Chapter 14
Lucy was not in a good mood when Loki picked her up.
"You look like...you've been through a very traumatic moment..." Loki commented, gingerly taking her hand.
"That is an UNDERSTATEMENT," huffed Lucy, who was quite sure that she would be scarred for life. Lace! Lace! Lace! She shuddered.
"Don't worry, beautiful, I've got something to make you feel better," he winked, taking her hand as he pulled her to another dimension.
"Tah dah!"
Lucy emerged in a walk in closet that consisted solely of pieces made of...lace. Her mind went into shock.
"Well, since you'll be in the Spirit World for a few days, I stocked this closet with Celestial things that I thought you'd like. And I might have overheard that you're into lace right now," he said in a sing song voice, affectionately kissing her cheek.
Still in shock, Lucy opened a random drawer. It was filled to the brim with lacy underthings in all shapes and colors. And at the top, Lucy spotted the same exact pair that Mira had been dangling in front of her.
"HELL I can't wear any of this," she suddenly exclaimed, slamming the drawer shut.
"But-"
"I want something...with lots and lots of clasps. And of iron!" Lucy moaned, thinking of Erza's armor. That would protect her, right?
"Oh. Ohhhh," said Loki, knowingly. From yet another drawer, he pulled out an iron chastity belt. The HeartKreuz symbol was stamped prominently on the front. "Well, Erza sent this too but I didn't think that was your thing! I'm learning all sorts of things about you, Lucy!"
This was too much for Lucy. She stalked to the living room and collapsed on the couch.
"Okay, okay. I was kidding," laughed Loki, as he tried to pry the pillow from Lucy's face. "I'm sorry! I just couldn't resist."
"Resist harder next time," Lucy growled, swatting him with said pillow.
"Aww c'mon. I thought the metal underwear was...exciting."
Lucy screamed into the pillow.
"Alright! Alright," said Loki, doubling over in laughter, "Fine, we'll talk about something serious. Our game plan. Is that better?"
"UGH. Much better." Lucy peeked out from a tasseled corner. "So next..."
"Next, we've got to go over the terms." Loki hopped over the sofa, settling himself down with a xerox copy of the ancient contract. Even the xerox had the flowing, golden text of the original. It was mesmerizing to Lucy's eyes.
"How can you read that?" she said, gesturing at the paper. She flipped over onto her stomach so that she could examine it better. "It looks almost as if the words are moving."
"Well, I guess to your human eyes, they are kind of moving," said Loki, tilting the paper back and forth, "What you're probably seeing is a little of what I see-the raw power of the words. I haven't seen a document like this in centuries! I think I can read most it."
"So? What does it say?"
Loki pushed a pair or reading glasses onto his nose. "Alright. So basically, this contract is between a Spirit and a Caster. That's you and me. In exchange for some of your...essence, you can summon me 24 hours, 7 days a week. We kind of do that already but after this, my power is officially all yours."
Lucy fought hard not to get distracted. It'd had been a while since she'd seen Loki with regular glasses instead of his uniform shades. He had switched the metal frames for smart plastic ones and they framed his eyes nicely. Oh, and he was wearing more of his civilian clothes again-straight jeans and a fitted black shirt that was unbuttoned halfway. Lucy was positive that she'd be content just looking at him all day...but she had to focus! "Mmm...kay."
"Signing this paper effectively...entwines our souls," said Loki, translating as best as he could, "Forever. So you can't go back on this later and decide you'd rather have Taurus instead of me."
Lucy shuddered again. She couldn't imagine a lifetime of googly eyes and comments about her underwear. Lace underwear? Lace! Lace! Lace! "UGH hell no. Never."
Amused, Loki kept reading. "In exchange, our power, as a whole, will be based on the compatibility of our souls and I'm pretty sure that we're good in that department. That's the main gist of it. Sound good?"
"Yep. That sounds like a great deal," said Lucy, sitting up. "So I can sign here?"
"Wait wait, there's a catch. Fine print." He pointed at the bottom of the document where there seemed to be several rows of microscopic print.
"What? That looks like...ant footprints," said Lucy. "But I figured there would be something."
Getting up to rummage through one of the drawers, Loki returned to the couch holding a magnifying glass. It must have been a magical one; he held it up to the fine print and the rim of the glass seemed to glow. As he peered through it, the text slowly enlarged until it was barely legible. "I'm glad you're sitting down for this one," he said, squinting. "If you sign this, it looks like you're affinity for other spirits will be...smaller."
"Affinity...as in..." said Lucy, leaving her words open on purpose. She wasn't liking where this conversation was going.
