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Lucy blinked, confused by the sudden shift in her surroundings. One moment she'd been fighting an incredibly dangerous dark guild with her team the next, she was on a grassy hill? In fact, there was a wide expanse of nature around her, the hill going downwards for quite some way before levelling out into a grassy expanse below.
She paused to think things over, they'd been fighting over a weapon that could apparently allow free travel without restriction. She remembered a gravelly voice claiming that this was going to make them regret attacking them, shouts from her team and Loke then…nothing? Had she been struck and sent elsewhere? She needed to figure out where she was and how to get back! Or at least she had to orient herself and know what kind of place she’d been brought to.
She examined the hills, disheartened by the fact she could name many like it, she’d have to rely on the hope there were nearby towns somewhere. She took in a deep breath, doing her best to push down the creeping fear that she was stuck forever. She’d just have to do a bit of walking, that’s all. She grabbed onto the small burst of determination that gave her and was about to get moving when she heard a loud shout from the other side. She debated investigating for only the smallest amount of time before she turned around and ran to the top of the hill.
She wasn’t too surprised by the fact the sight of two people squaring off appeared before her, but who it was did startle her. She let out a small gasp as her brain tried to puzzle out what she was looking at. There was another her, she supposed that should have been expected given that they were in another world, standing up against…Karen? She’d never met the woman, but she recognised her from her pictures in the Sorcerer’s weekly magazine. This was a universe in which Karen was somehow alive? And apparently had decided to fight her? She instinctively crouched low when her other self talked. She had no idea why she did it, they only had to look up and they’d see her, thankfully they seemed only interested in each other. The wide distance between them meant they had to speak up to communicate, so she could easily eavesdrop their conversation.
“Karen, I’ve been hearing some nasty rumours about you, I see now that they’re true. We’re only supposed to be having a talk, why would you attack me?”
Karen tilted her head up, arrogant and sure in her victory. Loke had spoken of a woman capable of changing, someone who had just needed some sort of direction or a forceful push. He’d not wanted her to be hurt, just for her to truly see him. Either he’d been incredibly kind speaking of the dead, or this woman had changed. She had a far more arrogant and victorious aura than the woman Loke had described. Something about her just felt cruel, perhaps it was the way her gaze seemed to just look over you rather than at you.
“I can’t have yet another person lecturing me on how I treat my spirits. They’re here to listen to me, to obey me without question. If they’re unable to meet my demands, then I can punish them how I so choose, that’s what the contract is for”
Her shoulders tightened and she had to squash down the urge to snap back, thankfully she didn’t have to.
“That’s disgusting! No wonder spirits are afraid of you getting their keys! Hand yours over, this ends today!”
“I agree that it will, but not in the way you want it to!” Celestial magic filled the air as she pulled out a golden key. Dread struck her cold as she realised that could only be one of two spirits, but surely that was impossible? “I open the gate of the lion, Leo!”
Spitting in the face of all she knew, Loke appeared beside Karen. He straightened his jacket, sighing heavily, like this whole thing was a big bother to him. A small part of her was surprised that when his gaze landed on her other self, he didn’t smile or flirt, or even ask her name, he just stood there, silent.
“Leo, I want this nosy pest punished. This will help her learn that how I handle spirits is the best way. Being all cushy with your spirits gets you nowhere”
A slight twitch was the only sign he was bothered by what she’d said, otherwise he was cold and professional.
“Alright.” He turned to his target, Regulus glowing on his fist. “It’s nothing personal, you understand”
He was detached from this whole scenario, taking himself out of it. Was it so he didn’t feel guilty? It didn’t matter. Time slowed as he charged and Lucy went to her own keys, she couldn’t watch this. She needed to intervene and now, this was wrong. Eridanus was in her hand in an instant. She ran down the hill, planting her feet down at the bottom so she could send it flying. Her aim was true and the whip quickly wrapped around his wrist, bringing him to a harsh stop. They all turned to see her, with varying degrees of surprise. Loke didn't seem fazed, Gemini could be in play to him she supposed, but her other self and Karen both were staring at her wide eyed and confused. Karen recovered faster, laughing loudly. It sounded like nails scraping against her brain.
“So you need backup to beat me?! Who's this? A twin?”
“I-I don’t know. She looks exactly like me…”
Yeah, there was an easy answer to that, even if it wasn't the easiest thing to believe. Still, now he knew that she wasn't a creation of Celestial magic, Loke was actually trying to work her out, she got to see face to face that cold stare of his. There wasn't even a joke about how he was seeing double the beauties. She hadn't realised she'd miss his stupid one liners until it was clear he'd never make them again.
