Where The Stars Collide - Chapter 1: Loke
AO3
Summary: Loke has a dream.
tw: mentions of abuse.
prologue | 1 | 2 | TBC
The first thing Loke the Celestial Spirit noticed was that his pants were missing.
Now, this on its own wasn’t too alarming. In fact, he’d go so far as to say that it was a common occurrence early in his playboy-days, where he habitually drowned his guilt in women and liquor– but rarely did he stir from such a night with a hospital gown in its place.
He woke exactly like he’d collapsed; violently and without warning, his eyes flying open the same time as his lungs heaved for air.
“AQUA– HAH–– HAH–– AQUARIUS–“ he gasped out, bolting upright in the infirmary bed much to his nurse’s horror; cat-like pupils dilating under the fluorescent lighting.
“Shh, it’s okay, Loke. Loke, look at me.”
The second thing he noticed was that his nurse looked a lot like the love of his life: renowned celestial mage and once-heir to a multimillion-jewel corporation, Lucy Heartfilia.
“Lucy?” He wheezed.
“Mhm,” the nurse’s blurry face swam across his vision but he’d recognise that sunshine-blonde hair anywhere.
“Don’t over-exert yourself okay? Master Makarov said it would take you a few minutes to adjust to Porlyusica’s healing elixir since you’re part celestial spirit and all.”
As Lucy gently took his his face in her hands Loke felt his breathing regulate and panic recede, gasps giving way to steady respiration as she eased him back against the wooden bed-frame.
By the time she’d replaced the cold towel on his forehead, Loke had recovered most of his eyesight and found himself clearly staring into two large, worried brown eyes.
He bit the inside of his cheek to not let something embarrassing (like I love you) slip out; Lucy didn’t really respond well to advances, his or others, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable. Especially on top of everything else he had to tell her.
“You look.. Wow..”
Real smooth.
Lucy to her credit, looked more sheepish than anything at the mention of her appearance. She was still in her travelling gear, face and hair streaked with grime and dirt; it had only been a few hours since they’d returned from Edolas for her, after all.
“Oh, I know. I’m a real mess,” She huffed, “Didn’t have time to change out of anything but at least Natsu’s cloak keeps me from catching anything serious– Loke!“
Loke had opened his mouth to disagree, she looked beautiful to him either way, but choked at the mention of the pink-haired dragon-slayer. The tiny hiccup of jealousy turned into a full blown cough and suddenly he was keeled over hacking into his gown as she rushed to pour him some water.
“Natsu’s.. cloak..?” He tried to croak out once he’d set down the glass, but Lucy waved it away.
“It doesn’t matter. Now, what’s wrong with Aquarius?”
“It’s a long story,” he sighed, “but the crux of it is that she’s missing.”
“Missing?” Lucy looked horrified, “You mean, I left her key behind in Edolas?”
“No,” Loke shook his head, “Even if that were the case she’d simply reappear back in the Spirit Realm– but she never did.
“My working theory is that the anima must have interfered with her travel between worlds somehow. I wanted to see if you could summon her from your side, but it seems like whatever blocked her return, destroyed her celestial contract as a result.”
“What are you saying?” Lucy’s voice became very small and her eyes began to well up.
“You can’t mean.. you don’t think..”
Watching the colour rapidly drain from her face Loke grabbed her arm quickly to keep her from assuming the worst possible outcome.
His time as a spirit had not only desensitised him to the whiplash of emotions that came with being a human, but also how hasty they were in considering their own death. Celestial Spirits almost never died before their time (though they were by no means eternal), but she had no way of knowing that.
“Don’t worry, Lucy,” He shook his head again, “Celestial Spirits aren’t bound by the same rules humans are. If their key is broken it just means that the spirit has accidentally ended up in a closed-pocket realm and involuntarily broken their contract.”
This momentarily put a stop to the tears.
“A closed what?”
“It’s like an Edolas, but for spirits,” Loke frowned aloud, absentmindedly still holding her arm, “Essentially a realm that nullifies their magic.”
“In the rare occasion that this happens, it’s usually the Celestial Spirit King’s responsibility to find them and bring them back, but since there are an endless number of pocket dimensions they could’ve fallen into, it takes a while to locate them.”
“But aren’t Celestial Spirits made of magic?” Lucy asked, squeezing his hand back in concern.
“Not anymore than you or anyone else from Fairy Tail. Our magic can be shut down under the right circumstances.”
“So Aquarius is––“
“Out of commission, yes. But only briefly,” Loke added reassuringly, “Once I return, I’ll make sure we find her and reinstate her contract right away.”
