Fairy Tail runs, miserable.
"What do you mean, you can't make it home!" Cana snaps, shouting into the lacrima. There are tears in her eyes, "Laxus, for fuck's sake—!"
"I can't and that's final, Cana," Laxus scowls. "If Jose's main force retaliates again, deal with it yourselves. The Thunder Legion and I are busy."
"Wha– fuck. LAXUS!" she grabs the crystal, but Laxus already cut the connection.
"Hey now, don't," Mirajane comes up, taking Cana's hands before she crushes the lacrima between them. It's their main communication right now, they can't afford to lose it, especially with so many people out of town.
"But listen to that motherfucker! What is wrong with him?!"
"It's Laxus," Mirajane says, in lieu of an explanation. "He won't tell us what's going on with him, but you know as well as I do he'd never stand still when our pride's on the line.
Laxus sighs.
"Is that okay?" Bickslow asks, the sallet mask covering his frown, but his disapproval clear in the way his shoulders drop.
"It's not like we'll be able to make it there in any feasible time," Evergreen says, looking aside, hiding her pout behind her fan.
"You're always so mean to Cana specifically," Happy says, "I wanna say something but I know I'll get smacked for it so I won't."
"Very wise, cat."
"You're like a school bully that's always teasing his crush. Are you in lllllllllllo— OUCH!" Happy whines when Laxus flicks him in the forehead. "Owie. I should have gone home. You're so cruel. Natsu would never do this to me."
"Natsu would hardly be this fucking annoying too. Should have brought him and left you home."
Bickslow laughs openly, picking up Happy and trying to cheer him up. "Come on Happy. If you're not happy, you're just… I don't know, honestly."
"That's not funny!"
"I'll go with whatever Laxus decides on," Freed says. "Though, I must admit, it doesn't really sit right with me. Where are we headed, anyways?"
"Freed! You're driving and you don't know where we're going?"
"I've just been told to go south. I listen to Laxus."
Laxus groans, kneading his temple. They're on a carriage, Laxus is motion sick, and he's not in the mood to talk. They'd spent the past day or so just going around destroying all of Naked Mummy's branches.
"Go to Margaret," he says.
"Margaret Town, I see," Freed acknowledges. Then, "wait, why?"
Laxus frowns at the seemingly stupid question. "Do you guys seriously think we can take on all of Phantom's branches alone? I don't know about any of you, but I can't fucking multiply."
"Huh? Wait, what—"
"We're going to Lamia Scale," Laxus doesn't listen to the confused questions. "Jura owes me a favour and there's no better time to cash it in."
The Thunder Legion proceed to stare very pointedly at thim, completely baffled.
"Laxus-sama," Freed says. "I will follow you for life."
Bickslow's little totems start dancing like they're on a sugar high, bouncing about declaring "for life! For life! Laxus-sama we love you!" and it takes every cell in Laxus' body to not turn them into dust.
"Laxus, real question," Happy says, "life must be really difficult, living as a Tsundere. How do you cope with it?"
"Senseless violence," Laxus returns. "I'm willing to demonstrate an example if you volunteer."
"Aye, I'll pass."
"Yes, that's what I expected you to say."
"I'm not straight, but oh dear, you're like, the exception," Evergreen sighs dreamily, "how I wish I could turn you into a stone statue and keep you forever. Platonically."
"...Ever, what do you identify as again?"
"I identify as none of your business, Bicks."
"Fair."
Laxus groans. "All of you shut the hell up and drive!"
"Yessir, Laxus-sama!"
"If you stay in that guild, you're only causing them trouble. So why don't you be a good girl now and go home? We'll bring you there. Safely."
Lucy squirms, definitely uncomfortable.
"I'm not sure," she sneers. "Last I heard, people with good intentions don't exactly tie up their hostages and trap them in the jail cell of a high building."
"It's precaution, my dear," Jose, the Master of Phantom Lord, returns. "We've heard you might resist, you see. And we wouldn't blame you. Charm's a hard spell to crack."
"You can't possibly believe that," Lucy says. Something's wrong– well, of course something's wrong. Phantom Lord is a walking red flag. "How much is my father paying you? Did he pay you to scare me into never trying to run away again, too?"
Jose pauses at that, slightly appalled.
