked down Natsu's arms causing Bickslow, along with everyone else, to jump out of the way. The crowd quickly dispersed at the threat of imminent danger.
Just after the group with Lucy made it inside the infirmary door, Mest appeared with an unconscious body in his arms. He went to the nearest bed to lay Cobra down as he said to Wendy, "I'll be back with more," and then teleported away again.
Lucy rushed to Cobra's side, barely containing her panic at the sight of him lying still and lifeless. She reached out to touch him but pulled back at the last moment, unsure if where to put her hand in his injured state. "Wendy! You have to help him!"
"I know, sis. I'm working on it." She set to work cutting away Cobra's clothing. It was clear from the damaged fabric that he'd been hit in his chest by a blast of powerful magic. When Wendy finished cutting through all the material, she tugged it free and brought forth her healing magic to assess the damage. She murmured to herself as she worked, "Injuries isolated to upper left torso. Second and third rib broken, fourth rib fractured, clavicle broken, deep tissue damage to the pectoral muscle with possible tear in the deltoid, no damage to the lungs or heart."
The dragon slayer was quiet for a moment as she closed her eyes to focus on the healing. A weighted silence fell over the room while they waited. Wendy grunted in frustration, doubling her efforts, features scrunched as she focused.
"I can't heal him!" She exclaimed, eyes shooting open wide in panic. "It's not working." Tears pooled against her lower lashes as she pushed more magic forward, enough to cause the glow of her hands to brighten the room.
"What do you mean?!" Lucy gasped.
Fear clear in Wendy's voice, she explained, "His body isn't responding. The injuries are there but it's like my magic isn't touching any of them. It just bypasses the damage as if it can't be healed, almost like-" her voice trailed off.
Voice barely a whisper, Lucy asked, "Like what?"
"It's like trying to heal a dead body," Wendy finished quietly, dropping her hands to her sides. "He's still alive, but barely, and his body won't respond to the healing."
Lucy felt like she couldn't get in any air, as if she was suffocating while the world collapsed around her. It didn't matter that she barely knew him beyond their bond, she needed him. "No, it's not possible. He can't die." She stumbled back, her voice shaky in her denial.
Bickslow activated his magic to see if Cobra's soul was still present. Wendy's assessment of Cobra's state was accurate. He was nearly dead. The light of his soul was faint, barely existing within his body, fading further as Bickslow watched. He could still see the tie between Cobra and Lucy, which seemed to be the only thing holding Cobra's soul in his body.
"Lucy, you have to bring him back." Bickslow said earnestly.
"What are you talking about?" She turned wide eyes on him. The tears sliding down her face broke Bickslow's heart. "I can't heal! My magic doesn't work like that."
He placed both hands on Lucy's shoulders and turned her back to facing Cobra, forcing her to step closer to his prone form. "Not with your magic, with the bond. Try calling to him."
"I- I don't know. I don't know what to do." Lucy couldn't think clearly. She could feel Cobra dying as much as she could see it happening in front of her. His soul was slipping further away from her with each shallow breath he took.
"Does the bond between you seem stronger when you're touching?" Bickslow asked.
"Yeah," Lucy said sounding unsure, shock and terror making her brain slow to act on his words.
"Well, touch him Cosplayer. Skin to skin contact would be best. While you're touching him, reach out for his soul with yours and pull him back to you." Bickslow grabbed Lucy's hand and placed it over Cobra's. "You can do this."
"Ok" she said, releasing Cobra's hand only long enough to peel away her shirt, uncaring of the others in the room seeing her in the skimpy bra beneath. Her legs were already mostly bare in her shorts, but Cobra was still wearing his pants so it didn't matter anyway. She climbed onto the table gingerly, doing her best not to jostle his injured ribs. By now he should have flinched slightly as if shocked by the contact, like he always did when she touched him, but he didn't move at all. He was completely still. Just like a dead body.
