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Ninth Wish:
Creation of Contract

Loki could only watch with horror on his face.

"Let's form a contract" he heard her, confirming what he feared. But there was greater horror than that. She wrapped her arms around the man's neck and leaned her head to him. Time must have slowed down as he watched their lips come closer and closer to each other.

"NO!"

A blinding light surrounded them. Runes of the ancient formed around the air and encircled them along with the golden chains of light. The leaves on the ground were blown away and trees swayed from the powerful force of the ancient ritual.

Loki could only shield his self, unable to stop it.

. . .

Natsu blanked out as he watched her face get closer to his. He could only stare at her alluring eyes with long eyelashes as their noses touch.

Such warmth . . .

He couldn't think of anything else. All he knew was that his body felt like melting at her touch. Unexplainable warmness enveloped him and penetrated softly deep into his soul. His chest seemed ready to explode as his heart continued to pound heavily in his chest.

He was back at the sea again, the cold darkness of the waters that threatens to take his breath along with his life.

But this time, he wasn't alone.

The angelic being surrounded with light, breath in new life to him, letting him breath, letting him live. Her light was blinding but he could not stray away his eyes from her. Her smile was brighter than any stars.

"Natsu!"

He blinked and saw Lucy whose face closer than ever. Her call brought his mind back along with his sanity.

"Uwaah! Too close! Too close! What the heck are you doing? What did you do!?"

He pushed away his self from her and crouched down, panting. For some reason, he found it hard to breathe properly. His heart beat was running faster than he ever felt in his life.

What was that?

Lucy crossed her arms and pouted. "Hmph. That was rude. I only made a contract with you" she told him, her eyebrows knitted.

"With a kiss!?"

She blinked at him. "Why? Isn't that how humans make their contracts? That's what they told me. Besides, I have to penetrate your mind so that you could enter mine" she explained tapping her forehead, frowning now as she wondered if she had done something wrong.

"What are you talking about!?" Natsu frowned as he realized his surroundings. They were no longer at the forest. What . . .

Everything was white. He was standing on a flat white ground, his surrounding was a space vast and wide that stretches to who knows where. Nothing – as in nothing – was in there aside from the two of them.

"Where am I?"

"My personal space. It's a manifestation of my spirit" she told him. "In this place, time is stopped. With this, we can have plenty of time to form the conditions of our contract and complete it!" she told him, her tone happier at the thought of the contract.

"Contract?" he asked as he looked at her 'personal space'. It was pure white, full of warmth, and vast beyond his eyes could see. But in the midst of it all, he couldn't help but also find a sense of emptiness.

"Yup! For us, contracts are powerful and unbreakable. It is a vow for us to complete. With these, I'll be bound to you and no one, not even Loki, can stop or break us apart!" she told him, smiling as how she scored against the trickster god.

Now he found his self a bit perturbed at that. Contracts were often used by businessmen in his experience. While one would gain the benefit, one could trick you into signing one that has a lot more consequences.

"What is it in for me?" he asked, frowning.

She smiled. "I'll help you with your wish".

He blinked. "My wish . . ? Wait, so you are a fairy!"

"I'm not a rule-breaker! Geez. I told you didn't I? I'm like the equivalent of genie in your world. We are bound by contract and a master so that we could stay and manifest on earth despite having different flow of spirit" she told him hotly.

Natsu scrutinized her, not really understanding what she said but getting the gist of it. "You'll grant my wish? On what condition?"

She smiled. "Well, actually, just forming a contract is enough. After all, I just wanted to stay on earth till I find that person I made a promise with" she told him.

"That's just too good to be true" he said with a raise eyebrow, his tone thick with doubt.

She frowned at his tone. "Is it? Why?"

"In my experience, all good things had an equivalent. There is no such thing as a one-way deal" he told her. He was just someone that doesn't trust into things so easily. Though he knew in his mind that this genie was just someone who would ask for what she needed and nothing more. She was just someone who was naive and selfless.