Then he chuckles, "I'm sure you've got your own troubles, Lucy Heartfilia. But let's go with that, then," he says, approaching her. "Regardless of your father's intentions, by the time you get home, we're quite confident you'll never try to run away again."
Lucy's eyes blow wide when a foot sinks into her gut, sending her flying right into a far wall. She slams against the concrete and walls, whimpering weakly.
Her keys— aren't here. She can't sense them either.
(Even if they were around… they wouldn't respond to her, would they? They failed to respond last time. But maybe if she put enough magic in it she could force an open gate, just like what Levy and the others did for Macao with Virgo—)
"What are you thinking about?"
Another kick, this time the studded boot hooks right into her face, gouging just under her eye and sending her swinging to the side. She hunches, curling into herself. Another kick doesn't come.
"Tell me, Lucy Heartfilia. How much does your father really care about you?" Jose taunts. "He's doing so much. How desperate is he, and how much of his fortune are you worth?"
"Oh I see," Lucy says. "This is a kidnapping."
Ironic.
Her father didn't ask for this treatment. Appearances are valued in nobility, and though Lucy's reputation will forever be stained as a child that got 'charmed into a guild', that can be worked around, since she's a woman.
A girl that fell to a ridiculous Charm trap will never be seen as an intelligent individual ever again. But she can be interpreted as dumb and naive to the masses. She can be a sexist stereotype and survive, that was how the world of nobles worked. That was why she hated that world.
But if Lucy's beauty, her last redeeming quality as a woman of nobility, is damaged— their political standing goes down. Jude would never want that. And yet, Jose didn't think twice to knock her head out, scar her cheeks, and tear at her hair.
Lucy can't help but laugh.
Jose doesn't even know he's making this worse for himself. Jude would never pay a ransom for a woman that's no longer worth anything.
Her spirits weren't responding to her, and they're not even here. She's no longer a mage as far as technicalities go. Her friends are all hurt and broken and ruined , because of her. If she loses her status as well, what does she have left?
"What's so funny?" Jose asks. "Oh dear. You must be more messed up in the head than we thought. Maybe Fairy Tail did do something to your brain, poor girl."
What does Lucy Heartfilia have left?
"HEY! LUCY!! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME, LUCY, HEY!"
The volume is so startlingly loud , Jose and Lucy both jump in surprise. The boy's voice isn't one Lucy fully recognizes, but she knows it.
"LUCY!" it continues.
Jose steps away to look out the window. Lucy stares, appalled. Is she really being that underestimated? He just turned his back on her and stood by a window.
"Oh dear. It's one of those Fairy brats," Jose says. He turns around, but Lucy's already on her feet, charging right at him with a warcry. "What? WHAT?" Jose blubbers, horrified.
"I'm not going home, you fucking pervert!" she declares, getting a running start before launching into a flying kick, nailing Jose right in the collar and face.
Jose gets a face full of her panties, but honestly, that probably helped her catch him off guard to begin with. Lucy's not naive enough to think a loud ambush is enough to catch the Master of Phantom Lord unawares.
(Sometimes it's good to be a girl in a sexist society wearing a miniskirt and she is making use of that.)
They topple, right past the edge of the building and down— and further down, too high for a human to survive. Lucy's stomach falls with dread.
Jose curses, managing to grab the ledge on the way down, scraping his hand to cling onto the balcony. Lucy's arms are still tied. There's nowhere to hold on to, and she can't reach out, either.
"Don't think you're getting away with this!" Jose yells, a black whip shooting out from his sleeve. That will catch Lucy. That will, and then she'll be back in that grimy cell, with worse security, with worse treatment.
Even jumping off a building couldn't get her away?
She squeezes her eyes shut. There's nothing she can do now, then. She's such an idiot, she did all this just for it to be foiled in the dumbest ways.
(Lucy ran away from home on an impulse. She joined Fairy Tail despite wavering between choices, on an impulse. She jumped from this building, on an impulse as well. She's really never thought things through, has she? No wonder it's all coming back to bite harder than she can handle. It's all been building up like karma points.)
"Fire Dragon's—" A flaming foot nails Jose in the jaw, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"
Lucy opens her eyes.
That's the voice that had been shouting her name.
