~~LoLu~~

Chapter 19

~~LoLu~~

"Come... come... come to me..."

Lucy blinked. "Come," she mumbled, her gaze beginning to go blank. "Yes, I'm coming."

She began to brush past Loke as though he weren't even there, following the voice. It was hypnotic, soothing and mellow, and she wanted to find it. "I'm coming," she muttered again as she moved – until she was jerked back by a hand as the lion grabbed at her, pulling her attention back to their surroundings. Sort of.

"Oh!" she started in surprise, shaking her head and blinking dilated eyes rapidly.

"What the hell were you doing, Lucy?" Loke demanded, staring suspiciously at her. When she'd tried to pass him, her eyes had been blank, odd.

"I hear it again," she said, her attention seeming to be divided between him and something else. "It's a voice... it wants me to come."

"So you were just going to do it?!" he snapped, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

His display of temper seemed to capture more of her attention, and the dazed look in her eyes faded a little more. She scowled at him. "I didn't mean to. I couldn't-" her brows drew down further, only now she looked puzzled rather than annoyed, "-couldn't fight it. It was so mesmerizing, and suddenly it was all I could hear."

Loke was getting more and more edgy the further into this they got. Something was very, very wrong here, far more than they'd had any indication of from the mission parameters they'd been given. He'd heard nothing like what his mistress was describing, but he didn't doubt what she was telling him, because he'd seen the look on her face. She had definitely not been oriented to their current surroundings.

"Can you still hear it?"

"Yes." She shook her head again with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, putting the hand he wasn't holding against the side of her head. "I'm... I'm okay. I can... fight it."

He watched her dubiously for a few seconds. "And all it's saying is to come?"

She nodded, opening her eyes back up and meeting his gaze. She let her free hand fall, and viciously pinched herself on the thigh. "Ow!" she gasped, rubbing at the harsh sting, but the pain seemed to orient her further, and she looked back up at Loke with cleared eyes. After a moment, she stated more than asked, "You don't hear it, do you?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

Brows furrowed, Loke said, "I don't like this, Lucy, I don't like this at all. They knew we were coming and wanted us to, that's why it was so easy. I think... I think this whole thing was a trap, set for... you. " He couldn't explain his belief fully, but more and more the whole thing was making his instincts scream that out, and he wasn't about to argue with them. If he was wrong then he'd be wrong, and no harm done. But if he was right...

"It doesn't matter. We're already inside the spider's lair, and it's not like we can just walk back out."

"Actually, we can, or didn't you remember that you're as much a spirit as I am now? We can just go through our gates and go back to Garnet and regroup," he argued. "This whole thing is entirely different than what we thought it was. You're in danger here, Lucy, and I won't have it."

The young woman looked at him, uncertain of what to think. Should they leave and try to regroup, as he'd said? But what good would that do in the end? They still wouldn't know anything of what they were facing, and if Gaults and his agents hadn't been able to find out anything of what was really going on out here before, then how would they?

"Well..." she vacillated, "I don't know... do you really think it's going to do any good?"

"It's the safest plan right now," he insisted, beginning to reach for the energy of his gate.

He came up blank.

"What the hell?" He tried again, but still couldn't grasp it. He could feel it, but it was just out of reach, like it was slightly out of phase with him.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't reach my gate," he replied with disbelief. "Try to see if you can reach yours."

"No way! I'm not leaving you here, idiot!" she yelled, immediately knowing where he was going with that. She wrenched her captive arm out of his grasp and smacked him in the chest, fuming.

"Just try!"

She glared at him, but when he didn't back down she grudgingly did as he asked. She found she wasn't particularly surprised that she couldn't reach hers, either. (Secretly she was glad for that, though, because that would have been the mother of all arguments – Loke would have tried to force her to go back and leave him behind, and there was no way in hell she was going to do it. This just made things easier.)

"No, I can't. It's strange. I can feel it, but it just won't... respond."

He stared at her through slitted eyes. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

"Oh, for star's sakes, no, I'm not just saying that!" she retorted, throwing her hands up. "So since there's no going back, can we get a move on?"

Cursing, Loke stared down the stairs inimically. "Fine," he finally sighed. "You're right. It looks like we'll have to see this through. Don't let go of my hand," he warned her as he grasped it again, "and stay behind me."

She rolled her eyes. "You've said that already."

