Lucy - POV
I couldn't stop thinking about him.
Three days had passed since our return to Magnolia, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw Loke's face. Pale. Frightened. Running from me as if I were a threat.
What had I done to him? Was my breath bad that day? Had I offended him without realising? Had I—
"Lucy, are you listening?"
I blinked, coming back to reality. Natsu was in front of me, waving a hand in front of my face with an impatient expression. Happy was floating beside him, his head tilted.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you want to go on a mission! There's a good one on the board, about defeating some bandits in a forest. Sounds fun!" Natsu smiled, clearly excited at the prospect of punching people.
"Ah… maybe later."
Natsu's smile faded. "You've been weird since we got back. Are you ill?"
"No, I just…" I hesitated. How could I explain that I was obsessed with the fact that the most sociable bloke in the guild was running from me as if I had a contagious disease? "I'm just thinking about some things."
"Thinking too much is bad for you," Happy declared wisely. "You should eat a fish. Fish solves everything."
"I don't think fish will solve this, Happy."
"You never know until you try!"
"That's true," Natsu agreed. "Once I was confused about something and I ate a whole fish and then I—"
"Was still confused," Happy completed.
"—was still confused, but at least I wasn't hungry!"
I should have been annoyed by their logic, but it was so absurdly Natsu and Happy that I almost smiled.
Almost.
"Maybe later, alright? I need to… sort something out first."
Natsu studied me for a moment with that strange intensity he sometimes had, the same one he used when he sniffed out something wrong. Then he shrugged.
"Alright. But if you change your mind, we'll be at the mission board! Come on, Happy!"
"Aye, sir!"
The two of them ran off, probably to cause trouble somewhere. I sighed, sinking further into the bar stool. Mira had given me a juice half an hour ago, but it remained untouched in front of me.
Loke.
What was going on with him?
The opportunity arose when I saw Gray sitting alone at a table, drinking an iced coffee. He looked relaxed, shirtless (of course, when was he EVER wearing a shirt?), flicking through a newspaper distractedly.
I stood up before I could change my mind.
"Gray?"
He looked up. "Hm?"
"Can I ask you something?" I sat in front of him without waiting for an invitation. "About Loke."
Something in Gray's expression changed. Subtle, but noticeable. His shoulders tensed slightly.
"What about him?"
"He's been… weird. Avoiding me. And he looks ill." I propped my elbows on the table, trying to look casual and probably failing miserably. "You've been friends for longer. Do you know what it could be?"
Gray was silent for a moment, his gaze lost on some distant point. The ice in his coffee tinkled softly as he swirled the glass.
"Loke's always been a bit of a mystery," he said finally. "He came to the guild about three years ago, made friends easily with everyone, became popular with the girls…"
"I already knew that," I muttered. "The man flirts with lampposts."
Gray let out a short laugh. "Yeah, he's like that. But…" he paused, seeming to consider his next words. "There's one thing he's never got over."
"What?"
"His girlfriend. Karen." Gray took a sip of his drink, and something in his expression grew darker. "Karen Lilica. She was from another guild, Blue Pegasus. She died three years ago, shortly before Loke showed up here."
My heart clenched. "That's terrible…"
"It is. He was pretty cut up about it. Never talks about it, but…" Gray shrugged. "Sometimes I think he blames himself, you know? For what happened to her."
"Why would he blame himself?"
"I don't know the details. I just know that after she died, he changed. Became more… how can I put it…" Gray frowned, searching for the right word. "Determined to enjoy every moment. As if he knew his time was limited."
Something in Gray's words sent a chill down my spine. As if he knew his time was limited.
"Gray… Karen. What kind of mage was she?"
He thought for a second. "Celestial mage, I think. Why?"
The world seemed to stop for a moment.
Celestial mage.
Loke had dated a celestial mage.
And now he was running from me, another celestial mage, as if his life depended on it.
"Lucy? You've suddenly gone pale."
"I-I'm fine. Just… thanks, Gray. That helped."
I stood up before he could ask any more questions, my mind already spinning with possibilities I didn't want to consider.
Magnolia's library was surprisingly well-stocked.
I'd never paid much attention to it before; my visits to the city usually involved more shopping and cafés than academic research, but now I was silently grateful to whoever had decided to keep extensive archives of magic journals and magazines.
I spent two hours searching through dusty shelves, piles of yellowed paper, anything that mentioned Karen Lilica. The librarian gave me a funny look when I asked for access to the old archives, but she didn't ask any questions.
Small blessings.
And slowly, the story began to form.
