*The Spirit King's POV*
Today was a weird day to be a spirit. Everyone had felt a slight power drop, as if the Celestial Realm had been plucked and returned full force. It was a weird experience but not a concerning one. Oh how I wish I investigated more.
*Aquarius' POV*
I felt Layla's magic tug on mine so I followed it. When I arrived, I put on my best stern face I could, Layla jumped on me.
"Aquarius, I just got the best news of my life, I'm pregnant!" she said.
I was happy for her since it was hard for her. My stern front went away at her next words.
She looked sheepish and had a small grin on her face, "I know it means something different for Spirits, but I can't think of anyone better to be my baby's godmother. I consider you my sister and it would be easier for the baby."
I was shocked and then Layla started babbling which jarred me out of my shock since apparently I hadn't answered her quick enough. I wrapped her in a hug.
"I would be honored Layla." I whispered in her ear.
I let her go before I smirked, "Jude doesn't agree and it's a bonus that I get to piss him off."
Layla shook her head in amusement. When I went back to the Celestial Plane, I sat in my area and very nearly squealed in excitement at being a godmother. Capricorn came over, apparently he too had been summoned. He sat next to me with a pleased smile but also a shocked one.
"Layla, Layla asked if I would consider being the babe's godfather." he said in a whisper, "Cancer is apparently her guardian since she will be born during his peak in power."
I chuckled, "I was offered the position of being the baby's godmother."
He looked at me, "Well, Layla definitely doesn't do things in halves."
"No, no she doesn't." I said.
And about nine months Earthland time, Cancer, Capricorn and I were called out to watch the birth of the Heartfilia heiress, and subsequently the Vermillion bloodline as well due to Jude. It sucked hearing her cries of pain during labor, but the sweet sound of a baby's cries filling the room was worth it. When we were allowed into the room, Layla was sitting up in the bed holding a small bundle. We three spirits got to see the newest addition to the Heartfilia Clan. A family well known for it's powerful Celestial Mages, the most notable ancestor is Anna Heartfilia. I looked down at the tiny bundle in Layla's arm to see a baby with a small tuft of blond hair and a pair of golden brown eyes. Even as a baby, she was the spitting image of Layla.
"Aquarius, Cancer, Capricorn, meet my baby girl. The newest member of the Heartfilia Clan, Lucinda Kelas Vermillion Heartfilia." Layla said.
Something about the baby pulled me toward her. I tried to keep my reputation of being a hard person to get along with, but when the babe was put into my arms, I knew right then and there that I would protect her. I saw the potential this little sprig of life had to become a very powerful Celestial Mage. I ran a gentle finger along her cheek and she sneezed. Then she yawned very very cutely and buried deeper into my chest. I melted, reputation be damned, this baby is the sweetest. I reluctantly let Cancer and Capricorn hold her. I could tell that both of them were going to be just as protective as me. Heck, Cancer had concealed the baby with his other legs. Capricorn had TAKEN OFF HIS SUNGLASSES!
I looked forward to my days out with Layla. I would play with Lucy and looked forward to hearing her peals of laughter as we gently splashed in the water. She had yet to say her first words, of course she wasn't even a year old. I turned around to tell Layla something while Lucy was occupied in the kiddy pool when a small voice sounded.
"Aquee." a tiny voice called.
I looked around and Layla looked just as shocked as I felt. Then it happened again.
"Aquee!" louder this time.
We looked towards Lucy and saw her waving her arms at me.
"Aquee!" she said again.
I scooped the little tot into my arms and tossed her into the air, her giggles echoing in the small area.
"That's right, I'm Aquee." I said, she would grow out of the name as she got older but as of right now, at nine months old, she was saying my name.
Then we got another surprise, when I put Lucy down to play in the water, she moved as if to crawl towards Layla. But instead she got up on her feet and took hesitant baby steps towards Layla. Layla this time let Lucy come to her before scooping her into her arms. I was giddy since I was able to witness Lucy's first steps and words.
She was a smart little tot, reading when she was one, the bigger and broader topics by the age of three. She also made a couple friends at that guild Layla had taken her once too. Layla had taken Lucy to the Fairy Tail guild when she was free and Lucy hit it off with a couple kids there. One was an older blonde boy who just so happened to be the Guildmaster's grandson and the other was a brown haired girl. They exchanged items so that way they could remember each other before Lucy left with her mother.
