A/N: Hello everyone! I have returned from the dead to bring you this chapter!
Random thing, but I was just thinking about this recently and I realized that this story has almost been going on for a year. A year. I've never committed to a story this long before and been satisfied with it. Or even shared it with anyone besides really close friends.
Right now, the story has over 41,000 views, 192 reviews, 194 favorites, and 282 followers. This story even is part of a community (I don't know what that is exactly because I'm still a noob to FFN, but I think it's a good thing…?)!
I've said this a thousand times before, but thank you all so much for giving this story your attention. This literally wouldn't have been possible without all of your support and I want you all to know how much it means to me :)
Reviews:
Kaggy-Higgy88: That's my style after all. I've got to keep you all on your toes some how ;)
gracee. evans13: Good question. No. I don't know how many chapters there are going to be when this story ends. I've still got a long way to go before I reach the end of my plans (and I'm not even done scheming yet ^-^), so it might be a while before the story finally wraps up. I have a sneaking suspicion that at the current rate I'm progressing through the story that I might reach 100 chapters...so there's still a long way to go.
SunflowerChrysalis: Wha!? I didn't mean for it to be anguish ;-; But who says Lucy hasn't figured it out? *wiggles eyebrows* But on another note, hope you brought your floaty, because I will drown everyone in a tidal wave of fluff after this chapter :)
Alaina Kuski: Indeed. Why do I keep doing this to them!? DX Oh wait. I know. It's because I'm evil.
Sakuramy: Not planning to any time soon :3
FlameDragonHime: Here's an update! But for future reference, please don't demand an update. Unless a story is marked "complete" or "on hiatus" there'll be an update soon. Keep that in mind please.
NaluhasNashi: I'm glad you like it :)
Before I start this chapter, I want to give you all a heads up. There most likely won't be any updates this June (especially late June). In fact, this may be the last chapter for a little while (at least until mid-July). I have some massive things going on in my everyday life right now that desperately need my attention and my writing time will be cut even more than usual. Sorry about this, but that's just how the cookie crumbled. I'm not giving up on this story, so don't panic when there aren't any updates next month. The story will continue, I just have a lot on my plate.
Thank you for the consideration.
Enjoy :)
…
Lucy's POV:
…
Standing on the cobblestone walkway before the Heartfillia estate, made Lucy's heart fill with dread. She never thought she'd ever return to this place. This eerily quiet mansion that stood a few miles out from the small town that surrounded it. A place that used to hold so many joyful memories, but now held just as many painful ones. If anyone had ever told Lucy that she would have returned here of her own will, she would have never believed them.
She never wanted to come back to this place.
And yet, she did.
Shakily, Lucy adjusted her bag's strap on her shoulder and took a step up the walk. As she went, Lucy couldn't help but notice the glistening blue and gold flowers planted in the flower beds on either side of the walk. A fond smile spread on the Celestial Mage's face as she recognized the flowers.
They were called "Chylluas", a gorgeous six petaled flower with a strong cool, sweet smell from a place without a name. When Layla Heartfillia had called this manor home, these were her favorite flowers. She told Lucy once upon a time that the Chylluas came from her hometown, but she wouldn't name it.
Gently, Lucy bent over, pulled a few of the precious flowers out of the dirt before wrapping them in a cloth and gently placing it in her bag for safe keeping. With the Chylluas safely in her bag, Lucy continued down the cobblestone path until she had reached the base of the marble stairs when the large entrance doors flung wide open and she was tackle hugged by just about every staff member on the grounds as they ran out of the manor to greet her.
Every one of the staff was weeping tears of joy as they swarmed her, all of them commenting on how much she's grown and how much she looks like her mother. There was a bit of scolding for leaving without a word for a year, but Lucy could tell that everyone was genuinely glad to see her and Lucy was glad to see them too. They were like her family after all.
However, the happy moment was interrupted by the sharp clearing of a throat from behind her. Lucy turned away from the joyful staff to focus her attention on the man in the neatly pressed black suit and necktie standing at the base of the polished marble steps. The man stood with a stiff, practiced authority; even though he was barely half of Lucy's height, as his stone cold brown eyes locked onto her.
