SCSS Chapter 3

Hey guys I'm back. This chapter is beyond overdue and I apologize for my tardiness but it took me forever to get the creative juices flowing, even after cleansing my palette with Tainted Skies. To those of you that were looking forward to this, here you go. To those of you that are looking forward to the next Holy Knights . . . I'm working on it. And to those of you with legal issues, I own nothing but my original spell. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: A new team?

Lucy starred at Laxus like he had just grown a second head that sang show tunes. Did he just say that he wants me to join his team? As in, the Thunder Legion? As in the strongest team in FairyTail!? Before her thoughts could continue, they were interrupted by the ever annoying fire dragon.

"What? Why would she join your team? She doesn't even know you." Natsu exclaimed, oblivious as ever.

Laxus looked at Natsu, at a complete loss for words. Am I being punked or something? Seriously where's the hidden camera lacrima? Because I'm pretty sure that it's not physically possible to be this stupid. "I was friends with her before you even met her; I'm the one that brought her here. The only people in the guild that know her better than I do are Gajeel and Juvia. Hell, the only part of her you're even acquainted with is her fist." Laxus stated, his voice laced with annoyance.

Gajeel had given up by this point. Unlike Natsu, he was smart enough to know not to piss off one of the strongest members of the guild. Of course, he did still learn that lesson the hard way.

Natsu was about to retort but Lucy interrupted him when she tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Natsu, I appreciate the invitation but the answer is no. Now please remove your arm from my shoulder before I get angry." She stated calmly, her voice laced with venom.

"Oh come on Luce. We would be an awesome team." He replied with a cheery smile, completely unfazed by her threat.

"Fine, you asked for it." She sighed. "Open Gate of the Twins: Gemini!" There was a puff of smoke and out of it appeared the small light blue forms of Gemi and Mini.

"Piri piri. What can what can we do for you Princess?" They asked in unison.

"Please get this moron off of me." She replied in exasperation.

"Of course Princess." They answered. They observed the rest of the guild members, who were still standing around, before their eyes landed of a tall muscular man with tan skin and white hair. "Copy!" And with that they transformed into Elfman Strauss.

"Full Body Takeover: Beast Soul!" Gemi-Elfman transformed into Elfman's beast soul and grabbed Natsu by his collar before flinging him in the general direction of the guild. (A/N: Since Lisanna was hurt by an out of control Elfman but didn't die, Elfman never gave up on trying to control his full body takeovers. Instead, he resolved to train even harder and master his transformations so that he would never endanger his family again. I have a lot of respect for Elfman and I don't think he gets enough credit in the series.)

"Thank you Gemini, that'll be all." And with that Gemini returned to the celestial spirit world. She then turned to Laxus. "As you can see, I don't appreciate being fought over like some token." She stated while giving Laxus a glare that would put a certain Titania to shame.

Laxus cringed under her gaze while the rest of the guild backed away cautiously, minus the now semi-conscious Gray and the dutifully distracted Wendy who Lucy's aura seems to be ignoring. Everyone quickly discovering that a pissed off Lucy is worse than pissed off Mira. "O-of c-course Blondie. It was really more of an invitation, totally up to you." Laxus managed to ramble out as fast as he could.

After hearing Laxus' apology, sort of, Lucy's demeanor made a one-eighty and Lucy gave Laxus a beaming smile. "In that case, I would love to join the Thunder Legion, in six months." She stated cheerily.

"Perfect, well then I'll go grab us a . . . wait. SIX MONTHS!? Why six months?" He asked incredulously.

"Simple, I want to do my own thing for a while. You know, go on missions, find my own place, get to know my new guildmates, and just get used to the whole 'guild wizard' thing." She explained casually.

Laxus just sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind, though he still looked a little dejected. "Fine, six months." He relented.

Lucy just stared at him, trying and failing at hiding her smile at the look on his face. "Are you . . . pouting? Oh come on Sparkplug it's not like we won't see each other for six months, we just won't be going on missions together. You're still one of the few friends I have here and we're still gonna hang out all the time." She said as she playfully punched his arm.

Laxus shot her a glare. "Ok first, I do not pout, and secondly, I'm gonna hold you too that Blondie." He finished with a smirk.

"I would expect nothing less." She retorted but before she could continue, the now fully conscious Gray decided to add his two cents.

"What? Why would you join that jerk's team?" Gray asked, with a scowl, somehow having lost his pants between when he landed and now causing Wendy to blush furiously and cover her eyes.

