*edited*

Yin and Yang

"No! Mama, no don't leave me!" the little girl screams at the glowing form of her mother.

"My darling child… I'm sorry, I love you," she smiles sadly.

The girl's eyes widen, but are soon forced shut by the blinding brightness in the room.

"Mama! No, please, no! He'll hurt me! He hates me! Don't leave me with him!"

"I'm sorry, Nyx, I'm sorry."

With a wail from the child, she disappeared with a flash of golden radiance. Sobs wracked the little girl's body as she screamed for her mother to come back, as she screamed for her hope to come back, as she screamed for her saviour to come back.

"Mama!"

I shot up in bed, eyes wide, chest heaving. The same dream – no, the same nightmare. Of… Mama. Of how she left me, of how she betrayed me. Of how she vanished, ripping the heart I once had into pieces.

"No. She's gone now, and isn't coming back," I whispered to myself, eyes swirling dangerously.

If she had loved me, she wouldn't have left me here! She wouldn't have deserted me, wouldn't have forsaken me to this monster! She wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't!

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, springing up onto my feet. Another day ahead, another day to go, another time to shine.

Sinking onto the floor, I crossed my legs. Slowly, ever so slowly, I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. My mind sank deep into the recesses of my consciousness, leaving me free of thought.

I travelled deeper into the imaginary self, deeper into my mindscape. I arrived. In front of me hung a ball of light, pulsing and swirling within itself. Many colours ebbed and flowed, creating a mesmerizing effect on me. Most prominent were the white and black particles, often mixing together to form a marbled stream.

I calmly stretched my hand out, gently extending my arm into the hovering core. As soon as my fingers touched it, my hair began to float around my head in reality. Soon, my body was emitting a gentle light, shining black and white rays. I reached deeper in, inhaling at this sense of ecstasy. It truly was euphoria.

My stationary body started to lift off the soft carpet, started to levitate smoothly in the air. My unseeing lids opened gradually, showing glorious white eyes.

Unwillingly, I brought my arm back to my side, causing my body to softly land on the floor. My hair splayed around me as my eyes slowly turned back to normal. Well, as normal as they can be.

I came back to consciousness, opening my eyes and seeing the world in perfect clarity. The grains in the wood, the threads woven in the duvet on the bed, the gleam of the paint on the walls. All was sharper and clearer to me now.

I've succeeded.

I sucked in a breath of delight as my vision stayed the same. I've done it. I've reached my magical core.

Little did it matter that I was only ten. Ever since mother had… vanished and left me with him, I had been working towards the strength I knew I had. Sure, I had been strong before. I had been on par with S-class mages. But now… now, my magical core had expanded by much more. I would say that it was maybe 50 times stronger now!

Good thing I had bought limiters, and many of them as well.

Stiffly, I stood up, walking towards the bathroom. I showered quickly, putting on a black tank top ending at the belly button and black baggy leggings that cut off at the knee.

Also, I grabbed my golden key-ring which had many, many celestial spirit keys on, Golden and Silver. I even had some of the… rarer ones. I had never actually intended to be a celestial mage, but when I saw mages abusing their spirits, I could not stop myself from taking them away. They are friends, not tools!

I slipped on grippy leather boots, black leather gloves and grabbed my signature black cloak.

I glanced in the mirror before putting on my cloak. Shining white hair fell down my back, ending at the waist, multi-coloured highlights streaking it. Where it ended, it darkened into midnight black. Whenever I felt a strong emotion, my hair would change colour.

Full lips met my eyes, viciously turned down in a reminder of the pain I had suffered. Slanted eyes stared back at me, hatred surfacing.

But... If there was one thing I loved though, it was my eyes. They made me special. They made me unique, they gave me hope.

Looking back at me were swirling black and white eyes, which formed the yin and yang symbol. It looked wicked. But it also creeped others out. I had no black pupil, as the design took up all of my pupil and iris. Freaking Awesome.

I pondered on which mask to wear. Around the community, I had been known as 'the masked one', as I was never without a mask and a hood. No one outside this house actually knew what I looked like, nor what my real name was.

Because when Mama disappeared, Father gave me a new name. Lucy Heartfilia.

I quietly slipped down the stairs, hood covering my face and hiding my body. Time to face Him. I felt my mouth curling in disgust, a silent snarl in the back of my throat.

I had on my signature mask, a white, black and gold gleaming beauty (see story picture). Each of my masks was a limiter of extreme power. This one reduced it to about half my power.

Then, I had on 5 earrings in each ear, a necklace, and my cloak. With all this, my aura hid the power, which was made to look like it was reduced to that of an S-class mage. Very useful for fooling my enemies.

Not even I knew the actual limits of my power. I had so many types, including lost magics. You name it, I had it.

And how I had it, you ask?

Whenever I saw someone, mage or not, my eyes would… activate. An image would flash up for me, indicating the type of magic, how to do it, and how far along they had taken it.

