BROKEN AND BRUISED
CHAPTER 5
"Please be careful, and give this to the others when you find them." Mystogan handed Lucy a bottle containing red pills.
"Okay but what exactly do these pills do?" asked the blonde.
Gajeel turned to her and took the bottle of pills out of her hand "No!" then faced Mystogan "Do you know somewhere safe?"
Mystogan looked bewildered at the two in front of him.
"What do you mean 'no' Gajeel?! I'm going!" argued Lucy back at the man who is not even looking at her.
"Like hell you are! Did you forget what kind of situation you are in?" he grit his teeth and continued looking at Mystogan "I will not risk your safety, not now not ever."
The blonde looked taken aback by his response, but then her eyes softened and she gave him a soft smile "I know what you mean, and I am scared too-"
"I ain't scar-"
"Let me finish will you?!" Lucy looked at Gajeel who finally turned to look at her "I know that I am not in the best condition at the moment to fight, but haven't you heard what he said? This Anima thing sucked up our friends and family Gajeel, and I will not stay here and do nothing, I will be careful I promise you and I will not do anything reckless, but you have to trust me here okay? Plus I think you need all the help you can get."
Gajeel looked at her and then heaved a sigh "Bunny, do you not remember that your magic is being constantly drained at the moment? I-"
"And I will not use my magic, I have my whip and Loke can come out of his gate on his own along with Virgo so I will be safe."
The two looked at each other until a cough broke their staring contest and they turned to face the man in front of them.
"I do not know what your condition is Lucy-san, but we need all the help we can get to save your friends and Magnolia…"
"Then it's settled, I'm going. Oh and Lucy is just fine." She smiled at the blue haired man then she turned at her big brother.
"Be careful." Lucy whispered and gave him a hug which he hesitatingly returned.
"You too, and if something happens to you, just shout my name and I will be there."
The blonde smiled nicely at him and nodded, then she turned back and was about to go to Mystogan when the iron slayer called out after her and she turned to him.
"Yeah? What's wrong?" asked the blonde.
He searched his pocket and let out a silver key "I was going to make you a surprise gift for when you give birth, but I guess you might need this key more than ever now. From the information I was given, this is Corvus the Crow, and he can use stealth magic as well as shadow magic, and he seems to use his own magic so when you summon him, he will not drain you." He handed her the key.
Lucy checked the key then looked up at the iron dragon slayer "I honestly don't know what I would have done without you in my life."
The iron slayer grinned "You talking as if I would know what to do with mine Bunny if you weren't in it. Now let's go, we have a home to save."
"Yeah, let's." Smiled the blonde.
XXX
"They were last spotted here, so fan out and search the houses and hotels." Commanded a soldier.
"What are we going to do? We are cornered from all sides." Said a blonde woman peeping through the wall.
Suddenly a shadow erupted from the floor and took out the soldiers one by one, and then left.
The ones in hiding looked at each other and then slowly stepped out of the room they were hiding in.
"What happened here?" asked Ashley.
Natsu took a whiff of the air and grinned "I guess we got some help, from someone we lost a while ago."
Happy and Charle both looked at Natsu then at the place where the soldiers were, they were about to ask what he meant by that when the shouts of the other soldiers drew nearer and they took off running. They were closing in on them when suddenly a ride appeared, and saved them from being captured. And at that moment, Natsu almost fainted when he saw his counterpart.
"My lady, they were hiding in that room and soldiers were coming closer so I knocked them out." Relayed the spirit.
The blonde nodded and looked back at him "Were they okay?"
"They seemed okay my lady."
The blonde heaved a reassuring sigh "Thank you so much Corvus."
"Anytime my lady. Now I do not wish to sound rude, but why are we hiding behind a tree and why are we stalking these people?"
