All Rights to Hiro Mashima

Loosely based on Greek Mythology, the legends therein and everything and everyone's roles are seriously fucked around. Although, I tried to keep the OOCness to a minimum. EVERYTHING IS LOOSE. SO LOOSE. DON'T READ TOO MUCH INTO IT.

~ Day 7: Frost ~

In which Cobra has a bit of a meltdown, Lucy realizes that Cana and Virgo aren't to be trusted, and by the Gods, they were both tired of being cowards.

"You're being bitchier than usual."

Cobra rolled his eyes at his elder brother, adjusting his posture in his obsidian throne to try and find one that didn't make his spine feel like pudding. Then he rolled his eyes again at the ridiculous chair that was carved from solid rock. He'd been sitting on it for millennia and no matter how many times he complained to the Fates, he still had to sit his ass down on something that made him numb in places he probably shouldn't be numb.

"Shut it. I'm just as bitchy as I always am. No more no less."

Laxus pouted. "That's no way to speak to your big brother. Or you know…the ruler of the Gods."

"I'm the Lord of the Underworld, what are you going to do to me that hasn't already been done? I am literally in Hell. I do what I want and you know that. And just because you and I are related…doesn't mean I won't sic Cubellios on you for annoying me."

His blonde brother glowered. "Her poison doesn't work on me." He didn't sound completely sure of himself as he eyed the giant bright purple serpent warily.

"Wanna bet?"

"Whatever Cobra. We're fucking immortal, what would poison do to me?"

"Probably make all your hair fall out."

Laxus' hand shot up to his perfectly coifed just-got-out-of-bed sparky look and gave him the evil eye. "You know Mira would slaughter you in a heartbeat. She loves my hair."

Sharp fangs glinted in the muted green light that permeated this room. "Sure, sure. What are you even doing down here? You hate the dark, and spirits. And the cold. You made your palace as close to the fucking sun as possible on a damn mountain so you could throw your thunderbolts from on high."

"What? I can't just come to see my brother if I want?"

"No. It's been almost five hundred years since I've seen you down here. Usually, you make me come up there and endure everyone else just so you can tell me that I look pale. Which I don't, my skin has always been darker than yours."

"The term is sallow, not pale. You need more sun. And whatever, you love us."

"Dammit, Sparky. No. I have no love for anyone. Isn't that why you stuck me down here away from everyone else all those millennia ago so I wouldn't 'cramp your style' or whatever? Back when you were partying and fucking every Nymph in sight before you settled down and Mira whipped your ass into shape?"

Cubellios, Cobra's ever loyal companion hissed in a way that could only be heard as a snicker. Cobra smiled at her. She always got his humour and he thanked everything he had that she had been allowed to keep him company down here in the Underworld.

Just having spirits for company for eternity was…a little sad. And only he could hear their souls, so no one could even share in his lament of their constant wailing.

"Juvia believes you're lonely."

Cobra actually snarled and lashed out at his brother for that remark. But Laxus only batted his hand away like he was some overgrown puppy acting out. The guy had muscles on his muscles for the God's sakes, he was like a wall of thick skin and stupidly perfect hair. "You two are talking behind my back again? Seriously? Did you learn nothing after that whole 'release the Titans on Mount Magnolia' a couple thousand years ago? I was pissed at you then, and I can be pissed at you now as well if that's what you're aiming for. I swear on the Fates that I'll open Tartaros back up and let Jackal go wild again. Don't fucking tempt me Thunder Thighs."

Laxus flapped his hand, dismissing his brother's threats easily. "It's not like that. Just because your older brother and older sister—"

"Barely older! Like…four minutes older!"

"—are talking about you, doesn't mean it's bad. We're just…worried."

That made him pause, Cobra's anger deflated in his chest. Juvia always worried about him, she was the Rain Woman after all and oversaw the ocean. She was as temperamental and chaotic as the waves she rode. But Laxus wasn't usually the one who admitted to something like that. "Worried about what exactly?" Cubellios wound around his shoulders a little tighter in response to his tone, like she could feel his anxiety.

"You need to get laid."

Nope. He was right and Laxus was still a giant dick.

"Ugh. Fuck you."

"Or…like…find a mate or something."

