She, if one didn't know better, would have been mistaken for a dead saint forgotten in the darkness of such dungeon.
But she was the embodiment of darkness, dead, now, by her very own weapon.
Her own spirit was broken, sealed inside this even more broken body, incapable to even escape the prison her own body made up. Now, she thought, it wasn't such a good idea to get a flesh body…
However, she didn't despair. After all, this death wasn't the end.
It was merely a state of stagnation.
Her own weapon wouldn't be able to end her existence, but it would be able to kill her flesh body and trap her, temporally, until the Hexen would recognise its owner by the flowing blood.
Zeref surely knew that when he gave the sole piece of her weapon that he held onto, but he also thought at the time he would get to recover it, together with the princess he would "save".
She couldn't help but curse her brother the entirety of her slumber.
But that slumber didn't last long.
Ironically, Erza Knighwalker being the last person she saw before closing her eyes, it was Erza Scarlet that welcomed her the first second she opened her eyes.
For a moment, Lucy couldn't believe her eyes, and her mind even put the question if she was dreaming or not, seeing the relieved smile and the tears in Erza's eyes. Then, she felt something else hit her, but it wasn't cold as the sword that pierced her. This thing felt warm, surprisingly pleasing her.
"Lucy!" Her name was repeated through sobs as she finally recognised Wendy's voice, mixing in with Happy's crying. With the help of Erza, she was able to stand up and see that it was Wendy herself that hugged her.
"Welcome back," Erza whispered in her ear, hugging her from behind as well, not even caring about how the girl was resurrected.
Lucy was confused. What was with all this kindness?
"I'm… back?" She clumsily answered, stirring laugh between these in the room. She looked around, knowing that she was still in the ceremonial dungeon, as she called it, but she didn't realise and understand why were Erza, Wendy, Happy and Charla here, mostly because she knew Erza to be crystalised and Wendy to be also tortured, just as she was moments before.
"You're hurt," she then said, seeing Wendy's wounds. The girl couldn't help but giggle, shedding her tears with a smile.
"You're one to talk."
"Have you healed me, Wendy?" She then asked, seeing that there was only a small scar on her chest, standing proof of the hole that was there only seconds before. That would have been the sole explication, because even with her ultra-healing, it would have been too fast.
"More than that, she brought you back to life," Charla said, looked at the girl with honest tears of happiness.
"I guess I have to thank you, little dragoness," Lucy smiled to her like she would to a little sister, hugging her, the first time in her life she would do something like that. This act surprised even her, who later wondered why did she do that.
"What's the situation?" She quickly asked, trying to catch up with the events that happened while she was sleeping.
"As you can see, I, as well as Grey, have came to help. Gajeel discovered that the dragon slayer magic reverses the process of the Anima," Erza said.
"Gajeel is here too?" Lucy asked surprised, not expecting that. "Makes sense. He's a dragon slayer too. Then, Mystogan must have also returned… What about Natsu and the others?"
"They…" Wendy slowly begun, but couldn't help herself to continue.
"Seeing you in that way… They ran off, deciding to punish whoever did that. For him, Gray and Laxus, the shock of seeing you dead was too big," Erza continued, answering in her place.
"Lucy! I'm so glad you're back!" Happy couldn't restrain himself anymore and thus jumped in her chest, hugging her tightly while crying hot tears.
"There, there," Lucy shushed him like a mother would, petting his head with a smile on her face.
"We have discovered the king's plan. He… He plans to crush the giant crystal that floats in the sky in Extalia, the land of the Exceeds, and let the explosion between the two to let magic power pour on this world. Everybody is trying to stop the crystal from crushing as we're speaking!" Wendy said, the fire of passion burning in her soul.
"Then," Lucy said, standing from the broken block of stone. "We should hurry up too. There's no time to lose."
"Let's go," Erza too nodded and ran off, deciding to go after her counterpart, who most likely, by her deduction, was the one to treat Lucy that way, judging by the look she gave her when opening her eyes.
Now, seeing herself alone in this room for a few moments, Lucy quickly sought the sword with her blood dried on the blade. After kicking away some broken pieces of stone, she found the sword, her shard of the Hexen shining brightly upon the room. She smiled pleased, taking the orange stone out of handle, throwing away the sword afterwards.
"My baby…" She slowly whispered, feeling her weapon finally recognise her.
Then, she noticed the seven bodies on the ground and for the first time since she awakened, her eyes lit up and she smirked.
"I did say something about a snack, didn't I?" She mused to herself and, catching the seven souls in her sight, she brought terror even to the dead as they found their way to her lips and then to her stomach in shape of light ribbons. She couldn't help but lick her lips once she was done eating, the quantity of seven souls helping her restore her energy more quickly than she would otherwise.
"Lucy?" Happy asked, coming back in the room when he saw that the blonde was late.
"I'm here. Let's go," she said with a carefree smile. One wouldn't say she was eating souls just now.
Thus, soon enough, she found herself carried by Happy in the now grey sky of Edolas, heading to the giant crystal floating in the sky, as she commanded. She could already see everyone try to push it back from the land, showing that they came just in the nick of time.
"Happy, leave me on the lacrima and return to Natsu's side. After all, your partner is the one that needs you most, right?" She asked with a smile, enabling him to do as she suggested, without any regrets.
Now, Lucy was once again alone.
