War does not determine who is right...only who is left.
Bertrand Russell
Bickslow was sitting enjoying some strong dark ale and contemplating maybe ordering another slice of pie when his magic went haywire, alarms went off, he felt something happening close by, magic effecting a soul...a powerful soul...his eyes flared and through the building, through the walls, everything he saw it, upstairs, a brilliant golden soul was being torn and it staggered him when he both recognized the soul being ripped and the one that had tendrils of its own bright gold reaching for it.
He made some sort of noise, felt Laxus grab his arm, heard him "Bickslow?! What the fuck is happening?!" and the Seith couldn't tear his eyes away from it. "Z...Zen...Lucy is….Taking Zen's soul apart…" He breathed in disbelief, but there was no denying what he was seeing, he knew Lucys soul and sure as hell knew the soul of his older brother.
Laxus looked up the stairs and let go of Bickslow, racing up the staircase and ripping down the hallway on the second floor, skidding to a halt as Lily stood before him, with Levy and Cana, baring his way. He could HEAR Zen inside, strangled sounds of pain coming from the man, heard Lucy begging him to forgive her, that she had to do this….
"What the fuck is going on? Let me through damn it, do you have any idea what's going on in there?!" He demanded and Levy pushed him, shoved against his chest so hard he actually took a step back in surprise.
"Yes!" Levy shouted at him, stunning him with the ferocity of her tone.
"It has to happen Laxus...we have a chance to save Gajeel...Lucy is making it happen!" Levy said, glaring defiantly up at her new guildmaster. She'd do anything, she'd fight Laxus if she had to, but she had to save Gajeel, this was the only hope there was and nobody...nobody was going to stop them, not even Laxus.
The Lightning slayer blinked at them, "I...but...he's dead, I thought...Cristoff said Bradman killed him." He had no way to make that sound anything but terrible, and knew it, watched Levy look like he'd physically struck her too and tried to convey how sorry he was, he knew Gajeel loved Levy and that the little script mage was head over heels for the Iron Slayer had been obvious for years. He didn't know what all happened, but he had seen her, devastated, her eyes just devoid of happiness, drowning in grief...and now, now she looked ready to punch him in the face.
"We don't know that, he was pulled into the underworld, the first level of Hell by Bradmans spell, I can FEEL he's alive Laxus, I just know he is...I swear I'd know if he were really dead...I'd know, we have to get there, bring him back!" Levy cried and Laxus stared at her in disbelief
"I...but...how the fuck do we get there? Bradman's fucking dead and it's not like anyone can teleport into Hell Levy it's not a vacation spot!" Laxus protested painfully, he hated this…a lot…already and he'd come up here horrified and alarmed as it was…somehow he felt even worse now.
"An Archangel can open a gate if they are bound to a certain kind of Celestial mage Laxus, only an Archangel can do it, and only an Archangel can open a gate from Hell back to our realm of existence but it CAN be done." Levy said and Laxus winced as he heard Zen scream in the room behind Levy and the others, Bickslow came up behind him and he grabbed the Seith, stopped him.
"What the fuck?! Laxus! Lucy is ripping my brother's soul apart in there!" He snarled and Laxus grabbed the Seith, grateful to see the mask on his face, he looked hard at Levy.
"You're sure, and Lucy is that kind of mage? Because you had better be fucking positive!"" He demanded. Levy lifted her chin, glaring at him
"I'm positive, Loke confirmed it all, Laxus, even encouraged Lucy to do this...please...she won't kill him...she's just...binding him to her…" She said, trying to soothe Bickslow.
"Binding him!? She's ripping off a piece of his fucking soul in there I can see it!" Bickslow shouted and Levy glared at him
"She has to! It's how it's done, Celestial magic users bound Archangels to them 1000 years ago, it was done so they could share strength, made both mages stronger and helped the Archangel realize more of their magic based on what mage they were bound to as a protector. Zen gave Lucy what she needed to do it Bickslow, and now...they'll be bound and Zen will be able to open a gate to the underworld so we can rescue Gajeel!"
That stopped the Seith, he gaped at her in shock
"Resc...Gajeels dead Levy." He said flatly and Levy glared, her eyes flashing, she lunged at him, her little fists hitting his arm and chest, Laxus jerking his hands away from where he was still gripping the Seith's shirt.
"He's not! He can't be! Gajeel is too strong to die like that! He has too much to live for, he loves me! I love him! He wants to be with me! He'll survive but we have to get to him!" She cried, beating on the Seith for all she was worth and Bickslow barely tried to defend himself at first, Lily stepping forward and pulling Levy off of him when the Seith stepped back.
