So, tumblr helped me a lot. I saw a lot of theories and I settled on the truest one, so don't panic if you see some stuff changed when you reread this. I know, so amateur like, to change in the middle of the story, but I'm changing the previous chapters too. It'll make more sense, and it's only a few things. Barely noticeable.
Also, check out Faux Tales - Atlas. I, as someone who hates when authors tell you about songs, recommend this one. It fits the scene with Lucy and this spell so well that I just had to tell you. Try and listen to it while reading both scenes.
Lucy sighed when the strong magic she had felt seconds ago began subsiding back into her body. She had been trying to get the hang of Aestus Mercurius again, but such level of power was difficult to achieve. She hated to admit it, but Maya was at fault for her troubles with Fire. Once interrupted, winning back the element's trust was harder than trying to put together a thousand shattered pieces of a femur.
"Again, I am so, so, so sorry Luce," Maya mumbled, pouting. Lucy giggled. She was starting to remind her a lot of Natsu.
"It's alright, Maya," she said, shaking her head. "I'll eventually get it's trust back."
"That's going to be hard, period," Loke cut in, averting his eyes. "They're probably frowning at you from…"
He stilled at Lucy's glare and Maya's scowl, covering his interruption with a cough and a nervous laugh. Ivy raised an eyebrow at the scene.
The four were in Lucy's favorite clearing of the Forest Groove, Maya sprawled on the grass and Ivy sitting cross legged as Lucy tried to reign Aestus Mercurius once again. It was rather intriguing to watch her attempt at Fire's trust, but she was unfortunately failing. Had Maya not interrupted the blonde on the previous month of their meeting, she would have Fire in her domain. Ivy could only frown, somewhat sad as Lucy sighed at another failed attempt.
"Lucy," Loke called, in an inquisitive tone, "this just came to my mind, but… what were you thinking of when you mastered those other three spells?"
Lucy blinked, and swiftly switched her legs to sit in the same manner as Ivy's.
"Well, for Sano Terram, I thought about forests, woods, flowers, animals, anything to do with nature," she explained. Loke nodded, but he seemed unconvinced.
"But Sano Terram is mostly about healing injuries and all that," he retorted. "Did you consider that?"
"Of course I did. I also thought of…" Lucy began, and then her chocolate brown eyes widened as she saw his point, "… Wendy."
Loke smiled, and nodded as if for her to go on. Maya had stopped playing with Tullip and focused entirely on Lucy, noting the sudden change of atmosphere.
"For Venus Lucem, I thought of you, Loke," she said, ignoring his smirk. "For Urano Caeli… well, Wendy crossed my mind again."
"Maybe that's why Sano Terram and Urano Caeli are most affilliated to each other," he suggested. "Because you think of one person for both."
"And to master Aestus Mercurius… you must think about the first person that comes to your mind when you hear the word fire," Ivy concluded, raising his brow in astonishment.
Lucy felt her eye twitch when Maya burst out in laughter and Loke began humming teasingly. Ivy, gladly, just smirked slightly. The blonde glared at all of them, raising an eyebrow.
"Thanks a lot. Choke on yourselves," she muttered, face burning with red from embarrassment. Maya rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, Luce," she said, grinning slyly. "Your heart is yearning for fire. Gotta follow your heart."
"That's her catchphrase, for some ballooney reason," Ivy pointed out, raising his eyebrow.
"Shut up, you son of a whale."
"You don't tell me what to do, wife of the almighty troll."
"Seriously. You couldn't come up with something better, mermaid?"
"Merman, if you please."
"How about no?"
"I think it's time you go back underground, anteater."
Lucy glared at the two Dragon Slayers, puckering her lips.
"I think it's time you both shut up so that I can think," she warned, her eyes suddenly reminding Loke too much of Erza. He gulped.
"I think it's time you do that before she rips your throat off," Loke whispered in Ivy's ear. The blue haired mage coughed nervously, nudging Maya's shoulder with his own. She glared at him, about to throw another insult, but Lucy's glare told her otherwise, and she let her words drown in her own saliva.
"Okay. Good, some silence," she muttered, and inhaled deeply, slowly closing her eyes.
"Don't forget to think about Natsu," Maya blurted, and immediately regretted it.
