Layla stared at the calendar again, wishing that it was any other day besides what it truly was. Instead it read July 7th, 777 and it wasn't planning on changing that for another 24 hours. It was a little past midnight, and Layla Heartphilia resumed her pacing. She knew what she had to do, she knew it, it was a promise, but she was scared. All the diplomacy and negotiating lessons in the world could only teach you how to hide your fear, not how to get rid of it completely. Time was marching, and in her search for strength, Layla Heartphilia remembered the exact details of her bargain.
Flashback:
"Layla, please let me in," her husband's voice accompanied several loud knocks from outside of her personal study. She only wept harder.
"Please!" he shouted.
"Go Away! I need to mourn! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? You may hate my magic, but I am sick of you pretending to know what I just did to my best friends. NOW LEAVE!" Layla finished screaming, picked up a geode they had found while touring Shasta for their honeymoon, and threw it at the door to get her point across. After the mildly satisfying crack Jude seemed to get the message that this was something she needed to go through alone.
Through her sobs, she heard her husband's footsteps retreat. She felt guilty about doing that, even Layla's mage friends would have had trouble understanding how difficult it was to give away her spirits, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize yet. Everything just sucked.
She had been strong for her spirits, giving a sad smile as she wished them happiness with their new holders, and it killed her inside. Capricorn was the first spirit her mother ever gave her and her first real friend, and during her teenage years she spent ages convincing Aquarius to let Scorpio know she had a crush on him and it was only a year ago that they finally went out. Then there was Cancer, a wedding present from her grandmother a month before she died, and she just gave them away. She had sworn to herself that she would die before being separated from them, but it was the only thing she could do to make sure they would never be in the hands of an abusive owner again.
Layla wrapped her arms around her stomach and cried some more. For two year they had been trying to get pregnant, and a month ago they succeeded. The heir to the Heartphilia magic (Jude took her last name, it was a dying line that still held respect among old money, so they changed his in order to better the company's chance of success) was growing inside of her and those first three days had been pure bliss. Then she had tried to summon Cancer to do her hair for the announcement dinner and had nearly collapsed from exhaustion. The next day the doctors had confirmed that Lucy was sucking up too much of her magic and life force, she would die before she ever delivered, and even if they thought about getting rid of their precious baby girl her body would still be sending her life force into another receptacle. It was a very rare disease, and had no known cure. After three weeks of false hopes she had finally done the responsible thing. She knew her mother would be so proud of her, protecting her spirits at the cost of her own happiness, but it still hurt.
Layla Heartphilia cried all night and into the next morning, still finding more tears to shed over her lost future and lost daughter. Her dreams were ruined, and all that was left was sadness. A maid informed her of a tray of food outside the door for her, she paid it no mind. A few minutes, or possibly hours, another voice interrupted her soft cries.
"Why, whatever is the matter dear? Please tell me," it was a gentle, motherly voice, and while the tone soothed Layla, the fact that it came from just above her head sort of took the peace out of it.
"AAHHHHH!" Layla shouted, falling off the chair she had been crying on. Above her was a floating blue orb, glistening in the daylight, if that was even possible. Layla panicked and immediately reached for her keys, before remembering her noble sacrifice. Instead she armed herself with a fire poker and took a weary stance.
"Oh, how rude of me! Sorry for disturbing you my dear, I know I look rather strange in my current form. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Grandine the Sky Dragon at your service." The orb seemed to float backwards for a second, the forwards, almost in a nod or a bow. Layla, still holding the fire poker, bowed back.
"I am Layla Heartphilia, pleasure to meet you Sky Dragon. Please don't mind my asking, but you do not look like the dragons I have read of in books."
"As I said, my form is rather unusual at the moment. Technically I am in prison and forbidden from coming in contact with the human world, but when I heard your cries I couldn't help myself. I love humans so much, hearing you in pain broke my heart and I just had to come through your window. Please tell me of your troubles child." The voice was so honest, so full of love, Layla could not help but be comforted by it. Chances were that it was all in her head anyways, so what was the harm?
"My heart lies in shreds," Layla answered, with a tremble, "I-I'm pregnant with a little girl, but she will never see the day because a disease is killing both of us." Layla let her tears fall once again, but this time she did not bow her head in shame or unfairness. This time she held her posture as one of the Heartphilia clan, and more importantly, a mother. She knew that this mother would not judge her for her tears, and she was proven correct when a drop of water fell from the orb. Somehow the orb was crying with her, together they shed tears.
Layla fell to her knees, head still tall, "On top of that I am a celestial wizard, my spirits are my friends, and yesterday I released their contracts to people I hope will treat them well. I am losing my life, my child, and my three closest friends outside of my husband. Please weep with me Grandine the Sky Dragon." Finally Layla let her head drop as sadness overcame her once again and she fell onto her hands. The Sky Dragon flew into her chest and Layla could feel the warmth of it press against her heart.
"I weep with you child," she said, tears staining Layla's dress. They cried for ten minutes before Layla felt the ever-present knot in her heart loosen. She was not alone, she could feel the Grandine had also lost a child, and it was okay for it to be painful. It was okay to be sad and angry, but Layla finally let the truth ring in heart that it was not okay to harm others in her sorrow. This imprisoned creature of the sky found the time and the heart to sympathize with her, now it was her turn to be strong and sympathize with the people around her.