The annoyance and anger and pissed off feelings were back. "Don't even fucking talk to me about that! It took you years to pull your head out of your ass and recognize that Mira was actually flirting with you. And Juvia has the unhealthiest relationship with Gray I have ever seen. She's a goddamn stalker Laxus. Our sister. Is. A. Stalker. "

Laxus pulled a face. "I know. It's getting a little ridiculous to be honest and I feel for the guy, I truly do, even if he's a moody little fucker. But I meant in general. You've been pining after the same Goddess for as long as I can remember. You—" Laxus actually had the gall to point one of his stupid fingers in Cobra's face here, "—never went wild…err, well…you went slightly evilish, but I don't think that counts."

Cobra's heart twisted in guilt, both for the destruction he brought when he tried to take over Mount Magnolia years back and for the fact that his 'pining' for the Goddess in question was close to what Juvia was doing to Gray. He felt a little stalkerish at times, but at least he only watched her (as surreptitiously as possible, thank you very much) when they were all summoned to the big house on the mountain. He didn't actively go out and look for her, he just…thought about her more often than not and sighed a couple (thousand) times over how beautiful she was.

He was brooding.

Shut up, there wasn't a lot of things to do down in the Underworld. Surprisingly enough, Cobra didn't have many (any, really) friends and no one aside from his immediate family had come down here to see him…ever. And listening to Mard go on and on about how the humidity in Hell was making his hair fluffier than usual was…just so many kinds of annoying.

There wasn't a lot else for him to do other than quietly sigh and think and build his palace. Spirits weren't the most talkative bunch, and the mortals all had their qualms about him. He wasn't the Devil, he wasn't here to make their lives – or afterlives as it were – harder, and he was just doing his job. Laxus watched over the mortals from up top, Juvia controlled the water and kept the sea in balance, and here he was making sure the shores of the River and the climb down to the Depths weren't all clogged up with the souls of those ready to pass on. It was important work.

And it was a low blow for Laxus to bring that shit up in conversation though, even if he was trying to be persuasive. "Don't talk about her like that. You know nothing will ever come of my..."

"…infatuation? Obsession?"

"It's just a crush you fucker!"

"Crush my ass, and how do you know she doesn't feel anything for you as well? Have you even spoken to her?"

"Only a handful of times over the past thirty years, and before that…nothing but passing glances. I took me so much courage to do even that." They did speak and Cobra could honestly say that they were some of the best times he could remember. She was engaging and so incredibly witty and smart. She didn't back down from her beliefs and the way she looked when she was passionate about something…

…just…so enthralling. She was captivating in a way that he had never known before.

And Laxus could read his feelings on his face apparently.

"My Gods. You are so pathetic."

Cobra wilted again in his stupid hard ass throne. "I'm the Lord of the Underworld…she's…she deserves better than a frost covered wasteland with only my snarky self as company and a never-ending line of spirits that shuffle through here. She should have someone who can give her everything. I only have this…"

He swept his hand out in a 'look-at-all-of-this' motion, which encompassed a throne, one giant three-headed guard snake, and millions of spirits who would be judged then ushered over the River or dragged down to the Depths depending on the weight of their soul. There was a reason he could hear them, and it wasn't just for his entertainment, he was either their salvation or their damnation.

"You have your castle too."

Cobra scoffed and kicked his heel against the bottom of his throne. He was rather proud of his castle, made out of gleaming white stones and ebony floors, ice crystals hanging like chandeliers (the Underworld was cold, very cold), rooms large and spacious, windows gigantic enough to catch every glimmer of light that they could. But next to where she lived…it was nothing. "She has her home in Astralis, Laxus. Literally made out of stars and galaxies. How could this ever compare? How could it ever work? Unlike you, neither of us can leave our posts. I have to judge these souls and she has to listen to their dreams and divinations."

"You both could give it up for a while. Mard Geer is your assistant for a reason and she has the Zodiac. What both of you are, is stubborn."

Cobra shook his head before those thoughts could take root in his mind. Ones where she was here, with him, in his arms and in his bed…

"I can't. It's not possible." He whispered into the light mist that seemed to always hang around in this infinitely gigantic place. He had been down here for millennia and even he had never seen the walls.

