"Mommy, is it true that Aquarius is a mermaid?" she asked her mother with eager eyes as she was tucked into her bed. She snuggled into the fat, feather-soft pillows and felt her eyes instantly begin to droop.
"Yes, it is," her mother replied from where she sat on the bed, beside her beloved daughter. "She has a beautiful blue tail, with sparkling scales and shiny hair."
"And Scorpio is a scorpion?"
"Exactly."
"… And Leo?" the small girl added, this time her voice not filled with joy or excitement, but fear. Her voice trembled as she said, "Is Leo actually a lion?"
Her mother knew her daughter her well enough to be aware of her fears; the small bubbly blond shriveled up when one even mentioned the name of the 'ferocious beast' with a mane. Although she hadn't seen a lion before with her very eyes, she'd read the storybooks and had seen the illustrations of the wild animal and had shuddered at the sight. The nightmares had burnt her brain with the roar of a lion forever assaulting her ears.
"What do you know about lions, sweetheart?" the older woman asked.
"They have manes and…"
"Other than what they look like."
She pursed her lips in thought. "They're tough – and strong too."
"And that's what Leo is. Tough and strong… And loyal to his family."
IX - Suspicions
With awed but fearful eyes, Lucy watched as Gray held his ice-wielded bow and arrow. Lucy clenched her fingers in fright and bit down on her lip. Juvia was strapped to the bulls-eye target, with no hint of fear of anxiety in her eyes, only determination. Juvia wore a smile, like always, because Gray was around.
Gray aimed at Juvia's heart, and shot the ice arrow. Lucy instantly cringed and closed her eyes shut, waiting for an audible scream of pain and anguish, blood splattering the ground and the sky reddening with agony. Instead, she heard the applause of her friends, so she hesitantly opened her eyes.
One important fact about Juvia: she was made out of water and could transform into it at any moment. Now, she had shifted, so that where the arrow should have pierced skin, instead, it had only pierced the bulls-eye target. Lucy watched, wide-eyed, as Juvia turned all of her body to water, slid away from bulls-eye target, and slid back into her normal form, next to Gray. The audience, the rest of the Fairy Tail circus, clapped.
"Next up, Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna!" Max Alors, the blond-haired Sand Mage, announced. The three siblings made their way on stage, Mira as a butterfly, Lisanna as a strangely colorful bird, and Elfman just strode his way up to the platform.
It was a competition between everyone, to see who was the most talented in the circus. The prize? 50 thousand jewels.
The one thing that Natsu loved more than food and friends was beating people. And not just in fights, contrary to common belief, but in competitions too. He was bouncing in his seat next to her, eager to get on stage and perform, and grinning like mad. Happy, next to Natsu and occupying his own seat, was also smiling.
Lucy groaned. Unlike them, she was nervous. She did not wish to perform at all. But, of course, Natsu had begged, even gotten on his knees and pleaded before giving her his adorable puppy-dog eyes, and she had begrudgingly agreed to perform with him. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Gray take his seat. It was because of that stupid Ice-Boy (oh great, now she was talking like Natsu) that she had to perform. He had been teasing and jeering at Natsu the other day, tell the Fire Mage that Gray would most certainly win the competition.
"Just watch, Ice Boy!" Natsu snarled at Gray. "I'll win for sure!"
"Yeah right!" Gray retorted. "You and Happy? I've seen all your acts!"
"And I've seen yours!"
Gray faltered for a minute, but then Juvia interrupted with a determined smile. "Gray-sama will win because he has Juvia as his assistant!" she told Natsu with a bubbling grin. She looked over at Gray and swooned. "Right, Gray-sama?"
Gray looked back at her, confused out of his mind, the same bewildered look that most people in the circus wore. But, then, he glanced back at Natsu and grinned too. "Yeah, I got Juvia! We're going to beat you and Happy!"
"I've got Lucy!" Natsu retorted smugly.
On second thought, it's Juvia's fault, Lucy deduced. "Next up, Natsu and Lucy!" Max shouted out and Lucy froze with fright. Damn. She hadn't even been able to see Mira and her siblings perform!
"And me!" Happy shouted out, angry that Max had forgotten to mention him. Lucy fretfully walked up to the stage, while Natsu practically skipped with glee and Happy joyfully flew to the stage.
But then Natsu flashed his regular toothy smile at her, and she felt a rush of calmness flow through her. Not only could he annoy her, but he could calm her down too.
…
"How much longer?" Natsu groaned as he trudged behind her, dragging his feet as if they were heavier than anvils. Lucy briskly walked in front of him, neither slowing down nor looking back. If she happened to look back, Natsu would give her his puppy-dog eyes, pout, and plead until she gave in and agreed to go home.