Karen Lilica. Celestial mage of Blue Pegasus. Famous for her beauty and power. Possessed two golden keys, Leo the Lion, and Aries the Ram.
Died three years ago on a mission.
"Accident during work," said the official obituary. "A tragic loss to the magical community."
But the articles didn't tell the whole story. There were subtle mentions, insinuations between the lines. Karen was "temperamental" with her spirits. "Demanding." An older magazine, one of those magical gossip rags, used the word "cruel."
She mistreated her spirits.
I kept reading, my stomach churning more and more.
One article mentioned that Karen's spirits had been seen with bruises that "did not match their recent missions." Another talked about how she "disciplined" Aries in public, forcing the spirit to stay in the human world for days on end as punishment.
I didn't know Aries personally, but I knew celestial spirits. I knew Aquarius, with all her difficult temper. I knew Taurus, Virgo, Cancer. They were people. They had feelings, personalities, their own wills. The idea of someone mistreating a spirit like that, treating them as if they were an object to be "disciplined"…
I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat and continued researching.
After Karen's death, her keys were dispersed. Aries eventually found a new master, someone named Angel, with few details available. But Leo…
Leo disappeared.
Simply vanished. No record of a new master. No mention of where the key went. No sightings, no summons, nothing. It was as if the Celestial Spirit of the Lion had ceased to exist.
Three years ago.
The same amount of time Loke had been in Fairy Tail.
I closed the book slowly, my hands trembling.
It couldn't be. It was madness. Celestial spirits couldn't live in the human world permanently; everyone knew that. They needed to return to the celestial world to regenerate, to maintain their physical form. Staying here for too long was…
It was…
"As if he knew his time was limited."
Gray's words echoed in my head.
And what if a spirit was banished? What if he couldn't go back?
What would happen to him?
I returned to the guild with my head spinning.
I needed more information. I needed to confirm my suspicions before confronting Loke. I needed someone who understood magic, spirits, things that weren't exactly… normal.
I needed—
"You look troubled."
The voice came from behind me, and I almost jumped out of my skin, letting out a not-at-all-dignified squeak.
Azra'il was sitting at a table in the corner, a teacup in front of her. I hadn't even noticed her when I came in. Which, considering she was right there in my field of vision, said a lot about how distracted I was.
"Azra'il! You scared me."
"That was not my intention." She took a sip of her tea, her eyes studying me with that characteristic intensity. As if she could see right through me. "You are investigating something."
It wasn't a question.
"I… yes. It's about Loke."
"Hmm."
The sound revealed nothing. Typical.
I hesitated for a second. A few months ago, I probably would have walked away; Azra'il had an aura that discouraged casual approach. But a lot had happened since then. She had saved me during the Phantom Lord attack. She had protected the guild. She had written an entire play about connection and family and not being alone.
Behind that impenetrable façade, I knew she cared. Maybe she didn't show it in the conventional way, but she cared.
I sat in front of her uninvited.
"You know Loke, don't you? He's been a member of the guild for three years."
"I do."
"Have you ever… noticed anything strange about him?"
Azra'il slowly lowered her cup. Her expression was as unreadable as ever, but something in her eyes seemed to glint for a moment. Recognition, perhaps?
"Strange how?"
"I don't know. Different. As if he's… hiding something. Something big."
Azra'il was silent for a moment, swirling the cup between her fingers. She seemed to be choosing her next words carefully, which was unusual; Azra'il usually spoke with the economy of a telegram.
"When I first met you, Lucy," she said finally, "I felt your magic. Celestial magic has a unique signature. A connection to something beyond this world."
My heart raced. "And…?"
"I have seen you summon your spirits. Aquarius, Taurus, Virgo, the others." She lifted her eyes, meeting mine. "They all carry that same signature. Something that does not completely belong to this plane of existence."
I nodded, not understanding where she was going with this.
"And I feel something very similar in Loke." Azra'il paused. "Not identical. But… of the same nature."
Her words confirmed my suspicions in a way I wasn't prepared to process. My stomach dropped.
"Are you saying that he…"
"I am not saying anything." Azra'il took another sip of her tea, her face perfectly neutral. "I am just observing that his magic is not… human. It never has been. From the first day I saw him."
"Why did you never mention it?"
"You never asked." She shrugged slightly. "And it wasn't my story to tell. It still isn't. But you're investigating, so…"
"So you're giving me clues."
"I am giving you facts. What you do with them is your choice."
I was silent for a long moment, trying to organise my thoughts. Loke. Leo. The same magical signature as my spirits. Three years in the human world.
