Chapter 6

The Broken Key

Later that night…

There was a gentle knock at Alu's door.

Lucy waited for a moment before slowly opening it and coming into the room. In her right hand, she was carried a plate full of food along with a glass of water balanced carefully on a free space. Alu's room was mostly dark, with the only source of light in the room was the lamp on her nightstand.

Lucy frowned sadly when she saw her daughter lying on her side on her bed in the corner, facing the wall.

"Hey," Lucy said kindly, "I brought you some supper."

Alu didn't move. She just briefly glanced up and pictured her mother's face in her mind's eye. She then went back to looking at the wall with a dull expression.

Lucy sighed heavily and set the plate of food and glass of water down on the desk in the corner. She then walked over to Alu and sat down on the edge of her bed. Alu still didn't make any notion to look at her mother, even after Lucy put a gentle hand on her shoulder and rubbed as lovingly as a mother could.

"So, listen," the blonde-haired woman said, "things…got out of hand today. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't mean to get so angry."

Alu didn't answer. She just narrowed her eyes a bit.

Lucy lowered her head and sighed heavily, "I see, you want some alone time. Well, your father and I will be here if you need anything. I'll leave your dinner here in case you get hungry."

Alu just gave a soft moan, giving a small acknowledgment that she was at least listening.

Lucy slowly got up and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Alu waited for a minute before turning over and swinging her legs over to the side of the bed and sitting up. She sat there for a moment before looking up at the food her mother had brought in. She sighed when she saw that it was fried chicken; one drumstick and one wing. She got up and walked over to her desk. She stopped and stared at the food before grabbing the drumstick and eating it. Since some time had passed since Lucy had finished preparing it, the chicken was now mildly warm. Still, Alu began to take little bites out of the chicken and chewed them with a disinterested expression.

After she had finished her meal, she set down the remains of the wing she had just finished eating and looked up in interested alert.

For it was at that moment that she began to take notice of her parent's voices outside her door.

Most people probably would've been courteous enough not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. However, Alu had a habit of eavesdropping. She just had a need to know what others were talking about. Most of the time that led to her hearing things that she wished she hadn't. Other times, she picked up information she could use to blackmail someone later if she chose to.

But at the moment, she was just curious as to what her parents were talking about. Mostly because she had a confident suspicion that it had something to do with her.

Alu crept towards her door and silently opened it just a crack. Thanks to her Dragon senses, her keen sense of hearing easily picked up the conversation between her parents.

"I just don't know what we're going to do with her." Lucy's said with a hint of stress. "She never acted this way before."

"I feel the same way as you, Lucy." Natsu's voice replied. "I wish I could say it's just some kind of teenager phase, but I think you and I know better than that."

"Hmm," Lucy replied sadly. "It's just…I don't ever remember Alu being this rebellious before. I mean, sure, she's always been headstrong, but she never pushed us away like she does now. She was so sweet and cheerful when she was little. She always wanted to make sure everyone was alright. But now…I don't know. I can't help but feel like maybe we did something wrong."

Alu looked up at the crack in the door with an ambiguous look in her eyes, her attention back on the conversation.

"Sorry I can't answer that." Natsu's voice replied. He sounded serious. "All I know is that she's frustrated and it has something to do with what that rogue wizard said to her. We can tell her what he said was a lie, but I don't think she's going to believe us until she can prove it wrong herself."

Natsu paused for a moment before saying, "And I know she heard what Gramps said to us. That really must've hurt."

Alu gave a painful scowl. That was an understatement.

Lucy groaned. She then gave a tired yawn.

"Oh, sorry." Lucy said drowsily. "I'm just exhausted. Think I'll turn in early."

"I don't blame ya." Natsu replied. "Summoning three spirits at once AND using Star Dress today? I bet that would take it out of me, too."

"Well, I had to do what I could. After all, given that we were surrounded by water and I couldn't…"

Lucy's voice trailed off and she fell silent.

Alu looked up with suspicion and strained to hear what was going on. Judging by the sounds, she guessed that her father had just sat down on the couch next to her mother and had embraced her out of comfort. And it sounded like she had returned the embrace.

"You're thinking of Aquarius, aren't you?" Natsu said compassionately.

There was a pause. But the name that Natsu had mentioned made Alu jolt slightly in alert. It sounded…familiar.