"Yeah, but you don't always listen so well, so I'm just making sure."

That was met with a narrowed, slightly deadly gaze. "You'll pay for that later, Loke."

He flashed her a naughty grin. "I'll hold you to that, beautiful."

It was her turn to sigh, her expression mostly flat with just a touch of weary annoyance. "Really? Is there ever a time you don't flirt?" Does he always make lewd insinuations at inappropriate times?

The grin disappeared. "Yes, there's a few occasions. But I was just trying to lighten the mood for a moment this time. Now it's back to business."

"Comedic relief in the middle of hell?" she face-palmed incredulously. "Someone needs to teach you better timing. Badly."

"Yeah, yeah, you can do that later. For now, let's go."

Seriously. When we get out of this, I'm going to hurt him. "Lead the way then, oh mighty lion," she said in a tone chalk full of irony as she gestured at the stairs.

"As you say, love," he flashed her a tight grin, then tugged her cautiously down them.

This time the stairs came to a landing, and then curved down another floor. The hall they opened on to led straight from there, but it was short and featureless, dead-ending at another heavy door. The hairs on the back of Loke's neck stood on end, and he came to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

Someone was in that hall with them, he could feel it, but there was no sign of anything living but he and Lucy. After a moment, his eyes narrowed and focused and all his other senses on high alert, he continued forward slowly, his hand tightening on hers.

"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling something off, but not sure what it was.

"Someone's here," he answered absently, too busy scanning their surroundings to pay full attention.

Lucy's eyes darted around, and she shook her head. "There's nowhere for anyone to hide."

"Didn't you know, sweetheart? There are some things that can hide in plain sight."

Well, she shrugged inwardly, that's certainly true. Still...

"That voice was telling me to come. Even if there is someone here, I don't think they're going to try to stop us from going on."

There was a skittering sound, and a section of the wall just ahead of them blurred. What looked like some sort of lizard became visible as it moved onto the floor and then stood up on two legs, growing larger as it did. Lucy blinked, thinking she was seeing things for a moment.

"Shit! Chameleon!" Loke snarled, tensing. "You, too?"

"You should listen to your little human, Leo," the lizard hissed. "She is right. I am only here to make sure you do not try to leave. As long as you continue on, I will not interfere."

"Chameleon?" Lucy asked, trying to flip through her knowledge of the constellations, and what they were capable of.

"He's what you could call a bottom-feeder in the spirit world," the lion growled, glaring at the other male. "He does a little of this, a little of that – mostly spying and assassinations."

The blonde blanched. Assassinations? I... I didn't know... "Uh," was all she could think of to say as she stared at the spirit with horror.

The lizard gave what on anything human would have been a smile, but that only looked terrifying on him, and his eyes said he meant it to be that way. "Yes, I have killed many humans. Whatever my master desires, true?" he mocked. "Is that not right, Leo?"

"There's limits, and you know it," Loke snapped back. "What the hell is going on here in your little funhouse, Chameleon?"

Fading out of sight again, the spirit scrabbled back up the wall and darted behind them, blocking the stairway so they couldn't get back without going through him first. Then he rephased into sight and bowed with derision.

"All you need to do is go through that door, and you will learn all that you want to know, Leo. All your many questions will be answered, I promise you that."

Lucy stared at the door. She really didn't want to go through it, but they had no other choice.

Like sheep to the slaughter...

… and a monster within.

~~LoLu~~

Whatever they'd been expecting when they slipped through the door, it certainly wasn't what they found. Open and fairly large, it seemed a solid stone chamber. It was dim, the corners covered in deep shadows and only the center lighted. Again, like the top floor of this 'barn' it was empty of all furnishings except for a single, plain wooden chair.

Against the far wall, just behind the chair, a man was chained. Held above the floor, both arms and legs were stretched out and locked down, leaving him unable to move his body. His head hung down, and it was clear that he wasn't conscious.

And that he'd probably been there for a very long while.

His body was thin and emaciated, his clothes, whatever they'd once been, in tatters. He seemed little more than skin and bones, but there were no obvious injuries to his person. He didn't move or react to their presence in any way, and Lucy wondered if he were even alive.

"Okay, what's going on in this hellhole?!" Loke demanded loudly. "You led us here, made sure we'd find this place. Come out from wherever you're hiding and explain what all this is about!"

