#ft ares

So! Firstly, it's important to establish that Anna is a summoner wizard, but only a celestial summoner. Summoners use a mixture of application and reactionary magic, and most of them end up specializing in a specific type of summoning: angels, devils, spirits, phantoms, ghosts, fae, minor gods, and even dragons (there's a theoretical bunch more, but I'm not naming them all). Technically speaking, our favorite celestial wizard Lucy is not just a celestial summoner but ends up being a more versatile summoner. What does this mean? Well, it means her magic is capable of initiating all sorts of summonings, but at the price of those summons not being as refined. Simply put, it takes more work for her to build rapport with her spirits and reach the level of synthesis it usually takes for a mage and a spirit to work seamlessly.

What does this actually mean? It means Anna the goat Heartfilia was made for celestial summoning. It comes easiest to her, and the connection with her spirits, gates, contracts, and keys is far more streamlined and natural. She trained herself to make it even better, but there is a level of specialization to her perfection.

To fully explain this, I am gonna pull in some lore for how celestial spirits work in my fic.

Celestial spirits are spirits from a conjoined plane to Earthland's. They are linked, and so not an alternate dimension, like Edolas, but rather like a side closet to the open Earthland floorplan. It's a small dimension with stricter boundaries and more magic; specifically, magic that feeds off emotion and/or will. Each of the major spirits is linked to an element (this ties directly into the zodiac) and a driving core. How that spirit reacts with the core depends on how the wielder of their key can utilize them.

In summary: it's a mind meld. A sharing of pain, thoughts, and direction. Lucy is never able to reach this point with her spirits because of her eventual versatility, but Anna did.

SO:

Water Elements: Emotion leads the water elements. The term water refers to the spirit's flow-like capabilities. Their abilities are highly dependent and adaptive to their wielder, and rely on their wielder relinquishing their mind to such turbulent emotions: trusting what they feel over what they think. To wield the full power of these spirits, celestial mages must give themselves to the spirit's will entirely and trust that shared emotion and intuition over any logic. This alignment is difficult and can be costly

Pieces - Compassion (Empathy and Intuition)

Flow Magic → This magic allows the user to resist all magic effects, transmuting both positive and negative effects into energy. They can absorb all magic types other than physical forces, but doing so will exhaust their summoning time. In physical form, they can drain or give magic

Emotion to accept: Peace. Any internal conflict or doubt will weaken this spirit's flow abilities. If you are not centered, you cannot possess the strength to redirect such power.

Scorpio - Emotional will (Bravery and Volatility)

Sand Magic → Summons sand (wet or dry) and can manipulate it at will. The ferocity of sand depends on emotional investment

Emotion to accept: Whichever Scorpio can feed off most. Any strong emotion, the more virulent the better, boosts Scorpio's potential

Cancer - Inuition (Confidence and Creativity)

Cutting magic → Capable of cutting through anything theoretically (think the Frieren-based cutting style where intuition matters; the limits depend on the wielder)

Emotion to accept: The user must accept a constant stream of inspiration and creativity when linked to this spirit

Earth Elements: These Spirits have a very physical-centered focus, with their magic emphasizing body and will. These spirits are typically the easiest for celestial spirits to wield because their strengths can be easily accessed, but their versatile true potential is only available to imaginative mages. The abilities are simplistic, and their will is steadfast, so they are constants who do exactly as one expects.

Capricorn - Tenacity (Pessimism and Discipline)

Full-Body magic -> enhanced martial arts, faster processing speeds, improved strength, agility, constitution, etc...

Full Potential: Total concentration on the task at hand. He does not take kindly to distractions.

Virgo - Loyalty (Hardwork and Practicality)

Earth tunneling magic

Full Potential: To do something for someone/something you are loyal to. Virgo always works best when there is a greater mission at hand and a will in the mage's heart to serve others.

Taurus - Strength (Certainty and Determination)

Earthquake Magic + incredibly enhanced strength -> AKA the ability to shake mountains

Full Potential: To be completely sure of your course of action. Confidence is key.

