I apologize, this chapter is very short. I had a bit of writer's block on this one, cause I'm trying to get all the information in as possible before I get to the end. (Don't worry, the end is not coming yet!) But for now, I hope you like it.

Thank you.

Disclaimer I dont own any fairytail characters.

~Keri Jen

Chapter Six

The 12th Gate Key

The air was dusty, making it hard to breathe and to see. The young white haired celestial wizard laid in the mud, after transferring all of her magic energy across. She was weak. Barely able to climb up from the dirt. The two exceeds stayed by her side, knowing there was nothing they could physically do to help her. Lector sat next to her, studying her pained expression. To him, she looked like she had been frozen. Her breathing was shallow and her mouth had dried up. Frosch nibbled at his paws nervously, looking to Lector for some sort of guidance.

Although Yukino had used up all of her magic energy, it seemed to have an effect on her life source. She was weak, resting like sleeping beauty. She had no strength left in her to pick herself up from the ground. She was delicate.

It seemed the many wizards Lucy had set free had gone to the east, wanting to get away from the battle. Though some stayed, in hopes that the rest of their guilds would come back to them. Erza was determined to find Lucy, feeling with her instincts that the young wizard was in deep trouble, but then she was concerned for the rest of her guild. She didn't know whether they were dead or alive, injured or resting. She had to find out somehow. The trimens and a few from Lamia Scale stayed with her, wanting to be part of the fight against evil. They all hoped that Natsu would join them soon, but even that sounded like too much hopeful thinking. Where ever the pink haired wizard was, he was definitely nowhere near them. And that worried everyone.

However not far away, Levy, Gajeel and Lily were closer than they believed. The iron dragon slayer led them to a small ruined village, the air was cloudy and the scent was rotten. He pinched his nose as he walked through the streets, his eyes searching for a particular scent

"Gajeel" Lily called out. He turned his head to his exceed, pointing to a young woman lying on the ground. He squinted his eyes, as Levy ran past him quickly. She charged towards the body, her heart pounding before crashing to the young woman's side. She whispered her name.

"Yukino"

Two exceeds popped their heads up from behind the body, relieved to see the wizards of Fairytail come to their aid. Lector rubbed his watery eyes.

"It's you. The know it all girl" he said happily. "Please, you gotta help her" he looked to Yukino, saddened by the girl's unconsciousness.

"What happened?" Gajeel wondered as he approached them. Lily came up beside him.

"There was a glow of gold and then she summoned her magic and called out Lucy's name" Lector replied, puzzled. "Then she collapsed"

"Did she do a magic transfer? I can't sense any magic from her" Levy asked. Frosch shrugged, unsure himself what was going on. "Solid script. Water" the bluenette summoned water to her hand and passed it to the girl's lips, in hope she would drink.

"You said she mentioned bunny-girl…where is she?" Gajeel growled.

"We don't know. I think she's in trouble" Lector said sadly. "Yukino was crying…" he explained. Lily looked over at Levy, her eyes filed with her own tears. The thought of her friend being in trouble scared her. She rubbed her eyes with her arm, whispering softly.

"Lucy…" she wept. She felt a hand on her shoulder, a hard cold one. But she felt much comfort from it.

"Bunny-girl will be ok, I'm sure salamander will find her" his red eyes looked down at her softly. "Just focus on that one first" he shook his head down to Yukino, making Levy slowly look down.

"You're right" she sniffled, grasping Yukino's muddy hand. "Come on Yukino. Wake up and tell us what happened to you"

In the far distance, surrounded by green hills, icy blue mountains and thousands of forest fir trees, was a golden light figure. The wind howled, her fair blonde hair blew as the figure looked out across the sunset view. She took a deep breath, her shining fingers tangling her cloak to her neck. She exhaled softly, her bright brown eyes exploring every little bit of detail that was in front of her. She was determined to find the 12th zodiac key- Aquarius. Now that she had all 11 keys in her possession, the water bearer was the last one to collect in order to release the stars of the heavens.

Lucy began to tremble, thinking of all her fairytail friends that were fighting. She felt so lost and confused, feeling weak. She was held as a hostage, always getting help from the others. In this case, Yukino had saved her this time. She was extremely grateful but worried also. Knowing that somewhere the young celestial mage was out of magic and vulnerable. She hoped that the Sabretooth dragon slayers were close by her, knowing that with no magic energy- she could easily die from Zeref's army.

She looked across at the icy mountains and her eyes settled on the point where the sleepy sunset hit, revealing a golden shine. She smiled, stepping forward.

"Aquarius, I'm coming for you"

"I'll be waiting"

Her ears perked, recognizing the voice in her head. Her childhood friend, the one who watched her grow from an infant to how she was today, her family. A tear fell from her eye, as she clutched the rest of the keys. One left to go.

She had heard stories about celestial mages who contain all 12 gate keys. The only one to ever have hold of them all was of course Anna Heartfilia, She never knew that she was a distant relative of the strongest stellar mage, this gave her more courage. She believed that was the reason why Zeref wanted her in his grasp. There was things that a celestial mage could do that others couldn't, summon the Great Spirit king, summon spirits to their side, create magical contracts with spirits and humans. Her heart thumped. Perhaps even bring back the dead…is that what Zeref wanted her for? To bring Mavis back? She shivered under the thought.

Mavis was good, she wouldn't be evil. If Lucy could revive her, she wouldn't help Zeref take over the world after all…she had met Mavis' spirit herself. She was sweet, caring and gentle.

She began to think about the rest of the fairytail members. She had found out that Makavov, Mavis and Laxus had retreated back to Magnolia to protect the Fairy Heart, along with the thunder legion. She had sensed Erza's magic energy at the Cronus Castle along with Jura, Gray, Lyon and Wendy. But she hadn't felt anyone else.

No Mira.

No Cana.

No Elfman or Lisanna.

Macao and Romeo.

Wakaba and Max.

Natsu…