Souls Entwined: Remake

Chapter 1

Cobra and Bickslow were really starting to get on her nerves. Lucy could handle being looked at, a few glances here and there were fine. It was the constant staring that she had a problem with. Did they have nothing better to do than to sit there and stare at her? But the bigger question was; since when did Cobra and Bickslow become the best of friends? They were the last two people Lucy expected to become friends. She couldn't think of any reason as to what compelled the two men to gang up and make Lucy the focus of their attention. At the very least, it was unnerving and Lucy had had enough.

At the very least, she could sort of understand why Cobra would be so interested in her. Lucy figured that he still didn't trust anyone in the guild after joining. Cobra had been like this ever since he'd been forced to join a guild after being proven innocent of all the accused crimes against him. He refused to go on any missions with anyone and usually didn't spend much time in the guild other than to keep up regular appearances. Until a few weeks ago, when, out of nowhere, he became best friends with Bickslow.

Bickslow on the other hand had always been paying attention to her just a lot more now that Cobra was here. The motivation behind the attention was very different though. Usually it was just a few cat calls, even a possible "hello" but nothing major. Certainly not like anything they've been doing for the past three weeks. It was driving Lucy insane. She needed to leave the guild before she killed somebody. Levy could see Lucy's frustration and piped up from behind her book, "Why don't you go home and get some rest, Lu? I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow."

Lucy was grateful for an excuse to leave and smiled at Levy before saying her goodbyes and getting up to leave the guild. On the way home, she felt like someone was watching her. She had a chilling feeling running up her spine. She warily glanced over her shoulder and halted when she turned around and saw Cobra and Bickslow close behind. Part of her was creeped out that they had followed her in complete silence, obviously not wanting to be noticed and part of her was furious. They were really pushing their luck with following close behind her like a pair of lost puppies. Was privacy not a thing anymore? She glared at them, "What's wrong with you two?! Why are you following me?!"

Bickslow stuck out his tongue, "We need to talk to you Cosplayer". Cobra smirked but on the inside, he was nervous. What they were doing wasn't the conventional way to treat their mate but the two of them couldn't figure out any other way considering their shared history with the girl. Bickslow and Cobra both shared a glance at each other before gently grabbing hold of Lucy's arms and leading her towards her house. "How do you know where I live!?" Cobra winced a little from Lucy's shriek into his sensitive ear and replied, "I'm a Dragon slayer, Princess" Lucy was shocked at the nickname. If Cobra was one of her close friends, he would know that she despised being called a Princess. It brought back bad memories of her childhood.

Once they reached her house she quickly got out her keys and let them in. She shut the door behind them but didn't lock it just in case she needed to run. Lucy had no idea what these two were up to. The two men sat down on her couch while Lucy stood in the hallway, confused. They didn't even have the decency to be hesitant before making themselves be right at home. Lucy clenched her jaw in anger and huffed before sitting in the chair opposite them, wanting to be as far away from them as possible. She skeptically looked at them and guestured for them to start talking.

They finally showed a crack in their confident facade as Bickslow nervously cleared his throat and shifted on the couch, as though just the thought of speaking to Lucy made him uncomfortable. "Ahem, well Cosplayer, there's no easy way to say what I'm going to say. I don't think you'd appreciate some long-winded and stretched out speech so I'm going to go straight to the point.." He takes a deep breath before continuing, "..You're our mate".

Lucy wasn't sure if they were telling the truth or not. She sat there with her mouth gaping open in shock and astonishment. Mates? She thought they were a myth that mothers told their daughters to make them feel special. She hastily stood up and excused herself to the kitchen. Her mind was overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. Suddenly, she found it hard to breath and her eyes rolled back and her legs buckled as she collapsed onto the hard kitchen floor. Her body landed on the floor with a sudden thump and the two men rushed to the kitchen to find their mate lying on the floor, unconscious.

Quickly, Cobra leaned down and picked her up, carrying her to the bed and gently laying her on it. Bickslow could only bring himself to say, "That went well" in a pathetic attempt to try to lighten the mood. Cobra gave him a weak laugh and agreed, but he was more worried about his knocked out mate in front of him. Lucy's reaction was clear enough to the both of them that this wasn't going to get better overnight. Cobra just hoped that she wouldn't be too hasty to reject them, most likely not knowing about the damage a mate's rejection can cause.

~~~

Cobra and Bickslow patiently waited for their mate to awake. They sat apart from each other, in complete silence. Both of them were thinking about all of the talking and convincing that they would have to do to be able to persuade Lucy to give them a chance. Bickslow and Cobra had already come to terms with the fact that they would have to share, although that's not to say they were happy about it. Each man wanted Lucy for themselves. While they were deep in thought, Lucy showed signs of waking up. Her eyes slowly opened and she turned her head to look around the room. She sat up in bed rather quickly when she saw no signs of neither Bickslow, nor Cobra. Had it all been a dream? But then why did her head hurt? She stretched and yawned but jumped and fell of the bed when she heard two different chuckles coming from the doorway. "A dream? Princess, I thought you were smarter than that". Lucy jumped in surprise and frowned when Cobra used his magic to read her mind. It seemed that nothing about her would be private anymore. As they stood right in front of her bed, Lucy took the time to look around Bickslow's figure and noticed something. "Bickslow, where are your floating friends?" Bickslow laughed, "Well Cosplayer, my 'floating friends' are at my house since I didn't think you'd like the extra company".

Lucy was feeling rather embarrassed at being laughed at but neither man seemed to care about that. Lucy was quick to continue the conversation from before she fainted, not wanting to waste any time in getting answers. "What do you mean we're mates? How do you know?" Cobra briefly looked over at Bickslow before answering, "What we mean is that you are the one person we will spend our life with, since both of our magics cause us to need one. Dragon slayers need mates to be able to complete their training and Soul magic needs a mate to complete their souls and strengthen their magic. In short, without you, we won't be complete." Lucy's head was spinning with all of this new knowledge, how was she supposed to react to this news? It wasn't everyday that she was told that she was not only the mate to one of her past enemies but two!

"What are we going to do now then?". Lucy's tone reflected just how baffled she was about this whole situation. Bickslow shocked her with a surprisingly serious answer, "I think we should start by getting to know each other. It is all your decision but please give us the chance to show you that we have changed and to show you how much you mean to us". Lucy nodded in understanding; she knew he must be desperate if he was being serious. Rubbing her head, she slowly got up and looked at the two men in front of her, individually looking into their eyes. Their eyes begged for them and Lucy didn't have the heart to say no. She smiled at them, "Okay, we'll take it slow. Now get out, I'll meet you at the guild in the morning." She had enough to think about for one night and needed times to herself to process it all. She wasn't the least bit regretful when she 'kicked' them out of her house. If you consider a polite request and some nudging as kicking them out. Thankfully, they left with a swift goodbye and some light chuckling from Bickslow. Lucy locked her door behind them and headed back to bed, she needed to lie down again.