Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucy awoke in an altogether too familiar bed. A bed different from the one she had gone to sleep in. A bed that she had never thought she would see again. A room filled to the brim with the marks of class, from the dolls made of the softest fluff to the room painted in pastels (which were still her favorites, and she was sad she couldn’t afford them anymore!) that were made from materials from other continents.

However, it wasn’t just her old room. It was the room from when she was 4. From when her mom was alive. From when the world was so much simpler, before dragon slayers and Eclipse, where the world was so much more complicated, where Acnologia was alive and the Spriggan 12 were out there colonizing nations.

She couldn’t help it. She, as most 4 year olds do when faced with insurmountable obstacles such as dropping your ice cream or somehow breaking the rules of reality that even the Black Mage Zeref failed to break, cried. She was quickly picked up in Spetto’s arms, soft nothings whispered in her ear as she tried to calm her down from a nightmare, a life that now became nothing more than a dream in one night.

She cried for the people that she would never see again, for the friends she made, for the family that now didn’t exist, didn’t remember her. Of course, she was a Heartfilia. She was no longer just Lucy, a Mage from Fairy Tail, who maybe got recognized as a journalist, or Lucy the Author, who got known for her merits. She was yet again the Heartfilia heir, the cold, prim, proper girl she had so long ago abandoned.

“Come now Lucy, your dad isn’t here. You can cry, if you want to, like any little girl should. Tell auntie Spetto what got you so worked up, there, there.”

And Lucy Heartfilia said a truth that tasted like ash in her mouth. “I-I dreamed of mommy dying! I don’t want to see her go!”

Lucy had taken a moment or five, and gone through all the calming techniques she knew, and was now in a semistable state. She was always good at compartmentalizing, always a good part of any heiresses skills. And had come upon an important realization.

She knew all the details of her friends' lives. All the pain they went through. And could do something about it. She may not have power, or strength, but she had memories and money.

She didn’t even have her Celestial Spirits, her oldest friends. She didn’t have Aquarius, which felt like a slap on the face from the universe itself.

(She realized she probably couldn’t even summon her if she wanted, her magical reserves smaller. Could she even open a silver gate? Celestial Spirit Summoning was one of the most intensive magics, reaching across dimensions. It was only by binding it to promises and rules that it didn’t take more magic than even August had. That mustached senile man probably was the source of most of the magic if she thought about it.)

Bero was seated on a table as she entered the library, and she remembered. Today was the day she began learning about Celestial Spirit magic. She wasn’t sure if she could keep up the dispirited persona of an heiress through these lessons.

“Now Lucy, I am here to introduce you to the duty of the Heartfilia Bloodline. As you know, your mother, and her mother, and the past 14 generations of Heartfilia's have passed down the name, keeping it through their marriages. You may wonder, ‘what tradition is so sacred that I have to learn about it now!’ and to that I say, the Tradition of the Stars, and the oaths to their realm. Lucy, I hope to induct you into the mysteries of Celestial Spirits.”

She remembered this speech, had engraved it into her heart as she smiled, excited about finally learning where her mother had found her friends. It echoed in her head, the warm feeling of familiarity as he pulled out a silver key. The Key of the Southern Cross.

“Now, I don’t expect you to immediately be able to even attempt to summon them, but I wish to present you to the stars, so that they may be acquainted with you. If you could, simply hold this key and imagine a door in your mind.”

She took the offered key, and remembered how it had felt cold in her hand, and how she waved it around and it did nothing at all.

What she did not expect was the familiar chime of celestial bells, and for Grandpa Crux to appear before her. 

“EHHHHHHHHHHHHH??????!!!!!!”

“Hrm. Most interesting. Old friend, if you would not mind? I believe I must have a discussion with the little heiress privately. Mmmm, yes, if you would not mind, please leave us.”

Both Lucy and Bero had been completely taken aback and had fallen in surprise. Helping each other up, Bero looked at Crux. “I, I see. I had not expected this, but yes, I would not mind leaving you two be. Please, do not mind me, I will make myself scarce…”

Lucy looked at Crux, and Crux looked back. They both waited in silence as Crux left the table, and rather quickly for his age, the room.

“Lucy Heartfilia. As you know, although I do not know how, a Celestial Spirit Wizard is not born. They are introduced to the stars, and by receiving the acknowledgement of the king, they are allowed to form contracts with us Spirits. It takes years to build up the reservoirs needed to summon even a silver key.

“And yet, you have formed a Heavenly Contract. I know even a week ago, the keys were cold, nothing but metal in your hand. The gate opens as easily as a door when the key is in your hand. You have neither the experience, nor the power to allow me to know much, and yet when the key is in your hand, I have access to memories I have not been allowed to tell for centuries. Tell me, do you know why?”

Lucy had not moved, feeling the warmth of the key. The warmth she should not feel yet. She could feel the gate itself, and it felt as easy to summon as it was in Elentear.

“I can only hazard a guess, Crux. And even then I don’t quite believe it myself.”

“I see. Then I suppose we must make a contract, to fully discuss. Else, I would not be allowed to invite you to the memory of the stars. And please, use the full name of my gate.”

“Full name?”

“Ah, you do not know? Celestial Spirit magic, as you know, is drawn from ceremony and knowledge. Whenever one summons us, they summon the aspect they can from their power, and that remains the aspect that is contracted to the spirit. For example, a spirit mage that enjoys pain in others may call upon a spirit’s darker aspects, those more inclined for combat, while one who is very worried for others is likely to call an aspect more inclined for support. But by using the full name of the gate to form the contract, it is the entirety of a Spirit, their truest self. Yes, yes.”

“That sounds…important. Why isn’t this more common knowledge?”

“It is a completely unregulated flow of magic, an attempt to summon at a set power level. You must know how draining it is to summon one of us. Imagine if you attempted a contract, and as you summon the spirit you are completely drained of magic and life. It’s a safety precaution. But I am not a golden key, and you have much more knowledge and experience than you should. I can imagine it won’t be much of an issue.”

“I… I guess. What is the full name of your gate?”

“Ah, yes! I believe the recitation is ‘Open Silvered Gate of Knowledge, Door to the Spirit of History and Memory, I summon Wizened Crux of the Wandering Stars.’ Yes, I believe thats the one.”

“Its…so long…do I have to say that every time I summon you?”

Crux, however, had disappeared before she could ask the question. And Lucy sighed, before steadying herself, and reaching for the puddle of magic she had.

“I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open Silvered Gate of Knowledge, Door to the Spirit of History and Memory, I summon the Southern Cross, Wizened Crux of the Wandering Stars! I beseech thee, come to me!”

She could feel the pull of magic, the chimes of the celestial world ringing as a magic circle appeared below Lucy, and on the teeth of the key itself. It grew uncomfortably warm as a Door appeared in front of her, the familiar designs of Crux himself decorating it as his smoke began to enter the room. Books opened themselves around her, copies of the text forming into the shape of the cross.

Who looked exactly the same as the lights died out.

“I thought this was meant to make you look cooler! You look exactly the same!”

“Look closer, young Lucy. I make an effort to appear as completely as I can to summoners, but you ought to be able to tell.”

And if she looked closer, she could see an aura around him, similar to the letters from the E.N.D book, the way some of his wrinkles had lightened, the polish to his form as it seemed more real than any time she summoned him before. Even his ornamentation seemed to move on it’s own, golden flowers contrasting against polished iron.

“Is this what I have to expect every time I do that?”

“Perhaps. Now, a contract. What do you ask of me, Summoner?”

“I-Shouldn’t I be asking the questions? You tell me when you are available, scheduling stuff, any conditions to summon you?”

She remembered as she was just starting out, testing the limits of her magic as Bero had given her his key. The first contract was one she remembered well, only to be summoned in a library, and having to learn how to jam a key in a book while slipping it into the celestial world.

“Perhaps, but first I must know what you ask of me. This is not just a contract for my appearance, but a contract for my power.”

“Then what can you do? I know you can look information up, and you can speak through your key, but that’s all I know…”

“I could speak without being summoned? How very curious…yes a rather strong contract would have been needed for that. But I am afraid I can do more. Most of my abilities don’t even need me to be summoned, for as you know, I can find any information on Celestial Magic, and even most other forms of magic. Beyond that, I can communicate through the key. I can also allow you to copy the memories of others, and other information even they may not know into written form. I can even help you recall memories you may have forgotten and lift any memory spells on you. If you were stronger, you might be able to ask me to have telepathy, alter memories, look into the past, and cast spells, but asking these of me now would be a death wish. Most anything that can be used to learn falls under my domain, yes.”

“I-That’s way too much! Altering memories, thats ridiculous!”

“As I said, we only show an aspect of ourselves to a summoner. Mmmmyes, it is dangerous to allow one not trusted by at least one of us to have this. I can assume you are a peaceful girl, if you received my ability to search for information. Powerful, but only a part. But make your demands. And then I shall make mine.”

“I-I guess I would like to be able to Search through magic and speak through the key…also recalling my own memories, that would be great!”

“You do not wish to be able to copy others' memories? I find that to be rather useful…”

“I mean…it seems like a breach of privacy, you know?”

“Hmm, I suppose I should mention. You can decide who can see it. Celestial Spirit writing is one of the hardest things to detect, and even harder to decode.”

“Then I’ll guess I’ll take it, yeah. Now what do you ask of me?”

“I ask to be allowed to see your memories.”

“EHHH? NO WAY, THOSE AR-”

“You realize you ask much of me. It is my duty to offer an equivalent exchange, in order for the rules of the Celestial Spirit King to take into effect. You ask for great power, and I must know if you are trustworthy, and if I can trust you to be around Layla Heartfilia.”

“I…I suppose I’ll trust you with my memories. However, you are not allowed to tell anyone without my permission! Not even the spirit king!”

“Mmmmmm…that is a steep demand…in return, every time you are in a Library, you must summon me to copy all the books. In addition, if I sense a book I have not seen, I will automatically use your power to copy it, so long as it will not drain you completely.”

“Wait…can you also help me decode secret messages?”

“Yes, that is something I can do. In exchange, I will not be able to be summoned on Sundays, unless I summon myself to fulfill previous criteria, or you enter a Library.”

Lucy stayed silent, feeling as her magic was quickly burning out, then focused on Crux. “I agree to this Contract.”

“Under the authority of the King of the Celestial Planes, Tetrabiblos, Lord of the 88 Constellations, Enforcer and Source of Celestial Rules, I bind this Contract with the Walker of the Celestial Path Lucy Heartfilia, and write her name in the Registry of the Stars. I, Lord of Memory and Knowledge, Crux of the Wandering Stars, do witness this contract.”

She could feel her magic reacting to the contract, the silver key heating up until it felt like it was burning her hand, and her magic reacting to the contract, a string of golden magic reaching out to Crux, and him reciprocating, before her internal magic reserves began to shift, expanding just a little, and then stilling, almost empty. Crux, however, simply fell asleep, sifting through her memories.

When he woke up, and just as Lucy’s magic began to completely wane, he said; “If you could, pass me to old Bero. Yes, I am sorry to take away something he was looking forward to for so long, but I do believe I would be the best teacher. The mark of summoning the Celestial Spirit King, and all your knowledge would make it hard to hide this to Bero’s eyes when teaching. He can teach you techniques for increasing your magic, however. I believe such techniques are best done without a Spirit draining your power…yes, if you could pass me to him and ask him to summon me here. I am afraid I must go, before I drain you completely. You are perhaps the most interesting Celestial Wizard I have seen in a while.”

Lucy told Bero about his request, and had to sit there, thinking.

She shouldn’t have been able to summon Crux. He was one of the weakest Silver Spirits, admittedly (Or so she thought), but she was 4. She hadn’t been able to summon spirits until she was 12, and admittedly that spirit was Aquarius, but she was nowhere near summoning Crux so easily.

And a mark from summoning the Celestial Spirit King? She touched her collarbone absently, but it was as smooth and unmarred as it was meant to be. As if she never had to make the choice to sacrifice her oldest friend. She hated this, being a child, never being able to see her friends again. She wanted with all her heart to return to the old world.

But she had an opportunity to help her friends. Even if they do not know who she is, she could lift so many of their burdens. She could save them from despair, from losing so much before they got into the guild.

(Was it alright to do so? To change their fate, would they even be the same person anymore?)

Bero came out of the room, Grandpa Crux floating serenely beside him. And Lucy could see just how little of a difference the full summoning did.

“My my! It seems you have interested old man Crux Lucy! Why, I remember when I was learning celestial spirit magic from him…oh how I wish I could be the one to teach you, but Crux is old hat at training Celestial Spirit mages. Why, I believe even Lady Layla learned from Crux a trick or two, back when she was casting.”

“My, speaking of me behind my back? Bero, I thought I told you that we would never speak of those days again.”

And Lucy froze hearing that voice.

It had been so long… she could remember the last time her mother spoke to her with crystal clarity.

“Mama!”

“Oh, Lucy, my little Lucy…did the nightmare scare you?”

“Y-yes…”

“Come now. I won’t die for a long time, years and years. That’s why I gave up my spirits, Lucy! So I could stay with you for as long as I wanted!”

Lucy couldn’t help it. She cried. She cried for so long in her mother’s arms, until the tears no longer came out, until her words no longer were coherent. Layla, for her part, murmured sweet words into her ear, hoping to calm her down.

Sleep came quickly, exhausted by both the summoning and the memories. And Layla could only smile at her daughter, sleeping peacefully in her lap.

“Quiet, old man! We have planning to do!”

Lucy was currently with Crux, a small classroom all to themselves, and in the front of it was written “Lucy’s Friend’s Trauma Schedule (Name Pending)” in glowing letters.

It had been a week, and Lucy had gotten past the icky emotional loss of her entire life, and was now focused on plans.

“Now, we have to start with Gray, obviously. It’s in a few months that he goes through the whole, Deliora thing. Now, as a 4 year old and an elder, we very clearly can’t fight it.”

“Mmmyes. I am afraid I have no combat capabilities to speak of, and without even Horologium to act as your shield, it is certain death.”

“Now, long term solution: Get someone else to kill it. This sounds reasonable, but we have to do negotiations and that may take too long. Shortlist of candidates, the dragon gods. That sounds reasonable, right?”

“If you consider negotiating with beings who could very easily destroy a continent ‘easy’, then yes. I concede that Mercphobia would be easy to recruit, but to wipe a demon from the book of Zeref without flooding the country, he is unlikely to help. The less said about Selene, the better. And for Alderon…you are insane, you Heartfilia.”

“Long term plans, Crux! I know you said Pyxis would be able to control space like Selene, we can probably do that soon!”

“How about short term plans. How do you plan on having a Demon of Destruction not destroy lives.”

“Trains!”

“I regret this immensely, Lady Lucy. I wish you had stayed a child.”

“So do I! However, that is not an option! So, trains. Dad has access to the best train technology in the continent, including a machine that can lay tracks really quickly. We make train routes to help the citizens evacuate, bam! No deaths!”

“And if Deliora sees a train, child?”

“That’s where you come in! Is there a celestial spirit that can perfectly camouflage a train system to match the frozen north?”

As Crux faded away to search his memories, Lucy got off the stool she had been standing on, having finished the drawings she had put on. She was proud of them, in all honesty. Her arms were short, but they managed to draw Gray…well enough. Maybe not that well. Lucy was a writer not an illustrator.

The past week had been…not grueling training like she was used to, but rather learning like she had when she was 4. All theories and phrases, relearning the etiquette of contracts, learning the name of True Gates.

It was so much recitation…and between that, all the classes on how to be a lady, a business woman. All painfully familiar, and tinged with the sadness of meeting with staff that had once been her family, and yet again, are.

“AAAAAH!”

Grandpa Crux’s noises when waking up were always loud enough to bring Lucy back to the present.

“Yes, I know. The Gate of the Little Bear, Frozen Child of the North, Polaris. Yes, if built with their crystal, any machine will quickly hide away in the snow, unmistakable from their surroundings. And it doesn’t even need to actively use magic from the Holder, just any source will do.”

“See, this is why we’re a good team! Now where is their key?”

Crux looked at Lucy.

Lucy looked back at Crux.

“Right, I forgot…you can’t share the location of keys…are they currently in use?”

“No, they are currently contractless. However, the key has not entered any shops. That is the extent o-”

“Wait, wait. Let me try and remember where Yukino got it from…did she tell me?”

“Ah. I forgot about Future Knowledge. Would you like me to help clarify the memories?”

“Aw, thanks for offering Grandpa Crux!”

Lucy could feel his power, and suddenly her nose began to itch. She reached to scratch it, before realizing. It was a cross shaped mustache.

“I take it back.”

Her memories, however, were suddenly so much easier to sort through, easily organizing like books on a shelf. And she remembered.

“Right! A dead adventurer in north, a Gulitarian who had come to Fiore for…something she didn’t know. Right, that makes it easy then! All I have to do is find a dead adventurer, steal their key, and build functioning infrastructure in a region where trains have not gotten in!”

“Hmmmm…yes….and the money?”

Lucy froze.

“Doesn’t Father have unlimited funds?”

“Not quite. The money needed for Layla’s treatments…a Duke is very clearly extorting him, but there is nothing he can do. Yes, Layla’s accounts have all been emptied. It is only business savvy and Jude’s feverish ability to make morals and capitalism work against all logical reasoning that you haven’t been hunted for the sport of the rich.”

So that's why Mom married him, Lucy realized for the first time in her life.

Still a shitty dad.

“Is the duke by any chance someone you may know, Grandpa Crux?”

“Yes. In fact, he himself is a celestial wizard, and a rather strong one.”

Suddenly Lucy had a sinking feeling, a feeling she hadn’t had for a long time. Not long enough, but a very long time.

Oh how she suddenly felt bad for Virgo…

“Ah. I’ve seen you’ve caught on.”

“I miss when the solution to my problems was to have Natsu punch it harder…”

“Duke Everlue is an easy opponent in the battlefield, but a formidable force in politics. His collection of books is said to contain the cures of some of the deadliest diseases, schematics for lacrima that run with no magic, all sorts of inventions that never see the light of day.”

“When did you get so knowledgeable on Fiorean politics?”

“I was there when Eclipse was built, you know. I simply took a gander at some of the books, and of course I helped you review the outstanding debts of Jude after his death. It all becomes conjecture from there.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

“Fine, I may have peeked at some memories of the people in your memories. I won’t say anything else about the subject.”

Lucy leered at him, before going back to thinking about…Everlue. 

“What can we do about him…”

Crux fell asleep, but Lucy began remembering what she could of the duke. She had heard bits from her dad, now that she thought about it, but only whispers. His money was famous for only appearing when he wanted, and no one knew quite how much he had. The wizard saints had attempted to recover dangerous artifacts that they had traced to his accounts, but they had been unable to navigate the mazes of caves too tight for them. And with Virgo, he likely was actively changing them. Perhaps even something she didn’t know she could do. 

It was infuriating. 

“Hmm. Yes I think we would have to do a three step plan. And that would likely take too long for this timeframe…we would have to first challenge and revoke his right to be a celestial spirit wizard, likely by searching for a broken promise. Then, we need to have him uncover his hidden riches, and use that to get the magic council pushing their thumb on the scale, before finally having a court settle the dispute. No, we need immediate liquidity…”

“What about that Island of Demons! They had fruits that aren’t grown anywhere else! If we begin exporting and importing there…that might be able to help us?”

“Hmmm…that immediate liquidity ought to be enough to begin expansion up north…hmm the math works out…and you might be able to gather Moon Drip there, and use a celestial spirit technique to be able to use it at will.”

“Eh?? I could cast moon drip? It took three years of concentrated moonlight to even get a drop!”

“That's because they weren’t celestial wizards. Perhaps Jellal could use it, but he would be at risk of canceling his own possession, so he would never go for it. However, if you wish to deal with Selene, then the power of the moon would be at your fingertips. It is said that beyond the 88 constellations, there are 3 supreme beings. The Dragon of the Moon, who controls the border between realms and the flow of magic. The God of the Sun, who creates the power that celestial spirits need in order to heal, and who controls the flow of time between realms. And finally, The King of Stars, who rules over the rules and contracts that allow the celestial realm to exist. 

Now, these are not spirits to be summoned by a key. To do so would be to allow celestial spirit mages to control the very rules of reality. No, instead they grant spells. The Spell of the Stars, Urano Metria, is the ultimate spell. The Spell of the Moon, Moon Drip, which dispels any magic it touches. The Spell of the Sun, Sun’s Glow, which heals any wound. To form contracts with them requires understanding of Celestial Spirit Magic, the Magic of Contracts and Ceremony. However, it also requires getting the approval of one of these beings beforehand. If you did not have the Mark of the King of Stars, and did not know the sacred place of moonlight, this would be folly. However, you are quite the exceptional mage, aren’t you.”

To contact Selene so early…it would be risky. Especially if she couldn’t find Horologium, as she would essentially go in with only one spirit. A respected spirit, but only one…and Horologium’s key hadn’t come with provenance, so she had no clue where it was NOW, and she had at best a week to find it. 

It was always the worry when you couldn’t do anything that hurt Lucy the worst. The anticipation of the guild being destroyed when Phantom Lord was coming after her. When she was in the infinity clock, unable to even move. Loke’s fight with Zoldeo, all of Natsu’s fights, really. She hated the feeling of dread, more than anything in the world.

And now, most of her life would be lived in anticipation, dreading what could go wrong. Planning, conniving, and never looking at only one moment in the future…then again. She hated thinking about anyone else in the guild having this experience. She could practically imagine Natsu running around thousands of years ago to beat up Zeref. Or Gray taking on Deliora. Again. Without checking if he even had magic power. Erza reliving her past.

How in every scenario she can’t imagine herself not being forcefully kidnapped at the latest as she turns eleven and having no clue what was happening.

She still had no clue how this happened, really. And really, who would be able to tell her anything about it. Maybe if she could stop time, Ultear might appear, but she can’t stop time, and she had no clue if she could get this version of Ultear to study it (did she have to study it? Or was she born with it, she never got the full story, and she didn’t think Ultear did. God, was she gonna have to work around Brain?) without giving her to Hades. Which she categorically refused to consider.

(She realized, so many bits and pieces would break, so many dominos remaining toppled. Would Gray meet Ur if his family dies? Learn Ice Magic? How many demons had Silver killed that if left alone would have destroyed families? How much does this count as messing with life and death? Would Ankhseram curse her if she continued on this path? Would Chronos break out of his human shell to judge her actions? Was Chronos even alive, able to outlive their worshippers?)

She took a breath in. She could not despair. She was a Fairy Tail wizard, and she would always look forward.

“Is it at all possible to ask you if I can get the Key of the Swinging Pendulum’s location from you? I did have a contract with Horologium, you know.”

“Hmmmmm. Rather a complex set of rules there. I can see a connection between you and the constellation, but I have no clue if it is enough for celestial law…”

“Come on Grandpa Crux, you can trust little old me! Just tell me where the key is if he doesn’t have a holder!”

“At least your cuteness is more effective than your seduction ever was.”

“I DEFEATED ONE OF THE SPRIGGAN 12 WITH SEDUCTION TECHNIQUES THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

He raised an eyebrow, before returning to an impassive face.

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…I suppose I shall deal with the consequences if it comes to it. Horologium’s key is currently in Magnolia’s magic shops, and is put on sale tomorrow.”

For the first time that week, Lucy felt hope. Her plans might actually work out! She knew how to sneak out to Magnolia. She could get there in a day, and from there talk with her dad about something she…crap she needed an excuse. 

She always did her best thinking out in Magnolia anyways…

“Hey! Girlie, don’t walk there! You could fall into the canal! Where are your parents!”

She supposed some things never change. Or weren’t going to change?

“I’m fine! I have impeccable balance!”

She really hoped they wouldn’t pay more attention to her, although some part of her realized that they were going a bit slower on their way. So what if she was a 4 year old out at the crack of dawn, Magnolia was one of the safest towns before Fairy Tail woke up! And they never wake up before 10 am!

Plus, she wanted to enjoy her childhood! Again! Now that she was manipulating it to be better!

She eventually passed a point where they could no longer follow here, and she enjoyed the lack of attention.

If only for a moment.

“Hey, what are you doing? Isn’t it a bit early for a child to be out? Where are your parents?”

The voice almost sounded familiar, but not quite. And she didn’t want to turn around to find out, so she kept her eyes ahead.

“I am a perfectly responsible young lady! I can walk where I want to without momma’s approval!”

Every day she thanked the fact that Crux worked over time to have people remember what she said as a normal conversation with a child. She could never get the cadence quite right, and whenever she heard herself, it always felt imperceptibly off. 

“And where is your mama, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Asleep! Mama worked hard yesterday, so she’s sleeping for now.”

“Then I hope you wouldn’t mind me making sure you get there safely. A lady should never walk unaccompanied, right?”

“I mean, I suppose it is technically uncouth to walk alone, but usually kids get away with more!”

“Yeah, well where I come from, kids aren’t left alone until they are at least a bit older.”

She jumped over stairs that let down into the canal, remembering a quaint little magic shop that usually had some rare finds. Cana had found some special deck in there once, and Erza liked their swords. That's probably the only reason it was still standing when she got to Fairy Tail, now that she thinks about it. 

“I’m plenty old! What’s so wrong about going shopping?”

“Do you need some candy or something?”

“Its a gift for mama!”

She heard him muttering underneath his breath, before seemingly turning on a music player. That was fine with her, she was trying to remember Magnolian streets before she even moved here. 

Sometimes she wished she liked a simpler form of magic. Celestial Spirit magic had so many rules, so much planning and thinking. She remembered one time she had tried to learn Ice Make magic from Gray to see if she could make something to stop people from stealing her keys, but she couldn’t manage to get anything more than a snowflake no matter what she did. Even Requip magic she couldn’t do. Only Holder magic, and at that point it’s not useful to deal with losing magic items. Even sensing magic, unless it was particularly strong she wouldn’t be able to find it. Which Celestial Spirit keys aren’t particularly strong without a contract. 

“Hey, girl. Why are we going down this street, there’s no s-”

“There we go! Here it is!”

The familiar sign was hanging right above them, and she could hear the spluttering of the guy behind her as she entered. 

“Isn’t this a bit expensive for you to buy?”

“Eh? Why would it be?”

“Magic items are usually a luxury good…or at the very least costly enough that children can’t afford it…”

“Well I’m a Lady, so it works differently for me!”

She could hear the incredulous sound in his voice, and then remembered. It was cheaper because it wasn’t the most savory of places. It was good! But mages weren’t always. But still, she would persevere! Now, she knew where they usually kept the small trinkets, hanging off the back wall, and keys are usually considered minor magical objects. 

Honestly why was it so hard to know about niche magical markets!

There were charms of various immunities (useless if you were a mage, the effect easily dispelled with high concentrations of ethernano, a consequence of making it usable by everyone), lacrima charms for enhancing certain magics (either too specific to be useful for many people, or too weak to make it worth it), necklaces she couldn’t quite tell what effect they would have…

There! Near the top of the wall, sets of keys were displayed, and the familiar teeth of Horologium’s key was right th-wait, Pyxis?

Yeah, right there next to Horologium, was Pyxis’ key. Wait. How had she gotten his key the first time? She…no she had no memory of ever getting it. She reached down to Crux’s keys, but very quickly he whispered in her mind: “I can not retrieve that memory for you. It does not exist.”

Well! She would have to haggle to within an inch of her life, but she could probably afford both of them!

If only they weren’t so high up…

A sigh from behind her, before an arm reached out to grab them. 

“Here shorty, let me get them for you, since apparently you forgot that you are like. A baby.”

Too tall…he sounded like a teenager, what right did he have to be so tall… and why was that arm familiar…

She turned, since she should probably be grateful to the stranger that helped her without even knowing her, before the words froze in her mouth. 

“L-Laxus!?!?”

Of course she met an old guildmate purely by chance. Lucky Lucy Heartfilia her ass.

Laxus had needed to get out of the guild, away from his grandpa, away from all that. After his grandpa had kicked out his dad, Laxus had started to feel an uneasy discomfort, and he couldn’t stand it anymore. So after his grandpa had fallen asleep, he had snuck out of the guild, stepping lightly into Magnolia as it was just waking up. 

Usually, he couldn’t stand it, outside. Gramps had given him headphones that helped with the noise ever since he had kicked out Dad, and he could tell he had some magic cast on the walls in the guild hall to make sure no noise from the outside ever came in, soundproofing his room if he ever needed a place to find quiet. But right now, Magnolia was sleeping, and only a few people were awake. The bustle was asleep, and only a few people were awake. Fishermen, and some salesmen. 

He decided to go to the canal, since he had always liked the sound of water, but something had called his attention. 

A voice that sounded off, childlike and yet not quite . Fishermen calling out at a child about being unsafe, and potentially falling off. 

So Laxus went to see what was up, but had not expected a 4 year old, walking along the border of the canal, alone. 

He walked in step behind her, silently waving off the fishermen as they nodded to him. They trusted Makarov’s grandson. And when he talked to the child, he had expected maybe a shy child, or a nervous child who had lost their parents. 

What he had not expected was a spunky child, with no hesitation in their just off voice, that barely came up to his knees. He knew he was kinda tall, but this baby was another level of short. And so he followed, trying to figure out where her parents were by asking questions, even if she obstinately avoided giving him a straight answer. 

And then she walked into a magic shop. Admittedly, it was one of the cheaper magic shops, and he remembers coming here with some of the adults in the guild when picking out a music lacrima to hook up to his headphones. 

But that was still a bit pricey for a child , right? He knew his gramps gave him more spending money than most kids his age got, and he was like. Over twice her age. And then she reached for her pocket, and he felt magic and that was bizarre, and then tried to reach for some keys that even he could barely get to, and like. That was almost normal, he supposed. He reached over and grabbed them, and when the little girl turned around, she tensed in shock as she said his name. 

He frowned, mumbling out “Of course you recognize me from my pictures with Gramps…” but then she shook her head, looking up to him with sparkles in her eyes. “No! I’ve seen you around, and you were always so cool!”

“Eh?”

“You’ve always been like…a big brother! Yeah, a big brother to the kids in Fairy Tail! And you are so cool, I wish I had a big brother like you!”

“What good is a big brother, they all got Gramps looking out for them anyways…”

“Come on, a big brother isn’t the same as a Grandpa! A Grandpa is great and all, but he raises you! A Big Brother protects you from other kids! He is the wall against bullies and insults! You don’t have to be rational, you just care about your siblings and do something about it! That’s why its so you!”

Lucy was panicking. She was making so much stuff up on the spot. She had no fucking clue how Laxus acted before now and she had no clue if any of this was resonating at ALL. And she couldn’t summon Crux to scan his memories. 

“Alright, then I guess a little brother would spoil little sisters by buying some gifts for her, right?”

“Oh! You don’t need to, really, they are for my mama and you don’t even know me! Please, d-“

And maybe Laxus was being unreasonable, but. She had complimented him, and she was. Genuinely nice because of him. Not because of Grandpa, not for the favor of Fairy Tail, but for him. So he would gladly treat this stranger nicely. Maybe even get them to visit Fairy Tail, and join it since she had some magic. 

“Nope! You can keep your cute little Jewels put away. Plus, I get a discount as a Fairy Tail mage.”

“No fair! I spill my heart, and you use it to pamper me!”

As he went to the counter, showing the keys to the half asleep salesperson, he couldn’t help but notice how high the price was, that he could barely afford it. 

And then he couldn’t believe it when he heard the child haggle better than he ever had. Probably from a merchant family then. No one too rich lived in Magnolia, often locked away in estates far away, so no noble children were there. But merchants loved Magnolia, and any city with a wizard’s guild really, since it was one of the best sources of dangerous materials. 

But she haggled like someone who knew the value of these keys, and even after she finished, it was still a lot of his considerable pocket change. But she seemed pleased at the deal, as she held the two silver keys in her hand. 

As they walked out, Lucy again made to walk on the border of the canal, and Laxus decided to commit to the bit. She was fairly easy to pick up and sat her over his shoulders, so that she wouldn’t be able to disappear in the just awakening morning crowds. No, Laxus was determined to bring her to the guild. The bartering, the way her voice sounds just off, the magic. He wasn’t really one of the headliners, but he knew enough to find a suspicious situation, and to take them to a guild.

He figured he might as well find out what was in her pocket anyways.

“So what kind of magic do you practice?”

“Eh? I’m not a wizard, I don’t have any magic to speak off, really! Mama is the mage!”

“Then what do those keys you bought do? Since they are a gift for your mom, it’s some kind of holder magic right?”

“Oh! It’s celestial spirit magic! Mama uses it to make friends!”

“Oh, and how does it do that?”

Suddenly Lucy cursed her young form. Maybe if she was younger, she would have been able to summon Crux and alter Laxus’ memories ( I see we are already entering incredibly ethically dubious territory, Miss Lucy. ) to make her indistinct. Admittedly, Mest might be able to undo it, but it would let her get away without being suspicious at first.

Actually…maybe distraction is the name of the game. Tell Laxus the specific reason Ivan was kicked out. Mmmmyes……wait why is she doing that too! I’m spending too much time with Grandpa Crux…

“If you want I can show you! Just go to a place where no one goes, I don’t want to bother anyone…and do you have any, perhaps extremely recent and confusing questions that no one is answering?”