Laxus pulled himself up to his full imposing height and narrowed his eyes. "If you keep thinking like that, nothing will ever come of it. And forever is a long time when you're immortal Erik."

A black formal shoe whizzed out of nowhere and almost hit the Thunder God in the face. (Togas and sandals had been phased out over the years and Cobra had taken quite a liking to formal business wear that some mortals seemed to favour, the perks of a well-tailored suit to his ass notwithstanding) "Don't call me that!" but instead of deterring him, Laxus just laughed.

"There's a meeting tomorrow, it's the summer equinox and everyone is required to be there. Show up early, I don't want to have to deal with Natsu for longer than I have to. And no one stops his shit like Erza, and Cana will be around to check on her cards for anything prank-like, but he actually seems a little wary about you still and we don't need to rehash the crap that went down three thousand years ago."

Cobra pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, already feeling a stress headache coming on from knowing he had to deal with the childish God of War. Just because that fucker had a good mind for tactics and battle plans didn't mean he was any less annoying to be around. "Fuck. We were looking for that damn Golden Fleece for years after that. Yeah, alright, I'll be there."

"You know she'll be there. Maybe you two can hit it off…?"

A second shoe actually clocked him in the shoulder before Laxus could dissolve into lightning and shoot away back to his palace, he cackled wildly at the curses his little brother was letting spill from his mouth.

-ooo-

"You know what tomorrow is, right?"

Lucy looked up from her infinitely filling ledger of dreams and shot a confused look at her friend. "Course I do Cana, the equinox…the stars have been changing again and they are more reliable than Dimeria at keeping the time and knowing the season." That Goddess of Time was a moody bitch when she wasn't getting any.

Cana nodded sagely. "Of course. But…do you remember what that means?"

The heavy tome slammed shut. "Shit." Lucy breathed, startled at the fact that the very important meeting could have snuck up on her like that.

"Mhmm. Thought you might forget this year. Actually, I knew it so I came to help you out." Cana's cards flashed out in her hands quick as lightning and twice as deadly if anyone mistrusted her predictions. She wasn't the Oracle for nothing.

"Help me with what, exactly?"

"With the fact that you've been mooning over the same God for eons now and haven't done anything about it."

Lucy sniffed and thumbed the well-worn cover of her beloved book. It held all the dreams, unconscious or not, of the mortals down in Earthland. It was her job to listen and chart the stars to see if those dreams could amount to anything, and if they could, then it was within her power to nudge those dreams into reality. Some were long forgotten, lost to the sands of time, while others were remembered and realized and amounted to wonderful things.

"I'm not mooning over him, that's Gray's department. I just…I admire and respect him. He's witty and forthcoming with his answers and he makes me laugh. Dammit, I don't know Cana." She slumped backward in her woven chair, the deep blue cushion padding her back comfortably. "He's different. Even with all that crap that happened with the Titans. He was…hurt, not evil, everyone knows that. He treats me like a woman with an opinion to be heard and even argues with me about things but never in a condescending way. Like he wants to know my reasons and he just likes to bicker."

"Damn girl…"

"—and even if I'm not like Erza or Mira, or even his sister, he still…he still comes to me sometimes, he still seeks me out at these meetings to catch up!"

"Don't forget the fact that he stupid sexy."

"Ugh. I know. So fucking delicious, I could eat him up in seconds."

"You've got it so bad."

Lucy tries to curl up into a little ball in her throne. "I know." She's whining and she knows it but no one but Cana can see her so she doesn't feel so terrible about it.

"Why don't you look for him this time? Talk to him and see if he's open to something more than just a passing conversation?"

At this, Lucy glowers over her bent knees like a petulant child. "He's one of the Big Three, Cana. Cobra is the Lord of the Underworld. His brother is Laxus for the God's sakes! Who am I to him? I just listen to dreams Cana, I watch over the stars with my eyes on future alignments of the planets and the turn of the solar systems. We couldn't be farther apart."