She tilted her head to the side. "So you're saying it's unfair for me?" she was surprised, but then maybe he was right. After all, contracts were about equivalent exchange. She put her hand into her chin in thought. "Hmmm. I guess you're right. I've never done a contract with a human before. If that's the case, then just help me with my wish and I'll help you with yours."

"And by helping, means that I have to search for that unknown person we don't even know? Ok, that sounds hard enough. And with that, you'll grant any of my wishes right?" he clarified, smirking.

Now it was her turn to frown with doubt. Suddenly remembering what Esha and the others had told her.

"Human hearts are full of desires. It's like a well with no bottom. It's not something you can fill. This is one of the reasons why they are so easy to sway between light and darkness".

"But! Your wish has to be something that won't be against my principles or the laws" she added as a condition.

"What's with that?" he said, alarmed as his wish was something that might be against a law.

"Well, you might ask for something evil, I won't help you with that" she told him with crossed arms.

"What the –? What are you taking me for?" he thought about it. Well, he was a thief and a law-breaker. She does have a point. Besides, she was only making sure that he won't do anything evil. It's not like they've known each other for so long.

There wasn't any problem with what she said aside from limiting his choices of wishes. But the problem was . . . his wish might be against the law.

Wait, why was he agreeing with her? He should try and gain a lot more advantage in this contract! This was his chance!

"Argh! My wish is not that bad! I only want to win the heart of the person that saved me!" he told her.

Lucy tilted her head. "So, that's your wish? It ain't bad, why are you worried?" she asked.

"Because we have different status! It's the difference between heaven and earth. She's a princess and . . . I'm a street rat. She's bound to marry a prince who is on her level. It's against the law."

He looked down. Lucy finally understood what he meant. If it's against the human laws, she couldn't do anything about it. It's their nature to follow the laws of the universe. But, there was nothing wrong with loving. Who would forbid the love between fellow mortals? He must be yearning for this girl so much that it became his greatest desire in his heart.

This guy did save her. At least, she also wanted to be of help to him.

With that, she made up her mind.

"If that's just your wish, then it's fine! As Aphrodite said, "Love knows no boundaries". I'll help you with that wish. Besides, I'm an immortal. You can say I'm above the human laws" she told him.

He frowned at the way she mentioned the goddess of love's name like an old friend but brushed it off.

"Then, with the condition of helping each other on our wish, we are going to form the contract" she told him, putting her hands together as a golden sphere formed in front of her. Letters of the ancient language formed in the air and encircled the ball of light, expanding till they surround the only two people in that space.

Natsu could only look around in shock as light surrounded them. Lucy then began to speak.

The orb floated up their heads as she went closer to him.

"A contract for us to fulfill till one achieve each other's wish. I, the one that governs the light of the flow, shall stay by thy side. Thou shall be my chain and contractor. With this, thou and I shall be bound with each other till all conditions met."

And with that the golden sphere descent upon their heads as she leaned her forehead to his, the seal of trust. A light shone again on each of their head and the next thing he knew, he was back in the forest. They were on the same position.

Loki stood there, aghast. He gaped like a fish and pale as milk as he pointed at them, unable to believe it. "You . . . you . . ." he stammered. He couldn't even get the word out.

Lucy smirked. "Hehehe. Take that! I'm contracted to him now, you can't force me home!" she grinned like a child that just performed a prank as she floated behind Natsu, her hands on his shoulders as if showing off her new contractor.

A critical hit! The words punched Loki hard, enough to make him faint.

"C-CCon-tract . . . T-Then – the k-kiss . . ."the poor guy couldn't even speak properly as he tried to brave and ask the most horrifying thought. A human . . . kissing the most pure and innocent celestial . . . when even he had not done it . . .

She grinned cheekily. "Yup! Of course I've completed it with the kiss."

