Chapter Forty Two - Hisui

When Ame's distress signal went off, I wasn't ready.

I knew I wasn't ready, but I went anyway, requipping away my cuffs in the process.

I had spent maybe two weeks total on Saturn – which was about the average amount of time it takes me to start up an element.

But even though it wasn't classified as the hardest spell, the nature of Saturn's Healing Winds was different for the other spells, and so was a lot harder to produce. It focused on precision, and unity, while I was used to explosive magics.

All I could do so far is heal up some minor scrapes and cuts, and even then, it still exhausted me.

Toma was waiting for me, holding up the warning card I had given Ame; the one that would signal if I had to teleport directly into the castle. "I see you've come," he said.

I nodded. There was no point in going through the usual channels - I felt as if things hung in the balance. "How is she?"

He sighed. "They will not let me in."

"You're the King," I said, slightly bemused.

"And they're healers," he grumbled. "You should never go between a healer and their patient."

I laughed. "You're not wrong. How has she been, leading up to now?"

He chuckled. "She's been healthy, but being pregnant is driving her crazy."

I nodded as we stood outside the room, waiting as Ame gave birth to Hisui.

Six hours later, a baby's cry rang out, and then the emergency signal on my card for Ame went off.

Despite being told to keep away, I burst down the door, where a series of nurses and potioneers were hurrying around Ame's bedside.

"Move!" I yelled, pushing some of the nurses out of the way. "Saturn's Healing Winds!" My magic leapt to my command easily, rushing into her and slowly knitting everything back together. The immense amount of respect I have for Wendy and Chelia is even higher now – everything had to be healed, cell by cell.

Even as I started though, I knew it wasn't going to be enough.

Even though I wasn't wearing my cuffs.

Faster, I thought, pushing more magic into it. You need to move faster!

My magic was whipping around the room, swirling my hair as it tried to rush into Ame's body.

The doctors seemed to realize what I was doing and was helping me along, pouring healing potions down Ame's throat.

I gritted my teeth, pushing harder, trying to fuse her failing organs. It was harder because it wasn't a visible wound - I didn't have something to visually concentrate on.

But at the rate I was going, it wouldn't work in time.

"Everyone stand back!" I shouted.

Everyone backed away from Ame hurriedly, and I summoned something from my requip space.

I was saving this for someone else, but I can always get another one.

I dropped the giant lacrima on the ground and split it open, before picking up Ame and putting her in, sealing it as quickly as I could.

Monitoring her magic and life force from outside, pouring in my own magic to help, I waiting anxiously as the fluctuating stopped and her life stabilized.

Both me and the rest of the doctors breathed a sigh of relief.

"What now?" Toma asked, still standing in the doorway, unwilling to accidentally cause his wife more harm. "I understand that she's stabilized, but if you can't heal her now, what good will it do?"

"You remember the Grand Magic Games?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Lucy is a Celestial Wizard," I said. "And she's getting more and more powerful every day. I estimate that it will be about two years at most before she can open Phoenix's gate and summon him properly."

I looked him directly in the eye. "I may not be able to heal her, but Phoenix can."

Even if Phoenix could come out on his own, something tells me that this would be too much for him - he would need another wizard backing his power.

Toma nodded and dismissed the doctors, who turned to leave. As they left, he turned back. "There's more, isn't there?"

I nodded. "In X777, there will be a Sky Dragon Slayer. Even if Lucy isn't able to summon Phoenix, Ame will be healed within the next few years. Hisui won't have her mother for that period of time, but at least she'll get her eventually."

Toma glanced over to the cot Hisui laid on. Sometime in the confusion, one of the nurses must have taken care of her, because she was swaddled and her umbilical cord was taken care of. She looked at us with surprisingly intelligent eyes.

"Do you think I can take care of her by myself?" Toma asked.

"I don't think you're going to have to," I said. "You are the King, Your Majesty. And if you need help, I don't mind coming from time to time, though I will probably be busy for most of next year."

He nodded. "Thank you, Ella. And please, call me Toma."

He smiled at me, and looked upon Hisui and Ame with a fond smile on his face, and I saw a glimpse of the King he'll become in the future.

"I think you'll do just fine," I said quietly. "Would you like me to stay?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine. You may go, but I would like to give you something first."

He led me out of the room, pausing to look at Hisui first. "I could leave her with a maid, but...Do you know how to hold her?"

"Nope," I said. "The youngest kid I've dealt with was four. I've been told it's supposed to be instinctual."

"Will you try?" he asked.

I shrugged and moved forward. "Hello, Hisui," I said, picking her up, and propping her on my arms.

"Ah, you're a natural," Toma said. He wasn't wrong; my arms seemed to form a perfect little cradle for Hisui. "Come."