"Levy! Does Zen even know what's happening?! Gods, would Gajeel want Lucy to enslave someone to save him?!" Bickslow demanded and Levy faltered slightly, but her glare held
"He would lay his life down for anyone in Fairy Tail Bickslow, he'd do it in an instant and you KNOW it! When you and the thunder legion attacked Fairy Tail Gajeel stepped into Laxus' attack to protect Natsu and he didn't even LIKE Natsu! Barely knew him! How many times has he put his life in the balance to protect all of us? He even protected us from YOU when you tried to destroy this guild!" Levy shouted at Laxus and Bickslow, her eyes ablaze with how fiercely she felt it all and both Laxus and Bickslow were…stunned…shocked…they still felt guilt over that…over Fantasia..when the Thunder Legion had tried to destroy the guild, was willing to kill the weaker mages and Laxus tried to steal the guild from his grandfather. His grandfather who he had just lost, who he was still in shock over loosing, his heart twisted in his chest over it all…his grandfather was dead…had died to save the guild…Gajeel had proven himself time and again, had remade himself…had even stood against Laxus on more than one occasion…Gods he had stopped Laxus from killing Levy once…the memory like a knife into his heart in that moment even as Zens screams of pain carried from the room.
Bickslow wavered too…he knew all of it…and he fucking liked Gajeel, respected the man…and they had lost so many people…they were still mourning and it wasn't over, the war was still raging, they would be fighting again soon and they all knew it and how much would it mean to have a friend returned to them…to have Gajeel there fighting with them…it made him falter even though it was HIS brother in there…
"We can't abandon him! We can't leave him to die there just because getting him back means some hard sacrifices!" Levy cried.
Bickslow winced at another strangled cry of pain…Gods he had personally killed people by tearing souls…the level of agony involved was massive…peoples hearts gave out…they had strokes…he'd used it in combat…he knew… and Zen was going through that…he lifted his eyes and glared back at Levy.
"It isn't YOU making the sacrifice here Levy,...My brother was a slave for half his fucking life already! It's his freedom that's being taken away, his very fucking SOUL being ripped apart for this he deserves the right to CHOOSE! Gajeel would fight for that Levy, you know he would!" He returned.
Levy faltered again, freedom was everything to Gajeel, his own control over his destiny was something she knew the Iron Slayer coveted, he was intensely independant, and Bickslow was right...Gajeel would fight to protect somebody else's right to choose their own fate...but Gajeel wasn't here. The Spriggan had taken him, the Alvarez Empire was taking everything they could, there was a much bigger picture here.
Makarov had died protecting Fairy Tail, to save his children, their guild, he wouldn't want them to abandon one of their own.
Bickslow shoved Levy aside, Lily grabbing him now "No! We...we need to save Gajeel...this is the only hope we have…" His voice cracked, faded, he knew, knew Bickslow was right, Gajeel wouldn't want them doing this...not even if it meant he died, he wouldn't want them stripping someone of their freedom.
"Bix…" Laxus' voice cracked, and Bickslow turned from him, kicking the door open.
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He didn't know why he wasn't dead yet, the pain was all consuming the ripping wasn't gentle and as another yank deep within him was created by the spirits whispering their ancient spell he felt something give, something inside of him was torn away and he sagged as the pain stabilized into a horrific burn.
Lucy was crying, tears streaming down her face as she watched the big Boscan writhe in agony, held suspended by the magic, his arms out his wings spread spanning the room easily. All she could do was whisper she was sorry, look pleadingly at Loke who just kept nodding reassuringly at her as he recited the spell. When Zens body sagged a little and he let out a breath, his head falling forward Loke nodded toward the man
"Kiss him NOW Lucy, get your arms around him and kiss him for all your worth!" He told her and Lucy jumped forward, praying that this would ease the mans clear suffering, that this would somehow make up in some tiny way for what she was putting him through...what she was doing to him...taking from him…
Her arms wrapped around him and she pressed against him, tipping her head back and catching his lips with hers, his reaction was instant, eyes opening, whole body tensing, she knew if he could he would have shoved her away...but he couldn't, and as her lips moved on his, begging for forgiveness, trying to soothe, to let him know she hadn't wanted to hurt him, Gods she really hadn't, she liked him, thought he was a good man, had enjoyed sleeping in those warm arms.
She'd had a few little daydreams about kissing these lips, even about doing with him what Cana had done with Kaleb, she certainly never, not ever would have wanted to hurt him...to betray his trust...but she'd done just that and it hurt her, made her heart ache to make amends, and she poured it all into kissing him.
Their lips moved together, Zens finally responding, his wide eyes slowly closing, rolling back as the taste of her, the feel of her made him forget the pain he'd just endured, that he was bound unable to move, that his magic and some deep part of him was being taken didn't seem important now. Something more was filtering in, her magic was washing over him now as her lips moved with his, she pressed her tongue to his lips and he parted them, in spite of all she was taking he surrendered more, his tongue meeting hers as he eagerly kissed her back, he felt it, what was taken from him, torn from him, passing to her as she slid a leg up and hooked it around his hip.
"What are you doing to me?..." He breathed out shakily before her lips took his again.
