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Anna Heartfilia

Created by the Origin

Original goddess and first Heartfilia

To be read by all Heartfilia heirs.

My name is Anna Heartfilia. I am the original goddess, born of a collection of everything good and bright that once existed in the Origin. My first memory is of total darkness, a vast expanse of nothing. I remember the shadows, the living forms that felt as close to me as my own skin. I remember how free I felt, surrounded by that black void. I remember how I eventually felt lonely, despite feeling so at home. I remember how I escaped from that inescapable place and created a life for myself.

I created the humans, beings that took the world I found and made homes. They built lives, had children, learned how to grow food and had fun. They were a wonder to behold, and I reveled in my creations. They worshiped me for making them, and in turn, I blessed their lives. Soon, there grew to be too many for me to care for on my own, so I made other gods. Their blessings helped the human population grow even more, so I made more gods.

Then the gods began to fight. They bickered among themselves, forming pantheons to segregate themselves and fought for power. I allowed them to do as they chose so long as they served the humans as they were created to do. One pantheon in particular became very power hungry, so I kept myself in their midst to keep an eye on them.

Over time, they grew angry about being weaker than me. They used their greed to justify any action they took against me, trying to take my power for themselves.

In order to preserve the peace, I found a way to rewrite our history. I hid my involvement from their creation, instead naming a creator who never was and killing him off once they'd been created. Then I moved Makarov from the Fareetal pantheon, so his guidance could at least keep them in check.

They no longer knew anything of the Origin, so they would never seek the Origin's power for themselves. It was the only way I could protect them.

(break)

I'm sure by now you've figured out we're cursed. Not cursed by magic, since I created magic, but cursed by the blood that runs through our veins. Due to our link to the Origin, we are destined to remain alone. We were born of the light from that place, yes, but we are more comfortable in the dark than anyone else ever will be. That makes it hard for us to befriend others, whether they be human or god.

Our place is in the dark; watching over it, preserving it. After I reset the history, I gave myself the position of Keeper of the Night Sky. It allowed me to maintain my connection to the dark without having to visit the Origin too much and draw attention to it. Our magic flourishes in the dark, because of how we were made. That connection is how I figured out how to use my power to be what I needed to be, and I created the first star.

Creating the stars helped me continue to watch over everything while also maintaining my cover as a 'low powered' goddess. The other gods never saw just how useful my stars could be, and I never told them. I maintained my position within the pantheon and no longer had to fight with them, allowing me to continue to do my job from the shadows.

The darkness of my blood keeps me from getting close to many, since they instinctively shy away from it, but I did make one friend. With Levy at my side, along with my Zodiac, and the many other stars I've created, I have everything I need to do my job and be an effective goddess.

I don't need any more than that.

(break)

When my first follower died, I mourned him.

He was the first human I created, the first to approach me, and the first to offer me a prayer. He was the most loyal follower I ever had. We grew very close, and he taught me the one thing I needed in order to be an effective goddess. The thing that the Origin could never teach me: Love.

I believe even from the beginning that I loved him in some way, even though I had no idea what love was. He taught me through his patience, his devotion, his kindness, his faith. He showed me with his words and actions. We taught each other, and forged a bond that I could never repeat with another being, no matter how long I live.

After he passed, I collected his body and buried him in my world, behind my home. I had a statue built in his likeness to reside over his body. I kept him close so that I could visit him whenever I needed to. I was able to look upon his visage, be near his body, whenever I needed to remind myself of who I was. What I was meant to do. Who I was meant to serve.

It wasn't until decades had passed that I finally realized that I had the power to bring him back.

I created this world, these people, these gods, all of it. All I had to do was create a way to bring him back.

I tested on animals, bringing them back dozens of times as I perfected the ritual.

It didn't take long to realize that the hardest part was the soul.

Souls are fluid things. The only time all of the parts of a person's soul are together is when the human is still alive. The way I had created the world, there was a finite amount of soul data. When a human died, their data returned to the pool, and new humans could be born. The soul data that returned mixed with the pool so no two humans were ever the same.

That meant that I would have to meticulously retrieve each and every piece that had been returned to the pool if I wanted to bring him back as he had been. It was not an easy process, but I managed to find each part over the course of almost a hundred years. I worked hard to find each and every tiny corner, snatching them up as soon as they entered the pool upon the human's death. Once I had every piece, I was ready for my ritual.

