Hi everyone. I am so, so sorry for not updating at all for the past few months. Life has been getting a bit hectic, and I eventually forgot about Ace of the Stars. But, I will continue this fanfiction. I'll try to update once a week on Fridays. Hopefully, I will finish this. Thanks for sticking by!

"Ugh!" Lucy's groan resonated through the room as she flopped herself onto the fluffy bed. Training today was horrible. So was the last few days. And it was all because of her job defeating the dark guild that Grandeeney told her to do! Although, and as much as Lucy hated to admit it, this training was doing her good.

Her magic container definitely expanded, and Corvus taught her how to use Star Dresses, along with a few new tips and tricks to use with her Celestial Spirits. But with the more power came more work. Her personal trainer barely even gave her breaks, which was why Lucy was really tempted to just close her eyes and fall asleep on her bed while she was sweaty and dirty.

But she won't allow herself to give into temptations. With some special lessons, Lucy got better with having self-control. So, she stood up and walked to the bathroom. Once inside, she drew the bath and started taking her clothes off.

The water reached a reasonable height, and with scents and oils added in, the blonde eased herself into the hot water.

"Ah," she sighed in pleasure. After a few minutes, she started scrubbing herself clean and shampooed her hair. Finally, after a good hour, she got out and dried her body and hair. Lucy went to her closet and put on some fluffy and warm pajamas, then walked over to the terrace doors. She opened the glass doors and relished in the chilling winds that blew at her.

Lucy always left her windows open at night back at her apartment, which allowed Natsu to get in more easily. Everyone at the guild thought she wanted to let him get in, especially MiraJane, but the real reason is because the open window gave her a sense of freedom. After all, it was because of an open window that she escaped the Heartfilia Konzern.

But it was also a bit more than that. She was able to see all the stars from her window; all her friends who were with her from the beginning. She loved the outdoors, the winds and the trees and the grass and all of it were things that she never had the freedom of experiencing when she was young.

So, after wishing goodnight to the stars, Lucy turned around and went to her bed. She slipped under the covers and curled slightly. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to go to sleep.

-insert line here-

"Oh why did Grandeeney decide to drop me off in the middle of a forest?" Lucy questioned the air. She trudged her way through, trying to find her way to Magnolia. Yesterday, she asked Master Mavis if she could let Fairy Tail, and only Fairy Tail, know that she and the others were alive and only under a spell. After some consideration, Master Mavis agreed, but made sure that Lucy will tell only Fairy Tail. Once Lucy promised, Mavis allowed Lucy to go, and so here she was, trying to go to Fairy Tail.

Luckily, she's been to this forest before, so it only took a little bit of time for her to find the right path and reach the outskirts of Magnolia. She walked onto the streets and looked at the familiar vendors and shops. Smiling softly, she strolled over to Strawberry Street and took a right, towards the direction of the guildhall.

To Lucy's confusion, though, she saw citizens running away from the guild's direction, all wearing frantic looks on their faces. Then she heard some people scream something about a fire, which was strange because the town was used to fires from Natsu's antics. But when she heard an explosion and actually felt the ground rumble and shake from the force, she knew something was wrong.

The blonde ran to where the guild was, and to her surprise, she saw the guildhall on fire, with rubble teetering dangerously in certain areas. She saw guild members running out, and recognized some of them.

"Mocao!" Lucy shouted. She jogged to where he was and noticed that he had burns all over him. The blue-haired man looked at her in confusion, shock, then…..anger?

"It's all your fault," he whispered, then shouted, "You're fault! If you had trusted us and told us you were alive, than nobody would have gotten hurt or died!"

"W-wha-" Lucy asked quietly but was interrupted by another voice.

"I can't believe you lied to us Lucy. I thought we were your family," Wakaba said scornfully.

"I never lied to you. I was going to tell you toda-" Lucy tried to say, but was interrupted again.

"Lucy-nee? Why? I got hurt and so did everyone else," Romeo whimpered. Lucy took in his and Wakaba's appearance. Both were bleeding and burnt, with hair singed off. They looked to be in so much pain, but they both looked at her questioningly.

"Yeah Lucy. We protected you and fought for you so many time and this is how you repay us?" another voice said. All around her, more members started crowding around her. Laki was crying and asking her 'Why?' repeatedly as Jet shook his head disappointedly. Everyone was hurt terribly, burns and cuts and scratches everywhere.

"Lucy?" A familiar voice asked quietly.

'No. No way.' the blonde though to herself. Despite that, she turned to see Mira looking at her with empty, lifeless eyes.

"Now we don't have a home to return to," she whispered so softly that Lucy barely heard it. She regretted it though, because her heart broke even more.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy cried. "I was going to tell you! I was just unsure-"

"Lies!" A redhead hissed.

"E-Erza, I-" Lucy's voice broke.