A year later, when Lucy was just shy of her fifth birthday, Layla had let all of her spirits know that she knew her time was coming to an end. Her health was declining and she knew that she wouldn't make it passed Lucy's ninth birthday. That's if everything goes well. It was very unfortunate that it happened a lot quicker than she thought. Lucy was strong for a child and had managed to hold my gate for five hours before getting tired. She picked up all of the Celestial lessons like a sponge and had learned a bunch of things already. She had gained a title already, the Nightshade, luckily no one knew her true name. People speculated her origins, as she had read all of the books in her families library and then some. Whatever books Crux had on him, she read.
Layla knew her time was nearing and with Lucy's leaps and bounds in magic, she passed our keys to Lucy. Now all of Layla's spirits are Lucy's. Lucy had wandered off and had managed to get herself into trouble. It wasn't Lucy's fault that she was targeted, and Layla was fatally injured protecting Lucy. Lucy had watched as the man stabbed her mother. Capricorn was out and was dealing with the other men that were there and couldn't protect Lucy. It hurt to watch as Layla's health declined after that incident. It was about six weeks from Lucy's sixth birthday that Layla passed away. I could only watch as Lucy was forced away from her mother as doctors came to wrap Layla.
I could only watch as Lucy screamed and kicked at the servants who had moved her from the room. I watched as Lucy cried for a mom who would never return. The three of us watched the funeral from the Celestial Realm. I knew Layla was going to pass on, so I was ready, that didn't mean it didn't hurt though. Once the casket was laid in the ground and the crowd disappeared, no one was paying any attention to Lucy. Lucy, who was staring at the grave with dull eyes and silent tears running down her face. Lucy called us all out one by one to pay our respects to Layla and say goodbye one last time. For a week after the funeral, I was mad, upset, and just in a bad mood. My temper was on a very short fuse. I pushed all of that aside so that I could comfort Lucy. My baby was unresponsive to even Cancer and Capricorn for the week. Even me to a certain point. It was a bad day for me when Lucy summoned me to play in her bathtub. Normally on any day I wouldn't care if Lucy summoned me in the bath, but today was not that day. When I arrived, I told her off. I felt a little twinge of something when I finished but I ignored it.
"M'sorry. I just wanted to play." she said.
I don't know why but that statement pissed me off but it did.
"Don't you have other friends for that brat?" I snarked out.
Then the pressure keeping my gate open disappeared and I found myself back in the Celestial Realm. I was shocked and realized that Lucy just silently forced my gate closed. I looked through the viewing pool to see my baby curled up in the bath. The blank look in her eyes hurt to see. I tried forcing my gate to get to her, to apologize, but she was keeping my gate closed. I could only watch as she mechanically washed herself and then got out. I watched as the servants tried and failed to get Lucy to talk to them, to respond to anything. It was two weeks later when something was off. I was with Scorpio at the moment and we had just made up when Cancer and Capricorn came careening around the corner.
"Aquarius! We need your help. It's Lucy." they said.
I didn't hear anything else as I ran to the viewing pool to find my baby. She was curled up in the corner of a room rocking back and forth with tears running down her face. I looked at the two boys.
"Did you try to reach her?" I asked.
"She's unresponsive to us." Cancer said, "We tried."
So I forced my gate. Due to the lack of water around the area, I arrived with legs instead of my tail. When I reached Lucy, she was still huddled in a ball. I moved closer to her and touched her shoulder. She flinched away.
"Lucy, it's just me, Aquarius." I said gently and waited for her to see if she'd let me hug her.
Ever since Layla died, Lucy's slowly been shying away from hugs and other forms of contact. Not with her spirits but with other people. This is the first time she's shied away from me. Lucy looks up at me with a tearstained face and her face crumpled in guilt. I reached for her to pull her into a hug, desperately wanting to give her comfort, but she pulled farther away. She looked away.
"Are…are you mad at me for mamma dying? Do…do you blame me?" she whispered.
Of all the things she could have said, that was dead last on my list.