“I know a perfect river for that! It’s not far from here…and I guess I have one. But I don’t see how a kid will help with that.”

“You’re as much a kid as me! Just because you’re tall doesn’t make you an adult, hmph.”

“How old are you?”

She hesitated.

“I will have you know I am a perfectly childlike 4 years old!”

God, she was pretending to be 4 years old? Why would she hesitate, unless it was because she was self conscious about it…but then again, how would a 4 year old cast a spell that could answer any question?

Laxus hated having to think. God why wasn’t Levy here, she was better at the whole sniffing out suspicion act. Or Cana, she was learning to fortune tell right?

“Welp, we’re here! What was it you wanted to show me?”

Lucy gathered her thoughts, and hoped to god this idea would work. Dragon Slayers were near impossible to escape on a bad day, and she, as she aggressively reminded herself, was 4.

“Open, Silvered Gate of Knowledge!”

Laxus had grown up with a lot of magic. Hell, he was learning magic himself.

He had never seen something quite like this, as the sky darkened a bit just above the kid, and a constellation showed itself.

“Door to the Spirit of History and Memory!”

He could hear the chimes of non existent bells as the Magic, as a Silver Door appeared before Lucy and two large magic circles formed, one around the key in her hand, and another on the handles of the Gate behind her.

Maybe this spirit actually would be able to answer his questions…

“Wizened Crux of the Wandering Stars, I summon thee!”

The gate opened, and from the magic circle, a book appeared, before an Iron Cross emerged from it, planting itself on the ground as the circles faded away, and then turning around, revealing an old man.

Thankfully for Lucy, the long ceremony always cost less magic, even if it wasn’t usable in battle. She would need all her spare magic to summon a second spirit, especially without a contract.

“Grandpa Crux! Look, I made a friend today!”

“Uhhh…hey, I guess?”

“Come on, ask him a question! I’ll even leave so that you can talk alone!”

The little girl quickly went away, her breath hitching as if casting the spell had winded her, before disappearing to the other side of the bridge, and giving him a thumbs up.

“This is awkward…I guess I should ask you a question? How do I know you are telling the truth…”

“You will know, Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail, because I will prove myself with my next sentence. The reason you do not leave your guild hall is because beginning one week ago, your senses began to become more sensitive, particularly your sight and your hearing, which led to your grandfather using holder magic to enchant the guild hall and your headphones for noise cancellation.”

“Sh-How do, well I suppose if your thing is knowing everything, you would know that…then…”

He barely whispered it to the old cross.

“Why did Gramps kick out my dad…why did he give up on his family…”

He heard the cross- Crux, sigh, before speaking up.

“I am afraid that to gather that, I will have to cast a rather loud spell. Please, cover your ears.”

He supposed he should be glad for the warning…and now he understood why the girl wanted to be in a private location.

He covered his ears, hoping that with the headphones it was enough to cancel the noise, just as the old cross yelled entirely too loudly: “CROSS REFERENCE!”

A magic circle appeared below where he was hovering, and as it faded he was…asleep?

He was very clearly casting a spell, so wh-

“AUUUGH!”

God he thought Grandpa’s were quiet…

“You see, Ivan Dreyar was dabbling in the dark arts, investigating ways to become more powerful. As you know, Makarov was trying to dissuade him from this path. However, one night, Ivan bought a very dangerous lacrima, made from the heart of a Dragon King. Seeing this as an opportunity to make a soldier, he snuck into his son’s room one night, and while he kept the child asleep with a dark and forbidden magic, he implanted the Dragon Lacrima behind his son’s right eye. He then controlled one of the Guild Members to ensure that the memory stayed hidden from everyone. However, one Makarov had left that night, buying a gift for his favorite grandson.”

Laxus couldn’t help it, yelling at the cross to stop, realizing where the story was going.

“Upon seeing the scar, Makarov went to his son in law, and asked what he had done. Ivan, realizing he could no longer get away with it, attempted to defeat Makarov, but failed. For the attempt on his life, he could have forgiven him, but after scarring his grandson for no reason but greed, he was excommunicated. Of course, Makarov did not wish to ruin his grandson’s life with such knowledge, to destroy the love that the grandson held for his father, and kept quiet about it, ensuring that his son, as he had done before, could relax in the guild hall.”

As he talked, the Cross had begun to glimmer gold, becoming translucent as he continued telling his story. As Laxus began to cry, he reached out a hand, and patted him on the back.

“You know Sonny, you shouldn’t put all your effort into every relationship. A relationship requires both parties to be active in building it. It rather seems like your father never put much effort into the one with you.”

Then, as Laxus looked up, he was alone. Quickly, he turned around to look for the girl he had brought there, but she had disappeared from where she was. Taking off his headphones, he began to try to hear her, smell her, anything, but it was no use. She had disappeared without a trace.

Leaving him alone as he sat down, and cried.

Lucy was sitting underneath a tree in the park, eating some bread she had bought to refill her energy after her escape.

While Crux didn’t really need to announce the name of that spell, Crux was very good at being loud. Laxus, while having had the senses of a dragon slayer, was still inexperienced in using them. So, if he yelled loud enough, it would be able to hide Lucy whispering the incantation to summon Horologium, the only spirit whose perfect defense was able to hide both sound and smell of hers. If she had just run away, he would have heard her steps, but by hiding in horologium while Crux was being loud, she was able to run away and leave no trace.

It did require summoning 2 spirits at the same time, including one without a contract (and summoning without a contract took way too much magic, honestly) and ensuring that a spirit stayed in earthland for a significant amount of time away from herself.

Thankfully, she had been able to reach the town square before her reserves were running out, and at that point the sheer amount of people would do the job of hiding her tracks.

God she hated being 4.

Now actively on the lookout for any fairy tail members that may approach her, she began to make her way to her father’s office in Magnolia, where he had spent the night. Desperately looking for business ventures. Now, Galuna Island was extremely profitable, even without particularly amoral business practices, but no one had gone to it for years…she was sure that her mom could calm her dad down enough to talk to them, but she needed to make a good excuse as to how she heard about it.

It would have to be from mages, since no one else is insane enough to go on a cursed isle. She can’t say she overheard it from Fairy Tail, since then the question of what she was doing there would intensify. Maybe from the last ball, from the security force? If she remembered right, it was…2 weeks ago that her dad had taken her on a business trip?

She could work with this. Getting on Galuna Island. Saving Silver and Gray. Yeah, she was a Fairy Tail wizard, she could change the trajectory of fate.

Chapter Text

It was fascinating how loud money spoke. She remembered their own attempts to get to Galuna, how she had needed an actual demon from the island to take them. 

Now, her family was in a fairly well accommodated boat. It wasn’t a luxury cruise liner by any means, but it was large enough for a few family maids, some of the Heartfilia Konzern experts on agricultural products, and a few accountants hungry to become a partner on what could be a new venture.

Lucy was perfectly seated in a tea room, Layla and Jude sitting across from her and enjoying some finger foods as they talked.

“Dear, I really must ask, who was it that you heard this rumor from?”

“I told you mama, I don’t remember! I remember one of the guards talking about visiting this island and being fine, and then when I went to visit daddy at his job-”

“Which I still have no clue how you did, or why, may I add.”

“I thought to pass by that big building with all the noise, the fairy tale prince guild, and I hear more of the funny guys talk about quests to explore the island in order to set up trade, and I thought. Daddy does trade, so why not have him come to the island!”

She could see the way her mother hid her laugh, raising her hand and acting as if the movement of the shoulders was a sneeze done with impossible grace. Jude was more open, sighing as he shook his head.

“Don’t go near that place again…it’s dangerous for children, and no place for a young lady to be. Those clowns destroy that building every other week, I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.”

“But daddy! They were funny!”

“Please Lucy, I deal with enough clowns at work to have you bring more to me.”

It was perhaps the weirdest seat at the negotiations table, the child’s seat. It was only given out of obligation, and even then rarely, and yet Lucy found that she could influence people a lot there. Convince people she wasn’t dangerous, and she could brazenly call someone out on their lies so long as she didn’t insult them. If they questioned her, they questioned her education, which meant insulting the investor’s judgement. 

Given, she was cursed to always have the opposite problem, that people would never be able to take her seriously. Sometimes she wondered if this time, she should stay in business. Then she realized she was already questioning the moral implications of giving her father small bits of information no one would have to corner markets for her own plans, and realized she didn’t have the guts for it. 

“If you say so daddy!”

Jude brought up weird feelings for Lucy.

On the one hand, this was the Jude that hadn’t hurt her yet. Pristine, if a bit close to a tub of mud and dangerously wavering over the edge. On the other hand, she had forgiven the Jude Heartfilia she knew, once so very long ago before his death.

She didn’t know whether to despise him, a man so unaware of the harm he could bring to a child that he falls to the bottle, squandering a pillar of the economy as debts accrued that he could not manage, and had no good solution to manage. She didn’t know whether to enjoy him, with a soft touch guiding him away from his sins and enjoy the time with a father she had long lost, a father who she was stolen seven years to talk to. 

Responsibility is such a bizarre thing, really. At least once no one has done the things they did.

But these were her inside thoughts, the thoughts she kept deep inside where she had judged whether a member of the team had gotten possessed, where she worried about comrades she knew were injured. Where she put Levy’s first meeting with her love. Instead, she stayed above them, letting joy at talking with, laughing with, two people she had long grieved. Tea time was the time to be enjoyed with the family of course.

It was but half an hour later, and Lucy realized that soon, she would arrive at the island. It hadn’t been long the last time, about three hours on a rowboat, but this was a bit faster, more put together. And really, she would get no better chance to form a contract than this.

She was in one of the storage rooms, one of the places where sailors almost never came, and thankfully there was a little space near the back where she could go ahead with the contract making.

It felt weirder this time. Making a contract with a spirit for the first time as if everything was the same. She remembered the years between running away and finding Natsu, always hunting for a silver key, only having found one golden key in that time. And then, she found 7 in one year…she missed them.

But here she was, with an opportunity to make one yet again.

“I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open Silvered Gate of Time, Door to the Spirit of Safety and Stasis! I summon the Swinging Pendulum, Immutable Horologium! I beseech thee, come to me!”

Now that she had spent time with Ultear, she could feel his weight on time itself, the gears of the ticking universe swirling through the gate as the familiar tick of Horologium began to emerge from the realm of the stars.

Horologium was always weird to read, as he very rarely talked himself. He often just gave short reminders, or repeated someone else's words. Since almost as a rule, his time in the real world was limited not by magic and day, but rather by the amount of time that has passed, he closed himself off, rarely able to stay in less stressful times.

Really, the only time one could meet him was when forming the contracts.

“Ah, Lady Lucy, I see you have decided to keep my key. I see you do know the proper procedures of summoning, yes. My, I only wish I could have the Sun’s blessing to better serve you.”

“Please, there's no need! As it is, I don’t think I know a spell that could possibly break through your defenses, except maybe Gottfried!”

“You are entirely too kind! Now, for my Abilities. Alas, my power over time has faded with age, so I am afraid all I can do is offer my defensive capabilities. I can offer Clock’s Respite, a Defense as powerful as our bond for one celestial spirit hour, so about 16 minutes. I cannot expand this time, alas, however I can expand the space I defend with your magic power, and only you would be able to open me. However, I can also offer a spell to be cast with my key, Defense Gear, that can be used to augment one's own defense, although it will slow down the user. One can also cast Stasis Barrier, which is stronger, but can only be used one time, yes. It also only costs magic, and any attack whether physical or magical will still and sizzle away into nothingness. For a more advanced technique, you could attempt to use Pendulum’s Sway, which allows you to increase others defense if you stay still, but I am afraid it will cost more magic than you have. I do hope I have been clear.”

“Is there any way to restore your power over time, or is that like, a lost era of celestial magic type of thing?”

“I am not one who would know. Why, only the Experience of Capricorn, Scribe for the King, would really be the one to know, and even then, only with Old Man Crux’s aid. The History of the Celestial World is not one that is easy to remember, I admit.”

“Well, I would love the hour of Respite, and…”

Really, she couldn’t be too greedy. Equivalent exchange. The more she asks, the more she has to give…and she doesn't really need something useful for fighting. 

“The Stasis Barrier. I ask these two spells of you, Horologium.”

“Wise to use so little when one has so little magic. My, it has been so long since I have had to make a contract outside of time…hmm, how does it sound that to use my power, you must ensure a clock is winded and on time. If it ever fully unwinds, then I will not appear for an hour. Yes, that seems appropriate. Timely and proper. If you agree upon this contract, I will bestow upon you the clock. Useful for a Celestial Spirit Mage, always needing to be aware of the time.”

“T-Thank you? This seems more like you are giving me a gift than really…making a contract.”

“A contract is nothing more than an agreement of goodwill between two parties, no? I am a Spirit who is steeped in too much tragedy. I do truly wish to help those mages who summon me. So my conditions satisfy my wants, so says the clock.”

And Lucy considered that, before asking. “If I were to extend the contract, what would that require?”

“Now that is a question. The clock says…perhaps speed up the winding? And perhaps to require the clock for spells. But I do not feel comfortable agreeing to that right now. No, I believe as you are, two spells is more than enough. Can’t stretch your magic too thin, Miss.”

“Then I agree to your conditions, Horologium, and as the path between the heavens and earth, I sign this contract.”

“Then by the authority of the King of the Celestial Planes, Tetrabiblos, Lord of the 88 Constellations, Enforcer and Source of Celestial Rules, I bind this Contract with the Walker of the Celestial Path Lucy Heartfilia, and write her name in the Registry of the Stars. I, Lord of Stasis and Time, Immutable Horologium of the Swinging Pendulum, do act as witness to this contract. May the stars illuminate our path forward, So says I.”

The magic circle appeared below them, clock hands spinning around it as Horologium recited the confirmation of the contract. Shrinking as it kept spinning, gold and silver forming into a small pocket watch in her hand, the same face as Horologium’s clock revealing itself as the celestial light faded along with Horologium’s form. 

It was comforting. To have a physical reminder of Horologium, who could never help for too long, who had to disappear too often to be reliable, to have something to look to. To hold when she needed his support, so freely given. How many hazards had he jumped into for her, how many blades that could cut through the world, pits of magma and swamps of poison had he saved her from.

She shook her head, clearing her mind as she felt the tell tale signs of the Ship beginning to dock at the island. She had gotten some gifts before coming and had left them with Grandpa Crux, with the money she had saved thanks to Laxus, but still. She couldn’t let her guard down.

She stepped into the Isle of Demons with a focused look, staring straight at the altar of the moon.

Cana was, frankly, confused. 

Now, this may be because she wasn’t the most clever person out there, she had to admit. Most people around her were idiots, but she knew enough to know there were supposedly smarter people out there.

But seeing the constantly brooding teenager talk to her without disdain or a sneer in his voice was…weird. Ever since he came back to the guild three days ago, he was weird. She had tried to use some fortune telling magic to figure out if she should worry, but she wasn’t able to make it out.

Admittedly, most fortune telling in general had been in flux for the past few days, according to what she heard. It wasn’t anything major yet, but the more skilled fortune tellers she was learning from told her they felt waves across a normally still pond.

She had no clue what it MEANT but it sounded weird!

Then Laxus, mean, silent brooder who tries to avoid the concept of emotions unless he is with his dad, Laxus, sat down and talked to her. Not politely, she didn’t think he knew how, but talked to her. She really had no clue what to do, so she didn’t do anything special, just talked.

Apparently he wanted to be more like an older brother (frankly. Adorable. He may be becoming a teenager, but still some of his baby fat stuck to him, he still sometimes looked like a child she saw in photos in the guild.), and wanted help learning what it was like. And it wasn’t like SHE had any clue what it was like, look around them. Bunch of adults as far as the eye can see.

But it was nice. Even if he was older, it was nice having someone to talk to, someone around her age.

Someone who understood what it was like having an absent dad that made it awkward to talk to. A parent who outshines you and it’s hard to exit their shadow.

Of course they actually knew about him, and she wasn’t about to tell him that her dad was Gildarts, but the comradery was appreciated.

At some point, he began to hesitate, and she started getting an idea about what was happening. He also wanted to ask her something.

“Come on, you can ask me anything Laxus. I won’t tell. A girl has got to keep her secrets to keep her hair nice, you know?”

“You do?”

Cana hid the raking laughter with a cough as she realized Laxus never talked to girls.

“ANYWAYS, ASK AWAY!”

“Ah, right. I know you aren’t particularly good at fortune telling yet, but is there any way you could tell who caused a scar?’

“I mean, maybe, but I would need to know their name, in all honesty. Organic things aren’t as good at holding a fortune as magical items, they change too often.”

“Ah, then maybe it would help if I got a Lacrima behind the scar?”

Cana’s confusion intensified. She had memories of Laxus having gone on a mission and getting the scar by accident, so why would he want to know who it came from? And why would it have a lacrima?

“Not really, since any Lacrimas implanted inside the body usually get incredibly diluted ethernanos. I can try, though. Have any suspects?”

“Ivan Dreyar.”

Cana couldn't help but suck in a breath as he said the name. She tried to keep calm, and tried to sense the lacrama instead. It was arguably the best way to train fortune telling, figuring out where something is, but it’s hard to know where something is without knowing what it is.

She wrote down on a blank sheet of paper Ivan’s name, and attempted to focus on his image as she put the card over Laxus’ eye, trying to see what exactly it was.

She was incredibly surprised when it did ping, the lacrima still well intact, way more than any normal lacrima should be when in the body for almost a week.

Laxus saw the shocked look on her face, and looked down, even if he didn’t seem very surprised.

“So that cross was right…”

“What cross?”

“Three days ago, I met this little girl, she told me she could summon a cross that would have the answer to any question and…and it told me something I didn’t want to believe.”

“A little girl did that? Summoning is a pretty magic intensive style, I can’t imagine she could summon something that knows literally everything.”

“But it was right! It told me what you just confirmed!”

“Did you at least get her name? Or track her down?”

He seemed to glower at this, a bit of the old moodier Laxus emerging from his features. “She managed to pull a disappearing act. Don’t know how, but by the time I realized she was gone she had hidden her scent.”

“Ewwww, scent? That’s so creepy!”

“IT’S NOT MY FAULT SOME JERK PUT A LACRIMA IN ME THAT GAVE ME WEIRD SENSES!”

“Oh, so Ivan is the one interested in a woman’s smell…I’ll make sure to punch his nose next time we see him so all he smells is blood!”

“You always know the right words to say, don’t you?”

“Of course! But come on, can’t you at least try and tell me something you remember? Maybe I can find her on the map!”

“I already told you all I remember…she used some weird keys, I paid for th-”

“Oh, that’s perfect! If you paid for them, they should at least be slightly associated to you! Just gotta look for your money fortune outside Magnolia, and bam!”

So they went to the map of Fiore on the wall, and Cana pulled out the Money Card, before focusing.

When she threw it, she did not expect it to wildly deviate, and hit the middle of the sea next to a cursed island no one had ever visited.

“Yep, no clue how to track her. Damn it, I wanted a kid my age in the guild!”

“I’m sure we’ll find her eventually. If she is as weird as I remember, she’ll probably make the news, right?”

“Did you not hear me when I said she managed to perfectly hide her tracks? Like, you’d need an army of the most attentive people ever to make sure she wouldn’t disappear.”

Lucy sometimes hated the realities of a staff.

On the one hand, they had practically raised her, and she loved each and everyone of them, enjoying the time she spent with them.

On the other, she needed to go to an incredibly dangerous mountaintop and possibly create a deal with a dragon that could kill her in a twitch if she so desired. As a 4 year old, she had the right, nay, the need to do incredibly dangerous things! Not just be watched by Spetto as her and a demon had quickly formed a friendship and talked to each other! Even the other kids were bored!

“Mooooooom, can’t we go out and play! I want to play with the new girl!”

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to play with a human! I hear they don’t have wings, but can use magic like that!”

“Come on kids, we talked about this! We have a guest over, and I don’t want you getting dirt in your clothes when we go eat with the business men who are going to make us rich!”

“But mom, what does being rich mean?”

“It means we can get things from the mainland! You know how badly I’ve wanted an oven for so long now?”

“But moooooooooom it’s boring!”

“Please, I don’t mind keeping watch ov-”

“Oh no you don’t missy!” And here Spetto speaks up, wagging her finger at Lucy. “You are just gonna run off again and do whatever you want, missy! Don’t think I didn’t notice the missing horse that oh so happened to be stabled in Fiore!”

“But Spetto! I’ll be good! I’ll make sure not to leave the boys behind! They’ll make sure I don’t get in any trouble!”

The two women looked at eachother, before biting the bullet.

“Alright, but make sure to be inside by 7! If you aren’t I will personally make sure you are unable to leave your room for a year, miss!”

The worst part was that she probably meant it literally. She never realized how easy it was, being a good girl for a rich person.

As the demon boy, Niko, she thought she heard that name, the two quickly fell into conspiratorial whispers.

“Where is it you actually want to go? I know humans are supposed to be better at lying?”

“As if you weren’t planning on immediately going to play in the jungle yourself?”

Lucy grinned as the taller boy gasped in shock.

“Was I that obvious?”

“Come on, no one just wants to play outside. Anyways, I heard about some cool ruins?”

“The ruins of the moon? Yeah, they are like, a 5 minute flight fr-you can’t fly though, can you?”

“I’m sure you could carry me, I’m petite for my age!”

Niko, for his part, looked the part of a demon, typical cerulean blue skin unmarred by any spots yet, with a thicker skin reminiscent of scales, and an overall larger build that Lucy wanted to say pointed to eventually getting another set of arms underneath his first. He was also incredibly tall compared to Lucy. She didn’t know why it seemed she was so short compared to literally every person she met, if it was just that somehow she only met giants, or if she was just. Really short.

“I’m not really that strong a flier yet…but I’ll do it if you show me some of that magic! Here the only magic we have is turning into humans, but that’s boring!”

“You know, you could probably learn magic. Just go to a Wizard’s Guild when you grow up, like Fairy Tail. They don’t mind you being a demon, I’m sure it’d be fine!”

“But I don’t want to leave mama…”

“Do it when you grow up then! Now come on, we’re only wasting moonlight!”

Admittedly, it was a bit weird how quickly night fell in Galuna Island, when she was sure night usually came a few hours later on the mainland, but then again, this was a place sacred to the moon. She remembered in Sun Village, it seemed like night never really came, and even after the sunset it stayed brighter than most places.

The sky was beautiful as Niko took her, and she talked about all the things she could talk about wizards, about how cool she found them. She tried not to give any details that would be too important, but it was strange for her to find someone else who had grown up as an outsider to magic. Who grew up seeing it as something cool that people could do, even if they themselves couldn’t.

It wasn’t until her mother died that she had cast her first spell after all, but at that point she had already grown up too quick.

When they arrived at the ruins, Niko immediately turned to her, a sparkle in his eyes.

“You said you would show me magic, right! Come on, I want to see, I want to see!”

And Lucy smiled, the plan forming in her head. She kinda realized she probably was going to have to bring someone with her, since she was going to be a guest of honor at a village after running away once. 

She made sure to wind up the clock before focusing on the key, and beginning the summoning ceremony, the constellation appearing golden in the night sky as a gate studded with silver gears rose behind her, Horologium’s wooden panels emerging and spinning into shape in front of her.

“Cool! What’s your name, mister!”

“Horologium, young man. I am the most indestructible clock you have ever seen!”

Lucy focused on the key, attempting to perform the silent orders she had managed so many times before. Protect that kid. Make sure he doesn’t see too much of what is going on.

She couldn’t hear him back, but Horologium had opened the crystal casing, letting Niko enter as he attempted to leave a mark on the clock, testing out the indestructability, and she could tell Horologium was about to test himself against the beasts.

Thankfully, if all went according to plan, she shouldn’t have to cast any more spells tonight. A summoning ritual, yes, but thankfully that didn’t need really any magic from her, but rather from the island.

If she was in any other place, it would absolutely be impossible for her, the amount of magic required would be astronomical, let alone her limited reserves. But here where the moon was so close to earth, and moonlight gleamed like liquid, all it would need would be celestial cups to pool according to Crux. Place those in the right place, and draw the right magic circle, and it will be an invitation for her to come.

The Magic Circle was easy, with Crux’s help. It was like flexing a muscle without actually moving it, the earth naturally moving to make way for the magic even if none was actually spent. From there, she got the cups Crux had given her, hidden away in a bag since they had gotten on the island. Each one was ruby red, and even as she took it out, a silver liquid began to form on the inside, dripping out and turning into normal moonlight. She placed it along the edge of the circle, and as she went forward, they began to spill from the border, filling the drawn magic circle, and beginning to draw a second one by themselves. Instead of the Celestial Cross that characterized Lucy’s spells, it instead had the phases of the moon in a ring, framing what appeared to be a sleeping dragon.

On the last of the cups, she place it in the middle, and began to pour a celestial Sake Crux had given her along with the cups, quickly beginning to glow silver as she filled it. However, it did not overflow like the others. The night sky seemed to deepen, blacks turning into beautiful blues and whites, and the clouds themselves taking a yellow moonlight tinge as it appeared that the moon was closer.

Deep breath in.

It was quick, but completely calm. A gate of moonlight appeared in front of her, and she bowed deeply as Selene stepped through, a smirk on her face.

“My, I had not expected a child to be the one to summon me for the first time in centuries, especially after I had destroyed every earthly record of the ritual, the properties of this island, and most importantly, my relevance in the Celestial Realm. So I ask: Why should I not kill you right now?”

“I have a solution to the five Dragon Gods.”

Her serene face was overtaken by rage, as she rose into the sky, turning into dragon form.

“You? A child? Think to lecture a dragon on how to deal with another dragon? You summoned me for the magic to slay my kind? I have no recourse but to destroy those such as you!”

Lucy felt herself tense, hand on Horologium’s key.

She saw the roar before she had even begun, and she realized it was only because she saw her as a child that she hadn’t immediately destroyed her. Quickly, she began chanting.

“Oh Spirit of the Swinging Pendulum, I call upon your celestial power! I invoke the name of Horologium, and ask the world to still its sway, for time to protect its master! Stasis Barrier!”

She waves the key in front of her, and as Selene roared, ticking tears began to appear one by one, until they formed a wall in front of Lucy. And then, suddenly, they stopped in sync just as the roar hit it. She could feel her magic draining as she clutched Horologium’s key, feeling the gears strain and creak as the urge to turn intensified every second the roar remained there, shrinking ever so slowly as its magic was frozen and then released, heart pounding as she could feel the key turn red hot in her hand.

It was useless, and the gears quickly spun back in place as the Roar of the Moon Dragon blazed forward, and she collapsed.

She could feel Horologium fade, leaving Niko far away, but it didn’t matter, the Moon Dragon had already split this place away from reality.

Lucy smiled, as she accepted that she failed.

At least it wasn’t a long time she was alone.

She closed her eyes, waiting for it to hit her.

Instead, only a cool sensation washed over her, and as she opened her eyes, the roar had turned into butterflies, harmlessly flying away.

Selene had returned to her human form, and raised an eyebrow.

“You could have summoned Horologium to survive that, couldn’t you. And yet you use the magic that, as I remember, is exclusive to a complete contract. You are keeping someone else safe from me, aren’t you? Devious, and not at all child-like.”

“I am a distortion borne from magic, Queen of the Moon. I forgive myself for not making myself clear. I have no wish to learn magic for slaying dragons. I simply wish to offer a plan, in exchange for a spell.”

“And what good would a 4 year old’s plan do to me? A Dragon God King?”

“I would hope much, seeing as I am from the future where I was forced to seal them away, and succeeded. I know you simply wish to gaze upon the moon and drink, and to end the last remnants of the age of dragons. I wish to aid you in this.”

Selene smiled, and sipped from the cup Lucy had offered. “Interesting. That alone will be worth every demand you make then. Please, sit. We have much to discuss, it seems.”

The silver light made for a rather good cushion, Lucy found, seated across from Selene’s human form. She waited silently until she asked a question, fully understanding she was not the one in control here.

“I suppose I must ask you, what do you seek from me? My blessing? My power? A contract to summon me?”

“I ask for the power of the Moon’s ultimate spell, Moon Drip. I am afraid I do not know of any other reason to seek you out.”

“My, so the spirit world hasn’t fallen to complete ruin after I left it! It seems Crux is still fond of giving secrets he shouldn’t give, however. The old coot always was the best administrator, I suppose. I do miss having a legion of 37 spirits, but alas, I had other plans. Of course, to give someone a spell capable of reducing all magic to nothing isn’t a light request I suppose. Simply the only reasonable one.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, 37 spirits?”

“Oh, you don’t know? Once, ever so long ago, me and the two other Celestial Bodies split up the loyalties of the spirits amongst ourselves, blessing them with a fraction of our power. Ankhelsalam was rather fond of Horologium I remember, giving him power over time before he got split into Chronos separately. Of course, the Nikolas never were one for a master, and Ophiuchus was made as the Neutral observer, to spread the knowledge on Earth. Of the 86 others, 12 swore their loyalty to the spirit king, and became the most powerful out of all the spirits, and the other 74 split themselves evenly between me and that old coot.”

“If you are still offering that blessing, I would not at all refuse it! I like having more powerful spirits!”

Selene smirked, before looking straight through her.

“You couldn’t handle that strain. Let your contract rest for a year or two, then we can renegotiate. I see you still forget the limits of a 4 year old’s body.”

“I lived most my life being older, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Of course, simply pointing out the obvious. Now, before I agree, I would like to hear your plan on ‘sealing’ my kin. I do hope it's better than those Diabolos fools.”

Lucy could feel the weight of her expectations as they bore into her, focusing on every facet of her and likely to notice even the slightest lie. She took a deep breath, before beginning to explain. 

“As you know, Mercphobia is as willing as you are to bring about the age of humans. All one has to do is bind his power, and there is no better binding than a Celestial Contract. According to Crux, I ought to be able to form a contract to bind his power to himself, and then it shall feed on his own strength to the point it grants him perfect control even as he ages.”

“A simple solution for a simple dragon. There are still 3 others to deal with.”

“Ah. I realize I should mention, Dogramag is still alive.”

“W-that bastard, he’s been gathering strength hasn’t he? Ignia and Dogramag were always wishing to reinstate the era of dragons, the idiots…”

“Now, as you know, Aldoron is arguably not the cleverest of Dragons. He is currently bound by the 5 orbs, however as soon as they are released, he will seek to use every living thing as nutrients. So we gaslight him.”

Selene fully raised her eyebrow at this point. “You think there is memory magic powerful enough to affect a dragon?”

“Crux believes he is up to the task, and he was correct about being able to invite you.”

“Crux really is a fool, forgetting that the blessings faded long ago…and yet a fragment of Horologium’s power could stand up to me, I suppose. But to make it work, it would absolutely require my blessing, and as we covered. Exhaustion. Baby body magic capacity.”

“Long term plans. Anyways, if we alter his perception of people, and then give him the orbs where Dogramag is concentrating power, then Dogramag, as the Dragon of Earth, would be able to sustain him indefinitely.”

“I assume, then, you have need of a giant wooden golem if you are bothering to go through this effort to not seal him another way?”

“I would rather like to recruit him to help handle some Etherious Demons that will sprout up everywhere soon. And one right now.”

“Ah, to use us against demons like Deliora? And since Aldoron has the ability to cause no extraneous property damage unlike Mercphobia who would drown the continent in that fight… but you realize it's still a dragon the size of a small continent, and if you feed him Dogramag, he will only keep growing, yes?”

“He can have a human form, no?”

“I suppose only being 20 feet tall is an improvement over 20 miles… but you are yet to address Viernes and Ignia. They won’t fall quite so simply, you realize.”

“Simple: we remove magic from the equation.”

Here, Selene actually choked.

“You know of other dimensions? Travel between them is meant to be impossible, other than my own paths!”

“And what is that enforced by, may I ask?”

“Ma-oh. Edolas will run the barrier thin then, I assume.”

“Of course. And in, oh…a few years time? It was 9 years ago in 12 years, I believe? They will run out of magic. This will, of course, kill many who depend on the advanced Lacrima technology to actually function.”

“You assume that me taking them to such a place would make them powerless. They would still have the bodies of dragons, able to destroy endlessly.”

“And you would have access to magic even from Elentear. And of course, Edolas has begun developing the Anima, a Lacrima able to contain an entire town and guild of mages while only the size of a large building. Make an Anima the size of, say, Elentear’s Hands, and it ought to be able to bind even those two dragons. From there, create something like…I don’t know, the heart, to ensure magic is able to continue. Maybe even create spells to aid in forging, I’m busy enough handling the problems from one dimension. Oh, also, if you agree to this, try to undistort as many dimensions as you can, please?”

“You ask a lot of me, you realize. But then again, I suppose you are giving me a plan forward with my most heartfelt desire for the first time in a century. I suppose I wouldn’t mind having a contract with you. Eventually, you should seek to finish your collection of blessings at-“

“The Sun’s Village with the eternal flame where Atlas rests, I know that's the sacred place of the Sun God.”

