Chapter 13
Okay, so this is for having reached the 100th reviewer! Gigantic thank you to all of you! And then another round to FearMyLaserFace, who was number 100! Yaaaaaaaaaay!
Hope you find it satisfying~
I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! R&R!
Disclaimer: Slowpoke keeps Fairy Tail for himself.
On the Field, Dragon Realm – First Day of Training
Lucys' P.O.V
"Okay Lucy-sama, take a deep breath and feel the nature around you." Capricorn said. It was in the middle of the day, and we'd been at it since I woke up. I'd made a contract with him in the early morning hours before Acnologia woke up. Apparently, according to what Natsu told me once, contracts were a drag to watch being made. So I spared Acnologia the pain.
Capricorn was really good at things like meditation and whatnot, so he helped me to try to find the Dragon powers I had in me.
Capricorn, which surprised me the most when I called him out, was a hybrid between a goat and a human. He was extremely tall, if you asked me anyway, and was covered in goat-like fur. He had a pair of horns, which curled around his ears and pointed out. He had a little goatee, ironically enough, and wore black tinted sunglasses. He wore a suit, worn like it should, instead of the loose way Loke preferred.
Cut Capricorn didn't do it all alone; the Second in Command of the Peace Clan helped him out. His name was Alodiculis Mau'Te Rongo. I'd been told that everyone, not only the Head Dragons, had the same last name in each Clan. That was somewhat convenient I guess.
Alodiculis, like Silvia, was a silver Dragon. He was a lot bigger though and where Silvia was long and slender, feminine also, he was more gruff and seemed more muscular too. He didn't have quite as long a neck as Silvia either. His wings seemed like bird wings, but without the feathers. Instead of the soft ends the feathers would have given, they were a little spikey in the ends. For a change, he didn't have any horns or anything else to decorate his face. That was if you just glanced at him, when you looked closer, you could see the two small remaining stubs of two once mighty horns. His scales down the back of his neck, back and tail stuck a little out over each other, as if he wore armor. He just didn't, his scales were apparently naturally like that. His two eyes were a warm amber color.
For some reason Silvia was too 'busy' and just sent her SIC, as the others called the Second in Commands. I had a nagging feeling that Silvia really didn't like me, and sent Alodiculis in her stead. Not that I minded, I liked Alodiculis. But it still bothered me why she would hold such hostility towards me. I hoped that what Amelane would tell me would explain all this.
"Lucy! Focus!" Alodiculis' deep voice broke through my trance. Although, as far as I knew anyway, Alodiculis could be a little harsh with his words, he was really nice.
"Right." I answered. Glanasile and Dravola hadn't really gotten a plan done regarding my training with my Dragon powers, so for now I was just looking for them with Alodiculis and Capricorn, and when I found them Alodiculis and some of the Head Dragons would help me train them. After that I had close combat training with Loke, who I knew would love to help me. At last I had some training with the Spirit King, I wasn't quite sure exactly what I was supposed to do during his training, but I knew it would be about Celestial magic, that much was obvious.
So the plan was that I'd get up early in the morning and meditate with Alodiculis to find my Dragon powers. Around 10 Am, I would change to hand-to-hand combat with Loke, my combat Spirit who new practically everything about close combat. I think there was some talk about Metallicana wanting to help as well. At 1 Pm I'd train my Celestial magic with the Spirit King. Still clueless as to what we were going to do. Then at 5 Pm I would continue with Alodiculis and Capricorn again and go to sleep around 8 Pm, so I would be ready for the next day where I'd wake up early and start it all over.
While I did all this, Acnologia went somewhere with his SIC, who I had yet to meet, and trained with him, or the other Head Dragons, which were under his elements. Whenever he gained access to the other elements he possessed besides Chaos, he'd train with the Head Dragon with the same element. Apparently only the Head Dragons of the Peace and Chaos Clans learned the other elements, because they shouldn't be too superior to the other Clans. Acnologia basically just had to meditate to find his Dragon powers, I think, and then he'd train with them and… Well, I wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do while I was training, but I knew he was doing something too.
"Lucy you're not concentrating." Alodiculis sighed. I really wasn't, was I?
"Sorry Alodiculis, I'll focus now." I said, took a deep breath and exhaled.
I listened to the sound of the birds I hadn't noticed the other day chirping, the sound of the water rippling in the river, the sound of the wind rustling the leaves in the Socubedo forest and the grass around me, the sound of myself breathing and my heart beating in a steady rhythm and the small noises Capricorn and Alodiculis made when they changed their position. Without even trying, I heard them inhaling and exhaling rhythmically.
I felt the soft grass I was sitting on with my bare skin, I felt the gentle breeze playing with my hair and brushing past my bare skin and through my somewhat thin clothes, I felt the feeling of my lungs expanding and retracting with every breath, with the matching rhythm of my heart beating in my chest and I felt the presence of my two teachers nearby.
