AN
This chapter contains some astronomy. Here's an explanation of terms and concepts used
Azimuth: The direction of a point in the sky. Straight north is 0 degrees.
Altitude: how high in the sky a point is. 0 degrees is on the horizon, and 90 degrees is straight up.
All points can have different coordinates based on where the observer is
Polaris, the north star, appears to be straight north on Earth. In earthland, all astronomy follows the same rules as the real world. The black clover world as I write it is in a different location in the universe, so stars appear differently. As such, the north star isn't north there.
All constellations have bounds to where they can appear in the sky
Zodiac constellations are the constellations on the same plane as the earth-sun system. Drawing a line from earth through the sun and going on will fall inside one of 13 zodiac constellations. This is where the idea of birth constellations and Astrology comes from.
Chapter Start
Lucy could get used to flying.
Sure, she had flown with Happy in the past, but flying on her own with nothing but a broom to hold her up was exhilarating to say the least. Not everyone could be like Natsu with his fire or Erza's armors just granting mid-battle flight. No, her magic wasn't one of that sort. Brooms were truly an amazing invention, she could only wonder why they didn't exist on Earthland. Imagine how many train trips would be saved just by flying through the air on a broom, unrestricted by tracks and schedules. She was putting that small difference between worlds into use as she flew at high speeds towards the Heart kingdom's border and the location of Aquarius' key in this world.
That was another thought to get through. Aquarius. I still remembered the sacrifice I had to make that day against Tartarus, where I had to break that key. Not a day passed where I didn't think of my first real friend, no matter how stubborn she could be. She did care, and she showed it in her last moments on Earthland. I took the time to think back to the last time I saw Aquarius, when she revealed her connection to Brandish. That time, she was on a limited schedule and busy with storytelling, but even then she still acknowledged me as master. With that key out there, I couldn't let down Aquarius.
Time continued to pass as I looked out over the countryside. I was definitely over the common realm now, as huge swaths of farmland stretched for miles. Sometimes, there would be a village or two scattered around. The nature in Clover was quite beautiful, with plentiful forest full of exotic flora. The fauna, on the other hand, seemed to consist solely of giant magical beasts. Where were all the normal animals?
I did wonder why the villages were getting smaller the farther I traveled. Maybe that was the realms thing again, how going further out meant the people were poorer. It was some serious discrimination going on, and was still hard to wrap her head around it even now. Just flying over the evidence made that feeling come back.
Eventually, the sun disappeared for good, so I decided to call it a day. I found a wide-branched tree in an area with no beasts, and set up my tent and bag in the heights. That night, I looked out and for once could see the night sky and stars of Clover. Some constellations were easily recognizable, such as Cancer, Aquarius, and Canis major. The little dipper was still visible, but its central star Polaris, which always pointed north in Earthland was pointing a different direction here. In addition, I found the Crux constellation at an azimuth it should never appear at on Earthland.
It made sense, didn't it. Different planets, if she was on a different planet, were in different areas of the universe, making stars appear differently. Much like how Polaris didn't point north here, she also couldn't find the constellation for Sextans. What would that do with her spirits. Was it possible that one of her spirits was unsummonable because that constellation didn't exist in this world? That shouldn't matter too much, right? The spirit would still exist. Then it may also be true that other spirits that couldn't be summoned from Earthland suddenly existed here. Who even decided what the constellations were, they seemed like drawings in the sky that anyone could have made up, so could there be more spirits for drawings outside the primary 88. If so, which did have spirits? All of this was driving my head a bit crazy. Maybe it was time to stop.
Well, it was already night, so time to sleep and continue my travels tomorrow. Right, I had challenges awaiting me there.
With that, I was able to drift off for the night.
The next morning seemed to come all too fast. I got out of my tent and packed up before getting back in the sky. I had covered most the distance yesterday, so today I needed to find the exact map location for this dungeon. Navigating by stars was out of question. Until she could find an atlas and update with the patterns of this world, none of her knowledge would help. Instead, I had to trace out landmarks by flying overhead. Soon, I knew I had traveled far enough since I could see a grand stone ziggurat in the distance. It looked old, which was a good sign. The dungeon was supposed to have been built by ancient inhabitants of the land, so the older the building looked, the better.
Main problem was the location of the temple. Maybe a few feet away from the border, I felt a powerful magic aura pressing against me. I was informed by Rebecca before leaving about this neighboring kingdom. It was currently ruled by the powerful Queen of Hearts, who kept her magic surrounding the entire kingdom as a security measure. Problem was the dungeon was on the other side of the border. Going in would almost certainly mean triggering that alarm and Heart soldiers after me. That wasn't too good if I also needed to survive the dungeon itself. I can't exactly brute-force through an entire kingdom's worth of soldiers with just my one key. Ok, so if stealth and force were both fails, what else could I try. Go in legally with permission? Good in theory, but how could I pull that off, here, I no sway to give Heart a reason to let me in and take an item out of their kingdom. What to do. I would need to trade them some favor for permission, which would be something up to their choice.