Natsu Dragneel shoots Jose to the far horizon, clambers for balance— and then grabs Lucy out of the air, saddling her to his chest.
Fire churns at his heels, slowing their fall.
Lucy clings on, staying as still as she can until they're safely on the ground.
In the remote hills and musty concrete of Phantom Lord's headquarters, Natsu smells Loke's cologne. Which is weird. The headquarters should have more members than the First branch, and yet, he smells nothing there. Not even a guard. Sure he's heard that Jose can summon literal phantoms to fight for him, but this is just weird.
He only vaguely knows what to search for, but the question answers itself when Lucy leaps out of the building, much too high to be safe.
And when he saves her, there's only one thing he could think of.
"Wow," he says, dryly setting her down. "You really do look like Anna-sensei."
"Huh?" Lucy lifts her head.
"Your magic's really weak in comparison, though."
"Uh… okay?" Lucy fidgets, not so sure what she's done to warrant this immediate judgment. "What about it?"
Natsu unties the ropes for her, but she doesn't get up. She doesn't have the strength to get on her feet anymore, nor the will.
"Nothing," Natsu dismisses, an arm out, "come on. We're going back. No point in trashing this building since it's empty, but the others are probably worried about you."
"…yes," Lucy says, but she falters. "You're Natsu, right? The Salamander."
Natsu raises a brow. "Whatever the world wants to call me, I guess."
Lucy's hands don't go for Natsu's offered one, so Natsu retracts it. Lucy curls her hand over her guild mark with a sigh.
"I… I'm really sorry for all the trouble I've caused," she's said this so much it's a tired phrase, and yet, there's just nothing else she knows. How dare she inconvenience them with her childish needs. "And I just… I'll go home."
She has to apologize. (She's never been taught otherwise.)
Natsu whirls back around in surprise. "Go home?"
"That was the whole problem," she admits. "If I go home, then no one will get hurt again. I'll probably also bring Phantom Lord's ire with me. They're after my dad's fortune and I don't care about it, so I— I can go. I have to."
"Alright," Natsu says readily, and Lucy lifts her head in surprise. She didn't expect that. Natsu sets his hands on his sides and leans forward, towering over her. "So, which way?"
Lucy takes a second.
"Wha– no, you're not coming," she says, panicking. "I'm going home. Alone. I'll get out of your guilds' business and—"
"Not your guild," Natsu interrupts, and Lucy straightens when his teeth gnash, almost irritated. "Our."
Lucy crumbles. "Oh uh. I guess I'm leaving, then."
"Yeah, fat chance," Natsu doesn't offer a hand, he reaches in to take her by the wrists, and pulls her to her feet. "You're shaking just talking about it. If you think any of us are going to leave you alone and let you go back to a place you obviously don't want to be, you're dead wrong."
Lucy crumbles. And crumbles, until it starts to hurt. She bites down on her lip, fighting back the burn behind her eyes. She's not being selfish. She's doing the exact opposite. Why can't people understand that?
(Of course they didn't. No one ever cared to understand what she wanted. Jude never did.)
"None of you even need to do any of this for me," Lucy says. She's sick of being passive now— she's frustrated. "I don't even know you. How about you keep out of my business and leave me alone?"
Natsu doesn't falter. "You're a member of Fairy Tail, and that means it's our problem now."
Lucy clicks her tongue. "I said I'm leaving the guild. That means it's not your problem anymore."
"Then hand in your resignation and get your approval before running, you coward!"
Lucy flinches.
"...Coward?" she asks, voice hollow. Her conflicted feelings instantly curl up into anger. "How dare you. How dare you. You have no right to call me that when you understand nothing about me!"
"I don't give a crap if I have any right to judge you!" Natsu shouts. "Understand you? How are any of us supposed to understand when all you do is hide and lie and try to solve things yourself?!"
As if she ever wanted to hide.
As if she was ever obligated to share.
Everyone had secrets. Lucy didn't understand why this man was pretending not to understand that.
She wants to throw a punch, but she doesn't have the strength. All her anger is building up in her head and there's nothing her body wants to do but scream . Scream all seventeen years of frustrations, right out.
Because how dare he speak like he understood anything.
She's not powerful like them. She can't just punch through her problems like them. Of course, they would never know the fear she's always lived in. The places where a single wrong word could cost so much.