She looked back at him and sighed as she made herself comfortable "You don't have to be so formal with me Corvus, Lucy is just fine." He widened his eyes but nodded nonetheless, and she continued "And as for why we are doing this, these people are my friends, and I owe them this much. A lot of times they had my back, rescued me from plenty of situations, and I feel like after what I did to them it's only fair to help them."
The spirit sat back and looked at the blonde "May I ask you a question?"
She turned her gaze at him and their eyes met, brown eyes meeting dark and hollow ones. Lucy didn't have much time to appreciate her soon to be new addition to the family, but now that she did, she could only describe him with a word she never thought could be used on a male before, beautiful. Black jet hair, toned body and of light skin. He was wearing all black leather except for a shirt, and the tattoo on his chest was that of a crow breaking free from a cage, while on his right arm was of a crow dividing into plenty of tiny crows that went the long of his arm, and on his left one, is of a crow standing on a skull. But the most beautiful tattoo on his body had to be the one on his back, of two large black feather wings that covered his shoulders to his mid back.
She looked him back in the eye and realized that he knew she was ogling him, she cleared her throat and forced her blush down, "Yes you can."
"Why?"
The blonde looked puzzled at him "Why what?"
"Why are you being nice to me?"
"Hmm, what do you mean? Of course I am going to be nice to you. Why wouldn't I be? You are here helping me save my friends when we haven't even formed a contract yet."
"So that's all there is to it, you are just using me to insure that your petty friends are alright?" he chuckled "I should have known, oh and news flash woman, you are not doing anything but staying behind a tree while I am doing all the work. Nice job hiding behind spirits." He spat at her and looked away.
Lucy just stood there with her eyes wide open and her mouth sealed shut until she finally let out a shaky breath and fought back the tears that threatened to fall.
"You are judging me without even knowing me…" She whispered, and he looked back at her "But you are right at something, at the moment I am not doing anything but hiding behind your back, and you have no idea how that is infuriating me…" she sucked in a breath as a tear rolled on her cheek "to feel weak and be unable to help save your friends, that is the worst thing I could feel. But right now there are other people I need to consider of and care about." She said so while rubbing her small yet noticeable baby bump.
He looked at where her hand is rubbing and then back at her eyes "You… are pregnant?"
She turned her gaze to him and nodded. He wanted to say something but the crow he send to track Natsu and the rest came back.
"She says that they know where they are."
She wiped away her tears and got up "Good, let's go. And after we are done, I will let you do what you like."
"What do you mean?" he looked confused at her.
"I understand, you do not wish to be contracted, you wish to be free. Free like the crow on your chest, so I will not tie you into a contract with me." She said as she walked by him with a smile on her face, and he watched her go.
The crow that was tasked with the mission now resided on his chest, "What do you think Elizabeth?"
She cawed and then flew.
"Well how the hell was I supposed to know that she is pregnant? Calling me an asshole is a bit uncalled for Elizabeth." He muttered under his breath as he went to catch up to the blonde waiting for him.
XXX
"What the hell is that rubber like substance?" asked Corvus.
"I don't know but it seems to glue them together." Replied Lucy, as she was crouching beside her spirit behind a rock looking at the scene unfolding in front of them, it appeared that Charle led Natsu and Wendy here to get captured.
"This is bad…" whispered the blonde.
"Tell me about it, there are way too many soldiers to fight off and with your condition you can't summon a spirit and I am kinda running low on magic with masking your scent from them so it appears all we could do is just follow them back to wherever they wish to take them- Watch out Lucy!"
He yells to her as he pushes her out of the way and takes the hit of the hilt of the soldier's sword and starts to slowly fade into the spirit world.
"Corvus!" she tries to reach out to him but the soldier grabs her by the hair and yanks her on her feet "Well well well what do we have here? A fine looking lady quite indeed…"
"Who is this?" asks Erza Knightwalker.
"I just found her spying on us with some other dude… wait where did he go?" he starts looking around but he doesn't find anything.