"Firstly, Laxus is only a jerk to the people he doesn't like. Secondly, what's it to you whose team I join anyways? And lastly, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOU PERVERT! YOU'RE MAKING WENDY UNCOMFORTABLE!" She ranted, Carla joined her on the last comment, pulling Wendy into a hug to shield her from Gray's less than clothed state.

"Tch. Whatever, be that way. Just don't come crying to me when he hurts you." Gray spat, still bitter about losing his chance to date Lucy, as he started to walk away.

Laxus, thoroughly fed up with Gray's attitude, didn't care for Gray's comment. "The only one around here that's gonna get hurt is you if you keep talking like that Popsicle." He growled, electricity crackling around him.

Gray flinched at the threat but didn't acknowledge Laxus and kept walking.

At that moment Lucy recalled her end of the bet and knew exactly what she wanted. "Oh Graaay." She started in a sing-song tone. "You still owe me that favor. Anything I want, remember?" She asked sweetly.

Gray turned and gave her a cautious look. "What do you want?" He asked warily.

"Hmm, how about half your rewards for your next ten jobs? Only if the reward's over 20,000 jewel of course, don't need you getting any funny ideas about ripping me off." She replied, her smile never leaving her face.

Gray's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "What!? But that's a bare minimum of a hundred thousand jewel! Not happening." He said defiantly.

A dark aura of terror and nightmares surrounded Lucy while the smile never left her face, Wendy still somehow unaffected, and Gray began to tremble in fear. "Ok ok deal." He stated, shielding himself with his arms.

"Glad we have an understanding." And with that Lucy began her six month mission to get acclimated to guild life.

Things were going well. In that time she found a nice little two bedroom apartment for 80,000 jewel a month. She went on several missions of varying rewards and difficulties. She quickly formed new bonds throughout the guild, becoming friends with just about everyone. The only people she could do without were Gray and Natsu. Natsu wasn't terrible, he was just annoying and incessant, not that his damn cat was any better. He would always bug her about going on missions together, which she readily declined after the first time when he destroyed half of a small town and they lost the entire reward. He even snuck into her apartment once and slept in her bed with her, when she woke up she . . . well let's just say he won't be making that mistake twice, he also now has an irrational fear of crustaceans. Gray on the other hand is always bitter and indifferent towards her after she humiliated him in front of the entire guild just to turn down a date and proceeded to extort him for what ended up amounting to 600,000 jewel. And the worst part is that Mirajane, the demon matchmaker, adamantly believes that Lucy harbors feelings for one or both of them, completely oblivious or in denial towards Lucy's fairly obvious feelings for Laxus.

On a brighter note Lucy and Wendy have grown extremely close, almost always going on missions as a pair. Wendy even moved out of Fairy Hills and into Lucy's apartment, with Carla and her approval of course. Lucy made her the offer when she found out that Wendy didn't have a proper caretaker, no twelve year old should have to fend for not only herself but for her talking cat as well. After that, the two took on a sort of mother-daughter role. Sure, they were only six years apart (Yes Lucy is 18 in this story, the idea of a 23 year old dating a minor made me uncomfortable.) but Lucy quickly started seeing Wendy as the daughter she always planned on having when she was ready and wanted to help her grow into the amazing woman she knew she would be. And for Wendy, while Lucy could never replace Grandeeney in her heart, that didn't mean there wasn't more than enough room for Lucy as well. She never outright called Lucy 'mom' but Lucy swore she heard Wendy mumble it in her sleep every once in a while when she tucked her in. As far as rent and necessities, they split the cost but since they went on most of their missions together they never had to worry about either of them coming up short. Wendy has also grown much stronger in their time together (Basically the level she was at during the GMG minus her secret arts.) and takes a much more active role in combat situations, not that Lucy would ever willingly put her in a dangerous situation. Due to the new closeness in their relationship, Lucy even entertained the idea of adopting Wendy but decided to give their relationship time to set before thinking about anything concrete; though Lucy did hint at the idea to Wendy in a joking manner once or twice and received fairly enthusiastic reactions. But Lucy isn't the only one that's gotten close to the resident sky dragonslayer.