Lucy isn't supposed to be too open, too loud, too unnecessary, because it just opens her up for people to take advantage of.
(She knows that. That's what her father taught her.)
"What more is there to say?!" Lucy yells. "I ran away from home. My father wants me back, and I don't want to go home!" she reaches up, trying in vain to cover her own face, rubbing away the frustrated tears. "But what am I even achieving, staying here? My spirits aren't listening to me, I don't even have them on me, my presence here is causing everyone so much hurt! Levy got hurt, Loke got hurt protecting me , and I can do nothing but wait here like a fucking helpless princess!"
She breathes heavily, the rant leaving her winded.
"Maybe that's all I am. A damsel in distress. Maybe that's all I'll ever be."
Natsu listens to every word, soaking it in, no interruptions. She sobs into her hands, in front of this boy she barely knows, and yet— he's the only one around that can listen.
"I–" Lucy chokes up, eyes buried in her hands. "I didn't want any of this. I promise I didn't. I finally found somewhere to love and somewhere that's so warm and— I love everyone, so much. But they don't deserve any of this. I don't want to stay if being here only hurts everyone."
A warm hand rests on her head, and she pauses, surprised.
She looks up to see it's Natsu, and his hand is gentle. His eyes are stern and firm, resolute, filled with anger— that for once in her life, isn't directed at her. It's angry for her.
No one's ever been angry for her before.
The admission comes out of her. It's another of her impulses, only torn out of her because she lets her emotions decide.
"I… I want to stay in Fairy Tail…" she pleads. "Can I?"
She has to ask.
Cana, Erza, Mira… they would never tell her otherwise. But Natsu could say not to her, and he would, if it threatened the safety of the guild. That's why Lucy has to ask— he's someone that won't baby her for being selfish.
The arms that come around her are a surprise, but she melts into it, comforted by the firm way Natsu holds her to his chest, the hand on her head, warmer than anything she's ever experienced before.
"Yes, you can," he says. "That's all I need to hear. Leave it to us."
Maybe it was a trap. Maybe Natsu only riled her up to get her to say that, to get her to admit that she needed and wanted help. Lucy realizes that belatedly, and she's almost embarrassed, that she fell for such an obvious trick. It's almost insulting.
But she can't help but feel relieved that he made her say it.
Now, she doesn't have to go alone, back to that cold home. She can stay. She can stay, and that, beyond anything, meant the world to her.
"We won't let one of ours face their monsters alone," Natsu promises. "Don't ever try to go off on your own. We won't let you."
(Natsu thinks of a bundle of white flowers laid on an empty grave.)
(Lucy does not mean as much to him. But she means that much to the others in the guild and he understands that fully. That's why he would never forgive himself if he let Lucy go when the others aren't here to protect her themselves.)
(He knows best how much it hurts to be absent when you're needed the most. He would never subject anyone in the guild to the same.)
The guild members are gathered in the basement.
Levy, Jet and Droy were laid out on futons on the ground. They couldn't afford to leave them unsupervised at this point. Gray had laid Loke down on the couch instead, and he was still unconscious.
"Any changes there?" Elfman comes by.
Mirajane shakes her head. "It's strange. His clothes have new tears, but he's not injured. There's blood, but no wounds. And his magic is so weakened…"
Gray grimaces. "Should we bring him to Porlyusica-san, then?"
"She has her hands full. Loke's not in critical condition," Mirajane says, sounding sure, but biting her trembling lips down, her body betraying her. "He'll bounce back. He always does."
They should have been there to help him.
(But they can't mull over it now.)
Alzack and Bisca had brought Master Makarov to Porlyusica's house. They'll be safe there for now, since Jose doesn't know about that place. But until then, they have to figure out how to deal with their current situation.
Their numbers are sparse. This assault only worked because of the surprise factor and concentrated attack. Now that it's failed, Phantom will be calling in reinforcements from all their surrounding branches, and if they decide to retaliate now, it's easy to see how they could turn even the court on their side.
"Fairy Tail, you bastards! Get out here!"
The hall jerks up in alarm. It was too early for Phantom to be here yet.
"We've had enough of your crap!"
"Can't you think about consequences for once in your life! You lowlife drunkards can't do a single good thing for this town, can you?"
