Flashback
When Aina was finished, Lucy ran off. She'd always felt like she was missing something, like there was a dam inside her. Finally the dam broke, and she was glad. Last time she'd remembered after fantasia, so she wasn't sure why it took her so long this time.
She'd made the assumption that it was because so many things had inexplicably changed.
She had never met Aurora or Aina in the original timeline or the ones after that, but instead of her spirits going hay-wire, she was called in by Hisui and that happened.
Plus, in some timelines her guildmates had different personalities, depending if she changed events.
Events that had never even happened how she remembered might have confused her brain.
But either way, she had a job, and that was to die and continue to another life. She'd keep going until she succeeded in saving her family.
But before she died, there was something she needed to do.
Lucy stepped into the cottage, and there was Aurora sitting in a swinging chair, with Greg making lunch.
Almost as if drawn to her, Aurora lifted her hazel eyes from the emerald-covered book she was reading. She lifted a white brow.
Even Greg turned around and lifted his lips, a slight smile.
Maybe she didn't need to explain.
"How'd you know?' Lucy asked.
"There's a certain feeling you get around people with their magic sealed," Greg replied. "Have you ever met someone that makes you feel like you're missing something when you're with them, like there's something that should be there, but it feels like it isn't?'
Master and Gildarts immediately came to mind, then there was Mystogan. The three of them always gave her that feeling.
So did Aurora.
"A mage has three strengths. Most mages only focus one out of three, or two. Two of them are obvious, but the third, not many mages are strong in that area. Physical and Mental strength, those are two that many mages tend to focus on. If you're intelligent, you strategise all your battles and learn from your failures. If you're strong, you barge in instead of planning, and you defeat your opponents with fists and kicks. If you lose, you still know you just got stronger. There's only two magics that have mages who specialise in spiritual strength," Aurora explained, pausing for dramatic effect. "Those two magics are black magic-"
Lucy gasped. What?! Was that why Zeref was so powerful?
"-and Celestial Spirit Magic?'
Lucy was shocked. "D-does that mean…?'
"A celestial mage who is spiritually powerful has the power to be as strong as Zeref himself."
Being on par with the dark mage. She'd never imagined that was even possible.
And then suddenly the air changed. It was like a heaviness had lifted, a tension Lucy never realised was there, a veil that covered something. The feeling of her missing something, the feeling of seals covering a magic beyond anything she imagined. Aurora was showing Lucy her true power. An aura that was so overwhelming that Lucy was close to fainting.
And the only power this mighty was Zeref.
"But how do you control your aura?' Lucy asked, having finally gotten over the fact that Aurora was an almighty being on par with Zeref himself.
"Your Aura is like your magic, except it's only defensive. Auras can not be used for offense. It gathers ethernano, and gets stronger as your magic evolves. Your aura is made completely of ethernano, so it doesn't run out either. That is why not even Zeref could fight against your aura. You can use your aura to mask things you can't see. For example, you feel the magic inside you, but you don't see it until you attack somebody or use your magic, so while it's there, you can use your aura to seal it. You can do the same for people's senses, you can mask your scent, somebody's vision if you're in their sight, your voice. The stronger your aura is, the stronger your magic, and vice versa," Aurora said. "Do you know why Zeref created his demons?'
Lucy knew, but she was sure that Aurora didn't, so she shook her head.
"To kill himself,"
Lucy's eyes widened. "You knew?'
"Of course, I'm not practically the second strongest mage to exist in the world just because,"
Okay, so even Lucy knew that was a fair point.
"But he had an ulterior motive, as everyone does. His demons are like your aura; made completely of ethernano. They're the only beings in this whole world able to fool your aura, or detect what power you're hiding, or smell you out when your aura covers your scent. They're the only creatures who could find you out. I don't know if you'll ever run into them, but I know for a fact that as a celestial mage, you can beat them. I'll let you in on a secret."
Gregory paused abruptly. He looked astonished. "You're telling her?'
"She'll forget about it, anyways." Aurora said dismissively. Lucy glared at her. Pfft.
"Celestial magic is the purest magic of all,"
"What? But angel magic-"
"-kills its mage. While celestial spirit magic revives the spirit after 'death'. They're stars, Lucy, they are either pure or impure,"
This made sense to Lucy. The eclipse spirits were completely evil, whereas the normal zodiac are pure. That is, beside their questionable personalities.
"That is why it has the potential to be so powerful. But not only that, Zeref can create evil and kill, and just like that you can turn those evil creations into something better."
This was news to Lucy. They then spent the night talking about how to hide her magic with her aura and the spell that cleanses the evil from demons. Lucy knew she'd need it for END. Maybe, just maybe, she could save Natsu when the time came.
Lucy held the knife to her wrist, right over her veins. This wasn't the first time she had to suicide, but that never made it better. It was a daunting task nonetheless. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the pain, slashing the knife against her wrists. She flinched. In the seconds before she faded away, she smiled sadly. Once again, she'd start over, but she knew she would cease to exist in this timeline. As though Layla never had a child. As if a sixteen year old girl who was unhappy with the cold treatment she received day by day hadn't run away and joined Fairy Tail. Her family. As if she'd never loved them.
In case future confusion sets in, I decided to do a flashback that explains how Lucy died and got into the new timeline. Plus a bit of extra info that I was originally planning to give LATER, but since I've planned a different plot twist for this rewrite, I gave it to y'all early :P
Anyways, do let me know what you think.
I would love to hear all your theories on what Lucy plans to do with all this info ;)
THANK YOU FOR READING.