Just Misunderstood

Act 2

Chapter 28

He's Mine

Lucy had thought it was a dream, but when she looked in the mirror and saw her red puffy eyes she groaned, she was so embarrassed. Why did she cry like that? In front of Cobra. He carried her upstairs, and she cried into his chest, in a bed. She was mortified. She was having way too many heart-to-hearts with Cobra lately. It was getting too heavy between them.

She felt discomfort in her abdomen followed with a familiar damp feeling in her underwear, she glared at her reflection, "Oh no," After inspecting her situation she groaned, letting her head fall into her hands, "Oh god no."

She heard the bedroom door open and Cobra shuffle in, she smelt breakfast, tears nearly filled her eyes. Out of all the times to get her period? Last night made a little more sense now, she hardly just lost all of her composure like that, she was always a little more emotional before her period.

"Cobra?" She shouted.

"Yeah?"

"My key ring is on the nightstand," she heard him shuffle around.

"Found it."

"The key that's kind of shaped like a heart at the top, it's Virgo's, can you slide it under the door?" She heard them jangle and the golden key came shimmering into the light of the bathroom as it slid against the bathroom floor.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Fine, just…. Uh some girl stuff," she said, discomfort apparent in her voice.

He didn't push the subject.

She called Virgo and she was already ready with a box of tampons, Lucy could have kissed her, "Thank you so much," she said as she opened the box.

"I went into town as soon as you woke up, princess, anything else?" The pink-haired girl asked, bowing slightly.

"No that's all, thank you again," Lucy said. Virgo bowed again and disappeared, leaving golden sparks in her wake, Lucy quickly showered, and changed, she adorned a thick dark green sweater and leggings, pulling on some wool socks and boots, she left the bathroom, still toweling her damp hair. There was a large circular tray sitting on the bed, with about a dozen different dishes and bowls, rice, soup, grilled fish, egg, and a collection of other things that smelled good but she didn't recognize.

Cobra was seated on the bed, his legs folded under him, he had a little bowl in his hand and he picked different foods off of the serving tray with chopsticks. A couple of cups of coffee were balanced on the tray, she grabbed one and took a sip, it was already made to her liking.

They didn't say anything as she sat down beside him and picked up the empty bowl with chopsticks, she mimicked Cobra and selected things from the different dishes. She wasn't used to having fish and miso soup for breakfast but it had a particular charm that she liked, she glanced at Cobra and he held a calm look as if this breakfast meant more to him than just food.

They ate in silence, both of them listening to the bustling and movement of the other couples in the bed and breakfast get ready for the day and exit their rooms, "Are you okay?" His voice was low.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about last night," she took a bite of rice, and noticed his jacket, the red garment was one of the few he had tossed into their luggage in Rozu. She didn't say anything about it but smiled to herself.

"Nothing to be sorry about, just returning the favor, I think I did something similar in Rozu," he gave her a lopsided grin. He put his bowl down and leaned back on his hands, looking at the ceiling.

"So we have to meet at the port at midnight tomorrow, it's nine right now. So we have thirty-nine hours to make a four-hour trip. We could stay here another day, sleep here tonight and leave early in the morning, we could then probably meet up with Angel and Midnight, they hit Greentown a few days ago, we could grab food there and then head to the port," he said.

"Would that be safe? Staying here?" She asked.

He thought about it for a second, "I think so, nothing one-hundred percent safe, but I think we would be fine," he trailed off, "It's up to you, if anything goes sideways you're going to be the one teleporting us the hell out of here."

"I feel good, better, my magic is healed," she thought about it as she took a bite of more rice, "Yeah let's stay here, I like it here."

"Me too," Cobra said, a gentle smile crossed his face, "Is there a way for me to get to my clothes without you? You left the bags in the bathroom this morning so I got lucky, but I don't want to have to wake you if you're asleep."

"Oh, just call for Virgo, or Leo better yet," Lucy laughed at the look of disgust on his face, "He has a little more magic than the other spirits, he keeps tabs on us, so if you just call for him he should hear you, just ask him for whatever you need," his face didn't change.

"As the poisonous dragon slayer, I have a special bond with snakes," he looked at where Cubellios was sunbathing in the light that came in through the open curtains, "So my innate hate for anything feline makes it hard for me to like him," he paused, "Plus he's a prick," he muttered as he sipped his soup.

"Cobra, Leo is not a prick, he's my friend, my family, he has done a lot for me."

"From what I saw you did more than him, saving him, taking on the Spirit King."

Lucy blushed and put her bowl down, "Exactly how much did you see in my mind?"

