Celestial Spirit World

"Greetings, Princess!" As soon as Lucy stepped into the Celestial Spirit World, Virgo greeted to her happily, jumping up and down while clapping.

"Good morning, Virgo," Lucy greeted back.

"My dear Lucy, what brings you here?" Taurus the bull asked, smiling, with his heart eyes.

"Is there any snake celestial spirit in this world?" Lucy questioned while walking quickly to sit on one of the chairs. She sat down.

"Princess, may I ask why you're asking this?" Virgo asked.

"Ahh, it's hard to explain. Answer my question first."

"There is one; Ophiuchus the spirit of the snake chamber, also known as the 13th gate."

"Do you know who is Ophiuchus's key holder?"

"I don't know, Princess," Virgo replied, "The celestial spirit world is strict about leaking the information of strong celestial spirit mages."

"Piri Piri.. Lucy, is there something that troubles you?" Gemini asked, "Tell us... Gemi.. mini can solve everything."

"SHUT UP, YOU TWINS!" Virgo shouted, "STOP BEING NOISY."

"Virgo, please don't shout at them," Lucy ordered. She saw Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, and Cancer standing in a line behind Gemini. Sagittarius, Aries who was carrying Nicola, and the silver keys spirits were standing at a distance from her, watching silently.

"I dreamed of a girl.. with long light-blue hair. I think she is a celestial spirit mage who can summon Ophiuchus the giant snake."

"She must be a strong celestial spirit mage," Leo commented, as he adjusted his sunglasses,  a gesture he adopted since he gained his human form, "Lucy, can you tell us more?"

      She nodded, "In my dream, the girl I mentioned is fighting the members of Grimoire Heart. I heard that.. she is from the Aguria Family." She looked at her newly celestial spirits, only to see sorrowful expressions from the ram spirit and twin spirit.

       Scorpio clenched his fists, "Lucy," he called his master, "There is something you should know. I'll tell you what happened exactly back then. Virgo, Leo, just listen, and don't interrupt."

      Lucy tensed up at the seriousness of the atmosphere.

"Lucy, as you know, Hannah-sama was our keys-holder before she passed them to Angel-sama," Scorpio stated, which earned a nod from the celestial spirit mage. "She is the second-in-command of the Celestial Clan, and also Layla Heartfilia's trusted best friend."

"Layla Heartfilia, the guardian of Celestial Village, was revered as a Saintness by Sabertooth citizens," Cancer continued, "She was the owner of four zodiac spirits; Leo, Virgo, Capricorn, and me."

'No.. something's wrong. If you and Leo were in the possession of Heartifilia's saintess, then how did your keys end up in my hands? Shouldn't your keyholder be Princess Lucelia?'

      Her thoughts were interrupted by an angry shout. "Why're you mentioning that traitor's name?" Virgo asked in rage.

"Virgo, can you please be quiet?" Cancer said, "Let me finish til the end."

"Back then, when the village was under attack, Leo, Virgo, and Capricorn opened their gate, to fight the invaders. I was summoned by Layla-sama. All of us were sent to different locations. However, Capricorn, the second strongest among us, betrayed us. Virgo was severely wounded by him and was forced to go back to the spirit world. Her key was also taken by him."

"Capricorn's next target was me. I fought him back, but there was a huge gap between us. Before Capricorn could harm me, Leo stepped in, and he managed to defeat Capricorn. Its impact was unfortunate though, Leo lost his human form and his memory. Leo went back to the spirit world, and I took his key to Layla-sama. Virgo's keys and Capricorn's keys disappeared since then."

"When I met Layla-sama again, she was with her one-year-old baby. Beside her was Hannah-sama, and the youngest Aguria, a one-year-old baby. Layla-sama told me that she wanted to pass her keys to her daughter; my gate key and the lion gate key."

"WHAT?" Leo and Lucy claimed simultaneously.

"To avoid the catastrophe, they switched the babies."

"WHAT NONSENSE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, CANCER?" Virgo shouted.

"Layla-sama and Hannah-sama cast an ancient transformation spell on Yukino-san, sacrificing their magic and lifespans... so that baby Yukino could maintain the appearance of the real you for several years."

"The babies were taken by Anna-sama, the second miss of the Celestial Clan. Yukino-san was adopted by the royal family and became Lucelia Eucliffe. Anna-sama sent her niece away, with her maid. The baby was named 'Lucy Heart'," ignoring the silence, the crab spirit continued, "Aries, Gemini, and Scorpio didn't know what happened because Hannah-sama broke their contact beforehand. Leo's memory loss... and also Virgo and Capricorn's absence during the switch... I was the only celestial spirit who knew the whole truth," he let out a sigh after explaining, "But I couldn't speak it out."