True to her word Lucy and Laxus still spent plenty of quality time together over the six month period, further solidifying their friendship; now both were fairly certain of the others feelings but neither felt comfortable taking the plunge. And in that time Laxus was forced, though not reluctantly, to spend some time with the little sky maiden. At first he saw it as an opportunity to grow closer to Lucy but soon he came to realize that he quite enjoyed the company of the tiny bluenette. She would regularly ask him about anything under the sun, as children do, and he would even help her train and hone her fighting style. He even found himself often giving her advice and encouraging her to do her best at anything she tries, not unlike a father for their child. When the three of them are together, to the common stranger they look like a normal happy family, though most of the guild believes it's just some bizarre friendship that probably centers around some obscure common interest. Most of the guild members can't seem to grasp the concept that Lucy and Laxus both have very strong feelings for each other, mostly stemming from the fact that Lucy is so kind and caring while Laxus is, for lack of a better word, a jackass to pretty much anyone who's not Lucy, Wendy, the Thunder Legion, or the Master. Yes in their time together Lucy even managed to mend the broken bonds between Master Makarov and his forlorn grandson. While this is not the only impact she has had on an individual member of the guild it is certainly the most prominent.

All of this combined into what became six fairly productive months and now Lucy has decided that it is time for her to take her place among the Thunder Legion, though not without one discrepancy.

"What?" Laxus asked so eloquently in response to his favorite blonde's request.

"I said, Wendy and I are ready to join the Thunder Legion." Lucy replied cheerily. She and Wendy had arrived at Laxus' home to discuss Wendy joining the Thunder Legion as well, though Carla had decided to stay behind.

Laxus just stared at her, contemplating how to go about the situation. So now she wants Wendy to join too. Well fuck. Personally, I don't see the problem but the Thunder Legion is probably gonna raise nine kinds of hell when we tell them. Wendy has become a lot stronger in the last three months but we go on some pretty dangerous missions. On the other hand, I'm sure Lucy wouldn't have suggested this if she didn't think she couldn't protect Wendy, not that I would ever let anything happen to either of them. Let's hear Wendy's take on this. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said." He replied before turning his attention to Wendy. "So kiddo, how do you feel about this?" He asked her while he crouched down to her level.

"Well, you know I can use healing and support magic. And because you and Lucy have been helping me train, I can handle myself in a fight much better than I ever thought I'd be able to." Wendy replied nervously. She didn't think she could bare it if Laxus turned her down. Ever since they started getting closer, she began to look up to him and appreciate his advice and guidance. In a lot of ways she started to see him as the father she never had.

"That's not what I asked Wendy. I asked how you felt." He rebutted, his voice laced with concern. The truth is that he was worried. He first got to know Wendy because he knew that she was important to Lucy and in that time, she quickly became important to him as well. He cared a great deal for Wendy and couldn't live with himself if anything happened to her because he wasn't able to stop it.

"I know. It's just . . . these last six months have been some of the best times of my entire life and it's all thanks to you and Lucy. I know it's selfish but I can't help but feel that if you and Lucy joined the same team without me then we wouldn't get to spend time together anymore. You both mean so much to me, I just couldn't bare it if I got left behind." Wendy's voice cracked as tears started streaming down her face. The very idea of not having the two of them around proving to be too painful for someone who's already lost a parent once in their short life.

Laxus felt like his heart shattered when he saw Wendy's tears. He quickly wrapped her in a warm embrace, stroking her hair and assuring her that everything is going to be alright and that he would never leave her behind.

Lucy felt her heart swell at how Laxus was treating Wendy. He was like a concerned father desperately trying to calm his distressed child. She knelt down next to them and joined the embrace. She turned Wendy around and pulled her into her own hug while Laxus wrapped his arms protectively around the two of them. At that moment Laxus new that there will never be anything, in this lifetime or the next, that is more important to him than the two girls in his arms.

The three of them just sat like sat that for a few minutes until Lucy noticed that Wendy had cried herself to sleep, though her tears had transitioned from sorrow to joy and she slept with a peaceful expression. "She fell asleep. Poor thing, I'll bet she's been worrying herself sick over this." Lucy said solemnly as she stood with Wendy cradled in her arms.

Laxus stood with them before leaning over and kissing Wendy on her forehead and leading Lucy over to lay her on his couch. After Wendy was settled and comfortable he turned his attention back to Lucy. "I know what you mean. No twelve year old girl should have to go through this kind of stress. She needs a home. A real family with parents who love her. Where she doesn't have to worry about facing everything life has to throw at her until she's actually prepared for it." Laxus stated. He had moved closer to Lucy by this point and snaked his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest, enjoying the warmth of his embrace and the feeling of safety it brought.

She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with curiosity and hope. "What are you trying to say?" She asked quietly.

"I'm saying that maybe we could be that family. What do you say? Just the three of us, one little happy family." He stated with a compassion that only Lucy and Wendy were privy to, as he leaned closer to the girl that he was sure he was head over heels in love with. He didn't care that things were moving extremely fast. He didn't care that he was instigating it. All he cared was that it felt right, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

Lucy looked up at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears of joy as she leaned in as well. "I say, nothing would make me happier." She replied, her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. She knew that she loved Laxus with all her heart and she wanted nothing more than to share this experience with him.

