A very happy Helga and a depressed Lucy walked through the streets of Crocus; the contrast between the two was as clear as day and night to the point where they seemed to draw a little attention from the people who passed near them.

"Come on, young lady, you got what you wanted; stop pretending that life has no meaning; you should be happy"

"I'm happy".

"Yes, of course, the metaphorical cloud over your head makes it noticeable". The woman scoffed.

"It's just that I'm completely broke now; if I don't find Jean in Rublan Town, I'm going to be in serious trouble; I only have 50 jewels on me"

"That sounds bad; wouldn't you rather stay at my house today? I can make you a space, you only need to change your ticket, and you could leave first thing in the morning tomorrow"

Lucy seriously considered this proposal, but in the end, she ended up sighing and shaking her head. "No, I have to get there as soon as possible and look for Jean; if he isn't there when I arrive, it will be more difficult to find him"

"I see, and how much time do you have before your train leaves?"

"Almost 45 minutes; the station it's about a 20-minute walk, so I shouldn't have any problems"

"Then I will accompany you to the station"

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, I don't plan to open the store for the rest of the day, so I have some free time". Helga explained, to which Lucy nodded in agreement, only for a couple of seconds later, she put on a slightly uncomfortable expression.

"Umm, I was wondering". Lucy said with a bit of curiosity and embarrassment.

"Yes?"

"Why did you buy that elixir? I'm not criticizing you, but don't you think paying that much for something like that is a little... umm... trivial?"

"It seems so, right?" The woman said wistfully before moving on to a mocking tone. "It's a bit private, but I can tell you that I will use this elixir to have an unforgettable night with my husband, we-"

"Enough information". The blonde interrupted Helga before she could say more.

At that very moment, Lucy regretted having asked from the bottom of her soul; after all, just imagining what Helga wanted to do with her husband gave her chills.

"What a spoilsport; I'm only 58." The woman replied as she laughed lightly.

"Yeah, that definitely makes me feel better". Lucy replied sarcastically.

But before Helga could reply, a woman in a maid's dress with a peanut-shaped head bumped into her, knocking her off her feet.

"Be more careful where you walk, old hag and ugly girl". She said with an annoyed tone before walking away quickly.

"Mrs. Helga". Lucy hurried to help the woman to her feet and watched the maid walk away from her. "What's wrong with her? Knock down an older woman and call me ugly?" She said as she looked at her back.

"N-no, stop her". Helga said in a panic after touching the pocket where she had kept the bottle of elixir. "She stole the elixir from me". She said before quickly standing up and running after the maid with Lucy at her side.

"Hey, stop!" Lucy yelled as she and Helga ran when they saw the peanut-headed woman turn a corner.

"She can't keep that elixir". Helga said with a clearly desperate tone, and when they both turned the same corner, they saw that the woman was trapped for having entered an alley, and in her hands, she was holding the small bottle that contained the elixir.

"You're trapped, give up and hand over that bottle". Lucy said as her bracelet transformed into a whip.

"Give it to me; I paid for that elixir". Helga said with evident anger in her voice.

But at that moment, the ground beneath Lucy cracked a second before a hand emerged from it, grabbing her ankle and plunging her into the earth up to her waist while two more figures grabbed Helga from behind.

"Byoyoyo, it seems that my magnificent plan worked, but that was obvious since it was the idea of someone as amazing as me". Said a short man with a mustache who came out of a hole next to Lucy.

"Who are you?" The blonde asked as she tried to free herself.

"Who am I? Open your ears wide, ugly girl, I am the wonderful Duke Everlue, a great connoisseur about books and women, but above all, I am the one who should have that elixir and the golden key of Virgo, but you two got in my way, so I just will take what from the beginning should have bee-URG". The self-appointed Everlue was hit before finishing his sentence and flew flying, knocking down the maids holding Helga.

"I will punish anyone who dares to try to harm Lucy's nice body!" A humanoid bull with a big ax on his back shouted.

"Good job Taurus." Said Lucy after freeing herself from where she was buried. "Now, give us that back". The blonde said, looking at the maid who still had the small bottle with the elixir.

"I-I". The maid tried to back away, but having a huge wall behind her could not escape; until seeing something that caught her attention, she made a decision. "I-if you want it, then go for it!" She yelled as she threw the vial with all her might.

"!"

"Noooo!" Helga yelled, turning around in a desperate attempt to reach the bottle, but a small figure jumped out and caught the object before she did.

"Byoyoyoyo, now this is mine." The duke said after catching the elixir, sinking into the ground quickly a second before Taurus hit him with the flat side of his ax.

