The Art of Trouble

Chapter 22: The Unknown

The moon had been the only one that illuminated the night sky and the rustling of the leaves had been the only sound that can be caught up. Everybody was in deep sleep, except for one.

On the cabin at the treetop, the celestial mage was tossing around on her bed. Her eyes were closed, yet, it seemed that her mind was nowhere but in a huge, dark cave.
Lucy was walking towards somehow the center of a cave, and she had only perceived what it looked like when the surrounding suddenly brightened up. It was like someone had lit a fire for her to be able to see.
When Lucy saw the cave's central portion, she was able to look at the engravings on the walls and on the floor. The ones on the floor had resembled the celestial bodies, which were actually the source of brightness. It lighted up more than the way they are supposed to be on the night sky. She realized that this vision or whatever it is, was somehow a glimpse of Arkinea's history. Afterwards, curiosity turned to fear.
It was unknown why Lucy had strangely felt cold and afraid. She trembled, making her knees weakened and she fell on the floor. Beads of sweat formed all over her body. Lucy held her chest, as if that area was in pain. Then, she closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, the stars of the celestial zodiacs became vivid, and what she felt was gone in an instant, like some light had touched her, bringing full relief.

Lucy's eyes were now opened.
The celestial stars, as she began to notice was as bright as ever. Significantly, one star had made itself noticed, and ofcourse, Lucy, being the celestial mage and bearer of the zodiac keys, had recognized to whom that star belonged.
The Spica is the brightest star of Virgo. It has been known for its binary character. It is like seeing two beads in one. As of the moment, its sufficient brightness radiated around Lucy's frontal view. Lucy's reaction was just like a while ago the first thing she saw the cave's drawings- silent and stunned, until she was able to speak.

"Virgo..." She muttered silently.

Then, in a flash, a pink haired maiden appeared on the side of the blonde mage.

"Princess, I will always be prepared anytime you need me."

"Virgo... Wha... Nothing's wrong, iit's just, your star, it's here. It suddenly appeared in front of me after, well after I temporarily collapsed. "

"Oh. I have also been observing that my stars have been glowing on and off lately, princess. At first, I thought there has been something wrong, or you have needed my presence yet as I waited for you to open my gate, I figured it was just nothing." Virgo responded, while her face usually never showed any expression, Lucy sensed her anxiety.

It's just that everytime she called out and open her gate, the maiden is usually aghast, and always ready to do something for her, and she wouldn't miss saying the word 'punishment', "Is it time for punishment, princess?"
Although, the fact creeps Lucy out, it is the Virgo she has known of- weird, in a funny and creepy way. However, as she was seeing the maiden now, no sign of that humor being evident on her countenance.

"Hmm... Is that so?... How about this, you get back to the spirit world and we should give oursleves a rest, and I will summon you if I got this figured out. Okay?"

"Alright, princess, you need to go back to your room. It's almost dawn already and I heard from brother you've been working hard training."

"Yeah... It wasn't much, but I have to strengthen my endurance. I don't wanna get yourselves hurt because of me. I really want to become strong so that I will no longer be a bother to any of you. "

"We are always here for you, princess as your spirits. Besides, you've gone stronger then, with your star dress." Virgo assured Lucy. She was about to give her bearer a pat, when she felt something deeply odd on her chest. Meanwhile, Lucy had immediately observed Virgo, as soon as she didn't say anything. When she looked at her, she was immobile. She was sweating and unresponsive, until Lucy brought one of her hands to touch her.

"A... Are you alright, Virgo?"

That was the only time she managed to respond. She nodded in agreement, to Lucy's relief.
"There's no need to worry, I'm alright, princess. The spirit king made me run some errands yesterday. Maybe, I was just tired."

"Okay. You have to go back, Virgo. I'm now going to close your gate..."

"As you wish, princess. Goodnight"

"Take care..."
That was the last word Lucy had muttered before the illumination had disappeared along with Virgo.
Lucy was then left all by herself outside the forest, where the trees were the only ones who could witness her being there.

"How d... did I end up here? Th... That wasn't a dream?!" The blonde quietly cried out.

She had never been clueless during her years as a mage.
Why did she have that vision?
Why was Virgo acting strange?
Why was she outside, when she knew she had laid down on the bed last night?
She also realized that Virgo immediately appeared even without her summoning the maiden. That was utterly questionable...
Lucy was about to sit on the ground, as she made a decision to meditate, when a voice of a woman called out her name...

***
A.N.
Sorry it took me a long time to update. I've been busy with my graduate studies, and yes, I also experienced a writer's block... But, don't worry, with this home quarantine, I will surely be able to update more. But, I won't promise to finish this story just yet. There's still some revelation of this story that I need to accomplish. A little favor though, pls.do CLiCk the STaR to VoTe.😄

Stay tuned, and stay safe! 😊