Flashbacks came, being strung up in chains in the Gladiator pit to be scrubbed down after a fight, to wash away the blood and gore and while he was strung up...Pergrandian nobles who had paid top jewel for the privilege of getting their hands on a young Gladiator came in. At 16 Zen was already tall, well muscled, taller and better built than many of the adult Gladiators, and it hadn't gone unnoticed. No, until that last year he'd fought in the ring and if he lost, he was often raped right in front of the crowd by the winners.
Strung up in chains women would wrap their legs around him, grip his shoulders and ride him where he stood and there was little he could do to stop them unless he could get his wings out and kill them, and he did that sometimes, when men came to take him, he killed them, he prefered women, liked women, but men...he hated the men of Pergrande, how they despised women, saw them as nothing but breeding machines, how they hated his home of Bosco, how they had stolen him from his loving family.
The memories were painful...but these were not the pits, and Lucy wasn't some noble just looking for a thrilling fuck was she? She was hurting him, taking a part of his very soul from him by force…without his consent, yet… He knew her…he had spent weeks in her company, struggling to get to Crocus, he had trusted her… She was a Celestial Mage, with sweet soft doe eyes and a good heart, her magic was all over him, pushing into him, merging with his own and she felt so good, her heated center starting to grind against him as she kissed him and he kissed her back. One hand keeping her stable, her other started to roam, sliding down his side, over his abs, his hip, gripping his ass and pulling herself against him harder, moaning softly into his mouth.
He couldn't think…the magic, the woman touching him, it had his mind spinning and he couldn't think at all, was in a complete haze and through that he still instinctively knew something was hovering, hanging in a balance, Lucy was close to something as she kissed him, ran her hands over him, got more and more drunk on the magic, her own magic that rushed through him, was charged up by his and then sped through her…it was a high beyond highs…power, raw and tremendous and so far past anything she'd ever had within her reach before was there and she was swaying as whatever it was hung there and Zen felt it along with the overwhelming exhaustion as his strength continued to be drained, fed into Lucy, teetered on the edge of it not fully understanding what it was when a loud crash made him jerk his mouth from Lucys, turn to look toward the door where his brother stood, eyes glowing green.
Most of Lucy's spirits were gone, Bickslow saw Loke and Virgo still there, but the rest were gone. He frowned, seeing Lucy's soul curl around the fragment of Zens, wrap around it almost lovingly, it was done...nothing could change it now. His brother was holding Lucy tight against him, his wings partly curled around them, but the dazed confused look on his face spoke volumes.
"You...bound him…" Bickslow breathed in disbelief, glaring at Lucy who could only stare back, guilt and remorse all over her expression.
"Bix...they can be more...it doesn't have to end with this...Zen...Zen can be more, she can chose to make them more now...to...take him completely and mate with him...their souls, you have to be able to see it, their souls are close...compatible...they could be so much more than just bound…" Loke said quietly and Bickslow did look, and of course he saw it, the way Lucy's soul was caressing Zens, but Zen hadn't been given a chance…hadn't been asked…he'd been taken without his consent and that…pissed Bickslow off.
He glanced back at Levy, standing leaning against Lily crying, her blue soul was so...dim now...so consumed by grief...just a few weeks ago he had watched it shining brilliantly while Gajeels green soul had reached for it, the two so tenderly, tentatively touching each other as the pair had sat, Levy reading, Gajeel munching some scrap metal. He'd even nudged Laxus and told him any day now they'd be seeing Gajeels mark on Levy.
"Lucy...you can't do more." He snarled. Lucy looked up at Zen who turned his gaze back on her, blinking, dazed, trying to think, their magic was still swirling around them both, so much so, even if he'd wanted to Bickslow couldn't have gotten closer to them.
"I...I don't know what you mean…" She admitted and she really didn't. She didn't understand what was happening now either. She felt it though, she wanted it, whatever it was, wanted it right to her deepest depths, she felt better than she ever had in her life…like she could go out there and kick Brandish's ass now…she could stop a Spriggan all on her own with this, she could save people, help people fight.
"You can mate...become more than what you have…if you stop now the levels of power you feel will go down and will balance and you won't have access to what you're feeling right now again, bonded to him you'll be strong, through him you'll be able to open the gates but you can be more Lucy…so much more!, if you both want it...if you do, Lucy, your soul will fill what was taken from Zens...he won't just be bound to you, he will become your mate, and Zen...you...will be free, your will won't be bound anywhere near as much, you'll have some control over Lucy too, with part of her soul within you, it's a bond deeper than marriage…" Loke explained.
Bickslow glared…he really wasn't convinced, and he very much did NOT like how this had started, Zen held…forced…while his soul was torn. No matter how sweet Loke made it sound…in his book…Lucy had just stolen a piece of his brothers soul…and while he wanted Gajeel back…wanted Levy to be ok…desperately did not want this war that was killing people left and right…no flowery descriptions would undo what had been done.
