Chapter 8

"Lucy!"

Loke woke with a gasp, jackknifing up from where he'd been laying and looking around desperately. Where am I...? The last he remembered, he was holding his mistress in his lap as he burned the darkness away from her. He gripped his head in his hands and clenched his eyes closed for a moment as he tried to calm his breathing. Once his heart and lungs had slowed in their panicked paces, he dropped his hands and opened his eyes to glance around again. This looks like the infirmary at the guild.

"Are... are you okay?" a woman's voice asked almost timidly, and the lion immediately twisted around to see...

"Lucy!" His eyes devoured her as he looked her up and down, needing to know that she was in good health. She looked tired, sore, and a little hollow-eyed as she approached his bed, but she was bright and vibrant and alive, to his eternal relief. He'd been so terrified... "You're alright?" he asked, needing to be sure.

"I'm fine, Loke, really," she smiled warmly. "From what I hear, that's thanks to you. You saved my life again. I don't know where I'd be without you." I don't know where I'd be without you... ever. But she didn't say that aloud. No need to give away her surging feelings to the object of them. That would just be... too much to bear.

He looked only partially relieved at her declaration. "You don't... remember any of what happened, do you?"

She shook her head.

"That... that's good. I'm glad."

Lucy only looked confused by that. "Why?" Did something... happen that he doesn't want me to know?

"Because what I was forced to do to get the dark magic out of you-" he looked down, his eyes haunted by the memory of her suffering, "-it was painful. I... didn't want you to remember that. I don't want to remember it," he added under his breath, "but I'll never let myself forget it." It'll just make me even more ruthless in protecting her, so I don't ever have to see it again. That would be infinitely worse.

"Oh," she said in a small voice. Then she spoke again in a stronger tone. "Well, better that than dead, right? I mean it, Loke. You saved me yet again. I don't know how I'll ever thank you for all the times you've come to my rescue."

Finally he gave her a small smile. It was still tainted by bad memories of what had happened, but it was at least partially true. "I have an idea about that," he huffed a laugh and winked at her, trying to brush his melancholy thoughts aside for her sake.

A dubious expression met that statement. "I'm not sure I want to know, with that look on your face."

"Oh, but it's such a small thing, Princess. Surely you can spare a single kiss for your loyal, battered knight."

A blush washed across her cheeks. "A kiss, hm?" she murmured. Oh, how can I resist? This might be my only chance to touch such a beautiful man so intimately.

"I'm just kidding," he was quick to say, misunderstanding her reaction, though he couldn't help the disappointment he felt at the thought of not getting that kiss. "You don't have to, you know." He started to look away so she wouldn't see that discomfiture, but froze in shock as soft, slightly parted lips suddenly brushed slowly across his, lingering tenderly for several long moments. He gasped, his eyes wide, and stared at her in stunned amazement when she finally pulled away, her cheeks heavily flushed with heat. "Lucy," he whispered, unable to get any volume under his voice; she'd left him completely breathless... and he loved it.

If this was the reward for not breathing, he could very happily go without air for the rest of his existence and never even notice the lack.

She giggled nervously and couldn't quite seem to meet his gaze. "Was that what you were looking for?" she tried to play it off.

He instantly shook his head. "Actually, no. I just meant on the cheek, but I'm definitely not complaining. I like your interpretation much, much better." He couldn't help the sly grin, and Lucy was thrilled to see that he seemed happier than he had a few minutes before.

"I bet you do," she rolled her eyes and grinned, "stupid playboy."

Loke just laughed and sent her an affectionate look, because this time that hadn't been said with any truly negative connotations. She was really just teasing him, and he enjoyed the hell out of it when she did that. It was time spent with her that was fun. He kind of lived for times like that, actually, though he was sure she didn't realize it. Then again, any time spent with her was worlds better than without.

It fell quiet for a few moments as the two watched each other, and then both sobered at nearly the same instant.

"How long have I been asleep? And for that matter, how long have you been awake?"

Lucy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, um... I woke up this morning, but from what Natsu and the others said, today would be two and a half days since they brought us back to the guild. So I guess that means you've been asleep close to three days or so."

"That long?" he blinked in blank surprise.

"Yeah... I was starting to get scared," she replied. "But now that you're awake, you should go back to the spirit world to finish recuperating there. Staying here isn't allowing you to recover fully." She caught his anxious glance and sighed. "It's okay, you know. I won't be going on any jobs for a while – I still have plenty of money left to cover all my expenses for at least three or four more months, even after paying for the damages I caused to my old hometown. And that's not even considering the huge amount I'll be making from the sale of the estate, so you don't have to worry. Besides... I need some time to recover."

