This Chapter has been edited from its original posting for spelling, grammar, and additional content.
Fairy Tail AU: Choice and Change
By KttyKiwi
(A working Title: Aquarius refuses to leave Layla. Mira takes a different route out of town. Everything changes.)
Rating: T (for) Magical violence, language, and unconventional relationships.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or anything associated with it, someone much more famous than me does. (Hiro Mashima)
Summary:
In the year X764; celestial mage Layla Heartfilia retires due to illness and entrusts her Spirits to others with their consent, with the exception of one whom refused point blank to leave her side.
In the year X777; dragged kicking and screaming out of a depressed state after the death of her mother a young girl vows to live a life the woman would be proud of, one that is full of love and laughter.
In the year X778; a young female mage successfully runs away from her siblings and the Fairy Tail guild hall, leaving the town of Magnolia far behind.
Fate has them crossing paths earlier than originally planned and the world starts to change little by little.
Pairings: Mira x Lucy, Lucy x Erza, Mira x Lucy x Erza end game
Authors Notes:
Welcome one and all to my first Fairy Tail Fan-fiction. A plot bunny started stalking me after my second watch through of the series, and some of the more recent chapters of the manga, and now I share it with you. This is an Alternate Universe in which two canon events have different outcomes and send the whole universe in a spiral. This story is planned to end just after the Tartarous arc and before the end of the one year time skip. It will include most of the filler arcs as I personally enjoy them, and a sequel is being planned that involves a crossover I hope will be enjoyable.
Note that like all my stories, the main pairing WILL be girl x girl. If you don't like that kind of pairing then you need to be reading something else because stupid flames will be ignored as even Natsu wouldn't touch them. HELPFUL and legitimate constructive criticism is always welcome since they allow me to be a better writer in the end.
There may be some seemingly OOC moments since this is an Alternate Universe, but please understand that I am trying to keep these characters in the proper mindsets for this universe. Also, while there will be some expanded/ new magics for certain characters, NO ONE will be over powered, though I will work to make the characters believably strong in their own ways.
(Fairy Tail: Prologue)
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate Fall X764
IN a grand mansion that had housed generations of Heartfilia Mages stood three Celestial Zodiac Spirits and their contracted key holder, Layla Heartfilia. The spirits; Cancer the Crab, Capricorn the Sea Goat, and Aquarius the Water Bearer, stood in a line facing the blonde Celestial Spirit Mage as she informed them of her need to retire from being an active mage and wanting to entrust their keys to others with a need of their services.
Ever dutiful, Capricorn agreed to work with one of Layla's servants, a man named Zoldeo, with the proviso that he would one day be the spirit of Layla's next mage descendant. "I will faithfully serve the Heartfilia Mages line for as long as it exists."
Reluctant, but understanding that his key-holder was unable to continue as a mage due to her failing health, Cancer agreed to contract with another servant named Spetto. The middle aged maid would give him plenty of opportunity to use his skills outside of battle, something that he knew he would enjoy. "I understand, and wish you luck -ebi."
Aquarius on the other hand, was downright furious that her key holder, someone whom she called friend, would try to give her key away to some other mage. "Absolutely not! I REFUSE to be handed off to some stranger! I should smack you black and blue for even THINKING of this hair brained scheme! You know what? Just for trying to get rid of me I'm going to learn to open the gate with my own power so that I can torment you by showing up at the worst possible moments, all for my revenge!"
Layla quickly came to regret ever mentioning relinquishing her contract with the temper mental mermaid she had known for so long, though secretly she loved that her spirit would go through so much trouble just to stay by her side.
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate Late Fall X766
IT had been two years since Layla retired from the life of an active mage, but despite no longer using magic it still surrounded her constantly, usually in the form of a temper mental Mermaid Spirit hell bent on spending as much time in the human world as possible under her own power. In that time the spirit had grown able enough to open and pass through her gate at will for a little over 10 minutes at a time. It was a great improvement from being unable to open her gate at all, like the majority of Celestial spirits in existence barr the oldest and most powerful of them. Layla had also joined the merchant's guild Love and Lucky during that time, and ended up meeting her now husband Jude who, as all the men before him, took on the Heartfilia name.
Today was a special day for the ex-mage for more than a few reasons, the most important of which involved asking the Spirit who had become her best friend and sister figure a certain question. She had been waiting around for the mermaid to show since early that morning, but since Aquarius no longer used Layla's magic to open and pass through the gate the ex-mage had to settle for being constantly surprised whenever she appeared.
Finally, a little after noon, the familiar feeling of the mermaids magical presence appeared directly behind her, for once not startling the blonde at its sudden arrival. Instead she quickly turned on her heel and grabbed the unsuspecting Spirit in a giant hug with a happy shout. "You're finally here! I have such good news to share!"
"Eh? What are you babbling about brat?" Aquarius spoke harshly, as was her preferred character when not in sight of her lover Scorpio, but still returned the enthusiastic hug of the only key-holder she had ever called her friend.
Layla let go of the mermaid, grinning so widely that all her teeth were on display and bouncing lightly on her toes in excitement as she did so. "Jude and I are pregnant! I just confirmed it with the doctors last night! Isn't this exciting?"