"It's your own fault!" she told him, keeping her eyes on the scenery around them. "If you hadn't burnt my desk, I wouldn't have to buy a new one!"
The flea market was bustling, all the locals buying cheap miscellaneous items. There were the normal, everyday items like rugs, desks, and chairs. But there were also the strange foreign things like tarot cards, odd-shaped lamps, necklaces said to ward off the devil, rings said to entice it, and even a dream-catcher that Lucy was tempted to buy to ward off the occasional nightmares. However, she didn't, knowing that Natsu would ridicule her for it for the remainder of her life.
"Pleeeeeease can we go?" Happy begged. Lucy's eyes caught sight of a mahogany desk, small enough to fit into her room but big enough for her to sit at and write. She swiveled round on her heel and smacked into Natsu's muscular (and bare) chest. She fell to the ground, landing painfully on her butt. That's going to leave a bruise…
"Why are you on the floor?" Natsu asked, looking down at her. She rolled her eyes and got up, Natsu making no move to help her but looking at her inquiringly.
"Here," she said, handing him some of the jewels they had surprisingly won in the competition. "Buy the desk for me. Then we can go home."
"Aw, can't we have lunch?" he moaned.
"Don't you want to have lunch at home?"
"Can't we eat both?" he asked her. Lucy blinked. She would never get over how much he could eat. She nodded and he grinned widely, Happy smiling too, and ran off to hustle the seller for the desk.
It was surprising that they had somehow won the competition. She was sure that it had only been because she was new and they wanted her to feel welcome. She had summoned Plue in the act, because he had been there when the competition was mentioned and was strangely eager to do tricks. He had down various tricks like jumping through the hoops engulfed with fire.
She hadn't missed the way Loki's eyes had watched, mesmerized, as Plue appeared from the Stellar Spirit World. His eyes had been full with nostalgia and longing, but then he had met her eyes and hastily looked away, nervous and anxious.
Lucy had been paying more attention to Loki a lot, lately, though she had no idea why. She hadn't noticed before, but there was something amiss and odd about the aura around him. Not to say that everyone else in Fairy Tail wasn't odd – they were certainly far from being normal – but Loki had an air around him that told her that he wasn't all that he seemed to be. No one else seemed to notice, though, so she assumed that she was just looking into things with too much depth. Maybe it was just because he was so frightened of her. Gray always assured her that Loki had had an encounter with another Stellar Spirit Mage and they hadn't gotten along very well, but Lucy felt differently.
It was while she was thinking about the orange-haired womanizer when she spotted the gleaming silver Key. It was just sitting on one of the stalls, alone and abandoned. How the Key ended up here of all places, she had no idea. It was so far away from its home in Fiore with actual Mages to use this precious Key and not just see it as some unnecessary decoration. There was a pang in her heart as she thought about the Stellar Spirit whose Key that belonged to, trapped in the Stellar Spirit World, and doomed to stay there until a Mage happened to find him/her.
Her legs took control of its own and she was already hurrying to the stall so she could buy the Key. The seller, a middle-aged man whom was already losing hair, noticed her and his thin lips stretched into smug smile. It was easy to tell from his grey eyes that he was greedy and would give her a high price for the Key.
"How much is the Key?" she asked him, dreading it if the rest of the prize money would be spent on the Key. She wouldn't want to do that to Natsu and Happy, especially after promising them lunch.
"10,000 jewels, m'lady," he told her. Lucy brushed off the "m'lady" part and how much it reminded her of her days back when she lived in that mansion and the little maids would timidly greet her.
Instead, her eyes widened at the horrific price. "10,000 jewels? It can't be worth that much!" The seller didn't even know what it did, yet he was asking for such a high price. She could easily pay it, but she wasn't going to give in so early.
"I wonder how much it's really worth," she said, leaning on the stall and giving the seller a perfect sight down her shirt.
"10, 000," he said, not even a little distracted. Lucy felt her face get hot. Isn't my sex appeal worth anything?
"Lucy~!" Natsu shouted as she walked up to her. She straightened herself and saw Natsu and Happy approaching her, Natsu holding the desk up high with only one arm. "I got the desk," he added before placing it on the ground next to her. "Can we go eat now?"
"In a minute," she told him.
"But you said-" he whined like a spoiled kid.
Lucy sighed in aggravation. She leant in closer to hiss at him, "Don't you see it? It's a Stellar Spirit Key!"
Natsu's eyes widened, as did Happy's, and they glanced to where the Key sat, calling out to her. "Is it the Dragon Key?" he excitedly asked her.
