Author's Notes: I returned from the grave! I won't be able to update this until next week but please accept this chapter as my apology for being gone for too long. As always, don't forget to R and R! Thanks!


Chapter 7 – The Betrayal

"I open thee, gate of the Phoenix! Icarus!"

Lucy felt the familiar warmth she felt the first time she summoned Icarus. It was a familiar-yet-unknown feeling – like something she felt even before meeting Icarus. Dancing flames of red and yellow illuminated Lucy's room in a matter of seconds. After a moment, the flames converged in front of her into one single ball of fire. "You better have a good reason for summoning me today, girly."

In an instant, the warm feeling was gone and replaced with annoyance. Lucy already knew that Icarus was unlike any of her Celestial Spirits. He was arrogant, narcissistic and overbearing. All of the qualities she hates merged into one body. "He's even worse than Ichiya," Lucy thought to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy replied. "I need you to tell me who you are and what the Black Keys are."

Lucy had never seen a Black Key before. She never even knew they existed before Icarus. Every Celestial Spirit Mage knows that every Celestial Spirit Gate Keys are separated into two categories: the more common Silver Keys and the extremely rare Gold Keys. There's never been a record of Black Key ever being found or used by any other Celestial Spirit Mage before. Not until her.

"Tch. What a pain in the ass." As before, the ball of fire exploded into a great burst of light before finally revealing Icarus' real form. Once again, the arrogant redhead was standing before her, arms crossed in front of him, an angry snarl on his face. "Why the sudden interest, girly?"

"I told you to call me Lucy." Lucy sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. "I've never seen a Black Key before."

"That's because we're not Celestial Spirits. Well, not anymore at least."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, now more confused than ever.

For a brief moment, Icarus closed his eyes as if he was pondering what to tell her. Lucy could tell that Icarus was hesitant about answering her question. But she wanted to know everything there is to know about the Celestial Spirit World. And that includes the Black Keys.

"You've met the old man, right?" Icarus' eyes were boring at her.

"You mean the Celestial Spirit King? I have. Why?"

"He's our usurper."

"Usurper? What are you talking about, Icarus? And who is this "we"?"

"You ask a lot of questions, girly. Those questions might get you into trouble someday."

"I don't care, Icarus. I want to know more about you so please, tell me what you know."

With a defeated sigh, Icarus dispersed the flames around him and sat beside Lucy. "There were six of us. We were the first Celestial Spirits to be born from the Celestial Sphere. There's me - Icarus, Glaucus, Oxylus, Boreas, Belenus, and Erebus. We are the first Kings of the Celestial Spirit World."

Lucy wanted to ask more questions. Icarus' answers didn't help at all. Instead, they just presented her with more questions like what's the Celestial Sphere or where are the other five Original Kings now and if they were the original Kings, why did they left?

"We didn't leave, girly." Icarus continued as if he just read what was on her mind. "The old man, the current Celestial Spirit King was created eons after us six. Back then he was just an average Celestial Spirit; nothing too noticeable about him. But I did. I noticed him and made him my friend. Maybe that's the reason why we never saw it happen, you know?"

"Saw what?" Deep in her heart, Lucy already knew what Icarus was talking about. But still, she needed to her it from him.

"The betrayal."

There it was. Lucy's guess was correct. The old man really did betray Icarus and the others. She didn't want to believe it but Icarus' face showed no signs of untruthfulness. All she could see was hurt. He was hurting. He trusted the old man and in return, he usurped the throne from him and the other Kings.

"But why would he do that?" Lucy couldn't believe that the old man she met and the old man Icarus just mentioned are the same. It's like they're two different persons.

"I don't know." Icarus replied. "Before I knew it, the other five were already bounded to their Black Keys. I tried to ask him of course. But he didn't answer. And before I knew it, I too, was bounded. I have no idea how long I've been inside that Black Key."

"Wait a minute. If you can't return to the Celestial Spirit World, then where did you go yesterday?"

With a sly grin, Icarus replied. "Inside you."

"Care to explain that without that stupid grin on your face?"

"Unlike other Celestial Spirits, I can take on my Spirit Form and rest inside my master. It's an ability only we, the Original Celestial Spirit Kings have."

Icarus went on and explained to her the past of the Celestial World, how the twelve Gold Keys came into existence, and how her mother Layla tried to make a contract with him. "She was very persistent, I'm telling you." he told her.

Apparently, during her adventures as a Celestial Spirit Mage, her mother met all six of the Original Celestial Spirit Kings. She tried to make a contract with them but they all declined her – not because she was weak or anything, but because all of them swore an oath to serve only the residents of the Celestial Spirit World.

"I did help her once though," Icarus continued. "You might not remember this but when you were just a babe, you were cursed by one of the dark mages your mother defeated. He gave you a flame curse of some sorts in reparation of what Layla did. Layla managed to summon me without a key and begged for my help. I cradled you in my arms, removed the flame curse from tiny body and told Layla never to summon me again. Who would've thought that the next person to summon me would be the same child I saved back then?"

He also gave her the locations of the other five Black Keys. "Glaucus' in Waking Sea, Oxylus' in Amaranthine, Boreas' in Highever, Belenus' in Calenhad, and Erebus' in Velder. I can't tell you the exact locations but they're there. I can feel it."

After a few more questions, Lucy let Icarus take a rest. She learned so many things about Icarus, the Black Keys, the Original Celestial Spirit Kings, the old man, and even about her mother. She had a lot of things to think about that night but two things Icarus said kept playing on her mind.

"I cradled you in my arms." She finally understood why that warm feeling seemed familiar.

The second one she's more concerned about.

"Erebus' in Velder."