All Thanks To You

Chapter 17

Lucy's POV

Stellae and I stepped through the portal in the crystal tower. I didn't feel the heat leave my body this time. In fact the whole process seemed easier. Stellae said it was due to Ignis teaching me teleportation magic. The portal had dropped us by the magic shop I visited three days ago. I walked behind a tree and once more, placed the red amulet around my neck. After the tingling sensation had stopped, I walked over to the river, and was surprised by my appearance. Instead of the same black hair and green eyes I had been cloaked in three days prior, my eyes had changed to red, my hair had turned white, and was much shorter. In fact, it was as short as Lisanna's had been the last time I saw her.

I stepped away from my hiding place and walked over to Stellae.

"Aren't you going to change your appearance?" I asked.

"No one in this town knows me. In fact I hardly ever travel to the Realm of Humans, so I highly doubt someone would ever recognize me here." She said, matter-of-factly.

"That may be so, however people are looking. It's not everyday you see a woman with purple and black hair wearing a celestial dress. Not to mention that your eyes are so mysterious and dark... You're gonna draw attention to yourself if you don't change your appearance." I mentioned.

"Alright." She said, pulling out an amulet of her own.

"Why do you need an amulet? Can't you just use manipulation magic?" I asked, now curious.

"Normally I would however, altering memories uses quiet a bit of magical energy, and I don't want to risk changing into my normal appearance in front of so many." She replied.

"Oh I guess that makes sense."

While I wait for Stellae to cloak herself, I saw Gray walk behind the magic shop we had met in.

So that's where he wants us to meet. He probably figured we would be watching.

"How do I look?" Stellae asked as she stepped from behind the tree.

She had put on a black cloak, that masked her physical features, as well as her celestial dress. Her now wavy hair had grown down to her lower back and was a rich chocolatey color. The biggest change in her appearance however, was her eyes. Her normal dark, piercing, black orbs had been replaced with soft, kind, blue oceans.

"Wow." I said, amazed at the transformation.

"You definitely don't look like you stepped out of the Realm of Dragons."  I said.

She blushed a little.

"Where are we meeting him?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"I saw him walk behind the magic shop."

"Alright, let's go." She said.

As we got close to the back of the shop, both Stellae and I stopped.

"Do you smell that?" she asked using telepathy.

I nodded in response. Gray wasn't alone, and whoever was with him was scared. Very scared. We approached carefully, making sure we were in no danger. As we rounded the corner, Gray was standing there, with his back faced to us. He was rubbing the other person's back. I heard him whisper, "It's okay, Lucy will take good care of you." I looked at Stellae and back at the pair of people. I cleared my throat and the both of them turned around with a start.

"Who are you?!" Gray demanded

"I think you know." I replied plainly.

"Lucy?"

I nodded in response. As I looked at the boy next to Gray, I began to notice how closely they resembled one another. They both had the same Raven hair and piercing blue eyes. As I studied his face more, I made the realization that the boy next to Gray, was actually about my age.

"Gray?" I asked. " Is he your brother?"