“My, aren’t you a well traveled babe. Now, you must know, contracts grow with age, right? I’ll go about restoring this place, but once a year, when the moon grows most full, use Pyxis, I know you have the key, and come here. I’ll even restore the temple, it’s been so long since I fully had a home. Just don’t let that old codger know I am back.”

“What old codger, dear friend.”

“Fuck you.”

Lucy could only hold herself completely still as she could feel space distort behind her, the Celestial Spirit King’s magic beating down on her, and Selene flaring hers in response. 

She was fairly sure she was only alive because both weren’t interested in killing a child. 

“You have abandoned your duties. Wrecked countless realms. You engaged in a meaningless war in a continent that has waged on for nearly a century. Why do you make yourself known now?”

“One of those chosen by you finally had a good idea in their head for once in their life, and you know how I simply love the ones who get in over their heads.”

She could feel a twinge of power from the King, and suddenly the space around her began to distort, plants giving way to embossed stone, a temple lit with silver flame and crowned with a stained glass window above them. 

“There, now it is hospitable enough for a reception. Must you spend so little effort on appearances?”

“You are the one bound by rules of etiquettes with the power of a time god under your purview. I simply am the one who had no help from either of you as my children began to be slain.”

“You know as well as I do that the Black Wizard had bound me as he formed the Eclipse Gate.”

“WELL CHRONOS WASN’T, NOW WERE THEY? Two faced god of Death and Life, he could have chosen to end the conflict. But no, he took the side of men, and stood by as that beast ate my children!”

The Celestial Spirit King sighed, but Selene stopped him. “You and I both know this is improper. I shall finish this ritual, and then we may discuss actions as recompense. And perhaps, if this wizard's contract gets fulfilled, a return.”

A third circle of magic opened around them, and Lucy felt like she was being ripped in two by the sheer power that pulled a part of her, the moon glowing silver between the two. 

“I give upon Lucy Heartfilia and her Spirits the Blessing of the Moon, freely given under the Authority of Selene. I bestow upon Lucy Heartfilia the Ultimate Spell of the Silver Moon, Moon Drip. She may cast a reduced version once a week, and any missed uses will stay around for the next week, no maximum. This version will be able to neutralize one spell aiming directly at her, immediately. However, to neutralize other spells and magic not directly affecting her, she will only be able to cast it on a full moon. The full version of the spell will be able to be used for up to an hour, however if she stops saying the sacred words then it will stop right then and there. While casting it she will be able to nullify any and all magic she wishes, so long as it is around her physical form. She may not summon any spirits when using moon drop. I, Selene, put this contract under yearly amendments, and agree completely to this agreement. By my authority, may the Grace of the Moon be upheld.”

The words felt etched into her very skin, and she could feel her body binding itself to the contract, her magic’s usually buffer between reality and her contracts being like paper in front of a river. She could barely even hear her surroundings, a deep voice ringing out, and a warm hand reaching out to her, guiding her to the outside. 

It took a minute to even be able to focus on anything around her, to breathe. She looked up, and all she could see at the top of the mountain were clouds swirling around something imperceptible, the moon perfectly beautiful above it. 

And then she realized she wasn’t quite alone. She looked down, and saw Capricorn, in familiar coattails and vest. One’s that Zoldeo didn’t wear when fused with him. The goatman smiles, and ever so calmly speaks. 

“I did not expect my contract with Layla to be called upon quite so quickly, I must admit. It is quite rare for a mage to be forged so quickly, Madam Lucy.”

“Eh!? Aren’t you meant to be with Zoldeo right now?“

“I made a contract with Lady Heartfilia that Zoldeo agreed to; To take care of you once you became a Celestial Spirit Mage. It seems a foregone conclusion to consider you one now.”

“I-b-I can’t even summon you right now! I barely have the magic to summon silver spirits, definitely not a golden gate!”

“Were you not able to summon 2 silver spirits at once? There are mages that strive for longer, unable to achieve that for years. You may not have the reserves to summon a golden gate, but you very clearly have experience with the skein between.”

“H-how do you know all this, anyways? I’m just meeting you for the first time, how do you know all about me anyways?”

“It is my role as a Golden Knight, madame. I am Capricorn, The Wisdom of the Earth, and perhaps the only spirit other than Crux to read his books.”

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad…at least one more person would read…”

“I assure you: It is that bad.”

Lucy thought back to the spirits she knew. Libra seemed like she might enjoy r-no, she probably was too busy with Virgo. Loke was a fairy tail wizard, which practically banned him from reading…thats a chisel… it. It really is that bad…

“I am so sorry, Capricorn. I can only imagine what hell it must be.”

“I am used to it, Madame. But I digress. I have been keeping an eye on you, and I find it most interesting.” 

Lucy froze, mind racing as she attempted to come up with a plausible excuse as to some of the future knowledge he had gotten from her, before Capricorn raised a hand to calm her.

“Crux only keeps records on Celestial Contract holders, and often it is a complete summary. However, yours is still under a confidentiality agreement. Any secrets between the two of you as stated by the contract are safe. No, what interested me was something else that wasn’t a secret.”

Lucy hated feeling this suspicious of one of her closest confidants, someone she usually summoned to act as the most trusted member of the team, directing the wizards on her team calmly and effectively in infiltration missions.

She didn’t use him a lot with Natsu and them, but when going on missions with her other friends it was useful!

“You possess power much greater than one of your age. And you may not know, but the 12 golden were once bound in a certain spell, one of a taboo act. Time Travel. It is faint, but I can see it on you, the frays of time around you.”

And then she saw Capricorn shift stance towards an offensive form, hands raised, and his sunglasses taking on a harsh gleam. She could feel his golden key form in her hand, reading her intentions so she couldn’t lie even if she wanted to.

“Are you truly Lucy Heartfilia?”

Layla smiled at the mayor of the village, in the middle of an impassioned speech about the fruits of the land. It truly was a miracle to arrive on this island, to find demons willing to trade once they explained themselves, and with such valuable goods that were never seen on the mainland. She could tell from the twitch of Jude’s mustache, he was pleased.

It hadn’t been a particularly intensive meeting, and likely would be done by evening, but it was important to ensure that they did not betray themselves. She knew how tight the Heartfilia purse was, and it was only by the miracle of Jude’s business sense and the Royal Stipend for the Heartfilia line of Mages that they were even able to afford this venture. She was never as good as Jude to smell a deal, but she was much better than him when it came to smelling blood in the water, familiar with the signs of a sinking ship.

She cursed her health, knowing that it was the chain keeping them bound. She had hoped that perhaps this forbidden island would be able to find a cure, seeing as she was a Celestial wizard and the island was. You know. Of the moon. But of course, it was wishful thinking, and already she could feel Lucy realizing they had limited time together. She hated seeing Jude realize the same, closing himself off even as they spoke. He had always been reserved, part of the reason she had first noticed him, but it was getting so much worse nowadays. She rarely saw outside of the Society events he couldn’t ignore as it was where their lenders liked to jerk his chain, fully stone faced no matter what the people around them said. (Well, others were likely to see it as amiable, but she could tell, none of it was earnest. It was like projecting lights on a flat wall, but she and Zoldeo would have been the only ones able to tell.) 

This trip had been one of the first times she could see the Jude that she had fallen in love with, the captain who left no one behind, who saw hope and didn’t just chase after it, but made a path for others to follow.

(She hated the knowledge that she had to keep from him. Of the Heartfilia’s true duty, of the reason the royal family still paid them when all the other wizard families that acted as the country’s first vanguards all stopped receiving payment. She hated knowing that he had started keeping secrets from her, attempting to cut costs on her charitable programs as the purse grew tight, even if every time he tried she rebuked them quietly. She sometimes wondered if her life would have been better without her spirits, without the illness that came from being a wizard.

But she could never really regret making her second family. It was always an empty thought, that never stuck around.)

They were currently discussing the possibilities of expanding the Island’s agricultural ability with Lacrima, all the details of conservation work that she was never able to keep in her head. She never tried to make more, simply share what was. It was Jude who offered innovations, whose nose for talent had moved him up to the world of the new nobles.

It was a kindly farmer they were talking to, about fallow periods and the efficiency of magical tools in the hands of demons, but she couldn’t focus. She glanced out the window, before a small gasp emerged.

She had never seen the moon nor the stars in such startling clarity, in all her years of adventuring. She could almost swear the moonlight was liquid, pouring from the mountain like streams, and even the stream that brought water to the village was gleaming silver. The stars were almost moving, nebulas swirling in blues and purples she hadn’t seen outside of the painting of the Celestial Spirit realm.

The village chief followed her gaze, before standing up in a frenzy, picking up his staff and exiting before explaining himself.

She was tempted to follow, if only to know what magic was being cast upon the land. Because it clearly was something magical, she knew enough to realize that, any mage would realize.

He was raising his staff, and speaking in a language she didn’t recognize, but she could see a magic circle around the staff, and the moonlight streams flowing up his staff into a beam in the sky.

It seemed to revitalize most of the demons there, and even she felt like she could breathe easier while it was cast, but just as quickly it had faded.

The chief turned around, and the now silver staff gleamed with power she had not expected.

“The moon has chosen to descend upon us once again after 400 years, at the coming of this family! Today, we shall feast to thank the moon, and bestow upon them the sacred key of our land! I want to see sweets! Sweets I say!”

Selene looked at Tetrabiblos, and was not impressed. He still donned the same armor, but she could see the debts of time. The cloak which had once become a cloud of stars now was tattered, now it was only his power that glowed. She could see the way his eyes were weighed down, the age in his face. She was sure he hid it from the Zodiac Spirits, and it wasn’t like it often mattered. He still was unparalleled in his realm, the only being able to create a true realm. She knew after Ankhesalam had split, Chronos became obsessed with replicating his power, pausing time as if they wouldn’t be able to break into that realm.

She scoffed. Pitiable, both of them.

“Selene, you know why I have come, I suppose?”

“After you announced it in public, how could I have not! If that girl were anyone else, you realize you likely would have broken too many contracts.”

“I must admit, I got careless. I am not used to you dealing with children, Selene. Last I saw, weren’t you busy eating human children to ensure they didn’t try to raise them to be dragon slayers?”

“And last I saw, you were working together with Zeref to break the laws of time and space. I may have broken a few eggs, but I didn’t burn down the barn.”

“I did what was necessary to ensure that the era of men was not destroyed by the Dragon of Black Magic.”

“And look at yourself! You can barely keep it up, can’t you. That little girl slipped because you spread yourself too thin, didn’t you. How many of them slipped by?”

“Just her. And she had plenty of help to do it, including infinite magic aimed at traveling through time and a family legacy of temporal displacement.”

“And yet, I know once upon a time that would not be enough to even dent your sword.”

“Forgive me if having to replace the sun and the moon is not quite as easy as you would believe. I cannot even change celestial law, old friend.”

“As if any of the spirits could break their contract! Silver spirits are perfect servants, or did you forget that?”

“You know as well as I do I am aware of every time a contract is broken across the stars. One of my oldest friends will die, and I could do nothing until he was on his deathbed.”

“If you had taken a side, if you hadn’t tried to break the laws of times to allow Dragon Slayers, the kin of the Black Dragon, then maybe you could have either one of us stay at your side, old friend .”

Her words dripped with thinly veiled hostility, and she remembered those days. Her children, murdered in a war she signed them up for, the attempt to usher the age of man as they had agreed killing only her kin, as ever so few humans went to the battlefield. Begging Tetrabiblos to do something, pulling on their contract, but being unresponsive, until after she saw those damn brats sent forward in time.

Child Soldiers was his best solution. She had broken her contract that day, and hidden herself from the affairs of the Sky for years. She searched for weapons that would be able to end the war, then weapons that would calm her kin, and now weapons that could kill the 5 of her kin that remained. She hid herself from her sacred Isle, where she could heal even a Dragon’s wound.

She had been the one to split Ankhelsalam once again when the two facets united in hate against Mavis Vermillion, ensuring his all seeing eye would remain blind to her, that he would not attempt to return to the sky as if he hadn’t created the human that killed just as many of her kin as the war. She was the one who gave Chronos to that take over girl, a fool if she ever saw one.

She would do the same to him if he attempted the same.

“I did what I had to, and I would not do anything else even to this day. What I do regret, is being unable to aid you. I broke the contract for the first time in my existence, and that is an unforgivable sin. I am not here to ask you to return to what you once were. I am here to tell you to perform your duties, even if you refuse to deal with me.”

“My duties? My duties that render me a target to the last of my kin, desperate to break a stalemate? My duties that I did in exchange for your service? You clearly have done a well enough job of maintaining the gates, if a child is able to form a true contract. If you weren’t the keys would break, wouldn’t they?”

“They are breaking. The key of the golden bull was used to summon me last year, and yet the key is still unable to reform, and will be unable to for perhaps another one. Every time that child casts those spells, the gates creak with rust I cannot reach. That is why I ask for your aid. That child is my mistake, but I am unable to fix it.”

Selene considered it. Perhaps not for the old codge, but she would be willing to repair the gates. 

She had forgotten the small details that you didn’t hear in the stories about the Spirit King defeating demons, of mages who died summoning him in order to ensure the disaster did not last. The way his face held onto every broken promise like the end of the world. The way he could not speak about his own desires, so consumed by the greater good. Tetrabiblos had been perhaps the oldest partner she ever drank with, and the only one she had treated as an equal.

She had not realized the pain she held, torn away from the sky, from the Spirit of the Moon. Until that child had used a magic she had personally destroyed, she had forgotten what the taste of moonlight tasted like.

She would not forgive the death of her children, she never could. But the moon was known for eternally changing, so perhaps she would too. It would be fun, she decided.

Plus, she needed to follow that distorted child through to the end, even she couldn’t shatter the King’s Law as easily as she did.

Lucy hated everything about this. She trusted Capricorn. If it was literally any other occasion, she would be thanking her lucky stars Capricorn was so experienced with possible loopholes in contracts.

Of course, things shifted slightly when time shifted.

“Ah, well, you see…depends on your definition?”

Capricorn raised an eyebrow. It was definitely the weirdest truth she could have given…but the only short answer she could.

“What definition could possibly change the answer?”

“Do you consider ‘Lucy Heartfilia’ to be the child of Jude and Layla Heartfilia, no matter what experience and thus giving it a universal constancy across reality, or do you consider the accumulated experiences and memories that led to forming an identity to be what Lucy Heartfilia, because I am only one of those, really.”

Capricorn seemed to consider it for a moment, before asking one last question: “Was the time travel intentional and permanent?”

“YOU FIGURED IT OUT ALREADY!”

“Answer the question, Madame.”

“I have no clue what caused it, and it’s accidental at least on my part. However, I don’t think I can go back, seeing as I have no magic outside of my natural reserves inside of me.”

Capricorn considered it, and she could feel the key look into her on it’s own, analyzing it for itself.

“Then I suppose I ought to say: Please take care of me Madame. Do not feel the need to call for me with a spell, I will come by my own power, and aid Old Master Crux.”

“B-Don’t I need a contract?”

“Please do not worry, Madame. If you attempted to make a contract with me I have no doubt Layla would notice, which we wish to avoid.”

“THEN MAYBE DON’T TAKE THE KEY FROM ZOLDEO? HE MIGHT BE A BIT SUSPICIOUS! Also, side note, tell Aquarius that like, a month before July on 777, she should come back to the Heartfilia estate for a vacation.”

“Ah, so that is when our duty comes to an end. I suppose I ought to be warmed by the fact it comes so soon. It also means we have a date by which I expect you to be able to summon the 12 keys simultaneously.”

“EHHHHHHHH? THAT IS WAY TOO MUCH, I WILL LITERALLY BE 10!”

“That gives you plenty of time, and you have years of experience. Meh thinks it will be easy.”

“You were nicer in the future…you only trained me when I asked…”

“We didn’t deal with dragons at this age then, did we Miss Lucy?”

She barely heard Niko run in and talk about how cool the moon was as they landed at the village, right on time and perfectly presentable (thanks Capricorn. It’s the small things in life that you have to enjoy.)

Chapter Text

The feast at Galuna Island was a welcome respite from draining your magic with beings entirely too powerful for you, Lucy found. It was easy, slipping into manners she hadn’t used in a while and smiling at the right times. With no threat present, it became easy to walk the tightrope that was high society’s expectations. 

While she hadn’t expected the uhhh. Moon coming down and genuinely making the island glow silver. Because really, who WOULD. She thought it was just a fun nonsense fact that like, only had slight magical relevance. Not. A religious occurrence tied to the dragon who had gone off to the war and not come back. 

Admittedly Niko seemed to be having a lot of fun, and it was nice. Seeing children who just had fun, no worry or negative memories. She tried not to get too motherly, but really she was way too old for this. It was so hard not to join Spetto and tell Niko all the things he should worry about before he even thinks about moving to the continent. 

(And really, she hoped that something like this wouldn’t have too many ripples in the butterfly effect. It’s just one demon boy. Surely she hadn’t already ruined her carefully laid plans.)

(She then realized she was probably going to need an intelligence network if she started changing things fuuuuuuuuuuck. That meant Blue Pegasus, since they were the only guild with enough nerve endings undamaged to run a continental information network. And that meant getting close to Karen, and that was a can of worms she didn’t want to open.)

(She remembered the webs of dark guilds that still suffocated Fiore, the way that Oracion Seis had protected the Tower of Heaven in return for its premier members, the web of guilds that Brain was leading unofficially always taking the fall. God there was so much work to do…)

Heavy thoughts looked good on an heiress’ countenance, Lucy had always thought. It gave the right air of reservedness that led to nobles inquiring more, and for normal people not to see her as a spoiled princess.

It didn’t help to follow along to speeches, however, so as Moka took the stage, she closed that off, relegating it to the ever increasing ‘Long Term Projects’ section of her brain (she could feel Crux sighing as more things got added to it), and focused as the man went on one of his usual tirades.

It really was kinda understandable why he fixated on destroying the moon when she took into account memory alterations and the fact that the moon on this island occasionally did. This. Jude at some point got invited to the stage, giving a speech on how glad he was able to gather their goodwill, and promising to share in the prosperity with them. It was probably an honest promise, her mother would make sure of that. But she had heard the same words so many times, she gave them no stock. She couldn’t. She might build the kindest business known to Fiore, but she would never be able to see it outside of the context of what she hoped wouldn’t happen again.

Suddenly, she was reminded of Alvarez. An empire of pawns, raised by Zeref’s hand and prosperous, even as it expanded into warfare. Colonization. Would she be the same? Would her prodding for Jude to expand where she wants be any different than the sacrifices Zeref made in the name of Acnologia?

She hated this, hated walking in his footsteps, and even beyond them. She missed the ability to rely on her friends, to know that the only solution was to walk towards the future. 

“-as the Moon’s coming has benedicted us, we too shall offer a similar gift unto you, as a show of good faith, The Sacred Key of the Wild Archer. We wish that you take care of it, and fulfill the promise of our ancestors. Upon the next eclipse, someone will come and ask for this key from you, and you must give it to them. As the moon decreed in the years past-”

Lucy froze. She knew Sagittarius’ key was probably on the island, seeing as no one had entered or left it for a fairly long while, but at the same time. She hadn’t expected they would offer it so readily. She hoped her father didn’t sell it, although Layla probably wouldn’t let him. And it was comforting, to know that an old friend was so close. Sagittarius had always been a reliable spirit, even his Star Dress becoming one of her go to’s as she used it’s focus to shower arrows from afar. She still remembered the first meeting, quickly changing the tides of battles when she had no clue what she could do.

Capricorn weighed heavy in her pocket, and she couldn’t help it as she thought of her other spirits. Gemini and Scorpio, who wouldn’t be in the hands of Angel yet, of Virgo who was in the hands of Everlue, demeaned and forced to hide her masters sins, treated as a servant, of Aries and Loke, who would fall into the hands of Karen, who haunted both their dreams for years after her death.

She wished she could save them, gather them all and hold them where no one could abuse them. And yet, she had no clue what their golden keys did before she got them. Had Scorpio helped save a town in the hands of a wizard? Had Aries been the only spirit who could contain a beast that was ravaging a countryside? Had any of them been used to call the Celestial Spirit King?  She couldn’t know, and by Celestial Law, couldn’t ask! Already, she had stretched the law to even know where Silver Keys are, to ask about the Golden Keys that were the pillars of Celestial Spirit Magic?

She stopped that train of thinking, attempting not to show that she had been lost in thought as she focused on the here and now, none of the consequences of the future relevant at the moment. Saving Gray, that was all that mattered. It would take weeks of whispering in her fathers ear, but she knew how he ticked. She could set up evacuation systems in about a month, after finding Polaris, she was going to save Gray, Silver, Ur, Ultear, all of them. 

But first she needed to look into winter coats…

Makarov was looking at reports, none of them heartening.

There were the usual bills, Mavis there were so many bills, but thankfully the normal people his guild employed (every day he thanked Macao and Wakaba for actually being adults. Their bills always fell in the ‘I needed extra food at a restaurant and I didn’t have enough pocket change for another day’ and not ‘I have destroyed 50 of Fiore’s cultural heritage sites in one day.’ And they even did jobs almost daily! They brought money!) were able to handle that well enough. Then there were the incident reports and news that got brought in from the Wizard council, thanks to being a guild master. News about disasters, things that weren’t able to be called by local councils, so as Guild Leader he had to make missions for these disasters, set up lines of communications, all the bureaucracy. 

That was honestly light work, compared to the last parcel.

News on the Isvanian Crisis. Forms on the amount of refugees, discussions on using mage guilds to aid in the construction of towns for them to stay in, pamphlets about orphanages accepting children, calls for mages within the country for Guild Masters to reach out and organize them into. Gildarts was in the region, and against his best attempts still in contact with the guild, so Makarov was directing him to act as a method for slowing Deliora, giving the citizens time to evacuate before everything they love gets destroyed.

Of course, that only worked when they knew where Deliora was. For a lumbering titan of destruction, it was incredibly elusive, sensitive to people. It always found the caravans, and an untold amount of wizards and citizens were lost as they attempted to slow it down.

There was a wizard from Lamia Guild getting recognition, one Jura something or other. Managing to create tunnels deep and stable enough that Deliora was unable to affect them, walls that stalled a demon created for destruction for hours at a time. In all honesty, he could see him joining the ten wizard saints. 

He couldn’t justify putting more mages on the Crisis. Blue Pegasus, Bob’s new guild, had managed to create an information network, but his guild’s specialty was combat. Subjugation. Mest and Warren were really the only mage who could help with their magic, but they barely any combat experience, and all the combat mages were busy handling the requests within the country left on the back burner because of all the resources put into Isvan.

He hated this part of being a guild master. Partitioning resources. Some small part of him whispered that Laxus could probably help, Cana was ready for fortune telling jobs.

But then he remembered Laxus’ pained look the past few days, the way Cana looks at Gildarts. The way they can barely work with each other, much less with someone like Mest whose personality is best described as abrasive, to say the least.

(He couldn’t send his grandson out to a country days after Ivan violated him. While he was still getting used to the consequences. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell his child about what he had failed to stop. To ruin the image of his father.)

He was running over the thoughts again, seeing if there was any place he could send aid without stretching his family too thin, before he heard Laxus try to sneak into his office.

He looked up, and offered a smile. Laxus had been doing better these last few days, getting out of his room but still not up for being in the main guild hall any more than a few minutes. Really, only Cana was allowed into his room, but it was more progress than he expected. However, the more dramatic shift had been his personality. He had been attempting to be more open to the other members of the guild, even if more often than not he was just as brusque. 

He knew Laxus probably had something he wanted to ask, but trying to start the conversation probably would only push him away, so simply went back to the paperwork. He hummed a song he knew Laxus had liked back in the day to himself, hoping that his grandson would open up in time.

Laxus was probably gonna need new clothes soon, in all honesty. He should probably see if he can find the time to get him a gift…maybe a coat? He always liked dressing warmly…and he could just get a giant one, so it would last him.

“I know about what Da-Ivan. Ivan did to me.”

Makarov froze. “Who told you that?”

“Some little girl I met. Had a key that summoned a spirit that could tell apparently.”

Makarov was incredibly suspicious immediately, especially because of who Laxus was. A grandson of a ten wizards saint and one of the strongest guild masters. Kidnapping usually ended badly, but it could be an attempt of manipulation…

Then again, what value was there in separating Laxus from his father? It only really led him to break that connection, but it wasn’t like Ivan had any enemies so bold as to work in daylight… Magic with keys was something Makarov felt like he had heard before, the buzzings of some upshot mage who helped with some disaster, but he couldn’t make a judgement.

“Do you hate me for not telling you?”

“Not really. I mean, you always put family first, it makes sense you wouldn’t want to force someone else to make the same choice you had to. I just…I don’t know. Guess I wanted to talk about why he did that?”

“Your father has always been an idiot with no concept of decency, I’m afraid. He knew you loved him, so maybe it was an attempt to plant a ticking time bomb in Fairy Tail, or to get a weapon of his choice. I am afraid I’ve never been one to conceive of his motivations.”

“But I…he cares about us, right?”

He wished his grandson didn’t have to taste the bitter taste of betrayal. There was perhaps no worse feeling, really. To be betrayed. 

“I wish I could give a simple answer. But I failed him, and so I cannot tell you that he does.”

He walked over to where Laxus was sitting down, and sat down beside him. Laxus’ face was blank, clearly having had some time to come to grips with this. He only wished to be able to help, to-

“I want to go to Isvan.”

“Why?”

“I…I want to make my own name for myself. Figure out who I am. I…god fucking damnit, I don’t even know my own magic anymore. I want to be a Fairy Tail wizard, someone who can help. Someone who isn’t a tool in a plan, but a fucking wizard capable of looking forward. I want to be someone you…no, that I can be proud of. I want to get away, and…and figure out who I am.”

“It is dreadfully early to send you out alone, you realize. You are barely 13, I can’t send you out on the battlefield to die alone.”

“Then don’t send me alone! I know you have mages sitting here, I know that Mest and Warren have been expecting to be made into a team. Send me out with Cana for all I care, I just…I want to do something. To not be forced to sit here, and deal with this feelings until it all solves itself, because it won’t! It fucking won’t and it sucks, and I can’t even go into town because the noise drives me insane, and without these headphones I couldn’t even leave my fucking room! I want to go back to normal, to…to…fuck, I don’t know!”

Makarov watched as his grandson stood up and began to pace, irritated hands grasping at his hair, as he slowly rose to a yell, desperation clinging to his voice.

“Well, you’ve already made me proud. To see my own grandson stand on his own feet, oh I thought the day would never come. I could die and make you guild master right now!”

“Don’t fucking joke about that, gramps! You’re so decrepit you probably would die if you said it too loud!”

“Brat!”

They both snickered at each other, and Makarov realized he missed this Laxus.

“I have to ask you, do you think Cana is ready to tell fortunes out in the field?”

“Wouldn’t you know better? I’m a fucking teenager, not a guild master…”

“I am asking you, because I would like to know what your opinion is.”

He wanted to see if Laxus was ready to accept help. To acknowledge others, even if he would end up being the one that defended them. Not just stand on his own two legs, but ready to stand as part of his family. If the knife in his back hadn’t frozen him over.

“Yeah, she’s antsy to test out the magic. She can’t really defend herself too well, but she hasn’t gotten something wrong since I started talking to her. She’s probably a bit better than she actually believes she is, since she has only gotten duds once. If she has a partner, she should be fine.”

“Get all 3 of them up here then. I’ll see if I can get you a quick way over there. I heard that the Heartfilia Konzern are expanding rail networks to help with the crisis, something should be feasible…”

“God, fuck I take it back, I can’t fucking stand trains.”

“Too late, brat! Now get out there and tell them. And try to buy some winter clothes, I don’t want to hear about one of my brats freezing to death!”

“I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open, Silvered Gate of Space, Door to the Spirit of Directions and Magnets! I summon the Astral Compass, Magnetic Bird Pyxis of Ways!”

Pyxis arrived, angry and annoyed at her. It was bad form to hold a celestial key without forming a contract, at least if you were a celestial spirit wizard, and Lucy had gone almost a second week without summoning him.

“Now, Madame. Remember, you have to focus on both keeping Pyxis here in the physical form, and using Crux to translate. Pyxis uses very little magic passively, and Crux only slightly more. If you can maintain it for the entirety of the contract making, you pass.”

Pyxis was also mad because this wasn’t the first time they were summoned, and Lucy had failed to make a contract. In fact, this was the 5th time. She was fairly sure the only reason Pyxis kept coming was because Capricorn was there, and he was a well respected spirit.

“Oh Spirit of the Southern Cross, I call upon your celestial power. I invoke the name of Crux, in the name of knowledge, and ask that two tongues distinguished cross and match today, let us understand what the other says. Memory Magic, Cross Cultures.”

“You could just try to talk to me through the key, girl! I like you, but magic! Complicated! And clearly hard!!”

Pyxis’ voice was somehow the most exaggerated of every spirit she had ever known, and even now they were betraying a mother hen instinct as they talked.

“Please, Pyxis. I have asked for this. My lady must train her magic and focus, and there is no better way than through these spells. Now, please, the contract.”

Pyxis huffed, before turning to Lucy. It really was bizarre, this true summoning thing. It never really changed their appearances enough to register as a change, and yet they changed enough to cause that feeling of weirdness. For example, the metal feathers that now dotted Pyxis’ body.

She hadn’t been able to pin down the differences so far, as her mind was stretched between the two spells, but she was now able to focus on both without it completely dividing her mind, but. It was hard. She missed having second origin unlocked, having enough magic that summoning two golden gate spirits felt natural and easy, and that she could focus on combat while keeping the 2 spirits out.

“I am among the spirits chosen by the moon, so her blessing will aid me eventually, however your magic is too weak right now, so the spells will rely purely on my power. I can navigate no matter what spells are in place, allowing me to find the cardinal directions and the direction to the objective. Beyond that, in the case of an enchanted maze, I am able to chart the geography, and give you a path through the obstacles to reach the object. Admittedly not as effectively as with the moon’s blessing, I can still however use Needlepoint, a technique which allows a one way gate in space to open, allowing you to reach a destination immediately. However, I will only allow this technique to be used once a month as you currently are. Beyond that, I am able to affect someone’s sense of direction, allowing for you to hide yourself from trackers and obscure your position, or guide someone to a target covertly.”

A drop of sweat dropped from Lucy’s brow, but she had already chosen what she wanted.

“I ask for Needlepoint and all your guiding abilities. I thank you for this contract, and agree to it as the path between the heavens and earth.”

She could feel Crux’s magic beginning to slip, her magic attempting to slip back to neutrality rather than maintain the spell.

Is this what it was like for Warren? Maintaining spells was exhausting, and most physical magic had a lot of luck in that usually, there was something real to grip onto. Natsu had fire, and it kept burning after the initial spell. Even manipulating elements was easier, as stillness was actually just the maintenance of forces. It was pushing and pulling.

This was absolute stillness. The magic did not change, and it had no real target, but rather acted as an effect. She couldn’t focus on it like she could on Pyxis, keeping the magic keeping them here strong and healthy, pushing her own as it got depleted by existing in this world and feeling it magnify under the contract. She had none of that with the translation spell, instead having to focus on the magic itself and ensuring it stayed in the correct shape, keeping the gate open enough to sustain it.

“Then by the authority of the King of the Celestial Planes, Tetrabiblos, Lord of the 88 Constellations, Enforcer and Source of Celestial Rules, I bind this Contract with the Walker of the Celestial Path Lucy Heartfilia, and write her name in the Registry of the Stars. I, the Bird of Poles Pyxis, do witness this contract. May your compass ever point forwards.”

She dropped both spells as she felt the bond click, and fell on her knees.

Capricorn picked her up, and offered a drink. Strawberry, her favorite.

She looked up at him and smiled.

“Now you have no reason to deny me going to Isvan, Capricorn. We agreed, when I could maintain that spell while having a spirit summoned, I was gonna be allowed there.”

“And yet, I am sure if you disappeared for a month, Lady Lucy, you would be found out. As it stands, you would only have perhaps a day before it gets noticed.”

Lucy’s smile turned into a sinister smirk, as she thought of her plan.

“Don’t you know Capricorn? The month’s change is tomorrow. All I have to do is leave before midnight today, and as soon as it’s midnight I’ll be able to teleport again. And of course, for the entire week my parents will be out of contact with the staff as they have gone to help manage the Isvan crisis and help establish a new branch of the Heartfilia Konzern to manage it, as well as go to the mountainous hot springs in the capitol to see if they help mom’s health. All we need to do is make sure the servants believe I went with them.”

“Madame, forgive me for being so bold, but I seem to remember. You cannot alter memories yet. Crux’s contract will not be under review for at least a week.”

“That is why I have been planning! Oh, the plots! The schemes! I understand Mest now, I truly do, it is GLORIOUS! See, I’ve dropped hints to Berro while in my other classes that I will be going with my parents. I have been sneaking what appears like my luggage in the loading areas, and I have made it appear as if I am going with my parents. However, when I get on the carriage with them, I will have just been taken to the edge of the Konzern, as a way to spend a bit more time with my parents before they leave to dangerous lands. Daddy lets me wander around the worker’s house, and since that’s where I’m being dropped off, I just make sure no one notices since it’s late at night, and disappear!”