"Tch. First of all, shut up with all those negative thoughts. Second, he's just another God alright? Same as any of us. Third, you're practically Laxus' adopted little sister, he loves you for all you did for him and Mira so hush." Cana's hip popped out and she took a swig from her ever-present flask. "Honestly, I had no idea you thought like this. We've got work to do because you fucking deserve a good man and if you want Cobra then take charge dammit. Show him. Enough with this hiding in the shadows bull alright? Leave all that skulking around shit to him."

Slender hands dove into wavy blonde hair, twisting and knotting the strands with anxiety before Lucy dipped her head in a shaky nod. "Alright. Fine. But just this once? If nothing comes of it, then that's it. Okay?"

Cana clapped her hands together. "Good! Now, let momma Cana work. We need to get started now!"

"What about my job Cana, I can't neglect the mortal's dreams…"

"Hand that book off to Capricorn and call out Virgo. We have to make you the perfect dress."

Lucy didn't question Cana's words but pouted a little when she did pass along the tomb of dreams to her faithful companion. She liked her job, she liked listening to dreams and wishes, and it was exhilarating to hear those down on Earthland while charting the heavenly bodies. They never ceased to amaze her or surprise her.

Humans as a whole were captivating and endlessly exciting.

"What's wrong with the ones I already have?"

Cana scoffed, affronted. "The black one? Or that other one that you only wear when you want to be comfortable? No. Not special enough."

"I completely agree, Princess."

Lucy jumped as Virgo stepped out of her gate so close to her that she hadn't noticed. "Dammit, Virgo. How many times have I asked you to just call me Lucy? It's been eons and Princess isn't really a name."

Virgo only gave her signature dead stare then turned to Cana. "I have an idea Mistress Cana."

Cana smirked impishly. "Oh, Virgo…you know I love your ideas…"

Lucy grimaced. She had absolute faith and trust in both her spirits and her friends, but the way these two were smiling at each other sent a little shiver down her spine. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

Neither gave her an answer to her rhetorical question and started to discuss fabrics that would complement her skin tone.

What had she gotten herself into this time? And why did she feel so over her head?

-ooo-

Cobra sighed again and flagged down Jet who was rushing through all the gathered Gods with platers of fluted glasses filled with ambrosia or Bacchus' signature wines, spreading gossip throughout the crowd.

The equinox was a big deal, proven by the fact that all the Gods and Goddesses that would usually be somewhere else doing something more important than mingling with each other and rehashing centuries-old drama had appeared.

Like Gray, who would normally be sleeping at this time – midday – was sneakily stripping off his shirt while glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Juvia wasn't near him. He did look a little tired – if his yawns were any indication – and being the God of the Moon wasn't helping his pasty complexion any.

Mira looked resplendent as ever, conversing pleasantly with Sherry, Goddess of love and passion off to the side of the ballroom. If no one knew any better, they would have thought those two were like sisters, when they truly hated each other.

Sherry was still a little butt hurt over Laxus deciding to chill his ridiculous libido down and decreed that he would only bone Mira – who he later made his wife – over the Goddess of Physical Love. It was a bit of a blow to the woman's pride.

Erza – who had decided that even the equinox wasn't important enough to strip off her normal everyday armour – was keeping a close eye on her counterpart, Natsu. Even if he was the God of War, and she the Goddess, everyone knew that she was the only one that could keep a lid on his more…exuberant tendencies. The only other one that held any sway over the wild God was Lucy of all people, but she hadn't arrived yet.

He watched Laxus smack Sting over the head to try to get him to stop blinding everyone with his smile that literally had the suns power behind it.

Gajeel had Levy in a tight grip at his side while she conversed pleasantly with her fan club (Jet and Droy) while he towered over them all with a painfully constipated look on his face that usually meant he was trying to smile pleasantly, but his mouth just didn't work that way.

It was the same old, same old.

They had been doing this song and dance for as long as any of them could remember. Some of them, like Levy, or Cana, or even the woman who he was…crushing on thank you very much Laxus, it's not an obsession, were relatively new strictly speaking time wise. Cana had only been allowed the honor of joining them after she had lived a long and happy life as a soothsayer once upon a time and was blessed by Mira after she had saved her sister an untimely and very painful injury.

