Celestial Heart (A Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Chapter 7: Let's NOT Do That Again

Winter: For this chapter (or at least part of it) I've asked a friend to write it for me. Little too.... much for me to write so early on, ya know?

Lucy: In truth, Winter doesn't remember it, and asked Loke to describe what happened to our friend so she could write it for her.

Winter: Lucy!

Lucy: Hurry up and read before Natsu gets here! He's been wanting to talk for ages now!

*Natsu bursts in, flaming fists in the air*

Natsu: Alright Happy! I found them!

Happy: *floats in after Natsu* Aye, sir! Let's steal the spotlight!

Winter: For the love of kami, just read!

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Third Person's POV

Winter stood, stock-still, as her heart raced, seemingly trying to outdo even Jet with his High Speed magic. She couldn't move. She simply couldn't. And the fact infuriated her far more than she would have expected.

Perhaps it was because while cursed with immobility, she was forced to watch her newfound friend(?) be attacked by a severely overgrown demon.

Yes, that certainly explained everything.

Her warning, her desperate shout of "Loke" hadn't seemed to do the trick, as the poor mage was pounced upon and flung backwards into a wall.

Winter sucked in a harsh breath that brought the fire of adrenaline rushing through her veins. Was she just going to stand there like a doll while Loke was turned into a demon's midnight snack?

She reached instinctively for her belt loop, cursing when her fingers snatched at empty air. Not good, she thought, biting back a frustrated scream. All the while, the demon advanced on the dazed Loke, who was only just peeling himself off the harsh wall of the spacious cavern with the soaring roof.

"Yo ugly!"

Winter froze as the words left her lips. The world deafened around her, save for the constant drip, drip, drip of water against the cool stone floor somewhere off to her left. The demon's feral, canine-esque head slowly wrenched around to gaze at her with slicked, bulbous eyes that glowed a hellish red in the half-light of the cavern.

The young blonde offered a shaky smirk as she bent down to snatch sizeable rock from the ground. She tossed it mockingly on her palm, up and down, up and down. "Yeah, I meant you," she sneered, doing her best to keep the beast's attention off the recovering Loke. With a quick jerk of her arm, she launched the stone at the demon's face, managing to smash it against one slimy eye.

It bellowed in rage and swung around on all fours to square off with her.

Well this should be fun, she thought dryly. Beads of nervous sweat trickled down the back of her neck, making her shiver in anticipation. Oh how she longed to have the familiar comfort of her Celestial Spirits with her. Hell, she'd even take Aquarius at this point! Though Winter had to admit, the irate Spirit was more than likely to leave her for dead rather than save her hide.

Damn fish-woman.

At this moment, Winter was very much glad she'd been persistent in her fights to join in sports as a child. While her family would have preferred she never stray from the house, she fought tooth and nail for the right to play with those children of the nearest town. Lucy had been a bit more submissive at that age. She wouldn't have had the reflexes, or the stamina, to even stand a chance of outmaneuvering this beast.

Winter balanced on the balls of her feet as she watched the demon creep closer, poised to run if given the red flag. A flash of fangs, a glint of claws as they swiped for her.... She knew enough about wild animals to understand which actions signaled an attack.

Did demons even count as wild animals?

She had no time to think. The demon curled its lip in a snarl, eyes sparking with unbridled rage at being thrown like a ragdoll, and--

"Winter!"

Said girl winced at the sharp tone of Loke's voice. Either he was quite angry with her or he was worried. Neither choice seemed the least bit appealing to her, given the situation. Worse, though, was the fact that the demon immediately turned to the source of the fresh screams, a cue to weak prey.

She opened her mouth to shout, to scream, any sort of sound that would grab the beast's undivided attention, but she was too late.

Loke, who'd stumbled away from the wall, was made into a target once more as the demon bunched its considerable muscles and leaped, howling out an indistinguishable cry of rage.

And, once again, Winter was left to watch in horror. Loke, too delirious from knocking his head against the wall to even think of his magic, was swept aside and sent skidding across the ground like some sort of plaything. The demon stalked ever closer to him, taking slow, deliberate steps, eyes dancing with a fire Winter recognized as joy. This thing was playing with Loke, before eventually ending his life.