"Because they helped me, even losing precious time, my brother won't be able to get his hands on me… Thus, it's only fair to pay the debt back. And this will also be for my dear Jellal, not only for Fairy Tail… My final, last gift to you… Please accept it…" She prayed, falling on her knees in front of the lacrima, placing her hands on its surface.
Her long blonde hair floated around, carried by the waves of spirit and light released by her prayers. Coming forth from her hands, blue and golden celestial light came forward and was transferred into the crystal, which, as if it was filled with water and the light was ink, was quickly filled by that beautiful light. She parted her lips, a beautiful song coming out as whispers.
"I am the key which openth the path between the worlds… I am the inheritor of the sky and the keeper of its knowledge… Light my way and bestow upon me the treasure of words… Open! Oh, golden gates to Earthland! Open before me and return this magic to your gods of the human world!"
And so, a pillar of light rose up to the sky, nothing being left of the lacrima moments before. And in their happiness and confusion, nobody noticed a single angel falling from her grace.
Nobody but a single person…
"What happened?" Wendy was the first to ask, looking around for the now missing lacrima. A flush of air and flapping of wings attracted their attention.
"The lacrima was send back on Earthland," the object of attention said, being, in fact, no one than Mystogan, standing proudly on a flying creature with Lucy, also looking proud, in his arms, the two sharing a beautiful, almost sibling like embrace. The two members of royalty looked with kind and happy eyes to all these that stood before them.
"Lucy!" Natsu was the first to come forward, unable to believe that she stood before him after that ordeal.
"Hi, Natsu," she replied to him with a smile.
"Thanks to you, I could send the lacrima back on Earthland,"Mystodan added and, maybe for the first time in many years, revealed his face, shocking everyone. Lucy, as well as he, expected this shock, since he was, after all, prince Jellal of Edolas, the counterpart of the criminal Jellal on Earthland, with which Lucy was contracted as well.
"Thanks to you as well, Wendy…" He added, looking at the small girl. She nodded with a big smile, proud of herself and of her mentor, recognising in him her long since lost traveling comrade, which she in the past mistook for Jellal.
But, interrupting their happiness, the royal army appeared, Erza Knightwalker in the front lines. Panther Lily, to many people's horror, was among the first to be hit and fell.
"Are you raising your weapons to Edolas' crown prince!?" Mystogan shouted, for the first time in many years using his royal name.
"Prince, you say? Ah! Don't make me laugh! You left this kingdom and began to close the Anima on Earthland. You betrayed this world, Jellal! I no longer think of you as a son and yet, you do not seek to repent. You still stick with that woman!" The voice, obviously the king's, echoed in the sky and following an explosion, everyone was able to see an iron dragon rise from the smoke.
"It's not a real dragon," Lucy said, following everyone's shocked reaction. Her eyes were full of malice towards the machinery that sought to imitate the gods of the old.
"That's Droma Anim!" Chagot, the queen of exceeds exclaimed, fear getting into her.
"The Dragon Knight… They have completed it…" Mystogan frowned, the thought becoming displeasing.
"You're not going anywhere!" The king shouted, seeing everyone try to move and action, and Droma Anim shot towards them. It would have certainly hit if the flying creature didn't come in between and allowed the two royalty to rise their hands and protect everyone with a Mirror spell of Mystogan's, Lucy enhancing it. The result was that the attack, returning to Droma Anim, haven't caused even a scratch, even if it would have killed a lot of people if it hit anywhere else.
"How is that possible!?" Gray shouted, seeing the machinery not damaged.
"That thing must have a Dragon Lacrima inserted somewhere…" Laxus deduced, just before the dragon attacked again, this time the target being only one son. And it would have certainly hit if Lucy, pushing him out of the way even at the cost of revealing her tail, having had to turn in order to access the last bit of power left in her body. Thus, having fallen from the creature carrying them, barely avoiding the beam of light meant to kill them, they also fell into the empty of the sky, much to everyone's horror, who shouted their names as they fell.
"Don't you also despair on me, Jellal," she jokingly said, her arms curling around his chest in their fall.
"How could I do that when talking about you, Lucille?" He asked back with a smile, seeing her wings sprung out and carry them slowly to the ground, avoiding the certain fall to death.
"It's been a long time since you told me something so carefree," she mentioned, remembering the days spend in the palace gardens with him, being only a boy back then.
"I've got to ask, Lucille… What are you doing in an earthen guild? What happened?" He, to her disdain, changed the tone to a worried one. She couldn't help but sigh, returning to her human form.
"The Grail has been finally split," she said with a bitter smile and in that sentence, he found out everything he needed to know about her situation.
"Know that you will always have an ally in me, Lucille."
"I know. Our contract also demands that, but our bonds run even deeper."
"You've always been a strange one. I just can't image any other demon beside you talking about bonds," he mentioned with a smile.
"That's because they don't," she laughed, ignorant of the explosions heard above. "What are you going to do from now on, prince of Edolas?"
"I'll do what should have been done since a long time ago. But you, infernal princess, should return to this newly found family of yours. The time has come to put an end to this façade of world."
"They're not my family," she argued, with a frown.
"Whatever you say, Lucille," he found himself chuckling, not believing her words. Then, she turned around, ready to head to the battlefield once more.
"Whatever you do, Jellal," she lastly said, turning her worried eyes to him with a tilt of her head. "Be sure to return to me and Fairy Tail."