In order to immerse myself back into this story and continue it I am going through what has already been posted and reworking it. Mostly grammar but possibly a few slight story changes here and there also. If you don't see a date before the indicated chapter number then that means that I haven't gotten that far yet. (As of now I have fixed chapters 1-5 and hope to have them all posted this morning.)

Updated 7/23/18

Chapter 1

Lucy prided herself on always being a positive thinker. No one ever had to question her outlook on life in general because it was as plain as the nose on her face. It was when she compared herself to the other members of the guild that her positive outlook became slightly less bright. She couldn't help but feel that she fell a tad short in the magical department comparatively. She especially couldn't help but feel a tad dispirited when she compared herself to the other members of Team Natsu. It was rough when she had this visual comparison between their magic and hers on a near daily basis.

This onslaught of borderline depression is probably the reason that a few weeks ago an article she read in Sorcerer's Weekly had called to her so much. It was about Celestial Magic specifically so of course she grew intrigued instantaneously.

Celestial Spirit Symposium

Is Celestial Spirit Magic a dying holder magic? This question has popped up several times over the past few months. It wasn't that long ago that several churches were infiltrated and the protected Celestial Mages that resided there were found dead. It is rumored that the reason for the deaths was to break some kind of seal on a magical item. So now months after this seal was supposedly broken and tragedy struck those mages in question how many Celestial Spirit Mages are left in Fiore? (Please see the notation at the bottom of the page that mentions articles about specific Celestial Spirit Mages.)

It's been rumored that the Magic Council has had several meetings to discuss the concerns about Celestial Spirit Magic possibly dying out. Unfortunately however no verifiable facts have been discovered to support the validity of this claim. Once such information presents itself the public will have access to the facts in question via this publication.

On the brighter side, a notification was found a few days ago in the mail about a Symposium that will be held for Celestial Key Merchants and Celestial Mages. Unfortunately it wasn't very detailed but what information it did state was looked over with a fine toothed comb. The symposium will have a panel for research and discussion about the magic itself. They will be attempting to answer the questions about the magic that many people have been worrying over for months.

Researcher Syneviar Ixarium (Sin-ev-ee-arr Icks-arr-ee-um) will be in attendance as a guest speaker.

There was a few more paragraphs in the article but truthfully to Lucy the rest was a blur. If Syneviar Ixarium would be in attendance then Lucy was determined to show up herself. He was a famous historian who had written numerous magic history tomes. Lucy happened to know for a fact Levy had copies of nearly every one. (There were a few copies that went out of print before the bluenette in question even knew her Fiorian alphabet.)

The unfortunate part about the trip was that she had to shell out ten thousand jewel just for the ticket to be able to attend (one seventh of what she paid in rent every month). That price regrettably didn't include the price of her train ticket to get to Clover Town, which was where the symposium was to be held. Nor, did the price include the jewel she would have to shell out for room and board. This research trip was definitely going to do a number on her money pouch. She would have to take several jobs afterward to make up for what she spent. Perhaps, she should do some solo jobs so she wouldn't have to worry about the destruction that her best friend, Natsu, constantly left behind.

Natsu had voiced that he didn't like that she was going to take a trip so far on her own. She was quick to set his mind at ease and reassure him that this wasn't the case. Luckily she wouldn't be attending the symposium alone as he had concluded. Yukino was just as excited about the symposium and was going to attend with her.

The two mages had noticed the article at roughly the same time. In fact, the minute they each had finished the article they both tried to reach each other through their telecommunication lacrimas. Both grew flustered when they couldn't get through due to the line being busy. Luckily, Yukino was a touch more patient than Lucy, who had thrown her lacrima on her bed in frustration. When it went off only a couple minutes later she quickly grabbed it. The girls had gabbed in excitement over the trip for hours. They both readily agreed that they must attend the symposium. Their conversation lasted well into the night punctuated with shrill trills of excitement. But mostly the two ended up discussing their planned schedules for the event.

So now she was waiting for Yukino's arrival to Fairy Tail. Lucy had invited Yukino to stay the night at her apartment and, then they would catch the train early in the morning together.

"Hey Luce, did you want to grab a job?" Her best friend made her jump when he came up behind her. His fangs were wrapped around a fire seasoned turkey thigh so it was a wonder she was able to understand him at all. His garbled phrasing had come out more like, "a woos, id oo wa oo gwab uh owb."

Lucy half scowled at Natsu. She was dually irritated with him, first for his manners, and secondly because she had already told him about her plans yet he couldn't have the decency to remember. But this was Natsu and she quickly forgave his shortcomings simply because his mind definitely worked differently than most. "Natsu, could you please remember to chew your food before talking?"

He swallowed a bite, wiped his chin with his bare hand, then grinned widely at Lucy. "Sorry, 'bout that. So, do want to grab a job? The rest of the team is busy but I figured maybe we could go on one just the two of us."

Lucy momentarily grew curious about where Happy would be this weekend but quickly shrugged it off. She wouldn't be able to go on the job anyways so the location of the exceed hardly mattered. "Natsu, tomorrow is the symposium I told you about. I can't just take off on a job right now. I just don't have that kind of time."