"At times, intertwined fates resist unraveling, regardless of how deeply we concealed ourselves. 'Lucy Heart' was ordered by King Eucliffe to substitute as Princess Lucelia."

"WHAT THE HECK."

"Lucy-sama, you're Lucy Heartiflia, the real heiress of your clan," Scorpio said, "Your mother is Layla Heartfilia. I'm sorry, Lucy. I hid it from you all the time."

"Are you telling me that Princess was sent away, and the Aguria girl stole her status for many years? Then Eucliffe Royal Family forced Princess to come here because a Royal Princess living in Fairy Tail is dangerous? Has Princess been living as a fake princess here the whole time?"

"This is not Yukino-sama's fault, Virgo. She was only one year old," Scorpio said, folding his arms, "she knows nothing.

       Leo looked at Lucy, no longer interested in Virgo's desperate anger nor her quarrels with other spirits, "Lucy, are you okay?" Leo said, noticing that his beloved master was trying to hold back her tears. He knew that Lucy had been burdened the whole time she had been pretending to be Lucelia... everything she gained in Fairy Tail was not hers... her friends, her new family, and even Laxus Dreyar.

        He was also still in shock, but compared to Lucy, what Cancer told them weere merely new revelations to him.

"When I heard about Celestial village from Angel on the battlefield, it was like a sad story for me, but nothing more. I didn't even feel guilty because 'I'm not Lucy Heartfilia', and 'Sacred Celestial Village was nothing to do with me'. My priority was to defeat Angel, and save Wendy."

      Tears flow down her face, "Even when Brain said that he killed the elders of the clan, I didn't react angrily, because I selfishly thought that the deaths of the elders of Celestial village had nothing to do with me. I had to stay unbothered in the battle. How patheti c am I... I couldn't do anything when the man who killed my mother was standing in front of me..."

"Lucy!"

"Princess!"

"Lucy-sama!"

      And then.. what Macbeth told her earlier alarmed her mind.

"You," the voice rang her again and again... "based on what Angel told me, you were their target. They wanted you, but your mother didn't hand you over. So, they destroyed everything."

"Recently, I've been thinking about one thing - I don't want the history repeated, Princess Lucelia."

"There is a possibility.. that Grimoire Heart might attack Magnolia directly."

"I'm sorry to say this... Brain knew long ago that Grimoire Heart is after you. He, too, needed your blood to resurrect the legendary black wizard. The reason Oracion Seis started the plan so early was because Brain didn't want Grimoire Heart to interfere his plan. Now that Oracion Seis has fallen, one obstacle is out of the game for Grimoire Heart. If they want something from you for an unknown reason, they won't wait longer."

'Why is all of this happening to me?'

• • • • •

June 20th, X524 (2 PM)
Prince's Manor, Magnolia

      Through the magic gate that transported her back to the Earthland, Lucy found herself in her room. She spent one hour and fifteen minutes in the celestial spirit world, the amount of time which was equal to five days in her world.

      She looked at the clock, it was two in the afternoon. She quickly opened the door, planning to go to Lamia shop which was the usual hangout of His Highness.

       In the garden, her steps halted. She saw the familiar blond prince leaning against a pillar of the gazebo.

"Blondie, you're back," Laxus said. For the past four days, he had been waiting for her return, without leaving his manor for his usual meetings. He knew she was in the Celestial Spirit World, the safest place for her. However, he was still worried for her. Only when he sensed her presence in the manor, he felt relief.

      Lucy walked fast, to stand in front of him, "Your Highness, Grimoire Heart is -"

"I know, Blondie," he gave her a half-smile, "Grimoire Heart has seven sub-group leaders and one hundred members. They won't be a threat even if they attack Magnolia." He said, not wanting her to feel burdened.

"Your Highness, I-"

"Let's get inside first," he said, as he led the way to the main house. Lucy followed him silently, ignoring the look of strangeness on his face earlier.

• • • • •

The study room, Prince Laxus's manor

"Are you okay, Blondie?" he asked, looking at her. "You have something to tell me, right? Don't tell me you disappeared for five days just to come back with Grimoire Heart's future invasion," he said with a half-smile.

"Your Highness, did Erza-san report you everything?"

"Yes."

"Including about Leo the lion key?"

