Time Changes Everything

Things Change

   Lucy finished her training faster than Dragonis thought. They spent about half a year training before he took her around Fiore looking for the rest of the elemental keys. They managed to find Pegasus, the winged horse, resting on the edge of a cliff. Besides Pegasus however, they weren't very lucky. They supposed that meant that the rest of them were out of Fiore, which was something the blonde wasn't looking forward to doing. She didn't want to scour all of Earthland looking for keys for the rest of her life, but she supposed if it was for her friends, she would gladly do so. 

   Coming to the guild was harder than she thought it would be. What if they moved on without her? What if everything changed since she was gone and she recognized no one? Dragonis already explained to her a thousand times over that she was only gone a little over a year and that her friends wouldn't abandon her because of something like training. Lucy admitted to herself that she too didn't believe that they would do that to her, they were family after all. 

    The large wooden doors of the guild loomed over the blonde, enveloping her in a sense of foreboding. She had no idea what to expect when she pushed the doors open. Her outward appearance hadn't changed too drastically, her already waist length hair grew longer, brushing just past her butt when it was down. Her body was nicely toned, a testament to just how far she had come in the year away from her home. The rowdiness of the guild almost hurt her ears, she wasn't used to all this noise, something that Dragonis said she would have to readjust to once she got back. The stench of alcohol was always strong, but with her heightened sense of smell it almost had her stomach rolling. 

   Summoning every ounce of courage she had, she pushed the doors open, the sound of the guild's current brawl hitting her ears. The intensity had tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she made her way through the turmoil to the bar. Lucy spotted Mira cleaning a section of the counter off and sat down in front of it, the movement catching the white haired barmaid's attention. The shocked look she got from her was what she expected, but the way her face paled and she grew antsy had Lucy tilting her head in confusion. 

   Lucy hadn't expected the ear piercing shriek to come from her either. Lucy hissed, covering her ears with her hands as the sound echoed throughout her brain. Remembering what Dragonis had said a few days into their training ringing loud and clear in her mind now. He couldn't explain why her hearing was more sensitive than that of the other slayers, but Lucy didn't mind, it brought her an edge in her battles that was almost unfair. Mira's skin was still stark white and the scream that tore from her lips caught the attention of the rest of the guild.

   They paused in their brawl to look at the bar, their gaze landing on the blonde as she turned to look at her family. They too seemed to have drained of all color. It was as if they were scared of something, but what she couldn't explain. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and her gaze shifted from the frozen group in front of her to the guild doors, it seemed as if someone else was approaching. An unfamiliar scent hit her nose as well as one she could never forget. The scent of cinnamon and musk with a hint of something she could never put to name, almost like window cleaner. 

   She couldn't fight the rumble that started in her chest as she breathed in the scent that haunted her dreams since she had left. The scent was mixed in so well with the unfamiliar scent that followed him that she could barely make out that it was two people. The one she didn't recognize wreaked of mint and beer, something that made her nose burn from it's intensity. The guild doors opened and her eyes met with the familiar tanned skin and maroon colored hair of her mate, someone she had missed most of all. His indigo eye locked onto hers instantly and his face seemed to fall momentarily before he was pushed aside lightly and a girl with green hair made her way inside, smiling at the man before she tugged on his hand and pulled him inside. 

   Besides the green haired girl's mindless chatter, the rest of the guild was silent, almost deafeningly so. Lucy could hear the pounding of her heart in her chest in her ears as he was dragged over to a table where the girl forced him to sit down and cuddled up into his side. Her gaze hardened and Lucy spun around in her chair and turned to face Mira, the whiteness of her face still there as she took in a deep breath before giving the blonde a weak smile.

   "Welcome home Lucy." Mira squeaked before she rushed off into the kitchen, hiding from the harsh look that took up residence on the blonde's face. 

   The guild's noise picked up ever so slightly at the departure of Mira, the brawl no longer raging seeing as the now festering blonde seemed to take away from the edge that they had built up. Lucy wasn't too surprised if she was being honest. She didn't expect for anyone to wait up for her and judging by the multiple shared booths that many of her close friends were sharing, Cobra and that green haired bitch wasn't the only ones to hook up. Natsu and Lisanna were sitting comfortably with one another, chatting amongst themselves, Gray and Juvia were blushing at something Erza said to them, their hands clasped together under the table, Gajeel and Levy were relaxing over at a table towards the corner of the guild, neither speaking but enjoying the other's company. 

   Lucy couldn't be here right now, the air around her felt stifling. Rising from her stool, she made her way to the stairs up to the second story and towards Master's office. She passed Laxus and his team as she went by, the look on the blond's face had her already sour mood even worse. Growling at the pity that shined so obviously in his storm gray eyes, she paused in her mission and whirled on the blond. 

   "I don't care about what is going on down there, so if I see your worthless pity for me on your face again I promise the Spirit King that I will bury you, ya got that Dick Cheese?" Lucy hissed, her brown eyes lighting up in anger as she looked amongst the five of them at the table.

   The group nodded, wide eyed as the girl only nodded before continuing on her way to Master's office. 

   "What the hell just happened?" Laxus asked mostly to himself as he sat, wide eyed and slightly shaken up at the fire that lit up behind the blonde's eyes as she threatened them.

   "I have no idea, but if she keeps up with the bad girl persona I'm gonna give her a reason to be growling like that." Bickslow couldn't help but grin at the thought, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. 

   "Yeah, like that will ever happen." Laxus chuckled at the offended look that crossed the Seith mage's face.

   "What makes you think she won't want to take a ride on the bang train?" Bickslow raised an eyebrow, earning a hearty laugh from the behemoth of a blond in front of him. 

   "She's already got her eyes set on the prize, now the only thing she has to do is play the game." Laxus reclined in his chair, tilting his head to look out from the balcony to stare down at the poison slayer. 

   Cobra ignored the girl attached to his arm in exchange for watching as Lucy stomped her way up the stairs to the second floor. He saw her freeze momentarily before she spun on her heel and stormed towards Laxus and his team. She whispered quietly enough that even his hearing couldn't pick up on it and for some reason he couldn't hear her soul. He wasn't quite sure what had happened while she was gone, but he knew things had definitely changed.