It was a painfully normal day for Lucy as a reporter. SaberTooth's Kalispan had once again completed a 5-year quest in only three months. She knew Gildarts would have done it in a week, and was not impressed, but that didn't mean others were not surprised or impressed.
As she wrote a report, trying her best to exaggerate everything and make it intriguing, as she was taught to do by Jason, she thought about her new keys. She'd gotten a few, new silver ones. She'd just got them, about four, that morning. She'd had more than enough money to buy it, but that was more because she was now a head writer. Since she'd barely had time to buy them that morning right before work, she'd hadn't had enough time to meet and contract with them. She was excited to do it. She'd gotten two a few weeks before. Microscopium and Sagitta.
Microscopium was a microscope that she often used for watching stars and constellations, but she was finding other ways she could use him in a battle during training. Such as; Were she lost or needed to find an enemy.
Sagitta alone was not much help, as she was an arrow and an arrow was useless without an archer just as an archer was useless without arrows, but she, Lucy in her Sagittarius Star-Dress and Sagittarius together would become one incredible power combo and that was a big help during battles.
She tried her best to focus back on her work and she thought how lucky she was. These stories weren't always special or interesting, but if she were a model who had to smile and look sexy all day long, she'd probably scream.
She could've been a model and as fun as that was, it just wasn't her thing. She'd always wanted to be a writer as a second job or something because she'd never thought Fairy Tail would disband. But they did, and now it was her main job
Her heart clenched, she felt sick to the stomach. She missed them so much! She shook her head. No, It's in the past now, Lucy, move on, she thought to herself.
"Lucy!' Came Jason's voice, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah?' Lucy replied tiredly.
"You have a request from Princess Hisui." He said, excitedly. "This is so cool!'
"What?' She asked, sitting up straighter as she strained to listen to him properly. Had she heard him correct?
"Princess Hisui has requested a meeting with you!' Jason repeated. "You gotta tell me what happens there, okay? This has got to be the coolest scoop ever!'
"Jason…" Lucy shook her head, smiling. Natsu always annoyed her in a way that made her bonk him on the head and grin at him just because he was there to annoy her, she couldn't possibly have survived without having met him, too, just like Jason. That made her smile fade. He had left her, and so had Happy and she had been heartbroken. She, as always, shook the thought away and focused on the matter at hand. Getting up and dressing, she got ready to head to the train station.
"Why have you called us here, Princess Hisui?' Lucy asked politely as she entered the palace throne room. She wore light, natural make-up. Slight lipstick with concealer and mascara. She wore a dark purple off-shoulder, full-sleeve shirt with a lavender skirt. She wore black, knee-high stockings and dark purple heels. Her hair was pulled into a neat ponytail with a lavender ribbon that matched the skirt and bracelet she wore. The bracelet had two letters that meant the whole world to Lucy. FT.
She noticed Yukino was there, too, wearing her normal above-knee, white dress with blue ruffles without the cloak. Her white hair had grown, as she had let it, although that had something to do with Lucy, and was tied into a tiny ponytail on the side. She looked adorable and she knew that any man would have to be blind to say otherwise.
Princess Hisui sat atop a small throne next to a luscious, massive one that was for the tiny king. She also had her hair into a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless pink dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress ended below her knees with a glittery, scarlet belt with the Fiore Kingdom symbol in the middle. She wore green sandals covered with red petal-shaped gems at the front. Guards surrounded her, and she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.
"I want to talk to Lucy and Yukino in private, so I politely request the guards leave this room, only Arcadios shall remain." Princess Hisui ordered.
"But, your highness-" The concerned guard was cut off by Arcadios,
"I vow to protect the Princess and the mages. You will listen to her highness," The unsaid threat was there, though it was, obviously, unsaid. The guards all gulped, and slowly left the room.
"Now, the reason I called you and Yukino here is," Hisui paused, "And please do not repeat this to anyone-or you will be traitors of the Royal Family of Fiore, and will then be known as criminals-but I found a secret hallway leading into a secret library I had never been to or known of. Father told me it is the secret library of the palace with many ancient secrets of Fiore. It is passed on in the Royal Family of Fiore," Hisui once again paused to let everything sink in.
This meant that either Lucy doesn't tell Jason anything, which was unlikely, or she lied to him, which was what she'd probably do.
"Anyway, this relates to you, I found an ancient book on Celestial Magic. I found many spells and Lost magic and other things. But guess what?! I found out the creator of Celestial Magic is still alive and healthy! There was not much on it, and I find it hard to believe, but it would greatly expand our powers if it is true and she or he was to train us." Hisui continued with breathless, and obvious, excitement.
Yukino and Lucy were speechless.
"Mavis, that would be amazing if it's true! So, are we going to search for this mage, or what?' Lucy asked, determined.
"I'm so glad you think this way, too. My father dislikes this…'mission', but he allows it. What do you think, Yukino?' Hisui asked, noticing Yukino had not yet agreed and seemed to be thinking deeply.
"I... I think this is a wonderful idea." Yukino smiled after a bit of time.