"I may not have the key, but you guys won't take this from me!" He yelled as he walked away down the underground tunnel.

"No, you will not!" The blonde said as she pulled out another golden key. "It's a bit rushed because we formed a contract just a few minutes ago, but I need you! Open, gate of the maiden: Virgo!"

A golden light came out from the key, and a second later, a pink-haired girl dressed in a maid outfit, chains on her wrists, and a poker face appeared. "Did you call me, princess?"

"An awful old man just stole something important and fled down that tunnel; please catch him"

"As you order". Virgo replied before jumping down the same hole Everlue had escaped through before.

"Mrs. Helga". Lucy quickly approached the woman who had been robbed, but when she saw her expression, she realized that she was desperate.

"H-how could this happen? T-the promise with Dulian, I… please… forgive me, dear". She said quietly as tears fell from her eyes.

Lucy took the woman by her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Don't despair; we will recover that elixir; besides, I'm sure that if your husband loves you, he won't care if she looks young or not"

When Helga heard this, she moved her arm violently, letting go of Lucy's grip. "Don't talk like you know him... my husband... my Dulian... died 23 years ago"

"W-what?" Lucy didn't understand what Helga was saying. "But you said that elixir was for-"

"I know what I said, but I…" Helga's voice trailed off until she finally stopped talking.

"Mrs. Helga". Lucy said as she stood up and walked with her whip towards the only conscious maid. "I'll help you; you don't have to tell me what you will use that elixir for if you don't want to". She spoke without pausing until she faced the girl dressed as a maid again, this time, with an imposing Taurus behind her.

"Now, tell me". She spoke with a pleasant smile, that if you didn't count the shadow that covered her eyes. "You know where Everlue went, right?"

Thirty seconds was all that Lucy needed for the maid to spill all the information she had.

Apparently, Everlue had come because, like Helga, he found out that the golden key would be up for auction, in addition to the fact that the man knew that it would be Virgo's key, and he also wanted the elixir to give it as a reward to whoever he appointed as the "maiden of the month"

But when Lucy and Helga bought the products, he made a slight change of plans; he would steal both of them and then escape with his maids on the next train, so now he would probably be running away on his way to the station.

"Let's go quickly, Mrs. Helga". Lucy said before noticing that the woman wouldn't be able to keep up if she started running at full speed, so she quickly looked at her spirit. "Taurus, please carry Mrs. Helga, and follow me to the station"

"To the order!" The spirit responded by carrying the woman after apologizing briefly, and after that, they both began to run.

#####

"Stop there, awful old man". Virgo said with mock excitement as he continued to dive underground behind Everlue.

"God, when I heard that the maid's key would be up for auction, I thought she'd be a nice addition to my staff, but she's not only ugly, she's also rude". The man complained.

And although Virgo's expression didn't change, except for the short tic in his left eye, the aura around her did it, and her speed increased considerably.

"Ho, normally, I like to ask for the punishment, but I think I can make an exception this time and be the one to give it". This time her tone was so deep that it made Everlue's bones tremble, and the smile the spirit gave him only increased his nervousness.

Everlue pushed himself a bit harder, and his speed increased a bit; even so, with each second, Virgo continued to reduce the distance between them.

"Tsk, I have no choice; open shield gate: Scutum!" The man yelled, pointing back with a silver key that glowed for a second, and when Virgo tried to break through the light, a 'Clank' sound was heard.

Virgo had just crashed headfirst into a shield with spiral pattern designs, little limbs, and a smiling face. "I'm here!" He said enthusiastically.

"Byoyoyoyo, that's what you get for trying to interfere with my escape!" The duke yelled as he regained distance.

Virgo, for her part, took the shield by the edge and slowly moved it to one side, revealing one of her eyes, which at that moment seemed like holes of infinite darkness.

Even the shield spirit, who was not the recipient of that look, shuddered notably. "Um, I-I… I'm leaving!" He said, trying to mimic his happy tone when he was summoned, but the evident tremor in his voice gave it away before he disappeared.

Once again, the pink-haired maiden resumed her running at full speed.

#####

"I can see the station". Lucy said as she used her whip to swing through the streets of Crocus like a certain spider hero, and on the ground, Taurus kept up with her summoner by running at full speed, carrying Helga in his arms.

Without stopping, the 3 crossed the station entrance before the surprised look of the passers-by who passed nearby.

Arriving at the train stop just as the train had just arrived, Lucy, Taurus, and Helga frantically searched for Everlue or Virgo.

But apparently, that wasn't Lucy's lucky day because she was so focused on finding the duke or her spirit that she didn't realize that something came out of the ground right below her.

"Hyaaa!"