Loke had forgotten about the pending sale of her estate. He nodded, relieved. "Just... just promise me. If you do take a job, call for me, no matter what."

She hesitated, then agreed. "I promise." That's no hardship. I always want to call him out on every job, even when I don't need to. I just wish... never mind, she thought with a rather disheartened sigh. It's a moot point anyway, because he'll never feel the same. How could he? I'm mortal – and he's not.

Unaware of her thoughts, he winked at her once more, trying to get her to smile for him again before he left. "I'll hold you to that, Princess."

"Oh, just get going, you overgrown flirt," she chuckled, trying for his sake to cheer up, at least while he was right in front of her, and he grinned at her before slowly fading away.

Lucy stared at the place he'd disappeared, the smile falling off her face as a grimace of pain replaced it, instead. Guess it worked... and just in time, too. I didn't want him to see me like this. Keeping herself shielded from her guardian lion wasn't easy, but she didn't want to upset him any further, so it was a necessary precaution – and one she didn't begrudge. He worried for her enough as it was.

She slumped wearily a minute later as the pain receded again.

I'm worried... what's wrong with me? Why does it feel like I'm... on fire inside my own skin?

~~LoLu~~

~Fifteen hours later in the spirit world~

"What is wrong, Leo-sama?"

Loke glanced over at the one who'd spoken, then frowned as he looked away again. "I don't know," he finally answered the constellation of the sea goat. "Something feels... off."

"Is it Lucy-sama?" Capricorn asked. "You do seem to be very in-tune with her."

Now the lion's frown deepened. Is it Lucy...? he wondered indecisively. It doesn't feel quite the same... it's more muted than that bond usually is. Then his eyes grew wide. But if she were trying to block it off for some reason, it probably would feel like this. "Maybe. Has she called for any of her spirits since yesterday?" He'd been back in the spirit world for about fourteen or fifteen hours by his reckoning, and not once had he heard a peep from their mistress. That didn't sound too bad – until you took into account that on Earthland, that equated out to about two months.

"No. But you did say that she told you she wouldn't need to work for some time. From what you explained about what happened yesterday, I would think she needed the time to heal from that," the goat responded.

"Maybe... but that wouldn't take two months mortal time," Loke disagreed. "It could just be because she's perfectly fine and enjoying the chance to take it easy and work on her writing for a while, or... it could mean something else entirely."

"Perhaps you should give it a little more time."

The lion immediately shook his head. "No, I don't dare. Not after what happened before. I'm going to go check on her and make sure everything truly is okay." I should have noticed how long it's been, but I was so tired I just crashed as soon as I hit my bed... I still feel a little tired, truthfully.

Capricorn inclined his head. "Please tell Lucy-sama that we all miss her, then."

Loke merely nodded absently, mind already in the mortal realm with their mistress as he faded out of the stellar one.

A brow rose into his bangs as the guild came into view, and he looked around for his owner. Not immediately seeing her, he walked up to the bar and waited for Mirajane or Lisanna to notice him. If she's here, everything should be okay, right?

He'd expected a smile and a pleasant greeting from the demon takeover mage when she saw him, not a worried rush to his side, and his insides immediately clenched with dread.

"Where's Lucy?"

When Mira only looked more worried, he knew his fears had been justified. "She's here..."

"Where?" he asked, brow furrowing in suspicion. What the hell's going on?

"In the infirmary," another voiced piped up, and the lion glanced down the bar at a tired-looking Cana.

Loke didn't wait for another second, turning and darting down the correct corridor. He came to an abrupt stop just before the doors as they opened and Erza, Gray, and Natsu exited, looking just as tired and drawn as Cana had. The three instantly halted at sight of him.

"Man, am I glad to see you," Gray breathed with relief. "We didn't have any way to reach you, and didn't understand why you hadn't already appeared, since you usually know what's going on with Lucy practically before she does."

"What's wrong?" Loke's voice quavered a little.

"We don't know. She just... collapsed one day over three weeks ago, and she hasn't woken up since," Erza answered, then turned and led the way back into the infirmary. "Come see her."

"Is it... is it something I missed somehow, some darkness from that bastard Delenn?" Did I fail her... again?

"Doubtful," Titania replied. "But we don't know for certain. Even Porlyusica doesn't know for sure what's wrong. All she'll say is that it's like Lucy's very makeup has somehow changed. But how, or why it's affecting her this way, we haven't been able to find out. Whatever it is, it's progressing faster now, though."

