New chapter finally up. Hope you like! : D
Chapter 7.
"Where are we going?" Lucy asked and looked up at Ares. He hadn't said a word since they had left the town. Lucy felt awkward in his arms, he was holding her bride-style while they were flying, but he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Lucy tried, without luck, to see through his expressionless face, but he was as made out of stone.
"Lucy?" he finally said without moving his head the slightest.
"Huh? What?" she said surprised and looked up at him.
"Do you like the spirit town?" he asked.
"I do," she said without hesitation.
"That's good," he said, and seemed to get little less tense.
"But to be honest, I'm looking forward to get back to my friends again," she corrected herself with a smile and thought back to all her great memories. He was suddenly quiet again and she sighed. She expected to see his same expressionless face, but when she looked back up at him, it had changed slightly. His eyebrows had pulled together and made an (for him) unusual face.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked surprised.
"Don't ask," he cut her off and his face straightened out.
"Please tell me what's wrong," she said, but it was obvious that he ignored that, "or even better, tell me where you're kidnapping me to."
"I have a friend outside town, her name is…" he trailed himself off, "anyway, she has something I want to show you."
"What is it?" Lucy asked curious. Ares eyes flickered and he tried to come up with something reliable.
"A spell…" not a lie.
"What kind of spell?" Lucy said and suddenly became suspicious.
"It's a secret," Ares said and tried to make his words sound final, but Lucy wasn't done with him.
"Ares, where are you taking me?" She said and got tense in his arms.
"I – I can't explain, right now," it was the first time she had seen the spirit get uneasy.
"Put. Me. Down!" she pronounced the words clearly and tried to put as much force into them as possible, but to her surprise the spirit smiled by those words, "what's funny?"
"Oh it's… nothing," he said and kept the smirk plastered on his face.
"Tell me or I'll…"
"Don't even start," he interrupted and smiled down at her, "I was just thinking that you really don't want me to put you down."
"What are you-" Lucy looked down and stopped herself. The ground under them was completely black. It looked like some sort of black mist, "Where the heck are we?"
"There are different spirit towns in the world, this darkness is what separates them," he said and looked at her shocked expression with clear amusement.
"Are you serious?" Suddenly all her fright were gone and replaced by interest, "can you have spirits from more towns? Why is the ground black? How can your friend live outside the town? Does she live in the dark? How does it work? Why…"
"Stop stop stop!" Ares said and covered her mouth with his palm, "too many questions at once."
"Yuu ar anuyin' mi (*you're annoying me)" she mumbled between his fingers and stared at him with an irritated glare.
"I know," he said and smiled, "I'll answer all your questions soon - but we have arrived."
"Here?" Lucy asked and saw only the darkness under them.
"Yep!" he told her and dived down in the mist. The wind pulled in Lucy's hair and she tightened her grip around Ares.
Loki lay on the ground and looked up at the sky where a few sparkling stars had appeared and clenched his fist. He looked at his clock again, but to his annoyance it hadn't changed much since the last 27 seconds. 5 hours and 15 minutes.
"I don't care anymore!" he said to himself and pulled the key out, just the hand movement made him bite his teeth together in pain. His shoulder was still sore, but he honestly didn't care anymore.
"There's a change in plans, kid!" a voice suddenly said and Loki sat up in shock, and felt a pair of hands grab him from the back. He struggled, but the hands just tightened their hold. He turned his head as much as he could and got a look at the shining armor.
"Baldur!" he hissed.
"I'm very sorry, Loki," Baldur mumbled before he hit a certain spot on Lokis shoulder that made him black out. "I truly am sorry."
"Hallo, Lucy Heartphilia," the pale girl said and danced toward Lucy with her elegant spins. Lucy looked at the girl with wonder; she didn't look like any of the other spirits at all. She looked kind of human. Her dark hair curled down her shoulders and except the unusual pale skin, she didn't look strange at all.
"Hallo…um..."
"Mania," the girl finished her sentence and gave a brilliant smile. Lucy was about to choke in air by the sound of the name.
"The god of…"
"Insanity." Mania finished again and smiled wider, "don't worry, I'm not as crazy as the rumors say." Ares put a hand on Lucy's shoulder, but she pushed it off – even though she didn't find it all that uncomfortable, but it just felt awkward in front of the strange girl.
"Are you… a golden key?" Lucy asked quietly.
"Once," Mania said and looked down, "now I'm just an outcast."
"Oh, I'm sorry, what happened?" Lucy asked. Manias face brightens in amusement, but Ares hurried to cut her off.