She was one such person who had been reborn and given a second, more permanent life by the Fates. Her and Bacchus got on like a house on fire though, and when those two got together, no wine was safe. Laxus had locked up his rarer collection of the stuff he got from Crete back when there wasn't such a thing as mass production. They were created specifically for the God of the Heavens by his—loyal followers (see: girlfriends) before Mira made her mark.

Cobra raised his eyebrow and sipped at a flute of Ambrosia. Perhaps he would tell that to Mira if Laxus decided to keep up his superiority complex. Or maybe he would just slip some of Cubellios' poison into a drink of his and laugh as all his hair fell out.

It was then that something very much out of the ordinary happened.

There was a commotion at the front doors, a crowd filled with murmurs and titters and grins congregated and blocked his sight. Cobra rolled his one eye. Usually when the vultures descended it wasn't for anything big. Gajeel had got his hair caught in his forge once and showed up with an undercut. No one had stopped talking about that for fifty years.

He kicked himself only moments later when he spotted the reason for all the hubbub, promptly inhaling his drink down the wrong pipe. Because Lucy, holy hot damn—came striding out from the center of the room, looking resplendent in a gown that looked like she had ripped the stars from the heavens themselves and wrapped them around herself.

She was breathtaking, and so, so beautiful.

And he had no idea what to do. Because he wanted to say that to her, to her face and not just in her mind. Like, straight to her face out fucking loud with words and everything, then whisk her away somewhere private and—

"—Cobra?"

He blinked back to the present and nearly choked again when he realized that Lucy was right in front of him and all he had been doing for the past five minutes was stare and gawk at her as she walked right up to him.

Oh, Gods.

She probably thought he was some sort of creeper or some shit like Juvia.

Oh, sweet merciful Fates…he had turned into his sister.

"Are you alright Cobra?"

He coughed a little into a curled fist to hide his blush (and shame, can't forget that). "I'm alright Lucy. H-how are you? You look…"

Lucy patted down her dress in a fit of self-consciousness, her lips tilted in a little grin. "It's too much, isn't it? I never wear anything like this, ever. But—but Cana ambushed me! Virgo too and well…"

"You look amazing." His brain to mouth filter was gone. Vanished.

She looked stunned for all of two seconds before a wide smile split her face in half. "You really think so?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as if she couldn't believe what he had said.

In the wake of her bashfulness, his personality – gruff, a little on the cranky side, but loyal and unwavering – rebooted. His nervous thoughts were pushed out of his head and he stepped into her personal space, forcing her head to tilt up a little so that she could keep looking into his eye. "Gorgeous, Starshine. But then again—"

He pushed a lock of her golden hair behind her ear and bent forward a little to that he could lower his voice even more, his confidence soaring with her little shiver. "—you always looked beautiful."

Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately because Cobra had just run out of amazing-things-to-say-to-get-Lucy-to-swoon (it was a three-part plan) Laxus decided then and there to start the meeting off.

Over the course of the day – with a slight break in the middle for a filling meal – Cobra couldn't tell anyone anything that had been said. There had been a slight break in formation at the large round table they all gathered around to update the Thunder God on what had happened since the last equinox, as Lucy had tugged him by the hand and sat boldly by his side throughout the briefing. This had caused a little commotion from Natsu, Lucy's best and closest friend, as he pouted at the fact that she wasn't beside him (he was promptly calmed down when a cool hand had found his shoulder, and against all odds, he had listened to Gray for once).

Cobra was too distracted by the little looks Lucy was sending him, and the accidental (not really) touches of their fingers or shoulders when they shifted against one another sent little electric pulses cracking up his spine.

His mouth had run on autopilot and spilled something about the status quo of the Underworld being just fine, and perhaps slid a little jab at Mard Geer through, commenting on the size of his hair. But he couldn't really be sure because all his attention was on the woman beside him that looked like she was born of fiery stars and twisting galaxies.

He was mesmerized.

And he fell down that deep hole further when she was asked to give an update of Astralis. Her face lit up and her eyes blazed like the tail of a comet. He loved her passion.

Cobra knew then and there that there was no going back, and this little crush or whatever was full blown devotion. He was fucking pining for this amazing Goddess, and he was a bit miffed that Laxus was right.

And then suddenly, it was over.

A slim hand slid over his that rested on the table, not quite comprehending what had happened – where did the time go? Was Dimeria playing another trick on them again?