"Oh I'll murder this thing," Winter growled, anxiously looking around for anything she could use as a weapon. Rocks weren't going to do shit against something like this, as the only weak point she'd yet been able to see was its eyes, and while she had good aim, and the targets were huge, those hits were not going to have any major impact.

It crept closer and closer to Loke.

"Oh damn it all!" Winter tore at her hair in frustration, coming up short in the weapons search. She desperately ran through her head every type of Solid Script magic she knew, but nothing seemed strong enough. Fire, water, ice, steel, flowers? What could they do against a demon?

Oh.

A flash of light? Could she daze the thing and drag Loke out? She cocked a worried brow. It was worth a try, wasn't it?

Winter held her hand aloft, concentrating all her magic into creating the biggest, flashiest LIGHT she'd ever done. The warm sensation she associated with magic swept through her, thrumming with her rapid, quaking heartbeat. And she produced....

A spark that was worth less than shit to her.

Before she had time to curse herself out with a fluidity she hadn't realized she possessed, the back of her head exploded in pain. Both her hands were thrown back to clutch at the binding wrapped around her skull, her face twisted into a grimace so full of pain it made one cringe to see it. Winter nearly dropped to her knees, shivering and sweating. So this was her limit, it appeared. How pitiful.

An agonized scream threatened to tear free from her lips, but she clenched her teeth in rebellion, swearing to herself that she would fight through this. The gleeful growl she heared from the demon helped focus her scattered mind, bringing her back to the more pressing issue.

Winter cracked open her tear-blurred eyes, hands still pressed fully to her bleeding head. She only managed to keep one eye open through the pain, even when she bit down on the inside of her cheek in hopes of counteracting the agony with something fresher. Blood exploded in her mouth, the metallic tang coating her tongue, making her want to retch. She ignored the feeling.

The demon was standing over Loke now, saliva dripping from the curved fangs that poked over it's jutting jaw. No. That one word, so simple and so certain, played through her head, over and over. The demon opened its grotesque mouth, already bending down to Loke.

No.

Winter moved without thinking, her body reacting with the primal instinct that fear brought out in every human. Her mind no longer raced. She had one thought that she embraced with all her heart.

It was her fault they were down there in the first place.

She was going to save Loke, no matter the cost.

"Nooooooooooooo!!!!"

This scream rang out as she dived forward, just as the beast made a final lunge, and grabbed hold of Loke, leaning over him to take the blow.

An explosion of air swept through the cavern, followed by a blinding burst of golden light. All Winter could hear was an obnoxious ringing.

But she caught the clang of steel that sliced through her half-coherant thoughts.

"Miss Winter!" a familiar voice shouted, the same disturbing adoration coating his words, though it wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been if Lucy had been present. "Moooo! I've come to protect your perfect body!"

Winter felt faint with relief. Blood trickled from the back of her head, staining her already dirtied hair as it dripped down her cheeks, dropping to the floor. "Thank God it wasn't Aquarius," she murmured. Mustering up her remaining strength, Winter looked over her shoulder at the muscular bovine who had appeared from thin air and without the usual aid of his Key. "Taurus, you mind taking care of that thing?" She jerked her chin at the demon he was currently holding off with ease. His large axe was propping open its gaping jaws, keeping it from snapping them closed around Winter's head.

The Spirit grinned. "Anything for yooooooooooou, Miss Winter!" Taurus snatched back his axe and knocked the demon to the side, away from Winter and Loke. He lunged after it, axe swinging above his head. He brought it down upon the demon's head, slicing through both muscle and bone. Waves of shadows sprayed the air upon impact, demon's blood. Taurus made another swing at its neck, rending its head from its body in one foul swoop.

The demon burst into shadows and dissolved into the nothingness of its beginning.

With a cheesy grin, Taurus strode back to his summoner.

Winter felt rather degraged at this point. It took her Spirit all of five seconds to dispose of the horrid thing and she couldn't she squat. Well, one thing was for sure after this encounter. Loke or not, she was never leaving her Spirits home while out on a job again.

