Breaking the Seal - Killing the Soul

This is the old story... just here for the sake of comparing or if (O__o?) someone likes this one better...???

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Breaking the Seal, Killing the Soul


The battle raged around Lucy. Her magical resources had dried up long ago and only Loki was left of her stellar spirits, protecting her with his own, alarmingly fast, disappearing magic. Around them the members of Fairy Tail fought with all their might against the overly powerful members of the illegal guild and in the middle of this desperate situation was Igneel, the fire dragon and Natsu’s foster parent.

After all the pain Natsu and his friends had gone through, the whole guild helping them out, to find Igneel after they had gotten a hint on his whereabouts, they had discovered with horror that the mighty beast had been sealed up and was used as a mere reserve of magic for an illegal dark guild. Just as the members of Fairy Tail had started to have a look at the seal they had been discovered and attacked on the spot. There had been no time to analyse the seal and so they fought around the dragon who could only gaze sadly through his eyes to his son who battled with his life on the line.

A blow of a nearby impact tumbled Lucy a few meters away and threw her onto the ground, right next to the seal boundary, a ring of floating symbols. As Lucy sat up she touched the seal by mistake.

And she stopped right in her tracks.

Touching a seal shouldn’t have any effect on her, a mage not concerned by seals except those for the summoning keys. And yet she stopped and after a few seconds she touched it again, this time with both hands, just to be sure.

There it was, this feeling she knew so well – the feeling of concentrated star magic on her skin, warm, pulsating and alive.

A foreboding thought came to her mind and she called Loki to her while jumping to the side to avoid a blind magic shot.

“Loki, are the Pleiades in the stellar world?”

“What?”

“Just answer me.”

“No...”

Loki looked quite puzzled by her question.

“... I haven’t seen them in years. They’ve been missing since... ten years or so? Why do you want to know right now?”

Just as Lucy opened her mouth to answer the personified constellation of the lion had t pull her away violently, saving both of their lives only by a hair’s breadth. Lying flat on the ground, panting and their hearts beating fast, they just stared at each other in their amazement of having survived. Then reality came back and Lucy, at a loss of words and too scared to speak what she feared, just pulled his hands and made him touch the seal.

At first astonishment blinked on his face only to convert into horror. He pulled his hand away while looking at her in disbelief.

“This can’t be! This just can’t be a Pleiades’ seal!”

Lucy grabbed his shoulders.

“Think about it! This is a stellar seal. The Pleiades’ seal is strong enough to seal a God so a dragon would be no problem at all!”

“But...”

“There are seven Pleiades, each with its own element. How many dragons are left?”

Loki’s expression was filled with horror as he whispered:

“Seven... one for each element.”

Lucy let go of him and scrabbled towards where the dragon’s head was as she could see with her now activated stellar sight that the seal had been fixed there, but Loki grabbed her wrist and shouted:

“Don’t you know the price for breaking the Pleiades’ seal?!?!”

Firm and unwavering she looked directly into his face.

“I know.”

The vibrant sound of her voice summoned something in his soul. A wish to obey her, to follow her until the very bitter end was born inside of him for the first time in his life as a stellar spirit after having served various masters with so different feelings towards them. Like a knight he sank onto his knee.

“Yes, my lady.”

He could hear her chuckle.

“You’re weird, Loki.”

“Sorry.”

“Well then... let’s break the Pleiades’ seal. Igneel is a fire dragon so the sealing Pleiade would be...”

“Aquamarine, the water Pleiade.”

“Yes... How much longer can you exist in this world?”

“Hmmm... if I don’t fight... maybe 15 minutes?”

“Good... I want you to run to... who do trust the most in this guild?”

“I trust all of them but for this... I’d hand myself over to Makarov.”

“Okay. You will bring the keys to Makarov and then open the gate on my signal.”

“What about Aquamarine’s key?”

“... I’m sure there will be somebody who protects my body.”

“...”

Both of them said nothing when Loki took Lucy in his arms. His hands shivered at the thought of what would happen next. She noticed it and patted his back. A bitter tang of sadness was mixed in her voice as she whispered:

“Choose someone nice as your next master.”

Like a child he shook his head.