“Loke, what are you doing? How is this even happening?!”
He glanced around, looking for something, before he frowned at her in confusion.
“Who’s Loke? If you’re talking to me, you’re mistaking me for someone else. I’m a Celestial spirit, a stranger to you, don’t act so familiar with me”
It was like a knife in her heart to see him stare at her with such open distrust and annoyance. He didn’t know her, so her worst fears must have been true. In this world, Loke didn’t break away from Karen. Instead he’s put up with five extra years of her abuse, without any way out. That must mean Aries was still with her too, who knows how much more the two of them have suffered? There was no way she could let this continue, she needed to convince this Lucy to trust her so they could fix this. She turned her head, trying to tune out Loke's annoyance for the moment to explain her appearance to her other self.
“Long story short, I was in the middle of a dark guild fight, they had this weapon that affected space. I got hit and sent to another world, this world. This fight never happened where I came from, I never met Karen, she was gone when I met Loke. So this is weird for me too, trust me”
“You’re from another world?! And what do you mean Karen wasn't around?”
“As interesting as hearing about another potential timeline is, don’t you think you're forgetting something?”
Ah, right, he still had one hand free. Regulus sparked around it threateningly. He aimed his clawed hand at his opponent, completely ignoring her to still attack. This couldn't stand. She pulled harshly on Eridanus, tugging him off balance enough that his beam of light missed its target. He glared at her, altogether upset at her meddling.
“This isn't your world, why don't you go hide somewhere until your friends back home find a way to help you?”
She shook her head, plastering on a large smile that just annoyed him further.
“Sorry, that's not my style. If I can see a problem I can fix I'm going to step in. Now then, I’m going to be your opponent, or did you forget my whip?”
Once more she thanked Virgo for this precious gift. She hated using it against Loke-No, this was Leo, even if that fact didn’t stop that from hurting. But at least she didn’t have to stand and watch him beat up an inexperienced version of her. She hadn’t gone through too much if the timelines matched up, compared to what she would go through, though she couldn’t deny it was still more than most went through. But it was nowhere near enough to take on the leader of the golden spirits, tied to a strong mage and willing to show no mercy. Without her spirits she wasn’t sure she could do much more than just distract him, but if it gave this world’s Lucy a chance to end this fight, she’d do it. Now if she would stop just staring at her shell shocked, that would be great. A small noise and tug on her whip brought her attention back to Leo.
“Eridanus hm? Fascinating. Your spirits must love you to grant you this, I’m jealous” He sounded almost mocking as he tugged his arm back, testing the whip’s grip on his wrist. “You’re not too bad with it either, Eridanus can be unwieldy in the hands of cruel or inexperienced mages.”
“Well I’d hope I’d have some experience, given that I fight alongside my spirits. They aren’t my shields, they’re my friends”
“Oh really? I suppose it’s easy to say that when you can't currently summon anyone. I get the sense you actually mean it though. Shame”
She belatedly realised he wasn't fully mocking her, some of it was a sinister bitterness. He was shattered, a barely recognisable shell of what he could have become. She could cry at the sight of him, her heart squeezing in her chest. Anything more she could say was cut off by him mumbling something. He clenched his fist, light magic swirling around it. It was only due to recognising his pose that she was able to react.
“Close your eyes!”
“Lion’s shining brilliance!”
She didn't have time to see if her other self had heard her warning before Leo’s attack activated. She just shut her eyes in time, but she could still see the light against her closed eyelids. While it hadn't blinded her, it was enough of a distraction for him to pull out the grip of her whip. She cursed as she opened her eyes, she didn't spot him but felt a rush of power and wind coming towards her. She instinctively stepped back, golden claws striking the air before her in slow motion. She stumbled backwards, heart almost stopping in fear. His darkened brown eyes bore into her as he set up for a second shot.
“You're the bigger threat clearly. I'll get rid of you first”
She quickly snapped her whip upwards, hitting his hand and blocking his attack as she stepped to the side, using the momentum to create a bit of distance. Naturally that didn't debilitate him, but he did stare at her curiously. If he was wondering why she didn't take the opportunity to strike him, the answer was obvious. She just couldn't. She'd struggled to fight her spirits when they'd become affected by the Eclipse magic and this was bringing back vivid memories of that. She wouldn't be surprised if the nightmares of it returned. But Eclipse Leo was at least driven by something, there was a clear goal and motivation to all Eclipse spirits, despite their cruelty. This Leo seemed tired of being here, his contract the only thing keeping his body moving, how could she fight him like this? She needed to reach him, to convince him not to fight her.