Aquarius looked dumbstruck at the news, shocked as she was at the abrupt announcement. A sudden surge of slightly hysterical giggling broke the spirit from her shock; seeing her friend practically doubled over in laughter bringing a scowl to her face. "What's so funny!?"
"Y-y-your face! I-i-I've never seen y-you make-" Layla was unable to finish her sentence for two reasons; one she was laughing way too hard, and two was the mild head slap delivered by an UN-amused Blue Headed mermaid.
"Stop laughing at my face!"
"S-s-sorry!" The blonde Summoner took a moment to calm herself, before turning to the not-so-patiently waiting Spirit. "Anyways, I had something I wanted to ask you about after I told you the good news."
Aquarius looked at the blonde woman with a burning sense of curiosity; it wasn't everyday that she asked the spirit questions without simply blurting it out the second the thought crossed her mind. As a consequence to that, most questions the blonde asked ranged from absurd to trivial, with the few deep or important questions being prefaced with some variation of 'I wanted to ask you'.
"Well, now that we're having a baby, and you being my best friend, I was wondering..." The mermaid watched the ex-celestial mage fidget like the shy 13 year old she had been when they had first met, and let out a sigh as she placed a gentle hand upon the blondes head.
"Layla just spit it out. You know the worst I'll do is say no."
"Right! Aquarius, would you like to be the baby's godmother?" The mermaid froze at the question, once more shocked, and Layla rushed to clarify her request. "I mean, you're like a sister to me, and even though it means something different to spirits than it does humans, I just thought it would be nice if you could have a role as more than 'mommy's spirit friend' to the baby. If you don't want to that's fine, I just wanted to-"
The blonde's rapid fire babble was cut off by a hand over her mouth; one attached to the arm of a smiling Aquarius. "Jeez brat! Making me feel all emotional and junk! Take a breath and let me answer." Layla did just that and waited patiently for the mermaid's response.
"You're right that being a godmother means something different to us spirits than it does to you humans, but I know what you meant when asking anyways. I have one question though before I give my final answer." The ex-mage tilted her head in question; looking far more like a puppy than any Nikora the spirit had ever seen. "How does that idiot you call a husband feel about me being the baby's godmother?"
"Oh... he... well-"
"He hates the idea? Good, all the more reason to say yes!" Despite the slight to her husband, Layla laughed in joy knowing that her child would grow up to one day love spirits as much as she did thanks to Aquarius' influence.
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate Spring X772
THE instant she felt magic pouring into her key, Aquarius rushed to negate the summoning and pushed through the gate under her own power, ready to act in whatever manner seemed fit. The urgency and fear she felt was painful as Layla had long since been forbidden to attempt opening her gate; at risk of her own life thanks to her illness, that she would attempt to do so meant either terrible danger for the spirit's Key Holder and Friend or the child she had grown to love since the moment the girl had been born.
Vase at the ready to wash away whatever threatened her loved ones, the Celestial Spirit was wholly unprepared for the happy squeal of joy and sudden hug she received upon her entrance into the human realm. Looking down she spotted the tiny blonde terror known as Lucy Heartfilia, age 5, doing her best to cling to the scales of her tail while cheering happily that her 'Aqua-nee' had finally come. A glint of gold in the little girl's right fist drew the mermaid's attention like lightning, and comprehension filled her as she realized that it had been Lucy attempting to summon her so that they could play. Her fear did not dissipate as the knowledge that the small child would have died from instant magic depletion had the Spirit allowed the summoning to finish hit her hard.
"Lucy, where is your mother?"
"Mama is sleeping. I was bored and wanted to see if you would play with me and Gonzales."
"Alright, we can play. But first I need you to give me my key." The tiny blonde gripped onto the golden key a bit harder as she suddenly felt that maybe she had done something bad, though what that might be she had no idea. Reluctantly she handed the Spirit her key with a sad pout.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No, YOU are not in trouble little one, but you shouldn't play with my key like that anymore. You need to promise me that you won't touch my key unless your mother or I says you can, okay?"
"Okay! I promise! Can we play now?" Back in high spirits since she wasn't in any trouble, Lucy was quick to bring attention back to her boredom. She started giggling wildly as the Mermaid scooped her up with a single arm and took off 'flying' down the open hallway.
Later that afternoon...
LAYLA had woken up from her short nap to the sound of her daughter's laughter as it passed by her door, a smile on her face at the sound. Still tired, but knowing that she had to at least pretend to have the energy to get up that day, she forced herself to get 'dressed' and marched her way down to the mansions extravagant kitchen for an extra large mug of what she lovingly referred to as 'wake-up juice'; something that was otherwise known to the rest of the human race as coffee. It wasn't until she had imbibed the entirety of her first mug that the blonde woman realized that something important was missing from her person. The golden gate key belonging to Aquarius that she wore upon a long golden chain around her neck at all times, was gone.
'If I dropped her key, she will kill me.' Fear of the mermaid's wrath was an ingrained response to the blonde who had managed to anger her spirit many times over the years they had been together; most usually by summoning her from what she called 'weird' places or because she had dropped the Spirit's key somewhere. Quickly the older Heartfilia mage traced her way back to her room, searching diligently for the little golden key and chain as she went. Twice she retraced her route from bedroom to kitchen and back again without success.
