[ Whew, second chapter rewriten down, and more to come. I am not only basing this story on the seven words that the Greeks used to describe the different forms of love, but I am also going to base some chapters off of songs as well, which I will post the songs they will be based off of as they pop up. I am also going to incorporate Dargonish in to my stories, which is the language dragons use in Skyrim. *.* I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters, but this plot is mine, please feel free to pm me or leave reviews!]
Agape- the act of love for everyone/selfless love.
One would think that in all her time in a guild like Fairy Tail, that Lucy would get use to getting in to sticky situations and how to prevent them from even happening in the first place. Unlike her nickname Lucky Lucy, she was far from lucky. That was the case that she had some how managed to stumble upon a poison wyvern nesting ground. She was kicking herself as she was trying to slowly back out of the open mouth cave that she was attempting to take shelter from the raging storm that hit out of nowhere, but her foot caught on a jagged lip in the ground and tripped over a broken piece of stalagmite waking the slumbering beast.
"Easy…easy. I was just leaving. I didn't know you lived here." Lucy put her hands out in front of her, hoping to sooth the pissed off beast. She yelped when the creature opened its wide maw, showing her the jagged teeth coated in dripping poison. Lucy crabbed walked backwards as quickly as she could, cursing herself for always winding up in these things. The beast unfurled itself from the three eggs it was curled around, and Lucy knew that she was in deep trouble. Not only was this the beasts home, but it was also a mother. That meant she had a 2 percent chance of surviving this deadly encounter.
'Run, Lucy! Run!' She yelled at her paralyzed body, but try as she might she couldn't bring herself to. Finally her body moved out of the way just in time before the wyvern swiped out with its equally dangerous talons. Lucy scrambled to her feet, racing towards the entrance way. She leaped over the stalagmites that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, either that or she wasn't paying them any attention when she entered to begin with. She cried out in pain when the talons raked down her back, catching her mid-air. Gasping, Lucy pushed on, ignoring the searing pain that now rushed through her nerve endings.
'Poison...' Lucy's mind raced a million and one seconds, trying to remember what her old teacher had taught her about poison wyvern and their specific toxins and how to remedy them before they made their way through her blood stream. With the wound on her back, it was nearly impossible for her to make a tourniquet to staunch the blood flow. She made it to the entrance of the mouth of the cave stumbling her way down the rocky pathway. The pouring rain made it hard for her to see where she was going, but she didn't care as long as it was away from the nesting beast and she could try her best to take care of her wounds.
'Shit…' Lucy knew she couldn't slow down even as she gingerly picked her way down the slope of the mountain. The searing pain in her back was accompanied by the swelling heat of her body core raising with an oncoming fever. Finally far enough away from the cave, Lucy felt her legs give out near a large pine tree which provided her some shelter from the rain. It was only than she allowed her body to rest.
Lucy awoke to a sharp pain in her back, grimacing as she accidentally rolled on to it during the night. Her vision was blurry, and her mouth felt as if sand had been poured in to it. The flaps of the tent rustled, causing Lucy to blink rapidly against the bright light that poured through the opening.
"You're finally awake." Midnight spoke smoothly, slowly so she could register his words with how sluggish her brain was processing. Lucy looked at him, confused as to where she was and why he was here. Then she remembered being poisoned, and touched the bandages that were wrapped around her.
"Where am I?" She asked him, her voice thick from being unused. It made her wonder just how long she was out for.
"Our camp. I will let the others know you are awake. Join us after you get changed." He kept his eyes averted from her state of undress, even if the bandages covered her breasts and left the tent to giver her privacy. Lucy blushed in embarrassment, she should have known she was practically naked. She brushed her finger tip against Virgo's key and with a moment later the chained maid appeared.
"Punishment Princess?" the maid cocked her head in question, her eyes glistening with unspoken hope. Lucy face palmed and shook her head, as much as she loved her spirits they were always so eccentric with their behavior. She didn't know who was worse at this point; her ladies man Lion, her pervy bull, or the bdsm maid.
"I need help changing in to something comfortable that won't rub against my wounds." Lucy slowly rose to her feet, using Virgo's aid when she nearly collapsed.
"Of course princess, one moment." Virgo was only gone a moment before she reappeared with attire for Lucy. A loose pair of dark purple harem pants with a loose chain hip belt, and a pitch black short haori top with the constellation Draco printed on the back of it. With Virgo's help Lucy managed to dress without incident and left the tent to join the others. She was too sore to move any faster than what seemed to be a snail's pace. Once she made it to the fire, she took the spot next to Sorano and Meredy, hissing when skin rubbed painfully against the bandages.
