Chapter 9

"So…let me get this straight. Priscilla and Loki ended a galaxy-wide war with their…love…for each other," said Lucy. Her words dripped with sarcasm, especially centered around the word, 'love.' It was midday and she was lying on her couch, propped up on cushions as she recovered from the after-effects of a short excursion to the Spirit World.

Sagittarius, her history teacher of the moment, was sitting in an armchair to her right, his arms crossed as he looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Err, not quite. I don't believe he was actually in love with during the war, he was just caught up in the politics of it all. If I remember correctly it goes like this: the war ends. Priscilla, Loki, and the rest of the nobles get paired up for marriage."

Lucy rolled her eyes, collapsing back into her sofa. She honestly didn't want to hear any more.

The Archer droned on monotonously. "Some houses complete their bonding, such as Aquarius and Gemini. Members of each House do not necessarily HAVE to bond with their respective rivals, as long as there is one active bond."

This really was becoming too much for Lucy. Feeling quite overwhelmed, she dramatically covered her eyes with her palms.

"But here, Lucy, is the kicker," said Sagittarius, leaning forward conspiratorially, "To the delight of the spirit world, Loki eventually DOES fall in love with Priscilla, the White, as she becomes known, from the white armor she wore on that fateful day. However, he discovers that the entire charade has been an act! Her parents, the current warlords, developed the scheme for her to carry out because the House of Leo was on the verge of toppling them."

Lucy snapped to attention, feeling a chill go up her spine. "What? She lied?"

Sagittarius nodded. "They had grown to the human equivalent of 21 by the time he found out. I estimate that at least a couple hundred years had gone by? She covered it up very well, claiming that although it made good political sense, she really did love him. And it didn't help that the public adored her."

"…she broke his heart," whispered Lucy.

"Unfortunately," nodded the spirit, "He was devastated. To follow the law, Loki's eldest brother wed one of the Ram sisters. However, because theirs is one of the original ones, Loki and Priscilla remain bonded. She continues to pursue him but he rebuffs her at every instance. The end." He closed his palms like a book.

Lucy looked at her storyteller with sad eyes. "That's just so…its horrible."

Sagittarius was quiet for a moment, reaching up to scratch the ears of the horse. "He has been happy, with you."

"You think so?" She smiled a half smile, thinking ruefully of the past couple instances when she had been rather rude to him.

"Yes. I haven't seen him smile like this in a long time. Millennia, even," he said, bending so that the nose of the horse kissed Lucy's forehead (she couldn't decide if this was extremely odd or extremely sweet), "Please take care of him."

Lucy couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, I will."

Something made a jingling noise from a pack on the Archer's side and he took out something that was curiously like a cell phone. With his customary, "Hello, hello," he excused himself for a moment, returning to the room to retrieve his belongings. "Will you be alright, Lucy? It seems like I have an errand to run," he said as he fumbled with the leather straps of his quiver.

"I'm fine, thank you," said Lucy, and with a snappy salute, Sagittarius disappeared with a flash of orange light.

Lucy felt very, very, drained.

From past experience, she knew that the feeling was associated with two things: Natsu and Happy would be climbing through her window…or that more spirits would be materializing in her kitchen. So when Lucy's 'spirit sense' went off and a familiar storm of glowing light began to form in her apartment, she was not surprised at all. (Looking on the bright side, at least the spirits were 'summoning themselves' and not draining her stores of magical power.)

The light flashed gold for an instance and Loki appeared, materializing in more of his civilian clothes. He wore his familiar, hunter green army jacket slung over his shoulder and had brought a duffel bag which seemed to be stuffed rather full.

"Hey," he said, dropping the bag to crouch near the sofa, "How're you holding up?"

"Mmm, I'm alright," said Lucy, her fingers automatically curling around the fur trim, "That thing Sagittarius gave me wasn't pleasant but it seems like it's working."

"Ah, the thing that smells like carrots? Its nasty but it does the trick," said Loki, grinning as he pulled the wire frames off of his nose.

Lucy grinned back. "So what're you up to? Sagittarius said you had some urgent business to attend to."

"Finished. I work fast," he winked, "And now I'm here to pick you up. We're going."

Lucy's stomach instantly flipped around, remembering all of the unpleasantries from her last visit to the Spirit World. She pushed herself to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know, Loki. I don't think I can handle any more of that carrot—"

Loki laughed as he interrupted her protest, pulling her gently to her feet. "No worries. We're going to do it the human way—a train." He raised his hands in mock excitement.