I let the scents of the nature of my surroundings, the grass I was sitting on, the flowers all around me, the forest, its trees and brushes, the scent of the wind carrying the scents of the people, slash Dragons, slash goat, around me, mixed with my own vanilla and strawberries scent wash over me in a rush of smells.
I relaxed all my muscles and went deep into my subconscious, looking for my hidden powers. Everything was dark for me, completely black as if the blackness had swallowed all the light and all there was left was this dark hole. Until a golden star popped up. It was big, much bigger than me, even when it was a little at a distance. It shone with a golden and warm light. It lit up the blackness with its golden light.
I stepped closer to the big star and felt a warm familiarity rush over me. The same familiar rush I got whenever I summoned one of my Spirits. Somehow I could feel all my Spirit friend on the other side of the star, beckoning for me to go through the golden light of the star.
Should I go through it? What would happen if I did? Was it dangerous? But it couldn't be, they were my friends and I loved all of them with all my heart. They couldn't be dangerous, except maybe Aquarius. No, not even her. But, if I entered this star, would I lose my Dragon powers? I wouldn't want to do that, not when I just discovered them. But if I refused to go through this star, would I lose my Celestial powers? I wouldn't want that either. Actually, that would be worse. I would lose all my friends if I lost my Celestial powers!
I heard a soft mumble of a voice far, far away. It called out again, this time a little louder, but not loud enough for me to hear.
"…U…Y…" It said again. I tried to listen harder, and this time I heard it. "Lucy." Alodiculis' deep voice rung through my mind. "Open your eyes Lucy; you've done enough for now." He said, somehow his voice seemed different from before. More… Human, I'd say.
I did as I was told and opened my eyes, looking into a pair of warm, amber eyes of a young man. He had a dark color of silver hair that sat in a loose ponytail, falling down over his shoulder. He wore a white tank-top and sand-colored shorts which reached his knees, both form-fitting. Between the two pieces of clothing, there were a silver, silk sash-like fabric, it was basically just a piece of silver silk he had put around his waist instead of a belt. Except it wasn't meant to keep his pants up. He wore nothing on his feet. He was, to say the least, really handsome. He was quite muscular, which he freely showed off, and had a near-perfect form. The young man had a hand on my shoulder, as if he had woken me from a deep sleep. I guess in some ways he had.
I couldn't believe my eyes. "A-Alodiculis?" I carefully asked, not wanting to make the man feel insulted if I was wrong. Could this handsome, young man really be the big and experienced Dragon that stood before me just a while ago?
The young man got a relieved expression on his face when I spoke and removed the hand he had on my shoulder, straightening his back as he did so. "Ah, good you're okay." The man said with Alodiculis' voice, although not as deep and echoing as a Dragon. So this was really Alodiculis? What did he mean with that anyway? Of course I'm okay. What could have happened anyway?
"Yeah, I'm okay. What happened?" I asked him, wondering how he could be so young. He only looked like he was about 25 years old, yet that really wasn't the age I'd estimated him to be.
He looked at me with a serious expression. "You were floating in the air with a golden light surrounding you." Alodiculis explained. "It was like nothing I'd ever seen." He added, looking slightly bewildered. "It wasn't like when Layla found her elements or worked with them, if she used her Dragon powers, she would glow a faint silver light if at all. You almost lit up the whole area." He told me.
One thing he said stuck in my mind, and the rest was forgotten. "Have you helped my mother discover her elements too?" I asked.
"Ae (Yes), she was a natural. It was like second nature to her." He said. Wasn't it in reality a second nature to us? Even more importantly, how old was Alodiculis?
I decided to ask just that. "Just how old are you?" I muttered, looking at the ground.
Alodiculis broke into a deep laughter. "Just turned 272." He smiled.
My head shot up and I looked at him, trying to figure out how he could be 272 and still look so good. "Wh-Whaa?! 272! How? You only look like you're 25." I blurted out, and immediately felt embarrassed after saying it.
He simply smiled at me. "I thought you already knew." He said. Yes, obviously you did. "We Dragons age to around 25 Earthland years, then we don't age physically to the age of around 450 Earthland years, then we change back to aging normally, which is in Earthland years, again physically." Alodiculis explained.
I looked at him with wide eyes. "R-really? How old is Acnologia then?" I asked. Could Acnologia be over 300 years old?
Alodiculis looked at me with knowing eyes, as if he knew more than I did. I didn't like that look. "Well, he's only 21, so you can calm down." He said with amusement shining in his eyes. I sighed in relief and nodded. How would I be able to handle it if he was older than Mas – Makarov? "Well, not that's over and done with, what did you see?" Alodiculis asked.
"Huh?" I asked dumbly. What was he talking about?
He sighed in exasperation. "What did you see when you meditated, Lucy?" He repeated.
Aah, now everything made much more sense. "Oh, I started out in complete blackness-" I glanced up at Alodiculis, who nodded for me to continue. "Then a golden star appeared. When I stepped closer to it, it felt like the rush I get whenever I call out my Spirits. I also heard their voices, telling me to go through the star, but I didn't do it. Do you know what all this means?" I asked the man in front of me.
