On the outskirts of Magnolia, there lied a small lake. Rumors said that on a full moon, fire spirits came and danced on the lake, hovering just above the water. The spirits were nigh impossible to catch, but if one managed to catch a fire spirit, they would grant you one wish; anything your heart desired.
It was on the shores of this lake that Eva and Lucy took their picnic. Eva picked a nice grassy spot near the edge of the lake that wasn't too far away, but wasn't close enough for her or Lucy to fall in. Eva sat carefully on the grass, setting her crutches within easy reach, and Lucy unpacked the picnic basket before sitting across from Eva.
Mira had packed them cold chicken, sandwiches, pastries and bottles of apple juice. Both girls dug into the meal heartily for several minutes.
"So, Eva, what was like being around Natsu when you two were younger?" Lucy asked after she swallowed a bite of sandwich.
Eva set her sandwich down next to her. "Honestly, not much has changed. Well, other than he's seemed to confine picking fights with Grey, Laxus and Erza. Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious. The topic never seems to come up in the guild, so I don't know what Natsu was like when he was younger," Lucy explained. "Other than he seemed to hang out with Lisanna a lot."
Eva smiled. "Yeah, he and Lisanna were great friends for most of the childhood that Natsu spent at Fairy Tail."
"Wait a sec, Gajeel said something about Natsu bonding with you? It's like some side effect of dragon slaying magic." Lucy said. She looked at Eva curiously. "How did that work when you were younger and Natsu spent so much time with Lisanna?"
"When Natsu, Lisanna and I were younger, all three of us used to play together. I was off on jobs and quests a lot back then, though, so Natsu and Lisanna played together by themselves a lot. But to answer your question, Lucy, Natsu and I bonded many years before he came to Fairy Tail."
"How?" Lucy asked. Natsu was very young when he had come to Fairy Tail, so it must have been when he still lived with Igneel.
"I was visiting Igneel, the fire dragon," Eva said. "He's a good friend of mine and he helped me finish my training."
"Your training?" Lucy asked. "Are you a dragon slayer too?!"
Eva looked at Lucy in surprise. "Didn't you know? I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer like Natsu."
"Seriously?" Lucy exclaimed. "I didn't know there could be two dragon slayers that used the same element." And Fairy Tail has both of them. No wonder people are afraid of them.
Eva nodded. "It's not as common now as it was in the past. Generally a dragon slayer has the main element that they are extremely adept at and that's as far as they go. Every dragon slayer has the capacity to master more types of slaying magic if they so choose; the training is much more difficult than it was for the first type of slaying magic, however, which deters many slayers. In most cases, the training for the second element is so rigorous, the slayer in question will merely adapt the spells that work with them and their first type of slaying magic."
"So it's like Natsu's Lightning Fire Dragon Mode or whatever?" Lucy asked.
Eva grinned. "Yep. He's adapted Laxus' lightning and incorporated it into his own fire magic."
"Wow," Lucy said. "Do you practice more than one type of slaying magic, Eva?"
Eva fidgeted slightly and looked extremely uncomfortable. "Er, Lucy, you're a Celestial Mage, right? That's so cool!"
"Yeah, I am!" Lucy took her keys off her belt and showed them to Eva. "The silver keys are common spirits, like Nikola, and the gold keys belong to the twelve Zodiac spirits. I have ten of them," Lucy said proudly.
"That's impressive, Lucy. Good job!" Eva said, a hint of pride in her voice at her new friend's accomplishments.
Lucy grinned at Eva. "Wanna meet some of my spirits?"
"Of course!"
Lucy stood up and walked a few steps away. She grabbed one of her silver keys and said, "Open, Gate of the Little Dog: Nikola!"
In a flash of bright light, a small, white, almost snowman looking spirit appeared. Lucy picked it up and carried it over to Eva.
"This is Plu," she said. Plu waved at Eva and she waved back. All of a sudden, Plu disappeared.
Lucy looked down in alarm. "I – I didn't close his gate!"
A brilliant flash of bright light nearly blinded Lucy and Eva.
"Don't worry, Lucy," a sexy voice said. "Plu closed his gate to come to me." A tall man in a sharp black suit was revealed as the golden light dissipated. "He had some very important information to give me." The man adjusted his glasses with a finger.
"Loki?" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
Loki grinned. "Miss me, Lu?"
Before Lucy could say anything to the flirtatious spirit, several more flashes of light occurred in quick succession, eleven in all.
As the light dissipated, all twelve of the Zodiac spirits were standing in front of Lucy and Eva; ten of Lucy's and the two Yukino contracted with, Libra and Pisces.