My second problem was the ritual itself. Doing big magic without using my natural power is taxing and dangerous. I had already risked too much to rewrite our history the first time; doing so a second time would have been a death wish. Since my power deals with the stars and the night sky, I had to find some way to use that to make my ritual work. Honestly, once I figured out how to do that, it seemed too easy.

All I had to do was put him in the stars.

My Zodiac, bless their hearts, helped me to find the perfect spot for him. Right between Leo, who was my first, and Gemini, who was my baby. I sewed his constellation into the richest fabric I had ever used, one that was meant to rewrite history as I recreated that section of sky. As I sewed, I wrote his story, the same as I had for every other star.

I made him the same physically. I made him the same mentally. I made him into the exact person he had been when he was alive, except I made him better.

I made him like me.

I made him a god.

When I was done rebuilding him, it took me nearly a week to sew him into the tapestry. I had to take a break every night so I could hang it, but then morning would come and I would return to my work once more. I labored from dawn until dusk, day after day with no sleep; my goal was so close I could taste it.

I made sure every stitch was perfect as I rewrote his existence.

When I finally finished, it took all the patience I had not to immediately complete the ritual. In order to finish it, I had to hang the night sky, and allow the night to pass. While the humans and the other gods slept, their memories and his existence rewrote themselves in every corner of the world. In the books, in their minds, in the stories, in every single place he should be, he suddenly was.

The next morning, I rolled up my new tapestry, and instead of a patch where I had sewn him in, it was smooth, as though he had been there all along.

And he had returned.

Lucy looked up with a smile as she closed the book and glanced at her companion. She'd sent the shadows away so she could read to Zeref in peace. He'd started begging her to save him shortly after they dispersed, so she'd used her magic to silence him while she read to him out loud.

"Isn't this great?" she asked him. "I never thought I'd have the opportunity to find out about my family, and here I have a book with handwritten information from all of my relatives! Even the first!" She sighed. "It's been nice getting to know them. I had a lot of free time while I was gathering enough followers and collecting Natsu's soul data."

He stared at her wide eyed and confused, making her chuckle. "What? Did you not think about why I was reading those particular entries?" She floated closer, causing him to flinch. "It took me almost five years, but I finally gathered every little bit of Natsu there was and I am going to bring him back." Zeref's eyes widened as he gaped at her.

"I used some… underhanded methods to get some parts back, but I made sure the bits I had to replace were as close to the original parts as I could find. No one will notice." Her hands clenched around her book. "And I need him more than the other souls needed those pieces from him."

She loosened her grip as she continued to float around him. "They were all babies and small children, anyway. The spell didn't hurt them, and they're still young and figuring themselves out anyway. They won't even notice what I did." A small part of her, deep deep down, felt a little guilty, but she put on a smile and ignored it for now.

"You know, it's rather nice to have you here," she mused. A couple of the shadows slid across her and she pet them before they slithered away. "Even if we don't have proper conversations, it's still nice to have someone else here that can react, even if it is just facial expressions." She cocked her head. "I wonder how long you'll last..."

With a wave of her hand, she moved on. "We'll find out some day I'm sure." Suddenly excited, she flipped upside down in front of him, noting that his fear was beginning to wear off. "Do you want to know my little secret?" Leaning close, she whispered, "Natsu's coming back tonight." Flinging out her arms, she started laughing as she floated through the air, swirling around with her hair and dress fanned out around her.

"You thought you were so clever, so smart, and instead of keeping your cushy life as a child smuggler, you now rot away here while I'm working on not only bringing your brother back, but making him even better than he was!"

Her smile was sinister as she slid closer. "I'm going to give him the power you wished you had. I'm going to give him the life you dreamed of. I'm going to give him everything that he could ever want, and you get to stay here, suffering and in pain, until you either perish or I find enough mercy to let you leave."

Lucy reveled in the terror on his face as her smile widened. "I wouldn't count on that second part happening." She leaned close to whisper, "Ever."

After clearing her throat, she flipped right side up and fixed her dress. "If you'll excuse me, I have to return." She signaled the shadows as she released her silencing spell. They returned to their toy, causing Zeref to begin begging once more. Lucy waved her hand and left with a lightness she hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I have a night sky to hang and a very special person to welcome home."