But fate is not always so kind. At that moment a very familiar flash of golden light erupted between the almost lovers.

"Stay away from her." Loke growled while the light faded, glaring at Laxus.

"Oh great. The little lion cub is back." Laxus snarled sarcastically, electricity crackling around him.

"LOKE, WHAT THE HELL!? I thought I warned you not to do this again." She shouted angrily. "Laxus and I are in the middle of something so I'll deal with you later. Forced Gate Closure!" She attempted to close Loke's gate only for it to fail. "What!? Why can't I close your gate?" She asked frantically.

"I've spent the last six months saving my magic energy so that I could hold my own gate open and deal with the man trying to take you from me once and for all." He stated, his glare never leaving Laxus.

"So the little kitten wants a fight . . . I'm game." Laxus retorted, the electricity around him flared wildly for a moment.

"Then the winner claims Lucy's heart." Loke announced, his fists glowed gold.

"Um, excuse me. Don't I get a say in this?" Lucy asked, frustrated.

"Not to worry my love, I will protect you from this heathen." You can guess what delusional idiot said that.

"Never mind, Laxus, please teach him a lesson for me." She asked, exasperated.

"With pleasure," Laxus cast his gaze towards Wendy's sleeping form, "but we do this outside. I'm not letting you disturb Wendy because you're delusional. That little girl has been through too much today as is." Laxus proclaimed before making his way to the door, not waiting for an answer.

The two combatants made their way outside while Lucy stayed inside. Just because she gave Laxus permission to beat down one of her spirits doesn't mean she wants to watch, instead she contemplated her options on a long term solution for her Loke problem. They stared each other down for only a moment before Loke lunged at Laxus, full powered Regulus fist cocked back. Just before making contact Laxus disappeared in a flash of lightning and reappeared behind Loke. "You'll have to be faster than that." He commented before delivering a lightning infused kick to Loke's ribs and sending him crashing into a nearby tree. Loke proceeded to rise back to his feet. "Don't count me out just yet. You will not take my Lucy from me. Regulus Blast!" A golden magic circle appeared before him emitting a large blast of pure light.

"She was never yours to begin with. You're just too delusional to accept that! Lightning Dragon Roar!" Laxus unleashed his own powerful blast of energy. The two attacks collided with a bright flash before cancelling each other out. "You're gonna have to do better than that lion cub." Laxus taunted, a look of boredom on his face.

"DON'T MOCK ME!" Loke roared, rearing back his fist. A large golden magic circle appeared under his feet. "Regulus Gatling Impact!" He shouted, unleashing a barrage of flaming lion's heads.

Laxus didn't react, in fact he didn't move at all and took the brunt of the attack. When the smoke cleared Laxus was still standing, practically unfazed by Loke's strongest attack. Loke stared at him completely terrified by just how powerful Laxus really was.

"Well since you came at me with your best, I guess I should return the favor." Laxus said while shrugging off his jacket. He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt before taking it off as well. "Don't get the wrong idea four-eyes. I just don't wanna ruin my shirt." At that moment Laxus' eyes started glowing pure white and his muscles grew to near inhuman proportions while scale like tattoos appeared running from his lower biceps to his upper forearms. "Lightning Dragon Mode." If Loke wasn't terrified before, he was now. "Let's end this, shall we?" Laxus asked, raising his hands above his head, immense amounts of lightning gathering in between his hands. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" He released the energy in the form of spear-shaped bolt of pure lightning. The spear travelled at immense speeds before finding its mark in the center of Loke's chest before enveloping him in a massive flash of light followed by the sound of roaring thunder. When the light died down, it revealed a shocked Loke with a gaping hole in his chest, his physical form wavering as began to fade back into the celestial spirit world. No words passed between the two as Laxus changed back to normal. Nothing more needed to be said. At least not between them.

"Open Gate of the Lion: Leo." Lucy appeared at the edge of the battle field. Opening Loke's gate with her own magic to heal his wounds and keep him there so that she could proceed with what she had planned. "Loke this game has gone on long enough. I've put this off in the hopes that you would grow up and move on but it's now obvious to me that that is never going to happen so you leave me with no choice." She held Loke's key to the sky and began to recite an incantation. "Sun and Moon converge. Leo the Lion pass through the eye of the eclipse and be reborn anew. Lost Magic: Celestial Transmigration!" She cried as a black light erupted from Leo's key and began to envelope the spirit.

