Chapter 3

AN: We get to meet the first Dark Spirit! I hope you all like him. Soory about how short this chapter is, I had terrible writer's block. As before, I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. Enjoy!

Team Natsu had an uneventful trip back to Magnolia. At the train station, they spilt the reward evenly among the four mages. They had almost parted ways when Erza remembered the key and handed it to Lucy. The blonde Celestial mage wandered into the park to contract the Spirit.

'I've never seen this key before!' she exclaimed to herself as she examined the key. Instead of being silver or gold, it was pure black. The symbol on it was that of an oak leaf. 'This must really be one of the Celestial Dark Spirit keys Mama told me about. Which one had this symbol? Gate of… of… Oh! I remember now!'

Lucy swished the key in front of her and called, "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open, Gate of Wisdom, Quercus!"

A flash of pure darkness appeared before dissipating. Lucy fell to her knees, the power it had taken to summon Quercus was equivalent to opening three Zodiac gates consecutively. It was not as difficult as she had been led to believe, but not easy either. She studied the spirit curiously as she stood back up. He looked human, with dark brown hair and forest-green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. He was tall and lean, obviously not meant for battle. He had more of the scholarly look.

"Lucy Heartfillia. Appears 18 years old, but is truly 25. Celestial Spirit Mage. Holds 10, no, 9 Ecliptic Zodiac keys and 5 silver keys. Friends with the Celestial Spirit King." the Spirit listed off before bowing. "I am Quercus, but you may call me Oak. I am the first of the Celestial Dark Spirits."

The blonde blinked a few times before responding. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Oak. Would you like to make a contract with me?" She chose to ignore the fact that he knew so much about her.

Oak smiled at her. "I would be a fool not to. I am available whenever you have need of me, Princess. My forte is giving advice, as I have access to all knowledge. Much like the Spirit of the Southern Cross, but I am not limited to the Celestial world."

Lucy processed this information before smiling happily. "I am glad to have you as my friend, Oak. But I have a question. What do you mean by 'first of the Celestial Dark Spirits'?"

The brunet scratched his head sheepishly. "I cannot explain everything to you, Princess, but it is because of the differences between Celestial Light and Dark Spirits. While a Celestial Spirit Mage can contract any Light Spirit at any time, Celestial Dark Spirits are usually contracted in order. I am the first that is contracted. And that's all I can tell you. Sorry, Princess."

The blonde shook her head. "Don't apologize, Oak. You told me what you could, and satisfied my curiosity for now. Is there anything you need me to know?"

"Yes, actually," Oak said, frowning. "I am supposed to have access to all information, so I can best advise my master in any situation. So I know that, other than me, three other Celestial Dark Spirit keys have been found."

"Yes, my mother taught me that," put in Lucy.

"She must have been a very well-educated woman, then. It is not common knowledge. The strange thing is those three keys were returned to their holdings after their contracts ended. I was not. And someone, somehow, is hiding who held my key all this time and why!"

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, concerned at how upset her new spirit appeared.

"Not necessarily, but it is unlikely to be good. I would advise you, Princess, to find the other keys. They may know something that is hidden from me."

Lucy nodded, a determined light shining in her eyes. "Of course, Oak. This obviously upsets you, so I will do whatever I can to help. Who do I find first?"

Oak cocked his head and pursed his lips thoughtfully. I suggest looking for the Key of the Viola first. She is the second Celestial Dark Spirit and was returned to her holding after my contract ended. Also," he blushed, "she's my wife."
"Awww," Lucy squealed. "That's so cute! So, how do I find her?"

A map materialized in the Spirit's hands and he handed it to his mistress. "Use this. Bring your team with you for the protection. The holders are often reluctant to part with their keys." With that, Oak disappeared in another flash of darkness.

Lucy sighed, exhausted. Summoning Oak and keeping him out so long had taken most of her magic. As she started to examine the map, she was blinded momentarily by a flash of golden light.

"Princess. What. Did. You. Do?" Lucy looked up to see a furious lion spirit standing with his arms crossed in front of her.

"What do you mean, Loke?" she asked coolly, her eyes narrowing.

"I mean, Princess, that you have made a contract with one of your spirits' greatest enemies. Do you understand how serious that is?"

"I understand that Dark Spirits may not be your friends, but I am. Do you not trust my judgment? Oak does not mean to hurt me. I can feel it."

"I trust you, Lucy," the ginger-haired man sighed. "But I can't just go work with a Dark Spirit without trying to persuade you against it."

The Stellar Spirits mage's face lit up with a smile. "So you'll do it? You're not too angry with me?"

Loke shook his head and gave his mistress a small smile. "I'm not angry. Dark Spirits are not truly our enemies, we just have a hard time working well together. Your spirits will work with Dark Spirits if you choose to contract with them, but if they ever hurt or disobey you in any way, they will feel the wrath of all the Celestial Light Spirits."

"I'm sure they know that, and I don't think they will, judging by Oak."

"So," the lion spirit said as he shifted from serious to playful, "what're you holding, Princess? A giant poster of me to hang on your wall? You know, I would gladly sign it for you. Better yet, just keep me out more often. You won't need the picture."

"Idiot. It's a map. Oak was upset because he couldn't find out why his key was never returned to its 'holdings', whatever that is. He told me the best way to find out would be to search out one of the other Dark Spirits. This map is supposed to lead me to her."

"Well then, Princess. Not like I can't protect you perfectly well on my own, seeing as I am your knight in shining armor, but you should grab your team first and go." The spirit gave one brilliant smile before fading in another flash of golden light.

"Stupid lion. I was going to bring them anyways," Lucy mumbled as she folded the map and left the park. She headed towards the guild hall to collect her team and leave again. Unknown to her, a pair of golden eyes had been watching the whole time. The woman attached to those eyes pulled out a communications lacrima to report how the plan was moving forward as she continued to follow the Celestial Spirit mage.