“Do me the favour and stay with Fairy Tail, ‘kay?”

Lucy extracted herself from his arms and took her ring of keys. She kissed them as one and whispered:

“From now on you’re free... Fare well.”

Despite her iron will her hands shook slightly as she deposed the key ring in his hands before closing his fingers around them. The act of giving stellar keys to a stellar spirit was the same as ending all contracts at once and Lucy felt the magical bonds between her and the stellar spirits vanish like the warmth of the sun disappears at the end of summer.

Loki looked one last time into her eyes, his soul’s pain painted in his eyes, before he got onto his feet and ran in hectic zigzags over to Makarov. Lucy gritted her teeth to vanquish her fear and scrabbled over to Igneel’s head. His eyes, shortly leaving his son for a second, asked her a silent question, somewhat ordering and pleading at the same time. The girl smiled and said:

“Look at Nastsu, you’ll shortly be free.”

Then she closed her eyes and touched the seal with her hands and her forehead. Feeling the pulsating force of the Pleiade invading her body she whispered:

“Soul, dive!”

Then everything became black.

Lucy needed a second to get her senses back as she came into existence in the abyss between all souls. Her astral body was naked but she didn’t mind and began floating downwards where she felt the presence of the Pleiade. It was hidden far downwards in the sea of consciousness that connects every soul, dead or alive for eternity, and as she dove down deeper and deeper she began to feel the side effects of soul diving at such a depth. The extremities of her astral body started to fall apart, piece by piece, and only tremendous efforts in keeping her inner balance prevented her from disintegrating completely.

The sleeping Pleiade was floating just beneath her, her ethereal beauty surpassing that of any person she had ever seen before. Lucy wanted to stay where she was, not sharing the fate of all the stellar mages who had attempted a high summoning ritual before. But then the happy faces of her friends and guild mates floated before her eyes and her resolve to save them and to make the most special one happy once more stood firmly and proudly.

With no single hint of hesitation left she extended her astral arm and touched shining blue core of the water Pleiade. Aquamarine stirred lightly as the young stellar mage infiltrated her century old soul. An astronomical amount of memories assaulted Lucy’s mind but she was searching for the original one, the memory of the Pleiade’s creation to give her the Pleiade’s true name. Just when Lucy felt her spirit stagger on the verge of insanity she saw the glow of the original memory. It filled her up and finally let her cut off the connection to Aquamarine. Numb and orientationless she floated in the sea of consciousness before pulling herself back together.

“Pleiade of the water, heed my call.”

Aquamarine stirred lightly.

“Rise for I know thy true name, guardian of the water’s stars.”

The glow from the Pleiade’s soul pulsated faster and faster as she was close to break the slavery she was under. Lucy once more stretched out her astral arm but this time she touched the controlling diadem on the Pleiade’s head.

“.........”

Aquamarine’s true name made her throat sore but it had the desired effect. Eyes bluer than a billion of sapphires and deeper that the primal sea flew open while the gush of raw magic shaking through the abyss threw Lucy back out into the real world.

The seal lit up light a blue sun, throwing everybody out of their battle rhythm. All stared, either wondering or horrified at the centre of the battlefield. The sealing rings around Igneel were splitting up, building a multitude of vibrating and moving seals. The moment Lucy opened her eyes, a gush of blood filled her mouth and she vomited her own life flowing through her veins.

A side glance told her, while she still coughed and spat out some more blood, that Loki was looking at her and even though she could only move her lips soundlessly she bid him farewell as his expression darkened just before he raised his arms. Sparkles of raw star magic sprang forth from his fingers as he opened the great stellar door above all. A sky more starry than could be seen anywhere on earth opened in the previously ash grey sky filled with ominous storm clouds and Loki disappeared in a shower of stardust.

A murmur went through the now immobile crowd as Lucy’s body lit up. Her clothes disintegrated because of the magic seeping through her body from the stellar world, concentrating in her heart. It’s strength pulled her up in the air, leaving her in suspension with her glowing body, her hair grew and grew before changing to an ethereal white. Although nothing covered her, the light emitting from her body was so blinding that her contours disappeared.