"Lucy-sama, Mr. Heartfillia would like to speak with you in the study." he said curtly.
An annoyed sigh escaped Lucy's lips.
Of course. she thought bitterly, His wayward daughter finally returns home, and he sends a footman to summon me. He hasn't changed either.
Still, the Celestial Mage offered a curt nod to the footman and he turned his attention towards the other house staff, who still crowded around Lucy.
"Mr. Heartfillia also says to get back to work." the footman ordered.
Not wanting to get into trouble, the household staff briskly hurried back to their stations, all of them whispering a brief "welcome back" to Lucy as they passed.
Suddenly, the footman was grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the house.
"Now, now Lucy-sama. You can't be meeting your father in those commoner's rags!" he said, "Come with me and we will get you changed into something more fitting of your status."
Scowling, Lucy dug her heels into the ground, bringing herself to a halt.
"No." she stated firmly, "These are fine."
"But-"
"These are fine." the Celestial Mage repeated, interrupting him.
Finally he seemed to get the picture that she wasn't going to budge on her statement and released her wrist. He stepped back and straightened his tie with a frustrated expression on his face.
"Fine." the man huffed, "I'm sure you remember where the study is."
With that, he ascended the steps and disappeared back into the manor. Lucy simply stared after him, momentarily unsure of whether or not she wanted to see her father. Of course, whether or not she wanted to see him, she had to finish this before something bad happened.
Gathering her courage, Lucy planted her foot on the first marble step then the next. Soon enough, she was walking through the large double doors. Her gaze swept across the familiar entrance hall. It hadn't changed either. It was beginning to feel like nothing in this place ever changed.
Instinctively, Lucy let her feet carry her towards her father's study. A path that had been permanently ingrained in her mind from all the years of running back and forth to the room that her father always hid away in.
Before she knew it, the blonde found herself standing in front of the eerily familiar large double doors. For a moment, Lucy felt like she was a little girl again. A lonely little girl who craved her father's love and attention, but she never received it.
It was always "I'm too busy Lucy", "Go and study Lucy", and "You're bothering me Lucy". Her own father became more like a stranger than family. He always strived to keep her at arm's length or farther if at all possible. Lucy had put up with it for most of her life and last year was when she reached her breaking point. Lucy couldn't take that anymore. She wanted out, so she got out.
Though, Lucy had sworn to herself that she would never come back home, and yet here she was again. Standing in front of the same doors she visited day, after day, after day as a child. The Celestial mage never thought that she would be standing there ever again. Funny how that works.
Before she could lose her courage, Lucy turned the doorknob and opened the door. Like everything else in this house, Jude Heartfillia's office didn't change either. The room still had that cold and unwelcoming atmosphere that stuck to it like cobweb.
As usual, her father was sitting at his desk, almost obscured by the piles of papers and stacks of books that surrounded him, pen in hand scribbling away on the document in front of him. Though, instead of ignoring her like he did when Lucy was little, when she walked through the door, he looked up at her.
Vague surprise crossed his face before settling into a disapproving scowl. A scowl Lucy was more than familiar with.
"Lucy." he said, his voice cold, "Why are you dressed in such an...interesting way?"
"Because this is what I like to wear father. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to care about that." Lucy responded, her own tone equally as icy as her father's.
He grunted then looked back down at his work. "Still, I am glad that you returned to your senses. My contacts in Blood Eagle were quite a disappointment, they shouldn't be expecting payment if they can't handle such a simple task."
The Celestial Mage's eyes narrowed. "Are you even aware that Blood Eagle is a dark guild, father?"
"I am well aware of their...questionable operations, but they had the potential to serve my needs and that's all that matters."
Lucy scoffed. "Yeah, because all that matters is that the job gets done. Nothing else, right?"
"So you finally understand that Lucy? Good. Now I won't have to reteach it to you." he said setting his pen down.
