Mending a Broken Heart

Aquarius

The small town of Magnolia was in shambles. Rubble lined the streets, residue of the once great guild of Fairy Tail. The town's magical backbone that had been beaten down time and time again, but had always come back bigger and stronger than ever.

Until now.

It seemed that the fight with the dark guild, Tartaros, had been the final straw. Despite being victorious, the fight left Fairy Tail with nothing but a pile of broken bricks and stones where their home had once been, forced to start from scratch all over again. Still, it was nothing that they hadn't done before, so what went wrong?

Perhaps the battle had been to much for old Makarov's heart. Everyone knew how deeply the man cared for those he considered as his own children. Maybe watching those he loved so dearly fight for their lives had gotten to him. Maybe dissolving the guild was his way of trying to protect them—and himself—from future pain. Perhaps he blamed himself for the horrible fate that was forced upon them, for the scars created that would remain on their minds for years to come.

Whatever the reason, Fairy Tail was no more. It was disbanded right after the battle with Tartaros was won. Many members tried to fight it for a while, but the protesting quickly turned to acceptance, and with acceptance, came moving on.

However, there was once mage whose actions during the fight left her completely broken.

That mage was none other than the Celestial Spirit Wizard, Lucy Heartfilia.

In fact, Lucy was the only one of her former guild that was still in Magnolia. The poor girl had been crying in her home for days, completely unable to pull herself together.

Currently, the blonde was in the bathroom of her apartment, staring at herself in the mirror above the sink. Her eyes are red and puffy, evidence of her grief. Her skin is pale and her hair is dull and matted, as if somebody had come by and sucked the life right out of her. Lucy notes with some resentful sarcasm that she'd lost the weight Happy and Natsu were always complaining about due to her lack of eating.

She recognizes that she desperately needs a shower, but she can't bring herself to care. All Lucy can do is stare at the fading tattoo on her collar bone and think about what she did. How all it took was a few moments for her life to be destroyed. How one action caused her to kill her oldest friend.

How Lucy murdered Aquarius.

Tears sting her eyes as a shaky finger traces the tattoo lingering on her skin. Even though it had been three weeks since the incident, the time has done nothing to heal the hole in Lucy's heart. The memory of the day still plays on loop in her mind, harsh and unforgiving.

"Lucy, you have to break my key," Aquarius told the trembling blonde. "I can't hold him off forever."

Lucy's brown eyes flickered past her spirit and she knew it was true. Aquarius's waves were strong, but Jackal was too. The demon gate was getting closer and closer with every second that passed. Once he reached them, it would be all over.

Everyone else was trapped by Alegria. Nobody was coming to help. It was just her.

But... to break a celestial spirit's key to summon the Celestial Spirit King?

How could she possibly harm her spirits, her friends, to do that?

"I... I can't!" Lucy cried out, clutching Aquarius's key to her chest. "I can't... I won't! I won't lose any of my spirits! I can't betray them like that!"

"It isn't betrayal if you're given permission," Aquarius replied sternly. "Break my key, Lucy."

"But-"