Almost as if time had been slowed down she reached out with her hands and the moment she touched the vibrant seal, hell broke loose around her. With a united howl of desperation, hate, anger and determination the mages of the illegal guild stormed towards the floating girl whose body was now starting to get surrounded by similar sealing rings. In a marvellous reaction the mages of Fairy Tail fought them to protect their comrade, sensing that she was their only hope to unseal Igneel and to get out alive from the battle. Even Igneel tried to stand up on his legs although weakened by the sealing magic, tearing at the dreadful seal that had subjugated him for so long.

The seal unwounded, each ring dissolving and joining those around Lucy. At the same time cracks began to form on her skin where her body started to wither and become dust falling to the ground in a glowing heap. Some of her comrades stopped and stared open-mouthed at their disappearing friend but the cries of rage of their brothers and sisters in arms brought them back to their task of protecting Lucy.

Then again, after a small eternity of struggle, an eerie silence came over the battlefield. Igneel was now on his feet, towering majestically over everybody in his full height and only the arms and Lucy’s head were left from her floating body. A single, weak ring floated around Igneel who could easily break such a feeble seal on his own but he just looked at his saviour.

Lucy turned her head in the direction of Natsu the dragon slayer. She no longer had any lungs for air nor could she bring out her voice, but her eyes, full of quiet sorrow, bid him farewell as her lips moved to the three words her heart had longed to say. A single tear pearled down from her round, gentle eyes before the last sealing ring left Igneel in a shower of light, closing in on her soul and completely merge with her own seals. She crumbled away, falling down to the rest of her dust while the sky returned to its previous state.

A roar so strong that everybody unprepared was thrown to the ground came from Igneel. He protected the glowing heap between his front feet, throwing fire at his opponents who left as fast as they could, pursued by the mages of Fairy Tail. Only Natsu stayed behind looking at his foster father and then to the dust that seemed to move. Igneel looked at him and whispered as good as a dragon could whisper:

“Natsu.”

“Igneel.”

The dragon didn’t answer and just bowed his head down to the glowing heap, winking Natsu to come closer. With legs like made of lead the called one staggered over and fell on his knees. Under his desperate eyes the dust reassembled again to Lucy’s body, naked and defenceless on the bare, stony ground.

“Take her, Natsu. We all owe her so much, you can’t imagine it.”

Natsu covered her with his scarf and his jacket before he took her in his lap, pressing her cold body against his hot skin.

“She is not breathing, Igneel.”

Tears flowed already in the tone of his voice while he just held her, head bowed down to her. Igneel could feel the pain of the one he called his son but the terrible truth could not be avoided. Natsu laid a finger on her neck, and then listened on her ribcage while the first tears began to flow down. He didn’t notice the other members of the guild coming closer, his world now revolved around Lucy in his arms and Igneel in front of him.

“Igneel... she... her heart... she...”

The words failed to leave his lips, telling the dreadful truth. The dragon sighed and said with his low and powerful voice that still held a gentle sound:

“She is dead, Natsu.”

Natsu just looked at him then at the corpse in his arms before a howl of despair escaped his throat into the sky. Tears flowed down his face, his pain reflected in the face of all the mages around him. They cried silently or lamented loudly with friends or just howled at the sky, powerless and helpless before the tragic destiny of their friend.

It was Makarov who took on the heartless task of stopping them:

“Listen, my children!”

The mages looked up to their master, either puzzled or angry at the interruption f their mourning.

“It isn’t over yet. Lucy has left us the chance to free all the dragons. Let us show her the respect she has merited and let us never rest until every last bit of this quest has been completed!”

“How could she leave us a quest?!? She’s DEAD!!!”, came an angry voice from the crowd.

A murmur went through the assembly. Most of them hadn’t really understood what had happened and now, after the first shock had passed, came the time of questions. Again it was Makarov who broke the sea of murmurs:

“Loki will explain but for that I need a voluntary to form a momentary contract with him, else he won’t be able to come back to this world.”

