mercy

one

The magic of the world can do amazing things. Fiore is full of it--magic is second nature to most now. The power of those who wield it are able to show off some of the most amazing things. 

But magic is not magic anymore. Nothing magical in this world is truly magical. It is all just the ability to manipulate something to one's own will. 

That being said, there are, although small, tiny hints of that truly magical magic that still exist. They are hard to come by, but they are miraculous. They are stunning, and they are beautiful. They hold so much power but also bear the burden of tremendous amounts of responsibility. They are pure, and they are only good.

Lucy Heartfilia is miraculous. She is stunning, and she is beautiful. She holds so much power, but also bears the burden of tremendous amounts of responsibility.

She is pure, and she is only good.

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A baby cries when it is born. It is new to the world, its senses fresh and its surroundings new. A baby is a symbol of joy and of love, and that is all a baby should be.

When Layla gave birth to her first and only child, the horrors that would await could not be described.

She gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl, and she named her daughter Lucy. Layla herself felt no pain while giving birth, something that confused both her and the doctors there to help her. She was given no medication, no healing magic had been performed. She gave a completely and utterly painless birth. 

Her baby was frail and weak, and screamed like the worst pain had been brought upon her. Layla's first child, her only child, was so close to the brink of death the moment she was born. 

She survived, despite all odds. She grew to be a very happy, very bubbly young girl with a love for the world that Layla had forgotten. Her husband was a sour man--no joy could be found within ten feet of him. Seeing her daughter, so full of life, gave her hope for the future.

Jude Heartfilia was good at destroying that hope. Any ounce of happiness Layla shared with him about their daughter was crushed, and she paid the price for it. After several beatings, she learned to keep her mouth shut. This, though, made her beautiful Lucy sad, and Layla could not bear that.

It happened the second time when Lucy was three. After a particularly rough beating, Layla went to tuck her daughter in. As she held Lucy's face and told her to sleep well before planting a small kiss on her forehead, Layla could feel her pain ebb away, as if it had never been there. Confused, she backed away, looking at her daughter's now pain-ridden face as the bruises and cuts Jude had inflicted upon her blossomed on Lucy's fair skin. That pain was no longer Layla's--Lucy had taken it and made it her own.

The glow around Lucy was beautiful. It was stunning and Layla could hardly rip her eyes from the magic that Lucy was emitting. But she had to, as she scrambled to her feet to find Jude. She was terrified, knowing that she hurt her daughter without meaning to. Jude was infuriated, forcing his wife far away from his daughter after seeing Lucy, pale as paper and breathing as hard as if she had run a marathon. Her inhales were sharp, just as her exhales were. She looked as if she was dying.

She was rushed to the hospital, and the situation was explained. The beating was left out of the story.

Lucy spent a week in the intensive care unit. She was so very weak and her magic power was so heavily depleted that the doctors were not sure she would make it.

She did, though, resilient as she is. She went right back to her bubbly, loving self the minute she got home.

She was not allowed to see her mother for a long time. She was not to go near anyone with any kind of injury, as not even the best doctors and most experienced wizards knew what kind of magic she possessed. To hide this, she was taught how to summon spirits from little keys her mother had. 

She was good at even that, with the ability to summon spirits of the Zodiac at the ripe age of six.

At the age of seven, her mother got sick. 

She was not allowed to be with her mother when she died.

Not understanding why, she resented her father for not letting her be near her mother, not letting her see her before she passed.

Layla left a note for Lucy, and told Jude to give it to her when she was old enough. As sick as she had been, she tirelessly searched for an answer to Lucy's ability. She found it, but could not tell her little Lucy out of fear she would use her magic to save others. So she wrote the explanation, gave it to her husband, and hoped that the information she gave would help save her daughter's life.

Lucy never got that letter.

It nearly killed her.