Chapter 7

The Broken Key

It was around ten thirty at night when Alu opened her door just a crack. She had been quiet for a long time, hoping that she would fool her parents into thinking she was asleep. And it seemed to have worked, for neither one came into her room the entire evening.

But for Alu - who couldn't sit still for very long - that was the most agonizing wait of her life. She hated being still for so long with nothing to do. It made her feel like she was trapped in a cage where boredom was the torture method.

At least it was over now.

Now, Alu was listening for the definite sign that both of her parents were sleeping.

And that sign was the sound of her father snoring and nothing else. Alu gave a grimaced smirk when her sensitive hearing picked up the sound of Natsu snoring loudly. He sounded like a Magic mobile with a bad motor.

"Geez," Alu thought to herself, "I'm amazed Mom can sleep through that. I can hear it from all the way down hall. Then again, I have Dragon hearing and Mom doesn't. So that might make a bit of a difference, but still. Anyway, now's a good time to summon Aries. Even if Mom's not asleep, Dad's snoring should cover up any noise I make."

After closing the door with the utmost care, Alu walked into the center of her room.

She then held out Aries key and commanded in a low voice, "Open, Gate of the Golden Ram. Aries."

The Zodiac Key glowed golden yellow for a moment before Aries appeared in a puff of pink smoke.

Aries was about as tall as Alu herself. She had snowy white skin, purplish-brown eyes, cotton-candy pink hair that fluffed out at the end, and two twisted brown horns on each side of her head. She wore a woolly tube-dress with matching boots that went up to her knees along with yellow leggings.

"Good evening, Alu," Aries said in a soft, cute voice. "Is something you need me to do for you?"

"Hey, Aries." Alu smiled brightly when she saw her friend. "Great to see you again. But if you don't mind, could you please keep your voice down? I don't want to wake my parents up."

"Oh, yes of course!" Aries replied in a whisper, becoming flustered. "I'm sorry! I'll keep quiet!"

"Whoa, relax," Alu whispered calmly, "it's not that big of a deal. I just had a question to ask you."

Upon hearing that, Aries looked up at Alu with curiosity.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry if this is rude, but I would think you'd summon Capricorn for something like this," she replied tentatively.

"Yeah," Alu shrugged, "but its been a while since I've summoned you. Besides, I think you could help me on a question like this. I'm sure Capricorn would understand."

Alu then looked bitterly down at the ground and grumbled, "Not to mention, summoning Capricorn takes a lot of my Celestial Magic. And I exhausted a lot of it on Gemini today."

"I see." Aries nodded. "Well, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

Alu looked Aries straight in the face.

"Do you know a Zodiac Spirit by the name of Aquarius?" she asked.

The moment Alu said that name, Aries jolted in surprise. She then stared at the young human girl with wide eyes.

"Um…" she hesitated. "I'm sorry, but did you say…Aquarius?"

"Yeah." Alu nodded slowly. "I overheard my mom mentioned something about Aquarius and a broken key earlier. I kind of remember something about the two having a connection, but I can't seem to recall what it is. I was hoping you could help jog my memory. Like, do you know how they are connected?"

Aries looked down for a moment began to fidget uncomfortably. She held her arms up in front of her body with uncertainty as she searched for the right words to say.

"Well," she said shyly, "I don't know how much I can help you, because I wasn't there when it happened. But I do remember hearing that Lucy had to break Aquarius's key to summon the Celestial Spirit King when Tartaros attacked and…!"

This time, Alu was the one who jolted in alert.

Tartaros! She had heard it before!

"Wait, now I remember!" Alu suddenly exclaimed, almost forgetting to keep her voice down.


Eight years ago…

A six-year-old Alu was in her parents' room, rummaging around in her mother's dresser drawers. Every now and then, she would pull out something like a necklace or bracelet and put it on herself to see what it looked like. She opened of different jewelry boxes and pulled out all kinds of beautiful things like pearl necklaces, bracelets ordained with diamonds or other gemstones, and dainty little earrings.

Of course, they were all made of imitation pearls, diamonds, and gemstones. But as a little six-year-old, Alu couldn't tell the difference between what was real or fake.

It wasn't long before she decked herself out in twelve different bracelets and had about seven different necklaces around her neck. The only things she left alone were the earrings.

Eventually, Alu picked up a small wooden box that had water waves ornately carved all over it. She opened the lid and expected to find a pair of earrings or a diamond ring.

But to her surprise, the box contained something that looked like a golden key hilt with a strange blue insignia on it.

Blinking in curiosity, Alu took it out of the box and held it in her hand for a moment or two. She turned in over and over, studying ever single detail and trying to makes sense of what she was holding.

"What's this?" she asked out loud.

"Oh, Alu!" a voice laughed.

Alu turned around when she heard her name called and saw her mother standing in the door way. Lucy had an amused smile on her face when she saw that the little girl was decorated with her jewelry. She shook her head and sighed. She then walked over to Alu and began to gently take all the jewelry off of her.

