A/N: I know, it's been months T.T I just haven't had the inspiration to write. But then I got emailed about someone following this story, and I couldn't remember which one it was. So I read it, and got my inspiration once again. Who would've thought it would be one of my own stories. I didn't. I was sure it was going to be someone else's, even though I never found one that did. Anyways, I finally have a chapter up after so long, so I won't try to bore you all with an Author's Note.

Chapter 2

~~~Lucy POV~~~

I stepped out onto the streets of the port city of Hargeon, the bright sunshine warming my skin. I always loved it here; whether it was the smell of sea salt, the sounds of seagulls, or the refreshing ocean breeze. And after a long train ride, I happily took in the overwhelming sensations with open arms. It was similar to Magnolia, what with Magnolia having it's bay, but there was something about Hargeon that the home city of Fairy Tail just couldn't compete with. I took in a deep breath, enjoying the sensation, before starting on my way, hoping that this feeling of inner tranquility would last a little longer.

~~~Forward!~~~

Downtown Hargeon wasn't nearly as peaceful as the rest of the city, what with being plagued by multiple gangs that controlled this part of the city. I was suspicious why the client wanted to meet in this area of town. It was perfectly possible that they just lived in the area, but with what I had collected on my way here, I wasn't so sure. Numerous people I had questioned said that nearly nobody in this neighborhood wasn't a part of one of the underground gangs, and if they weren't then they were just some thug for hire. Why the hell would I be requested to meet the client here?

As I made my way deeper into downtown Hargeon, the dirtier and more vile my surroundings seemed to become. Spray paint was found on every wall, windows were shattered, and the doors to homes hung limply by a hinge - that is, if they had a door at all. Everywhere I looked, devastation seemed to find it's way to my eyes. Yet the oddest thing was the fact that there were no people. None. Not a whisper or word could be heard, only the whistle of the wind in my ear.

I wisely kept my guard up as I continued on. This place was not safe. I was not safe.

I traveled the barren streets undeterred from my current path. I wanted answers, and I had a feeling the only way I was going to get them was by completing this job. It wasn't long before I made it to the building where the client was supposed to be. Curiously, this seemed to be one of the rare occurrences where the door was nearly intact. Why is that?

Warily, I knocked on the door before entering. The only source of light was the sunshine streaming in through a single broken window and now open door. I took a few more steps into the building. Was there no one here?

"Hello?" I called out into the dark empty space.

"Shh! Quiet down will ya!" Someone hushed urgently. I whipped my face to the right, my hands instinctively going to my fleuve d'etoiles. Slowly, a wire thin man - one with oily black hair, pale skin, thick glasses and probably in his early twenties - stepped out of the darkness that blanketed the corner of the room. "C-close the door, will ya?" I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, but did as was asked. I didn't sense any magic power from him, he wasn't much of a threat. "Good, now come over 'ere! I'll take ya's to Yamanashi."

Yamanashi? That was the name of the client. It seemed I would have to do as he said for now, no matter how much I wanted to unleash Taurus upon him. That would be bad though, so instead I made sure my hand was near my fleuve d'etoiles at all times. I walked over and stood behind the man as he did something to the wall. Immediately after he tapped different spots on the wall a section began to move away, revealing a passage leading underground. I followed the man silently and eventually we came upon a large white room. Light was coming from lachryma crystals that lined the room's walls.

In the center of the room sat a large, oval table created from a rich, dark wood. It could easily seat twenty people, but currently only five men were occupying seats. These five people were seated near what I could only assume was the head of the table. They all seemed to be in their late thirties early forties, and each one was dressed in a black suit, as if they were a high upper class.

"My name is Lucy, I am from Fairy Tail. I'm here to meet with Akatsuki Yamanashi about a job request." One of these five men had to be the client, so I wasted no time before introducing myself. The sooner this was over, the sooner I could get away.