Fire Elements: Much like the water elements, emotion leads the Fire elements but in a sharper manner. Fire refers to these spirits' explosive capabilities. Their power scales with the user's will and passion, requiring them to channel their emotions into their magic and harness such power. To wield the full power of these spirits, the mage must influence the spirits' psyche themselves - a forcing of alignments that only the deepest of feelings or the strongest of wills can achieve. This is why the spirits accept so many forms of emotion, but demand the mage feel whatever it is very, very deeply.

Leo - Passion (Leadership and Loyalty)

Light Magic → Can both protect and attack. At full potential, it is literally 'explosive.' Leo also innately boosts a mage's constitution, not so unlike the hide of a certain Nemean lion.

Emotions: Rage, joy, hate, and love. Versatile but can be incredibly destructive

Ares - Protection (Comfort for the Adventurous and Impulsive)

Wool magic + increased defense → a reaction to the downfalls of impulsivity, the wool at full potential can take over a significant area and trap everyone in its grip. It is fire resistant and repels all sorts of soluables. Despite this it is light and breathable (when Ares chooses to make it so)

Emotions: Worry, fear, joy, and delight

Sagittarius - Hope (Optimism and Freedom)

Arrow Magic → Limited only by emotion and creativity, the arrows and bow are reflections of the user's truest desires. Each quiver is full of mementoes from their lived experience. To wholly recognize the potential is to increase the power of these arrows tenfold

Emotions: Yearning, wonder, joy, and wanderlust

Note: Joy is a universal buffer for all fire spirits. Not all emotions must be negative to be powerful. Sometimes it is when we are happiest that the fire burns bright. Indeed, mages who only tap into the negative emotions with fire-element spirits may find surprising resistance.

Air Elements: The spirits of this element are known to be the most challenging to utilize. Unlike the others, their will and values are ever-changing. Resisting the orders of others is their independent nature, and they can never be USED to their fullest potential. Rather, it is a choice only the spirit can make. This often requires a mage willing to compromise and bend their nature to the spirit's whims. These spirits are the most likely to pick favorites and have even been known to reject individuals' contracts entirely. Each is unique, and no tactic to "tame" them works twice.

Aquarius - Uncompromising (Independence and Intellectualism)

Tide magic

You can only hope to earn her acknowledgement. Never her respect. She is fond of intelligence and self-sufficiency and thus tends to aid when you have proven yourself.

Libra - Justice (Righteousness and Diplomacy)

Gravity magic

You can only hope she judges you fairly. Her judgment is final & uncompromising. She is willing to hear contradictory evidence, but has no patience for falsities. She is most willing to help righteous mages with good hearts.

Gemini - Imitation (Curiosity and Adaptability)

Replicate anyone with a magic container equal to or less than the user's own + cool enhanced celestial spell shit (as you can essentially double your own magic output). They also supply a vast amount of magic theory and wisdom, when they choose to, of course.

You can only hope their chaotic whims match your own. They will either find you amusing or will make their own amusement out of you

TLDR: You must yield to water signs, bend fire signs to your will, can always depend on earth signs, and just pray you get on an air sign's good side.

WOW, that's a lot of lore!! But wait, there's more! Anna never learned there was a thirteenth key, and indeed that key works a lil differently, BUT of the twelve she did have, there were five with whom she was closest!

Virgo comes in first, obviously. Anna grew up with her and indeed the relationship Anna had with Virgo is not so unlike Lucy's with Aquarius… if Aquarius was more level-headed, reliable, and warm to the notion of inter-dimensional family.

Next actually comes Sagittarius. The horseman himself was one of Anna's earlier keys, and she found him incredibly easy to work with. His core of hope and freedom resonated with the young mage, and she found it easy to tap into those sensations and wield both the spirit and his stardress with ease. So much so that Sagittarius happily took her under his wing, and viewed her as something of a protogee. He ranted to several spirits about his new wielder and still looks back on her fondly.

