Inside the shoe-sized boy was a yellowed piece of paper and two things wrapped in more paper. I opened the letter first.

My Darling Daughter,

Happy birthday, dearest. Your 17thbirthday should be full of joy and laughter, so please do not despair over my not being there to give you this gift myself.

The first thing I would like to say: give your father a break. I know that he may be much different than how he is now after I'm gone, but he loves you. He's been through so much in his lifetime. Whatever happens, you are his daughter, and he is your father. You can only ever have one in your lifetime. I'm not saying to forgive him if he's been terrible, but at least forget the past.

When I knew that my time was short, I decided it was time to entrust these to you, along with a story I told you when you were little. I doubt you remember it now. You were so young.

Once upon a time, there was a young girl. She came from a poor family, so she spent her time working to help support them. She knew she had the potential to be the best celestial spirit mage there was, but nobody believed in her. Her mother wanted her to stay and help their family. In an act of defiance, although it hurt her heart very much, she left home and started her own quest to prove to everyone what she had inside herself.

She struggled in many ways. She didn't have much money. She no longer had a home she could return to without admitting defeat. She didn't have any friends to help her, besides her spirits she had contracts with. She didn't even know where she was going, or how she was going to prove to everyone that she could do it. But instead of returning to her family, she continued on, travelling far and wide, aimlessly looking for new keys and fighting all the dark guilds she could. She got hurt many times, and barely escaped with her life more than once. Whenever she came into a bit of money as a reward for completing a mission, she was sure to send it back to her mother.

One day, she woke up and decided that the mountains would be a good place to train herself. So she climbed the tallest mountain she could find, Estelle Mountain, set up a camp at the peak, and looked up at the stars every night. The girl pointed out the constellations of her spirits and called them out to keep her company.

After two weeks of being at the top of that mountain, a large best flew over her. It landed a few feet away, crushing her tent. The impact made the ground shake. The foolish girl had always had a temper, and before she knew it, she was yelling at whatever the creature was. It looked very surprised, and then started laughing. It wasn't just any laugh, either. It was loud enough to make her plug her ears. She was positive the town miles below could hear this being chortling loudly.

"You are the first human to ever mouth off to me. I like you," the thing said in a high voice, completely unexpectedly. The traveler looked at the wings on the thing's back, the scales on the beast's arms and legs, and the creature's long tail. She stood tall and, hiding her shaking legs perfectly, stared straight into the eyes of the dragon.

"You are not afraid? You do not tremble in fear before me, begging me to spare your life?" the dragon breathed. The stupid girl shook her head. The truth was, she was terrified beyond belief. But she was a proud, stubborn girl, and refused to show how she really felt. "Good. Because I didn't come here intending to hurt you. Hello, young stellar mage. My name is Celeste, and I am the Star Dragon. Some people also refer to me as the Spirit Dragon, whichever you prefer."

The girl's eyes widened in awe.

"I have come to speak with you. Every night, I've seen you talk and laugh with your spirits, pointing up at my stars and telling the legends of them. I recognized your true and loving heart, and offer you a quest."

"A quest?" the girl asked. "What could a dragon possibly want me to do for them?"

"I would like you to have my key." This was shocking news to the young girl. A dragon's key? She didn't even know dragons HAD keys, much less gave them out to poor humans like herself.

"I see you are confused. Allow me to explain. I am indeed a dragon, but as I am the dragon of the stars, I am also a spirit," Celeste said. "But you may not have my key so easily. For one, I am the strongest spirit in the world, beside the Sprit King himself. If you can possess all 12 of the golden Zodiac gate keys and become the gate between the worlds, return here and summon me with this scale. I shall come find you, and train you to use my key." The girl shook her head in wonder. It was an incredible offer, and she couldn't turn it down. This would prove to everyone that she is stronger than they think!

"I would be honored," she said humbly. Celeste used one claw to pry a scale off of her front leg. She handed it to me gingerly.

"I am glad. Now, return to your home and start searching around the world. I look forward to seeing you again, Layla Heartfilia."

This is the story of when I was your age. And I now pass this quest along to you. Acquire Celeste's key. Become the gate between the worlds. It will be dangerous. From the moment you were born, I knew your heart was pure. Finish what I was never able to. I know you have it in you. You are my beautiful Lucy, and I love you. Be strong, my darling Lucy. I will always watch over you. Happy birthday.

My fingers shook by the time I was done reading. This was completely insane. Having a dragon as a spirit? Was that even possible?

"How…?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Open the rest," Ribbon said, pointing to the packages still wrapped in the box. My trembling fingers unrolled the first piece of paper. Inside was one golden key. I only needed one more, and I'd have all 12.

"Why didn't she five this one out to the servants, like she did with the others?" I asked, laying it flat on the palm of my hand. The symbol for Libra stood out on the shiny plate.

"This is another birthday present for you. I believe she meant to give it to you earlier, but she passed away before she could decide. Her will stated to put it in this box," Aed said glumly. I scrubbed my hand furiously over my eyes. Stupid, pathetic tears.

I unwrapped the final bundle of papers to find a shiny, pearlescent scale. It was no bigger than the size of a small orange, about half an inch thick.

"That is a scale from Celeste, the Star Dragon," Bero informed me. It shook in my hand, almost falling to the floor.

"This is absolutely crazy," I muttered. "Why did she never tell me and of this herself?"

"You were just a small child when she passed. At the time, she didn't even know you were going to become a celestial spirit wizard. This was all done assuming you would be," Spetto said. I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.

Dear mom up in heaven, why did you do this? I love my life exactly how it is. I don't want anything to change, except maybe for Natsu to like me back. Everything will be so much different if I get Celeste's key. But I know this quest meant a lot to you, so I'll finish if. If only just so you'll be proud of what I've done.