We've finally gotten to the Blood Bond Prophecy guys. Enjoy!

Stranger 1999 and 3-kity-3: I'm always happy to see new readers! I hope you continue to enjoy yourselves.

Savwafair: This whole thing is really an exercise for me. The goal is to write every day, so getting enough down to share really doesn't take long at all.

As always, thanks for the love and happy reading.


Loke winced as he tried once more to get comfortable on Lucy's couch. Once he was settled, he began to speak.

"I'm sure you know that millennia ago, the realms were all connected, right?"

"Yeah, the realms started out as one large realm, with all the races mixed together." Natsu moved to sit on the edge of Lucy's coffee table, only a few feet from Leo.

"That's right. Way back when we were first… created, or spawned, or whatever beginning story you believe, we were all together. Elves, demons, angels, humans, giants… you name them, they were there. Things were good, for a long time, and then fights began to break out and when a full scale war was on the horizon, it was decided that the realms needed to be split.

"Over time, the different realms evolved and changed on their own, but none of them ever reconnected. However, it's because they used to be one that travel between them is possible."

"I already knew that," Natsu said impatiently. "Everyone from the demon realms knows that."

"Calm down," Leo said. "It's where the story starts, so give me a minute." He sighed as he tried to find the right words. "What do the demons believe the reason is for the realms being split up?"

"The war," Natsu answered. "It was decided that certain races couldn't live together, so they were split up between different realms to protect the races from each other. No one knows how it was done, just that the demon kings, the dragon king and the king of the angels did it. It's irreversible, whatever it is, so no one really asks questions about it."

"See, that's not entirely true. It wasn't entirely the threat of a war that caused them to split the realms. It was what caused the threat of war that caused the kings to take action."

Natsu frowned. "I've heard a lot of theories about what caused the war, but it always came back to the races not getting along."

"The races got along fine, until a majority of them became envious of the humans."

"Humans?" Natsu laughed. "You're kidding right? The other races became jealous of the one with the lowest lifespan and complete lack of magical power? Why?'

"Because they held the favor of the angels." Leo sighed. "Our job as angels has always been to help the weak. Since they had no magic of their own, and were at the mercy of the other races, we angels tended to aid them more than the other races, whether with help, magical intervention, friendship, or whatever else they needed. The other races became jealous of that. It started as disagreements, little fights here and there, and then the other races began to shun the humans. They'd gang up against them, first as small groups, and then with larger and larger groups of mixed races. Human towns were attacked and destroyed, and eventually they started killing the humans rather than just inconveniencing them. Eventually, they decided to wipe them all out.

"My king was upset by their actions, so he recruited the demon kings to help him try and regain order. The kings of the other races didn't want to interfere, since they agreed with their people. The only reason the demon kings agreed was because their people had an abundance of their own magic and they tended to keep to themselves. The humans respected that and gave them their space, so they had no reason to go after them.

"The dragon king of that time didn't care either way, so he refrained from helping either side. Ironically, that upset the other races more than if he'd just agreed to help. Once the other races began to gang up against the dragons, he agreed to help."

Natsu frowned. "I guess I never thought about the fact that Igneel wasn't the first dragon king."

"He was important to the cause, though. At that point, he was young, yes, but he knew what was needed for the split to be successful."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I'll get to that in a little bit.

"The demon, angel and dragon kings all worked together to try and find a way to split the realms before a war could break out. Their research led them to two conclusions. The first being that the realms could be split up. The second, was that they would either need to split them permanently, which would mean no travel or interaction between them ever again, or they would need to find the proper bond that would split the worlds, but keep them connected.

"The easiest way for that to happen, was to use a vessel that held no ill will toward any of the races. The problem with the required magic was that it used the will of the heart. The necessary spells read the heart of the caster or casters, and used that to create the split.

"They knew they could easily split the worlds with their combined magic, but they couldn't do so on their own without destroying the links. The dragon king had grown some animosity over the recent attacks against his brethren, and the angel king, while a forgiving king, was still upset over the other races inability to accept that our kind were essentially helping the less fortunate."

"I thought you said the demon kings didn't care? Why wasn't their indifference enough?"

"They didn't care about the quarrel with the humans," Leo corrected, "but they held a grudge against the dwarven king over a previous fight they'd had about them digging through a mountain that a large community of demons had already claimed. So they weren't indifferent to all the races, just most of them.

