Souls Entwined: Remake

Chapter 6

Wendy instantly looked down at her hands, "Um, I just wanted to check up on you Lucy. You left very sudden yesterday and we were all very worried about you." The girl's words made Lucy's heart ache. Her suspicions had been true and now it was going to be even harder to take that first step back into the guild. There was a slight pause as Lucy tried to find the words to speak, "Yes, well you don't need to worry. I'm perfectly fine. I was just about to-". Lucy was quickly cut off by Wendy, "Great! Then you can come back with us, everyone will be happy to see you again." Wendy gripped Lucy's wrist and started pulling her towards the guild, the opposite direction of her home. A lot of bystanders looked on at the two girls but Lucy supposed it must have looked rather amusing to watch a little girl dragging a fully grown woman in the street while her cat flew above them.

Lucy felt nauseous as the outline of the guild got closer and closer. It was only until Wendy burst open the doors, guiding Lucy inside, when she felt the full force of her nervousness hit. Thankfully, Wendy didn't stop and continued to lead over to the table that held team Natsu and Juvia. Erza was still missing from the group, though that was probably for the best. Lucy was unsure on how she would take the news. Gray and Natsu were sitting on opposite sides of the table, with Juvia pressed against Gray's side. Wendy gently nudged Natsu out of the way to make room for herself, Lucy and Carla. There was some silence before Juvia spoke up, "You look really pretty today Lu-Chan!" Confusion overtook Lucy as she tried to comprehend what Juvia just said.

Since when did Juvia act nice towards Lucy? Then it hit her, since Juvia heard that Lucy was someone else's mate, that meant she wasn't a love rival anymore. Not that she was to begin with. Gray was conflicted on what to say and it showed on his face. He sighed, "Look, I'm not gonna say I'm pleased about this but you can't help who your mates are. If you're happy then I'm happy for you." Lucy grimaced, she wasn't happy but she chose not to say anything back. All eyes turned to Natsu but he was silent and his head was hanging low. Lucy was worried, this was very unlike him. It was near impossible to know what he was going to say. After a long pause of silence at the table, Natsu looked over at Lucy. His expression showed that he was annoyed.

"You can't be mates with them." For once, Natsu kept his tone quiet but Lucy found it to be quite unnerving. She kept her voice calm as well, not wanting to upset him further, "Why is that?" He frowned before looking down at his lap. Everyone around the table was focused on Natsu as he inhaled. Lucy could've sworn that she saw his eyes start to water but from her angle she couldn't be sure. "Because I don't want to lose my best friend." Wendy moved out of the way, along with Carla, so that Lucy could move closer to Natsu. Feeling her heart break, she quickly moved forward to pull Natsu into a hug, "Oh, don't be silly, you'll never lose me as your best friend." Lucy smiled when she felt Natsu's arms around her. The moment between them was ruined for Lucy when she felt the familiar sense that someone was watching her. Having a good idea of who it was, she didn't turn around.

Lucy slowly pulled away from the hug to see that everyone had moved to a different part of the guild to give the two some privacy. Natsu raised his head to look at Lucy and she gave him a soft smile and playfully ruffled his hair, "Are we good again?" Natsu nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I missed you on that mission Luce. You should've been there.." Usually when Natsu went off on his rants about what happened during a mission that Lucy didn't attend, she found it quite irritating. However, it was very pleasing to Lucy as it meant that he was back to his normal self with her. Just as Natsu was telling her about a battle he had with a Wyvern, Lucy was pulled into a tight hug and felt her face squished against someone's chest.

The long white hair brushing against her face revealed that it was Mira's arms that were squeezing the life out of her. "I'm so sorry Lucy! I didn't mean to upset you, I just got excited. You never tell me about your love life and I just-" Lucy pressed her hand over Mira's mouth to make her stop talking. She used all her energy to wiggle out of Mira's grasp and straighten her dress, "It's okay Mira, I'm not mad at you." Lucy smiled at Mira which had her pulled into another bone-crushing embrace. "I promise I won't do it again. Just don't run off like that, you had me so worried." Lucy tried to nod but was mainly focused on trying to breath.