"No." I said firmly, "No sweetpea. I don't blame you for her dying. I was having a bad day when I refused to play with you and I'm sorry I let my anger transfer to you. I never wanted to hurt you."
I moved again hoping to pull her onto my lap but she tensed and pushed herself even further into the corner.
Then in a tone that should never be in a child as young as her she whispered, "but…if it wasn't for me, mamma would still be here."
"No, no sweetie. She was protecting you. She knew she was dying. Yes the attack sped it up, but she would have eventually passed. YOU are not to blame. It was those men's fault for attempting to take you." I said.
I pulled her into my lap and hugged her close to me.
"But…father said that if I didn't wander off, those men wouldn't have attacked me and mamma wouldn't have died." she said.
She was tense and the ONLY reason why I didn't go blasting Jude to barely a smear mark on the ground was because I was too focused on getting my baby to open up again. She was my priority and will always come first. I comforted her and reassured her that it wasn't her fault. She finally relaxed in my arms after I promised her that I wasn't mad at her for Layla's death. She finally responded to my hugging and hugged back. I wrapped myself around her and held her tightly, she fell asleep in my arms. Once she was sound asleep in her bed, I returned to the spirit realm before I did something I would regret and be cast out of the realm. Case in point, I went to my secluded area and let out my anger. I used spells that I haven't been able to access since Anna. It was a small warning flag in the back of my mind, one that I would think about later after I vent my anger out. Ones that I shouldn't be able to access said spells at this point in time.
*The Spirit King's POV*
I had been doing my rounds of checking up on all my spirits when three of the zodiac were in an absolute rage. Cancer and Capricorn were the first to start, they had attempted to reach their holder but couldn't and went to go get Aquarius. I was shocked that Aquarius ditched Scorpio in favor of finding her holder. Then to pile onto the growing shock fo seeing three zodiac so worried about their holder, Aquarius FORCED her gate. If she was able to force her gate, then her current holder must be very special, for they had to be magically strong enough for Aquarius to do so as well as a very deep connection. I waited for her to return and was dying in fighting the compulsion to see who had caught the eye of the most difficult spirit ever. When she returned, it was two hours later with an aura of anger surrounding her. An aura that had all of the spirits making way for her for fear of her turning her ire on them. She disappeared into her secluded area, she even ignored SCORPIO! I watched as she blasted targets with spells that she hasn't been able to tap into for centuries. She was getting angrier by the minute and after she whispered something to Cancer and Capricorn, they too were raging in their respective areas. I had to stop her before she destroyed everything and that the seas were calm.
"AQUARIUS, CANCER, CAPRICORN! That's enough!" I boomed.
They stopped and looked at me. All of them had rage in their eyes, none more than Aquarius. Hers weren't just rage, it was hatred.
"Why are you so angry?" I asked.
Aquarius showed me her memory, and I saw her comforting her current holder. I was shocked by the fact that her holder, whom I thought was older and had a large capacity, was in fact a tiny human being, a child. Something about rewatching the memory triggered Aquarius and her entire demeanor changed and her anger levels skyrocketed.
"How dare he?!" Aquarius shouted.
That got fearful looks from most of the other spirits.
"How dare that bastard hurt MY BABY!" Aquarius shouted before disappearing.
I was yet again shocked that Aquarius was showing a side of her that hasn't been seen in the Celestial Realm in centuries. The side of her that was fiercely loyal to those who manage to get pass her guards and extremely protective of those who do. It was two days later, with Cancer, Capricorn and the rest of the spirits that shared the same holder disappearing, that Aquarius returned and was calm enough to cuddle into Scorpio's arms.
*Aquarius' POV*
I had just shown the King what had happened when I realized that Lucy wasn't pulling away because she was guilty, she was pulling away because it was a reaction to being hit too many times. Which meant that it happened to Lucy. I was so pissed that I forced my gate to make sure Lucy was okay. I had found her out in the forest around the Konzern practicing all the magics she read about. She was doing quite well for her age. I helped her heal, and I was amazed that Lucy had the magical strength for me to actually have access to my lesser known healing powers. I was able to speed up the natural healing process with water and it came in handy. I spent the week training Lucy so that by the time she went back, she would be okay. I had her call out her silver keys while holding Cancer's or Capricorn's gates open. She got better and better as the days went by and she eventually reverted back to the cheerful girl that we all loved. We just accepted the fact that she had a colder side now and we were honored that we were the only ones she let see behind her cold mask of indifference. By the end of the week, Lucy and the rest of her spirits reworked our contracts so that if it was an emergency, she could call upon us at anytime. I changed mine to where she was able to summon me any day, Cancer and Capricorn did the same thing. Lyra changed her's as well since Lucy was learning to play instruments and so Lyra wanted to teach Lucy. All of us spirits could hold her without her tensing in our arms.
