Author's Note:

I appreciate the interest my simple prologue has caused; I hope more people review/follow after this chapter! :)

I hope all my chapters can be this length.. but I doubt it :3

Chapter One

Fading Shadows

Darkhaven Township – Southern Fiore

Lucy Heartfilia smiled as she stretched her arms high into the sky.

"Nngggh," she said aloud as she lazily opened one eye to stare up at the sun hanging in a cloudless sky. "What a beautiful day it is!" The young celestial mage exclaimed as she walked towards her designated meeting spot for her solo-mission. Makarov had warned her that morning once again of the dangers of her mission, which she had taken very seriously. The Guild Master didn't give out advice lightly or for no reason and they were putting good faith in her.

Lucy grinned once more and glanced down at Plue who steadily plodded along beside her. "I'll make them proud." She told him softly.

The little Nikora looked up at her, nervously shaking as he did in his usual manner. "Puun!" He voiced loudly.

Lucy was meant to meet this Council mage at a quiet local town in the afternoon. All she knew was that they would be going to a discrete and near abandoned village and just having a stake-out to see if this target would show and observe their actions. All-in-all, Lucy was quite happy at the lack of work it would seem she would be doing for such a rich reward.

The celestial mage gasped when the town of Darkhaven began to appear on the horizon. It was a small town with mostly farming villagers and probably little to no magic users surrounded by forest and meadow. Wood and thatch houses came into view and she could begin to make out the silhouettes of people walking around, carrying tools and produce. Knowing she would need to reserve her magic from now on, she closed Plue's gate, (despite the fact that the Nikora required very little magic to keep around.)

As she got closer to the village, Lucy self-consciously straightened her cloak which covered most of her. She was wearing very basic and uninteresting clothes beneath, as suggested by her Guild Master. Makarov had reminded her that wearing her usual clothes would make her stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, she had no idea how far the news about the Magic Games had spread and didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself on this discrete mission.

Lucy didn't have to actually visit the village, despite the fact that she kind of wanted to and was curious to see more. She was only required to meet at the edge of the forest near the ploughing fields and wait for the Council representative to meet with her.

She had the cover of the trees masking her arrival as she moved away from the line of sight of the village, and made her way to her designation point.

Lucy made her way to the shade of a great oak tree and slowly let herself fall against it so her back was resting comfortably. She had only stopped for a few minutes when a soft poof noise alerted her of someone else's presence.

Tense with suspicion, her hands subconsciously went to her belt where her keys were stored, but before she had a chance to wrap a hand around one of them, a cloaked figure appeared before her.

"Eyeeeee!" She cried out and went to bring her arm forth with her keys, but a hand quickly reached out and stopped her.

"Lucy Heartfilia," the cloaked figure said quietly. "Please calm down, my name is Silvia. I am from the Council."

Lucy stopped her noise and frowned suspiciously. "You are?" She asked dubiously.

The figure reached forward to remove their cloak, and Lucy found herself facet-to-face with a younger and shorter woman. The girl had shoulder length silver hair, darker than Mira or Lisanna's and round doe-like blue eyes. She silently reached into her back pocket and pulled forth the matching document that Lucy was informed she would need to see to prove the mage's identity.

The celestial mage took it from her gently and let her eyes roam over the document, making sure every inch of it was authentic. Silvia waited patiently through the examination and only moved to take the paper back when Lucy was apparently satisfied with what she saw.

"Okay, so you are from the Council then. Nice to meet you." Lucy finally answered after her suspicion had settled, allowing her left hand to stretch forward for a handshake.

Silvia took the hand with a small nod and a smile. "Likewise. I am a shadow-step mage. I'm not particularly made for combat, but I will be able to help keep us both hidden while we observe this village and our potential target."

"Oh wow, I don't think I've seen much of that magic before. You must know I'm a celestial mage already." Lucy replied warmly. "If I may ask, the Council seems pretty unsure about this target if it's not even guaranteed if he'll show up. So do you know anything else about him?"