Well, there was only one way to find out. I already knew diplomacy was my only way to get in, so might as well try it out. First, I needed to speak with a representative. The queen controls the border and sees security threats, right? Then, If I trigger the alarms and immediately step out, it should get their attention but also not be enough to warrant a serious crime. That would get a Heart rep in front of me.
It might be a stupid plan but here goes nothing. With little hesitation, My left foot broke the barrier, and soon, my whole body was standing one step inside the Heart kingdom. I felt a change in the surrounding magic almost immediately, that must be the mana zone of the queen. She must know I was here. With that done, I immediately got out and noticed the natural magic fading back to normal. I had just triggered the alarm system, so someone must be coming to check it, right?
Sure enough, the seemed to turn dark for a moment, then a bolt of lightning shot down in front of me. In the spot where that bolt hit on the Heart side of the border stood a tall man with black hair and a scar across his face. By his arrival, he was clearly a lightning magic user. He then took a step forward.
"Intruders will not pass into the Heart kingdom, but I sense you didn't intend to do so. State your purpose," the man said.
"I was searching for an artifact and tracked it down to that dungeon right across the border, so I was looking for a way to get permission to enter."
"Entrance to the Heart kingdom isn't so easily granted, and access to a dungeon that contains treasures that belong to our kingdom is even more restricted. At least you looked for permission, that may help you. My name is Gaja, and I am one of the spirit guardians that protects this kingdom, may I ask who you are"
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial mage trying to reunite my friends."
"That's interesting, Clover has always had a few 'unnatural' magics that don't exist in heart, are you one of those by chance?"
"I'm not even from Clover actually, I crash-landed in clover just a few days ago from my home country of Fiore."
"Fiore? That's not a country I've heard of before, It must be across the ocean. So a mage arrives with a magic not existing in this continent from a foreign land. May I ask what your magic does?"
"Right, it open gates to the world of celestial spirits that I draw powers from or directly summon. I can also channel the power of the stars."
"So the magic you use is predominately not your own but power you draw from other beings?"
"Correct"
"And your magic is also capable of opening gates to different worlds?"
"Yes?" I responded unsure. It's not that I ever tried it with beings other than spirits, its not like any other world had keys to it.
"I see, you may be able to help us. No one from our kingdom has successfully cleared out the dungeon yet, but if your magic specifically led you here, you should be able to beak down the gates. Of course, you will have to do another favor for our Queen after this. In exchange, you'll have the artifact you're looking for as well as passage into the heart kingdom. I can already sense that you're an honest person that doesn't intend us harm, which is why I make this offer. Do you accept?"
"I accept. That item I'm looking for is a key for one of my oldest spirit friends. I've been waiting too long to see her to not take this chance."
"Very well," replied Gaja, this time looking a bit less serious, "I give you permission to enter the dungeon, though I will accompany you and claim for the Heart kingdom everything but that key."
"That's fair, alright, let's go!"
This time, when I stepped past the border of the heart kingdom, I felt the mana zone again, but it wasn't as hostile. This time, I was allowed in. A think fog set in, and a few seconds later, it cleared up to reveal the Heart kingdom. In the distance were huge rivers and lush forests, much more beautiful nature than anything in Clover. Barely a few more feet forward and I arrived at the front door of the dungeon. It had engravings on it, depicting an ancient civilization. They lived in the plains in small huts, practicing great magical feats. Words were inscribed in a language I couldn't read, and by the looks of it, Gaja couldn't either. Must be old. Also on the front door was the symbols of the zodiac constellations, in the position where a keyhole would usually be. That must be the key then.
"I think I know how to get in," I called out.
"You already see it, for years we haven't been able to crack this dungeon!"
"The key is celestial magic, it should be able to work. Star dress, Leo!" My grimoire came out and glowed and the next second I was in star dress form.
"Regulus blast!" I called out. Light left my hand and hit the door, and the Leo symbol on the key spot glowed bright. Every other spot stayed dark and the door still didn't open. That was it! I saw how to open the door.
"That didn't seem like it was enough," Gaja called out.
"That was just one constellation's power, and that constellation's symbol glowed. Hitting it with all the constellations at once should work, and I have a spell for that." This time, my grimoire glowed even brighter as I started the all-to-familiar chant. Survey the heavens, open the stars. As I continued, more magic from the environment gathered inside my body and I felt my reserves nearly over flowing. Just a bit more, I kept thinking. Eventually, I finished the chant on With all 88 stars of the heavens shining. Grand celestial magic, Urano Metria! All the light I gathered shot straight towards the door, and this time, all the constellations glowed brightly. The rest of the door glowed brightly and dissolved, leaving a dark stairwell heading into the dungeon.
