Okay, wow! I never thought I would get this far in a story. Thanks to all who encourage me onwards! I hope this chapter is everything you hoped for and more!

Rhys

To my reviewer:

Ushindeshi: I've already revealed what magic Julia has.

X--x--X

Chapter Ten: Origins

Four Years before the Astraluna Incident

Lyra Luna knelt in their living room with her arms outstretched. Just in front of her was a baby girl clinging to their couch on unsteady legs.

"You can do it!" Lyra coaxed. "I know you can walk to me!"

The girl was just over a year old. Her eyes were bright and inquisitive as they watched her mother. A nearly toothless smile flashed across her face as her mother cooed at her again.

"Come on Julia, walk to Mommy!" Lyra begged, wiggling her fingers to help persuade the toddler.

Julia waved a fist back and forth. "Momma!" she squealed gleefully.

Lyra sighed, letting her arms drop. "You stubborn little thing..."

The front door opened, signaling the appearance of Lyra's husband, Miles Luna. He smiled at the scene before him.

"She still teasing you Lyra?" he joked as he closed the door and walked further into the room.

Baby Julia spotted her father, and with a squeal, she began stumbling towards him. Miles scooped up the happy toddler with a laugh.

"Dada!"

"Oh come on!" Lyra huffed as she stood up.

"Aww, you hurt Mommy's feelings," Miles teased.

Julia blinked at him and then turned her gaze to Lyra. "Momma cry?"

Lyra went along with it, hiding her face in her hands and pretending to cry. Julia became worried and reached out to her mother's face. She wrapped her fingers around one of Lyra's fingers.

"No cry Momma!" she said, tugging on Lyra's hand. "Hug?"

Lyra let her hands be tugged away and embraced her young daughter as she switched into her arms. Julia wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.

"All better!" Julia declared, pulling back to look at Lyra. Content that she had cheered her mother up, she wriggled out of Lyra's arms and was set down on the floor.

She took a few stumbling steps, before dropping into a crawl back to her toys. Lyra and Miles watched happily for a few minutes before they moved into the kitchen.

Lyra spokspoke first. "So did you find a job?"

"Several jobs actually," Miles replied. "A couple of them paid extremely well too..."

"But...?"

Miles sighed. "Well, most of them you wouldn't approve of..."

Lyra sat in a chair with an exasperated sigh. "Too dangerous?"

Miles sat next to her. "That's one way of putting it...I know you don't want me taking unnecessary risks, but one of these jobs would mean enough money to take small jobs here in town for a few months."

"Miles...I don't know. What if something happens? And what about Julia? Without you here..."

Miles took Lyra's hands into his own and spoke softly. "Calm down. If it upsets you that much, I'll just take one of the easier jobs. There's a well paying job helping a historian in the next town over."

"I'm sorry Miles," Lyra whispered. "Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Miles leaned in, kissing his wife softly on her lips. "For you, and Julia, anything..."

X--x--X

Lucy still held tight to Julia as the group had moved to the infirmary. She and Mirajane were bandaged up from the hits they had taken. Julia was completely unharmed, sleeping peacefully in Lucy's arms.

"Such power..." Makarov murmured. "I've never seen anything like it."

Mirajane knelt beside Lucy, gently pushing a strand of hair from Julia's face. "She must've destroyed Astraluna by accident."

"That's another weird thing," Gray chimed in. "We didn't find any trace of the people there. Even Natsu's dragon senses were drawing a blank."

Makarov appeared to be thinking. He had his arms crossed over his chest, head bowed slightly, and his eyes closed.

"I fear we may never learn anything from young Julia," he said finally. "With a reaction this big to something harmless--imagine what would happen if she were to be triggered by her memories. We know, now, that she is responsible for all the destruction, but we do not know why. And to make her relive it might just destroy all of this too."

The group fell silent, unsure about what they should say. Lucy stared at the little girl in her arms, frowning from her inner turmoil.

"Wait, what about using Gemini?" Gray asked suddenly.

Lucy looked at him with a confused face. "What do you mean--oh! That's a brilliant idea Gray!"

Lucy carefully maneuvered Julia onto the bed and took some steps back. The others followed her lead, some still figuring out what was happening. She pulled one of her keys from the ring and turned to face an empty space in the room.

"Probably best to do this while she is still out..."

"Open, Gate of the Twins!"

Lucy summoned forth Gemini, one of her many Celestial Spirits.In a flash, her spirit sprung into existence. They danced around in the air, happy to be of use.

"Hi Lucy!" they chimed together. "Need help with something?"

"I still don't get what's going on!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly. Everyone rolled their eyes in response.

"Can you imitate that little girl there for us?" Lucy asked.

"Okay!" they quipped before transforming into a copy of Julia. "What now?"

"We need you to look back into her memories for us," Lucy instructed. "It's the key to finally solving this mystery."

"Oh I get it!" Natsu declared, earning another group eye roll.

Gemini/Julia moved over to the real Julia's bedside. The copy closed her eyes, focusing in on Julia's memories. It was quiet for several long minutes and it seemed like no one had moved an inch. But finally, Gemini/Julia opened her eyes and turned back to the Fairy Tail wizards.

"Okay," she said confidently. "What do you need to know?"

X--x--X

There we go guys! A little backstory, an unusual solution, and finally a little headway in solving this mystery! From here on out, its gonna be good! Remember to read and review please!

Thanks as always!

Rhys