"Shit! It's not here! If I don't find it soon..."
"Is this what you were looking for, little girl?" A menacing aura accompanied the words and Layla knew that she was in big trouble with her friend. Turning slowly she spotted the key she had been looking for gripped in the fist of its Spirit.
"Oh good, you found it!" The blonde tried for the innocent approach, and smiled widely as she spoke, hoping to throw off the coming punishment.
"I didn't find it; Lucy took it while you were sleeping and tried to summon me so we could play." Aquarius spoke in a dangerous but serious voice as she tried to impress the anger and fear she had felt onto the ex-mage. "She almost managed it too, if I hadn't already changed my contract to always come through the gate under my own power for you, she would currently be dead."
"What?" Layla almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, but knew the spirit wouldn't even dream of lying about something like this. 'My daughter could have died, and I was sleeping?'
"I already made her promise not to play with my key unless either of us says it is okay, so calm down. Accidents happen and I know you've been more tired than usual lately, but next time you want to nap just let me know so I can watch the tot for you." Layla smiled feebly as she took her friends words to heart, knowing that the mermaid did not blame her for the mishap.
"Still, she did manage to almost summon me despite the fact that fully opening the gate would have used all her magic in an instant. It's probably past time for us to teach her more about the Celestial Spirits and to get her one of the less magic intensive silver key spirits to practice with. Maybe a Nikora as a companion since they have the lowest overall magic drain; or possibly a Serpens since they have enough offensive power to actually offer her some basic protection while acting as a companion?" Layla watched as the mermaid spirit thought about the best key to teach her daughter Celestial magic with, and smiled knowing that her long time friend would watch out for the tiny girl's best interest. Her smile faded quickly though as she heard the mermaid contemplating 'snake, lizard, or dog?'
"I think a Nikora is your best bet Aquarius! After all Lucy is only five, no need to overwhelm her yet." Layla hoped that the Mermaid Spirit wouldn't decide that Lucy needed a spirit that could protect her as well as be a companion; she hated snakes and other reptiles with a passion. She could just imagine her tiny daughter running around with a giant snake following her wherever she went, the image alone made her pale in fear.
"I know that you're only saying that because you have a fear of snakes and reptiles, but you might be right. Nikora are meant to be long term companions and are able to stay in the human realm for large amounts of time with little strain on either summoner or spirit. Now I just have to find one who isn't contracted and is willing to spend most of their time playing with a hyper 5 year old." Aquarius held her chin in thought as she tried to imagine how she would go about obtaining said Nikora's key for the girl in question.
"We could always look for gate keys the old fashioned way and visit the local shops?" Layla threw out there, knowing her suggestion would fall flat, but trying anyway.
"Nope, too much random chance we'll find the one Nikora who hates kids or one who prefers being lazy as opposed to playing." The blue haired mermaid thought for a few more moments before finally deciding on what she would do.
One week later...
The Blue haired Celestial Spirit had returned with a present for the Tiny Blonde Terror, and though she knew Layla would be angry at her she couldn't wait to see the child create her first contract.
"Here you go Lucy. Take your stance and repeat after me." The little blonde did as she was told, looking adorable as she concentrated on doing it perfectly. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, Now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open, gate of the Serpent, Serpens!"
The scream of frustrated anger she heard from her own summoner was nothing short of hilarious.
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate July 7 X777 late evening
THE entire estate was grieving; after several days spent away for some distant task their mistress had finally returned only to have arrived in terrible health. She was dying, and only the Mermaid Spirit providing support at her side had allowed the ex-mage to remain in the world of the living long enough to return to her home and say goodbye. Both Jude and Lucy sat at the dying woman's bedside, shedding tears in their mutual grief while Aquarius concentrated on feeding her remaining magic energy into the blonde long enough to help stave off the inevitable.
"Layla, I can't hold on much longer. Once I run out of energy, you will have only minutes left." The spirit was at her absolute limit now; the combined strain of remaining in the Human Realm and keeping her key-holder alive too much to endure, though she fought desperately to continue for just those few seconds more.
"Thank you... Aquarius. Please... remem-ber my re-quest." The Mermaid nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she agreed; having bid their final farewells on the return trip this was the last thing they truly had left to say to each other after years of friendship.
"I will. Lucy will have me there to watch over her for as long as she lives, I promise."
The ex-mage smiled at her best friend one last time before turning to say a final goodbye to her husband and daughter, tears hinting at the corner of her eyes as she took in their tear stained faces. "Come on... you two, please... don't cry. I want... to remem-ber you with... smiles."
Though the tears continued pouring down their faces, both Jude and Lucy complied as best they were able. The sparkles of Aquarius slowly vanishing back into the Celestial world spurred the tiny blonde to pounce on her mother, hugging the woman for one last time in a desperation to try and keep her with them. "I love you momma! Please don't go!"
"I love you too... but it is finally my time. Stay... safe for me." The ill woman motioned to her husband to take their daughter, not wanting Lucy to suffer the torment of watching her final breath in the moment she actually passed. "Jude... please... don't blame magic for this... and make sure... to watch over Lucy."
