Castlevania of the Pigeons from Fairy Tail

Chapter 65 The Heartfilia Family's Mission
It turns out that the Heartfilia family has a mission that has been passed down for more than 400 years, which is to open a door called the "Eclipse Gate" at a certain point in time.

To open the "Eclipse Door", you need the "Zodiac Key".

In X777, Leila had retired from the magician profession and handed over her "Aquarius", "Cancer" and "Capricorn" keys to three servants for safekeeping.

Among them, the maid Grame left the Heartfilia family mansion and settled in the Albares Empire.

Suddenly, one day, Leila, who has a strong magical and spiritual intuition, realizes that the time to open the "Eclipse Gate" is approaching, on July 7th.

In order to fulfill her family's mission, Leila began to send letters to the celestial wizards who held the "Zodiac Keys", hoping to borrow their keys.

Everything was going smoothly. Leila had a high reputation among the Celestial Wizards, and many holders were willing to give her a favor, so the "Zodiac Keys" were basically collected.

The only person Leila has not been able to contact is Grame, who is far away in the Albares Empire, and therefore she is missing the "Aquarius Key" in Grame's hand.

As July 7th approached, Leila finally made up her mind.

On July 7, she possessed the eleven "Zodiac Keys" and, with King Fiore's permission, came to the royal palace, because the "Eclipse Gate" was under the protection of the royal family.

She ignored King Fiore's dissuasion and forcibly used her own life force to replace the "Aquarius Key" and opened the "Eclipse Gate".

The "Eclipse Gate" released five streams of light, which streaked across the night sky and disappeared in all directions.

After that, another person walked out of the "Eclipse Gate". That person was Anna Heartfilia, the ancestor of the Heartfilia family more than 400 years ago.

The Heartfilia family's mission to open the "Eclipse Gate" was given by Anna.

However, Anna did not explain to Leila why she did this and why she came to this time and space from more than 400 years ago. Instead, she decided to look for the disappearing streams of light first.

She promised that when everything was settled, she would come back and explain everything to Leila.

Unfortunately, Anna never returned until Leila's death, and no one knew where she went.

After returning all the "Zodiac Keys" she possessed, Leila returned to the Heartfilia family from the royal capital. Soon after, she discovered that she had "magic deficiency syndrome."

If one suffers from this disease, magic power will be lost continuously, which is an unspeakable torture for the magician. It also means that the magician's life will be lost along with the loss of magic power.

This was the price she paid for forcibly using her own life in place of the "Aquarius Key."

Leila had to lie on the bed in the mansion all day, silently waiting for death to come.

It was only then that she finally contacted Grame, and Grame rushed from the Albares Empire to the Heartfilia family mansion as quickly as possible to meet her old master.

Grame felt extremely regretful after knowing the reason for Leila's current condition.

But Leila did not blame Grame, because it was all her own decision, and instead comforted Grame.

After taking care of Leila for a while, Grame set off to return home. After all, Brandish was still on the side of the Albares Empire, and she needed to take care of her daughter.

However, on her way back, when she was alone, she was attacked by Leila's manservant Zudir.

Zudel is the holder of the "Capricorn Key" and has feelings for Leila that go beyond a master-servant relationship.

He believed that it was Grame's fault that Leila became seriously ill, so he stabbed a knife into Grame's body, wanting to kill her to vent his anger.

Grame knew the reason why Zudir did this, but she did not resist because she also felt that it was her fault. She just begged Zudir to spare her daughter Brandish before she died.

After killing Grame, Zudir quickly packed up and fled, taking away the "Capricorn" he owned.

Later, Precito recruited him into the Demon's Heart Guild, making him one of the "Seven Familiars of Purgatory".

He began to study the lost magic of "Human Subjugation", and when trying to enslave the "Capricorn Protoss", he accidentally merged with the Protoss, and was only forcibly separated in Castlevania not long ago.

On the other side, Grame's body was soon found, and the "Aquarius Key" she was carrying was also delivered to Leila.

Leila was devastated. Grame's tragic death, like a close friend and family member, exacerbated her illness, and she died soon after. Her husband, Jude, could not accept his wife's death and threw himself into his work, spending less time with their daughter, Lucy, and a natural rift between them.

Later, Lucy grew up and had the talent and potential to become a great celestial wizard like her mother, so she got the "Aquarius Key".

Speight, the maid who still works at the Heartfilia family mansion, returns the "Cancer Key" that originally belonged to Leila to Lucy.

Lucy was not valued by her father and was used as a bargaining chip for marriage, so she ran away from home. After many twists and turns, she joined the Fairy Tail Guild.

This is how it all came about.

"Aquarius" Aqua ended the illusion of "Star Memory" and everything around her returned to the shabby tavern.

Although there are still many mysteries, Brandish and Lucy have already seen what they wanted to know.

Lucy was quite surprised. After so many years, she had long accepted her mother's departure, but she didn't know that her mother's death involved so much.

Brandish stood there blankly, somewhat at a loss.

Aqua sighed for who knows how many times. She curled up her tail and moved closer to Brandish. "This is my memory... You don't believe me, do you?"

Brandish was stunned for a moment, and then tears as big as beans rolled down her cheeks.

It turned out that the arrow of resentment she had been holding on to for so many years was aimed at the wrong target from the beginning.

Judging from the "Memory of the Stars", Grame and Leila are like sisters. Not only is Leila not the murderer of Grame, but the two have a very close relationship.

She hated the wrong person.

Aqua showed a complicated smile, reached out to stroke Brandish's hair, and gently held her in her arms, like a sister:
"I didn't expect you to be this big."

Brandish was stunned for a moment, then sobbed in Aquia's arms.

At this time, she was no longer one of the "Twelve Holy Shields", but just an ordinary girl.

Leo, who didn't expect to hear these secrets, turned to look at Lucy.

The Celestial Spirits are not allowed to communicate with each other about the information of their contractors, so even after Leo returned to the Celestial Spirit Realm, he never heard Aqua talk about these things.

Now it seems that the crisis has been resolved, so he should leave, because his existence will consume Lucy's magic power.

Lucy nodded, indicating that everything would be fine, and then opened the "Gate to the Celestial World" and let Leo go back.

After a long time, a timid voice broke the sad atmosphere.

"I think your issues should be resolved, right? Then... what should I do with my tavern?"

Ginana stood there awkwardly, holding her tray, with fear and uneasiness in her eyes. It was obvious that she had been mentally preparing herself for a long time before saying these words.

Lucy and Aqua were stunned for a moment and looked at each other, not knowing how to solve this problem.

At this moment, a "Door of Anything" opened in front of them, and Endymion walked out.

Everyone was surprised to see that it was Endymion.

He said to Jinana, "It's okay. The tavern will repair itself. Of course, the consumed 'goods' will be replenished later. You don't have to worry about it."

Seeing that it was the "Demon King" who came, and hearing him say this, Jinana breathed a sigh of relief.

She quickly ran behind him and pointed at the other women angrily and in a bully-like manner.

"Demon Lord, they were the ones who destroyed 'Ginana's Tavern'."

　I typed Aqua as Aqua several times, luckily I changed it, otherwise it would be a different story.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)