Lucy,
Hello, dear girl. I wrote this letter to explain to you a little more of my story. I assume you've heard only the basics, and I doubt I will have time to go into detail before you must depart again.
I was fortunate enough to collect the twelve gate keys a few hundred years ago, when that celestial magic was first introduced to Earthland. Just as the story goes, I was challenged to fights often. People treated me awfully, but I forgave all of them many years ago. How can you blame someone for being jealous of a power they don't have? Jealousy is a part of life, and is less hurtful when you accept it.
I admit, it was a very lonely life. Although I had my spirits with me, it wasn't the same. My parents both passed when I was young, so I had no family either. I traveled around the world to help everyone I could.
The most obvious question: how am I still alive if this happened so long ago? As a gift from the Spirit King, for saving Earthland, I was granted temporary immortality. I've been living in this same house for many, many years, waiting for someone like you to come around. The time has finally come to pass down my protected key, and I'm glad it will go to you.
There's a prophecy that I was told of a very long time ago. I have guarded it my whole life, but that's another thing I will now pass to you.
When the towers of Heaven and Hell come together,
One shall emerge to restore the
Shadows of Space and Time.
Trusted friends and family shall try to help
but end up in the midst of the
Greatest Battle in History.
A single death will occur to mark the passing of the era.
Yet when life if sacrificed for love, fate may change for the purest of hearts.
Love will be found, lost, then found again forever.
Hatred shall be born, loneliness will arise,
Then all shall melt back into the seamless river from which it came.
For days and night, until towers be collapsed,
The Gate Between the Worlds,
With hair golden as a halo and soul bright as stars in the sky,
Peril will be constant and death near.
Much magic will be brought.
Ye shall unite the towers and save Earthland once again.
If failure occur,
The Gate will be welcomed with Death and Despair.
It is very grim indeed, and I can barely make sense of it. I pray only that you are successful in whatever you do with this.
I have one final piece of information for you. The evil woman in my story's name was Tsukiko. It's true that she disappeared after I defeated her, but I do not think she has died. I think she is the same as me, living somewhere in hiding, biding her time and growing her strength. Stay away from her. She is the most dangerous person I have ever met. Please heed my warning, and destroy her if you have the chance.
Becoming the Gate between the Worlds is not an easy task. It will be difficult, painful, and heartbreaking. But you must be strong. Never give up hope. Life will go on, no matter what happens. You have the greatest potential and the purest soul I have seen in generations. Use those gifts wisely.
Goodbye, Lucy Heartfilia, and best of luck.
-Chika.
"Hey, Natsu," I smiled at him, trying to not show how much pain I was in. He looked like he was about to go to a funeral. Seeing his eyes so sad made me want to cry. I only want him to be happy. Loke walked in and leaned against the wall in the corner of the room.
"I'm ok, so you don't have to be worried about me!" I told both of them. For once, neither of them smiled. Instead of answering, Natsu pulled my thin blanket back, exposing my legs. They were covered in angry red patches and cuts that would soon turn into bruises.
"Yeah, you're fine, alright," he said sarcastically. Loke stayed silent, but I could tell that he was hurting for me.
"Natsu…," I murmured, leaning my head against the backboard of the bed. "I'm okay. And I'm glad that nobody had to feel pain." Natsu was about to say something, but I cut him off. "Who were those people that attacked?"
"They were bad people," Master Makarov said, entering the room. He hopped up onto the bed beside me. "They somehow found out about your dragon scale and wanted to steal it."
My heart froze. "Is it safe?" I asked hurriedly.
"Yes. As soon as we knew what they came for, I sent Wendy and Romeo to your house with Mira's spare key to get it and keep it safe. They hid it in my office a little after you and Natsu got here." I sighed in relief, and then in anger.
"Since when does Mira have a key to my house?!"
"We have a bigger problem than that," Master said, ignoring my outraged question. He stared sadly at my legs and arms.
"I'm fine. It's nothing Wendy can't fix. Plus, I have all twelve golden keys now," I said. Master's jaw dropped. Natsu smiled a little, but still looked worried and slightly angry. Why?
"How? Do you mean to tell me that you now have the power of the twelve Zodiac spirits?" Master spluttered.
"Yes, although I haven't had the time to make a contract with Pisces yet. And apparently there's some prophecy about me," I explained. I handed him the note that I had already read from Chika. It sounded like gibberish to me. Towers of Heaven and Hell? Shadows of Space and Time? What the hell was any of that supposed to mean?
"Whatever the case, you have to go at once to find your dragon!" Master said when he finished reading. It was obvious he wasn't telling me something, but I chose to ignore it for now. If he didn't want to mention it, then he wasn't going to tell me.
"But she has to kill it to reverse the wish!" Natsu argued. "People can't kill dragons!"
"Rogue and Sting?" I asked. Natsu stared at me in disbelief.
"They're Rogue and Sting!" he argued, as if that were an actual answer. I guess it was, in a way. A pretty shit answer. Of course I'm not as strong as them! My point was that it was possible.