“Please trust us. While I'm fighting you, that other me can get your keys back. We can free you from Karen, there's nothing she can do”
He frowned darkly, a small snarl curling his lip. She was right, she could see that the other her had recovered from the shock and was moving towards Karen, yet Leo clearly disagreed.
“You really think you've got this all worked out, don't you? You know nothing of this situation. If you actually want to help me, you’ll stay down. Regulus Impact!”
It was only due to years of fighting in a guild that allowed her to duck out the way of the close range magic blast, even with those instincts, it was still far too close for her comfort. He didn’t wait to run over, hands glowing as he pulled back a fist. She wasn’t quick enough to react. She yelped in surprise and pain as he caught her side. She limped away from him, swapping their positions as she was now in front of Karen, back to her. She heard the crack of a whip and knew this world’s Lucy was fighting Karen. That wouldn’t last long, Loke had said Karen had used her spirits as shields, never actually fighting herself. There was no way she’d beat someone who’d gone through as crazy things as her.
“Leo! We’re going to free you, I promise. I will work as hard as I can to make sure you’re back on the right path, an amazing future with your Lucy. I know you have to put up some resistance thanks to the rules of the Celestial Spirit World, but cant we come to an agreement or something?”
Just so she didn’t end up with a hole in her side or something? That’d be nice. She’d been trembling before starting this fight against Leo, but fatigue was starting to sink in, she’d already been in a battle after all. There was also still this overwhelming disgust, the distinct wrongness of fighting her spirits she couldn’t shake. He let out a small huff, shaking his head.
“All I know about you is that you come from another world, which is far different than coming from the future. I’ve no reason to believe you’ll make things better, for all I know your meddling is making this world and my future worse. All I can do is act on the fact Karen is currently my mage and she will make my life hell if I don’t follow her. Until that changes, you’re my enemy”
Despite his words he was slower to put his fists back up, ready to fight her. There was the smallest bit of doubt sinking into his brain. Well, this Lucy had come here to see if Karen was abusing spirits and to stop it, Leo knows that. He knew he was fighting against his best interest, so why was he still putting up such an aggressive front? She was missing a valuable piece of the puzzle and it was bothering her. She didn’t like the idea that the rug could be pulled out from under her at any moment.
As if to prove her fears correct, a haughty voice broke into their tense stare down.
“Leo! This pest is getting too close to me. It seems you need proper motivation!”
“Please, no”
That small plea from him broke through his walls. She momentarily saw his torment, before he clawed himself back. Standing tall and closed off, though that anguish was still in his eyes. Loke had never been good at keeping his emotions fully hidden, it seemed to be a problem they shared.
“I open the gate of the Sheep, Aries”
Leo flinched, his hardened stare failing as sadness overtook him. He slumped, defeated.
“No, I've failed her again. When we get back-”
He quietened down and she didn't catch the rest of his panicked, guilty muttering. She couldn't focus on him anyway, she'd just been absolutely blindsided. Karen couldn't summon two spirits, it was what had led to her downfall in the first place! Yet, she could sense Aries being summoned to this world and automatically turned her head to see. An acidic hatred rose up within her, followed by outrage, sadness and a strong urge to protect as she processed just what she was seeing.
“Aries…Stars no, what has she done to you?”
The question fell from her lips without prompting as she took in the horror before her. The poor sheep spirit was looking to the ground, bruises littering her skin, she'd been forced to keep Karen’s marks on her. She hadn't known a mage could order that, it was sickening. Metal restraints were tight around her neck and wrists, she shook uncontrollably in them, back arched waiting to be struck. She didn't speak, didn't even apologise, the silence spoke loudly of what she'd faced. Karen seemed almost proud of how subservient Aries was and once more the urge to maim rose up within her.
She heard a similar cry of anguish from her other self, catching Leo’s hesitant attention.
“Oh? Are you marvelling at my work? You see, my spirits almost turned traitor, but instead of freeing them, I gained the ability to summon two spirits at once! Now, Leo, you’ll know what will happen if you don’t beat them”
He flinched in front of her, body stiffening before he regained that cold, emotionless wall.
“I’m sorry. You both seem to be the type of person I’d have chosen to be Aries’s mage, but that’s not reality and I will not watch her be tortured anymore”
Power surged from him, his hands glowing with an angry magic. His light magic was erratic, powerful and wanting to break someone. She wanted to be sick, the bile was rising up within her. Karen had not bothered to foster a loving relationship with her spirits, she was abusing Loke’s love for Aries to wring every drop of power out of him. He dropped into an aggressive pose and she had no choice but to brandish her whip against him. She was in between him and the other Lucy, between him and protecting Aries. He would not hesitate against her.