"Alright!'
It took them more than one-third of the year, they searched every nook and cranny of Earthland. But no matter where they looked, even with the Royal forces searching. They'd almost given up.
So they were surprised to find the person they were looking for lived in the Celestial Spirit world. As she had, technically, created the world, itself, she was able to find a way to be able to go to this world with her husband without dying, where she lived among people who could never be corrupted. Well, they could, but they had to be either completely evil, like with Lucy during the eclipse gate fiasco, or completely pure, disregarding their personalities, such as those who were perverts. (Loke and Taurus.) Just as Yukino and Hisui had agreed that the book was fake, Lucy had the idea that if this person was the creator of Celestial Magic, then she obviously created the Celestial World, she could have made an exception to herself, and got Crux to tell herself, Yukino and Hisui. Then, they met her. Aroura.
Lucy, Yukino and Hisui had worn Celestial Spirit world clothing, thus, being able to enter the Spirit world. Lucy wore a blue dress, with the skirt ending a few inches above her knees. The shirt part of the dress had yellow lines over it, a line going vertical in the middle, and a horizontal line tracing the end of the shirt with a few other random lines here and there. She had a white bow around her neck and blue stockings. She wore blue bracelets around her wrists.
Yukino wore a white dress, which complimented her hair nicely, the skirt reaching a few inches above her knees, as well, with a layered skirt. Her sleeves were not connected, and blue ribbons at the top. Her torso had blue lines on the side. She had a blue bow around her neck. She had white stockings.
Princess Hisui wore what looked like a kimono, except it only reached knee-length. It was pink in colour, with purple lines going vertical in the middle. A teal blue, fat ribbon was around the waist. She had black stockings. The first Celestial Mage was an old woman, looking to be in her late 50's or so. Her posture, however, held no hint of her age, completely straight and strong. Her white-yellowish hair was up in a perfect bun. Her face had few wrinkles, old, brown eyes and thin lips.
Lucy and Yukino's spirits were very surprised and delighted to see them, and had happily directed them where an old but homey-looking cottage by the side of the silver, brick path. In the world of the beautiful stars, it looked more heavenly than any house or apartment on Earthland.
They'd approached the old woman who sat in the chair at the front yard, sitting alone watching them.
"Hello! It's so nice to meet you! You're the creator of this world, right?' Yukino asked politely, but with clear awe in her voice.
"Ugh, and here I thought that I could get away from humans by living here, then again, when you're blessed with a long life, I should have expected someone to come at some point." The woman complained.
"Um…" Neither of the three, young mages knew what to say next. They'd imagined her as a gentle, caring person.
"Well, what do you want?'
"Um, you see we're all Celestial Mages, and we heard about you and came to look for you, so you could, uh, train us to be stronger…" Hisui trailed off, it sounded so stupid now. Why would she train them? She had no reason to.
"Oh? Well, then, do a hundred pushups, to begin with"
"Please-wait, she agreed?! She agreed! Yes-wait, a hundred pushups?!'
They'd already gotten so far. All of the three could now even use the Star-dress, although, Lucy was ahead of both Hisui and Yukino. Little did they know that even then, it would not be enough with what was to come.
And that was the start of their training.
"Lucy! What is the meaning of this? Your Aera magic is so unfocused! Pay attention!' Aurora said sternly to Lucy who'd just fallen, having not focused on keeping her wings, which had also vanished.
"Seriously, you're still with those brats?' Gregory asked, albeit, anyone could hear the affection in Aurora's husband's voice.
"Well, how else are they going to get stronger?' Aurora complained. "They still have so much to learn."
Lucy couldn't help but snap.
"Okay, we get it. We're weak. You keep saying things like, "So much to learn," and "We shouldn't even bother,", you don't have to say it again and again. I know what you mean."
"What do you mean, girl?' Aurora asked annoyed. "I would never say you are weak. Yes, you have so far to go, but you're already very far on the path. Not many make it this far, at all. You should be proud, but never arrogant."
"Mrs Adley! I never knew…" Hisui smiled.
"You don't...hate us?' Yukino asked hesitantly.
"I don't think even I could exactly hate you," Gregory answered for her.
"I'm...sorry. I-I lost it. I don't want to be seen as a burden." Lucy apologised.
"You'll never be a burden. You're more of a leader, really." Hisui hugged Lucy.
"The best leader ever." Yukino joined the hug.
"Thanks, you guys," Lucy said, feeling teary.
"I see you're ready to try Heavenly Unison," And saying that, for the first time they'd met her, Aurora smiled, genuinely. "I have never met quite so much talent in celestial magic ever since I started it, other than Anna Heartfilia. But even she could not find another two celestial mages strong and trusting enough. You three are both of these things. And you will be the second trio ever to do this spell. It is quite an achievement. I am happy to be your teacher, knowing you have reached this point."
"H-heavenly Unison. Us? Are you sure, Mrs Adley?' Hisui stuttered
"I know what I'm doing, girly." Aurora had to be the only person who would dare to speak to the princess so rudely.
