A/n- Here's the next chapter. I was so overwhelmed by the positive response. Thank you to all for reviewing, favoriting, and liking. I never expected that many for the prologue. I struggled a bit with starting the second and third parts, but I got it in the end thankfully. I hope you enjoy it.


Lucy Heartfilia sighed as she sipped at her strawberry milkshake. Most of the guild was laughing and joking without her. Okay yes, it was her own fault for not going to talk to them, but she wanted to give them space as they welcomed a once thought dead member back to the guild. It had been five days though since that incident. She knew they were excited, but five days of celebration and ignoring her? Yes, again, she knew that was her own fault.

But normally she didn't even have to approach them, they would do that of their own accord. Natsu, her most common visitor, hadn't visited since they got back. That was a record, since she first got her apartment, he usually visited (without permission) at least once every 3-4 days, if not every day. None of the team even approached her, and sometimes she felt the only reason she got to talk to Mira at all was because Mira was the waitress.

Of course it was understandable, Lisanna had been back from the dead for only five days. Everyone was enthralled with her return at some point, but it was starting to drag on a bit. Things seemed completely different somehow. Like they would never go back to the way they used to be. Of course that was ridiculous. Sure, Lisanna was Natsu's childhood friend, but he was Lucy's partner, that counted for something.

The worst part was when she did try to approach them, on the first day, Lisanna seemed to freak out and cling to Natsu even more. Lucy had no idea what she had done, but decided to give Lisanna space after that reaction.

Lucy thought about her apartment rent, she had managed to pay it before the Edolas incident, so she was good for now, for once. Which meant she didn't have to listen to people complain about her complaining or tease her about being obsessed with money. She was able to sit in the guild and relax for once.

'But... it's always good to save up, and since they're busy, maybe I can finally start training by myself for once like I've planned to for a month now,' she thought to herself as she finished her shake. 'I'll try a small mission by myself, see how that goes, and try to figure out what I need to do for training... Loke could probably help... maybe a physical training schedule...' she kept musing to herself, absentmindedly still sipping even though the shake was gone.

"Lucy, the shake is gone, do you mind if I take the glass?" Mira asked, half amused. Lucy jumped.

"Oh, no, go ahead. I'm done I guess." Mira took the glass and started to cleaning it, occasionally glancing over where the rest of Team Natsu was, plus Happy, as if to reassure herself that her sister was alive and there and that it was not a dream.

Lucy smiled at the sight. She knew from some of the events that had happened that Lisanna had truly been an important part of the guild, and that her death had changed Mira quite a bit. She tried not to begrudge everyone their time with Lisanna, but surely her return wasn't everything? Soon things would return to normal, or as normal as things ever were within Fairy Tail. She hoped they would anyway.

Meanwhile, she should get going on her training, after what happened with the Oracion Seis, being barely able to defeat Angel, even with more spirits, she knew she needed it. But first, a mission so she could start saving up, and possibly train along the way depending on what she found. She walked up to the request board. No one was around because they were all still a bit attached to Lisanna and talking to her, so they were reluctant to take a job, with a few exceptions, who for the most part were out on missions already anyways.

"Rescue a village, probably too strong a monster for me to handle, escort a caravan, needs more people than one and not worth the money anyways, take down a dark guild, ha like I could do that on my own," Lucy mumbled to herself as she examined the board. Suddenly she found the perfect one, guarding a mansion from a thief, and for... 100,000 jewels. She grinned. Mansions she could handle, she grew up in one after all, even if she had a bad childhood. She knew a lot about their nooks and crannies and was already coming up with the best ways to protect it.

She took the flier, surprising someone away from the crowd who was watching her idly, and went over to Mira. She waited for Mira to finish with her current dishes patiently, a little delay wouldn't hurt. It was 3pm, she could catch the 5pm train and then be in the town at 6pm to meet with the client.

"Mira, I'd like to take this request please," Lucy said as soon as Mira turned her attention to the blonde. She showed the flier to her.

"You sure you want to take this and do it alone? I'm sure Natsu or one of the others could help," Mira commented even as she approved it. Lucy shook her head.