"You are telling me you let one of them escapes?" she glared at him and he gulped "No, I jus-"
"Stop with your excuses, knock her out and take her to the prison cell, I will deal with her later."
"Wait Erza why are you doing this-". Lucy wasn't able to continue, for she was knocked out and carried on the soldier's shoulder.
As they cleared out of the cave, Corvus slowly showed himself from the shadows "Damn it, Elizabeth come forth."
The crow manifested in front of him and looked him up, then she cawed.
"Yes I know I am fading back but I am trying to fight it as much as possible, listen go and give this to Gajeel, he's Lucy's brother. Just by following her scent you can get to him, do not follow her. I am going to save up as much as I can of magic then open my portal, now go!"
The crow cawed and flew off, leaving behind her a spirit fading back to his realm "I hope you stay safe until I come back Lucy." Were his last words as he disappeared completely.
"Why are you doing this to us?" screamed Natsu as he felt his magic being drained from his body.
The chief of staff of the royal army, Byro, laughed at Natsu as he sucked his magic away, "Oh your magic is surely nice, now our world will be able to live on, and you both and your captured friend will die for this world, and it's quite a worthy death."
"Our friend?" asked Wendy as pain kept seeping through her.
"Yes, your blonde haired friend, she seemed to have followed you in order to save you, poor girl got herself in trouble instead." Byro mocked them and continued his extraction of their magical powers.
"Lucy…?" asked Wendy to no one in particular, but the pain blinded her mind from further thought as she screamed at the loss of her magic.
Meanwhile, Lucy wakes up and finds herself cuffed into a wooden plaque. She hears footsteps nearby and looks up to see Erza looking down on her.
"Erza, what happened to you? Why are you doing this?"
"Shut up Blondie, you were ordered to be executed by our king. Now get up on your feet."
Lucy couldn't believe her ears, and as she tried to reason with Erza she finally discovered the truth that in fact this was not her Erza, this was Edolas's Erza, and at that moment, Erza knightwalker let go of the blonde to her demise.
While falling Lucy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, she couldn't believe this was how she was going to die, how her life was going to end, she didn't want to. And with that she opened her eyes and yelled "CORVUS!"
Right after that, a bell sound was heard and two muscular arms circled her body and held her close to him, while two feather black wings erupted from his back to fly them slowly to the ground.
"You must be the stupidest girl I ever had as a master." He said to her ever so slowly.
She giggled "That won't be the first time I heard that actually. So I see that you changed your mind?" she looked at his eyes and smiled warmly at him.
"Yeah…" he sighed "It appears so."
"Thank the heavens you are alright. Why the fuck did I just see you freefalling from the goddamned building?!"
She turned around to see Gajeel hunched over his knees breathlessly.
"Gaj-nii?"
"Don't Gaj-nii me! Yo birdie, I got your letter telling me that my sister's been captured. I see you left out the fact that she was going to be fucking dropped off a building by a redhead." Stalked the iron dragon slayer at the spirit.
But before he could make any move Lucy was already between them "It's not his fault, we were hidden and they sneaked up on us, the soldier was about to hit me but Corvus took the blunt and was sent back to the spirit world, then they captured me and took me to this dungeon where the redhead came and told me that the king announced my execution. She also took my keys."
The spirit smirked behind her and opened his hand where her keys were located, "You mean these?"
She turned around and hugged him while thanking him.
"But then how were you able to open his gate?" asked Gajeel from behind her.
"I actually wasn't really sure it would work" Gajeel' eyes widened "I just called out his name and hoped he would hear me."
The iron dragon slayer inhaled and exhaled several times to try and clear his head, and then he looked behind them "Oh shit."
"What?" Lucy turned and her eyes widened at the spot, for Happy and Charle both were staring back at her with Happy being on the verge of tears and Charle just shocked.
"Happy-oof" he didn't give her time to talk because he flew directly into her chest sobbing.
"We thought you were gone! Why did you leave us Lushie? WHY?!"