Just then, something dreadful occurred to Loke, and his stride hitched in reaction. "What ever happened to Delenn's brother, and that other mage? We never found them. Maybe it's something they did to her for revenge."

"Naw, we got those two before we left the ruins that day, but it was after you'd saved Lucy, and you were out like a light," Natsu said. "They were sent off for the king's justice, but were both killed a few days later trying to escape. So it definitely wasn't them."

By that time they'd come to the end of the room, and Loke's gaze was irresistibly drawn to his lodestone. The instant he caught sight of her, he rushed forward and dropped down into the chair next to her bed, momentarily misplacing their friends in the order of his thoughts.

He sighed. "Oh, Princess, what have you gotten yourself into, now? I just can't leave you alone, can I?" A despondent expression settled on his leonine features. "I never wanted to see you like this again, but the minute I... damn it all to hell, I'm never going back to the spirit world again! Every time I do lately, something goes wrong."

"You can't stay out here forever, Loke," Cana chastised, and the lion looked up to see her just reaching the group around Lucy's bed. "What good would killing yourself do her?"

Before he could answer, an odd, dark shimmering yanked his attention back down to the woman laying in the bed so still and silent. But when his gaze landed on her he gaped, so totally shocked he couldn't even move as he watched her start to phase out, then finally stabilize after several long seconds. He was so stunned he almost didn't even hear the low moan of pain that came from the young woman's throat at the same time.

"What in the hell?!" he whispered, wide, horrified eyes darting back over to the rest of their friends in question, unable to believe what they were telling him.

"We don't know, remember?" Gray reminded him. "None of us have ever seen anything like that."

There was a breathless pause, and then, "You may not have seen it before... but I have," Loke managed to say, not taking his eyes off the blonde. "How often has it been happening?" He'd barely gotten it out before Lucy shimmered again, and that was all the answer he needed. Leaping to his feet in a panic, he threw back the blanket covering her and swung her up into his arms before she could even solidify once more.

"What the fuck are ya doin?!" Natsu yelled, though the others weren't quiet, either.

"There's no time to talk!" he barked over them, then began to shimmer himself. The last sight he had of the four people left standing in the room was of their disbelieving faces, before he was gone from Earthland...

And so was Lucy.

~LoLu~

The lion wasn't back in the celestial realm five seconds before every single one of the spirits that called her mistress were appearing in his bedroom, the sudden babble of voices sounding just like what he'd left behind in the guild infirmary – only louder.

"Quiet!" he shouted, before pushing his way through their other friends to make his way towards his bed. "Virgo, pull the covers back," he ordered, and waited while the maiden complied. As soon as the blankets were out of his way he settled his burden gently into the bedding and then smoothed the covers over her.

"Leo-sama, why have you brought Lucy-sama here?" Capricorn asked, frowning at him. "She is mortal – she cannot stay in this place."

"And yet feel her energy. Does it seem the same as before?" he asked almost sarcastically. "Do you really think I'd have brought her here just for the hell of it?"

"But then why is Princess unconscious?"

Loke glanced at Virgo. "She was already like that when I got through my gate. From what Erza said, she'd been this way for three weeks already and hadn't woken up once. No one knew what was wrong, but when I saw her... I knew. I... I've experienced it myself," he finished in a low tone, raising a hand and looking at it with troubled eyes that had darkened with old pain.

The other spirits exchanged concerned glances.

"Experienced... what?" Scorpio asked.

"When I was trapped in the mortal realm," the lion began, still staring at the hand he'd now clenched into a fist, "I was dying, of course. As I got closer to the end, my energy would waver and I'd start to phase out of existence as the human world slowly killed me. That's exactly what was happening to Lucy when I got to the other side. And now she's here, and she's no longer vanishing..." he trailed off.

No need to say it, everyone had caught the inference.

"Miss Lucy's nice body was disappearing?" Taurus mooed in dismay, and Loke shot him a slightly perturbed glance... though he didn't say anything to the other spirit. Now was not the time for that kind of thing. Maybe later, though...

"Brother, what you are implying isn't possible," Virgo said, eyeing him with worry. "Princess is human."

He glared at her, shaken out of his preoccupation at her words. "Yet like I said, she's here, isn't she? And it's not harming her in the slightest, in fact, she's getting better already – I can feel it, though it'll take a little while for her to recover fully. I don't know what the hell is going on, but somehow her energy is more like a spirit's right now than a human's. Until we figure this out, she can't go back there."

Silence fell as everyone stared at each other, nonplussed. Then they all looked at him expectantly.

Loke responded to those looks and said, "Crux, start researching. See if anything like this has ever happened before, and if so, what the outcome was," crisply.