He smiled, "I saw you meet Natsu, in Hargeon, saw you meet Fairy Tail, saw what they did for you when Phantom Lord attacked. I saw how much you love them…." He sighed and looked at her, "I saw your family, your mother," she stiffened, "your father, the prick he was. I saw you get your keys, train in the spirit world," he touched her back softly, "Get your lacrima."

She blushed and covered her face, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"I saw your sacrifice, your love, your… light," he laughed, "It was helpful when I decided to turn against Brain, it was nice to see what a light guild was capable of, how you guys were just… full of life and fun… I saw you help take down the tower, with Erza and the others, I think we all thank you for that, even Midnight… I saw your whole life, hell… I keep saying 'saw', It's more like I was there, so trust me when I say this Lucy, I understand, more than anyone. Especially when it comes to your mother, I know how much weight comes with that now, plus after the shit that was uncovered in Rozu I owe you a few, so If you ever want to talk.:

Her eyes burned and she blinked tears away, "My mother was… so beautiful, and full of light, she was so strong… I miss her every day," she sighed.

He smiled, "You're a lot like her."

"You think so?"

He rolled his eyes, "No I'm just saying that to make you feel better, you guys are nothing alike, it's not like you guys were identical or anything," he sighed, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he smiled.

She laughed and wiped her face, "Who did you end up taking after? Mother or Father?"

He thought about it for a second, "My father had this like, red hair, dark, a little lighter than mine, a little darker than Erza's… he was tan with such light green eyes, I probably looked a lot like him when I still had my green eyes," he spoke softly.

"You had green eyes?"

"Yeah, before I had my lacrima put in. Eyes are, as cliche as it is, the window to the soul, they reflect directly on someone's magic, it happens a lot more in dragon slayers because of how much magic they have."

"Natsu's eyes looked like fire if he's using a lot of magic," she mused.

"Yeah, and yours glow gold."

"I wonder how you looked with green eyes," she giggled, he smirked and stretched to get off the bed, "Well, if we are going to stay here another day I'm going to shower and then let the old man know."

~JM~

The rest of the day passed by quickly, they watched a few movies on the TV lacrima in their room, Cobra called Angel and Midnight to let them know the plan and they chatted for a little while, he called Racer and Hoteye next and they chatted for even longer, the three guys really seemed to miss each other.

Mako, the old man who owned the place, made them lunch and they happily ate it on the back patio of the bed and breakfast, Crocus was built on the slope of the Northern Mountain Range in Fiore, so the patio had a magnificent outlook, the vantage point giving them a view of the lakes and rivers that dotted the forest that surrounded the large city. It was a quiet afternoon, the two retreated to their room after lunch, they lounged and snacked, Mako kept them well fed. Lucy found an interesting book in the nightstand and Cobra found a comfortable spot on the sofa near the window, he found himself going in and out of sleep as he listened to Lucy turn the pages of her book.

Mako brought them a dinner of rice and curry, which Cobra informed her was a common meal in Rozu. Mako told them that he was leaving for a few hours to see his daughter and to use the communication lacrima at the front desk to call him if they needed him, the other guests had checked out that morning, they had the building to themselves.

They ate and made idle conversation and after she showered again, only because she didn't know when the next time she would get to actually shower in a real shower, she brushed her teeth and changed.

It wasn't late but Cobra suggested getting to bed earlier so they could wake up and set out before the sun came up, "You're too hot," she groaned as he settled next to her, he raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes, "Shut up you know what I meant."

"I'm sorry? What do you want me to do about it?" He scoffed.

She rolled her eyes so hard it hurt and huffed. "I don't know, not be so hot?" He raised his eyebrow at her again and she sighed. She turned to face him and pressed her hand to his chest, he scooted away a little, she lightly gripped his shirt, "This is good, just… stay there."

"As you wish Princess," he smirked, his hand still rested on her hip.

"Don't you start with that too," she yawned, "I got enough people calling me things that aren't my name."

He smiled.

The minutes ticked by and Lucy was asleep, her breathing even and deep. Cobra felt himself hovering in the first stage of sleep, he felt a little off, like his body was on high alert, maybe it was because he slept so much in the afternoon.

Then he caught it, just a passing thought he almost missed. It was quiet and far away.

"Why the hell are they questioning everyone in the hotel? I have a party to get too," It was just some young male, whose thoughts just happen to be a little louder than everyone else's. He sat up quickly and zoned in on where he heard the thought.