Cancer was also one of Anna's favorites, not because she was particularly good at wielding his powers, but because he challenged her. Cancer's creative streak reminded her to step away from what was serious, and she found that reprieve… wonderful. Cancer seemed to notice she was struggling because he took every opportunity to introduce a new hobby to the weary mage. He taught her how to sew (and is somewhat responsible for Natsu's scarf), encouraged her to take up drawing again, and helped her and Acnologia style their hair. He always brought an extra bottle of shampoo because these kids were always out in some damned wilderness and had forgotten the concept of soap.

Then there was Ares. Nervous and typically overlooked by other mages, Ares thrived under Anna's leadership because she was so good at mitigating damage. Rescue missions, shielding, even infiltration became easier when you have a certified shielder, and that utility allowed Ares to grow some of her confidence. It helped that something about Ares reminded Anna of her little sister Lyla, and as the years passed, they became good friends. Ares was always somewhat frightened by what Anna was capable of, but could see the good heart underneath it all. Sometimes that's what Anna needed too; someone to tell her she was still good even after it all.

Finally, Gemini. Now, Anna never loved Gemini. Not to the extent she loved Sagittarius or Virgo, but Gemini loved Anna. The twins are agents of chaos, and when you're in a war, Anna had plenty of chaos to supply. She was also willing to push the boundaries of what was possible, creating new spells of decimation capable of crippling (or even killing) a dragon. For Gemini? A spirit so long inhibited by weak wielders, she was a dream come true. They would sometimes summon themselves just to work on new spells and brainstorm better tactics. What they had wasn't a friendship, but it was definitely one of the most dangerous duos Earthland has ever seen.

Her relationship with the rest of the keys was more transactional. She was friendly with them all, and really only ever butted heads with Aquarius and Libra. Aquarius because she loathed to follow orders, and Libra… well, let's just say Libra had strong opinions about her wielder working with someone like Zeref.

Just some quick notes:

Pisces: Anna only grew closer to Mother and Son after the war (when she finally healed enough to feel at peace), and it was their magic that helped her get closer to Zeref. Their magic was crucial to creating something that could withstand the curse of Ankserham.

Scorpio: Helpful in battle, but they never grew too close. They were good acquaintances, and she never kept him in the realm longer than he wanted. He was always up for a bit of excitement, and they worked well, but not much beyond that. That one time he got eaten by a dragon also sort of put a dent in their whole relationship.

Aquarius: similar to Scorpio, they were never particularly close, but Anna chose to summon her and Scorpio together as often as she could. For that reason, Aquarius worked with Anna and was willing to listen (most of the time, she still flooded things for fun).

Capricorn: Another earlier spirit who helped teach Anna, much like he did for Lucy. He saw her as highly skilled with a significant bit of potential, and Anna did her best to live up to it. She still preferred Sagittarius as a mentor, which Capricorn could not understand.

Taurus: The two actually got along decently well once they got past the idiotic flirting. She was a certain, confident individual, and he thrived in that. It was also a pro that his magic helped her 1v1 dragons

Leo: Leo, well, Loke as he came to be known, often only saw Anna at her worst. When she was angriest or most desperate. Leo's magic thrived off that, and while he greatly admired Anna, he saw just how worn the war could make her and was always wary about answering her summons, not because of her, but because of the horror she so usually found herself in. Post-war, their relationship improved as she summoned him for more menial tasks (or just to hang out).

Libra and Anna often butted heads. Libra is highly opinionated, especially with people like Zeref or Acnologia, and while Anna appreciated her advice, she never heeded it.

Acno's interaction with the spirits was far more limited, and he never understood them in the same way Anna did, but he was very familiar with Virgo and Cancer, as Anna summed them up the most. He actually admired Libra and agreed with most of her concerns. He wasn't too fond of Taurus or Leo because they were such notorious flirts, but he grew fond of them. Gemini and Capricorn, however, he always had some beef with (they were all too eager to see Anna as a weapon, and he has issues with such things).

Now don't get me wrong, all the spirits know Acno in some regard (it's been a long while now, so most haven't thought of him), but he was on decent terms with most of them. Of course, each one of them reminds him of a different part of Anna, and that comes with its own sting. But he hasn't had to think about them in a while, and there's nooo way that could come back to haunt him.

*looks at Leo and Lucy...