"The key was to find someone who bore zero ill will toward any of the races."

"And… Igneel was the key to finding that person?"

"He was. He happened to hear part of a conversation between his king and mine, and he knew immediately who to nominate for the position."

"A Heartfilia?" Natsu guessed.

Leo grinned. "A Heartfilia. There was a little kingdom on the edge of the humans' lands, the name of which I can't remember at the moment, that welcomed all races. The only non hostile members of the hostile races dwelled there, and they were the first to stand and protect the country when the raids began on their border.

"Because of that, the humans who lived there were the only ones who didn't have to fear being attacked. The Heartfilias had always ruled there, and theirs was the only country in all of existence where all the races had ever been able to live in harmony.

"That was where Igneel had chosen to live, and he'd become very close to their queen. When he figured out that she could help, he invited her to meet with his king, who in turn introduced her to mine.

"Surprisingly, my king already knew her. Apparently he'd been good friends with the queen for a long time, practically since she was born. It was he who had instill in her family a love for the races. It was his guidance that had helped their land grow and prosper, and he'd watched over their land since its creation."

Natsu cocked his head. "So if your king knew she existed, why didn't he just suggest using her from the start?"

"I wondered the same," Leo said. "As head of the Zodiac, I was often at the king's side and I happened to be there the day Igneel brought her. My king had been unwilling to use her, because the cost to cast the spell was much higher using a vessel like her."

"What did she have to give up?" Natsu asked.

"You have to remember, the king was, and is, very fond of the Heartfilia family," Leo said carefully. "In order to cast the spell using a Heartfilia as the vessel, using a human, a fragile being with no inner magic, her entire being would have to be sacrificed. In essence, she would have to become the bond that linked the realms together."

Natsu felt his stomach clench to think about the position that would have put Igneel in. Once he realized he'd basically brought his friend to be sacrificed, how had he felt? Had he fought against using her, or begged to find a different way?

"Okay, then my next question is why they felt it was necessary to keep the worlds connected. Why not just split them up without the connection?"

"There were… certain people who weren't willing to do that. The way they'd decided to split the worlds would have separated certain people that didn't want to be split up."

"I don't understand."

Leo began to tick off on his fingers. "One of the demon kings was madly in love with one of the elven king's daughters. One of the demon kings' daughters had a soft spot for the dwarven king, despite the feud. There was Igneel, nephew of the dragon king, who was very fond of the Heartfilia queen, and my king who liked their whole family line. For starters," Leo said.

"The kings had many different reasons to not want to cut off contact permanently between everyone.

"The problem, though, was that one of the dragons and angel king would have to sacrifice someone they cared about to maintain that connection. They were running out of time to stop the war, and they were low on options. The Heartfillia line was the only family in the entire original realm that held no ill will toward any of the other races."

"How did they decide to use her?"

"They didn't." Leo smiled a little. "In true Heartfilia fashion, the queen heard their plight, and she offered to let them use her. Igneel and my king argued with her, fought with her, but she stayed firm. She wanted the races to live together and flourish, but if that couldn't happen, she wanted them all to at least survive.

"She returned home for a day to say goodbye to her family and announce to her country what would be happening before she returned for the ritual. She left behind her husband and two children, one son and one daughter, to save the humans.

"I wasn't there when they did the ritual, but I heard about it after from the king. Apparently when they cast the spell, it used her entire essence, as they knew it would, but something else was made as well. Not only did the Heartfilia queen not hate the other races, but she loved them. All of them. Her love for the other races is what created the Inbetween, the neutral space between all the realms. Her desire to see the races learn how to live and thrive together created a space where they could easily enter and exit to spend time with each other. That's the reason it's impervious to damage and why you can't harm other beings while you're in it.

"That's the Heartfilia legacy. Their line is the reason we exist as we do today, in our separate realms, but able to interact with each other."

"So what does that have to do with Lucy or the prophecy. The Blood Bond Prophecy, right?"

"Yes. The continuation of the Heartfilia line is imperative to maintain the bond and the separation between the realms."

Natsu frowned. "Does that mean there's some sort of price that has to keep being paid?"

"Yes, there is."

"I'm guessing that means the Heartfilias have to pay it?"

"Yes," Leo answered.

"What is it? Do they pay with blood?"