We left the room, Hisui looking at us curiously, which kind of creeped me out. Weren't babies supposed to be blind the first few hours or days or something?

Ugh, I miss Google.

Would Google even help? After all, this is another universe.

Toma led me down several corridors before he lead me to what seemed like an extremely extravagant and unnecessary planning room. Reaching it, he walked over to the throne behind a table and sat down.

I remained quiet.

He tapped out some sort of pattern on the side of the chair and a piece of the table slid open, revealing a secret compartment. Reaching in, he pulled out a small box and placed it in front of me.

"Take it," he said.

I blinked. "The box?"

He hesitated. "No, that's a family heirloom."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It's the Royal Family, of course it's an heirloom. Just about everything in the castle is probably one.

Slowly, he opened the box, revealing three keys.

"To tell you the truth, I never thought I would give all of these to someone," he said. "The Gold Key, yes. But the Platinums? I thought it would be better to keep it hidden, or wait for one of the family to be strong enough. We always have been Stellar inclined, when it came to our magic, though I doubted we would be powerful enough to wield them. However…you have done your country a great service…you have done me a great service. And I feel as if I can trust you with this."

This entire damn universe is insane. The KING is giving me THESE KEYS?

I had a brief flashback of Ame looking up at the stars, telling me how she almost felt as if something else was influencing her.

I looked down at the three keys I had been searching for. Leo the Lion. Alphard the Hydra. And Draco the Dragon.

I took a deep breath. "Thank you," I said. "But I didn't do it for you, or for this country. I did it for Ame."

He nodded. "I know, and for that I am thankful."

Slowly, I handed him Hisui and collected the three keys, requipping them away. "Thank you, Your Majesty…Toma," I said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ella," he said.

I nodded and teleported out, leaving one of my Call Cards on top of the table as I went.

"Hey, Lucy," I said.

"Ellie-nee?" Lucy asked, shocked, before coming to her senses. "Ellie-nee!"

I was once again tackled by Lucy's flying hug.

"Hey, kiddo," I said, spinning her around once and plopping her back on her bed. "I'm not here for a long visit, and I know it's pretty late, so if I could talk to Corvus really quick I can get going, alright? You need sleep."

"Only if you read me a story," Lucy said.

"Sure," I smiled.

Lucy requipped Corvus's key into her hand. "Open, Gate of the Crow! Corvus!"

Corvus appeared and immediately looked over at me. "I know what you're going to say, and we should speak privately for this."

Lucy frowned, but said nothing as Corvus led me outside and into a separate room.

"No," Corvus said.

"No?" I asked, requipping my magical cuffs and putting them back on.

I breathed a sigh of relief as my magic settled. I'd been so worried I hadn't really noticed, and I had used a lot of magical power trying to heal Ame.

He shook his head. "Ame was supposed to die in childbirth – you're not going to be able to change Fate with a silver key."

I frowned. "Don't be disrespectful."

"I'm not," Corvus said. "Crater is really helpful, usually. Except it's not going to be strong enough."

"What if we were to put a Celestial Healing potion inside of the cup, and have her drink that?" I asked.

"It's a good idea, and something we should probably do anyway before he heals her, but the only way for her to truly survive would be by using Phoenix. And even then, he would probably lose energy and go back to the Spirit World if he was to try on his own power."

I nodded. I was hoping that by using the Celestial Healing Potions, or maybe Crater the Cup, Ame could heal faster, without the use of Phoenix, but obviously not.

We would have to wait for Lucy to be strong enough.

"Thank you anyway," I said.

Corvus nodded, and went back to the Spirit Realm.

I left the other room and joined Lucy, who made me promise to stay with her until she fell asleep.

After handing me a story to read and eventually falling asleep halfway through it, Lucy was dreaming above the clouds, and after marking her page, I teleported back to my house. I had one more thing left to do.

I took a deep breath and pulled out Loke's key. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!"

There was a flash of golden light, and I nearly fainted with the drain of my magic.

I probably should have taken off the wrist cuffs first.

Or maybe I just shouldn't have put them back on.

"Hello," said a smooth voice. "How may I help you tod-ack!"

Loke choked on the last word. "Elle? Elle Rigby?"

"Yep," I said.

"DOES THIS MEAN I FINALLY GET TO BE WITH MY PRINCESS?" He yelled in my face, his anime tears creating pools on the floor.

"No."

He deflated. "What….."

"Sorry," I said, shrugging, and not really sorry at all. "But I'm probably going to give your key to her last. Just saying. For now, though, I need your help. I want you to join the guild early, and teach ballet."