"That can wait for another time," he said fast and turned to Mania, "I wanted to show Lucy your spell."
"What is this spell?" Lucy asked and looked back and forth between the spirits. Mania giggled and spun around a few times before she pulled something out from the many layers of her dress. She handed Lucy the object and the young girl studied it interested.
"It's beautiful," she said. It was a little golden box, decorated with many colored rocks and pearls.
"Open it," Mania told her with a smirk. Lucy did as she was told, and saw a small ring shine at the bottom of it. The ring matched the box perfectly with its golden surface and colored stones. She gasped for a second.
"Put it on," Ares encouraged. She looked up at him with a shocked expression.
"I can accept this," she told him, "it's too much!"
"Trust me, it will make me much happier than you," he smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"How could you?" Loki said angrily and stared at Baldur with as much hatred as he could manage. Wan had commanded Baldur to lock Loki in and keep an eye on him. Right now he had been brought underground somewhere and bond to a chair in a strange room made out of four walls and a chair in the middle (they had blindfolded him on the way, so he had no clue where in the world he was).
"It's more complicated, Loki, I am really sorry," Baldur said and looked like he had just been punched in the stomach.
"I. Don't. Care!" Loki said harsh.
"Wan is my owner, what was I suppose to do?" Baldur said and clenched his fists, "I did everything I could. Wan always tried to summon me on the must random times, so Ares could finish Lucy off – which he could be doing right now – so I banned him from my house to stop it... without going against direct orders of course. You should know how much it hurts to go against orders from your owner… even if it's indirectly."
Loki clenched his fists. He did know that feeling: it felt like committing a horrible crime. It felt like you went against you best friend or lover, even if you didn't like your owner or his/her choices.
"You have to let me get Lucy's key back," Loki said with a calmer voice.
"I can't, Wan has it," Baldur mumbled, "but he can't use it anyway – she's a Switch-spirit, only her former spirit can use her."
"That's not the problem," Loki continued, "She has to be summoned back soon."
"I'm sorry."
"Come on Baldur," Loki begged, "I would fall to my knees, but I'm tied to a chair."
"Loki if I could…"
Suddenly Baldur was cut off when the door shattering to a million pieces. The dust cleared and two silhouettes showed in the doorway.
"We need him to bring Lucy back!" A high-pitched voice cried out and pointed at Baldur and Loki.
"Gezz… you really overdo everything," another voice sighed behind him.
"Natsu! Gray!" Loki said surprised. The pink-haired boys face spread in a grin by the sound of his name and he twirled a familiar key around his finger. Lucy's key.
"We need to get her back here, soon! You have to give me the key," Loki yelled at Natsu.
"Got it!" he said and grabbed the key tightly.
"I wont let you," Baldur said and got in position toward the two mages.
"A knight?" Natsu said confused.
"He's a spirit," Gray said matter-of-factly and got ready to fight too.
Lucy held the box closer to her face, to look at the detailed ring; it was absolutely beautiful. She had to admit that she would love to put it on her finger.
"It's my present to you," Ares said and started to get impatient, "you can put it on."
"Are you really sure?" Lucy asked a little excited.
"Yes, just put it on already," Ares said and rolled his eyes.
"Okay, if you're sure," Lucy said and reached down and took the jewel up from the decorated box. Her smile disappeared when she held it up. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Something's wrong," she said and turned toward Ares. Her eyes were filled with confusion, "dark magic?"
"What are you talking about?" Ares said and lifted an eyebrow, he was an excellent liar and impossible to see through, "it's a perfectly normal ring that I got for you, are you going to put it on or not?"
"Something is wrong," she said and studied it further. It looked harmless, but something about it made her tremble slightly.
"Nothing's wrong," Ares said and crossed his arms, "are you doubting me?"
"No," she said honestly. Ares flicked back by the direct answer and moaned annoyed. He reached for her hand.
"Here, let me put it on your finger," he said and took the ring from her hand. His hand stretched toward her in a demanding manner, "come on! Give me your hand."
"I don't know about this," Lucy mumbled but let him take her hand. Ares hesitated when he held her small hand in his palm. She trusted him so completely. Why? How could she? Was she so blind?
He was about to change her whole life for his own benefit, but she didn't seem to suspect the least. She had let him lead her out in the middle of nowhere and hadn't even doubted him when she saw his crazy ´friend ´ Mania. How could she be so stupid? So stupid…
Yup, me and Cliffhangers are best friends. : D
I promise to have a new chapter up soon, and I'll even make a deadline. I'll have it up before this friday. ^_^/ Review please! : D