Just Misunderstood
Chapter 11
Lucy noticed that her hand was still laced with Cobra's.
But she didn't move to remove it. She looked back up at him, his eyes piercing through the small girl. Brain's patience seemed to be fading as he stood, his face one of pure annoyance. His fingers curled tightly around his staff, as if he was holding himself back from striking the girl. He wanted to let Cobra finish, he wanted to know what this little girl knew.
"Listen, Kid," Cobra stepped forward and knelt down, bringing Lucy with him. Lucy was a familiar face, at least to the child. It would be the only way to get through to the sky maiden.
Wendy wiped the tears from her eyes but they were quickly replaced. She had finally noticed Lucy, and a smile crossed her face, "Lucy!?" She exclaimed as she lunged forward to hug the girl. Lucy let go of Cobra as she fell back, the small girl on top of her.
Lucy's eyes wipped to Cobra, and he mouthed that he would explain later, but to play along. Wendy pulled back and laughed, "I'm really sorry, you don't know me. But I heard so much about you. I even met your counterpart," Wendy laughed. "I went to Edolas with Fairy Tail, they told me so much about you."
Lucy couldn't help but feel confused. Edolas? Counterparts? Fairy Tail? She sat up as Wendy did. Lucy shook her head, she knew Fairy Tail, that was her family. But they were gone, they had left her. Well, after she had left them. But Lucy's head hurt as she thought about it more, she looked at the man in the iron coffin. And suddenly it clicked, "Jellal." It was a mere whisper but Cobra heard it, of course, and he met her eyes.
He nodded his head, helping her. "Jellal and Erza. Erza." Lucy looked down at the girl. "You care about Erza correct?" Lucy's voice was smooth and her words alluring.
Wendy nodded eagerly. "Well, this man, is Jellal. He was with Erza since she was a little girl. She grew up loving this man. She loves this man. And healing him, reviving him, will make her happy. It would make her so happy," Lucy spoke and the words that left her mouth were true, but they weren't hers. For some reason she didn't know if any of it was true, it was just an idea that was sitting in the back of her mind.
Wendy looked down, her eyes wide. For many moments they sat there, Lucy didn't move, Cobra didn't move, no one moved. Cobra just sat there, his hand dangerously close to Lucy's as they both supported them on the ground.
Then, without any real warning Wendy stood, and she walked over to where Jellal hung from the chains. And then with some effort her hands started to produce a warm blue glow.
~JM~
Loke stood next to Gray. The men watched as Natsu ran off. Fire coming off of him in waves and a bounce in his step. Erza laughed.
"Well? Are you guys coming?" She took off, but she turned as she ran, "We gotta save Lucy and Wendy!" She called. She waved and ran off after the fire mage.
Loke and Gray looked at each other, a huge grin crossing both of their faces. Gray slapped Loke on the back and they took off in the direction of their friends.
Cobra heard them from a mile away. He probably could have heard them with normal hearing, they were yelling and shouting. He met Racer's eyes and he nodded towards the forest, then he turned to grab Lucy's hand. He pulled her out of cave and he heard Racer walking not far behind them. Lucy's sounds of protest were apparent in his ears and he squeezed her hand to shut her up. And when he finally had some silence he listened closely to where the mages were, he smirked as he picked Lucy up and nodded towards Racer, then they both jumped. His feet breaking the bridge of leaves and branches that were growing over the edge of the cliff. Lucy screamed as they fell, and she clung on tight to Cobra's neck, her face being buried into his neck. He laughed as he landed heavy on the ground, he clapped Racer on the back as he landed next to him and he set Lucy on her feet.
"What the hell?" She slapped his arm, "You couldn't warn me?"
"You're lucky I didn't just shove you," He added as he brushed leaves from his pants. He then turned and his eyes met onyx. Lucy's met brown. And Racer's met blue.
Cobra laughed, "Well, that was a good shortcut."
Natsu's eyes were wide, his heart was beating so fast. His eyes didn't want to move from Cobra, he was so afraid that if he met her eyes he would crumble. But he couldn't stop himself. His eyelids closed over his eyes and as he opened them they slid over to the short blonde that was standing right behind Cobra. Her eyes seemed to do the same as she caught his gaze, their vision never straying from each other. Natsu didn't move, he wanted to, holy shit how he wanted too. But he saw the tension in her shoulders and the stiffness in her joints. He saw the way Cobra watched him, the purple eyes seemed to burn with a fire only a fire dragon should possess.
