Contracted Chapter 12: The Scars We Share

The afternoon light reflected off the paper in her hands, the cushions of the window seat allowing her to relax for the first time in days as she re-read the words in her hand.

'Dearest Lucy,

I apologise for not being there to see you depart, Father informed me that the job would not be an easy one. I wish you the best of luck on your journey to the coast. I also heard about your husbands return, though I regret that I do not have any word on having your exile lifted.

Regardless, the Ruin Knights have been informed about the supplies that you would need for your current job and you have a room in the local inn to stay at while you find the information you need.

Good luck Lucy,

Princess Hisui E. Fiore'

Lucy sighed, folding the letter before tucking into the inner pocket of her jacket. She had already been on the job for a week and she was running low on supplies, but she feared going to the local Ruin Knights would alert the dark guild she was hunting to her presence. She had already caused enough gossip with the locals by asking questions about their tormentors.

"Princess." The familiar pull on her magic signalled the appearance of her faithful spirit and Lucy smiled, turning in her seat to stare at Loke as he bowed, "I come bearing news on our mark."

The blonde woman waved him to the spot beside her, allowing the sunlight to warm her as it streamed in through the window. He took his place beside her, admiring the view outside the window.

"The leader of the Guild goes by the name Shadow Weaver. As his name says, his magic stems from shadows, but what exactly he can do with it is unknown. He has two mages directly under him of importance, one uses light, which I assume is to blind his opponents and another uses fire magic. The other members of the guild number into the fifties but are of no significance. Our priority should be the first three on the list."

Lucy nodded, noting down everything of note in her ledger. With a sigh she smiled, looking up at her spirit with pride in her eyes, "You've done so well Loke. I can't thank you enough. Without you and Gemini I would have had quite a difficult time with this mission."

A faint blush covered his cheeks and he chuckled, "Not at all Princess. It's my job to help you in whatever way I can. We need to stand together... Besides. I think the King would punish me should something happen to you."

Worry twisted her features and Lucy hummed, brows meeting, "I don't want you getting in trouble on my behalf Loke..."

"No, no. I just meant, we've been entrusted with your safety. As your spirits, we should not fail." Even she could see the thinly coated lie in his words, but was still touched by the meaning none the less.

"Very well. Are you ready Loke? We should get some rest if we are to complete the job tonight. The King will likely want this dealt with as quickly as possible and we have already dallied enough trying to sort through our targets." Lucy stood and stretched, making her way to the small cot in the corner of the room.

"Of course, Princess. Sleep well." Loke walked to her and pulled the blanket up to cover her before pressing a kiss to her forehead, winking quickly before vanishing in a cloud of starlight.

xXx Contracted xXx

Night had fallen and Laxus cursed, pushing another branch out of his face only to have another one slap him elsewhere, "Fuck this. Why did I have to do this?"

"Don't worry boss man. I'm sure your Gramps had a reason for sending you on this job. He said it wouldn't be easy." Bixlow walked through the underbrush, his helmet protecting him from the branches that afflicted his leader.

"You're one to talk. Why did I have to come along?" Evergreen swore under her breath, using her fan as a shield, "Besides, do we even know who we're going up against?"

"Gramps said he had a meeting with a confidential party. Our target is the leader of a dark Guild is a shadow user, another is light and another is fire. The others are just grunts. So, it shouldn't take long, I hope. I could really do with getting back home soon." Laxus grunted as his foot found another root in the ground and he cursed. He'd put every waking hour he could into finding Lucy and had turned up with nothing in the weeks since his return from Tenrou. It was driving him insane with worry for the little blonde woman.

"Hey... Do you hear that?" Ever stopped dead, foot hovering in the air mid step.

"What? I don't-" Bix started, only to be stopped by Laxus raising a hand.

"Shut up Bix. Listen."

The stood in silence for a moment before they heard a distinct yell that spurred them into action, tearing through the last of the forest to end up in a clearing. The shadows twisting like living things, bending and breaking trees and stones alike. Flashes of light bounced across the field, distracting them and forcing them to blink the spots from their vision.

Laxus quickly called his lightning to him, allowing the sparks to dance along his skin but just as he was about to leap into action, a body was sent his way, just barely missing him. When he glanced back he noticed how the person smouldered, similar to the way he'd seen people after Natsu had fried them. It was then that he noticed that the light flashes had stopped, finally allowing him to see the ongoing battle clearly.

A flash of blonde had his heart in his throat, his legs moving on autopilot as he leapt into the fray, seeing the red glow of fire in his peripheral. His magic lashed out before the caster had a chance to blink, the heat dying as quickly as it had started in the mages hands, "So you were the fire user. Which means the other must have been the light user... So where-"

A feminine cry rang out and his head snapped around to face the shadows of the field, an unnatural darkness having taken hold of the grass and blocking all light from penetrating it. However, he hadn't expected a light source to pierce through it from within.

"Regulus... Impact!"

The bright flash chased away the shadows and Laxus forced himself to keep looking despite how his retinae burned. He could make out two shadows, one moving with such fluidity he had focus on the silhouette while the other stood back, seemingly the source of the light.