That was the final blow. Those words had hit him harder than any blows. And this was coming from the trickster god always hunted by the other gods for his pranks. He was just stoned. His mind had reached a breaking point as her words penetrated and echoed in his mind, repeating itself over and over. Those few simple words coming from her, was the most powerful attack he had ever received in his life.

He fell to his knees in utter defeat.

Lucy stared at the poor form of the celestial who looked like his life had been taken by Hades. She had expected him to yell and scold her for carelessly making contracts with humans. Not this . . .

He looked crushed and so dispirited, not the usually peppy and playful celestial she knew. She began to feel bad and wondered if she had done something seriously wrong. She just made a contract, it wasn't that serious, right?

"Uhh. I think this is our chance" Lucy told her contractor as she was unsure on what to do. So she decided to just leave the poor celestial on his misery and escape before he recovered.

She grabbed the blushing Natsu who had turned rigid as he was reminded of the "kiss" and flew off.

.

"SSSSSSooooo, you are a fairy" Happy concluded after Natsu and Lucy filled him in on what happened. He was quite shocked when he saw the two soared in the sky and landed at the house.

"No! I'm a genie! Grr. I told you, I'm not a law breaker!" she told him hotly.

The blue cat shrugged. "Aye, aye. If you say so," he said.

"What? What's with that unconvinced tone? You . . ."

Happy ignored at the protesting Lucy and glanced at his partner who had a faint dash of pink at his cheeks. He grinned wickedly.

"Soooo, what about the 'kiss'?" he asked innocently.

Natsu jerked and fell to the ground. "Y-You saw?" he stammered, dumbfounded. He deliberately left that part out.

"Well, I actually chased you when you left so I saw it all" the mischievous cat snickered behind his paw.

Lucy tilted her head to the side. "Then why did you have to ask us?"

"Kukuku. Just to check if Natsu will tell the whole truth to his partner" he said with a dark grin and glint in his eyes.

"GUUAHH! Don't remind me! I . . . I'm only for Princess Lisanna!" he yelled at the cat. Geez, why was he even flustered about it? His heart is only for the princess!

"Heh . . . You want a princess, but you're kissing other girls."

Natsu paled at that.

She frowned. "We made a contract. Of course, we'll kiss. Isn't that how humans do it as a seal of trust? Loki told me" she explained.

"Loki! Tell me more about humans!" she jumped to him as she weaved ambrosias to make a crown of flowers.

"Eh? That again? Why are you so interested in them?" Loki scratched his head as he trapped aggressive bees on the flower buds, making a spell that will make it bloom and release them whenever someone sniffed at it.

"Ehehe. Just tell me a story with your latest adventure" she insisted.

He thought about it. "Then what about the story of a girl I met. She's a run-away that wants to escape marriage with the prince for her first love. The funny thing is that her first love is actually the prince! I had a lot of fun messing with them" he told her.

She tilted her head to the side. "Marriage? Isn't that a contract that will bind one to another with a vow?"

He smiled at her. "Yup! But for it to complete, you have to seal it with a kiss."

"What's a kiss?"

Loki almost slipped and released the bees he was sealing. 'Really? She doesn't know what a kiss is?'

Too innocent.

Then a wicked thought came to his mind. He turned to her and smiled. "Well, why don't I just show you?" He leaned closer to her.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! YOU LECHEROUS SCUM! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH LUCY!"

Loki jumped away before he got hit by the wave of water. Unfortunately, more attacks followed him. Sheep's wools, vein of thorns, earth spikes, the goddesses who came for the tea party all attacked him before he even got close.

"Geez. I'm only joking!" he yelled in his defense.

"As if! You're really going to touch her with your filthy mouth!"

"Hey that's mean!"

"U-Uhh. Aquarius! He's only teaching me about humans! He might not mean bad."

Lucy came for Loki's defense who doesn't really deserve it.