“I see,” Lucy nodded, brows furrowing. She then dropped his hand in favour of standing up to pace the length of the room.
Watching her walk back and forth and back forth, pondering the temporary absence of her oldest spirit companion, Loke tried not to wince in pain as a dull throbbing began at the base of his skull; the cause of which could’ve been his depletion of magic energy, or just plain guilt.
He hadn’t lied to Lucy exactly– he’d just omitted to tell her certain crucial details that might alarm her; like, for example, that the search for Aquarius was already underway, or how he hadn’t slept in over a month (in celestial days) and used up the final dregs of his power to transport himself here in the hopes that she could summon her friend herself.
The truth was that no matter how lost Aquarius might’ve gotten in the Spirit Realm, her key wasn’t supposed to go missing. The contract with her Celestial Wizard should’ve remained unaffected regardless of the location of the spirit, since the key was made with the sole intention of being an anchor, in both their worlds.
Loke wasn’t sure he could tell her the whole truth until he got some answers himself; as the Leader of the Twelve Zodiac Houses, Aquarius’ disappearance weighed hard on him more-so than normal. He’d only just been back in the Spirit Realm for a few months now but the backlog of centuries’ worth of responsibilities had nearly run him into the ground, so much so that he’d underperformed each time Lucy had needed him in the past month.
As if the humiliation at the hands of the Oración Seis wasn’t enough (he hadn’t expected to see Aries on the battlefield so soon), Loke cringed to think how he’d been so overworked he’d blatantly flirted with and subsequently gotten rejected by Lucy’s Edolas counterpart, mere hours ago.
“Loke? Hello? Earth to Leo?” He snapped back to reality.
Lucy had stopped pacing and had returned to hover over him, hands on her waist, shrewdly giving him a once-over. Loke held his breath, wondering if she could tell that he was hiding something; Lucy was smarter than people gave her credit for.
“Sorry milady,” he faked an easy grin, leaning in closer to distract her, “I got lost in your beautiful eyes for a second there.”
Lucy blinked once, twice then rolled those same eyes in disbelief, breaking the spell.
“Someone’s confident today,” she huffed, resuming her seat, “How’d your little date go, by the way? Virgo told me all about it.”
Loke made a mental note to never joke with Virgo about dating his workload ever again.
“Terribly,” he pretended to pout, wondering if Lucy would take the bait.
“And why’s that?” She did.
“Well, to start with, she wasn’t you,” He said, reaching over to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, sure the classic Loke move would leave her in pieces. It was a little cheesy but it worked in a pinch.
Lucy only smacked his hand away, her exasperation bleeding into irritation.
“Loke, you can’t keep doing this,” She said, crossing her arms, “What’s going on with you?”
“You were exhausted even before the Edolas fight.. when was the last time you slept?”
Loke blinked in surprise. Much smarter than people gave her credit for.
“Not for a while,” He admitted, shoulders slumping and leaning back into the pillows, “Not since the run in with Aries.”
“Loke!” Lucy’s worried gasp had him ducking his head with something like shame, “That was weeks ago!”
Between the overwhelming amount of paperwork on his table, attending every Spirit World event he’d been absent for, and now Aquarius’ disappearance, Loke counted himself lucky that he didn’t have silly human needs to tend to anymore like eating or sleeping, but his body seemed to think otherwise. The Celestial Spirit King had warned him that readjusting would take some time, of course, but Loke hadn’t listened; he couldn’t just throw away the second (and last) chance he’d been given at the expense of Lucy’s dignity– he’d break his own key before letting her suffer for him again.
“Celestial spirits don’t need all that y’know–“ He said, trying his best to sound nonchalant about it, but she quickly cut him off.
“But you haven’t been a spirit for that long!” Lucy scolded, “Remember what the Spirit King said about–“
“I know, Lucy,” He sighed, unable to meet her eyes, “I just.. didn’t want to let yo- uh everybody down.”
“Oh..”
“You know,” He added, only half joking, “-can’t have people saying I wasn’t worth all the trouble, after all you did for me.”
At this, Lucy reached out and grabbed his hand, forcing him to look up at her.
“Loke, you’re my friend,” She said sternly, “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Loke wondered how she could look at him like that, like she would defend him to the ends of the Earthland, and expect him not to fall in love with her.
“Ah,” He put his other hand on his heart in mock despair, lightening the mood instantly, “You shouldn’t get my hopes up like that, Lucy.”
“W-What?”
