Pov signals:
Lucy- 💫
Yukino-✨
Hisui-🌟

Chapter 1

💫

Lucy opened her eyes, expecting the voice of their captor to drag them out of the cell and torture them again, but it was uneasily quiet today. Lucy could only believe that he's gone today to do whatever he does whenever he leaves them for an entire day once a month. Before tormenting them again, way harder than usual. Her anger rose, but popped because she couldn't do anything.

Even if she fought back, the man would only torment her to the brink of exhaustion. Lucy shuddered at the mere thought of it.

"I wanna go home. I want to leave." She mumbled to Yukino and Hisui as Lucy sat up on the floor, staring at the cold, dull, gray wall.

"What home? They were the ones who gave us to him! He took Sorano from me!" Yukino cried out, tears went down her face as she curled into a ball on the floor next to Lucy. Hisui was at her side in a second and held her close.

"I know it hurts, but Lucy has a point. Would you still stay here, if you were free?" Hisui asked her softly, stroking her short light blue hair. Yukino calmed down quickly, thinking that Wither was still here. When Lucy turned her face, she saw Yukino's. She's terrified.

The girls didn't actually know his real name, but they dubbed him that, because he withers them away everyday. Trying to break the mages and be his "warriors" for bigger plans if it works.

"No." Yukino mumbled into Hisui's rags. Lucy got up and laid down on the stone bed that was in this cell. It was simple, really. A big slab of stone chained to the wall. And they were stacked in threes. They were aligned along all three walls. The fourth wall was made of rusted iron bars, and on the outside edges of of the cell, was two torches, giving barley any light. Wither replaced the torches once a week. They were replacement from having no windows. Because they were underground.

"My name is Lucy. The emerald-haired girl is called Hisui, and the light-blue haired girl leaning on Hisui is Yukino. We have the power to summon spirits, otherwise called Celestial Spirit Mages." Lucy thought. She swore to herself that she'd repeat it every day. Lucy didn't want to become an empty shell, like the others did.

"We were taken by these people in cloaks who threatened our families to give them every celestial mage, or face their wrath." And with that, Lucy recalled the painful memories of getting to this ruthless place.

Lucy's father fought back, but they knocked him out. Mrs. Heartfilia and Lucy were tied and gagged with magic blockers, so they wouldn't try anything to escape. The last thing Lucy remembered of her father was waking up as the truck was driving away.

The blond saw him running, tears down his face and his mouth moving. Lucy couldn't hear his voice from the trucks' engine. But he was getting smaller, and smaller, until she couldn't see him anymore. Lucy remembered crying, and her mom trying to comfort her.

It was completely dark in the truck. Lucy was terrified of what will happen next.

When the truck came to a stop, the double doors were opened. Lucy shielded her eyes from the bright light. They had arrived in the middle of a forest, and walked to a giant cobblestone building. The door was silver with a golden knob and a keypad on the left of it. There was no windows they Lucy recalled seeing. It was small, and it was horrifying. The cloaked figure punched in numbers, and opened the door.

The Heartfilia's were forcefully shoved into the building. They took Mrs. Heartfilia on a different path than her daughter. That was the last Lucy saw of her mom. Lucy remembered her look.

"Don't worry" it said. "Be brave" she showed. The guards took the gags off. "Be safe." She said. "I love you, and so does your father. Don't forget." It was all an echo. Everything went slow. She screamed. She kicked. She begged.

"Mommy! Don't leave me! I want to stay with you! I love you!" Lucy's voice echoed. She was restrained as her mother was shoved down the hall.

Lucy was then dragged through another hall, and down stairs. The air was thin, torches lit the path in front of us. They passed dark cells, with nothing and no one in them. The hall got longer, and everything got darker.

The floor swayed under Lucy, and she couldn't walk anymore. she fell to her knees, gasping heavily. "Get up!" The cloaked figure yelled. "It's a man." She thought deliriously.

Lucy tried, but stumbled to get up. Then the man grabbed her by the arm, and forced the seven year old up. It hurt, she screamed. He hit Lucy with something hard, and that shut her up, not wanting to be hurt anymore.

They finally made it to a cell. Girls that looked around the blond's age were there. They looked at her , and she looked at them.

Fear, pain, anger, sadness. It was all there, everyone could sense it. He opened the cell, and tossed Lucy in.

"Don't hurt me," Lucy sobbed. "please." The girls came up to her, and she began to be hugged. Lucy let them, because she knew, they were her family now, and forever.

Lucy met Hisui first, as she was the leader, then Yukino, and her older sister, Sorano. Lucy then vowed to herself. No matter how long it takes, she will save everyone here. Lucy promised to her mom. "We'll see dad again. I promise."

Now, all the girls are seventeen, and Lucy finally got a plan to get out of here. After many failed attempts too. She had refused to remember what happened after each attempt. 10 years, now they're gonna be free.

The other girls with that lived in the cell died. Lucy couldn't save them. Not even her mom. Everyone, except Hisui, Yukino, and Lucy are gone.

They are tortured all day, everyday. Lucy knew the times and dates here because the workers kept a Sorcerer's Magazine calendar in the rooms the girls were taken to. And there were windows, thankfully. So Lucy was able to figure out the times, and days.

"Hey, wanna hear the bedtime story my mom said to me when I was little?" Lucy asked, getting into a comfortable position.

"You mean the one about how our magic kept the balance of light? That one?" Yukino asked, eyes shining like brown glitter.

"Yes, that one." Hisui said, chuckling, since that's the one I told the most.