Doing her best to control her thoughts and emotions, Lucy laid her body along his side with her forehead resting against the side of his face and legs pressed against his. With the arm trapped beneath her weight she slipped her hand into his, twining their fingers together. She gently placed her other arm across his stomach, trusting Wendy's judgment that no injuries were present in the area.
Lucy closed her eyes and felt for the soul bond, but she was distracted by the torrent of emotions rampaging inside her. It took longer than usual to sink into the meditative state needed to reach the bond. When she could finally feel it, her despair grew with how faint the connection was. Where there had once been a shining bridge between their souls, there was now only a dim glow.
She reached for the glow, brushing against it, hoping to get a response from the soul on the other end. Nothing happened. Stretching forward, she pulled the dim glow within her, holding tightly to the dying seed of their bond. She tested pushing her emotions across the connection in a way that usually irritated him. A response as soft as the flicker of a dying candle returned to her.
Motivated by the small success, Lucy held tightly to the remnant of their soul bond and threw everything she felt into it, blasting it with emotion. The sudden influx of feeling seemed to temporarily brighten the light between them and she felt another reaction from his soul.
Confidence rising, Lucy tried also reaching out with her mind. Erik, don't leave me. I know you're still here. Come back to me.
A hint of emotion rebounded to her, as if he were trying to reach across the gap but couldn't.
I feel you. I know you're there. Come back. Please don't leave me.
The answering pull was stronger than before. She pushed all the longing and hope she felt into the bond, focusing on flooding his fading soul with her affection. The light of his soul grew, strengthening within the confines of her own soul.
That's it. I can feel you. Keep coming back to me.
The connection between them snapped back into place at the same moment Cobra sucked in a breath of air, like he'd been held under water too long. A broken sob escaped Lucy at the sound of his heavy breathing and the feel of his soul responding to hers. She could feel the link again, like a bridge from her soul to his. Even as she left the meditative state, she could almost see the bond between them, as if it were stronger than before.
What the fuck was that? She's flooding me with all her damn feelings again.
Her eyes shot open as she gasped. She'd just heard his thoughts! She whispered excitedly, "Stars above! I heard you!"
What? Cobra thoughts were silent for a moment as he realized what she just said. What the hell? If you can hear me then shut up. It's too damn loud in here.
Oh, sorry. Want me to get them to leave?
Yeah, except the tiny dragon slayer. Get her to heal me first.
Lucy sat up and released Cobra's hand, ending their physical contact. As soon as it ended, she felt the difference. It was like leaving a warm blanket on a cold day, the shock of relaxing warmth replaced with uncomfortable, stinging cold. Ignoring that for now, she said, "Wendy, can you try healing him now? And can everyone else leave so he can have some quiet?"
As the others left the room, Lucy's attention was drawn to Bickslow, whose eyes were glowing green with an expression of astonished disbelief on his face. "That was amazing, Cosplayer."
With a smile she said, "Yeah, thanks for helping. I would have lost him without you."
"Don't worry about it." He shrugged as he walked toward the door. He dropped his eyes to her exposed breasts and let his tongue loll to the side as he added, "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to repay me later."
Lucy rolled her eyes as Bickslow closed the door. She looked back to see Wendy already nearly finished healing Cobra's ribs. The young healer said, "He'll be sore for awhile. He needs to take it easy for a few days."
"Ok, thanks, Wendy." Once the teen turned to examine the other injured mages in the room, whom Lucy hadn't realized were there, Lucy looked down at Cobra to see him staring at her intently. "What?"
He narrowed his eyes, staring her for a moment longer and then looked away as he shook his head. Had he been trying to think at her? She hadn't heard anything since their contact ended.
She grabbed his hand, drawing his focus back on her as she tried to hear him again. There wasn't a clear thought like before but there was something there, as if she could feel his intent to communicate. Lucy lay back down with her body stretched alongside his and her arm resting across his stomach. She pressed her face in against his neck, closed her eyes and directed a thought at him.
Try it now.
Well?
This is crazy! I can hear you again.
Yeah? Weird as hell.