“Just friends?” He pulled her hand to his chest then, “I thought we had something special, milady.”
“Yeah right,” Lucy smiled, relaxing a little, “Me and every girl within a five-mile radius."
“Don’t you think for a minute that I’ve forgotten what happened with my Edolas doppelgänger, you flirt!”
“I see, does that mean you only want me to flirt with you, Lucy?” He teased, leaning in to see the sudden influx of colour that rushed to Lucy’s face.
“I- I never-“ He tried not to enjoy it too much as she floundered around for a comeback and settled for pulling her hands away in protest.
Although Loke did his best to keep his foot out of his mouth, he constantly found himself toeing the line between cheeky and tongue-in-cheek with his flirting, mostly because he had no idea how to talk to Lucy otherwise.
Addressing her formally (like he’d been accustomed to with Karen), felt foreign and ill-fitting and it definitely didn’t help that Lucy herself often blurred the line between spirit and friend herself– insisting everyone call her by her first name, and being determined to fight on equal footing as though they were partners. But even he knew better than to delude himself into hoping that anything might come of it.
Before Lucy could reply, however, they were interrupted by a sharp, sarcastic rap on the door.
“Break it up ya lovebirds, the Master wants to see ‘er.”
“Gajeel!”
Loke tensed up.
Though it had been well over four months since the iron dragon-slayer had joined the guild, along with Juvia Lockser, his popularity (unlike Juvia’s) hadn’t skyrocketed in the least. While this had, in some part, to do with Gajeel’s prickly personality, the greater blame lay in his mistreatment of the Fairy Tail members during the guild war with Phantom Lord, and, among the casualties, a certain celestial mage with sunshine blonde hair.
Loke glowered at the red-eyed wizard, still bedridden but now imperceptibly shifting his torso to shield Lucy from whatever would come next.
Gajeel only snorted, no doubt considering the implications of starting a fight with a guy in a hospital gown, and pointed over Loke’s shoulder instead.
“Just ya, Blondie,” He crossed his arms, “Somethin’ about losin' his keys or whatever.”
“Oh,” Lucy got up to leave but Loke involuntarily grabbed her hand and shook his head. Gajeel threw them another withering look.
“Look, I don’t wanna be here either, alright? Got better things to do than run around playing errand boy to that old man. I’ve got an exceed to feed y’know.”
It was only then that they noticed the animal on his shoulder. Bearing a striking resemblance to Happy and Carla, this one was covered in black fur, with stark white wings and a scar running across one eye.
Both Lucy and Loke jumped a little when the exceed opened it’s mouth to say “Hello, I’m Panther Lily,” with the voice of a fifty-year-old war veteran.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hello,” Lucy replied bravely, not to be deterred, “I’m Lucy Heartf- uh just Lucy! Welcome to Fairy Tail!”
Loke tried not to look up at her then; he knew how self conscious Lucy had become after her run in with her father, especially about her name. The other guild members had teased her about her ‘princessy’ demeanour for months on end, and though she’d laughed it off in good faith, Loke had heard from Virgo that she’d marched down to the Magic Council to have Heartfilia removed from all her legal documents.
“Loke,” he grunted reluctantly when the exceed turned to him. He didn’t want to tell Gajeel’s pet anything but his rudeness wouldn’t reflect well on Lucy.
“You’re a Celestial spirit,” The Exceed noted, fixing him with a strange look.
“Is that a problem?” Loke raised an eyebrow.
“But not a full one. Interesting..”
Loke’s hackles raised, and he opened his mouth to ask just what exactly the little bear-cat-like creature meant before he felt the squeeze on his arm and realised Lucy was looking at him.
“I’ll be right back,” She’d already dropped his hand before he could voice his objection, so instead he watched her leave, deliberately narrowing his eyes as Gajeel made to close the door.
“If you touch one hair on her head..” He gritted his teeth.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gajeel said carelessly, scratching at his jaw, “Word of advice? Get it together before ya go off makin’ threats loverboy.”
The door slammed shut with a THUD!
Loke released a breath into the air and pressed his hand to his temples. What was he doing?
Gajeel was right, he wasn’t in any place to sit around and growl at people like Lucy’s lapdog. Karen had loved seeing him do it, almost as much as she’d loved to torment Aries to get a rise out of him.
“Aren’t I lucky,” The green-haired, green-eyed (in more ways than one) Karen Lilica had crowed, brandishing her chain-whip, “I have both the strongest and the weakest spirits of all the Zodiac.”
Before he could realise what was happening, Loke had already slipped into the dream.
