Chapter 9

"It is?!" Natsu shouts.

"It's her hand writing on the envelope" she smiles.

"Thank goodness" relief was written all over his face as he eased back into his chair.

"Lushy!" Happy shouts.

They all had their eyes fixed on Juvia as she opened the letter first. They watched the despair that crossed Juvias face as she saw the paper was wet.

"Juvia?" Gray says putting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's wet" she says.

"What?!" they all exclaim except Makarov.

"But it doesn't look wet" Gajeel says cofused.

"Shh!" Master hushed them. "Her element is water, trust her and watch."

Juvia sighed and took a deep breath in. She placed her hand on the paper and the boys all watched as her magic swelled around her. She was glowing and her hair was flapping up like in a wind. Soon the glow covered the letter and as soon as Juvias eyes opened everything stopped. She burst out crying and Gray put his arm around her and pulled her into him.

"Juvia child, what did you find." Makarov says stretching over and putting his hand on top of hers.

"Lucy. So much pain and hurting. Her tears." She says looking up at the master. "These tears…"

"Juvia" Master says as Gray loosens his hold on her but still has his arm around her.

"They have Celestial Magic in them. They're Celestial tears." She says.

"I see" he says wearily.

"Do you think she was in her Aquarius from when she wrote it, Aquarius' magic is water so it could have tainted it easily and mixed." She says seriously.

"No. I could be wrong but I think it's her true power awakening." He says, stroking his chin.

"But she can't, not in that state Master!" she says.

"Would someone please explain!" Natsu shouts, slamming his hands on the table.

"Yeah, I'm lost." Gray says.

"This one and only time, I agree with the two idiots." Gajeel says.

"Me too" Freed, Bixlow and Elfman say.

"Oi!" Gray and Natsu shout in unison.

"Gramps, what do you mean by true power?" Laxus asks curiously.

"Yeah, isn't her magic Celestial magic." Alzack says.

"Yes, but there's more beneath the surface." Makarov says, looking at Juvia he nods.

"Her mum was the Celestial Queen, which would make her the Princess but since her mum is dead, Lucy is now the Celestial Spirit Queen." Juvia says.

"WHAT!" everyone shouts.

"Why didn't she tell me?!" Natsu exclaims.

"She doesn't know." Master Makarov sighs. "If the tears were like this and the situation they are in, I think that her power is seeping through."

"But isn't it a good thing?" asks Happy.

"Definitely not! It will rip her from the inside out. Without guidance and not knowing about her power, it would be over whelming. She wouldn't be able to handle it." Makarov says letting a tear slip.

"Oh no! Natsu!" the blue exceed turns to his buddy, to see him still in shock.

"Lucy…" he mutters.

"Juvia could you read the letter out to us." Carla says bringing everyone back to the attention of what's in front of them.

"Oh right, thaks Carla." She forces a smile and picks up the letter.

"Dear Juvia,

After we disappeared we awoke to find ourselves chained up. I looked around and spotted not only Erza but Wendy, Levy, Bisca, Mira, Lisanna and Evergreen. Erza was still out cold but her fever was getting better, Wendy was sleeping, Levy was sleeping too, Bisca was knocked out, Mira, I'm sorry but I didn't know what was wrong with her and both Lisanna and Evergreen were asleep too. No one was awake except me, I'm guessing that's why I'm the one being forced to write this. I haven't seen his face, it seems weird, he has a cloak and black cloth all over his face except his eyes. Oh, his eyes, they scare me and his smell, let's just say he smells of death and I don't even need a dragon sensed nose to tell me that. I have no idea why I'm writing this, it's horrible being in this position, he's peering over my shoulder all the time and touching my hair to scare me when I stop. I don't know where we are and I don't have my keys. Please, I'm begging you, help. I've never been more scared in my life and I don't even know why, just something about him and this place. His every movement makes me flinch and sends shivers down my back. This letter is pretty useless, I don't know anything except that I've to tell you how I feel, what the others like and what's going to happen. He says we're going to play a game, whatever that means. Although I've been taken away from them, I was put back during the night. Everyone was awake even Erza and Mira, although we all feel sick and rough. What makes me more scared is that even they 2 are shaking. We can't take it anymore, it feels like we're drowning in death. Please do anything. I love you guys so much, we all do. PROTECT YOURSELF JUVIA, he just told me that he has something in store for you! PLEASE BE OKAY! Don't let this be too late!"

Juvia started shaking so bad that she was shaking Gray. Nobody could say anything they just sat there taking in the words from their very, very scared friend. It broke their hearts.

"He's breaking them!" Master Makarov shouts.

"Dammit!" Laxus grits his teeth.

