A second-edited chapter! Wow! This is from the original, just slightly edited to make it more realistic as it can be haha. Anyways, enjoy!
All rights go to Hiro Mashima, the creator and lord of Fairy Tail.
Sucking in a breath, she continued to trek through the forest's obstacles, wincing as the twigs and rocks that continued to scrape her creamy skin, making themselves known with the mumbled groans that escaped her chapped lips. Soon, she would have to stop, as the small light from sunset will be gone, and she would be stuck in the looming darkness around her.
Scrambling over an overly large rock, groaning as she landed with a thud on the not-so-soft ground, feeling every bone rattle from the fall. If it wasn't for that stupid cross, she wouldn't be in this mess. No, she would be back at the guild, cuddled up and safe, away from the mess she would soon have to meet.
However, the small amount of excitement still laid heavy in her chest, an exhausted grin was all she could muster before continuing down the path. It was a part of her new training, to collect the keys, which she expected once Cygnus sort of explained the dilemma. But to go into the fine depths of the forest she didn't even know existed in search of this key that Cygnus was so certain was waiting for a new "challenger", hence a new key holder, it was unexpected at least for her.
She hasn't even gotten to unlock this Star Dress that he would ramble about all morning over breakfast, even after completing the job request and receiving her reward from the mayor, that she must have to defend herself with if she wanted to become a better Celestial Spirit mage. If anything she was left in the dark about what exactly she would be doing for this magic.
It was obvious that she has to work on training physically, either with Leo or Virgo and magically with Cygnus and Capricorn. The excitement that bubbled up within her chest made itself known at the thought, because not only was she going to get stronger, but she had more friends to bring alongside her quirky family of spirits and with that gain the ability to also fight by their side with even more force than before.
As she is known to be the weaker link of her team, something that ate at her silently, there was a small hope that it would die with each day of training. She was going to give it her all, not only for her, but for her friends and family.
Looking up, the once light from the setting sun now gone and replaced by the looming stars that protected her from complete darkness, she sighed and looked around. It was fairly clear to set up for a campsite, just a few small branches here and there, but at least one tent could be built nearby a fairly large rock.
Letting her fingers grasp onto Virgos and Leo's keys, she silently summoned them, watching as their bodies formulated from sparkles to their physical beings.
"Hey guys, it's getting pretty late and I decided to set up camp here for the night," she smiled once noticing how Virgo already went to set up camp, "and I need to get in touch with Master to let him know I'll be gone for a few more days."
"Of course princess," He reached into his pocket, a lacrima already handed to her as he gave her a warm smile. He seemed frazzled as if he was in a brawl and his usually composed self was messed up from head to toe, but she decided to ignore it for now in favor of resting.
"Thank you Loke, I'm going to sit down for a bit before calling, care to join me?" She mumbled as she made her move in the opposite direction, not needing to look at him to know he agreed already.
Sitting down on a nearby log, she couldn't help but sigh, seeing the damage on her legs just from the trek she was forced to take. The purple splotches ruined the once untouched legs, throbbing in pain, but she decided to ignore it for now, not when she had to contact the guild and let them know her plan. She wanted to avoid having them assume the worst and stampede their way into the forest, tearing it to shreds and looking for her.
Looking up, eyebrows scrunching as Leo only sat in silence, looking off to the distance distracted.
"Hey…" She started, putting the lacrima down onto the grass and making her way towards the lion, "Are you okay? You seem troubled."
"I'm just worried, this is all new to me with the new keys and even this 'Star Dress', it seems like trouble to me," he sighed, eyes locked onto his polished shoes. "It's been on my mind since you received Cygnus's key like something is going to go wrong and I won't be able to protect you. I'm supposed to be your faithful and loyal lion, not some cowardly cub who can't protect his friend from harm…"
"And you will Loke, you have since I saved you," she sat next to him, grasping onto his hand to bring his attention onto her, "You never have once failed to protect me, if anything you protect me from everything."
His eyebrows scrunched, ready to interrupt but Virgo shushed him from afar.
"Even at moments where I thought I didn't need protecting, you still were there just in case. And most of the time we thought alongside each other, as partners, and I couldn't be more thankful for that. And this is one of those moments, where we were shown a new path that might be scary and new to us, I can say it is a bit scary to think of the dangers ahead of us, but I want to be by your side and fight along with my spirits, you know I mean that," holding onto his hand tighter, a small smile taking place.