Lucy stood there, every muscle screamed at her to move, but she didn't understand why. She didn't know this man. She didn't know the people with him, she recognized the girl with black hair and green eyes that she had fought earlier. Lucy didn't mean to move, she was willing herself not too but she stepped forward, then again, and again. And before she truly realized what her body was doing her hand was on his cheek. His hair was dark red, almost black, and his eyes were a beautiful blue. He was tall, and he didn't look like anyone she knew.
But she knew him. She had too, her head ached painfully and she grimaced. She looked to the other man with them, he was dark skinned, his hair white and his eyes brown. She knew him as well.
Her eyes moved back to the one before her.
"Is the spell going to hold?" Racer whispered to Cobra. Cobra shook his head. His eyes wide as he watched.
"I'm not sure. I can't get into her head." His voice sounded so panicked, his heart was beating so rapidly in his chest, he felt it scream against his rib cage and protest against his lungs. His breathing was heavy and his hands was clenched so tightly his fingernails drew blood from his palms.
"Damn," he hissed.
"Lucy?" Natsu whispered. He reached up and placed his hand on top of where her's was on his cheek.
And so slowly, Lucy's vision was changed. The red in the man's hair melted away, and pink was exposed, his skin darkened just a tad and his eyes flickered between blue and onyx green before stilling on the beautiful dark green color. A heavy breath left her lungs and she barely had enough breath to mutter a single name, "Natsu?"
Cobra cursed, and he was behind Natsu in seconds. "No!" Lucy screamed, "Cobra don't!" She jumped in front of Natsu and her eyes caught his in the flurry of movement. His eyes looked so pained. This man, who was usually so stoic and so cut off. This man who never told her how he felt, this man who never shared any of his feelings. This man that she had barely known a week. This man that pushed at her buttons and aggravated her, and pissed her off, drove her to drink. She didn't like him, she would choose Fairy Tail a hundred times over him.
So then why, when she saw the pure pain in his eyes, her own began to tear up?
"Lucilla!" It was a male voice, strong and unforgiving, it wasn't Cobra, or Racer, it wasn't Natsu or Gray. Cobra heard it, his magic building before it exploded, he tried to reach for Lucy but his muscles froze and he was thrown back, a scream was ripped from everyone's mouth as they were all violently thrown to the forest floor. Fairy Tail was scattered, their bodies colliding with trees and the hard ground. Racer slammed into a rock and his recent injuries were discovered again.
Brain stood in front of Lucy, his eyes seemed to glow green as he looked down at her with hate. Lucy suddenly felt fear, a type of fear that she hadn't felt in a while. It was the type of fear that sent chills racking through her body, it blew cold breath down her throat, it paralyzed her body. The entire forest seemed to darken, the trees hung forward and the leaves turned black as they fell. Green mist seemed out of the ground around the man and his eyes shot arrows through Lucy's. The air was so cold, every breath was painful as it dried her throat. "Lucilla," his voice was so low, "Have you chosen to betray us?"
Lucy's spine felt as though it was going to pulled out of her skin, the bare weight that seemed to be sitting on her heart was already enough to make her say this, "No, never," she was cut off by Brain's staff hitting the ground.
"Brain!" Cobra's voice was loud behind them all. Lucy's eyes moved to him, his head was bleeding and something appeared to be wrong with his shoulder. He was breathing heavy but he stood strong. His eyes were piercing through Brain's. "Don't."
Brain laughed, it was cold and jagged. "Why do you care Cobra? Do you feel for this girl?"
Cobra flinched. He couldn't say no, but he couldn't say yes because he didn't know. He honestly didn't know, he had no idea. Cobra was one that always knew exactly what was going on, he always could manipulate everyone around him. He could tell what people were thinking and act accordingly. But when it came to this girl, he had no idea what to do. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, couldn't manipulate her by acting on her thoughts. He couldn't read her. She was capricious and tempestuous, she never did what she was told, and even when she did it, it was in the most shocking way. She was smart and strong in her own untrained and messy way. She had been through a lot for her short life. She was only seventeen, she had lost her mother, been isolated by her father, and she ran away at sixteen. She then found a home, a new family, but then she left them.
And then she lost them. Cobra knew how much that had hurt her, he had felt it firsthand. Cobra knew pain, he knew that pain can change someone. He was taken from his home, his family. He was dragged to that tower, he was beaten, he was tortured, he was forced to work.
He was twenty-three. He was young and attractive, he should be out having fun and screwing girls, drinking and going on missions. But here he was, standing in a forest, looking for an ancient magic that might not even exist, and if it did exist all they could do with it is destroy people. Why was he here?