"What!? Lucy, please you can't do this!" He cried out desperately. Though his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"You left me no choice. Goodbye Loke." She stated solemnly, a single tear sliding down her face.

The black light fully engulfed Loke's form before changing into dark flames and flickering away to reveal someone new in Loke's place.

The newcomer looked like Loke but without his glasses. His hair was now much longer and even more resembled a lion's mane. The biggest change of all though was the lack of his suit which had been replaced with a set of black and gold plate armor with several claw and fang-like motifs.

After taking in his appearance, Lucy addressed the newcomer. "Hello Leo, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. It greatly saddens me to say that our meeting has been a long time coming." She spoke softly with a sad smile, almost as if in mourning.

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance Miss Lucy. I shall endeavor to protect you with my very being. As a side effect of my summoning your connection to Regulus has been severed and replaced with my Dark Regulus. Do with that what you will. Until you require my assistance, I shall take my leave. I must inform the Celestial Spirit King of my coming." And with that he disappeared in a flash of black light.

Laxus had put his shirt and jacket back on now but was confused beyond belief at this point. "Ok, I can tell that you're upset but what the hell just happened?"

"Celestial Transmigration is a spell that reincarnates a celestial spirit into a new form known as an eclipse form. The spell isn't forbidden but it's extremely regulated and can only be cast when a spirit blatantly disregards their master's wishes on multiple occasions and prove themselves beyond reprieve. The Loke we knew now no longer exists, replace by Leo the Black Lion." She stated sadly while observing the now onyx black bands on her middle fingers.

Laxus understood the gravity of what she just told him and knew how she must feel. In an effort to comfort her, he pulled her into a loving embrace and simply held her, not uttering a single word while she cried into his shirt. Nothing he could say would change the fact that she just erased someone she cared about. Despite Loke's faults, Laxus knew that Lucy loved all of her spirits and that her choice caused herself a great deal of pain. After a few moments Lucy stopped crying and looked up at Laxus. "Thanks, I'm ok now. Look at the bright side. Now I don't have to look over my shoulder every time I say this. I love you Laxus Dreyar." She announced softly before leaning up and kissing the man she loves.

Laxus returned the kiss in full. They kept it up for some time until the need for oxygen just barely managed to outweigh their need to continue.

"I love you too Lucy Heartfilia. And I always will." Laxus stated after recovering his breath. He then captured her lips once more in a searing kiss filled with passion, again only separating for air.

Lucy recovered first this time. "So when are we gonna tell the rest of the Thunder Legion about Wendy?" She asked hoping a change of subject will help lighten the mood. Thoughts of Wendy's smiling face helped to dull the pain in her heart.

Laxus took notice of her change in demeanor. "Oh I'm sure they'll come over at some point today." He replied with his patented smirk.

"Oh, however shall we pass the time until their arrival?" She asked with mock innocence.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out." He retorted before leaning in and smashing his lips against hers once again in a much less gentle and much more passionate kiss. Until they were interrupted once more.

"Um, Laxus, Lucy?" Wendy asked timidly having woken from her nap to find her two favorite people, outside, in a passionate embrace. And while she couldn't be happier for them, it was still awkward and things were starting to drift into the realm of PG-13.

Lucy pulled away from Laxus and turned to Wendy with a warm smile. "Hey Wendy, are you feeling better?" She asked as she crouched down next to the girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble." Wendy replied while looking dejected.

"Wendy you have nothing to apologize for. You were under a lot of stress. You've been worrying about this for a while now, haven't you?" Lucy asked softly as she wrapped her arms around the little girl.

Wendy just returned the hug and nodded into Lucy's shoulder.

At this point Laxus joined in, resting his hand on Wendy's head. "Yeah, well you don't have to worry anymore sweetheart. Because Lucy and I are never gonna leave you behind. Welcome to the Thunder Legion." He stated with a confident smirk.

So what did you think? I know Laxus and Lucy's relationship developed pretty fast story wise but hey, I gave them six months. As far as the whole thing with Wendy, I read a story where Lucy and Laxus sort of adopted Wendy and they had a very familial relationship and I really liked it. Also if what I did to a fairly OOC Loke seems a little harsh I apologize I just really wanted to replace him with a fairly OOC Eclipse Leo and now Lucy has Dark Regulus. Oh and if I hear one thing about Laxus being overpowered, I. Will. Snap. I have read too many stories where Laxus seems like a freakin' pansy compared to canon Laxus and I do not intend to follow that trend. Thank you for reading and please review. I love reviews, preferably good ones but I'm open to constructive criticism.

Next Time: Confronting the Thunder Legion and Galuna Island.