"A train?" Lucy raised an eyebrow as she stretched. No matter how peculiar it tasted, she made a mental note to herself to ALWAYS finish the Archer's tonic. It seemed like she was at full-strength! She felt no dizziness what so ever. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"It's a surprise! Don't you feel like you just want to…I don't know. Get away?" Loki shrugged his shoulders. "From everyone, at least for a moment?"

"YES. THANK YOU. That's exactly how I feel," said Lucy, feeling relieved. A vacation away from everything sounded just what the doctor ordered to preserve whatever sanity she had left. "I don't even know what to pack."

Hoisting the duffel bag over his shoulder, Loki steered his master towards her shoe rack. "Virgo packed you some stuff, just put on some shoes and a coat. Quickly please, our train leaves in about…" He glanced at the timepiece on his wrist, "…15 minutes."

"15 minutes, are you kidding me? Crap, we've got to run," gasped Lucy, snatching her coat and pulling on a pair of cognac colored riding boots, "Are we going to make it?"

They did make it, but just barely. The doors had nearly squished poor Lucy after their daring leap onto the train. Thankfully, the car that they had randomly picked was quite empty and they were able to secure a vacant compartment for themselves.

Lucy had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had gotten settled. She was exhausted. Her head was nestled on his shoulder and he had draped her snow-white jacket across her body.

Ever so gently, he softly brushed her fair hair out of her face. It was kind of a relief to see her looking so peaceful, even if it was only in sleep. The last couple hours must have been pretty stressful for her, he thought, especially since she had barely a day of rest since the mission they barely finished. Loki felt guilty putting her on the road again but honestly, he wasn't sure if they'd get another chance like this—just the two of them, no one else.

He smiled ruefully. She had fallen asleep with their hands clasped together.

Loki raised his hand up—the one that was holding hers—to look at the ring on his index finger. It was a thick ring cast in heavy gold and it was set with a blood-red ruby. The symbol for his house was engraved on each side. It had been his father's ring. Honestly, he had no idea why he had it—hadn't he disgraced the family when he refused to marry Priscilla? His eldest brother, Baldr, should have gotten it after he married the Ram sister, but his father had insisted that Loki kept it. Every Leo wore a ruby of some sorts, but this ruby ring was practically the family treasure.

"I'd give up…anything, for you," he said softly, into her hair. Light from the ruby flickered in his eyes. "Anything."

Lucy woke up as the train came to a stop. Groggily pulling on her jacket, she allowed her still sleepy self to be led out of their compartment and off of the train. It wasn't until she was standing on the platform, the caboose a speck in the distance, that she realized that she seemed to be…in the middle of nowhere.

She glanced around warily—the only other people at the station seemed to be an elderly couple getting into the oldest rusty pickup she'd ever seen. There wasn't even a ticket booth! In fact, there weren't any buildings near the platform, only trees displaying their autumn best.

"Hey, um…Loki," said Lucy, following her spirit as he began to walk, "Where exactly are we?"

He glanced back at her over his shoulder, that stupid grin on his face that made her weak in the knees. "Loiret. It's a small farming town about seven hours from the city."

"Seven hours? Are you serious, I slept for that long?" Not to be superficial, but Lucy couldn't help but picture the sorry state that her hair was in.

The leaves made a satisfying crunch under their boots as they walked, and they eventually made their way into the main part of town. It was a quiet place—all of the buildings were older but were well looked after. It reminded Lucy of coming home to a neighborhood full of grandparents.

Loki led them around a corner, stopping at series of big storage doors. "Here we are," he whistled to himself as he opened the lock, bending down to lift up the old metal panel. Lucy peered inside, ignoring the dust that swirled around as a breeze blew through. It was clear that this unit hadn't seen fresh air for quite some time. The storage unit was devoid of contents, except for something in the middle, covered with a giant, oil-stained cloth. Gleefully, Loki pulled it off like a magician whipping a tablecloth from a table without disturbing the beautiful rose on top. "Ta-da," he said, smiling proudly.

It was a motorcycle. Once upon a time, the bike had been all shiny wheels and gleaming black paint but time had tarnished the finish, leaving it with a charming, vintage patina. Loki's smile grew even bigger as he discovered that although decades had past, the engine roared youthfully.

"Nice bike," said Lucy, a puzzled smile on her face. Where exactly where they going to drive it? Maybe…to the end of the village and back?

"My pride and joy," said Loki, revving the engine. Satisfied, he sat up, held up his hand, and dropped something from his closed fist—an old brass key dangling from a chain. "Aren't you going to get on? We've got somewhere to be."

A/N: Loivet is a real area in France. And I promise! Now that everything is more or less set up, I think we can have more Loki/Lucy. What do you guys think? Yes, no, maybe so...