“I open the gate of the maid, Virgo!”
They both froze at that call. She quickly took a glance back to see Virgo appearing to face off against Aries. What was she thinking?! She’d better have a good plan here, otherwise Leo here was going to go scorched earth. A low growl broke into the air around them and she knew the timer was quickly ticking down.
He leapt at her and she only just brought Eridanus up in time to block him. She flicked upward, pushing against him and knocking him back slightly. His dark glare tore into her, pure distrust and a vitriolic rage had overtaken him.
“Please, give her a moment, trust us!”
“Trust you?!” He spat out his words, shaking with his disbelief. “Why should I trust any of you?! Blue Pegasus knew what was happening to us and do you know what they did?! Nothing! All Bob did was give her a disapproving look and a small warning, what does that do for us? For her?! Then you come along and throw in our faces the existence of something else, a different fate. Your presence just, just-” His hands went into his hair, his anguish on full display. “Why couldn’t it have been us that was saved by you? And why did you have to come here and show me that in another world I was able to break free?!”
She'd never thought his hurt would ever be aimed at her. That the low growl promising pain would ever be because of her, yet here he was. A vengeance filled lion, fangs bared as he readied another attack. She shook herself down, she couldn't get lost in how this broke her, she needed to do her part to fix this. He was preparing to charge when their staredown was interrupted.
“Virgo, tie her up, lightly”
And that was all it took. Leo abruptly changed course and charged at her other self. He moved as quickly as he could and she had no choice but to jump in front of him. There was no chance her whip alone was going to be quick enough, nor did she think she had it in her emotionally to tie him up and hurt him right now. He slammed into her, his own natural balance the only thing keeping him from falling against her. She teetered for a moment before leaning her weight forward towards him. She wrapped her arms around his stomach, forcefully pushing herself as close as possible to him. A dark hiss burned into her ears but she planted her feet into the ground and hugged him as tightly as she could.
“Let go of me!”
“No! I won't let you do something you'll regret. Look Leo, look at Virgo and Aries. It's ok”
Virgo had been told to only lightly restrain Aries, she had to believe that her other self meant it, that Aries was safe. He thrashed in her grip for a terrifying moment, a rogue fist more than once striking her back, before he seemed to finally register what was going on.
“What?”
His voice was quiet, soft with surprise as he went slack in her grip. She waited for some far too slow seconds, heartbeat slamming in her ears, before she slowly pulled back. He didn't react so she quickly moved to be at his side, arms still tight around his waist, hands resting on his hip. She followed his stare, looking at an Aries with Virgo's chains barely around her wrists. They hung loosely, there was no way they were preventing anything, yet Aries stayed obediently at Virgo's side. Her other self pulled out her leather whip, seeing it again was nostalgic, and stomped over to Karen.
“Hand over your keys. You can't be trusted with them anymore”
“Oh really? And how exactly are you going to take them from me? What I’m doing to these spirits isn’t illegal, it’s not wrong”
That had been the wrong thing to say. Her and Leo’s anger rose together. Her magic reached out, reacting to their coming together emotionally. She was supposed to have a contract with Leo, his magic was linked to hers and yet that connection didn’t happen. He wasn’t her Loke, so his magic was walled off to her, not that didn’t stop her Celestial magic from trying. Her heart wanted to tie itself to her spirits, she wanted to share her love across an open bond and Leo could feel that. He slowly looked at her, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
“How? How can I feel Leo’s magic from you? Scratch that, you're from a different world, why are you trying to comfort me? I was going to beat you up”
She opened her mouth, hesitating to answer him. She thankfully was interrupted from that awkward conversation by a loud cry. They both turned to find her other self had struck Karen across the cheek, a clear bruise was starting to form.
“How dare you be so cruel?! What gives you the right?! So what if the law won’t arrest you for abusing spirits? Not only will I one day change that, I will be taking those keys today. I will free your spirits, I won’t leave them to wait in misery”
Her whip struck the ground by Karen, a very clear threat. Furious wrath rolled off her in waves. Seeing her strong emotional reactions from this side made her briefly wonder if she was as monstrous as the rest of her team. Karen was shaking now, the realisation that neither of her spirits wanted to pull her out of this scenario had finally sunk in. As long as her other self didn’t kill Karen, they wouldn’t be punished and she’d make sure it never went that far.
Karen misjudged the timing of an attack, getting struck once more and causing Leo to take a small step towards her. Given that he’d caught her attention, he offered her a self deprecating explanation.
“I never wanted her to be hurt. Even now I find myself wanting to protect her, what's wrong with me?”