He nodded and sat down on the ground in front of me. "Ae (Yes). That star was your Celestial powers. I think the Spirit King will work with this and probably knows a lot more about it too. I believe that you can train your Celestial magic if you enter, but again, you'll need the Spirit King for more information. Your Dragon powers will be a little like this, you'll know when you see it." He explained.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Can't you describe what it looks like?" I asked as politely as I could.
He shook his head. "Káo (No), it's different from person to person." He said. "I can tell you how mine looks though." I nodded. Maybe it could help me recognize how mine would look. "For me, when I enter the darkness, just like you-" He nodded his head in my direction, gesturing to me. "A glowing silver shield appears. At first, when I was a little boy, the image wasn't as strong, but over time, as I got older and got more experienced with using my magic, the shield gradually began to glow in a stronger light." Alodiculis explained.
I nodded, that seemed about right I guess. "Okay…" I trailed off. "When do you think my powers will appear?" I asked, looking into his amber eyes
He shrugged a little. "It's hard to tell. As far as I am aware, they can emerge at any given moment." He told me. "But it is not time for that now, you training with Capricorn and I has ended. You should call out Loke for close combat training." Alodiculis said.
Speaking of Capricorn… I looked around me and didn't see the goat-man anywhere. "Where is Capricorn?" I asked.
Alodiculis sweat dropped. "You're really slow, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. I looked at him for answers. "Capricorn went to the Spirit World all out of nowhere when you began glowing." He explained.
I made an 'o' with my mouth and nodded understandingly. "Oh. Thank you Alodiculis." I smiled at him as he surrounded himself in a silver glow and transformed back to a Dragon. "See you later!" I yelled after him as he flew away, giving me a nod as reply.
Alright, so close combat it is. I looked through my keys and found the key I was looking for. "Open the Gate of the Lion! Leo!" I yelled and out of the usual light came my Lion Spirit.
He pushed his glasses up with two fingers. "Your knight in shining armor has appeared Princess." He smirked.
Around three hours later ~
Lucys' P.O.V
I tried blocking the punch that came flying in from my right, but it was already too late as it flowed past my defenses and connected with my gut. I coughed out saliva with the impact with my two arms over my stomach and fell to my knees. Why was I so weak?
Loke pulled his fist back with a frown on his face. "Why didn't I notice this grand weakness of yours and trained it? I'm not even using a quarter of my full power and every single hit has landed." He said.
I looked up at him, and, although I hated to admit it, I was a little frightened. He hadn't even used a quarter of his full power. Just how weak was I?
Loke looked me from to up to down and back again. He sighed and pushed his glasses up with two fingers. "You look all bruised and battered too." He told me.
I looked down at myself. It couldn't be that bad, could it?
Oh, how it could. I didn't think I had ever looked so beat, it really was bad. My skin was blue almost everywhere I looked, and if not, there were small scratches to cover that up. I'd gotten those every time I fell to the ground, I guessed. My clothes were torn, especially in the ends, and there were a big hole in the middle of my shirt, in the stomach-region.
Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little, but I really didn't look good, and my muscles screamed for me to stop and lie down without moving the rest of the week. How could simple hand-to-hand combat do all that? Yeah sure, we'd been fighting – no scratch that – Loke had utterly and completely beat me up in the last three hours, but even so.. How could I be so beat up?
I nodded, panting heavily. "Yeah… I guess…. I am…" I said in between pants.
He looked down at me with worried eyes as I tried to straighten my back, but couldn't and was about to fall to the ground, when he caught me before I fell. I winced and closed my eyes in pain, trying to keep my face neutral, as he pressed his hand into my hip to steady me. Loke threw my weak arm over his shoulder just as my legs turned to jelly.
He pulled me and himself up so he stood straight, while I had my back somewhat bowed. "Shall I take care of you, my Princess?" He asked with an amused smirk in his voice.
Before I could say anything flaps of mighty wings were heard somewhere not too far away. I opened one eye and looked in the direction of the noise.
Grandine landed perfectly a few meters away and walked toward us. What perfect timing. "I don't think Acnologia would be happy with that." She said, sending knowing eyes to Loke. I was too tired to try and figure out what she was hinting at, I just moaned in exhaustion and pain as an answer and closed my heavy eyes again. "Loke, please get her on the ground." Grandine ordered. Loke did as told and gently put me down on the ground. As soon as my back touched the ground, I whimpered again. "Careful!" Grandine snapped at Loke.
I felt a wind rush by and soon after, a delicate hand gently pushing and touching different part of my injured body. I tried not to say anything, but it just hurt so much! In the end, I either moaned, whimpered or made other pitiful noises whenever those fingers, which I guessed was Grandines', touched me.
After some time of pressing and touching the finger were removed from my aching form. "How could she get this beat up?" Grandine asked. I felt a rush of peace and relaxation surge through my muscles and my breath evened out.
"I don't know." Loke sighed. Well of course he did. He was the one who put me in this condition after all. Or had he forgotten? "But it clearly shows we have to work on it. I've gotten somewhat of an idea as to which parts needs most work." He said.