"Honestly," Lucy said with a laugh, "if you wanted to borrow some of my jewelry, you should've just asked. That is the polite thing to do."

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Alu said. "I just wanted to see if I could be as pretty as you."

Lucy looked up at Alu with surprise before giving a modest smile. She then placed a hand on the side of her daughter's face.

"You're very pretty the way you are, sweetheart," she said.

Alu smiled at the compliment.

She then suddenly remembered the key hilt she was holding.

"Hey, Mommy," she said. "Can you tell me what this is? I found it in that little box and I was just wondering what it is."

Alu offered the broken key to her mother. The moment Lucy saw what Alu had found, she gave a sharp gasp and cupped a hand over her mouth. Tears began to brim her eyes.

"Mommy," Alu frowned with concern, "are you okay?"

Lucy closed her eyes and wiped her tears away. When she opened her eyes again, she gently took the key hilt out of Alu's little hands. She stared at it for a long while before taking in a deep breath.

"I'm surprised you found this," she said in a sad tone. "But…I guess I was going to tell you eventually."

"Tell me what?" Alu asked.

Lucy stood up and walked over to the large bed behind her. She sat down on the edge of it and ushered for Alu to come over. Alu obeyed and took a seat next to her mother. Lucy looked as if she was about to speak, but then hesitated.

"Mommy?"

Finally, Lucy took in another deep inhale of air and looked down at the key hilt resting in the palm of her hand.

"Alu," she said softly, "do you remember when your father and I told you about the Tartaros invasion?"

"Uh-huh." Alu nodded.

"Well, this is connected to that." Lucy continued, her voice getting more and more emotional with every word she spoke. "Your father, along with many others, were being held prisoner by several of the Demons that attacked us. When I was the only one left to save them, I used this key to summon a Zodiac Spirit called Aquarius the Water Bearer, in hopes that she could help. Unfortunately, neither she, nor Loke or Virgo, were strong enough to defeat the Demons we faced. Aquarius told me the only way to stop Tartaros was to summon the Celestial Spirit King. However, he does not have a key of his own. So the price was to break a Zodiac Key. And Aquarius…she told me to…"

Lucy stopped for a moment and brought her hand up to her mouth. She began to tremble as she fought back the urge to cry.

Alu didn't need her mother to tell her the rest of what happened. For the evidence was right in front of her. She had to break Aquarius's key to summon the Celestial Spirit King.

Sensing her mother's emotional pain, Alu scooched over closer and hugged her. Lucy looked down at her daughter and wrapped one arm around her, kissing her on the head at the same time.

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Alu said caringly, looking up at Lucy with compassion in her eyes. "Aquarius must've been very special to you."

Lucy nodded, "She was my very first Celestial Spirit. And my first friend. Although I have to say, she was really temperamental. There were times when she would get miffed with me and threaten to wash me away with the tide more than once. Still, she was still a loyal friend, even if she did say she hated me."

Alu looked up with befuddlement and blinked. That didn't sound like a loyal friend to her. Since when does a loyal friend say that they hate your guts to your face unless it was out of playful banter? And given what Lucy had told her, Alu didn't think that Aquarius didn't just say that out of playful banter.

Lucy noticed Alu's reaction and gave a small laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I was just thinking on the past. Don't worry about what I said. You'll understand when your older."

Alu's response to that was a pouty face. That only made Lucy laugh even more.

"You know, Alu," she giggled, "you look just like your father when you make that face."

"You guys talkin' about me?"

Alu and Lucy both turned around and saw Natsu leaning up against the side of door, looking at the two of them with his signature grin.

"No," Lucy replied with a smile, "just reminiscing on the past. Something wrong?"

"Nah," Natsu shook his head, "just came to get Alu. I promised I'd teach her hand-to-hand combat today."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Alu exclaimed. "Let's go right now!"

Alu quickly got up, ran across the bed and jumped off of it, landing directly in front of him.

"Okay, kiddo." Natsu laughed. "Here we go."

Natsu then bent down and picked Alu up by her waist. She laughed at the thrill of being lifted up and wrapped her arms around his neck after he adjusted her securely in his arms.

"Just be careful with her, Natsu." Lucy cautioned. "Remember, she's still just a little girl."

"Oh, don't worry so much, Lucy." Natsu replied nonchalantly. "Don't forget, Alu's a Dragneel. She's as tough as they come."

"That's right!" Alu declared proudly. "I'm a Dragneel! I can take a hit!"

"That may be true," Lucy said, putting her hands on her hips, "but I still don't want you to get yourself hurt. And Natsu, I don't want you getting too rough with her. She's our only child after all."

"Don't worry," Natsu shrugged casually, "it'll just be some basic techniques and exercises. I promise we won't do any direct contact."

"Aw, c'mon, Daddy!" Alu whined. "I want to learn how to really fight! I can do it!"

Natsu looked at his daughter with a smirk.