"So that's what it took to open the door. I must say I've never seen a dungeon require a specific attribute of magic to gain entrance. It's clear the items here are intended for you. Now, let's head in.
I nodded in agreement and walked down the stairs into the darkness. Gaja helped out by using his lightning to light up the path. At the bottom of the staircase was a central room with a grand universe model, with our planet's star sitting in the center and strings dropped spheres from the ceiling to represent the various celestial bodies. There were even more strings connecting stars together to form constellation outlines! Ancient people must have spent years or even lifetimes of study to create such a grand model. It was no small-scale thing either. It managed to fill the entire room, and this was the central room of a dungeon, with the roof being at least 30 meters high.
"Wow, this place is amazing!" I know I was fangirling but I couldn't stop it. "These ancients must have been impressive back in the day."
"This is new, even for me. I've never seen a dungeon anything like this. It must have been used as an observatory instead of just a place to hide treasures. That's why it's so different. There's also not too many traps here. Guess the ancients thought the front door would keep out most intruders."
"There's still gotta be something here. Most celestial wizards are selective about who can inherit their keys. To me, they're friends, and I'd like to know that whoever uses their key next would treat them kindly. Any celestial wizard with enough power could get past the first door. Something else is here."
Sure enough, behind the universe model was another tunnel, this time connecting to a spiral staircase up. With nowhere else to go, Gaja and I started the climb.
"Uh, how many stairs are there?" I complained. This had to be going all the way over the first room, which was so high. Ugh, these massive buildings were a pain to traverse.
Eventually we hit the top, which was now at surface level and had enchanted glass mirrors showing the outside, acting like windows without the security cost of glass. Also in the room was a telescope, and what looked to be another magic mirror at the end that allowed it to see through the ceiling.
"So, this is the observatory room. It's almost as impressive as the room downstairs." I commented.
At the end of this room was yet another door like the front entrance, along with smaller passageways leading to bedrooms, a cafeteria, all the living necessities for an ancient civilization to live here. I did also finally find a spare atlas laying around, which I took. I needed to find out what keys even existed in this world.
I approached the large door and inspected it. This one had no painting on the keyhole spot. Well, it wouldn't be trial if I didn't have to solve a puzzle.
That would not be the case, as the door glowed brightly and a voice was heard across the room, "Welcome traveler who wields the stars. This will be your last trial. Your strength and intellect has been judged and found satisfactory to have reached this point. Now, your bond with your spirits must be tested. The treasure is yours should you pass."
That moment, a shade appeared out of the ground. It flexed darkness magic and got into a fighting stance. The voice continued, "Defeat the enemy in front of you with your spirits to complete the trial." I immediately summoned Loke, who took my side, then I prepared my whip, charging it with celestial energy. The shade waited for us to get ready, then jumped straight at Loke and threw the first punch.
Loke countered its darkness with Regulus light, and the opposite elements clashed as they moved around the room at high speeds. One thing I was glad about this kingdom was that the natural mana here allowed Loke to fight much more effectively without drawing on my magic too much. This was a test of bonds, and I couldn't stand back and watch. The next time the shade attacked, I cracked my whip in his path. The shade dodged, but that put it right in Loke's path, who landed a direct hit. That was it!. It was testing my ability to work with my spirits. Well, we were friends and friends would stand with each other. I will show that temple shade how I did things. The shade attacked me next, and only a quick whip hit saved me from getting hit. Unfortunately, it jumped over my head and landed a hit in my back, which sent me to the floor. It tried to land another attack, but Loke countered and was now the target of its attacks.
I had an idea then. It was risky, but as long as Loke trusted me, it would work. "Loke, keep attacking, I have a plan," I called out.
"Ok I'm trusting you here, but I can't keep this up for too long. "
I intercepted with my whip again, and he turned against me. Loke defended me again, and the shade turned on him. This time, I attacked its legs, forcing it to jump. I was in the landing zone, and used a Regulus punch powered by star dress to knock it back, straight into Loke, who finished the fight with a Regulus impact.
"That's it, did we pass?"
"Yes you did, that teamwork and trust is what I wanted of whoever owns my keys next. The magic consciousness I left here is dying out now, it's time to leave for me."
The door in front glowed gold and disappeared, and the treasure room was revealed. Before I entered, Gaja congratulated me on the fight. "Great fight Lucy, you have great potential, may I ask how you were able to come up with that plan to beat it."
"I noticed that it always focused its attacks on whoever attacked it last, so I used that to lure it into a trap. It took a lot of trust from Loke for it to work, but my friends trust me enough, so it all worked out."