"I know mansions well and how to find spots that's easy to sneak into them from. And well..." She looked over to where Lisanna was, laughing, with Happy in her lap and the team around her, plus a few others. "They're busy celebrating Lisanna's return, so I want to give them some space." Mira frowned in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Lucy shrugged.

"I haven't exactly tried to communicate so not really talking to them is my fault..." she trailed off wistfully, "even if I never had to try before..." she mumbled.

Mira caught her last words, but decided against commenting on it, resolving to interfere if it looked to be getting worse. Even if Lucy wasn't trying, it takes two to communicate, and they weren't even really remembering her it looked like. She felt guilty when she realized that half the time even she wouldn't have talked to Lucy if she wasn't the main waitress.

Lucy waved to Mira before heading off to do her first solo mission since she joined the guild. Every time before, she'd been with at least Natsu and Happy, if not Erza and Gray as well. Lately it even seemed like Wendy might be joining the team for some missions. Lucy loved her team, but she knew it would be good for her and kind of nice to do one on her own without help for once.

'Maybe I can finally prove to myself and the guild that I'm not some weak cosplay girl. That I can do things and do them well, that I'm strong.' She balanced along the canal as she walked home to pack. 'I wouldn't have been able to save Loke and open all those gates at once if I wasn't... I just don't know why I have trouble now...' She decided to summon Plue for company, smiling at his unique way of speaking. 'On Galuna Island, I used Taurus and then Plue before finally using Aquarius, it didn't fully wipe me out... but then when I was fighting Bixlow I used both Sagittarius and Leo, and couldn't move... does that mean together they're stronger than Taurus, Plue, and Aquarius combined...? Still, I shouldn't have collapsed after that, not after everything else I've been able to do...'

"Pun pun PUUUN," Plue said urgently. She wobbled a bit and then realized that they had nearly passed her house. She laughed at herself for getting that lost in her thoughts.

"Thanks Plue, time to get ready for a trip, I think being at a mansion again could be fun..." She trailed off and then sighed. "Although I suppose it might remind me of my less than stellar childhood..." Then she had to laugh at her use of the word stellar as she unlocked her door and went inside.

"Pun pun," her spirit commented cheerfully.

"Haha, yeah, maybe I'm being too pessimistic, I'm sure it'll turn out fine." She started sorting through what clothes would be best, choosing clothes more suited for being in a mansion, though taking care to choose some clothes that could work as servant's attire as well depending on what the client wanted her to do specifically. "Well, it'll be a fun adventure at least."


"Well that is an interesting development," Freed Justine commented, watching Lucy leave the guild, mission flier in hand. He had a book on the table that he'd been reading, though he hadn't been reading for a while, preferring to observe the interactions of the guild in an attempt to figure out how to approach other people.

"What is?" Evergreen asked casually as she looked up from the magazine she was flipping through.

"The cosplay queen," Bixlow started, he'd also been watching people for the same reason, but he had nothing besides his babies to occupy him otherwise.

"Queen queen!" his babies echoed, floating in the air creepily.

"Took a mission and left without her team," he finished with his usual flair.

"Team! Team!" The dolls bobbled up and down as they floated in the air. Evergreen rolled her eyes, well used to his babies. It took her a second to register what he said.

"She left without her team?" she asked incredulously, staring at Bixlow. They all then glanced at said team. It didn't look bad or anything, since many of the guild members present were staring at Lisanna anyways.

Erza was standing imposingly by the table. Gray was half naked sitting on a bench and trying to get Cana to stop drinking, her only retort was that he needed to put on clothes. Natsu was laughing and talking to Lisanna, his face lit up happily. The rest of the guild was scattered around, laughing and joking as usual. Occasionally, someone would get up and go talk to Lisanna for a bit.

"They didn't even notice that she left," Freed observed after they had all turned back to their table, each deciding they'd spent enough time observing them. "Quite unusual for how protective they have been of her."

"Well, she needs the protection... wonder if she could pull off whatever job she took..." Evergreen wondered as she turned back to her magazine.

