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Layla Heartfilia.
Jude's wife, Lucy's mother, and once a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage.
Because Layla secretly performed an unknown magic, she suffered from Magic Power deficiency and passed away before the age of thirty.
Layla's death made her deeply loving husband hate magic. Jude was afraid that Lucy would also leave him one day because of magic, so he strictly forbade Lucy from learning it.
But Lucy had admired her mother since childhood, hoping that when she grew up, she could join a guild and become a mage like her mother had been before marriage, starting her own adventure story.
One hated magic, the other yearned for it, and the conflict between father and daughter was born.
If Noah hadn't, by chance, accepted the commission from Jude's close friend, Guild Master Roland, for Erza's one-day maid service, this stubborn father wouldn't have known when he would apologize to his daughter.
What magic did Layla perform that caused her—a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage capable of opening three Gates simultaneously—to eventually suffer from Magic Power deficiency and die? This remains a mystery to this day.
Even Jude, her closest companion, didn't know, let alone young Lucy at the time.
But now, the clue was spoken by Aquarius.
"The mission of the Heartfilia..."
Lucy muttered softly. As the sole descendant of the Heartfilia family, she wasn't entirely ignorant of her family's legacy, but she'd never heard of any mission.
Of course, this couldn't be blamed on Lucy. Her mother passed away in her childhood, and she'd had a very unhappy relationship with her father. Jude simply hadn't given Lucy the opportunity to access the family's magic archives.
Later, father and daughter reconciled, and Jude sent Lucy to Fairy Tail, which she'd always admired. After joining the guild, Lucy teamed up with the "perpetually busy" Natsu and hadn't even returned home for several months, let alone gone home to look at the inherited collection of books.
A mission that started four hundred years ago?
Hearing this number, Noah inadvertently glanced at Natsu, who was sprawled on the deck.
If he remembered correctly, the year Lucy's mother, Layla, passed away was also the year Natsu and the others—those from the past—traveled through time.
Was it a coincidence? Or...
Although he had suspicions, Noah had no conclusive proof and could only pin his hopes on the mermaid. "Aquarius, besides the twelve Golden Keys, do you know more about Lucy's family mission?"
Aquarius shook her head then nodded, speaking with a complex expression. "I was Layla's Celestial Spirit, that's true, but between Layla and Lucy, I had another contractor."
After Layla got married and had children, she decided to focus on her family.
So she gave up her identity as a mage and entrusted the three Golden Keys she possessed to her three servants.
One of the maids, named Grammi, later married and moved far away to the Western Continent, and the Aquarius Key naturally went with her. However, a few years later, Grammi received a letter from Layla, asking her to bring the Aquarius Key back before a certain time.
So Grammi, no longer a servant, temporarily left her beloved daughter and returned to the Ishgar Continent by ship with the Aquarius Key.
But fate played a cruel trick. The ship encountered a storm at sea and was delayed. Even with Aquarius's help to calm the storm, Grammi failed to bring the key back as promised.
When Grammi finally saw Layla, the latter was already suffering from Magic Power deficiency, but Layla didn't blame or resent Grammi. Instead, she was simply happy to see her one last time.
Leaving Heartfilia Manor in distress, Grammi was immersed in guilt, completely unaware that a male servant—full of resentment and grief—was quietly approaching.
The dagger in the male servant's hand plunged into her heart.
That day was the last time Aquarius saw Layla, and also the last time she saw Grammi.
Having recounted the past, the Aquarius Celestial Spirit sighed.
"Perhaps there's one person who knows what Layla did. His name is Zoldeo, Layla's most loyal subordinate—so loyal that he was even willing to die for her."
"Later, Layla entrusted the Capricorn Key to him."
"But Zoldeo was also Grammi's killer, because he believed that Grammi's delay caused Layla's death..."
A tragic story.
Was Grammi at fault? Encountering a natural disaster wasn't her wish.
Was the male servant Zoldeo at fault? Avenging his master certainly wasn't wrong, and he must have been in great pain the moment he killed Grammi.
Was it Layla's own fault? But even when she severely overused her Magic Power, even when her life came to an end, she never blamed anyone.
No one was wrong—it was fate playing cruel tricks.
Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated tragedies the most, because someone was always sad and crying.
Seeing everyone fall silent, Noah spoke to break the increasingly somber atmosphere. "Aquarius, what about Zoldeo's whereabouts?"
"After he killed Grammi, he threw down the Aquarius Key and ran off. He must have gone mad."
Aquarius's voice was a little hoarse.
Two contractors she was very close to had died one after another on the same day. Even now, Aquarius was still heartbroken recalling this past event.
Lucy stared blankly at the Aquarius Key in her hand. She hadn't expected her mother's death to affect another innocent life, and even cause a poor child to lose her mother.
That child was only one year older than herself...
Thinking of this, Lucy's heart ached, and her voice trembled. "Aquarius, I... I want to see Grammi's daughter."
On the shore of Galuna Island.
The New Oración Seis hadn't left. According to the plan, they were waiting for two people to arrive.
The liberation of the Demon of Destruction was a collaboration of three Dark Guilds. Without a reasonable explanation, the islanders would surely die at the hands of those people.
The wait didn't last long. Two figures in black robes rowed a small boat to shore.
One of the black-robed figures removed his hood, revealing blue hair and a face somewhat similar to Noah's. It was Jellal, but his gaze was completely drawn to the island, which had been split in two.
"Master, did you do this?"
Roubaul, disguised as Brain, shook his head. "Not me, but you know the person who did."
Jellal couldn't immediately recall anyone he knew who would come to Galuna Island, or who had the power to cleave an island in half.
"It's Noah, isn't it?" A clear, cold voice came. Ultear took off her black robe, her tone very certain.
Hearing the name that once made him so withdrawn, Jellal's mouth twitched, and he looked around nervously. He didn't want to see Noah—otherwise, he'd be subjected to another sarcastic tirade.
Ultear ignored Jellal and said to Roubaul, "Jellal has successfully joined Grimoire Heart. Because I was the recommender, Master Hades had no suspicions."
Roubaul nodded. Jellal hadn't acted with the New Oración Seis because he had a more important mission—to infiltrate Grimoire Heart.
With "Grimoire Heart" as the guild name.
And having successively participated in the Tower of Heaven incident and the Demon of Destruction liberation plan, they were just as troublesome as the Black Magic Cult.
Roubaul suspected that this strongest Dark Guild had deep ties with demons. Otherwise, why would it use such a name, and why was its modus operandi so similar to the Black Magic Cult's?
After reporting the situation, Ultear walked alone toward the canyon where Deliora was buried. Not only a hateful Demon of Destruction was buried there, but also her mother.
A mother without a daughter, a daughter without a mother.
There is never just one tragedy in the world.
Looking at Ultear's somewhat desolate back, Jellal sighed in his heart, but he still had something he wanted to ask Roubaul.
"Master, Grimoire Heart has a strange executive."
"His appearance is a humanoid goat. Through my Heavenly Body Magic, I sensed the starlight Magic Power within him. I speculate he should be a Celestial Spirit."
"Oh, by the way, that executive's name is Zoldeo."
"..."