Natsu made a strange gruff sound of annoyance before he openly admitted his own mistake. "I totally forgot. Wait, how long are you gonna be gone again?"

"It lasts through the weekend. I'll be back on Monday." She responded. She only briefly paused before realizing she should leave the pink haired dragon slayer a warning regarding her living space. "Oh, and you better not make a mess of my apartment while I'm gone." She sighed for only a moment before continuing. "I give up on telling you not to invade my personal space but I do ask that you clean up any messes you make!"

Natsu felt a curious thump in his chest at her thoughtfulness. But when he went to touch his chest and listen more closely things seemed perfectly normal. So he just shrugged off the odd occurence and smirked at Lucy. He didn't bother voicing how he wouldn't make any promises if her apartment was completely trashed when she wasn't in attendance. That went without saying.

Lucy arched an eyebrow at his smirk, and was about to ask what he was plotting when the guild doors were thrust open. It only took a moment for her to register the familiar figure that walked through the doors. She immediately hopped off her bar stool as a tendril of excitement began to course through her veins. She smiled at Yukino, and the two celestial mages hugged each other in greeting.

Once the two were done embracing Natsu slung his arm across Lucy's shoulders. "Your train leaves tomorrow, right Luce? So what are your plans for tonight?"

Lucy physically pulled out of his half embrace. She escorted Yukino back to the bar where she had left her purse. "Boy you sure seem to be a nosy one today. Not that it is any of your business, Natsu, but Yukino is going to be sleeping over at my place so we can catch the train in the morning. We don't really plan on doing much of anything other than relaxing and getting a good night's sleep."

"Aw, that's no fun. You should totally have a sleepover. You should invite a bunch of us girls!" Mirajane interrupted. There was a mumbled slurred agreement from the card mage at the end of the bar.

Because of the Takeover Mage/Barkeep's interruption it was obvious to Lucy that she had been eavesdropping on the conversation since Yukino and herself walked over and seated themselves at the bar. Lucy didn't really mind it though seeing as she wasn't discussing some epic secret. "Mira, while I am not against the idea of a sleepover in general. Tonight just isn't the night for it. Our train leaves at six in the morning."

"Wow! Forget I asked. I didn't even realize trains disembarked from the station that early in the morning!" Mirajane did not relish the idea of waking up that early and sympathized with the two celestial mages.

"I'm surprised the two of you didn't get a train ride for tonight instead of tomorrow." Tact was something the fire dragon slayer definitely lacked. (Sometimes it was hard to remember that he had any at all.)

"Natsu, I don't have the jewel for that! The ticket for the symposium was not cheap. I can't simply shell out more for an extra night in the motel room!" Perhaps, she should be more patient with Natsu. He was easily excitable and prone to reacting first and thinking second or last depending upon the subject at hand. If food was on the table was he even capable of involved thought process? Speaking of, isn't that the tenth plate of food he consumed since she sat down? Wait. Why was she surprised by this?

"You could always just sleep under the stars like Happy and I do when we go on a job by ourselves." Natsu also nearly interjected that if she didn't spend so much jewel on her collection of fancy frilly panties that she wouldn't have as many issues affording her rent. But he stopped himself before uttering the words. He really wasn't in the mood to be Lucy kicked right now. He actually surprised himself that he was able to think before reacting.

Lucy glared at him for his statement before replying a gruff. "No thanks."

"Honestly, I'm not surprised the tickets cost so much. I think the person putting this together worried that not many people from Fiore would even attend." Yukino stated pragmatically.

"Do you think it's possible that mages from the other countries of Earthland could be attending?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Honestly, I kind of hope so. I mean right now I don't know of any celestial mages other than the two of us." Yukino replied.

"Really? Only the two of you? Are you sure about that? What happened to the others?" So...apparently Natsu's new ability where he was stopping to think before reacting was only a passing phase.

Lucy would rather not think about all the deaths that happened during the ordeal with the Infinity Clock so, for the moment at least, she chooses to ignore the idea of giving him a detailed report on what happened to many of the celestial mages. "I guess we could almost list Angel also but she isn't exactly a celestial spirit mage anymore." Once she thought of Angel though she momentarily had grown worried of possibly seeing the former member of the Oracion Seis, but the likelihood that she might show up seemed slim to none.

"Oh, oh yeah." Lucy wasn't sure Natsu was quickly agreeing because he remembered Angel himself or, if he had actually just remembered what happened with the Infinity Clock himself and felt guilty about forgetting. He averted his eyes from Lucy which made it hard to tell which he was truly responding to.

Yukino arched an eyebrow confused by Natsu's mental lapse. "Honestly, I have been curious to know of the possibility of other keys in existence. Wouldn't it be interesting to learn that there were keys out there that the people of Fiore weren't aware of just because they lay past our countries' borders?"

"I have to say that thought never even occurred to me." Why hadn't I considered that before? Lucy shrugged. "Perhaps that will be one of the things a panel member brings up at the symposium."