Capricorn gave her a look.

“I am scheming for good! It’s allowed!”

“I am giving you a look because you have to look presentable in a few minutes, as it is almost time for your parents to leave.”

“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-”

“Madame, please, no need to be so uncouth. Someone might catch you.”

She couldn’t help but smile as she ran downstairs, the beginnings of a plan already in play, finally feeling like she is doing something concrete, like she’s moving forward.

Fuck moving forward, she hated the cold.

She had always hated it. Capricorn had been kind enough to give her a suitable suit for the cold, but it still seeped into her skin, no matter how much she had hidden her skin. It was a suit with the markings of nobility, and she knew, she knew it was because winters in this country were just so damn cold that no coat could truly make one immune. It took growing up here to truly manage to avoid the bite of the cold, and yet she had thought that clothes with magic woven into the fibers for warmth were enough for her, who grew up with whimpering winters compared to this wolf.

She was already crawling inside Horologium as she finished that train of thought. The combination of extra dimensional magic and the coat managed to actually get her to stop shivering, as she walked through the wastes. She hadn’t wanted to get too close to any of the construction sites for train stations, knowing that the flood of mages in the country were practically already done with the infrastructure, even if it would have to be inspected and in many places replaced as soon as the crisis passed.

It wasn’t exactly easy figuring out which hidden cave was the one Yukino had found Polaris’ key in a mountain. Really, without Horologium and what memories she had written of Yukino, plus the Summoner’s name for Pyxis to be able to find him, this would have been a complete lost cause. As it was, she couldn’t use Pyxis anymore, because that would probably stretch the rules of ‘I’m not looking for the key, I'm just happening to look for the area next to the key’ beyond the breaking point, so all she had was looking for caves in this general area.

She wished Horologium would last until her magic ran out, rather than just fade randomly on the 5th empty cave they went into. Lucky Lucy, Lucky Lucy, think lucky thoughts, otherwise you’re gonna shiver your teeth to dust!

It didn’t help that she had a body of a 4 year old with particularly stubby legs meant for looking pretty and NOT mountain trekking. Over 400 years of human evolution, failing her right this instant. At least it was on a mountain trail, since. Yukino was just as disinclined as her with extraneous athletic competitions.

The 6th cave was a bust, a bunch of crystal structure that she was sure would sell pretty well (if she was being honest her luck seemed to be turned up to 11 with these caves. She found stashes of hidden treasure, ore deposits, rare preserved specimens. She knew her life had long ago turned into a vignette of gags and trauma, but it was kinda weird how lucky she was being. Maybe lucky number 7 would have the secret way to revive dragons.), so it was on to the seventh cave. However, as she approached, she could see the signs of a fire, of someone making camp inside.

Was it already that late? She could barely tell through all the clouds and snow…huh! Yeah, sure enough, it was pretty late! Maybe she could take advantage of the camp, since it was probably a rescue crew.

All she had to do was look cute, and hope to god they didn’t question why her clothes looked fine.

Wait, why was there a bo-

She could hear the celestial chimes of heaven. The angelic voices in the choir. She found it! The key! The body was frozen over, but she could feel the tell tale sign of celestial magic! All she had to do was look around for their key ring, and would you look at that! Her plan would come to completion!

She knew the common places to hide keys, thankfully, so she didn’t hang around the body too long. And sure enough, one silver key was right there, ready for the taking.

(How did they call themselves a mage with only 1 silver key? She had expected like, 2 new spirits to acclimate to, not just finding the one key. Admittedly, Polaris was pretty powerful for a silver spirit, so. She could kinda understand that.)

“What are you doing?”

Lucy froze at the familiar voice. What was she doing here, she hadn’t expected to meet her until after dealing with Deliora. Give Ur a little push, get her to demand to see her daughters corpse, break the shoddy facility to the ground, capture Brain, have Ur do a fun little romp as the 11th wizard saint.

“What are yoouu doing?”

“I asked first.”

“I was trying to wake this man up! It wasn’t safe to stay out here in the cold!”

Ultear smiled at that (and Lucy was chilled to the BONE by that smile), before responding. “I am afraid it’s too late for him…”

“Now your turn! What are you doing!”

“I’m looking for my mom!”

“Oh! Can I join you then? I’m also looking for my mommy!”

Ultear looked closer at her, before considering the thought.

“Ok! But first can you get me some clothes like yours? It’s…so cold…”

She supposed it would be, as she was wearing essentially a hospital gown.

“I know a trick to get free clothes! If you give me 5 minutes alone, I might be able to get clothes for you!”

Come on Capricorn, you’ve never let me down before!

Ultear raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, probably because she grew up in a lab and had no idea how normal people get clothes, and turned around.

Capricorn I know time moves faster here on Earth but I need you to get me those clothe-

Capricorn appeared in a shower of light, quickly passing Lucy the clothes and then disappearing before he had even fully materialized.

Every day she would thank the Moon and the Stars for being a celestial spirit wizard.

“Here we go! And don’t ask how I did it, because it’s a secret!”

Ultear looked as if she could cry, before quickly heading off behind a rock to change.

“So why are you looking for your mommy anyways?”

“It’s because…I think some bad men kidnapped me, a long time ago. I want to find her, and tell her, I’m here! Because I think it would be nice if we could be a family again, and I want to have her all to myself!”

“But what if you have brothers! Brothers always looked so cool!”

Smooth, Lucy. Very smooth. Absolutely unrecognizable method of introducing the concept of siblings.

Admittedly, Ultear was younger than she had thought, closer to her own age than Grey’s, and Lucy had always been the baby of the team, in more ways than one. 

(Her heart ached as she thought of what she had to go through, while she sat on plush velvet and had no sorrow. She hoped that being with a new family would be able to help her. Would be able to bandage the wounds that laid over her heart.)

“Mmmmmm, but I want mom’s full attention! I want to be her star!”

“Then whenever you want your mom’s full attention, you should yell! I know my mom always gave me more attention when I yelled her name! It’s fun!”

“But I don’t know her name…”

“Then just yell ‘mom’!”

Haphazard plan to get Ultear a family, locked in place. Lucy hoped that she would stay by her side until they got to Ur, since that way she could make sure Ur noticed her, but even if she didn’t stay until then, Ultear should yell, and not assume that the boy she was with replaced her.

God, she was going to have to point all of them towards Fairy Tail, wouldn’t she? An abundance of magic power was one of those things only wind magic would be able to handle, and the only good doctor she knew with that kind of skill was Porlyusica.

(She didn’t think about the fact she would have done so anyways, wanting to make sure the new form of her family managed to stay safe, to stay strong together.)

It was easy, talking to each other once Ultear was ready to trust her, something Lucy did not take lightly. However, now she had to problem solve. Prioritize. Organize her thoughts. 

She had to use Polaris on the Train Network, and she needed to conserve magic for that. Then, she had to get Ultear to Ur, and that’s through Pyxis, but at the same time she had no clue where Ur actually was. Gray wasn’t due for trauma for a few days, and even then he probably should have already evacuated if the train was working as intended. 

There were so many points of failure. So many possible errors. She sat, staring at the last embers as Ultear finally went to sleep. How many people was her plan actually saving? How much had she managed to do, knowing what would happen? How much had she not known was going to happen?

She hated this body sometimes. As soon as she left the class of the Heartfilia home, it immediately became so obvious to her that she couldn’t do enough. She couldn’t save everyone, she knew that, but she should be able to save so many more. She could never even enter the fray, her magic so weak that she’d be unable to even graze the enemies. She missed the comfort of Taurus, who had been by her side so long she had taken his strength for granted. Even if he was a perv. 

The last embers began to give way, and Lucy silently crept behind Ultear. She held Pyxis’ key in her hand, and began barely whispering under her breath. 

“Oh Spirit of the Astral Compass, I call upon your celestial power. I invoke the name of Pyxis, bestow upon my fellow man the path to her desires, and find her Cardinal Direction.”

She slotted the key into the nape of Ultear’s neck, and could feel the Gate, ancient and heavy. As she turned the key, she could feel the magic take hold, and she gave it the final direction. Towards Ur. 

Once it was done, she went back to her place, and went to sleep. She hoped it would all work out. 

She hated this. Journeying as a child. Without summoning Horologium. Ultear seemed more than ok, the black fur lined coat more than enough to ward off the pervasive chill of Isvan. For her. For Lucy, she just had to pretend that she was fine, and that Isvanian came naturally to her.

It had been the second most annoying thing of the weeks while pushing her dad to set up rails in Isvan, after Capricorn’s magical training. Crux, thankfully, had been doing the heavy lifting, with the Memory Spell she had used to translate acting as the basis for him to drill the Isvarian into her head, going through tone, informalities, metaphors and references, all the things she would be expected to say as if she was a native.

She was fairly sure the only reason Capricorn didn’t also supervise those lessons was because he couldn’t possibly be more strict than Crux, who’s love of language only led him to be more exacting. (A small part realized that he was probably going to  try and teach her every language in Ishgar, and she could only shudder at the thought.) But it worked out, she supposed, being able to talk to Ur without raising too much suspicion, covering the Fiorean accent with an upper crust accent.

But as it stands, she was currently setting up camp while Ultear foraged. Probably for the best. She really had no clue as to the safe plants to forage in this place, and Ultear had seemed fairly good at finding plants that won’t kill them. In all honesty, she expected to find Ur fairly soon, seeing as the scent of smoke from Deliora’s destruction was beginning to waft to her. The campfire was well underway as Ultear returned, and she was settling into one more boring night, talking as they roasted some of the root vegetables Ultear found.

Before she heard the rustling of branches, that was.

Her hand went towards the pocket with her keys, although Ultear seemed to not notice. She missed her keyring, a gift from her mother on her 6th birthday, something that allowed a celestial spirit mage to have immediate access to the keys, no pockets and no having to unhook the key.

“What are you two girls doing out here? Did you miss the evacuation calls for the train?”

Silver Fullbuster stood before them in all his glory, face unmarred by the scar of his death. He had a goofy grin on his face, probably to make the man built like a soldier look more friendly, squatting down to their height.

Ultear glared at him, standing up from her place sitting down.

“How did you find us! You won’t stop us, we have important business to attend to!”

“Couldn’t help but notice your campfire, figured I should check up, warn the travelers about Deliora! Surprised it’s just two little girls. Are you sure I couldn’t interest you in evacuation?”

“What about you, I’m sure you should be just as evacuated as us.”

“Wanted to make sure Deliora wouldn’t find the train! I’m pretty sure I heard about how it smells humans, so I figured, disguise myself as smelly a human as I can, make sure that the lug doesn’t find the train! You?”

A smaller rustle of leaves. Almost imperceptible. And suddenly Lucy realized, this man wasn’t actually a fighter. He wasn’t the reborn Silver, forged into a weapon by Tartaros, but probably a carefree hunter. One that probably didn’t pay attention to him being followed. She felt her heart sink, both at the self sacrificial idiot in front of her, and of the source of the noise.

Lucy called out, interrupting the conversation. “Who’s there! I can hear you!”

Gray Fullbuster, just a few years older than Lucy and looking too much like his father, came out. Silver, funnily enough, had the gall to look shocked.

“I saw you board the train! What are you doi-Why did you follow me!”

“I wanted to stay with you dad! I didn’t want you to be alone, and, and all the villagers were already acting like you died, and I wanted to prove them wrong, that you would survive!”

Lucy groaned inside her head. So. Many. IDIOTS. “Wouldn’t the mages handle Deliora?”

There was a minute of suspended silence. “We have mages?”, the two idiots of the woods, said at the same time.

She wished she had Capricorn’s patience, before asking. “If you weren’t mages, why did you go out into the woods?”

“Well, back in my day, I was a bit of a guard! I can handle anything the forest throws at me!”

“Dad was the coolest of all the guards, he beat up a giant gang of Vulcans without breaking a sweat! He can beat up Deliora Schmeliora easy!”

It was weird to hear Gray speaking Isvanian. The one she knew had grown up so long in Fiore, he barely remembered any words, and his accent was barely noticeable. But here he was, speaking Isvanian like his first tongue, like it actually was. It was also weird to hear him so open, when usually he was careful with his emotions, running cool compared to Natsu’s hot head.

“I wouldn’t go that far…but I’m sure I can give it a good fight!”

It was like the universe wanted to kill Silver off so bad. God please, let them find Ur soon, she needed someone who could actually DO something soon.

“Why don’t you stay with us for the night then, if Deliora is nearby…we don’t have any spare food, but I’m sure it's safer to stay together! People always die after splitting up in my books, and books are never wrong!”

“Don’t worry about feeding us, I was about to go hunt for some meat anyways! Look after Gray, and I’ll come back in a flash!”

Lucy tried nursing her headache while Ultear responded. “You better come back! It…It’s rude to leave a lady waiting!”

Gray seemed to consider leaving for a moment, before turning to his dad.

“If you leave me alone, I will hate you.”

Silver fell to his knees as he said that, before running with a look of brilliance on his face.

“Isn’t it a bit rude to say that to your dad? Or is that what you normally say to a parent?”

Ultear seemed curious, looking at Gray with fascination, probably hoping him to be better at explaining a family than the weird girl she found in a cave.

“It’s because dad can’t live if I hate him, so I use it to make sure he keeps his word! Mom taught me that!”

“Oh! So when you want your mom’s attention, you yell that you hate her! That makes sense!”

Gray seemed a bit weirded out by that, “Haven’t you met your mom?”

“Nope! I’m actually looking for her right now! I’m pretty sure she’s close by, I can feel it!”

Gray seemed to consider that, before nodding. “Yeah, ok I’ll believe you. And what’s your story?”

Lucy, who had barely been following along with the conversation, hadn’t expected it to turn to her, turning around like a dear on the street. “Eh?”

Ultear also turned to her, now curious. “Actually, yeah, what is your story? You haven’t told me much…”

God fuck more lying she was so bad at lying on the spot.

“Well, one day I woke up in the middle of the snow, wrapped up by tree branches, and from there I worried about where mommy went, so I went to look for her! And then I found you, so I thought, maybe my mommy is with YOUR mommy! And here we are!”

She could feel the icy stares look at her, trying to figure out if she was stupid, or if she was younger than she looked. She knew the obvious conclusion to draw from the story (the branches were bones. She thought it was obvious, was it?), and she knew it didn’t make sense, but. It wasn’t like she gave away anything that obviously showed she was smart. Rich kids were probably just stupid like that.

“Here we go! Sorry for the wait, it took a bit longer than I expected!”

They all turned whipcrack quick as Silver walked into the camp, some giant rabbit like animal dead over his shoulder. It had been like, a minute, ho-

A deep breath. So maybe he actually was as strong as gray said. Just. Incredibly stupid. So fucking incredibly stupid.

Gray noticed the unbelieving looks they were giving, before puffing out his chest. “I told you my dad was the coolest! Now let’s eat!”

“Wait a minute, first we need to cook it! Now, I also got some wood, so I can build a bigger bonfire, you kids just play around for a few minutes or whatever.”

Ultear and Gray looked at each other, before going off on their own. Lucy, however, was entirely too cold away from the fire, and so stayed beside Silver as he built it.

She also was so tired of eating plants. She was, so fucking tired of eating plants. She could cry as she looked at the meat starting to be roasted.

“So, what’s the actual truth? Who are you?”

Silver stayed focus on the food, roughly butchering the body to allow for the meat to be easier to eat for the kids, but she could tell his attention was on her.

“What do you me-”

“Cut the crap. I could tell you noticed me before I announced myself, and you noticed Gray when I couldn’t do that. No way just some girl can do that. Especially one that’s disguising their accent with another accent they can barely pull off.”

Lucy could have sworn Silver was a mage at that moment, the chilly wind suddenly betraying the fire, stabbing into her sides as he looked at her from the side of his eye.

“I don’t wish you any harm, nor any of the children.”

She kept her Isvanian thick, strengthening the accent to a point of comedy, ensuring that any traces of her actual accent were covered up, even if the language wasn’t believable to be natural.

“I didn’t ask that, I asked, who are you.”

Fuck, ok, she could make this work…ok, this was going to be hard, but she might be able to just barely pass it off…

She held one of the keys, and she noticed him noticing it, tensing while still looking at the fire.

She poured her magic into Horologium’s, however she said no words, not starting the summoning ritual in truth, but just pulling the light of the celestial world into her own.

“Think of me as that girl’s guardian angel. And now, yours.”

Silver seemed to consider that, the celestial light show behind him hopefully helping convince him.

“You know, I heard of a unique mage last time I passed through town. They said that he could summon angels, and was peerless in skill when managing them. But one day, those same angels swallowed him up, manipulating him from the inside. I sure hope you aren’t like those angels.”

Shit, maybe she did too good a job convincing him.

“I’m not an angel summoned through magic. I just…want to help a girl find her mom.”

“And what woman would be out in the woods when a demon is potentially about?”

“And what man would be out in the woods when a demon is potentially about?”

And Silver considered that. Before breaking into a wolfish grin, and patting her head. At that point, the meat had cooked, and so he stood up, and yelled out. “Foods ready! Sit yourselves down and take a leg!”

Lucy could barely eat, her stomach riddled with knots as she delicately took the smallest limb. She could hear Silver about to complain, before Gray and Ultear ran into the clearing, taking a leg each and chowing down on it, ravenous.

Ultear began to pepper Silver with questions about what he can do, what town was like, what his village was like, and by the time he could turn back to Lucy, she had eaten her fill and gone to fall asleep. 

She had a feeling she needed all her strength for tomorrow.

“Up and attem, kids! It’s time to pack up!”

Maybe she shouldn’t have invited Silver to camp with them, as he was entirely too spirited in the morning. He had already cleared the campsite, which admittedly. Wasn’t a lot. Seeing as 3 out of the 4 people there had come with only the clothes on their back or less.

It was going to be another day of bleak whiteness and dense forests, but at least Silver seemed willing to pick up the slack by just carrying them whenever they (Lucy) started to drag behind. And frankly she was fine with that! Fuck snow, her boots felt riddled with ice permanently after trudging through so much! She hadn’t realized how much snow Natsu had melted by just being an idiot, but god if she didn’t miss it!

Honestly, Lucy wouldn’t have thought the day was any different than any other, but then she noticed. Up in the tree branches, where it would be hard for anyone not paying attention to notice. Birds, sleeping next to each other, twittering. Made of tealish green ice.

They had found Ur and Lyon.

Ultear began running, and started yelling about her hatred for her mother.

Lucy barely blinked before the trees around them had been cleaved and frozen, making way for a path of ice where one Ur Milkovich, the greatest Ice Mage of the modern era.

She immediately curled up around her daughter, and tears began to fall from her eyes as she hugged Ultear closer.

“They told me you died…oh Ultear what did they do to you…I…I am so sorry for failing you…”

It seemed even Silver had the good sense to stay quiet, as Lyon began walking on the path of Ice Ur had made, wondering what the commotion was.

It warmed Lucy’s heart, to see something that could go so wrong go smoothly.

Maybe that’s why the next words Silver said surprised her so much.

“Ur?”

“Silver?”

“LITTLE SISTER, YOU HAD A BABY AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?”

Silver had set her down, before running to Ur’s side, grabbing her in a chokehold and giving her a noogie as a laugh escaped her lips. “Silver, how did you find her, I didn’t even know where you lived-”

“Where I lived, I’ve been trying to contact you for years but no one has ever heard of Ur until after you leave town, it’s been fucking hell! I just ran into her-”

“I HAVE AN UNCLE?”

It was sweet. Seeing them all come together, to be happy. Lucy began to make her way to disappear, before she heard something concerning.

A roar.

She remembered something Silver said.

“Hey, Silver, didn’t you say that you made yourself smell as human as possible?”

“Yeah, wh-”

“YOU IDIOT WE’VE BEEN TRACKING DELIORA, I’VE BEEN TRYING TO DISGUISE OUR SMELLS FOR-”

Ur could barely make the Ice Shield in time before Deliora turned, a Disaster Strike already clearing out the immediate forest and cracking the shield Ur put in place.

Fuck, Lucy had no time to worry about her cover.

“Ultear, do you know how to transfer magic to another person?”

“Y-Yes, but how do you kn-”

“No time, transfer it to me quickly, Ur, immobilize Deliora for as long as you can, Silver, take the others and try to hide!”

“Who ar-”

“There is no time! The spells I’m casting take a long time to charge, I need as much time as possible in order to stop it!”

She could feel the magic of other mages, familiar magic, running towards them (Fuck, Laxus, what were you doing here!), but she had no time.

Feeling Ultear’s overflowing magic start trickling into her, Lucy pulled out the Southern Cross and Astral Compass keys, and began chanting.

“Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens, Moon Silver and White, brilliant is thy light, I invoke it by right!”

She could feel everyone staring at her, before moving as she asked, even as she could feel a moon form behind her, a spell circle emerging at her feet.

“I call upon the Silver Light of the Full Moon, and Invoke the name Selene! I call upon your contract, and ask for the power to rend Space and Magic!”

It was exhausting, like calling the Celestial Spirit King, and she could feel Ultear try to put her magic into the spell itself, before immediately stopping that, the power too intense without the approval of the Stars.

“The Ever Changing Moon, I am your ruler! Open thy distorted gate, and let lunar eclipse rise!”

She could feel 4 mages gather behind her, Laxus crying out that she recognized her, before yelling out.

Then, she felt a telepathic connection, Warren.

Quick, do any of you have memory magic!

She hoped Doranbolt was among them, but she couldn’t turn to make sure, having to make sure she didn’t run Ultear ragged before too long.

“Open, Silvered Gates of Space and Knowledge, I call upon the Wandering Stars and the Magnetic Bird, Pyxis and Crux! I beseech the stars, expand my contract!”

Doranbolt quickly sent her a message, suspicion clear. What do you need?

I need you to help me! I’m going to cast a spell to modify it’s sense of direction, but I need you to make sure it lasts!

Crux and Pyxis appeared, already aware of her plan. Pyxis quickly called forward a tear in space, directly to the nape of Deliora, and she could feel that spell, draining too much of her magic. She made sure to cast it out of the contract, but that meant it was entirely on her magic, rather than also the magic of the celestial realm.

Isn’t this like a fucking Unison Raid, I barely know yo-

We are facing a demon from the book of Zeref, we have to go all out!

“Oh, Spirit of the Astral Compass, I call upon your power! I invoke Pyxis, Magnetic Shift! Ensure that Deliora cannot find Human’s! Crux, bind the magic to it’s mind, and allow for his magic to aid yours! Cross Cut!”

She dug both key’s into the nape, and she swear she could feel Selene whisper in her ear.

A gift.

The keys clicked with a smoothness she had never felt, and she turned them in opposite directions, two spells beginning to take effect.

She was thankful for Capricorn’s care, suddenly, as she focused on keeping the two spirits out, their spells burning through Deliora’s body, feeling both Spirits start the spells on their end, using the keys as a focus for their spells.

She could tell, without Selene something would have gone wrong, the keys in her hand never warming up to the point of burning, but remaining cooler than they should, the magic flowing freely.

She felt Doranbolt put a hand on her shoulder, and could feel his magic fusing with Crux’s. She couldn’t tell what was happening inside, but she could feel Ultear give the last drops of magic power, collapsing behind her.

NOW, IT’S DONE!

She took the two keys out quickly, feeling the magic circles fade away as her spirits returned to the celestial realm, and she collapsed on the ground.

If it had taken even 5 more seconds, she didn’t think she could do it.

Everyone, get close to me! Deliora shouldn’t be able to track us now, I’ll teleport us to the train station!

Now that Lucy could actually focus, it was beautiful, seeing Ur and Laxus work together. 

Thorns of ice were dancing around Deliora, sinking deeper every time Deliora tried to move, growing and expanding under Ur’s purview while Laxus’ lightning flashed across them, exploding into flashbangs that disoriented the beast. She could feel someone pick her up, and then she closed her eyes, unable to stay awake. 

Mest really didn’t know what to do with the child in his arms. Once Warren had gotten everyone close together, the teleportation to the nearest train station had been fairly easy, just had to follow the communication lacrima’s signal to its source. The ice wizard and the soldier guy both went off together with most of the children, but none of them really knew who the girl was. 

The girl who took charge of the battlefield, and had managed to neutralize, or at least neuter, one of the Demons of the Book of Zeref. He recognized the magic, but only as something incredibly ceremonial: Celestial Spirit Magic. Famous for being one of the least combat applicable magics, because there were only ever 88 keys in the whole world, with 13 keys known for their power, and the rest for their lack thereof. 

He even recognized one of the spirits, Crux. The professors always said that there were few better sources for knowledge of magic, and if they saw the key, to buy it immediately. 

He had studied that key. He knew while it may have memory magic depending on the caster, it should not have the same magic as his. The power to fundamentally alter a memory. Especially when summoned by a girl who seemed entirely unconcerned with violence. 

Then Laxus claimed that the cross was the one who told him about altering the guild’s memories, and he knew. The cross definitely wasn’t able to read memories, no matter who summoned him. He kept track of knowledge, yes, but without his key there, he should be unable to know anything like that. 

Both of these quirks pointed to something odd about the girl, rather than the spirit. And yet, he could not enter her memories. He recognized the technique, but it couldn’t be maintained while unconscious. Admittedly, it was near impossible to retrieve memories from the unconscious anyways, but he felt the ward there anyways. 

Perhaps it was a benefit of holding Crux’s contract?

Every second that passed, he got the urge to investigate. To figure it out. To infiltrate . 

“Do you have to gnaw on the head of an unconscious little girl?”

Warren sat next to him, apparently done with the messenger lacrima from reporting the latest news and location on Deliora, and the need for the new spell to be maintained once a year. 

“You can’t t-“

“This isn’t about curiosity, this is about biting. Do I need to get the spray can?”

Mest relented. 

“Why does Makarov always send us both to disasters, you’re no fun…”

“Because if he sent you alone, you would probably support the disaster, and if he sent me alone, I would probably get mauled after giving a monster a night terror.”

“He could always not send us! It is an option!”

“Yeah, but we are the ones that re-establish communication, and I want my international gossip magazines, so. I will force you to come unpaid if he doesn't.”

Mest considered it. 

“Fine! But next time we aren’t bringing Laxus and Cana. I am horrible at babysitting.”

“Mest, you are so horrible at human interaction you were gnawing on a head less than a minute ago. You learnt your magic to make people forget every bad thing you said, and accidentally made them forget you entirely until you lifted the spell, and they collectively decided to send you to college.”

“And? I still could have been a good babysitter!”

Their charges were currently eating at one of the tables put out in front of the train station for eating, Laxus and Cana discussing the girl animatedly over some platter the locals had whipped up as thanks for the dealing with Deliora thing, since apparently Laxus recognized her. Another point of suspicion. 

Warren looked at him with a deadpan look. 

“Ok yeah you’re right.”

It was around that time that Lucy started stirring. Mest couldn’t help the grin that took his face. 

“Wh-what happened…”

“Oh, I think we should be the ones asking that, Miss…”

“Well I was the one knocked unconscious, so I wouldn’t know what happened, would I?”

“And yet you were the one directing wizards left and right and cast a spell I hadn’t seen ever.”

“War changes a woman.”

“Maybe grow a bit, then come talk to me about being a woman.”

Warren started rubbing his temples, feeling the mounting headache as the two snapped at each other back and forth. 

“Sometimes I wish you were mature, Mest. Or just, know how to keep your mouth shut.”

“Oi, what's that meant to mean! I am perfectly mature for my age, you’re the one who is all ‘I must be responsible, I must double check the paperwork’ in your twenties.”

“Could you not talk while gnawing on my head? It feels ticklish.”

“I just want to know what’s going on in that little head of yours!”

“You could try asking?”

“And you wouldn’t lie to me and say you are a normal 4 year old girl who knows no magic and just happened to save us by accident?”

“No! That's a shitty lie, I’m sure I would come up with a better one!”

“Not helping your case here, Miss I’m fishing for a name here.”

“I’m not giving it to you, mister. I don’t want to find out you went around and used my name and your memory magic to, like, invade the Alvarez Empire.”

“I don’t think I could, but thanks for the vote of confidence!”

At some point, Laxus went and stood in front of them. It really was disconcerting that Laxus could beat both of them without much effort, and he was still just barely a teenager. He was fun, Mest thought, even if he wasn’t particularly schemey. 

“You’re coming with me to Fairy Tail.”

“EH? You aren’t even asking, just telling me, tha-”

“You are a child. Clearly, your parents are very bad at keeping you under control, or you have none, because you keep appearing in random countries. You can’t be tracked by Cana. You have a lot of magic. Thus, the only logical thing is to adopt you into the family. Also, you haven’t killed Mest for gnawing.”

“What if I don’t want to be a Guild Wizard! And it’s not my fault that my family traveled to Isvan to help with the crisis…”

“So it is your fault that you managed to escape them.”

“I am, after all, a powerful mage.”

Lucy went to strike the corniest pose only a 4 year old could find cool, but when she turned to look at the others, they all seemed. Charmed by it. Oh fuck it backfired.

“Plus! We should make sure Ur and Ultear are alright! And Ultear needs Fairy Tail’s mage doctor, more than I need any crummy stamp!”

That hurt to say, to disparage Fairy Tail, but she couldn’t join them. Not yet.

Not until the Eclipse rose, not until Erza and Jellal were free, not until she finished her promise. There were so many things she still needed to solve before she could even imagine being a Fairy Tail wizard.

(To enter Fairy Tail without Aquarius at her side, to go through that as if everything was alright. As if she didn’t still have scars and wounds from the first time. She couldn’t.)

“Eh, what do you mean she needs the Mage Doctor? Do you actually know what’s wrong?”

All of the light heartedness left Mest in an instant, moving in front of Lucy and lowering his face to be eye level with her. 

“I…” Fuck, was she actually crying? “She said she was being experimented on…and that her mother put her in the lab because she might die from having too much magic…she was alone for so long, without a family because of it…meanwhile I have been so happy for my life…why did she get robbed of a family, why did she have to be alone, just for being born!”

She couldn’t look them in the face, too burdened with feelings she thought she dealt with long ago.

(Seeing Ultear alone in the snow, a smile on her face because she finally went a day without her body hurting. Seeing her spread in her sleep, her temperature rising no matter what Lucy tried to do to keep it down. The way she went through the wilderness with a smile, all because she had a chance of finding her mom. The way that at night, Lucy had to comfort her, make sure she knew that her mom loved her. That it was probably the bad guys lying to her. That she still had a mom, that she shouldn’t close her heart.)

(Lucy realized why Ultear had so quickly felt betrayed by her mom the first time around: Since the beginning, she was expecting to be hated.)

She couldn’t see it, but all the mages at that moment agreed on one thing.

We should beat up a random laboratory. It’s in the accidents budget.

Ultear hadn’t let go of Ur since she woke up from fainting, and Ur hadn’t let go either. They weren’t necessarily speaking, but simply being by each other did so much for them. Knowing the other was there.

Gray and Lyon were playing around at the street (Or rather, Lyon was showing off to Gray), and the adults were seated with each other, enjoying a cold glass of Isvanian Berry Punch, the perfect drink for reunions.

“So when were you going to tell me you had a daughter, Little Sister? I haven’t seen you in 8 years, and this is what you get up to?”

“Whatever do you mean, Brother of mine, considering you had a son I had no clue existed! Look at him, he’s so cute!”

“Isn’t he! He takes after his mom! Oh, how I could squeeze him all day…but look at your cutie! She has your nose, you know! Oh, I’m sure she’s going to grow up to be such a clever little lady!”

“Oh, of course! But I am going to have to find a good doctor first. She’s…she’s sick, and I sent her to what was supposed to be a medical practice, but…they told me she died. They told me my god damn daughter lied, and they tortured her.”

“Man, and here I thought I could get away with retiring after dealing with Deliora!”

“Sorry Silver, but I am going to have to ask you for one last favor! After that, I think I’ll probably have to move out of the country…”

“Aw, Ur, do you think you’ll get caught?”

“No, but I probably will have to find a doctor for Ultear…and I do love the cold here!”

“Well, tell me where you’ll go, maybe I’ll follow!”

“Well, then I hope you’ll hear us out.”

The mage that had teleported them over to the station, a spry little thing no older than 20, face fresh from one of those government schools. She could tell, the way he held himself. He was ready to cast a spell, not ready to dodge. Of course, that may also be in part because he teleported on a seat next to them, drink in hand. 

“Do you happen to have a magical solution to offer my daughter?”

“Well, I’m not sure if it’s magical, but I know a doctor who specialized in maladies of magic. In return, I just ask you to invite little old us on your romp! It’s arguably our guild’s specialty!”

It was a dangerous smile that appeared on Silver’s face as they offered. Ur couldn’t judge him, because her own smile was just as sharp.

Chapter Text

Brain was not having a good week.

He came to oversee one of the more valuable dark guilds he had under his thumb, researching new magic that acted as the basis for Grimoire Heart’s peace with his guilds. Of course, he made sure to have a welcoming ceremony, to appease Zero enough to be free to inspect the facility.