"I must have some luck if you guys found me." Lucy gave a lopsided grin, thanking Meredy as she passed her a bottle of water.
"It was the power of love!" Richard exclaimed loudly. Racer smacked him in the back of the head.
"Don't be so loud, she is right there not across the valley way." Racer chided him. Richard rubbed the back of his head.
"In all seriousness, if we weren't so close and had Cobra not heard you, you would be dead long before now." Jella couldn't believe how unlucky Lucy was. Lucy looked over at Cobra who was reclined against a tree, his hands behind his head to cushion it against the rough bark.
"What were you doing in that nest anyways?" Sorano asked, silently wondering if Lucy had a secret death wish no one knew about.
"Shelter from that freak storm that blew through. I was following a lead on someone important to me, so I was just crossing the mountain range. Once it hit, I had zero visibility, stumbled in to the cave on accident." Lucy sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"I suppose I should thank you guys for finding me, and saving my hide." Lucy smiled.
"You don't owe us anything Lucy, you have done plenty for us the times our paths had crossed over the months." Jella told her.
"A debt is a debt, Jella. And I pay mine in full." Lucy frowned at him. She was never one to hold a grudge and always made sure to pay back a debt. It was engraved in to her at such a young age that it might as well have been inked in her skin. As a holder mage that dealt in contracts, there was no such thing as loose ends or debts. She noticed Cobra practically ignoring the rest of the group and got up and wandered over to him. Being mindful of her wounds, she sat a couple of feet away from him, close enough to talk but far enough away to not enter his personal space.
"Afraid I might bite Bright Eyes?" Cobra cracked his eye open to look at her, a wide grin on his face.
"I'm too stringy to eat. Plus, I'm more afraid of giving you indigestion if you did care to take a bite." Lucy shot back.
"I put worse things in my mouth." Cobra grinned back at her. He couldn't lie and say he didn't enjoy her company. Listening to the quietness of her soul always gave him a reprieve from everything else. His magic was always a double edge sword, not only was he able to magnify the sounds around him, he also had very sensitive hearing.
"That I have no doubt." Lucy laughed.
"What do you want Bright Eyes." Cobra sat up from his reclined position, resting his arm on his knee as he watched her.
"I think I owe most of my thanks to you, for getting the poison out." Lucy turned serious. If it wasn't for him, she would never have survived from her idiotic decision. 'I should have paid better attention..if I would have died..' Lucy's soul was a jumble, but she quickly reigned it back in.
Cobra blinked at how quickly she was able to silence the sound of her soul, wondering just how she was able to do it. No one had ever been able to shut him out before, and it was interesting to say the least.
"I didn't want Captain Blueberry Crunch over there to have a fucking heart attack. " cobra spoke nonchalantly. "Plus, I hear you offered an award for our kindness." Cobra flashed his incisors at her in a Cheshire cat grin. Lucy couldn't help but think of how creepy that looked on him and shuddered.
"Like I told Jella, I pay my debts." Lucy really hated repeating herself, especially when she knew damn well he had no problems hearing the short space between his resting spot and the camp fire. "And since you were the one to pull the wyvern poison out of my system, I figured I would repay you with something of a rare treat in these parts." Lucy could tell his interest spiked by the way his ears twitched, making no other moves.
"You have piqued my curiosity Bright Eyes." Cobra scooted slightly closer to her as she summoned Virgo once again.
"Punishment Princess?" Virgo appeared with a cloud of pink smoke, her chains dragging against the ground as she came up from a bow of greetings with her eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Whatever you are thinking, Virgo. Unthink it now, or I wont talk to Laki the next time I see her in Magnolia." Lucy threatened her spirit in a way she knew how. By taking her source of fun away.
"Please forgive me Princess. How may I help you?" The change of tone was not lost on Cobra, even if he didn't know what had transpired between the holder mage and spirit, that the maid was enjoying the verbal threat just as much as she would a physical punishment.
"I need the box." Lucy shifted her legs from out from under her, the movement causing pain to Lance through her back. She ignored it as she watched Virgo disappear only to reappear a moment later with what looked like a beautiful carved jewelry box.
"Is that all princess?" Virgo asked. Lucy nodded and set the box down in front of her gingerly. Being careful not to jostle any of the contents that rest inside.
"Gonna have to come a little closer if you want a peek inside. I can practically feel your curiosity clawing at you from here." Lucy chuckled. Cobra eyed the box than her, getting up to sit next to her. Lucy ignored the heat from the closeness of his body, and opened the box up carefully. Inside were three rows of vials, in different colors and each one meticulous labeled.
