Instinctively, Lucy reached out her hand in a futile attempt to stop the horrible attack from reaching Gray. The world seemed to exist in slow motion for a few powerful seconds as Lucy watched the blast crawl closer to Gray. His face turned to her, suspended in time, a knowing smirk adorning his lips that clearly said "goodbye".

Lucy felt her heart tear in two. There was no other way to describe the ache she felt in watching these final moments, unable to help. She willed her legs to move, to find a way to block the attack, but they stood still. Her body knew it was hopeless even though her mind willed it to be different.

Lucy was about to close her eyes in rejection of the truth. As she did, a bright flash caused her eyelids to shoot back open. The light emanating from where the attack should have met Gray was blinding. It didn't seem like the light of an attack of death. On the contrary, she found the hue to be most like Jupiter's lightening.

The flash finally began to calm down. Lucy blinked the spots of light from her eyes. The brilliance had blinded her for a moment. The sight that met her eyes was one of relief and renewed heart break for the celestial wizard.

"Jupiter..." She muttered.

The god was lying on the floor. His typical misty, foreboding appearance was gone. Instead, his body appeared quite solid and extremely old. He no longer had the look of the wizened old god. This had been replaced with the build of a frail, dying old man.

Gray laid on the floor about a foot behind Jupiter. He was completely intact, without a single scratch added to his body from the attack. Lucy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as she scoped Gray's body for permanent injury. However, her mind immediately returned to Jupiter's well being. She was unsure of exactly what had happened to him. He didn't appear to be wounded, but his body was clearly affected by the attack. Mars stood across the room, chuckling.

"What are you getting at, old man? So you sacrifice yourself for some young wizard, for what? It's obviously done you in... The best part is, you didn't risk your life to save the celestial wizard, so there's no way our control can be broken!" Mars howled with laughter.

Lucy and Gray turned to Jupiter, aghast. His body continued to age before their very eyes. Slowly, cracks were beginning to form in his flesh where his veins should have been.

"Enough, Mars!" The feminine voice had come from behind Mars. Where Venus once lay slumped in the corner, their was emptiness. The radiant goddess of love had appeared behind mars, anger etched on her face. The look of detest seemed misplaced on a form as delicate as Venus'.

Mars jumped slightly but quickly regained his composure, "Sorry to have to foil your plan, V... It was a good try though."

Venus suddenly started to chuckle along with Mars. This caused him to stop abruptly. "What are you laughing at?" He asked.

"You're still under a mistaken impression... yes, you're correct that I trapped the gods in the keys. AND you're correct about why i did it. The humans deserve to be able to live and allow their own love or hatred to guide their decisions. You're correct that i worked with the celestial king to request the gods be entrapped in the celestial keys, one by one. I guided Lucy to Jupiter's key, after waiting for generations for the right celestial wizard to come along, i knew that Lucy would take on the quest to help the gods. I knew her bravery and kind heart would lead her where she needed to go. I hoped that by seeing the goodness within Lucy's heart, Jupiter and the other entrapped gods would come to appreciate the natural emotions of the humans."

Lucy and Gray stared at the goddess, entranced by her explanation. Mars, however, continued to smirk as though the war had already been won.

"When Gray accompanied her, I was even more sure of how jupiter's heart would be softened towards humans."

"Excuse me, but what made you think that?" Lucy asked.

Venus turned to Gray and Lucy, kindness in her eyes. "I did not manipulate the love you two share. On the contrary, I ensured that the circumstances around the events the took place in your search for the god keys provided you the courage and confidence to confess to one another what you had felt all along."

Gray swallowed hard. Everything he had said to Lucy before, about their feelings being manipulated, and him being unsure, all seemed so ridiculous now. He walked next to Lucy and pulled her into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Luce" he whispered.

Lucy nuzzled her head into Gray's chest, taking in his scent of mountains and birch trees. Venus turned back to Mars.

"You see, spirits feel the emotions of their wizards. Every ounce of pain, bit of love, and prick of fear. I knew that by binding gods, who did possess some amount of empathy for the humans, to the right celestial wizard, they would come to love humans as i do. I was clearly right." Venus looked to Jupiter who continued to wither.

Mars cackled again. "But it doesn't matter! I was there! I know the legend! The king has to give his life for the wizard he is bound to. That's the celestial wizard. That's LUCY!" Mars pointed aggressively.

Venus shook her head. "You've never been the best at listening, mars. The king had to give his life FOR Lucy. He did that tonight."

Mars' face dropped. "Ex... excuse me? You're lying! That blast was nowhere near her!"

"You misunderstand matters of the soul as usual, mars. Jupiter gave his life for Lucy because he gave his life for Gray. He did that because he has been able to feel the love Lucy holds for Gray while he was bound to her. He felt the pain Lucy felt as she watched Gray about to be killed. Jupiter gave his life for Lucy's happiness. That is all that was required to break the hold we have over humans."

Mars stood transfixed, his mouth agape. Lucy and Gray stared at Venus, shocked. A weak cough from Jupiter shook Lucy from her amazement.

Lucy ran to Jupiter's side, cradling his frail, solid form. Tears began to well in her eyes as she watched him struggle to open his eyes even slightly. Jupiter lifted his now bony hand to Lucy's cheek.

"You are a wonderful... human..." he struggled to get the words out. "All Venus said... and more... you have taught me... i... am blessed... to have experienced the depths of your heart..."

Lucy's tears began to fall, dropping onto Jupiter's chest. She scrambled to place the hand that wasn't holding Jupiter around his key. "You can just return to the celestial world and heal!" She cried. "You'll be fine!" She placed the key to Jupiter's chest in a futile attempt to return him. The lower half of his body was already beginning to turn to dust. The key melted as though the glass had suddenly become ice within Lucy's hand.