Lucy didn't respond again, not needing to hear Cobra's thoughts to know he didn't want to talk. She sunk back into the meditative state just to feel the bond again, reassuring herself it was still there. As she brushed against the connection, it felt like the blanket of comfort wrapped around the two of them again, surrounding them in a cocoon of warmth. She could feel him in a way she hadn't before. It was like his soul was in her and around her, truly a part of her. It was an unbelievable feeling.
Cobra didn't try to stop Lucy when she slid her hand under his, linking their fingers together. He even laid his other arm atop the one she'd stretched over his stomach, his palm flat against her forearm with his thumb lightly rubbing back and forth. It felt right when he leaned his head further against hers. He didn't question it, knowing he could deal with his doubts later when they came back to him. He'd just fucking died but followed Lucy's soul back to the living. He was doing his best not to think about anything for awhile.
They lay that way until the infirmary door was kicked opened as Natsu walked inside with a tray of food in his hands. The abrupt noise scared Lucy badly enough to make her squeal and nearly fall off the bed.
"Hiya, Luce. And Cobra." Natsu said the last with a bit of growl in his voice. He narrowed his eyes at Lucy's partial nudity. "Shouldn't you have a shirt on by now?"
"Why the fuck do you care?" Cobra asked before Lucy could answer.
The heat rose instantly as Natsu answered, "Cause she's my partner and best friend and I don't want to see her get wrapped up with somebody like you."
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted with a hand shoved against Cobra's chest to stop his attempt to sit up. "What is your problem?!"
Looking at her with a pout on his face, he said, "What? I'm being nice. It's not like I punched the guy."
Lucy groaned and let her forehead fall into her palm. She removed her other hand from Cobra when he relaxed back into the bed with an irritated huff. Looking back up, she nodded toward the tray Natsu held, "I guess Mira sent you up here with food?"
"Oh yeah!" His ire from moments ago totally forgotten, he explained, "One of the bowls is super poisoned for the freak, so don't eat from the red one." After a brief pause, he said, "Actually, don't eat from the black one. The red bowl is ok."
Concerned for her life, Lucy asked, "Are you sure?"
"Eh," he sniffed to determine which bowl was safe.
"Fucking idiot," Cobra grumbled as he sat up slowly, his remaining aches obvious with his movement. "Give it here and I'll check."
Natsu shrugged and handed the tray to Cobra once he'd settled to sit beside Lucy on the edge of the bed. As Natsu turned away to leave, he jabbed the side of Lucy's head with a finger and said, "See ya, loser. Don't do anything stupid."
When the door closed, Cobra said loudly, "You assholes can stop acting like you're sleeping."
The other three mages in the room sat up nearly simultaneously. Midnight said, "I guess we missed a lot. Not sure how we got here."
Sorano looked at Cobra, "Sounds like you nearly died?" He nodded without turning to look at her, already knowing her next words. "What a shame. Maybe next time."
Lucy's mouth dropped open in shock. How could the woman be so cold hearted?
Cobra said to Sorano, "Lucy thinks you're a bitch."
The white haired woman turned narrowed eyes on Lucy, glaring hard enough to burn holes in the other woman's skin. After a moment, she dropped the look and shrugged. "She's right."
Shaking her head, Lucy turned back to Cobra, noticing for the first time how much grass was in his hair. When she started picking the pieces out, he said, "We aren't monkeys. I don't need you to groom me."
"Oh shut up and enjoy it." She bit back, not slowing her monkey-like actions.
An uncontrollable smile twitched on Cobra's lips, making him glad his back was to the others as he spooned another more poisoned soup into his mouth. He finished his bowl and then started on hers, knowing she didn't want it.
When Lucy finished picking the grass out of the front of Cobra's hair, she stood to move around to the other side so she could more easily reach the back, which had way more grass in it. She stopped when she realized how quiet it was in the room.
She noticed Jellal was missing and assumed he'd left with everyone else. Midnight and Meredy were seated side by side on a bed, the latter with hearts in her eyes and her hands clasped under her chin. Lucy raised a brow at that and looked at Sorano who had rolled onto her side, lying propped up on one hand with the other resting on her hip. The woman said, "You can continue."
