As she walked down the trail, Lucy's mind was still reeling. Not just from winning the award for best new author, but from the fact that her team was suddenly going on a Hundred-Year Quest. She was still a little mad at Natsu for not telling her sooner, but at this point, that didn't matter. She now had to worry about the hardest job of her life.

They had been walking down the path for a mere 5 minutes before they heard a voice calling out. They turned around to see Jet running up to them.

"Jet? What are you doing here?" said a very confused and now shirtless gray.

"Everyone, the Master has said that he needs you guys to return to the guild immediately. Highest priority." Said Jet.

"Any idea what this is about?" Asked Lucy.

"No clue, he just said it was urgent." Jet replied.

"Well, I guess we should return to the guild." said Wendy.

After Team Natsu returned to the Guild, they quickly went up to Master Makarov's office.

"Alright Master, why did you have us come back?" asked Natsu, confused.

The Master was quick to respond. "Right after you guys left, I was approached by one of the local shop owners, who showed me a single clip from his Lacrima Cam footage. It showed someone robbing that store in broad daylight. However, the person caught on video was none other that our very own Lucy Heartfilia."

"What!" Lucy exclaimed. "Master, how could I have robbed that store? I've been on a mission for the past week?!"

"Yeah, Gray and I were with her the whole time! There's gotta be some mistake!" Natsu retorted.

"While I did not believe this at first, the video showed her using several zodiac keys to carry out the robbery. This crime leaves me with no choice. As much as it pains me to do this, Lucy Heartfilia, you are expelled from Fairy Tail."

"WHAT!" Everyone else in the room cried out in unison.

"This isn't how you normally would respond master. What's going on!" Erza forcefully shouted.

"It pains me to do this, but it seems that I have no other choice." Makarov's hands started to glow a dark grey light. "Sleep, my children."

The last thing Lucy remembered was a spell circle appearing in front of the master, and then she knew no more.

Lucy yawned as she got out of bed…..and then promptly panicked as she looked at her right hand. Her guild mark was gone. Remembering what had happened before she fell asleep, Lucy's mind kicked into overdrive. Spotting her keys on the table, and wondering why these weren't taken away, she quickly ran towards the door. She need to get answers, and if those weren't available, get out of town as fast as she could manage. Of course, when she tried the door, it was locked from the outside.

"So, it seems that you finally awoke, Lucy." Erza said, her voice muffled by the door somewhat.

"Erza, just what is going on!" Lucy replied.

"The magic council will be here in a couple hours to arrest you."

"WHAT! Is there nothing you guys can do?"

"Lucy, master's evidence was more than enough to convince the entire guild that you are guilty. We are all so disappointed in you. This isn't what a member of Fairy Tail should ever do."

"But I-"

"Don't bother trying to convince me, nothing will change. Just accept your fate at this point."

Defeated, Lucy ran away from the door into her bathroom.

'How am I going to get out of this? I would have to manage to outrun the entire guild….'

Lucy slumped back against the wall, trying to think of an answer. It took her an hour before she came up with a almost foolproof plan.

Lucy started by quietly opening both Virgo's and Gemini's gate. Gemini then transformed into Lucy, and summoned Loke. Loke lifted the transformed Gemini and Virgo proceeded to create a hole for Lucy to leave with. Once Lucy and Virgo were gone and the hole was sealed up, Loke jumped out the window and started to run towards the edge of Magnolia with gemini. Upon hearing the sound of a breaking window, Erza quickly broke down the door and ran inside, only to see the broken window and a speeding Loke almost to the edge of town. Erza requipped into her flight armor and quickly followed, contacting warren with telepathy to let the guild know that Lucy was attempting an escape. It took Jet and Erza two minutes to catch up to Loke and Gemini.

"Lucy, there is no point to running, you will only get yourself hurt." Erza said calmly.

"Piri-piri" said Gemini as it transformed back into its base form."

"Heh, did you really think that Lucy would be so dumb as to try to outrun the entire guild? Knowing Virgo she's probably halfway to hargeon by now, with no one anywhere near her."

Erza growled, contacted Warren to let him know of the news, and quickly ran with Jet towards the direction of Hargeon, determined to catch Lucy.

"Well Gemini, it seems that the plan worked perfectly. Shall we start phase 2?"

"Piri-piri" said Gemini, transforming back into Lucy. "Open, gate of the maiden: Virgo!"

Because Lucy was with Virgo, and because Gemini had a copy of Virgo's key. Lucy was transported from her hiding spot in magnolia through Virgo's gate and right to both Gemini and Loke.

"We should get moving, we have no idea how long it will take before the guild realizes that we managed to trick them." Loke said.

"Of course." said Lucy, and they started running away from their pursuers, none the wiser.

Having decided to camp out in a cave they found that night, Lucy decided to do a little exploring around, seemingly drawn to the interior of the cave. Walking down the cave, Lucy noticed several markings on the side of the cave. They seemed to be calling out to Lucy, which frightened her. Eventually, she came upon a statue of a mermaid. Lucy could do nothing but gasp. It was a perfect model of her first spirit, Aquarius. And instead of an urn, she was holding a golden key.