"What happened just now? I think I saw Rhodes carrying Loke out."
"Wasn't Loke just chatting with Mira?"
"Ohhh~ Did he try to flirt with Mira and got knocked out by Rhodes?"
"Well, he had it coming. You think Rhodes might drown him?"
"Haha! If that actually happens, Rhodes would be saving countless clueless girls."
Of course, the idea of drowning Loke was just a joke. No one believed Rhodes would really go that far, at most, he'd rough him up a little.
After all, hitting on someone else's girlfriend? Yeah, that deserves a lesson.
A few sharp-eyed guild members did notice something odd. It seemed like Mira had briefly transformed and used hypnotic magic on Loke.
But in the end, no one cared. Loke must've said something inappropriate again. If Mira knocked him out, then clearly it was his fault.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Rhodes had already slung Loke over his shoulder and carried him all the way to Porlyusica's cabin.
When the old healer saw Rhodes carrying someone like that, she assumed it was a real emergency and quickly let them in.
Rhodes gently laid Loke on the bed. Porlyusica stepped forward, touching Loke's forehead with a glowing fingertip. After a moment, she said, "He's just under a sleeping spell. Nothing serious."
Rhodes scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. "Uh... that spell came from Mira."
Porlyusica raised an eyebrow. "You two brawling again?"
"No, no," Rhodes waved his hands. "It's just, Loke's been acting weird for over a month now. Every time we told him to get a checkup, he brushed it off. But his condition keeps getting worse. Today, he tried taking on a mission that could lead to a fight. We were really worried, so we brought him here like this."
Porlyusica narrowed her eyes. "Is that so?"
Fairy Tail, those fools. She could already tell they were covering for something serious.
She did a more thorough examination, and the longer it went on, the deeper her frown became.
Rhodes could feel the pit growing in his stomach. He had only ever seen Granny make that face once before, when Makarov had collapsed during the Battle of Fairy Tail.
"How bad is it?" he asked anxiously once she finished.
Porlyusica crossed her arms. "This won't be fixed overnight."
She glanced down at Loke. "Leave him here. You can go."
Rhodes didn't want to get in her way, but paused at the door. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Cast that magic of yours. Once should be enough."
"Sure thing."
Outside, Rhodes summoned both the Sentile and Red Brambleback, giving them to Porlyusica's care. "They'll follow your orders, Granny."
"Is your body holding up?"
"Don't worry, I've been pacing myself." Rhodes smiled and waved. "I'll leave Loke to you."
Even if the guy was a shameless flirt who kept too many secrets, he was still a friend, someone who had fought beside them.
Rhodes didn't want to see him waste away like this.
After Rhodes left, Porlyusica retrieved a small vial from her shelf and let a single drop fall onto Loke's philtrum.
A moment later, Loke sneezed and bolted upright, blinking groggily. "Huh? Where am I... I remember accepting a mission... Porlyusica?"
She didn't mince words. "You. You're not human, are you?"
Loke's eyes widened. He opened his mouth as if to deny it, then hesitated.
Realizing who he was talking to, he let out a long sigh. "Please don't tell anyone."
Porlyusica frowned. "What's going on with your body? Why are you getting weaker?"
"Because..." Loke looked down, shame in his voice. "I'm a Celestial Spirit. My true name is Leo the Lion. I've been stranded in the human world for the past three years... without a contract."
"Three years?!" Porlyusica gasped, shocked despite her usual stern demeanor. "A Celestial Spirit can't survive in the human world that long without consequences!"
"Even the Zodiac Celestial Spirits can't last more than ten days in the human world without a contract," Porlyusica snapped, her expression darkening. "Three years? That's impossible! How could you endure it, and why would you do such a thing?"
Loke lowered his gaze. "Because I was exiled. I broke a taboo of the Celestial Spirit World. I caused the death of my own contractor."
His voice trembled slightly, as memories long buried rose to the surface.