"Think of it this way," he said, "once you've mastered the basics, then you can take a shot at sparing with me someday. But you've got to work hard at it, understand?"

Alu's mood quickly changed to eagerness. The idea of fighting her father in a dual to show off strength resonated very well with her.

"You bet!" she grinned. "Let's go!"

With that, Natsu carried Alu out of the room and headed toward the main door of the house.


Back to the present…

"That's right," Alu said out loud, her voice very pensive. "I was so excited about learning how to fight that I completely forgot about the key. And Mom…that was the first time I saw her on the verge of crying. I still can't believe she had to break a Celestial Key like that. I wonder…"

Alu's voice trailed off and she closed her eyes out of deep thinking.

"Um," Aries spoke up uncomfortably, "I'm sorry to interrupt, Alu, but if that's all you have to ask me, then I should probably go now."

"Hold on just a second," Alu said quickly, her eyes snapping open. "I've got one more question: is it possible to repair Celestial Keys?"

Aries gasped in shock at that question. That really caught her off guard.

"W-Well, I don't know!" the Spirit stuttered, her voice rising just a bit. "I guess it's possible, but I'm not really sure! I'm sorry! I just don't know how to answer that-!"

"Whoa, easy, Aries," Alu interrupted, trying to sound as soothing as she could, "I didn't mean to startle you with that. It's just that since I thought since Celestial Keys had to come from somewhere, it could be possible for broken ones to be re-forged, right?"

Aries thought for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I guess so. But I honestly can't answer that for you."

"Well, do you know of someone who could?" Alu asked.

Aries lowered her gaze and bit her lips. That was a sure sign for Alu that her Celestial Spirit friend did know of someone who could answer her question, it was just that Aries wasn't sure if she should say it.

Finally, Aries gave a small nod and looked back up Alu.

"It would be the Celestial Spirit King." Aries answered.

"Of course." Alu said, snapping her fingers. "Why didn't I think of that before? Aries, can you take me to the Celestial World so I can ask him about it?"

"What?!" Aries shrieked loudly.

Alu jumped at that and quickly cupped her hand over Aries mouth.

"Shh!" the girl shushed.

Alu listened intently for a moment for any sound that would tell her that one or both of her parents had woken up. She was really hoping that they didn't hear Aries. She really didn't want to be caught right now, not when she was on to something very important. And considering the trouble she already in with her parents, she wouldn't put it past her mother to take away her Celestial Keys as punishment. And that would ruin everything.

Luckily, much to Alu's relief, there was no disturbance. She let out a long sustained breath of air and took her hand away from Aries's mouth.

"Sorry about that," she whispered, "but could you try to shriek a little quieter next time?"

"Of course, I'm sorry!" Aries replied in a hushed voice. "It's just that…well…you know that a human entering the Spirit World is a breach of contract."

"But this rule can be lifted under certain circumstances, right?" Alu pointed out. "Mom and Dad have told me of all the times they have been to the Celestial World before. I just want to ask the Celestial King if he knows anything about repairing Celestial Keys. Surely, he would let me in for that."

Aries gave a small moan of uncertainty and twiddled her fingers. She was already uncomfortable with Alu firing off so many question in a row like a Magic machine gun. And she wasn't really sure about the wizard's request either. Aries had never requested an audience with the Celestial Spirit King before, let alone brought a human into the Celestial World. Although it wasn't considered a deplorable act, she could still be seriously punished for it.

Still, that look in Alu's eyes was enough to tell the Golden Ram Spirit that her key holder was eager to find out the truth. And if there was one thing Aries knew about this girl, it was that once she got an idea in her head, there was no stopping her.

"Well," Aries said at last, "I guess I could ask the Celestial Spirit King if he would have an audience with you. I don't want to break any rules or anything. Would that be okay?"

"Yeah, that'd be fine." Alu replied. "But could please be quick. I really need to know."

Aries was about to say something when a deep, commanding voice inside her head and Alu's startled them both.

"Aries,"

"C-Celestial Spirit King?!" the Golden Ram Spirit squeaked, her voice spiking with fear.

"Do not be afraid," the voice said. "Your key holder wishes to know if about repairing Celestial Keys, does she not?"

"Y-Yes, sir." Alu answered, trying to hid the fact she was freaked out about hearing a voice in her head. "I was hoping you could tell me about that. I know humans entering the Spirit World is against contract, but could you make an exception this time? I really need to know. If you know anything about re-forging Celestial Keys, then please you tell me."

There was a long silence.

"Very well, then," the Celestial Spirit King replied. "I grant you passage to the Celestial World. I promise that I will answer your question. Aries, please guide her here."

"Yes, sir." Aries answered with an obedient nod.

Both Alu and Aries waited for a moment to hear if the Celestial Spirit King had anything else to say to them. When he didn't respond, they both looked at each other and nodded.

"Well, we better get going." Aries said, reaching a hand out to Alu.

"Right." Alu replied, taking Aries hand.

Then, in a small flash of gold light, both human and Spirit vanished from the room.