She looked up to look at the stars, feeling warmth elope her.
"I'm still confused about everything, with the new keys and this new magic that's inside of me, but as long as I have my trusty lion I know I will be fine."
Leo blushed, taken back by her words, staring at her as the stars he guided made her look all the more brighter. She was gorgeous, and her words crept into his heart and made it hammer even more.
He could see the way her eyes traced the stars, connecting them to form the constellations that shined brighter in her presence, her smile making his lips copy hers, a warm smile that soon matched her own. Soon, he felt Virgo take her leave, sending her a silent thanks.
So holding onto her hand even tighter than before, following her eyes to look up at the stars as well, he could see the twins twinkling, knowing Lucy is looking at them fondly. He took in the moment, letting the warmth in his hand trickle into his heart, not giving any waste to how her small fingers felt intertwined with his.
If he could, she would be his, but she wasn't. No. That was what would haunt him the most, watching her find happiness in someone else, but he wanted to be that happiness. To be hers. To hold her, take in her shape against his, to give her everything he got as her lion and truly show her how happy he can make her. That was what he silently wished for upon the shooting stars.
The small connection of their hands had him fondly letting his friend's words soothe over his worries, trying to ignore the constant worry he had over the rather clumsy girl. She got into so much trouble for someone who tried to avoid it like the plague, but he realized after so long that it was her golden heart that had many seeking her out. For good or evil, she was one many had their sights on.
Looking back at her, he flinched in pain. He wanted her happy, not just as her faithful and most loyal lion, but more. Something romantic. To him, she was his everything, waking up and ready to be by her side as he laid in his bed heartstruck that she held his key. That she cared for him as more than just her spirit, but as her friend. If anything, he craved for her to give in to his obvious wishes, to be his and his only. The girl he pinned for was obvious to his wishes, even as he threw almost all of him at her time and time again.
But, he had a feeling something will happen. Once she obtained Cygnus's key, he felt the dreaded feeling of loss and jealousy, and that only angered him even more with the situation. He felt the attraction from his fellow spirit, no matter how weird it was, and it fueled the fire that demanded he pounce the man and shred him to pieces. The pride he held within himself wouldn't lay to rest. If it wasn't for Lucy demanding him to stay put, she would have never had his key and his mind wouldn't be in jumbles of confusion.
Not only was he lost and jealous, but he was also confused. Beyond that, everything he knew and believed was thrown out the window, and apparently someone was above him, Cygnus. The cross he didn't even know was a part of his kingdom somehow was above him, the Leader of the Zodiacs had no clue about any of this new information and he was looked down upon for that. New keys, new magic and he wasn't as close with the king as he liked to think he was. As if his life had slipped upside down, now he had to evaluate just where he stood among his fellow spirits.
Feeling a squeeze, he cleared his thoughts once seeing Lucy's concerned look, only shaking his head and squeezing back in reassurance.
Seeing her smile, he quickly latched onto her, bringing her up close and pecking her cheek. She eeped in shock, and he felt a sensation of happiness overtake him at how easily flustered Lucy was with him.
He knew she would see this as friendly, she always did every time he tried to win her heart, always thinking it was just a thing he did with every girl he came across. But he knew better.
"Loke, you better let go of me!" She squeaked, pushing her hand into his face, both of them laughing at her antics.
"But Princess you will run away from me!" He cried out, loosely letting his arms drop till she got her body a few inches away from his.
"That's the whole point!" Lucy giggled, cheeks bright red, now sitting across from him slightly panting, bruises and scrapes long forgotten. "You know you can't just kiss anyone whenever you feel like it."
He only chuckled, lazily leaning back, taking in the sight of a flustered Lucy. Messy hair that was tied back, a tank top that seemed a bit too small, and cargo shorts that matched her hiking boots. His eyes caught a bruise on her thigh, and his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"Princess… why are you so bruised and scratched up?"
"Oh! It's from the rocks and branches I had to get over, I got to clean those up soon…" She sighed, her fingers softly going over one of the bruises that hurt the most. The purple-colored skin looked more drastic up close, now that her eyes can clearly see it due to the lights Virgo strung up earlier.
Sighing, he felt a slight tingle in his hands before a first aid kit formed into his hands, already setting it down to start cleaning the scratch marks. "Please be more careful next time Princess, some of those look painful."