They hurry out to the front, where villagers, the town association— they were crowded around the front, furious. The older lady from the bakery spots Erza and takes her by the shoulders.
"Erza, honey, please," she pleads. "Is it true Fairy Tail raided Phantom?"
Erza doesn't expect her to be heere. She's a pacifist. They're all pacifists. They tolerated Fairy Tail's rambunctious nature, and they grew up being enabled by these adults in the neighborhood. And yet, here they were.
"Yes… we did, but…"
"Why did you do that?!" a man yells. "Even we know the consequences of directly attacking other guilds. It was different when you kids did it to Eisenwald— Phantom's a legal guild! Do you want to become criminals?"
"We trusted you, Cana dear, Erza, all of you," they say. "Could none of you have waited for all this controversy to blow over?"
Couldn't you have been patient?
Your reputation's rock bottom and nothing can save it now.
"Hold on— all of you saw what they did to Levy and Jet and Droy!" Mirajane picks up, confrontational. "How could we have sat still?"
"They came onto our turf and picked a fight!" Gray adds. "How were we supposed to live peacefully knowing any moment our lives could be in danger for something we didn't even do?"
"So you brought the fight to the entire town of Magnolia instead?"
The accusation tears into all of them like a rusted knife.
"That wasn't our intention—!" Erza's words are interrupted.
"Did none of you ever stop to think that Phantom targeted wanderers specifically to taunt you guys into fighting?"
"Phantom's guild hall is a remote location! Look, at least they care about the livelihoods of civilians!"
"Do you have any idea how much the town is suffering because of this current controversy? It's not just your lives that are jeopardized!"
"Just think! They have such big numbers! Why did you continue the battle if you couldn't win?"
"Never start the fight, but make sure you finish it! We taught you that over and over!"
"If they come to the town of Magnolia now, none of us will make it out unscathed! None of us ever wanted a place in your war and now you're dragged us right into it! Do you expect all of us to lift our houses off the ground and run because of you ?!"
They could say nothing.
They could say absolutely nothing at all to all of that.
"You should have just returned the Lucy girl to her family when you had the chance! You shouldn't have perpetuated this problem any more than you should have!"
"Who cares if she doesn't want to go home? Is a small sacrifice really worth everyone's livelihoods?"
"Just make her go back! It's clearly the better life, anyways, she lives in luxury!"
Erza's fist tightens, her vision turning red.
("Go live in your false freedom, Erza. And don't worry, I'll make sure everyone gets plenty of rest and everything they could ever want.")
"Shut up!" she yells, and the square silences, mortified at her choice of words. "We're sorry for bringing the town into this fight. We're sorry we didn't think of the consequences! But we are NOT sorry for hiding Lucy!"
"How could you have the audacity to tell us to shut up?"
"How can you be so selfish? Don't you see you're ruining a whole town for the whims of a spoiled brat?"
Erza holds her arms out when the entire guild stiffens behind her, clearly infuriated just as much as she was. They can't fight the town. They're not the enemy.
"Listen up. And I'll say it as many times as you ask," Erza says. "Lucy is ours . Lucy is a member of Fairy Tail. And we would rather DIE than give her up!"
Lucy listens, and she sobs again.
"Ah, Natsu!" Elfman spots him in the distance. "Where did you go— oh, you're the man, dude! You brought Lucy back with you."
Maybe he'd said it out loud on purpose, because the entire crowd turns to see Natsu, with Lucy on his back. Lucy shrinks and Natsu doesn't even flinch. He steps forward and the crowd parts for him, and while Lucy clearly squirms under their watchful eye, Natsu keeps his eyes straight, never once acknowledging their presence.
"Lucy!" Erza hurries forward. "Thank goodness. Are you alright?"
"Y- Yes," she says, "I'm sorry for worrying everyone."
"That's alright. Head on in, Loke has your keys."
Natsu grimaces at the sight of the guild. They haven't removed the steel bars on the guild. With as little time as they currently have, it might be better to leave them in instead of trying to take them out and risk the whole building collapsing from being shaken the wrong way.
They collectively fix a glare at the citizen, before heading back inside.
Erza closes her eyes. "We will take responsibility for our actions and ensure the city of Magnolia stays safe, to the best of our abilities," she promises. "But if it eases your mind… Please, evacuate."