Despite Lucy's homicidal glare and fuming crimson cheeks, Ivy and Loke couldn't avoid snickering through gritted teeth. Maya grinned, to which Lucy sighed dramatically.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde mage closed her eyes, her body once again travelling in that reservoir of serenity that meditating provided. A small frown usurped her face as she focused, focused to the point of breaking in a faint sweat. She worked memories, pictures, laughter, sounds, touches, all in her head, all related to Natsu and his irresistible grin and fiery temper.
Ivy and Maya felt their eyes widen to the size of an owl's when Lucy's body began glowing a flammable red, levitating clothes and golden hairs with the uttermost beauty. She looked like a goddess, the goddess of Fire. The glow was weak at first, but when Lucy gritted her teeth and leaped up to her feet, her body erupted in such powerful fire that the pair and Loke had to stumble backwards with a yelp, watching as the ardored blaze caught on the vivid leaves and wet grass to form a magic circle at her feet. Slowly, Fire began kissing its way up her legs, arms, fingers, neck, creating a striking halo of reds and oranges sprouting off Lucy's golden hair. Clothes burned off, flames began spreading around the clearing, and if it weren't for Ivy's barrier of water, him, Maya and Loke would have their legs aching with heat.
Almost like slow motion, Lucy's eyes unveiled open. They gleamed a fierce red, magic characters and designs making their way to her neck, as unbelievable as it looked. Her arms spread apart, the Fire almost worshipping her. As she chanted the holy words of such element, her voice was loud and extremely enchanting.
"In where the gates of Mercury harbor Heat,
In my body burns the soul of Fire,
Shall my power vent forward, shall it obey my will,
The will to fight, the will to protect,
The will to win, the will to rule,
The will that makes my knowledge burst strong.
Oh holy Hephaestus, hear my prayer,
I shall call your element forth and claim it as my own!
AESTUS MERCURIUS!"
As if the words of the spell were a trigger, fire burst through the whole clearing and beyond in a crisp thirst, yet in an odd beauty. Ivy winced at the unbearable heat, widening and reinforcing his water spell to a dome and standing on his feet to protect Loke and Maya, as well the Exceeds from getting in touch with the fire. Lucy's body was invisible. It was far too consummed by Fire that only her curvy outlines were visible. Maya grimaced, shielding her face with her forearm while Loke kneeled. The proud smirk in his lips was remarkable.
It seemed like eons before the ring of flames was tamed, and when they saw Lucy emerge, she wasn't alone. A man dressed in ancient greek ropes, reddish long beard and tuft of shoulder length hair matching his element Fire almost perfectly, materiallized before her. Lucy herself had her red plaid button-up shirt and denim shorts singed, and her chestnut eyes were still adorned in those abnormal scripts of magic. She looked brave and fierce, facing the God dead in his scarlet red eyes while the Fire surrounded her to make her resemble a warrior. She truly was one now, as she made eye contact with the God.
Hephaestus.
"Art thou Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Layla Heartfilia?" he asked, in a loud and superior voice. She stood with her chin raised and pride unwavered.
"I am. I have summoned your holy element, Fire, and wish to possess your wisdom and domain over it," she requested. She sounded more mature and serious this time, not as reluctant as she had been with the other three spells.
Hephaestus eyed her carefully, scanning the damage she had created with just a simple summon, and then met her eyes once again. His own were of a terrifying scarlet red, but Lucy never let her guard down. It seemed to impress him.
"Then my powers are at thy service," he declared, but instead of taking her hand in his burned and calloused one, he held it inches away from her face. "Thou has begun mastering the Fire, Aestus Mercurius, and art bound to this holy embodiment of mine."
Out of his hand, several binds of shimmering red snaked out and slowy wrapped around many parts of Lucy's body—her arms, wrists, thighs, ankles, neck and head. After one last stare at those dragon like eyes, she saw Hephaestus dimly disappear, but the red binds in her flesh only followed until he was entirely gone. Lucy blinked, and her eyes widened at the scathed trees and nature, watching the fire wheeze out from the plants and absorb itself into her hands and arms. As it vanished, her hands almost instantly turned into that familiar shade of green of Sano Terram, to heal the forest back to normal.
Lucy glanced at her palms, surprised at the Cure's willing action, and turned to check on her spirit and friends. While Ivy's pinnacle of water vanished, the trio stared at her as if she had grown a pair of wings and a tail, clothes charred and hairs tousled. Tullip was kneeling on the now once again green grass, wide eyed, and Jack was clearly astonished.