"Azra'il… if a celestial spirit were trapped in the human world… what would happen to them?"
She looked at me over her cup, and this time I swear I saw something like sadness in those golden eyes. It was quick, a flash that disappeared almost instantly, but it was there.
"Celestial spirits are immortal in their own world. Time doesn't pass for them in the same way, and they can regenerate indefinitely." She paused. "But here… here they fade. Slowly. Like a candle burning to its end."
The blood ran cold in my veins.
"How long?"
"It depends on the spirit's power. A few months for lesser spirits. A few years for stronger spirits." Azra'il placed her cup on the table with a soft sound. "Three years would be… the limit. For one of the golden spirits."
Three years.
Loke had been in the guild for three years.
And he was pale. Weak. Fading.
I stood up abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor.
"Where is he?" I asked, my voice coming out more desperate than I intended. "Do you know where he is?"
Azra'il studied me for a moment. Not with judgement, not with curiosity. With something that looked like… understanding.
"There's a waterfall east of Magnolia. About a forty-minute walk, following the river." She paused. "He goes there often. Especially at night."
Something in her tone told me there was more.
"Why there?"
"That is something you will have to ask him."
"Thank you." I was already turning to go when her voice stopped me.
"Lucy."
I looked back.
Azra'il was still sitting in the same position, the teacup forgotten in front of her. But there was something different in her expression now. Something softer.
"Some secrets carry more weight than they seem. And some guilt…" she paused, as if choosing her words carefully, "…is carried for too long. By people who don't deserve to carry it."
I didn't completely understand what she meant. But something in her tone made me think she wasn't just talking about Loke.
"If you need help later," she added, picking up her cup again, "find me."
I nodded and ran out.
The waterfall was further than I had expected.
The path followed the river that cut through the outskirts of Magnolia, winding between ancient trees and moss-covered stones. During the day, it would probably be beautiful, the kind of place couples came for a picnic. But at night, with only the moon to light the way, it was silent in a way that made my skin crawl.
I heard the waterfall before I saw it. The sound of falling water echoed between the trees, constant and melancholic.
When I finally reached the clearing, what I saw made me stop.
The waterfall cascaded from a rocky cliff, the water silver in the moonlight. A crystal-clear pool formed at the base, surrounded by smooth stones and wildflowers that seemed almost luminous in the dark.
And on the bank of the pool, partially hidden among the flowers, was a headstone.
Simple. Small. Easy to miss if you didn't know it was there.
Karen Lilica.
Loke was kneeling before it.
Even from a distance, I could see that something was terribly wrong. His skin looked… translucent. As if the moonlight were passing through him instead of reflecting off him. His normally straight shoulders were slumped, defeated.
He looked like a ghost visiting his own grave.
"Loke."
He started, his head whipping in my direction. His eyes, always so bright, so full of charm and mischief, were dull. Tired. Old in a way that didn't match his young face.
"Lucy." His voice came out weak, hoarse. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you."
He tried to stand, but his legs faltered. He fell back onto the grass, clearly weaker than he wanted to let on. The mask of the carefree playboy had fallen completely, and what was left was just… exhaustion.
"You shouldn't… you need to leave."
"No." I took a step forward, then another. "Not until you tell me the truth."
"There's no truth to—"
"Karen Lilica." The words came out harsher than I intended, but I couldn't stop now. "Celestial mage of Blue Pegasus. Died three years ago. Possessed the keys of Leo and Aries."
Loke froze. His entire body went rigid, as if I had just plunged a knife into his back.
"Leo disappeared after her death," I continued, taking another step. The damp grass at the edge of the pool soaked my shoes, but I didn't care. "Vanished completely. No record of a new master. No mention of where the key went."
"Lucy, stop—"
"And at the same time, a bloke named Loke shows up at Fairy Tail. Charming. Popular. Avoiding celestial mages as if they were the plague."
"Please—"
"A bloke who has a magical signature that isn't human. Who is getting paler, weaker, more transparent by the day." My voice trembled, but I forced the words out. "Who comes to visit the grave of the master he lost."
"LUCY!"
His scream echoed through the clearing, startling birds in the nearby trees. But there was no anger in his voice, there was desperation. Fear. Pain.
I stopped a few steps from him, my heart hammering in my chest.
"You are Leo," I said softly. "The Celestial Spirit of the Lion."
The silence that followed was absolute. Just the sound of the waterfall, constant and indifferent.
Loke, Leo, looked at me with eyes that had seen too much, carried too much, suffered too much. The façade had completely crumbled, and what was left was a broken spirit at the end of its existence.