"Of course! I love that story!" Yukino cheered. "But can you stop before the ending? I don't like that part." She asked.

"Okay." Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "Alright then, let's begin, shall we? Before we make our grand escape tonight." Lucy sat up on the bed. Hisui and Yukino sat on the floor in front of her.

"Long ago...

In a time where Fiore was very new, and magic was a very new thing, people began to build the castle of the Fiore's. Then they built a colosseum, then towns, and guilds. All while under the perfect blue sky, and under the beautiful stars at night. What they didn't know, was that there were people in those towns, and in those guilds, who held keys to a world they never knew. The Celestial World, where the Celestial king lived.

Both worlds lived in harmony, because the mages who held the keys were the pure-hearted, who were gifted that magic. The only downfall in that time, was that they couldn't tell anyone. If they did, they let loose an evil that they were protecting Earthland from.

But here's a little thing about what they were protecting. No one knew exactly what they were protecting. And they never wanted to find out. Years went on, and no one knew Celestial mages existed. The balance was kept equal as magically possible, and no one opposed the Celestial Spirit King. Everything was well, the harmony wasn't disturbed, no one found it hard to keep it a secret. All was good.

Until one Mage, by the name of Anna Heartfillia, questioned everything. Why keep this secret? What are we keeping under lock and key? Why are we burdened with this? Can't the Celestial Spirit King keep charge of that evil by himself? Anna Heartfillia was the strongest Celestial Mage there ever was. She held all twelve golden Zodiac keys.

She kept asking her spirits why. They never gave a straight answer, which led Anna to question more. She asked her spirits if she could ask the king herself. When they said no, she was determined to no end now. Anna Heartfillia kept asking, and asking, and asking. When the spirits finally gave in, they gave her a set of clothes to wear to the Spirit world. She questioned why, wasn't what she was wearing enough?

Capricorn, one of the Zodiacs, explained that humans couldn't breathe in the Spirit world, so they made these clothes to prevent that. When anyone visited, that is. Anna prepared herself for this magic-changing visit. Of course, she had imagined worst or best outcomes to all of this, and made up questions he might ask so she could answer her best.

When the time came, she forcefully calmed her nerves, and went through the portal to the Celestial World.

"What do you need old friend?" The Celestial King spoke, his voice booming throughout the meeting room.

"I just have questions I need a valid answer on." Anna spoke, carefully choosing her words. "Why do we need to keep our powers a secret? And what evil are we keeping locked away, can't you do that on your own?" Her words tumbled out, and she shocked herself by saying that. She covered her mouth. The Celestial King laughed merrily.

"The reason is, old friend, I can't keep it down on my own. It can persuade the mind, if you are near it enough. That's why you have keys to this world. The power to keep it locked away is part of the keys magic. To unlock, and to lock. Even if for a short period of time, force closure or not." The King spoke. "And, it's also bound by faith, trust, and love. If all of those are broken, you let bits and pieces of it go, that will wreak havoc on Earthland. With no mercy, old friend. The reason why it's locked up and hidden, is because our magic, light, hurts them. We keep it from tipping the balance."

Anna held mixed emotions. Shock, relief, and astonishment. She smiled warmly. There was something under lock and key this entire time! "Thank you, for answering my questions peacefully. And-" Anna cut herself off, from seeing the King raise his hand.

"But, now that I think about it, the secret thing should be removed. It's with the spirits those things apply with, not other humans. Thank you, for showing me that, old friend. You may leave," He spoke. Anna swore she saw him smile, physically, and in his voice. "old friend."

Anna smiled bigger. "Thank you for welcoming me. So much, my happiness is radiating. Thank you." Anna bowed, and left through the portal the King summoned.

And after that event, Celestial mages rose in popularity. They were treated like gods, even when asked not to. Adored, they helped with everything they could.

But, unexpectedly, some became corrupted, and craved greed. While others stayed kind, but oblivious to what was happening with their comrades. Many people noticed the greedy ones, and began to fear. They couldn't know if they have encountered the greedy and mean ones until it was too late.

Only few were able to tell others of what happened. They-

Lucy looked at Yukino. She was so sensitive at this point on. Using spirits for bad deeds and abusing them too? That made Yukino have even worse nightmares for weeks, besides the ongoing ones from Wither, of course.

"I'll end it there. I don't want you to get scared again." She told Yukino. Yukino smiled warmly, as if saying thank you in the silence.

"Okay, let's get busy, how do we get out of here?" Hisui asked, looked focused.

"Yeah, so get this. Wither comes every morning to wake us, and every night to turn off the torches, or take them out." Lucy said, swinging her legs back and forth, excited to finally get out of here.

"Which you caused." Hisui stated. The blond chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Anyway, since today is the day off for him, the torches stay on till 5 in the morning, when he comes to wake us up. What? Don't look at me like that, I can't sleep, and he wears a watch. I pay attention to detail okay?" I huffed.

"And, when the air is thick, it means it is day. When the air is thinner, it is night. Right now, you can feel it's a mixture of both, which means it's around noon." I proudly stated, a smile on my face.

A smile tugged on Hisui's face. "And how are we able to get out?" Yukino nodded, agreeing with her. Lucy smirked.

"Easy, pick the lock. The door opens, we grab the Celestial keys, the cloaks, and bam, we are out of here!" She threw a fist in the air.

"But won't he track us down? He knows what we look like, and our names. He'll find us quickly." Yukino said. Lucy bit the inside of my cheek. She didn't think that far. They needed money, a new wardrobe, a place to stay, food.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. For now, let's just get out of here! We don't have all day!" Lucy said.