Prologue

The girl awoke with a gasp. Her tangled sheets resting at the bottom of her bed, draping over the side. She sat shivering, her young form glistening with sweat. She had no comfort. No one to hold her. She lost that when her sister died. That was the day she lost her best friend.. and also her parents. They blamed her. They think that she should have tried harder to save her sister.. or how it should have been her. The girl slowly got up, wincing when she put strain on her sore body, speckled with bruises. Her rich brown hair covered her eyes as she stumbled over to her open window. She parted her shoulder length hair to allow her to gaze out into the endless black sky. The only sound being the wind, and her pounding heart. She was still shaken by the last dream. That pounding betrayed her stoic face she now almost always wears.

Staring at the stars, she looked for her only friend. It seemed to be covered by the few stray clouds drifting in the sky; that seemed to startle her out of her post-slumber daze. It's the first time out of the countless times she has looked for it that the constellation, Vulpecula, that it hasn't been there. Her fox was covered.. it was gone. She rushed over to her bed, lowering down onto her hands and knees to feel for the key she found on the day her sister passed. One last physical connection to her sister. Waving her hands over the wooden beams running under her bed, the only thing she touched was dust. There was no silver key with a fox tail on the end; the celestial spirit key for Vulpecula, the fox.

Running out into the hallway, she immediately began her search for her beloved celestial spirit key. Scouring every spot she could think of brought up nothing. It wasn't in the kitchen where she opened every drawer and looked under every appliance, nor was it in the living room. She even carefully looked in her parents room, not noticing in her frantic hunt that her father was not in bed. After searching through her parents bedroom and conjoining bathroom, she went back into her bathroom to splash water on her face. Looking into the mirror, panicked violet eyes stared back at her, framed by a flushed face. There was still a place that she hadn't looked, a room that she hasn't stepped foot in after the day her sister died. Her sister's old room.

Creeping to the room next to hers, she slowly turned the knob, acting as if a monster would come jumping out the minute she opened it. She wasn't wrong. When she opened the door, a sharp smell of metal and cleaning supplies, assaulted her. Harsh, flashes of light drew in her vision as she spotted columns of clear glass tubes. Sweeping her gaze around the room she spotted it. Her key! It was in one of the many glass tubes. What was next to it made her gasp, alerting her presence to the other figure in the room. In the glass was the body of her sister. Lifeless orbs held her paralyzed as she tried to comprehend the situation; not noticing the other figure in the room till it was too late. She was grabbed roughly and shoved towards an open tube connected to her key and sister. Being placed in it, she stared back at the person who abused her and made her life a living nightmare, her father. He had a crazed look in his eyes, as he smirked and pulled out a knife.

"Your sacrifice is worth it if brings her back," he victoriously spoke as he slashed the knife from her left shoulder down to her navel. "You are worthless Nyx, while she was everything." He then closed the tube, ignoring the blood pouring down her and her screaming, and went over to a control panel. He flipped a switch and she felt electricity course through her body as the key in the middle begin to glow, but her sister's tube had no reaction. The energy from the key shot towards her blinding her momentarily. As she felt energy course through her veins all she could hear was an explosion and everything went black.

Chapter 1

My keys jangled as I fell into one of the many murky puddles on the ground. It was raining out in the town of Hargeon. Instead of spending my day inside as I should be doing, I took a job request to stop a dark mage terrorizing the townspeople. My rich brown hair was sprawled all around me, as I sat in a daze from the water seeping into my clothing: jeans with a belt holding my keys, and a dark purple shirt covered by my black jacket that I always wear. The dark mage I was facing started laughing, thinking I was down from one hit. Can this guy just shut up for a minute. I mean I just fell into a huge puddle. Can't I get a break?Standing up, still wet and annoyed, my trusty fox Val, jumps onto my shoulder.

"Great.. You got me wet. I guess you're dying today. Merge gate of the fox, Vulpecula!" I immediately start to feel the drain of magic as Val seems to melt into my body and a glowing light appears from me.