Jude pushed back his chair, stood up and walked around the desk to face Lucy. His posture was stiff and formal and his gaze cold and hard.
"But either way, I'm relieved you have come to your senses and returned home. The reason why I wanted you home was because I have decided who you are to marry." he explained in a business-like tone, "You are to marry Prince Sawlu of the Julenelle. I'm sure you remember him Lucy."
The blonde cringed at the memory. Sawlu had always creeped Lucy out with how he seemed to bare an affection for her that bordered obsessive. Whenever Lucy heard he was coming to the manor, she would avoid him like the plague.
"I do..."
"Your union allow the Heartfillia Railroads to expand into the south, which shall be beneficial to our family. In addition, you are expected to take over as head of the Heartfillia Corporation when I retire and bear an heir to inherit the family business." he turned away from Lucy to face the windows, "That will be all, you may return to your room. And Lucy, burn those commoner's rags. I will not have my daughter soil the family name by dressing in such a disgusting manner."
Anger bubbled within Lucy's chest as she took a breath and spoke. "Father, don't misunderstand me." she said bitterly, "The reason I came back was to make myself clear! It was a mistake to leave without a word. That's no different than running away. However, I'm going to walk my own path! You have no right to decide who I marry or what my future will be!"
For the first time since Lucy arrived, her father's face shifted from his stoic expression to that of surprise and slight enragement.
"W-What!?" he sputtered, shocked that Lucy was talking back to him.
The Celestial Mage, however, wasn't going to back down. "You heard me! I'm going to choose my future for myself!" Lucy shouted, "I want to do what makes me happy! And that's going on adventures with my friends! Not frilly dresses or nice houses and I believe that mother would agree with me!"
Jude gritted his teeth, anger burning in his eyes. "Lucy... don't talk about something you cannot even begin to understand!"
She scowled. "What!? Do you think I don't understand my own mother!"
"OF COURSE NOT!" he yelled.
"AND WHY'S THAT!?" Lucy shouted back.
"BECAUSE LAYLA WAS NEVER HUMAN TO BEGIN WITH!"
Jude's voice echoed hollowly around the room for what felt like ages. Lucy suddenly found herself unable to speak. It didn't make sense to her at all. How could her mother not be human? From the memories Lucy had of her mother, she looked human. Completely human. If she wasn't human, what was she then?
As these thoughts ran through Lucy's head, her father tried to calm down. But he still seemed unusually distraught.
Finally, Lucy found her voice.
"W-What...do you mean?" Lucy questioned.
Jude sighed loudly and buried his face in his hands. "Lucy...your mother was not human. She was a Celestial Goddess. A sister of the Celestial Spirit King."
Lucy's eyes widened. "The Celestial Spirit King?"
Jude nodded, lifting his head out of his palms. "Yes. Layla loved the earth and its inhabitants. She would frequently leave the Celestial Spirit World to explore and on her travels she even discovered three of the Golden Zodiac Keys. In the years before we met, she was an avid adventurer but after a few years she chose to take a...tamer approach to human life."
"She...joined 'Love & Lucky", right? That's the merchant guild you two met in…" Lucy remembered.
Jude nodded grimly. "At the time, I didn't know what Layla was, and of course when she told me, I didn't care. And...we fell in love. A few years later, we were married and had a baby on the way. You, Lucy. We both quit the guild and started up the current business not too long before you were born. However, there was a complication." he said, his voice uncharacteristically breaking, "When you were born, Layla gave you too much of her Celestial Force, the energy that allows her to transcend the planes of existence without being summoned."
"How?" the blonde questioned, "That doesn't sound like something she would be able to control."
Jude shook his head. "I don't know how she managed that either. Much about her true nature is still a mystery to me, even after all these years. But she was only left with enough energy to sustain herself on this earth for ten years rather than ten thousand. When she ran out of Celestial Force, Layla was forced back into the Celestial Spirit World."
Jude paused and took another shaky breath. "Now...she can never return. At least...not in our lifetime. Celestial Force takes so long to replenish, that you and I will be long gone before she can ever return!"