The council, specifically, two men, were pulling people aside asking if they had seen a couple, a blonde female and tall tan male. Cobra's heart raced, he couldn't hear the two men, just the thoughts of the people around them, all of the thoughts bouncing around almost created a picture of them, a pale, lanky, red-haired man stood next to his tall and muscular dark-haired co-worker.

Cobra hissed, he recognized them, he shook Lucy, saying her name harshly. She woke up quickly, swatting his hand away, "We need to go, the council is here," was all he needed to say before she was up and running to the bathroom, she ripped her clothes off, quickly changing into her leggings and a sweater, she pulled her boots on and stumbled out of the bathroom, Cobra was changed, his hands moving rapidly. Lucy waved her hand over the room, not bothering to pack up their items and to just toss everything into her spirit room, she could organize later.

Lucy pulled her hair up in a ponytail, clipping her keys into place, "How long?"

"They are sweeping hotels, but I can't… I can't hear them!" He groaned, "I can hear the thoughts of the others thinking about them, but it's not enough, it's vague and unreliable. I-I don't know how they found out we were in Crocus."

Lucy had never seen Cobra this frazzled over something like this before, "You can't hear them?"

"They figured out how to block it, like your necklace," he huffed and pulled open the door, Lucy followed closely behind him as he bounded down the steps.

The front desk was empty and Cobra slammed the shoji door hard, Lucy panicked and threw a couple hundred jewel onto the counter, "Lucy!" Cobra hissed.

"We can't leave without paying, he was very nice to us!" She fumbled with her wallet, throwing a few more, "How much was our bill?" Cobra grabbed her wrist and pulled her out.

"You covered it and then some, let's go," the street was a normal degree of busyness for a weekday night, and no council members were in sight. Cobra stopped in his tracks and Lucy ran into his back, "We're too late, fuck!" He turned around and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back up the stairs and onto the patio they ate lunch at. He didn't let go of her. He looked around frantically.

He was panting, "Cobra! What is going on exactly? You never freak out this bad."

He glanced towards the balcony, "I know these guys okay? Laric and Vince, they are… I just have had a few run-ins with them before, they work with the council but they don't… operate with the same restrictions, Laric has a vendetta, he's crazy, relentless, hates the Seis, has been a pain in the ass for years. And, he was at the tower with us, but he didn't last long, we thought he died, but no, the cultists made some kind of deal with the council and released him because he was the son of some rich duke, the council… well, a small group in the council that found out about the tower, promised them that they would look the other way if they returned Laric back to his family. I didn't know him personally really, I saw him around, his hair was bright and a little different, so he was easy to notice, it was similar to your friend's, Erza? Anyway, just a few weeks he spent at the tower turned him into a psycho, or maybe he was one before that, I try not to root around in his brain much," he paused and sighed.

"He… hates women, like, hates them, thinks men are superior and we should keep women like we keep cattle, real fucked up mindset. He used to say all kinds of fucked up shit to Angel. He had an aunt that… abused him after he was returned home, saying he was dirty and tainted, it was a whole thing, really fucked him up. It's a whole lot of fucked up, there's some history."

"What… is he? Exactly? A soldier? A guard? A wizard?" She asked as she felt her magic bubble under her skin.

"Well, he's basically just a bounty hunter with a greater agenda, the council tries to keep it quiet, after Laric's father's death he made it his mission to hunt down and kill the dark guild responsible," he stiffened.

"Cobra?" Lucy started, already knowing the answer, "Which dark guild was responsible?"

He looked away for a second, "The Oracion Seis… his father had made some shady deals with Grimoire Heart, and when he didn't uphold his end of the bargain, Hades, the leader of Grimoire… asked Brain to send a few of us to deal with it, they were busy with something in Seven," he spoke carefully, almost without breath, and tightened his hold on her wrist, "So we went there to collect money, documents, and other stuff, but stuff went south and… I killed him."

He felt Lucy tense, but she didn't move. He waited for her to react.

"So Laric is a bounty hunter, sent by the council to bring in the Oracion Seis, and he has a personal vendetta against you, and is here, in Crocus?"

He seemed a little taken aback, but nodded slowly.

"What's his magic?"

"Uh, lightning, sort of, it's all channeled in his sword, he doesn't have much magic by himself, he can like, summon his sword and stuff, but it's the sword that holds the lightning. He… isn't particularly strong, an annoying nuisance, Angel used to beat the shit out of him for sport. He was always pissing her off," He quickly raced out, his gaze kept flickering to the balcony door, he couldn't hear Laric or Vince, and no thoughts from others was giving him any clues to where they were.

"You guys have actually fought him before?"

