Clean my body before I die,
Wipe my sins away.
Cleanse my body before I die,
Before my end of days.
(Flashback)
"How much do you know about Dragonslayers, Lucy?" Laxus asked looking at her expectantly.
Lucy stopped in her tracks, turning on her heel to look at the tall man; the pile of sticks in her arms rattling together.
"I know what I've learned from Wendy, Natsu, Gajeel, and a bit from Levy. It's not a lot, mind you, but the basics. Like, your instincts and how strong your senses are and a little bit about mated." She replied, gazing st him curiously. "Why?"
Laxus rubbed the back of his neck; he wanted to tell her about Gajeel, but it really wasn't his place.
"Do you know about kin?" He asked instead.
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, before Fairy Tsil disbanded, Wendy asked me to be her kin. I agreed, it's why she asked me to stay when I came back."
"I'd like to ask the same thing of you." Lacus stated, a sheepish expression on his face. "Just in case, you know, there's a potential suitor around."
Lucy let out a surprise chuckle. "Suitor? Laxus, I'm not a Lady anymore, by any means." She snorted and looked up at him. "But, I'd like that. I've always wanted a brother."
He cocked a brow. "What about Natsu and Gray?"
She rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, at some point I've see them in that way, but I've never had romantic feelings towards you, the way I've had towards them."
Laxus choked on his spit. ""Romantic feelings? Them?"
Lucy laughed loudly.
"They have their moments, or had their moments, when we were young and full of adventure and not adults trapped in bodies seven years younger than what they actually are. We're just a bunch of depressed mages who've been through some insane shit." Lucy said, nonchalantly, struggling her shoulders as she began to pick sticks up again.
"But still... Ash-For-Brains and Numb Nuts?" He said, in a joking judging tone.
Lucy shrugged again. "They were hot, I was younger with a teenage libido."
Laxus grimaced. "Please never say that again." Lucy chuckled again.
"Trust me, I'm internally gagging at the past self all the time. That's nothing." She replied, smiling at him. Laxus smirked and shoved her shoulder.
"I get what you mean."
Forgive my mind,
My selfish ways,
And all my sins today.
Lucy
The blonde mage gasped, feeling tears gather in her eyes as she focused on the magic inside of her.
Aquarius?
Who else would it be?
W-where are you? Why haven't you contacted me before?
Lucy could feel the irritation coming from her former Key; she grinned.
I'm being held by another mage. The only way to contact me is through the magic we share.
Lucy frowned. What do you mean another mage? Capricorn said that you might be doing all this as a test of sorts? Is someone holding you against your will?
Yes, of a sort. Look, I'm not saying I wouldn't have put you through some sort of humiliating test to prove yourself to me, but this isn't it.
So, how do I find you? Whoever is holding you, they're sporadic and changing their course too often for me to track. And i can't track you through our magic, I've already tried.
I know someone who can help you. Lucy frowned deeper at the hesitancy in Aquarius' voice.
Who?
My daughter, River.
by nightfall, I will not return,
And by daybreak 'morrow...
"We have to go where?" Evergreen asked, brows high on her face as she planted her hands on her hips.
Lucy chuckled and smiled at her. "Iceberg. It's where we are going to find someone who can track Aquarius." She stood in the kitchen, finishing up breakfast for the others. She slid scrambled eggs onto a large platter, along with sausages and pancakes and brought everything to the table. She went back into the kitchen and grabbed a pitcher of juice and a pitcher of coffee.
"Who the fuck has the skills to track a Celestial being?" Cobra asked, tugging a shirt on, much to Bixlow's displeasure. The dragonslayer say down and plated up, accepting the cup of coffee Lucy pushed towards him.
"Someone who has the same DNA as them." She replied, matter-of-factly, sitting down at the head of the table. Laxus sat down on her left, Gajeel on her right, followed by Cobra and Evergreen, Freed, and finally Bixlow.
"Same DNA? Like, their children or siblings?" Freed asked, inquisitively.
Lucy nodded. "Yes, exactly. Apparently, Aquarius fell in love with a mortal mage and they had a child together- which is extremely illegal and very taboo. Ol' Stache Face punished her by never letting her see her child after it was born, even from the Celestial plain."
Evergreen covered her mouth. "That's terrible!"
"It is." Lucy agreed, nodding her head and taking s sio of her juice. "But, in the eyes of the King, what she did was something very dangerous. She's lucky that her child is still alive. I know that it sounds cold and heartless, but children of Celestial beings are extremely powerful and dangerous, having the same powers as their parents."
"Like Dragonslayer." Gajeel commented, swallowing a bite of pancake.
"Pretty close to it, but a lot of the time, because they don't have anyone to teach them how to hone and control their magic, they end up being consumed by that power and ..." she trailed off, looking down at her plate and pushing her food around.
"They die dont they?" Bixlow asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Yes." Lucy answered quietly. "Their power becomes too much for them, for their bodies and for their cores and they burn out like a dying star."
"So, we have to find her daughter and then she'll lead us to Aquarius." Laxus stated, as he fi wished off his breakfast. He nodded. "Sounds easy enough, when do we leave?'
Lucy smiled.
I will be scattered in the wind,
As dust.
Nanachek was a snow covered village; buildings were built out of ice and snow and wood, giving it a strangely beautiful charm to it. The people that occupied the town were dressed head to toe in furs and leathers made out of the hides of the creatures that roamed their land. They also wore wooden goggles with slits for the eyes to help block out the sun. The village had a symphony of howling dogs that mad eup for the unusual silence that plagued the village.
Lucy adjusted her pack and pulled her fur coat a little tighter around her body. She never understood how Gray could stand the cold when he was younger. It was past being a little nipp(l)y and well into 'Shrinking Balls' cold.
"Which place do you think is hers?" Gajeel asked, sidling up next to Lucy. She shivered, feeling his body head come off of him in waves. Stupid, overly hot Dragonslayers.
"I dont really know, Aquarius only vaguely knew where her daughter was, not the exact house." Lucy answered. She bit her lip in thought. "But, let's ask someone, maybe the locals here know about her."
She walked over to a woman who was tending to her dogs and crouched down.
"Uuchlaarai, Taiwan bidend Tuvalu chadakh uu?" Lucy asked. The woman just a bit, startled by Lucy. She had dark eyes and dark hair that was pulled up into an intricate braided bun.
"Chi endees bish yum iu?" The woman questioned, an amused expression on her face.
Lucy chuckled. "Ugui ee, gekhdee bi and amidarch magadgui lhen negniig olokh gei khicheej baina."
The woman wiped her hands on her pants. "Chi khaigaad beige yum be?" She asked, standing up. Lucy followed her example.
"End torson emegtai. Ter golyn nereer yavdag uu?" Lucy asked hopefully. The woman frowned in thought.
"Ene nereer yavdag tsoryn grants emegtei Dyetali uuland amidardag. Ter jaakhan khotsrogsson bloch sat bur khool shuns avakhaar khotod iredeg." The woman replied, gesturing to a mountain that was a couple of miles away from the village. Lucy looked at it and sighed. She hated climbin .
"Tusalsand bayarlalaa." Lucy replied, smiling at the woman. She nodded and smiled back to her dogs.
Lucy walked back to her group.
"She's in the mountain." Lucy said, gripped the straps of her pack.
"You mean, she's on the mountain?" Bixlow said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"Nope, she lives in the mountain." Lucy replied, "I'm just hoping that we don't have to climb that much."
