Chapter 33

Alu's Awakening

Alu slowly opened her eyes and found herself standing in a starry-lit landscape. All around her were twinkling stars of so many different colors.

"Where am I?" Alu asked out loud, her voice echoing all around her.

"Inside your heart, of course."

Alu jolted in shock when she heard that voice. It sounded exactly like hers. But that certainly wasn't an echo.

Alu turned around fast and gasped in surprised.

Standing in front of her was a young woman.

This woman was dressed in a strange outfit that consisted of a one-piece white skin-tight suit that reached up to her neck, and went down just past her thighs. Around her waist was a black, short, open skirt, and on her feet, were red ankle-high sandals. Around her eyes, as well as on her knees, arms, and on both sides of her torso, were patches of white dragon scales.

On each side of her outfit were openings, revealing her dragon scales. Covering her chest and abdomen was a large green breastplate that opened up in the back. On her lower arms and legs were blue and gold guards. Her long hair was emerald green, and she wore a lavender circlet around her head with Draco's symbol decorating the center of her forehead.

Her eyes were what caught Alu's attention the most. They were both cyan, and had the likeness of a Dragon.

"Who are you?" Alu said, confused.

The young woman smiled.

"You already know the answer to that," she said knowingly. "I've been with you since your birth into this life."

Alu took in a sharp breath. This woman's voice was exactly like hers. And when Alu looked at her a little closer, she realized that she kind of looked like her, too. All Alu had to do was replace the green hair with sakura pink, and the cyan eyes with dark green, and she would be looking at an older, almost identical mirror image of herself.

But why? Who was this person?

"What are you talking about?" Alu asked, her tone bordering on annoyance. "And what do you mean by "born into this life"?"

"Well, I could tell you that," the woman said. "But I think it'll be more rewarding if you figure that out for yourself. I will, however, give you some clues."

The woman turned to her right and swiped her hand in a graceful fashion. Alu watched with wide eyes as an image began to appear before her.

When it came into focus, Alu found herself staring an image of a little girl snuggled up against a large lizard-like creature.

Alu gasped. That little girl looked just like her.

The girl was dressed in a ragged and torn dress, and she was barefoot. Her spiky pink hair was caked with dirt, and her pale skin had some scratches and bruises on it.

And yet, she slept happily against the giant creature.

That creature was a Dragon. Alu didn't need to be told that.

The Dragon was as black as the night sky, but the assorted star-white scales and silvery circle in the center of its forehead gave it a more radiant appearance. Its body was strong and sleek. It clearly showed that it possessed both great strength and power. But its golden eyes were soft and gentle. It looked at the little girl with warmth and love as she slept soundly.

"That's…Draco." Alu said with certainty.

"That's right," the woman beside her nodded. "He took in a human girl who had lost her family, and raised her as if she was his own daughter."

Alu looked at the young woman.

"That was you, wasn't it?" Alu said slowly. "Aquarius told me that Draco took in a young girl after she lost her family to another Dragon."

The woman nodded.

"You're half-right," she said. "That is me. Draco took me in. He raised me and protected me. He told me stories of the Celestial World, and each and every day, we searched for a way to get him back home. He even inadvertently gave me his Magic. The power of a Dragon."

The image changed. Draco had crashed to the ground, and the little pink-haired girl ran over to hold on to him. Both Draco and the girl were bleeding from cuts. The girl moved her injured arm over one of Draco's wounds. His white blood trickled down her hand and into a cut on lower arm.

"We were attacked by another Dragon," the woman explained, "and we were both injured. I begged for Draco to stay with us, and his blood entered my veins, and mixed with my blood. That's when I got my Magic. The Magic that would later become known as Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Draco taught you how to use this Magic." Alu said, sounding less surprised than before. "He taught you how to use and control it."

The image changed again. Alu watched the scene inside of it as the young woman spoke.

"But one night, after seven years in Earth Land, Draco started to disappear. He almost died. But I called out to the Celestial World, and it answered me. A gate to that world appeared. Draco and I opened it by combining our Magic together, and by using a diamond crystal as a conductor for channeling our Magic. That crystal took on the form of a key. And Celestial Magic was born."

"After that, I went with Draco to the Celestial World, where I met the other Celestial Spirits. I thought I could live there with them happily for the rest of my life. But Earth Land called back to me."

Alu turned to her right and saw another scene appear. It was a small village that was alit with fire. Dragons flew all around it, blowing out fire from their mouths and attacking the people running for their lives.

"Dragons terrorized Earth Land back then," the woman said. "I couldn't turn a blind eye to that. Through my Celestial Magic, The Celestial Spirits and I forged the Zodiac Keys. With the Zodiac at my side, I traveled to Earth Land to combat the Dragons and save all mankind."

