You won't always get two chapters, I just got a lot of reviews.

Chapter Nine - Lucy, Part Two

When we appeared, Lucy tackled me. "I didn't know you were a mage, Ellie-nee!"

I looked at her. "Ellie-nee?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Ellie and Lucy!"

I smiled at her. "I like it. Oh, and since you kept Virgo out extra-long, you get an extra present!"

"Really?" she squealed, extremely excited.

I nodded. "Mmmhmmm. But you should probably send Virgo back now. She's probably tired, and you should save your energy."

"Why should I save my energy?" Lucy asked.

I smiled at her and held up Scutum's Key. I had requipped Corvus's key away with Serpens's, for now. "Because, silly, you're going to need that energy if you want to make contracts with your presents!"

She lit up, like the sun. "Really! Oh, thank you Ellie-nee!" Lucy spun around and hugged Virgo. "Thank you for the help Virgo."

She nodded. "Goodnight Hime-sama. Happy Birthday."

Lucy smiled up at her spirit. "Gate of the Maiden, close!"

Virgo vanished in a flash of light, and Lucy dragged me (and Layla, who was giggling behind me) towards the couch so we could sit.

"Thank you for the gift Ellie-nee!" Lucy said excitedly.

I laughed. "I actually have some more for you. You see, this one is your bonus, but these two-" I requipped Vulpecula and Canes Venatici into my hands, "were your regular birthday presents."

I had decided that I would give her Aquila for Christmas.

"Wow!" Lucy said, starry eyed.

I handed the keys to her.

"Now, Lucy, listen," I said seriously.

She must've been able to tell that this was different by my tone, because she looked up at me with a serious look in her eyes.

"Lucy, you might not believe me when I say this, but I know a little bit of the future."

Her jaw dropped.

"And I also know that you are going to be considered the most powerful Celestial Spirit Mage alive," –even though there weren't many left- "and possibly ever, comparable only to your great great great ancestor, Anna Heartfilia. That being said, I want to know how many Zodiacs you're contracted to."

"Four," Lucy said quietly. "Mama is trying to get Capricorn too but she can't seem to contact his wizard."

"Lucy," I said. "Since I know the future, I'm going to try to find keys for you."

Her face brightened.

"But-," I said. "But, I want you to get strong. You've got some scary things coming your way, and I know that you'll be able to handle it; after all, you'll have your spirits and your friends. But more than that, I know that you're strong enough to take care of it. But I want you to be stronger. So I'll give you the keys on certain conditions, alright?"

She nodded, fiercely paying attention.

"I will give you Silver Keys on your birthday and on Christmas," I said. "And I'll continue to do so. But, you will not receive your next Zodiac key until you can open all of your Zodiacs at one time."

Lucy gasped. Her lip waivered a little bit. "But…I can't open four gates at once…"

I hugged her. "No, maybe you can't. Not right now, at least, but I know that you will! You're strong enough to do it, and I know that. However, there's another reason why I'm doing this."

She leaned back to look up at me. "What's that?"

"You know how some gates are harder to open than others?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Have you ever heard of the Seven Platinum Keys?" I asked her.

Layla let out a gasp, but Lucy shook her head.

"Well, the Seven Platinum Keys are really strong, and because of that, really hard to summon. Even the weakest of the seven is considered to be above or on par with the leader of the Zodiacs, Leo. In addition to that, the more powerful they get, the harder it is too open. So much so that the sixth has only been summoned once, and the top five have never been summoned. Ever."

"And…you want me to get strong enough to summon these?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," I said. "For two reasons. One) it will help you protect your other friends, and Two) it will give you new friends."

She nodded. "So I have to get stronger to summon them."

I smiled. "Yep. Now I have some questions for you. What are your favorite magical creatures?"

Lucy beamed. "Well, I kinda like dragons, but if I'm a princess then the dragon is supposed to be my enemy."

I laughed. "That's stupid. One day, you'll find your dragon, and you guys will be best friends, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay!"

"What else?" I asked.

"Hmm…I like unicorns…and mermaids…"

I nodded. "And what about regular animals? Do you like dogs, cats? Snakes, frogs? Horses, wolves? Bunnies?"

"I like dogs the most!" Lucy said. "But I like cats. Horses are cool, and bunnies are cute. I've never really thought of the rest."

I decided I should still hold off with giving her Serpens.

"Okay," I said, thinking. "You said you like unicorns, dragons, and mermaids, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, you already have Aquarius," I told her. "Did you know there is a constellation for a unicorn and a dragon, too?"

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide.

I nodded. "Yep. Draco the dragon and Monoceros the unicorn. Draco, however, is considered the strongest key, at the top of the Platinum Seven, so it will be awhile before you can summon him. Monoceros is the fifth strongest, and has still never been summoned, but you could probably pull it off in a year if you try very hard."

"I could summon a unicorn?" Lucy squealed. "Will you find it for me Ellie-nee?"

"No," I said.

Her face fell.

"I already found it."

Layla gasped again. Lucy froze. "What?"

"The reason I'm telling you all this is because I already found Monoceros's key. It was with the others. It's never been summoned before, and it's suspected that you need to be able to hold open five Zodiac gates at once to summon him. That's why I'm telling you this, and trying to get you strong."

I requipped the key into my hand and held it out to her. "Don't summon him yet, because it's dangerous, and because of that, I'm going to take him back with me so you aren't tempted. But for now, you can hold it, and every time I visit, you can summon as much spirits as possible to see if you're strong enough to summon him and make a contract."

Layla came over to see the key Lucy was holding. "A Platinum Key. Wow. I thought that they were only a myth."

I shook my head. "Oh, they're real alright, and I'm gonna find the others."

Lucy sent a pulse of magic through the key, searching for the presence on the other side. Reaching it, she connected and saw the gate, but didn't open the door.

She knocked on it. "Hello Monoceros. I'm glad to meet you. My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and someday I'd like to make a contract with you. I know that right now I'm not strong enough, but I'm going to train as hard as I can so I can open this door one day. You don't have to be lonely anymore."

Layla and I looked at Lucy, whose eyes were closed and who's magic was concentrated on the spirit's gate so they could communicate. "You should be proud," I told her.

"I am," she said, slightly teary eyed.

"Do you have any employed mages?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"You should have them train with Lucy."

"Train?" she asked, somewhat worried.

"You know as well as I do that opening the gate is merely half the battle. Lucy needs to get used to supporting their attacks – it's her magic they're using."

"I still can't believe you found a Platinum Key," she whispered to me.

"I actually found two," I admitted. "But the other one was Corvus. Even though he's the weakest, I don't want to give him to Lucy until she's able to open at least two gates. Other than that, I think that he can be kinda scary, so I want to wait for her to get older. It's the same reason why I didn't give her the Serpens Key I found."

"I was wondering about all of those questions," she murmured. "Serpens is a common gate, though, so the farther she goes in her training, the more she'll know about it. Which means she'll probably accept it, realizing that she'd end up with it sooner or later."

"Momma, I felt him!" Lucy cried. She was smiling brightly as she tackled me. "Thank you, Ellie-nee! I promise I'll work super hard, okay? Next time you see me, I'll be able to open two gates, at least!"

I hugged her back. "Alright, sweetie. Anyway, it's late, and you're probably tired. You can make your new contracts in the morning, and I should probably get going, too."

She yawned, just as I spoke. "Alright, Ellie-nee! Can you visit more?"

I smiled at her. "I'll see what I can do, alright. Happy Birthday. Goodnight."

She handed me back Monoceros's key and picked up her silver ones from the table. "Goodnight."

I waved at them and then phased home.