Chapter Three: The Heartfilia Residence
"I shouldn't have left without speaking to you. It was a poor decision on my part, one I now deeply regret."
Lucy was only half-awake when her mind began devising a speech for her father. It was strange because her brain usually wouldn't function for the next twenty minutes or so upon gaining even the slightest speck of consciousness on any given day. She must really found it urgent to speak with Jude.
"The reason why I came back here was to show you my resolve. This time, I came to express my feelings before I leave. Dad, I want to walk my own path."
"Sounds like a perfect speech to me," said a friendly voice from a faraway distance.
It sure is. My brain just came up with it, she thought happily. Then, moments later, she frowned, sensing that something was seriously wrong about the whole situation. There also seemed to be a nagging presence near her, but then her mind could be playing tricks. After all, she was still in a place between sleep and awake.
"You know, you sure talk loudly in your sleep. I'm kind of starting to dig it," the same friendly voice remarked. It sounded much closer this time—like someone was in the same room with her.
No, wait. There was someone in her room. The familiarness of this person's magic was too unmistakable to ignore—if it was indeed a person. It would depend on how it would take its form according to what she knew about celestial spirits.
Lucy opened her eyes and found herself looking directly at Loke. He was sitting carelessly on a winged chair across her bed with his arms folded over his chest. He had short, spiky orange hair and sported an orange shirt, mostly covered by his green coat with fur-trimming lining the hood, above his dark pants and white sneakers. Azure-tinted sunglasses almost obscured his eyes.
"Good morning, Lucy," he said.
"Loke?" she mumbled. Still groggy, she slowly sat up and tried to hold her loose robes in place so she could cover herself properly. She wondered if she was still dreaming. "Your… your magic. It's…"
But his knowing smile immediately brought the celestial mage to full cognizance of his presence.
"You're a celestial spirit," gasped Lucy, her eyes now wide in surprise.
"Yes. I'm Leo the Lion."
She couldn't believe her ears. So, Loke was a celestial spirit after all! No wonder his magic felt familiar to her. But then, he wasn't just any celestial spirit—Leo the Lion was known to be the leader of the Zodiac twelve. He was a mighty celestial warrior, and he was right in front of her. She couldn't be more pleased.
According to her research, Leo the Lion was known for his pride, self-confidence, and heart of gold. He was also a loyal celestial spirit, but Lucy heard a long time ago that he had been mistreated by a popular celestial mage named Karen Lilica. When she heard about her passing, she knew that somewhere out there, Leo was in contract with a new owner. She never thought that he had been freely goofing around with Natsu and Gray in Fairy Tail this whole time.
"Wait. Is that why you've been avoiding me?" she asked curiously. "Because I'm a celestial mage?"
"Yes," he replied, "and I'm sorry for that. I truly am. It's just—I wasn't ready to make a contract with any celestial mages. I haven't been for years, and over that, I enjoyed doing whatever I wanted and having control over myself. I was afraid that if you knew that I was a celestial spirit, you'd take my gate key from me and then make me your servant."
"Hey, hold on just a minute, Leo," she said, feeling offended by his presumption. "I don't treat my celestial spirits as servants. I treat them like they're my friends! But if you're so afraid that I'd take your gate key from you, then why are you here talking to me right now?"
Leo shrugged. "Well, I can't avoid you in the guild forever. We're family now," he said simply. "That's why I followed you here to tell you who I am. Again, I'm sorry for the way I had treated you before—you know, when I avoided you and all."
Lucy softened at that. "Thanks, Leo," she told him gratefully. "For telling me the truth. And I also want to thank you for returning my celestial gate keys through Natsu—you know, during the battle with Phantom Lord." She smiled at him. "Don't worry. I won't take your gate key from you. You must think that I'm such a klutz for dropping my other gate keys the last time."
The celestial warrior ran a hand through his hair. "That's the reason why I'm here as well. I want you to be my gate key holder."
She stared at him in disbelief. "Me? But why? I thought you said that you didn't want to make a contract with a celestial mage."
"Yesterday morning, I heard what you said to Laxus about wanting to prove yourself to the guild," he explained. "I really admired your courage, standing up to him. You didn't see me there, of course, because I had kept myself hidden." He looked sheepish, but then he grinned. "Anyway, as your new celestial warrior, I'll help you train to become a stronger celestial mage if you so wish it."
"Honto? You'd do that for me?"
"Honto. Anything for you."
Leo rose to his feet and walked over to her. Then, he pulled out a golden key from the side pocket of his pants and handed it over to her. He knew he was making the right decision because it turned out that Lucy wasn't like the other celestial mages whom he had worked for in the past—he realized that after finally talking to her.
His new mistress was kind-hearted and brave—not to mention beautiful. Maybe during their training, she would eventually reciprocate his feelings for her.
"I appreciate this, Leo," said Lucy sincerely, holding the golden gate key in her hand. "So, uh, should I start making the contract with you now?"
He nodded at her in response.
"Okay, I'll sign you to the contract. Are you available on Mondays?"
"Yes."
"How about on Tuesdays?"
"Yes."
"Wednesdays? Thursdays?"
"Yes, yes."
Lucy frowned. "Are you available all the time?"
"Yes," replied Leo, snickering.
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, then why didn't you just tell me that earlier? Okay, great. Now, the contract is complete. Are you sure you're fine with me calling for your help anytime?"
"You can summon me anytime for anything," he told her, giving her a flirty wink.