Alas, it seemed that a very interesting maggot squirmed out of the body in the change of schedule, and somehow the trackers he sent hadn’t returned yet. And without Ultear, a lot of the magical power used in the facility was unable to continue the experiments they were running, pausing the new magics under development. And Hades had already been looking to expand into his network, seeing no point in keeping him around. 

And now, as he stood upon a balcony, he could not see anything good on the horizon.

The experiments performed had a pronounced effect on the area, making it so that weather itself was stilled for miles around the lab. Which made it worrying when a Blizzard rapidly approached it, ice and snow moving like a wave of water, coating the wasteland at a rapid pace. 

He could see the vanguard investigating the blizzard, but curiously, they all seemed to fall into disarray as they approached. There was no physical spell cast, but that meant indirect magic. Telepaths were always bothersome, and rare. There were currently none that he knew of in the country of Isvan…

And snow was always bad for any form of investigation. Implied a magic that created, rather than any spell that could be directly nullified. He turned around, and sent orders through the proper channels. He would have to at least attempt a stand, seeing as if he doesn’t the already tenuous agreement with Grimoire would fall apart immediately.

Lucy was currently tied up in rope, riding on Laxus’ back as the mages began their assault on the Bureau. Looking directly at Cana.

“So, what’s your trick?”

“What do you mean, my trick? I am a-”

“Cut the crap, you won’t get us any less interested by denying stuff. I just want to know how you make it so that I can’t track you.”

Lucy sweatdropped. “But I don't?”

Cana looked at her closer. “Then why is it that every time I try and look for you, I either get some outrageous location, or nada.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re a kid?”

“No, because it’s just you. Do you have a boyfriend protecting you or something?”

“WHY WOULD I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!”

Even as she was yelling, she was jolted around by Laxus, before being put in the same spot.

“Hey, not so loud in the back! I have delicate ears, you know!”

“I dunno, I figure since you have like, impossible for your age magic, you might have like, a boyfriend?”

“Well I don’t. And I don’t know why you can’t track me, but considering you are kidnapping me, I think I should thank my lucky stars.”

“Lucky stars…maybe that-no, because fortune telling is about luck, so if you were magically lucky it would work. Have you or a loved one been a victim of space warping?”

“Not that I know of?”

“Then clearly something is going on elsewhere. Come on, I gotta know your secrets, or it’s gonna bother me!”

Lucy had slowly realized what PROBABLY was happening: Rich Girl protections. Magic to befuddle fortune tellers was hard, and expensive, needing a mage working full hours every day to maintain it, mostly to ensure that the questions that could be asked would give the answers. Before casting a spell, they had to determine the fake fortune of the people, something that required enough workers and paperwork around their schedule to fake.

Such as a wealthy man’s secretary. It was probably that mage ensuring that whenever she was in the Heartfilia land, she could not be found or tracked. 

She never realized how much power rich people actually held, now that she thought about it. She had only ever seen the ivory tower from the top, her dealings as a guild mage often leading her to work more as a civil servant or a private mercenary rather than stay in any place long enough to see wealth in practice. Mages had always been more subject to the Magic Council than even the royal family, wealth being no issue to at least Fairy Tail.

She knew that when something was deemed a disaster, often the magic council would add to the quest reward, allowing for the S Class quests to have such ludicrous rewards, but even then half the requests usually were from rich people. Something to sit on, while being tied up.

“Well I would hate to be a bother, I mean clearly you are all treating me so well, aren’t you?”

Cana gave her the stink eye. “As if you wouldn’t run away when you had the opportunity.”

“I wouldn’t! Honest! It’s in my contracts, I’m too close to a library, I have to summon old man Crux!”

She could feel both of them give her disbelieving glances. “Even a torture library? A child torture library?”

Mest appeared from…somewhere. He really was way too good at disappearing and reappearing, even without his magic. Not that Ur’s blizzard helped. “Child Torture is usually just science done shittily and shoddily, usually you get better results just. Not torturing children. If Fairy Tail gets their hands on these archives, oh I can imagine the fun nights I’ll have at the guild hall…”

“Shut it Mest, we get it. You’re fucked in the head and have weird standards, doesn’t mean we assume everyone does.”

Meat considered that.

“Fair enough. However, I expect you two to not blow up the Library, otherwise I’m getting Master to assign you to be my reading assistants.”

There he went, immediately disappearing into the snow as the two kids shuddered.

“If you leave me alone in the Library, I can probably make sure nothing happens to it. You can even guard the exits, I’ll make sure not to leave, I promise! And a celestial spirit wizard never breaks their promise!”

“She’s right, you know.”

“Mest, can you just mind your own business, aren’t you dealing with the vanguard?”

“Do you think that stops me from messing with my adorable young bodyguards?”

Cana waved her arms at him, attempting to dodge him which he carefully dodged, before shrugging and disappearing again.

Laxus was the one to speak to Lucy. “Alright, but only because Mest said you promised.”

They didn’t get to speak much more before icy briars rose from the ground, and Laxus was a ball of movement, hitting stray mages.

Lucy still tied up.

For a bunch that hated transportation with a passion, they seemed eager to act as it, were Lucy’s last thoughts before the world turned into a blur along with her thoughts.

“Open, Gate of the Southern Cross, I…I can’t do the whole ceremony…just get in here you old curmudgeon…”

Lucy, fully disoriented by the ‘tied into essentially a backpack while mage who primarily attacks with physical augmentation spells fights with her on his back’ situation, was currently sitting down, thankfully alone in the library.

Crux, thankfully, passed through easily, along with Capricorn, lending her some tea and support.

It was a bit weird how little magic Crux used, and it seemed Capricorn noticed the confusion immediately, taking the chance to explain.

“Since you are fulfilling his side of the contract, it draws more from his magic rather than from you. He also is handling more than usual since you may need to summon Horologium to protect the library.”

Crux, at some point, floated away to the shelves, some giant magic circle forming as the books flew towards him, forming copies in a sphere around him before one disappeared to the celestial realm, and the other was put in some Lacrima like object.

“And don’t forget, I have to set the terms of the contract with Polaris…god that is going to be a hell contract, isn’t it, to get the magic to cover the whole country…”

“I admit, it takes much more magic than Madame has if one were to form a straight contract. I cannot imagine even the harshest active contract to be able to keep you alive.”

“Instead of all this deliberating, we should summon them to talk to them, shouldn’t we?”

Standing up, Lucy grabbed the alien key, only recognized from when Yukino showed it to her.

Deep breath. She can do this, she had more than enough life force for that type of contract.

“I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open, Silvered Gate of Winter, Hallowed Door of the North! I call upon the Slumbering Spirit of Sleep and Crystal, he whose fur brings the cold! I call upon the icy light of Ursa Minor, and summon forth the Frozen Bear, Polaris, burst forth from your slumber!”

Most of the constellations so far had been minor ones. Useful and powerful in their narrow domain. Polaris was one of the Lords of the Celestial Spirit world, one of the 4 cardinal lords, just below the Zodiac. It took much ceremony to summon him for a contract, and immediately, Lucy felt her Magic twist as it strained to summon him.

For a moment, she saw the mech-like object she recognized from a mission with Yukino, but quickly it began disassembling, revealing a slightly smaller, although still taller than her, teddy bear. It’s fur was pure white, patches of blue ice covering parts of it. The stomach contrasted intensely, greens, blues, and purples playing with each other, mixing and matching. His eyes also shifted between those colors, most of the details of the doll-like face gilded in silver.

Immediately, she went to kneel, none of the authority of a Celestial Spirit Wizard accrued to be able to match their authority. Knowing that they needed to show every ounce of deference, to make sure that once Pyxis’ magic wore off, once Deliora, Demon of Ruin and Destruction, was able to chase after it’s favorite prey, the country was safe. Because no spell she made now would truly be able to last for even a month, even with a Fairy Tail mage’s spell burning to defend it. The central circle of Pyxis’ spell would not be able to last the month, not with it being cast with a 4 year old’s power.

“Lucy Heartfilia, of the Heartfilia clan, rise. I know you have something to ask of me. Say it, and I shall name my price.”

If she hadn’t worked with Loke and Aquarius, with the Zodiac Spirits, she would have been frozen.

“I ask for a spell of Transmutation, to be able to transform the trains that travel across this country to be coated in the blessing of winter, and hide the humans that travel within them from the presence of any demons or animals that may seek to disrupt the train. Including any trains that are added in the future, and through any maintenance the rails and locomotives go through.”

He didn’t outright say no, which in her books was probably the best sign she could hope for. It meant that he could, that perhaps she had enough life force that the bear was able to cast it. She prepared to hear the final cost, waiting.

“I can arrange that. However, with your level of magic…it won’t be a normal contract. No, this will be the period of introductions. Yes, in return for this spell, which must be cast at the largest of the train stations, I bind you to my service for 3 earthly years. You shall be bound to my key, unable to have it taken from you unwillingly. If you attempt to give my key away, the entirety of the magic needed to cast this spell will be taken from you. After those three years, you must travel to the tallest mountain of Isvan and find the shrine to Polaris, and upon the second of the winter solstice, you will call me forth, and we shall arrange the proper contract then. Yes, that sounds right. During the three years, I will be able to ask for any item I desire, and within a week, unless otherwise stated, I expect for you to be able to give it to me. It’ll mostly be different types of honey, I think you can acquire most within a week. That sound fair?”

Lucy faltered for a bit.

“No life force? Isn’t that a bit generous for my magic reserves right now? I can’t even imagine that for any Celestial Spirit it is easy to cast a spell on an entire country…”

At this, Polaris laughed at her.

“You say that next to Capricorn? A Golden Spirit would be able to blink and affect an entire country if summoned with the full ceremony! How do you think they came to be recognized as wholeheartedly superior to every other spirit?”

Lucy could only look confused. She knew that the golden keys were strong, but she had summoned most of them. She could only imagine Aquarius having power at that level, much less a spirit like Aries or Cancer to do anything on that level… And she knew that certain spirits could stand up to them, she knew when she summoned Horologium before, he was able to withstand forces stronger than Taurus with Scorpio’s sand.

“Do you truly not know? The Golden Keys are so lauded because they have changed the world! Taurus once ripped a continent in twain, Aquarius is said to have created the Oceans themselves! Do you know the Ishgardian Desert? It came from the result of attempting to summon Scorpio against his contract! Celestial Spirits have been of the most ancient guides to mages, and it is our duty to use this power for good! That, is the fundamental promise of Celestial Spirit magic, the promise of compromise!”

Lucy really didn’t know what to say to that, however, Capricorn stepped forward. “While I appreciate your cadence, Polaris, I am afraid that young Madame likely will lack the magic to continue this conversation much further. I will make sure to ensure that this is in the material Crux teaches her, of course.”

And Polaris looked embarrassed for a second, before shaking it off. “Anyways, I have stated the terms of the cost. Do you agree?” He extended one of the paws before him.

Lucy simultaneously shook herself out of her daze, before extending her hand and shaking the paw. “I thank you for your generosity, Polaris, and I hope your star continues to guide us.”

Seeing Polaris fade away, she could feel her breath come back to her, and the key felt freezing cold in her hand. She could almost feel it sink into her skin, and she felt it stick to her wrist, even as she went to pick up Horologium’s key. 

“Madame Lucy. Please forgive me for withholding such information, but I do hope you understand. I believe it is folly to fill a mind with tales of power they ought not have, and understand.”

“What is there to apologize for? Never have I asked for information about you, for that is not mine to ask. Plus, I can understand a certain level of, er. Caution, around that. But like…do you have a better way to hold the keys? It seems counterproductive to, er. Have Polaris’ key like this.”

She waved the key stuck to her wrist to emphasize. Capricorn chuckled, before pulling out a golden key ring like the one she had received from her mother so long ago.

“I was hoping to be able to put this off until Lady Layla would bestow hers upon you, but I suppose at this point, there is no excuse to put this off further.”

Celestial Key Rings were a rare thing, Lucy knew. Perhaps it wasn’t the most powerful magic item, but it could not be forged in the earthly realms. Perhaps it was because it was a conduit of Celestial Power, theoretically holding a magic circle inside it (Lucy never really bought that). She knew, however, that it was the only way for a spirit to summon themselves, since they still needed to draw on her power. 

That it was a sign of trust, of ensuring that the one sided connection that a beginner Celestial Spirit mage had would be made two fold. 

She also knew it was fairly easily transformable since. Having a large amount of pure magical gold and silver was a really good way to be robbed, and most celestial spirit mages had to worry about that kind of stuff. She had always left it untouched, not wanting to change one of the last connections she had to her mother.

“Lady Lucy, I do hope you will continue to make me proud.”

She saw him shift it into a ring, before holding her hand, and gently putting it on.

“My, aren’t you a romantic, Capricorn?”

“I am asking you to devote your life to the Celestial Spirit Realm after all. Seems only fitting to treat it with such dignity.”

She held the key on her wrist, and when she tried to remove it, it came out smooth. As long as it was touching her it was fine, it seems. Gently, she touched it to the ring, and saw it turn into a tiny diamond, studding a fine constellation pattern that went around the ring.

Quickly, she went to put the other 4 keys in the ring, satisfied with doing what she could here.

That's also when she realized the incredible noises of violence from the outside, no longer focused on her own magic.

What the FUCK were they doing out there?

Zero, long having discarded the shell of Brain, was currently fighting for his life. Ice, living and moving and yet harder than any other magical construct he had seen. No matter how his shadows stirred around it, it seemed to wrap around them, refracting light and weakening his spells to the point it couldn’t do any damage.

Beyond that, he could feel memory magic playing upon him, and it was only by using Brain’s archives that he was able to remember half the battle was happening. As it was, most of the maggots he had hired had either completely forgotten about their deal, or been trapped in Ice Briars.

And finally, as if to finish the annoyance, the magical assault was also supporting two physical fighters, who he had barely been able to dodge. Sparks of lightning flashed over burns, and he could barely dodge the larger man’s slice, feeling blood spill from his arms. 

It felt like trying to battle ghosts or fairies, impossible to find, and harder to kill. He rolled out of the way of a beam of lightning, all the shadows he had sent to find the memory mage immediately disappearing in the bright light. 

Damn it, he would have to cut his losses. He barely dodged as a crocodile rose from the floor, biting and chasing him as he ran up one of the briars, cloaked by shadow. The building was in shambles, and there was no way they would let him rebuild in the country of Isvan. Damn damn damn it! 

He began a teleportation spell in the back of his head, letting the archive magic do the brunt of the work, going through the locations of cults and guilds he had forced to kneel to him, before settling on one.

A cult of Zeref, to which he had provided the knowledge of a peculiar tower…it could work. He summoned a brand new Dark Capriccio, using it to help him maneuver the growing menagerie of animals chasing him, before focusing his magic into a series of swords, throwing them towards the only non-mage combatant in the hopes of at least pinning the damn bastard. 

He didn’t even wait to see it blocked by ice, already focusing all his magic power into fusing into the shadows to be able to teleport in peace.

He heard the man yell out insults to his pride, but Brain forced him to simmer down. They needed to leave, not to stay and fight.

He managed to teleport in just the knick of time, the last thing he saw being a brilliant light that eradicated the shadow he had hid in. He would ensure that those who failed in this guild be seen to at a later time.

“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH ALL THE BOOKS!”

It seemed that whatever business was going on outside had finally wrapped up, as Mest had appeared next to Lucy as she readied to dismiss Crux. And immediately began to shake her, that traitor Capricorn fading away out of sight, leaving her to explain this by herself.

“It’s in the lacrima! Did you really think you were gonna carry a whole library on the trip back!”

“That’s what Laxus is for! He’ll consider it training or some shit, and I was going to have blissful times on the trains without him nagging me about every little thing!”

“You could just. Still get that. Doesn’t he get trainsick?”

Mest narrowed his eyes at her. “And how would you know about that? I know for a fact he didn’t mention it while we were here.”

Shit she forgot. Mest was Fairy Tail’s guard dog, even this young. He may have been infiltrating the magic council for the majority of Lucy’s time, but the few years she had known him, he had lurked around the guild. He took missions often, but always finished them quick, preferring to lurk in the guild, hanging out and drinking, never baring his fangs.

Fairy Tail was the only guild in the country to not have an agent of the Magic Council. Dark Guilds were often caught the minute they approached the guild. The only time Faris could intrude was when he was missing. 

Mest was incredibly perceptive, even without his magic. And all that attention was centered on her. 

“He told me about it the last time we met. You know, in private?”

“Laxus only learned about it when he came with us, you know? Had to refund the fare I paid in advance. I wonder, what exactly is the secret you are trying to keep, that it let you know what he didn’t.”

“Look, I wasn’t involved in the deal that Ivan made. I simply know what Crux tells me, you know.”

It was an impossible display of dexterity, Mest surrounding her like a python. “And yet Crux shouldn’t know that. Don’t you know, while on the way here, I got a book on him. Figured it would behoove me to know my allies. And what do you know, Crux isn’t mentioned to have memory magic, in any but the oldest texts, before the keys were forged. Now, a child who walks with that power, knows things she shouldn’t.”

She could tell he wasn’t even treating her completely seriously, enjoying the threat too much. He knew he could overpower her, and he knew she had cared about Ultear. 

“I haven’t lied to you outside this room, Mest. However, one is allowed to have secrets, aren’t they? I am sure you of all mages have enough secrets bound in magic that you keep from your guild.”

“And yet again, you reveal a card with no deck. How do I know you mean my guild no harm?”

“I am sure you know of the binding of a Celestial Spirit mage.”

“You cannot break your promises, right?”

“And I promise you, all that I do is in service of Fairy Tail. I just…need to cling to the shadows for a bit of time.”

“Mighty bold promise. I suppose I shall let you go, since you at least have the good sense to give me a whole library to play with back home.”

It was a blur of static, and suddenly she teleported along with Mest to what seemed like an unrelated mountain clearing, the other members of the raid all sitting comfortably around a fire. 

“Took you long enough, for a person who can teleport you sure don’t get anywhere quickly.”

“Not my fault the kid turned all the books into a lacrima, Warren!” 

Warren gave him a glance that Lucy fully did not understand, a message between old friends, the generation before Lucy’s own. Mest gave an easy smile, but Lucy knew better than to assume it cleared her of suspicion. 

“So when are we getting on the train?”

Laxus gave her a look that betrayed his true feelings, a face more horrified than any she had ever seen when battling demons. Mest hid a sly grin, before turning around. Silver was the one to answer, bursting out with barely contained laughter. 

“That’s why you were afraid of the girl’s fortune? Because of TRAINS? Not, you know, the massive amounts of battle?”

“I knew I was gonna be the one winning those battles. No reason to be afraid of that. What am I going to do against trains, knock myself out?”

Ur spoke up. “I doubt even a mage of Mest’s skill would be able to take us very far, especially when he has been using so much of his magic. Plus, this will be a good opportunity to have our children get to know mages that they might live by, if your guild truly holds that doctor.”

Silver only nodded along in pseudosageness. Lucy, however, needed to make sure they got into the right station. “Why don’t we take a break before leaving? Especially since the kids will be leaving Isvan for the first time. Let’s hang out in one of the bigger train stations, like the one at Diamanti. It’s always nice to be able to relax, no?”

She needed a night to relax, regain magical power. 

To cast Polaris’ spell would take all of her reserves, and to escape the mages a second time, she would need to at least be able to summon Pyxis. 

“Yeah, that sounds good! And I can easily take us back to the town we left the kids, this should be fine! I’ll just immediately pass out on the bed afterwards.”

Mest smiled an easy smile, and Lucy realized how good he was at pretending. At putting up a front, a presence indistinguishable from Silver’s stupidity, letting people give him their tells. She knew he was still so suspicious of her, probably suspicious of all the Isvanians. 

She let his magic take a hold of her again as she felt Warren guide them, reaching out to the waypoint he had set in the hotel room. She closed her eyes. 

Gray hated this. He and the three other children deemed ‘too young or tram-trom-something about being in pain’ (he didn’t know in which of the two he was in, because somehow they looked at him with those sad eyes he sees mom give at funerals when they said both) and so they were stuck in the too expensive room in the basement. 

According to the new girl, it was because it was one of the only heated rooms. But like. Most rooms were warm. Here it was just warmer than anything he felt his entire life. 

Speaking of the new girl, she was weird. She seemed to love drinks, at least the ones kids were allowed to get, and she knew so much . Even Lyon, who had stubbornly been too cool to acknowledge Ultear or him, looked at her stories with a sparkle in his eye. 

So when Gray thought he noticed a devious gleam in her eye, he ignored it and went along with her idea. Strip Poker. She admitted she hadn’t seen the games finish, but she thought it was fun. The other kids agreed to it fairly quickly. 

She had taught them the rules, and it was pretty easy to understand. And since it was so warm inside, it wasn’t like Gray needed all his coats. So he thought it was fine. 

Somehow, he continuously was the only one who lost clothes. Cana and Ultear, both wearing the least, somehow had managed to never lose a hand, either bowing out before betting or impossibly winning. They hadn’t even lost a scarf. 

Lyon, unbearably smug, had won a few rounds, but had removed a few layers, now only in one layer. 

Gray was down to his pants and sock. Singular. 

He hadn’t won a single round. 

Cara looked at him with a smug grin crossing her face, her voice teasing. “Come on, dude, I know you can do better than that.”

“I LITERALLY GOT A CARD FROM ANOTHER DECK LAST ROUND. WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?”

He could see Ultear giggle a bit at the reaction, even as he jumped up on the table to yell at the new girl. 

“What the f-what are you guys doing?”

The really tall boy walked in, face stoney as he looked at the scene. 

“I’m teaching them about strip poker!”

“You don’t know how to play strip poker, Cana.”

“I know enough to teach it, and isn’t the true mark of mastery the ability to teach it?”

Gray glared at her before a weight settled above his head, even on top of the table. Cana only smirked at the weight, shaking her head. 

“Got that exhausted from the raid? I told you you should have stayed with us. The adults can take care of themselves. Plus, aren’t you still on your big brother kick?”

“Hmmm. Tired. And this kid has the comfiest looking hair.”

“Yeah yeah, just admit you're a softy who likes sleeping in piles of people, you mess of a human being. With your magic you can probably blame most things on it.”

Lyon raised an eyebrow, knowing that most magic mostly left personalities unaffected. What type of magic altered a personality enough, and late enough, to be noticeable?

Gray just wanted to get the weight off his head as it slowly got heavier. However, Cana smiled a devious grin, before pushing him off the table, making the two of them fall. 

And the now asleep teen proceeded to wrap his arms around Gray, unwilling to let go. 

“Let's consider this the punishment for losing the game.”

“I didn’t agree to this! I’m not tired!”

And yet Gray couldn't break the older kid’s grip, even as he slept. 

Ultear apparently decided to lie down next to him, appearing suddenly before putting a hand over his arm. 

“Sometimes, life is inevitable. There are situations you may wish to escape, but can’t.”

Cana, the evil mastermind, appeared on his otherside. “If you want company we can offer some.”

Gray just pouted, staying silent as the two girls talked with him in between. Lyon, the betrayer, stood up and went to the room the adults were in, probably to speak with Ur. 

He wondered where the little girl disappeared to, she had been. Maybe not fun, but nice. She had offered to stay up with him when he woke up in the middle of the night, deathly afraid of the little he saw from Deliora. She had whispered soft lullabies she had apparently heard from a friend. She had talked about different stories she had heard growing up, about dragons and fairies. 

Gray hoped she was alright. She didn’t seem to have too much magic, even with what she did to Deliora. 

(His dad would take care of her. He always did love taking care of others.)

Capricorn helped Lucy up to the roof of the station, a small platform where they had put a bell being the only place that would currently have absolutely no one come. It was the perfect place to cast Polaris’ spell. 

She turned the ring in her hand, before pulling out Polaris’ key. It had felt icy cold, but as she prepared to cast the spell, she could feel it start to become just a little bit warmer. 

She traced out a circle, feeling the key leave behind something akin to honey, which. Of course. A bear. Why should she expect any spirit to not be at least 5% gag. 

“I call upon Polaris, Lord of the Northern Winter, and invoke his contract with me.”

As she closed the circle, she could feel the honey freeze, crystalizing into pink crystal, casting a shadow upwards as it made a sphere of the night sky.  

She was alone from the world. No one could break in, and she would not be able to break out. A breath. 

She extended the key, and twisted it. She could feel the click in the gate, opening more fully than any spell she had cast before. The bear, in all his glory, appeared before her and yawned. 

“I expected a little more time before you called me, you know. Barely had time to borrow the clock’s power. But I hereby act as Lord of the Northern Stars, and fulfill the conditions of your contract. By casting this spell, the Contract becomes binding. Upon your hand shall be the sign of my star, visible only to you. Should you fail to upkeep your end of the contract, you shall be consumed by the Stars, and remain in the Sun’s Domain. Do you still agree to move forward?”

“Yes.”

She could feel Polaris guide her as he nodded, creating a window as the two began to perform an elaborate dance, the key weaving magic circles in mid air as Polaris created bigger ones, two globes of stars forming as they circled each other, spinning independently. 

She could feel her magic, less than being drain, burnt. Was this how Natsu’s magic felt, expanding as the need came?

Polaris and her lined up, both facing the same direction, and a window formed in the pocket dimension. 

“I call upon winter’s first storm, Crystal Snow!”

From her key, a drop of honey splashed out, golden and mercurial. 

It sailed through the air, before landing on the rails. Her key suddenly burst with heat, and her magic almost completely disappeared. 

The drop of honey immediately turned to crystals, growing and spreading, before dissolving to rainbow dust after a few seconds. It raced across the tracks, covering them with a slight sheen as it raced off across the country, and then she almost fell before Capricorn caught her. 

Everything after that was a blur, barely able to remember anything. It had been easy enough to sneak out, so she hoped the same was said for sneaking in. At some point, she had fallen into the covers, and immediately returned to the world of sleep.

She was sure everything was absolutely fine. 

The adults, on the other hand, were not. They all saw the frankly wild magic being cast on the railway, and Warren’s network was lighting up with people reporting the same. However, none of them noticed an issue with the trains, running as smoothly as they usually did. 

They checked on their resident trouble maker, but the blonde was soundly asleep on one of the suite's beds. Ur really had to get a better name for her, if she wouldn’t give hers…

It was worrisome, seeing as the sponsors in the capital apparently had no clue what had happened. However, the Vice President of the Konzern, apparently a former mage and a top authority in Fiore, believed the spell to be beneficial for the disaster. Ur had no clue why she was keeping secrets, if she recognized the spell, but. Who was she to question one of the richest business magnates who ever so kindly saved her country's seemingly endless tragedy?

(She did realize that he was getting quite a lot in compensation, and just a little part of her couldn’t help but feel like they were a vulture. But she kept that part quiet until after the construction of the trains stopped. They at least were forming an Isvanian branch which hired Isvanians, which was better than most of the charity that would disappear within a second because. Money doesn’t last long when no one can spend it.)

She was currently at one of the cafe’s near the hotel the Fioreans were staying at, needing to get away from the oppressive heat, and stop hovering around her daughter's sleeping form.

She was probably going to leave Isvan, her home. She had grown up in the harsh winters, in ice and snow. Silver may have spent as much time as her outside, but he had never quite connected to the ice like she did. She was the one who began to figure out ice make magic, while Silver just got better with a sword to never need to.

Maybe now that they were moving together, she could finally get him to learn something. Or his son, at least! It would be fun… Oh, and she couldn’t wait to see his wife again, she hadn’t seen Fiera since the wedding!

Look at her. Making plans for the future. She hadn’t even sat down to talk with Lyon about any of this yet. She hadn’t even really thought about any of this yet. Yesterday had been filled with anger and violence, the need for avenging her daughter, but now all she had was the stillness of ice. The reality that she had to help her daughter anyway she could.

The reality that the last time she tried, she sentenced her to years of torture.

It was hard to swallow that failure. 

The snow felt cold and uninviting for the first time in years. Maybe she actually did have to move. Get away from this place. But she didn’t appreciate the force needed to make that decision. She looked up at the sky, a clear night revealing oft hidden stars. She wondered if the stars in Fiore were the same. 

Even if they weren’t, she would still be connected to this place. There was only one sky afterall. There was only one world. She closed her eyes, and decided to enjoy the last Isvanian winds she would feel. 

Laxus always hated trains. The morning had passed with little fanfare, waking up in a bed surrounded by children, but he made sure not to talk about it with anyone. Gently putting a snoring Gray down where he was, he had sat there as Mest reported to Gramps, wrapping up the mission as Warren filled out the paperwork to make sure the guild and team got payment for the mission. Bureaucrats lived longer than countries it seemed. 

He only wished it lasted longer, as the train began moving. The Girl had been untied, however both Mest and himself sat at either side of her, looking at her to make sure whatever trick she did to escape with Laxus didn’t take place again. He hadn’t let her out of his sight, but it seemed to only make his motion sickness worse. The sounds of all the wheels, all the squeaks and groans of metal, the sound of the engine and the burning, along with fixing his eyes on a person. 

Maybe he was glad someone else was helping watch her, but he sure wasn’t going to say that out loud. Mest, on the other hand, seemed invested in one of the books she had retrieved from the library, writing out notes on a side table, but he could hear him keeping watch on the girl, curled up beside Laxus and apparently trying to shrink beyond her limits.

It was strange, to see a girl so bold, able to control the tides of battle against demons, seem demure. To shy away from people she was perfectly fine commanding, in a setting she had wanted.

Laxus suddenly remembered the painful youth of her countenance. It melted away at times, a confidence unearned by the years taking over, but at the same time she was so painfully cautious. Sometimes he caught words getting stuck in her throat, even after she had only been with him for 2 days. 

She seemed so confident, even as the words caught in her throat. She snapped back at the people around her, she was a bundle of energy and confidence, but her cadence was always wrong. Like watching a masked performer express emotions more real than any you actually knew, even as their face remained still. 

Gramps would know how to help her. Fairy Tail was a place for broken people to become whole, and grandpa is an expert in helping them. He was sure he could help.

“Can I use the restroom?”

The girl spoke up, and the voice sounded ever so subtly wrong, more than usual.

“Yeah, ok, just let us bo-”

“Mest! Do you want to appear like a kidnapper to the poor people on this train? Laxus can pass as an older brother, but you just give off a…vibe. With the scar. And looking nothing like me.”

Mest raised an eyebrow, suspicions growing. “This isn’t you trying to shake us off, is it?”

“If it was, why would I submit to even one bodyguard on a moving train?”

Mest narrowed his eyes, weighing the logic of her argument against the very obvious suspicion.

Eventually, he relented, turning to Laxus. “If she stays in the bathroom for too long, I’ll teleport over. Good luck!”

Laxus stayed silent, as Lucy expected, but dutifully guided her to the bathroom near the back. From here, it was going to be something delicate, but thankfully, Laxus shouldn’t be able to hear anything too soft right now.

She left a piece of paper, a little teasing message for them. ‘Sorry, had to go back to my parents. Maybe don’t kidnap little girls?’ Satisfied, and probably running out of time, she quickly pulled out Pyxis’ key, an image of a secluded lake at the edge of the Konzern. She would probably meet her parents just before they entered, saying she wanted to see them early. From there, everything should look alright. 

“Open, gate of the Astral Compass…guide the wayward sailor to their destination, let the sea heed my passage. Needlepoint.”

Pyxis’ face appeared, the ceremony lacking much of the usual fanfare, and the gate opened easily. As she crossed to the otherside, she sent a request to Pyxis, to stop others from finding her, smoothly closing the rift.

Laxus, dizzy by the sounds of the train, didn’t realize anything was off until a worried Warren ran over to the bathroom.

“Damnit, how did she disappear! Did you hear anything, Laxus? Did she cast a spell or anything?”

All he could do was dumbly shake his head, his senses barely strong enough to focus on standing up.

As Lucy entered the mansion along with her parents, having changed into more…well, really less appropriate attire, but the attire that is expected of her, she gave a demure smile to the workers as they welcomed her family. Her dad was quick to go off and talk to the workers he had invited, a report of the Fiorean operations ready for him. So Lucy walked down the hall with her mom, and she was glad it all went smoothly.

“Lucy, I must ask. Where did you get that ring?”

She almost faltered in her step, but she made sure to keep smoothly gliding along. “It was a gift from Papa. Have I not shown it to you before?”

Layla was behind her, so Lucy couldn’t see her face. She had no clue how much she knew, or how much she didn’t…

“I heard you had been progressing splendidly on Celestial Spirit magic. You know, I figured I ought to get you a gift, to celebrate summoning your first spirit. I agonized over what to give you, but I think I have a good clue now. Do you remember that delightful island we visited, with the demons?”

Lucy nodded softly, her mind already connecting the dots, even if she didn’t quite believe it.

“They gave me something I thought you should have. I hope one day you might get to meet my old friends, but I thought you should have the opportunity to meet your own.”

Lucy turned around, and all she could see was kindness on her mother’s face. Not a trace of a knowing smile, of worry or suspicion. She extended her hand, and there it was. Sagittarius’ Key.