Alu blinked as she found herself staring at another image. The person in it looked exactly like the woman standing beside her. She looked bold, confident, and serious. In her right hands, she carried Draco's Key.

"Of course, we made allies with some Dragons. With Draco's help, we rallied some to help us protect Earth Land."

The more the woman talked, the more Alu's expression began to change. None of the images she was seeing surprised her anymore. It was like she was expecting them to appear now. She remained silent as the woman beside her continued, and the images continued to appear.

"And later, others from a neighboring country arrived to help us. Among them was Irene and her Dragon friend, Belserion. With Irene's Enchantment Magic, she created many other Dragon Slayers. During that time, I met two comrades. One was Agnar, a brave young man who became a Dragon Slayer, and a powerful one. The other was Anna Heartfilia. I trained her to become a Celestial Wizard, and she became the greatest there ever was, even surpassing me."

Alu blinked as she stared into the image of a young man and woman. The man had long, unkempt blue hair, piercing eyes that were intensified by the black rings around them, and blue tattoos that were in wavy patters on his arms and face. Although he was a serious person by nature, he did smile a bit to show that he wasn't heartless.

The woman was tall and had beautiful blonde hair. Her light brown eyes were full of wisdom and kindness, but also courage.

In fact, Alu would say that she looked just like her mother, Lucy.

Then the images changed again. Revealing something horrific.

"But then it happened," the woman said downheartedly. "The Enchantment Magic cast on the Dragon Slayers turned them into the very creatures they feared. It drove them to madness, and ended up destroying them. We watched with horror and despair as it happened. We were unable to do anything for them. Except…put them out of their misery. While many Dragon Slayers died by the hands of executioners, the ones who fully transformed into Dragons either died by our hands, or by the hands of other Dragon Slayers who hadn't been corrupted yet."

The woman's expression changed to heartbroken.

"Sadly, Agnar was one of the unfortunate ones. Worse than that, he lost his humanity when became a Dragon. He became the very creature he hated, and it drove him to insanity. To the point where he wanted to destroy the world that he felt had betrayed him. He even tried to kill us."

Alu's eyes welled up with tears as the image showed Agnar in a fit of rage. Then, with a howl of pain, his body began to morph into a giant Dragon. Wings sprouted from his back, his hands and feet became claws, and his teeth sharpened into fangs. The form he took was a Dragon that was black as moonless night, and covered with blue wavy patterns.

Seeing that made Alu want to cry. Her heart wrenched, making her chest ache. For some reason, she felt like she had just lost someone very dear to her.

"We were the only one that never underwent the Dragonification," the woman continued. "Nor were we in any danger of it. Draco's blood flowed through our veins, and embedded itself into the very fabric of our soul, giving us power and protecting us from that horrible fate. Our power came from him, not by some Dragon Seed. And because of that power, we could enter Dragon Force at will, and summon multiple Spirits at once. But the Dragon Force was the closest we could get to becoming a Dragon. We never ran the risk of becoming one.

"And despite all the pain and loss we suffered; from losing our family, our clan, and even watching those we loved fall to darkness and despair, we kept fighting on. We hung on to what we were, and remembered what we were fighting. The Celestial Spirits that had become out family helped us through. They gave us strength and support, as did Anna. We didn't give up hope. Even when we were forced to fight Agnar to the death. And yet, we couldn't bring ourselves to kill him."

Alu grimaced.

"All we could do was seal him away in Mount Zonia with a powerful Spell. An Imprisoning Spell that would last for four hundred years. But that came with a price. It cost us our life. By all accounts, we should be dead. But we're not. We didn't die that day."

Alu then froze and looked up with surprise. She looked at the strange woman beside her. It was only now that she realized that the woman started using the word "we" when she was talking about her past. It was like she was including Alu into her statements.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "And what do you mean "we"?"

The young woman turned towards Alu and smiled.

"Our life was saved at the last minute, by Anna and our Celestial Spirits," she said. "I remember the last moments of our consciousness in that life. Just before death had claimed us, a Spell was cast on us."

"What Spell?"

The young woman looked at Alu for a second. She then waved her hand gracefully across the starry landscape. Alu stepped back as another image appeared before her.

She saw herself. Or rather, she saw an older version of herself. She was covered with bruises and cuts from head to toe, and unconscious on a rocky ground. A bloody rag for a bandage was slowly slipping off of her left eye.

By the looks of it, this look-alike of Alu was very close to death. Probably just seconds away from it.