Natsu let out an inhuman belch and pushed his twentieth empty plate away. He fist bumped the air when he heard a veiled 'manly' coming from the Thunder Legion's table. Elfman had been spending a lot of time with Evergreen lately. What's up with that? He momentarily wondered to himself before completely switching gears and focusing back on the conversation at hand. "Wouldn't that grandpa spirit of yours already know if there were more keys out there?"

"I never considered that honestly. Let's find out." Lucy took a moment to register mentally that Natsu had came up with a rather clever idea. Then she grabbed her keys from her pouch and went through the motions of summoning Crux. "Open gate of the southern cross!"

The elder spirit appeared before them seated in the air, the way he typically does, with his knees bent and his ankles crossed over one another. "Greetings Miss Lucy. What can I assist you with today?"

Both of the Celestial Mages animatedly started chattering about all the information they were curious about. They told him about the symposium and how both of them were so excited about the prospect of attending. They gushed about how both of them were thrilled that Syneviar Ixarium would be attending. They asked about the other countries and possible keys that might exist there. It was a miracle that the elderly cross spirit didn't fall asleep like he was prone to at the drop of a hat with how unfocused the two girls were being.

"So, you were intending to ask me to search about other celestial spirit magic that might exist outside of Fiore?" He finally was able to ask when the two had to take a breath.

Both of the girls blushed slightly when they realized they had completely missed the point of calling out her spirit and were utilizing Lucy's magic reserve unnecessarily. (Not that the silver keys consumed much power.) They both quickly verbalized that this was exactly why they had called him out.

"I'm afraid that I don't have any information on celestial magic outside of Fiore. I wish I could be more helpful. However, I do promise you that if I discover anything new to report I will do so forthwith." He frowned at the two mages. Lucy could tell that he was definitely troubled by the fact that he wasn't able to provide a decent answer for them.

She was about to console him when she was interrupted by her over enthusiastic partner. "Wow, that's the most I have ever heard the old geezer talk!"

Definitely a true statement of fact but just before Natsu finished his statement the spirit had promptly fell asleep. Lucy only paused for a moment to shrug her shoulders indifferently and then went through the quick wrist movements to close his gate.

Lucy was nearly bowled over by a pint sized blur of blue. "Oh my gosh, Lu, is it true?"

Lucy looked downward to confirm that it was indeed her female bestie, Levy, that nearly knocked her over. "Is what true, Levy?"

"You are going to be meeting Syneviar Ixarium this weekend?" Levy's hazel eyes seemed to dance with fangirl-like enthusiasm.

"Oh, yeah. I don't know why I didn't think to invite you to this symposium. I guess I got blindsided by the fact that it was specifically about Celestial Magic." The blonde grew immediately worried that her friend would feel left out.

The bluenette saw the crestfallen look appear on her friend's face and was quick to reassure her. "Oh, no Lu don't worry about that. I have a big job I'm going on this weekend anyways." The pint sized mage in a practically timid move bent her knees slightly and curved her shoulders forward so her body somewhat curled inwardly on itself and clapped her hands together pleading in a prayer-like fashion. Her hazel eyes wide and gleaming desperately. "I was curious if you could do be a favor?"

It probably took a moment for Lucy to fully process the gravity of the girl's off the chart cuteness in that moment before she mentally caught up with what she had actually said. "Sure, what is it?" Honestly for her bestie she would nearly do anything. Nearly.

Levy held out a book that looked like it was heavier than her. "Could you get him to sign this rare first edition copy of Magical Earthland Bestiary?"

"Um, sure I'll try." When Levy handed Lucy the book Lucy nearly fell over from the dispersal of weight that was transferred to her hands. "Geez, Levy, how do you even lift this book?"

The petite girl shrugged her shoulders. "Some people lift weights to work out. I lift magical history books and tomes." She flexed a creamy toned bicep to illustrate her point.

Some distance behind them a ragged choking cough came from a dark corner of the guild. The tall dark haired dragon slayer cleared his throat but continued to cast his vision where it had strayed. His exceed eyed him curiously before smirking at where his red eyes had trailed off to.

The rest of the afternoon passed along without much incident. Gray wasn't around so Natsu wasn't fighting him. He did try to pick fights with some of the others but they weren't quite as easily riled up as Gray would have been, which of course took a lot of the fun out of it.

Once the two Celestial Spirit Mages got hungry themselves they ordered something simple from Mirajane and moved to a nearby table so they could sit across from each other. The two talked mildly over what they expected the weekend might bring. They discussed what silver keys they hoped to see there and possibly obtain. They speculated over who else might be on the panel for information. But both soon realized that they weren't learning anything new from one another. If anything they were making themselves more anxious for tomorrow to arrive already. So once the two girls finished their meals they decided it was time to call it a night and headed back to Lucy's apartment on Strawberry Street to attempt to calm down, watch a movie or two, and then turn in for the night so they could wake up bright eyed and bushy-tailed the following day.