The blonde business man reached for his wife's frail hands with unashamed tears pouring from his eyes as he carefully reached over to kiss her one last time before picking his daughter up and hiding her face in his own neck. "I will. I love you Layla."
"I love you... both..." The blonde woman smiled gently even as her breathing finally slowed to a complete stop. She had passed away at the age of 29 while surrounded by her loved ones with the knowledge that her daughter was now free from the Heartfilia's ancestral duty.
The heartrending cries of grief never reached her.
August X777
A LITTLE over a month had passed since Layla Heartfilia had died, but grief still ruled those she had left behind. Jude had buried himself deep in his work; trying to drown out the pain he felt whenever he so much as thought of the woman he had loved. He rarely left his office as every aspect of the large mansion reminded him painfully of his late wife; and even worse was the fact that the mere sight of his young daughter was capable of bringing him to his knees with her resemblance. He knew it wasn't healthy of him to do as he was for either himself or Lucy, who had no one to truly turn to but her Snake Spirit and Godmother during this time of grief.
He loved his daughter deeply, and was saddened to see her taking her anger and sadness out on everyone and everything in the vicinity, even her 'little sister' Gonzales was not spared. The only person he had seen get through to her was Aquarius, who had finally been able to return to the mansion for the first time just a little over a week ago. From what she had told him on her return; Layla's last wish was that Aquarius would continue to watch over Lucy as one of her spirits, but that the Mermaid had chosen to take it a step farther and become his daughters Guardian Spirit. Much like she had been named godmother, though she was not legally recognized as such by anyone outside of their family, the mermaid had created a contract with Lucy that essentially granted her the same basic rights according to the Laws of the Celestial Spirit world.
All he really understood about it was that now the annoying mermaid was just as much her parent as he was and that she could appear at will near his daughter even if Lucy lost her key somehow. Not that she could; since he had seen the Mermaid attaching her key to a special neck chain that Lucy was unable to remove no matter how much she tried. He had watched the exchange happen from a distance; the day after Aquarius' return and only minutes after Lucy had thrown the spirits key into the nearby woods in a fit of temper, not wanting the reminder of her mother to be anywhere near her. Aquarius had been livid from what he could tell and apparently had made it so no one but the spirit herself could remove the key from its new place in revenge. At least that's what he could tell from all the yelling and screaming he had heard going on right below his office window.
Now, a loud knock on his office door preceded the Spirit he had been thinking about just barging into the room with a huff. "There you are! I came to tell you that I'm taking the brat on a mini training trip to the edge of the estate. We'll be gone for at least a week, and don't bother even looking for us since it'll just distract Lucy."
"Training?"
"I promised Layla to watch out for Lucy and so that's what I'll do. Training her to be strong enough to protect herself no matter what she wants to do in the future is a good start. Also, it will give you some time to grieve where she can't see you and to get you back into Idiot Papa Mode, because the man you are now is not the man Layla loved with all her heart." Jude looked up to the blue haired mermaid in shock, realizing that what she said was the truth. He knew it would take him some time to return to that man but now realized that he wasn't completely alone; despite them never getting along even the mermaid his wife had considered her best friend would be there to help him in her own way.
"Thank you Aquarius. Please, bring Lucy by before you leave so I can wish her luck."
"Tch. I'm not doing anything for you. But, I will tell you that we plan to leave 8am tomorrow morning from the front doors." Turning on her fin, she made to leave the office with a scowl. Her last words muffled by the closing door but still loud enough for him to hear. "Moping doesn't suit you. Idiot."
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate Outskirts Spring of X778
IT had been almost a year since Layla had died and in that time Aquarius had dragged Lucy to the woods at the edge of where the Estate met the mountains every chance she got. The mermaid called their lengthy excursions to the now semi-permanent camp 'training', Lucy just called it torture. Their current excursion was going on a little over a month now, with no plans of returning to the house appearing in the near future. Unfortunately, despite his love for her Lucy's father was just as scared of the Mermaid's wrath as his late-wife and daughter; he refused to come looking for her even though he missed her meaning that she was stuck with the Spirit until she was released. Thankfully, his fear did not stop him from sending small care packages to the duo every week via a magic courier bird as had become his custom shortly after their 2nd week-long trip.
Lucy loved those packages that contained just a few small sweets and a letter; stating how lonely her Papa was now that she was growing up, how much he loved and missed her, and even had him asking simple questions about her days. Aquarius received letters too, though after the first one she simply began burning them upon receipt while laughing evilly. Lucy had figured it was just the Mermaid and her Papa acting as they always did with each other. It made her smile every time to see them behaving like they had while her Mama was still alive and encouraged her to want to live each and every day in a way that would make her Mama proud in the afterlife.
Today, they were supposed to be working on Lucy's endurance again since it was one of her biggest problems. It was generally a relatively easy task since it meant summoning her Serpent Spirit, an Albino Serpens her mother had nick-named Discord, and holding him out for as long as possible. She would then go through various physical exercises until she wanted to collapse from exhaustion, before meditating until her spirit dissipated from lack of magic. Aquarius had explained it as 'stretching the magical container via repeated and extended use while growing the physical endurance of the mage'; Lucy considered it a mild form of hell since she wasn't allowed a break until after her magic core was almost empty. Luckily it only took her an hour or two to drain herself enough to satisfy the sadistic Spirit and she was free to rest until after lunch when they would work on magic theory while holding out Discord once more.