"You… are incredible," Loke breathed, and broke in a wide grin. Maya and Ivy soon followed, and they all began approaching her.
"Luce, that was awesome," she emphasized on the latter, holding out her hands in a dramatic gesture. Lucy raised an eyebrow, grinning.
"Even though I nearly killed you all?"
"You kidding me? I'm the Water Dragon Slayer here, I held it out well," Ivy snorted, and smirked. "But still, I agree with Maya. That was amazing, Lucy."
"Thinking of Natsu helped, huh?" Maya said suggestively. Lucy scowled at her, flushing pink. However, they all grinned when she smiled, looking away.
"Yes, it did," she mumbled, in a sing-song voice. Her blush faded into a curious crease of her brow before anyone could tease her. "But I wonder, why did I cause so much damage with Aestus Mercurius when with the other spells I didn't do almost anything?"
Loke tightened his lips, running a hand through his messy mane. Ivy's lips twitched in a slight smirk.
"It's probably because you feel such strong emotions for Natsu," he said. "The Fire must have sensed how devoted you are to him, and turned your feelings into magic."
"That sounds a lot like Fairy Sphere," Lucy mumbled.
"Fairy Sphere?" Maya repeated, curious.
"Fairy Sphere, one of the three Great Magics of the Fairy Tail Guild," Jack suddenly piped in, floating over Ivy's head with an intrigued look, "A spell which converts Fairy Tail members' bonds and faith into magic power. The spell protects the guild from any evil, an absolute defense magic, powerful enough to defend against even time. However, the sphere acts as a stasis chamber, a place in which time stops, thus everyone within the sphere is stuck in a frozen state in which they don't age."
"And I present you Jack," Ivy finished dully, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "He's pretty studious as you can guess."
"And correct," Lucy added, smiling at the gray haired Exceed. Jack smiled back, and settled on top of her blonde head shamelessly. She giggled, fingering his swaying tail.
"I've heard of it," Ivy said. "The Fairy Tail mages that got frozen for seven years, after Acnologia's attack on Tenroujima."
"You were one of them, weren't you, Luce?" Maya asked. Lucy nodded, pursing her lips.
"An experience I hope I never go through again. I lost so much…"
Nobody said a word, the mood falling into an uncomfortable silence. Lucy blinked dazedly at Ivy and Maya's sad frowns, startling the pair of Dragon Slayers with a cheery laugh.
"Hey, don't get all gloomy on me," she scolded playfully. "I promised myself I'd get two spells done today."
"Two?!" Loke exclaimed, awestruck. "Lucy, you do realize you'll probably be out of magic for at least three days? It is true that the grand spells don't waste a drop of your magic during a battle, but it's spent in this process of mastering them."
Lucy shook her head solemnly.
"I don't care, Loke. I promised myself I'd master them all, and I will. I feel the magic run strong in my veins," she said, stretching her arms to emphasize her words. "I can do this."
The Leo seemed reluctant, fingers fiddling in his hands, but he nodded.
"What spells?"
Lucy bit her lip, signalling she wasn't sure, but then Ivy came up with an idea.
"How about spells that match mine and Maya's magic?" he suggested. "We could meditate with you and help you achieve that required part of your magic faster."
Lucy raised her brow, pleased with the idea, as Maya grinned. Loke smiled, nodding.
"That's a great tactic."
"But won't that affect Lucy's… well, independence related to the spell?" Tullip asked. Lucy's shoulders slumped in defeat at the words, only for her lips to break in a smile when Loke shook his head.
"It only allows her to achieve that certain part of her magic inside her body faster. Mastering the spells is a process done by practicing," he explained, and then smiled widely. "Now, which spells match their magic?"
Lucy nibbled on her inner mouth, kneeling to grab the manual. After turning some pages and thorough reading—also noticing the Aestus Mercurius letters glowing red—she found one that might be fitting for Maya's aid.
Martis Vis, the Mars spell.
The spell that gathers both strength and properties of the Earth element that is most similar to Mars, it read, only this time, it is mostly about earth phenomenons and catastrophes related to the violent side of nature. The main attack that may be used is enhanced strength, enough to stop great weight like a heavy building with just one hand. It can also call forth phenomenons like earthquakes.
"The one that may be useful with Maya's help is Martis Vis," she said, gently throwing the book to the ground. "The Strength spell."