She does not apologize.
Not anymore.
"We will protect the town of Magnolia, and all of our members," she says. "I pray that all of you will remain safe as well."
Alzack and Bisca sit outside Porlyusica's house, standing guard.
"Huh? What's with the sentry?"
Alzack and Bisca jerk to attention, reaching for their guns— but they find a child, barely twelve, looking at them. He's got a basket of fruits on his back, and for a second, Bisca thought her eyes were fooling her.
She glances toward Alzack, and the way he glances back anxiously pretty much indicates he's seeing the same thing. Why would a kid be out here, visiting the human-hating Porlyusica?
Much more… Bisca doesn't recognize the guild mark on his upper arm.
She didn't believe it before now, but there are people whose hair naturally spikes upwards, huh? Natsu's got a comrade in the untameable hair crowd, now.
"Uhh, who are you, kid?" Bisca asks.
"That's my question," the boy snarls. "Invaders? Definitely not visitors, I don't see why Granny would welcome humans like you."
He said it so poisonously, as if he weren't one himself. But then again, so did Porlyusica.
"Wait, did you say Granny ?" Alzack balks. "You mean, Porlyusica-san?"
"Who the hell else?"
"Oh uh. It's just… unexpected, is all," Alzack backtracks. "We'll get out of the way. Sorry."
"You still haven't answered why you're here," the boy sneers, making his way to the steps, ignoring them all to put hand on the doorknob. "But whatever. As long as you don't get in the way and leave once your business is done."
Bisca stares, genuinely appalled. She wants to grab this kid by the ear and twist it in the wrong direction.
"What a cheeky brat," she chides.
Sting scoffs. "Whatever, auntie."
"AUnt— excuse me?!"
The boy turns around to stick his tongue out at her, but the door opens, and Porlyusica walks out with a broomstick, swiping it right over the boy's head, earning a yelp.
"Wha– Granny!" he whines.
"Do not pick fights outside my door, you're causing unnecessary noise pollution and it's giving me a headache," she grumbles. "Bring the apples to the pantry, Sting."
He clicks his tongue, marching into the building with a complaint under his throat. "...Deeny was never this mean…"
"Speak up if you want to grumble!"
"NOTHING!"
Alzack and Bisca are halfway into bewilderment. What is going on? Why have they in their many years of interacting closely with Porlyusica, never known that she had a Grandchild? Does the Master know about this?
(Also, what guild is he in?)
"You punks are STILL out here?!" Porlyusica shouts, and Alzack and Bisca make synchronous squeaks of fright. "I said leave! I don't need no half-assed human protection, your misery is infesting this place with fungi! Get out and go back to Magnolia before I make you!"
She starts swinging the broom, and Alzack and Bisca can only start scrambling. "Yes! We're sorry Ma'am! Leaving now! Sorry goodbye, leaving immediately yes!"
They don't see Porlyusica sigh, Mystogan stepping out after her.
"I can do it," he says. "Use Sting's magic to replenish Makarov's, I mean. If you want."
"No," Loke hisses, holding the pouch firmly even when Lucy tries to take it from him. She actually jumps, because he hadn't been awake until now. "You're not allowed. Your magic's unstable, and it's dangerous for you to risk using too much of it now."
Lucy sputters. "Wha– I," she struggles, but Loke's grip is tight, "I… I can do it. Give me my keys back."
"No."
Cana looks between them, appalled. She hasn't seen Loke this stubborn before.
"Loke, give it back to her," she says, "you don't exactly have the right to withhold those keys from her."
"Plus, how are her spirits supposed to protect her if they're not with her?" Gray says, "c'mon calm down now. You're lecturing her about her magic but yours is not any better, you know?"
Loke frowns. "I'm different."
"Toxic masculinity," Cana sneers, shaking Loke by the shoulders.
"Call it what you want," Loke grumbles, "Lucy. If you use magic now, and it fails… Do you know what would happen to you?"
Lucy bites her bottom lip. "I… It might eat into my life force," she says. "I know. I've seen it before."
That leaves the guild speechless.
"Wait— what?"
"Most old magics take a lot of power, so it makes sense."
"Then that's dangerous, Lucy! If you can't do it now, then—"
Lucy interrupts, loudly. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take! I can't keep cowering like this, not when everyone's fighting for me!" Her fists tighten at her sides, "They're my keys, and I have the right to them, Loke! Give them back!"