At least it wasn't Cancer's day for training the young blonde; the crab man was even worse than Aquarius when it came to the 'physical training and endurance that she needed to have' in order for her to use his version of self defense. Thankfully Lucy could only hold him out for half an hour max and the Stylist was unable to open his own gate in the same way as the mermaid.
"All right brat, it's time to get training! Today is magical and physical endurance, with a twist!" Lucy stared up at the grinning mermaid in apprehension, knowing that whatever was about to happen she would probably hate. "Today we will be training in the waterfall nearby! Grab some spare clothes and a towel, and don't forget your water bottles! We'll be running the whole way there!"
Lucy nearly cried at the information, the waterfall Aquarius spoke of was several kilometers away and also happened to be the coldest part of the stream running through the woods near their camp. On top of that it was still early enough in spring that she needed a sweater regularly, and now the mermaid was taunting her about having to run. "You don't even have legs! How can you run?"
"Tch. Stop complaining brat or I'll make it worse when we get there. Also, for your information Missy, I do too have legs I just choose not to use them unless I have a good enough reason to do so." The blue haired mermaid scowled as she spoke, motioning for the blonde to get a move on before making her way towards the distant waterfall. "Now hurry up or I'll double your work load."
Swiftly grabbing her workout gear Lucy chased after the fast moving spirit, doing her best to pace herself for the lengthy run while keeping up at the same time.
Later...
Stumbling tiredly with a horrible stitch in her side and breathing ragged from the distance traveled, Lucy finally came into sight of the waterfall where she would be training for the day. Her blue haired tormentor floated into view behind her, watching as the girl nearly fell on her face as she came to a sudden stop.
"Don't stop moving brat, keep walking in circles until you get your breath back or you'll hurt yourself. Once you can breathe more normally start stretching like Cancer showed you when he began training with you. Let me know when you've finished and we'll start for the day." Though the words were spoken harshly, Lucy recognized that they were filled with care for her well being and took to the instructions immediately. She spent the few minutes regaining her breath before beginning the series of stretches her Crab spirit had been drilling into her during their physical training days.
Once she had finished stretching thoroughly the young blonde looked up to her mermaid trainer. "Okay, I'm ready. What are we doing today?"
"First, you need to summon Cancer since he has something new for you."
"Okay! I open thee, gate of the Great Golden Crab! Cancer!" The familiar motions of summoning a celestial spirit and the drain on her magic were comforting to the young mage. The bright golden light and sound of a ringing bell heralded the arrival of the great Crab who looked more like an eccentric hair stylist, the crab legs attached to his back twitching and moving at his command.
"Hello! -ebi."
"Hi Cancer! Aquarius said you had something for me and that I should summon you before we start training today." The blonde bounced lightly on her toes always excited to see her spirits, even if they were trying to kill her with what they called training.
"Yes -ebi. I had these made for you for our future defense lessons -ebi." A wrapped package that she had overlooked sat in the Crab man's hands, approximately the size of the girl's lower arm from elbow to finger tip and about twice as big around as both of her wrists together. He handed it to her and had her open the plain cloth wrapping. Inside lay what looked like a giant pair of scissors with strangely shaped open handles, and a wide leather belt with what seemed to be an attached holster for the blades.
Picking them up in his hands Lucy watched as he demonstrated how the scissors snapped apart to form two separate blades, and then snapped back together again with little effort. "These are training shears -ebi. They are not sharp enough to truly cut anything, but can still hurt if you are not careful -ebi. We will be training with them from now on, and Aquarius will oversee your solo practice when I cannot be here -ebi. To that end your magical endurance training days will involve learning blade forms from now on -ebi."
"Is that why you said today would have a twist?" The blonde asked her guardian spirit.
"Yep. From now on Cancer will teach the both of us the forms he wants you to practice each day, and I will oversee your practice once he returns. After an hour or so we will return to our normal training for the day. We will be doing this everyday from now on." The mermaid moved closer to the duo and picked up the nearly forgotten belt as she spoke, moving to wrap it around the young girl's waist so that the holster sat at the small of her back.
"It is important that you learn to protect yourself -ebi. It just so happens that I can teach you to do so using these blades -ebi." The Crab man readjusted the girl's belt and holster with the blades sheathed so that they would be easy to draw and replace once Lucy got the hang of it. "Today we will work on the basics -ebi. You will draw the blades, separate them, enter a ready stance, put them back together, and then sheath them -ebi. You will also learn to hold them with the correct grip and to move while wearing them sheathed -ebi."
Lucy was a little disappointed that she wouldn't get to learn to attack with them today, but knew that Cancer would teach her to do so once she could perform the basics properly. Besides, she felt it would take her a while to get used to the idea of even wearing a pair of scissors that were as long as her lower arm, let alone using them to fight. Still, it would be cool once she could actually do something with them. Excited to learn she looked up at her teachers with a smile stretching from ear to ear. "What do we do first?"
Later that afternoon...