And she held him while she also shed a few tears of her own "I had to Happy, I had to. And don't worry, I will come back I promise."
He looked at her with eyes pooling with tears "Is it because Natsu and I keep eating all your food and sleeping in your bed?"
"No…" she chuckled "of course not, I just needed some time on my own that's all."
"Then why is Gajeel with you?" he looked hurt and betrayed, Lucy couldn't bear lying to him but she had to.
"Because he is helping me with something Happy, something really important that only he can help me with, okay?" Happy nodded his head and Lucy looked over him at Charle to see her although skeptical but also nodding her head.
"Happy I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?" he asked with a tiny voice.
"And Charle as well, promise both you won't tell anyone you saw me here, alright? Promise me."
"But-"
"Promise me Happy."
And then, Happy and Charle both promised to not tell anyone that they saw her here, they then flew off to go help Natsu and Wendy.
"That went a lot better than expected." Remarked Gajeel.
"Indeed. I think we should get you out of here Lucy, somewhere safe."
"I like him."
Lucy turned to Gajeel "Five minutes ago, you were ready to kill him, or make a forest out of him, god knows what goes on in that head of yours." She giggled at his annoyed expression.
"Same can be said about you Bunny. Now you guys take care I have some stuff I need to get done, keep her safe birdie."
"I will."
And so Gajeel went off to help breaking the lacrimas while Lucy and Corvus went to find a good place to keep low for a while.
XXX
"Please tell me this isn't your idea of safe." Yelled Lucy as she was running from an octopus with a little girl named Coco and her spirit along her side.
"How the hell was I supposed to fucking know that there would be a fucking octopus here?!" he yelled back.
"Watch your language there is a kid here with us." She reprimanded him.
He looked at the girl and apologized.
"No, it-it's alright." Coco stuttered for she wasn't used to be apologized to at all.
"And by the way…" he looked back at Lucy "You were the one who mistook the key he was talking about to your keys and started attacking him, so if anything this one's on you."
"Well excuse me for trying to protect my family!"
Her answer made him stumble a bit but he caught up easily, and then Virgo showed up and gave Lucy a celestial whip which is called Fleuve D'etoiles that extends as Lucy wishes to, and with that she was able to defeat the octopus and save herself plus her spirit and the girl.
XXX
"I will see you back down there Corvus." Lucy screamed as she floated in the sky.
"You definitely will." He whispered as he faded back into his world.
…
After a while Lucy woke to find herself in front of her home with her clothes wet because of the harsh rain that kept falling, she heard yelling nearby and got up on her feet to walk there, suddenly she realized how tired she was but she still willed herself to get up and go to where she heard the voices.
Drawing nearer to the voices, she held her breath and with what strength she had left summoned Corvus to seal the contract with her, and after she did that and she learned that he is available at all times, she asked for him to mask her presence and he did.
Coming closer, she looked at the scene in front of her with a gentle smile, her old team was alive and safe, so as the whole guild and she couldn't wish for anything else. Her spirit crouching next to her looked at her smile and he breathed a sigh of relief, in the little time they had together, he discovered many things about this woman, and all are things that made his respect for her grow and deepen.
Gajeel was with the crew as they were celebrating their victory, but he could sense her, so he looked back and smirked her way, and she mirrored that smirk with her own. Happy noticing where Gajeel was looking, followed his line of view and had to suppress back a sob.
"Lucy, Lucy was there wasn't she? Did anyone saw her?" asked Natsu looking at his teammates, they all shook their heads no, all except for Happy and Charle.
"Happy, did you see her?" Natsu looked at his buddy that seemed to be troubled by something.
Lucy looked at Happy and saw that he was staring at her, so she smiled warmly at him and nodded, he then closed his eyes and turned towards Natsu "No I didn't see her."
