Chapter 24

A Key Re-Forged

In the Valley of Gates…

After they had taken the path down the hill, Alu, Aquarius, Aries, and Sorano all stopped in front of the fire pit, with the brilliant white flame blazing inside it. Now that they weren't moving anymore, Alu and Sorano let Aquarius and Aries go so they could stand on their own.

For a while, Alu stared up at the flame with amazement. It was unlike any fire that she had seen before. It almost felt as if it was made up of a different kind of fire than the one Alu was accustomed to. She could feel the powerful heat coming off of it, but it didn't feel like it was threatening to melt her skin off. It didn't seem to be affecting Sorano either.

At the same time, though Alu couldn't quite explain it, the fire felt familiar to her. Like it was something from a distant dream.

She then looked down to study the fire pit. Now that she was closer, she could see that it was made of fourteen blocks circling around the white fire. Each block was made of solid diamond, and each block a symbol carved on them.

Thirteen of them had the Zodiac symbols: Leo, Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Capricorn, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Libra, Pisces, and Ophiuchus.

Each of the twelve Zodiacs had their symbols engraved with gold, while Ophiuchus's symbol was engraved with onyx.

But the fourteenth symbol, the one that was engraved with another layer of green diamond, was one that Alu had never seen before. It vaguely resembled something like a lizard. Feeling mysteriously drawn to it, Alu walked over to it, knelt down, and placed her hand on the symbol in an uncharacteristically delicate manner.

"That's Draco's symbol." Aquarius explained, sensing Alu's curiosity.

"He has his own insignia?" Alu inquired.

"Of course, he does." Aquarius replied flatly. "Ever Spirit who has a Celestial Key has their own insignia."

"Hold on." Alu turned around quickly. "You're saying Draco had his own key?"

Aquarius nodded.

"But just like with the Celestial Spirit King," the Water Spirit went on to explain, "Draco couldn't be summoned through normal means."

Alu frowned and reached into key pouch around her waist. She pulled out Aquarius's broken key and stood up. She turned back to the two Celestial Spirits.

"I know that a Zodiac Key needs to be broken to summon the Spirit King," Alu explained, "but how was Draco summoned?"

"Draco had his own key." Aries said softly. "But only the combined power of Celestial and Dragon Slayer Magic could summon him. And the only one with that power was the Celestial Dragon Slayer. No other Celestial Wizard could do that. But just like with all of us Zodiac Spirits, Draco could open his own gate if he had to."

"But he could only be summoned by the Celestial Dragon Slayer?" Sorano said. "Well, I guess that's better than having to break all Zodiac Keys."

Aquarius and Aries both nodded.

"Speaking of which," Alu spoke up, "Aquarius, we better get your key repaired."

"Right." Aquarius replied. "First, you need to get a piece of gold from the chest over there."

Alu followed the direction Aquarius was pointing and saw a large bronze chest just a few feet from her right. Alu walked over to it, undid the latch holding it closed, and opened the lid. Her eyes widened in mild surprise when she saw that the chest contained rectangular pieces of gold and silver. All of them were exactly the same size and length.

Alu reached in a grab a gold piece.

"Will this be enough?" she asked, showing it to Aquarius.

"That should do." Aquarius replied. "Now we must place that along with my key hilt on the block with my symbol."

Alu obeyed. As soon as she located the block with Aquarius's symbol on it, she placed the broken key and piece of gold together so that they looked vaguely like one key. She then stepped back so that she and Aquarius were standing side-by-side.

"What now?" Alu asked.

"We must combine our power together and recite an incantation." Aquarius replied. "But we must be in perfect sync to do this. That means we must have complete faith in each other. Are you willing to do that?"

"Only if you are." Alu grinned.

"Then let's do it."

Taking a deep breath, Alu stretched out her right arm until the palm of her hand made contacted with Aquarius's left one. Alu then closed her eyes and focused all her Magic and thoughts into performing this task. She forced herself not to fret over whether she had enough Celestial Magic for this. She couldn't think about that.

This was going to take all of her Magic.

Not wanting to be in the way, Aries and Sorano backed a safe distance away and watched the events unfold before them.

As Alu and Aquarius's Magic became harmonized with the other's, a blue and white Magic Circle appeared underneath the two of them. A mysterious wind swirled up underneath them, gently sweeping their hair and clothing. At the same time, the white fire blazed even brighter and seemed to zero in on the broken key resting on the block below.

Then Aquarius began to recite an incantation, and Alu repeated after her.

"O Starfire of the Heaven's Light,

Restore the strength of body and spirit

Repair what has been broken

Re-forge what has been shattered

Rekindle the bond of trust

Open the Gate

Now once again!"

