Time Changes Everything

Journey

   Catching the train, Lucy realized wasn't going to be the hard part about the mission. Having to sit with a dragon slayer should've been an obvious obstacle but it barely registered in her head as the two found an empty compartment and sat down for the three hour ride. The green hue that tinted Cobra's normally tan face brought that small hindrance to life. 

   Before he could get sick, Lucy pulled him into her lap, running her hands through his hair and watching as he settled down almost immediately. A purr rumbled up in his chest, his eye no longer clenched shut but fluttering lightly against his cheek. Lucy giggled at the peaceful look on his face, the sound drawing Cobra's attention back to the blonde.

   "Whatcha laughing about now Starshine?" Cobra asks, raising a hand to brush at her bangs that fell over her eyes. 

   "Starshine? What happened to Bright Eyes?" Lucy asks, tilting her head as she scrutinized the man in her lap. 

   "Gotta keep you on your toes somehow." Was the man's short response before his eyes slipped closed once more and fell into a light slumber. 

   With the gentle rocking of the train car and the constant purr that came rumbling from Cobra's chest, Lucy found herself falling asleep just as fast as he did. They were both rudely awoken by the conductor's loud voice echoing from the intercom of the train, announcing their arrival to Crocus. Stepping off the train with the mission request in hand and their luggage for their overnight stay with Virgo in the Spirit Realm, they made their way to the city center. Finding the council building was easy, it easily towered over every other building next to it and was plainly marked as such. 

   Knocking on the front door, they waited patiently for someone to answer. A maid peered around the crack in the door, asking what their business was at the capital building. Lucy held up the request form and introduced herself and her partner to the woman, watching as the lady glanced hesitantly towards Cobra before nodding her head and unlocking the door fully. Sidestepping to the side to let the two in she led them down the hallway and into a lounge, telling them to wait for the Mayor there and that she would be back shortly. 

   "Ya know, I don't understand why they didn't just get Sabertooth to take the mission, they are literally in Crocus." Lucy grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she thought aloud.

   "The answer to that question in simple, my dear. Having a guild such as Sabertooth preform this job would jeopardize what I am trying to accomplish." A rather soft voice filtered through the room grabbing both occupants attention as a rather stout man came waddling through the door. 

   "Good afternoon Mr. Harfeld. It's a pleasure." Lucy bowed her head slightly, smiling at the old man as he came to sit across from the two. 

   "Good afternoon to you too, Ms. Heartfilia. It really is a pleasure to be in your company again." The mayor smiled at her briefly before donning a serious expression. "As you can tell by the request, this is a more tame job, but I advise you take extreme caution retrieving the materials I inscribed on the request, some of the items are rather difficult to retrieve. Lucky you however, they are all found in the forest to the north of Crocus so it isn't a far trek to get there." 

   Lucy nodded her head, asking a few more questions before they were dismissed and told where the first of their items was generally located. Deciding that it would be beneficial to start looking now, they began heading north, the cobblestone streets melting into dirt paths. Cobra kept and ear out for any disturbances in the air around them as well as any noise that could prove to be an enemy or dangerous animal. Lucy kept and eye out for the items that the Mayor had described. He said it shouldn't take all too long to find them, as they tend to grow around one another, but finding them in large quantities that he needed would prove to be tedious. Lucy didn't mind the task, it was peaceful to wander around the forest, finding the sounds of nature around her to be comforting. 

   "How does your magic work?" Cobra suddenly spoke up, his hands folded behind him as he marched along side her.

   Lucy cast him a sidelong glance, before she delved into something no one really asked her about. "Opening one of my spirit's gates takes quite a bit of magical energy, especially one of the Zodiac keys. Once the gate is opened, I have to pour a continuous flow of energy into the bond to hold them open, plus some for each spell they cast. Holding open more than one key at a time is incredibly difficult and shouldn't be attempted for if you drain yourself of your magic completely you would fall unconscious. It took me years of practice and dedication to get anywhere close to where I'm at now and I still have a long way to go if I am to hold open all of them."

   "How hard is it for you to hold out your elemental key?" Cobra asked after a second of thought.

   Lucy paused to think about it. It had been awhile since she called upon any of her keys let alone her elemental key. Pulling Corvus out of her belt, she held the key out in front of her before calling upon the spirit. With a puff of black smoke, the spirit stood before her, his head bent down towards the short blonde. 

   "How can I be of service My Lady?" Corvus' deep voice sent shivers down her spine. 

   "Do you want to keep us company Corvus? Maybe that way we can have three sets of eyes on the look out. Well two and a half actually." Lucy added as an afterthought as she glanced over to Cobra.

   The spirit didn't seem annoyed with the request and the three fell into a comfortable silence. Thinking back on Cobra's question and the noticeable dip in her magic containers, Lucy decided that holding out one of the elemental keys was significantly more difficult than any of her other keys. 

   "Of course Princess. The Spirit King didn't make our keys to be out-shined by the Zodiac." Corvus responded easily, startling the blonde out of her thoughts. 

   "I guess you're right. I hope I get to find another one of you guys soon." Lucy cooed as she scanned the area over for the plants.

   Within a few hours she had gathered a decent amount of the plants the Mayor had asked for and then some. The blonde found out that the flower that bloomed from these plants could make a really potent poison and thought it would be a perfect thing for Cobra to snack on around the house. The sun had long set and the two were now in their shared hotel room, Corvus back in the Spirit Realm as they hunkered down for the night. 

   Cobra had already passed out, his soft snores filling the room as Lucy lie awake. She couldn't sleep now, not with the thoughts that ran rampant in her head. The distrust Cobra kept showing was starting to dissipate and she was hoping that he would start to trust her more. She wouldn't get her hopes up, but maybe soon she could actually call the man a reliable friend. No matter how long it took for her to break him out of her shell, she promised herself that she would help him no matter what, and Celestial mages never broke their promises. 

***

Hello Everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to update this story. If I'm being honest, I just didn't feel up to continuing this. But after a long break from the entire show, I came back to this and decided that enough was enough and that this story deserved to go on. Thank you to everyone who had read this and will continue to do so in the future. 

With that being said, I wanted to know if any of you were interested in reading a GaLu story. I've been wanting to write one since I started this story but with this one being in the works I don't want to start another one and neglect this one. If you all are interested I would gladly start a GaLu story and post that one as well. (I'll most likely do it anyway, but if you want to see it please let me know, it will motivate me to do it more!)

Thank you for reading and hopefully I will get another chapter out there quicker than I did this one.