Chapter Text
Two chapters today, everyone! Thank you Leyan, for helping me write! Comments are my brain juice. *hint hint*
Also my alerts are back up! Yay!
Chapter Six - Laxus, Part Two
The next day, Makarov gathered everyone in the guild, and Laxus and I stood with him on the top floor as he made an announcement.
"Ivan," he said. "For being a danger to others, and harming your fellow guildmates, you are hearby excommunicated from Fairy Tail."
"WHAT?" Ivan cried. "How can you do this to me? I'm your son!"
"That does not excuse you from abusing your nakama!" Makarov bellowed, angry.
"Laxus, say something, I'm your father!" Ivan said, turning to the boy standing next to me.
I took hold of his hand, and squeezed.
Laxus took a deep breath and stared at Ivan. "You're not my father! Family does not abuse family. You may be my father by blood, but you are not nakama!"
I smiled at him.
Ivan's glare turned harsher, and his gaze turned to me. "This is all your fault, you little bitch!"
He prepared his magic, but before he could cast anything, there was a small shout from the side. "Summon Lightning!"
Several green beams went shooting towards Ivan, shocking him immensely. He turned his attention towards Cana, who was panting, but still stood tall.
"Now we've got other brats?" he sneered, turning back to Makarov. "What, you're turning this into an orphanage? Well, then I'll turn it into a graveyard!"
He prepared his magic and shot his odd paper things (really, what the fuck were they?) towards Cana. Makarov extended his arm, hoping to block them, but before he could, they were hit with a splash of water. "Water Slicer!"
Juvia stood next to Cana, and she was panting a bit more heavily, bent over with her hands at her knees, before she stood up and shouted, "You will not harm Juvia's nakama!"
Before Ivan could even blink, Makarov's giant fingers flicked him out the door. "Don't you ever come back!"
Before he could come back, Macao and Wakaba slammed the doors shut.
Makarov sighed, and shrunk back to his original size. "Kids, in my office, now!"
Laxus and I exchanged glances, and we followed Makarov down the hall. We sat down on his couch as we waited for Juvia and Cana to appear.
Juvia spoke first. "Juvia will not apologize."
Makarov smiled. "I'm not asking you to. I'm very proud of all of you, standing up for each other like that. That is the very definition of what this guild is supposed to be."
We all smiled at that.
"I'm also here to ask about progress reports," Makarov said.
"Progress reports?" Cana asked.
"Yeah, you see, we're gonna stick it to the old geezers and prove that we're the strongest generation!" I shouted. "So we gotta meditate every day, and practice developing our magic."
"Progress reports will let us know if you need any help with anything," Makarov said. "It will also let us know anything knew you developed, like those attacks I saw earlier. I hadn't recognized them."
Juvia and Cana both blushed. "Elle-nee-chan suggested that I use the elements for offensive cards, so I made some."
"Juvia wanted to surprise Onee-sama by showing her offensive spells after Juvia got ahold of the rain and her body."
"Well, you guys did!" I said, happily hugging them. "You guys did awesome, and I'm so proud. And it was so badass, too! Just, POW, out of nowhere, you're intercepting attacks."
Juvia and Cana both smiled and blushed at that, and I don't know what made me happier; watching them grow like this, or the fact that they did it because they wanted to make me proud.
No, that was a lie. It was definitely the latter. The fact that they looked up to me as an older sister made my heart feel like it was gonna burst. Back when I was in the system, I never got along with the other foster kids; it was everyone for themselves. And after that, I ran away, and I lived alone, only interacting with my coworkers.
But now, I had family. I had nakama.
As much as I loved Fairy Tail, I had previously thought that the story could get a bit ridiculous at some points, especially with how they kept going. Now, I understood. This was what they were fighting for, and this feeling, in addition to the adrenaline and exhilaration of magic, made you feel on top of the world.
It wasn't as ridiculous as it had seemed after all.
After some more meditation with Laxus, Cana, and Juvia, I walked home, allowing my magic to replenish and build up.
I had to do some magic, and then I had to try something else, too.
I got home, grabbed an apple out of the fridge, and headed to the study.
I entered, looking at my map. It was maybe a quarter completed, with (poorly) drawn photos placing most people's location.
Now, to find a key.
I imbued my magic into the pin and closed my eyes. Stepping back like I was a pitcher, I let the tack fly and heard a thump as it hit the board.
Bingo.
I opened my eyes and found the glowing tack.
Huh. Not where I thought it'd be.
But it didn't matter. It was about halfway between where I lived and my final destination, so it made my trip a bit easier.