"Oh yeah, see he doesn't really play by the rules, he works under the council but only to get to their resources, he doesn't like reporting to them, so… he would get a tip, and instead of grabbing a few hundred council soldiers, he would show up alone, just looking for an ass-kicking."

"Why didn't you guys just…. Kill him?"

"Brain… told me and Angel too, but, after what happened with his father, we kind of… I don't know, I guess we felt bad and we understood, I mean… he was in the tower, and it wasn't his fault his dad was into some shady shit… we just always knocked him out, and dropped him somewhere."

"What about the other one, Vince?"

"He joined him recently, I have never fought him personally but Angel did once, he uses a hammer that extends and retracts, he doesn't have magic, he's just gigantic."

Lucy furrowed her brows, "If they are so easy to take care of then why are you so panicked?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn't say anything.

"Cobra?"

"I can't hear them… and I don't want to have to fight anyone with you here," he said.

Lucy scoffed, "I can take care of myself."

"That's what I thought too and then you killed Brain. I don't even want you in a position like that again," he snapped.

She flinched back and he saw her jaw clench, "Fuck you."

He was taken aback by her response and his concentration faltered, "I didn't mean it like that."

"How else could you mean it?"

"In a way, you don't find offensive."

Her eyes flashed gold for a moment and she ripped her arm from his hand, "Sorry I don't think there is a way for me not to be offended by that comment," she hissed.

"Now is not the time," he hissed back.

Suddenly his hair stood up and he had just enough time to push Lucy back before a blast of blue lightning struck the place in between them. Lucy stumbled and her eyes caught the shattered glass of the balcony doors, a manically laughing filled the space and Laric stepped through the broken door, "Is this a lover's spat?" His grin was slimy and wide, his eyes slanted and skinny, his skin was grossly pale, "You have lost your touch Erik, without your hearing you seem to be a bit oblivious, become a little dependent on it have you?"

"Sneaky trick Laric, real cute, I'm sure it took all of your brain cells to come up with that one," Cobra hissed. He itched to get next to Lucy, a few feet of charred wood and broken glass stood between them, they both faced the slimy skeleton standing in the doorway. Cobra caught glimmers of gold dancing on Lucy's skin, her eyes were hard.

"Lucy," Cobra whispered, barely audible, he knew her newly developed dragon slayer hearing could pick it up, "Use your magic and go."

"Fuck off," she said aloud.

"I'm serious," he whispered.

Laric laughed, "Quite a mouth on you huh? How disgraceful, you should be bound and gagged," he sneered at her, "Really Erik, I thought at least you would have taste, giving everything up for a woman like her is quite a change of character, oh how the mighty have fallen."

He pointed his sword at Cobra, the long katana blade lit up with electricity, blue sparks jumping off of the metal. Cobra stepped back and he hit the railing of the balcony.

Lucy took a step forward and Laric put a hand up, "You know, Erik by now would have beaten me three times over," he turned his gaze to Lucy, "It seems you are a distraction, an unwelcome one at that," Laric suddenly swung his sword up and Cobra had enough time to lean back to stop it from killing him, it still caught his skin, the metal slicing his jaw, just barely missing his left eye and then slicing a deep cut into his forehead, he winced and staggered to the side, Vince came out of literally nowhere, or he may have just walked up, Cobra was having trouble seeing as blood pooled into his eyes. Vince caught him off guard and suddenly he was on his back, and hand wrapped around his neck, he couldn't see, he tried to blink the blood away, something pressed against his ear and suddenly a loud bang caused his ears to ring and his head felt like it was going to explode. He couldn't hear anything but a loud high pitched ring.

He was blind and deaf in that moment.

"Cobra!" Lucy screamed.

Laric swung his blade towards Lucy, a wave of lighting came off of the sword and Lucy put her hands in front of her, pooling energy between her and the attack, she pulled it up like a wave and her magic absorbed the blast.

"Now, there is almost no information on your magic," Laric leered, "You see from what the council knows you are supposed to be a celestial mage, with keys and whatnot, that's how we found you, your ugly little maid was seen in town this morning by a foot soldier making rounds, he said he could have sworn he had seen the same maid with you during the Tower of Heaven clean up. Careless move on your part."

Lucy's eyes were wide, and she realized she was careless, she had thought absolutely nothing of it when Virgo said she got her tampons when she woke up, Virgo didn't think about the repercussions and neither did Lucy. This was her fault, magic danced on her skin.

"Nothing to say?"