A look of confusion fills the opposing mages face as he cries, "What?! What the hell are you doing? What type of magic is that?"

"I'm a demon" I deadpan as my merge completes with a foxtail and ears sprouting from me, as my eyes dilate with the pupils elongating to slits.

His eyes widen as he takes in my appearance, "A-a demon?" he stutters,

Not able to hold back my giggles, I clutch my chest with both hands, "Oh god, you sure aren't the sharpest, are you?" The glower he gives me only makes me laugh more.

"Why you-! Listen girly, I don't care what type of magic you have, doesn't matter anyway, you're going to die either way!" He shouts, charging at me causing me to swallow my amusement and get ready for a fight.

"Great moves. If only you could actually hit me," I taunt as I twirl to the side and place a well timed claw swipe, drawing blood from his cheek. "This merge is all about speed so good luck trying to catch me!" I dodge each and every blow he sends my way while retaliating with swipes of my own when possible.

"Just stand still! You damn.. fox thing!"

"Wonderful name calling! 5 stars! But you know what? I'll stand here and you can get a free punch. I promise I won't move at all."

"Wow girly, that arrogance will be your downfall," he smirks as he sends his strongest magic fist towards my face. Before his fist connects, however, a large hand grabs his wrist and shadows start traveling up his arm to his face before he collapses unconscious.

Narrowing my eyes at my spirit Lupus the wolf, "What the hell Loopie! I had it all under control! Why do you always have to ruin my fun!" I yell angrily while hitting his chest with my now normal hand while holding Val with my other. Lupus has two forms, a battle form which is an enormous wolf shrouded in shadows, and a human form which he is in now. He's tall, muscular, and very protective of me. The only response I get in return is a sharp glare, as he picks up the limp form of the mage and grabs my outstretched hand, pulling me along towards the clients house. I hold back the sharp retort I was about to give as I see he is literally shaking with rage. After almost tripping for the third time, I pull back with all my strength causing him to stop, still facing forward, not even sparing me a glance.

"If you're not going to slow down for me can you at least tell me what's got you so angry?" After hearing this he dropped the still knocked out mage and swiftly turns to me dwarfing my short 5'4" frame as he is at least a foot taller than me.

"What's got me so angry?" He angrily scolds, "Oh I don't know, maybe what's got me so angry is you allowing someone to hit you with an attack that could potentially kill you."

"But I wou-" I try and interrupt.

"No you wouldn't have been fine, don't even try that. I know your capabilities, and surviving a hit as powerful as that is not one of them. If I couldn't open my gate by myself than you would be dead."

"Sorry," I meekly state, hanging my head in shame. Maybe I was a bit careless..I was getting cocky. And I didn't think about how that would affect my spirits if I got hurt or even killed. Coming to this realization, I shift Val to hug her with both hands and tighten my embrace

His eyes soften as he takes in my state, "Just please don't do that again," he sighs, reaching and squeezing me to him with Val in between our bodies, who let out a small squeak at the sudden pressure. That cute noise seemed to break the thick tension in the air as we both dissolved into laughter.

"Come on Loopie!" I playfully sing, "Let's bring this guy the client."

Lupus, however, is not amused as his eyes flash in annoyance "Nyx, I swear. If you don't stop calling me that I will smack you."

"What a downer.."

"This is the clients house! Wow this sure is nice." I gawk as we arrive at the property which housed a mansion.

"Who IS the client exactly?" Lupus asks, holding the now gagged and tied up mage, as he woke up on the way.

"Um, I'm not quite sure. I just saw the reward on the public request board and took it. Let me see," Pulling out the job request I see it is requested from "The mayor!"

"Why didn't the mayor just have the rune knights do it?" Lupus questions suspiciously

"I don't know, but lets just turn this guy in and get some money!" Val makes a noise of agreement as she jumps on top of my head.

He doesn't look convinced but he decides to ignore it as he starts to drag the mage towards the entrance of the mansion while calling over his shoulder, "Fine. I swear all you care about is money."