"Well, it's related to Earth. Maya will be of use," Ivy commented, smirking slightly. The short brunette hit him in the head, before sitting across from Lucy on the ground.
Both girls joined hands, and after a quick smile sent at each other, emerald green and chocolate brown went unseen. Lucy felt it, Maya's magic power seeping in between their connected hands. Stiffening her back, the blonde pursed her lips as the brunette's magic flowed into her veins, as hers travelled Maya's fingers and arms, and eventually both were engulfed in glows of distict colors. Maya's body erupted in an entrancing green while Lucy's turned to a golden brown. Their hands squeezed harder, expressions going tense as the magic level began growing, and just like Aestus Mercurius, hairs and clothes oscillated gently as the power reached the point of pouring out of each other's bodies.
Ivy and Loke watched Maya and Lucy slowly surge from the grass, fiercely grabbing one another's arms and pressing foreheads. The magic ranges in the air were rising noticeably, and it was surprising for the magic to already be achieved this soon. Maya's colaboration was definitely a boost.
And then, their eyes opened. They stared into each other's pair of orbs, Lucy seeing glimmering green and Maya fixating on golden brown patterns encripted in cocoa eyes. On cue, the whole land shifted, breaking in rampant trembles and wide cracks appearing beneath the girls' feet. The earth breaking was a problem to spectators though, and Loke took Ivy and the Exceeds far away from Lucy's summoning, yet close enough to see it happening.
Lucy and Maya withdrew foreheads, hands tightly joined as they arched their backs to enhance the magic dancing around them, only to make the glows brighten. Lucy's face gleamed with determination.
"Strength of ten men, strength of a thousand beasts,
Mars, thou who holds the mystery of power,
I wish to see your touch, and to possess your touch,
To consumme it and let it consumme,
As my fists guide my battles and my power goes berserk,
With Strength nestled deep in my soul.
I summon the holy Kratos and the wise Ares,
I beg to tame your power and inherit it,
To make me utterly unstoppable!
MARTIS VIS!"
The fierce earthquake and thick gashes on the ground were starting to become life threatning for Ivy and the rest of the viewers, and when they inwardly admitted they might get hurt, two figures appeared before the girls. They stepped back slightly from each other, but still joined hands to keep the magic running. One was a bulky figured man, with a short, dark brown beard and unruly hair, eyes narrowed and darker than oblivion. The pale robes were long and only covered his body from the hips down, showing the rippled muscles that symbolized Strength. The other, however, didn't wield any of those white ropes Lucy had been seeing. Instead, he was clad in an armor of gold and copper that covered all of his traits except his strong legs, his dark eyes glaring at her through the carefully built helmet. Upon their arrival, the dangerous earthquake calmed down and the cracks thinned.
Kratos and Ares, the gods of Strength and War.
"Art thou Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Layla Heartfilia?" Kratos inquired, in a low and thick voice.
"Yes, I am. I have summoned your Strength, and wish to possess your wisdom and domain over it," she half repeated the words she had said to Hephaestus. Lucy wasn't sure, but she could swear she saw a hint of a smirk under the layers of beard of Kratos.
"Then our powers are at thy service," Ares declared, through the metal in his head. "Thou has begun mastering Strength, Martis Vis, and art bound to this pair of holy embodiments."
They did the same gesture as Hephaestus, and Maya released Lucy's hand when strings of golden and brown magic began envelloping the same body parts as Aestus Mercurius, especially around her fingers and hands areas. To the brunette's relief, the aura of magic she had conjured for Lucy had faded into the blonde, not herself, marking the union as successful.
The pair of gods then disappeared, the disaster previously created now sated. Lucy eyed the glimmering binds vanishing from her body, smiling at yet another spell in mastering process. When she looked up to Maya, that smile stretched into a grin, and she couldn't help but pull the petite girl into a tight hug. Maya laughed wholeheartedly as both danced lightly around the grass, holding onto each other.
"I knew it was going to work!" Ivy said, laughing when the two girls tackled him to the ground.
The three fell to the grass in fits of laughter and joy, Loke and the Exceeds smiling at the scene before them. Lucy wrapped her arms around Ivy in the same tight hug she had given Maya, grinning so widely she feared her cheeks would rip open.
"Thank you, Ivy!" she exclaimed, and hung one arm around the brunette beside her to hug both of them. "And you, Maya! Mavis, if it weren't for you two… I don't know where I'd be."
"You don't have to thank us," Maya assured, winking. Lucy grinned even more.