I waited for the sun to set before I left. I had had a large dinner, making sure I was up for the long trip.
I grabbed the glowing thumbtack, stored it in my requip space, and teleported.
A lovely blonde haired woman entered her bedroom. She would be alone that night, as her husband was away on a business trip.
She turned on the light and let out a large gasp as it illuminated me.
"Layla Heartfilia," I said quietly. "I must speak to you."
Her hand went for the servant's bell by the door.
"Wait, I have a symbol of peace!" I yelled.
Her hands still.
"Or you know, a white flag, or whatever…the point is that I come in peace. I have knowledge of the future, which your daughter will end up playing a key role in. You need to start training her in Celestial Spirit Magic, if you haven't already."
"Say you're telling the truth," Layla said. "Would there be any way to stop her from being involved?"
"I doubt it," I said. "I understand why you want to protect her – she's your daughter. But fate has a way of making certain things happen, no matter how hard people try to change them. I'm here warning you so that you can train her. And if she does well enough, then she can have presents."
"Presents?" Layla asked.
"Yes," I said, holding out my hand. "My peace offering. I want this to be her first key. I know that she can summon your spirits, and that she already has a bit of a connection with Aquarius, but I want this one to be hers, specifically."
The Key to the Maiden lay out in my hand.
"As for the presents, I will visit several times a year; Christmas, and her birthday, which are about the same distance apart. On those days, I will give her silver keys as presents, but if she can open all of her golden gates at once, I will give her another."
"What are you saying?" Layla asked, shocked.
"If she can open three golden gates at once, I will give her a fourth Zodiac key. She will not get the fifth until she can hold all four gates open. I will, however, still give her the silver keys I collect by then."
"And…you really think she'll be able to do it?"
"I think that if you start training Lucy immediately, and have her work hard, and spend more time training than on heiress things, that by the time she is eighteen she will be able to open all Zodiac Gates at once."
"All of them?" Layla gasped.
"That is what I believe, yes. I also suggest to throw away the heiress training. Lucy doesn't want to be an heiress, she wants to be a Celestial Spirit Mage and join Fairy Tail. Or at least…she will. I'm not quite sure when she starts wanting that in particular."
"Alright," Layla said. She reached out and took the key from my hand. "I'll start training Lucy tomorrow. After about a week or so, she'll make a contract with Virgo."
"Alright," I said. "I'll be back on Christmas Eve, with more keys and another gold one. If she can hold all four open, she can have the key."
"All four?" Layla gasped. "You want her to hold open Aquarius, Cancer, Taurus and Virgo before you give her the next one?"
"Yes," I said. "If she can't do it yet, then she can try opening them all again on her birthday next year. She'll still get silver keys as presents, no matter what."
Layla nodded. "Alright. I'll try to contact Zoldeo so I can get Capricorn's key back. As for Taurus, Lucy hasn't interacted with him yet; he's contracted with Bero, the man I was going to have teach Lucy as she grew older. Grammi is holding Aquarius and Spetto is holding Cancer until Lucy was old enough, but if we're seriously going to start training, they should be passed onto her for good. But I'll ask Bero to come tomorrow to start teaching Lucy, and we'll see if she can make a contract with him."
I nodded. "I want both of you teaching her. Can you do that?"
I now understood why she went for the servants bell, and why she didn't have her keys with her; she had split them up among servants until her child was ready for them. I had forgotten about that. Layla couldn't actively use her magic anymore because of her disease, but she could still teach Lucy about techniques.
Layla nodded. "I'm a bit worried about Jude's reaction."
I snorted. "Jude wants Lucy to take over the Konzern. That's not going to happen, and just about everyone but him knows it. Tell him about this, and, if he still doesn't listen, I'll speak to him another time about it. But for now…start teaching Lucy. After all, Jude is away on a trip, and he won't be back for some time. So I think that for now, it's about time for Lucy to make contracts with her friends."
Layla smiled at me. "Thank you. Is there a way I may contact you?"
"I don't have a way just yet, but I'll try to bring something with me next time. I'll visit in two weeks. Is that enough time for Lucy to get started? Don't tell her about the keys, yet, I would like to do it myself. But tell her that she's going to be the Greatest Celestial Spirit Mage ever."
"Really?" Layla asked, looking teary-eyed and proud.
"Yes," I smiled at her.
"One last thing," Layla asked. "What is your name?"
"Elle," I told her. "Goodnight, Layla Heartfilia. It was a pleasure."
And then I teleported home.