And then, slowly, his shoulders slumped.
"Yes." The word came out as a defeated sigh. "I am."
The world seemed to fall silent for a moment. Even the waterfall seemed more distant, the sound of the water becoming a background murmur.
Leo. The Lion. One of the twelve golden zodiac spirits.
Kneeling in front of me, slowly fading away.
"How long?" I asked, my voice coming out strange. "How long did you know that I knew?"
"I didn't." He let out a bitter, humourless laugh. "I was hoping you'd never find out. That I could just… disappear. Without involving anyone."
"Disappear." The word left a bitter taste in my mouth. "You mean die."
Leo didn't answer. Which was answer enough.
I knelt in front of him, ignoring the wet grass soaking my skirt. Up close, the situation was even worse than I had imagined. His skin wasn't just pale, it was almost transparent in some places. I could see the veins beneath, faint, almost faded.
"Tell me," I said. "Everything. From the beginning."
"Lucy, you don't need to—"
"I WANT to know." I held his gaze, firm. "You've spent three years carrying this alone. Three years running from any celestial mage who crossed your path. Three years visiting this grave." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You don't have to carry it alone anymore."
Leo studied me for a long moment. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, and for a second I saw something beyond the weariness and the pain, I saw surprise. As if he didn't expect anyone to care.
Then he sighed, his shoulders slumping even further.
"Karen was… complicated." He looked at the grave behind him. "When I first met her, she was young. Ambitious. She'd just got two golden keys and was determined to become the most famous celestial mage in Fiore."
"And you were one of those keys."
"Me and Aries." The name came out laden with something I couldn't identify. Guilt? Sadness? "In the beginning, things were… acceptable. Karen wasn't warm, but she wasn't cruel either. She treated us like tools, but useful tools. Tools she looked after."
"What changed?"
Leo closed his eyes.
"The fame. The power. The pressure." He paused. "Karen started drinking. Getting frustrated when missions didn't go perfectly. And when she got frustrated…"
"She took it out on you."
"On Aries." His voice hardened. "Always on Aries. She was… is… the kindest spirit there is. She never fought back. Never complained. Just apologised and took whatever came." His fists clenched. "Karen kept her in the human world for days, sometimes weeks, as punishment for mistakes that weren't even mistakes. Aries would get so weak she could barely maintain her physical form. And Karen didn't care."
I felt my stomach churn. The image of a spirit being forced to remain in the human world until they almost disappeared…
It was torture. Pure and simple.
"And you?" I asked softly. "What did you do?"
Leo opened his eyes, and there was a darkness there I had never seen before.
"I refused to go back."
"What?"
"To the celestial world. I refused to go back." He looked at his own hands, translucent in the moonlight. "I was the strongest spirit Karen had. Aries was kind, dedicated, but her combat power was limited. I was the Lion. Her main attacking force."
The understanding began to form in my mind.
"And you refused to fight."
"I refused to fight. I refused to return to the celestial world. I refused to cooperate in any way." His voice was hard, unyielding. "Karen could still summon Aries, but Aries alone wasn't enough for the missions Karen took. I forced her to choose: either she treated Aries with dignity, or she'd be without her most powerful spirit. I thought… I thought she would give in. That after a few days without being able to count on me, she would understand."
"But she didn't give in."
"No." Leo let out a bitter laugh. "Karen was too proud to admit she was wrong. Too proud to accept easier missions that Aries could handle alone. She took a dangerous mission anyway. A mission that required real combat power. The kind of mission she always used me to complete."
The silence that followed was as heavy as lead.
"She went without you," I said, not as a question.
"She went without me. With only Aries, who didn't have enough strength to protect her." Leo confirmed, his voice breaking slightly. "And it was my fault."
"No—"
"IT WAS." He looked at me with an almost fierce intensity. "I knew she was reckless. I knew she'd try to prove she didn't need me. And I let her. Because I was angry. Because I wanted her to suffer the consequences." The tears began to stream down his face, shining like silver. "I wanted to protect Aries, and in the process, I killed my own master."
"Leo…"
"The Celestial Spirit King summoned me afterwards." He continued, as if he hadn't heard me. "I was judged for the crime of causing the death of a celestial mage. The sentence was permanent banishment. I could never return to the celestial world. I would never have a master again. Never again…"
His voice failed him.
"I accepted it," he whispered. "I deserved it. I still do."
I moved before I could think, closing the distance between us and gripping his shoulders. He was more solid than he looked, for now, but I could feel the tremor under my hands.