"Does it matter who it is?" Lucy asked. "It's a Stellar Spirit and it's supposed to be with a Mage, not used as some decoration like anyone else would do!"
Natsu looked at her for a moment, puzzled, but then slowly he nodded in understanding. He approached the waiting seller and asked, "How much for the Key?"
The old man pursed his lips. "Like I told your friend, its 10, 000 jewels," he sharply told Natsu. "If you can't pay it then get lost. I have other customers."
Natsu leant in closer to the old man, eyes reddening with anger. Or hunger. Or both. The seller gulped in fright. "How much for the Key?" Natsu asked again, giving him a glare that was fit to have even Erza running for the hills.
After, Natsu handed her the Key and she gratefully smiled at him. "Thanks," she told him.
He just shrugged. "That's what friends are for, right?" he said and her heart fluttered a little, and it wasn't because she had another Stellar Spirit she could summon. "Now, c'mon, I'm hungry!"
After their (Natsu's and Happy's) second lunch back home, the carnival went in full swing and the two boys retired to their (her) room to take a nap. Lucy aimlessly walked around the carnival, watching all the locals laugh and play at the booths. Their laughter lightened the air and Lucy found herself smiling too.
She almost jumped a mile when she saw her disfigured reflection on the warped mirror. It was just outside the Hall of Mirrors, the only game in the carnival that she hadn't played.
Cautiously, she stepped inside, into the large and gloomy tent. There was hardly any light, apart from the little spotlights on top of certain mirrors. It was creepy and gave her chills. She continued forward, and found herself in a hallway full of mirrors, endlessly stretching on for what seemed like miles. There were mirrors to both sides of her, showing her ample but tense figure; some were warped and twisted.
She glanced at her reflection; she was wearing her usual attire: mini-skirt, short-sleeved top and knee-high boots. Oh, if her father were to see her now… He would most certainly have a fit. The same with all the maids who had been responsible in buying all her expensive dresses that she didn't care for.
Had he sent out employees to look for her, like he had the last time she had tried to run away? Was he still looking for her, months – no, years – later?
Her heart clenched a little. She would be happy if they had given up on the search for her, because she didn't want to be found at all, but the concept of her father no longer carrying about her and her whereabouts was upsetting. She had no idea why she was still upset when she had endured the treatment of being ignored by her father for years before she had found the courage to escape.
She watched the spotlight flicker on and off, her reflection disappearing and reappearing, before the one spotlight went out in total. But, before that, she thought she saw a flash of orange-hair in the mirror.
Hastily, she whirled around but saw no sign of the orange hair. Who manages the Hall of Mirrors? She wondered. And has orange hair?
"Loki?" she called out. "Is that you?" She continued forward and then turned the corner, hoping to find the way out, but was only shocked to see another hallway full with mirrors. She gritted her teeth, This was like a never-ending maze, and she'd only just entered! "Loki!"
As she walked, she realized how dimmer the lights were. She could hardly see a thing. A shiver went down her spine. "This isn't funny, Loki." Now she was getting scared. Goosebumps prickled her arms and she swore that the temperature dropped, followed by an icy chill that made her shudder.
"L- Loki?" she cried out once more, her voice breaking at the end. "Natsu… ?"
She broke into a run, making mad dashes this way and the next. She was desperate to find a way out of this ridiculous nightmare.
And then, so comically that she could have laughed, the spell was broken and the panic within her was gone. All because she had collided into Loki and, like the quick shattering of glass, the fear and terror that encircled her was quickly gone.
"S- sorry!" he stuttered, sounding more panicked than she had. And then, before she could say a word, he was hastily rushing away.
"Hey!" Lucy shouted after him, annoyed. He didn't stop, so she had no other choice but to follow. "Loki! Hey!" Finally, she was able to catch up to him and pulled at the hem of his thick fur coat to get him to stop. "Slow down! I don't know the way out."
"Oh," he mumbled, turning a little pink. "S- sorry," he nervous laughed.
She quickly released her hold on his coat and together, they awkwardly walked side by side. There was an uncomfortable silence between them, and only their soft breathing and the faint sound of the carnival outside could be heard.
"Hey," she said, breaking the awkward tension. "I've been meaning to ask this… what exactly is the deal between you and Stellar Spirit Mages?" He didn't meet her eyes. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" she hurriedly added, not wanting to seem extremely nosy.
"I'm sorry if I've been bothering you," he told her. "I mean… it's not like you did anything wrong. If I made you feel out of place here… I apologize."