"Hey Mira, let Blondie breath." Mira let go of her and Lucy gasped for air, leaning over slightly. She glanced up at Laxus, "Thanks." He gave her a subtle nod, "So, are you going to give them a chance?" Lucy opened her mouth to speak but was suddenly tackled to the ground. What was up with everyone today?! Lucy twisted to see Levy on top of her, clinging tightly onto her. "Lu-Chan! You're back! Where did you go? Are you hurt? Were you safe?" Lucy gently pushed the blue-haired girl off her so she could sit up, "I went to a lot of places, I'm not hurt and yes I was safe." Levy nodded but still checked over Lucy for any injuries. During her check, Levy spotted the two new keys on Lucy's belt. "Oh? Who are they? Have you made contracts with them yet?"

Lucy shook her head, "No I haven't... Do you want to come with me when I do?" Levy gasped and clasped her hands together, "Of course!" Lucy chuckled, Levy liked her spirits almost as much as Lucy did. Levy got up and reached out her hand to help Lucy up off the floor. Straightening her dress and brushing off any dust that got on it, Lucy looked around the room. She braved a quick peak up at the Thunder God Tribe's table to see Bickslow looking right back at her. She was unable to stop the blush appearing on her cheeks from being caught out. A small scan of the rest of the guild showed no sign of Cobra though. Thankfully, Levy didn't notice or just didn't say anything and lead her towards the back exit of the guild. Not many people knew about the training fields behind the guild, even some members of Fairy Tail were oblivious to it.

Once Lucy was in the middle of the first field, she held the key she had gotten from her recent mission with Levy. Examining the inscription, she looked at it for a second, then shouted, "Gate of the Chameleon, I open thee, Celare!" A bright light appeared and out stepped a young girl who looked the same age as Wendy but since she was a spirit she could be well over 500 years old. The girl had short brown hair, styled like Lisanna, with tanned skin and deep green eyes with specks of gold. She wore a plain, beige, cotton dress that hung loose apart from the ribbon around her waist that kept it attached to her body. Glancing down at her feet, Lucy took notice that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Excited to make a new friend, Lucy smiled at her, "Would you like to make a contract?" Celare smiled and after a few questions the contract was formed. She bowed low, "I look forward to serving you, Master" Lucy's eyes had some pity in them. She couldn't believe how badly spirits were treated; they are not slaves, "I'm not your master, you're a human being. You call me Lucy or princess if you wish. A lot of my other spirits call me that. You may be a spirit but you're also my friend." Celare was pleasantly surprised. She swiftly left after saying, "I choose Princess, Princess".

Lucy was very happy with the new addition to her family. She looked over at Levy who was in awe, "She would be very useful in battle and she was so adorable too!" Lucy laughed but agreed with her, "I agree." Levy waved her hand as a sign of impatience, "Okay now do the next one, it looks very interesting." Lucy picked up the key she had just bought that morning and twirled it in her hands. It had jagged stripes wrapped around the key which made it feel slightly peculiar and unlike any other key she possessed. She held the key out in front of her and shouted out, "Gate of the Tiger, I open thee, Tigress!" Once more, a bright light appeared and a tall, muscular woman stood in front of the two girls. She had long hair that had been parted at the right side and the whole right side of her head had been shaved off, making her look more intimidating. Lucy supposed that was a good thing, but she didn't want to be scared of her own spirits. The woman wore an outfit that was similar to Lisana's tigress form but the colours were orange and black instead. It showed off most of her impressive physique, which left Lucy in awe. The woman also had dark skin and piercing blue eyes. The contract started and Lucy couldn't quite place the spirit's accent but she found it very alluring. Completing a contract was very simple so it was soon finished and before she left, Tigress said, "I have been made aware that you prefer to be called Princess. I look forward to be working with you and now I have to brag to Loke that his Princess is now mine as well.". Lucy hadn't realised that she'd known Loke but then again she didn't ask.

Lucy and Levy headed back inside the guild but they walked past the bar to get back to where they were sitting before. In the corner of her eye, she saw Cobra and Bickslow at the bar with Mira. They were talking about something when they turned to look at Lucy as she walked past. She tried to make it look like she hadn't seen the two men but Lucy had never been the greatest actress. Just as the two girls were about to sit down, Levy whispered in Lucy's ear, "I think you should go talk to them. I'll make sure that no one bothers you." Lucy chewed on the inside of her cheek before slowly turning on her heel and walking towards the bar. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her but no one seemed to be watching her. Well except, Cobra, Bickslow and Mira. Mira had a smile on her face and threw her a thumbs up while Cobra and Bickslow had their backs to Mira.