"What are you all doing here?" Lucy asked. They must all be here on their own power because Lucy knew there was no way she could have summoned all of them.
Scorpio grinned. "Plu informed us that one our own has returned to the land of the living."
Lucy glanced at Eva with a confused expression on her face but was just as bewildered at the expression on Eva's face. Eva was sitting in the grass, knees drawn up to her chest, her hands covering her mouth and there were tears in her eyes as she stared at the celestial spirits in front of her.
A muffled "Oh my god," came from Eva.
"I still don't understand," Lucy said, looking between the spirits and Eva. "What's going on here?"
"Eva is a Celestial Dragon Slayer," Ares said timidly.
"We and her dragon, Selena, trained her, baby," Cancer said, snipping his scissors in the air.
"They came to help me when I fought Achnologia," Eva said, her voice still muffled. She grabbed her crutches and struggled to stand up. "I'm so glad you're all okay!" Eva couldn't control her emotions anymore and the tears flowed freely. She slipped and fell as her vision was blinded by tears.
Loki caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her in his arms. He smiled down at her. "Hey now, no more of that," he said as he wiped Eva's tears away.
"We chose to come help you," Virgo said as she walked over to Loki. She gave Eva a hug.
"You're part of our family," Aquarius said. "We protect our own, Evelynn."
Lucy smiled. As surprised as she was to find out that Eva was a Celestial Dragon Slayer, she was overjoyed to meet someone who saw celestial spirits as family, just as she did. Everything that Eva had been feeling, that something had happened to her celestial family because of her, regardless of whether it was her fault or not, was the exact same thing that Lucy would be feeling in her place. She couldn't stand the idea of something happening to her spirits because of the consequences of her actions.
As the day wore on into late afternoon, the members of the zodiac returned to the spirit world. It was amazing to see how they interacted with Eva, someone, as far as Lucy knew, they had no contractual obligation to. She was a member of their family, no doubt about it.
At length, the only celestial spirit left was Loki. Lucy knew his magic power was vast, so she wasn't too worried about him tiring himself out.
Eva had over done it while the spirits were here, so she was fast asleep in Loki's arms. He laid her gently on the grass and covered her with his suit jacket before sitting next to Lucy.
Loki glanced over at Lucy. "What's up, Lucy? Looks like something's bothering you."
Lucy looked over at Loki. "I'm not jealous or anything, I actually think it's wonderful, but why do you and the other spirits have such a good relationship with someone who's not contracted to you? I love that you guys treat Eva like family, I was just curious why."
Loki looked out at the lake. He watched the water lap against the shore for a few minutes before answering his wizard. "A Celestial Dragon Slayer is extremely rare, Lucy. Before Selena found Eva, there hadn't been a Celestial Dragon Slayer in over five hundred years."
"Not many young wizards can handle the strain of learning both celestial magic and dragon slaying magic and then merging the two together," Loki continued. "Eva, however, is extraordinary even in comparison to past Celestial Dragon Slayers." Loki paused and looked at Lucy, who was listening to him intently. After a few moments he continued.
"Eva can summon all thirteen Zodiac spirits. At once. Regardless of whether we have a contract with a celestial wizard or not."
Lucy's jaw dropped open. "Seriously? How strong is she?!"
Loki sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Strong enough to be seen as a target by Achnologia, it seems." He took a shuddering breath. "Selena made me promise to protect Eva. I swore an oath to protect her with my life and I failed. I failed and she nearly died." Loki clenched his fist in anger. Loki stared at Lucy. "Do you know why she had to cast Fairy Shell? Why Achnologia nearly killed her? Because she didn't want any of us to get hurt protecting her. She sealed our gates and used up too much of her magic power maintaining it."
Lucy rested her hand on Loki's arm to calm him down. "It's not your fault, Loki. There was nothing you could do if she sealed your gates. Could you ask her to carry around the guilt if one of you got hurt or even killed protecting her?"
Loki sighed and relaxed and unclenched his fist. "No, I couldn't."
Lucy smiled reassuringly at him. "Of course you couldn't. That's why what happened to Karen bothered you for so many years."
Eva shifted in her sleep. "Natsu," she murmured quietly.
Lucy smiled to herself. She had to admit, the idea of the two dragon slayers being together was pretty adorable.
Loki stood up with a sigh and stretched. He carefully picked up Eva, wrapping her more securely in his jacket as he did so. "Come on, Lucy. We better get back to the guild before nightfall, or Natsu will send out a search party."
Lucy grinned and grabbed both the packed picnic basket and Eva's crutches, following Loki back through Fiore.