"No…he needs time…" Bickslow snapped angrily "He can't think…whatever you've done to this point look at him! It's like you got him ripping drunk and raped him! He can't make a choice right now! I can SEE it, he's not there, you can't expect him to make any choices!" the Seith snarled and that had Lucy wide eyed and…horrified.
Zen blinked, his mind was a muddled mess, the agony of the binding had stopped and left him drained and exhausted and he just couldn't reach…thought, his arms had come free and he'd immediately held her to him, she was so beautiful...sweet, the light in her was bright...Gods he loved Celestial Mages, he always had...secretly he'd known, even thought about how one day, if he married...it would be perfect if the woman were a Celestial mage, if he could just feel that wonderful magic all around him...like he did right then, his muddied head..just wrecked by what he'd been put through. Unable to string two coherent thoughts together..just took what seemed the easiest way to get past the anger he heard in his brother's voice…he couldn't understand anything…couldn't manage anything really, just…he liked the feel of the woman he held….
It was a moment so many of them would try to understand, a moment Lucy herself would agonize over…struggle with…a lot. Right then though…she felt strong, she felt the power in the man she held, it registered that she had what she needed, Loke had said it…they could save Gajeel now…she could stop but…she didn't want to stop. In her arms was a powerful man who was smart, skilled and capable, in a dark place inside of her that had lost so damned much…she knew if she took it all…nobody would ever be able to consider her weak again. She could do more, help more…have it all…she just had to take what was in her arms and make it hers and in those moments…Zen wasn't the soft eyed man who had saved her life, he wasn't the quiet listener who she'd talked to so many times during that perilous trek to Crocus…he was "It" he was what could make her into more than she had ever been.
Lokes eyes widened when Lucy's leg had wrapped around Zens hip, this was it, the moment his mage had made a choice about what she wanted from the future, if she was going to take enough…or take it all, it was far enough Zen would gain gate magic, and Loke was ready to teach him how to open the gate needed to rescue Gajeel, but he and her other spirits had to see, had to wait and hope that the magic...that these two mages...might deepen this binding and, instead of Zen simply becoming Lucy's bound guardian...he would become more...they both would. Through that…all of her spirits would.
Bickslow actually paled, jerking quickly backward as the magic started to build.
"This is wrong!" He snarled, unable to get closer, unable to get through Zens magic and Lucys…he was effectively blocked though, could do nothing to stop them with the magic thick in the air.
Loke watched eagerly as the two mages writhed against each other, as the magic intensified, watched Zen, he was a big man…power cried out from everything about him…and Lucy had suffered far too long from a lack of that, he was a living fountain of power and Leo remembered…so many centuries ago…when another woman who had held his key had made this same choice…with another Archangel Mage…his eyes narrowed hungrily, he couldn't even help it either…the Gods themselves had made this magic symbiosis just…intoxicating in how much it gave, it made the "details" like how the Archangel mage had no choice, how they lost everything when they were forced…less important than the amazing strength and growth that came from doing it.
Loke hadn't warned her about this, he trusted Lucy, knew she followed her instincts, followed her heart, and that if this was right...it would happen. One by one her spirits had vanished as the Binding spell finished, it was all in the hands of the two mages before him now, he and Virgo were the only ones remaining, able to be out under their own magic.
When the Spirit King had told him Lucy could bind this Archangel to her, make him her lifelong guardian, Loke had been ready to see it done, when he'd also said...if their souls were compatible...they could go further...become full soulmates...Lucy taking the Archangel not just as a Guardian, but as her mate, binding them together for all time...that had left him in awe. The Spirit King had wanted that for his adopted Princess, when Zen was born he'd watched the Archangel grow, feared he would die in Pergrande, and when Lucy had come up so strong, he'd looked between the two and the great lord of the Celestial realm had planned...had decided...like the Celestial Mages of old...Lucy deserved a guardian, and...the chance for a great love, one that could last for all time. An Archangel could give her that...could make his Lucy stronger, be the protector no other could be.
When the spell from Irene Belserion had gone off...it was no random circumstance that saw Zen and Kaleb land near them. He told Loke what he wanted. He was pragmatic, wanted the best for his Lucy, he had participated in this before…had helped bless an ancestor of Lucy's centuries ago with a bond to an Archangel mage, and that bond had resulted in the line becoming what it had…producing the strong mages it had…because Jacamar, the Morning Star of the first Triad of Archangel mages…had fathered children with power and with strong wills. It had worked before, it would work again. Loke had wholeheartedly agreed, remembering it all.
His Lucy, mated for all time to an Archangel, like the Celestial Mages more than a thousand years ago had all prayed to be, there had always been few Archangels, and back in those times, all Celestial Magic users sought them, hoped to find one that was unbound that they could claim, or one mated to a mage they could defeat and Celestial Summoners like Lucy could be so much more. Their Archangel partners became protectors…lovers that fathered strong children, it was…and Leo was forbidden from telling Lucy any of this part…it was why Archangel mages had died out. Hunted, fought over, enslaved over and over until they begged for their own deaths. This was a new era though, there were too few Celestial Summoners for that to happen again, there wasn't a Triad yet even…it would be different.
