Chapter Fifteen: New Generation

I had just dried off after finishing searching a river with a series of small whirlpools for signs of Aquarius when I heard Scorpio shout from further upstream. Grabbing my mission bag I raced to where I heard his voice. Coming round the edge of some trees I found Scorpio kneeling next to a bedraggled little girl passed out next to the river edge. Looking round as I rushed closer I realised there were faint drag marks coming from the stream. Realising what must have happened I had three keys in my hand before turning to Scorpio.

"Scorpio thanks for your help with the search, I'll let you get back to Aquarius. I'll talk to you later."

"We are had a rocking good time. We are see ya later Miss Lucy."

As soon as the light vanished from his departure I quickly summoned my next three spirits.

"Ara, Leo, Lynx I summon you to my side, pass through your gates."

Feeling the drain of a triple summoning even if it was two silver and one gold I knew already Loke was going to cost me energy what with being leader of the Zodiac. Pushing that aside the power loss wasn't as bad as last time so I knew I was adapting quickly to the expanding magic container. Getting right to the point before any high jinks could commence with my two most pesky spirits, I formulated a plan of separation. Usually I don't summon the two together because of the flirtation wars especially after the last time. Pushing the memory of war of the flirt, that poor town would never be the same again I don't think one relationship wasn't affected by what those two did, the horror.

"Alright Leo, head upstream see if anyone is looking for a little girl."

Seeing him open his mouth to argue or flirt I held up my hand.

"Not a word I'm still not talking to you two after what you did, so shut it. Lynx not one pervy comment, you head down stream in case someone went looking and missed her. Get both of you."

Making shoeing motions with my hands I watched as the two huffed and raced off calling out comments about being the best hunter. Sighing at what I had to put up with, at least one of my spirits knew her job I hadn't even needed to ask as once I turned I saw Ara was already scanning and healing the little girl.

"The healing arts are always available and received, the youngling will pass. Her sleep will be brief and time will honour her."

I watched as Ara's light faded as she returned home. Thanking her for her help I realised I would have to wait for her wake up to learn what happened if Loke or Lynx didn't come back with her family. Settling down for the wait I grabbed a few twigs and some scraps of wood for a fire before using my rolled up jacket as a pillow for the girl to rest her head. Once the fire was going I set her down near it to dry off and pulled out one of the books Crux had gotten me on Stardress manipulation to pass the time. It was half an hour later that I felt Lynx return to the spirit world telling me that the river split four ways further along and she had seen no tracks indicating anyone passed by lately. Thanking her it was a few minutes later when Loke popped up almost causing me to screaming.

"My Princess I have returned, your valiant knight is here to…"

Not waiting for him to finish I started hitting him over the head with my book.

"Damn it Loke are you trying to give me a heart attack don't jump out at me you mangy house cat."

Fielding off the attack Loke jumped back and quickly reported.

"Princess the stream splits into two different branches and neither one have any signs of other people or of the young girl's passage. Without knowing which direction she came from and whereabouts she went into the water I can't find any trace of her family."

Nodding to show I understood I started to come up with alternatives as Loke faded back home. My only recourse seemed to be waiting for more information. Something that took another hour before the young girl woke up. Unfortunately she decided to wake up screaming. Rushing over I pulled her into my arms and tried to quiet her down. After a couple of minutes of rocking her back and forth she seemed to calm down. Settling her down next to me I brushed her hair out of her eyes and got a good look at her. The girl was no more than five or six, a little younger than Asuka with short red hair a fair complexion and bright brown eyes. Her outfit of a cream coloured demi dress while being muddy and wet appeared new. Smiling down at her I let her look at me before I started talking.

"Hi there, my name's Lucy; I'm a wizard of the guild Fairy Tail. Can you tell me your name little one?"