I felt the pain leaving my muscles slowly. "So which parts are these?" Grandine asked. There's more than one?
Loke sighed again. He'd done that a lot, hadn't he? "Everything." He simply said.
Everything? Wasn't there even something that was average? Well, on the other hand, I never really practiced close combat either, so it wasn't too big of a shock.
Grandine sighed. Her too? "I figured as much." What? Wow, thanks for your faith in me guys. "Layla wasn't the greatest at hand-to-hand combat either." She continued. Did this weakness lie in the genes then? I opened my eyes and looked directly up at the blue, cloudless sky.
"Well, we'll have to change that." Loke said.
I turned my blurred sight to the closest face. It was a lady with light blue, almost white, long hair which was set in a middle-high ponytail, with a braid going from her sides, just above her ears and back to the ponytail, where they worked as a kind of hair band. She had the most beautiful face I'd ever seen, a small, delicate nose, not too small, and two a little small, perfectly fitting ears on each side of her head, nice and delicate lips and two big, light blue eyes. From then on I couldn't see more of the woman, my sight was simply too blurred.
She didn't look at me, but at something on the other side of me. "Ae (Yes), we really do." She agreed with her beautiful, clinging voice. So the one she was looking at was probably Loke and this beautiful lady surely was Grandine. She looked down at my bruised body, where her delicate hands hovered over my stomach, her hands engulfed in a faint blue-green light, instead of looking into my eyes. Maybe she hadn't realized I had opened my eyes. "He sure wouldn't like this." Grandine muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. She looked up at Loke again. "Try to be a little more gentle with her, will you?" She asked.
I heard clothes rustle to my right, but my neck hurt too much for me to turn my head in the direction of the sounds. "It's the only way to go about it, really. It's how she learns it the best and gains experience as well as skill, which is exactly what she needs." Loke explained. I agreed with my Spirit, it really was what I needed.
I coughed, gaining their attention quite efficiently. "It… Really is… the only way." I said with a dry throat and a low voice.
Grandine looked at me with concern shining in her beautiful, sky blue eyes. "Are you sure Lucy?" I nodded weakly. "If it's what you want, then I won't stop you." She slowly said, briefly glancing at her hand, which calmly pulsed in the light blue-green light. And then back at me again. "Are you okay Lucy?" She asked, concern lacing her voice.
I nodded. My head cleared up and I felt no pain whatsoever, my sight was clear again too. I smiled at the beautiful lady. "Yeah, I'm fine." I answered her.
She smiled down at me. "Good, I'm almost done too." She said. I sighed in relief. Shortly after, she straightened her back and moved her hands away. "Done." She smiled.
I got up in a sitting position with Lokes' hand on my back to help me. Sometime along the way, during Grandines' and my conversation, he'd moved over to us and sat on his legs next to me.
I smiled to my Spirit as a 'thank you' and moved a little around with my arms and legs. I felt nothing. I looked at Grandine with a wide smile. "All's perfect!" I said.
Grandine winked at me. "Well, what did you expect? I am the Sky Clans' Head Dragon after all." She said.
I nodded. "I expected it to be nothing short of perfect, I'm used to Wendy after all." I said.
"I guess you are." She said and got up on her feet, brushing away non-existent dirt. She wore a white dress which sat tight at the top, showing off her big chest and soft curves just like it should, it loosened at the hip and fell in layers of sky blue and white fabric. It reached down just above her knees. The thin spaghetti-straps, which held the dress in place, were small, white feathers, much like those that went down her back and her wings when she was in her Dragon form. Quite surprisingly, she was barefoot, which didn't quite fit the dress, if you thought about it, but when Grandine wore it, it really didn't matter. She could wear anything. She looked back down at us. "I'll head off back to my Clan. Originally I only came to see how you had progressed, not to save you from that Lions' claws." She said.
Loke looked at Grandine with a hard glare. "It wasn't my intention to seriously hurt her, which I didn't, and you know that." He stated calmly. I turned my head to my orange haired friend. What did he mean 'didn't want to seriously hurt her and I didn't'-crap? If he didn't hurt me just then, what did he?
I thought back on the many battles I'd been through. Maybe he meant 'serious injuries' as in 'broken bones'. If that was the case, he truly didn't seriously hurt me. He'd only scratched me then. Which meant that I was even weaker in close combat than I first thought. Well, wasn't that just great?
Grandine looked down at Loke with soft eyes. "Ae (Yes) I know Loke. I can feel that you, not only because you're her Spirit, but also at a personal level, take pride in protecting Lucy. I know you'd do anything to keep her safe, I can see it in your eyes and the way you act around her. Make no mistake in that." Grandine told him.
Say what? She could read all that just by watching him? What an observant eye she possessed.
Neither Loke nor I said anything as a whirlwind surrounded the woman and she turned into a Dragon. She looked back at Loke again. "And that's exactly why you must consider if there's another way to go about this." She said and flew away.