"That's not true! Mostly.." I protest, "I care about my spirits! I love you guys and I don't know what I would do without you." Val nuzzles into me at this comment and I give her a pat on the head. I get no response as he is almost near the door, and I run to catch up.

Ringing the doorbell, a sophisticated female voice questions over an intercom, "Yes? How may I help you?

"Hi, I'm the mage who accepted and completed the request you put up on the public request board," I answer.

"And who is the man with you?"

"Uh. Well, he is my-

"Brother!" Lupus quickly interjects, "I'm her brother.. uh," he pleadingly looks towards me as he draws a blank on names

"Louis. He's my brother Louis." I say the first name that comes to my head, but I don't stop there, "But you can call him Louie! And he loves to play with dolls and" I can't finish as a large hand is placed on my mouth, muffling any more words that came out of my mouth.

"Hmm.. Thats peculiar. But just looking at him," she trails off, "Well you can come in, my guards will take the prisoner and you will be directed straight to my office."

After this, a door opens revealing a butler and an armored man, supposedly the guard.

"I'll take the mage," the armored man steps forwards, roughly carrying the man away after Lupus handed him over.

The butler then looks towards us "I will take you to Mayor Flerit's office, please follow me."

Following the butler, I can't help but be in awe as I see all the priceless art displayed in the hallway. All this must be worth millions. At the end of the hall was a grand door, with a golden plaque adorned above it with MAYOR FLERIT carved into it.

Leaning towards Lupus, I whisper, "Man. This mayor sure spares no expense with her decorations. This stuff is amazing!"

"The celestial palace looks way better," he replies, not looking impressed.

"Well not all of us can be a celestial spirit," I sardonically retort.

"Oh just be quiet," Lupus says, ending the whispered conversation.

Reaching the grand door, the butler knocks, then opens it after we hear a faint reply.

"The mayor will see you," he motions us in towards the room.

Stepping past him, I'm greeted by a woman in her mid thirties wearing an elegant red dress. As she takes in Lupus and mines appearance, she gives me a quick glance, then directs her gaze towards Lupus, reaching out her hand to shake

"Hello, you must be Louis," she says, her voice slightly breathless, "I'm Mayor Flerit, but you.. can call me Carol."

"Wow lady, I just want my reward and I want to go." I mumble, however, she overheard me and sends a glare my way.

"Can you ask your sister to leave? Us adults, should discuss these matters." She says icily, but I'm not dismissed that easily.

Getting annoyed I hold up Lupus's key, "I'm eighteen, so therefore an adult; and Lupus doesn't need to be here to collect the reward." I take a breath before I chant, "Close gate of the wolf, Lupus!"

Lupus disappears with a flash as the woman looks startled before narrowing her eyes at me, "He was a celestial spirit? Why did you say he was your brother?"

"He said he was, not me. Now that you're done with your flirting, can I please have my reward so I can go?"

Huffing she picks up a bag, "Here. 500,000 Jewels and a celestial spirit key. Now please leave at once."

Greedily grabbing the bag, I swiftly make my towards the door, leaving the mansion and release Val from my backpack where I had her hide as we went into the house.

Searching through the bag for the key, I pull it out, looking at the silver key that ended in the shape of a bowl. "Val, this is Crater the cup! I don't even have to make a contract with it. I believe it can reflect any magic." Val gives me no response but she looks at the key curiously.

"I'll summon it tomorrow! Lets go find a place to stay for the night" I announce, clipping the key onto my dark gray, almost black keyring on my jeans. This makes six spirits. Val, Lupus, Leo Minor, Phoenix, Serpens, and now Crater!

Entering the hotel, I go up to the receptionist and ask for a single bed room for one night. After making up a story about how Val is a service fox, that the receptionist surprisingly bought, and paying with the money I got from the job, I go into my room, taking a quick shower and putting on my pajamas. Getting into bed, the exhaustion from working all day hits me and I pull Val towards me before whispering,

"G'night Val, I love you," smiling sleepily as she snuggles in closer to me before I drift off.