Standing around her in a circle were all of the Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac and Anna. The Zodiac Spirits looked different from the way Alu was used to seeing them. They looked like ancient warriors from the far past. And each of them wore armor that looked like it was made out of silver and gold. Each set consisted of a headpiece, a chest-plate, arm and leg guards, and shoulder plates. And each of their armor had their Zodiac insignia on them.

Draco was also among them, standing behind Anna.

Then everyone began to glow. Their Magic flowed down to Alu's lifeless form, engulfing her in its light.

Anna then raised her arms and began to chant;

"O life that cannot be saved in this time,

Whose body has been weathered

With this strength we grant you,

Separate and rest,

Restore your body and soul,

Be given life anew,

Through the destined bonds of love,

And awaken once again!"

The light surrounding the older Alu's body grew even brighter.

At the same time, Alu felt a horrible pain in her chest. She winced and clutched it, almost keeling over from the sudden shock. But she forced herself to keep watching the image before her.

With a sudden burst, the light around older Alu's body disappeared. Only now, her body was gone. In its place were two glow orbs. One was radiant red, and other brilliant blue.

It was then that Draco reached his hand over towards the orbs.

"Divide again," he commanded in a clear voice. "To ensure your chance to be born anew, I will hold your power and memories. They shall rest with me, until you have awakened. Seek me out in the future, and take hold of the Key when you gain the power and strength to do so."

The two orbs of light shivered for a moment. Then, streams of white began to rise up out of them towards Draco's Dragon hand. Once they had gathered together, Draco gently held another orb. It glowed a pure, silvery white light.

The image then faded, leaving Alu dazed by what she saw.

"So…that's what happened?" she whispered.

"Yes," the woman said. "Our soul was divided. The two parts of it that Draco left behind traveled through time and space. They were separated for a long time, until the ones destined by fate to meet formed their bond of love. Then, on July 7th, of the year X796, we were born again."

"July 7th." Alu gasped. "Wait…that's my birthday!"

It was then that Alu heard the sounds of a baby crying. It made her straighten herself up and caught her breath. She slowly turned around and saw another image.

But this one was different. It wasn't dark and grim like the other ones had been.

Alu eyes widened in surprise, and realization.

It was some kind of hospital room. And in that hospital room, Alu saw her mother and father.

"Mom. Dad."

Her mother was lying in a bed, propped up by a big white pillow. Alu's father was sitting on the edge of the bed. Both of them smiling with happiness.

Alu then saw herself as a baby. She was wrapped in a sky-blue blanket, and cradled in her mother's arms.

She was the reason for their happiness.

Looking at all this moment, it suddenly became clear to Alu.

"So that's it." Alu said. "This was the day you…no, we were reborn."

"That's right," the woman said. "The you that exist in this time, is the same as the one who existed in the past. And that person was me."

Alu turned and looked at the woman beside her.

"I know who you are," she said, "because I know who I am now. I am you, you are me. We are the same person. The same soul, born in two different times."

The woman smiled. She then reached out her hand.

"We are…"

Alu reached back and took the woman's hand.

Together, they said,

"Alu Dragneel."

The woman then began to fade into white Magic vapor. The wisps of her existence flowed into Alu, giving her strength and power.

Alu closed her eyes and accepted the gift that was being granted to her. She felt the pulse of the stars in her veins. This power that had been separated from her for so long rejoined with her fragmented soul, making it complete and whole once again. It flowed through her, restoring her.

Down at her feet, a white light flowed out. It rapidly spread throughout the world around her, giving it life. The darkness that had grown inside her heart finally disappeared, allowing the light that had always been there to shine brighter than before.

As the last piece of her soul entered her, a deep familiar voice spoke to her.

"You've awakened at last, my dear Alu."

Alu opened her eyes. She looked up and saw a mighty Dragon standing right in front of her. A Dragon as black as the night sky, but as radiant as the moon and stars.

Alu smiled and tears of joy gathered in her eyes.

"Draco."

The Dragon nodded and lowered his head down to the girl's level. Alu reached out and cupped the tip of his snout with both hands. She pressed her forehead against it and let some of her tears fall.

"Welcome home, Alu." Draco said, his voice full of kindness and joy.

The two shared the moment of reunion for a what seemed to be like forever. After four hundred years of waiting, they got see each other again.

After the moment had passed, Alu leaned back and looked Draco in the eyes.

"I have watched over you from a distance." Draco said. "I know what has happened to you father. You know you're the only one who can save him, and all of your family."

Alu nodded.

"So, are you ready?" the mighty Dragon asked.

"Yes." Alu replied confidently. "Let's go."

Once again, Alu was wrapped up in a stream of white light.

At long last, Alu knew who she was. And what she had to do.