But no.

This was reality, and there was Lucy smiling at him again and it hit him in the chest and his lungs and his brain and his dick all at once.

He wanted her.

And it looked like she wanted him right back.

He led her quietly to the edge of the gathering, intentions clear in his body language. He spotted Laxus and Mira shooting him a quick thumbs up from the other side of the room and he scowled at them and flipped them the bird as discreetly as possible.

Cobra whirled around when they were covered in shadows and darkness, as both seemed to cling to him wherever he went. "Lucy, I want to ask you someth—"

He was cut off abruptly by a kiss so fierce and bruising that he burned from the inside out before he knew what was happening.

Lucy backed away from him with a sheepish smile and an adorable blush. "Whatever it is, Cobra, my answer is yes."

He grinned wickedly, already missing her lips on his. "Come with me? To the Underworld. I want…I want to show you everything."

"How could I say no to that?"

He chuckled, then winced. "You might be a little cold down there though."

She shrugged unperturbed. "So, I'll bring my slippers next time. I have a feeling I won't need them for a while though, you'll warm me up, won't you Cobra?"

Tanned fingers splayed across her back as he hauled her into his chest with a low growl. "Anything Starshine. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say something like that to me."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

He had never called up his Chariot to take them to the Underworld faster than in that moment. Even though time moved differently for them compared to the mortal realms, he wasn't willing to waste any more of it.

-ooo-

Lucy squealed as icy toes dipped between her calves, chilling her skin. She kicked out landing a solid hit to her lover's leg. "Fuck off Cobra. Keep those icicles away from me."

He only chuckled and brought her naked body closer to his own, silk sheets sliding over his waist. Her golden head tucked under his chin before he sighed, a little resigned as he knew their time together would be short, a little overjoyed that this had finally happened.

"How long do you have?" He whispered into the still silence.

Lithe little fingers fidgeted with a pendant made of the everlasting ice of the Underworld. It was a gift he had given her only moments before he had decided that he wanted to see her wearing it and only it.

Lucy hummed into his neck, breath ghosting over his heated skin. "Not too much longer, it is the longest night of the entire year. I trust the Zodiac, especially Capricorn, but the mortals sleep longer than ever tonight and these dreams are usually the ones that have a chance of becoming reality."

Cobra smiled into her hair and kissed her head. "I understand, you know I do."

Brown eyes sparkled with happiness up at him. "Thank you, Cobra."

His hand blindly groped around until he had one of hers clasped in a tight grip. "I'll come up and visit you? I've always wanted to see Astralis in all its glory. It must be a wondrous place if it's even a fraction of your beauty."

"You're a fucking sap Cobra."

He snorted and burrowed deeper beneath the covers to soak up the warmth of another body beside him. Cobra hadn't realized how cold he had been before. "Only for you, Starshine."

Her little giggle made him smile like the smitten God he was. "I'd like that actually. For you to see the stars, to see my home, that is. I think that would be amazing."

"Good to know."

They fell into a light slumber, intertwined, hearts light even though they knew they would have to part ways soon.

What was a couple of days when they had eons?

Wow.

That took way longer than I ever thought it would. :3 Glad it's finished though, it's been burning a hole in my mind for months. SO, that's it for CoLu Week my precious cupcakes.

If it wasn't clear during the fic, here's a little run down of all the Greek Gods/Goddesses and their FT counterparts:

Lucy – Astraea, Goddess of the Stars

Cobra – Hades, God of the Underworld

Laxus – Zeus, God of Lightning/Ruler of the Gods

Juvia – Poseidon, God of the Sea

Mira – Hera, Mother of the Gods/Goddess of Marriage

Gray – Artemis, Goddess of the hunt/moon

Natsu – Ares, God of war

Erza – Athena, Goddess of war/wisdom

Sherry – Aphrodite, Goddess of love

Sting – Apollo, God of the sun/music

Gajeel – Hephaestus, God of the forge

Levy – Philarion, Goddess of ingenuity

Jet – Hermes, Messenger God

Cana – The Oracle

Bacchus – Dionysus, God of wine

Dimeria – Chronos, Primordial God of Time

Stay Crazy,

LoadedEel