Lucy took it all back, every nice thing she had ever thought about training for any reason. Her spirits were slave drivers, especially that damn over grown fish! She was so tired and sore she barely had the energy to move, let alone make her way back to camp on foot. It had all started out so well, she was learning something new and it was relatively easy going, if not a little strange since it was so different than what she was used to, but then training with Cancer was over and the true hell began. Not only did she continue to run her new exercises for another hour, she did so with Discord's gate open. Once the hour mark had been reached she was running twice the usual drills, the new set of shears on her waist making it far more difficult than usual.
The physical exercises themselves weren't really too much different from every other day; except that Aquarius had made her carry Discord whenever feasibly possible, and that barr her new belt and shears she was naked the entire time since she had chosen to start with swimming laps. 'Good choice; we don't want you to drown later if you get too tired.' Luckily, the increased difficulty and summoning Cancer beforehand actually shortened the length of her Training day and as soon as she managed to make it back to camp she would get to eat lunch.
Lucy finally levered herself up from her place on the ground and shuffled over to her pile of clothes; grabbing the remaining full water bottle on the way over she began chugging the liquid relief before groaning at the sounds of hunger her stomach was producing. Forgoing getting dressed she simply stuffed everything into her bag and began shuffling her way towards camp at a relatively decent pace for one so tired. 'I'm so glad that people don't come out here since we technically own this place.'
About halfway to camp Lucy began to debate continuing on her current route which passed under a section of small cliffs that tended to have a lot of dirt slides, or taking the more scenic route which went above the cliffs but required her to do some moderate climbing. The sound of rocks falling and a person screaming in surprise reached her ears only seconds before same said person wrapped in a purple cloak literally crashed into her from above, obviously having fallen from the cliffs Lucy had been debating climbing.
Groaning in pain from the collision, Lucy sat up and looked over at the person who had crashed into her. She couldn't actually see much of them beyond a few strands of long silver hair and a small pale hand since they were sprawled out on their side with the cloak covering them like a blanket. Carefully, Lucy moved over and gently tried to wake the unfortunate soul with a bit of poking and even some light shaking. A few minutes of effort resulted in absolutely no change and thus the blonde resolved to take the stranger back to camp with her. Huffing in pain she grabbed up all of the gear that had been dropped and shuffled around so that the cloaked girl, and she was about 90% sure the other person was a girl at this point, could be carried back to camp piggyback style.
Later at the camp of Lucy and Aquarius...
Once Lucy had returned to camp with her possible new friend slung across her back, Aquarius had taken one look and demanded the blonde set the other person on the nearest bed roll. The mermaid had removed the girl's purple cloak to better check for injuries, and was glad to find only a few small bumps and bruises. The unknown girl would be fine in no time; ready to continue on her way as she was obviously traveling to somewhere.
While Aquarius was looking over the silver haired girl Lucy got herself dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and a hooded sweater with cat ears on it; warming herself by the already set fire and glancing over at the other girl curiously the entire time. It wasn't until after Aquarius pronounced the girl to be okay, just banged up a little, that Lucy remembered how hungry she was. "Aqua-nee~ I'm hungry~"
"Then feed yourself you brat! There's soup over the fire like always."
Lucy practically pounced on the thin fish 'stew' she could see cooking away, far too hungry to care that anything the mermaid cooked always ended up tasting like boiled cabbage and ham. Besides, her taste buds had long since grown accustomed to the flavor since she was 'too young to cook on her own' and every meal the Spirit made was pretty much the same dish in a different configuration since they had first started training in the woods like this.
As she was busy inhaling her second bowl of soup Lucy caught a slight movement of the strange girl out of the corner of her eye. "Aqua-nee, I think she's waking up!"
"Tch. I can see that you brat. I do have eyes." The mermaid glared playfully at the blonde; amused by her excitement but annoyed that she had to state the obvious. She called the contradiction of those feelings 'Being a functioning adult figure'. None the less she floated over by the stirring silver-haired girl and watched carefully as she woke up and began taking stock of her surroundings; Aquarius taking note of her various features as she did so.
Bright blue eyes, long silver hair ending just below the shoulder blades, a pretty face with a hint of roundness that came from youth, and near flawless skin. The girl was a looker and would grow up to be more so once puberty hit. The mermaid noticed the exact second the girl realized she was no longer wearing her cloak, a panicked expression crossing her face as she quickly reached to cover her right arm from the sight of Aquarius and Lucy.
"Hey! Are you okay? Did you hurt your arm when you fell?" Lucy was near hysterical as she asked the questions, thinking that the motions meant to cover the arm were in fact caused by pain. She had always been sensitive to others pain, and Aquarius really hoped she remained that way as she got older since it was one of the blondes best personality traits. The mermaid nearly laughed out loud as she watched the blonde scramble her way over to the clearly confused silver haired girl and did her best to check the appendage over for injury.
"Um... no, my arm is fine." The silver haired girl tried pulling her arm out of the blondes inspecting grip, but failed miserably and only succeeded in nearly dragging the other girl onto her lap instead. "It... always looks this way."
"Well duh, it's an arm. I meant did you bruise or cut it when you fell earlier? It looked like you were in pain when you grabbed it like that and I was worried Aquarius had missed it when she looked you over." The mermaid huffed at the thought of missing an injury when she was actually invested in looking for one, and then realized that there seemed to be a serious miscommunication occurring between the two girls.