“Absolutely nothing. You're just a better person than she'll ever be.” He froze in her arms, she'd caught him by surprise with that declaration, had he been expecting criticism? He wouldn't get it from her. “Hey, other me! I think it's time to wrap this up”
The other Lucy glanced back at them. The moment she saw Leo struggling with himself, she softened. Her rage became more controlled, which was scarier in her honest opinion.
“You're right, I'm sorry Leo. I shouldn't drag this out, you both need rest” She turned back to Karen, sighing and shaking her head. “The way you treat spirits is an indication of your heart. You treat those you believe lower than you with such cruelty, I can almost guarantee there’s hidden crimes in your past. If I and Levy snoop around a little, how much will we find?”
There was a brief flash of fear on Karen’s face before she returned to her aggressive defensiveness they were now used to.
“You’d find nothing”
“I doubt that. Here’s how this is going to work, you have two options. Number one, you leave without giving me the keys and I immediately start the investigation. By the end of the day you're locked up, your reputation is ruined and I have your keys anyway. Or, you can hand them over now, we'll both stay quiet about today and you can go on to be a model or something. I don't believe for a moment it's a harsh enough consequence, but I'm inclined to listen to your spirits”
“Thank you”
Leo's soft, relieved words were in stark contrast to the harsh grip he had on her back. She was the only thing physically anchoring him right now.
“Your opinion matters. Aries, are you ok with this?”
Despite how gentle she was being, Aries still jumped. She froze up, head turning to Leo in a clear plea for help.
“She's been told she can't speak. On her behalf, I'll say this. Do what you need to in order to get her key from Karen”
Her other self gritted her teeth, grumbling before she faced Karen again.
“There we have it, which will it be?”
“You’re awfully confident you'll find something, are you sure you will?’
“I think the real question is are you absolutely certain we won't? I'm sure you have heard the lengths Fairy tail will go to help someone. Do you really want that bearing down on you?”
They stared each other down, an open challenge as they tested the other’s resolve. It was silent, the only thing she could hear was her heart hammering in her ears. The tension could be cut into with a blunt knife. Finally, after a brief moment where she thought she would just collapse or burst, Karen scoffed.
“Fine, whatever! Take my stupid keys! See if they do anything for you, they cause nothing but trouble, I promise you”
Because they wanted to not be treated like tools? Because they wanted to be their true selves? Oh go cry me a river.
She rolled her eyes, not impressed or moved by Karen’s little temper tantrum. Though there wasn’t going to be any way Karen got sympathy from her. Karen huffed and whined as she thrust the keys harshly in front of her, into the chest of her other self. She took the keys, glaring at her in return. The mishandling of the keys bothered both Lucy’s that much was clear.
“Good, now break the contracts”
“Ugh, I break the contracts with my spirits” The keys in Lucy’s hands glowed and Leo’s magic beside her wavered and changed. He and Aries were now both here on their own magic, so it fluctuated under this new change before stabilising under this new normal.. If this all went well, they’d soon have a new magic source to draw from to exist in this world. “Are you happy now?”
“Yes, I am. Now get out of here. I’ll give you one warning. If you dare come near me, any spirit, or any spirit mage I will make you regret it. Unless you manage to someday change this awful mindset of yours, you're a danger to spirits and I won’t stand for it. They’re our friends, our family, you’re lucky you’re only getting away with a slap on the wrist for hurting them”
“If you think I’m going to forget this embarrassment, you’re mistaken. Watch yourself Heartfilia”
“You’ll have to get in line, I am a Fairytail mage after all”
Karen huffed, before she turned around as gracefully as she could manage in this scenario. She stopped off and she watched her go, keeping an eye on her until she couldn’t see her anymore. A quick glimpse upward proved Leo was doing the same. Neither of them truly trusted her to not pull something at the last second, but it seemed she’d realised she was defeated today, a relief to everyone here. It also seemed so unreal to her, she couldn’t imagine how those actually affected felt. Leo himself wasn’t truly here, half waiting for something bad to happen, half shell shocked something good had instead. She gently let go of him, speaking the truth into existence.
“No one has your key anymore Leo”
“We’re free from her…ARIES!”
He was gone before she could blink, stumbling in his frenzied haste before racing towards Aries. His hands glowed with Regulus's power and it briefly seemed like he was about to attack Virgo. But the maid spirit stepped to the side and instead he swiped at the metal ring around Aries's neck, breaking it easily. Her wrist braces were also quickly destroyed by his power, and then he pulled her into a hug.