"Um, ok?" Lucy did just that, unsure of what else she should do. She climbed back onto the bed to sit behind Cobra while she worked on removing the grass and dirt from his hair.
A high pitched squeal drew her attention back to the others. Meredy was now bright pink and looked like she might explode. Midnight explained in a dry voice, "She gets excited over romance. You two are her new favorite ship."
"Ship?" Lucy whispered to herself as she turned back to her task. "She's another Mira."
"You have no idea." Cobra answered quietly.
"Oh, just fuck already." Sorano snapped grumpily. "The tension is killing all of us slowly. It's disgusting."
Before Lucy could come up with something to say, Meredy hopped to her feet and placed a hand on Sorano's wrist. The white haired woman screeched, but her protest died as soon as Meredy's magic became active, leaving a pink band with a heart on Sorano's wrist.
Smiling sweetly, Sorano spoke in an upbeat tone that didn't match her words, "You stupid little whore. I'll get you for this."
Cobra snorted and explained to Lucy, "Meredy likes to share her happiness with Sorano, but it isn't very effective. Sorano's supreme bitchiness still shines through when she opens her mouth."
While Sorano sweetly threatened Meredy's life, Midnight asked Cobra, "You alright?"
Turning to look at the other man, the two shared an unspoken communication only possible between two people who were very close. Eventually he answered, "Yeah, I'll tell you more later."
"Good enough." Midnight stood and pulled Meredy to her feet then said, "Come on, Sorano. Let's go find some food."
The trio left the room with Midnight leading the way as Sorano glared at Meredy with her hands over her heart and a beautiful smile on her face.
Finally alone, Lucy gave up on Cobra's dirty hair and leaned forward against his back. As soon as she made contact, he jumped slightly, a reaction she expected but ignored, and she put her arms around his waist. She closed her eyes and just rested against him. Eventually she whispered, "That was horrible."
He made a noise but seemed distracted. Lucy attempted to figure out what he was thinking, surprising herself when she succeeded. The scars remaining from his time as a child slave in the Tower of Heaven made him self-conscious. She answered his thoughts, "I don't care about all the scars on your back. It's not like I haven't seen them before. You were shirtless when I found you in the Room of Death."
Cobra laughed softly at the mention of the name she'd given the room where he'd nearly died once before. He said quietly, "You saved my life back then, too."
Lucy hummed but didn't respond, not really finding it to be a big deal. She ran a finger along his back, feeling the raised surfaces, some smooth and some bumpy. She traced along a particularly long scar and asked, "Can you feel this?"
He shrugged while saying, "In some places. Others don't have much feeling left."
She let her hand fall away from his back and slid it around to join her other arm in holding him close to her. With her face resting again his back again, she asked, "What happened? I know a lot from what came through the bond, which is amazing now that I'm not terrified out of my mind anymore, but I don't know everything."
"The short version is none of us, including me, knew what the fuck his magic was or if he had any at all. Too late to help, I figured out he had death magic. By then, the damn blast was colliding with me and I was down." The moment he realized he was going to die played in his memory. He'd always been pretty indifferent about living, even at other times when he'd had near death experiences. It was different this time, though, and he knew that was likely because of the woman against his back. For the first time he could remember, he wanted to live. The realization stirred his usual discomfort with the connection the two of them shared, making him doubly uncomfortable with her leaning against him. He didn't like to be touched and knowing physical contact meant she could hear his thoughts made the idea even more unappealing. He focused on his brief retelling of the earlier fight, hoping he could prevent her picking up on his deeper thoughts. "At least I poisoned his ass. I doubt it'll keep him down long with that fucking stone being supercharged now, but we should be able to find him again."
Lucy didn't respond right away. She had an idea forming in her mind that she was nervous to speak aloud. The silence seemed to press in on her nerves, making it harder to build up courage. Eventually she said, "So, you can't travel for awhile."