"I'll be fine, you know me," she giggled, getting the alcohol wipes and running them along the scrapes, "Besides, I got you to take care of me!"
He chuckled, only rolling his eyes as she brushed it off before softly brushing healing cream over her bruises. For a second, she went silent, having a far-off look that itched at him. So as they sat in silence, patching her legs up, only a few spots were covered by bandages and band-aids did she move.
She spoke up, once finished with the band-aids and alcohol wipes, "You know, I'm kind of scared too..."
Before he could pitch in, she continued, "I have to be strong, and when I get the opportunity to do just that, I feel nervous like something will go wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong Lucy," she looked at him when he called her name, "Trust me, I know you like the back of my hand, you're more than strong enough to face this."
When she shot him a disbelieving look, he continued to explain.
"And what I mean by you're strong, is how you're powerful in your own way. That's what makes you so different, even unique compared to most of our guild mates. With how you strive to be stronger for not just your friends but for us. You compare yourself to people who have had years to train when you barely were able to reach the first step at a later age, that's not a fair comparison."
He sighed, sitting back once again, "This … this whole situation with Cygnus and Star Dress, it will take you to an even more advanced level that I didn't even know was possible to achieve, and it'll not just be new for me and you, but for all of us. I knew it wasn't just me worrying about this, it was you too."
Sighing, she knew it was true, but she couldn't just believe it. No, it's been years of overthinking that maybe, she didn't just belong. She was the weaker link, and now that this random opportunity was thrown at her, she didn't know how to handle it. Should she be glad? Confused? Or possibly even in denial and think this was all a dream?
"It seems… convenient to me like this was planned out and it'll be a disaster."
Loke nodded, understanding completely. "That's what I thought too, I will admit. But I do believe that this will be a good change, even if we don't like it at first." He knew it was more about how he was feeling, at least toward the end of what he said. "However, I do know that only you will be able to handle this new adventure we have on our hands."
"How? I'm known as the damsel in distress, it's apparent to not just me but everyone that I'm a lesser mage when it comes to my team… as if I don't belong with them."
He growled, ears going back at her, "Don't ever say that, you know it's not true."
"But it is! You know it is, you can hear the whispers." She hissed back, bringing her knees to hold onto, feeling the bandages underneath her fingers. "It hurts to feel like this Loke, to feel like an outcast."
Sighing, he grabbed onto her arm and brought her into his hold, making sure she stayed put. She needed this, to hear this, to feel whole again. He could feel how her words truly ate at her, trying to fight the corrupted words her innocent soul was tainted with.
"I know it does, but listen to me, please," he started, feeling the lump in his throat make itself known, "You're not what they or anyone else thinks. I know you're not, because I am with you every day, by your side, fighting with you in every battle you have. You do not rely on anyone but yourself, not even emotionally or physically, so do not let them have a say in your life."
Lucy only laid in his arms in silence, feeling his beating heart thrive against her ear, letting his words come at her. And he knew she wouldn't say anything, no, he knew she couldn't, not when her heart was broken and needed repairing to be happy. To not be brought down by cruel thoughts that would egg at her every time she accomplished something. She didn't deserve this, if anything no one did, but here she was dealing with a harsh reality every day. But he was here, every step of the way, to make her feel better, confident, and ready to be complete once again.
Finally, she finished packing up the small campsite. With Virgo by her side, it was a quick cleanup that only took up a few minutes to get the tent and lights that once hung along the branches over her were in a bag.
Pushing back the baby hairs that stuck up from her high ponytail, she sighed in relief, for once she felt at peace with the early morning mist comforting her. There were the occasional bird tweets, but strangely, the forest laid in silence as the morning sun came up.
"Princess, everything is ready for the celestial world, is there anything else hime?" Virgo questioned, a soft smile on her usual stoic appearance.
Looking around, she quickly replied, "No Virgo, thank you for the help."
Once she felt Virgo disappear back into the spirit world with the camp supplies in her hold with a bow, she breathed in the morning air. For once, everything was clear. No worrying over how she looked with a simple pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt that wasn't the normal labeled "Lucy Heartfilla", or how she didn't have the looming thoughts eating at her. No, finally, she felt free.
Now all she had to worry about was the grouchy cross spirit of hers, who stood in front of her now in his human form that he would go on about every time he was summoned. All morning he would grumble at her to hurry up, sometimes mumbling things to Virgo to get her to throw something at him, and he seemed to enjoy how she got mad every time.