"She could I bet, she's a cosplay dominatrix!" Bixlow declared, with his babies agreeing. "She beat me, remember?" Evergreen looked up.

"Wasn't it Loke who beat you?" Her haughty voice was tinged with slight confusion.

"Not exactly..." Freed started, his voice taking on the distinct tone of a lecture. His two friends leaned back to listen; even if the tone of voice was annoying, he normally had good points. "Loke is a celestial spirits, and while they all have varying strengths on their own, they're only as strong as their owner. For the amount of strength Bixlow described him showing, and the results, Lucy must be fairly strong in magically herself. Though Leo the Lion is considered the strongest of the Zodiac spirits... I doubt he could've done such a strong attack without Lucy being strong," he finished his explanation. Evergreen considered it for a bit, before conceding that Freed probably had it right.

"That makes sense, but that brings up a lot of questions... I wonder if her team is holding her back because they don't see how strong she is, or the potential she has with how protective they get, especially Natsu," she said slowly. Freed nodded.

"I've been wondering the same thing myself," he confessed. "She not only shows strength magically, but determination among other interesting traits... and she's one of the few people who seem to be able to forget what we did a month ago." Bixlow nodded, being serious for once, the subject of people and friends was one he always took seriously.

"Yeah, she never even called me weird, and she apologized for Loke going overboard in the attack. She's interesting."

"Interesting! Interesting!" his babies echoed yet again.

It was Evergreen, though, who said what they were all thinking in the end.

"Maybe she wouldn't mind coming with us on missions, this might be our chance to... open up a bit," she said, with a bit of a hesitation about it. They all nodded, each feeling apprehensive for different reasons.

"When she comes back, and if she's amendable to it, which likely depends on whether her team talks to her or not," Freed said, finalizing it.

They all returned to their other activities, a bit excited and relieved. Maybe Lucy could be their stepping stone to other people. After all, she wasn't the only one able to ignore what they had done, Mira was an example, but Lucy was the only one able to treat them like normal people. Even with Evergreen's mask, Bixlow's weirdness, and Freed's seriousness. Things would hopefully finally start changing. They were sure of it.


In a hotel room, in a different town, Laxus sat and tapped on the table. Undeniably, he was bored. Self discovery was a lot more boring and yet emotionally draining than he thought it would be. Sure, it was fun to travel, but what was not so fun was finding jobs to pay for it, thankfully he had quite a bit saved up. S-Class jobs did pay a lot, after all.

The only bright spots were when he happened to come across the Raijin tribe on one of their missions, they still respected him and wanted him as a friend. They didn't talk about it, but acted as if everything was already alright. It helped, but because they were trying to make friends among the guild to be more accepted... the missions never lasted more than a few days. And then he was alone yet again.

Being alone was the worst. When he was alone, especially in the afternoon and evening, it was hard to be there with his thoughts. He knew he had a lot to think about, and it got downright depressing, especially as night started falling.

He sighed. He missed his friends, and the craziness of the guild. He never thought he'd think that. It was starting to eat at him what he'd done. How he forced people to hurt each other, how he nearly killed many while seriously harming his own guild mates.

'Where did it all go wrong?' He wondered, pacing anxiously in his room, coat tossed on a chair. 'I wanted to help the guild get stronger... but somehow... Natsu was wrong.' He sighed and barely kept himself from punching the wall.

'By the time I activated the Thunder Palace... it wasn't a bluff... In planning, it had been... but at that point... I'd lost it...' Laxus growled to himself, frustrated, getting nowhere in his thoughts as usual as he kept pacing the length of the room. 'I don't even know how that happened... not even knowing that Gramps nearly died stopped my rage...' He sighed, he knew exactly why it didn't help.

'When did I become so obsessed with not being associated with him anyways? It should have been an honor to be compared to him... he is one of the ten saint wizards after all...' With a groan, Laxus sat down on the bed and dropped his head into his hands.

