A/N: Who missed me? I know I haven't posted a chapter in a while but here's a new one. Hope everyone likes it. Please R&R!


Lucy hadn't slept the night before.

Sleep was always difficult to come by when she wasn't in her own bed but that deep sense of propriety that came with growing up as Lucky Lucy Heartfilia kept her from sleeping in the same space as Natsu. Instead, she had done some reading. Apparently, in lieu of his immediate arrival, Master Bob had sent a book, a tome of some sort, in the meantime.

Unlike the basic guide to battle and strategy that was the gift from Belo, this particular book was a history on the gate keys compiled by Master Bob himself. For the first few hours, she had been comparing the two. Some of Belo's book included some history and the tome Master Bob had sent did include some battle tactics, usually through their use in some historic battle. After she was done comparing the two, gleaning the facts that were similar between the two, she moved on to what Master Bob had indicated would be of interest to her.

The section on the platinum gate keys.

The history behind them was fantastical, very nearly something she would expect to find in her mother's old mythology tomes. According to legend, for the platinum keys seemed to predate any kind of written history, the three platinum keys were once a single entity, wielded by the gods themselves. Through some type of subterfuge, one bitter god trying to undermine the king of the gods, the single key somehow become unhinged, fragmenting into three separate but equally powerful entities. If the text was to be believed, Belo had given her the first, Draco. The two that remained were believed to be the celestial spirits of Phoenix the firebird and Hydra the seven-headed water serpent.

Two difficult-sounding spirits, to be sure.

At first, it was merely the three, attempting to hold dominion over the mortals while the gods waged their petty war. As time passed, they quickly realized that they needed more than themselves, especially because the war between the gods was affecting the mortals in unforeseen ways. These side effects were not expounded upon but Lucy was good at subtle and knew very well the darkness of man. The platinum keys decided to use a power that was hidden deep in their nature, one that could only be used in times of absolute need. It was then that they created the golden gate keys, powerful and battle-ready all of them.

The downside to such a use of their power was that they fell to the earth to be used at the will of the mortals that acquired them and knew how to access such power. In turn, over time, this led to the creation of the silver gate keys, weak but moderately useful celestial spirits often inadvertently created by the hapless mortals. The three platinum spirits knew that they would never be reunited as they once were, would never be quite whole ever again, and began to use what influence they did have to keep themselves hidden from the world.

Lucy sighed heavily, lifting her eyes from the aged paper in front of her. It was a lot of information to take in, if even half of it was actually true. And taking in account the turns her life had taken lately, it very well could be. But she wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. She was still half-afraid to call out Erebus to contract with him and some of the things that Draco had said were still nagging at her.

The dragon disappearance aside, the massive celestial spirit had said some things that seemed to be of importance, though her heavy magic drain had been screwing with her concentration at the time. He had made the as-of-yet unfound platinum gate keys seem very significant and he had been leading up to something with the talk of how to use him properly.

That was, before Natsu had interjected himself. However, she couldn't fault him.

Suddenly, a golden light began to fill the room, distracting Lucy from her introspection and the questions that wouldn't yield answers. At first, she looked to the window over her bed, thinking the sun was rising but it was still pitch dark over Magnolia, the only source of light the full moon high in the sky. Confused, she looked around for the source of the light.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed the tall pale man standing just a few meters away. He didn't move, didn't blink and it was beyond unnerving. Dressed in a tank top and loose pants that were both pale yellow, it took Lucy looking into his eyes to realize who he was. She would never forget those obsidian eyes.

"Draco," she exhaled softly.

"Miss Lucy," he responded in acknowledgement, bowing his head slightly. Grabbing a chair from the kitchen, he sat next to her. Flicking his eyes down at her books, he grinned slightly, showing teeth that resembled the sharp fangs of his true form too greatly. "I see you've been doing some reading."

Lucy blinked and immediately relaxed, somehow unnerved at her own ability to be at ease when the strange occurred. "Is it true?" she asked.

"Somewhat," he answered, lifting one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Some things are incorrect."

"Like?"

"Well, I'm not sure how we came to be here. Gods warring far above the mortals? Seems a little overdone but it could very well be true. It's been so long."

"How long has it been?" Lucy asked gently.

"Five thousand years." He grinned again but the expression didn't seem to hold any mirth. "And the thing about never being able to connect again? Also not true."

"You've been reconnected with Phoenix and Hydra?"

"It happens." Again with the half-shrug. "Usually through no will of our own, though we each ache to be returned to our original form. The last time was… four hundred years ago." He paused, shifting his gaze to the side. "It was awful."

Lucy paused, her focus dimming as she tried to connect the dots together. However, having recently dealt with a situation where the name had specifically cropped up, she knew almost instantly to what the dragon spirit was referring. "Zeref?"

"The power, it drove him mad," Draco murmured, his jet black eyes sad in the memory. "He was very intelligent but he was weak, deep down in his soul. I think that is why he went in hiding when he finally came back to himself."

"Hiding? I thought Zeref was locked away, his power sealed or something."

"Yes, well, when he joined us together, it was in the middle of a war. A massive, bloody war. Our power managed to blast away his core personality for a time somehow, leaving him powerful and very cruel. When his mind returned, we had already gone, unhinging from each other again, but I did see him seal away his own power." Draco lifted his head to look at Lucy, his face painted in guilt. "It is our fault. It had been so long since our last conjoining that I hadn't the time to warn him."

Lucy shrugged, her expression gentle. "I can't see how that matters now. Zeref is long dead."