The silver-haired mage shrugged and carefully stowed away the papers Lucy had handed back to her. "I'm not sure either. I was simply told to go to the village of Reedworth nearby and wait and see what comes by. The village is abandoned as the villagers lost their homes and livestock from a tsunami caused by magic one-hundred years ago. The Council believe it might be used right now as a spot for Dark Mages to meet, or a potential Dark Guild site. We need to tread lightly on these matters, so it's meant to be pure observation. And of course you are here to help me and act as a body-guard if need be." Silvia explained indicating with her hand the direction they would begin in.

Lucy followed her without hesitation. "Okay, that makes sense." One of her fingers rested upon her lips in thought as she voiced, "I was curious as to why Fairy Tail was picked though. We aren't exactly a guild known for subtlety."

Silvia surprised her by covering her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh. "Yes you may be right about that, but Fairy Tail was declared the strongest guild in Fiore, therefore you were bound to be approached by the Council for special missions. Master Makarov assured us that you were capable of this mission Lucy otherwise we might have moved onto another guild."

Lucy absorbed this information for a moment as she followed the younger mage and then eventually shrugged. "Lucky me." She murmured to herself with a smile.

Reedworth Ruins – Southern Fiore

Together they had found a good vantage point amongst a rocky outcropping that overlooked the remains of the village Reedworth. It was by no means comfortable, but Lucy was grateful that she wasn't wearing her usual short-skirt style and instead had pants past her knees to reduce the discomfort. Silvia seemed to be taking the annoyance of the chosen spot in her stride, barely showing emotion on her face as she settled amongst the rocks.

"Lucy," Silvia began, turning to glance at her companion. "We are required to stay here until the next morning in case the target or any suspicious activity shows itself. The Council received intelligence that tonight it would be likely that activity would be shown here. However if by the next morning nothing happens we simply pack up and leave, so we don't compromise ourselves. Do you understand?"

Lucy nodded with a smile. One night of discomfort? Too easy! She thought.

"The sun has begun to set. I will cloak us in my magic." Silvia informed her quietly.

There was a soft humming in the air and Lucy felt for a moment that the air around her had grown visibly hazy in the dusk-light.

"We can now speak without fear of the noise reaching outside this sphere." Silvia explained.

"Oh, that's good." Lucy replied; glad that they wouldn't have to at least sit here in total silence for a whole night upon spiky and rough rocks.

The moon began to rise just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon; bathing the ruins, forest edge and rocky outcropping in a silver light. Lucy was glad that it wasn't a moonless night, as she wasn't sure how the two of them with their magic types could produce light that wouldn't be seen by outsiders. Inevitably, she found herself growing bored and despite her urge to summon one of her Silver Keys for entertainment, she forced herself not to. She glanced to her left where the shadow-step mage continued to observe their surroundings with apparent ease and calm. Lucy wanted to strike up a conversation, as the noise wouldn't be heard, but she felt bad for contemplating breaking the other mage's concentration. Silvia was doing her job well and she didn't need a distraction.

Judging by the night-sky and the direction of the constellations, (Lucy was a stellar spirit mage after all, she did her research on the stars,) she determined that it was a few hours before dawn when Silvia stirred from her position.

"Hey, what is it?" Lucy asked her softly, despite the sound barrier that protected them.

"I felt something in the air, like a shift in magic." Silvia explained in the same tone of voice. "Did you?" For the first time in hours she met Lucy's gaze with her own.

The celestial mage found herself having to glance away. "N-no, I didn't. I'm not very good at detecting magical presences." She admitted quietly.

"Lucy, I think I will take a closer look." Silvia told her, standing as she did.

"W-wait! What about us, how will I contact you?" Lucy exclaimed, reaching forward to grasp the corner of her companion's cloak.

The silver-haired mage blinked in surprise. "I won't be long, it probably isn't anything. Fiore does experience magical surges and shifts, it could be that." Seeing the concern and worry on Lucy's face, she softened her expression. "My magic will still protect you and I will cloak myself. In this light I can't see as much and I would rather make certain we aren't missing something." She explained.

Lucy reluctantly let her go and conceded her point, but it was evident from her expression that she wasn't happy about it. With a small wave Silvia departed in a puff of smoke and shadow.

It wasn't for a few minutes that Lucy was able to adjust her eyes and make out the faint outline of Silvia's form in the ravine below as she approached the ruins. Lucy hoped it was because Silvia's magic protected her that she could see her now in low visibility and not that any enemies could see her like this is as well.