'It's been a month, and I still don't know what happened... Maybe... is it because of my father?' Laxus laid back on the bed, legs dangling off the edge as he stared at the ceiling. It was common for him to get frustrated and switch where he was and what he was doing while he was working through his thoughts.

'He was obsessive about me being stronger than I was, saying that as his son, and Gramps' grandson I should have been stronger than I was... Did I pick up on that...? What was I thinking? Strength doesn't matter to everyone, being smart matters too, Freed wins fights just by outsmarting his opponents with his enchantments even though physically he's not very strong... so why did it matter that I was strong, that I had to make the whole guild stronger...'

Laxus growled again. He was getting nowhere. It was time for a night run to hopefully help clear his thoughts. He grabbed his room key and music and left, easily settling into a jogging pace.

'Okay, so my obsession with strength started because that was the only way I was ever good enough for my father once I was able to learn magic, and even before then, my father was upset I wasn't picking it up sooner... so getting stronger was the only way to get his attention.' He barely paid attention to where he was going.

'And while the dragon lacrima hurt... I did grow stronger, so I felt grateful,' he snorted at his old feelings, 'and then when my father was kicked out... I didn't understand why, I had thought family was most important to Gramps... Of course it was, but he was also a guild master, and the whole guild was family to him, family my father had threatened... and family I hurt.' Laxus sighed and stopped running, noticing idly that he was in the park.

'It keeps coming back to that, doesn't it? The fact that I somehow snapped and didn't care who I hurt in the goal to make the guild stronger.' Laxus spun around and started hitting the nearest tree in frustration, trying not to yell.

"Why..." he whispered finally, barely noticing his bleeding knuckles. "Why did I do that? How could I... how could I do such a thing..." Laxus sunk to the ground. "I made myself no better than one of the dark guild mages..." A tear slipped from one of his eyes.

'Why? I just felt so angry, with no reason, why did I snap so badly.' Laxus rubbed his chest, about where the lacrima had been implanted. It'd been aching a lot, starting about two days before he snapped. He frowned, thinking suddenly.

'Wait... I didn't snap too badly until I started using a lot of magic power... and it only got worse when I started using the dragon slaying magic... does the lacrima have something to do with it? It only grants artificial dragon slaying magic after all...' Laxus scowled down at the spot it'd been implanted.

'Of course my father would do such a thing. He didn't care if it made me emotionally unstable... So besides figuring out what I need to change, I need to work on how much power I use, and how not to get drunk off of the power and nearly killing people again. I refuse to do that.'

"I won't be my father!" he yelled suddenly, startling a few birds and wild animals, but thankfully the park was empty (night had fallen after all). He stood up, clenching his fists. "I won't let my anger rule me, I'll remember there's more to magic than just strength. It's supposed to protect the weak, not harm them. I will do this," he promised himself. He smiled to himself and started walking back to the hotel, whistling a little. He'd finally made a breakthrough.


A/n- Okay. Here's the deal on me and where I am in the manga and anime. Neither my boyfriend (who got me into the anime and is my source for the manga) nor I am very comfortable with watching/reading it online illegally, and it is very hard to figure out if the sites are legal or not. So, I've seen up to episode 72 of the anime, since 1-48 is on Netflix now, and the rest is on Hulu. As for the manga, we've only just gotten to the 7 year time skip. Volume 31 is coming out on Tuesday, and I believe that is when the Grand Magic Games arc starts. I do not read much spoilers beyond what I've seen in fanfiction and some on the wiki page. Mostly because my boyfriend dislikes spoilers and I don't want to give them to him. HOWEVER, there is now a chance that I will be able to catch up to where the manga is now. Crunchyroll is adding Fairy Tail, among some other manga, digitally on Wednesday. They haven't released all the details, but both my boyfriend and I are hoping they post previous chapters as well as the recent ones so we can catch up. I am however planning on only covering what I know and changing up even that since some things don't necessarily make sense to me, which does make this an AU, yes, but isn't all fanfiction? Which means, please don't tell me what does or doesn't happen in the manga/anime, whether I'm past that part or not. This is my story, I'll write it how I want.