4. The Celestial Dragon Spirit

Lucy woke up, comfortable under the sheets and wiping the sleep out of her eyes. It was a beautiful sunny day, so she decided to spend the time she had in the city. She needed a new pair of boots, because the previous ones were burned. She got dressed and left immediately while the others were still sleeping. She strolled in the streets and looked in every shop. She hummed and let the sunrays warm her face while dragging a bag full of groceries. Man, how she loved this morning.

"She's here."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Should I go for it?"

"No, wait a little longer. We have to be certain about this."

"I don't like waiting."

"I know you don't, but trust me. It's gonna be worth it."

"Fine."

Lucy noticed a strange force around her. She looked around, but there was nothing suspicious.

"Hmm. I think I'm way too stressed."

She continued her little walk and reached a giant garden full of flowers. A pond caught her attention and she sat down on a bench. She saw several ducks swimming and eating lumps of bread, tossed to them by a couple of old people. She enjoyed the breeze caressing her hair and the smell of lavender that dominated the air.

"I wish Natsu was here..."

Wait... wut? Why did that just cross her mind like that? Well, there's nothing wrong with enjoying his company, is there? Hmm... better go back to the inn before they start worrying about me. Lucy took her bags but something fell out. It rolled off the hill and landed in the pond.

"Oh, great."

She kneeled in front of the water and tried to take the thingy out of the water. It was too far away, she took her shoes off and stepped into the ice cold water. A chill went down her spine as she reached out for the object. She noticed it had the shape of a key, but it wasn't a key similar to the ones she had. It looked like it was made of crystal with a few silver colored diamonds on it. The key had a weird symbol on it, somewhat like tribal while the tip had the shape of a dragons head. When she grabbed the key, a bundle of golden light with blue stars started swirling around her. She got dragged under water by an inhuman force that she could not register. The pond was at least a few kilometers deep, although it hadn't seemed like it was.

"Lucy..."

A pleasant voice attracted her attention. It was the voice of a man. A huge bubble caught her and sunk to the bottom. Lucy didn't know what was going on, but she was too curious to try to get away.

"Who's there?"

With this, the sand began to spread and revealed a crystal door. She saw a keyhole in the middle and put the key she just found inside of it. When she turned it, a beam of light shone bright as hell and almost made her blind. With a disturbed vision, she was still able to see the enormous form that rose from the door. It was a... DRAGON? Amazed by its shape and beauty, Lucy could feel her voice disappearing and her heart racing. The dragon had a crystallized body and a prism of light effects shone from its scales. His eyes were blue and his wings and tail gracefully completed his magnificence.

"You finally managed to find me."

"What do you mean?"

The dragon laid down in the sand with its tail curled around his body and his wings closed.

"I'm Celes, the celestial dragon spirit. I have chosen you to be my owner."

Lucy's mouth opened wide and if it wasn't for her jawbones, her chin would have been lying on the ground by now.

"There are a few rules, however."

"Rules?"

"You'll see when we complete the contract."

"R... Right."

"First of all, you can only summon me once a month, secondly, you can't tell anybody you can summon me or how you met me."

"Does that really matter?"

"It is crucial. This door is a path to the spirit world, but it is a part that can only be entered by dragons, like me."

Lucy nodded and kept on listening.

"Third, you may only use me when you feel that you need me."

"So... when I feel it..."

"I know it's not much to go on, but I know you will be able to feel it when the time comes. Furthermore, the key that you hold now, must be hidden. Don't keep it with your other keys, because people will start to ask questions. The other spirits know of my existence, but they have never once met me before and I want to keep it that way."

"Understood."

The dragon let out a roar which caused Lucy to be thrown out of the water. She landed on something soft and warm. She looked behind her and she saw Natsu's face covered with eggs and tomato sauce. She couldn't help but laugh her heart out.

"Where were you, and what were you doing under water?"

"Oh... I... umm..."

"Look at you, you're soaked."

He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I know it has only one sleeve, but it's better than nothing, right?"

He showed her his toothy grin and made her blush.

"Come on, let's get going."

Lucy wanted to pick up the bags but Natsu pulled them out of her hands.

"I'll carry them."

Lucy blushed and nodded.

'You know, he can be a gentleman sometimes.' she thought while she chuckled.