As soon as Alu finished the incantation, she felt a surge of power rush from her. She winced and groaned as it took her by surprise, but she refused to break her concentration. She could feel Aquarius giving it all she had, so she had to do the same.

As the Celestial Wizard and Spirit unleashed their power, the block with Aquarius's symbol on it began to glow a water-blue brilliance. At the same time, the white fire whipped up into the sky for a moment. It then then shot down onto the key and piece of gold.

Aries watched all this through squinted eyes. The light was so intense that she was almost blinded by the first burst of fire. But her curiosity forced her to at least look as best she could. Everything she saw next left her in complete and utter shock.

For a moment, Aquarius's Key and the piece of gold next to it began to tremble and move closer together. The gold piece also seemed to be morphing and changing shape. Alu could feel it. The two pieces were on the verge of merging together.

Was it possible, was she really going to pull it off? It looked like it.

She just might do this!

But then a wave of exhaustion hit Alu like a rock to the head. It came on so hard and fast that she almost keeled over. She knew this sensation all too well. She had felt it many times before.

She was almost out of Celestial Magic. Now of all times, she was out of Celestial Magic.

No! She couldn't be out of power! Not now! Not when she was so close! The Key was almost re-forged! She wasn't going to let her Magic Deficiency hold her back this time! She refused to let her weakness get the best of her!

She was going to re-forge Aquarius's key, even if it was the last thing she did!

Alu forced herself to stand up tall. But the pain of losing so much Magic Power was becoming too great. She let out a cry of agony as she tried to syphon as much of her Celestial Magic as she could. When she felt herself nearly out of Celestial Magic, she resorted to converting her Dragon Slayer Magic. This made her cry out in pain again. The process made Alu feel like she was being stabbed repeatedly with a flaming sword.

Aquarius felt it, too. She felt that Alu running out of Magic fast. Worst of all, Alu was forcibly changing her Dragon Slayer Magic into Celestial Magic. That was a very dangerous decision.

"ALU, STOP!" Aquarius shouted. "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! JUST STOP!"

"NO!" Alu cried, sweat beginning to drip down her face. "I WON'T STOP 'TILL YOUR KEY'S REPAIRED!"

"IT'S TOO DANGEROUS! STOP IT, ALU! IF YOU DON'T, YOU'LL DEPLETE YOUR LIFE FORCE!"

"IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES, SO BE IT!"

"ALU-!"

"I MADE A PROMISE TO YOU AND MY MOM AND I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK IT!" Alu screamed. "I DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY TO QUIT! I WON'T LET MY STUPID DEFICIENCY STOP ME ANYMORE! I'M GOING TO KEEP MY PROMISE!"

Aquarius opened one eye and looked over at Alu. The girl was on the verge of passing out. Aquarius could clearly see that Alu was doing all she could to keep herself from falling over, but she was getting weaker by the second. This was too much for her.

Aquarius then looked over her key. It was wavering between being completely forged to falling apart again. It was like a representation of what Alu was going through. She was wavering between giving up all of her Magic, and her life.

There had to be something Aquarius could do, but she was almost out of power, too. What could she do?

Aquarius then looked down at the right side of her skirt. As she did, something underneath it began to glow white, just like it did back in the forest when they fought Ivan. Aquarius gave determined expression and looked back at the white flames whipping wildly around her key.

"OKAY, SCRUFF MUNCHKIN!" she yelled to Alu. "YOU LEFT ME WITH NO CHOICE! BRACE YOURSELF!"

Before Alu could ask what Aquarius meant by that, the white light under Aquarius's skirt shot a stream of light up through the Spirit's body. It raced across her arm until it reaches Alu's hand. The moment it did, Alu's eyes snapped open for a moment when she felt a jolt of power enter her body.

For a split second, images flashed in her mind.

The sound of splattered blood across human flesh. Vision stained with red.

A blonde-haired woman in white and blue garments looking on with a worried expression, clutching golden and silver keys close to her heart.

Standing tall, muscular man with tanned skin, dark blue hair and tattoos on his face and arms stared down. Eyes were sharp and menacing. The dark rings around them only added to their intensity.

Yet, there was something off about them.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?!" he said in an angry tone. "To stop me?! Yet you can't seem to even muster up the will to fight me! I never knew you had such a death wish!"

"Agnar, please!" a familiar voice pleaded. "You have to stop! Can't you see what you're doing is wrong?!"

"Hmph. I thought you were stronger than that. But I guess this a weakness I should expect from someone of the Dragneel clan. But compassion won't dissuade me. Don't forget, you chose to fight me."

There was a long silence. Then finally, the voice without a face stood up.