Surprisingly, she never had a good look at him till now, seeing how his black, bushy hair was tied into a lazy ponytail that complemented his tan skin and occasional scaring that littered his body. Beady eyes that were somehow gold, he seemed to have every odd feature from his cross form. Even to his clothes, a skin-tight shirt that was covered by a cloak that ended at his chest and baggy pants, it seemed almost too perfect for him. Not that she could really complain.
"Quit starin, we got to go East for a few miles before reaching the temple." He grumbled out, only smirking once he turned his back and continued on with the path.
Sputtering out some rambles on how she was definitely not staring at him, she continued to follow him, already seeing the long path they had to take over rocks and logs.
They walked in silence, not needing to say a word as they enjoyed the misty air and occasional run-ins, small bunnies and fawns that scattered away, and sometimes, never will she admit it, did she stare at his long hair sway with each step. She definitely didn't want to see if it looked as soft as it did, nope, not at all.
They continued, making their way surprisingly faster than she expected over to the temple, seeing as he made quick steps so she would have to keep up with his fast pace. It was doable, if anything, it gave her some time to really think.
What spirit would she meet? From what she got, Capricorn and Cygnus coordinated a plan on who exactly she should face first, given that Cygnus all but demanded it would be a stone key. His main excuse was how he was outnumbered by the amount of golden and silver keys she possessed, she belly laughed at that when he grumbled that out at breakfast.
Something about fire and a temple was in mumbles throughout breakfast, and now thankfully she knew what to look for. The fire part not so much, maybe that's the spirit's magic? Or possibly the spirit's personality? Having a fire-based spirit would be useful for upcoming missions, and even equipping the Star Dress for this spirit sounded almost too perfect. Plus, Natsu would favor this over any Star Dress besides Cancers, she was sure of that.
Sighing, she leaped over a fairly large log, seeing as Cygnus stood still for a moment. "What happened?"
"I can feel his presence, that means we're close." Was all he spoke, his unruly voice sounding a bit more aware than before, not bothering to look back to know she was fully listening to him.
Just hearing that made her a bit nervous, not knowing what will happen once they reach the temple, will the spirit come willingly or will they have to "challenge" it like Cygnus warned her about?
She seriously didn't want to fight the poor spirit if it said no, but Cgynus just said it was basically willing to see if she was a worthy key holder. Even if the spirit did hate humans… The jumbled thoughts helped her blank out, making the time go faster than it really seemed, and she all but ran into Cygnus's back with a squawk.
"Were here Blondie…" He trailed off, analyzing the temple that stood before them as if memorizing its historic beauty. It was tall, and wide with it being layered down in a pyramid shape, shapes and pictures being written or covered by dust and dirt. Some spots were hidden from her eyes by vines, noting how a few patches of vine were burnt off, crisped into shreds of its old form. Hell, now that she really wanted to look and analyze, multiple spots on the temple looked burnt, rubbled, or even blasted off. Was this the true power of the spirit within the temple?
Gulping, she looked up at Cygnus, seeing the smirk itch onto his face. He was all too ready for this encounter, she only could sweatdrop and hope for the best.
"Then let's get a move on shall we." She pushed him lightly, getting him out of whatever kind of daydream he was in, and they continued to walk toward the entrance. With each step, heat came at them in waves, warning them to back off. If anything, this made Cygnus more eager to go into the temple.
Her eyes roamed the brunt rims of the entrance, seeing as poles of fire led up to an empty throne inside, basked in a bright light, and she could only gulp at the sight.
"Don't be scared Blondie, you got me here to back you up." Cygnus grinned at her, and she only nodded with a determined smile at his somewhat comforting words. It was effective at least, however odd it sounded. But she did like it, if anything, basked in it while it lasted before they stepped inside.
With a few steps in heat blasted at them, almost burning them, as they felt a presence behind creep them. Silently praying, she slowly turned, seeing a figure who seemed not all too happy with them in the temple.
Cygnus's words blew out the window and all she wanted to do was run out, only if the guy in front of them wasn't in the way, she gladly would have. Grabbing onto his hair as mental support, clearly catching Cygnus off guard, she petted his hair in the reassurance that everything would be okay.
"Cygnus…" The stranger whispered, very confused at the sight. "Why are you here with a human?"