"Nope." He knew where this was going but wanted to see if she could bring herself to ask the question. True anxiety was rare for someone like Lucy, so her suffering was amusing to him.
"And I guess you'll need somewhere to stay."
Cobra made a noise but still didn't say anything helpful. He wasn't even sure how he would answer her question.
Lucy huffed and pulled one arm loose to pinch his side. "You're an ass, you know that? I know you know what I'm trying to say."
"Don't know what you mean." He said as he turned slowly. Lucy let her arms slip away as he leaned backward to lie flat again. She followed him down to curl against his side, careful not to lean her head on his newly healed injuries. Part of him shouted that he should get away but he couldn't bring himself to leave the bed.
She huffed and said, "I want you to stay with me."
Cobra smiled with his eyes closed, enjoying this more than he should. "You sure? I'm not an easy person to live with. I'm a bit of a prickly pear."
Lucy snorted, which turned into laughter as she said. "I'm sure."
They were both quiet for awhile as Cobra rested and Lucy enjoyed cuddling with him, knowing the lack of attitude was only because he wasn't back to his usual self. It hadn't escaped her notice that he never actually agreed to stay with her. It wouldn't be long until he was pushing her away. She could almost feel the desire to escape building up inside him. She really wanted him stay with her, at least for a little while, though she wasn't sure what she hoped would come of it.
Through their connection, she could feel a ridiculous comment forming in his mind but she didn't know what it was going to be. Even with the warning, she was surprised when he said, "Your tits are as nice as I'd imagined."
Lucy laughed again, rolling onto her back and nearly off the bed as her laughter released the last tendrils of stress hanging onto her. When she settled down, she turned back onto her side as she said, "Maybe I should have listened to Natsu and put my shirt back on. You're trouble."
Cobra made a sound of disagreement then said, "Nah, you look better like this. You're lucky I'm injured or I might be willing to try all the crazy shit he's imagining we're doing in here."
When she laughed again, he added, "He thinks all dragon slayers are into the weird shit he's into. You don't want to know what him and the ice guy do in here when no one is around."
"No, you're lying." She said in disgust as her imagination created images she would never be able to bleach away.
He shrugged as well as he could while on his back and said, "You don't have to believe me. Just don't ever use the bed Sorano was on. All I'll tell you is they like to play doctor."
"That's just… ew." Lucy said in quiet horror, the images playing in her mind morphed into a highly detailed porn staring two of her closest friends. When Lucy finally gained control over her mind again, she said, "You really need a shower."
Cobra snorted and shot back, "Well, I've been in the wilderness since I left your place, so it's just been streams for me. I'll try to find a shower next time so I don't offend your delicate senses."
"Thanks. I appreciate the kindness." She said with a smile. "If you think it's possible for you to sneak out of a window, I can get us out of here."
Hearing the details before she said them aloud, he agreed, "That plan of yours is just crazy enough to work, but you go first so I'll know if it's safe."
"How chivalrous of you." Lucy stood from the bed and walked around to pick up her shirt from where she'd tossed it. "It's definitely safe. Well, as safe as jumping out of a window can be. It's the usual escape route for unwilling patients."
Cobra chuckled as he sat up carefully, the lingering aches making his movements slow. He picked up the remnants of his coat hoping to put it on but the damn thing was cut to pieces. It wasn't even a coat now, more like two halves of what used to be a coat. The sleeves were sliced all the way up to the shoulders, which had been cut across to the neckline. There was no way to secure it even long enough to make it to Lucy's. Cobra was glad the tiny dragon slayer had healed him, but was this really necessary? He was sure she had increased strength like the rest of them, so couldn't she have just picked his ass up and pulled the coat off? He really liked this fucking coat, not to mention it was the only one he had.
Noticing his frustration, Lucy said, "I can ask Virgo to mend that for you. She's great with clothing repair. I've had worse and she fixed it right up."