Natsu felt that something is wrong with Happy, but he couldn't ask anything further for Panther Lily returned with a rope tied around a white haired girl, who then jumped and embraced Natsu. Lucy couldn't help but be upset that she wasn't able to be celebrating with them at the moment, not now and not for five years, if they still remembered her by then.
It turns out that the white haired girl is actually Mirajane' baby sister, who was assumed dead two years ago, as it seems the anima had sucked her up back then and she lived for two years in Edolas, and now she was more than happy to be back home.
Lucy imagined that this would be her reaction when she get to go home, back to Fairy Tail, but now she couldn't. She turned to leave and her spirit followed her in silence. Rain pouring down at her, she didn't notice her tears falling with them, and she also couldn't notice…
"Lucy!" yelled Corvus as he caught the fainting blonde.
He looked at her in his arms, all soaked and tired, barely breathing, shivering. She didn't notice but her spirit did, he noticed the blood dripping down her jeans, he noticed her swaying, and when he was about to ask her if she was alright, she fainted.
So he carried her on his back and sent his bird to Gajeel. With Gajeel, upon receiving the letter, he dashed out of there with his exceed behind him flying and asking him 'What is wrong?' But Gajeel didn't have time to answer, he had to get to her. Upon arriving and seeing her condition, Panther Lily gasped at the amount of blood he saw dripping from her, Gajeel carried her and ran to the old hag's clinic.
When he arrived he didn't knock on the door, he busted it open and laid the blonde on the makeshift bed. Porlyusica came to object but as soon as she laid her eyes on the bleeding girl, she ushered them all out of the room to work.
Now they were waiting for her in the living room, when Corvus looked at Gajeel.
"Do you think it was because of me?" he asked the iron dragon slayer.
"What do you mean?" he wasn't even looking at him, he just sat there with his head down and his arms on his knees.
"She sealed the contract with me, it is not supposed to include much magic, only a little and then I was using my own magic."
"Then it's not your fault."
Lily looked over at his new partner, and seeing him so defeated changed his perspective of him, from the minute he saw him he thought he was a tough guy who didn't break, but now he could see that this girl meant something for Gajeel, because he completely shut down on himself.
Half an hour later, Corvus returned to the spirit world because he was out of magic, and Gajeel was in the same position as before, still waiting for her. Ten minutes later, Porlyusica came out sighing deeply.
In no time Gajeel was up on his feet "How is she? How are the babies?"
Porlyusica sighed and glared at him "She was supposed to rest at all times, what happened?"
"There was a thing that sucked up the world, and some guy came and asked for our help so we both went but she was careful. I told her not to go but she insisted."
The doctor shook her head "That girl is as stubborn as a bull."
"Tell me about it. Now how is she?"
"She and the babies are fine, she was just fatigued and had a minor bleeding but it stopped almost immediately, the amount of blood you saw was caused by the rain honestly, she didn't bleed much. But she was really tired…" Gajeel let out a breath of relief "I am not finished yet, if this ever happens to her again, she could lose her babies iron imbecile, do you understand?" he nodded his head and she then gave him instructions about the food Lucy is supposed to eat, she also gave him a new bash of vitamins to take and told him he could stay here until the rain stops and Lucy wakes up then they could both leave, and to also check up on her twice a month.
He sat beside the blonde who was resting peacefully, and Lily flew and sat at her bed.
"Is she your wife?" asked Lily.
Gajeel chuckled "No she is my sister."
That answer stun Lily and he started looking at the both of them closely "Are you sure?"
"I will tell you all about it later, let her rest now. And we deserve our own rest as well." He yawned after he finished and laid his head beside her hand.
"I agree." Lily nodded his head while he was preparing himself to sleep on the bed next to the blonde.
Porlyusica came by to recheck on the blonde when she came across this scene, Lucy resting peacefully with Gajeel and Lily on both sides of her sleeping. She smiled a small one "You have a good family Lucy, hold on to it."
She then walked out the room and was closing the door when she heard a faint 'I will.'
