Chapter 2
When I woke again, I could feel that my eyes were swollen from crying and my throat felt raw. When I sat up and looked out the window, I noticed the storm had died down and there was now only a light pattering of rain against my window. I got up from bed and made my way to the kitchen, I could really do with a warm cup of tea right now. As the water boiled, I reached for the spirit keys that I left on the bench when I got home earlier and called the one person I trusted right now. There was a golden glow and as soon as it died down, I ran into Loke's arms and started crying again. Loke didn't ask me what had happened, no doubt he had seen the whole thing from the spirit realm, he just held me and soothed me with whispered words. Soon enough my sobs had softened into sniffles and Loke led me to the couch to sit before disappearing into the kitchen, when he returned, he had a steaming cup of tea and when he sat down, I cuddled into his side. Now that I had calmed down and had a cup of tea clutched in my hands, I took a deep breath before speaking up, "How much of what happened did you see?" When he didn't immediately reply I looked up and was surprised by the mixture of anger and sadness on his face.
"I only tuned in when your emotions spiked so I saw when Natsu called you weak and all that happened after, I would have come sooner but you fell asleep pretty quickly so I thought I would let you rest." This didn't surprise me and I was glad that I wouldn't have to explain what had happened but the way he said weak with such disgust did surprise me a bit. Loke seemed to notice and went on to explain, "You are not weak Lucy, do you know how much strength it takes to open a gate? Not only that but how much strength it takes to not only open gates and command spirits but to fight alongside them? Lucy, you are one of the strongest celestial mages I have ever met. It's not your fault your team doesn't know what they're talking about." I couldn't help but smile and vehemence behind his words and felt warmth build up in my chest. I laid my head on his shoulder and thought about what he said, what my team had said, and all the missions I had gone on both solo and with my team. He was right I realized; I was strong but I also did need to be protected a lot like my team said. They were both right and I knew that I wanted to be strong enough that I didn't need to be protected. As this thought occurred to me, I sat up and turned to Loke with determination. He seemed surprised by this sudden action but when he saw my face, he stayed quiet and waited for me to speak up.
"I want to get stronger Loke, I know I'm strong for a celestial mage but I want to be strong enough to not need protection. I want to be the one to protect others, I want to be able to better help my spirits. I want to be able to stand next to my team, no, the whole guild, and not feel like I don't measure up. Will you help me, Loke?" I couldn't help the way my voice softened at the end. I knew Loke wouldn't reject helping me but the way my team had torn me down was still affecting me. It was only when Loke raised my head with his hand on my cheek that I realized I had been looking down at my hand clasped tightly in my lap. I looked into his eyes and saw the burning determination and when he spoke, I knew that it was a promise between spirit and summoner that would never be broken.
"Lucy, while I don't think you need to get stronger if you feel like you do then of course I will help you. You are not alone in this and not only will I help but so will all of your spirits, we're your friends, Lucy." I could feel the tears burning my eyes again but with renewed determination, I held them back and instead grinned at him.
"Right, let's do this Loke, I don't want to just train my magic I want to learn how to fight as well. I know it may take a while and a lot of hard work but I'm willing to put in the effort."
"That's the spirit Lucy" Loke grinned, "we can get Capricorn to help with both the physical and magical training, and of course ill teach you how to fight. The best way might be to take a few months in a more remote location so you can concentrate solely on training and not get distracted. As I thought about this, I realized he was right and thought about how much I had in my savings. Due to taking solo missions for a few months now I had quite a bit saved up, enough to be able to pay for three months of rent in advance. When I mention this to him Loke looked sad for a moment before his expression lightened and he grinned at me with a thumbs up. "Perfect Lucy, well then you speak to your Landlady and pack and meanwhile I'll go back to the spirit realm and tell everyone what's going on. When you're ready just call me back. I know the perfect place for us to go", with that he disappeared with a golden flash. As soon as he was gone, I jumped up from the couch ready to finish preparations and go, I was going to get so strong that Natsu, Gray, and Erza wouldn't know what hit them. It was with this thought in mind that I began packing.
