"Is that a water hole?" Selly yelled, running ahead to the gap in the stones. The orange shirt I leant to her slapped in the wind, being much too large for her tiny frame.
We've been traveling up this mountain for 3 days now. We spent the nights around the fire. It was getting close to fall, and the nights were slowly starting to get cold, especially the higher up the mountain we were getting. Gray and Erza have decided to trust Selly, so we're helping search for her group while also making our way to the Peak of Lunar Mountain. She can walk fine on her own now, but she's stuck to my side like glue whenever we're awake.
"IT IS!" she exclaimed, already taking her clothes off in a way that only a young, un-self-conscious kid could get away with. Embarrassed, Natsu, Happy, and Gray both looked away quickly.
"Selly! What are you doing?" I asked.
"I wanna go swimming!" she said simply, jumping in between the rocks in front of her. I sighed, walking over. The water below was a clear blue, matching Selly's eyes perfectly. Her little head poked up a dozen feet below. "Come on, the water is perfect!"
The rough brown rock seemed to make a rock wall leading down to the water. Since when did mountains have clean water holes? I've only heard about natural springs like this in spas!
I looked back to Erza. My jaw dropped when I saw that she already had changed into her Legend swimsuit.
"I thought that swimsuit was ruined…," I grumbled.
"I got a new one. This will be a good break," she said, performing a perfect swan dive after Selly. Happy flew down next.
"Come on, Luce, it'll be fun!" Natsu yelled, charging past me.
"We might as well," Gray said, stepping around me. I heard the splash of his cannon ball below. I was the only one left above ground, staring down at my friends splashing each other and having fun.
Natsu grinned and waved up at me. We haven't really talked since that night in the woods, after Stone Heart attacked the guild. I mean, of course we've talked, but we haven't really talked. Does that make any sense? I wonder if I just dreamed that night. Maybe I imagined him saying he loved me… Maybe he only said it because he was worried. He couldn't have really meant it. No. Nothing has changed between us. We're only nakama… My chest ached at that thought.
"For you, Princess," Virgo said, appearing out of nowhere. In her hands was my two white swimsuit pieces with the pink flower on the top.
"Thanks," I said strangely. Do my spirits spy on me, or does Virgo just randomly know when I need something like that? The thought creeped me out.
"Punishment?" Virgo asked.
"I was just thanking you!" I yelled. She popped back into the spirit world without another word. I stepped away from the hole so I could change quickly, leaving my clothes in a neat pile with the rest of our stuff. Erza's giant cart full of bags was getting harder and harder to bring up the mountain with us; the trails were getting thinner the higher up we were. I think we'll have to unload it soon and dig out only the stuff we really need.
"LUCY!" everyone yelled together. I dove straight in head first like Erza, which I realized at the last second was probably a terrible idea. What if they water wasn't deep enough and I broke my neck?
In fact, the water was just deep enough for me to stand on my tip toes. The brown rough walls surrounded us on all sides besides the small opening above. The cave was dark, considering the only light was coming from ten feet above us.
Natsu rushed over and picked me up around the stomach in front of everyone, lighting my butterflies on fire. He lifted me so I was sitting on his shoulders, turning to face the others. Gray smirked and did the same with Erza. Selly, not wanting to be left out, lifted Happy onto hers as she danced around, always keeping her shoulders just beneath the water.
"I shall not lose," Erza said in an ominous voice. She transformed into her Sea Empress Armor, pointing the large silver sword straight at me.
"LET ME DOWN NATSU!" I shrieked, trying to get off. He held on tight, not letting go, laughing hysterically. I started hitting his head and tugging on his hair when Gray advanced toward us. I leaned back as far as I could, successfully knocking Natsu's balance off and tipping us both backwards into the water. We came to the surface, laughing and splashing water at Erza and Gray.
"I have a trick to show you guys!" Selly said, stopping us all. When she asked, Happy flew off her shoulders so she could lie on her back in the water and float. Once again, the guys looked away with dark cheeks. "Just lay on your backs, too!" We each floated on top of the water, looking at the dark cave ceiling above us. A second later, Selly cupped her hands. She blew into the gently. Stars appeared from her little fingers, splattering the ceiling in little pinpricks of light.