"What is this spell, anyway?' Lucy asked, confused.
"It's a spell only Mrs Adley could ever do, and that's only because she created the spell, itself," Hisui answered. "I found it in the same secret library I found the book about Mrs Adley in."
"Hey, just because I created the spell doesn't mean I couldn't've done it If I hadn't, I'm strong enough, I'll have you know," Aroura said indignantly.
"If you master this spell, your training will be halfway through."
"Only halfway through?!' Lucy screeched.
"Would you be quiet?!' Yelled Gregory.
"Pfft, I didn't expect you to get even this far. Not with the level you were at before, anyways. Though, I was surprised you could use the Star-dress." Aurora scoffed.
"We're done here for today. I'll see you in nine days." Aroura nodded to them, giving permission to leave. "Don't forget to practice by yourself."
The three nodded, tiredly. They were always exhausted by the end of the full-day training sessions.
The weeks passed by in a blur, Fairy Tail continued partying for the whole of next week and then sent a search party to find out where Makarov was. Cana got fully drunk and said many embarrassing things about her father and spent the night with Bacchus, drinking.
In the second week, most members suffered from long hangovers and didn't come to the guild except Lucy, the 'Makarov search party' and a few who hadn't drunk as much, like Wendy and Romeo. And soon it was time for training day again. Lucy was quite annoyed with Natsu asking to fight again and again now that he knew she'd trained with a professional.
"HEAVENLY UNISON!'
Three women shouted, holding hands. A golden aura enveloped them. The golden flash grew, stars now surrounding them.
"The power of the heavenly, pure beings,
Calls upon the power of thee,
Oh, Celestial king, lend us your strength,
We shall forever be known as the Heavenly Unison!'
They yelled, simultaneously.
The flowers and vegetation around them tilted as if bowing down. Power radiated off them. Then, suddenly, they all fell down.
"Again! Purify your hearts and thoughts. Try to not think. Let go of the pain, and if you have to remember painful memories in order to accept what happened in the past, then do so. Forgive. Even if you cannot forget, forgive…" Aurora instructed.
"We're trying." Princess Hisui groaned. How many times had they done this?
"Try harder. Breathe deeply. How about you share your issues with each other. Perhaps that will help. The spell is stronger the closer the three celestial mages are." Advised Aroura.
The three mages turned away from each other.
How was Hisui supposed to tell Yukino and Lucy how horrible she felt being here without her father's permission? How was she supposed to say how disappointed it made Arcadios? That she and Arcadios were fighting? She'd fallen for Arcadios but knew they couldn't be together. She was to marry a prince or someone with Status or money.
Yukino wasn't sure whether she could tell Hisui about Rogue, she wasn't sure Hisui would understand, but Lucy knew, so it would be unfair not to tell Hisui. And what of Sorano, whom she found out was her sister? Nobody told her she even had any cousins, let alone a sister. She felt betrayed, a sister she couldn't remember, one who had suffered so much, but she knew she couldn't blame it on anyone else but herself, either. Sorano was her sister, for god's sake.
Lucy knew she couldn't say anything about how difficult it had become for her to fit back in with Fairy Tail because she knew it was selfish. They wouldn't understand, but Lucy loathed abandonment. It was a situation that occurred so often in her life, it was a wound she'd rather carry alone, for others would never understand. And she wished she could forgive the others fully, but the more she saw them happy, not seeing her pain, her loneliness, the harder it became. What selfish, resentful person was she becoming?
Aurora watched them carefully, closing her eyes when suddenly she had a vision.
Laughter was heard in the distance, as Yukino, Hisui stood against Lucy, tattered clothes, blood dripping off them. The two were beaten and battered, much to Lucy's amusement, and about to fall, but still tried to stand, anyway.
"You two may be Celestial Mages, the only type of Magic capable of beating me, but you are still overall too weak. You should've known that since we started training with Aroura. I've always been better than both of you."
And with that Lucy blasted them, knocking them unconscious immediately.
"Pathetic." Lucy murmured.
Horns protruded out of her head, she stood above ruins, as she gleefully watched two blurs. Aurora stood there as a ghost that no one could see, as this was only the future. Aroura gasped when the two 'blurs' finally slowed for her to be able to see who they were.
A bright red-haired demon, with sharp fangs, horns, longer and sharper than Lucy's, and cruel onyx eyes. The other was a dark-haired man. His eyes a dangerous red, a grimace on his face.
'Zeref!' Aurora realized. 'END'
Aurora felt as though she'd seen END somewhere before. How was this connected to future Lucy, who seemed to be not very nice?
"Come on, Natsu, Zeref, show me which of you is better. Only the strongest can win my heart, after all."
Natsu… That name, Aurora knew was familiar.
'Win her heart?' Aurora's eyes widened, 'Has Zeref the dark mage, and his strongest demon, END, fallen for Lucy? Was Lucy…evil? Was she the prophesized pure being who was to become END's bride? Was Zeref meant to fall in love with her?
This was not good. Aurora knew she had to tell the Spirit King. She had to tell Lucy, Yukino and Hisui.