This was extremely useful, but I had several questions not yet answered. Why did I have it? How did it work? Why did it make my eyes like this? How did I get it?

All of them unanswered. Such a pity, that I had an amazing gift, yet no way to understand it.

Another advantage of it was that not only did I know they had it, but I could use it too. Caster magic, Holder magic, Lost magic, anything.

But I didn't just have to see someone with it for it to work. I could just look at the name of it. It was incredibly disturbing when I had been reading a book on magic, and instantly started receiving a flood of information about it all.

Yes, I was incredibly powerful, but it came at a price. The price of loneliness.

I was dangerous, oh so dangerous. I knew of the magic of Zeref, for God's sake! I could potentially kill with a touch. Which was why I wore gloves. I couldn't make friends for fear of killing them. I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

I stalked into the dining room, watching the man reclining in a seat. Fear, hatred, loathing and many other emotions raged inside meat the mere sight of him. A cruel, sadistic monster of a man. Also known as my father.

He had changed my name, he had tried to strip away my identity! Yes, my mother had given me that identity and left me here, but it was one of the last pieces of her that I had left. Even through her betrayal, there's still the love inside me buried deep. Almost too deep.

"Father," I bit out with a snarl.

"Ah, Lucy, you are awake. Why on earth are you wearing those clothes? And that mask? It is unbefitting of an heiress, my dear," he smiled towards me.

I had to stave off a shudder at his false pretence of kindness.

"First of all, old man, I am not Lucy. My name is Nyx," I took a deep breath.

My voice was growing louder, resonating around the room. My eyes flashed behind the mask as I felt the swirling emotion within me, hair darkening to a pitch black. I could even feel my magical core straining to burst free, to hurt this demon of a man who dared call me Lucy.

"Secondly, I always wear these clothes. These are my style, these suit me," I felt a sick grin curl on my face, "Thirdly, I wear this mask to hide my identity and to stop others' from seeing me and being scared. Fourth, and definitely not last or least, I am not YOUR HEIRESS!"

"Whatever do you mean, darling Lucy?" he smiled malevolently.

"I AM NOT YOUR DARLING!" I roar, "I AM A MAGE! I AM GREATER THAN ZEREF HIMSELF! I. AM. CALLED. NYX!"

With this, a burst of magic power broke down a barrier I didn't know I had. This… no, it can't be! Most never get it, and I'm only ten!

I had just reached my second origin. Said to be obtained, through mystical and unknown means, it is a second reservoir of magical power.

I cursed as my hair began to float. Scratch that, I was floating! This must have at least doubled my power, if not more. This was bad, so bad!

The man in front of me was pressed down to the ground by the oppressing weight of my magic, his mouth emitting choking sounds as he struggled to breathe.

I ran out of the room, dashing towards my room. On the way, I made several more holes in my ears, adding ten extra slots for earrings, five more on each ear. I would need to get ones with higher limitations on them.

I slammed the door shut, grabbing the small metal rings off my jewellery stand, slipping them in my ears. I felt my magic recede by quite a bit. It could still incapacitate someone, though.

At the moment, I was holding it back through pure force of will. If I let go, who knew what would happen?

Frantic, I rushed towards the one place I swore I would never go.

Mother's bedroom.

I sprinted through the room, heading to her jewellery stand. There, lying innocently on a small platform, were ten rings, five for each finger. Each group of five was linked together by a cord of black leather, while the rings themselves were beautiful.

Each had a swirling pattern of ivy curling around the black metal. I slipped the on, feeling the power in them. But instead of limiting my magic, it took it inside itself, creating a small reservoir in each ring. This was a magnificent piece of work.

With quite a bit of my magic stored in the rings, my aura wasn't good nor bad. I could easily access the magic inside it, even when they were off.

I marvelled at what had happened in one short morning. And I hadn't even had breakfast yet!

Watch out, world. Nyx is here, and she's better than ever.

Hi guys, me back again!

I'm so so so so sorry for not having posted another chappie on my other story! I needed to get this out of me, even if it is bad… Oh well. Hopefully I'll write a chapter for 'Perfect Tris' today as well!

So I'm not sure if I explained Lucy/Nyx that well. I'll do so now.

Eyes: Her eyes have the normal whites, but she has a yin yang symbol in them.

Hair: It is down to her waist – starts off white with loads of colours streaking it, then darkens into black at the ends.

Clothes: This is my favourite part. She's wearing a long black cloak (like the Lucy who came back from the past in GMG), she has a white, black and gold mask on, black tank top and puffy pants that end at the knee with black ankle boots. Also has on black leather gloves (like bikers' gloves).

Powers: So basically anything you can think of! If you want me to feature a particular power in a fight, PM/review telling me!

Last but not least (Sorry for the long A/N) is this story OK?

See ya later Alligators,

MG