This news made no sense to Lucy. The facts that she was hearing now were clashing with the memories from her childhood. She was told that her mother had passed away when she was ten, but come to think of it...she never saw her mother's body. Originally, she thought it was because the staff wanted to spare her the emotional scarring of seeing her mother's lifeless corpse, but maybe the true reason was that there was no body to begin with.
"So now you know the truth Lucy." Jude said, his voice steadying, "Now you know how you were responsible for your mother's death."
The shock in Lucy's heart immediately disappeared as her father's words tore into her like knives. "So you did blame me. You blamed me for mother's departure all these years."
Jude whipped his head back in Lucy's direction. "Well who else could I blame!" he barked, his composer once again evaporating, "If it wasn't for you, than Layla would still be here by my side! She wouldn't have been forced back into a world where I couldn't reach her! This would never have happened if you were never born!"
"Did it ever occur to you that I miss her too!?" Lucy yelled back.
Jude went silent.
"Did...did it ever occur to you that I loved mom too?" the blonde said a little quieter.
Lucy drew a deep breath before looking her father dead in the eye.
"Listen, dad." Lucy ordered, her tone serious, "I know you love mom, but you have to let go of the past. Or it will drag you down like a lead weight. The only reason I came back was to clear the air with you and give you a warning. If you try to contact me ever again, there will be hell to pay. If you had just tried to talk to me through conventional means...maybe we could have talked it out peacefully. But you've gone too far and I'm not going to wait for one of your attempts to drag me home to hurt my friends."
"L-Lucy-"
However, the Celestial mage...half-Celestial cut him off. "Goodbye father."
Not waiting for a response, Lucy turned around and walked out the office door. Once the door closed behind her, Lucy speed walked out of the manor. This was the last place Lucy wanted to be at the moment. Besides she should get back to Natsu and the others as fast as she can because knowing them, they're blowing things majorily out of proportion.
This assumption proved to be correct for as soon as Lucy reached the bottom of the outside stairs, she was slammed into by her Fairy Tail friends and Natsu.
The force of the sudden impact almost knocked Lucy off her feet, but the tightness in which her friends were hugging her, she managed to recover her footing.
"G-Guys!? What are you doing here!?" Lucy asked, stunned.
"We're here to save you from your crazy old man!" Natsu exclaimed.
The half-Celestial blinked, comprehending what the pinkette had just said. Then she started to laugh.
"You guys!" she laughed.
The next few minutes consisted of walking and Lucy explaining what she was doing here. Though she left out what she had just learned about her mother. Lucy wasn't ready to tell anyone that just yet. Besides, Natsu was too busy scolding her for running off like she did without telling him. Gray, Erza, Juvia, Wendy, Happy, and Carla also took turns scolding her as well, but mostly Natsu was the one giving her an earful.
"I can't believe you did that Lucy! Tell us when you're gonna go on an adventure, don't be an action hog!" the half-Fire Dragon protested.
"Sorry about that." Lucy said sheepishly, "I wasn't thinking straight."
"Obviously!" Natsu exclaimed, "Geez Lucy! And you tell me not to do reckless junk!"
A small bolt of offense shot through Lucy at her friend's words, but that was quickly forgotten in the wake of Erza hitting the half-Fire Dragon on the head with a hard hammerfist.
"Natsu! Don't be rude." the Titania scolded, then she turned to Lucy, "What Natsu is trying to say, is we were worried when you disappeared. You are our nakama Lucy; even if you aren't actually part of Fairy Tail, and we all care about you. Still, I'm relieved that you are unharmed."
"Next time you need to take care of something, give us a heads up first." Gray said.
Wendy nodded in agreement. "Yeah Lucy-chan. Natsu-san and Happy-san were crying the whole way here."
"WE WERE NOT!" the two protested loudly.
Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes. The half-Celestial was about to make a comment at Natsu and Happy's expense when someone shouted "Wait!" from behind them. Lucy stopped and turned around to see Ms. Spetto hobbling up the path as fast as her legs and age would allow. She was clutching something in her hand, but from the distance, Lucy couldn't see it.