Stepping out of the shadows, the stranger soon embraced in a new light, Cygnus grinned when he saw that. "Nice to see you again, Fornax, it's been centuries."
Lucy gasped, quickly figuring out who the spirit was, Fornax the Furnace, also with the mention of fire, she connected that his magic was based upon fire and the heat waves that tried melting her. Her petting stopped, newfound excitement bubbling in her belly.
"So you're the furnace? May I say that you really put that in perspective with this temple!" She giggled, but in reality, it was a plea to cool it down. He literally made his home a furnace, sweat soon making itself known on her forehead.
Taken aback, he quickly snarked at her, "Why yes, thank you human."
Smiling nervously, she looked up at Cygnus for support, seeing the man only grinning at her innocence.
"You do realize that he was warning us to stay back with the waves of heat right? He also hates humans, I warned you, didn't I?" He chucked, seeing how her jaw dropped in surprise, well more for the whole he hates humans so they came to get his key first out of all of the keys.
"Baka! How are we supposed to get his key then?!" She whispered, pulling his ear down to ramble to him, in her way of privately barking at him.
"By a challenge of course!" He pulled out of her grasp, walking up to the already ticked off spirit with a cocky grin, all too ready to wield his hammer. Lucy squealed, quickly running to his side, about to apologize to the spirit that seemed almost too ready to set the duo to ablaze.
"I accept, your bodies will be ashes to my collection!" He all but shouted, jumping back while summoning fire around his hands, already in a fighting stance.
Lucy sighed, unclipping her whip from her belt before lashing it out onto the floor, a loud smack against the rumbled floor as a warning. She didn't have to check on Cygnus to know he was already ready, feeling him take some of her magic as he was already working on something, on what, she had no idea.
Cygnus was the first to leap, going head first into the fire mage, with Lucy by his side already wrapping the whip around Fornax's body, a smirk on both of their faces.
Soon after Cygnus punched Fornax's face, a loud crack was heard as the spirit quickly made his way to the side, avoiding a sidekick aimed at his head.
Lucy quickly tugged on the whip, bringing Fornax up close as she landed her own punch on him, her own crack being heard amongst the chaos. This angered Fornax, his tan skin catching on fire, his once angry scowl into a smirk as Lucy wasn't prepared for her whip to catch on literal fire.
Letting go of the whip, she growled at the slight burn mark already on her hand, before squeaking with a swift dodge when a fiery hand swopped for her. However, she let her guard down when she saw Cygnus running up to them, already readying to take on Fornax when she got punched in the stomach.
"Lucy!" Cygnus yelled, eyes going wide as he saw Lucy hunch over as the fiery ablaze burned her.
Stepping back, seeing the mad look on Fornax as he looked back at Cygnus, she quickly put space in between them. She had to think of a plan, her only spirit of water was Aquarius, and there was no water in sight. Groaning, she quickly grabbed onto a key blindly, "Open the gate of the scorpion, Scorpio!"
Scorpio appeared with a frown, not common when summoned, to glare at the fiery spirit, already shooting a beam of sand at him.
With an aggravated roar, Fornax readied a beam of fire at Lucy, even with the sand fully hitting him.
"Lucy, do it! Do the Spell!" Cygnus yelled, "You can put a barrier around him and trap him!"
She looked at him panicked, not knowing what in the world he was talking about as she tried to figure out just how to dodge the incoming fire attack, knowing she wouldn't be able to just run and book it with how he was smirking, no, if anything it would follow her.
Anxiety filled her being as the fiery death came closer, and realizing Scorpio was behind her still body was when she felt a spark. Reaching into the spark desperately, holding on for dear life, did she pull on the unknown magical source as her words stumbled out, "Star Dress: Hologgium!"
A bright light engulfed her with the familiar clock chime ringing in the air, feeling everything be ripped away from her as something new came to cover her form and she stood feeling different, new in a way. And she liked it.
Now stood Lucy Heartfilla, battle-ready, with a new form that she still was confused about, but could ask Cygnus about later. She stood in a white button-up that flared out to her wrists, her once exposed legs now covered by brown trousers that held an antic-like pocket watch with dainty ankle boots. A brown blazer was draped over her shoulder as she twirled her now loosely braided hair. Her beloved spirit's constellation laid on her hand as she instinctively grabbed hold of the watch from her pocket with her other hand.