"I finally lost her, although I had to go around a lot". Said the man while he breathed, a little exhausted.

"There he is!" Taurus yelled, running at the man with his fist raised, ready to hit him one more time, this time with enough force to render him unconscious.

However, it seemed that, just like Lucy, today wasn't his lucky day because when he was just two steps away, the ground beneath his feet exploded as Virgo stepped out of the newly made tunnel.

And calling everyone's attention, the train's horn signaled the departure of the big metal mass.

That brief moment of inattention was taken advantage of by Everlue, who jumped onto the roof of the train with a smile on his face. "Now you can't catch me; I won!" He scoffed as the train started to pull away.

But when it seemed that the man would be able to flee, a whip grabbed him by the leg and pulled him, causing him to lose his balance and almost fall from the train, although before that, he managed to hold on to a railing.

"You're not going to run away!" Lucy said through clenched teeth as she tugged, trying to get the man to let go of the train.

"Damn... ugly brat, you're not... going to... stop... me from running away!" The thief replied as he put all his effort into not letting go of the train, but at that moment, a chain was fastened around his torso.

Turning his head to look, Everlue saw Virgo, who had also managed to catch him while putting on a mischievous smile that screamed punishment.

And on top of that, Taurus stood next to Lucy, putting his hands on the whip's handle and pulling too.

"Ahhhhh!" The scream of 2 spirits and a magician resounded, and the rail of the train separated from the rest of the structure, causing Everlue to go flying in the direction where Lucy jumped, propelled by Taurus and ready for the final blow.

"Lucyyyyy Kick!" The blonde screamed as her boot collided with the duke's jaw knocking him completely unconscious.

#####

A few minutes later, the guards finally arrived at where everything had happened, and although they suspected Lucy, Helga intervened, and apparently, she was an acquaintance of the mother of the squad leader, so they only took the statements of the woman mage before taking Everlue away, who had been tied and gagged in a "peculiar" way by Virgo.

And when finally only Lucy and Helga were left at the train station, they both sat on a wooden bench waiting the few minutes left for the train that the blonde would board to arrive.

"Gosh, what a day, and all I expected from this stop was to walk around and maybe buy a few things". Lucy said as she stretched out on the bench; turning her head a little, she could see Helga with the bottle of elixir in her hand as she stared at it intently.

Lucy really wanted to ask one more time why she had bought that elixir if her husband had passed away more than 20 years ago, but in the end, she was able to retain her curiosity and not do it.

After all, it seemed like it was something very private for the woman.

"If you're going to ask something, just do it; I know what you're thinking, and I could feel your gaze even if we were 100 meters away". Helga spoke with a tone between amused and resigned.

"Eh? I-I don't-" Cheeks red from the embarrassment of being found out, Lucy tried to deny the accusation, but Helga cut her off with a friendly tone and a small smile.

"Are you telling me that you really don't want to know what I'm going to use this elixir for?"

"Are you sure it's okay to tell me? It seems like a private matter". She asked, not knowing if it was okay to hear the reason for spending so much money on something like an elixir.

"It's thanks to you that I still have it with me; if it weren't for you, then it would most likely have been stolen, so, as a thank you, I could at least tell you why I bought it, of course, if you want to know"

Lucy mentally prepared herself for anything they might tell her and nodded to show that she agreed to listen to Helga's story.

"38 years ago, I met my husband, Dulian Freshmort; at that time, I was a very outgoing young woman; I had a lot of friends, but from the first time I saw him, I knew that he was different. It was love at first sight, and with each thing he did, he made me fall more in love with him; he was polite but funny, smart but sensitive, and also the most handsome man I've ever met". Helga's eyes seemed to sparkle when she described her husband.

Lucy was sure that she had never before seen someone show so much feeling in every word and expression as Helga did.

"Initially, I started by making friends with his friends; after all, I was a little embarrassed to talk to him directly, but after a few weeks, we finally got to talk directly and hit it off so well that we became friends right away, and although I wanted something else, I did not dare to confess my feelings until one year later, never in my life had I been as nervous as that day, but after listening to me, he began to laugh". She added with a small laugh confusing Lucy.

"It was very funny because at first, I thought he was making fun of me, but it turned out that he was making fun of himself and the situation in general, after that he confessed that he had been in love with me for a while, and a year later, we got married, those years were the happiest of my life". Helga clarified, noticing the young mage's confusion.

"The years passed, we opened a magic shop, and everything seemed to be going well in our lives, but we had a problem; our business began to go wrong, and little by little, the number of sales began to decline, to the point that everything we saw in the balances was red numbers, in the beginning, we tried to support each other even more, we repeated over and over again how that was something that would pass over time, that it was simply a bad moment that we were going through". At that moment, Helga put on a firm expression as if she was preparing for what she would say.