"Taurus." Winter's call was weak; however she managed to summon him in the first place, she knew his time was limited to her magic, and that was running dangerously low just then. "One more thing before you go. I need to you to--" She winced, biting her lip to keep from screaming. The pain had intensified. "--take the both of us back up to the surface. Oh and...." Winter cast a longing look at the treasure box sitting, miraculously untouched, in the shallow depression left behind by the monster. "That too...."

Her head drooped, falling against Loke's chest. She hadn't managed to roll off him yet. The poor mage was half-awake, barely aware of what was going on. But when he caught sight of Winter, bleeding and near unconsciousness, lying atop him, he jolted into awareness despite his own injuries.

Taurus deftly plucked up the box first, giving Loke a moment to recognize him. His eyes widened behind his undamaged glasses and he quickly tugged up is fur-lined hood, pulling it down around his face to hide himself as best he could. He wrapped one arm around Winter, pulling her with him as he slowly sat up, ignoring his aching body.

In that dreary little cave, Loke hated being human.

Taurus, having retrieved the treasure as per Winter's request, came back around to the injured duo. Upon seeing his beloved Winter in Loke's arms, he became slightly enraged, and only a quick order from Winter herself brought him back to his original purpose. Winter, knowing he would return to the Spirit World the moment she lost consciousness, fought to stay awake, forcing her heavy eyelids up. She vaguely acknowledged Loke's hood being up.

Taurus, too bothered to care much about Loke's real identity, was only gentle with the man because he still held Winter securely. The bovine Spirit easily carried both the two exhausted mages and the chest of treasures (whose worth could not compare to the lives of those who had gone after it) out of the cave, down the tunnel and to the hole Winter had stumbled upon. He made an agile leap up to solid ground, where he promptly winked out of existence after carefully setting down his passengers.

Loke breathed out a sigh of relief.

Taurus hadn't recognized him.

That left him only with the problem of what to do with Winter, who by this point was no longer among the waking world.

Loke managed to stand and held Winter over his shoulder with one arm, using his free hand to take hold of the chest.

Winter would murder him if he abandoned it now.

And so, the heartthrob of a mage set out for Akane Beach with his unconscious partner and their well-earned spoils.













Winter's POV

Loke told me that old pervert was not happy to see that he had returned alive. Me, he was ecstatic about, unfortunately. In any case, Loke handed over the damn treasure, received payment, and used some of it to get me treated by the local doctor.

I survived. Hooray for me!

We made it back to Magnolia several days later, where I was instantly swarmed by Lucy and Natsu, who asked annoying questions. Lucy was a bit distraught to learn of how beat up I'd become, but I managed to wave away her worries pretty easily. Natsu was just glad I was back, because he asked me to fight him.

I said why the hell not.

Both Loke and Lucy thought I'd suffered severe brain trauma.

Happy asked me if I'd brought him any exotic fish.

Well, the rent got paid, and I'll tell you that it didn't have anything to do with Lucy. Her job with Natsu produced zero income for the two of us, because Natsu apparently took the high road and refused to accept payment even after the job was complete. Lucy was furious with him, I admired his ethics.

But all this happened several days ago. Natsu had agreed to let me rest a few days before our fight, for which I was grateful. That knock to the head was way worse than I would have ever thought, and I was bed-ridden for days in Lucy's and my apartment. On her orders, of course. If it had been just me I would have allowed myself some time to get up and walk around, but nope, Lucy was having none of that.

It gave me a lot of time to consider my fight with Natsu, though.

No Celestial Spirits. That wouldn't be fair. And I hadn't really had a chance to display my other magical skills at that point, so I was all for a match with the eccentric Flame Mage. I was going to have fun.

I stood in front of our shared mirrored, studying the fading bruises that lined my arms. With a quiet chuckle, I pulled down the sleeves of my black jacket and flexed my fingers. You had to love fingerless gloves.

The grin that faced me when I returned my gaze to the mirror was a little startling. It was weird that I could've so happy after nearly dying. And I assure you, it wasn't that "I'm gonna live to the fullest cause I survived!" stuff that most people offer up as an excuse. My joy was simple, caused by nothing more than the anticipation before a good match.