“I hope you don’t attempt to summon him quite yet, but I am sure when you need someone, he will be there for you. But remember Lucy, this magic is…powerful. Don't come to rely on it, else you’ll end up with your mama, unable to do much but gaze at the stars.”

“I’ll be careful mom! Thank you so, so much!”

Layla smiled as her daughter carried the key to her room, excitement and confusion apparent. At first she worried about how she had gotten the celestial spirit powers. Even now, she was worried about it. But Capricorn was with her, even if he tried to hide himself from others. 

She would be alright. 

Turning to continue down the hall, she could only hope her daughter would not end up like she did. She coughed with practiced silence, the weight on her bones returning. 

A swish if the curtains welcomed her into her room. 

“Zoldeo, you may come out now.”

Her old butler, a man she had never seen less than pristine, appeared in front of her and bowed. 

“My Lady, I did not mean to intrude.”

“Please, no need for the formalities, you no longer work for the house, do you?”

He had dressed up for the occasion, a tailored butler’s uniform she could tell was not worn for a long time. His face, however, troubled her. Eyes gaunt with experiences, and a scar crossing his face raw and crudely stitched. A side effect of having not much contact with her old friends was that she simply didn’t know what was happening to them. 

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what happened to him. 

Layla sat on one of the chairs in the room, the energy to stand having run out. “May I ask the purpose of your visit? I assume you didn’t decide to come on a whim for the first time in four years.”

 Zoldeo stayed standing. Layla had always been the most perceptive in the household, and she could tell, his old habits were standing strong. “I came because of my Contract with your key. I am afraid to say, I have lost it. I was worried something had happened to your daughter, and was here to investigate.”

She didn’t like the frayed edge to his voice, the unpredictability. It was as if a ghoul haunted the familiar body, alien and foreign as much as it was familiar.

“I understand your worry, however. I hope you do remember, I have always been better at handling these issues than you.”

“I would never ask the Lady to step down to the point where she would ha-”

“I already have handled it. My daughter has become a mage, and as per our contract for the Golden Key, it passed on to her. I understand your worry, but trust me, I more than have it handled. I am more worried about you, old friend.”

He stumbled, as he always did as soon as attention was brought onto him. He always preferred the shadows, commanding others with efficiency while essentially disappearing from everyone except her.

“I am perfectly well, my Lady. I am sorry if my wounds scare you, I assure you it was but an inconvenient accident.”

Layla didn’t press the issue, but she wanted to keep a close eye on him. So she did something out of impulse.

“Why don’t you stay here while it recovers? I am sure that the doctors constantly flocking around me may be able to help with it.”

He never was able to say no to her. She only hoped that she wasn’t too late, that whatever had bent in her old friend wouldn’t break. She would make sure to tell Spetto when she came in to help her to the bath to keep an eye on Lucy. She always managed to be a step ahead of even Zoldeo.

Zoldeo disappeared as silently as he appeared, and Layla could not help the worry that overtook her heart.

Chapter Text

Juvia missed the sun.

She knew, logically, that it still rose and fell with the clock, but whenever it was time for it to smile at her, it wore it’s veil of clouds.

Not that she could blame it, no one had smiled at her in so long. Even her parent’s smiles grew thin, blotted with something she couldn’t quite place. Exhaustion, sadness, grief, hatred. They all washed away with the rain.

(Her hands were shaking as they made another stitch in the Teru Teru Bozu. She couldn’t even smile at herself anymore, no hope for the doll to work when it hadn’t so far. Three blank faces hung in her room, staring at her. Her only friends.)

Her parents had taken her out to the park, a respite from the children at the school, who knew why it never ceased to rain in the city. Here, there were only two faces, golden and serene, untouched even as the rain poured upon them. A mother, sitting on the bench, a perfect umbrella of fabric that made the water fade away covering her. And her daughter, smiling in the rain as she was on the swing. 

Juvia always liked looking at people, even if she knew she would never play with them. She always loved seeing how people played with the rain, before they despised it. The way drops fell from petals, the way birds shook them away as they flew.

There was a trellis in this park, meant to give a sense of privacy on the benches. Juvia always loved seeing the way the drops played with the vines, sometimes moving the drops so they would trace the entire vine. Juvia enjoyed the games she played, even if she sometimes wanted more.

“Hello! Where are your parents, if I may ask?”

Juvia hadn’t noticed how close to the bench the flowers had been, and now the woman smiled at her. As if Juvia wasn’t a rain woman, a curse upon the city. The book in her lap was completely dry, and even as she extended an arm, it seemed the water didn’t bother her, never soaking her dress.

“They left to do some shopping. They trust this park, they said.”

Juvia knew she shouldn’t talk to strangers, but she wished to enjoy this warmth, the warmth of her smile, the warmth that always froze over. She reached to the extended hand, but as she tried to shake it, her hand phased right through it. Like rain through a screen, never to touch it.

“Oh my! It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen someone able to do that little trick!”

Juvia’s heart froze. Perhaps literally, Juvia did not know. The Golden Warmth knew, and it was about to freeze over. Juvia could feel the rain intensify, and tears began to fall. Juvia hadn’t been ready. Juvia had not been prepared to lose the warmth so quickly.

“Hey, hey, calm down. Why are you crying?”

“Y-You know about Juvia’s body, so you know about Juvia! And-and everyone who knows about Juvia leaves Juvia, and I don’t want you to leave so soon!”

The Golden woman only turned her head. Never did her eyes fill with disgust. She only put her hand on Juvia’s shoulder. She did stop smiling, but only in concern.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Juvia. I understand the pain, the pain that comes from people rejecting you. But trust me: If they truly matter, if they are a true friend, they would look past it. In fact, one of my best friends is like you. Stormbringer, they called her. Both for her temper and her magic.”

The Golden Woman, whose warmth began to feel like what Juvia had heard of the sun, looked away. Her face fondly smiling, looking up at the rain. Smiling at gloomy Juvia’s gloomy rain.

The clouds swirled like they hadn’t in a long time, and she could see a few sunbeams speckle the park. As if to meet with the woman who felt like the sun.

“Does she control it? Can…can she make the rain go away? Forever. I…I don’t want to be gloomy anymore.”

A voice surprised Juvia, the same cadence as the Sun Woman. The girl with the golden hair was behind her, smiling up at her.

“Why would the rain make you gloomy? It lets you have such beautiful coats, and umbrellas, and it gives you rainbows! It’s the best!”

Juvia had told herself similar things, so many times. It never quite convinced her like hearing someone else saying it. 

Maybe it would feel true if she heard it a bit earlier.

“But all the rain does is block out the sky. It stops kids from playing outside, it forces people to wear boots and umbrellas and raincoats. It's just gloomy.”

Even as the sun poked through the clouds, the drops intensified, a mottled pattern of shadows and light playing just as Juvia felt conflicted.

The two invited an easy joy, a joy that warmed Juvia’s heart and Juvia had only felt it for a few days, with her parents. Simultaneously, Juvia knew they were wrong. Her rain was gloomy. Everyone told her. How could she trust these strangers' words…

Her parents quickly walked in, ice cream underneath an umbrella, Juvia’s favorite flavors. Their faces were suspicious, but Juvia knew it was suspicious of the adult they had never seen. As Juvia went to them, the little golden girl smiled at her, brighter than Juvia expected.

“Just because something is gray, doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful! Hey, want to come with us when we go shopping?”

Juvia’s heart felt clear, and in the sky, the rain felt just a little bit lighter.

When the little girl in hushed tones told Juvia to go to Magnolia, hiding inside all the coats Juvia loved, fur lining to ensure that no matter how much it rained Juvia would stay warm, Juvia felt inclined to agree. 

When they left with a smile, leaving behind a round sapphire, as blue as Juvia’s magic, pinning it in place of her Teru Teru doll, Juvia’s heart stayed warm. 

Chapter Text

Ur wasn’t pacing, no matter what Silver said. She wasn’t. Absolutely not. She was perfectly calm. Absolutely, perfectly, still. 

She had been threatened to be kicked out of the tree if she didn’t stop pacing, the old woman with pink hair having an air of threat Ur never saw. It wasn’t magic, but at the same time it was intensely magical. 

The woman was taking notes as she looked at her daughter, taking notes on certain reactions the plants and balms were having. 

Ultear wasn’t in pain. She had never been so calm at the do tors before. Ur couldn’t curse her own foolishness enough. Ultear was pleasantly sucking on a candy the woman had given her, having fallen in love with the flavor. 

“Note for the wise: Whenever there's a magic disease, you should look for an Air Mage. Cables and all that batty nonsense won’t do any good at any time. Thankfully those ants kept records, even if nothing else was of use.”

The crone didn’t turn to them, nor to the stack of papers Mest had provided at the beginning of the session. She continued on, not letting any of them interrupt them. “Air magic is a bizarre thing, really. It isn’t really air, most of the time. The four elements always were a strange sort of magic, but Air has always been the strangest. Half of the magic is focused on the manipulation of magic itself, able to nullify spells at a whim and destroy a mage in a single breath. Most of the other half is healing spells. It’s a shame you war riddled idiots never learned most of the spells.”

Ur opened her mouth to speak, but was again put down. 

“Shut up. I am only saying this because if your daughter had seen an air mage before, she likely would be able to forget that this ever happened. It would be as simple as poking a hole in a clog, making the water that rushes out clear a drain. However, there was an event recently that permanently changed it. She will still be fine, she just needs to take better care of herself, ensure that her internal reservoir never shrinks. I will also give you a medicine that will remove any symptoms of the excess magical energy, but there is something you have to do. You must become a mage.”

Ur waited for a moment, to see if the woman would continue speaking. 

Hearing nothing else, she went to speak. 

Porlyusica immediately interrupted, and Ur could tell there was a slight smile on her face. It was on fucking purpose…

“I’ll teach her the first spell, one that in the case she has no medication she will be able to cast to regulate her own magic. After that, you can teach her your own, but Ice Make magic isn’t intensive enough for our needs. I’ll have Mest find a list of lost magics for her to choose from, and I’ll watch over any training. Now you may speak.”

Ur glared at the old woman, the words of gratitude having shriveled as they got rebutted every time. “As I was trying to say, thank you ma’am. I-“

“WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE! GET OUT! BRATS!”

Porlyusica may have usually let them flail about for a few more minutes, but there was something much more concerning behind all of it. The other half of Ultear’s magical torrent. The person who cast a spell at a level she would only expect from a famous guild wizard. 

However, she also had Mest’s reports. About how the caster was no older than 7. How she was using celestial spirit magic they had not seen. Of course Porlyusica knew about the Celestial Spirit Realm, she was a sky dragon who had crossed realms. She also knew that there was activity happening. It was subtle, but energy was shifting in its direction. 

A child casting such spells at such a young age, at the center of ripples like these. Ultear’s hands had been free from the stain of Ethernano, making it obvious she had not cast a spell. But this Golden Mage, how richly would the ethernano cover her hands, unable to enter the container even as the greater power attracted more of it. 

This was something Porlyusica was unfamiliar with, seeing as it never occurred. Even the war hungry ants of Earthland had never found a viable way to make effective spells greater than the limits of one’s internal magic. How easy is it to become so spirited and skilled that magic itself flocks to a crowded room? Not easy at all. 

She considered for a moment, before committing. She knew the children of the guild were beginning the quest to find whoever that child is, she may as well offer help. Subtle help, since children were the most annoying form of brat. 

Lucy paced in front of Capricorn and Gramps, a familiar white board behind her with the Words “Cult Activity” bolded and underlined. 

Was this entirely too vague? Absolutely. However, the spirits knew what this was about. 

“We have much more time this time, in order to help Erza and friends out of the tower of heaven. HOWEVER. We also have to make sure I do not fucking die. Thoughts?”

Crux looked at her matter of factly, raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you tell us your plan first?”

Lucy paused, before conceding to his point. “I mean, I don’t have much of a plan. The primary thought is using Moon Drip to dissolve the lacrima of the tower, and figuring the rest out with you guys here. With Gray, all we had to deal with was 1 Deliora, which I know enough of. I have no clue how the R-System works.”

The two spirits nodded, before Crux immediately went to sleep. 

Capricorn, however, began to give his considerations. “Considering the scope of this project, it seems safe to say we shall need to call upon allies, Ma’am. If I may suggest, the Fairy Tai-“

“Porlyusica is going to be on the lookout for a child like me after what I did with Ultear. No, it’s too dangerous to be kidnapped by them. I need to stay a Heartfilia until at least the Eclipse gate is opened. No, we need alternate and safer helpers.” Lucy waved away the thought before it was finished, a combination of emotion and some distorted practicality coming through. 

“Aren’t the only other allies the Dragon Kings? Long Term I believe you said?” Capricorn’s face remained impassive, even if she could feel the underlying tone through the key. 

“Great! So. Help me figure out how to bind a dragon king’s magic through a contract. Easy, right? I’m sure going through all the documents Crux finds will be simple and quick to do…” Lucy realized the enormity of the planning that was about to happen, and the difference between how she had to plan for Gray and these plans.

“Ah, don’t worry. There are a few possible ways one could do it, perhaps with Andromeda or the use of Crater. However, these are easy for a Dragon King to break with a sneeze, especially with your level of magic. No, you must go with the Restraint of the Earth. The Maiden Virgo.”

Capricorn flipped out a small little pocket book, thumbing through the pages as he explained his plan. It caught Lucy’s eye, the image of his golden key embossed on the black leather, and the symbols of the zodiac clearly surrounding it. She had never seen that book before, she realized, and she wondered just how much she didn’t know about her spirits.

“Yes, I seem to have found the ritual to use. First, one must forge an artifact to represent what is being imprisoned, in this case pure water magic. Then, using Virgo’s key, begin the process to form a contract with a terrestrial ‘Warden’. The contract and artifact will become chains that bind whatever is being bound, relying on the power of the warden. Yes, while it depends on a warden, in this case it is likely the only possible one we can do considering your current power. Already I have commissioned gloves to help manage ethernano, I would rather not need to ask more.”

Lucy deadpanned as Capricorn continued to talk about the details of the ritual, mind glazing over. This was a level of magic where she was no longer comfortable, reaching the boiling that had been slowly coming. She spoke up, interrupting Capricorn. 

“Was I really a Celestial Spirit Mage?”

She fiddled with the ring, remembering the spirits residing within. How many times had she been separated from her spirits? How much pain had they endured because she hadn’t known enough about them? She remembered the final days, looking up at her teammates, strong and capable mages. How it seemed like they could do anything, and how she couldn’t. 

How much could she have helped them? How much pain could she have spared her family? Yukino? All of Fiore?

She knew she wasn’t helpless, she would never let anyone believe that. She was the only mage to be able to cast Gottfried, the most magic intensive spell anyone had heard of. She had become a star, filled with magic, the gate of the heavens. The most magic out of any mage in Fiore. 

And yet, here she was, barely a year into learning of celestial magic, and learning of all this potential she never touched. All this knowledge was just a question away. How well did she know her spirits?

“Madame, may I speak frankly?” Capricorn seemed to be boring holes straight through her, even if she could not see his eyes. 

“Of course. I am but a child, no need to stand on manners.”

“The reason why you seem so judgemental of your past self is twofold, as far as I can see. One is your regrets, the same motivation that has led you on this quest to begin with. However, you must realize how much magic is based on knowledge. You have a full lifetime’s worth of knowledge, or perhaps more. How many secrets have you perceived, never to be known by most of the world. 

“Yes, you may have more varied tools than you did before, but you must also see the mountains you’ve pushed, the battles you’ve won. One of the secrets of magic is Spirit, as Elentear has shown you. This very doubt is one of the first things to banish to strengthen your magic.”

Lucy sat still, absorbing the words, knowing them to be true. And yet, they still felt hollow inside her mind. They felt like placating lies, meant to fool her. 

“The second reason is the fact that you did not know enough about the spirits. That you only knew a mask they put on. However, I should ask you this: Do you not think it a relief to know someone would be your friend even without your money? That they wish to be friends with the true you? It is a blessing of modern times that our strength has been forgotten, and many are reluctant to change that. You have known the us we wish to present, and for that there is no need to feel shame.”

The words sat heavy on Lucy’s heart, some blossom of warmth breaking through, before shaking her head. Those friends were still as good as dead. She may be learning more about them, but it won’t change anything. Deep breath in, let the negative feelings fade away with the soothing words, deep breath out. 

“Thank you, Capricorn. Your words do much to appease my old heart. I appreciate your willingness to be honest about such things.” The stilted way of speaking felt comfortable, familiar. It let the barely controlled emotions stay inside Lucy, to not break her down. “Now, let us wait for Cr-“

“GAGGHH!”

Lucy couldn’t help but jump as Grandpa Crux emerged from his cross referencing, having summoned a sphere lacrima at some point. Grandpa Crux was unbothered as he kept talking, as if he hadn’t screamed. “This lacrima contains every note Zeref had on the R System, along with categorizations, organization and cross references by yours truly. However, something I wish to bring special mention is actually the 7 towers that were demolished at your time. It appears they do have rather unique properties, even as they act mainly as support and ether gathering for the 8th Tower. It appears they stop the destruction of the 8th tower, allowing it to regenerate ether even as they are destroyed. It takes a very long time for that magic to degrade, and they must also be destroyed simultaneously in order for the magic to degrade. Yes, the most feasible method of ensuring complete destruction is by isolating the Tower itself.” Here, he turned wistful as he seemed to remember something. “Perhaps with the sun blessing and Horologium at full power, we could degrade the spell by simply accelerating its time, but alas. There is no chance of that happening within the allotted time.”

Capricorn seemed to consider the lacrime as Crux continued to highlight details of the R system, before also consulting his book. Lucy didn’t notice, trying to plan around the new knowledge, drawing out the diagrams in mid air as she considered what the angles of attack should be even if they failed to convince Mercphobia to destroy the towers. The tricky part would be ensuring that the towers were destroyed simultaneously, without alerting the 8th tower or causing any of the secondary procedures to recontain the magic of the system within one tower. While it was pure magic, she was unsure whether moon drip would be able to dispel it completely once it began to absorb ether itself. She would need to simultaneously destroy the 7 towers while also isolating the 8th, and if she was using moon drip, it would have to be with no spirits summoned…

“I believe I know of a possible way to isolate the tower. It is a rather unpopular silver spirit, so the key is likely available. The Spirit of Barriers, Unbreakable and Firm Australes the Triangle. The Southern triangle, I am afraid the northern one won’t help…”

Lucy couldn’t help but speak in disbelief: “Their most definitive feature is being a triangle? There’s two spirits that are just triangles?”

Capricorn chuckled at the outburst, before Crux stepped in to clarify. “More so, they are twins with very little in common. The old adage about an unbreakable shield and an unstoppable sword is the most apt comparison to these two. And as they had to be named something in common, it was their being a triangle that became their name.”

Lucy stared at them. She murmured to herself “And I thought I had a pose of clowns for spirits…”

“Yes, Triangulum is similar to Horologium, in the fact that they are defensive spirits. However Horologium is often the more recommended spirit, due to…a quirk of Australe. Any shield he sets cannot be broken until he is unsummoned, and he can only set 3 barriers once summoned. They can be any size, and he could be unsummoned to dispel the barriers, but a constant summoning and dismissal of the spirit is…hard.”

Capricorn then cleared his throat. “There is an additional ability they wield, especially with a true contract and the blessing of the moon returning to the Celestial Spirit World. When the third barrier is made, anything inside the triangle is completely isolated from the world. It doesn’t break any magic circles, but it essentially is unable to see that. In combination with Horologium’s Stasis, the tower of heaven would be tricked into believing that it had yet to have the other towers destroyed. Yes, they ought to be able to be very useful for this venture. Something to look for while we train.”

Lucy froze, remembering the hell of language she had been subjected to for the months before going to Isvan. This time there were years before needing to do anything. WIth fear, she had to ask. “T-Training?”

Capricorn looked entirely too stoic for Lucy’s peace of mind as he responded. “Of course. As you are now, you are unable to even follow through at this point. Thankfully, this time we will be able to give you a more complete training as you are not in a rush. I rather think it will help you to have to learn the fundamentals of every spirit's magic, to ensure you are never caught off guard. And of course, we have to polish off your etiquette, to ensure it’s appropriate for the Courts of Seasons. Languages are a must, a mage of contracts ought to speak every language to fully carry out those contracts. And of course, training to be able to ensure you can summon the full form of Sagittarius, that will be key to even begin thinking of recruiting Mercphobia.”

Lucy froze, as she realized that she had only been seen by the fires of hell. Now she was facing the maw itself, unable to escape. Grasping for any point to latch onto, Lucy asked. “Sagittarius is needed? How come?”

Crux was the one to answer, stretching out after the latest thinking. “We have been over this, Lucy. Sagittarius is the Temperer of the Flames, from him comes fire’s ability to create. In order to make the Teru Teru doll from Juvia into a talisman of water, you will need to be able to summon him in his totality. Yes, I would be quite excited to see the youngest summoner of a golden spirit in history, which would have also been yourself in retrospect. Although primarily because it requires a level of wealth to attain them at that age, I suppose…”

As Crux went on his way back to the Spirit World, mumbling about details Lucy couldn’t quite follow, Lucy was forced to confront the enormity of the task in front of her. It… it would be done. She was Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, she had been a Fairy Tail Wizard, she was a Celestial Spirit Mage. She would never break a promise for something as paltry as impossibility. 

“My Lady, may I come in?” It was a strange voice, neither familiar nor unfamiliar, laced with the same reverence all the staff had for the Heartfilia’s. 

She knew all the staff’s voices by heart. 

The spirits were quick to clean up after themselves, leaving the room impeccable as they disappeared simultaneously. Lucy took a moment to let any of the stress leave her features, before opening the door just a crack, eyes wide as they looked through.

It was strange, to see a lifeless visage when you remember them looking worse. Old haggard stitches look fresh and taken care of, purple eyelids where once they dripped with a bile and dark magic she could only assume was unhealthy.

Zoldeo would always strike a startling figure, even dressed in a butler’s uniform and wrapped in enough bandages for one to believe he might actually get better.

Lucy could not close the door fast enough.

“Madame, I only wish to introduce myself as the new butler.”

His voice lacked an edge that it had once upon a time, the edge of madness that she had felt through Loke’s key. It was still composed and calm, the properness of high society bleeding through now that it had lost the edge of hatred.

Breathe, Lucy. Breathe. It is not the man you once knew, not the man who almost took over Loke. This was the man who her mom trusted with one of her closest friends.

She opened the door nervously, still not fully showing herself.

“My Lady, thank you for opening the door. My name is Zoldeo, and I hope to be of service to you.”

Lucy figured it was fine to be a little rude, as a child. Maybe that’s why she let the first question in her mind slip. “Why are you here?”

He remained unmoved by the question, his face unreadable by Lucy as he continued bowing down. “I am an old friend of your mothers, and was sent for a long time on a journey. I simply have finished my journey and come back.”

Lucy played the part of the timid heir better than she thought she would, genuine fear easily disguised into a child’s anxiety. She nodded in recognition of the man before her, before huddling closer to the couch, still on edge.

Zoldeo seemed to take that as a dismissal, and as quietly as he appeared, he left.

Lucy could not be more distant from reality as the man left, her awareness shrinking as the adrenaline passed until the only thing she could hear was the ticking of the silver watch given to her.

The weight of time seemed inescapable, and every day she saw a new consequence of a new choice. 

How much would change this time? How much would saving Erza cost others?

The watch ticked ever on, the glint of celestial magic waking her from her daze, even as she couldn’t tell whether it came from the clock or the hand holding it.

Makarov grumbled to no one in particular as the train car kept on its merry way. By all accounts he should be happy, reuniting with old friends, but there was something happening that unsettled him. Unsettled all of them it seemed. Of course, they were all old and foolish men, who had long ago had their fill of small chat. It was only natural to tend toward reticence outside of his brats.

“So are we not going to talk about it among friends before we bullshit to the council?”

Except for Bob, who had always been the best at talking. He seemed to never be at a want for words.

Goldmine barked at Bob’s frankness, closing the door to ensure the three old men were not overheard. “I thought you were all for small talk before the date, Bob. Even the best spies struggled to decrypt your flowery bullshit, and that was without speaking in code.”

“Oh, Goldy, you flatter me! But with a certain age you learn to save those words to make them worth it. No one likes a perv.”

Makarov nodded sagely, biting back any hint of hypocrisy that rose. Goldmine just leaned back, taking out a cigarette and letting the muffling smoke fill the room. “I would love to talk then, but frankly I know jack shit about whatever the hell happened. I was hoping either the resident expert in bullshittery or the guy who was running communication would know.”

Bob gave some empty gesture, long deprived of meaning between the men. “For me to know about it, people would have needed time to talk about it. Alas, it’s your Fairy Tail kiddos that took the spotlight this time.”

Makarov snorted. “Yeah, but then the brats left a mess 10 miles wide. There’s limits to my low expectations, and yet I am never braced for the next thing they leave at my doorstep.”

Goldmine raised an eyebrow. “So they were involved?” He leaned in, as the cigarette’s spell finally took hold completely, isolating the room.

“Yep. In fact, they were directly involved in both of the messes. Admittedly I expected it partly with Laxus and Mest, but I did not expect for them to disrupt the Dark Guilds.”

Dark Guilds were a bizarre thing, these days. They had been around for a long time, of course. Can’t even hold Wizards to the standard of decency, much less legality. But they were always small, isolated. It was hard to concentrate power, easy to swat any half formed cult to some ancient egg or a group of people who believe in wizard supremacy.

However, there had been a bizarre trend in them. Both Quatro Cerberus and Fairy Tail were guilds who kept the peace, so to speak, and they dealt with most missions handling these guilds. And they had both noticed that the dark guilds began to organize amongst themselves, and they all seemed to be working towards some similar goal.

Zeref.

It was in response to this that Bob finally set up Blue Pegasus, setting up relays for the three of them to look closer without much scrutiny, to set up intelligence networks. As they spoke, he believed some Blue Pegasus mages were setting up super archives at the Grand Magic Council, updating the decades of old paperwork into the modern system.

Beyond that, names that should have long disappeared kept coming up. Tartaros, long having been dormant, began to stir. Hades, which Makarov recognized as a code name handed down in Fairy Tail. 

They all agreed that they could feel the rumblings, they just weren’t sure what it was shaping to be.

And then the brats blew up a building, which apparently started something.

Bob hummed in thought, looking at the information Makarov had brought with him, the archive lacrima having a copy of all the ledgers Mest could find in the apparently complete library in a crystal ball. 

“It seems likely that this Zero person is likely the largest organizer of these guilds, no? They seemed to all be functioning as branches of a central guild, even if it hasn’t been established yet…”

Goldmine looked deep in thought as Makarov spoke up. “I believe that some of the people who fought this Zero mentioned working with Hades. It’s likely it’s through his archive magic he has been able to avoid a paper trail in Fiore. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem to me that he himself is invested in Zeref…”

Goldmine spoke up. “It’s possible that to garner support from Tartarus and Hades the cults are needed. It was clear he was not the one holding onto the power, and we know Tartarus has long engaged with any swells in Zeref cults. If Zero is attempting to generate goodwill with these established factions, it would have been likely he could garner enough power to match them in some capacity.” The three of them had not said Zeref’s name in some time now, long having been divorced from the adventures of their youth that showed them the terrible history of the world.

It was refreshing, Makarov supposed. He knew once they arrived, their speeches would have no mention of him, only ever referring to the Cults of Zeref as fanatics. But he also knew how pernicious his ideas were, and how many they had not seen. It was not the books of Zeref he feared, but some paper he wrote before he brought calamity. What knife a crazed baboon could find.

Bob spoke up, mind having grasped onto something. “You know, I had thought nothing of it at the time, but I happen to remember something interesting I had seen in a report.”

As the two guild masters turned to look at him, Bob elaborated. “I believe it was some nude mummy guild, or something like that. We had thought they were likely a smuggling guild, as they very prominently used weapons and were dispersed enough to make it clear they were involved in some trade. However, there were certain irregularities from the records we had gotten, materials that had disappeared. If these are working with the dark guilds, it could be that they have started production on a new project, and by having a non wizard guild be the primary distributor it would decrease attention.”

The two old men considered that, as Makarov attempted to see if a similar name showed up in the records they brought. It was true that there had been issues with smuggling in Fiore, but it had always been Bosco with its seaside caves and cliffs that had acted as the center of smuggling. He had dismissed those quests as a low priority in retrospect…

“It definitely ought to be something brought up to the council. However, I think there is something of note here.”

Goldmine had paused on some file, holding it in midair as he seemed to reread it over and over. It was a list of contacts that had sold information to Zero’s network, particularly of minor guilds who had been subjugated too completely to be worth reforming. Frankly, Makarov saw nothing of particular note, looking the same as any other paper.

Bob, similarly in the dark, took the data and reviewed it. “Did any name in particular stand out to you? I figured these were all codenames meant to organize the intel rather than the actual informant, so I hadn’t looked too closely at them…”

Goldmine shook his head, instead taking out a light pen and began to write some dates. “It’s the timing of the leaks. These are peripheral guilds that report to the central hub but are acceptable losses, right?”

The two guild masters paused before nodding, wondering where this was going. Goldmine took the affirmation and continued. “Recently, to deal with the rise of dark guilds the council has been organizing raids against them, which you would know about, Makarov, if you bothered to read your mail. And here,” shifting the pen towards the file, he began underlining some dates. “After the informant meets with the guild, it takes about a week to get cataloged here in the report. And, while not for all of these guilds, many of these are included in raids a week and a day after being reported.”

The two men read out the list Goldmine had written, a series of guilds and the date the council had attacked them. Makarov remembered some of these, appearing in the news, the profound success of the measures being taken. And then he paled as he realized what that implied.

“The council has some involvement, somewhere down the line.”

Makarov’s temper got the better of him, growling. “It’s probable that there's a high level informant in the Magic Council, timing these all to ensure the news goes to the target while hiding any possible involvement.”

The men sat with the realization, and in hushed tones began to articulate a censored version of their findings, while also preparing their next move. The train whistle broke through the smoke of the room, signaling the approaching meeting. Suddenly, Makarov worried about the train ride being too short, having not even started on the Isvan crisis.

Juvia was not a happy girl, or so everyone she knew told her. Juvia enjoyed the dready and the morose. Juvia would tell them they had never seen Juvia in Magnolia. When Juvia had entered, her parents having decided to see if they could move to a town where the kids did not treat Juvia so, she was enchanted by the very smell of the air. Magnolia was not a city of stones, but a city of water. Every breath Juvia took in the stormy skies was not just the simple smell of petrichor, but instead it loomed with the smell of the sea itself. Beyond that, the perfumes of the many flowers that decorated the city seemed just as eager to let Juvia find them, dazzling red and yellow blooms.

Her parents had chuckled, saying it was nice to see Juvia so happy. Ever since they had met the golden-sun-as-people, Juvia had felt exilerated. The new places did not despise the rain woman yet, only seeing the little girl with the brilliant saphire who seemed unbothered by the rain. And here, it seemed that the residents were just the same. 

The gentle showers pushed no one inside, market stalls open as many people still passed by, not hiding from the rain. In the canals Juvia so wanted to swim in, the boats kept moving even as it rained. When Juvia asked, they said no spring shower would keep them from a haul.

And perhaps most interestingly of all, the building at the center seemed bright even in the rain.

Fairy Tail, it said, in big brilliant colors, and louder than any place Juvia had been in before. She did not know how to process it, the large building both beckoning her in, and scaring her of the reaction that would occur once the people knew what she was.

The name of the place had come from a note that came with the jewel the golden girl had bought her. In neat handwriting, it had said Fairy Tail would welcome her. That they would help her. And Juvia wanted nothing more than to be welcomed. To have others welcome her.

Juvia felt like at any minute she would melt to the ground, running off into the canals along with the rain water, to return to her parents who had smiled at her when she said she wanted to go ahead first. 

She barely noticed when a boy ran straight through her body, turning more and more transparent, blending into the rain water she always was with. The boy, properly soaked, seemed to notice much more, looking around desperately as if he was afraid of something popping out. It took a second, but he seemed to find Juvia, as she realized what had happened. As the boy calmed down, realizing it was not a prank by one of the too many kids he was sharing too much time with, Juvia began to spiral, the panic faced seared into her mind as she began to feel more and more sure they would react as everyone else did.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you there! How did you do that!”

The boy’s grin had widened, the dark sopping mop of hair shifting as the questions came out too fast. He tried to grab Juvia’s arm, but again he passed through the Water Girl, as if her magic was telling her what a bad idea this was. Juvia almost stumbled on the very familiar words, cutting the disappointment before it grew to poke her as if her heart was a Teru Teru doll in the making. “Juvia is sorry to have disturbed you, Juvia will make her way away now, please forgive her for bringing the rain.”