The familiar periwinkle and gold interior of the Blue Pegasus guild hall rose up to swallow him and suddenly Loke wasn’t Loke anymore. Now he was Leo, confident and glowing as he reached out to shake the hand of the sweet, green-haired girl who’d summoned him.
“Oh wow!” She gasped, shaking his hand with both of her own, “I’m so honoured to meet a member of the Zodiac! I’m Karen by the way!”
The ground fell away under him and suddenly Loke was crouched at the foot of a plush red sofa as an older Karen lovingly stroked his head; teary mascara streaking down her face. Gone was the youthful girlishness, now replaced by a garish lipsticked smile.
“You know I didn’t mean it right, Leo? I just got so angry– I don’t know what came over me.”
He looked on dumbly as Karen cooed and fussed over the large gash above his right eyelid.
If only he had known sooner. If only he had seen it coming. If only, if only, if only.
The roar of a waterfall cascaded from somewhere inside him and Loke looked around, confused, before the ceiling opened up and released a flood of water down on him, drowning, drowning, drowning and then.. not.
Now Loke was kneeling on a rocky outcropping overlooking a great waterfall, in front of Karen’s grave, but the grave was empty and Karen was standing next to him, all pretense of love leaving her eyes as she dug the sharp tip of her heel into his shoulder.
“Why won’t you just leave me alone? Go. Back. Go back, go back, go back!” She shrieked, shoving him backward. Loke caught his balance before he tumbled into the hole and finally found the words to defend himself.
“What.. happened to you?” He choked out as Karen proceeded to loop her chain-whip around his neck and pull.
She laughed as he fought for air, grasping at the rusted metal in vain.
“What’re you on about?” She taunted, leaning in to press a kiss right above his eye, “You turned me into this, Leo.”
Her kisses felt like acid.
“It’s all your fault,” She whispered as his face began to burn and his vision began to darken, “And now you’ve gone and dragged that poor girl into it too.”
Loke turned around in horror to see Lucy now lying inside Karen’s empty grave, eyes closed, clutching his key to her chest like a lifeline.
“Gate.. of the lion.. close.. gate..”
“Lucy! LUCY!”
Loke reached out to grab her, but it was too late. The ground closed over the hole, as he started to disappear, grass and flowers sprouting beneath the gravestone and sealing Lucy away forever - his name the last words on her lips.
“Leo.”
Another fainter voice overlapped with hers, originating from somewhere at the back of his skull; a voice that sounded suspiciously like Aquarius’.
“Leo,” Lucy-Aquarius repeated, quiet and urgent, like she didn’t have much time, “You need to be careful.”
“The Eclipse is coming.”
Loke woke for the second time that day to a pair of worried brown eyes.
This time, however, they belonged to his long-time friend and confidante, Aries. As though dreaming about their former master had summoned her to his side, the pink-haired, Ram Spirit hovered over him anxiously, mumbling something to herself.
“Leo!” She repeated, relieved as he sat up a little straighter.
“Aries..” He replied, not fully able to process what was happening, “Did Lucy summon you? What’re you doing here?”
“Mhm,” She shook her head, “I came on my own. I learned how to after.. well..”
Loke winced as he recalled the phantom abuse in his dream, involuntarily feeling his throat to check for burn marks.
“The Celestial Spirit King wanted to know if Lucy-san still had the Aquarius key?” Aries asked hopefully.
The disappearance had left everyone in the Spirit World on edge, their monarch included. Loke had a feeling it was because it had been millennia since they were forced to confront their potential demise. That and because Scorpio kept giving everyone hell for losing Aquarius; Loke had to physically restrain his friend to keep him from ambushing Lucy on his own.
“No,” Aries’ face fell as he continued, “For some reason, the key’s gone too. We don’t have any hint for where we should begin searching, and the closed-pocket realms are endless.”
“We can only hope she hasn’t fallen into any of the Disgraced dimensions.”
Aries’ eyes got wide at the mention of the Red-Key Spirits, former inhabitants of the Celestial Spirit Realm, exiled for breaking the code of conduct that all spirits were required to abide under. No decent spirit would be caught whispering about The Disgraced Ones within the earshot of Loke– after all, if Karen had been any less of a villain, he would’ve shared their fate.
It was another thing he’d carefully kept from Lucy. His banishment to the human world was an act of mercy, only granted to him for his eons of unwavering loyalty to the Celestial Spirit King, and when it came down to it, Loke would pick dying in the human world over the twisted solitude of the Disgraced dimensions. At least he would die as himself.