There was a deep chuckle from one of the darkened corners, and the very same voice that Lucy had heard whispering to her earlier spoke up.

Completely ignoring Loke, he said, "Well, come out where I can see you, girl."

The celestial mage and newest spirit shrank back, not so drawn to the voice now – the mesmerizing quality it had held earlier was notably absent, and instead it seemed malevolent, angry.

Loke stepped forward, letting go of Lucy's arm and moving completely in front of her, hiding her from whoever was in the shadows. He was frowning, staring at the particular patch of darkness the person was speaking from with dangerous intensity. There was something about that voice...

"You don't talk to her, you talk to me. What the hell do you want with Lucy, anyway?"

The man chuckled again, though he still hadn't moved into the light.

"I merely wish to return to her what was lost, that's all."

What was lost...?

"Works both ways. You want to see her, we want to see you. Why don't you stop hiding?" he taunted, ready to call up his power at a moment's notice. He might not be able to access his gate right now, but he definitely wasn't cut off from his magic.

"Fair enough, I suppose." There was a shift in the darkness and the dim light flashed off of something, and then a man walked out of the shadows as though he owned them. He smiled laconically at the lion. "So, now you see me. Your turn, girl," he replied, meeting Lucy's eyes over the lion's shoulder.

He was of average height and build, his features even but nothing spectacular. He seemed ordinary, the kind of man who could disappear into a crowd and never even be noticed. The only thing that set him apart from everyone else was that voice. It sounded vaguely familiar to Loke, but just slightly off in a way he couldn't describe.

Definitely intimidated, Lucy wasn't going to show it, and though her lion made a disapproving sound and put out a hand to keep her back when she moved, she stepped from behind him just enough to be seen fully by the other man. "You're Varrick Vashton, aren't you?" she demanded defiantly, glaring at him.

He smiled mockingly at her and shrugged. "You may call me that." Then he glanced at Loke slyly. "Although he knows me under a different moniker. Names are so easy to change, after all."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "I've never seen you before." Though I swear I've heard that voice somewhere – or one very much like it.

"Are you so very sure about that? Perhaps you should look closer, Leo." The man shimmered like a mirage for a moment and someone quite different was standing there – and then he was Varrick Vashton again. Loke froze, now stunned and very uncertain of his footing. He almost felt dizzy.

"What the hell... Cepheus?"

And the man threw back his head and laughed, before shimmering again. When the light faded, Varrick was laying on the floor unconscious and the spirit was still standing there, watching Lucy with a sinister expression that had the lion's hair almost standing on end.

~~LoLu~~

"C-Cepheus?" Lucy stammered, looking between Loke and the other man. He was dark-haired with red eyes that shimmered almost like jewels against lightly bronzed skin. He certainly looked nothing like he had when they'd walked into the room. "Like... the constellation Cepheus? The King of Ethiopia?"

"One and the same, girl. You're quite smart, aren't you?" he mocked lightly. "Surprising, really. Leo usually surrounds himself with empty-headed ones that aren't much good for anything but a little fun. Of course, since you have his key, it isn't like he had any choice in the matter, I suppose. Just another instance of a spirit being forced to bow to the will of a lowly human, but that's the whole point, isn't it? We're so much more than human, but enslaved by a weak, ill-bred race with no light of their own."

"Oh, fuck your propensity for high-style speeches, Cepheus," Loke finally said, getting past his shock enough to function. "We aren't interested. How the hell are you even here?"

The man tsked softly, looking loftily at the lion. "Now, now, Leo, do watch your language. There's no need to be foul."

Beginning to get really annoyed, the copper-haired spirit ignited his fists and prepared himself to attack. "I'm not here to bandy words with you. Either tell us what you want or shut the hell up and fight me."

For a long moment the other spirit didn't react, his face unreadable, and then he walked over to the chair and turned it around to face his guests. Once it was settled to his satisfaction, he sat down in it and made himself comfortable.

"You wish to know what this is all about? Why I drew you here, and why this man is on the wall behind me? Then I will tell you, Leo. I will tell you how I am here, and why I am. I shall tell you more than you ever wanted to know. And then we will see what we will see."

"No way!" Lucy suddenly cried, outraged. "You want to sit around and talk while you've got some guy hanging on your wall like that, you monster? Is he even still alive?"

