Souls Entwined: Remake

Chapter 3

Braving her fears, Lucy opened the door and came face to face with the two people on her mind. She stepped aside, a silent invitation for them to come inside. Hearing small giggles, she watched as Bickslow's dolls all follow him inside. Lucy closed the door behind them and watched as they sat on opposite ends of the couch she had recently occupied. It was clear that they wanted her to fill the space between them, a very literate metaphor but she chose to stand in front of them. She was feeling too restless to sit and stay calm.

She took a deep breath and faced the two men as they expectedly looked at her, "The reason that I wanted us all to be here was so we could try to work this out. I mean, how is this going to work? I've never even dated one man before nevermind being involved in something as committed as having two mates." As she spoke, Lucy could feel herself getting more worked up and stopped to calm herself. Sensing her discomfort, Cobra leaned over in his seat, "We'll just take things slowly and make sure that you're okay with everything before taking the next step". Lucy may have been shocked at the sincerity in his voice but she found comfort in it and simply nodded. There was a comfortable silence for a few moments before Bickslow interrupted.

"You've never been in a relationship before, Cosplayer?" Lucy's eye twitched as she threw a pillow at him. She felt some satisfaction as it hit him right in his smug little face. Despite her slight discomfort on their situation, she found herself becoming more relaxed, as though she was talking with her two best friends. With all three of them so deep in conversation, no one noticed the time slip away. They shook out of their small bubble of contentment when Lucy's clock ticked loud, showing that it was quite late in the night. Clearing her throat, Lucy stood up, "Well it was fun to talk with you I guess. Um, goodnight." Lucy inwardly cringed at herself, she felt like an awkward teenager around the older boys. Cobra and Bickslow both got up and headed out but not before each of them gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "See you later, Cosplayer" and "Sweet dreams, Princess" echoed through the room as she shut the door behind them. When the two men left, she found herself disappointed as she was enjoying their company. She shook her head, she shouldn't let her walls down so easily. It was only going to end badly.

Yes, she had agreed to give them a chance but it had been a day and already things were moving too quickly for Lucy's liking. But she couldn't help it. Now that she had sort of accepted them as her mates, there was a pull towards them that Lucy found very difficult to ignore. She needed to take things slow, to make sure that this was something she wanted and to make sure that she wasn't going to get hurt from this.

Lucy stopped thinking about it and went to take a bath to clear her head. She went to the bathroom and switched on the taps, undressed and got in. She used this time to let the stress of the day leave her body and mind. It was only until Lucy felt herself start to fall asleep that she got out of the bath and went to bed. Her clock showed that it was actually midnight which meant that Lucy better go to sleep otherwise she would be too tired to go on her mission in the morning. Lucy had picked a mission to complete with Levy, since she was getting rather lonely without Gajeel. Lucy was also feeling a bit left out after team Natsu had left to complete a mission without her. She wasn't strong enough, they'd told her. They both decided to do a mission together to distract them. It wasn't particularly hard and Lucy was running a little low on money to pay her rent anyway. The job was to help rebuild a small town that had been attacked by recently defeated Wyverns.

Lucy started packing for her trip as she would definitely be there for more than one day. She packed a weeks worth of warm clothing and washing products as well as some money she might need. Lucy then went to bed and drifted into a deep sleep. She dreamed of a crimson haired man with a scar over his eye and a certain soul Mage with glowing green eyes. When she awoke, she was left hot and breathless but unable to remember the dream itself. She just knew it was about the new additions in her life.

In need of a good wash, Lucy took a quick shower and washed her hair, being quick to try and towel dry it. She then hurried to pick out her clothes, a dark green, long sleeved top, black skinny jeans, knee high leather boots, a dark green thick jumper and tied her hair into a messy bun. She remembered that she had suggested to Cobra and Bickslow to meet her today at five again but had forgotten that she had a job. She picked up her bag and rushed to the guild, hoping they would be there. She didn't want to send them the wrong message by telling them to come when she wasn't there. Or worse, make them worry when they couldn't find her. Thankfully, she had found them seemingly bickering at the bar. She panted as she reached them, trying to gain her breath back before she spoke, "I'm really sorry but you can't come over tonight, I forgot I'm supposed to be going on a mission with Levy." Her words came out rather fast and slightly jumbled but she guessed they got the idea.

She hoped that they wouldn't get mad at her or anything. Bickslow gestured towards her suitcase, "How long are you going for, Cosplayer?" His little dolls echoed his question and Lucy mumbled, "About three days..most likely more." The two were instantly up on their feet, "Well it looks like we're coming with you, Princess." Lucy looked between the two men in frustration. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Lucy denied their request as it was only for two Mages and they wouldn't make the train if they went home and packed right now. Sulking, they both turned to head back to their respective tables. Before they could, Lucy have them both a hesitant, quick hug goodbye. It was an action they were all shocked at so Lucy decided to run out of there at head for the train so they wouldn't see her blush. Their keen eyes didn't miss her blush but they were glad she left so they didn't see their goofy grins and warm smiles that disappeared when they started to get strange looks from some people in the guild.

Levy was already at the train station waiting for Lucy and perked up when she saw her blonde friend running towards her. They both made it on the train when they realised that there was only one other person in the same compartment as them. Lucy hovered her hand over Horologium's key which told her that it was only seven in the morning. She hadn't realised how early it was. Never the less, the quicker she got this job done, the quicker she got to go back home. The job reward was 100,000 jewels and a silver key, which was what Lucy was looking forward to the most. She couldn't wait to have another friend.

~~~

The train arrived at the town at ten in the morning and Lucy stretched before summoning Plue to walk with her and Levy to the Mayor's office. As the two girls walked through the streets, she saw many people living on the streets and pavements as their houses had been completely destroyed. It brought many tears to both their eyes but they quickly wiped them away before knocking on the Mayor's door. A thin man with dark circles around his eyes appeared at the door. This attack must have hit the town harder than Lucy originally thought. "Thank god you came, we were beginning to think no one would take the job. This town needs your help but I'm sure you noticed that on your way here." The Mayor dragged her to the streets and told her to start working, she would be allowed to stop at noon for lunch and at eight for the day. Lucy and Levy looked at each other. Levy sighed, "Well, we best start working Lu-Chan or we'll never get this done on time." Lucy nodded and selected a few keys to summon.

Since the GMG, Lucy had been training herself so that she could have more spirits out at one time and keep them held open for longer. She could even use Urano Metria twice without feeling a huge drain in her magic. Lucy summoned Loke, Virgo, Taurus, Sagittarius and Gemini. She had Sagittarius and Taurus start on rebuilding the houses that had been wiped out with Loke and Virgo grabbing materials from different places and bringing them to the town. She also had Gemini turn into Ultear to use her Time Magic on the houses that had been partially broken. Levy complained that it wasn't fair Lucy had so much help but Levys magic allowed her to literally create houses just by writing the word.