Her eyes flicked to Cobra where he laid on the ground, his hands pressed to his ears and Vince standing over him, he reached behind him and grabbed the hammer that rested on his back. Lucy felt fear bubble up into her stomach and all in one moment she was gone. She reappeared by Cobra, Laric was already in motion, his sword swinging down, she held her arm up and magic covered it, the heavy celestial energy stopping his sword from cutting her but she felt the heavy jolts of electricity run through her, she threw a slice of magic at Vince's legs, and pulled a wave of magic off of the ground to slam into Laric. She inhaled deeply and Cobra looked up at her with fear in his eyes. Lucy winced at the way the blood turned his sclera and iris red, blood still gushed from the cut.

He didn't speak but he shook his head as he realized what she was about to do, she saw Vince recover from her attack and he pulled his arm back to throw his hammer, she pushed an orb of magic into Cobra's shoulder and had just enough time to concentrate on not leaving him in the spirit world or dropping him somewhere he would die, she thinks she got him to the ground safely somewhere in view of the balcony but she wasn't positive as she received a blow from Vince, his giant hammer slamming into her side, throwing her across the wooden outlook. She slammed into the wall that covered the left side of the deck.

She couldn't breathe and moved to stand up when electricity touched her cheek. Laric stood over her, the flat part of his blade pressed flush against her face, the shock wasn't unbearable, he was keeping it at a low voltage.

"You are just annoying," he spit, she glared up at them and she felt her eyes go gold. Laric looked startled, "You are obviously not just a celestial mage."

"Oh really? How'd you guess?" She tried to sound intimidating but the mere act of talking made it feel like her ribs were going to rip out of her skin.

"Don't get cute, you vermin," he turned his blade so the sharp metal cut her skin, the shock into her open flesh caused her to cry out.

"Fuck you," she hissed, her breathing was heavy and her side hurt so bad she felt like she was about to pass out any second.

"How dare you?" Laric growled, he raised his sword and Lucy whimpered as she kicked his shin, he recoiled for a moment and she rolled out of the way as a thunderous bolt of lightning hit where she was a few seconds earlier. Vince's hands were already on her and she screamed and kicked at him as he picked her up, her eyes flashed as she covered them in magic, he must have felt the uncomfortable pull and dropped her, she looked up at him and mustered an orb of magic and threw it at him as she stood, knocking him back, he disappeared in a shower of sparks before he hit the ground, she whirled around to do the same to Laric but he was faster, his hand went to the side of her head, he grabbed her hair, yanking it back and he pressed his mouth to her ear, "You squirm so much… like a rat dying in a trap. I'll be taking Erik, he's mine."

Lucy choked out a laugh, "Bold of you to assume I will give him up that easily."

Laric sneered and pulled back, "Call me bold then."

He snapped his sword forward and Lucy screamed before she even really felt the pain, the sword ripped through her stomach, the metal coming out of her back covered in blood. She choked, blood dripping from her mouth. Lucy leaned close and even the words came out covered in blood, "You… know I killed Brain right?" It was choked, "I ripped… him apart… molecule by molecule… without even lifting a finger," his body was already covered in her magic, and his eyes widened and he ripped the sword from her, pushing her back. Lucy fell to her knees, blood spilling from her stomach.

Laric screamed as he felt his skin begin to separate from his body, Lucy tried to concentrate, but her body wouldn't listen, she closed her eyes and focused on the mind, she ripped into his skull and pierced his brain. It was taking everything in her to keep her magic on him, she felt his skin, his muscle, the fibers, the molecules, she was going to kill him, she found herself not caring that his father was a piece of shit, and maybe it wasn't all his fault, she didn't care, he had come here with every intention of killing them, despite the council's orders of 'wanted alive.' He was dangerous, and she could knock him out and drop him somewhere like Cobra always did but he would come back, or worse go after Fairy Tail once he realized he would never find them in Enca.

His screams filled the space and echoed off the mountainside. Lucy closed her eyes, focusing her magic on his head, it wasn't working like it had with Brain, then again she wasn't herself when she killed him, she was unhinged and probably a lot more powerful, she inhaled, she could still do it thought, rip into his skull and tear his brain apart.

"That's what I thought too and then you killed Brain. I don't even want you in a position like that again."

The thought was almost like an attack, it felt like a punch to the chest and just like that her magic froze, and snapped back into her, Laric fell to the ground, his body convulsing, she hadn't made it deep, he would be fine, and she didn't know if that was the right decision.

"I told you I wouldn't give him up, he's mine," she coughed.

She held her stomach as she tried to stand up but her body betrayed her and she fell back, she saw a flash of gold light and orange hair before she saw nothing at all.

The next chapter will be the last chapter in Act 2. I hope you enjoy and join me in Act 3.