He grunted and dropped the remains of his coat, not bothering to check the shirt. It would also be in two useless pieces. Cobra looked around the room, hoping there would be something he could use to cover up. Nobody but his teammates, and now Lucy, ever saw him shirtless and today wouldn't be the day that changed.
Lucy walked over to a cabinet, opening it to reveal assorted medical supplies. She reached up to the top shelf to pull down a folded shirt, which she brought over to Cobra. "This should fit fine since it's another of Gray's shirts."
Moving slowly, he pulled the shirt on as he said, "That stripper must have clothes everywhere."
"Yeah," Lucy answered as she stepped closer to help Cobra straighten out the shirt. The hem had gotten rolled up, so she reached out to loosen the fabric and smooth it down his sides. Standing as she was between his legs, she couldn't fight the surge of desire she felt. She had been questioning her feelings for the man before her for weeks, wondering if she only thought about him because of their connection, but now she knew that wasn't the full cause of it. He was a beautiful man, even with his scars and rough demeanor. She let her fingertips trail from where they rested against his sides to trace over his stomach and up to his chest, where she laid her palms flat against the firm muscles there. Finally looking up to his face, she found a look of shock there, his eye wide and brows high. Lucy smirked at his expression and then leaned forward to gently kiss his forehead. She closed her eyes as she lowered her face, leaning her forehead against his. The turmoil he felt was broadcast across their connection with the skin to skin contact. It was as if a tornado of disbelief, hope and fear threatened to swallow him whole. Lucy slid her hands up over his shoulders to cross behind his neck while moving her head to rest beside his as she embraced him. She whispered softly, "I'm glad you're still alive."
Cobra was completely still for the eternal seconds Lucy moved closer and closer to him. He didn't know what to do, how to accept that she wanted him. This wasn't just basic attraction of a woman to a man. She cared about him. Why? Why did she care? They barely knew each other. It didn't make sense. And now she was just hugging him, freely expressing her innermost feelings across the bond and through physical contact, not attempting to shield any of her soul from him. The last part was possibly the hardest to understand. No one ever left their soul completely open for him to hear. There were always secret corners and shadows he had to work to uncover, but Lucy's was totally open to him. It was like someone standing naked in the middle of a busy street, bared for the world to see. And she was doing it on purpose, knowing she had opened herself to him.
He finally moved, bringing his hands up from where they rested on his legs to wrap them around Lucy's waist, returning the embrace. His breath left him in a sigh of relief as he squeezed her to him while turning his face into her hair. When he inhaled again, her scent filled him, bringing with it a sense of peace he'd never experienced. He finally answered her, "I'm glad, too."
Cobra could nearly hear aloud the hum of their connection. His acceptance of the soul bond seemed to have an effect on it, strengthening it as it ran between them. It was beautiful and wonderful, and so terrifying, because what if he lost this, lost her, like he lost everything else? He didn't think he would survive, probably wouldn't want to.
The sudden thought was like ice down his back, shattering the peaceful moment into a million tiny pieces. He pulled back from Lucy, breaking the contact between him and desperately trying to pull his soul back from the places it now mingled with hers. It was hopeless, extracting himself from her now would be impossible. He was truly and utterly fucked.
He cleared his throat and started to stand, which forced Lucy to step back or be knocked over. His words came out stilted and unsure as he said, "I should go talk to Jellal and the others. I learned a lot before passing out that they need to know if we're going to stop this guy before he moves on with his crazy ass plan."
She nodded as she said, "Ok, that's probably a good idea." Her carefree words were in complete contrast with her soul as it cried out for his. She knew on a soul-deep level that something was wrong but didn't know how to help. Continuing in the same false tone, she picked up his cut up clothing as she said, "I'll just head to my apartment to get it ready for having another person there for awhile."
He nodded noncommittally and walked ahead of her toward the door. As they both descended the stairs, he could clearly hear her doubting he would actually show up at her apartment later, and he wondered if she could hear him having the same doubts. When she paused to look back at him before walking through the guild doors, he was fairly certain she could.