The man sitting in the middle of the group rose. "I am Akatsuki Yamanashi. Please, sit while we inform you of what has been happening." Yamanashi motioned to a chair on the opposite side of the table.

"I'm fine, thank you." I remained standing.

"Very well then." He sat himself back down before continuing. "You are probably wondering why we are down here."

"It's crossed my mind." I stated simply.

"Yes," The man drawled. "This building used to be the headquarters for an undercover military organization aiming to bring peace to this section of the city. Obviously, they failed. We have taken refuge here, hidden away from the power of the dark mage that now haunts us."

One of the other men began to speak up next, "This man has kidnapped the people who lived here, taken them as his prisoners. You must help us get them back!" He was sweating nervously and visibly shaking. Was he nervous, or scared?

I eyed the group of men, studying their faces. If this mage had really taken so many people as prisoners, then the Magic Council would have been called in, not some random mage from a random guild. What were these men playing at? No matter what it was, I'll do the job, then I'll get some answers.

"Very well then, I'll take down this mage for you. Where do you suggest I start looking?"

"For some reason, he sent us one of his prisoners - the man you met before - to tell whoever he came across that this mage would be at Vertigo Park." Another of the five informed. "Vertigo Park is a children's park slightly south of here, though it hasn't been used in years."

I nodded my head in understanding. "Alright, thank you. I'll begin my search there then." The man from before led me out after that.

~~~Forward!~~~

It was nearing sunset by the time I was coming up on Vertigo Park, and that was when I started to see signs of numerous battles. I stopped to examine some marks left behind on a cement wall. They looked like claw marks, strange. Could this mage use takeover magic? Or maybe claw magic like Toby from Galuna Island. Either way, I would have to be careful.

I continued down the abandoned street towards the park, every so often stopping to examine more marks. There weren't very many, and they didn't run very deep either. Who was he fighting? Hargeon wasn't known for it's mages, so he had to have been against regular common folk. Or as regular as they came here. What were those men from before hiding?

I picked up my pace towards Vertigo Park. As I continued along, the distance between marks closed. I have to be getting close. My brisk walk quickly evolved into running when I heard the sounds of battle being waged not far ahead. In a few moments I arrived just in time to see the end of the battle I had been hearing.

A tall boy, around my age, swatted another man, who may have been in late twenties at least, far to the left and into a rusted jungle-jim. A high pitched clang rang out at the impact, followed by a hollow thud as the man's body fell to the ground, unconscious.

The boy had yet to see me as he walked over to inspect his fallen foe. Deciding that this would probably be my only chance at a preemptive strike, I pounced.

I leaped high into the air, my distance from my target increased by the fact that the park was built in a basic below ground level. Once I reached the peak of my ascent, I brought out fleuve d'etoiles. I employed my celestial whip with relative ease, wrapping it around the torso of the boy just as reached the unconscious man. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, but I didn't give him much time to react. With all my strength, I tugged the mage high above me into the air, then, using the added effect of gravity and the power of my own descent, rocketed him back into the ground. A billowing dust cloud appeared where he landed on the far end of the park.

I kept my distance. I didn't know what kind of magic this guy had nor how much damage I dealt.

Seconds passed before I felt a surge of magic behind, I twirled around just in time to block his attack with fleuve.

I took this momentary pause to get a better look at him and gauge his magic. He had jet black hair and the eyes as green and brilliant as untouched emeralds. He was well built, especially for a mage, even more than Natsu and Gajeel. But that wasn't what caught my attention, however. It was his magic. Dark shadows coated his hand, long piercing claws extended from each of fingers.

Suddenly he drew his other hand back as shadows enveloped it as well. The sleeves of his shirt were torn off, so I was able to see his muscles tense, preparing to strike. It only took a thought in that mere instant before fleuve entangled itself up his right arm, across his chest, and up the other arm. Once it reached his left wrist, fleuve constricted itself, keeping the mage from moving either of his arms.

I was about to question him when I sensed another surge of magic flare from below us. I didn't look down, instead I jumped away, forced to either leave fleuve with him or bare injury to the now clawed foot that made it's way to where the air where my head was.

"Who are you?" He asked once I landed a safe distance away, tossing fleuve a ways behind him. "You're not like the others. I didn't realize they had a mage among them," he paused for a moment then spoke again. "Doesn't matter, I guess. I'll take you down, just like the others."

With that, he launched himself forward, not leaving me a chance to respond. I leaped into the air yet again, about to summon a spirit when he did something I didn't expect. He flipped himself in the air, stopping his forward motion with one of his shadow claws, before thrusting himself forward towards where he discarded my whip.

My eyes widened at the sight. He thinks I'm going for fleuve? He must think I'm a weapons mage! He would be in for a shock then. His back was to me, he wouldn't see it coming. I swiped two gold keys from my key ring. It was risky, summoning two spirits at once, but it was the only way this would work.

"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo! Open! Gate of the Twins, Gemini!" I announced as I started falling towards the ground again.

A bright flash of light erupted in front of me, followed by the materialization of the two Zodiac Spirits. I nodded at them, communicating my plan to them on a telepathic level, a skill I was able to develop over the last month of training.

By this time, the shadow mage had reached fleuve and realized that I wasn't attempting to retrieve it. He was quick to berate himself by hitting himself upside the head at his own stupidity. He turned to face me, I'm sure, but the only thing he would see is a cloud of dust and dirt, veiling me from his eyes.