A bright golden light appeared in front of Loke and me before we could do or say anything. The golden light was similar to the light that appeared every time I summoned a Spirit, except much stronger.
I remembered seeing this light sometime long ago. Moustache-Man, it could really only be him. And right as I was, the Spirit King appeared in front of us in all his might.
He looked down at the two of us and smiled. "Hrm… What's all this?" He fell unceremoniously to his butt and sat with his legs crossed. He looked at me and smiled. "Are you ready for your training Lucy, Master of Leo, my old friend, and many other Spirits?" He asked.
I looked up at the big guy, moping at the sheer size of him. I'd completely forgotten just how big he was. I collected myself and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." I said.
He smiled again, this time with closed eyes, like some kind of old grandfather. "Ah, that's good." He opened his eyes and the smile dropped. With a thoughtful look, he played with his long and weird beard. "Where to start..?" He mumbled to himself. "Hrm… Well, I'll start with telling you what this training is and what it'll do." He ended off.
Wouldn't it all make me stronger? Wasn't that what all this was supposed to result with? I nodded, urging him to continue. I was curious as to what I was going to do with my Celestial magic training.
"We'll work with your summoning technique, the one you're using right now simply uses too much magic." He stated.
I looked up at him with a stunned expression. "There's another way to open Spirit Gates?" I asked. "I only ever thought there was one way." I said. I'd never heard another way to open a Spirit Gate.
Moustache-Man nodded. "Yes, there's another way to summon your Spirits that costs way less magic." He began lost in thought for a moment. "In the last 100 years, only one person has discovered this other way." He looked down at me with a knowing look. "You know her actually." He told me. I knew her? Could it be my Mama? "It was Angel from Oración Seis, I'm sure you remember her."
I sure did. She was the one who taught me the relationships between Spirits and the one I got Gemini, Aries and Scorpio from. She also was the only other Celestial mage I had ever met so far. If you didn't count my Mama. I nodded. "Yeah, I remember her."
"She could call out two Spirits at the same time, because she used this technique. If she didn't, she would only be able to call one out, just like you." The Spirit King explained. I remembered how surprised I'd been when I saw her call out Caelum and Gemini at the same time. "So we'll teach you to do it that way. Then, which Angel never discovered, we'll also teach you how to call out your Spirits without incantation." He said as if it wasn't too shocking.
"Wh-Whaa?! Can you even do that? Isn't it supposed to be extremely hard? Like, using-your-whole-life-on-it-hard?" I asked rapidly one after another. And how could he say it so calmly?
Moustache-Man smirked. "I never said anything about my training being easy." He began playing with his oversized moustache again. Seriously, why did he do that? "Also, you have a lot more magical power because you're a Dragon-" Obviously he'd know that too. "So it'll be easier and faster to teach you than any other ordinary human." Well that made sense, I guessed. A Dragon, a magical creature, would naturally have more magic than a non-magical creature like an ordinary human. Then there are those in between, the mages, but they are something in between.
Moustache-Man clasped his hands together and looked expectantly at me. "Well, let's get started then!" He said. I nodded and was about to stand up. "No, just remain sitting. During our training, at least today, you'll be meditating." Again? "I heard from Capricorn, who heard from Alodiculis, that you've discovered you Celestial powers in the black abyss. I also heard that you didn't enter it. That's good, because you'll enter it now. You'll know what to do in there once you enter. It'll be hard, but I'm sure you can do it." He said secretively.
I raised my eyebrow at him and looked at him incredulously. How would I know I wouldn't be losing my Dragon powers if I did that? Also, why did he have to be so secretive? It made me feel like I couldn't trust him, which was ridiculous.
"He's right, you know." Loke said, sitting on the ground next to me. "I know you'll pull through." He smiled. "And if you fall, I'll catch you~!" He reassured me.
I sweat dropped. "Please don't." I turned back to the Spirit King without waiting for a response from Loke. "Should I just start?" I asked the big guy.
He nodded. "Yeah, you can start whenever you feel ready." He said.
I gave him a nod, straightened my back, crossed my legs and closed my eyes. I let my senses be overpowered by the nature, and, faster than before, I found myself surrounded by the blackness. It was just as black as it was before; it was like it swallowed all the light around, just like a black hole.
The bright, golden star began glowing brightly a little to my left. It shone so bright it lit up the darkness around it, much like it did before.
I stepped closer to the star and felt the familiar rush of my Spirits. I stepped closer, feeling the pull of the star, so I stood a few feet away from the star. I heard the gentle voices of my Spirits calling to me, saying I should enter the star. Except Aquarius, she was screaming at me.
"You little bitch! Get over here already!" Her voice cut sharply through the others'. I sweat dropped at the usual antics of my Mermaid Spirit. Yearp, that was Aquarius alright.
I walked up to the star so I stood right in front of it. It towered up high over me and bathed me in its golden light. I felt a strong urge to enter. It wouldn't cancel out my Dragon powers. If it did, the Spirit King probably wouldn't have sent me in here without telling me at least. Alodiculis never said anything about it either, so it couldn't be too bad, could it?