"It's fine," Lucy told him. Granted, she'd felt a little hurt that Loki had never spoken a word to her after finding out that she was a Stellar Spirit, Gray constantly reminded her it was only because of some 'incident' with another Stellar Spirit that Loki acted this way. It was nice that Gray, although a total Ice-Boy like Natsu called him, looked out for her.
"No, it's not."
Lucy halted to a stop and Loki did too. She looked up at Loki with questioning eyes. "Are you okay, Loki?" she asked, concerned. Mirajane's motherly instinct was rubbing off on her. She frowned. "You look a little pale."
"W- what?" He laughed again, a high-pitched sound that was laced with anxiety. Oh, great, he's back to being a blithering buffoon. "Gotta go!" he added, and then broke into a run, going in the opposite direction.
"Loki!" she shouted after him.
He slowed down and looked over his shoulder to her. "Ah- O- oh, right – just keep going forward and then you'll be out in no time!"
"That's not what I -" He was already running off. She groaned. "… That's not what I was going to say," she finished, then sighed and then continued to walk.
"Stupid Loki, always running away," she muttered in frustration as she left the tent. "What the hell did that Stellar Spirit Mage do to him? Why is he always running away?"
"So he's still annoying you, huh?"
She squeaked in surprise and swiveled around on the spot. Bixlow was grinning at her, his tongue sticking out, as per usual. His maniacal look and demeanor never failed to annoy her. "What do you want, Bixlow?" she asked, turning away from him. "Shouldn't you be manning your booth?"
"On my break," Bixlow told her, walking alongside her through the carnival.
"So, like I said, what do you want?"
"Aw, don't be like that, you'll hurt my feelings," he said, fake pouting. She gave him glare, which was somewhat difficult since she was unable to see his eyes. Not that she wanted to, because Natsu had told her the power of Bixlow's eyes and she never wanted to see what they truly looked like.
"So, he's still running away from you?" Bixlow continued. "All nervous and scared?" She didn't say anything. "Have you asked your new Stellar Spirit about it? What's it name again?"
"Crux, the Southern Cross," she mumbled. She had told them – everyone of Fairy Tail – about her new Stellar Spirit and his powers. "Yeah. But it was no use – Crux-Jiji just said that Loki had been in contact with a Mage called Karen Lilica, and she passed away…"
"Did you ask about the Stellar Spirits she owned?"
"Huh?"
She was sure that Bixlow had just rolled his eyes behind his visor. "The Stellar Spirits this Karen girl owned. You have, what, 10 Zodiac Spirits?"
"Eight."
"Whatever. But one of them must have been in possession of this Karen girl. They might know Loki."
"But…" He was already walking off. "Hey, wait!" Bixlow didn't turn back, but continued walking away fro Lucy, without another care in the world. "Why do all boys never let me finish my sentence?" she cursed.
Bixlow's five dolls followed him, eerily floating in the air, their maniacal faces painted on them giving them a more spooky and eccentric look. "Hey, Ever, give us a kiss, won't you?" Bixlow called out to the brown-haired Evergreen who was operating the Kissing Booth.
"In your dreams, Bixlow!" Evergreen haughtily told him and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I'd sooner kiss your stupid dolls."
"Hey, don't insult my babies!" Bixlow told her, and the five spooky dolls whizzed towards Evergreen. The customers screamed in fear and jumped away and Evergreen batted the flying dolls away like flies with her manicured hand.
Lucy watched their encounter with nonplussed eyes. She would never get used to the wackiness everyone seemed to possess. She almost giggled, but instead she shivered, feeling an unsightly presence nearby. She whipped around so fast she nearly got a horrible case of whiplash, but saw no one in sight other than the locals and her friends. Levy waved to her, and she shyly waves back. What was that? She thought, hesitantly smiling at Levy. She had felt someone's eyes piercing into the back of her neck, watching her with fixated eyes. I'm just being paranoid.
Lucy's hand went to her new Silver Key. Asking again won't hurt…
Late that night, after the circus act, Lucy sat in her room, on her comfortable bed, as Crux sat cross-legged on her wooden desk. "I'm really sorry to have to ask you again, Crux-Jiji," she told the vast, cross-shaped Stellar Spirit.
Natsu tapped the sides of Crux. "Is he made out of metal?" he asked aloud.
"Natsu! Don't do that!" Lucy told him, embarrassed and irritated. "That's rude to Crux-Jiji!"
"But he's not even awake!" Natsu told her and waved a hand in front of Cruz's drooping eyes and sleepy face.