"Yes," he sighed, "Others don't know that Sabertooth sent a fake princess to Fairy Tail. Lucy, you were sent here because of your strong magic. There was a trick, wasn't it? If the lion key was once owned by the leaders of Heartfilia Clan, and you told me you had the lion key since you were young..."

"Is it a dream, isn't it? I mean, my life. Cancer told me that I'm Lucy Heartfilia. Leo didn't know the past because he had memory loss. Aries and Cancer told me that Lady Heartfilia and Lady Aguria cast a powerful spell so that she could live her life as me. I was hidden, and that girl faced the dangers instead of me," she murmured slowly, as though teetering on the brink of losing her sense, "I can't I can't understand why they did this... just because of me?"

"Lucy, listen to me, I believe Lady Heartfilia did her best to protect you. It would be worse if Grimoire Heart got you."

      Tears streamed down her face as she whispered, "They all perished because of me... just for my sake."

      He came to understand her thoughts, 'Blondie was always carefree, and didn't offend anyone. The truth about her origin could profoundly impact her. She was broken by the weight of guilt for the villagers' death.' He sighed heavily.

"Macbeth said Grimoire Heart might attack Magnolia. Someday, if you have to choose between Magnolia and me..."

"Blondie, stop," "He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze."It's okay to feel sorrow, Blondie, but don't let your emotions take over."

"Give me up, so that Magnolia will be safe."

"Lucy, do you know what're you talking about?" He raised his voice, with a slight anger, "You're underestimating us. Do you think we will abandon you because of this small threat? Grimoire Heart is the dark guild we have to deal with, even when you're not the reason. Trust us okay? Dreyar Family and Three Clans Alliance can protect you."

"But, I..." Before she could continue, she was pulled towards him. Before she could realize what was happening, she felt his lips against hers...

     Laxus had enough of listening to the nonsense from the girl who was talking to him with unstable emotions. Her voice was filled with sadness and pain. Was she scared of someone gonna die because of her?

      In an effort to quiet her, he drew her nearer, his lips meeting hers in a tender embrace. Initially a gentle kiss, it soon ignited an irresistible embrace, urging him to prolong this intimate connection. With his hand caressing her silky hair, he deepened the kiss...

      She was the first to break the kiss. He just smiled at the girl who was now standing in front of him silently, "Never tell me again to hand you over to Grimoire Heart."

"Excuse me. I need to talk to Lucy," A familiar voice interrupted them, causing Lucy to turn around. She saw the orange-haired young man with leonine-ear-like hair standing next to them.

"So?" Laxus asked, as he folded his arms, sending an intense glare to the lion spirit.

"Hey, what do you mean So? Can you please leave us alone?"

"Of course not, this is my manor," He responded with a smirk.

'Damn, that bastard,' Leo cursed silently, 'If Lucy doesn't care about you much, I would've already beat you long ago.'

"Leo, what's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"I'm worried for you, so I follow you," Leo said in a serious tone, "Little did I expect, to hear you saying to hand you over to Grimoire Heart. Lucy, are you insane?"

"Leo-"

"I lost my memory, so I can't recall the past. But I know of one thing; Why did Layla Heartfilia and Hannah Aguria give up their life? Why did Yukino Aguria live in your stead? And why did the members of Heartfilia Clan, and the Celestial villagers sacrifice their lives instead of handing you to the dark guild? DON'T YOU KNOW? YOUR LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIRS, TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT THEY COULDN'T LET THEM TAKE YOU AWAY."

"We don't know what Grimoire Heart wants, but we can't let them succeed in their plans. So, stop suffering over the past you couldn't change. You've to stay strong and fight Grimoire Heart back, and take revenge for your people so that their sacrifices won't be in vain."

       With tears rolling down his eyes, Leo knelt in front of his master, his hands shielding his face, "What will we do if you die, Lucy? You're the one who swore that you will protect us. Who will protect us if you die? We, your spirits, can also protect you so that you can be safe and happy... So, let us protect you this time. Just don't leave us behind."

      Lucy knelt beside him, and hugged him, "I'm sorry, Leo. I'm sorry." Her conscious mind finally seized control of her unstable emotions, after witnessing the sight of her best friend's tears, "Believe in me one more time. I'll never leave you guys, I promise."

      Laxus watched them from beside them silently, he didn't feel any anger or jealousy toward the lion... only feeling pain for her, making it hard for him to even breathe. One thing remained certain... he was determined to prevent the history from repeating itself.

^_^