Lucy walked beside the river, as she did every day, with Plue wobbling along behind her. Several fishermen called out to her to be careful, but instead of reassuring them with a smile and a wave as usual, she continued walking with a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Pu pun pu puu pun?" Lucy stopped and glanced down at Plue, who was wiggling with concern. She tried to give her little dog spirit a bright smile, but it felt fake. The blonde Celestial Mage sighed.

"Sorry, Plue. I'm just stuck on this dream I had last night." Lucy started frowning again. "It felt so real, and I know it actually happened." The Fairy Tail mage started walking to the guild hall with her little spirit again as she remembered her dream for the umpteenth time.

*Flashback*

Lucy was playing with Michelle in front of a large fire. It was wintertime and snow was falling outside.

"Lucy, dear, come here. I need to tell you something." Lucy ran to the large armchair next to the roaring fire. Layla Heartfilia, Lucy's mother, sat there watching the fire. She was sick, and she knew death was a distinct possibility. Lucy climbed onto her mother's lap and looked up at her.

"What is it Mama? Is it another story about Celestial Spirits?"

"Yes, it is. But this time, it's about a different kind of spirits." Lucy was confused and frowned at Layla.

"How? You told me all the stories of the constellations already."

"I have. But the spirits I'm going to tell you about now don't have constellations. You see, Lucy, the Celestial Spirits we know are the Celestial Light Spirits. That is why the Zodiac leader, Leo, uses light magic. But there has to be balance, light and dark. So just like there are Celestial Light Spirits, there are also Celestial Dark Spirits. They have no constellations, but they do have keys and can be called upon for help. Very few have ever been found and contracted though, because they are the rivals of our Celestial Light Spirits. Only very powerful mages who are the kindest masters can contract both kinds of spirits."

"How many are there? What are they called? What do they look like?" Lucy interrupted eagerly, her eyes shining with the new knowledge.

"Well, no one really knows. There have been so few found and those who have seen them have left few records behind. There have been four contracted in history, and no mage has ever contracted more than one. They are only mentioned passingly as the Magnolia, the Oak, the Pine, and the Violet. They require a lot of power to be called upon, even more so than any Zodiac spirit."

"When I grow up, I'm going to get really strong and find one! Then we can both meet one!" Lucy said determinedly. Layla smiled at her daughter and gave her a weak hug.

"I hope you do, Lucy. You have a good heart, full of love and light."

*End Flashback*

"Pu pun pun?" Lucy blinked as she was brought out of her thoughts. She glanced around and noticed that she had arrived at Fairy Tail. As she and Plue entered, the blonde had to duck to avoid getting hit by a flying chair. She shook her head at the boys fighting in the middle of the hall before going to sit at the bar, sending Plue back to the Spirit World, out of danger.

"Luce1 There you are! Want to go on a mission?" Natsu asked as he flew by. Lucy smiled and nodded at her pink-haired partner. She helped him stand up before the two went to look at the request board.

"Hey, Natsu. This one sounds really good, and it will pay off my rent!" Lucy said happily as she pointed to a flyer. It read:

The town of Mountain Laurel is being attacked

by a pack of wyverns. Please come destroy them.

Meet the Mayor for details.

Reward: 500,000J and an unknown Celestial Key

"Come on! Let's get Erza and Ice Princess and go!" Natsu yelled.

"Who you calling Ice Princess flame idiot?" Gray yelled back as he walked over.

"Gray, clothes," Erza calmly said as she took down the flyer and read it.

"When did that happen?" the Ice Mage exclaimed as he raced around the guild, gathering his clothes off the floor.

"Go home and pack. We will meet at the train station in one hour," Erza ordered as she went to Mirajane to get the flyer stamped.

*Time Skip* At the Train Station*

Lucy stared into space as she waited for her team to arrive. 'I wonder what the key is in the reward. How can a key be unknown? Sure, Celestial Spirit Mages are pretty rare, but our keys have all been identified.' Her dream pushed its way back into the forefront of her mind. 'No…that's not possible. I remember that day now, it was only a few weeks before Mama was too sick to leave bed, but if they're as rare as Mama said, and I have so much trouble finding new Celestial Light Spirit keys, I sincerely doubt I'll find a Celestial Dark Spirit key so easily. But I have to wonder, why did I dream about that now?'

"Oi, Luce! Come on! The train's about to leave!" Lucy glanced up, startled, to see her team in front of her. Gray was already unbuttoning his shirt, Erza was pulling her luggage mountain along behind her, Happy was sitting on Natsu's head eating a fish, and Natsu was shouting insults at Gray.

"Natsu, Gray, are you fighting?" the scarlet-haired knight asked darkly. The two males quickly threw their arms around each other, stuttering how they were the best of friends, and accidentally knocking Happy off Natsu's head. The blue cat saved himself using his wings, but his fish was not so lucky.

"Lushy! My fish is ruined!" Happy wailed as he flew into the blonde's waiting arms. Lucy just sighed as she tried to comfort the crying cat. She loved her team, but they were tiring sometimes.

The four mages and cat boarded the train just before the doors shut. Natsu instantly turned green and stretched out on the seat, his head in Lucy's lap.

"So, Lucy. Do you have any idea what this mysterious Celestial key might be?" Erza asked as she sat down opposite the blonde mage and her motion-sick partner.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure actually. Celestal Spirit Keys are actually pretty easy to identify. I don't know what key could be so puzzling, unless…" she trailed off as she again thought of her dream. "No. They are too rare. The coincidence is too great," she mumbled to herself, trying to dispel the image of her mother in the large armchair by the fire.

"Unless what? What were you going to say Luce? You should know by now that no coincidence can be too great," the shirtless Ice Mage said while lounging in his seat next to Erza.

"Well," Lucy bit her lip. "I had a dream last night. It was actually a memory of my mother. She had already taught me about all of the constellations, so this time, she was telling me about a different type of spirit. They're called Celestial Dark Spirits. There is really very little known about them as they are difficult to summon and only four have ever been found." Lucy glanced out the window. "They're called the Magnolia, Oak, Pine, and Violet. That's all I really know."

The red-haired mage frowned at this. "What about that Saber girl's spirit? The one she summoned against Kagura in the Grand Magical Games? I felt a rather powerful dark magic coming off it. Is it a Dark Spirit?"

The blonde girl laughed. "You mean Ophiuchus? He is a Celestial Light Spirit. From what Grandpa Crux told me, Ophiuchus was the Thirteenth Zodiac Key, but he angered the Celestial Spirit King. So moustache man hid Ophiuchus' key in the human world. I don't know what type of magic he uses, but he's definitely a Light Spirit. Just forgotten for a while."

After a few more hours on the train, Team Natsu arrived in Mountain Laurel. It was a small quaint town at the base of a mountain, not too far away from Mt. Hakobe. After Natsu recovered from being on the train, the team set off to find out more about their mission.

AN: This is my first story. It should be updated about once a week. Please review! I need the feedback.