"No, he's just searching," Lucy replied, making herself comfortable on her bed by nudging her way to her soft pink pillows. Natsu looked at her, bewildered. "Crux-Jiji is an expert on Stellar Spirit Magic. He knows all that's going on between humans and the Spirit World. He even knows which Spirits have been summoned by which Mages," she added, which related to the question she had asked Crux: "What Zodiac Spirits did Karen Lilica own?"
"AHHHHH!" Crux shouted, his voice breaking the calm in the room and startling Lucy. Lucy squeaked and banged her head against the headboard in surprise, while Natsu just stood there, staring at Crux, unfazed and unmoved. Happy slept peacefully on Lucy's bed, sprawled out across the bed with his cute furry belling slowly moving up and down as he breathed.
Although having seen Crux do the exact same thing when she had earlier asked what Stellar Spirit Mage Loki had been in contact with, Lucy was still startled. However, after shaking off the initial shock, she asked the Stellar Spirit, "What have you found, Crux-Jiji?"
"I can't be too sure," he told her, his voice laced with sleepiness, "But Karen Lilica had two Zodiac Keys in her possession before she passed away. Aries and Leo."
"I'm afraid that's all I can tell you," Crux added before he let his eyelids finally droop shut.
"But he's still searching," Natsu said.
"No, he's asleep now," Lucy absentmindedly told him. Aries… The soft-spoken Stellar Spirit had been in Lucy's possession ever since she had defeated that horrific Mage, Angel. Aries the Ram was the sweetest and nicest Stellar Spirit that Lucy knew. Lucy didn't know much about Aries, though, because the Stellar Spirit was so shy, but she knew that Aries had been close with the Stellar Spirit Leo.
But if Angel had defeated Karen, why hadn't Angel gained possession over Leo, as she had with Aries?
"LUCY!" She jumped in surprise, the back of her head nearly colliding with the hard headboard again. Gray rushed into her room, panicked and unusually tense, no longer the casual and cool – no pun intended – Ice Mage he really was.
"What do you want, Ice-Boy?" Natsu asked with distaste.
Instead of taking the bait and, for once, Gray exclaimed in a alarm, "Loki's missing!"
"What?" Lucy asked, hastily swinging her legs over the bed.
"What do you mean, he's missing?" Natsu asked in outrage.
"I mean he left the Guil- the circus!" Gray told Natsu. "He's been acting strange lately and I didn't see him in the stands when we were performing. I even went to check if he was in his room but it was empty!"
Aries crossed her mind one more time before Natsu was suddenly by her side, pulling her up from the bed. "We have to go look for him!" Natsu told her, and then picked up the still snoozing Happy.
…
Luckily, the night sky was lit up with stars and the full shining moon, so it was a cinch to see. Not to mention, Natsu had conjured up a ball of fire in his hand so it was easy to see the whole street, as they searched for the one and only orange-haired Mage, Loki.
"LOKI!" Natsu screamed out and Lucy winced. A hand went to her sore ear. Of all people, she had had to be paired up with Natsu to search for Loki. Not that there was anything specifically wrong with him (apart from being totally dimwitted and unable to remember her name) but when he shouts, he shouts, so loud that her eardrum nearly burst. "LOKI!" he bellowed again.
"Loki!" Happy echoed Natsu.
"Shh! You're going to wake the whole neighborhood!" she reprimanded them – well, mostly Natsu, because Happy's voice was barely a few decibels louder than usual.
"How else are we going to find him?"
An idea crossed her mind. It couldn't hurt to try… Lucy fished out the Key she had been able to grab from her dresser at the last minute, right before Natsu and Gray had dragged her away to join the search. "Open the Gate of the Ram! Aries!"
The Stellar Spirit emerged through a layer of thick smoke, a silent beauty to all watching eyes. First Lucy spotted her bright pink hair and cute horns perched on top of her head. Her clothes, fabricated with the finest wool, barely covered her voluptuous body and did not suit her shy, tentative demeanor. Aries big doe eyes of soft brown found Lucy, and she gave her a happy, if hesitant, smile.
"So fluffy," Happy said, bits of saliva landed on Lucy's silky blond head of hair. Lucy cringed and let out a small, disgusted, "Ewww!"
Then, Aries eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the blazing fire Natsu held in the palm of his hands. A whimper escaped her lips, like an innocent lamb confronted by a predatory lion, and she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over her dainty feet. However, she composed herself as much as she could and asked, her voice shaking, "Y- you h- have su- ummoned me?"
"Natsu! Turn that out!" Lucy hissed at Natsu, who then stopped studying Aries with bewilderment to look at Lucy with confusion. "The fire! Wool is flammable!"