"I miss her." Lucy replied in a slightly tearful voice. "I know it was the only way to save you and the others from Tartaros, but…"

Lucy grimaced and shivered from a bitter memory, unable to bring herself to repeat it. From what Alu could gather, it sounded like a lot of effort for her not to shed a single tear.

At least Lucy had a shoulder to cry on.

"I know," Natsu said in a low voice. "But remember, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. You can't blame yourself for breaking her key. It wasn't your fault."

Lucy just responded with a simple moan.

"But she promised that we would meet again," the Celestial Wizard said softly. "But we've searched everywhere for her new key, and we haven't found it yet."

"We'll find it someday." Natsu encouraged. "I promise you that. We just have to keep looking."

"I hope your right, Natsu."

Feeling like she had heard enough, Alu gave a very pensive expression and quietly closed the door, making sure that her parents didn't hear her. She couldn't quite explain it, but that last part of the conversation really caught her interest. Almost immediately, her brain was beginning to think about what she just overheard.

"Aquarius," she thought to herself. "Where have I heard that name before? And a broken key? I feel as if I should know something about that. Oh, where did I hear about this? C'mon Alu, think."

She brought her hand up to her head and shut her eyes, searching through all of her memories for anything that related to the name Aquarius. She had some hazy recollection that Aquarius had something to do with water, and that the name belonged to a Zodiac Spirit.

Finally, the pieces clicked into her brain when she remembered the name, "Tartaros".

Eight years ago…

A six-year-old Alu was in her parents' room, rummaging around in her mother's dresser drawers. Every now and then, she would pull out something like a necklace or bracelet and put it on herself to see what it looked like. She opened of different jewelry boxes and pulled out all kinds of beautiful things like pearl necklaces, bracelets ordained with diamonds or other gemstones, and dainty little earrings.

Of course, they were all made of imitation pearls, diamonds, and other gemstones. But as a little six-year-old, Alu couldn't tell the difference between what was real or fake.

It wasn't long before she decked herself out in twelve different bracelets and had about seven different necklaces around her neck. The only things she left alone were the earrings.

Eventually, Alu picked up a small wooden box that had water waves ornately carved all over it. She opened the lid and expected to find a pair of earrings or a diamond ring.

But to her surprise, the box contained something that looked like a golden key hilt with a strange blue insignia on it.

Blinking in curiosity, Alu took it out of the box and held it in her hand for a moment or two. She turned in over and over, studying ever single detail and trying to makes sense of what she was holding.

"What's this?" she asked out loud.

"Oh, Alu!" a voice laughed.

Alu turned around when she heard her name called and saw her mother standing in the door way. Lucy had an amused smile on her face when she saw that the little girl was decorated with her jewelry. She shook her head and sighed. She then walked over to Alu, knelt down to her level, and began to gently take all the jewelry off of her.

"Honestly," Lucy said with a laugh, "if you wanted to borrow some of my jewelry, you should've just asked. That is the polite thing to do."

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Alu said. "I just wanted to see if I could be as pretty as you."

Lucy looked up at Alu with surprise before giving a modest smile. She then placed a hand on the side of her daughter's face.

"You're very pretty the way you are, sweetheart," she said.

Alu smiled at the compliment.

She then suddenly remembered the key hilt she was holding.

"Hey, Mommy," she said. "Can you tell me what this is? I found it in that little box and I was just wondering what it is."

Alu offered the broken key to her mother. The moment Lucy saw what Alu had found, she gave a sharp gasp and cupped a hand over her mouth. Tears began to brim her eyes.

"Mommy," Alu frowned with concern, "are you okay?"

Lucy closed her eyes and wiped her tears away. When she opened her eyes again, she gently took the key hilt out of Alu's little hands. She stared at it for a long while before taking in a deep breath.

"I'm surprised you found this," she said in a sad tone. "But…I guess I was going to tell you eventually."

"Tell me what?" Alu asked.

Lucy stood up and walked over to the large bed behind her. She sat down on the edge of it and ushered for Alu to come over. Alu obeyed and took a seat next to her mother. Lucy looked as if she was about to speak, but then hesitated.

"Mommy?"

Finally, Lucy took in another deep inhale of air and looked down at the key hilt resting in the palm of her hand.

"Alu," she said softly, "do you remember when your father and I told you about the Tartaros invasion?"

"Uh-huh." Alu nodded.