"You don't deserve to die for protecting someone."
"I didn't protect anyone!" Leo pulled away sharply, nearly falling backwards. "Karen is dead! Aries was sold to another mage who is probably just as bad! And I'm here, fading away like the cosmic joke that I am!"
"You tried to do the right thing!"
"And I failed! Spectacularly!" He gestured at his own translucent body. "Look at me, Lucy! This is what happens when you try to be a hero! You end up alone, dying in a world that isn't yours, visiting the grave of the person you killed!"
"YOU DIDN'T KILL HER!"
My shout echoed through the clearing, louder than the waterfall, louder than anything.
Leo froze.
"You didn't kill her," I repeated, lower this time, but no less firm. "Karen made choices. Bad choices. She chose to mistreat Aries. She chose to ignore your protest. She chose to go on a dangerous mission without protection. Those were HER choices."
"But if I had—"
"If you had gone back, Aries would have continued to suffer. For how long? Months? Years? Until Karen completely destroyed her?" I took a step towards him. "You did the only thing you could to protect a defenceless spirit. That's not a crime. That's courage."
"The Celestial Spirit King disagrees."
"Then the Celestial Spirit King is wrong."
Leo looked at me as if I'd just declared the sky was green.
"You… you can't just say the Celestial Spirit King is wrong."
"I just did." I crossed my arms, lifting my chin. "And I'll say it again, to his face if I have to."
"Lucy, you don't understand. The King is—"
"An all-powerful entity from the celestial world, I know. I have spirits too, remember?" I pointed to the keys on my belt. "But that doesn't mean he's infallible. It doesn't mean he can't make errors in judgement."
"This isn't an error in judgement. It's the law."
"Then the law is wrong!"
Leo opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out. He was looking at me with an expression I couldn't decipher, disbelief? Hope? Fear?
"Why do you care?" he asked finally, his voice small. "You've known me for a few months. I've spent most of that time running from you. Why are you here, arguing with a dying spirit about cosmic justice?"
The question caught me off guard.
Why did I care?
I thought of Aquarius, with all her difficult temper, but always showing up when I really needed her. Of Taurus, ridiculous and embarrassing, but genuinely dedicated. Of Virgo, Cancer, Sagittarius. Of all the spirits I called my friends.
I thought of Leo, Loke, making jokes in the guild, flirting with all the girls, smiling that brilliant smile. Hiding three years of pain behind a perfect mask.
"Because you're from Fairy Tail," I said simply. "And we don't abandon family."
Leo's eyes widened.
And then, for the first time since I had found him in that clearing, something other than pain appeared on his face.
Hope.
Fragile. Hesitant. But there.
"Lucy…" his voice trembled. "Even if you wanted to help… there's no way. The King won't change his mind. No one has ever contested one of his decisions and—"
"There's always a first time."
"You can't just—"
"Watch me."
I stood up, brushing the grass from my skirt, ignoring the fact that my legs were numb and my heart was beating too fast.
"How?" Leo asked, genuinely lost. "How do you plan to contest the Celestial Spirit King?"
Good question. Excellent question, in fact. A question to which I had no answer.
But then I remembered something.
"If you need help later… find me."
Azra'il.
She knew. She had known all along. And she had offered to help.
"I know someone," I said, extending my hand to Leo. "Someone who can help."
He looked at my hand as if it were a trap.
"Lucy, I appreciate it, but—"
"Get up."
"—there's no way—"
"Leo." I used his real name deliberately. "You've spent three years accepting a punishment you didn't deserve. Three years blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault. Three years dying alone." I kept my hand extended. "Enough. You're coming with me, we're going to find Azra'il, and we're going to sort this out. Even if I have to shout at the Celestial Spirit King until he goes deaf."
"Spirits don't go deaf."
"Then I'll be the first to manage it."
Leo looked at me for a long moment. The waterfall continued to fall behind him, Karen's headstone partially visible among the flowers.
Then, slowly, he took my hand.
"You're mad," he said, his voice hoarse. "Completely mad."
"I'm from Fairy Tail. It's sort of a requirement."
For the first time in three years, Leo smiled.
It was a weak, shaky, almost invisible smile.
But it was real.
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Author's Note
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Yes, we're in the Loke arc. 🦁
And before anyone asks: maybe I'll change how Lucy calls the Celestial Spirit King. 👑
Not because I don't like the canon, but because I wanted to do something different. If it's going to follow everything the same, it's better to read the manga. So I'll change a few things, and yes, we'll also have the appearance of our favorite wolf facing the Celestial Spirit King. 🐺