After a beat, Natsu finally understood and said, "Oh," before letting the vivid red fire disappear.
Lucy turned back to Aries, who looked calmer now that the fire was out. "We need your help finder our friend, Loki," Lucy told Aries. The Stellar Spirit nodded, understanding the task, but her face gave away the puzzlement of her having to do such a task when she was a Zodiac Spirit, specifically used for combat purposes. "He has orange hair and -"
"A lot of people have orange hair," Natsu interceded. "She hasn't seen Loki before so she won't know what he looks like."
"I know, why don't you call Plue?" Happy exclaimed.
Natsu grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Why don't -"
Hastily, Lucy ceased him from continuing by covering his mouth with her hand. "Shush," she told him, glancing at Aries. The poor Stellar Spirit Mage now looked so dejected and hurt that Lucy frowned with sympathy. "Loki used to know a Stellar Spirit Mage named Karen Lilica." Aries' eyes widened. "Apparently, they were really close."
Aries gulped. "Is he… do you think he's…"
"I think so," Lucy truthfully told her and Aries' eyes watered. Aries nodded, this time furiously. "Trust your instincts," Lucy told her before Aries ran off, her footsteps light against the pavement, and the name of her best friend on her lips.
"What's all that about?" Natsu asked out of curiosity. Lucy paused, contemplating if she should tell Natsu. He was friends with Loki, who had been keeping a dreadful secret from him and the rest of his friends. But Natsu was her friend too, her dear friend who was strangely able to make her heart beat faster at times and make her cheeks turn a bright rosy color, and she didn't want to keep secrets from him. Especially since she was already keeping secrets from him…
"Let's go find Aries," she told him, nodding towards the direction where the Stellar Spirit had disappeared off to. Natsu nodded, somehow not realizing the change in subject, and starting running after Aries, and Happy immediately whizzed after him, looking like a small blue fuzz as he flew past Lucy.
Just as she was about to follow, a shiver involuntarily went down her spine. Huh? Why did she feel like someone was watching her? Hastily, she glanced around, panicked, but found no one in sight. There houses stood solemnly on both sides of the road, and no one walked against the dull grey pavement.
She felt stuffy in the humid air, so it couldn't have been due to the non-existent wind that she was feeling on edge. The hairs on her neck stood on end and she could not yet shake the feeling that something ominous was lurking around. It was like a horrifying aura was being projected – like the one she had felt radiating from the mischievous Duke. Ghastly memories flashed through her mind as she remembered the sickening Duke, boasting about how he would have had the nerve to kidnap someone just for them to write a book about him.
"Lucy!" She looked back and saw Natsu, his bright pink hair easy to spot. "Are you coming?"
"Be right there!" she shouted after them, and started running towards them. She brushed off the ominous atmosphere and judged it as a part of her own paranoia.
…
He stood in front of the still ocean, breathing in the fresh smell of seawater. It was nearing midnight, so no one was about at the deserted beach, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
The stars twinkled, bright and burning, and he could spot several constellations. But, of course, he could not see his own. And after midnight when he was long gone, just mere memories in the thoughts of his beloved friends, his constellation would be no more. 12 zodiacs would become 11, and would continue to forever be that. But, who knew? Maybe Leo Minor would take his place. The little guy was as good as him and at least Leo Minor hadn't done a criminal offense like he had.
He stifled a sob at the thought of the wonderful Karen. It was his entire fucking fault that she was dead. He deserved to die. He'd broken the most sacred rule of all – the rule to never, under any circumstances, kill your Master.
They all gathered around – all 77 constellations – as the 12 prime constellations stood in a circle, facing one another with determined looks on their faces. The world was evolving, and it was time for them to join the humans, not just stand and observe them from millions of miles up in the sky as sparkling lights. The Zodiacs – and the other constellations that were just as important – would help these humans as they developed through life, expanding their knowledge and helping them fight their battles.
"After waiting many centuries, it is now time," the King – the Stellar Spirit King, the most almighty of them all – told them, his voice booming through the endless Stellar Spirit World. A few muffled giggles and chuckles went around, mostly because of the irony of the situation. The Stellar Spirit Mage, one who could manipulate time (and space, in the process) had had to wait, like the rest of them, for this.
The King glanced around at the 12 of them, all standing proud, and his maroon eyes suddenly looked treacherous. "But first, we must all swear to something."
Leo, the name he went by back then, glanced at the intimidating Stellar Spirit – the only one whom would not be under possession by a Mage – with curiosity. The King glared back, and Leo found himself shuddering and quickly glanced away. His gaze landed on the nervous Aries, his best friend. She had her hands behind her back and her shoulders tense. Leo could tell that she was anxiously twiddling with her fingers behind her back.