“Do you suppose it was taken?” Aries said finally, her usual jumpiness replaced by uncharacteristic conviction, “Maybe someone stole it off Lucy-san when she wasn’t looking?”
“Maybe,” Loke shrugged, unconvinced, “But it’s unlikely. From what Lucy told me, they just returned from Edolas a few hours ago.”
“If anyone wanted to steal the key, it’d have to be from within Fairy Tail.”
“But–“
“No, Aries,” She looked hurt when he cut her off, “The people here aren’t like that. You should just go home– I’ll handle it.”
Loke tried to feign indifference as her big doll eyes began to well up with tears. He hated doing it but drawing boundaries between himself and the rest of the Zodiac had become a necessity when he returned. Aries, who’d arguably been the happiest of them all, quickly came to the realisation that her friend had become a completely different person in all their time apart.
Time worked differently in the Celestial Spirit Realm; sometimes it would go faster, sometimes slower, and there were even periods where it simply wouldn’t move at all. For the three years Loke had been in Earthland, time had spun like a roulette table and separated him from his friends by a whopping three hundred years, suddenly making him the youngest of his former team-mates.
He lost the respect and acclaim that came with being the Leader of the Zodiac, the title going to Aquarius in his absence; no longer the notorious lion spirit, now just a cub with claws too big and too sharp for his feet.
“I wish you would let me help,” Aries’ lip wobbled, still she rubbed at her eyes defiantly, “We used to do everything together, Leo.”
Loke clutched his hospital gown tightly, his mouth set in a thin, hard line.
After a few seconds of strained silence, where he pretended he didn’t see her shoulders quietly shaking, Aries said,
“I know you blame me for Karen’s death.”
He glanced up, surprised.
“I thought about it for years,” She frowned, not meeting his eyes, “‘Leo must hate me’. After all, you were only trying to protect me.”
“If I had just been better at standing up for myself, you wouldn’t have been punished so severely!”
“I don’t blame you,” He said gently, her tears had gotten to him, “But this is my job Aries, I can’t drag you into it.”
“But Karen–“
“Karen was a monster,” Loke bared his teeth, not an ounce of regret in his voice, “–and she got what she deserved.”
“She was so kind when we first met her,” Aries insisted weakly, “I can’t help but wonder if we had helped her more maybe–“
“Maybe she would’ve turned on us faster,” He snapped, “Maybe she would’ve done worse! You didn’t see her those last few weeks, Aries, I did.”
“She was unhinged– the girl I made a contract with died a long time ago.”
Loke refrained himself from adding ‘And it was all my fault.’ to the end of that sentence, because he knew Aries would never understand. She would want to share the blame for their former master’s descent into madness, but the cruel truth was that despite what Aries said, she simply couldn’t handle the pain that came with that realisation. Karen knew it too, its why she saved all the especially harrowing punishments for him. It was much more fun for her to watch him slowly begin to resent the friend he’d tried so desperately to save.
“I don’t blame you,” Loke repeated, almost as though he was trying to convince himself, “And besides, getting banished was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn’t have met Lucy, otherwise.”
“Then let me help you,” Aries refuted stubbornly, “Aquarius is my friend too!”
“And my responsibility,” He countered, “–as the Leader of the Zodiac–“
“If what happens to Aquarius starts spreading, there won’t be a Zodiac left to lead, Leo!”
Loke started at her tone. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Aries’ voice rise higher than 40 decibels.
“You’re not the only one suffering here! Remember how bad it was when we lost Capricorn– you wouldn’t even let us help you then! You had to ‘do it yourself’, well a whole lot of good that did you!”
“So just stop being so– so– pig-headed!” Even Aries looked surprised by her sudden burst of rebelliousness, and clamped both her hands over her mouth in horror.
The sight was so odd and unexpected that, try as he might, Loke couldn’t hold back the snort that spilled out from somewhere deep inside him.
He was in tears within seconds, clutching the sides of his stomach as he keeled over with laughter, and, after a few seconds, Aries joined him; the two of them snickering like middle-schoolers over a dumb joke.
“Pig-headed?” He wheezed.
Stars, it had been a while since they’d laughed together. Truth be told, Loke wasn’t sure they’d even be able to talk normally again without the ghost of Karen hovering between them, but here they were. Stranger things had happened.
“I’m glad,” Aries said finally, as she paused to catch their breath, “I haven’t seen you smile once since you came home.”
Loke opened his mouth to protest but she held up a finger to stop him, “No, talking about Lucy-san doesn’t count.”