"Are these what I think they are?" Cobra blanched at the sight of each vial. Lucy shrugged her shoulders. After the first run in with Cobra and Cubellios, Lucy took it upon herself to learn all there was surrounding poisons and their antidotes. Figuring it would come in handy the next time they had the unfortunate experience of running in to the same issue.
"Depends on what you think they are." Lucy carefully plucked a vial from the first row and handed it to him. Giggling at the pure shock written all over his face.
"This is batrachtoxin, Bright Eyes. How did you even come across this stuff?" Cobra was in heaven. Batrachtoxins came from the sweat of tiny poisonous frogs, incredibly rare and incredibly poisonous.
"Figured they would come in handy one day." Lucy gave a noncommittal shrug of her shoulder. The throbbing in her back began to grow worse, and black dots swam in her vision. Her body was still recovering from her run in with the wyvern, and it was yelling at her to rest her aching muscles.
If we ever ran in to you guys again. Was what her words really meant, and Cobra felt an unfamiliar pang of regret in his heart. Even after everything that had passed between their rag tag group and Lucy, she still found a way to worm her way in to their lives as a good friend. He felt her exhaustion and pain wash through her, and put the vial of poison in the inside breast pocket of his jacket.
"You still need to rest, your body is still recovering from your run in with that wyvern." Cobra stood from his spot on the ground and dusted off his pants. Lucy looked around the clearing, noting the four tents set up.
"You are gonna crash in mine." Cobra told her, noticing her looking around at the other tents. He hated sharing his space, but until she was well enough to go on her own way he would allow her to sleep in his tent.
"You don't have to do that. I am sure I can squeeze in with Meredy and Sorano. I don't want to put you out of your own space." Lucy frowned at him. Even if the tents were small, there was no real reason for her to kick him out of his own tent.
"I'm not telling you again, Bright Eyes. You're sleeping in my tent, end of story." Cobra helped her off the ground, and helped her to his tent. The two person sleeping tent was a whole lot more cozy than what she thought it would be. Two pallets and sleeping bags were laid out already for them, courtesy of Virgo she was sure of it.
"Do you have a safe spot to put my box? I don't want to bother Virgo again." Lucy asked as she handed him the box of vials.
"No one is gonna be stupid enough to mess with anything in this tent." Cobra placed the box next to his travel pack, making sure it wouldn't fall or get jostled.
"I appreciate everything you done for me, for helping me when I was hurt and the pulling the poison out." Lucy felt her eye lids growing heavier and heavier with each passing moment, her earlier exhaustion pulling her closer to sleep. Cobra just inclined his head in acknowledgment and sat down by the entrance of the tent, watching as the day fell in to dusk and the stars began to come out.
Soon, the soft raise and fall of her chest and the gentle intake of breathing was all that filled the small space. Cobra took this moment to close the tent flaps and crawl in to his own sleeping bag. He listened to her soul as it slowly fell in to turmoil as past times assaulted her dreams.
'Alone…They left me all alone.' The sound of her soul sobbed in agony, all of her pain laid bare to him as he was stuck listening.
'First mom, than Aquarius. Dad, now the guild.' Tears began to fall from her clenched eyes, and her body sought out the closest form of comfort and moved closer to Cobra. Cobra was a lost for what to do. Comforting a crying woman was not his forte, so he just gently ran his fingers through her hair. He wasn't surprised to find out how soft it was, or how good she smelled. He took in a deep breath, she smelled like roses and strawberries. He could get lost in a scent like hers. He allowed himself to be pulled further in to her soul-instead of pushing in more pain and agony he began to pull it out. Lulling her with comfort and strength , or what little he could offer her. He knew he should push her away from him, knowing she would freak out in the morning when she woke up but right now he couldn't find it in himself to really care. Pulling her closer in to the warmth of his body, he curled around her like a protective ball, and allowed sleep to take him.
Lucy woke up to an unfamiliar weight around her stomach, and heat against her back. The heat wasn't sweltering like Natsu's, this was a comforting heat that she never wanted to leave. It had been almost four months since the guild disbanded and she never knew how much she craved the basic human touch. That was until she remembered just who's tent she was sleeping in.
'Wait, laying next to me?' Lucy slowly looked over her shoulder, her eyes comically wide as realization and recognition filled her sleep addled brain. Panic filled her as she tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this without waking the sleeping slayer.
"Stop being so loud, Bright Eyes. Your panic could wake the dead." Cobra's voice was thick with sleep. He gently pulled her closer to him, being mindful of her wounds, and buried his face deeper in to her hair. Not caring that he held a panicked woman in his arms, it had been too long since he had slept so good and he wanted it to last just a little longer.
