Your heart is what it is
You stood in the hallway starin' back
Whoa
I don't know what it is
I can't make my heart feel like that
Oh, whoa
"And with my King, my princess took down Mard, trapping him in the book. From there, the book is now locked away where no one can get it." Loke continued.
"The Celestial World?" Meredy asked.
"In Crux's hidden library. Away from the palace, away from the rest of the spirits, where no one can touch it." Loke replied, crossing his arms.
"It's under so many enchantments, it would need a tremendous amount of power to take them all down," Lucy commented, clipping her keys back onto her belt loop. She sighed.
"Look, guys, I know that you may think I'm callous, majorly bitchy and a downright cunt, but… I have my reasons to be. I've explained it to you, you know what you need to. It's going to take me a while to get over all that I went through during the war and then immediately after with the guild shutting down for the upteenth time. Not to mention, my team leaving me without so much as a goodbye, nope… just a quick 'See ya later, Lucy. Stay there in Magnolia and protect the guild. It's been real.' That right there, was the real kicker." She rubbed a hand against her face as her eyes started prickling.
Cobra frowned, his forehead creasing with confusion. "You mean after Fairy Tail disbanded, your goodie-two shoes teammates left you there on your own after all you did for them? For us?"
Lucy gave him a wry grin. "It's not like they can remember anyway. We had to plant false memories in their minds to protect them, essentially yes. I mean, I get it though- we all had shit to deal with after that fuckfest, but it still would have been nice for them to say it to me face-to-face, give me more of an explanation than what they left me."
Sorano grimaced and spoke, "Do you think you'll ever go back?" Despite their past, Sorano actually liked Lucy. At least, liked the her from before.
Lucy had a far away look, as she gazed at the sky. "I don't know. Fairy Tail was my home for a long time. It was my family and my safe haven from my bullshit life, but I don't know. Eventually, maybe. But right now? Not unless someone kidnaps me- though know me, that's probably what would happen." The last part she muttered to herself, pinching her bottom lip in thought. Cobra chuckled at the soft spoken words.
Looking in on her soul, he saw…. a lot of misplaced blame. And regret. And anger, so much pent up anger. And sadness, like a stormy, vast sea- deep and unforgiving. Kinda beautiful in a messed up way.
Cobra was so distracted by Lucy's multi-layered soul, that what happened next was absolutely a once in a lifetime thing.
.
.
.
….. He got bowled over by Racer.
The said speed mage tried and stumbled over Cobra, just missing the doused campfire and Lucy, and went rolling into her tent. They all just stood there, silently trying to piece together what the fuck just happened.
Racer was out of Lucy's tent in a split second; a racy deep blue scrap of underwear was hanging off of his head.
"S-she's coming!" He stuttered, pointing in the direction he just came from.
"What the fuck?! Who's coming?!" Lucy yelled, stomping over and pulling the underwear from his head.
Cobra snarled and listened for the intruder. Meredy and Sorano readied their magic with Jellal. Lucy had her hand on her whip and listened to the sounds of loud, rough footsteps in the forest. Familiar footsteps. And clanging metal.
"Erza/Titania/Scarlet." Lucy, Cobra, and Sorano muttered together. Lucy growled in frustration.
"I knew I should have left earlier." She glared at Jellal. "She's like a bloodhound for you, you blueballed, WALKING TAINT!" She yelled, hands on her hips, hair flying around with magic.
Cobra choked on his spit, looking at Lucy like she was a god damned godsend. Meredy was silently crying tears of laughter, trying to cram her laughter back down her throat at her fearless leaders shocked and slightly green expression. Sorano just looked smug and slightly scared as she turned back to the woods to see a flash of red hair.
"Uh, guys…? She's here." Sorano called back over her shoulder, now fully facing the woods. Lucy and the rest tensed up and looked past Sorano, into the trees.
Erza appeared a moment later, her sword drawn. She paused in her steps, looking around at the mages, before stopping at one. Lucy.
"Lu." She whispered, her blade dropping to the ground in her surprise. She looked lost for a second.
And I won't hear you callin'
Whoa
"Don't leave me here alone."
'Cause even if I said it
You wouldn't hear it
"Erza."
We ride and the lights are out
City bright and the rain falls down outside
I don't wanna go home
I miss you when you're not around
Not so simple just to say out loud
All those words I feel when I'm alone
Lucy was still guarded and stiff as the Titian haired woman walked over to her and promptly hugged her…. hard.
"We've missed you so much, Lucy." Erza said, her voice muffled by Lucy's hair and shoulder. The blond woman did nothing except pull away slightly.
"It's good to see you, Erza. Now, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked, looking at her former guildmate with a quizzical expression on her face.
Erza felt hurt. "Initially, I had no idea you were here. I was just following Jellal's magical signature, but now…. I don't know. Lucy, where have you been!?"
Lucy shrugged, turning to throw her pack on her back. "Everywhere. I've been traveling and training and processing some things."
Erza gripped her shoulders. "Why did you never return? We've been searching for you for years!" Lucy choffed.
Rolling her eyes and blowing her bangs out of her face, she gazed at Erza. "I did stay in the beginning. I kept into contact with Master when he returned, but I needed to get away from Fairy Tail, take some time for myself. You should understand that, Erza." Those last few words cut into Erza something fierce.
She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "But it's been years…"
"And?" Lucy said, softly, her eyebrow cocked.
Erza's face dropped. Lucy patted her on the shoulder and for the first time, Erza caught a glimpse of mer missing guild mark. She didn't say anything, but she felt an overwhelming sadness. "Will you come back with me?" She whispered.
"Not willingly." Lucy moved past her and looked at the group. "I'm heading out now, follow, don't follow. Don't matter to me. It was nice seeing you all." She missed Erza's determined look. Cobra snorted at her thoughts, eye wide with curiosity.
"Lucy," she called over her shoulder. The blond girl turned to look at her. Erza smiled and continued. "I'm sorry about this."
Lucy looked confused. "About what?"
She didn't get her answer. What she did get was a super fast Erza slamming into her and suddenly her world went dark.
As the blond dropped, the group of criminals behind her gaped at her. Erza turned to look at them, hands on her hips and a pleased expression on her face.
"Well she said not willingly."
I won't hear you callin'
Whoa
"Don't leave me here alone
Don't leave me here alone."
Speak now, streets are flooded
Hearts loud, we feel it in our blood and
Now our hearts beat loud
Lucy blinked lazily up at a ceiling. She was in a bed. An unfamiliar familiar bed. With white sheets. And a room that was also familiarly sterile. She looked around in frantic confusion; her hand was shackled to the bed and she pulled at it, wondering why she felt like someone had ran her over with a bulldozer. And then she remembered… Erza was a bulldozer.
She closed her eyes and groaned. "You've got to be suitting me." She muttered to herself. Hearing a chuckle at her words, she lifted her head to see someone she didn't want to.
Natsu.