"Thank you Grandine, I feel strong again," Layla said, bringing the orb to her lips for a kiss. Then she stood up and unlocked the door, grabbed the tray of food, and locked the door again.
Eating she asked, "I apologize, but I am famished, please let me return the favor you have given me and tell me your story."
"I suppose telling someone would help after these long years," the orb spoke and Layla got the impression of a person settling in for a long tale, "It happened nearly four hundred years ago, when my kind were populous. Suddenly we were no longer so populous as dragon slayer magic became common and our kind started dying. There were seven of us left when the humans finally realized that we weren't the problem any longer, but a wizard of their own named Zeref was the true threat to their kind. The seven of us were given fifty years of complete peace, we found secluded nooks to live out our lives and five of us actually managed to become attached to human orphans fleeing Zeref's attacks. I had the sweetest little girl, Wendy Marvel, brilliant at her healing and wind magic, she couldn't hurt a beetle. Then came the prophecy, and Zeref heard about it.
It was prophesied that it would be a dragon slayer who would end the dark wizard's life and defeat his strongest demons, us and our children were suddenly targets. The dragons came together and even Zeref could not touch us, his pet Aconologia had been banished to another land, and eventually we came to an agreement with the mad man. I believe a Heartphilia was actually the contractor. Yes, Lily Heartphilia, celestial magic is much more than it appears it seems, power to enforce contracts and power to enact time spells comes with the strongest mages of that ilk. Lord Zeref would have to give up his powers for the next age, and Dragons would have to give up their children and their freedom. The deal was made, and now I am forever separated from my dear Wendy and trapped in this weak form. I am actually luckier than my fellows you know, the dragons of Shadow and Light convinced their kids to kill them rather than living an age in imprisonment. We all got the perk of living in our element, and I still get to travel the skies. My good friend Igneel is stuck in a volcano, boy is he grumpy." Grandine let out a sad laugh, and Layla was captivated by the story.
"So Zeref is still alive somewhere?" she asked gently, not wanting to hurt her new friend with an insensitive question.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. If he died the seven of us would be released."
"But how can the prophecy come true now? If all the dragons are captive, and dragon slayer magic long gone, then how can Zeref be killed according to the prophecy?" Grandine seemed to still, and her light grew dim.
"Please do not ask me that child, if you insist I will answer and I do not wish to put my sorrow on your already heavy burden." Layla laid her empty plate on the ground and gave the blue orb a gentle caress.
"I would share your burdens Sky Dragon, as you have helped bear mine. We mothers must help one another, for how else can we hope to succeed with our children."
Grandine seemed to consider the offer before sighing, "I agree with you dear, so I will tell. Sharing another's burden often makes your own lighter. A dangerous spell was performed by Lily Heartphilia that sent our children into the barrier between the celestial world and the human one, as well as lacrimas containing the spells for dragon slayer magic from the dragons of lightning and poison as they had no children. Zeref however, used his last ounce of malice to destroy the spell to retrieve them from the time stream and they are lost." This time Grandine wept for herself and Layla wept for her friend.
"Thank you for sharing my burden, Layla."
"I am sorry for bringing it up, even the memories must be painful. I might be able to offer some closure, in this office is the journals of every Heartphilia who ever practiced celestial magic. Would you like Lily Heartphilia's perspective on everything?" A sniff came from the orb.
"Might as well, I have nothing better to do. I doubt my constraints will ever let me speak to a human again. Being Lily's descendent and must give you the same rights that Lily had as our negotiator."
Layla stood up and let her finger trail along the spines of the journals until it reached a particularly old one, which Layla grabbed and settled back on the couch with. She turned to the date suggested by Grandine and was disappointed when no narrative was given.
"I apologize Grandine, but it looks like Lily didn't record anything but this strange drawing. Makes me feel like I should have updated my journal recently. Although, that is strange, it's a picture of stars. No, it's a poem, written in the pictorial language of the stars. A celestial spirit would be able to read this perfectly, but roughly it seems to be about retrieving something lost…" Layla puzzled over the text a while longer before understanding hit, "Grandine! I think this is the spell to retrieve your lost children. I could save them." Layla was practically glowing with happiness, suddenly grateful for those hours studying textbooks Crux brought from the library in the celestial world.
Layla greedily interpreted all she could from the book and her face fell, "I am sorry if I got your hopes up, but this requires more magical output than my body can give right now. It also requires me to preform it on a day when three specific stars are aligned, and I am not going to live for the next alignment. I am so sorry." Layla dejectedly let the book fall closed.
"I can't save myself, my daughter, or any of my friends, new or old. What's the point of even having magic then? It's sole use is to help the people you care about, I am obviously undeserving." The celestial mage seemed to have finally reached her tear limit, nothing fell from her eyes, but she felt hollow inside.
"No, I refuse to give up this last shred of hope. Stand in front of me dear, Sky magic is not only air magic, but healing. My healing powers have been stopped because of the non-interference with humans in my contract, but healing my contract-maker might be acceptable."