She walked slowly over as he pulled her as closely as he could into him. It was a deep and desperate hold and she shakily hugged him back. He was whispering something into her hair, kissing her forehead intermittently between his words. Her other self came over to her, holding one key in each hand. They watched the fragile, tender scene for a bit, before she heard a small voice.
“I don’t want to interrupt them, but I should give them these keys back, right?”
Ah, yes she probably should. She gave a small nod, standing beside her as she made a small noise to catch their attention. Leo still had Aries pressed against him, but he at least turned his head to acknowledge them.
“Here, I should give you these. You’ve been through more than I can possibly imagine, you should have a break, a time where no one is your owner”
Leo looked down to his key and then to them. He tilted his head in thought, before shaking it. He slowly let go of Aries with one arm so he could put his hand over his key and gently push it towards his new mage.
“When you found out the situation, you did everything you could to free us while protecting Aries in the process. I owe you a debt and I repay my debts. Whenever you need me just call and I’ll be there, no limits on the days needed.”
There was a moment where they were all looking at his key before a familiar magic filled the air. His key shone as a new contract was formed between them. She was impressed that he was so ready to do that after being with Karen for so long.
“Ok, thank you Leo, I’ll work hard to earn this trust. Aries, here’s your key back then, you definitely deserve a rest”
Aries very slightly leaned back, revealing a bit of her face. She stared at them for a moment before tilting her head up towards Leo, a silent conversation happening between them. He blinked down at her, openly shocked at what she was apparently saying.
“Are you sure, my little lamb?...Alright” He heaved a heavy sigh. “She wants to stay with me and thus will give you her key. Which is fine I guess but-”
His gaze turned sharp, a cold edge returning to him. He didn’t need to speak the threat out loud, it was clear as day. Other Lucy slowly put the keys away in her pouch.
“Alright, but I’m asking for you to rest first. Don't reach out to me until you're ready to be my spirit, I don't mind how long it takes. Rest and recuperate Aries, take your time and I'll see you when you're ready. Please know that I'm not like her, I won't tie you up, hurt you or ban you from speaking. In fact I hope I get to one day hear your sweet voice, see you be yourself. I'll help you heal in any way I can”
Aries had hidden her face back against Leo’s chest, but he gave them a small nod. His approval was clear, though he still was a far cry from the bright and honest Loke she was used to, that would take time. Spirits heal faster than humans, but they still needed time to heal, scars still affected them. It'd be foolish to say they didn't. She was hopeful that Leo and Aries would soon learn to trust this world’s Lucy and Fairy tail.
This timeline had been set back on the track. Sure the five years were spent differently, but the end goal was the same, there was even the added bonus of Aries meeting her sooner. The poor spirit needed that in this timeline. Everything was slowly fixing itself.
“I suppose I should thank you too. I don't know why you came to this world, but you undoubtedly helped”
She hadn't expected to be even noticed, but now her other self was nodding along.
“He's right. Thank you so much”
She didn’t know exactly what she did except distract Leo. She’d also caused him a lot of pain unintentionally, he still had a lot of bottled up grievances he was going to need help with. There was no way his outburst had been everything.
“Ah, it wasn't on purpose. We were trying to stop a dark guild from abusing an artefact that can make you travel through space. I think they wanted to send me to a world where I'd get hurt… Watching myself being attacked by my dear friends isn't something I could have just left alone.”
Leo let out a small hum of acknowledgement, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her.
“You called me Loke and seemed surprised Karen had my key. I imagine somewhere our paths differed?”
If he’d done the same thing as her Loke, then yes there was a big change. She wasn’t sure how much of it was hers to say. She couldn’t speak of how Loke felt or what he went through.
“When you summoned yourself to stop Karen abusing Aries…In my world it led to Loke being banished from the Celestial Spirit world.”
His eyes widened briefly before he did his best to control himself again. Well, she had just given him a wake up call to how his gamble could have gone, whether it was better or worse was arguable.
“Oh…So she…I guess that means you have a different Leo then?”
“Not in the sense that you are the same person, but you do have very different personalities.”
Very different. Loke dripped confidence, a secureness in his own skin, that Leo didn’t have. He wasn’t so cut off and isolated inside himself. They shared an overwhelming loyalty and love for Aries though, that wasn’t too different.
“Wait, there's no way he's still alive, how?”
“Well, he pretended to be human and only those closest to him are allowed to still call him that. I found him five years into the act and gave the Celestial Spirit King a piece of my mind, that's all. So he was allowed back into the sky.”
There was a long pause. Leo glanced down at Aries, the pair of them sharing an incredulous look. The disbelief was clear when he spoke up, his voice louder than normal.
“You took on the Celestial Spirit King?! Did you want to die?!”