I opened my eyes lazily, the sunlight from the window streamed into my room. I must have forgotten to close the blinds last night. Oh well. Looking downwards, I see Val curled up into my stomach. Her cute snores making an appearance every time her chest fell. Slowly shifting her away from me so I can get up without waking her, I get up from the bed. Stretching out my back while yawning, I look towards the clock lacrima and see its 7:05. Crap. My train leaves at nine and I want to find a magic shop for a new belt and test out Crater. Making my way towards the bathroom, I take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and put in my contacts. After getting dressed, I wake up Val.

"Wakey, wakey Val!" I coo as she yawns, "Let's go get some breakfast." Hearing breakfast, she perks up at the mention of food. Val has an odd love of oranges, so she loves breakfast due to there usually being orange juice or oranges themselves at the hotels we stay in. Leaving the room, we make our way downstairs and head into the hotels restaurant. After eating breakfast, which resulted in Val consuming 7 oranges, we head outside.

"Excuse me sir," I ask a man passing by, "Do you know where the nearest magic shop is?"

"It's just two blocks that way," He answers, pointing towards the opposite direction I was heading before walking off at a fast pace.

Now walking in the right direction, it takes no time at all to reach the magic store. Going to the clothing section immediately. I spot, in the celestial wizard section, a black leather belt with mini key rings, big enough for one key each adorning it. This is perfect!I then spot the price tag being 400,000 jewels. It's a lot of money, but its perfect. It's even enchanted with anti theft runes so my keys won't get taken away from me. After buying it, and placing each of my keys in a keyring on the front. I leave the store, and make my way to the train station.

Reaching the train station, I walk towards the entrance, but before I reach it, I crash into someone who decided to walk into my path. Quickly catching my balance, I look at the person in front of me, or I try to, seeing that all I can see is a chest. Gazing upwards, I see a man with a lightning bolt scar over his eye and blonde, spiky hair scowling down at me.

"Watch where you're going kid," he says annoyed, pushing past me causing me to fall to the ground on my back, shielding Val from the brunt of it.

Getting up, I could barely contain myself from lunging at the man and knocking some sense into him, Nyx style, "You're the one who ran into me, so I believe you owe me an apology."

Hearing my retort, he whirls around, anger blooming in his eyes, "Yeah right. You're the one who should have seen me and got out of MY way, kid.

"Maybe, you should not walk into peoples paths like a normal person, Fluffy," I add that nickname when I realize hes wearing a black coat with fur aligned on it.

No response came from him verbally, instead a giant lightning bolt came flying my way, narrowly missing me as I swiftly moved out of the way. Seeing him prepare to send another lightning bolt at me, I quickly chant,

"Open gate of the cup, Crater!" After saying this a cup falls into my hands. As the next lightning bolt comes my way, I hold up Crater in front of me, facing towards the man and his lightning. I see the flash of yellow coming my way, arcing wildly across the open air before me. It was beautiful. Like a beautiful nightmare. It came closer, the energy coming off of it was intense. Holding up my hands, Crater faced outwards, the open cup beckoning the lightning into it. As it hit the cup, I felt the intense magical energy try to push me back, as Crater tried to work with the magic that suddenly assaulted it.

I hear a hum, as Crater starts to glow yellow, sparks coming off of it. Then I smell the sharp scent of chlorine. It's the smell ozone. A yellow light erupts in a bubble from Crater until it forms into the same lightning bolt, but only bigger. Now THAT is a beautiful nightmare. A bringer of death. It flies towards the man, who widens his eyes in shock and mouth drops agape. As it is about to hit him, I see him take a deep breath, pulling the lightning into his mouth. The whole lightning bolt travels into him, as he consumes the entire thing. As he finishes, I can feel the pressure of his magical energy increasing. Mini bolts of lightning erupting off his body as he smirks at me.

"What the hell?" I exclaim shocked, "How did you eat lightning?"