I took a step forward and let the golden light engulf me. It felt nice and familiar, as if it welcomed me. For a second all I could see was a bright, white light, but then I stepped into a room where I felt like I was standing amidst the stars in the dark, night-blue sky. The small stars twinkled in the dark sky just like in the 'real' life.
A meteor danced around on the starry night sky and every time it touched a special star, the star grew bigger and the meteor bounced on to the next star and did the same there, like a pinball game. When it hit the last star, the meteor quickly died out. I found myself being completely and utterly hypnotized by it as it had bounced around, and was still mesmerized by everything around me.
The enlarged stars stood bright and proud on the night sky and twinkled a lot more than all the other stars together, they almost lit up the darkness of the night. A thick red line appeared at the first enlarged star and followed the path the meteor had taken just moments ago.
When all the stars were connected, I recognized the symbol it had made. It was the Canis Minor constellation, the one on Plues' key.
The Canis Minor constellation minimized and Plues' key appeared around it, with the minimized constellation as the symbol on the end of the key. It slowly floated over to me and hovered in front of my face, as if waiting for me to do something. I slowly stuck my hands out next to each other, palms facing upwards. The Silver key slowly fell down and landed in my open hands. I felt the familiar key in my hand, it felt a little warm, but in a very comfortable way.
I held the key in front of my face in one hand. What did all this mean? What was I supposed to do with Plues' key? Moustache-Man said I would know what to do, but I didn't. My free hand automatically found its way to my waist, where my keys were in the little pouch, but the pouch was completely empty. I looked around frantically in search of my keys. Where were my keys? I couldn't have lost them, could I? Ohh, Aquarius would be so mad, I didn't think I would survive that one.
Do not worry. A little voice said, interrupting me in my frantic search. I looked up and around to find the owner of the voice, but there was only me. Your keys are not gone. It continued. I noticed it wasn't just one voice, it was many small ones.
"Where are you?" I asked, my voice echoing through the starry sky, and still looking for the owners of the voices. "Show yourselves!"
We are already visible all around you. The voices said.
"Who are you?" I asked, more calmly, but not understanding what the voices were hinting.
We are the stars you see all around you and we will guide you when you enter our world. They told me.
I looked around at the twinkling stars. They somehow seemed to be waving at me when I looked at them. I nodded, accepting their explanation. "Okay, so where are my keys?" I asked. They would know, wouldn't they? They almost indirectly said they did.
You have not yet earned the right to use them here in our world. They answered. What was that supposed to mean? What rights did I need to call out my Spirits?
"What do you mean? Why don't I have my keys?" I asked, clutching Plues' key close to my chest. "What about the 'outside' world?" I asked consecutively, not giving them any time to answer.
Your keys are only gone in our world. They reassured me. I sighed in relief, so I hadn't lost my keys. However to regain your keys in our world, you will have to prove to us that you are worthy of doing so. That you have the desired strength to have them. They continued.
I looked around curiously. "How do I prove to you that I am strong enough and worthy of my keys?" I asked the sky. To be honest, I felt a little ridiculous talking to the sky like that.
You call out your Spirits in our world.They said. Until you are able to call out your Spirit, it is not yours and you are unable to ever use their full power. They told me quite plainly. A little too plainly, if you asked me.
"So I just call out Plue, and then I will own his key in your world and use his full power in the 'outside' world?" I asked, just to be sure. Whatever power he had.
Yes. The stars simply said.
Well that was simple enough. I pointed Plues' key out in my usual stance. I drew on my magic and sent it into the Silver key in my hand, just like I always had. "Open Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!" I yelled. The key glowed a faint golden light, but apart from that, nothing happened. "What? What happened?" I pulled the key back and turned and twisted it in front of me to find a difference on this key and the key I knew from the 'outside' world. I couldn't find any differences though; they were like two drops of water.
You didn't use your true power.The stars told me. I looked up and around at them. Why did they have to say everything in such riddles? I guessed with 'true' they meant 'full', some people called full power for true power. So I had to use my full power, did I? But this was just Plue, I didn't need my full power for him. Try again using your true power. They urged me on.
This would be a little overkill, but alright. I drew on all my power surges. I felt my hair begin to float around my head as if there wasn't any gravity. I closed my eyes so I could reach into the deepest parts of myself to draw out the last parts of my magic.
I felt a strong rush surge through me and knew I had collected all of my power. I opened my eyes and pushed it all into the little Silver key. The power that surged through my veins all flowed into Plues' key. I felt the rush of power I just had, leave my body through my fingers. All was set and done. "Open Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!" I yelled with an even more echoing voice filled with power. Never before had I collected all my power and sent it through a key. I hadn't ever heard this powerful voice, so I became quite startled when I heard it and nearly lost my focus. Nearly. Not completely.
The key glowed brightly and blinded me. I shielded my eyes with my free hand, but it was still way too for me to be able to see anything.
Then all of a sudden, the light died out completely and in front of me stood…
Nothing.
