Chapter 6

Natsu Dragonil was hungry.

His stomach was growling loud enough to wake a sleeping dragon as he stood in his kitchen-one of the least cluttered areas of his home, trying to decide what to eat. Decisions, decisions, decisions! He was tempted to dump a can of tuna into a (large mixing) bowl of hot sauce and call it a day but then he remembered—in the fridge, he had a bowl of curry. It wasn't just any curry—it was spicy enough to tickle the taste buds of even a fire dragonslayer. With a spoon in his mouth, he slowly pulled the bowl off its chilly pedestal, pausing in awe. It was then, at that precise moment, when a shriek reverberated through the air.

"A BATHTUB. HOW DARE YOU SUMMON ME IN A FREAKING BATHTUB?"

It made him wince, causing the wonderfully full bowl of curry-goodness to topple, plopping his coveted culinary masterpiece into an uneven blob on his wooden kitchen floor. Natsu sighed, his lips turning into a frown. He held up his spoon anyway.

Poor Lucy. She winced as a mini tsunami raged in her bathroom, waves crashing against her bathroom door. She had practically been pushed into a corner by the pressure of the water, one leg in the water like a flamingo. There went the security deposit for her apartment!

Aquarius didn't care one bit. She had drawn herself up to her full glory—hair magically whipping around in an angry stormy gust, beautiful lips pulled into a severe frown, and brilliant turquoise eyes shooting the worst of her death stares DIRECTLY at her owner. "A. Bathtub. How dare you, you—" she spat, a jeweled finger jabbing at the tub.

"I'm sorry, I know it's a bathtub," said Lucy, her hands raised palm-up in a peace gesture, "Its just that, I'm in a tough spot and I figured you'd be the best spirit to ask for help."

This statement did nothing to appease the water spirit, whose unhappy demeanor was beginning to turn the water in the bathtub to ice. "You're in a tough spot? It still doesn't make up for the fact that this water has HAIR in it and is that soap scum? I can't belie—"

"I know! I promise I'll never do it again, its just that I didn't know what to do and he—" said Lucy, bracing for a tidal wave to come straight at her.

Suddenly, the waves seemed to be a teeny bit not as violent. "…he?" said Aquarius, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised.

"Err, yes. He. Him," stammered Lucy, who was a bad combination of cold and nervous.

"Boy troubles?" Aquarius sounded incredulous. And then, to Lucy's extreme amazement, the storm began to fade. The water defrosted and retreated back into the tub and the sneer on the Spirit's pretty mouth had literally turned upside down into something non-threatening. And friendly. Lucy was rather shocked.

"Why didn't you just say so?" said Aquarius, balancing on her gourd like a stool, "Come now, tell Big Sis all your problems! I'll help you wash them all away."

Lucy swore she heard a little tee-hee and after lots of encouragement, she found herself sitting crossed legged on her bathroom counter. It was actually very…pleasant. Aquarius had warmed the water in the tub and the effect had almost given the tiny bathroom a spa-like atmosphere. "So?" she said in sing-song voice, " What's up?"

Lucy took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you about…Loki."

"Of course! What do you wanna know?"

"It's just that…someone 'warned' me about him," said Lucy, her shoulders drooping, "And its not like I can totally disregard the warning, even within Fairy Tail! He's got quite the reputation regarding him and girls."

"Oh, that whole girlfriend harem thing he had? No worries about that," said Aquarius, rolling her eyes, "I think it was just a ploy to fool the mortals that he was one of them."

This didn't settle too well with Lucy, who was having an 'a-ha, that's right. He's not exactly…human' moment.

Seeing her master's face color into an unpleasant shade of grey, Aquarius quickly tried to change the subject. "Well, okay, err…um. What kind of warning was it? Like 'watch out! You'll catch something'? Or-"

"Watch out, I don't want you to get hurt," said Lucy. It came out rather toneless, almost devoid of emotion. It was strange, to Lucy, because it was practically the opposite of what she felt like—the emotion within her was so strong (and confused), it was almost overwhelming.

"Oh." The two of them sat in silence for a moment, before the mermaid took a deep breath, sighing it out in a forceful, salty gust, "I see. So that's what this is all about."

Lucy looked up, one eyebrow raised. "What?"

The smile upon Aquarius' face was curved into something sad yet understanding. "It's about the bonding." She flicked her tail and suddenly, golden lights began to stream through the water, illuminating a circle split into 12 equal pieces. Within each slice there was a gleaming symbol, which Lucy knew to represent each member of the zodiac.

"Alright. So, here's my crash course of the noble houses of the spirit world," said Aquarius, who pointed at her diagram, "I am a member of the Eleventh house. Actually, when you say, 'Aquarius,' you are referring to anyone from my house."

"So it's like a title?" Lucy asked, looking up. Her summoning instructor had never taught her any of this. "I should call you by your—"

"Nah, no worries. I've been Aquarius for such a long time, it's grown on me. My mother used to answer to our golden key and if my boyfriend ever proposes, my little sister will probably replace me. She turned two-thousand and fourteen last month, I think she's old enough by now."

There was a lot of eye lash batting as the image of a handsome man who had died half of his white cropped hair red appeared on the surface of the water. 'Ah, that's right,' thought Lucy. She mentally catalogued her collection of golden keys, 'She's dating Scorpio.'

"Isn't he gorrrgeous? Tee hee. But anyway, so once upon a time, the houses were all at war with each other. The Spirit King put a stop to it by bonding the houses to each other, giving our world the peace it's had for the past couple millennia."

"Wait, bonding. That's the word she told me. What do you mean by 'bonding'?" For some reason, images of a troubled Aries kept flashing through Lucy's mind.

"Its like the houses were paired up by their rivalries. It was pretty much a 'we'll marry our kids and stop spending gold on killing each other' kinda deal."

Lucy looked up at her wrinkled toes. "Basically like an arranged marriage?"

"Yep. Sucks, doesn't it? Lucky for me, my older brothers got stuck with it. My new sister-in-laws are Gemini. Twins," said Aquarius, wiggling her eyebrows," I'm free to marry whomever I want and it's gonna be Scorpie!" She sang it in a sing-song voice, grinning from ear to ear as she tucked a lotus blossom behind her ear.

Lucy nodded in understanding. "I get it. So Loki is…"

"Kind of off the spirit world market," said the mermaid, smiling sadly, "He's the eldest son of the Fifth house and the best of them too. They call him, 'the Prince.' It was considered a tragedy when he disappeared into the human world for a couple of years, but he's back now and oh dear me, his betrothed, why she? She was the most delighted of all."

It was the way her spirit pretty much spat the word that tipped Lucy off. "Betrothed…" It left a slight acidic taste in her mouth.

"Yep. Priscilla the White, the jewel of the First house."

"First…" Lucy was intently studying the diagram etched into the pool of her bathroom floor. "That must mean she's from the house of the…Ram?"

Aquarius nodded. "Mmhmm. She's Aries' older sister."

A/N: I hope that wasn't too long of a wait! Nothing happened that much this chapter for 'action,' I guess I was in a 'dialogue' kind of mood. What's up, lovelies, what do you think?

***EDIT. Thank you to all you who saw that Aquarius' boyfriend was not a figment of my imagination called Henri. He is actually one of Lucy's spirits: Scorpio. Eighth house, if you were wondering. THANK YOU! I totally forgot. Writing fail. I owe you guys.