A/N 7/27/16: Okay I've been gone for way too long. If you must know, I've been struggling with my creativity, and it affected my life too. I couldn't write for school or do any sort of art. I was stuck. But it's summer and I've got loads of time right now, so I'm going to attempt to rekindle my flame here. Anything I post won't be consistent to any sort of schedule except my brain. I hope you guys understand.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail! If I did, things would have gone very differently. Basically, there'd be more shipping moments! ^_^


They reached the small, nearly abandoned town two days later, Crime Sorcière leading the way. The guild building was, in fact, completely destroyed, thanks to Ultear's magic. All that was left to show that they'd been there was a guild mark drawn into the dirt with some sort of magic where the guild had been, probably by a member who'd escaped or returned to see their guild hall in shambles. The mark had been drawn deeply in the ground, like an echoing reminder. We'll be back.

"This was the last place Lucy was seen?" Erza asked calmly, in the tone she reserved for speaking to clients and people of authority. Jellal nodded.

"Yes, this was the last place we'd seen her. She's probably long gone by now, though. We can assume that her key holder went northeast, at least for a bit, towards the mountains, before coming back south towards the closest civilization, Clover Town. He or she would need supplies to live, after all. It's far away, though, so they're probably still not too far from this area."

The red haired mage silently accepted his answer, and didn't say anything to them for a while. She muttered a few things under her breath, and seemed to be deciding something. Finally, she pointed at Mira, Meredy, Ultear, Gajeel, and Levy.

"I want you guys to form a group and go towards Clover Town, starting by moving eastward and then south. Search the entire area thoroughly, and use a communications lacrima to call for me if you find the dark mage, Mira."

Mira gave her a look, understanding her role as leader in this situation. Natsu and Gray, realizing that they were together on a team now, were butting heads and saying insults quietly.

"Natsu, Gray, Yukino and Jellal, I want you to follow me towards the mountains in the north. We'll search them up to the summit, then return to the bottom and go south towards Clover Town."

Jellal and Yukino seemed to be okay with this choice, but Natsu and Gray needed to be separated once more.

"Natsu, Gray, this is not the time to be fighting. We have a mission to do, and the two of you at each other's throats won't make this any easier." Erza said sternly as Mira's group went away. Yukino's face turned into a serious one, and she gave both of them an angry look as well.

"You need to stop fighting and save your energy for the real fight! We're trying to find Lucy, remember? We have to hurry and catch up to her key holder." the Celestial Wizard said, and both boys looked guilty, before nodding.

"Then let's go. We have a mountain to search." Jellal said, and they began walking towards the north.


Lucy had been having problems the more she interacted with Darius in the space of minutes for her. The more she did for him, the more she felt like she was losing herself in the role of a Spirit. When she thought about Fairy Tail, she could only name a handful of people now, like there was blanks in her memory.

She couldn't remember who the fourth Guild Master of Fairy Tail was, and the memory never came back. Once, she dreamed of a trio of Pegasus and great roaring Tigers and powerful Lamias and Mermaids and Puppies, but they faded away with her dreams and vanished from her mind.

Then, all she could remember were the people who were on Tenrou Island with her. Slowly, names and magical powers were leaving her mind. She remembered an Erza, but her magic was a mystery to Lucy now. She recalled a blue flying cat, but what was it's name?

A girl who read books, a man that ate iron and wooden dolls flying in circles. Fairy Queens and thunder, and a tiny man who was very friendly and wise.

The spaces scared her a lot, but since she had cut herself off from her former friends in the Celestial World, she couldn't go to them for help, even if they'd love to be of help to her. She didn't want them arguing with her.

So now she was in her home, struggling to recall fights between nameless people she knew that she loved, Fairies that danced in battle and had deep ties of friendship.


Loke flipped hurriedly through the large tomes in the dusty library of the Spirit library wasn't used often, but when there was contract issues or fine print that needed to be looked over, the library had the information you'd need.

Crux, the Southern Cross, had done most of the documenting here, and there was at least one page on every Celestial Wizard that ever existed and their key contracts, as well as the locations of lost keys, unknown territory in the Spirit World, and the history of the Spirit King and the royal family, as well as countless other things.

"There's got to be something in here about forcing a contract to be broken..." he muttered, turning page after page.

Aquarius came out of nowhere behind him, Scorpio staying back near the doors.

"Leo, you need to take a break. I was thinking that we should check up on Lucy anyway. Come on." the mermaid said, and grabbed the collar of his suit from behind and tugged.

"I can't though Aquarius," Loke said, pulling free of her grip. "I've got to keep looking for something, anything that will help her. She's my friend-"

He was cut off by Aquarius.

"Leo, don't start with that. She's my friend too, but the answer isn't here. If it was, we wouldn't be stuck in contracts for decades that we don't want. If there is an answer, it's in Earthland, so keeping yourself cooped up in this library isn't going to help. Now come with me to Lucy with Scorpio."

Relenting, Loke closed the book he was looking through and followed her out.


Darius could tell he was being followed, although by who he wasn't exactly sure. He could sense the heavy magical presences nearby, and it made him speed up his pace and take a zigzagged route through the trees in the hope of losing his pursuers.

By nightfall, he was exhausted, and still felt them closing in on him. So, looking around wildly, he scowled.

"I know you're there. Show yourselves already!"

Five shadows came into the moonlight, their formation surrounding him.

"You must be Darius then. You definitely look like a Celestial Wizard. And the keys are kinda a giveaway." said one shadow, slightly short.

"You must have fled the guild hall when Crime Sorcière appeared. Smart plan, but you didn't factor in one thing," a different shadow spoke gruffly, definitely male.

All five shadows got into a battle position.

"You didn't plan for us to be here."


Erza's group was pretty high up in the mountains by nightfall, since she pushed them to move quickly. From their viewpoint in a small mountain cavern, the moon illuminated the forest down below.

Which is why they saw the explosion in the distance, and felt the powerful magical signatures all the way from their spot.

"That's not us," Gray said, getting up from his spot, Natsu following. The magic wasn't anything identifiable as Fairy Tail or Crime Sorcière.

"It's not all Celestial Magic either, the signature isn't right. It's a fight." Yukino said.

"Looks like our target has other followers than us." Jellal said quietly, slightly worried and slightly curious. The power was strong.

"Let's hurry back down the mountain then. Go towards the magical power in the distance. Move as quickly as possible but stick together!" Erza shouted out, and the group was moving hastily.