After a few minutes of deliberating Erza was chosen as Loki’s new owner. A few trials of activating the stellar key later, Loki stood before the assembled mages, his face pale and turned to the ground in shame. Silence broke over the usually loud guild when Loki began to speak:

“Listen guys... Lucy... Lucy discovered during the battle that Igneel’s seal was actually a very special kind of stellar spirit. In fact, Igneel was sealed by a Pleiade, one of the highest stellar spirits after our king. The seven Pleiades, each standing for an element, were created to seal even Gods. To seal and to unseal such a Pleiades’ seal, a so-called “High ceremony” or “High summoning” is needed and only very, very seldom have stellar mages actually survived this. Lucy was at the end of her magical reserves, there was no way that she could have survived it and yet she chose to complete it anyway, knowing very well that it meant death for her. Now there are seven Pleiades, just as there are seven high dragons. Igneel, the high fire dragon was sealed by Aquamarine, the water Pleiade, and all the other dragons are sealed away by the Pleiade of their enemy element as Water extinguishes fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts plants, plants colonise earth, earth swallows lightning, lightning out-speeds air while air whirls up water. The Pleiades can only be used as seals when their sealing abilities are activated at once. So now the seal is weakened because Aquamarine is missing. If we proceed carefully and with plan, we will be able to free all the dragons if we use Aquamarine as a weapon against the fire Pleiade.”

“How can we use her? I don’t see any key!”, said someone.

Loki had an immensely sad expression when he turned around towards Natsu.

“Natsu... thank you for looking after her body but I need her corpse now.”

Natsu pressed the lifeless body of his beloved friend against his chest before he stood up with almost wobbling legs and walked those few steps to Loki who also came towards him as if each step was worth a day’s march. Delicately the dragon slayer deposed her in the stellar spirit’s arms and caressed her cheek one last time before stepping back. Loki kneeled down, supporting the upper body of his previous master with one arm while he deposed her graceful legs on the ground.

“Forgive me, guys, for what I am going to do.”

His whispered magic chant suddenly elongated his nails, transforming them into claws and just as something dreadful dawned on some of his comrades, he fulfilled his dirty job before they could react. Fast like the wind his hand flew down and tore a hole in his kind master’s chest, right above her heart. A cry of anger went through Fairy Tail but before Natsu could tear Loki’s arm away from Lucy’s body, Igneel’s powerful roar stopped them all.

“STOP IT!!!”

Makarov too came forward to the two immobilised mages and laid his hand on Natsu’s arm ready to hit Loki with all his might.

“Stop it, Natsu. Don’t you see that it’s painful for him as well?”

Natsu looked with big eyes at the tears flowing down Loki’s face as his fingers searched deeper and deeper inside of Lucy’s ribcage. Suddenly he pulled something out. In his soiled hand lay Lucy’s heart, a now useless pump of muscles. Most of the mages had to swallow and for some it was too much and they had to look away. Loki glanced at Natsu and said dragon slayer understood without a word as he took the body of his beloved friend in his arms while Loki cut up the heart with his claws and took out a delicate key of glass, translucent and shining in the pale light of the sun almost hidden by mourning veils of grey clouds. With endless tenderness the stellar spirit laid back the heart of his master, crying bitter tears. Then he stood up again to say loudly while holding up his hand:

“This is what Lucy died for. Now it’s up to us, the mages of Fairy Tail, to end what she began!”

After these words he gave the key to their master and vanished, leaving a bereaved and yet grimly determined guild behind.

The tales of how the mages of Fairy Tail freed each of the dragons in fantastic battles or adventures soon became a precious heritage to mankind’s past. The core of Fairy Tail, namely the three dragon slayers who had finally been reunited with their dragons, as well as their closest friends soon became some of the most powerful and famous mages. Lucy’s existence, however, was soon forgotten by the rest of the world, only mentioned sometimes as some mage who gave up her life to unbind the first seal. But Natsu the salamander, who was called the strongest mage existing at his prime age of 25, spent his life in celibacy, travelling around and every time he came back to his beloved guild, he would bring flowers or souvenirs from the places he had been to a small, insignificant grave in the ruined house of a once wealthy merchants’ family, as if he wnet to see his lover. One day his corpse was found sitting peacefully in front of the grave as old age had burned away his life. He smiled in a quiet happiness that is seldom given to humans.