Contrary to what it was called, the graveyard was neither a yard nor were there graves in it. Like the tank room, it was a large shed built and hidden in the forest behind the Heartfilia manor. Unlike the tank room it was smaller, its door was made of metal and there was absolutely no mystery as to what was inside.
It was where Lucy and the others would go to after they were disposed of.
Lucy sat against a nearby tree, gently flexing and massaging her hands. She wanted to close her eyes and take a nap, but she couldn't take that risk. Even if the graveyard was farther away from the manor than the tank room, it was still too close for her to relax.
Nervously she checked her watch again. It was nearly time for her to go. She should leave as soon as possible; she needed to increase the distance between her and the manor as much as she could before collapsing in exhaustion. Yet she was terrified that as soon as she'd left another Lucy would approach and be left behind.
So Lucy kept waiting. She waited until ten minutes past the time she said she'd leave. No one else came.
With a sigh she pushed herself to her feet and went to the door of the graveyard. She gently placed her forehead against the cold metal door and silently said goodbye to Miss Layla and the long gone Lucys of her generation. She sighed again before pulling away and starting her trek towards the mountain that marked the edge of the Heartfilia property. Lucy had a long ways to go before she could rest again.
She wouldn't say that her journey was unpleasant. However she could say for sure that it wasn't comfortable either. The night was cold and her poorly made cloak did little to keep her warm, though with any luck it would do its job and make her harder to spot.
The thick trees obscured the mountain and made it difficult to tell whether or not she was going in the right direction. The little hard to find path that had led to the graveyard had long since faded away to nothing. All Lucy had now was her own sense of direction and the regret that she didn't think to get a compass of some sort.
Once or twice she climbed a tree to get a look at where she was. Her hands and arms objected loudly but she was pleased to see that the mountain kept getting closer. By the time dawn began to color the sky, she figured she was half way there.
However, even though her eyes burned, her hands were shaky and her arms felt like they were going to fall off, she couldn't rest just yet. She had to keep going. Lucy could rest when she got to the base of the mountain.
By the time the trees started to thin out and the ground began to get steep, her legs had joined her arms in being sore and Lucy was fairly confident she had some blisters. She'd also experienced what it was like to give back to nature. It wasn't something she was looking forward to doing again, even though she knew she'd have to.
She nearly cried with relief as the forest floor was replaced with rocks. The sky had long since gone dark again, her stomach felt like it was eating itself and she was so tired her eyes kept crossing. However, she had finally made it to the foot of the mountain, she could take a break, eat something and maybe even sleep for a bit.
Lucy collapsed against one of the few trees left, gratefully sliding down to the ground and resting her poor weary legs. Slipping her bag from her pack she opened it, ready to dig out her carefully gathered food before pausing at the sight of the four keys that still rested at the top. She smiled softly at them before gently moving them aside. She'd summon them soon, but not now. It'd been a long time since she'd used any gate key and she didn't know how much magic it'd take out of her to summon Crux or Lyra, much less either of the golden Zodiac keys. Right now Lucy really couldn't afford to be both physically and magically exhausted.
She pulled out a pre-portioned bit of food. All her food was portioned so that it should keep her going until she got to the nearest town on the other side of the mountain. In theory.
Lucy looked down at the bit of dried fruit and hand full of jerky that was her dinner. Her stomach growled and demanded at least twice that. With a sigh she ate it all and had to stop herself from pulling out more food. That was all she could eat for now, she'd have to be patient till the next day for more.
She gently stroked the keys as she placed them back into her bag, along with the money she'd taken. Lucy promised to summon them soon as she closed and sealed the bag. With that she held her bag against her chest, wrapped her cloak around it and herself and went to sleep. Hopefully not for very long.
It was light when she next woke up. Remarkably bright, especially without the tree's dense canopy to break up the sun's rays. Her body was stiff and sore, something she figured she'd have to get used to. She ate a little more food and drank some water before starting to walk up the base of the mountain.
Lucy didn't know exactly where the Heartfilia property ended, just that it was at the base of the mountain. However, even if she did cross the boundary line, she'd still be too close to the manor for comfort. Honestly, in her mind, the whole of Fiore was too close to the Heartfilia manor but Lucy figured it was better than nothing. Leaving Fiore itself was something she didn't know how to do at the moment.
She didn't climb much higher than the tree line. Lucy didn't have the knowledge, skill or equipment to actually go over the top; the best she could do was circle around the base. It was also easier to hide when there were trees nearby.
