Lost Magic

Chapter 20

AN: I've kinda been on hiatus for the past two months oops?

Lucy's POV

I stare down my aunt. Once upon a time, we could've had a loving relationship. But that's just a fantasy. We chose different paths, and Reina happened to pick the wrong one. I ended up with a family: Fairy Tail. And she ended up with a guild of her own, but a dark one. One full of rage and despair. She needs to be taken down. I know that.

And yet, I can't help but see my mother when I look at her. Their personalities are vastly different, but physically, you can definitely see the family resemblance. They both have the same brown eyes and golden blonde hair that flows down their back like a waterfall of light. But my mother's eyes were warm and kind, while Reina's are cold, hard, and unrelenting. And I know for sure that I had never seen the expression on her face that my aunt has right now: Pure anger. And a little bit of sadness?

That doesn't make any sense. I shake my head. Suddenly I feel my body bend over, my arms unconsiously wrapped around my stomach. I choke, finally feeling the delayed pain. I escape, flying backward. I look up over at Reina, glaring. She had punched me with all of her might. I may be this woman's niece, but her eyes tell me that she doesn't care; anyone who refuses to obey her recieves no mercy. Well that's what I get for daydreaming in the middle of a fight.

I straighten and clap my hands together, then slowly pull them apart. A staff extends between my palms. It is gold with a sphere at the top, a blue jewel hanging suspended in the middle of it.

"Slow down," I say, my voice calm and steady. "Time." Everything immediately slows. I glide over to Reina. I get in a few good kicks and one really good uppercut before time starts to resume its normal pace. That's the restriction for this spell, you can slow time down for 15 seconds-once per summoning of the staff. I'm not quite sure how I know this, but I do.

Reina's body jerks every which way, bruises already starting to form on her arms, tears in her clothing ripping even more. She tilts her head back, her face glowering at me. She stomps on the ground once. A tall column of stone appears. She stomps again. Another column sprouts from the ground. She stomps once more, but nothing happens that time. She throws her hands forward, silently commanding the earth to do her bidding. The twin towers shoot toward me with impressive speed, but not fast enough. I flip upwards mid-air, narrowly avoiding the collision. That was close.

Then, I hear a low rumbling sound. Behind me? I whip my head around just in time to see a third pillar inches from my body. When did she...?! It smashes into my midsection with a sickening crack, throwing me to the hard ground. I lay there for a few moments. My fingers twitch. I push myself up with my elbows and climb to my feet, my body aching all over. I gently feel my ribs and sigh in relief. Nothing's broken. At least I don't think so. I look over at Reina smirking at me.

"You thought this would be an easy fight. Think again."

I have to admit, she's stronger than I thought. But even so, I can beat her. I glance to the side and see Fairy Tail watching from a distance.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

I can do this. I spit on the ground. Blood. I sprint toward her, simultaneously chanting. I start to hum as I run, not quite feeling like myself. I flip over a boulder hurdled at me. I strange feeling starts to seep into my body. A small smile starts to appear on my face. Finally reaching Reina, I pull my fist back.

"I'm not that weak, Reina." My chant kicking in, my body begins to feel lighter and I thrust my hand toward the woman in front of me, hate and sadness and fear waging war within her eyes that look too much like my mother's.

My hand freezes, inches from her face, my head suddenly throbbing. I look up at Reina, bent over in agony. "What did you-" I choke out, my vision blurring. "Her figure blurs over, and I'm engulfed in darkness.

I gasp, taking in a deep breath. Everything turns blindingly bright and I see a person walk over to me.

"Who..." I look the man up and down. "Are you?"

He frowns as he stares at me through his plain white mask. "This has got to be a joke."

"Excuse me?" I can't believe this guy. "That's a rude thing to say to someone you just met."

"Do you think I care? Now hand over the shell."

"What? I don't know about you, but I don't carry seashells with me to give to strange men. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be." I spin around, but before I can even take a step, my legs freeze in place. The man suddenly comes into my vision, walking around my body to stand in front of me. I grit my teeth. "Let. Me. Go."

"No one ever listens to me," He says and shakes his head with exasperation. I snap my hands out and try to hit him, but he ducks, easily avoiding my attack like I was a kitten who tried to bite his finger.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. I'm not your enemy here. I simply want the Celestial Queen's shell. Then we can go our separate ways. Just tell me where you put it."

"I don't know what you're talking about. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you anything."

The man sighs. "This could've been so easy, but you just had to be difficult, didn't you?" His hands reach toward me and I try to pull away, but my body won't listen to me. His hands are cold as they tap my forehead.

A moment later. "...That sly devil."

"At least tell me what's going on."

A sigh. "Keys are too weak to hold powerful spirits, so an object is needed. We call them shells."

"But I summoned the Celestial King before by-" I look at the ground. "...Sacrificing a Zodiac key." Aquarius.

"Did you? Well, you can do that, but that's a one time thing. He's too powerful for one person to be in constant control of him." My eyes glance to his hands and they ball into fists. "So they say."

I clear my throat.

"Anyway, the Celestial Queen is just as powerful as the King, except when she's summoned, you can only use about half of her power. 'To keep a check on how much power a human can use' or something." He shrugs. "It's still a lot of magic power, though."

"And this has to do with me how...?"

"Well, for some-" He throws his hands up in the air. "-unfathomable reason," He locks eyes with me, and for the first time, I notice his eyes. They say eyes are windows to the soul. And if that's true, I'm not sure he has a soul. "I'm picking up her magic waves from your body. And that's impossible unless-" He leans forward, watching me with the eyes of a madman.

I tilt my chin up, trying not to feel intimidated. "Unless what?"

"The Celestial Queen's shell. It's you."