"Ugh." She rolled her eyes again at him again. "Thanks, I guess."
"Now, how about we both seal the contract with a kiss as a formality?" He leaned over to her and puckered his lips.
Lucy made a face at him, realizing that Leo was still the old Loke after all. "That's not how it works, Leo," she said, covering his mouth with her hand before it could reach hers. Yeah, she was definitely not reconsidering him in her perfect boyfriend list booklet. "Anyway, about this training, how about we do it tomorrow? I have somewhere to be today."
"Fine by me," he said when he straightened up. "But on a serious note, if you need anything, you're welcome to open my gate key and call on me, okay?"
She nodded and winked at him.
"Ah, the things you do for love," he uttered dreamily. Then, he waved his hand at her and dissipated into the air like a celestial warrior that he was when returning to the celestial spirit world.
It was all coming back to her, the memories of her childhood. The friendly servants and gardeners at home. Her dolls and other toys. The elderly homeschooler. Her loving parents. As Lucy stared at the front of the Heartfilia Residence, she could hear her heart thumping in her chest. The mansion looked the same as she remembered it. Everything looked the same.
She had bought a flower bouquet from a flower shop that she just passed by along the way to the vast land that was owned by her family. She wanted to visit her mother's gravestone first before coming up to her father's office. She finally found it in the cemetery inside the Heartfilia gardens.
Layla Heartfilia X748-X777.
"Hey there, Mom," said Lucy, kneeling in front of her mother's gravestone. "You know, a lot has happened since I left home. I'm not the same person as before, but I sure hope you're proud of me. I still have a long way to go, but there's nothing that I do that isn't for you. Wherever you are, I hope you're happy. And please help me make Dad understand."
She gently placed the flowers on Layla's gravestone and let her tears fall to her cheeks. For a few minutes, she wept in silence, thinking about the memories she had shared with the most beautiful woman in the world to her. Part of her wanted to go back to the way things used to be with her family, but her other part also knew that she was better off moving forward with her life.
Now, it was time to face her father.
"I shouldn't have left without speaking to you. It was selfish and a poor decision on my part, one I now deeply regret because it ended up hurting my friends. But the reason why I came back here was to show you my resolve. This time, I came to express my feelings before I leave. Dad, I want to walk my own path, so please let me go."
Lucy was inside his father's office, talking to him. Earlier, she had been furious when she learned that the reason why Jude had paid Phantom Lord to kidnap her was that he was setting her up with a powerful Duke named Sawarr Junelle for marriage. Again, it was always about money. Her father had only cared about his wealth and his position in the Heartfilia Konzern as president. But she was having none of it. There was nothing truly worse than having her life predetermined by someone else for his own selfish means.
Jude gave her daughter a fierce look as he leaned back against his chair. He couldn't believe that she would again dare to defy him like this. "I'm appalled that you still choose to give up the life that your mother and I have worked hard for so you could associate yourself with those ruffians," he said.
"Those are my friends," she told him, clenching her fists. "Please don't look down on them, Dad. They're good people."
"You're a proper lady," he argued, now drumming his fingers impatiently on his office desk. "A woman with your stature would stain the Heartfilia family's reputation if you continued to remain in that guild."
"I'm sorry, Dad, but that's the least of my concerns now. I have a new family, and that's Fairy Tail," she said hotly. "And if you try to lay a finger on my friends again, we'll all come back here to bring you down, Dad. So, this is goodbye!"
With that, Lucy stormed out of his office, feeling her own heart being ripped out from her chest. She should have known that she couldn't make her father understand. She tried. Spirits, did she try, but she was tired of it. Finding out that her father would still choose his reputation over her happiness only hurt her more than she could possibly imagine.
Jude could never understand her pain, how his indifference toward her since her mother's passing had tormented her for so many years. This was why she would never leave Fairy Tail. She would protect them the way they had protected her.
This was her resolve.
Laxus finally stepped into the business tycoon's office with clenched fists. Jude looked up from his desk and then nodded at his guest. The older man had met with the mage earlier prior to his daughter's arrival; they had agreed to form an alliance to ascertain that Lucy would leave Fairy Tail for good and return home to her father.
"So, what exactly do you intend to do with my daughter in your guild?" asked Jude. "I hope you're not going to hurt her or anything. Her future son would own the Heartfilia Konzern someday."
"I hate your guts, old man," said the lightning mage. "The way you speak so lowly of us makes me want to destroy you. But no matter how despicable you are as a father to your own daughter, I'm still here to accept your offer. I can assure you that Lucy would leave Fairy Tail."
The tycoon sneered at him. "And what would you know about having a father?"
"What did you say?" snarled Laxus as sparks of lighting started coming out of his body.
But Jude wasn't fazed. "Yes, yes. I met your father, Ivan, a long time ago. You are Laxus, his son, aren't you?"
Laxus stared at him, stunned. He had met his father?
"That's another reward that I'll give to you aside from money, you insolent boy," the tycoon went on. "If you can guarantee that Lucy would leave Fairy Tail and return here unharmed, then I'll tell you where your father is."
When the mage didn't say anything, Jude finally looked back down to his desk and started shuffling some papers. "I'm glad to have made your acquaintance. You may leave my office."
Not knowing what else to do or say, Laxus left the office with a heavy heart but a hopeful one. If he could complete his job, he would again see his father. Ivan could finally see how much he had changed over the years. They could be family again.
But first, Lucy had to go.
