Chapter 11
(Time skip the next morning)
The next morning Lucy woke up to see that Bickslow was already up doing his exercises. She went to take a shower before joining him in some acrobatic training. Evergreen woke up to see Bickslow holding Lucy's legs up as she attempted a handstand. Evergreen growled, "Show offs.", on her way to the shower. Laxus woke up next and he did not even mumble a greeting before he left the room. Freed did not wake up till Laxus returned with mugs of coffee that Laxus had placed directly next to Freed's head. Freed grabbed one and downed the whole cup before he ever even opened his eyes.
Evergreen came out of the shower, and everyone else took turns getting ready for the day. Once everyone was ready to leave the group went to the docks to find a ship heading to their destination. There was only one ship due to the bad weather that had hit again over night. This ship was very small and that only made it harder to handle the rocking motion. Laxus had already taken the motion sickness pills and he was still extremely sick. The only time Laxus was even close to okay was when Lucy was playing with his hair.
After only a few hours after the ship left port, there was talk of having to turn around to return. Lucy knew that Laxus could not take much more and so she made a decision. She got the Thunder God Tribe together and told them, "I am going to get us to our destination very quickly. Bickslow tell the crew to hold on and buckle everything down. They got ten minutes to do it all. Evergreen go warn Laxus that the waves are going to get worse. Freed I need you with me." Bickslow asked, "Lucy what are you going to do?" Lucy sighed, "I am going to go get my ass kicked but we will arrive at our destination in an hour instead of days."
Lucy went to the back of the ship with Freed as Evergreen and Bickslow went to warn everyone about Lucy's plan. Freed asked, "What do you need me to do Lucy?" Lucy started tying herself to the railing as she answered, "Is there a way you can keep the ship together with ruins? Make it so it temporarily cannot break upon impacts?" Freed nodded his head, and started writing the ruins. Freed paused and blushed when Lucy started tying a rope his waist. "Freed tell me when you are done, ok?", Lucy asked. Freed stayed silent for few more minutes before he replied, "It his complete Miss Lucy."
As soon as Freed told Lucy he was done she ducked under the railing to the ship and placed the tip of a gold key into the water. When she did this a very angry mermaid spirit appeared. Aquarius yelled, "What do you want? I was on a date?" Lucy looked real nervous to Freed before she said, "I am letting you to do your favorite thing Aquarius. Hit this ship with your best shot with me on it just make sure we head directly north. Hit it as hard as you want to hit me. Try to make us all sea sick." Freed gasped, "Miss Lucy are you crazy? She will destroy us."
Aquarius just huffed and picked up her urn to create the biggest wave anyone on the ship had ever seen. The first wave Aquarius made sent the little ship sailing across the ocean for several minutes at a fast pace. Everyone on board was screaming but Lucy just yelled, "Come on Aquarius, that was tiny. I know you can do better, I have seen it." This made the celestial spirit mad and she sent several huge waves in a row at the boat.
Lucy continuously goaded the mermaid spirit into sending huge waves at the boat, pushing them closer to their destination. Lucy had underestimated Aquarius' ability to move the ship. The mermaid spirit took a two-day trip and turned into 30 minutes. Everyone on the ship was glad to see land when they reached the port. Lucy thanked Aquarius, who said, "Do not call me for a while. I deserve a break after this stupid request."
After Lucy and her group disembarked from the ship, Lucy suddenly started walking away from the city along the beach. No one noticed because the rest of the group were still recovering from the bumpy ride Lucy's spirit had created. By the time Laxus realized she was missing Lucy had already walked around a bend in the beach, where no one could see her. Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe started yelling her name as Laxus tried to follow her scent.
Laxus and the others quickly followed Lucy's scent and footprints down the beach. When they came around the same bend Lucy did they saw her in the distance calmly walking alone. They tried yelling her name but got no response from the celestial mage. The group following Lucy started to run, knowing that this behavior was out of character for the blonde woman. When they caught up to Lucy they quickly realized that she was not hearing or seeing the things around her. When Laxus tried to touch Lucy she just walked around him and continued on her path.
Freed finally spoke up, "Miss Lucy is in no danger right now. I think we should follow her and find out where she goes." Laxus reluctantly agreed, all he could think of was to tie Lucy up till she was normal again. The four mages followed closely behind Lucy for several minutes until she stopped dead in her tracks and faced the ocean. Lucy just stood there waiting not moving. After several minutes Laxus tried to go talk to Lucy again, but he got no response. Laxus went to talk to the Thunder God Tribe and said, "We give her five more minutes to snap out of it or something. After that we take her back to the port and call master." After saying this two figures appeared in a golden glow.
Virgo bowed to Lucy's companions and went to stand by Lucy, while Leo tried to explain what was happening to Laxus and the others. Leo said, "You cannot touch her right now, her subconscious will not allow you to break her focus. She is waiting for something. If you tried to take her away from this spot she would fight you till you left her alone, or she passed out." Laxus growled out, "What is she waiting for? Why is she acting like she cannot see or hear us?" Leo gave Laxus a sad look, "I wish I could tell you more, but I will tell you what I can. Lucy is waiting for her fate. Neither she, you, nor I can interfere. She quite literally cannot hear or see you. Lucy is in a magical trance of sorts, induced by her own magic. All you can do is wait and protect her till she is through." Leo went to stand alongside Lucy with Virgo.