"It happened three years ago. My key was owned by a Celestial Spirit Mage named Karen Lilica of Blue Pegasus."
Porlyusica's brow furrowed.
"At the time, she was quite famous. Not only did she hold my key, Leo of the Lion, but she also possessed Aries, another Zodiac Spirit."
"In fact," Loke added with a distant look, "holding two Zodiac Keys at once was considered something to be proud of. She was even a cover model for Sorcerer Weekly. Mira and Jenny... they were all her juniors back then."
"But fame... that's all she cared about."
"She never understood the heart of Celestial Spirit Magic," Loke continued bitterly. "To her, spirits were nothing more than tools, servants she could order around. Sometimes even less than that."
Porlyusica listened, frowning deeper with every word.
"When she was displeased with us, she'd use the whip. Punish us like animals."
His voice dropped.
"Especially Aries."
"One day, I couldn't take it anymore."
"When she tried to summon Aries to punish her again, I forced the summoning to redirect. I answered the call in Aries' place."
"I ignored her dismissal spell. I refused to return. And by doing that, I locked her summoning slot. Since she couldn't summon two spirits at once, she was left powerless."
"I made her an offer," he said. "Release both Aries and me from our contracts. That was all I asked."
"But the truth is... what I really wanted was for her to understand."
"I wanted her to recognize Aries' pain... to see us as companions, not tools."
"But Karen never believed she'd done anything wrong."
And so, the standoff lasted for three long months.
"She refused to give in. And one day... she took on a job, despite being unable to summon any spirits."
"She never came back."
Loke fell silent. The weight of that day was still heavy on his shoulders.
Porlyusica's expression was unreadable.
"In the eyes of the Celestial Spirit World," Loke said softly, "my actions defied the will of my key bearer. I interfered. Disobeyed. And worst of all it led to her death."
"It didn't matter that I was trying to protect someone else. I broke the contract."
"The Spirit King passed judgment. I was exiled from the Celestial Spirit World, permanently."
Porlyusica's lips tightened.
"For a Celestial Spirit," Loke said, "that's no different from a death sentence."
He placed a hand on his chest.
"Our bodies aren't made to endure the human world for long without a contract. Little by little… I've been fading away."
Loke was still burdened with guilt over Karen's death. He had long accepted the punishment as a form of atonement, and thus never once objected to the verdict handed down.
The laws of the Celestial Spirit World were absolute, even Aries's tearful pleas on his behalf had fallen on deaf ears.
During his years of exile in the human world, Loke had made a name for himself as a flirt and a smooth-talking ladies' man. He immersed himself in missions that involved protecting women, seemingly out of chivalry. But in truth, he had been mimicking Karen and her companions' lifestyle, trying to escape the weight of his own regret. Over time, it became second nature.
"What kind of messed-up rule is that?" Porlyusica muttered with disdain. "Since when did protecting a companion from abuse become a crime?"
She was, after all, Fairy Tail's trusted healer. Just from that single line, it was clear she fit right in with the guild's ideals.
Loke shook his head slightly. "No, this was my mistake. The consequences are mine to bear."
Porlyusica looked like she wanted to argue, but held her tongue. After a brief silence, she said, "Your friends clearly don't agree. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."
Given how well she knew the brats in Fairy Tail, she figured they'd storm the Spirit World itself if it meant helping a friend.
"Please, don't tell them," Loke said quietly. "The Celestial Spirit King's judgment is final. It's not worth triggering a war over someone like me… a sinner."
Even if Porlyusica didn't say anything, someone was bound to find out. She pointed at the shimmering red and blue auras floating faintly around him. "And what about that? Is it really useless?"
"Rhodes's magic?" Loke gave a faint smile. So that's who knocked him out earlier.
"It won't help. This isn't about injuries or magic depletion. It's a sentence imposed by the Astral Realm's laws." He placed a hand on his chest. "I don't have much time left. Please… let me spend what I have doing what I can."
...
Bonus @2000
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