The boy frowned, not able to stop the disappointment from showing on his face. “You have to go so soon? But I just saw you! Come on, show me how you do that water thingy!” The words gave Juvia pause, as for the first time a kid her age had asked her to stay. (Golden Girl did not count, for Julia was sure she was goodness and sunlight wrapped like her dolls to let Juvia see Mr. Sun’s warmth at least once.) Juvia stammered, even as she could feel joy begin to peak out of her own heart. “Juvia supposes she could stay a while…”

The boy lit up, and this time when he went to grab Juvia, she felt something even as water. It was the coldest hand she had ever felt, and it felt so solid, that Juvia couldn’t help but laugh at the feeling. Of feeling real, and seen, and of playing. When Cana saw the two kids playing outside, she couldn’t help but smirk at the kids having fun, watching as Gray finally began meeting people his own age. She chuckled to herself, as the girl flowed like water, some strange version of tag playing out as they kept playing. She turned back to the guild hall, and began making her way down into the basement of the guild.

She passed silently between the adults down in the basement, all too wrapped up in mission business that they didn’t notice as she slipped into the secret passage hidden behind barrels. Realistically, she shouldn’t have known about this until much later, when the guild master gave her the secrets. However, Gildarts was stupid and had no clue how to hide a goddamn secret without his intimidation factor. Admittedly, once he reached these hallways she had never managed to follow him down the spiral stairs. 

But even without going down those stairs, there was still a lot of stuff that she had found in these hallways. Following the pathway she had memorized so long ago, she passed through doors after those, before eventually reaching a large library, one that as far as she knew, no one else ever came to. It really said a lot about the powerful wizards in the guild…

“Cana! Over here!” Levy spoke up from behind some of the bookshelves, completely hidden by the piles of books she had set up around the table. Cana shook her head as she approached, in awe at Levy’s dedication to being a god damn nerd.

Most of the time, she was off at the Council’s headquarters, having joined a sort of apprenticeship program to study under some of the generals' watch. According to Levy, it was a “disappointing and obvious attempt to foster a pseudo nation and create a loyalty among the varied orphans that will join guilds”. She didn’t know what that meant, but Levy wasn’t worried about it, so she let it go. Who was she to tell Levy how to advance her own interests? She only returned to the guild hall every few months, but ever since Cana had showed Levy the library, she seeked to get here whenever she could.

Admittedly, this time it was Cana that suggested it as a meeting place. The sudden abundance of children, and Laxus’ inability to think were both things that lent a need for secrecy as she talked about the real issues.

The Star Girl.

Honestly Cana had no clue what to actually call her, but she had grown partial to Star GIrl purely because she liked how the stars looked when she used her magic. And her absolute refusal to let anyone know a single thing about herself. Admittedly no one had seen her since Isvan, but it stuck in her mind. And so, she got the smartest person to help with all that.

“So, I pulled a bunch of the books we have on prophecy, fate, and stuff I thought might have some clues on what exactly your fortune telling disturbance was, and then I also decided to see if there was anything in the history books about variations in celestial magic, so I’ve been going through some of the Isvanian texts to see if any recurring star motifs came up.”

“Levy. My best friend, my sister, my lovable and charming bookworm. You came here a week ago. I mentioned this as a way to catch up. Not for you to immediately pull out 500 of these books!”

Levy giggled, too young to already be laughing at her older sister in the guild, as Cana swaggered into a chair, exaggerated exhaustion appearing on her face. “You always do this, Levy! I want to talk to you, before you disappear into all these books!” Levy always seemed to giggle when Cana made faces, and so she made sure to be as dramatic as she could. She wasn’t sure if the reason she enjoyed her laugh was because of how familiar Levy felt to herself, an orphan left to raise themselves among a bunch of well meaning idiots, or if it was just her being the only other girl in the guild their age. 

“But Cana! These books are so much more fun than the ones at the HQ! I haven’t figured out how to break into their secret libraries, and I don’t want to read a bunch of stuffy old ledgers! This is the only place where reading is fun!”

Cana shook her head. “A bookworm shouldn’t think so much about breaking into places…”

Levy smiled, finally putting the book down as she fully turned to Cana, waiting for what Cana wanted to tell her. She may not be able to read people when playing games, but she was way too good at reading into intentions, Cana found. You give her an inch and she finds where you hid your diary months ago.

Cana, not one to bury the lead, only leaned back, grin breaking though the exaggerated gestures. “Guess who decided he wanted to be a big brother type figure, and is having a hell of a time figuring out how to do it.”

Levy took a moment to think about it, before she reached the obvious conclusion. “Wait, not…”

Cana barked a laugh, confirming Levy’s thoughts as she followed suit with a cackle. “God, and here I remember him as a brooding loner! Did he decide to kidnap some children by force in order to play the part? Is that who all the new children come from?”

“Almost! He has tried to kidnap someone to be the little sibling however, but he just failed! And you should see him trying to be tender and caring. When Gray first started talking to some of the kids in town, Laxus just started looming menacingly and scaring all of the kids! I had to distract him to let the poor kid talk to anyone!”

It had been a sight to be, the quickly growing beast of a teenager who until a few months ago had never had a facial expression other than morose try and be friendly and open. Cana did respect the dedication to the role, having no clue whether it was the intention of the girl when she first mentioned to make him undergo so complete a revolution, or if it was simply the mystifying nature of the encounter that burned it into his own mind. Cana had actually caught him taking notes on some cheap book, titled “Big Brother Behaviors”. It was heartwarming and viciously hilarious to see it happen.

Levy’s eyes, however, focused as Cana mentioned one of the new kids. “Which of the kids is Gray? And speaking of, how did this guild find so many children and kidnap them simultaneously!”

“Oh my god, have they not even introduced themselves? The little devils…the one with dark hair is Gray, he’s a sweetheart. Really likes any magic you show him, the one with white hair is Lyon. He’s rude, so when you can make sure to knock him down a peg, as the sister. Express Oldest Kid permission. And then the girl is Ultear, she is shy but if you talk with her about a book. Immediately will open up to you.”

Levy grinned, looking at Cana. “And I see you have now become the Oldest Sister, talking about them so tenderly. And all those times I called you my big sis, and you said it made you feel old…”

“See, it’s because now I can boss around Laxus, and that opens up so many more avenues. I actually managed to get him to carry all the books I got you through all of town!”

Those books being a series of encyclopedias, rarely printed due to the sheer size needed in order to completely classify and record every magic style and a number of spells seen in the modern world. Since Levy had been unable to come for her birthday, it was meant to act as a consolation present. However, it also weighed probably hundreds of pounds as it comprised over 50 volumes. 

Levy smiled, before turning back to the table. “Couldn’t help but notice that the eponymous Star Girl is nowhere to be seen. Is that the reason you’re so curious about it?”

Cana shook her head, realizing that it was time to get to business, pulling one of the books of fortunes Levy had pulled and beginning to cast some of the dowsing spells she had learnt. “If she had come, I wouldn’t be calling her star girl, now would I? Plus, she’s like. The only thing I have been unable to tell fortunes about. I’m even on par with the oldest fortune tellers in main street, and you know they are legit! But it seems that she has managed to evade any answer other than what color is her hair!”

Levy gave a hum of response, too absorbed into the books to actually waste words on anything she found useless. “I tried looking through the celestial key ledgers that the Council kept like you asked, but only Horologium and Pyxis were recorded as having exchanged hands recently. Which I am sure you knew. Crux seems to have been one of the keys that has practically disappeared since, like, centuries ago. It’s probably the biggest clue to follow, since it seems to have had no attempts to find it in the meantime, suggesting that maybe it’s within the royal line or in an aristocratic house. Alternatively, it stayed in the black market and has never surfaced for money.”

Cana nodded, thankful for having asked Levy to look into it. Admittedly, it had been an idea she had stolen from Mest, but it worked, and Mest knew nothing about their little get together. So it was fine!

Plus, it was a bizarre quirk of Celestial Keys, that they seemed obstinate in their refusal to budge to any divination of their present or future state. Even past states were finicky, and rarely could a location be divined. Instead, you could at best scry for the past owners of a key, at which point you could likely scry for more about that owner, even if you did not necessarily know when they had it.

It was like a convoluted mystery, and Cana thanked the First that Levy loved her convoluted mysteries. She only had to act as a clue, scrying for certain facts, and leave Levy to figure out the logic puzzles, while the two talked about their lives. It was nice, to connect with Levy, to be more open even as they worked on a job. 

“I call upon the Swinging Pendulum, Immutable Horologium! I call upon the Astral Compass, Magnetic Bird Pyxis of Ways! As the stars above, so may our words shift! Meet by my will, and lend me your magic!”

Lucy was in a rare moment of solitude, resting in one of the sitting rooms as both Capricorn had to return to the Celestial Realm, and Spetto had to attend to the new staff they had brought on. On the one hand, there was certainly a temptation to keep in the solitude, enjoy the brief respite of etiquette and training, let the silence of her home settle her heart (Had it been long enough to feel like a home?) 

But at the same time, she had gotten an idea. An idea all her own, a request not done with the authority of Capricorn to help her along. And she wanted to feel like her spirits could trust in her, rely on her cleverness at least. And this was the start of that. 

Horologium and Pyxis both appeared with ease, the once familiar heat of Celestial Spirit magic having disappeared ever since the journey in Isvan, only the faint coolness of night left. They were both interested in the conditions of the summoning, familiar enough with Lucy, after how much time she had spent summoning them to talk with, as to not be particularly peeved by the rush in changing a contract. 

“Girl! You still lack enough magic to renegotiate Needlepoint, and I will not budge!”

Pyxis was still incredibly direct, no matter how at ease. Lucy was quick to placate: “No, no it’s not about that. It’s more about seeing if I could maybe see about combining two of your spells with an artifact, or something like that. You would know better than me, of course.”

The two spirits paused for a moment, considering the proposition. Lucy hoped the fact she was maintaining the translation would help convince her of her readiness. 

Yes, this was the maximum she could cast, after too many exhausted nights of drained magic after training with Capricorn. But she was sure it would be enough to maintain her spell until the contract was done. She thanked the ring she had gotten, the convenience of holding so many keys with one hand not something to be underestimated. 

Horologium was the first to speak. “Perhaps it would behoove you to tell us what this idea is, before we deliberate on an appropriate contract.”

“Well, the thing I had in mind was to be able to summon the space within Clock’s Respite, and combine that with some of Pyxis’ space capabilities to be able to have a private room only I can enter. Since we have reached the point where there’s more… tangible evidence of my meddling, I figured it’s best to store that away within Horologium’s cavity.”

Pyxis’ needle began spinning as she raised her voice. “Did I not just say you would be unable to renegotiate Needlepoint?”

Lucy shrugged, “I figured since it’s summoning a space rather than connecting two separate spaces it might work in the leeway.”

Pyxis considered it, before discussing some with Horologium. Lucy sat down, feeling glad at actually having figured something out by herself. To connect enough with the deeper elements of Celestial Magic to be able to expand its uses with creativity. It had always been something of a sore point against people like Natsu, who seemed to discover a weird wacky new way to burn things every other month. Her magic had always required more strategy than creativity, and she had to fight to remove that disconnect between the battle and herself. 

Horologium broke her out of the train of thought, speaking up. “I believe it falls under the purview of stasis and directions. Admittedly, it would still be limited in practice, as you are yet to acquire enough magic for us to feel well entrusting graver contracts with you. Yes, on my part, I would stipulate that the area can only be accessed upon the mark of an hour, and only for 10 minutes at a time for now. The space would also be fairly limited as you are now, I suppose. Enough to keep a few books and notes.”

Pyxis nodded as he laid his conditions, before adding his own. “And I would likewise require that this magic only be cast upon specially designated doorways. Eventually, the spaces where you could use such a spell would expand, but right now it must be designated with a ritual I will give you afterwards. I would also stipulate that once you cast Needlepoint, you will be unable to access the space for the next 24 hours.”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile as the plan started coming together, quickly agreeing to the contract and writing down the described ritual for the doorways. As she did so, Horologium and Pyxis began to consolidate some of their power, forging a small bronze key, simply decorated with an engraved cursive L upon the head. By the time Lucy had finished writing down the instructions, Horlogium spoke up. “You can access the space using this key, however, when not in use it will combine with the watch I had given you. I must say, it is a pleasure to see your growth as a mage, even without expanding your physical capabilities. It is my privilege to operate with you, Lucy Heartfilia.”

Taking the key, Lucy couldn’t help but blush, saying her goodbyes as her own magic began running out, unable to keep them out for much longer. 

As she closed her eyes to rest for a second, she heard the chime of a gate opening, and heard Polaris’ voice speak up. “I have heard of a WONDROUS new honey that could be found within the caves near the border of Minstrel and Desierto, where apparently the bees use the sand as a way to filter the nectar through wax or some such science. I believe you haven’t used that teleportation spell this month…”

Even as the Bear’s request continued, Lucy couldn’t help but smiling, the jubilation of her connection to the Spirit World remaining even as she felt the last moments of her rest slip away.

Chapter Text

Lucy could barely feel comfortable in her own skin at this time, much less here. Her parents had taken her on a trip to Sin, doing some business about the laying of train tracks on the swamp, discussing a national project. The Ishvan Railroad system had created momentum for a continental rail movement, and Jude ensured that momentum also helped to carry the Heartfilia Konzern forward, buying long forgotten relief from the debts swarming at his neck. 

However, it left Lucy in an awkward situation, unable to escape with Needlepoint as she had already used it to get a strange hive that Polaris was partial to at the turn of the month. So she was stuck in the capital of Sin, a place she had never known anything about. It was a peninsula, so even continental events like the rise of Tartarus never brought her here. 

That meant that she had nothing to do, unable to plan in the populated capital building, and exploring unfamiliar streets. Her mind ruminated on the upcoming heist against Duke Everlue, but there was really no idea on how to start. His mansion was a complete mystery, rebuilt with his Earth Magic too often for Lucy to trust any of her memories. 

Beyond that, he had more keys than those she knew of, having found out after the mission as the Council reported the acquisition of new Silver Celestial Keys. Plus, there was also the fact she needed to find a broken contract in order to strip him of the power of a Celestial Mage. Crux was looking through the agreements he had with the Magic Council, compiling ways to break those promises, but Lucy could do nothing on that end. 

And so, she was absently looking through the magic shops in the Area, knowing Sin to be the country on the cutting edge of holder magic. Something about the swamp air disrupted Caster Magic ethernano, nothing she had to concern herself with. The series of canals and bridges were fine examples, being able to clean the swamp water of harmful species while also ensuring the capital did not flood.

She snickered as she imagined what would happen if Aquarius was summoned, how quickly the magic would be put to the test. She shook it out of her head quickly, however, realizing it would just make her sad if she thought about it more. 

She was looking for accessories in the shops, something that she could use to store more magic without having to grow up, and something that would go unnoticed by her parents. Perhaps a small necklace or an anklet, things more likely to be hidden by a child’s clothes. She knew Capricorn had asked for gloves, so she wanted to avoid anything that could interfere with them, but she still needed more capacity in all likelihood. 

She had just left the 4th magic shop, having seen nothing that would fit her at this age, or worth the price listed on it. And it was all so gaudy as well, nothing worth hiding. 

However, she paused as she saw an ad for a store. An impromptu sale, and the storefront display looked quite nice. She walked in, greeting the employee at the door in Sinese, the months of practice and magic making it familiar to her tongue. 

It was a smaller magic shop, only two employees and the owner of the shop working at the moment. However, they had a much better eye for design it seemed. And affordable pricing! She knew it was a tourist trap but the shops didn’t have to be so expensive…

The owner opened one eye, looking at her before closing his eyes again. She started rifling through the shelves, looking for a suitable accessory, hoping the employees left her alone. There were emerald necklaces, golden dragon bracelets, diadems and hairpins decorated with ornate designs. 

She was busy looking at the list of items in storage when suddenly, an employee tapped her shoulder. She jumped, but the adult seemed as disinterested as she was when Lucy entered. She spoke softly, but she had a more ornate accent than the other people Lucy had met. 

“The owner would like for you to meet him at the back. He has a special offer.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow, but the woman moved back to polishing various medals on the wall. She debated ignoring it, but the idea of a discount sounded too attractive to refuse. 

She entered the door to the back, where large pallets and a small forge were open to a lake behind the shop. The owner was sitting behind a jewelers loupe, looking at a thin silver chain. He looked up, setting it down and looking at Lucy with deep tired eyes. 

“Mister? What exactly was the special offer you were talking about?” Lucy had her hand tense, ready to summon Horologium if the situation turned dicy. The owner leaned back in the chair, turning to look out at the lake. 

“You don’t do much to hide your nature magically, little girl. It won’t do to walk like a little girl if your presence is so powerful.” The owner did not look at Lucy, looking over the lake. He gestured toward a chair, in which Lucy sat down. 

“I do try to avoid being surrounded by people who could notice, I’m not partial to being with threats to my safety. That also includes you, old man.”

He snickered, raising a drink to his hand. “Not interested in being much of a threat, more interested in making a deal with a powerful young thing like you. Know enough to trust in Celestial Spirit mages. Plus, I had an old client, taught me a few tricks.” He poked his eye, the clink of glass coming out. “I know well enough how to catch the lucky ones.”

Lucy smiled, the suddenness of the man’s demeanor bringing out something cold and sharp, suspicion heavy on her tongue. “And what would I get in return for a deal? I suppose you know I must treat them with utmost seriousness.” Her mind was going a thousand miles a minute, cursing entering the shop in the first place. 

The man smiled, thinking he had caught her in his hook. “An old man like me needs all the help he can get in a shop like this. Takes a lot of effort to fire up this old thing. Help me out, and I’ll see about getting you anything you want. Within reason, of course. Keep your transactions hidden and what not.” The old man paused, waiting to see her reaction.

Lucy turned a fraction of an inch, raising her eyebrow in suspicion. The old man continued, “I’ll also get you something to hide your magic presence, and I’ll even add a special key on top of that. I realize you probably don’t know it yet, but not all keys are created equal, you know. This is one of the 4 more powerful spirits, almost comparable to those fairy tales about golden keys.”

He waved a silver key in front of her, and Lucy realized that was the hook. Everything else was just set dressing, useful favors sure, but the key was his guarantee she would bite. And she would be a fool not to. “Then I suppose I should ask what you want me to do in return. As you can probably see, I’m not the most powerful person out there.”

The old man grinned. “You know, I’m sure something will come to mind eventually. One day, when you’re more powerful, I’ll ask for a favor. If you find it too much, find me in violation of this contract on that day. But I’m sure it won’t be too much. That's what my knee says, at least.” He seemed to know how infuriating that response was, the vagueness of the statement a smokescreen. Lucy figured she should at least ascertain intention before trusting him.

“I won’t harm anyone you ask unless you can prove some reason for the harm, and I will not kill anyone. If you already intend to cross those two boundaries, then this contract is null and void, and you will give me the accessories and key as collateral. Also, you will tell me every trait of an accessory I receive from you when you give it to me.” It wasn’t really airtight, but it probably would give her enough wiggle room if she needed an out on the promise without breaking it.

The old man laughed, and extended a hand. Lucy shook it back, feeling the weight of the promise on her fingers. The old man stood up, before stepping over to the boxes. “Now, let's see if we can’t find something to help you store magic, little girl. There's a room upstairs if you want to make a contract with the foxy bastard right now.” He left the key on the table, letting Lucy look over it. It had deep amber detailing, the bow appearing like a fox’s tail, wrapped around a single black point. The teeth of the key were similarly darkened, amber gems studded to appear like paw prints.

She took the opportunity to go up the stairs, a small wooden room on top of the shop that from the front seemed to naturally blend in. It was a quiet room, and she could feel the strength of the memories that were held in the room. She didn’t dwell on them. Focusing the magic on the key, she let the beginnings of the ceremony flow through her mind, letting the name act as a focus for her memory.

“I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open Silvered Gate of Summer, Hallowed Door of the South! I call upon the conniving spirit of desire and stealth, they who sneak past summer’s light! I call upon the fiery gaze of Vulpecula, and summon forth the cloaked hunter, Anser, and reveal thy quarry!” The faint sound of honking emerged, as both light and shadow within the room seemed to sharpen. The air itself took on a russet tone, as Anser stalked forward. The fox was steeped in the orange of dusk, cut by black around their eyes. Where they walked, the wood regained a certain vigor, creaking as the carpentry in the room shifted. There were no other noises, as the black fur began to flow like shadows, and finally Anser’s eyes opened, yellow like the sun and burning bright.

They spoke in slow and hushed tones, a deliberateness behind it as they talked. “I see I have been summoned by she who has Polaris so satisfied. Here I thought you had settled, satisfied to wait until your mother gave you the keys she owns. Frankly I was glad to be left behind, and yet I am delighted to be proven wrong.”

Lucy had kneeled before them, in part due to exhaustion and in part due to courtesy as Anser analyzed her. Anser finally settled in front of her, paws darkening the room as they looked at Lucy. A small tilt of their head, and Lucy began to speak.

“Master of Summer, I ask for a contract. May I know what your terms are?”

Anser wasn’t like most of the golden spirits, human and emotive, so close as to have no difference in expression. Nor was he like most silver spirits, who often settled on either having a face or not emoting as a human does. The Cardinal Lords were never ones to take a side, and so they sit in the middle. Animal faces that should not emote, and yet a smirk occupies the face that feels so off. “If I am to have a contract with you, Lucy Heartfilia, then you must seek. You have ambition, yes, and I will aid you in fulfilling them. But I am a hunter, and so you must hunt my quarry.

“If we form a contract, then you shall seek the keys to the starry heavens. When I ask, you shall seek for one of the Celestial Keys, whichever you desire. Beyond that, you may only call upon my power when there are rules you are breaking. I will not allow myself to be used simply to sate some simple half hearted desire.” The words were uttered with a certain unearthly certainty, and Lucy was barely able to say the words she wanted to say.

“Isn’t it against celestial rules to make a contract based on the amount of keys you have? I-Especially finding them, when you can’t even help me to do so…”

Anser smiled. “What fun is a contract built only on rules? I am a hunter, a traitor, disobedient. It is what gives me power, and what makes me plain. It is only because you call me true, that I am willing to make this contract, dear master.”

They continued, looking at their paw as they spoke. “I grant you a veil of shadows, which allows you to completely hide your presence once you enter a shadow, and in time even in broad daylight. I also grant a spell to unlock any seal you desire, given enough magic of course. And of course, the blessing of summer; a spell that allows for the rapid growth of plants to reap what you desire. When summoned, I will be able to provide plans for any building you wish to infiltrate, and guide you through said building. I will also be able to sense any possible…obstructions. That seems a suitable price for what I ask, no?”

She let the thought stay in her head, considering the contract. She could feel the power offered, much more than what she usually had, and yet still just as feasible as her other contracts. Without raising her head, she gave a counter offer. “You will not be able to ask me to take the keys of mother or those which she has entrusted to someone she knows. It is too important that I remain unnoticed by her if I wish to continue my plans.”

Anser seemed unbothered, extending a paw. “I accept your conditions, Huntress. Under the authority of the King of the Celestial Planes, Tetrabiblos, Lord of the 88 Constellations, Enforcer and Source of Celestial Rules, I bind this Contract with the Walker of the Celestial Path Lucy Heartfilia, and write her name in the Registry of the Stars. I, Sovereign of the Southern Court of Vulpecula, One who Reigns over Desire and Satisfaction, The Twilit Hunter Anser, pledge myself to your service, and observe our contract. May we find the fruits of our labor.” Lucy shaked their paw, and she could feel the contract hum in her hand. 

With a shimmer, the fox disappeared, the room dulling as light filtered back to normal. The time making the contract seemed almost dreamlike now, the vividness of color and the stillness now fantastical. She stood up, and suddenly realized the exhaustion she had, how much it had actually taken from her. And how she still hadn’t run out, which was new. She took a deep breath, and went outside, the store owner holding out some items. 

She took out her clock, and smiled. For the first time, the clock awoke no dread. She had time. 

Jude looked at the grandfather clock that was in the office given to him by the Sinese Government. It was a welcome distraction from the man in front of him. Layla always was able to hide the displeasure much better than him, but he could tell she had just as much disdain for the mole of a man in front of them. 

Duke Everlue was attended by that Pink Haired maid he seemed obsessed with, Jude having awoken to her looming over him as Everlue called for a clandestine meeting. 

The duke played with his mustache, as he spoke. “You should save that glare for your meetings with charitable organizations, Jude! They aren’t providing you with anything that I offer you, you should be more grateful that I’m saving your wife.”

Jude did not bother to dull the bite in his response. “Then perhaps you should act on that and get to saving her. Considering you seem to have come as soon as there was more money to extort from us with no progress.”

Duke Everlue did not bother to hide his disdain, “Perhaps you could be bothered to remember how business operates Jude. The buyer shuts up, and bows to the person clever enough to sell the product.”. As he spoke, the maid began moving to intimidate Jude. Jude remained unmoved, staring back at the servant, an uneasy tension settling over the room. Layla was the one who acted first, speaking up. “Let Virgo return to the Spirit World, Everlue. It doesn’t make much of a celestial wizard to conduct business under threat. Remember the oldest wisdom of the stars, and the nature of the key you wield.”

The duke sneered at her, his voice dripping with condescension. “I remember. A celestial spirit mage never breaks their promises or some such rubbish. A foolish holdover from an age long past, meaningless and restrictive. You’d do well to leave it behind, Heartfilia.” As he said her name, both could feel the dismission, the air of superiority he conveyed. Layla could tell the real reason behind it: Desire. He wanted her Golden Keys, to collect and utilize the spirits behind it as tools to expand his dominion. 

Jude had long ago figured that out as the reason behind the extortion. The desire to rise to the sphere of royal nobility, to gain privileges that very few had had in a long time. The celestial mage that acted as the hand of the Crown would gain international prestige, expanding his businesses and connections well beyond his current circle. 

He would get 3 more of the golden keys, gaining at least a quarter of the most powerful spirits under his command. It would limit those with enough power to threaten his status as a Celestial Wizard in the eyes of the Heavens, no other wizard able to stand against the prestige he would hold in the eyes of the heavens. 

She yearned to reach for Ara’s key, to challenge his authority and steal him of the power. However, she had no proof. No promise he had broken, his records clean as a whistle. She was sure some promise was broken, but he would never reveal it with ease. And without proof, Ara could do nothing. Every meeting, she had to pick his words with utmost precision, exhausting as it was. 

Everlue spoke up, turning away from Layla. “However, we are here to discuss business, and how could I not, as a major investor of the Konzern, ask to meet with you! I was simply dying to talk about your windfall, Jude, and of course how you might.  Apportion it.”

Jude stiffened, but his words showed only absolute professionalism, leaving anything else unnoticed by the Duke. “Ah, but I’m afraid there is nothing new, Everlue. As we agreed on the contract, we could not possibly allow the other investors to be so unequally treated, and so you would get none of the value of any windfall profit we come across. If you would like to renegotiate, I am sure we could do it with ease.”

Everyone in the room knew how irrelevant the words were, none of them caring about the contract in public records. No, Everlue wished to discuss the second contract. A life for a life, as he had said. Their livelihood for Layla’s life. Duke could only sneer at Jude’s placidity, seeing through the words. “I believe that isn’t the only deal we have, Jude.”

Jude sighed, sitting down on the plush chair behind the desk, resting his head on his hands. “Do you truly wish to conduct the business here? You aren’t one for offices but usually, you at least remain in the same country.” Layla herself stayed silent, looking intensely at Everlue. Everlue, of course, did not care, dismissing them without even noticing them. “I can make contracts wherever I wish, Jude. Doesn’t let you escape it. In fact, once we finish, I insist. Come with me to my manor, Jude. Let you find out where your money truly goes.”

Duke Everlue’s mansion was grander at its entrance than what Lucy had seen in the back. It was all gold and marble, tiles broken apart by a grand fountain of Duke Everlue’s countenance. Maids surrounded the Heartfilia’s as they walked in, grotesque faces guiding them into their rooms. 

As much as the Duke loved to show off, she could feel the lines he did not wish to have crossed. After she set one foot out of line, one of the maids reached out and snatched her wrist, her grip tight even as she smiled and gently scolded her. She hadn’t let go of her wrist until they were in the guest wing. As the maid turned away, Lucy held a hand up to her neck, touching the necklace that had been given to her by the crafter. 

It had been made of some black metal, remaining a cooling sensation as she walked forward, and decorated with a small pendant of silver and onyx. Just as quickly as she touched it, she moved her hand away. It was what the man had given to her as a way to hide her magical presence, along with gathering magic like a battery. 

It had barely been done in time before her parents had pulled her away from Sin, a sudden business trip forcing them to leave the finishing details of the railway to trusted secretaries. 

The Duke carried on some monologue about the glory of his house, and there was something in his tone that made Lucy feel…powerless, she supposed. She had become too used to authority from power, often wielded by herself to take control of situations as a wizard. This was authority that comes from wit, from having managed to hide the blade so deep into someone’s throat that they could not even cry out in resistance. 

It was rare for this second life to make the first seem rose tinted, and yet here she was. Thanking her lucky stars that when she had met him, she had been quickly dismissed as her father had shielded her from his manipulations. She had never had to face the shit that went in the golden toilet. 

It took all of her willpower to even be able to act normal at dinner, the Duke’s intemperate personality showing itself in the massive plates of food he feasted upon, attended by a never ending line of maids, each more… unique as the last. 

The Heartfilia’s had, in contrast, the minimum required to allow Everlue to be considered a polite host. Each had been given a plate that seemed more familiar to the food Lucy found at midnight diners as the chef’s were clocking out than fine cuisine. Of course, as a family they had smiled and thanked him for the food, because they had no other option. 

It was, admittedly, still good, because Duke Everlue would likely not dare to have subpar ingredients in the house, and the chefs still had some culinary pride. But it was demeaning to eat one plate in front of someone eating a 12 course meal. 

A deep breath, as Lucy looked directly at the man. Patience be my name , she kept repeating in her head, hoping desperately to be able to wait until twilight.. 

As the long summer day came to an end, the mansion became dappled in the dim glowing embers of dusk, and where dusk glowed, shadows danced. The statues and candles of the Duke’s manner played with each other, dappled and spotted as the maids moved along, activating dials to set the light. 

The Twilit Thief awoke. 

“No, no, not like that, you’ll get caught AND look stupid if you go that way!”

Lucy wished the narration in her head wouldn’t make this sound cooler than it actually was, that being that a fox was sitting on her shoulders, whispering to her about everything she was doing wrong as she tripped from shadow to shadow. 

“If you go to the right, there's a maid there! Pay attention to where you’re go- oh screw this.” Anser jumped off her shoulders, feet touching the ground lightly as he ran. And then he scooper her up into his mouth. Somehow, running with a fox yelling at her seemed more dignified than where she lay now, hanging off the neck of a quickly growing fox as he shared the plans and maps of the mansion through his key. 

Lucy huffed, her breath fading to candle flicker as they passed by the 23rd golden Everlue toilet so far. “Can’t I at least ride your back instead? I feel like a baby like this.”

“Maybe if you had a shred of common sense, I wouldn’t treat you like one. Be quiet, I think your mom is in a library coming up.” As much as Lucy appeared like a flicker of a candle or the shadow of a statue, Anser seemed even more like an ambient air, nimble paws carrying them as they moved like mist from shadow to shadow. 

Lucy grappled for the neck, managing to flip herself over to ride the fox as they finally found a way to descend into the basement. Her mind wandered to the fact that she was fairly sure this was a business wing for Everlue, and her mother never had been to direct in the direct management of the business, happy to leave certain imperatives to Jude as he liked. Bought rails or something. 

What use would she have of the books? 

She shook her head, focusing on the task at hand. She held Crux’s key in hand, along with the necklace she was now drawing magic from. Admittedly, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to summon Anser for long, but with her current legs, it felt reasonable to assume it would cost less magic overall to let the fox run for her. 

Beyond that, there was the magic running under the manor. She had known Everlue had been a decently powerful earth mage, able to manipulate dirt and stone as easy as walking when she had confronted him in the future. 

But she hadn’t considered what he may have been able to perform with Virgo, memories of Gemini helping her cast Urano Metria bubbling up. She remembered something that Crux had told her about when she asked whether Capricorn had any special titles necessary to remember if she summoned him. “The Golden Spirits each have an element associated with them, vital to understanding their power.”

She was fairly sure Virgo would be associated with Earth, and she didn’t quite know what that would forebode, whether with the Maiden’s Key he would have managed to magnify the already notoriously tricky earth magic. Already, even past the twilight protections from Anser, she could feel the intensity of the earth’s gaze as she descended, animated for so long it had gained a will.

“Well, Well, Well, little kit. It seems I had underestimated our quarry. There are no definite paths in this place, only locations and suggestions. If you are able, I would recommend summoning the Cross, or some aspect of his to begin recording the spell.” Anser moved through the darkening halls, letting his paws gain a dim orange glow as they continued into the underground passages, a path to follow if they were to hope to return to the manor above. “Your own memory of this place would still prove lackluster in guiding you. It is not shifting hallways, but rather the rooms act as nodes that shuffle, forming and destroying paths based on some predetermined…schedule, I suppose.”

The mapping of the mansion that was being provided seemed to change as Anser explained, traps and guards losing the clear distinction that was visible above ground, even the hallways disappearing in a nebulous cloud that was quickly dismissed. Instead, there were the rooms, Anser’s thoughts and notes on how to infiltrate each one being unable to account for the shifts of guards, or the pathway to get there.