Lucy thought that almost an hour had passed when she noted Silvia's form beginning to make its way back towards camp. Despite the length of time and how late it was, the tiredness from before had gone, replaced with tension and worry. Lucy only allowed herself to relax as Silvia approached the foot of the outcropping. Dawn would be soon upon them and they would be able to complete this mission and earn their reward, she thought.

Suddenly, a whining noise split through the air, followed by a bright flash of light that engulfed the base of the outcropping where Silvia was.

Barely surprising her scream of surprise, Lucy stood up and strained to see what had happened.

As a thick cloud of shadows vanished into wisps of grey, Silvia was shown to be thrown against a tree by some unknown force. Part of her cloak had been torn away by the force of the magic power, exposing her Council insignia on her arm.

Without any noise, a cloaked figure suddenly appeared and made his way towards the prone shadow-step mage.

"Well, well, it took me a while to find you that was for sure. I could feel your magic in use, but couldn't locate it. You must indeed have strong shadow magic to hide from me." The character's voice was deep, convincing Lucy that it was a man before them. He reached forward and placed a finger on the tattoo on Silvia's arm. "Hmm, Council spy are you?" He asked vaguely. Silvia's blue eyes were wide with fear and she suddenly let forth a scream as light engulfed her arm once more. "I am a light-magic user, your magic withers beneath mine. Do not bother struggling." He told her coldly as she cried out in pain once again.

Lucy felt her hands clenching and unclenching as she watched the exchange. She was meant to protect Silvia, but the magic surrounding her was strong and Lucy found she couldn't actually leave the shadowy field. Silvia obviously wanted her to stay concealed, but God it was frustrating!

I have to help her! Lucy thought in anguish.

"A-are… you from a dark guild?" Silvia managed to grate out through clenched teeth.

The cloaked man cocked his head to one side. "Fishing for information are you? You sure are brave." Silvia chose not to reply, defiance written all over her face even amongst her pain. The man seemed to consider her words for a moment before he called out, "Sonic light!" and thrust his arm forward as a mixture of light and sound waves burst forth, engulfing the shadow mage. "You are a smart one! You know you are outmatched, so why bother asking me questions?" He taunted her, laughing manically as she writhed in pain beneath his magic. "It's because someone else is here, right? You're protecting them!"

Silvia still didn't take his bait and forced herself to not let out any noises to satisfy his ego. She let her head hang towards the earth, making sure not to look anywhere near Lucy's direction. The man stepped back, crossing his arms. Silvia struggled to take a breath in the aftermath of the magical overload.

"Yes, you are strong for your age." The man mused. "However…" his arm shot forward and he punched her low in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood. "Not strong enough." He grunted as he shook out the pain in the hand he had used.

Silvia coughed once more before her eyes closed and she lost consciousness, slumping to the ground beneath the tree.

"NO!" Lucy screamed from inside the protective shadows.

Without warning, Lucy felt the air shift around her and she knew that somehow, the barrier had fallen, whether it was from Silvia's will or a loss of power.

Part of her mind argued that this mission was one for information, and she had already gained plenty on this man who used sound and light wave-magic to cripple his foes. Silvia knew the risks and was probably prepared for her partner to run away and leave with this information for the better of the magic world.

But Lucy also knew it was not in her to abandon someone in need.

"Bastard!" She screamed as she stood up, apparently suddenly appearing out of thin air. Lucy reached for her keys and grasped two in her right hand, thrusting them forward. "Open Gates of the Golden Bull and the Maiden! Taurus! Virgo!"

A great 'mooooooo' could be heard as the figure of Taurus appeared, bathed in a golden glow. The giant Minotaur took no time to pull back his giant axe and charge forward, smashing into the cloaked man with full force. Propelled backwards and not expecting the attack, the man was thrown off balance and fell to the ground. "A celestial mage? You must be Lucy from Fairy Tail! I know who you are!" The man exclaimed with barely hidden mirth. However anything else he wanted to say was soon cut off as he found himself in close quarters with an angry and overly-protective Minotaur.

