Chapter 8: Full Moon

With one hand Lucy touched the ground, she had to make sure it was there. It felt like she was standing on air, but of course she knew that was impossible. She also touched the glowing plants to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She went through her memories to remember everything about the ceremony. But what she knew was little, and the knowledge about it was even less. She had to use her instincts and her ability as a celestial mage.

The last day had been in chaos, everyone had contributed in some way. Wendy and Carle had found the best ways to save the Exceeds, and Erza had been with them. Happy was doing something, exactly what was outside anyone's understanding. Gajeel had been watching Levi's steps, Lucy started wondering if there was something more fragile with Levi than usual. Jet and Droy had been all over the place, doing stuff as getting lunch or other tasks they were given. Gray was trying his best to make the place in ice, to reflect the moon light. But somehow it only started melting. The magic flowing there was too strong for the ice, so Juvia tried her best keep the water from the ice in place.

Then there was Natsu, there always was. He hadn't done anything that day, except following Lucy everywhere with a concerned look written all over his face. He had only done small tasks Lucy gave him, such as holding something for her. If someone asked him to do something away from Lucy, he had refused. However Lucy appreciated his presence, and didn't tell him off or anything. She just did her stuff and felt the happiness by having him by her side.

Levi was setting up the stones as soon as the darkness started to come. She had to set them in the correct order to make a circle. The real ruby would be in the middle collecting all the magical powers that was sent by the moon. Her theory was that she could use the other fake rubies to reflect the moon light, and make the real one convert even more magic. She had even found out which one of them was real. Lucy thought Levi was amazing. Then they were ready, Lucy had only a slight idea of what to do and think. She couldn't even believe that this may be the last thing she would ever do in her life.

Lucy started walking toward the equilibrium as Levi had called it, the little pool of water. Once again she got the feeling as if something was breathing underneath her feet. The magic that occurred in this place probably almost made the island come alive. Lucy shook the feeling of her, and started concentrating on her duty again.

With slow steps she went into the hot water she earlier had gone right into. She felt her body get hotter and hotter. She had the real ruby in her hand. That made her a bit more secure, she was used to using her hand and hold onto something, usually a key. Suddenly she felt it, the magic came to her. It was a huge amount of magic, she didn't know how to handle it. She felt the ruby get hotter and hotter,. It was almost as if it had burned her, so she let it go, into the water. This made the effect of the ruby stronger, the water made it gather even more magic, and the other rubies reflected light had a bigger area to reflect the moonlight to. And the enormous amount of magic heated up Lucy. She was overheated, she felt like she was boiled, or like having a really strong fever. She did see some ruckus around her. Probably the others who tried to find out what was going on, but she ignored that fact and instead concentrated on trying to get a hold of the magic.

"I open thee! The gate of the spiritual worlds! Let the exceeds from the dying planet Tellus enter earth land!"

She suddenly was shouting, it just kind of came to her mind. But she felt it, all the heat that was gathered in the pool was sent up in the air. She couldn't turn her head to see what it was used for, or if the gate appeared. She could hardly breathe without feeling too distracted to manage the huge power.

Above Lucy the air got split in two, and darkness spread out. The space's only light was from the stars, floating around in the distance. Suddenly the gate started to move, towards a planet, instead of turning to the world of the celestial spirits. They could see a shining path towards it. And even from a distance of thousands of miles they could see that the planet was dying. They felt it, in their heart, a feeling that they never will forget.

Lucy felt so hot, her skin was burning, and she felt like a wizard's staff. The magic was flowing through her; she was only a part of a big mechanism. The magic made her body as the main part and it made her body suffer. However she had a heart that told her to be strong, it whispered to her. While the wind whispered words she longed to hear. In her heart she had the feeling of success, after all she couldn't fail, she had too much to live for, just like the exceeds who now was entering earth land.