~~~Switch!~~~

The shadow mage stood there, waiting for Lucy to attack. He scanned the area, and attempted to sense her magical presence. The only magic he could sense, though, was coming from that dust cloud.

Suddenly, Lucy burst forth running towards him, a gold key in both hands. The shadow mage stood his ground, and prepared himself for the close combat. He rapidly engulfed his hands in his shadow claws, and switched to an offensive stance. There he waited, watching as Lucy came closer and closer, her eyes never leaving him, and his her.

Just as she was right outside striking distance, and the mage moved to do just that, she leapt back. At that moment, the ground beneath him crumbled away as the pink haired maiden Virgo emerged, piercing him in the back. He stumbled forward, where Lucy was waiting for him and delivered a swift kick to the side, which clumsily blocked with one arm and knocked him to the left several yards.

Quickly, he regained his composure as he blocked and evaded the oncoming series of attacks launched by Lucy and Virgo. Even though they weren't dealing any damage, they were still pushing him back. Sometimes only a step or two, sometimes leaps and bounds.

He had just jumped out of the way of one of Virgo's attacks, and when he should've felt ground, he felt nothing. The surprise at the lack of ground caused him to hesitate just long enough for him to fall onto his back. A light thud echoed off the walls of the pit he was now in. He shoved his elbows down into the ground as support for getting up when something heavy impacted his chest, causing him to collapse once again.

"I would not do so unless the Princess commanded it so."

The mage opened his eyes to see the pink haired spirits standing above him, one of the chains attached to her shackles lying on top of his chest. His eyes drifted upwards, towards the mouth of the pit where Lucy and yet another pink haired maiden, identical to the one above him, stood.

"How...?" He weakly gasped.