"Why are you cuddling me?" She hissed out in embarrassment. Who would have thought the poison slayer would be such a snuggler.
"Because your soul is soothing, and breathe a word of this to anyone Bright Eyes I will not hesitate to put that poison back in to your system." A low growl deep in his chest told her he meant business, but it didn't scare her in the slightest.
"An empty threat, Erik." The sound of his real name rolled off her lips, and caused him to open his eye to glare at her.
"How do you know that name?" he glared at her, now wide awake. He felt anger bubble up in his veins, there was only a handful of people who should know that name and she shouldn't be one of them. But the way it sounded coming off of her lips was delectable. Lucy sighed and sat up, Cobra let his arm drop to her lap.
"After the whole Eclipse gate happened, we had a new addition to our guild, and who would have thought she once had ties to a dark guild." Lucy smirked. Cobra glared at her, he did not enjoy the teasing.
"You are finding yourself on an express train to pissing me off."
"Temper, temper. Always a charmer." Lucy couldn't help but tease him, even if that would sign her death warrant. "A young girl with violet hair and green eyes joined our guild as an employee rather than a mage. Of course, I put two and two together almost immediately." Lucy watched him; taking note of how his eye flashed in recognition, the twitch of his ears. The firm set of his mouth.
"Keep talking." His fingers twitched trying to reign in his anger. He was not known for his patience, and his darker side had a tendency to rear its ugly head when he least expected it to. He was a possessive son of a bitch, and he didn't like people touching things that he had marked as Kin.
"There isn't much else to tell you, Cobra. Kinana told me what she remembered of you and her time together. We bonded, and she is like a sister to me. Other than me, there is only four others who know about her being Cubellios."
"She is safe than." Cobra felt himself relaxing again, feeling a slight tinge of guilt about how he reacted towards the blonde next to him. He was getting soft, growing to comfortable in her company. He shouldn't, knowing once her guild re-bands together she will abandon him.
He could have taken Kinana back at any time, but he knew she deserved to live her own life; a life without looking over her shoulder and a life she made her own. Even if that meant staying with the Fairies at this point. Lucy wigged out from Cobra's arms feeling as if she should give him space to think. She made it half way to the tent opening before Cobra snapped out of his stupor.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
"For a walk." With no other explanation, Lucy left the tent. The night was giving in to dawn, the early morning was cool and the sky was clear; fall was going to be soon approaching. Lucy ignored the watchful eyes of Midnight as she walked passed the other tents and made her way towards a small hill in the distance so she can look over the large expanse of the valley bellow. She sat down gently, and brushed her finger tip against Capricorn's key. He was the one she needed right now, his guidance and his wisdom.
"It has been a while since you summoned me, Lady Lucy." Capricorn appeared next to her, standing just off to her right side.
"I am sorry about that." Lucy curled her legs underneath her.
"You need to be resting, your wounds need time to heal." Capricorn looked down at her. He felt the discomfort and disturbance in their bond, but he also felt a new bond that attached itself to his holder.
"I need to be meditating right now, to grow stronger so this can stop happening to me." Lucy hated how easily the tears came to her, hated how she felt alone even surrounded by her spirits and the others she left behind at the camp. The only one she didn't feel so lonely with, was Cobra. It was as if he struck a cord within her soul, igniting it in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time.
"We can work on your containers if you wish, being we can't work any further on your second origin until you have healed fully." Capricorn wanted nothing more than to comfort Lucy, but this was something she had to work out by herself.
They worked till the sun broke over the valley, till Lucy was covered in sweat and her body quivered. With every key she gained, she gained another container, which meant she so far held 14 containers and had unlocked 7 of the 12 star dresses. More than any celestial mage had ever been able to do. Which meant more meditation and concentration was needed.
"That is enough for today, rest now." Capricorn ordered her. Lucy's chest heaved with a grateful sigh, Capricorn was a slave driver through and through that was for sure. Lucy winced when the sweat stung the bandages that covered her wound. Reminding her she needed to bathe and change first.
"Only rest there is to be had is for the dead Capricorn, first a bath." With that Lucy made her way towards the stream that was further away from the camp, not knowing that she had a watchful eye on her.
She made it to the stream, and before disrobing she made sure she was alone before she proceeded. Undressing, she un-rolled the bindings around her chest and torso, enjoying the crisp early morning breeze against her sweat slicked skin. She sat with her back towards the spring, and gasped when she noticed the slash marks from the wyvern were nearly healed. Leaving only pink puckered skin in its wake.