Laxus looked at Freed, "What do you know about celestial magic that has anything to do with trances or meditation?" Freed looked at the sky as he began to think leaving everyone in silence. A few minutes after Laxus had asked his question Freed replied, "Celestial mages can slowly expand their power through intense meditation. I see know of no connection to trances and her magic. Miss Lucy's magic is rare though, and quickly becoming a lost magic. I will begin to research this in case of future occurrences." Laxus nodded and asked, "Everyone think what could she be waiting on at the beach that connects with fate or destiny?"
Everyone sat silent each trying to puzzle through the mystery when Bickslow said in frustration, "All I know about the ocean is that it rises and lowers in a tide. I know nothing about destiny or fate." Freed looked at Bickslow wide eyed, "That is it. When we came into port the tide was rising. Lucy may be waiting for the tide to go back out. There may be something hidden beneath the surface of the water we cannot see. I should have thought of that sooner." Laxus started to think, "How much longer till low tide do you think?" Freed sighed, "Hard to tell but we have been here awhile so I would imagine not much longer."
The group watch both the lowering water for danger and Lucy to see if she would react. Slowly after some time a small rock formation began to appear out of the water. As soon as the water revealed the base Lucy was walking toward it. The group, plus two spirits, followed the celestial mage to the rocks. Lucy got on her knees at the base of the rock and started to dig. When the others tried to get too close to Lucy they hit a barrier surrounding the rock area all around.
Laxus proceeded to try to break the barrier but Virgo stopped him saying, "You cannot break it. It is an ancient seal put there to protect Princess Lucy while she is searching." Laxus growled in frustration and began to pace. It did not take long for Lucy to uncover a hole in the rock structure. Without hesitation Lucy put her hand in the hole all the way up to her shoulder. When Lucy reached the back of the hole she gripped an object and pulled it out. When she stood up she kept a tight grip on an unknown object and set on the beach just staring at her hand.
Leo sat next to Lucy and said, "Princess are you okay?" Lucy just stared into space not registering anyone's presence. Leo looked at Laxus, "I will carry her. It is best we get her somewhere safe. She is in shock I think, where are you staying?" Laxus told them a name of a hotel near the port, and Virgo went to check them in and place their luggage. Leo carried his key holder back to the port, while no one said a word.
Lucy showed no signs of awareness till they group got back to the port, all she said was, "It happened again, Leo." When they got to the hotel Virgo handed over the keys to the room and disappeared back to her home. Leo sat Lucy down on the couch in the room and told the others, "I will leave the rest to you. She will tell you what she wants about the situation. She will start talking soon." Leo disappeared in a golden light.
Laxus sent Evergreen and Freed to get food, while they waited for Lucy to come around. Lucy finally stopped staring aimlessly a few minutes after the duo got back. The entire time Lucy was out of it she kept her fist closed tight. The first thing Lucy said to the group since the trance started was a mumbled, "Sorry guys." Laxus handed Lucy some food and a bottle of water and growled out, "Eat now; explain later." Lucy ate slowly dreading explaining the whole situation to the group. When she ate the last bite, she sighed in resignation knowing it was time to spill the beans.
Freed looked at Lucy and said, "Miss Lucy we would like to know what is going on. Your spirits only told us you were in a trance because of your magic." Lucy pulled her fist to her chest never had releasing it the whole time. She finally spoke after few minutes, "When I was training I expanded my magic a great deal. I found a new ability when I increased my magic. I can sense gate keys if I am close enough to them. A few of the more powerful spirits can call to me through my magic link to the celestial world. When the spirits call, I have no choice but to answer. I quite literally cannot say no. These spirits are allowed to choose their key holders, and it is an honor few celestial mages have been given. I am sorry I did not warn you. I did not expect to be called again by another so soon." Laxus sat listening to Lucy's story trying to understand what she was saying.
Laxus asked Lucy, "So let me get this straight. You have episodes where you literally cannot control your body? You get no choice if you contract with these spirits and if I am not mistaken these trances like states are severally draining on you?" Lucy sighed, "You are correct in everything you said." Laxus saw red and screamed, "That is something we should know Lucy! You not only put yourself in danger but everyone in this room! What if your little friends call while we are in a fight Lucy?! What if they call you after you are already drained?" Lucy got mad, "They would never call me in a fight they know when it is safe for me to come! Also, they would not call if I did not have the energy to come to them. I agree it is something you should have been told but the spirits who call me would never put me in danger. They want to contract with me, why would they purposely put me in danger? The answer is they would not."
Freed intervened when Laxus was about to scream some more, "Laxus she has a point. The celestial spirits would not hurt her if they want her to be their key holder. She apologized for her mistake, and no one got hurt. You are just letting your worry for her turn to anger." Laxus sighed, "Want to tell us what key you found this time? I thought silver keys were weak, so how do they call you in such a powerful way?" Lucy looked at her hand and said, "It is not a silver key, those spirits are not powerful enough to lock onto my magic. There are other kinds of keys, ancient ones that have not been seen in years. It is a long story but simply put I have enough magic energy to find them. I am the first in a century to be able to sense them."
Evergreen asked, "Will you tell us who your new friend is? And what set are they in? Will you contract with them tonight?" Lucy shook her head no and replied, "No I cannot contract with them tonight. Between calling Aquarius for so long and the trance draining me I do not have the energy. I would prefer to keep the rest of the answers to your questions a surprise. Think you all can wait till morning?" The others agreed to wait and everyone started to get ready for bed. The stress of the boat ride and fear over Lucy's strange behavior made sure everyone fell asleep quickly.