"You think you can heal myself and my baby. I can be a mage and a mother?" Layla asked, trembling.
"I expect it will be extraordinarily painful for me and you, it might even mean my death. I will do it on the promise of a celestial wizard that when that date comes again you will be alive and you will preform the spell to retrieve them from the time stream. Know this Layla, time travel spells are known to cause the death of their caster, it's why celestial wizards are so rare, I need to know that you are willing to live ten years of life, only to die for five more children's sakes." Layla wanted to scream yes, but she gave the question the consideration Grandine was looking for.
"Will Lucy live?"
"If Lucy is your child, I swear she will be born healthy." Light around the orb was a dark blue, and Layla knew that the promise of a dragon to a celestial wizard was going to be upheld.
"I, Layla Heartphilia, do hereby give this oath: in return for healing me now, I will perform the spell left by Lily Heartphilia and retrieve the children swallowed by time. I will give my life if necessary." Grandine gave her version of a nod and her aura suddenly filled the room. Layla blacked out.
When she awoke her husband was clutching her from behind and they were surrounded by their servants.
"Thank God Layla, I was so worried." The woman in question put a hand on her stomach and felt the spot Lucy resided, then she felt her magic and health, she felt wonderful.
"Don't worry," she said, tears of joy in her eyes as she gave her husband a kiss, "I know that everything is going to be just fine."
And it was, Layla saw Grandine one more time before Lucy was born, and she agreed to be the god mother.
"Oh, I am so happy for you! I shudder to think of what might have happened if I didn't come when I did. Lucy had nearly sucked up your entire magic when I arrived. She is going to be a very strong mage one day." The orb exclaimed.
"Don't think I've forgotten my promise Grandine, on July 7th, 777 your daughter will come back into this world to live out as full a life as she can. Maybe one day our children will meet eh?" Layla had been folding clothes, but she made sure to hold the attention of the floating blue orb before continuing, "I have a favor to ask. Would you be Lucy's god mother?"
"But Layla," Grandine tried to protest, "I don't even know if I can speak with her, all I am right now is a floating blue orb. If I ever manage to regain my true form, I become a dragon. Wouldn't it be better for Lucy if she had a human for a god mother?"
"Nonsense, you are human in all the best ways Grandine, You are the most caring and compassionate being I know, and even if you can't have an active part in my child's life, you will always love her. That's all my little princess needs. You can be called her fairy godmother if you like." Layla joked.
"I suppose I could look like a fairy, even I do not know exactly what Fairy Folk look like. I hear that they have tails. Since you are so insistent, I would love to be Lucy's godmother, Fairy or otherwise."
End Flashback
Layla had kept an all night vigil, and a window open. The time was nearing and Layla was as ready as she could be. She had given her word, and really, her life was forfeit to the sky dragon the moment she was healed. These precious few years with her family were on borrowed time. Grandine had yet to show up, and she couldn't decide if that was for the best or not. The sky dragon had always been a source of strength, but now being forced to leave this world based off a desperate promise felt bitter in her heart.
"Thank you Layla," the gentle voice that had been silent these long years now spoke again from the window. Any lasting resentment in the celestial mage's heart evaporated. Grandine was on the edge of tears, and Layla knew the lengths one would go for their child, she would not begrudge Grandine hers. It was Layla's turn to be strong.
"No, I thank you, old friend. The spell should make it look like I died of too much magic output, a possible resurgence of the disease you once cured me of, I wasn't able to tell my family, it would hurt them, but I feel so alone. I am glad you are here to give me courage once more." Water droplets fell from the orb once again.
"I asked for your life, something I have never done in all my years of healing. It would be cowardly to hide from the fate I demanded of you. I am a horror, I am so sorry Layla."
"Shh, you are nothing more or less than a mother. I don't blame you in the least. Please watch over Lucy the best you can, fairy godmother." Layla smiled, tears in her own eyes, and gave the floating sphere a kiss. She walked a few feet away and clasped her hands in front of her holding her keys, head bowed.
Calling her magic to bring the barrier of the celestial world into her magic sight, she recited the spell. Anyone in tune with the one magic could feel the entire magic resources of Fiore shift in one direction, and a bright flame warming before dying and leaving the world a colder place.
Off in the woods east of Magnolia, Natsu Dragneel jumped down from a tree branch, hoping to surprise his father. Sting Eucliffe woke up in a cave and cried for the second day in a row about how he had listened to his parent and killed him. Rouge Cheney noticed a shift in shadows from where he had been crouching in shock from killing his dad, it was a bright world he noticed, one that his dragon had begged him to live in, so he would. Gajeel Redfox was walking back to his dragon carrying a bunch of iron ingots he had dug up as a thank you present for his dad, just because, only to find no trace of him in their home. And Wendy Marvel, sat up alone, yawning in the early morning light, "Momma? Momma? Where are you? MOMMA!"
A/N: So, I'm just going to post an obsolete time travel theory fic while the fandom is broken. Seriously, probably no one will notice I posted this after the latest chapter, everyone is so emotionally not okay. Yeah for Time Travel theories and trying to figure out Layla Heartphilia.