"Grrr" the rest of the guys slam their fists on the table, that hard that the table shakes.

But then Natsu. "He's gonna pay, he's hurting them, her. He's teasing her! Dammit!" he growls and shouts loudly flinging his fists down on the table that hard that the table splits down the middle.

"We forgot the box!" Juvia shouts grabbing it and the letter before it falls from the table splitting.

"Open it dear" Makarov says, trying not to shout as the rest of the guy's growl.

Juvia opens it to find something unexpected, not that she had expected anything in particular. "Eh Master?" she says staring in the box.

"Yes?" he says, them all staring at her watching her every move as she pulls out 2 objects.

"Lacrimas?!" they shout including the master.

Juvia hands Makarov one of the lacrimas and holds the other. "Hmm" he mutters.

"These are communication lacrimas, if I'm right, then why would he give us something to see and talk through to him. Just as he says that, he activated it by accident.

"Oh well hello there, Fairy Tail" a hoarse voice says.

"It's him!" they shout surprised. He looked exactly as Lucy had described.

"Oh, so I'm guessing by your expression you chose the letter first." He says.

"Wait, you can hear and talk to us!" Gajeel shouts.

"Yes, yes I can." He replies.

"You! Give us our friends back!" Natsu demands.

"Oh, now is that anyway to treat your friends' captor" he says. "God knows what else I might do"

"What?!" Laxus grits his teeth.

"Turn the other lacrima on and say the name of one of your little girlies." He says.

"Juvia, turn it on!" the boys shout.

Juvia looked master for permission, he nodded and she turned it on. "It's coming on!"

"Before you do say a name, let me explain what's going on the now." He says.

They all turn and glare at him with dark auras around them.

"I've currently locked them in separate rooms. They are magic rooms of course, they have no exits except when I give them one. They are being sent monster, demon and mages non-stop. There only choice is to defeat them. I'm guessing by now they are exhausted. Don't worry I only let them get tortured and injured, not killed. I still have lots planned for them so they can't die, yet." He says and then bursts out in laughter. "I send opponents in that are at different stages and have a wide range of magic to make it fun. I think it's taking a toll on them by now though, the ones called Mira and Erza they were and still are very sick and the others are sick as well. I cast different spells on each of them to have different sicknesses and weaknesses. Oh, but that Lucy girl, she's tough. She acts like she hasn't been affected by the illness I planted on her but that's okay because she's fun to play with. I've messed with her mentality a bit though haha. It's only a matter of time when whatever secret she's hiding comes out, because she's not doing too good and it's not to do with my illness spell. She's really quite interesting. It's no wonder you're all fond of her and you Natsu Dragneel, have I made you mad?"

Natsu went to react but Laxus, Gajeel, Gray and the master stopped him. "Natsu, don't, it's what he wants!" they shout as they pin him down.

"Goodbye, have fun watching your friends." He says and then it switches off.

Juvia looked at the lacrima in her hand. "Master, I think we should let-"

"Read my mind, Natsu go for it." Master Makarov says. "You boys can go next but I'm sure we all agree on seeing Lucy first."

"Yes Gramps, we do." They reply with a worried look as they watch Natsu walk to the lacrima in Juvias hand.

"Lucy" he says softly, trying to prepare himself. None of them knew what to expect.

A robot voice replies with "Lucy- currently fighting 1 S-class mage and 1 Demon known as Jackal is lined up for 2 minutes time. Currently beat 4 mages, 1 S-class mage, 3 monsters and 1 demon. If she beats the S-classed mage that makes it 10 out of 10. Showing Room Lucy."

"S-class?! Demon?!" they shout.

Mater walks up to Natsu as he waits for Lucy to show. "You thinking the same?" Natsu asks.

"Yes, this could spell trouble. How will she react." The little man says worriedly.

"She's defeated 4 mages, 3 monsters, AN S-LASSED MAGE AND A DEMOM! HOW CAN YOU BE CALM!" they shout trying to wrap their heads around it but they stop when Natsu speaks.

"You may not realise, but she is very strong. When it comes down to it she's there and her will power boosts her. To be truthful, I'm not all that surprised that she's beat them, she's Lucy, my best friend after all." He grins, but the grin is soon wiped off with the livestream they are seeing.

The video shows Lucy in a big empty room as the body of the S-class wizard disappears. Although the guy was right, she doesn't look so good. She's leaning on the side of the walls, panting and gasping for air. She has lots of bad wounds, cuts all over her body, bruises and blood everywhere.

"Lucy!" they shout.

"10 out of 10, next up Demon Jackal, history bad." The robot voice says again.

"Damn these stupid idiots!" Lucy shouts still trying to recover.