She looked up and their eyes met. Her doe brown eyes were wide and apprehensive, whilst his were cool and relaxed. He smiled at her, in attempts to calm her nerves. Of course, he was more than anxious too. He was sure that the only one who wasn't the least bit distressed was Capricorn, who was as serene as ever.
"Aries," the King's voice boomed in their ears. Aries looked up, startled and almost hyperventilating. "Do you pledge to fight for your master to the best of your ability, and to never kill your master?"
"Y- yes," although her reply was shaky, Aries spoke determinedly. The Stellar Spirit King continued to ask the same thing of the Zodiacs. They all promised to never harm their master, and spoke with assurance and certainty that they would follow through with the promises. And Leo had also thought the same thing. He never thought in his entire life that he would intentionally harm the holder of his Key.
It may have been unintentionally, but that still didn't forgive the fact that he had been the reason why Karen hadn't been able to summon other Stellar Spirits to help her. It was a sin, an unforgivable sin, and he deserved to die for it.
Everything was falling apart. He had killed his master; Aquarius acted like a bitch ever since she and Pisces had gotten into an argument; Capricorn was probably still missing – now the years Capricorn had been absent the whopping total of 17 – and Aries, poor Aries, was always uncomfortable around her master, ever since a Stellar Spirit Mage had horrifyingly abused her, 100 years back.
Loki cursed, and looked away from the stars that were only causing him to remember all of those times he had spent with Aries and were bringing tears to his eyes. His reflection in the water showed his withered face that was now fading away to never be seen again. His eyes - which girls had swooned over, saying that they made him appear 'oh so wise' - were losing their light.
Not to mention, he was hallucinating. Well, that had to be the reason why he was seeing the reflection of Aries in the water. But then that didn't explain the warm hand (paw?) that was placed on his shoulder. He whirled around, his stomach churning with hope, and met the warm brown eyes of the Stellar Spirit.
"What are you doing here?" he breathed out, shocked by her presence. He saw no sign of her Master, Lucy, anywhere. Disappointment shot through him, but then quickly disappeared as Aries looked deep into his eyes, sadness blemishing her face.
"I… I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice the only thing he could hear in the silent night. "It's… it's my fault…" her voice cracked at the end and her eyes brimmed with tears that began to streak down her face. "It's all my fault… I made you protect me and…" She gave out a loud sob that pained him to hear.
"No, it's not," he sternly told her, even though he was close to losing his voice. "I committed the sin."
"Not intentionally!" she said, and then she was wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder, with no aim of letting go of him anytime soon. "I should be the one to die."
"Don't say that!" he exclaimed, and she held onto him tighter. He wasn't worthy of being hugged, of being loved, by her or anyone. He'd killed someone and broken the most sacred rule. This was his sin and he deserved to die for it.
And then Lucy, Natsu and little Happy were all running up to them, shock on their faces, while Aries continued to soak his coat and he could feel her trembling as she cried and cried. Natsu was confused, but he knew well enough that Loki was in trouble, while Lucy was still digesting the too-hard-to-comprehend news.
Tears were streaming down everyone's cheeks – even Natsu's, because he was attached to all his nakama, even Gray – as Natsu exclaimed that he wouldn't allow his nakama to die over a silly mistake; Lucy sobbed out that she'd change the rules because he didn't deserve this; all the while, Happy and Aries clutched him tightly.
When the Stellar Spirit King appeared, Loki didn't miss the way that Natsu practically shielded the whole of Lucy away from the large and equally terrifying Stellar Spirit. The Kind stared down at them, his red eyes glowing with disapproval, yet still grinning almost lecherously at them. Lucy shoved Natsu out of the way, exclaiming that Loki didn't deserve to die, and that he wasn't at any fault. Lucy was nothing like Karen; she was sweet, kind, considerate and cared deeply for her Stellar Spirits. But unfortunately, he was going to die before he could really get to know her.
He counted over eight Stellar Spirits that she summoned, all at once. Natsu's and Happy's eyes widened as they took in all the forms, and then he was falling, falling, and suddenly surrounded by all his Stellar Spirit friends in the safety of his real home, in the Celestial Sprit World.
…
She felt herself begin to slip away from the world, the air still all around her, as she stayed oblivious to her surroundings. There was no smell of monstrous fire that Natsu attempted to use for the sole purpose of burning Gray. There was no sound of the fire dragon-slayer's laughter reverberating as he claimed victory over Gray, or event he sound of him constantly teasing her, which she normally detested but now only yearned to hear.