"They're not tools, Lucy!" Loke snaps. Lucy flinches viscerally. "It's admirable you're willing to fight for yourself, Lucy," he says, "but if your life is put at risk because of this, do you think any of your spirits will ever be able to forgive themselves?"
Lucy falls silent, the words stuck at her throat. She hadn't thought of that. Of them.
She's been struggling with herself— she'd completely forgotten to consider them . Of course they'd be devastated. Of course they're just as upset about all this as she is.
Loke's eyes are strained, like he's seeing something else. Something other than Lucy, something so much more.
"...that's ridiculous. If I die because I was stupid, it won't be their fault," Lucy insists.
"That's how you look at it," Loke says, his voice cold. "Spirits, w— you see them as friends, don't you? Then you understand. They have feelings. They have hearts, just like you. Do you really think any of them are willing to stand by and watch you risk your life for a risk you don't have to take? Especially if the risk comes from you trying to summon them , and they didn't even know ?"
There's something so projective about his words.
Like Loke is trying so hard to make up for an old mistake he's no longer able to make up for. Like there's a gaping wound, and Loke is trying his hardest to hold it close with his hands, praying for breath.
"Hey, Loke…" Cana sets a hand on Loke's shoulder, and Loke sighs. He shuts his eyes, turns away, and leans back against the couch. "This isn't like you, Loke. Calm down a little."
"I am calm," Loke says, a flat-out lie. No one's ever seen him this frazzled before.
"We didn't even get to ask if you're feeling alright," Gray gets up. "You don't look hurt. What happened, did the guy have some strange magic or something?"
"No, no," Loke says, "Just Magic Deficiency. I'll be fine in a bit."
Layla Heartfilia died of Magic Deficiency. Like a statistical majority of Celestial Spirit mages. And right now, Lucy's setting herself up for the exact same outcome.
Lucy bites on her bottom lip and she knows , that if anything were to happen to her… her spirits would cry. They promised to protect her, and she hated that none of them could reliably show up while her heart's this frazzled.
"...I'm sorry," she says.
Loke's eyes are cold.
Still, Lucy tightens her hands around her chest and swears on the Fairy Tail guild mark on her hand.
(She's tired of being afraid. She's tired of running away.)
(She wants to face her problems, because now— now, she has Fairy Tail on her side.)
"I was wrong," she says. "I was scared. I wasn't sure if I still deserved them, to be a mage. I was ashamed of my own name, because it's the name that's tainting this guild. I started to hate and hide it, because I was ashamed of my history."
Lucy hesitates.
The Heartfilia name comes to her with tragedy, causing hurt to all those around her. She rejects the name, she rejects her past— not realizing that her magic, her pride, was included in that list of things in the past that she couldn't so easily forget.
The conflict those thoughts gave her hurt her conscience, and scarred her willpower, and manifested in a corrupted flow of magic that refused to work.
"Even so, I'm still Lucy Heartfilia, and I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage," she says, wrapping her hands around Loke's, around her pouch of keys. "And I have a duty to become a bridge that connects to the world of the spirits. I can't abandon it here. Please… would you allow me to take it up once more?"
It's a vow.
The keys burned with magic, a roar of compliance from the Celestial Gate, drawing her back into their world, accepting that wholehearted resolve. Her spirits listened. Loke listened. The guild listened.
It didn't matter if Lucy was still afraid— she had the resolve, and magic respected that.
Loke loosens his grip, and Lucy finally takes her keys back to her side. There's nothing Loke can do not but watch as her eyes light up with determination.
"I'll never falter again," she says, "I swear on the stars."
Cana's smile is proud, and Gray's chuckle comes from a place of delight. Devastated, Loke leans back and covers his eyes with the back of his wrist.
"Oh, do whatever you want."
"So, Phantom has a walking guild."
"Is that not copyrighted by H*wl's Moving Castle?"
"Geez Laki, it was a free domain until you said the name of it."
When the walking guild of Phantom Lord marches toward them, Lucy runs ahead of the crowd, even before Erza, and leaps into the waters.
"Wha– Lucy?!"
"Woah holy—"
"What is she doing?!"
"Lucy?!"