"Makarov, may I have a minute with Lucy?" Loke asked, pushing off the wall and walking towards me.
"No way!" Natsu argued again. Today was just not his day. Master nodded and jumped to the ground.
"Come, Natsu. Help rebuild the guild again. You can see Lucy in a while," he said over his shoulder. Natsu glared daggers at Loke, but didn't dare disobey Master's orders.
"I'll be right back," Loke promised, following the others out the door.
What was he planning? I hissed in pain when my thumb felt like it was being crushed.
"Sorry, Lucy!" I heard someone faintly yell. It was too quiet for me to tell who had specifically said it. It was such an unexpected thing, I laughed. Whoever that was actually apologized for getting hurt. I laughed a little more, and just kept going. Erza and Levy probably thought I was going crazy when they walked in a minute later. I don't know why I was laughing so hard. It wasn't even that funny. I felt like I was losing it, like everything was finally catching up to me and this was the only way I could deal with it.
"Lucy," Erza said. She sat on one side of the bed, while Levy circled around and sat on the other. My giggles stopped eventually when I saw how serious the two girls looked.
"We're worried," Levy said, breaking the silence.
"Loke came and got us. He's out there, helping, if you were wondering," Erza said.
"He said you're taking this all badly."
"How am I taking this badly? I was laughing just a minute ago! And I'm not even hurt that badly!" I said, shocked. What was Loke trying to accomplish here? Is this his subtle way of saying that I need a therapist?
"Exactly. You're pushing everything back and not letting anyone inside. If this keeps going on, you'll eventually shut us all out completely," Levy reasoned. I snorted.
"That ridiculous. You are my best friends. I won't shut you out, ever!"
"Then what do you call this?" Erza asked, gesturing between the three of us. "We're sitting here, while everyone else in the guild is out in the hall worrying to death about you! You're sitting here, LAUGHING. Did you hear Laxus yell sorry a minute ago? I don't think I've ever heard him say sorry in my life. HE'S worried about you. LEVY and I are worried about you. NATSU, who's always happy and cheerful, is worried about you the most! I Everyone is! I understand that you may not like that, but it's the truth, and you have to accept that. It will stay the same until we can fix this all. And you may put on a brave face for everyone else, but remember: it hurts more to cry alone. You can't be strong forever. Nobody can."
What do you say to something like that? I sat in silence for a moment, processing everything…
Insisting I was fine was useless. Everyone knew that it was a lie. Laughing about things isn't fair to the people who are worrying over me.
…And then it was like a vault inside me had been sprung open. Water poured from my eyes, instantly soaking my cheeks and Erza's clean white shirt that she had equipped to before she entered the room. She pulled me towards her and laid my head on her chest. I held onto her and Levy's hands, using them as a lifeline to the real world. Levy wrapped her arms as best she could around both of us, squishing me in the middle like a sandwich.
I'm a terrible person. I hadn't even realized what I'd been doing. I'd slowly been closing my friends out of my life for days, ever since I first got the note from Miss Spetto. I've kept secrets, I've kept to myself, and I've cried by myself. Erza was right. When I cried along in my room at night, I thought my tears would never stop, like I was spiraling out of control into a dark pit of nothingness. But now, crying on the shoulders of my friends and feeling them cry with me, I feel like this is just a pit stop. This is going to end soon, and when it does, I'll be stronger. I've let my tears of pain, fear, and frustration out, and now readiness was slowly taking its place.
"Lucy, I—," Natsu said, barging in. He was met immediately with whatever was closest to Erza's hand. This included a large book, a water glass (still full of water), and my shoe. By the time the pink- haired idiot had the sense to turn around and run, Erza had already stood up and equipped a sword from mid-air. She threw it, just barely missing Natsu's head. The door slammed shut behind him, and Erza turned around with a huff to face us, only to see…
Levy and me, laughing hysterically, clutching our stomachs and adding tears of laughter to the mix. Erza joined in a second later.
.
.
.
.
.
.
3rd Person PoV
There was a loud crashing as a book tumbled to the floor, a glass shattered beside it, a black shoe slapped the ground, and a silver sword flew from the medical room and stuck in the wall across the guild from it. Everyone stopped their work to look at Natsu, who slammed the door on his way out.
"Don't… Go… In there!" he panted, leaning down with his hands on his knees.
"What did you do, Flame Brain?" Gray asked, wearing only a pair of pants and a hard hat.
"I didn't do nothing! I went in there to say sorry to Lucy and see if she was okay, and Erza started throwin stuff at me!" Natsu collapsed onto one of the few unbroken benches and rubbed his head. "And who are you callin Flame Brain, Ice Princess?"
"I told you to leave them alone, Natsu," Loke said from high on a ladder. "I specifically warned you that Erza said not to disturb them."
"I just wanted to check on Luce," Natsu grumbled. When the sword in the wall disappeared, everyone returned to their work like it was any other day. Wendy disappeared to heal Lucy, Mirajane continued bringing drinks around to the busy guild members, while a grumbling Natsu started another fight with Gray.