"Essentially. Every Heartfilia from the first queen to Lucy's mother has paid to maintain the bond between the realms. The Blood Bond Prophecy, though, speaks of an end to the continual offerings. It foretells that a Heartfilia will eventually be born whose offering will seal the spell, eternally, and make it impossible to rejoin the realms until a time when they will be able to live in harmony together."

Natsu sat up straighter as he realized what Leo was saying. "You think it's Lucy."

"It's her time," Leo said.

"When the sevens equate five,

The answer will be born as

An end to the blood price,

Or the rejoining of the origin.

If one and two create a pair,

The bond will be broken,

But if the heir finds a natural end,

The spell will be made eternal.

Beware the red pool.

One made too large will end the bond,

And the origin will return."

"Uh…." Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Lucy was born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 777. That's the seven equates five bit. Essentially, if Lucy can just live out her life, on her death, the bond will become permanent. It's why I was chosen as her guardian angel. As the strongest of the zodiac, I'm the most qualified to protect her. The problem is I can't do it on my own. That's why the other zodiac are also helping."

"So what's that bit about the red pool, and one and two making a pair."

"I'm not sure about the pair part, but the red pool has to do with blood. The sacrifice the Heartfilias make to maintain the bond is blood. In essence, their spirit ends up before my king before they move on, and they are told about their family's part in everything and they give their donation. In return, we reassure them that we will watch over their offspring, which we do, and the cycle continues, until Lucy."

"So is that why she's being targeted?"

"Yes. The prophecy is not widely known, but it is talked about in some circles. Zalanoon knows, and he is trying to use Lucy to reconnect the Origin, instead of allowing the realms to be permanently separated. That's why he took her. We have time to get her back, but not much. I think that before we took them, Ova managed to figure out the right combination to help Lucy's blood regenerate faster, so we don't have as much time as I'd like, but I believe you have enough to save her."

"So when do we-"

"I need to finish these, and Virgo has to return."

Leo grabbed his pen again and finished summoning Sting and Rogue. Once Natsu had explained what was happening, the pair had agreed to help and went to raid the kitchen while they waited.

When the front door eventually opened, with it came a loud argument.

"What's going on?" Leo called.

Virgo entered as the pair of voices continued to argue in the kitchen. "I recruited the pair next door, as you asked, but they are arguing over whether both are coming with."

"I don't understand," Leo said.

"I will not have him coming along and getting hurt!" one of the voices shouted.

"And I'm not letting you take him into danger without being there to keep an eye on him!" came the response.

"Is that the blue guys?" Natsu asked.

"Yes," Leo answered with a sigh. "Would you mind going and sorting that out for me?"

"You got it," Natsu said, then rose to make his way to the kitchen.

Virgo moved to take Natsu's spot. "So did you tell him?"

"I did."

"Did you tell him everything?" she asked.

"Of course," he said with a frown.

"You know what I mean."

Leo remained silent as he listened to Natsu convince the arguing pair to quiet down. Honestly, he didn't like the idea of hurting the dragon hybrid, but what choice did he have?

If one and two create a pair,

The bond will be broken.

"I didn't tell him about that, no."

"What will you do to stop it?" she asked.

Leo sighed as he sank into the couch, ignoring the protests of his ribs.

"I have no idea."


So… I wanna do something fun. I'm enjoying this a lot, so I decided I want to open this up a bit for reader participation.

For those who have had ideas/ desires to see certain things happen in here, I want to offer you the opportunity to see it become reality. I'm going to give it a week, until next Saturday August 3rd, for people to enter my 'drawing.' On that day, I will collect all the names that have left a review on this chapter (excluding guest reviews) or sent me a PM asking to be entered, and randomly choose one name. That person will be able to make a request with a writing prompt/ specific scene/ however they want to request it. It doesn't have to be something specifically for this rescue mission, it can be for anything that could happen in the future of the fic.

If it's something I can add without interrupting my plot, I will add it to this story when it naturally gets to a point for it to happen. If not, I will do an AU for this AU and more than likely post it at the end of a chapter. Either way, when we get to it, I will give that person credit (if they are okay with that) and share the prompt.

Once that person is chosen, I will shoot them a PM letting them know, that way they can remain anonymous if they choose when I eventually post the prompt.

So hit the review button if you're interested! I'm excited to work with one of you, and as always, love to hear your feedback.

Happy Friday, readers.