Loki winced. "You probably won't be able to summon other spirits."
"WHAT?!" Lucy shrieked, bolting up until she was standing, "You can't be serious! I-I'm a Stellar Spirit mage. Summoning spirits is what I do."
"I know, I know," said Loki in a calming voice. He put the glass and the paper down, pulling her until she was perched in his lap. "It's the Spirit World's way of balancing out the universe. Everything's about give and take."
Lucy made a face. She couldn't imagine not being able to summon Plue or Lyra. She wouldn't be able to summon Virgo, Aquarius, Aries...without her keys and her other spirits, she felt like a part of her would be missing.
"Well, this paper is pretty old, and it was made before mages started using keys,"said Loki, thoughtfully. "What I'm guessing is...in the mortal plane, you won't be able to use silver keys at all. But since golden keys are...well, golden keys, I'm pretty sure you'd still be able to use them. You probably won't have the same power with them as you did before but at least they...might work."
"You really think so?"
"I'm just speculating," said Loki. He shifted his body until they were both lounging on the couch-one arm cradling her shoulders and the other cocked back behind his head. "We won't really know until after it's signed. But don't worry, love. After this, you'll always have me."
Lucy smiled, as she stared at the ceiling. Her head rested on his shoulder and she let one hand creep up until it idly played with the buttons on his shirt. She could feel his heart beating; it was strong and confident. On impulse, she pulled herself up to kiss him. It was her first time being so...forward with him so she was nervous, but he responded naturally. His hands found their way to her hips as her fingers traced his strong jaw.
"Mmm, so now, can we finally just sign the damn thing?" asked Lucy, coming up for air.
"Actually, there's more fine print," said Loki, kissing her neck while his hands glided up and down her back. "I can't sign it if I answer to the key of my House. I have to pass on the responsibilities to someone else."
Lucy couldn't help but shudder a little as his lips moved from her jaw to her collarbone. "Okay, so how do we...find someone else?" She felt a little breathless.
Loki paused and with a heavy sigh, adjusted his body until he was face to face with Lucy. "We have to pay a visit to my father."
Lucy decided that she would never get used to Celestial buildings. They seemed just like human ones-with doors, rooms, and furniture-except the properties themselves just seemed to be dropped from nowhere. She was standing with Loki in front of a very intimidating castle. It seemed like it was plucked from the countryside of England and just...plopped somewhere in the Spirit World. She leaned to peer apprehensively at the castle's outer walls-there seemed to be a foot or two of grass and then the land vanished into nothing.
"So...this is where you used to live?" asked Lucy, a bit tentatively. She had changed into a set of normal (non-lace) Celestial clothes and twirled one of the loose ties around her finger."It's very...imposing."
"Yep. Just like my father," said Loki. He stood up straight and tall, as always, but Lucy could see traces of uncertainty in his posture.
They approached a thick iron gate adorned with a large crest of two lions sparring. Above the figures was a line of text in a flowing yet powerful script.
"...vivere...audacter," said Lucy, her neck craned up to read the words.
Loki's shoes scuffed the cobblestone as strode forward towards the gate, a determined look on his face. As he outstretched his hand, the doors swung open. "It means, 'to Live Boldly.' It's the family motto."
Lucy followed him through the gate and into the castle. It was quiet; there seemed to be no one there. And although he said he hadn't been there in forever, Loki seemed to remember where to go. They wove in and out of hallways until they came to an extremely tall, heavy set of double wooden doors.
Loki froze before the doors, staring at their thick iron handles. This place did not bring back fond memories for him and he was loathe to bring Lucy to a place like this...but they had things to do, didn't they? There was no other way. Suddenly, he felt a small hand slip into his.
Lucy grinned, squeezing gently. "We can do this," she said.
Loki grinned back. He felt courage (or perhaps a ridiculous amount of adrenaline) spread through his body and together, they pushed open the doors.
Trying her best not to gape openly, Lucy stared at her surroundings. It was ridiculous! Just like a throne room from a fairy tale. The room was long and full of things made of gold and inlaid with jewels. At the very end of the room, there was a series of thrones. On the left, there was a modest one; the arms were dainty but the back was strong. On the right stood three smaller thrones. Two of them were sturdy and the third was sleek. In the middle, was a throne so massive that it dwarfed the other four. It was tall, proud, and rigid, flanked on either side by a statue of a snarling lion. There was a figure sitting in this throne-his posture was falsely relaxed. His leg was crossed and one of his arms lounged on the head of a lion statue. From the back of the room, Lucy could still see the enormous ruby on the figure's finger.
"...So," boomed the figure, "...The Prince is home."