"No!" A male cried out this time, something long and thin lashing out and wrapping around him, the faintest silver light emitted from what he assumed was the weapon the bound the man, "A woman?! How could you have caught me!"

Despite his rage he couldn't break out of the binding and Laxus approached slowly, trying not to startle the person that had somehow escaped the shadow prison. He could see from the shape of the body that the person was female, confirming the man's claims of being beaten by a woman. She had numerous cuts and bruises that he could see through the tears in her clothing and enough muscle on her lithe body that the shadows danced tantalizingly across her skin, concealing her and adding to her mystery.

"You won't be causing any more grief for the villagers and townsfolk around here. Virgo! Take care of him!" The familiar voice startled him, forcing his feet to stop as he watched a hole appear next to what Laxus assumed was the Dark Guild Master and a pink haired maid popped out, chains in hand.

"Of course Princess." Within seconds that man was bound and gagged, the maid having hauled him to a pile of growing unconscious mages at the far end of the field. It was then, with the battle dying down, sparkling warriors handling the lesser mages, that Laxus watched the blonde woman collapse, holding herself up on her hands and knees and she panted.

"Princess!"

A familiar ginger maned man, spirit, Laxus corrected himself, ran up to the woman, kneeling down next to her, "You've used too much magic."

"I'm fine Loke. We're nearly done here." She shook off the concern of her faithful spirit and raised a hand, finger glowing a soft gold before a shot of magic fired into the air, exploding into a brilliant golden shower of sparkles, "The Ruin Knights will be here soon anyway."

Her arm dropped down, hitting the ground with a dull thud before the last of the fighting stopped. Again, the pink haired maid appeared beside her, bowing deeply, "Princess. All dark mages have been contained. Punishment?"

A tired laugh left her lips, "No Virgo. You guys can go home. You've done a great job."

"But Prin-" Loke went to comfort her before he glanced behind them, noticing the audience. It made Laxus stiffen, holding his breath, "Actually… We should get some rest and stop draining the last of her magic. You did wonderfully Lucy."

The ginger pressed a gentle kiss to his master's forehead before he and Virgo vanished in a shower of stars and smoke, leaving her to pant as the drain finally took root. But when Laxus let out the breath he had been holding she spun around, half raising from the ground as she raised her whip. But when her eyes landed on him the weapon dropped, her throat working and lips twisting but no sound left her.

It seemed like the space between them was a great chasm, and to Lucy, it may as well have been a physical thing. Her lungs struggled to take in air, her muscles burning with fatigue but she refused to fall. Not in front of him.

With shaking arms, Lucy forced herself off her knees, feeling them knock together as she tried her best to stand upright. Her coat and blouse were ruined, hanging from her frame like rags, the pants she had chosen that morning no more than a scrap of fabric so small it barely kept her modesty intact. It also left her scar exposed for him to see, a view that had him cringing.

"Lucy... You..." Laxus cursed under his breath, irritated at his lack of tact, "Are you... okay?"

The blonde woman huffed, fighting against gravity to stay upright, "Okay… I'm…f-fine.." She pulled a wound on her side and couldn't hide the wince from him.

"Lucy. You aren't fine!" His feet lead him forward, stopping a hairs breath from her while he shook his head, wondering why he had even bothered to ask if she was fine in the first place when the proof was right in front of him, "Let me help you."

"No!" She flinched backwards, her legs struggling to move. It was the desperation that had him stop in his tracks, the way panic made her eyes wide and her breath catch, "Don't touch me! You can't touch me! Not anymore!"

"Lucy?" It was Evergreen that called to the blonde woman, shocking both blondes' out of their moment, if one could even call it that, "What happened to you Lucy?" Tears gathered in the brunette's eyes as she took in the woman they had been searching for.

"Evergreen…" Lucy refused to meet her eyes, choosing instead to turn her back on them. Her feet shuffled forward, breathing laboured as she went, "I grew up…"

The Celestial mage tried her hardest to put distance between herself and her husband, but her body protested, muscles straining before she stopped, swaying like a blade of grass in the wind.

"Lucy? Lu- Shit!" Laxus lunged forward, his arms wrapping around the before she could hit the ground. Half panicked her stared down at her, hearing the others rushing over to him. It was Freed that looked over the blonde properly, his own concern directed more towards his leader than the unconscious woman.

"She'll be alright. She'll need a lot of rest and some medical attention. But she'll be fine." Despite Freed's reassurance, Laxus couldn't help but feel the weight on his shoulders grow.

Yes, he'd found the woman he had sent away so long ago, but now he was faced with the consequences of his actions, and he wasn't sure he could make for his mistakes.

Not this time.

xXx Contracted xXx

Well… I didn't expect to take this long to get the update out! I'm sorry :) But as we all know, authors have lives and sometimes they get out of hand. But here's the next chapter! Can you guess what caused Lucy to leave her little shack when she was sent away?

Thank you to those that have stayed with me and this story! And for the following people who reviewed the last chapter!

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