“Of course I didn't, but if I did nothing he'd die. Your Lucy would do the same, right?”
“Ah, yes I would! I wouldn't have ever abandoned you. No matter if it was Karen or this King, I wanted to protect you both”
He gaped at them both, eyes darting between them. Finally he snorted, laughing darkly to himself. He shook his head, reaching up to pinch the top of his nose.
“You're going to cause me no end of trouble. I'll just have to keep an eye on you”
“Hey, you chose this, can't complain now when I gave you an out”
He shrugged, but a tiny smile was on his face, she’d managed to cheer him up just a bit.
“Hmm, I guess so. At least it’ll be interesting”
Was that a joke? A tiny hint of who he was shining through. She couldn’t be prouder that he felt comfortable enough to show even that. He returned his attention to Aries, putting his energy back into cuddling her. Aries deserved some love and comfort right now, so it made sense and right now, she’d only seek it from Leo. It would be a far longer time before she sought friendship from her mage. It was a shame as she could see her other self desperately wanted to do more for Aries. Sometimes doing nothing and waiting was the best choice, but watching suffering wasn’t the easiest thing either. She was sympathetic towards their plight.
Just as she was about to speak up, a giant explosion of magic blew up behind her. The magic warped and sizzled, transforming into a large green portal. From the other side she could hear her friends calling for her, telling her to hurry through.
“It seems your world’s Fairytail has found out a way to bring you back”
She turned to the portal for a moment, feeling a slight tug from her magic, it wasn’t just the guild members that wanted her back. Her spirits were worried too, they’d have to wait a moment for her. She turned back to them, heart breaking once more at how tired Leo and Aries were. A spirit should never look like this. Her gaze caught the other Lucy’s, this was a serious issue.
“Please look after them, seeing them like this…”
“Of course I will, they won’t go through this again while I’m alive, you should know that”
The other Loke and Aries were both surprised, eyes widening slightly as they stared at their new mage. She’d stepped closer to them, like she could protect them both from everything with her entire body. She’d done it almost automatically without thought, which was more proof that this Lucy was more like her. She could safely leave these two in her hands, it was a weight off her shoulders. Hopefully they will be able to slowly heal now. She waved her goodbyes, Lucy happily waved back, Aries was her normal shy self, while Loke was distracted. He was looking at his Lucy in what she hoped was newly forming trust. She took a long look at this small step towards mutual trust before she walked into the portal behind her.
She fell forward as the portal deposited her out. She landed against her friends, her team all excited and relieved to see her back. She answered their questions of if she is alright on autopilot, saying she’d explain everything later in a haze. She was happy that they’d mopped up and solved the problems here but it wasn’t what she could focus on right now. They pulled back from her, she was certain she was still talking mindlessly with them, as she glanced around. She eventually spotted that familiar orange head of hair.
Loke was stood by a group of tied up criminals, arms crossed as he glared down at them, almost asking them to move and give him an excuse to lash out. There was a nervous energy to him and a quick point to him was all the others needed to step back. Well, it was enough for Gray to understand, he was the only one who rivalled her care for Loke, and he quickly herded the others away. Erza quickly picked up the situation and helped him by quickly dragging the dark guild members away. Loke almost stopped her, clearly wanting something, but he quickly backed off under Erza’s glare. All he could do was lock gazes with her, and her world shrank to just them.
For a heartbeat her fears overwhelmed her, he seemed so angry, so like the defeated Leo, but relief filled them both as he relaxed at the sight of her. His shoulders slumped and tension left him.
“Lucy, thank the stars you’ve returned. You had me so worried…I might have gotten a bit rough with these idiots”
She could easily guess that. They’d unfortunately received his ire at not being able to stop her being sent away. If he’d been told beating them would bring her back, he'd have gone all out, even if that didn't help with the frustration. He half jogged over to her, eager to be near her again. He seemed relatively unharmed, his eyes weren't dulled and closed off. There was that spark to him that she enjoyed. He was definitely her Loke. The huge wave of everything she'd seen and just been through surged up within her once more and he stopped before her in alarm when he realised she was on the verge of breaking down.
“What’s wrong Lucy?”
He was staring at with so much open concern, nothing like the walled off distrust she’d just seen. He was so different from what he could have become, he could have been so alone, at least in this timeline he’d had the guild. He’d had Gray, Cana and eventually her. It filled her with so much relief to see him so expressive and kind, it broke her. Tears slowly started to pool in her eyes, unable to contain the sobs that escaped her.
“Y-you’re ok. You're not hurt. You’re not upset with me”
He tilted his head in confusion, looking her up and down for a moment, probably noting the few bruises on her. Could he sense his magic on her? That some form of Regulus had struck her?