"What in the stars above." Lucy murmured as she stared at her reflection in the waters surface. Her wounds never healed this quickly before, and she wondered if it was because of Cobra's work. She nearly screeched when she entered the bone chilling water, acclimating herself with one inch of skin at a time. By the time it reached her naval, Lucy sighed in contentment as the cold water seemed to carry away all of her stress.
"What I wouldn't give for an onsen right now." Lucy groaned as she washed away the dirt and grim from her as well as she could. Her eyes caught a glimmering red string in the current, and lifted it in her finger tips to further inspect it. It twined around her third finger and down the back of her hand to wrap around her wrist twice.
'A red string of fate huh?' Lucy hummed to herself, curiosity clawing in to her. She was known for her love of puzzles and book, praised by her old teacher and by Levi over her quick wit and intelligence. Her mind reeled to try an process just what was going on, and thought about asking Grandpa Crux about what it meant. Her eyes widened as it began to change in to a dark purple hue and began to throb.
Lucy quickly finished with her bath and got dressed, suddenly feeling a rage like nothing she felt before flow through her. She collapsed to her knees and clenched her shirt tightly in her fist. It was as if one of Aquarius's waves crashed through her repeatedly, crushing against her chest as the rage swelled like a cresting tsunami. This wasn't any feelings of hers, and she wondered what or whom was causing these feelings inside of her.
A blur crashed in to the clearing she was in, slamming in to her before a large boulder landed right where she stood. She heard the snarling, felt the vibration of it throughout her body. Than the scent hit her, the smell of clove and cinnamon with a slight hint of nightshade. She looked up in surprise, stunned.
"What is going on?" She asked Cobra, but her words didn't reach him. His eye was slotted like a dragon's, purple scales covered both his arms and sharp talons took place of his fingernails. His face morphed in to pure rage, a silent promise of death on whom ever it was that caused his wrath.
'Dragon Force?!' Lucy looked around wildly for whatever threat that caused him to take on his dragon force. Poison seeped out of the corners of his mouth, his nostrils, dripped down the free claw he wasn't using to hold Lucy against his chest.
Cobra was past reason; he hadn't gotten any sleep since Lucy left the tent to talk to one of her spirits and to meditate. He watched her walk toward the stream that sat not to far behind their camp. That was when he heard it, that disgusting sound of the asshole's soul that stalked the unsuspecting woman. He didn't know why it enraged him the way it did, but it was like the chains on his darker side had snapped at the sound of what exactly they had wanted to do to Lucy.
"I didn't expect such a beauty to have an ugly companion like you." The sound of the male's voice pissed Cobra off even more than the utter stupidity he showed by crossing in to his territory.
"Touch a hair on her head, and you will lose yours." The deep reverberating sound of Cobra's voice caused Lucy to shiver, and not in a wholly bad way. The male mage smirked at Cobra's threat, clearly having no sense of self preservation he charged the enraged slayer while he held the blonde mage in his arm.
"She would catch a pretty price in the Votel, I can assure you." The mage's fist shot out with a lightening quick movement, only for it to be caught by Cobra. Followed quickly by the sickening sound of the bones in the mage's wrist.
"Hi unt wah haalvut los dii."(you try touch is mine) The tongue in which Cobra spoke confused Lucy, she had never heard that form of dialect before. The mage howled in pain his useless wrist hung limply at his side as he pulled out a wicked looking blade from his sash around his hips. Cobra brushed his nose against Lucy's cheek taking in her scent, making sure she isn't hurt any where. Before he turned his attention back on the offending mage before him. His body vibrated with his ire, his tongue danced over his enlarged fangs with the madness that flowed through his veins.
"Ni koraav."(don't see) Lucy didn't need to fully understand his words, the command was there none the less. He wanted her to close her eyes, so she wouldn't have to bare witness to what he was about to do. She closed them tightly, turning her head to press it in to his chest, she head the appreciated rumble at her action. What transpired in the few moments it took for it to be over, Lucy was pulled further in to her daze when she saw the purple string entwining around Cobra's left wrist and ring finger as well. It hit her then and there, like a two ton pallet of bricks. Cobra and her were tied by the Fates, how she wasn't exactly sure. But the string was there none the less.
Lucy went to turn her head to look at what had happened, but Cobra kept her head to his chest, not too harshly but firmly enough to let her know not to look. She had to know what had happened, and she struggled against Cobra's hold.
"Damn it, Bright Eyes. Just listen for once!" Cobra snapped at her, his anger raising up once again. He knew if she saw what he had done, it would disgust her. Fairies had one golden rule, one that he didn't care for, and that was not to kill. He had done far worse than giving the mage a quick mercilessly death. If she saw, she would be scared of him, of the darkness that would always reside in him. The insanity that ruled over him.