He shrugged. "Sure, that's fine with…"

He paused. "Ballet?" his voice was dangerously low.

"Yep. Corvus told me about it."

"That DAMNED BIRD!" he shouted angrily. "Doesn't he understand that I'm a cat and he's a bird? That means that I WIN! I'm the leader of the Zodiac and he's the lowest of the low!"

"Actually, isn't he the Lowest of the High?" I asked.

Loke glared at me. "Don't. You. Dare."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, I'm just asking you to join the guild early and teach me and the other kids some ballet so we're better fighters."

He sighed. "Fine."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you want to rub it in to Corvus's face that you've got a guild stamp and he doesn't? That he's not cool enough to be a member of Lucy's guild?"

Loke's face lit up, and I internally sighed. Geez, this was almost as bad as Natsu and Gray.

You know…almost.

Then again, I've never seen the two of them summoned together before, so…

"What's all that noise?" Erigor asked, peeking his head in.

"This is Loke, our newest guild member," I said, introducing him. "He's a Celestial Spirit."

"Oh, is Lucy here?" Erigor asked. "I'd like to finally meet her."

I shook my head. "No, I'm the one that summoned him, and I've got to say please come out on your own next time."

"You probably should have taken your cuffs off first," Erigor pointed out. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Elle. Nice to meet you, Loke."

"He seems familiar," Loke muttered.

"He's Erigor," I said. "He was with Eisenwald in the last timeline. But he's with us now. Got it?"

Loke calmed down when I glared at him. Despite aligning him with Eisenwald, Loke realized that Erigor was also in the Neo Oracion Seis, and he still held a bit of a grudge.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Loke," I said, gesturing to him. "He'll be teaching us ballet. And joining the guild."

Loke was standing next to Makarov, pulling off his shirt so he could get his stamp on his back.

"He seems a bit familiar..." Laxus said.

"That's probably because I'm a Celestial Spirit," Loke said. "I am also known as Leo the Lion, the leader of the Zodiac. Like Corvus," he growled out the name, "I can exit my gate on my own as well. However, I would like to be known as Loke. Because of...extenuating circumstances, I ended up joining the guild during the last timeline, and I would like to remain like that."

There was a bunch of nods around the room.

"Alright," Loke said, giving a bit of an evil grin. "Let's get started."

Loke was a slave driver. I've been told that ballet was hard, and could really hurt while first learning it, but that was an understatement. We spent the first day merely stretching and trying different positions, and we were still sore and hurt by the end of it.

The next day was even worse, and it took us some time for our muscles to adjust to being used in new ways.

While we were busy meditating in extremely uncomfortable ballet positions (so we could get used to them, Loke had said), Loke was busy flirting with Enno.

Macao then attacked Loke, and ended up beating him since Loke was on his own power and not contracted, and Enno seemed very, very happy with Macao's actions.

So much so, she dragged him off on a date.

In the latter half of August, Makarov declared that Evergreen had finished training her Eye Magic, and that she no longer needed her glasses in order to regulate it. Just like with every other reason, Fairy Tail used it as an excuse to throw a huge party, which ended up being even bigger when Evergreen let it slip that it was her ninth birthday.

After the large party, Evergreen challenged Erigor to a flying competition, which she admittedly lost, but Erigor promised that he would teach her a bit more about flying to make up for it.

On the last day of August, I also learned it was Enno's birthday, and we threw another party to celebrate her twentieth birthday.

When September hit, I finally approached Maggie and asked for her help. She agreed, and I spent most of the month trying to learn Mercury's magic.

Key word being trying.

While I could manipulate Mercury decently, it was very, very hard for me to make it myself, and Maggie suggested it was because it was essentially a Maker Magic, but it had to be solid.

We got into a bit of an argument on why solid Maker Magic would be harder than a different type, seeing as Venus's Light Magic technically could count as Maker Magic, but it didn't get any easier, even after the comparison.

I took a brief respite for Macao's twenty fifth birthday, on September 8th, but after that, I immediately went back to training, trying to get the hang of Mercury.

But it was still pretty bad. So much so that I would spend just about all of my specific practices on it, completely forgetting the other elements.

By the time Freed's birthday hit, I had been ordered (several times) to take a break from Mercury and practice with my other elements again.

Freed's ninth birthday was September 30th, and he decided to take a page out of Levy's book and ask for us to visit the council library again.

And then it was October, and it was time for a show.

If you haven't already guessed, Elle is a bit of an unreliable narrator. FYI, babies can usually see their mother's face when being breastfed, buy generally have difficulty with farther distances during their first few months.

I've put a shit ton of subtle and not-so-subtle hints throughout this chapter, and I look forward to seeing everyone's hunches in their reviews. ;D