"Very well then. You left me with no choice. But I want you to know this. Even though we face each other as enemies, and no matter what you think of me now, you will always be Agnar to me."

The man growled. Whether it was from irritation or emotional pain was hard to tell.

A hand holding a glittering key appeared. The key was made of diamond, and had a fire motif.

"That said, I made a promise and I'm gonna keep it! I'm taking back what you stole!"

Alu suddenly snapped back to reality, and became aware of the pain that was coursing through her. She shut her eyes and lifted her head to scream in agony towards the sky. Just like before, it felt like white-hot fire had entered her bloodstream and was coursing through her.

Only this time it felt worse. Now she felt like a large streak of the bangs in her hair has been set ablaze, and her right eye had just been shot with a flaming arrow.

But at the same time, as that white light made its way into her heart, she felt a strange rush of Magic surge through her body. She glowed as brightly as a star for a second or two. Then, with a cry of determination, Alu unleashed that power and channeled all of it directly at Aquarius's Key.

It sent out a shockwave that only affected Aries and Sorano. The two of them were thrown back by the force. They both fell to the ground and tumbled for a few feet.

As that happened, Aquarius's Key shimmered for a second before the hilt and piece of gold collided together. In a flash of light, the white fire blazing around it worked the rest of the Magic and fused the two pieces together.

Finally, the fire lowered the Key back onto the block and drifted back into the fire pit. At the same time, the Magic Circle around Alu and Aquarius disappeared and they lowered their arms.

Alu staggered and brought her right hand up to her aching eye. Her eye hurt horribly, but there was no sign of any injury to it. There wasn't even any blood leaking from it. It felt perfectly fine. Still, it hurt too much for her to try and open it.

Not only that, but Alu felt like her bangs were on fire. She used her left hand to feel around for any signs of flames, but all she felt was her ruffled hair, nothing more. But that sure didn't stop the pain.

Alu slowly opened her left eye and looked over at Aquarius. The Water Spirit had dropped to the ground and was panting heavily for air.

"Aquarius," Alu panted, her voice weak and rough, "are you okay?"

Aquarius didn't respond. Instead, she lifted her right hand and pointed over to the fire pit. Alu followed the direction of her finger…

…and her left eye widened as large as it could in surprise.

There, resting on the block with the Water Barrier's seal, was Aquarius's Key. Fully repaired and sparkling brightly like it had never been broken in the first place.

Exhausted and fatigued, Alu slowly limped over to the fire pit. When she got there, she removed her right hand from her eye and picked the key off of the block. She smiled happily and some tears welled up as she stared at the re-forged key. She felt like she was going to burst with joy.

She had done it. She had actually done it. She had succeeded in repairing Aquarius's key. For once, she had succeeded at something.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Mom's face when she sees this," she said to herself, holding the key close to her heart. "She's going to be so happy. And now…Aries and Aquarius…now they can…go back…"

At that moment, Alu's world started to go out of focus. Her drain of Magic Power suddenly caught up with her all at once. Her head throbbed in pain, making her stagger. She groaned and swayed for a moment before her legs buckled out from under her. The ground rushed to meet her.

The last thing Alu remembered was the sounds of two voices calling out her name in distress. After that, nothing but darkness, silence, and stillness.

Meanwhile…

Natsu slowed down and came to a stop. He had been running almost non-stop for about two hours. When he wasn't running, he was walking at a very quick pace until he got enough of his breath back. Running all the way to Mount Zonia was certainly a challenge. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just a straight line. But Natsu found himself climbing over rocks, jumping across ravines, or wading through rivers. Around the time he came to his fifth ravine, Natsu wished that he had Happy to fly him most of the way.

Still, it was times like this when Natsu was glad that he had the endurance of a Dragon in his body. If not, he would've had a much rougher time.

Near-endless strength and stamina were some of the advantages of being a Dragon Slayer.

Still, having his little buddy around to lend a hand would've been a great thing. It certainly would help his limbs from aching as much as they were now.

It was well past midday when he had reached his location. By now, sweat was rolling off his body, his limbs were shaking slightly, he was panting heavily for precious air, and his heart was pounding so hard that he could feel and see his chest thumping up and down from the force of each beat. But it was all worth it to him right now.

He had reached Sacred Mount Zonia.

"I made it," he breathed heavily. "Now I just need to find a way in."

Taking in one last gulp of air, Natsu ran off to find an entrance into the mountain. At least now he didn't have to worry about not getting to this place on time. He just had to focus on his next priority.

And that was rescuing his daughter.

"Just hang on, Alu," he said to himself. "I'm almost there. I promise I will save you."