Virgo's entrance was much more subtle, bursting forth from her Gate to land silently next to Lucy. "Princess, is it time for punishment?" She asked solemnly, saluting her master as she did.

Ignoring the usual statement from her stellar spirit, Lucy instead commanded, "Virgo, help me! Take me to Silvia's body!" She quickly pointed in the direction of the prone mage that lay down in the ravine.

Without bothering to answer, Virgo scooped up her master expertly and then quickly burrowed back into the earth. To Lucy it felt only as if she had been in a stuffy area with no fresh air, before she found herself once again on the surface and standing before Silvia's immobile form after only mere moments of being underground.

"Taurus, keep him busy!" Lucy called out, briefly watching her spirit fight the cloaked figure. He didn't seem to do too well in close combat she noticed, Taurus was able to swing in very close with his axe, keeping the man from using his magic too much. Turning her attention back towards Silvia, she asked Virgo to prop the young girl up so Lucy could examine her more closely.

"H-hey are you alright? Wake up, please!" Lucy pleaded, trying to gently shake Silvia's arm that hadn't been too burnt, whilst being mindful of her injuries.

The silver-haired mage struggled to open her eyes, using her less-injured arm to reach forward and touch the side of Lucy's face. "W-what are you doing here?" She asked weakly.

"What do you mean you idiot, I'm not going to leave you. My job is to protect you!" Lucy protested loudly, trying her best to gather the smaller mage in her arms.

"No, you need to go. He's too strong, you've already gathered enough information, take it to the Council! I beg of you!" Silvia told her. She struggled to rise and speak again and instead was brought to a coughing fit.

Without warning, the clearing suddenly became infused with white light, and Lucy found herself temporarily blinded for a moment. As she came to, there was a definite ringing in her ears that make her groan in pain. Her arms shot forward to the sides of her head to try to stop it. When the noise began to recede, she heard Taurus call out, "Sorry Lucy!" She felt through her magic that his Gate had closed because of his sustained injuries. Her own disorientation probably had thrown him off, she thought.

At the same time, Virgo thrust Silvia into Lucy's arms while calling out, "Princess, watch out!" The Maiden rushed forward to meet the cloaked figure in hand-to-hand combat. Lucy felt a rush of affection for her brave stellar spirit, but knew at once that if Taurus struggled against this unknown figure in close combat, Virgo would do no better.

"Silvia, grab on to me. We're leaving, now!" Lucy told the younger mage quietly, as she made up her mind and decided that they should try to discretely leave the clearing.

"No, Lucy. I will stay here." Silvia offered determinedly, with a feeble smile.

"Eh? You can't be serious?"

The shadow-step mage smiled once more and reached forward with both hands, clasping the sides of Lucy's face. "We weren't meant to find anyone here, it was suspicious but we thought it was a false lead. If something did happen, we would need to report to the Council at once. Here, I will give you some of my magic to sneak away and return to the Council. Do this for me Lucy, please. Leave me behind." She explained quietly.

Lucy felt tears rush to her eyes and then shook her head, "No, we're getting out of here!" She barely had time to see the disappointed expression Silvia had as their eyes briefly met. With all her might and muscle, Lucy picked up the smaller mage. However she had taken less than a couple of steps before she heard Virgo cry out and then felt her disconnect from the human world. Lucy felt a jolt of panic rush through her as she became very aware that it was now only her, Silvia and the cloaked man in the secluded clearing.

"No," he barked out in a coarse voice. Lucy could tell from his voice that he was pissed off and beaten from his sparring with her spirits. "You won't be leaving, either of you." He commanded.

Against her best judgement, Lucy turned around to face her opponent. He stood before her, still shrouded in that deep cowl that covered his features. He appeared tired and annoyed as he brushed off dirt and grass from his cloak. She could tell he was bruised and sore. But regardless, Lucy had no doubt he could take her on if he wanted to.

"Put her down." The man commanded in an icy voice.

Lucy shook her head stubbornly, bringing Silvia closer to her. "You'll kill her if I do," she protested weakly.

The man sighed and let his arm thrust forward. "Do it now, or you'll both die. Look at her; she is probably already too far gone." He explained.

The celestial mage gasped in shock as she quickly glanced down at her companion who hardly stirred in her arms. "She can't be!" She breathed out, more to herself than anyone.