The constellation of the Southern Cross bowed and then dozed off in a corner to follow the lion's directive.

"Virgo – I need something for her to drink. She'll probably wake up soon, and she's going to be thirsty. Something soothing for her throat. Aries, go find Seirei-o," Leo continued snapping out orders, "and don't come back without him in tow, got it?"

"Y-yes, brother," the ram spirit quailed. "I'm sorry!" She faded, and Loke sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. That girl really needs to gain some backbone. I should get Aquarius to give her some assertiveness training, or something.

Yeah. That would work. Aquarius would inhale, and Aries would fall all over herself cringing and apologizing – and then run like hell.

He shook his head at his fanciful thoughts. Moving on...

"I will sit with Princess," Virgo volunteered as she popped back in, already finished with her errand. She placed the cup she was carrying down on the little table next to Loke's bed to cool while they waited for their mistress to wake.

Loke denied her right away. "No, you won't. This is my home and my bedroom, and I'll be the one to sit with her."

"I can take Miss Lucy's nice body to my home, and then I can be the one to sit with her!" Taurus declared loudly. He was ready to fight for the privilege, too.

The leader of the zodiac had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from Regulus-punching the hormone-addled steer to the other side of the universe. "That's it, you're done," he growled, forcing Taurus back to his part of the galaxy and temporarily locking him in place there. (As leader and most powerful of the spirits next to Seirei-o he could do things like that, though he rarely did. The damn cow had been begging for it this time, however.) "Any of the rest of you want to push your luck?"

Scorpio glanced at Lucy, and then shook his head and looked back at him with some amusement. "No, I'm good. If something happens, though... I want to know. We all love her, too, Leo – Taurus and his antics notwithstanding."

Loke sighed again and forced a smile for his friend. "I know. If anything happens, you'll hear about it."

With that assurance Scorpio faded away with a jaunty salute, as did Cancer and Sagittarius. Virgo, however, was still there and eyeing him quite speculatively.

As was Capricorn.

"Do you really want to push me right now?" he asked them wearily as he went to sit down on the other side of the bed from his sleeping princess. "I'm not up for any inquisitiveness at this point. Come back some other time when I'm in the mood to chat."

The maiden folded her hands together primly. "Leo, is it really proper for you to have Princess settled here in your bed like this? She needs a chaperone. At least let Capricorn stay."

Leaping to his feet with a roar, Loke showed the beast inside with terrifying suddenness. "How dare you question me in that manner! I would never do anything to compromise Lucy in any way! She's not even conscious, and she's been gravely ill. What kind of depraved bastard do you take me for?!"

"I-"

"Leo is right, Virgo. You should not question him in such a way. He has more honor than to take advantage of an unconscious and ill woman," a huge voice cut her off, and was immediately followed by the ram's squeaked apologies for taking so long.

Loke passed a hand over his forehead and gritted his teeth. Stars, I'm going to lose it! With a very deliberate inhale and then exhale, he said, "Thank you, Aries," with exaggerated patience. "Seirei-o," he stood and bowed, "Thank you for coming so quickly. Did she tell you anything of what's happened?"

The spirit king glanced at Lucy from under beetling brows, but shook his head. "She only said that our old friend needed my assistance, and then she practically dragged me here. But now that I am, I can see why you requested my presence. The celestial spirit mage Lucy Heartfilia has changed."

"Well, I can see that, but why has she changed?" Loke asked in frustration.

Seirei-o crossed his huge arms, a frown on his brow as he pondered the matter, occasionally looking at Lucy weighingly. "Virgo, why did you give your mistress the Fleuve de' Etoiles?"

The pink-haired spirit looked a little surprised at the question, and it took her a moment to answer as she actually had to think about it. "Princess' energy was very compatible with that of the weapon," she finally replied. "In fact, it always seemed to me that they were nearly identical. So I thought she would be able to use it quite effectively, and she has. Was giving her the whip wrong, and if it was, will I be punished?"

"No. You may go, you as well, Capricorn," was all he said, looking thoughtful again and ignoring everything else for the moment.

The maiden looked curious, but after a glance at the young woman sleeping in the bed just behind them and then an enigmatic look at the lion, she obligingly vanished, as did the goat.

Loke himself had been struck dumb by what Virgo had just said, and he remembered his thoughts about Lucy – that her magic was different than anything he'd ever come across, but that it reminded him in some ways of a spirit's own. What the hell...? He turned and looked at her where she lay unconscious in his bed, wondering for the first time what she really was. Was she truly just a human girl? Just Lucy Heartfilia, celestial spirit mage...

Or something else entirely?