His Lucy...and Zen was offering himself completely, not that he had a choice or even any idea of what was happening to him at this point… and Lucy was taking him, he bit his lip, praying that the magic would just take over and make it all happen, closing his eyes he faded back and vanished, coming to the viewing basin alongside Lucys other spirits to watch…Leo was a perv, he freely admitted that, and he had no issue watching his key holder shove clothes out of the way.
She'd been with men before, he wouldn't call Lucy experienced in sex but she knew enough…and Zen was mindless…responding…the magic doing what it was meant to do, compulsions in Summoners were to claim the Archangel mage…in Archangel mages…that compulsion was to give the Summoner whatever they needed. The magic controlled it all now that Lucy had made the choice.
Now Lucy was rubbing against the man, kissing, grabbing, raking nails over his skin and Zen helped her, couldn't help but aid her. He wasn't thinking about anything but joining with her, he had to get inside of her, this was not finished, the urgent feeling, powerful need to see this fulfilled, consummate completely, was tremendous and undeniable.
Lucy felt it too, so much she was whimpering, aching, needing so bad for him to be one with her, completely and in every way she had to have him, no question, no will or desire to resist it, just an all consuming need to see herself joined with Zen. He felt so good, his magic mingling with hers all around them. There was nothing to keep her from sinking down too fast on him as her thighs tightened on his hips and she tried to do just that. Zen just…reacted…unable to resist anything, to think, to do anything but give her what she was demanding. He took shallow thrusts up into her, working himself steadily deeper as she moaned and writhed, whimpered and kissed him.
"Need...you…" She breathed and he groaned, the pain of waiting to be buried inside of her was real, he needed it too, Gods he needed nothing but to be one with her. The pain before was nothing compared to this need.
"You...have me…" He said huskily between kisses, he gripped her hips and that was it, she noticed only pleasure and conquest, the overall stretching, the feeling of him filling her, his body pushing deep into hers was much more satisfying than anything she'd ever experienced, this was sex but only the actions…because magic was doing this…creating a mating, a soul deep connection between two mages using the act of sex to make it happen.
Once she settled and he was fully seated inside of her, they kissed, dragging their lips over each other, tongues tangling, Lucys hands shoving his shirt open, so they could wander over skin instead of silk, his pulling her top down, forcing her breasts above her bra and giving his mouth easier access. He started moving, driving slowly at first and she gripped his shoulders as he did, head falling back as she used her thighs to start lifting herself and riding him while he thrust into her, it was deep, jarring..perfect.
"So...good…" she breathed and he growled, easing her back to the rug beneath them, laying her on her back so he could settle between her legs and really take what he needed, give her all she wanted, truly make them one.
She wrapped her legs around him eagerly, meeting his movements, eyes closed as she focused on how good it felt, how delicious he tasted kissing her, how bone melting his body felt driving into hers, his bare chest against her breasts, "More...Gods...Zen...give me everything…" she begged and he responded, moving faster, driving harder into her, his lips on her neck, sucking at her skin.
"By your…will..!" He growled, had no idea where the words came from but the urgency was real, the need was incredible. Hers, he was hers, he felt it, she had taken him, pulled a part of his very being out and into herself and now she was...mending the rift she'd created, filling him with herself and he had to have it, had to belong to her completely so she would be his, they would be...one.
She lunged up, biting his shoulder as she groaned "Wings…" she rasped and without his bidding at all, his wings were curving, forming a sort of blanket over them as they wildly drove against each other, Lucy reached past his shoulders and gripped his wings, using them as leverage to help her meet Zens bone jarring thrusts with her own and he moaned at the feeling.
They went at each other wildly until both were slick with sweat, their breathing ragged and rasping when Lucy finally gasped out Zens name again, her orgasm hitting her so hard she saw spots in her vision. Zen came with her, pumping her full of his seed, his length pulsing inside of her as her walls milked it, taking all he had to give.
Loke exchanged a look with Virgo "Only if she asks." He said firmly and the maid nodded, returning her eyes to the viewing basin.
The couple collapsed on the rug, Zen managing to lay beside Lucy instead of on top of her, facing away from her, gasping for air, laying on his side panting and catching his breath, his hazed over eyes slowly starting to clear. "What...happened…" He managed, overwhelmed, looking down at himself in alarm seeing his pants down, his dick out…his shirt oepn and he tensed, the black wings curling around him as he started trying to remember…trying to understand why he was…laying on a floor…clearly post sex…with absolutely no idea of how he'd gotten there.
"You mated...you two...you're soulmates now...the binding wasn't enough for either of you and instinctually...you went all the way with it, your souls were compatible...so...you mated." Came a delighted voice and Zen turned, spotting the ginger haired spirit again.
