Fairy Tail 72

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Fairy Tail
Chapter 72: A Star That Cannot Return To The Sky
[insert text: It's not something you can ever find alone! // A smile... // ...is a "barometer of happiness"!!]

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[insert text: His harsh words drive away the warmth... What is lurking within Loki's heart?!]
Loki: I don't have long... // ...left to live.
Lucy: ! // Huh? // Ahh...

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Lucy: ......... // What... did you say?
Loki: Hahahahahah!

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Loki: You fell for it, huh? // That's a line. Good for seducing women. // You know? You use the old sympathy trick... / Well? I got you pretty good there, huh?
[sFX: SLA~~~~P]
Loki: ........

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Lucy: I... // I CAN'T STAND JOKES LIKE THAT!!! // We're leaving!!! Happy, Plue!
Plue: Puuuun?

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Loki: (What am I playing at...? // I can't let my feelings control me like that... // She doesn't need to get mixed up in this. // After all, I'm...)
[box: The next day... Fairy Tail]

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Elfman: What's with them?
Mirajane: I hear they got into a pillow fight after a job, and got pretty beat up.
Elfman: How the hell do you get like that through a pillow fight...?
Lluvia: (Gray-sama... are you all right...?)
Gray: Why the hell do you go all-out in a pillow fight, anyway?!
Natsu: I'm never not going all-out!
Gray: And you still managed to lose... hah!
Natsu: Whaaat?! YOU'RE the one who lost!
Lluvia: (Winners... losers... pillow fights... what is all this?)
Gray/Natsu: Lucy!!! It was me that won, right?!!

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Lucy: Shut up.
Gray/Natsu: W - We're very sorry.
Guys: Whoooah!! Someone who's not Erza managed to stop those two!! // You're pretty good, Lucy!!

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Happy: Why're you in such a bad mood, Lucy?
Lucy: I am? This is just normal...
Happy: Are you still mad at me for tricking you?
Lucy: No, no, no!! You really think I'm that kind of person? // I'm sorry... I've just had a lot to think about, is all...
Happy: You can talk to me, you know?
Lucy: Mm... No, thanks... Don't worry about it.
Girl: Hey, have you seen Loki?
Lucy: !
Girls: Where's Loki? // Loki~! Where are you~?! // What are you all doing here, anyway? // How about you tell me?! // LOKI~~! WHERE ARE YOU~~?!

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Lucy: What's with them?
Happy: They're all girls from the town... / I guess they're all his girlfriend-candidates...
Girls: Last night, he suddenly said we shouldn't see each other any more! // Aahhhhh!! It's terrible, but the same thing happened to me! // Me too! // Me too! // Why would he say something like that all of a sudden?!!!
Mirajane: I... I wonder...
Girls: Don't tell me... he's found "the one"?!
Mirajane: Ahh...
Girls: Who is it?!! What guild is she from?!!
Mirajane: Lucy~~! Help me~~!
Lucy: Wait -
Girls: Hey, who's she~~~?! // Well, isn't she the cute one...! // Big chest, too... // Don't tell me she's the one...!
Lucy: Aaagh~~! Don't do things like that, Mira-sa~~~n!

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Lucy: ...So that's what happened, Cru-jii.
Crux: Mhm...
[box: Stellar Spirit / The Southern Cross, Crux / AKA, Cru-jii.]
Lucy: I... I know I got all heated up... / ...and I hit him like that, but... // ...Somehow, I'm starting to think it wasn't a joke after all...
Crux: Mhm...

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Lucy: So, Cru-jii, could you use your power to check up for me on the Stellar Spirit user Loki was involved with in the past?
Crux: Mhm...
Happy: He's gone to sleep, Lucy!!!!
Lucy: Don't worry... He's investigating.
Happy: No way!!! He's totally sleeping!