The next few days passed as a blur. She walked as much as she could and rested when she couldn't keep going. Lucy liked to think she was covering a good amount of distance, but it was impossible to tell when all she had were trees and rocks around her. She didn't know when she'd be on the other side of the mountain. On occasion she would climb higher, as high as she could really, and look around. However, all that she could see below her was forest.
Night time was the worst for her. They were cold and getting colder the further into October it got. Despite that she didn't dare risk having a fire. The only time she could actually sleep was when she was too tired to do anything else. She couldn't navigate by the stars; she'd tried but she kept getting them confused. It would have been easier if the other Lucy had been there with her; she knew everything there was to know about stars.
Granted, if Lucy had brought anyone else along, they would have run out of food by now. As it was, she was burning through her rations at an alarming rate.
A few times she had been tempted to summon Crux and see if he could help her. However, from what she could recall, while he was unmatched in knowledge about Celestial Spirits and everything having to do with them, his knowledge of anything else was, unfortunately, remarkably sub-par. Lucy couldn't remember whether the actual stars in the sky was included in his knowledge or not. Stars were a huge grey area in that they were intimately connected to the Celestial realm but at the same time they were completely independent. It was just a messy and confusing subject that Lucy was reluctant to touch on a good day; she hadn't had a good day in a long time.
When she'd been circling the mountain for four days, she decided that it was probably enough and started back into the woods. Lucy honestly hoped she wasn't going back onto the Heartfilia property. However it wasn't something she'd know for sure until she either wandered back to the manor or found a town.
She hoped she'd find other people soon, her food supplies were running frightfully low. The books she'd read on forging were useless if she couldn't find anything. Lucy couldn't take time out of moving to search more thoroughly either. Water was becoming an issue as well; she hadn't found any streams. Though like with forging, she hadn't really tried looking.
Lucy would have to start very soon though. She was on her last canteen and it was feeling discouragingly light. Not that she'd actually packed a lot of water to begin with, it was heavy, the canteens were expensive and took up most of the room in her bag. It had also been awkward to sneak water from the bathroom to her room.
When she collapsed for the night she decided to skip her meager meal. It probably wasn't the best idea, but she needed to make her food last longer. So with an emptier than usual stomach she wrapped her cloak around herself and settled in for the night.
The camouflaged cloak she'd made hadn't faired too well. While she hadn't been particularly rough with it, the threads holding it together had broken in several places. It was full of holes and there was a good chunk missing off the bottom. It probably wouldn't last a few more days.
A darker thought reminded her that she wouldn't either, between the increasing chill, lack of food and lack of water.
It was two more days before her luck started to turn around. She found water. More than that, she found running water. Lucy smiled to herself, the small brook normally wouldn't be something she'd have appreciated before. However, now, after hiking through the wilderness for about a week it was a god send.
Lucy quickly, for the first time, set up a fire. She wanted to clean herself, but if she couldn't get a fire going then it'd be too dangerous. More than that, before now she hadn't had the courage to strip herself in such an open environment. Her clothes were the same as they were when she started out, though they were now rank and likely only useful for kindling. Lighting the actual fire was harder than she thought it'd be, but somehow she managed.
With the fire burning merrily, she washed herself as best she could in the little stream though she had no soap. Her hair was a complete write off until she summoned Cancer, so she didn't even bother trying to wash it.
After she was as clean as she was going to get, wearing wrinkled but fresh clothes and warm for the first time in days, she finally turned her attention to the keys. The four of them were still warm in her hand and they sparkled in the dimming sun and in the light from the fire. The choice of who to summon first was made for her when the Key to the Water Bearer began glowing vibrantly and warmed to the point of pain.
Lucy gently placed the other three keys back into her bag. On an impulse she didn't really understand she went back to the small brook. She held the key aloft in her hand and spoke.
"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!" Following the instinct that led her to the water, she plunged the key into the cold stream and turned it. She could feel her magic pouring out of her as she completed the spell.
With a sound like a door bell a brilliant magic circle opened and the spirit entered the world. Lucy found herself staring in awe.
She was the most gorgeous person Lucy had ever seen. From her elegant curves to her clear skin, the spirit was the essence of perfection. Her shimmering blue hair was matched only by her equally blue scales. If actual mermaids weren't real, if this spirit was the only thing the legends were based on, Lucy couldn't help but think that those stories of the watery beauties weren't done justice.
The Zodiac propped her urn on her hip, her other hand matched it on her other side, tapping at her scales in irritation. Her face was twisted in a scowl, but Lucy still couldn't help but think that she was beautiful in the way a storm was.
"Brat," when she spoke, her voice was as smooth as water even if it was as equally irate as her expression. "It's about time you summoned me!"
Lucy could only smile sheepishly, "sorry."