He chose to come. He chose to help. He wanted to help his guildmates, the few people in the world he actually loved. But now, he was here, his eyes ripping holes through Brain, a man he respected. And for what?
A girl. He was challenging his guild master, Brain, this all powerful, psycho, split personality they called their leader. Cobra closed his eyes. He heard all of the thoughts of the people around him, the other dragon slayer, the fire one, and Lucy were the only ones still conscious. Natsu's thoughts were almost going too fast to follow, which from what he got from his journey in Lucy's mind was a shocking thing. His foot was broken from what he could tell but he didn't seem to care as he tried to get up to get to Lucy's side. He was thinking about everything that was happening, trying to figure out why Lucy was with them, and how she was, and how everything went in the spirit world. His biggest thought, to Cobra's surprise, was why Lucy and him seemed so close.
Brain's mind was completely empty, which meant he was blocking his thoughts from Cobra's ears. It was a different feeling than with Lucy, with Lucy it was like he was being completely blocked by a wall, but with Brain he could get into his mind. But it was empty, like he learned to store his thoughts somewhere Cobra couldn't reach.
"Don't, Erik." Brain's voice came to his ears.
Cobra growled when his name was released from his Master's mouth.
"You must never forget. I am the only one who will ever know the true you. She will never know, or understand. She would never accept you." Brain's words hit Cobra straight in his gut. The air in his lungs was knocked out of him and he almost stumbled back.
"She is obviously corrupting you. So I just have to fix her. She is too valuable to lose," Brain turned back to Lucy. Her eyes were wide and tears were leaking out of them, her body was shaking, the sheer magic that was being weighed down on her was tearing her apart.
Cobra wanted to move to her, he wanted her to be by her side in that instant. He knew what Brain was going to do. He was going to maximize the spell. The spell that he had put on her the moment he had knocked her out when Fairy Tail had returned.
It was attached to the lacrima in her back, whenever she used her magic the spell would activate, and the more she used her magic it ate away at her. Brain had used her attachment to Fairy Tail in the moment he set the spell to bind it to her. So, whenever she would think about Fairy Tail her view of them was changed, their appearances, their voices, their personalities.
But now, he was going to take it to the next level.
Cobra heard the swell of magic, and he couldn't move. He watched Lucy's eyes widen and he heard a yell, at first he thought it was Natsu's but then he realized it was his own. Green light filled the forest and Lucy's screamed filled his ears.
~JM~
"I broke the pink one's other foot and then broke the ice mage's hand, I was going to finish the job but the redhead woke up and got them out of there," Angel's voice was calm as she walked besides Cobra. Cobra nodded, he was going to speak but a lump was present in his throat. He shifted Lucy on his back and continued walking. He locked his hand under her legs and tried to ignore the chills that ran down his back when her breath puffed out. He pretended not to notice the way Angel was looking at him and he rolled his eyes.
"You know I liked her too," Angel said quietly as she watched the ground in front of her.
Cobra scoffed, "We barely know her," again, he pretended not to notice the way she looked at him.
Angel scoffed back at his scoff. "You knew enough, you sat there and went through her entire life."
Cobra rolled his eyes, "I shouldn't of told you that."
"Well, you did."
"I shouldn't have."
"Well."
"Stop that."
"What?"
"You're being passive aggressive."
"I'm really not."
"I can literally hear your thoughts. Do you want to try again?"
Angel laughed and her smile softened as she watched Lucy. "Why did her words mean so much to us?"
Cobra pondered this for a moment. "Because I think we knew that if she had known the true 'us' that she would have been okay with it."
"We knew going in that she wasn't going to be with us long." Angel muttered. Angel had barely spent enough time with Lucy to truly love her. But from what Angel could see Lucy could have been a huge part of her life, if given the chance. Angel looked at Cobra, and she smiled sadly. Lucy would have been so good for Cobra, they had been with each other only a few days but she could already see the change in the poison dragon slayer. He could have loved her, he could have cared for her.
But now all chances of anything more happening was gone. Brain had completely destroyed them. Now Lucy would wake up, nothing but an empty shell, with no memories, no feelings, only power. She will truly become the puppet he's always wanted.
Angel nearly jumped out of her skin when Lucy groaned on Cobra's back. The blonde shifted and Cobra leaned her up against a tree, keeping her head up with his hand on her cheek.
"Lucy?" He whispered.
The only thing he received was her eyes snapping open. And then he waited for them to change. Change to brown, green, blue, anything. Any color besides the color they were right now. But it felt like years, and they still just stared through him.
She blinked slowly, and even when her eyes opened again they still remained… a dim, lifeless shade of gold.