"Yeah, he's alive," Leo said, not taking his eyes off his opponent. "I can hear him breathing."

"Then we need to get him down from there!"

That got a reaction from the other spirit. "You will not!" he thundered, his eyes flashing with rage. Then he stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, before reopening them. They were once more seemingly calm. He smiled at her, and said, "You will stand and not speak, girl," his voice once more smooth and hypnotic, lulling her.

She instantly froze obediently, her eyes glazing over. "Yes, Your Highness," she replied woodenly, and then fell silent.

Loke snarled. "Let go of her, Cepheus, I'm warning you. Play your tricks on someone else."

"I'm just keeping her quiet for the time being. You wanted answers, didn't you? This way you'll just get them faster." He met Leo's infuriated gaze almost amiably. "What do you want to know first?"

"How about starting off with how the hell you're here in the mortal world without a summoner, and then go from there?" he finally told the man, letting go his immediate control of his magic and holding it just under his skin. The first move that bastard made for Lucy, and he'd get it. But for now... they needed answers. "Start talking. And don't bother trying to use your vocal glamour on me, because I'm not about to fall for it."

Cepheus chuckled. "Oh, very well, Leo. We will speak as equals then – king to king."

Loke snorted but didn't say anything, and the other man's face darkened, something dangerous flashing in his eyes.

"The simple answer to my presence here in the mortal realm without a summoner is that I possessed the body of a human, as should have been obvious to you the moment you saw me appear from within him. Possession isn't unheard of, though I will admit that a celestial spirit possessing a human is... new."

Loke looked taken aback as he glanced at the man that was still laying on the floor unconscious. "Possession?"

"Yes. Varrick Vashton was once just another simple-minded human, a celestial mage of some small power. While it has turned my stomach having to be in such close contact so as to possess him, I needed a host so that I could stay here without consequence, and he provided it."

Damn. "And the rest of it? Why are you here, and what does that guy behind you have to do with it? And why are you after Lucy?"

"One question at a time. You wish to know why I'm here like this? In two words, for revenge."

Loke blinked. "Revenge?" he repeated, taken aback. "Revenge against who?"

Cepheus shrugged. "Specifically? On the refuse behind me, but I'll take the chance to take as many other humans down as I can, as well. They deserve nothing better."

Shaking his head, Leo just looked more puzzled. "You want revenge on everyone for the actions of one man?"

His question was met with an inclination of the other man's head. "But as I said, mainly against the animal on the wall behind me."

"So you're going to kill him?"

"Kill? No, no, not at all, Leo. No... death... is far too easy. I'm making him live – but the world I've created inside his mind for him to do that in... well, let's just say it could give the meaning to the word hell. And he deserves every long, excruciating second of it, too." Cepheus' jaw clenched as a great rage burned in his eyes for a moment, and then he deliberately relaxed himself again. "Oh, yes... he more than deserves it."

But behind that spark of rage in the other spirit's eyes there was just the merest glimpse of an immense pain, and Loke was very uncertain at this point where all this was going, or how he even felt about it. It was clear, at least, that there was a history here, something that had driven the other spirit to these extreme lengths.

"What's he done to you, Cepheus?" he asked quietly. "What's he done that you hate him so very much?"

The other spirit's eyes fell closed and his jaw tightened for a moment as he fought to maintain his calm, before he opened his eyes once more, and met the zodiac leader's gaze.

"He raped and abused my wife, Leo – repeatedly."

The obscene words echoed around the room.

Loke almost choked on his shock, staring wide-eyed at the dark-haired man. "W-what? How t-the-"

"He was her key-holder," Cepheus interrupted, more rage and pain showing the more he talked. It was quite clear that he was very tightly strung. "He found a way to control a spirit, to make them do his bidding no matter what it was, even if it went against their established contract. And so he forced himself on my beautiful Cassiopeia repeatedly, and she could do nothing to protect herself." His fists clenched, and the man behind him let out a low moan of pain at the action, but did not awaken. "She has suffered so much at his hands, and now he suffers even more at mine. Why should I let him get away with what he's done? He should be made to pay, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Making him pay," he spat.

Still absolutely horrified by what he was hearing, Loke didn't even know what to say. If someone had done that to his beloved Lucy, he would probably be doing the same thing as Cepheus. But if that was the truth, then why did he seem to be after other people that hadn't done anything to him? And why his princess in particular?