"She's been physically beaten and yet she still is forcing her magic to protect you even without consciousness. A mage that forces magic use when they are too weak will cause their body to collapse." He replied curtly.

Despite wanting to deny him, Lucy knew from Loke's experience and her own that it was indeed possible to kill oneself through magic use. She had almost given up her own life force to force open Loke's Gate when he was fading from the human world.

Lucy felt a sob tear through her lips without warning as the consequence of her interference hit her. Gently, she leaned down to place Silvia against the trunk of a tree.

She couldn't be dying, could she? Lucy thought desperately.

The man watched silently, at least having the decency not to interfere as Lucy relieved her arms of the burden she had created. "Was she a friend of yours? She must have wanted you to leave quite desperately, and yet you chose to stay. She might have lived if you had left without me knowing. Celestial mages don't give off that much magic power when they aren't fighting, I probably couldn't have tracked you." He taunted softly from where he stood, well aware that he used the past tense in reference to Silvia. "Now, Lucy, come with me. I've had enough of this foolish business." The cloaked figure commanded from his position, holding out his arm towards her.

Startled by his use of her voice, Lucy shook herself out of her temporary mourning. "You are right." She whispered.

"Maybe she wouldn't be dying if I had left when she asked me to, I messed up." She admitted loudly, stubbornly wiping away the tears from her eyes. "But!" Lucy cried out, "It's not too late!"

Lucy reached to her side, letting her hands fall onto the Fleuve d'étoiles, the stellar whip bestowed to her by Virgo, while her other hand grasped onto her key set. "Open, Gate of the Goat, Capricorn!"

"Lady Lucy," Capricorn spoke quietly as he appeared through his Gate.

"Get him!" She practically shrieked as light burst forth from the cloaked man's hands.

Without a word, her stellar spirit launched himself forward and engaged the man in hand-to-hand combat. Capricorn was a better fighter than Taurus, Lucy thought, and he worked well with her whip-attacks. They had trained together before and after the Magic Games, so he was aware of her fighting style. Together they worked side by side to force the man backward into a more defensive position.

"That's enough!" The man eventually screamed, apparently at his wit's end. He thrust both hands to the sky and after a moment called out, "Sonic brilliance!" just as a wave of white-light and sound shot forth from his hands and collected itself into a sphere of power, before falling towards Lucy's position with startling speed.

Lucy felt the momentum gather as it approached her and watched helplessly as she had no way to redirect this massive amount of energy.

Suddenly, she felt herself thrown forward, away from the main impact. Capricorn had thrown himself against her to move her out of the way just as the magic had hit the area she had previously been in. He disappeared near instantly to recover in the Spirit World. Searing white pain shot up Lucy's back and she couldn't suppress the scream of agony that ripped its way from her lungs. Lucy could barely stop herself as she then collided with the hard earth and earned a fair amount of bruises and cuts on her arms. Despite Capricorn's act of martyrdom, she apparently had still been hit quite hard from the magic.

She watched from her position on the ground helplessly, as the man before her clenched his fists and steadily made his way towards her. Lucy found she was unable to make any of her limbs move and couldn't help the whimper that escaped as he knelt before her. She didn't even have any magic power left to call forth a spirit, she thought in despair.

"Idiot girl, look what you've done." He hissed in anger, reaching forth to grasp her hair.

"Get away from her!" Commanded a voice suddenly, just as a well-polished boot deftly collided with the side of the cloaked man's head and sent him flying across the clearing.

Lucy couldn't lift herself to see who it was, but she knew from the attitude and the voice of who her rescuer was.

"Loke-" was all she could muster as she sighed in relief and then promptly passed out.

A/N:

I need practice writing fighting scenes, I think. This story isn't meant to have too many, I just hope that I capture the visuals well, so you can see what I was thinking as I wrote the scenes.

The Celestial Spirits will bear titles and have their mannerisms as the subbed versions of the show. For example as Capricorn calls Lucy 'Lucy-sama' I will interpret that as Lady Lucy in English. I haven't watched the episodes in the dub so I don't know if this is the same, I am basically going off the Japanese version and their subtitles for the anime, and a literal translation for the manga.

- Mae.