“Killjoy.” He huffed. Aries giggled.
“How is she taking the news, by the way?”
“Better than I expected,” He admitted, “She’s tougher than she looks, m–“
Loke caught himself just in time.
He didn’t know what would be worse, actually slipping up and saying the words “my Lucy”, or watching his friend’s face scrunch up with pity as she hears it. Even Aries (the most optimistic of all the spirits) would click her tongue in disbelief if she found out just how deep his loyalties lay.
Celestial Spirits don’t fall in love with humans. Capricorn had drilled it into his head since he was a boy. Especially not their bright-eyed, lavender-shampooed, beautiful, beautiful masters.
“That’s good,” Aries affirmed, blissfully oblivious to his mental gymnastics as she rose from her seat, “I’d better head off then.”
“Is there anything you wanted me to look into while you’re.. taking your mandatory rest?”
Loke was about to shake his head and send her on her way, but a tiny voice in the back of his head made him pause, the lightness in his chest temporarily soaking in an inexplicable sense of dread.
“Actually,” he began, “There is one thing.”
She blinked expectantly.
“What can you tell me about the Eclipse?”
Next Chapter ->
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Chapter Eighteen: Loke
Lucy lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of her new bedroom. Minnie's house was a beautiful, colonial-style house, painted a pretty, light blue color with a white design that reminded Lucy of frost. The front and back porches were also painted white, with potted flowering plants on both porches. The house was close to the outskirts of Crocus, making the surrounding area quiet and calm.
Lucy's bedroom was on the second floor and relatively large in size. The paint that covered the walls was gold in color. The floor was wooden and had a large carpet that was red with gold-colored designs in the middle of the floor, laying underneath the queen-size, canopy bed frame. Double glass doors were on one side, leading to a white balcony. On the opposite side of the room was the bedroom door, leading to the main hallway. Directly across from the bed was a connecting, spacious bathroom. The bed was large with white bed posts and a canopy frame. Contrasting the light color scheme that seemed to be forming in the bedroom, black curtains were drawn shut around the bed.
Lucy was stiff as she stared upwards, her heartbeat quickening slightly and her breathing becoming a little shallower. She felt a feeling of dread beginning to fall upon her, confusion alongside it. Why was she feeling this way? She felt suffocated and trapped. She felt as though she was locked inside of a small, invisible cage that she had to escape. Why did she feel like this? She wasn't trapped. She wasn't in a cage. She shouldn't be feeling like she was still in her father's mansion. She shouldn't be feeling like she was in a gilded jail.
So, why was she feeling exactly that? Why was she feeling like she was a young child again, trapped in a large and empty house that caged her?
Her chest rose and fell at a slightly faster rate and she sat up, suddenly feeling panicked and having difficulty breathing. She looked around her at the black curtains that surrounded the bed. It seemed as though the thin, dark material became more solid, like walls, and began closing in on her.
As her breathing became shallow and fast and a feeling of panic and dread befell her, becoming light-headed, she also became overcome with a nauseating feeling. Her stomach twisted, making her feel like she was going to vomit.
Lucy quickly climbed off of her bed and pushed through the black curtains, stumbling her way to the double glass doors before she made her way to the white railing of the balcony. She leaned over the railing and waited to vomit, however, no bile rose from her stomach. After a few minutes, she leaned away from the railing and slide down to the floor of the balcony.
The celestial wizard sat there for several minutes, her heart calming its pace and her breathing became more steady. The feelings of panic and dread subsided and she felt more grounded, like she wasn't going to faint again, as she ran her fingers over the keys that were hooked onto her belt. Focusing on the feeling of the smooth and hard keys helped her to ground herself.
She still felt trapped, though. Knowing that she couldn't stay much longer in the house, she stood up, holding onto the railing for a few moments to ensure that her legs were steady. She then walked back into her bedroom, slipped on her shoes, walked through the door, down the stairs, and out of the front door of the house.
As she walked into Crocus, Lucy wondered where she should go. She thought about going to Minnie's bakery and cafe, but quickly decided against it. Minnie had instructed her to stay home after observing that she seemed to be distracted and troubled. Lucy knew that arguing wouldn't do any good, so she lay back on her bed and tried to fall back asleep. She knew that Minnie would make her go back home, so she avoided the older woman's establishment.