The darkness above us was illuminated by the stars. They shone down, bathing us all in a soft light. The opening of the cave started dimming as the sun sunk down and we continued looking wondrously above us.
"How did you…?" I asked in awe.
"Star magic," she whispered back.
"That thing looks like a dragon!" Natsu said loudly.
"Because that's Draco, the Dragon," I said, picturing his key that Natsu had given me in my mind, along with the scary looking spirit with the dragon tattoos.
"That one is a sword," Erza observed, pointing at a grouping of stars. When I started speaking the names, almost invisible lines connected the stars to form the outlines of the constellation.
"That's Dorado, the Swordfish," I said, remembering the book of constellations my mother and father gave me as a present when I was little. It had all eighty eight of the constellations in it, along with the myth and star facts for each of them. I always felt bad for the constellations that didn't have a myth behind them, so I'd make my own…
"Fish!" Happy drooled.
"That's Pisces, the fishes."
"That one looks like a lion," Gray said.
"That because it is. It's Leo, the Lion. Or Loke, as we know him."
Selly had created the entire night sky above us. Every constellation from both hemispheres was somehow above us. She stared at me happily as I told everyone some of the myths of the stars above us, pointing out who each one was. This was the one place where I knew more than they did, and I felt proud to be able to call some of these stars my friends.
"Velpecula, the Fox…Pyxis, the Compass…Monoceros, the Unicorn…" Speaking each of their names out loud made them sound like another of my spirits. I got the strangest feeling from Selly. It was like she was elated that I knew all of these, and how fondly I spoke of them.
Her magic was doing strange things to me. I haven't felt my burned hand hurt since we met her. The constant sting of that wound and the normal headache I had from bearing the brunt of everyone's pain has almost nearly disappeared. The monster that I hated more than anything in my gut was waking up again, trying to feed off the power I felt rising inside me. I don't understand what's happening! I shook trying to force it down again.
"A unicorn? What's that?" Natsu asked. I forced a laugh.
"It's like a horse, but with a pointy thing on its head," Gray said. "Don't you know anything, stupid?"
"Lucy? Are you cold?" Erza asked, stopping the boys' fight before it even started. She swam beside me. Only then did I realize that my shaking had turned into shivering. I bit my tongue in an attempt to stop my chattering teeth. "Come on; let's get you out in the sun." She helped me swim back to the indented rock wall, the others right behind. Why was I so cold?
The fading light barely warmed me up. I put all of my wet hair up to keep it from soaking the clothes I'd changed into. They were damp as soon as I put them on, but I didn't care. We were in there for so much longer than I thought. It was barely lunchtime when Selly found it!
"Natsu, start another fire," Erza ordered, which he did easily.
I sat beside the flames with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, wishing it was Natsu's arm instead. I asked myself again, why was I so cold? What did Selly have to do with my magic? There were so many puzzle pieces strewn out in front of me, but I can't figure out how they connect.
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"Lucyyyy," Selly whispered, poking my cheek. I rolled over in my sleeping bag, trying to get away from her. "Come on, Lucy. Get up!"
"Just go back to sleep," I grumbled.
"But I have a surprise for you!" I pried my eyes open. Selly was sitting on her knees beside me, smiling widely while she shoved a pair of clothes at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Come on, you have to come outside with me to get it!" Not really understand why I was going along with this, I got dressed in the dark, being careful to stay quiet so I wouldn't wake Erza up a few feet away. I crawled out behind Selly.
If I thought the mountain was beautiful during the day, it was spectacular at night. Moonshine lit everything silver, casting long shadows across the soft ground. Selly's hair shined; her hair almost seemed to glow in the oddly bright light of the moon. She led me past the guys' tent and down a path a half mile away from the water hole we spent the day in.
"What are we doing?" I asked groggily.
"You already know the Ultimate Power of the Stars, correct?" she asked me.
"How do you know about that?" I asked suspiciously, finally waking up. More thoughts came to me, like why Selly didn't wake any of the other up, and how much trouble I was going to be in if they found out I was out here alone with her.
"Yes or no?" she asked patiently.
"Yes."
"Great. Then it's time to teach you the next step. Soul's Key."