Draco frowned deeply. "He's not. I know that I turned away for many years but he was still alive then and it won't take me long to find him again. He was roaming the earth, hiding himself from the world."

Lucy jerked to her feet, her hand bumping her key pouch and causing the key ring and Erebus's key to spill out onto the table. "What!? That's impossible. No one can live that long."

"He'd delved into some very powerful magicks," the spirit told her distractedly. He reached out and picked up the spiky obsidian key. "You've made a key. A very powerful key, at that."

"It was an accident," Lucy mumbled. "I was being attacked by a demon. I guess, because I had you… instinct kicked in?"

"Interesting." He twirled the black key idly. "You haven't called it yet."

Lucy shifted nervously, feeling the eyes of the powerful spirit on her. "I'm afraid to. He did almost possess me."

Draco inclined his head, smiling very slightly. "Come. I know a safe place."

"But…" The blonde looked to her bed where Natsu and Happy still slept peacefully, as they had been for a while. "Natsu?"

"He'll be fine. Come."


Erebus was coated in darkness. This was not a new feeling for him. He thrived in darkness for centuries before that Remus fool has trapped him in that confounded puzzle and after that… Well, it would not understate to say that the basement of the Remus manor was quite damp and dreary.

"He should be the Gate of Chaos, Erebus."

"You know him?"

"After you said his name, I recognized it instantly. You did well to trap him in a key. This demon was not created, as Zeref's were. I believe he was born."

Erebus whirled around, trying to identify the voices. He could hear them clearly but he could sense nothing. Even this darkness seemed inky and opaque, which was very strange. The dark was always the best place to spread chaos, especially the skittering mortals that had spread across the world, but this darkness seemed to… dampen him somehow.

Suddenly, his dark world exploded, revealing a darkness he was familiar with. It was the dark of a starry night in the mountains, the silence and solitude a dead giveaway. His view was immediately drawn to the other beings there. The blonde he recognized immediately as the girl he had attempted to possess some time previously. She didn't have the same glow her inner self seemed to maintain but that was to be expected. The other was a man he didn't know or recognize but who managed somehow to cow Erebus himself.

The man was also blond, though his hair shone ever more brightly than the girl's in the bright moonlight. As the wind ruffled his loose clothing, he seemed unmindful of it, coated in power so massive that Erebus could feel himself losing his breath in the face of it. It was when he looked into his eyes, deep jet black orbs that reflected nothing back, that the demon realized that this man was not actually a man after all but something infinitely different.

"Oh, my God," Lucy said in a soft breath. "He's big." After a moment, she cast a sidelong glance at her companion. "You're doing something to him, aren't you?"

"I'm holding him. He is having… difficulties."

"Like?"

"He can't breathe, can't move. Judging from his face, he can barely think straight."

Lucy tilted her head slightly, reaching out with her magical senses. "I don't feel anything."

Draco chuckled dryly. "You have my key. You are immune."

"Well, that's good to know." She sighed, rubbing a spot on the center of her forehead. "You think maybe you should let up a little bit?"

"If you say so."

As soon as he felt that abominable pressure lift from him, Erebus took a deep breath. As soon as he was sure that he could breathe without problem, he leapt forward, immediately lunging for the blond girl. Perhaps if she was dead…

He was stopped hard by a barrier that literally bounced him back. Then, calmly as you please, the man stepped forward to block the demon's path to the mage. All the while, the girl clutched her chest in fear, breathing heavily and eyes bugged out.

"I thought you said it might work!" Lucy shrieked. "I thought I was going to die!"

Draco scoffed. "He's running on pure rage like an impotent animal."

"Don't… underestimate… me," Erebus growled agitatedly, pushing the words out through the blinding pain in his chest.

The man clucked his tongue softly. "He'll need to be trained, I guess. And introduced to the Spirit King as well."

Lucy straightened the line of her body, tilting her head to look up at the sky in concentration. "What if I can't control him, after all?"

"Break the key. If you snap it in half, he'll disappear completely."

"Really?"

"You are his creator, after all. Since you created him as a celestial spirit, you have the power to destroy him."

Erebus stood to his legs, managing to tower over them again. While he didn't have the menace of several hundred feet of height that Zeref's demons did, he was still quite large. "What are you talking about? I am the demon Erebus. I cannot be destroyed!"

Draco took several steps forward before transforming easily into his original form, that of the golden dragon. "Is that so?" The pressure was once again on Erebus, forcing him to his knees. Despite how he fought against it, he seemed to be trapped in a kneeling posture similar to that of a vassal before his lord. "Miss Lucy tells me you were very nearly destroyed by a family curse that was designed specifically to kill you."

The demon attempted to inhale, dragging in precious wisps of air. "What are you?"

"I am Draco, the celestial spirit of the dragon. You are now Erebus, the celestial spirit of chaos, and are bound to Miss Lucy."

"I will not—"

Draco cut him off immediately. "You will and you will do it happily. Lucy Heartfilia is no Zeref. She is not weak. Besides—" At this pause, Draco grinned toothily. "—She is part of a highly battle-ready magic guild. I am sure you will find something to tear to shreds in her place."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Lucy called out.

"I am aware," Draco drawled, curving his long neck to peer at the blond girl that still had yet to move. "I will take him to the Spirit World to improve both his training and attitude. If that is acceptable?" The last comment was said with a large dose of sarcasm.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at the dragon. "Sure thing." She shifted her focus, winking at the demon in question. "Have fun."