He shook his head, feeling sick. "If that's true, then I could certainly understand why you went after him, Cepheus. But what's Lucy got to do with this? She hasn't done anything to you."

"She's one of those filthy humans, Leo," he roared suddenly, his earlier stillness now gone as he leapt from the chair and began pacing in front of it, kicking Vashton's body aside in the process. "I don't care if she's become a spirit – she's still the enemy! These mortals enslave us and use us however they wish, and what does Seirei-o do? Nothing! His laws protect them and leave us vulnerable. What kind of king does that to his own? You should understand me perfectly – don't think I don't know what happened to you because of that bitch that owned your key before. What she was doing to Aries, and how you were almost forced to your death because of Seirei-o's disgusting laws! And yet you would still stand there and defend even one of them?"

"You can't blame the innocent for the acts of the guilty, Cepheus! Lucy would never harm any of her spirits in any way. This isn't her fault."

"She's a human!" he shouted. "No fake 'Joining' will make her otherwise in my eyes!"

"So you think I'm going to let you just take out your bitterness on her?" Loke asked disbelievingly. "You've totally lost it."

At that, Cepheus stopped his jagged movements and suddenly became calm again. "Really, in the end my goal in all this is to permanently sever all access to our world from theirs. The heavens should not bow to the earth. It's just unfortunate for her that she was changed into a spirit. I can't countenance one of them calling our world their own, and there are others – like Chameleon and Corvus - that agree with me. If that fool Delenn had left well enough alone and not used Marionette on her in the beginning, she would not be of any concern to me."

"You're not convincing me here, Cepheus. Lucy still isn't of any concern to you. I understand your anger now, and I can't even... can't even believe what you and Cassiopeia have gone through, but I won't allow you to hurt my mistress. If you try, I will fight you, I'm warning you."

It was silent for several long seconds, and then the dark-haired spirit continued speaking as if Loke hadn't said a word, "Do you know, it's almost ironic. When I went searching for ways to take my vengeance on the scum behind me, I came across a prophecy. When I heard it, I knew I had to stop it from happening at any cost. And that was part of what I was trying to do when I began using Marionette. But after everything, I find that the joke is on me, because I was the one that brought that prophecy to fruition with my own plans. How twisted is that?"

Thoroughly confused, Loke stared at Cepheus. "Prophecy?" He was beginning to believe that the spirit really had been driven over the edge into insanity by what had been done to his wife, which he could certainly understand. But now he was dragging some so-called prophecy into the whole thing?

The other man shot him a thin smile, eyeing him shrewdly. "You think me crazy, do you not? Well, and perhaps I am. But so is the world around us." He paused, then asked, "Do you wish to hear this piece of drivel?"

Leo nodded dumbly, unable to think of anything to say.

"When the lion falls from the sky, the herald of a new day shall save him,

and return him to his true place above.

An earthly star ascending to the heavens she will be,

an incandescent soul of the one true power,

yet marred by wrongful vengeance.

"That is... the relevant part of that prophecy. And it's clearly speaking of her." He began to laugh, then, though it wasn't a friendly sound. "An earthly star ascending to the heavens... I created my own nightmare in Lucy Heartfilia. And so I am now obliged to undo my mistake." He snorted. "Wrongful vengeance. There is nothing wrongful about it. Humans cannot be trusted. They are all evil at their cores, no matter what that prophecy says."

Loke's eyes narrowed. Now they were getting down to it. "What are you planning to do to her?" he demanded, his power beginning to rise again. As horrified as he was by the tale he'd just been told, there was no way he was letting Cepheus harm the woman he loved.

"I'm just going to return her to her mortal form, Leo, that's all."

The lion froze and his heart stuttered in his chest. "Seirei-o said that couldn't be done without killing her," he said, almost fatalistically waiting for what he was certain was coming.

"Oh, he was right. It'll kill her, but she won't be a spirit anymore, and that's all I care about. And try as you might, Leo, you will not be able to stop me. I will purge our world of her mortal taint, and then sever our realms forever. No spirit will ever have to suffer at the hands of a human again."

The silence in the room was complete as a churning wrath of frustrated rage and fear choked Loke's air off. He had no idea of what Cepheus was going to do in order to return his mistress to her human form, and so had no idea how to stop it.

What the hell do I do now?