Already knowing where his teammates were at, Cobra headed toward the back of the open room. He felt exposed walking through the crowded guildhall without his coat. It was odd to realize how attached he'd gotten to the garment. Or maybe his head was just all fucked up because of all the damn feelings flowing back and forth between himself and the blonde chick – he couldn't think about her when there were more important things to do.
The mages seated in groups around tables were speculating over Crime Sorciere's sudden arrival, wondering if they were the injured group brought in by Mest and why they were having a secret meeting with some of Fairy Tail's most powerful members. Some of the nosey bastards were too observant, having noticed the awkwardness between him and Lucy in the brief moments it took to get from the infirmary to the first floor. He needed to get really fucking far away from this place.
When he made it to the group, Jellal looked up from where he was seated next to Erza and nodded at Cobra in greeting. He returned the gesture and then looked around at the others, listening in as they discussed the possible uses of the glowing stone wielded by Ken, the dark mage. When he made eye contact with Natsu, the other slayer narrowed his eyes in clear warning. Cobra could hear Natsu wondering what was wrong with Lucy and why she left instead of joining the group. Cobra ignored the stare, looking away as if unbothered, but Natsu wouldn't be deterred. "Hey Cobra, where's Luce?"
Cobra looked back at the other man as he lied, "How the hell should I know?"
I knew you were no good for her. Natsu's answering thought stabbed Cobra in the heart but he acted unaffected. The pink haired man jumped up, his carefree appearance not betraying his inner irritation, and announced to everyone, "I'm gonna go find Luce. See ya!"
Cobra turned his attention back to the group, relieved no one seemed to notice the undercurrent between him and Natsu - until he picked up on the thoughts of a familiar soul. He looked over at Sorano to see her watching him with one brow raised in question. When he just stared at her unblinking, she shook her head and rolled her eyes, letting it go for the moment but not for long. She would be bugging him later.
Jellal pulled Cobra's attention back to the topic at hand, asking, "What can you tell us about the mage's plans?"
"I don't have much on his plans, but I can tell you how he's going to accomplish them." As he spoke, Cobra moved to stand with his back leaned against the wall to put as much distance as possible between him and the noise surrounding him. "He's abducting and draining the magic of any mage he can find who uses magic derived from a source of light. So your heavenly magic, any remaining celestial mages, probably even the spark plug's lightning magic. The Heavenly Magic attack you hit him with boosted the fucking rock up enough to get the guy excited even through his pain. I don't know what the hell he's going to do after absorbing the stone, but that's the next step of his plan. Just before I passed out, I could hear him thinking it might be powered up enough now for him to absorb its power."
Erza asked, "What good would it do him to absorb the power of the stone when he clearly has powerful magic of his own?"
Cobra answered, "He's trying to get rid of his innate magic by replacing it with the stone's power. He's hoping to override his death magic with light magic to get rid of it. Some bullshit about being tired of killing people and wanting power over death."
"But he's killed so many to get this far." Jellal added in confusion.
Shruggin, Cobra added, "I didn't say the shit made sense. That's just what I heard from his soul."
The gathered mages were quiet as they considered the information until Freed spoke. "After thinking over Jellal's retelling of the fight, it seems the stone can augment the wielder's power and control. My hypothesis on the spell cast over your teammates," he said while nodding toward Sorano, Meredy and Midnight, "is that the stone allowed the mage to cast a spell using his death magic to a lesser degree, rendering his opponents unconscious but not dead."
From his spot next to Freed, Laxus added, "Maybe, but why not kill them? He's killed so many already. Why would it matter if he killed them?"
Jellal answered, "It's possible he's been accidentally killing those around him his entire life and now wants to change, but will continue killing as the means to his desired end. If I am correct, he will avoid causing death when possible."
"If that's the case," Cobra added, "then we need to go looking for all the missing people. He's probably got a bunch of them locked up somewhere as prisoners, alive but trapped. We might have been wrong to assume they were all dead."