Right or wrong I got a reaction as the little girl hurled herself at me and started sobbing as she mumbled out what happened. It turned out I was right. Apparently the girl who was named Isa was out on a picnic with her family when she fell into the river. With only being five years old, it was a little difficult to get concrete facts from her but with a little effort I managed to get the girl to give me a general idea of where she lived. Putting out the fire and after making sure I had everything I helped Isa stand and the two of us started to make our way up river. Calling out Pyxis to help lead the way and Plue to keep the little girl entertained, I started running through the names of the towns that I knew of that bordered the waterway. As we walked I reeled off the names hoping one would sound familiar to Isa. Getting no positive response, I realised they would have to check each town until they found something.

We had been walking for about half-an-hour when there was a snuffling noise coming from the underbrush ahead. Trying not to alarm Isa, I quickly and discreetly grabbed my keys ready for what was coming. As the snuffling got louder and followed by groaning and grunting I knew that whatever was coming wasn't good. With a flick of my wrist and a quiet summons Horologium in protection mode appeared and quickly ceased Isa. With Horologium arriving just in time I sent back both Plue and Pixus and readied my fleur de leave as four animals raced out of the bushes straight at where I was just standing. It took a second to identify them as warrogs before I started defending myself.

"Cancer you're up, 'Scissor Dance'."

A flash of light heralded his arrival and I barely had to put forth an effort throwing one of the hogs into the nearest tree before he was finished spinning and slashing his way through the others. It didn't even take five minutes from start to finish; it was pretty much over in a single attack. I didn't know whether I had gotten that good or if the animals were just really weak. Waving bye as Cancer flashed back home I turned to check that Horologium and Isa were ok. Seeing Isa waving from inside my clock friend I quickly thanked him and sent him on his way. As she popped out I expected Isa to be scared however the moment she was dropped off she was laughing and cheering as she ran towards me. It seemed it was one big adventure for her and she loved the sparkly people.

It took us close to three hours to reach the first village a little place called Aloe Town where unfortunately no one recognised Isa and nothing looked familiar to her. Just before we reached the edge of town I thought up an idea, I started asking several people nearby if there was a specific scenic spot neighbouring the river that people used for picnics. Coming up with negative answers all around, we quickly started for the next town. Getting a little ways outside town I realised that travelling by foot to each river town would take days.

Now we had a conundrum how to find the right town quickly. I was just about to call out Crux to see if he knew anything about the local area when I had an epiphany, Gemini.

Checking my magic levels I realised I had more than enough for what was needed. Gemini appeared with a simple command much to the enjoyment of young Isa who thought the twins were funny people. Once I explained what was required it took them moments to change into Hibiki and start searching using archive magic. With their help we were able to narrow down the list with several facts; the picnic area had to be directly next to the river, it had to be close by a town as when questioned Isa had walked with her family to the picnic site, and the site had to be up stream no more than a few hours journey as Isa hadn't been in the water that long. With this information Gemini was able to fine tune the list down to three towns that meet the search criteria. Once more Isa didn't recognise any names but it was a start.

Thanking Gemini I sent them back and called out Apus. After explaining what was going on and what I required Apus was more than glad to carry the both of us to the first town on the list Nasrid Village, which wasn't that far up river on the other side of the waterway. Lucky for all of us it turned out to be the right location. We had barely gotten off of Apus and started to look around when there was a scream and a young woman came running towards us. It turned out the girl Ami was a friend of Isa's older sister and knew of the girl's disappearance. Half the town had set out down river looking for the lost little girl. A quick call out to Capricorn and the old sea goat took off at a run to the river without me having to say a word.

Half an hour later Isa's family turned up and there was the expected happy reunion. Waving off the numerous offers of reward, I was about to get on my way when Isa's family offered to put me up for the night as being the least they could do. Not seeing any way out and not seeing the harm I followed the family through the village on the way home listening to Isa as she told her parents and sister of today's adventure. Much to my bemusement and delight after I explained what my magic was all about and a little bit about each of the spirit friends Isa had mentioned heard Isa state quite adamantly that when she grew up she was going to become just like her hero and have pretty sparkly people as her friends. Smiling at her enthusiasm I couldn't help but wish her luck and tell her that celestial spirits were the best friends a girl could have.