"Hey LuLu, how's that little water friend of yours doing?" Jackal grins as he emerges from outside the room.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Natsu shouts.

"Natsu, calm down and listen. We need to endure." Juvia says. "Like you said, she's strong."

"Out of every Demon there is and you show up, charming." She says straightening up and gaining balance.

"It must be hard, being dead and all." He grins.

"You don't even have the right to talk about her!" she snaps.

"I wonder, you killed her but I was the one who drove her into her making you. So, I guess I should take some blame of your shoulders." He grins.

"Shut up!" she shouts.

"Oh, hit a nerve" he laughs.

"I hate this!" Natsu growls.

"I guess everything she did for us is going to unravel itself." Gray sighs.

"She told me that the worst part was Aquarius' last moment, she was crying and she was smiling." Juvia says shakily.

"Hush now" Master says and everyone went quiet.

"DAMMIT! I WISH I HAD JUST DIED!" Lucy shouts.

"Lucy" they all start crying even master.

"Maybe I should just go through all the rooms and kill your friends then come back." He grins.

"Don't you dare!" she screams.

"Or even better, I could make you break another one of those stupid pets of yours" he laughs.

"SHUT UP!" she shouts as she begins sobbing.

"I like that idea" he says turning to her.

"This is bad." Juvia says.

"If this continues she'll tip over the edge." master says.

Jackal and Lucy began fighting and took hits to each side, but since Lucy was already injured it was worse for her where as he looked like he was barely scratched.

He sent another attack at Lucy as she was trying to stand back up. "Come on blondie"

"Lucy!" they shout as they watch.

The attack hit her full on and she was beginning to lose faith. Faith of her friends being okay and of being alive to see them. She just lay on the ground motionless and then twitched.

"Come on Lucy!" "You can do it!" "We're all watching!" cheers from the boys and Juvia were being sent her way. Although she couldn't hear them she sat up at that moment.

"Good, you're still alive although barely. It doesn't even sound like you have a heartbeat, you really are something. Now what key will it be today?" he laughs rubbing his chin.

"None!" she growls.

"Oh, I've got it! We'll break that mermaid's boyfriend, Scorpio, was it?" he grins.

"You'll never touch any of my spirits or my family! So, shut u-" she stopped as a glowing light materialized next to her.

"Scorpio?!" the guys at the guild shout.

"Scorpio!" Lucy shouts.

"Lucy…" Scorpio says as he helps her up. "I'm sorry, but he can't-"

"Oh my, you walked right into this. Too bad, meet the person who killed your beloved." Jackal grins.

"Shut up! Don't think for one moment that you killed her!" Scorpio shouts tears forming.

"And your future murderer, well to be fair it's not too far away to say future." He grins. "You'll be rotting away in hell and you'll never see that stupid, crazy mermaid ever again, just like your master here!" he evilly laughs.

Scorpio went to go for him but an outstretched arm landed on his chest. She was mad, so very mad that even Jackal was scared. She started glowing and it was like wind circled around her. "I've had enough of your words and insults towards my family!" This was it, her magic was increasing at an incredible amount and rate. "Scorpio"

"Lucy" Scorpio looked at her expecting to get scolded but instead was met with a smile.

"Go home" she smiles. "Give her a hug, tell her you love her. Oh and tell her, her brat loves and misses her shouting at her."

"Okay, Lucy?" he says.

"Yeah" she says looking at the disappearing Scorpio.

"Thankyou. I don't need to ask her to know that she loves and misses you too Lucy." He says and then he was back in the spirit world.

"Wow" everyone was shocked at Lucy, she was so strong and not just physically. The way she stood up for her family was heart-warming.

"I wanted to kill him and you sent him running like a cry baby. Geez pathetic." He says.

"ENOUGH!" her magic grew stronger but her cuts were getting worse, blood was spiralling around her. But she didn't care.

"Her body, it's!…" Gray trails off.

"Master!" Juvia shouts.

"We can't do anything, my child. We will just have to suffer and watch the outcome. We have to trust the words of the guy, that he won't let them die." Makarov says looking up at the lacrima with tears streaming down his face.

"Gramps! Look at her, she's going to destroy herself!" shouts Natsu angrily.

"I'm sorry" he says. Gajeel, Jellal and Bixlow hold him down on one of the chairs. Everyone was crying now.

"Lucy!" Happy and Natsu shout.

Lucy's full body was glowing so brightly that Jackal was finding it hard to see. Her magic had increased although her injuries were too. She was angry, her rage was building up as her thoughts drifted to Aquarius. This only made it worse, her emotions were out of control. As Jackal looked up, he locked eyes with her, but her eyes, they were glowing, emotionless.

"Her eyes!" Freed shouts through his tears.