"She's not thinking…?"
Everyone in the guild that was able runs out to see. Jose demands for Lucy, but no one listens. Jupiter is seconds away from firing, and Lucy plunges her hands into the waters.
"Gate of the Water Bearer, I open thee!"
Loke had been prepared to fight or evacuate, but now, he just stood completely still and resigned. "First the rain woman, now the shoreside battle… oh, cats and water really don't get along," he sighs, hands held over his head, pressing some hair flat on his head.
"...what?" Gray asks.
"You didn't hear anything."
"What?"
"AQUARIUS!"
"Wait, Lucy—?!?"
"Lucy wait, you're not thinking— that's impossible hold on!"
"I'LL ONLY SAY THIS ONCE MORE," Jose's voice rings through the loudspeakers, "give us Lucy Heartfilia or your lives are forfeit!"
The waves curved high above Phantom Lord's building. Lucy raises her hand in tandem with Aquarius' urn. She's smiling, ecstatic. She cast a bet on the bonds between her and the Celestial Realm, and it worked.
"JUST THIS ONCE, YOU HEAR ME?!" Aquarius yells.
"YEEEAAH!" Lucy yells, louder.
Even the entire Phantom Lord was not prepared for the Tsunami that churned through the waters, sweeping the entire moving castle off its mechanical feet. The Jupiter cannon veers off course, scraping the roof of Fairy Tail and the corners of Kardia Cathedral in the distance.
Everyone in Fairy Tail simply held their breaths at the sight of Phantom Lord's majestic moving castle toppling over like a toy robot, splashing unceremoniously sideways into the water. There's a moment of baffled silence.
Holy shit.
"I," Lucy's voice is still loud, "AM A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD! REMEMBER THAT!"
Aquarius has her hands held over her ears.
The Fairy Tail wizards are right behind her, readier than ever before. If they were prepared to fight before, now they were ecstatic to get going. "YEAH YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!" they yell. "Lucy belongs with us!" and "THIS is her home now!"
Lucy punches the air once.
And then she falls lifelessly backwards, right back into the water, completely out of magic. It's the shallows, so Aquarius just shakes her head at the sight.
Jose's yelps on the intercom die out while the building topples, cut off dramatically as he seemingly gets choked up by vertigo.
Then it abruptly reawakens, "HOW DARE YOU!"
"It's alive!" Macao and Wakaba scream in a panic, "everyone, battle mode, battle mode! Let's go go go! Strike the thing while it's down, guys, everyone, go to your stations!"
"Aye sir! Aye sir!"
"Okay Macao, you're going back inside—"
"What no! I'm gonna stay here! Romeo, kick anyone that tries to push my wheelchair!"
"YEAH!"
"ROMEO GO HOME!"
"Get Lucy back here! Get the dumbass back here! LUCY YOU ALIVE?"
"She's out of magic! She can't move! Whoever's fast, go get her!"
"Am I the only one left?!" Max yells, running rapidly.
Aquarius lifts Lucy's upper body out of the waters, and Lucy raises a shaky thumbs up, chuckling, completely exhausted from magic use. It's up to Max to get her on his back and wade out of the waters. He gets out quickly, crossing the main force on the way, Cana patting him on the shoulder as he crosses.
"Our newbie stole the opening act from us! Can't let her down now, can we?" Cana laughs, with Natsu, Elfman, and Erza getting armed beside her.
"They're pretty far away," Gray says. "Wouldn't it be convenient to have a pair of wings right now? Sure is inconvenient to not have Happy around at a time like this."
Laki hums. "You never needed wings to fly, you only needed love."
"And that means?"
"It's a quote from Jenim Dibie, in The Calligraphy of God."
"Oh, your obscure literature again?"
Chuckling at each other, Laki and Gray stand side by side, and in completely mirrored poses they wind back and slam their hands on the ground. At once, stairs of wood and ice churned to life, a formation of frost and overgrowth combining into a majestic ascension leading up toward Phantom's building.
"Now that is an art piece worthy of love," Laki beams.
Gray laughs, raising a hand for a high five. "I still have no idea what you're talking about."
Cana turns around, to the rest of her guild. She raises her hand, pointer finger and thumb pointed up, palm turned inwards.
"FAIRIES, TO WAR!"