Lucy knew that she was distracted and troubled. She hadn't made an attempt to hide it and wasn't surprised that Minnie had noticed. The young woman remembered when she first arrived at Minnie's house and saw what it looked like. She had been immediately reminded of her father's mansion. Minnie's house was expensive-looking and rather large. It was the type of house that a rich person would live in. The similarities to the place she had run away from were few, but still obvious to her. So obvious that she was unable to step into the house and was instead frozen as she stared at the house, unsure of if she would be able to live in it. After several tense moments, she had been broken out of her mind by Minnie, who asked if she was alright. Lucy had assured the older woman that she was fine and forced herself to continue moving into the house.
Lucy gave a sigh as she looked around at her surroundings. She heard her stomach growl, making her realize that she hadn't yet eaten. She decided to find a restaurant that looked nice and eat there before she walked around Crocus for a few hours and then head back to Minnie's house and try to overcome the panic it had induced in her.
Loke walked through Crocus, enjoying the sight of the people happily going about their day and occasionally winking at pretty, young women that would then blush and swoon over him. Several of these women attempted to stop him for conversation, but he would simply give them an apology, saying that he had somewhere important to be, before he continued on his way. He would've loved to talk to the women that tried to flock around him, however, he had a date to get to and simply refused to keep a lady waiting.
He quickly arrived at the small but nice restaurant. After requesting a table for two, adding that he was on a date, he was seated and began waiting for his date. He had waited for thirty minutes before he came to the conclusion that he was stood up. To say that he was hurt would be an understatement. Loke had never been stood up and he had never stood up a date.
His head drooped as he thought about leaving without ordering. He felt like he was being watched, judged for being stood up as if everybody else around him somehow knew. Looking around, he found that nobody was paying him any mind, but the feeling of being watched and judged was still present.
The Fairy Tail mage pushed back his chair and stood up, but almost immediately stopped his attempt to leave in shame and embarrassment when a pretty voice spoke from the other side of the table, "mind if I join you?"
Loke looked up and froze when he saw the beautiful blonde that was smiling at him, waiting for his answer. He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, as his heartbeat quickened and his stomach began doing flips. He was unable to bring himself to answer, suddenly at a loss for words.
He opened his closed his mouth a few times, probably making him look like a fish, as he felt his cheeks begin to burn with what he was sure was a dark red blush. So red, in fact, that it likely put Erza's hair color to shame. He eventually was able to answer after an embarrassingly long time of staring at her as if he had never seen a woman before, "um...yeah...yeah, go ahead."
The blonde chuckled and sat on the chair across from Loke as he sat back down in his chair. The waitress came over to take their drink orders before she soon returned with the beverages and took their food orders. Once the waitress walked away, Loke asked, "why did you want to join me?"
He appreciated the kindness she was showing by eating with him, but he was curious as to why since they had never met before. The blonde answered, "I don't know. You looked lonely, I guess. I hope you don't mind."
Loke shook his head, responding, "no, not at all. I always enjoy the company of a gorgeous princess."
He watched with a flirty smirk as the blonde glared at him in an annoyed manner, but her cheeks became painted with an evident blush. Loke couldn't help but stare in awe. She was incredibly beautiful when she blushed. He wanted to make her blush some more.
After introducing themselves to each other, the two fell into conversation. Loke explained that he used Ring Magic and was a mage of Fairy Tail. That had gotten her attention. Lucy told him that he was a mage as well, though guildless. She was about to tell him about her magic when their waitress brought them their food.
They then fell into a comfortable silence as they ate. Loke couldn't help but stare at her as he ate. Lucy was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he was sure of that. Her blonde hair looked as though it was made out of pure sunshine, bright and golden. Her skin looked smooth and flawless, making his fingers twitch with a want to brush them against her skin. Her eyes were an enchanting, dark brown color, pulling him into them and making him want to drown in their depths. Her body was shapely and enticing. The pink, spaghetti-strap tank top and denim miniskirt hugged her curves perfectly.
Loke was unable to take his eyes off of her. She made him experience feelings that no woman had ever made him feel. Was he in love? Has he found a woman that he wanted to be with and give up his playboy ways for? He believes he was. Deciding to ask her to go on an actual date with him, he waited for the two of them to finish eating before he paid the bill.
The pair exited the restaurant, stepping into the bright sunshine and warm outside. Loke turned to speak when once again froze. The sun shined onto Lucy in a way that made her hair reflect the warm rays and make her look like a heavenly maiden. He fell in love again. He then shook himself out of his trance and asked, "what is your magic? You never told me."
Lucy responded with an "oh! Right!" before she unhooked and held up something that made Loke freeze, but for an entirely different reason. In her hands were Celestial Spirit Gate Keys. The ring mage didn't hear what she said next. He stared in horror at the keys, unwanted memories of Karen Lilica, his former wizard that he killed, crashed down onto him, making him feel suffocated.