As she got used to the new feeling of a different power coursing within her, it seemed as if Cygnus and Lucy complimented one another, both shouting at the same time, "Freeze!"
Soon, the fireball and the once ablaze man was set inflamed, with a very obvious look of confusion.
Lucy panted, a silent whoop as she tried to catch her breath, not used to this magic coursing in her, only to be picked up by Cygnus who looked like the happier one of the latter. "You did it Blondie! And so quick!"
"Ahaha put me down." Lucy grumbled, still confused on what just happened, "How? I didn't even know both of those spells…"
"I don't really know either but your connection with Hologgium was pretty damn good that it got you to do both Star dress and a spell in his form." He grinned, ruffling up her hair only for a quick smack at his hand, Lucy grumbling below him. "Although, I don't know how the spell got the flame brain to go out like that…"
"That's cool and all but is that the magic Leo explained to us?" Scorpio questioned, losing his usual excitement with clear confusion, not used to this power his key holder just displayed. If anything, he wanted to see his own, but from Lucy's face of annoyance, he supposed a later time.
"Ah yes, it is! It's actually quite nice if I do say so myself!" Lucy chirped, looking at the attire she wore, seeing the small pattern of white that formulated a clock over her breast with small stars around it that she thought was pretty convenient.
A rumble was heard from the frozen-like time-space, gaining all of their attention, seeing Fornax trying to set his body on fire. Confusion set in, while his body wasn't moving and the fire that once coated his body was now gone, it seemed her spell wasn't powerful enough to combat his struggle. "Hey, you! Stop that!" Lucy cried out, quickly making her way up to the barrier that held the odd time spell, "You're supposed to give me your key now right?"
"No." Fornax huffed out, his brown hair falling into his eyes making him squint, "Why would I for a human-"
"Shut it Fornax, you lost the challenge." Cygnus rumbled from behind her, a small eep was heard but ignored from the spirits.
"I would never serve a human."
"Well never say never!" Lucy chided, hair bouncing as she reached out into the time space, her hand waiting for his in the air.
He looked down with his fiery eyes as if refusing to take the reached-out hand, even feeling the glare of his fellow spirit. But seeing the bouncy blond look almost too hopeful, he didn't know if he could refuse, so he hesitantly, placed his hand in hers, surprised by the softness they held.
"I promise you will not regret this, Fornax!" She smiled, and he could only groan at what was to come next.
The two sat in silence, not knowing what to do as they held the lacrima in confusion, not exactly the smartest when it came to new magic and tech. "Lucy!" Both groaned, seeing the blond peek out from her tent in confusion.
Fornax pointed at the device, as if speaking to her with hand signals, only getting an eyebrow raised in response.
"Damn it Nax, let me handle this." Cygnus grumbled, "Blondie, you asked us to get this damn thing started for your 'important' call but we have no clue what to do."
"Just click the green button." Lucy wished she could just slam her head into the ground but, unfortunately, it would cause a headache that she really didn't want.
Nodding, he clicked it, seeing a few names pop up and he quickly clicked onto the one labeled "Master" knowing Lucy was wanting to call this man. Something about being late to call him and being a stereotypical "blond".
Seeing that he clicked it, she quickly got out of the tent as the ringing was run out amongst the clearing they camped in, two tents for her newest spirits since they all but demanded to show off their powers, and for Cygnus, he wanted to see the Star Dress that she refused to do next.
Yawning, feeling the misty air against her skin that was revealed, enjoyed the quick stretch she had before the phone was connected.
"Lucy?" An aged voice questioned, clearly confused.
"No, you old f-"
"No! Bad Cygnus!" Lucy scrambled to him, smacking him with her brush. "Don't be rude to the Master! Hey- sorry there Master, that was my spirit who so happened to be sorry about his rude attitude."
She sent a quick glare towards the now grumbling man before looking back apologetically at her Master. "I wanted to let you know how I will now be coming back from my completed mission, as I ran into a new spirit, Cygnus, who you already met." She sighed. "And I apologize for the lack of communication, I have been quite busy."
"That is okay dear, no worries. However, what do you mean by quite busy?"
"Oh well, you see when I met Cygnus during my mission, he explained to me about this power called Star Dress that is inside of me that I could tap into with proper training. We made a side trek to get another key, Fornax," Said spirit came into frame between Lucy and Cygnus, a critical eye analyzing the old man, "And on the way there, I taped into my first form, Hologgium's."