And when Lucy noticed that, she understood that probably she would hear the bad part of the story.

"But our crisis lasted so long that my immature self at that time gave in to stress, and I ended up gradually changing my attitude towards him, I was inconsiderate, I began to demand that he have better ideas, that think of a new way to attract customers, to do something to fix the problem when what I should have done was ask him that we both think of something, that we both work side by side to get ahead". Helga's expression turned regretful and sad while some tears rolled down her cheeks.

"He tried his best, coming home later and later, staying up late thinking and making plans, until one night... he just didn't come back, at first I didn't give it much thought and went to sleep, in the next morning I didn't find it either, and that's when I started to worry, I went out looking for it, but do you know what I found?" She asked though it was obvious she wasn't expecting an answer from Lucy.

"He was in the hospital, he had been attacked by a group of men to whom we owed money, and the worst thing was what they gave me in the hospital; he had a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and a letter for me, it was… it was our anniversary, and I didn't even remember it". Helga wiped away her tears as she paused and took a few deep breaths before continuing.

"The letter I had with him was an apology for everything we had been through, along with a contract he had managed to sign that could fix our situation; when he woke up, the first thing he did was smile at me and apologize for not getting home on time, that big idiot, endured for three days until his body couldn't take it anymore, he fell asleep and didn't wake up again"

The woman seemed to finish speaking, and Lucy didn't really know what to say.

Despite how much she disagreed with the belief her father had acquired over the years that money was the most important thing, she understood that it was necessary to live a full and peaceful life.

After all, things like health, education, and other things cost money, but although the attitude that Helga had taken toward her husband at that time did not seem correct, it was also evident to her that the woman was much more than sorry, and that what had happened to her husband was not her fault.

"I…"

"Are you going to tell me it wasn't my fault?" Helga cut her off before she finished speaking. "That my husband wouldn't like to see me like this?"

"…"

"You don't need to worry; even if I'm a foolish old woman, my Dulian spent every possible moment of his last days making me understand that, as humans, we all have flaws and that even though I made mistakes, he wouldn't allow me to blame myself for something I had no real control over, if I wallowed in self-pity or guilt I would be disrespecting his last wish, but even so, I also made my own promise". Added the woman.

"Every year, I buy a bottle of that elixir, and on September 30, I organize an anniversary dinner, like the one I would have liked to share with my Dulian; I drink the elixir, I sit in front of his last photo, and I tell him everything that happened to me during the year; I know it may seem silly, but seeing myself younger somehow makes me feel closer to the time I shared with my husband, somehow I feel like I'm actually in front of him once again". She finished saying before looking at Lucy and smiling a little in disbelief.

"Why are you crying?" She asked as a drop of sweat fell down the side of her head as she saw Lucy crying exaggeratedly.

"I… I… I'm sorry… I didn't know". The blonde replied, drying the tears with her hands.

"Don't worry, girl; besides, I was the one who decided to tell you, and look there". She said before pointing to the tracks, where the train that Lucy would take was arriving. "It seems that this is where we say goodbye; stop crying; the kids these days know how to make the elders uncomfortable, huh?" She groaned playfully as she rubbed circles on the mage's back.

"I really thank you for helping me, Lucy". Helga sincerely thanked, pulling the blonde into a tight hug. "Now go; you also have something to do, right?"

Lucy, for her part, nodded, trying to give a sincere smile as she climbed into the carriage and waved goodbye to Helga, and even when she reached her seat, she opened the window and kept waving her hand as the train began to move.

"When you're done with what that airheaded boy was up to, make sure you get back here with him, let me see him, and give him my approval, ok?"

Having gotten used to the older woman's teasing, Lucy didn't even try to retort but instead, surprisingly, chose to answer her in the affirmative. "Yes, we will definitely come to pay you a visit, bye!" She finished saying goodbye as the train pulled away.

---

And there you have it; we are done with the beginning part of Lucy's journey to find Jean; now Lucy has five golden keys before canon, not bad if you ask me.

Will she be able to get the others before canon? Well, even I don't know that, but meh, those are things for "future me" to worry about; sometimes I feel sorry for that guy.

Anyway, in the next chapter, we will take a little break from the plot; we will have the beach chapter.

That cannot be missing in any series, but don't worry, we will return with the story after that.

Remember that if you want to read what follows right now, you can go to my P-a-t-r-e-o-n (Rosasola); there are more chapters there, as well as some extra benefits.

Ciao.