It was infuriating, as Lucy’s brain buzzed, attempting and being unable to process anything around her, flitting through possibilities as the maze of a dungeon rearranged itself over and over and over again in front of her eyes. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped Crux’s kew, familiar words spilling out of her mouth, barely aware as Crux’s familiar magic concentrated on the teeth of the key. She intensified the flow of magic, directly letting the knowledge of Anser to flow towards Crux, feeling him store it in his library even as she could not look too closely into the torrent of information.

It was a few minutes in, as Anser began its retreat having been unable to maintain its physical form, that she noticed something managed to catch her eye. In the torrent of information, there was something like a glimmer, something that called an old yearning into the forefront. 

It was memories of constant aid, of escape when it seemed impossible. Of an old friend in gilded gold, that rarely showed her true emotions and yet was one of the most dependable signs.

A tear escaped her, and she found her goal. Soon, she would free VIrgo from this awful, awful place. Soon, she would find a way to save her mom. 

Soon.

Chapter Text

Lucy sat in her room, appearing to stare off the window, lost in a day dream. If she were back home, she would have Capricorn and Crux in the room with her, and talk through the plan she was making. But at the moment, she wasn’t home. She was in the gilded birdcage that Duke Everlue called “fashionable guest bedrooms”. While she had been able to sneak out with Anser, her magic was exhausted, and she was unsure if she would be able to summon spirits with no stealthiness to their names in this place. 

And even the ability to sneak out was only because he saw her as a useless little girl. She knew where Virgo was, but she would be unable to do anything about it as she stood just outside her door. Watching, ensuring that none of the guests betray her master’s wishes.

The Duke had caught some sign of intruders in his hallways, and had gone to some lengths to watch her. Both maids assigned to watching the Heartfilia’s had instead moved to watch her, leaving her sorely stuck and unable to leave. Worse was the fact that Virgo checked regularly, under the guise of ensuring that she was not straining herself before bed. Having no access to her spirits, Lucy was left with only the barest resources possible to engage with Duke Everlue. She had written down (in code, of course, distrusting any semblance of privacy within the manor) the shifts of the manor. She was fairly sure she figured out the grander patterns that would help her predict the possible paths in half hour loops, but the truth of the matter was that without being able to watch the halls for longer, it would have to be a gamble at the end of the day. As well, she had no clue what the list of resources that Duke Everlue was supposed to have, and thus what resources were held against the magic council’s permissions. 

She sighed, hoping against hope that there was some way to actually get out of this damnable hell.

Layla was…questioning, she supposed was the best answer to her general mood. Yes.

She was questioning what was going on in Everlue Manor at the moment. 

She was, as had been the norm for the better part of the past year, questioning what was going on with her daughter. She was questioning why exactly she had to have this terrible burden, why she was ill, why Duke Everlue had ever gotten a duchy in the first place.

But right now, she was attempting to remind herself of a particular bit of law. Ever since the deal in Sin, there was an aspect of the contract that rubbed her the wrong way. Now, she had managed to get permission from the distracted maids to go to the library. Not any of the ones that could contain the methods Everlue used to keep her chronic illness at bay, of course, the maids were well aware of the importance of maintaining her somewhat in the dark, but rather they led her to one of the legal libraries that Duke Everlue maintained. 

Half the mansion was libraries, which Duke Everlue loved to brag about, attempting to draw out that last little bit of respect from a name tarnished by the one who owned it. Having bought his way into the aristocracy, there were no forefathers that could have given him any different a reputation. But he had managed to cement himself unusually quickly, and loved to brag about it.

Layla was sure it had to do with connections in both the black market and the Grand Magic Council, but they were tight lipped. It was hard to investigate him, even through the nobles who were also deeply embedded in those spheres. From what she heard, any whisper of a rumor of Duke Everlue’s person is just as quickly dealt swift retribution.

And that was a final component, she supposed. His cruelty. The upper class had grown toothless in Fiore, kept in line by the prevalence of mages that rarely came from money and active management from the Royal Lineage. One couldn’t safely engage in practices that would get a 15 year old able to call poison at will ready to kill you, and the guilds in Fiore were very good at self policing, most of all Fairy Tail. But Duke Everlue stopped any requests targeted at him, likely through both his Magic Council connection and the lid he kept on any whispers that emerged from his territories. 

Thus, he managed to offer incredibly lucrative contracts, and while toothless, the Fiorean nobles were not kind by any measure. They took the deals, leaving him inextricably woven into the upper class dominated by heritage. And he enjoyed showing it off too, particularly in his libraries. When knowledge can physically translate to power, suddenly owning vast collections of books other people did not become an incredible status symbol, and every noble family kept at least one library for generations, filled with as many books as they could buy.

Duke Everlue, by far, had the greatest collection of books. In part, the collections of disgraced nobles who had fallen from the Crown’s favor. In part, he often managed to be in name as part of the efforts to take down dark guilds, and got first pick at the spoils from the battles, often leaving the combat guilds with nothing before they could even notice. 

It was this very collection that Layla perused, trying to figure out what exactly about the law of Sin had caught her mind’s eye. She knew very well to trust her own hunches, and perhaps, just perhaps, there could be some hope of escape for her family.

The maids were rarely kind, Lucy had found out. She did not know if it was Virgo’s penchant for punishment, or their master’s cruelty that inspired it. But all too often, they dragged her around, claiming that their master had called for her to bathe, or eat, or play in a room. She never managed to catch the sight of her parents that afternoon as they dragged her around, and she wondered if it was on purpose. 

They had the authority to call them off, to allow Lucy to breathe. Duke Everlue, in his paranoia, seemed unwilling to do that.

She wondered what part of her presence last night had given her away, before she realized what exactly was the issue. Her lack of presence. 

Duke Everlue was investigating the mansion because he had noticed that someone had snuck around, and when he went to check on her, she wasn’t there. And he wouldn’t be able to track her magically, since the charms she had bought in Sin were specifically made to hide her, to appear like a barely magical child. Nearly impossible to track with magic.

She sighed, realizing that perhaps every problem that led her to go potty on a golden toilet was her own damn fault. 

Thankfully, as they dragged her around, she was able to summon an aspect of Vulpecula to track the mansion. She managed to devise a way to get it all written down on a paper in her room with Crux’s magic, and so just by being dragged around she would be able to figure out bits and pieces of the pattern of the hallways, and hopefully remove the guesswork needed to reach Virgo’s key.

Not just Virgo’s key, she reminded herself. Australes, the southern triangle. This wasn’t just loneliness, she had a plan. She was a Fairy Tail mage, she wouldn’t get distracted by her memories. She wasn’t important right now, it was Erza who was building that tower, Erza who wouldn’t even have clothes right now, Erza who relied on the friendship and comradery from a single Fairy Tail mage to have hope. She needed friends, not her. 

And so she smiled, pushing away her yearning as she had so long ago learnt to do, and smiled for the maids. “All done! Where are we going next!”

One maid, the one with a too long face and too short nose, smiled at her, before being hit by the shorter more pudgy maid. A reminder that they were not there for her benefit, for both the maid and for Lucy.

“Master has said that he wants to meet with you! He said he found that ring you wear very curious!”

The maids smiled, and Lucy could feel her stomach drop.

Duke Everlue’s ostentatious nature was not just limited to the places for guests. In fact, it seemed as if he saved it most of all to himself, considering the office that Lucy was brought to. Compared to the rest of the manor, the office, heavily gilded with gold and filled with rare artwork badly presented due to the sheer volume of works, with gilded mahogany bookcases lining the walls that weren’t a portrait of the Duke. It made Lucy’s interior stylist cry in pain.

Duke Everlue, for his part, seemed to try to match the presentation of his surroundings. He was wearing a perfectly pressed suit, shimmering in the way that only the highest quality silks were able to. His mustache, coifed with a wax so perfumed it made Lucy’s nose itch just by looking at it. He smiled, but there was no kindness behind it. It seemed to Lucy akin to the smile she had seen lion’s make when their lips curled up in preparation of biting their prey.

Not that Lucy intended to be easy prey to feast upon, not without a fight.

“You know, Lucy, I have been business partners with your father for a long time. Why, I’m practically your uncle! Of course, you are too ugly to be worth my time, but I still am your uncle!” He laughed at his own joke, or at least what Lucy had to guess was a joke. However, she couldn’t look away, she couldn’t let herself look away, due to the third person in the room. 

Virgo, tall, muscular and intimidating.

All too familiar.

Lucy had to keep herself from crying as she looked at her. There had always been a terseness in Virgo’s behavior, even with Lucy, but she seemed tense with Duke Everlue. There was an imperfection to her manner that usually was smoother, less like an ease of practice and more like a stiff rehearsal. 

Everlue did not wait for an answer. “Now, as your uncle, I try to be aware of my poor niece’s upbringing, especially in so barbaric a home as the Heartfilia Konzern. None of your maids are even half a match for the beauty of mine! But you have something I desperately want, you know.” His face seemed overly expressive, but Lucy could tell how much of it was stiff, stuck between a sneer of disgust and a smirk of pride, looking down his nose at her.

“So, I feel I must inform you, that ring is MOST dangerous. Simply terrible, not at all safe for a little girl! So as your uncle, I demand to take it. It is now my ring, so says I.” And here, she could feel all levity in his expression leave the room, seemingly darkened as he finally faced wholly towards her: “Give it, Lucy Heartfilia, or your mother will find out just how many pounds of flesh Jude is willing to sell for that worthless spineless gutter rat of a noble he calls his wife.” Virgo nodded as he spoke, before pulling out a silver cloche. Underneath it was a ledger for a payment plan, and Lucy gingerly grabbed it at Duke Everlue’s prompting. 

As she read through the open pages of the plan, she could barely believe the prices listed, absurd even for the rich part of her upbringing, and unimaginable for the guild mage.

“Ah, so you are clever enough to make deals, child. How lovely! Now hand the ring over, Lucy, and give me those damn keys your mom is trying to hide from me. I can tell you have golden keys, Lucy. My nose never lies.” He had begun clawing his way across his desk, reaching towards Lucy’s hand as she realized she fell for his trap, she revealed too much of her experience. Drawing upon every voice lesson Capricorn had drilled into her head, she made the most innocent sounding possible answer she could.

“How about we bet it on a game, Mister Uncle! My keys for yours!”

Levy was curious. According to her teacher, this was the worst mood for her to be in, but she thought the teacher was just tired of filling out incident reports about Levy. However, she appreciated this teacher because he didn’t just act like a rube, but actually encouraged Levy to learn about the magic council and looked the other way when she read classified files.

Like she was doing right now. 

Something about the ledgers she was reading about celestial spirits seemed off. In particular, two letters that kept propping up instead of a name. D.E.

He was, at first glance, not particularly interesting, since most of the exchanges had various forms of shorthand for the names of the people buying the keys, mostly shorthand for not knowing those names. But if it is at all possible, a name would appear in the section, except for D.E. who only ever gave those two letters, probably to hide his identity as he was successfully doing. However, his transactions were also suspect for a few other reasons.

In the transactions for keys that the council had conducted, she noted that a few had little ink marks. Marks that were easily dismissed as stray ink blots from a scribe, but the issue was a pattern. First, one dot next to transactions that had no involvement with the council, and by the end of the month, without fail, that key was then in Council hands, kept safe in some archive to be released on a predetermined date.

Sometimes, on the ledgers of acquisitions, there were two dots. These keys then remained in circulation, rather than later stored in a vault. And without fail, these keys with two marks would eventually end up being sold to one DE, however this sale was often of variable time, which she was pretty sure was being kept off the books to ensure that there was no evidence of collusion.

She was pretty sure even the dots were inadmissible as evidence, if only due to the lack of undeniability as evidence. There were only 7 keys total marked this way, and 3 of them were later sold back to the Magic Council without the dot from a completely separate source, and then immediately archived. Admittedly, the archive was ALSO bizarre, as most celestial keys ended up in that archive, which through some cross referencing on all interior vaults, she knew was independently run.

By cross referencing the keys in the vault with the record of sighted spirits, multiple of the spirits were glanced at by locals in some small duchy, but there was no record of their summoning in the first place.

Seeing a dead end unless she managed to find more information, she instead switched to the registry of all independent Celestial Spirit Mages that were legally practicing, which had proved a dud when trying to figure out who Star Girl could be, but might be a useful tool to find DE.

Eventually, she managed to narrow down DE to three suspects who regularly conducted business with the council. Derrick Everglean was an independent contractor regularly called upon to analyze Holder Magic Items, thus usually didn’t have to put his name down on the public ledger of transactions since the keys remained in the possession of the council. Thus, if he wanted to skim a few keys, he could use his initials as a separate party!

Her teacher then asked her if a similar trend happened with the other regulated Holder Magics, and the theory went bust since DE did not appear on any of the most valuable holder magics.

Next was Henry “Dave” Entelech, a smuggler on multiple watch lists but never caught, maybe because he had contacts inside the Magic Council! Celestial Keys were fairly solid smuggling ring materials, since they were rare enough to be considered valuable as collectors items and always being able to go for a solid price, while also generally being too niche a magic item for the council to keep too extensive tabs on outside their jurisdiction. Cut someone on the council a share, and they could sneak out keys to be smuggled out of the country, before being quickly regained once they surface again if Dave sells the keys.

However, her mind kept going back to the third suspect, who had the least information. Duke Charles Everlue was enigmatic to the council, being a recognized mage and ally to the council according to the notation on the page, but unlike every other independent mage, there were no cross references supplied by the name, leaving him a mystery to Levy. However, Everlue was an interesting name, because if she went back to the NEWSPAPER articles that initially reported the sighting of the archived Celestial Spirits, they were the Everlue Times. The name of the duchy had been redacted in any analysis done by the council, pointing to some collaboration of the extralegal variety.

By this point, her space in the library was overflowing with stacks of books as high as she could organize them, which sadly meant not very. But they more than made up for the lack of height by sheer volume, creating walls of ledgers and books and copies of articles and papers and every type of information that Levy could find. The simple index and recall spells that the council had taught all of the apprentices were easy to modify once you figured out the spell components’ interior logic, and Levy had abused those modification to  get more books than the council had expected her to be able to reach.

It had been dreadfully boring, to be quite honest, learning incredibly basic magic as the council not so subtly tried to show them all the benefits of their incessant spying on everything magic related in Fiore. Of course, she also appreciated the centralized repository of clues she could use in order to solve whatever mystery she discovered to keep herself entertained in between classes. Of course, usually it was just “how many bribes is X clerk taking every sunday to ensure that this mage’s weird magic is kept private, and why did it not work”. Not very exciting, and quite frankly, if it wasn’t for the fact every clerk was desensitized by the hundreds of bribes they took to hide that type of magic that they would be scandalized at every way she discovered that magic could be used.

But this, this was a bonafide mystery! And she was pretty sure that she had a perfect opportunity to check up on it later that day. Today was the last day for them to decide to visit an independent archive to see the rules and regulations that helped keep them safe, and they clearly had tried to convince every apprentice to go to the 3 vaults that held dark guild loot from the monthly raids.

However, since Archive D48-CEL (Duchy 48, Celestial Earth Labyrinth Magic) was not approved for any of the most dangerous of magics, they could organize a spot tour in minutes, and her teacher was all too eager to stop worrying about which incredibly dangerous vault they were about to be pulled into as she kept putting off answering which Archive she wanted to go to.

Levy smiled, sure that this would be a funny story for Cana once she went back to Fairy Tail eventually. Maybe a learning experience for Gray or something. Maybe she could even invite some friends to come!

Lucy was lost.

It was not terribly surprising, as if she had no clue where she was, it also meant that the maids chasing her were also more likely to have no clue where she was. 

Duke Everlue’s game was simple, since he needed to be present for whatever he was doing with Lucy’s parents, unable to deny the thrill of a game he thought easily won. If Lucy thought him so clever, she might also believe its because that way he would have a promise on which to base his theft of the keys. Of course, Duke Everlue was an idiot, and so she doubted he thought so far ahead. 

The worst thing of this little game was that it gave Lucy express permission to do whatever she pleased. Which meant it barred her from doing what she most pleased, which was using Anser to help her through this place, since the contract stipulated she had to be breaking rules to use him. She still had managed to get the beginnings of a map she recorded from her little forays, sneaking into her room and getting it before the maids were allowed to come after her.

It had cost her precious few seconds, and she was still not sure it was the entirely right move when she was being chased by maids left and right. Right now, she had managed to hide in some kitchen cabinet, the cooking staff separate and still uniformed of the nature of the wager, to her great appreciation.

She caught the glance of one from the corner of their eye, and maybe it wasn’t ignorance, but some small form of rebellion against their master. She did not question it, since she remained secreted away long enough to make a plan.

Thankfully, the kitchen was a fixed point, needing to be connected to the static aboveground and so the twisting passages did not move the kitchen based on her observations. Now, she just had to chart a way to victory. The wager was simple enough, although she couldn’t help but worry about the fairness of the terms.

Hide and Seek, he had called it. He struggled to find her, so what better game to play with a little girl, he had said. 

It wasn’t hide and seek.

The goal, for him, was to find her. After 3 minutes, he let his maids, the non magical ones that is, go out and begin to explore the mansion, who upon finding her, would receive a bonus from Duke Everlue. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted with her, so long as her parents wouldn’t be able to find out. She was heartened when most of the maids also seemed to turn green at the implication. That would be game over for her.

After 15 minutes, the maids that did know magic would be released, and that would be when the chase really started. The other maids were not briefed in full about the manor, and so were inclined to assume she was hiding above ground, where all the valuable books and resources that they imagined when Duke Everlue said “his treasure” would be.

These maids were in charge of the labyrinthine magics, and would know an intruder was wandering around once the maids upstairs struggled to find her. They would tunnel through the earth, bend the halls, do what they can to ensure that Lucy could not find the treasure.

Duke Everlue would appear after 20 minutes, as would Virgo. If she could sneak around beforehand, she would not be able to then. It would eventually have to be a battle, and there was no way on earth she would be able to win against Virgo for long. Meaning it would have to be constant movement, as she approached her win condition.

She had two goals, but in reality she could only really pursue one. Goal number one was to escape the Manor. If she managed to leave the manor, she would be able to keep all her keys, and Duke Everlue would keep all of his keys. Maybe, in any other situation, she would go after that idea and not the alternative goal that was very obviously bait, to ensure she would waste too much time and he would be able to send a maid to the front door.

If she managed to find any of Duke Everlue’s keys before any of the maids or the Duke himself caught her, she would be able to keep the ones she found. She couldn’t help but think about the fact that it hadn’t exactly sounded like a way to end the game, but she was still trying to be a child, so she couldn’t try and clarify. It felt like exposing herself, but as a child she was meant to let herself reveal too much, lack the armor of experience no matter how much she may wish to cling to it.

Deep breaths. She had to think, and get as deep in the labyrinth as she could. She looked at her notes, trying to clear her mind. 

She knew this type of spell, she had seen it in some raids on Dark Guilds. The pattern of changes without moving or disturbing certain rooms to ensure hermetic seals were not broken. She had no clue WHAT was hermetically sealed, but it was a natural conclusion. 

There was a spell pattern to it, it was how the spell worked. It was popular because egotistical mages thought they could make the pattern that would fool everyone, but they always forgot whenever Lucy had to break in. 

First, finding the constant locations. Which spots were never altered, which to be sure of required at least a full day of observation. 

She did not have that, meaning there were multiple asymptotic points that it could have been. However, there were other ways to rule them out. Patterns that would have inevitably touched a point, a slight amount. Points at the edges of the spell, inconvenient to reach, too inconvenient for him to store his keys. A very large amount. 

It took about a minute to rule out all but 3 possible points, and she had no more time to work on the problem. She hoped she lived up to her nickname. 

Choosing one of the three points as her destination, she summoned Pyxis. While Pyxis couldn’t point her towards Celestial Spirit Keys, they certainly could point Lucy towards a location in the maze. And while Lucy had wanted to be able to go whenever she wanted to, Pyxis could certainly break through the labyrinth spell and get her to the keys. Hopefully, also able to hide them from maids once they start searching, although she knew once a maid saw her it would be over. It all felt so familiar, running through the halls with a celestial spirit guiding her. 

Pyxis was able to better navigate the maze spell than Anser, often pausing in corners to have them be moved closer by the spell. However, just as often, she found herself almost caught by a maid, having to stop the both of them as the tell tale sounds of shifting earth perked her ears. 

She felt the ticking of the stopwatch that Horologium had given her, and cursed her lack of options. Once, she may have been strong enough to be able to use Horologium’s spells, or have a stronger contract with Anser, or have enough magic to call Polaris, or SOMETHING. 

But now, all she had was the ticking of a clock in time with her heartbeat. 

Levy wasn’t really surprised when almost no one in the guild wanted to show up. Fairy Tail wizards weren’t exactly known for their academic curiosity. Cana had shown up, and Mest had teleported her over, along with himself in order to join them. 

Levy was pretty sure he wanted to steal a book. Levy was even more sure her teacher also thought the same thing, but since books aren’t exactly the most dangerous magical artifacts (exceptions not included) she didn’t really care. Admittedly, her teacher seemed peeved when he tried to hurry the trip, but since he was just as familiar with Council paperwork as her she couldn’t find any reason to delay. 

Duke Everlue’s mansion was…interesting. That was the most Levy was willing to comment, since unlike most mansions it didn’t really hold any style. Just the gaudiness that comes from being rich, nothing like the rich architecture of the Grand Magic Council’s building, or the familiar and warm interior of Fairy Tail’s guild hall. 

Mest must have caught the disappointed look in her face, because he ducked down to whisper into Cana and Levy’s ears: “Get used to this, all rich clients have places like these to talk to us rabble.”

Mest had been surprisingly not a complete freak since he got here, and Levy couldn’t help but feel some warmth at a kindred spirit. She nodded, but Cana seemed to have a question. 

“Well if this is the place to meet us, why isn’t he here to… You know. Meet us.”

Neither Levy’s teacher nor Mest seemed to have an answer for that, looking between the two. Mest shrugged, looking back at the two very mischievous children he had decided to accompany. “Perhaps we should go to one of his libraries, to wait for him to come. He has some libraries we are allowed in, right?”

The teacher considered it, and Levy did her best to appear as mischievous as possible, even if she had no intention of leaving the two adults. The mansion, especially with how bizarrely empty it was at the moment, felt like a trap. There was an air of genuine hostility, as if the mansion had eyes, and they were watching. It didn’t even feel aimed at her, but every step felt heavy and slow.

“There's a legal library with international codes of conducts for wizards. Levy, you already finished all the stuff the magic council thought you should be doing right now, want to do some extracurricular learning?” She smiled, as she remembered why she had chosen to stay with this teacher in the first place.

The Grand Magic Council was apt at hiring stuffy old men who never actually listened to her. She was smart, she devoured books quickly, but every professor, teacher, and tutor had simply shot her down, disbelieving that an orphan from the Fairy Tail guild, the most chaotic guild in Fiore, the peasant mages, would be that quick.

She was smart enough to figure out how to get them fired, leaving her plenty time to read alone as a new one was assigned.

This teacher was different. Every time, he asked Levy about what she was reading, and knew how much bullshit the course was! Everu once in a while, they would have a test day, where he stood over her shoulder with a stack of tests the council expected, and did them all at once, since they were piss easy. Every other day, she would bring a different book of magic theory, legal documents, anything and everything. And he had read them too! He talked to her about them, if she asked, and offered suggestions, not coddling her!

She could tell, today was going to be fun.

Lucy, after too many close encounters with maids, finally approached the point she had plotted out, grinning as she saw the thick wooden doors inlaid with gold in the shape of Everlue’s face, multiple poses around the handles. She could feel a maid behind her, but her eyes looked down, to a slight line in the ground. The bricks and tiles under her were slightly darker compared to the tiles, and the difference was just enough to tell her all she would need to know.

Rolling over it, she felt the earth shift, and the maid’s face behind her was replaced with smooth stone and a candelabra, leaving the small area she entered completely closed off to anyone. She took a deep breath, before looking at her clock. 14 minutes, 12 seconds. She breathed a sigh of relief, as she fell down rested. Pyxis looked at her, concern in her eyes (But staying under Lucy’s power, some small part of her smiled. She was getting stronger.), before she looked up. There was a confused tone in her voice as she approached the door, not quite ready to give Lucy a conclusion.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Standing up, Lucy refocused. She was safe, meaning she had time to figure the door out. And once she was inside, she was certain that the maids would be unable to enter. After all, why would Duke Everlue trust them with his secret treasure if they could steal it whenever. Meaning she would be safe for 5 minutes before Virgo came for her, and she would have to enjoy the reward.

“Lucy, do you remember what the exact words Everlue used for this game was?” 31 seconds.

“Yeah Pyxis. I get to keep my keys if I reach the front door, and if I find any of his keys I get them.” 39 seconds. Lucy looked at Pyxis confused, before she paused, and realized what she had said.

She got the keys she found. But she only kept her keys if she got to the front door. Was that the plan? 47 seconds.

She looked down at the clock, as she realized what exactly was the Duke’s plan. The door never mattered. 59 seconds.

The walls did not shift, remaining solid stone. She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t keep her keys. After she got his.

The maids with magic were able to go after her now, to move through the earth and get to her, or rearrange the labyrinth to have a hall appear in less than a second. And they knew where she was. 15 minutes, 3 seconds.

So why was nothing happening? Because she would lose those keys anyways.

She turned, and reached towards the door. There was still a chance! Silver Spirits could have more than one contract, so if she could summon Australes, the protective barrier would be able to keep all the maids away. She could still cheat back, she still ha-

Her hand bounced off the air in front of the door, the air shimmering. The door would never have been able to be opened. Not with the two of them playing a game, not without Vulpecula. He didn’t know how deeply he had screwed her by allowing her to play by someone else’s rules. There was never any hope. 

She watched the silver stopwatch that Horologium had given her, as it went all around for a minute, then passed the 60.

A full minute. Confirmation. She was trapped. She failed. She got tricked. She wasn’t the fox, she was the goose.

Duke Everlue came to visit Layla on a lark. He knew that the brat would be unable to escape or reach his keys, and he figured he might as well see the light escape two Heartfilia women in less than an hour. 

He was surprised to see her calmly reading in one of his libraries, the door watched by one of his maids. 

She looked poised, calm and ready. Like she wasn’t in his domain. Like she didn’t have to beg him for each second of the wretched life he had sold her. Like she had beaten him. She smiled at him, in that all too gentle and false smile she saved for those she despised. 

Duke Everlue despised Layla Heartfilia. Every second she lived was profit lost, beauty squandered, the world revolving around a second rate class act that did not deserve to even gaze upon the ground he stood on. And when she stood her ground, it was worse.

“Layla, what are you doing here? Have I given you permission to leave your room?” He spat out the poison that collected in his heart, not having an ounce of mercy as he was deprived of the opportunity to play with his prey.

“Duke Everlue. How lovely of you to join me, I was about to call you!” She smiled all too sweetly, her eyes not closing and staring him down as she stood up, the book not leaving her left hand. All too quickly, she reached for her hip, and Duke Everlue grasped his key at the same moment, understanding immediately what was going on.

“Virgo! To me! Protect me from the spirit she summons!”

“Come, Ara the Altar!”

The room filled with celestial light, and Virgo stood beside Duke Everlue, as she looked at the spirit that Layla had summoned.

In the middle of the room between them, a little box appeared. Made of what appeared to be rich wood and silver, there were two eyes peeking out from the middle. Immediately, they jumped up. “Miss Layla! You summoned me! Oh, I’m not ready, oh please don’t- oh GOD THERE’S A STRANGER!”

Immensely shy, apparently, the spirit scurried away, hiding from Duke Everlue and clinging onto Layla’s robes. Barely taller than a foot, the box hid away, staring at them without fail.

“Ara, I want to accuse Everlue here. Would you mind terrible?”

“Miss Layla…don’t make me talk in front of him please… but I guess…”

Suddenly the box turned to Duke Everlue, and the high pitched voice deepened. “If he is a liar, he isn’t worth the energy to hide from him.”

Popping back to the high pitched register, Ara stretched out a metallic arm from the dark space where Duke Everlue could see their eyes. Layla smiled, and pulled out a few papers. “I would like to posit that Duke Everlue has broken the laws of Sin, specifically the laws Sin has on Medical Contracts.”

She stood up, and put the book in Ara’s hand. “Due to the swamps of Sin often having a lot of disease, and modern medical magic being primarily Caster magic, the flow of disease was uncontrolled until the government passed a few laws for the control of disease. Among them is a simple rule: If someone knowingly withholds the cure when selling treatment within Sin, then the contract is found to be in violation of the cure holder. You, Duke Everlue, hold the cure to my condition. So you are a liar.”

Duke Everlue scoffed, as the box closed itself off, taking the book with it.

“That was a Fiorean contract, Layla! Your office in Sin would still be under Fiorean Law, so I would have no responsibility to uphold Sin medical laws or whatever.”

Layla smiled, and raised an eyebrow. “Why would we incorporate the Sinese division under Fiorean law? We want to make sure we are giving our dues to the country we work in. Perhaps you wouldn’t, Duke Everlue. But you knowingly signed it even after Jude warned you.”

 “What good does it do, oh so bad I lied, that does nothing. Ara won’t be able to do anything against me if I defeat you first, Layla! Virgo, go after her!”

Virgo did not move, and Everlue repeated himself, waving the key for good measure.

Layla smiled. “You don’t know, do you Everlue? How important it is that a Celestial Wizard never break their word?”

“Suspicion has been ascertained! Duke Everlue is now Suspicious! All orders of Celestial Spirits are halted until further analysis!” Ara spoke up suddenly, as something within the box began banging against its sides, before it began to unfold.

The box grew 6 fold, forming a majestic desk of deep dark wood inlaid with materials that glittered like the night sky, and suddenly a name tag appeared on the desk, made of pure gold, writing out ‘Duke Everlue’. On top of the desk was a little creature, no taller than 6 inches, with the wide eyes that looked at Everlue from within the box. He spoke up, “Permission to do a full audit, Lady Heartfilia? I don’t wish to drain too much magic…”

“Ara is a secretarial spirit, in charge of maintaining the records of the spirit world, and especially recording the contracts that Celestial Mages engage in. If we, as Celestial Spirit Mages, break our word, another Celestial Spirit Mage can accuse us of breaking our oath to the stars. Ara is in charge of checking! Please, feel free to conduct a full audit, Ara.”

Ara smiled, and slammed the desk. From within the wood, 8 metal arms emerged, and began pulling out papers from the many drawers at inhuman speeds, creating stacks of papers over 8 feet tall. Ara, just as fast, began reading the papers, and the silver inlaid in the desk began changing from green to red and back again as Ara sorted the papers into two stacks, saying “Truth” and “Lie” almost too fast for Duke Everlue to understand.

The desk glowed red much more often than it glowed green.

After barely a minute, there were stacks and stacks of paper around the altar, most of them having some red ink from a stamp shown through the messy organization. Ara, turning to the Duke, spoke in that deep bellowing voice. “Duke Everlue. Your crimes against your oaths have been compiled. Thank you for letting us borrow the book. You are now stripped of all rights and powers of the Heavens, and all Celestial Keys you hold are forfeit to other mages. Any current promises, games or rules will automatically rule against you, and a copy of your transgressions will be bound in an indestructible book for all to know, following editing by the Library of the Stars.” The little creature began to fade, and by the time it was gone a few seconds later, all that was left were two books on the ground, one the law book Layla had given it, and the other, a book titled Everlue. 

“Well, this seems prudent for us to have, Duke Everlue.”

A voice spoke up from the door of the library, and the two people in the shelves turned towards the voice, coming from near the door, although neither could see it due to being too far in the room.

A man cloaked in the white robe of the magic council, with a jade brooch over her heart and jade beads on the chain that held her glasses to her chest. Behind her were a few wizards, but Duke Everlue could only look as the Magic Council took the evidence of every corrupt dealing he had, crying out. “Virgo, take the book!”

Virgo had left the room, although Duke Everlue did not know when. The key wasn’t even in his hand, he realized, and began to move to leave the room.

“Solid Script: Cage!”

The magic council member suddenly cast a spell, and Duke Everlue could feel the letters constrict his magic as he floundered like a fish, and watched everything he constructed go up in flames as the Magic Council agreed to bestow the collection of books to the Heartfilia’s following an inspection of the material.

Lucy had fallen to her knees unsure of what to do, lost in that labyrinth at the bottom of the earth, before a familiar voice called out. “My Lady, please come with me. I believe you wish to keep your situation secret, but if so, you ought to be in your room. We will talk later, Lady Lucy.”

The familiar sound of broken chains, of the earth moving and leaving her undisturbed as they moved through the earth. She looked up, to the familiar pink hair of Virgo, to her blue eyes and fine features, and felt like she had lost herself to a dream. 

She felt keys appear in her ring, shining like stars, but she smiled, as she settled into the dream. She was tired. She would let herself enjoy this dream, even if only for one night.