[Roads Untraveled]
Summary: After purchasing a new Celestial Key, Lucy is asked to go on a mission that requires her to leave Fairy Tail behind and help defend a world that she's not a part of. If she chooses not to, Earthland will be in danger. It is up to her to work side-by-side with new comrades to save the people she has come to call her family, as well as the rest of her world. Semi-AU, possibly eventual Lucy/Gray
~.~.~
"Lucy, do we have to go shopping? Why can't we just go back to the guild?" Natsu whined, trudging behind the blond mage.
"I just want to go by the magic shop! I heard that the one here always has amazing stuff," Lucy replied, determined to get a trinket to make up for their horrible mission. For the life of her she couldn't understand why Natsu felt the urge to destroy everything he came in contact with. She was grateful that neither Gray nor Erza came with them on the mission, because that would mean more destruction. More destruction meant less money, because money would have to go to paying for the damages. Less money meant she wouldn't be able to pay her rent.
When the two arrived at the small magic shop Lucy quickly ducked inside, looking though all the magical items and keeping a look out for any celestial keys.
"Lucy, look at this!" Natsu shouted for across the store. Lucy turned to see what the Dragon Slayer had found and paled. In his hands was a double 'D' bra. "It even changes colors!"
"Natsu put that down!" She raced over to snatch it out of his hands. "You don't just do stuff like that!"
"Aw Lucy, you're no fun!" Happy whined from Natsu's shoulder.
Lucy sighed, could these two be any more childish? They could, and if she wanted to leave on good terms with the store owner she knew she needed the two to leave. "You know, you two don't need to stick around. You can meet me at the train station if you want."
"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, hesitant to leave his partner.
"I'm sure! I won't be much longer here," It took her a bit to convince the two, but when she finally got them to leave she breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally I can look in peace."
She took her time going through the items, trying out a new magical whip, but finding she liked the one she had presently much more. Though she was interested in the many items, what she really wanted to see were keys.
"Can I help you Ms.?" A woman in her mid-thirties questioned, approaching Lucy.
"Yes, do you have any celestial keys?" Lucy asked the brunette.
"We do have one; however it is rather…odd."
"Odd?" Lucy caught sight of her name tag before the woman turned away from her- Angie was her name, and underneath her name was written: store owner. "What's odd about it?"
Angie led her to the cashier counter and ducked behind it- rummaging through a box. She brought out a purple case that held a silver key within it. Lucy inspected the symbol on the key- the symbol was three purple bars, as if it was a gate. Lucy racked her brain, trying to think of what this key could be, but she was drawing a blank. She had no clue what this key did.
"I've carried many Celestial Keys in my store, and never have a seen a key like this," Angie explained.
Lucy hummed, while picking up the key. She was curious about the key and was suddenly determined to figure out what it did. "I'll take it."
"Are you sure?" Angie asked. "It might not be useful in combat or anything."
"I'm sure," Lucy replied. "I'm curious to see what this does." To her surprise, the key did not cost as much as she thought it would- only 15,000 Jewel; she had hit the jackpot. Lucy almost skipped out the store, because she was so happy about finding a key and it was an added bonus that it did not cost much.
"Did you find anything?" Natsu questioned when she approached them at the train station.
"Yep, I found a new key!" She replied, showing him the new key that was latched on to her ring with the others she had acquired.
"What's it do?" Happy asked.
"Well, I'm not sure right now, but as soon as I get home I'm going to find out!"
"Cool, make sure to tell us what spirit it is when you find out! Maybe it'll be a cool spirit like Loke," Natsu said, getting excited about possibly sparing with the new spirit.
"Or maybe it'll be a fish spirit!" Happy added.
Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I have a feeling that it won't be either of those things."
As soon as Lucy got back into town she rushed home to figure out what her new key did. She flipped through the many books she had on Celestial Keys, however two hours later she still did not have a clue what the key did. Usually, she knew the name of the spirit attached to the key, so she could simply summon it and make a contract. This one was tricky, however, because she did not know the name of the spirit.
Lucy sighed, staring at the key in her hands dejectedly. She had been excited to get it, but now she was at a crossroads. How could she attempt to summon something when she didn't know its name? She had two choices: try to use it or sell it to the magic shop in town.
"I know, I'll ask Crux!" She said to herself, whipping out the key. She summoned the old cross shaped spirit with a smile. "Hey! I had a quick question."
"What can I do for you Ms. Lucy?" The spirit asked.
Lucy held out the key so he could see it. "I've never seen, nor read about a key like this. What does it do?"
Crux tipped to the side to process the question. To anyone else, Crux looked like he was sleeping, but Lucy knew better. A few minutes later he snapped awake.
"The key is called Gate Keeper; however what it does is unknown to me," Crux explained. "All I could come up with is that it is a blank key."
"Blank key?"
"Yes, as in there is no particular spirit attached to it," He replied.
Crux had nothing more to stay about the key so Lucy closed his gate. She sighed, looking down at the mysterious key. "I guess I could try using it." She took a deep breath, holding the key out. "Well here goes nothing. Open: Gate Keeper!"
A bright, gold light shot from tip of the key- causing Lucy to stumble back from the sudden force. When the bright light was gone, before her stood a silver door that went up to the ceiling of her apartment and took up almost all the open space she had in her living room.
"Crux was right; Gate Keeper is different from the others…" Lucy whispered, walking towards the double door gate. "Do I sign a contract with it?" She placed her hands on the cool steel of the door, yanking the circular handles. The door slowly creaked open to reveal nothing but darkness. Cautiously, she reached her hand into the void, but felt nothing but open space. She needed to know more about the key she now possessed- even if that meant stepping through a door that possibly led to nowhere special. "Maybe it's a key to the Celestial Spirit World?"
Lucy decided not to waste any more time wondering what the gate did; if she was going to find more information about the gate she would have to go inside. She took a deep breath before walking through the door; she was surrounded by darkness, but as she walked she began to see a light grow at the end. She began to walk faster and faster, until she was sprinting towards the end- excited to see what was coming.
"Where am I?" She asked herself, fear creeping into her voice. She found herself in an ally way, but she could see a street crowded with people. She was definitely not in the Celestial Spirit World nor was she on Earthland. She was also sure she was not in Edolas. Behind her, Gate Keeper slammed shut and disappeared. "Hey, come back!" She took the key off her belt and attempted to summon it back: "Open: Gate Keeper!"
The iron gate did not appear; before her continued to stand a brick wall. She tried once more, but Gate Keeper refused to come back. She was trapped. To keep herself from having a panic attack she decided to go out onto the main street which she regretted the moments she stepped foot onto it. She was swept into the hustle and bustle of the unknown city, not knowing where she was going, but she couldn't help but take the scenery in. She walked past shops and restaurants; and soon found herself in a park.
"Does that fountain have faces on it?" She muttered to herself, looking at the strange invention. Children splashed in the water that pooled in between the two tall fountains that had faces on the screens. The expressions ranged from happy to sad, until finally they squirted water of their mouths. "That's interesting."
The city was unlike any she had ever been to. The technology was advanced and she could not sense any magical energy around her. Not far from the fountains was a stand that had maps for free as well as small key chains and trinkets for sale. Lucy picked up a map- scanning it to try and see if she could make sense of where she was. "Chicago?" She muttered, clutching the paper in her hands tightly. "What the heck is Chicago, Illinois?"