Broken Mage

The Facade

Light shined as the morning breeze blew through the half-opened curtain, showing a mop of blonde hair sprawled all over the pillows. Pair of arms came out of the blanket, stretching out as the person yawned. One of the hands snaked to her nose, rubbing them roughly because it had felt ticklish. The person turned to the side, hoping to get some more sleep, but the tickle on her nose didn't go away and instead made her sneeze which worsens her headache.

Lucy growled in annoyance then opened her eyes and shut them again quickly after her eyes came in contact with the bright light. Her hand rubbed her nose vigorously and felt a material that wasn't her blanket. It was rough and has fur on the edges. Fur? She thought. Lucy opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the sunlight. She averted her eyes to her nose, white furry thing blocking her view and she saw black material covering her.

What?

She sat up, cringing at the pain on her head and touched the furry material that had been covering her. It was a coat. A big, heavy coat. One that looked awfully familiar... Lucy froze and felt her face warmed as she remembered bits of what happened last night. She looked around her room and listened intently to any sound. Nothing. Her apartment was dead quiet and there wasn't anyone there. Then, was it a dream? But why would she have his coat on her? Maybe he had taken off?

Ah... I hope I didn't do anything embarrassing...

Lucy thought though she wasn't sure. But oh well, she didn't give much thought to it as they probably wouldn't encounter each other again. She gently got off the bed and walked slowly towards the kitchen, ignoring the protest of her spinning head and went to get painkillers. After she took two of them, she sat on a stool and laid her head on the kitchen counter and sighed. After multiple hangover, she thought she would get used to it, but it just seemed worst each time. That was it, last night was the last time she would ever get drunk.

Lucy sat up, resting her chin on her palm and scoffed pitifully. No matter how many times she said those words, she would always end up drunk in the guild again. It seemed as if alcohol was her only answer. She had tried to find anything, anything else that would get her mind off Aquarius.

Aquarius.

Lucy felt a prick in her eyes as it brimmed with tears at the thought of her precious key, broken key. Her hand snaked to her neck, finding the broken key that she had turned into a necklace. It had been a little over a year since Aquarius' sacrifice on Tartaros battle. She spent the year of the guild disbandment to look for the new key but to no avail. Every time she thought that she was close to finding her, it turned out to be a dead end. It always did. For a year she shed blood, sweat, and tears trying to find her. She was so full of determination at first, but then she got tired. It pained her that she wasn't strong enough to protect her friends, her keys. If only she was stronger... she wouldn't have to summon the spirit king.

When she met Natsu at the GMG, she thought that this time it wouldn't be a dead end. It was Natsu, he was like a lucky charm for her—well, aside for the kidnapping, battles, and troubles, he did bring her to fairy tail, after all, for her that was enough to make Natsu her lucky charm. And not long after that, the guild got back together. She couldn't ask for more, that time it seemed as if she was going for the right path. But it didn't.

Natsu might not show it, but Lucy knew that he was still mourning for Igneel. So did Gray. She didn't know exactly what each of her teammates went through, but she knew enough that Tartaros had scarred each of them deeply. She couldn't bear adding the burden of finding her lost key to them, even though she knew that they would help her, she couldn't. She didn't want to be the damsel in distress anymore, she couldn't always rely on them to fix her problems. So, when her team was on a mission, she often snuck out of her own to find more information about the key's whereabouts. She also went on solo missions to go to places where the rumored key was. But there was only so much she could do alone.