"I'm sorry for your loss," Chika said, pushing her chair back from the table. She brushed the serious comment off. "Now, let's get something to eat."
I was relieved that Chika didn't make me talk about it or ask questions, and that she still treated me normally for the rest of the night. Throughout the evening, I felt her staring at me when she didn't think I was looking. This woman definitely had some secrets, but I wouldn't ask about them, just as she hadn't asked about mine.
We had a delicious stew for dinner and sat around talking for the rest of the night. Natsu and Happy goofed around and listened to the old lady's stories. They told storied of their own, embellishing them to make them sound funnier or cooler. I rolled my eyes when Natsu said he caught me when I was pushed out of a tower that was higher than the tallest mountain in the entire world. Eventually, he fell asleep leaning against me knees. Happy lay next to him and started snoring. It was almost midnight when Chika turned to me and started in on her questions.
"Lucy, how many Celestial Keys do you have?" she asked curiously.
"I have eleven gold keys and six silver keys. Why do you ask?"
"Eleven," she breathed out. "So many. Could you show me?"
"Sure? Who do you want to see?" I asked, standing up. I carefully repositioned Natsu so he was leaning against the couch instead of me. He stirred slightly and frowned in his sleep, but didn't wake up. He looked so adorable asleep…
"Oh, dear, who, who, who, indeed? Ah, I know! Could you summon Pisces?" she asked, breaking my thoughts.
"I don't have that one. Natsu and I have actually been searching for it," I said sadly.
"Oh? Do you know the legend of the owner of the twelve great Zodiac keys? Are you prepared to be the connection between our world and theirs?" she asked. How did she know so much about all of this?
"…I'm happy with how things are right now. I have eleven of the twelve Zodiac spirits, and they're all my best friends. But without Pisces, I can never break this curse." At the signal of Chika's confused stare, I continued. "A mage named Cleo put a curse on me a while ago. It's a long story, but I basically need all twelve golden keys to get rid of it.
"And what is this curse? How awful could it be?"
"It's not too terrible. If it were up to me, I would probably keep everything how it is now. But nobody else agrees with me. I understand why, though. And it's not exactly a curse, either. See, Cleo used a spell to see my most powerful wish, and grant it. It was meant to be used on Natsu, but I jumped in front of him at the last second. All of my friends were badly injured and lying on the ground and the only thing I wanted was to take their pain away. It was my fault that they were all hurt. I accidently wished it. Now, if anyone in my guild gets hurt, I feel the pain and get the injuries."
"All because you wanted to take pain from your friends…," Chika murmured to herself. I nodded. "Well then. Would you mind summoning Scorpio for me?"
"Gate of the Scorpion, I summon thee: Scorpio!" I chanted in response, waving his key through the air.
"Oh, my!" Chika gasped when he appeared. Scorpio's face dropped in shock. I've never seen him show that much emotion before…
"Chika! Alright!" Scorpio yelled. Amazingly, Natsu was still asleep when I checked on him. "How you doin?"
"Hello again, dear Scorpio!" Chika greeted like a grandmother speaking with a fond grandchild they haven't seen in years. I tried listening to their conversation, hearing for any hints they dropped on how they knew each other, but they remained secretive. When Scorpio forced his gate closure, Chika turned to me with bright eyes.
"Aquarius?" she asked. Completely confused, I nodded. I walked to the kitchen and filled the sink with water, knowing that Aquarius would most likely kill me for it. I summoned her right there, with Chika standing behind me.
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT CALLING ME FROM-," her mouth dropped when she saw who was standing with me. I was about to ask how they knew each other when Chika shooed me out of the kitchen.
"Let us talk for a few minutes! Go check on the sleeping dragon!" she urged, pushing me towards Natsu.
"Natsu, wake up," I said sourly, poking his cheek. His hand came up to scratch where my finger was a second ago, but he didn't open his eyes.
"Natsu!" I said again, a little louder. Still no reply, from him or his cat. "Oh, whatever." I gave up and sat next to him instead. I took his right hand in both of mine and leaned against his shoulder, trying to get comfortable. I only blushed a little when his hand squeezed mine and he leaned into me. His warmth was comforting. I thought back to the other night at the river and smiled.
There is definitely something weird going on here, I thought to myself. How is it that my spirits know Chika? And how does Chika know all about the spirits, too? None of this was making any sense.
Somewhere in the middle of all my contemplating and trying to figure this out, my eyes dropped and did not open.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Lucy," someone whispered. I groaned and shoved the blanket over my head. Silent laughter shook me. "Come on, Luce, it's time to get up."
The heat of something next to me is what finally made me open my eyes… only to see Natsu's bare chest. In my shock, I shoved away from him and fell off the bed. Bed? I landed with a loud thump on the wooden floor. Natsu let loose his caged laughter. Happy joined in after a minute, seeing my bright cheeks.
"How did I get here?" I asked myself, standing up and brushing myself off quickly, not looking up.
"The old lady woke me up and pointed me to a spare room. She said you'd probably be comfier in a bed then on the floor with me, so I carried you here too!" he said cheerfully.
"Did Chika say anything else?" I asked him.
"She told me tons of stuff. And you'll be super excited when you hear! So let's get going!" he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me down a short hallway and to the kitchen we'd been sitting in last night.
"Oh, good, you're awake. Hungry?" Chika asked, putting plates on the table for each of us. Natsu ate everything extra, leaving just enough for Chika and me to have a nice breakfast. Happy sat on the table, happily gnawing on a giant fish.
"How did you know all of my spirits last night?" I asked Chika when we were finished. She turned around to face me instead of the sink and considered what she was going to say first.
"Well, you've heard legend of the woman who first had all twelve golden keys, haven't you?" I nodded. It was a legend my mother always used to tell me.
A woman with hair gold as the sun that had the power of the stars traveled from land to land, collecting all the Zodiac keys. She was stronger than any mage in Earthland, although many didn't believe that. She was challenged daily to battles, and when the challenger lost, they said she was a witch and made fun of her. Those same people turned entire towns against her. So, with no friends of her own besides her spirits and no home to return to, the woman moved from place to place, helping wherever she could.
One day, in the middle of winter, someone stole her keys. Another Celestial Mage with hair as dark as the midnight sky and eyes like coals, jealous of the power of the woman, tried to summon all of the spirits to cause havoc around the world. This was before spirits and people made contracts. If somebody called on them, they came, forced to do whatever they were told, though you had to have great power to summon them at all. The original owner caught up with the thief to find it was too late. The spirits were out and destroying everything they could in a small, poor village. Using every ounce of strength she could, the kind woman defeated the evil woman and took back her keys. The evil one is said to have disappeared forever. The other, knowing that the idea to steal her keys was now implanted in every villain's mind, said goodbye to her beloved friends and spread the keys around the land. She kept only one herself, to prevent someone from collecting all twelve and letting loose the same tragedy again.
This was also when spirits were given free will by the Celestial Sprit King. Contracts were made, and everyone was happier.
Mama always said the moral of the story was to stay pure hearted.
"Well, darling, the woman in that story is me."
Am I the only one completely bothered by how the number of chapters doesn't match what chapter number I've written? Aggh, it's honestly driving me crazy!
Anyways, as always, thank you for taking time to read the story! I hope you enjoy it so far! Reviews are mush appreciated, if you have a second! See you Friday, Fairies!