"I'm going to head back now princess, you should go meet with those spirits now, I'm sure Aquarius will be just dying to see you again."
"Thanks Loke, you were great." With that, Loke disappeared in a puff of smoke back to the spirit world.
I finally entered the treasure room and saw it was almost completely full of gold and jewels. As much as I wanted the money to be able get a place to live, it was already promised to Gaja for the Heart kingdom. My prize was waiting on a pedestal in the center of the room. There was the golden key for Aquarius, along with a silver key to Canis Major, Phonecis, and two more I didn't recognize that must be constellations invisible from Earthland.
Finally, I my friend's key back in hand, I just couldn't wait to see her again. Behind me, Gaja spoke up. "You have done a lot for Heart by opening this ancient place and treasure room. Take your prize, the bonds you showed here is proof you deserve the ancient wizard's keys. I would like to bring you to meet our queen, if you would consent."
"Sure, I'll go. I still have time before I need to return to Clover. Besides, Heart is too pretty not to see up close."
Gaja continued collecting the treasures from the room and before heading out, he placed a handful of gold coins in my hand. "It's not much compared to the contents of this room, and I saw you struggling with money earlier. You might as well have something to live with easier."
"Oh thank you! That's such a big help."
"Let's get going, the day is almost over."
With our exploration done, Gaja and I exited the dungeon as a few locals helped carry the load from the dungeon to a ship waiting on the river. Once everything was all loaded, we headed off, and I was shocked to see water forming into a path straight over land directly into the castle. "What kind of magic is that?" I wondered.
Gaja quickly responded, "That's our queen, her magic really is amazing."
Some power, I thought. She was controlling water across the entire kingdom. Soon enough, the boat stopped in front of the palace entrance. Gaja and I disembarked and walked in the hall. At the front, upon a throne, sat the queen of Hearts, dressed in a regal white dress and a tiara on her head. She spoke up, "Its good to meet you, Lucy Heartfilia. I've been watching you since you stepped in and it's been fun having someone like you in my kingdom. I wanted to meet you before you left, I wouldn't mind having you around here more."
"Thank you very much, but I was told you wanted something from me, is that right?"
"It is. I haven't told many people about it, but from what I and Undine saw and what Gaja reported, you're good-hearted and trustworthy, and there is something I need that my kingdom can't provide. I'm sure you noticed that the Heart kingdom has powerful natural magic. That was due to a decision made in the past to preserve nature more than other kingdoms. Clover instead chose to build up great cities, and in doing so, they both killed off their natural magic and also caused the creation of a few new types of magic such as steel, mirror, or darkness that don't exist here. The Diamond kingdom took this one step further and used experiments and science to surgically add secondary types of magic to people. The thing is, I need both an outside view and a magic attribute that doesn't exist here.
A while back, I fought against one of the three rulers of the Spade kingdom, and though I escaped, I was left with a curse that'll take my life in a year. That woman is also only able to be killed by someone using unnatural magic, or in your case, magic that can open portals to different worlds. For now, I would just like some information from Clover on those with unnatural magics."
"I really don't know what to say. You're Dying? By a demonic curse? You already come off as a great ruler for your people, it's so sad all the best people have to have such bad luck."
"My luck really is bad isn't it. I'd like to live long for my kingdom, but unless Spade's Vanica dies, I cannot."
"Is the curse demonic or runic in nature, if it is, I may be able to do something about it."
"Really, well it is demonic and has runes, but nothing I've seen can do anything against it."
"Believe it or not I have broken a demonic curse before, I may be able to do it again."
She gave me permission to try. I requested parchment and quill and started to inspect the curse marks left of her. There were definitely symbols in demonic script, not all that different from the book of END. If I could rewrite Zeref's greatest demon, I should be able to handle this one. I'd already seen the language, since the demonic script was the same as from the book of END, and I could already see the rune pattern that made the curse work. It was immune to almost all magic and would take her life at Vanica's will. However, every rune could be rewritten so long as the rules were followed, and though I could not outright rewrite anything, I could make my own additions. I added a rune linking the control over her life to the rune of her name, which should effectively negate the curse, though it wasn't fully eliminated.
"I may have gotten something there, that change should give you control over your life force instead of the curser."
She immediately hugged me and I could only stare in shock. "Oh thank you, you don't know how much this does for me. You don't need to do anything else for me, that was too much. Please come visit later on, you have permission to enter anytime you want."
"You're welcome, I can't resist helping a person in need. I'll be sure to visit soon."
With that, we gave our goodbyes and I left the Heart kingdom with one more friend and more keys, including Aquarius. I would have to summon her later, but that could wait another day. I finally had enough money to rent a place temporarily and not worry about sticking out too much. I mounted my broom and flew back to Clover, ready for the magic knights' exams at last.