"The pain…" he said softly, it was all he could remember…intense horrific pain and felt Lucy tense behind him, he moved, rolled over and pressed a kiss to her temple when she did because...he wasn't sure what the hell had happened, but instinctively he was driven to comfort her.
"A piece of your soul, Lucy took it into her, and by both of you acting to consummate the whole thing, she restored you with part of her own, your magic is wide open now Archangel, you will be able to open gates to other realms." Loke replied.
Zen frowned, lovely...more things to be confused and lost about. "Gates? Wha...why the hell would I be able to open Gates?" He demanded. Loke just smiled "Because you've mated with a Celestial Spirit mage who commands gateways to other realms and, as her Guardian, her mate, you adopt part of her magic so you are best able to be at her side." He said in that same delighted tone.
Zen sat up then, no longer concerned with keeping himself covered, glaring at Loke.
"I...I don't even understand what the hell just happened...I come in here, summoned by Lucy and...and you ask me to trust you...then you...you restrained me and tore a piece of my soul out?!" He shook his head, pushing himself up from the floor then, angrily pulling his pants up and no longer caring if Lucy was upset or not, this was her damn spirit, he'd probably seen her naked before. He felt...used. No…he didn't feel used…he fucking had been used…he turned angry eyes on the woman on the floor.
"Zen...I had to...and there's not really time to hash this all out right now…" Lucy said sheepishly, setting her clothes right the high from the magic was balancing now…she could think…and she wasn't happy at all with what had happened…not even a little…the greed, the overwhelming need to possess Zen…that had calmed and…Gods help her…she felt him…felt his anger, the bitter fury as her betrayal of his trust was dawning on him…as he was realizing what had been done.. She struggled to her feet, ler legs a little weak.
He narrowed his eyes on her "That's right, you did this to me because of some friend...I told you I'd help! You didn't have to do this!" He snarled.
"Yes she did...Zen...you couldn't open the gate we need if she hadn't…" Came a familiar voice and he turned, finding the rooms door open and Bickslow standing there with Laxus, Cana a blue haired tiny woman and a giant cat.
"Bix?! You...you knew?" He demanded. Bickslow shook his head "No, not till I got up here and broke down the door to get to you...they stopped me." He said and Zen pressed his lips together, he couldn't remember much past the point when the magic had taken him, restrained him, and the process of…ripping out a piece of his soul had started...there was the point where the choice was made finish what was started, to take it all the way...and he had participated, he remembered feeling it…that tipping point...he'd done it without much, if any, thought though, just followed his magic there. Looking at Lucy, who was meeting his eyes so hopefully, looking so...guilt ridden, he looked back at Bickslow as his brother continued. "There's no time big brother...this is…a fucking train wreck but the fact remains, we need your help and you need to just trust me, us,...and go with it." Bickslow said.
Zen narrowed his eyes, he might doubt the spirit, Lucy...but he'd never doubt his brother. Pressing his lips together he stood to his full height "Fine...I want answers later…what do we need to do?" He said, his strength was rapidly returning…his magic evening out.
Loke stood then smiling "Time for you to learn how to open a gate between realms…" He said.
Levy sat on the bed beside Lucy, eyes intently on the tall, very frustrated Archangel as he worked with Loke. Cana dropped down on the other side of the Celestial mage, who was chewing her lower lip looking ready to cry.
"I hurt him...so bad." She whispered.
Levy hugged her, knowing Lucy had done it in part for her. It wasn't in Lucy's nature to be unfair, to force something on someone, not something this big, and Levy knew...her friend had just made a huge sacrifice for her. "He's yours now...you're mated. That was his choice too though right? Lucy, he didn't have to go all the way." Levy said quietly. She knew what Lucy had done, the sacrifice her friend had made and the depth of it wasn't lost on her.
"I mean…if you're going to ravish a man,,,he was a nice choice." Both Levy and Lucy rolled their eyes at that, leave it to Cana to reduce the whole thing down to just the sex involved.
Lucy looked at her friends. "I don't think I…really gave him a lot of options." She admitted in a shaky voice "I barely know him, and I just pretty much betrayed his trust, tortured him, took a piece of his soul and forced him to be bound to me for the rest of his life..hardly romance material there...he'd be right to hate me for it, I wouldn't blame him at all if he did." She said quietly.
"We'll rescue Gajeel, he'll see why you did it this way, I read the text Crux brought Lucy, you should, maybe Zen should too, if you two were so compatible the mating took, and it did, then you would have wanted each other anyway. According to what I read, soulmating is serious, usually the people are born to be together, Zen is...pretty much your ideal man Lucy...and you're his ideal woman." Levy said encouragingly, rubbing Lucy's back, not liking how…miserable her friend looked.