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Lucy: Cru-jii specialises in Stellar information-gathering. / He can find out anything regarding the Gate connecting the Stellar Plane and the Human Plane. // He can even tell you exactly which Stellar Spirit was summoned by which mage at any point in the past!
Crux: GUAAAAAAAOOOOHHHH!!!
Lucy: Cru-jii, did you find anything?!
Crux: Mhm. // We can't just go prying into any old personal details even in the Stellar Plane, so I can't give you too much, but...

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Crux: The Stellar Spirit Mage who was connected with Loki-sama... // ...is Karen Lilica-sama.
Lucy: KAREN LILICA?!!!
Happy: You know her, Lucy?
Lucy: She's a re~~~ally famous Stellar Spirit mage! // She's really beautiful, she even had photoshoots for Sorcerer!

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Lucy: But... a few years ago, she passed away, while doing a job...
Happy: So she was a guild mage, then...
Lucy: Yeah... I think she was with Blue Pegasus. // Hey... how on Earth are Karen and Loki connected?!
Crux: Mhm... / I cannot tell you any more.
Lucy: Hey...!
Happy: Ahh!! He said that, but he's investigating anyway!
Lucy: No... I think he's asleep.
Happy: Whaaa?!!!

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Lucy: Karen and Loki...
Flashback!Loki: I don't have long... // ...left to live...
Lucy: Huh?
Happy: What's wrong, Lucy?
Lucy: I'm getting a bad feeling...
Gray: Lucy!! It's terrible!!!
Lucy: Ahh!

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Gray: It's Loki! He's left Fairy Tail!!!!
Lucy: What?! // B - But why?!
Gray: How would I know?! We're all looking for him now! // Because... he looked kind of strange, back there...
Lucy: Don't tell me...!
Gray: Hey!! Lucy!!! Where are you running off to?!!!

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Lévi: LOKIII!!!
Natsu: WHERE ARE YOU?!!

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Loki: !
Lucy: Everyone's looking for you, you know.
Loki: Lucy!!!
Lucy: This is Karen's grave... right? // Stellar Spirit Mage Karen... // Your Owner.

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Lucy: Stellar Spirit Loki... // No... your real name is... The Lion, Leo.

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Loki: ........ // ...So you figured it out... yeah, I'm a Stellar Spirit.
Lucy: I am a Stellar Spirit mage... I've bound contracts with any number of them. // Looks like I've finally found out your secret. // But... I guess I should have worked it out earlier. // Usually, when the bearer of a Key dies, the contract is broken... / ...and the Spirit is forced to return to the Stellar Plane until a new Owner appears.
[Labelx2: Contract]
[Label: Free~!]

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Lucy: But even though Karen died, you're still here, on the Human Plane. // I guess for some reason, you couldn't go back to the Stellar Plane. // And just like humans can't live in the Stellar Plane... // A Stellar Spirit can't live on the Human Plane. // Their life will sap away little by little... / ...and eventually, they'll die.
Loki: It's been three years now.
Lucy: Three years...?!!! You shouldn't have been able to make one!
Loki: Yeah... This is it for me...... / I just don't have any strength left...

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Lucy: I... I might be able to help you, you know!!!! // Tell me why it is you couldn't go back!!! I'll try and get you back through the Gate!!!!
Loki: I don't need saving.
Lucy: What do you think you're saying?! You're really going to die at this rate, you know!!
Loki: The reason I can't go back... it's simple.
Lucy: ?!
Loki: I broke the rules... I did something no Stellar Spirit is allowed to do to his Owner. // And so... I was banished from the Stellar Plane, forever.
Lucy: Banished... forever?
Loki: This is my sin. // As such, this death is something I must accept.

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Loki: I am a traitor Stellar Spirit. // I killed my own Owner, Karen, with these two hands.
[insert text: Loki's terrible confession! Is this death that moves ever closer truly an unavoidable fate...?!]
[bottom text: To be continued in Chapter 73, "Year 781: Blue Pegasus"]