"One to go, though," Ivy reminded, and squirmed to get Lucy's manual. She grabbed it, smiling at the glowing brown and golden letters of Martis Vis, and searched for a spell that could befit Ivy's element.
She was a little disappointed in seeing that there was no spell for water, but ice. Water was a component of ice, but by the way it was described, it seemed there was an easier way of achieving that side of her magic and it wasn't by combining her power with Ivy's.
Neptuno Glacie. The Neptune spell.
"The Ice spell. It can lower temperatures and control the element Ice itself, and it can be easily compared to Ice-Make magic. The caster can, for example, solidify the ground or summon a blizzard, or even shape weapons with the ice," she read.
Ivy frowned, fixing his position on the ground to sit cross legged.
"I don't get it," Lucy said, confused. "According to Greek Mythology, Poseidon is the God of the Seas, not Ice."
"Like you said, mythology," Loke piped in. "It isn't necessarily correct. The names are, somehow, but their domains and magic are slightly off the charts."
"Water isthe element Ice," Ivy stated. "But by the description… I think an Ice-Make mage would be much easier for you."
"That's what I thought," she said, frowning slightly.
"Why don't you ask Eira?" Maya suggested. Ivy secretly grimaced, knowing what would be the outcome, but remained silent, uncertain.
"Well, it won't kill me to try," Lucy shrugged, aware of how the petite ice mage was isolated from the world.
The trio, after Loke vanished back into the Spirit World, and along with the Exceeds, headed back to Dragon Claw with the sole intention of requesting Eira's help. All of their clothes were still burned and disproportional, but they were about to witness an Ice summoning. It wasn't long before they got them freezing cold. Bending over tree branches on quick steps, they got to the cottage of the guild, waving their hands to swiftly greet those who acknowledged their presence.
"She's probably in the library," Ivy voiced, and Lucy was guided by the two Slayers to the second floor of the guild.
"She's always in the library," Maya deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Ivy ignored her.
They quickly headed for the small library, and when the doors were pushed open, they confirmed Ivy's prediction. She was always in the library, just as Maya had said. Upon their rackety arrival, Eira gently glanced at them, only to go back to her tome of a book. Lucy inhaled slowly, stepping forward to approach the younger girl. A kind and polite smile was drawn to her lips, as if to lure her. Ivy and Maya watched expectantly, both aware of Eira's slightly cold character.
"Hello, Eira," Lucy greeted, tilting her head in curiosity. "What are you reading?"
"The dictionary," she stated bluntly. Maya was about to break in hysterical laughter, thinking why on Earthland she was reading that, but Lucy's warning stare stopped her intentions. Instead, she covered her giggle with a cough, feeling Ivy's incoming smirk.
"Why, may I ask?" Lucy inquired, and pulled out a stool to sit on. "Are you writing something?"
"Just because."
Ivy raised his eyebrows while Maya frowned, utterly confused and bewildered. Who grabbed the dictionary and decided to read the whole thing for no reason?
"Ah… I see you're just thirsty for knowledge," Lucy mumbled, and before the smaller blonde could retort anything, she went for the kill. "Say, Eira… I have a favor to ask you."
At her mere raise of an eyebrow, Lucy breathed in, and conjured a pleading look.
"The magic I use is called the Grand Spells of the Solar System, but I haven't mastered them all," she began explaining. "It takes an awful lot of time and meditation for my mind to find the the magic within me necessary to master the spells, but I learned today that, if I colaborate with a fellow mage whose magic is similar to the spell's, I can find that part of my magic much faster."
Eira just stared at her, with those doll like eyes and vacant expression. Lucy bit her lip.
"The spell I'm trying to master is called Neptuno Glacie, and is an Ice spell. It says in the description, in the manual, that it can be easily compared to Ice-Make magic. So…" she gulped, clearing her throat. "What I'm trying to say here is… will you help me?"
Eira blinked, leisurely closing the heavy dictionary. When she jumped from her stool, Lucy felt a slimmer of hope in her chest, until the short blonde just walked by her without so much as a glance. Only the word that doomed her.
"No."
Stupid Eira, who won't help Lucy. What to you think? Why doesn't Eira want to help? Tell me your opinions, PEPS.
REVIEW. I'm running out of threats. Oh wait, no, if you don't review, I'll stop uploading chapters and I'll keep writing them just to piss you off. EHEH.