I fell to my knees as the magical drain I'd just gone through welled over me. I dropped Plues' key and it landed a little in front of me, where it slid over the floor, just out of my reach. I steadied myself with my hands on the floor and stared in disbelief at Plues' Silver key.
It never was this difficult to call out Plue. All I created with my full power was some light. Blinding or not.
I dropped my head and felt tears begin to form in my eyes. My tears dropped down, but never met the invisible floor. They just kept falling.
You are still not using your true power. The stars told me monotonously. Come back when you are prepared to use your true power. Plues' key began levitating in the air in front of me, still out of my reach. I stretched my arm out to take it, although I already knew it was futile, out of my reach. I couldn't move because of the strain of my loss of magic.
The key teased me by hanging there in the air right in front of me. As if challenging me to take it. A second later, it flew off into the night sky and became one of the many stars. "Plue!" I screamed in panic. Had I lost Plue? Was I unable to summon him now?
Lucy Mau'Te Rongo, come back when you are ready to use your strongest power, but also greatest weakness, your true power. The voices faded out in the end along with the stars. When the last star had disappeared, I was back in the black darkness.
I looked around, but the golden star was nowhere to be seen. "Plue! Give Plue back to me!" I shrieked in panic, but no one answered me. I crashed to the ground, unable to keep myself up any longer. "Plue." I whispered.
A little while later~
Lucys' P.O.V
"Open your eyes Lucy." A deep echoing voice said. It was faintly familiar, but I just… Couldn't remember who it belonged to.
"Princess! PRINCESS, WAKE UP!" Someone very familiar yelled, almost screamed. Someone grabbed my shoulder tightly and shook me back and forth. "Please… Please just… Open your eyes. I don't know what I would do without you." The same very familiar voice whimpered. Oh why wouldn't they just keep quiet? My head hurt so bad.
"Calm down Leo, she isn't dead." The echoing and now also authoritative voice said. I remembered that name. Leo. "Look, she's breathing, she won't die."
"No I-" The second voice started, but was cut off.
I decided I would put an end to their endless rambling. "Oh go home to Aries already, Loke." I moaned and opened one eye to look at my Lion Spirit. He had dropped his glasses and his green eyes looked like they were about to cry. Or already had.
The he threw himself at me and locked his arms around me, pulling me up from my lying position and pushing me into his chest. "I thought you were dead!" He said loudly and with a hoarse voice.
Moustache-Man nodded. "Yeah, he really did." He smirked. Loke ignored his comment and didn't move a muscle.
I reached down in my pouch, not without pain, and found the key I was looking for. "I'm just fine." I reassured the two of them, looking at Plues' key, which I held in my line of sight. So I hadn't lost him, that was good.
Loke still didn't let go, so I just let hang onto me as he did. I knew how hard it was for him when he found out that Karen, his former Master, was dead, so if he had thought I had died, he'd probably have been completely crushed.
The Spirit King cleared his throat. "So what did you see in there? And what emptied your magic like this?" He asked.
I moved around a little in Lokes' embrace and got my head to peek over Lokes' shoulder. I placed Plues' key in my pouch and locked my arms around either side of Loke and intertwined my fingers at his back, having found a somewhat comfortable position. I began explaining what had happened during my meditation. I found myself enjoying Lokes' continuous embrace, although it might have seemed a little weird to some.
Moustache-Man looked like he was lost in thought when I was finished explaining. "Hrm… Your full power, you say?" He asked, playing with his oversized moustache. Again.
I nodded. "Yeah, and apparently I didn't use all of my power, according to those stars." I said.
The Spirit King glanced at me. "Could this mean – Nah, I don't think they'd think of that." Moustache-man mumbled to himself.
I looked up at him with curious eyes. "What are you talking about?" I asked.
He first now seemed to realize he had spoken out loud. "Oh, I was just wondering if they're talking about the Second Origin, but I don't think they're talking about that." The Spirit King answered. Second Origin? Where had I heard that before?
"Second Origin? What is that?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent and clueless I could. I'd read about it somewhere before, I just couldn't remember what it told about it.
Moustache-Man sighed. "Second Origin is a second container of magic in every living creature, non-magical as well as magical. It is a large, hidden magic that we all possess, but never tap into." He explained. I nodded in understanding, still not remembering much of what I once read. "I can't believe those stars of yours could be talking about the Second Origin."
I thought back to the earlier events that took place in my mind. Something in me told me that the Second Origin was exactly what they were talking about. What else could they mean when they said I should use my full power? It is the only magic I didn't use, which I had. I looked back up at the Spirit King expectantly. "Is there any way to 'open' this container?" I asked.
The Spirit King nodded solemnly. "Yes, but it is incredibly painful and-" I cut the Spirit King off.
"I came here to get stronger." I told him with a determined look in my eyes. "We'll open the Second Origin tomorrow." I said.
Both the Spirit King and I waited for the Lion, who still sat with his arms around me, to protest wildly. But he didn't say anything at all. Moustache-Man and I exchanged gazes. Why didn't Loke say anything?