"I see, does that mean you can also tap into different spirits Star Dresses?" He mumbled, actually curious about the situation.
"Yes she can, it's notable how she can mostly use it in situations under pressure. When we were going up against Nax here, she was about to get hit by a fire ball when she went into Hologgium's Star Dress form and did a freeze spell to trap him." Cygnus continued, almost smirking when he saw how red Lucy got from all of the attention.
"That does seem like Lucy alright! I'm assuming she had a spirit next to her as well, she seems to do anything to avoid getting them hurt," when he got a nod from both spirits, Makarov smiled. "Well that does seem interesting, I will have to catch up with you once you arrive back at the guild."
"That's fine master, have a good day." She whispered, seeing the lacrima go blank.
Sighing, she took the lacrima back towards her tent, ignoring the two as they rambled amongst themselves. If anything, all she wanted to do was catch up with her dog spirit and take a nap.
Both watched the blonde disappear into the tent, finally giving each other a knowing look.
"You felt her presence, yes?" Fornax mumbled, dusting off the dirt from his fire-printed pants. "More powerful than a few centuries ago too."
"I did, she was for sure looming on blondie." Cygnus grumbled, sitting cross legged near the fire.
With a nod, they sat in silence, letting the fire cackle with each powerful wave.
"We have to do something before she gets to the human." Fornax snarled.
"I know but we can't, she's not properly trained nor does she have enough spirits to go against her."
"If anything, she will be more protected within her guild, she can't attack with a bunch of people surrounding her, yes?"
"She will trust me." Cygnus growled, fisting his pants as he forced his stare onto the fire before asking, "Why do you even care?"
Wide-eyed, Fornax responded, "Because no one can handle my power like she did, not even when I can make my fire the hottest thing she touched, she held her ground to protect a spirit." He sat there in silence, thinking for a second before continuing. "It was weird, I hate humans usually but she is more…"
"Like a spirit? Yeah I noticed that too."
"Is that why you decided to not challenge her?"
Growling, Cygnus barked at him, "None of your damn business Furnax."
Lucy came back out at the sound of bickering, a small frown marred onto her face as she saw the two now growling at each other like dogs, when in fact they were literal objects. So she quickly sat in between them, seeing them slowly relax from the separation.
She didn't need to say anything as she silently summoned Lyra and Plue to come out, both silent as they joined them around the campfire, waiting for their cue to speak. With a small nod, Lyra began playing her harp, a soft tune playing throughout the fire, said fire danced with each note played.
Plue went up to Nax, a small nod in acknowledgement before he made his way onto Fornax's lap, clapping his hands in excitement. As Lucy, Cygnus, and Fornax huddled up to share body warmth from the frosty air, the soft tunes played by Lyra rang out into the forest, listened to by the birds that laid in their nests, the rabbits that stiled in their eating and the bears that stuck their ears out to listen.
However, amongst the forest animals, laid a woman. Angry and hurt was what she was, and with the music calling out to her, she all but screamed back, this was not okay to her. No. It was almost criminal to like their music.
Pulling at her black hair that loomed over her, she cowered from it, not taking the usual comfort it possibly gave to people. If anything, it made her tense, wanting to cry out as she felt the hatred that ran in her roar to life. All she wanted was to be in her mom's arms, like how she used to when she was smaller and more fragile, and listen to her mother's words of reassurance. If only she was here, she could take the pain away. But no. She wasn't.
Estela had no clue where she was, but she needed her mother back. And her way to find her was those spirits that used their cruel music against her, beating at her with it. No, those spirits wouldn't give her what she wanted, but the girl would.
When she had her, then she would get her mom back, right? Yes, she told herself, you'll surely have her back.
Crying out, she could almost feel the presence of the cross that she once fondly knew, and could only cripple onto the floor waiting for the music to end. It hurt her, her soul pleaded for a stop to the destruction of it.
One day, she cried out with the next lash of music rang even louder, I will have her back, and it'll be me and her again, like old times.
Sniffling, rubbing her eyes as it stopped for a second, she leaned back into a random tree panting, eyes wide. This felt almost as good as when her mom would summon a spirit, who looked happy with tears rushing down their faces and barked at them. That was the only time she wasn't barked at and the time where they weren't told to punish her for being a bad child.
And before she could even prove to her mom she wasn't a failure, t