"Lucy, I think she is referring to the fact that her arm is not that of a normal humans when she says it always looks that way. More than likely it's a failed take-over of some type." The Celestial spirit watched both girls take in the information, noting that the new girl flinched when she mentioned Take-over magic. 'It's probably her first take-over then, and an accidental one at that.'
"Eh? Really!? It doesn't look much different to me, just purple and with claws and stuff. I thought it was normal?" The blonde celestial mage in training looked up at the girl whose arm she still held, only to recoil at the sight of tears in those bright blue eyes. "H-hey! Don't cry! Aqua-nee! Why is she crying!? Did I say something wrong?"
The blonde was flailing her arms frantically, unable to cope with the sight of tears she couldn't understand the cause of. To be honest the Mermaid thought the sight was pretty comical and apparently, the still UN-named girl agreed as she began to laugh quietly at the other girl's antics as well. The sound instantly stopped Lucy's fumbling and had her smiling at the silver haired girl with a wide grin like she had won some amazing prize.
"My name is Lucy! Please don't cry anymore because you're super pretty when you smile!" Aquarius couldn't handle the cuteness anymore as she watched the silver haired girl blush at the blondes genuine compliment, and she turned away from the scene for a moment to compose herself before she started 'cooing' at the kids like they were a pair of adorable puppies. She would never live it down if she did.
"T-thanks... my name is Mirajane, but... you can just call me Mira." The silver haired girl spoke quietly, still looking as if she really wanted to hide her arm away, but currently unable to do so in the blonde's energetic presence.
"Are you hungry Mira? There's some soup left and it's not as bad as usual either." Aquarius was quick to round on the tiny blonde at those words, a threatening aura engulfing her at the blatant offense to her cooking skills.
"And what is THAT supposed to mean!? Huh~ you brat!? Are you saying my cooking sucks!?" The mermaid got right up into the tiny blondes face, ignoring the now cowering Mira in favor of teaching her ward a lesson about insulting her abilities.
"That's right! No matter what you cook it ALWAYS tastes like boiled cabbage!" The blonde jumped up and stood tall, refusing to back down from the challenge presented to her.
"If it tastes so bad then why do you eat it? Huh~!?"
"If I didn't I'd starve, since you won't let me cook on my own yet!" The two were butting heads now, growling at each other like dogs in a familiar ritual that occurred absolutely every time Lucy said something even remotely hinting at Aquarius' lack of cooking skills. Mira, who had found her cloak nearby was now watching the show from the side of the fire next to the cooking pot, decided to taste test said soup with the nearby spoon out of curiosity.
"It's... not... that bad?" In truth Lucy was 100% correct in her description of the soup except, she had left out mention of the after taste that reminded the silver haired girl of how fish smell, but to be fair, anything was better than nothing and Mira hadn't eaten in the last few days.
"Hah! See! Wait...?" It took a second for Aquarius to realize that their guest had also indirectly called her cooking bad. "Fine! The two of you can cook for yourselves from now on!" With that the mermaid left back to the Spirit world for the day, leaving a confused Mira and a huffy Lucy to fend for themselves.
"She disappeared!?" Mira was shocked at the blue haired mermaid's disappearance; having easily accepted the fact that creatures like mermaids exist thanks to her brief exposure to the guild and the various magics there, she was not quite ready to see someone seemingly fade out of reality in a shower of gold sparkles.
"Yep. I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage; my magic is to create a bridge between this world and the Celestial Spirit Realm and allow the spirits there to cross over in order to perform various tasks as needed. Normally I have to use my magic to keep them in this world like I do with Cancer and Discord, but Aquarius is a special case. As my Guardian Celestial Spirit, she comes and goes from the Celestial Spirit Realm as she pleases using her own magical power."
Mira nodded at the explanation; understanding only that the blonde who was currently dishing up the rest of the soup into a large bowl for her was also a mage, and that the mermaid had been there because of her magic. She was far too tired and hungry to care about the details beyond that until much, much later.
"How about you Mira, what's your magic called?"
"How did you know that I'm a mage?" Looking up at the blonde in shock, she wondered how the other girl could tell and then promptly gave herself a mental slap as she remembered that the girl had seen her arm. "Never mind... I'm a Take-Over Mage, or at least that's what I was told. I still haven't been able to... use it properly... since I first got it ridding my hometown of a demon. That's why... my arm looks like this."
"You beat a demon!? Wow! You must be super strong then! I wish you could stay and train with me, it'd be awesome!" Mira looked over at the excited blonde whom bouncing in her place with a giant smile as she imagined training with the blue eyed Take-Over Mage. A feeling of belonging started to creep into the runaway's chest for the first time in a long while but was quickly tempered by the thought that she wasn't really human any more.
Still... the blonde was literally the first person she had met since obtaining her demon arm that had considered it 100% normal at first sight and had treated it as such. Even her siblings had been afraid of it in the beginning, not that she blamed them since they had been there with her when it first manifested and even she had been freaking out. "Well... I don't really have any where I have to go. If you really want me to... I can stay and train with you... for a while."