I pulled a little back from Lokes' embrace, which was much looser now. I looked at his face, he had closed eyes and took deep and steady breaths. I smiled at my Spirit, he was asleep.
I looked up at the Spirit King with the same gentle smile I'd given the sleeping Loke. "He's asleep." I said in a low voice, so I wouldn't wake him.
The big Spirit nodded with a wide grin. "Ah well, I guess he's had a hard day today. First he had to beat you up, then he was convinced you were dead…" he played with his beard for the hundredth time. "I feel with my old friend." He said thoughtfully. He broke out of whatever trance he was caught in and looked down at me. "Should I help you get him off you?" he asked with an amused glint in his eyes. That didn't sound wrong at all.
I glared lightly up at him. "Yes, that would be nice." I answered.
He nodded and placed his index finger on Lokes' back. His finger began glowing faintly and in a flash of golden light, the weight around me eased and Loke was gone.
I rolled my shoulders a little, they'd become quite tired. I shot the Spirit King a thankful glance. "Thank you."
He shrugged. "Oh, it was nothing." The index finger he'd used to send Loke to the Spirit World – hopefully – shot up and pointed at the sky. "That's right! I have a special gift for you." He said as he looked through his pockets. "Here it is." He pulled something tiny, for him anyway, out of his pockets and placed it in my hands. It was a little, thick book in a nice, green cover. 'Dragon Language' was written in a beautiful, old letters over the front of the cover in a golden color. The edges all around the book was also the golden color and some kind of metal.
"What is this?" I asked without looking at him, instead I was inspecting the book.
He snickered. "Well, I thought you might want to look a few words up." He smiled. "Try opening it." He urged. I did as he was told and opened the book, revealing the first page. It was completely bare, except on the page to the right in the middle, there was a red square, not a button or anything, just as if it was a picture, and with a golden line all around it at the edge. Underneath it stood in the same beautiful, antique letters 'Switch Languages'.
I looked up at the Spirit King. "What does this mean?" I asked.
"If you send some of your magic through that square, the Dragon language and your language will switch places." He explained. "For example, if you want to find out how to say 'fire' in the Dragon language, but the book is ordered after the Dragon language, you simply send you magic into the square and – voila! – the book is ordered after your language." He told me.
I looked surprised at the open book. "Wow, that is so handy." I looked at the Spirit King. "Thank you so much!" I smiled. This book was sure to come in handy.
"You're welcome." He smiled and waved. "I'll see you tomorrow and then we'll look at your Second Origin." He said and disappeared in flash of golden light.
I giggled. "Oh, you big show off." I told him even though he was far beyond being able to hear me.
I faintly heard flaps in the background. I turned around and saw Alodiculis coming flying into the little field. He landed quickly and ran a few steps to slow down. He then proceeded to casually walk over to me and tower up above me. "Are you ready for the last part of your training for today?" He asked.
I nodded and I went into the depths of my mind. Again.
Hours later~
Lucys' P.O.V
It showed up that I, obviously in Alodiculis' eyes, wasn't able to find my Dragon powers, although I searched quite a bit. If you asked me anyway.
The day was finally over and I could go to sleep. I went back into Acnologias' and my cave and fell down on the soft moss in the lonely cave. Acnologia still hadn't come back from his training and I couldn't stay awake long enough for him to come back. I was completely wasted, I'd used up all my magical reserves and I was tired physically as well as mentally. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell in a deep slumber.
In case you're wondering, the reason Lucy was close to dying, like Loke thought she was, during the Spirit Kings training, is because she used all her magic, which is the same as having lost a lot of your life energy… If I remember correctly. Actually maybe I'm talking about Naruto and chakra. Yeah. Well anyway, let's just say it is the same here, and the only reason she survived here was because of her dormant Dragon powers and the untapped Second Origin. Yep, yep. I'M MIXING EVERYTHING TOGETHER! YAAAAAAAY!
Hope it was a guuuuuud (The Jim Carrey way) chapter. Originally I planned to first post it tomorrow, but tomorrow is pretty busy, and I will basically not be able to be on the Pc all day. Just great. So I'm posting today.
Anyway, what did you think of the first training session here? I know she might have been beat down a lot, but that is just the way it is. I got to spice this story up, ya' know. Besides, she was supposed to seem weak, which she probably does now.
Thank you LimeesLemoons, shiro heartfilia, 00halfblood, TheOfficialCryptic, EmyLove, LaedyLynx, MoonStar1312, Crazzygirl101, TheBigBadWolfxTheOncomingStorm, king of the lion, MelodyTheKitten, FT LOVER (Guest), dakrith, Shinigami Ou, clumzybeans, Atlanticfire, mjb376, Umi Ryuuzaki, fanman963, Baka-Bunny-Senpai, videogamerfan144, RawrrIt'sMe, naruto789987, FearMyLaserFace, Tsiera and all you other readers for reading, mainly, favoriting, following and/or reviewing. Amazing people, I just gotta say. It's amazing how this part always is so long….
No Translations in a while so…. Yeah.
~Line464d