“No, they weren’t much of a problem when the artefact was out of the way. I’m more stuck on the idea I’d be angry with you? Because you got attacked? I don’t understand Lucy, what did you see in that other universe?”
It was a valid question, but she wasn’t thinking logically right now. She was on the verge of an anxiety attack, a sharp edge cutting into her. Loke was here, he seemed to be his normal self, he wasn’t confused by the human name, by their familiarity. But what about-
“Wait! What about Aries?! Is she safe?”
The fear that her world had been swapped, her past changed, wouldn’t leave her. It was irrational she knew that, but she needed to know she had her Aries too. Loke stared at her baffled as she floundered with her key pouch. She fumbled but managed to pull out Aries’s key. She called on her magic and Aries appeared in front of her, besides Loke. For a brief moment she stopped breathing. Aries appeared to her, beaten and miserable, before her vision cleared and her timid yet kind sheep spirit was in front of her.
“H-hello Lucy. What do you need me to do?”
“Aries, you-” She cut herself off with a choked sob, reaching out to tenderly hold Aries’s hands. There was nothing binding her wrists, not a single bruise in sight. “Oh thank goodness you're ok too”
She finally allowed herself to properly cry, to let all her terror and relief pour out of her. She was safe, she was back in her universe, back to a time where she'd saved them.
“Ah Lucy! D-did I do something wrong? I’m sorry’
She shook her head forcefully. No, she'd never done a single thing wrong.
“No. It's not you Aries, I promise. I, I just-”
She couldn't force out the words. She'd have to explain at some point she knew that, but it was far too raw. Thankfully, Loke was willing to help her however he could.
“Lucy was forcefully sent to another universe, Aries.” A small gasp from her told her she now had some understanding of her reaction. Loke turned his attention back to her, almost seeming ready to cry himself. “I have no idea what you saw, but from your reaction to us. Did…Did something happen to Celestial spirits, or perhaps…just us, in that other world?”
She nodded, unable to speak through her tears. She hadn’t realised just how much the thought of her spirits, her family, going through so much torment would shake her to her very core. She felt a small pat on her arm and she glanced up to see Loke and Aries stood together, ready to comfort her. She broke again and rushed forward, wrapping an arm around the both of them.
“I-I won’t let it happen to you, to any of my spirits, I promise. I’ll work out a way to make sure it never happens”
Her other self had a point. It wasn’t fair that the law didn’t protect spirits like it did humans. When she passed on, a cruel owner could swipe her keys and they’d be in hell once more. She wouldn’t let that happen, she just couldn’t accept that fate. They slowly held her back, like she was going to break, not that she could blame them. They had no context for her tears after all.
“We believe you Lucy. I don't know what happened, but you're a strong, determined woman. If you say that so certainly, it will be true”
“R-right. Um, do you want us to stay? S-sorry if I'm being too presumptuous!”
She slowly leaned back. Aries seemed embarrassed, head lowered as she leaned against Loke. She let them go so Loke could focus on comforting his fellow spirit. She was so tired, from what she’d seen and now her magic usage, but that sounded amazing.
“Please. Could you stay with me today? I need…I need to see you're both safe”
“Of course Lucy. I'd stick by your side all day every day if you'd let me. We've got no plans, right Aries?”
He glanced at her and she gave a shy nod. She let out a sigh of relief, her bleeding heart threatening to bring her to tears again. She wouldn't feel right in herself, wouldn't be able to shift this anxiety inside her until she knew without doubt they were happy. All her spirits had to be safe and they had to want to be here, she'd need to make sure both were true for everyone again.
“Do you mind if we go back to my house then? After we hand in this job?”
She'd worried briefly she was putting them out but he lit up. Aries sagged a little in her own relief, the idea of suffering through a busy guild must have plagued her.
“Of course! Why, an afternoon with just two lovely ladies? Pinch me, I must be dreaming”
He shot her a wink, pleased with himself. He was trying his best to soothe her, so she'd go along with it.
“As long as you behave, I won't have to. Thank you, both of you, this means everything to me”
They shared a tranquil moment, before her team exploded back into her world, she'd forgotten all about them. Loke was quick to adjust to them, bickering and laughing with his old friends. Aries stayed back, sticking to her side like glue. The fact she felt far more secure next to her was like a salve onto a burn on her heart. It required a certain level of trust and faith in her and she took a moment to stay with a much braver Aries, one who would never be brutalised in that awful way, she'd make sure of it.
The first step was becoming strong and influential enough to get her ideas for new spirit protection laws heard.