When Ms. Spetto reached the group, she took a moment to catch her breath before she spoke.
"L-Lucy...I think you...should have this…"
Ms. Spetto held out a golden key to Lucy, a key that radiated with Celestial magic.
"A-A Zodiac Key!?" Lucy gasped.
Ms. Spetto nodded. "Yes. Capricorn's key. Lady Layla instructed that we give you the keys when the time was right, but you left before I got the chance to give you this one."
The old maid straightened up, placed the Golden Zodiac Key in Lucy's hand, and curled Lucy's fingers around the magically warm metal.
"It rightfully belongs to you. Please take care of yourself Lucy."
Lucy nodded, tearing up a little. "Thank you Ms. Spetto. You take care too."
Ms. Spetto smiled warmly to Lucy and turned to return to the manor. As she did, Lucy and the others began to walk towards the gates, the blonde half-blood staring down at the new key in her hand.
"How many of those do you have now Lucy?" Happy asked.
Lucy hummed, mentally counting the amount of Golden Zodiac Keys she had. "Ten. Wow. I didn't even realize I had gotten so many of them."
"Really? Does that mean you're like a super powerful Celestial Mage now?" Natsu asked with child-like excitement.
The half-Celestial laughed lightly. "I guess so."
"Awesome!" Natsu grinned, "Adventuring is going to be so much easier now!"
Erza smiled. "Now that we know that Lucy is safe, why not head back to Fairy Tail and celebrate? Everyone will be glad to see you two."
The half-Fire Dragon's expression lit up. "Alright! I can't wait to see everyone! And I'm finally gonna burn snow pansy to a crisp!"
"In your dreams Natsu!" Gray shot back.
"Just you watch! I'll win for sure! Especially if Lucy's helpin' me!" Natsu claimed, "We're unstoppable together!"
Lucy scowled lightly. "Natsu! I am not helping you fight Gray!"
"Whhaaa! Lucy! How could you abandon meeee!" Natsu sobbed.
…
A/N: Surprise! Lucy was a half-blood this whole time! Well, that probably isn't actually a surprise. I made that pretty obvious and some of you even guessed that Layla was a Celestial Maiden or something of the sort and you were right! Gold stars all around *sticks a gold star sticker on your foreheads*! However, I've still got plenty of surprises in store, though so stay tuned.
Also, there are some things about half-bloods that I want you all to know:
-First, the reason why the wounds Jasper inflicted on Lucy healed up just fine and the creature from the Oracion Seis arc left a scar is because Jasper used a non-magical weapon to inflict harm onto Lucy and the creature was made of magic. Basically, a half-blood is able to heal non-magically inflicted wounds at a supernatural rate (something Natsu hasn't really caught onto yet…) but magically inflicted wounds take more time to heal and are more at risk for scarring.
-Second, all half-bloods have two "full" days. As in a day where one side of their genetics takes over (f.e. The Ember Moon and Natsu's full human transformation). They're usually at opposite sides of the year though, but all half-bloods have a day where they either turn into a full human or into a full whatever-the-other-half-is. And yes, this means that Natsu can turn into a dragon (*whispers* so cool).
-Before any of you ask. No, Lucy can't eat Celestial energy the same way Natsu eats fire. Consuming elements is a dragon-exclusive trait, though being half-goddess, Lucy has a few neat tricks of her own up her sleeve (like Stardress and Urano Metria for example)
-There are quite a number of differences between half-gods and half-dragons (I haven't worked it all out to be honest. Lucy being half-god wasn't something I had originally planned…). But I probably won't cover them all in this story.
If you have any questions, shoot me a PM and I'll be glad to answer them (or try to at least).
However, questions relating to future plots and arcs will not be answered because I don't give out that kind of information to one person before everyone else gets it. That just isn't fair to everyone else.
But if you have suggestions for potential plots in the future, I'd be glad to hear it (though there is no promise I'll use it in this story, if not at all).
Get ready for the fluff! It might be a while, but it will come!
See you all next chapter :)