I was stacked up against the Salamander from Fairy Tail, one of the most destructive and powerful Mages of his generation. And I planned to win.

Lucy would've called me crazy, said I was lost in some daydream. Did that deter me? Not particularly. Lucy never agreed with my ideas, especially not when they involved magic. Or fighting. And oh look! This had both!

I shared another grin with myself in the mirror before bending down to securely tie my shoes. Didn't wanna trip and fall in the middle of a fight and get my ass handed to me, now did I?

I snatched my bag from where it dangled on the back of Lucy's Writing Chair and headed for the door. Lucy was already at the Guild; she was probably wailing on Natsu for coming up with this idea. I hoped she didn't hurt him too much. That wouldn't be fair for our fight and I did not want win like that.

I was just closing the door behind me when I turned around and smacked into someone's chest. Groaning, I reeled back and glared at the damn brick wall that had almost busted my nose. Blood before a fight was just unsightly. And pathetic, but that's beside the point. "Blind people shouldn't be walking the streets alone," I muttered irritably.

"I'm not blind."

Eh? That was a voice I wasn't really expecting to here. "Fullbuster," I greeted, nodding up at him. "Good to see you fully clo--" I broke off with a sigh when I realized he was in his boxers again. I cocked a brow, subtly shifting my eyes between his bare chest and his unimpressed face.

He caught the meaning after a moment and stiffened with an indignant, "Ack! Shit!"

I offered him a cheesy grin and pulled him back before he could run off in search of clothes. "Forget it," I told him. "Just tell me why you're here for seemingly no reason. You know you're making me late for a fight, right?"

"Right." He crossed his arms, seeminly comfortable despite being almost nude in public. A few people strolled past us, whispering to each other when they caught sight of Gray. But when I leveled an exaggerated glare at them, hands held on my hips, they flinched and nearly sprinted just to get away from me. Ha, I loved being scary. Came with the insanity, I suppose. "This fight of yours. Do you want to die?"

I snorted on impulse. Oh, I was damn sexy wasn't I? "Really, Gray? You, of all people, are going to tell me that Natsu is too strong for me to fight?"

"Flame Brain's no match for someone like me," he replied, shrugging. "But we haven't seen your skills before. I'm just making sure you aren't going into this half-assed."

"Why thank you, Prince Icebox, your concern is touching." I smirked a bit as he scowled at my lame attempt at an insult. "But I'll be fine. Trust me. Lucy may not have anything up her sleeve besides her Keys, but I'm a little different. Our mom had books about magic, and I would always read them when I was little. I found a style that suits me pretty well, and I practiced for hours, days and years to get it right. Natsu'll be the one in for a rough surprise today."

"Anyway," I drawled, spinning around to unlock my door. "Just give me a second and people will stop staring at you." While Gray turned around to scowl at the passersby who dared to gawk at him, I slipped back inside the apartment and grabbed what I was looking for from the back of my dresser drawer. Coming back outside, I locked the door once more and shoved the pants in Gray's face. "Now dress before fangirls mob you."

He raised a brow at me, as in "Why the hell do you have a pair of men's jeans in my size just randomly in your house?"

I sighed. "I think I grabbed the wrong bag when I went shopping the other day. I just didn't feel like returning them, and Lucy wouldn't do it for me. Do you want them or not, Ice Princess?"

"I thought I was a prince," he muttered irritably as he tugged on the jeans. He was barefoot still, but he didn't appear to care much. Most likely, he was used to the situation.

"Of course you are," I said cheekily. "My prince in shining icy armor. Now c'mon, let's get a move on so Natsu doesn't burn down the town looking for me." I hooked arms with him despite his clear irked-ness at my doing so, and began to lead him down the path that led to Fairy Tail. "So, what do you my chances of winning are?"

"Slim."

"Be more specific."

"Negative point seven percent."

"...........Stupid Ice Princess............"

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This is late and kinda lame. I'm very sorry. No joke. I thought this would turn out better, but it didn't and it pissed me off but there's nada I can do about it, so there you go. Thanks to those who still read this! You are lovely people!