The group went on to discuss plans, agreeing they needed to search for Ken and the missing mages. If they were lucky, they would all be in one place. Jellal, Erza and Laxus discussed the best way to divide up their teams since Fairy Tail would be joining Crime Sorciere on the mission. Cobra tuned most of this out, focusing on Lucy's soul. He was surprised how clear her soul was to him even with the distance between them. He could always pick up on her soul, but this was like they were in the same room. He heard her disappointment over the way they parted and hope that he would come by later. He even knew the moment Natsu jumped through her window, irritated with the happiness that flooded her soul at the arrival of her friend.
He really didn't like the way Natsu felt about Lucy. The other dragon slayer was too possessive of the woman, wanting her to be his in all ways, though he didn't have romantic feelings for her. Cobra recognized it was probably the guy's dragon soul creating a tendency to hoard, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.
After what felt like an eternity, the planning ended and the other mages drifted away, leaving only Midnight, Meredy and Sorano at the table. Cobra remained standing against the wall with his eye closed, listening in on Lucy's soul while keeping tabs on the souls around him. He felt a little like a stalker with how closely he was focused on her but he couldn't bring himself to stop. She was better than she had been just after leaving, but disappointment was settling in as the hours went by and Cobra didn't show up. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he was glad when she finally dozed off on her bed while reading a book. The hum of her soul became a relaxed melody that he could enjoy now that Natsu was out of her apartment.
Sorano's bitchy voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Why are you still here?"
Without opening his eye, Cobra answered, "Where the fuck do you think I should go?"
"Idiot." Midnight muttered from his spot slumped on the table with his face in his arms. Leaning against Midnight, Meredy said, "He's right. You're being an idiot. You need to go see Lucy."
He finally cracked his eye open to look at the pink haired demon. She stared right back at him, unfazed by his glare and understanding too much for his liking. Cobra didn't know if it was her magic or a gift she was born with, but the young woman was good with emotions, intuitive in a way that most people never were. Not that it took a genius to know there was something between him and Lucy after she'd witnessed their earlier interactions, or to know Lucy was upset when she left.
"Fuck." Cobra said as he stood upright. He both liked and hated how well these three knew him. "Fine. I'm going."
"Make sure to wrap it up." Sorano said as he walked away. She focused on creating vivid mental images of him fucking Lucy in every position she could think of. Cobra couldn't help but laugh as he walked away without responding.
He took his time walking to Lucy's apartment, taking a round-about route to make the trip longer. His body still ached where he had been injured and fatigue weighed heavily on him, so his pace was slow. Dying really took the life right out of him. He laughed at his own bad joke, knowing Lucy would have laughed too. He really didn't want to keep thinking about her, but the closer he got to her apartment, the more she consumed him. Her sleeping soul was reaching out to his and he couldn't keep fighting the pull. Part of him was worried about what this meant for his future. His soul had become so deeply bonded to hers that it felt like he couldn't stay away from her for even a few hours.
When he got to her front door, he walked right in, knowing she'd left it unlocked for him. Not a great idea, but he'd been paying enough attention to her that he would have known immediately if anyone approached her apartment.
Once inside, he kicked off his shoes and walked straight to her bed, no longer trying to convince himself that's not where he'd intended go since knowing she'd fallen asleep in it. He wanted nothing more than to lie next to her and sleep the way they had a few nights ago.
So that's what he did. Just like last time, she cooperated while sleeping, allowing him to wrap himself around her without waking. The same peace he felt earlier settled over him as soon as their bodies were intertwined. The feeling was so foreign that it almost bothered him, but he ignored the discomfort, focusing on the melody of Lucy's soul playing so closely to him. He could almost see the way her soul embraced his, wrapping around him to draw him closer. Still mostly asleep, she mumbled, "You're finally here."
He hummed in acknowledgement, and then kissed her forehead as she had kissed his earlier. It was something he'd never done before, but it felt right, his lips on her skin to comfort her. A thrum coursed through his body but he lay still, not having the energy to follow that path now. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe never. He still wasn't sure how far he was willing to take this. But for now he would sleep and hope the next morning wasn't as awkward as he thought it might be.