Becoming overwhelmed with a need to run and get away from her, Loke took a step back before he turned around and ran. He ran through Crocus, searching for a place to hide. He didn't know if Lucy was chasing after him, he hoped she wasn't, but if the look of concern she was giving him was anything to go by, she probably was.
He then found an alleyway that had cardboard boxes inside of it. He ran in and curled up into a fetal position, hiding behind a stack of boxes, with his face buried in his knees. As tears raced down his face as he bit his lip so hard it drew blood, trying to prevent himself from making a sound that would alert any passerby to his presence.
The one woman he falls in love with is a celestial wizard. What was he expecting? He knew that whatever higher power existed was punishing him for killing Karen. He knew that he wouldn't be able to be with Lucy, no matter how much he wanted to, not just because she's a celestial wizard, but also because he knew that he didn't have much longer in Earthland.
He was thrown back into those years as Karen's celestial spirit, being forced to watch as Aries was abused. He helped her, and he didn't regret it at all, but he paid a heavy price for it. Drowning in the guilt that he felt and overcome with memories that he tried to forget, Loke's entire body trembled as he sniffled a few times.
He had been sitting in an alleyway, hidden by cardboard boxes, and quietly crying and shaking, he felt a hand gently lay on his shoulder, causing him to flinch away. He knew that it was Lucy. He heard her melodic voice speak softly, "Loke, please look at me."
But Loke didn't make an attempt to raise his head. He wanted to look at her, to look into her sparkling eyes, but he couldn't. He was a murderer. It was because of him that Karen died. He didn't deserve to even look at Lucy, much less be with her, even though that was all he wanted now. He curled further into himself as Lucy spoke again, "I guess you had a bad experience with a celestial wizard, huh? I understand what you are going through, trust me, I know. I won't hurt you. Please, look at me."
Loke loved her voice. It somehow soothed him and made him feel more at ease. Her voice compelled him to obey and after several moments of hesitation, he lifted his head and brought his tearful gaze up to meet Lucy's. His breath hitched when he saw her warm, kind smile. He felt a wave of comfort wash over him just from her presence and smile. He slowly and hesitantly brought his hand up to cup Lucy's cheek and the blonde gently placed her hand over his. If he wasn't in love with her before, then he definitely was now. He then curled himself and allowed her to bring his body close to hers. He felt Lucy wrap her arms around him as he continued to cry.
Maybe...maybe he could find happiness and love with her. Maybe she could make his limited time in Earthland more bearable and less painful. He wasn't sure if he would be able to tell her the truth about his existence and why he was so scared, but he might be able to be with her.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Lucy watched Loke walk away from her, heading back to Magnolia. She then turned around and began making her way back to Minnie's house. She knew that she was still blushing, her cheeks were noticeably warm. Her heartbeat was fast and her stomach felt as though it was filled with butterflies.
She knew that she was attracted to Loke. Not much of a surprise from how flirty he was. After she had comforted him, she and Loke had gone for a walk before Loke decided that it was time for him to leave. He then kissed her hand and told her that he looked forward to seeing her again before turning to leave.
Lucy could tell that he had a bad past experience with a celestial wizard, but she was happy to see that he was able to spend the day with her. Maybe they could be friends, or more even, in the future. She looked forward to seeing him again one day. Maybe she could help him through what made him wary, even scared, of celestial wizards. She hoped she would be able to. She liked Loke and wanted to help him. Though, she wasn't sure if she knew how.
The blonde was brought out of her thoughts when she came to Minnie's house. She stood in front of the walkway to the front porch, focusing on keeping her breathing under control. She took a few minutes before she forced her legs to move and she approached the front porch, a feeling of dread beginning to wash over her. She reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it, pushing open the front door.
Upon stepping into the house, she found Minnie standing several feet in front of the door, her arms crossed over her chest. Lucy stared at the older woman in apprehension, nervous that she was going to get mad at her for something. However, her worry was eased when Minnie smirked and spoke, "I saw you with an attractive young man. Tell me about him, now."
Lucy chuckled as she closed the door behind her, the feeling of dread that had been rising in her began to diminish as she walked with Minnie into the dining room to eat together, telling the older woman about her day with Loke.
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Two more chapters and then this story will be finished. I can't wait to start on the next one. Thank you to everyone that has left positive comments about this story. I greatly appreciate the love.
Here is a hint for the last suitor: Ice.
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