The maiden at the opening of his earthen cage shined a golden light before splitting into two beings, simple blue creatures floating around Lucy.

~~~Switch!~~~

I looked down at the shadow mage. I crouched down onto my knees and lowered my head slightly, making it seem like I was trying to get a better look at him. Where in all honesty I barely had enough energy to keep myself, and this facade of strength, up right.

"Who are you? Why have you been attacking the people here?" I interrogated.

The black haired boy looked up at me defiantly, but then he looked over to Virgo then back up to me where the defiance in his eyes was overtaken by resignation.

"My name's Hadrian Drake. I'm a traveling mage," he started. "One day, I was walking through this park when I was mugged. I wanted my stuff back, so I attacked the gangs that were here. Figured the guy had to be in one of them, what with the reputation this place has. So I started battling every person I found. If they didn't have my bag with them, I would take them to the authorities. Built up quite the sum of money even, what with most of them having some kind of reward on their heads."

I squinted my eyes in thought. "If you're lying, Virgo will be forced to issue punishment. Forewarning, she really likes punishment."

The man looked over at Virgo, and I could've sworn I saw a sparkle run through her eyes.

"N-no need for that. No reason what so ever. I've no reason to lie to a beautiful, smart, and strong girl like you."

I smirked, "Flattery will get you no where, though I do appreciate the compliments. And if you're anything similar to what I've been told, then you would have plenty of reason to lie to me."

He raised an eyebrow at that last part. "Oh? What have you been told? That I'm, what, a murderer, terrorist? Maybe a dark mage or slaver? Oh wait! I know! I'm a sexual deviant who preys on poor homeless animals and the souls of children!"

I couldn't help but let out a laugh at that. I smiled down at him, "Dark mage," I answered, "but I highly doubt one such as yourself would be one."

He chuckled, "One such as myself? And what, prey tell, is one such as myself?"

"Snarky*, sarcastic, not afraid to say what you think and unaffected by the vain opinions of others."

He roared with laughter at that. "My, my. I'm going up in the world then!"

I released a short laugh at that before turning to face both Gemini and Virgo, "You two can return home now. Thanks for all the help!"

"You sure, Lucy? We can sense how much magic power you have left. You may not be able to summon us again." Gemini said worriedly, despite their expressionless faces.

"I'll be fine, Loke should be able to sense if there's trouble."

"All right Lucy! Bye bye!" Gemi and Mini chorused before disappearing.

"Punishment, Princess?" Virgo requested from below.

I turned my gaze down to Virgo, who still had her chain planted on Hadrian, keeping him pinned down. "Maybe another time." Virgo nodded before disappearing as well, freeing Hadrian.

I reached down and grasped Hadrian's hand. Employing all my strength, the last remaining drops of adrenaline in my blood, and even Hadrian clumsily 'clawing' up the dirt wall, we were able to free him from his subterranean prison. When he was finally free, I stumbled back a few steps while Hadrian dusted off his pants.

"So I hope I'm not misplacing my trust by believing you over my employers." I jokingly said to him.

Hadrian was still looking down, cleaning himself off when he responded. "Yeah. I would hate to piss you off. It was hard enough even keeping up with you in battle. For a Celestial Spirit mage, your yourself are pretty strong."

I giggled at the compliment, especially since that was my main reason for taking this mission, to prove my strength. "Why thank yo-" I started before I suddenly found herself hugged tight against Hadrian's chest, his arm extended out behind me.

Looking back, I saw the body of the man Hadrian had been fighting before I arrived, sprawled across the ground, a knife a few feet from his hand, glinting in the orange light of the twilight sun. At that moment, the full effects of the battle hit me like a punch from Erza to the head. My knees went weak, and I would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Hadrian's tight grip around me.

I looked up in order to see Hadrian's face, and I finally realized just how much of a difference there was in our height. I only came up to his shoulders. He looked down at me and smiled largely.

"Looks like I was pretty tough, too. Huh?"

I couldn't help but give back a smile of equal measure.

"It was at that moment that our fates were sealed, and our destinies intertwined. No matter the warnings, those destinies didn't scare us. Maybe they should have."

A/N: So? How did you like it? I actually worked really hard on the part right above this. The funny part about this chapter, I didn't even mean for it to be this long. I figured it would only be like 1,500 words, maybe around 2,000. Not over three! But it works better this way, so I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Tell me how you guys like Hadrian! He reminds me of myself actually, which is weird since I try not to incorporate myself into my OC's. Well… I guess that it, though. See everyone in a few days! Annyong!

*Snarky: I'm pretty sure I used that to describe Hadrian right. My sister called me that once, and since Hadrian's personality is similar to mine in a way, I figured it might work.