"Yeah you just go ahead and believe that shit….she forced him…he didn't make any fucking choices there Levy…he couldn't even THINK by the end of the bonding process…it was Lucy who decided to go all the way…to just…bless my brother with a piece of her soul to replace what she fucking ripped out of him." Bickslow hissed from nearby and Lucy gasped, tears now welling in her eyes, wincing when she looked at the Seith mage…a man who had become a friend…now looking at her with pure contempt in his usually friendly red eyes.
"Stop it Bickslow…that's not how it works! Loke said it was a blessing, that Lucy would have a man who could love her more than anyone else ever could because their souls would be bound…that this would be a happy thing in the end…we can save Gajeel…and Lucy and Zen can work things out…be happy." Levy snapped, refusing to believe anything worse than her loosing Gajeel was even possible here.
Bickslow leaned in, glaring hard at Levy "Keep lying to yourself…be careful not to get too close to Zen with that shit…he has a truth aura that's a passive effect of his magic…hurts like a bitch when it punishes you for lying."
"Bixy please…" Lucy breathed then froze as she watched Zen channel his magic and then banish what he was doing when eyes looked through at them.
"What the fuck was that?!" Bickslow demanded. Loke sighed
"There will be demons...evil beasts, you guys are crossing over into the first plain of the underworld…" He reminded them. The odds were high that they would have to fight their way through this, and he hadn't even told Lucy the worst part...that her spirits wouldn't be able to come to her there, she'd be limited to her stardress and reliant on Zen for protection.
"Ok...look, we have what, 8 mages here, to take on the underworld? I think we should tell Kaleb...I'll be honest, I'd feel better with Vander and Cristoff along...Vander can move through the voids between realms already and Cristoff is another Holy Knight of Immaculate Light, he can do banishments, we get in a pinch we can send things to deeper fucking plains." Bickslow said and Laxus nodded.
"Ok, Bix, you mind handling that? If we're doing this, lets fucking do it, Levy, Lucy, Cana, Wendy, get your asses packed, clean up, get ready to go. Zen, you might do the same...you and Lucy...smell like sex." Laxus frowned and turned as Lucy winced.
"It's Ok Lucy...it was mating sex." Wendy said encouragingly and Lucy then wanted to crawl under a rock realizing all these people had been right outside her door while she and Zen had mated and she had not been quiet…
They all filtered out and her throat tightened when Zen started to leave, moving to the balcony door he gripped the handle, looked at her, and closed it instead of stepping through. "You go first, I need to talk a little more with your spirit here." He said then and Lucy was so relieved he hadn't left she just nodded and rushed to the bathroom.
Loke met the Archangels eyes a little nervously but didn't move.
"When this is over, this man...Gajeel...is rescued...I don't know what I'm going to do...you realize that right? She...you...all of you spirits...you...took me, stole my freedom to choose from me. She didn't give me a chance…"
"To say no? To doom Gajeel to die and her best friend to grieve in misery for her lost love? For Fairy Tail to lose another one of their mages after already losing their Master and so many others? Every minute that passes is another Gajeel could be facing a foe he can't beat...he's strong, powerful, and he'll be bent on getting back to Levy, but he's trapped in the underworld right now with no way out but YOU and to get you so you could do it...yes...Lucy took that choice away, but at the end...it was YOU chose to accept her, to make it complete, you could have pushed her off of you, could have said no." Loke said firmly, looking almost smug until Zen magic hit him and the spirit gasped, pain ripping through him.
Zen stared at him…"Lies don't work around me, even a lie someone believes is true won't save them from pain." Zen said with no mercy for the man panting now before him "Regardless of the details of the second part of this, I still deserved the right to have a say in the first part. I wouldn't have said no...not to that…I'd have agreed to the bond and we could have done this without…her taking so much from me…without her becoming my mate." He said quietly but the bitterness was thick in his voice.
"Then what's the problem? You're now mated to what I believe is the finest woman walking Earthland right now, one of the greatest Celestial Mages ever born. Lucy is sweet, kind, loving, brave and bold. She is also fucking hot as hell, I think you're LUCKY." Loke said.
Zen heaved a sigh. Shaking his head and pushing a hand through his hair unsure where his feelings were, he was just…overwhelmed by all of it and there was no time to think it out or try to make sense of it. He narrowed his eyes on Leo though
"I barely know her. We're not exactly off to a great start here either…you enslaved me…or were you trying to put a romantic bullshit spin on this? On what you did…is that how you sold it to Levy? To Lucy? That this was some meant to be romantic crap? Because all I see? Is a Celestial spirit who set his keyholder up to magically rape and enslave another mage." He said in a dark tone. Leos eyes widened a moment then narrowed and he waved a hand, his confidence in Lucy couldn't be shaken…not even by..truth. Zen was a good man, Lucy was a wonderful amazing woman, this would work out, he was sure of it.
"That will change, you'll get to know her...you'll fall in love with her too." The lion spirit said with certainty.