"WOOHOO!" The blonde cheered loudly in joy at the words, and Mira somehow found herself only mildly surprised to be bound in a tight hug that threatened to cut off her air supply. "I can't wait! We're gonna have so~ much fun together!"
That feeling of belonging increased.
Heartfilia Ancestral Estate Summer X778
"Alright you brats! That's enough of that for today!"
Panting and dripping with sweat, both the blue eyed Take-Over Mage and Brown-eyed Celestial Mage gratefully collapsed to the ground where they stood. It had been hours since the Blue Haired Mermaid had started them sparring against each other, forcing them to go over the numerous self defense moves she had apparently picked up from the various fighting spirits in the celestial world. It probably wouldn't have been so bad for the two girls if the mermaid hadn't chosen to use them as demonstration dummies for each new move they learned. Despite looking like a giant fish when she sported her usual tailed look, the spirit was actually ridiculously strong physically.
"Thank... the stars..."
"Why are you two lying down? I said that was enough sparring, that doesn't mean you are done training."
"Why... exactly... did I agree to... train with you?" It had been several months since Mira had stumbled upon Lucy and Aquarius, literally, and in that time she had come to be best friends with the younger blonde as well as looking up to the Mermaid as an older sister figure. Despite her feeling of belonging, she still wasn't too keen on what the Zodiac Spirits considered to be training.
"Because... you... love me." Lucy grunted her reply into the dirt where she lay; slowly pushing herself back up onto her feet before the Sadistic Mermaid Spirit could decide to punish them further.
"Actually, before we continue for the day, I have some news for the two of you." Aquarius faced the two tired pre-teens with crossed arms and a slight smirk, enjoying their pained grumbles as they worked to stand up after training for hours already. "We'll be leaving the estate soon, and heading to the Fiore Magic Library to continue with your magic training."
"Why are we... going there?" Mira was almost back to regular breathing patterns as she asked the question. The Mermaid simply pointed at the girl's arm, still the same demon arm as the first day she had met them though she no longer hid it away from them, and spoke.
"The magic library, as you can guess, has magical texts on all forms of magic including Take-Over and Celestial Spirit Magic. Despite my best attempts to help you learn to gain control of your abilities, you are still unable to change your arm back and forth at will. Therefore we will travel to the library on foot, training as we go, and once we reach there we will look up all the books we can on each of your magics." Aquarius smirked as she dropped what she considered the most important bit of information. "By the time we are done, the two of you will be some of the strongest wizards of your generation!"
If it weren't for the evil laughter Aquarius was producing, the two girls would probably have been excited about this news instead of absolutely terrified.
(Fairy Tail: Prologue)
EDIT: I WROTE MORE PROLOGUE BUT DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE TO COME BACK TO THIS CHAPTER TO READ THE NEW PARTS. PLEASE CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 2 FOR MORE...
Ending Author's notes: As you can see this is gonna be REALLY AU.
For one thing, Aquarius chose to remain by Layla's side, learning to open her gate under her own power to be able to do so rather than be sent away from someone she considered an actual friend. Secondly, in doing so she ended up taking a more positive and proactive role in Lucy's life, essentially becoming a big sister figure and guardian. Third, Aquarius chose to bind herself to Lucy as the Spirit equivalent of a Godmother after Layla's death, taking on a more permanent role in the girl's life to fulfill her friends last wishes.
These changes lead to the Mermaid spirit training the young blonde as a celestial mage from a young age, determined to have the girl capable of protecting herself no matter what she chooses to do with her life. To that end she often takes Lucy to the edge of the Heartfilia estate for days, weeks, and even months at a time for magical and physical training. It is also a way for both spirit and child to cope with the death of Layla beyond constantly moping.
Another major change, is that Mirajane managed to flee Magnolia and the Guild without being stopped by her siblings. Whether it was a change in course, or a matter of timing the young Take-over mage succeeded in running away from a place she felt she didn't belong. Sometime later she manages to come across Lucy and Aquarius, only to feel a sense of belonging when the young blonde treats her demon arm the same as any other. Even the guild mates who were supposed to be her family treated the arm as different, despite accepting her anyways.
The final basic change, is that Aquarius has chosen to utilize the accumulated information of the Magic Library to help strengthen both girls in their specific magics. Lucy would learn about Celestial magic, and though unable to utilize most of it, Heavenly Body Magic. Mira would finally learn to control her Take-Over, as well as Transformation and sleep magic which came almost naturally after gaining control of her demon form. She would also learn of the Satan Soul Spell which boosted her Take-over abilities greatly once she mastered it. Aquarius herself would use her time at the library to create a new spell set specifically for Celestial Mages, using Lucy as her guinea pig in order to perfect it.
Though Mira would eventually return to her guild and family, at the behest of Lucy who remained near the Magic Library to train, the two girls remained in touch regularly. Using two way communication lacrima to talk daily, as well as frequent trips to the training grounds by Mira, and 'solo' missions from the guild used as an excuse to spend time together. The two girls were the best of friends and merely waited for the day that Aquarius would allow the blonde mage to join a guild so that they could be together all the time.
These changes set the basis for this new version of Fairy Tail, and hopefully it is one that you will enjoy reading about.
P.S. If you see any spelling or grammar mistakes, please forgive me as my spell check says that everything was correct. I don't believe it in the least.