"Well, this is connected to that." Lucy continued, her voice getting more and more emotional with every word she spoke. "Your father, along with many others, were being held prisoner by several of the Demons that attacked us. When I was the only one left to save them, I used this key to summon a Zodiac Spirit called Aquarius the Water Bearer, in hopes that she could help. Unfortunately, neither she, nor Loke or Virgo, were strong enough to defeat the Demons we faced. Aquarius told me the only way to stop Tartaros was to summon the Celestial Spirit King. However, he does not have a key of his own. So, the price was to break a Zodiac Key. And Aquarius…she told me to…"

Lucy stopped for a moment and brought her hand up to her mouth. She began to tremble as she fought back the urge to cry.

Alu didn't need her mother to tell her the rest of what happened. For the evidence was right in front of her. She had to break Aquarius's key to summon the Celestial Spirit King.

Sensing her mother's emotional pain, Alu scooched over closer and hugged her. Lucy looked down at her daughter and wrapped one arm around her, kissing her on the head at the same time.

"I'm sorry, Mommy." Alu said caringly, looking up at Lucy with compassion in her eyes. "Aquarius must've been very special to you."

Lucy nodded, "She was my very first Celestial Spirit. And my first friend. Although I have to say, she was really temperamental. There were times when she would get miffed with me and threaten to wash me away with the tide more than once. Still, she was a loyal friend, even if she did say she hated me."

Alu looked up with befuddlement and blinked. That didn't sound like a loyal friend to her. Since when does a loyal friend say that they hate your guts to your face unless it was out of playful banter? And given what Lucy had told her, Alu didn't think that Aquarius didn't just say that out of playful banter.

Lucy noticed Alu's reaction and gave a small laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I was just thinking on the past. Don't worry about what I said. You'll understand when your older."

Alu's response to that was a pouty face. That only made Lucy laugh even more.

"You know, Alu," she giggled, "you look just like your father when you make that face."

"You guys talkin' about me?"

Alu and Lucy both turned around and saw Natsu leaning up against the side of door, looking at the two of them with his signature grin.

"No," Lucy replied with a smile, "just reminiscing on the past. Something wrong?"

"Nah," Natsu shook his head, "just came to get Alu. I promised I'd teach her hand-to-hand combat today."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Alu exclaimed. "Let's go right now!"

Alu quickly got up, ran across the bed and jumped off of it, landing directly in front of him.

"Okay, kiddo." Natsu laughed. "Here we go."

Natsu then bent down and picked Alu up by her waist. She laughed at the thrill of being lifted up and wrapped her arms around his neck after he adjusted her securely in his arms.

"Just be careful with her, Natsu." Lucy cautioned. "Remember, she's still just a little girl."

"Oh, don't worry so much, Lucy." Natsu replied nonchalantly. "Don't forget, Alu's a Dragneel. She's as tough as they come."

"That's right!" Alu declared proudly. "I'm a Dragneel! I can take a hit!"

"That may be true," Lucy said, putting her hands on her hips, "but I still don't want you to get yourself hurt. And Natsu, I don't want you getting too rough with her. She's our only child after all."

"Don't worry," Natsu shrugged casually, "it'll just be some basic techniques and exercises. I promise we won't do any direct contact."

"Aw, c'mon, Daddy!" Alu whined. "I want to learn how to really fight! I can do it!"

Natsu looked at his daughter with a smirk.

"Think of it this way," he said, "once you've mastered the basics, then you can take a shot at sparing with me someday. But you've got to work hard at it, understand?"

Alu's mood quickly changed to eagerness. The idea of fighting her father in a dual to show off strength resonated very well with her.

"You bet!" she grinned. "Let's go!"

With that, Natsu carried Alu out of the room and headed toward the main door of the house.

Back to the present…

"That's right," Alu said out loud, her voice very pensive. "I was so excited about learning how to fight that I completely forgot about the key. And Mom…that was the first time I saw her on the verge of crying. I still can't believe she had to break a Celestial Key like that. Hold on, now that I think about it, she and Dad have mentioned a few times about looking for a key that had been reborn. But so far, they haven't found it. I wonder…"

Alu looked over on her desk at her own set of Celestial Keys and walked over to them. She took a golden key off the of the keychain and held it in her hand for a moment.

"I might not have a contract with Crux," she whispered, "but you've always helped me out in the past. And being a Zodiac Spirit, you might know something about this. Hopefully that is. Of course, if I summon you now, Mom will sense it and think I'm up to no good again. I'll have to wait until later tonight when she and Dad are asleep. I just hope my hunch is right."