Surprisingly enough, she had found Taurus on the way back to the manor. Apparently the other spirits had been bragging about Lucy and Taurus had moved his key so that Lucy would find it.
*Lucy's POV*
It's been a week since Aquarius went back to the spirit world. We played together and trained. I found that I liked running, jumping, and flipping. The some of the servants were on my side and helped me in their own way. I understood that they were doing it as much as they could without alerting my father. Not that my father paid me any attention apart from trying to marry me off to some person. Which meant that I had a ton of free time. I began learning all the magics that I read about, my tutors advanced my learnings to where if I wanted to, I would be able to take over the Heartfilia company. I learned about the history of mages, the founding of the country and others like Bosco and Seven, as well as the history of a majority of the magic guilds. Our chef taught me how to hunt and cook, sending up our thanks to the animal spirit every time. The others taught me how to sew, knit, and more. They even gave me a little bit of their pay for helping them with chores. They found me keys too. It wasn't many because keys were expensive, but they were enough. When I was eight, I had mastered all the magics I learned, and had moved my entire money into a separate account. I siphoned all my inheritance and the money mother left me in her will to a private account under my middle name Kelas. The spirits I got over the course of the two years were Canes Venatici the hunting dogs, Lupus, Lynx, and Monoceros. Lupus and Monoceros were females, Lynx and the Hunting dogs were male. Lupus, when playful, she was a big puppy, but summon her to be protective and her belly is seven feet off the ground. Lynx was the same, a small house cat till threatened. Then he was about five feet off the ground. Monoceros, who I called Cera, was great for riding around and healing purposes. She is a sweetheart. The Canes Venatici were a twin brother and sister duo. The male was Asterion and the female is Chara. I call Asterion, Rio. So they helped hunt.
Then the keys I got from my mom were also helpful. All my keys are my family though. The four silver keys I got from mom were the keys to the Southern Cross, the Lyre, the Clock, and the Compass. Grandpa Crux furthered my studies, Lyra taught me how to play many instruments and master them, Hologium who I called Rollie, kept a schedule of my day. Pyxis, or Pixy, helped with navigation. I was happy because I had a little family, one I can always rely on. Cancer is my guardian, Aquarius is apparently my godmother but I consider her a mother, and Capricorn is my godfather but I consider him my dad. Then the rest are brothers or sisters. When Taurus joined the family, he was the annoying overprotective big brother.
On my ninth birthday I went to try and reconnect with my father. I made him a rice ball and took it to him. He picked up the rice ball I spent time making for him and threw it in my face. He told me that I was a distraction and to not interrupt his work again. I picked up the rice ball he threw at me and I threw it back into his face.
"Screw you Jude! I made this for you to spend time with you. You know, reconnect. But I can see that it's impossible." I growled and left.
I decided that tonight was the night I would leave. I summoned Rollie to take the clothes I wanted and Grampa Crux held onto the books mamma passed onto me. I was about to run off when Ms. Supetto caught me. She helped me leave though and gave me a parcel of food and three keys that Belo was going to give me. It were those of Ursa Minor, Pegasus, and Vulpecula. I made it out and I was off. Unfortunately a few hours after I left, I ran across Vulcan territory and had gotten hurt. Aquarius appeared and ran with me in her arms. She was protecting me from the multitude of Vulcans. The last thing I remember was a wet nose nuzzling me before I fell asleep. I remember the warm fur I held and fell asleep, the pain being too much.
AN: So, how was it? I think this one will be better. Plus I can weave in other ideas I had along the way. Anyway, updates will be inconsistent so please be patient as I don't necessarily have a schedule for my stories.
Peace. ~Immortalshark