Zen narrowed his eyes "You're pretty confident huh? What if we don't get along?" He growled.
"You're MATED, your souls merged, you are compatible or that wouldn't have happened, forgive her Zen, forgive her so you can appreciate her because you two are going to be together for a very very long time now." The Lion spirit grinned at him and Zen hissed,
"You, Virgo, all those other spirits who watched us mate...and I know you watched every moment of it so don't deny it, I'm stuck with all of you too?" He asked and Loke grinned
"Of course I watched,her safety matters, and you're a big guy, she's had boyfriends but none of them…well…as big as you...it was the only thing I was worried about when I saw it wasn't going to just be a bonding." He said.
Zen rolled his eyes, he didn't care, it was far from the first time he'd had an audience while he had sex, he was just being...well...angry, bitter, part of him wanted to be angry, part of him didn't, and another part wanted to praise the Gods for giving him a beautiful woman he really had liked until now, he wasn't sure he could forgive this though…he had so wanted his freedom, had been embracing it and looking forward so much to making his own choices when he'd been freed from Pergrand and now….he didn't have that. In one quick decision, Lucy and her spirits had robbed him of his freedom to choose, his right to say…no. It stung too that Lucy hadn't believed he'd agree to it…that he would say no to saving someone even his brother clearly cared for…a good man needed to be saved, of course he'd help…do what he could… and knew Loke was probably right...he could see himself liking Lucy, hell he already had until this, maybe even one day falling in love with Lucy. Now, with them mated...bound to each other...it would sure make his life happier if that happened too.
The bottom line was…it was done, over, there was no changing that, he'd let Lucy suffer without his forgiveness for now though…he flat didn't have it in him to forgive what she'd done, not with the bitterness of it all so vile a taste in his mouth, they didn't have time to work through all of this now...there was a man to save.
Lucy emerged from the bathroom in fresh clothes, her blonde hair in a thick braid and Zen drew a breath...gorgeous...she was absolutely gorgeous...and she was his mate now. Was his reaction really his though…or was it the magical bond they had pushing him to be ok with the situation…he didn't know and he didn't trust it. He stood, walking for the bathroom, but he caught Lucys arm as she was passing him, turning her toward him he bent and met her eyes.
"Focus on this mission, don't worry about me or us until we get back ok?" He met her surprised eyes and she smiled faintly, her gaze filling with warmth, hope, gratitude and he managed a faint smile back, bending again and placing a chaste kiss on her lips before releasing her and going to get his shower.
Loke drew a breath at her dreamy expression, wishing he didn't have to stomp on the moment but he had to tell Lucy her limitations for this.
When he finished she was frowning but nodding resolutely. "I can manage, i have my whip and can still pull in stardress and a few other spells…" She said.
"You'll have Zen...Princess, he's not just your mate, he's your Archangel, your guardian, he is built to protect you, let him, use his strength, tap his magic and let him be what he was born to be at your side." Loke said firmly and Lucy smiled weakly. "I'll do my best." She said.
The others returned and Zen emerged from the bathroom, taking Lucy's breath away in snug black pants, boots, a deep maroon button down and the familiar fur lined black leather vest. His sun streaked hair pulled back again and damp, he smiled thinly at Laxus, then his smile warmed when he saw Cristoff and Vander come in with Bickslow.
Both men shot Lucy almost hostile looks but hugged their brother and Laxus stood, turning to look at Zen expectantly. Loke jumped up surprising Lucy.
"What? I said you couldn't summon spirits from the celestial realm into the underworld, I didn't say I couldn't walk there through a gate an Archangel opened. I'm on my own magic and I'm going along...I like Gajeel." He said firmly. Vander tilted his head. Looking hard at Loke for a moment and glancing at Bickslow who nodded, the youngest brother stepped to Loke with an icy smile.
"Just one thing I need before we go…" he said and Loke narrowed his eyes…he didn't see it coming…Vander stepped forward and his fist caught Loke in the jaw, sending the spirit to the floor, Lucy gasping and taking a step toward him but Loke waved a hand, on his knees for a minute then standing and rubbing his jaw he looked at Vander carefully.
"Done?" he asked and Vander narrowed his dark red eyes.
"Until this is over? Yeah…I'll hold the rest of what I want to say until this is done." he smiled that same hard cold smile before turning and grinning brightly at his family.
"So…Highway to Hell yeah? Lets do this!" he said enthusiastically.
Zen drew a breath, "Ok, I'm opening it off the balcony, so I can use that door as a fixed point for the return gate." He said, Loke smiled, it was good thinking, and showed the man had been listening as Loke had taught him how to use this new magic.
He opened the balcony door and stood back, everyone standing behind him as his wings unfurled and he channeled his magic, a moment later, a gate opened, and they were looking through it into a dank, gray world.
"Ok...lets do this." Laxus said, shoving Zen who glared at him but walked through the gate, everyone else following close on his heels through the gateway into the underworld.