"This is it. There's no stopping it now." He gasps at the sight. "Even I don't know what to expect."

This worried everyone. Something that even Gramps didn't have a clue about, this just got worse by the second. They all started at Lucy on the screen.

"Whoah! So, you were hiding something huh? Well it won't help you, I'm killing all your keys." He uneasily laughs.

"ENOUGH! YOU'RE GOING BACK TO THE GRAVE!" she screams, her magic gathering up to a big bright light explosion around her. When the light dissolved away, they saw Lucy still glowing with her magic spiralling, but she was in a new outfit that had never been seen before. It was so angelic, it was a long white flowing dress, with gold heels. It had a lacey frill coming down the arms, flapping around the 'wind'.

"No, you can't be! It's not possible, there was no heir to the throne!" Jackal shouts horrified.

"AGHHH!" she screams, the pain was increasing, it was becoming unbearable as she could feel herself slipping away. But she refused to go down without beating him, she didn't know what was going on but she was going to take advantage of it.

"CELESTIAL SPIRIT QUEEN: SPIRIT OF ALL!" she squeals, as the symbols of every single spirit appeared over her body like tattoos. They all began to glow and soon a bright light of magic shot straight at Jackal who was still in shock.

"That's her power?!" the guild shout (other members had arrived and were filled in briefly) to see Jackals body drift away.

"That's only a little amount" the master says.

"WHAT?!" they shout in disbelief.

"This is all new to her, she doesn't even know what's going on. She only has rage fuelling her. But it's getting bad." He says seriously, not moving his focus from her.

"Aquarius" she whispers as the magic disappears and all that's left is her aching and ripped apart body.

"Lucy!" booms a loud voice.

"Stache Face" she says weakly leaning against the fall trying to stop the hurting, but it was useless.

"THE OLD GUY?!" they shout.

"I'm very proud of you Lucy, you have succeeded where everyone else has, even your mother." He smiles but it quickly goes away as he looks at her frail body. "But this is going to be the hardest thing you'll ever go through, you'll never stop hurting unless you master it."

"But how can I when I don't even know what's happening." She pants.

"I'll help you. But for now, my dear, you have to control those feelings. It may be hard but you have to. You broke Aquaruis' key because wanted to, nothing has made her happier because now she gets to brag about how powerful you are. You'll see her again, someday, just remember, she isn't dead. She's okay and safe. Natsu and Happy abandoned you straight after that, but they came back stronger. The guild disbanded after they left, so you were alone. I doubt any of them even know about what really happened that day. But the most important part is that they came back, all of them. You hurt like hell inside and now it's the same and not only physical pain but Lucy, you have to suck it all back in. Control your fear of being alone, control your emotion dear. It will ease the mental pain and it should calm down your magic." He says looking down at her.

The whole guild was shocked, Lucy had lied about what happened that day in Tartaros. "Lucy, we left her! And with all that pain!" Natsu exclaims as he and the whole guild cry harder.

"I can't! I lost everything!" she cries and winces as she slides up the wall to try to stay up straight.

"You must. Think in the positives, if not you'll be ripped apart!" he booms.

"It hurts!" she winces.

"I know dear." He says softly.

She takes a deep breath and ignores the pain. She slowly calms down, only the tears from her body pain still fall as she gets up off the wall. "Good" he says smiling. "I can't stay, but be strong for your family, your spirits, the alive and the fallen."

She smiles through the pain at him at he goes back. "Aquarius" she frowns.

"Look at her body Gramps, it's ready to fall apart." Juvia says crying.

"I'm surprised he came through, seems he got through to her. But he's right, it won't be long before she gets another pulse of her magic." He frowns sadly.

"Oww" she mumbles as she grabs her head and staggers about. She tried to gain her stance but failed, the pain had completely taken over. She toppled over to the ground with a thud.

"Lucy!" they shout.

"Dammit, she's hurt worse than I've seen before!" Natsu shouts.

"I feel absolutely useless!" Laxus shouts.

"Mee too!" the boys shout.

"What are we-"

"Sorry, Lucy is out due to some difficulties. We will try to get them fixed soon for the trials to continue." Says the electronic voice as the screen goes blank. "Please pick someone else."

"What?!" they shout.

"It's gone!" Nstsu, Gray and Happy shout.

"Gramps, can we look at the others, please." Asks Laxus, he was worried about Lucy, but there was nothing they could do. Plus he was worridied about the others (aka Mira mostly).

"Yes, we'll need to wait to hear about Lucy." He says. "On you go Laxus."

"Mira" he says wiping his tear away, as he wanted to look strong.

"Showing Mira. Takeover Mage"…

Next chapter will be up at some point during the week.