There was nothing but blackness, neither sound nor sight, but her thoughts remained on Natsu. His eyes were coal black, like the cinders of a colossal fire. A fire that consumed him - or was it the other way around? Those times he'd held her hand, she'd felt a warm fire trickling up her arm, yet it hadn't been a dangerous and deadly fire that would harm her. It was warm and made her cheeks heat up and turn a rosy pink that almost rivaled Natsu's salmon pink hair.
"Luce…?" and there it was. His voice, as clear as day. The same deep eyes that were staring intently into her chocolate brown ones, imploring that she was alright. She felt his hand tightening its hold on her arm. The salty smell of the sea assaulted her nose. "Lucy? Are you okay?"
She gulped, not daring to look away, and nodded her head, only now realizing how heavy it seemed on her shoulders. "I'm fine," she told him, her voice so tiny it could barely be called a whisper. Natsu heard, with his abnormally sharp hearing, yet the worry didn't dissolve in the embers of his black eyes. She wanted to speak again, to insist that she was fine and it had just been some dizzy spell that made her disoriented for those slight few seconds. She wet her dry lips, about to speak, but stopped when she caught the quick shift of his gaze – his eyes briefly flickering to her lips.
And then the spell was broken. Hastily, she diverted her eyes, taking in their surroundings. They were still at the dark beach, like she last remembered before everything went black for those horrible few seconds, but they were the only ones there. No, wait, Happy was at their feet, busying himself with the wet sand and attempting to makeshift a sandcastle, but there was no sign of Loki or Aries or even the tall Stellar Spirit King.
"What happened?" she asked, blinking several times before looking back at Natsu.
"You fainted," he told her in his familiar 'you're so weird' tone, like she should have known this.
"Before that," she said. He glanced down at the keys looped around her belt, and she followed his gaze. There was one extra Key. "Loki…?"
"Leo," Natsu corrected with a shrug. He didn't seem all that fazed that his friend had kept such a large secret from him.
"You're not upset?" she asked. "Loki didn't tell you – tell anyone – about…"
"But he told us later," Natsu replied. "And he's sorry. Nakama forgive each other."
She smiled at him, feeling the calluses on his hands rough against her arm as she maintained his grasp on her, assuming that she would once again faint. Her toes tingled as she regained feeling in them, so she tried to stand upright but only lost her balance. She would have fallen to the floor, where her face would have met with the wet sand, but Natsu's other hand went to her other arm as he braced her from falling. "Thanks," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up again. "We should go tell everyone that we found Loki."
"No!" Happy chirped, narrowing his eyes at them. "I haven't finished my sandcastle!"
"That's so cool!" Natsu said excitedly, crouching down to get a closer look at Happy's work in progress. He awed at the disheveled sandcastle, a glint of childishness in his eyes that made Lucy laugh.
That ominous feeling was back again, like someone was watching them, and it sent a shiver down her spine. Looking up at the twinkling stars, she wandered if it was the Stellar Spirit King, still watching over them with his red eyes burning into her mind. As a child, she'd dreamed about being honored enough to meet the magical being known as the Stellar Spirit King. She had imagined him as a king out of fairy tales, with a charming smile and a crown, staff, and something about him that gave off a fatherly aura. A father whom she'd always wished she'd had. But the Stellar Spirit King whom she actually met was monstrous and intimidating, but fascinating nonetheless.
"What you looking at?" Natsu asked her, suddenly by her side and staring intently at the stars like her.
"Leo's constellation," she lied. "Did you know that his constellation's brightest star is called…" She stopped and looked back at Natsu after hearing a very loud and audible snore. His head was tilted to the side, eyes closed, and drool dripping from his mouth. "Natsu!" she shouted, aggravated. He 'woke up' with a jolt, and then laughed at her.
"You idiot!" she shouted again, moving to hit him for being so rude (what's new there?) but he dodged it by running towards the sea. She ran after him, only for her new boots to suddenly get soaked by him as he kicked water in her direction. He began to laugh again, Happy joining in with his high-pitched giggling, but was cut off when she paid him back by kicking the low-level seawater back at him.
It was back – the black aura full of hate and detest just evil. But she ignored it this time, reveling the fun moment she was having with Natsu; with her Keys clinking against one another as she dodged another shot of seawater, and Natsu and Happy yelling and laughing with her, nothing else mattered.
In the distance, hidden in the darkness, the man grinned deviously, observing the playful scene. He ran a hand through his orange-hair - that seemed black in the night - and held his gave on the exuberant blonde. Then, he turned on his heel and left, his own pair of Keys clinking against each other as he walked away.