The rain goddess smiled at her. "Now, Lucy. I know you're friends and all but don't trust him too much. He's a trickster. I don't care if he's telling you stories but touching you is out of line!" she told her, transforming to her over-protective nature at the thought that he almost kissed her.

"Hey! She asked what a kiss is! I was just going to show her" he tried to explain.

"She didn't ask you to demonstrate it to her! You bastard!" Aquarius snapped at him.

"Wicked as always. To think that you tried to stain the pureness of our Lucy" Even Libra who was usually quiet got extremely angry.

"Try and do that again and we'll chain you down in the depths of Cocytus and make sure you won't see the light of day again!" yelled Aries, the kind goddess of peace who was, in nature, as passive as a lamb had turned aggressive as a ram at his insolence. A feat worthy to be talked about.

Loki gulped at the glares of the goddesses as they shielded Lucy away from him. "W-Well, I'm just testing . . ."

"Enough of this. You even trapped bees in my flowers" Ceres waved her hand and instantly, the flowers bloomed, releasing the bees and went after Loki for revenge of being trapped.

He immediately panic and started to run away as the bees chased after him. "Darn it! I'll remember this!"

"You better!"

Lucy just sweat dropped.

Aquarius sighed. She turned to Lucy as soon as she saw that the trickster was gone.

"Really, Lucy. What am I going to do with you?" she told her exasperatedly.

"Ummm. Aqua, I think you overdid it with him" she told her.

"Don't mind that. Why are you even asking what a kiss is?"

"Ehehe. I'm just wondering. Apparently, humans use kiss to seal a contract. So . . . what is it? And why are you so angry with Loki?"

"U. . . uhh. Is that so?" Aquarius sweated a bit. Lucy had always been pure and innocent, she doesn't want to necessarily give ideas of romance into her. She'll always be the light that loves all equally. Lucy looked at her with expectation for the answer.

Astrea helped with the situation. "Exactly, it's rude of him to perform that when there's no contract being made. And that's supposed to be between humans only. There's no need for you, a celestial, to perform such a thing. We don't need that" she told her.

"So it's normal for humans? Then how do you do it?"

She looked expectantly at her friends who had turned quiet at the question, apparently wondering whether to tell her or not. In the end, answering the trivial question had fallen on the rain goddess.

Aquarius put a hand over her head and leaned to her, touching her forehead with hers. Lucy stared at her.

"That's the ancient seal of trust the sirens used. It is the equivalent of sealing a contract. The forehead symbolizes "judgement". Touching it with someone means that you had showed each other's mind and heart and judged him as trustworthy. It is the greatest gesture of respect, understanding, and acceptance" Aquarius told her with a smile as she leaned back.

Lucy touched her forehead, feeling the warmth that came from Aquarius. She smiled. "I see. Thanks Aqua."

"WAIT! So you mean you didn't really kiss!?" Happy clarified. After all, he didn't really get to see their lips touch as there was a sudden blinding flash of light. The time his eyes had adjusted, they had separated.

"I performed the seal of trust! Of course we kissed" she told him defensively. She was sure she performed it correctly.

Natsu blinked. "What? I'm sure our lips touched. . ."

"No, we didn't! I touched your forehead. I performed it correctly. You want to try again?" she insisted, apparently missing the point.

Happy felt disappointed for some reason. However, he didn't missed what his partner said. "What's this? What's this? Are you saying you want to kiss her so badly, you imagined it all? Or are you just disappointed it isn't true?" he snickered.

"W-What? Of course not! If I have to kiss, then I want the princess, of course!" Natsu blushed madly, suddenly being on a defensive.

"If you say so," Happy said with such an unconvinced tone. Natsu couldn't help but argue and convinced him otherwise.

And so the household had been as lively as usual with bickering until morning came.

But Natsu was so sure their lips touched. If that was just his imagination . . .

Then why would he see such a thing?

. . . * . . .

End of Chapter.

Sorry, the kiss was my original plan but my friend and I found it too early }:D