"I should have never brought you to Fairy Tail, Lucy, because all you brought with you was destruction." This voice shattered her already broken heart. It was Natsu. All Lucy could do was sob and plead and apologize while everyone closed in on her. She closed her eyes and covered her ears to stop hearing the onslaught of words, but it didn't help.

"Your fault!"

"You're the reason."

"We hate you."

"Go away!"

"Lucy?" 'Oh God, not Loke, too!' Lucy thought to herself. "Lucy, open your eyes!" She didn't though. The blonde couldn't bear to see the look of disappointment on his face. "Please! Wake up!" She felt someone jerking her body, so she opened her eyes only to see pitch black.

"NO!" She screamed. She couldn't see! Did she go blind? No, that can't be. She started thrashing around in panic and fear, but a body engulfed her in a tight embrace.

Like magic, a small light flickered to life somewhere in a corner, which dimly lit the area. Shadows stretched across a table while the firelight mixed with the pale moonlight.

"It's okay Lucy. I got you," a voice whispered soothingly. The voice belonged to Loke, who was hugging Lucy.

"What…" Lucy's voice trailed off when she realized that it was all a dream. It wasn't real, but that fact didn't stop her sobs. She was thankful that Loke didn't ask about her dream because she wasn't just ready to tell him yet.

After a while, Lucy stopped crying. She wiped her eyes a final time before looking up at Loke gratefully.

"Want to talk to me about it?" Loke asked her. Even though Lucy didn't want to relive the horrible dream, she still decided to tell him, knowing that she would feel so much better. So she did. She recounted everything, from being in the forest to seeing the guildhall burnt down to rubble to everyone surrounding her.

Once she finished, she felt her eyes burn with more tears, and glady returned the hug that Loke gave her.

"It's okay. I'm sure that if you talk to one of the dragons or Master Mavis, they might let you tell Fairy Tail. So don't worry about it. You should just think about getting some rest right now, okay?" Loke assured her. Lucy nodded and layed back down. She closed her eyes and welcomed the sleep reaching out to her.

Loke, however, stood up and smiled softly to Lucy's already sleeping form. Then, in a sparkle of light, he disappeared back to the Celestial World.

-Insert line here-

"Rise and shine, Sleepyhead!" a cheerful and merry voice yelled. Lucy just groaned while sitting up. She did not share that person's enthusiasm for the morning. But Master Mavis was not someone you want to anger, so Lucy sat up and got out of bed. To her surprise, she saw her clothes for the day already laid out, and it was very different from her usual training uniform.

"Master Mavis? Am I going to be wearing that on a training day?" Lucy asked.

"Oh Lucy, you're so silly! You won't be training today. In fact, why don't you got take a shower and get ready and I'll tell you after!" Master Mavis informed her happily.

"Ok then…" Lucy walked off into the bathroom and took a quick bath. She hopped out and dried herself, then put on the clothes Master Mavis laid out. Once she put her clothes on, she went to sit on a chair and waited patiently for First Master to explain.

"So," she started, her voice a little bit more solemn. "I heard about your nightmare last night."

Lucy stiffened at that.

"Well, there's a reason for why you head out of the Dragon Realm as Ace of the Stars, and it isn't to look and act all mysterious. You see, remember when I told you that Acnologia attacked because of a prophecy?" When Lucy nodded, Master Mavis continued. "For the next four or five years, Acnologia is going to be watching and listening to make sure you guys are truly 'dead.'

After seven years, he won't be interested in Earthland anymore and he will be leave for long time and won't be in touch with humanity. But, if he finds out that you guys are actually alive, then he will wait until you all return and take that moment to strike, and Fairy Sphere might not work a second time if he knows how to counter it. So that is why you are to keep your identity a secret.

Even if you know that whoever you tell will keep it a secret, Acnologia has followers everywhere, and the person you tell could be in danger. And don't worry. Nobody will resent you for it, especially if you tell them why, okay?" Master Mavis told Lucy.

"Okay," Lucy said, who took it rather well. Then again, she was wondering why she was to keep her identity a secret for a while, and in a way, this reason was in her list of options. "By the way, why am I dressed like this instead of my training clothes?"

"Oh, that's because you're going to go on a small job in Earthland!" Master Mavis told her while she started jumping around with...sparkles around her? "So, go put on your mask and stuff and then you'll go defeat some dark guild and save the day!"

"Uhhh...Okay then," Lucy trailed off as she requipped her cloak, mask and gloves into her hands. Once she put everything on, she walked over to where Master Mavis was sitting and waited for her to teleport Lucy.

"Are you ready?" Master Mavis asked.

"Yep," Ace responded lightly. Well, she thought she was ready, because when she teleported with Grandeeney, everything was calm and quiet. She expected the same with First Master. When Mavis started the teleportation, however, things went a little...differently.

"Ahh!" Ace yelped when the ground started shaking. Then, all of a sudden, a swirling vortex appeared in the ground, and the floor changed to water and the vortex changed into a whirlpool. Ace screamed as the whirlpool sucked her in and the world turned black, then to blue, then gray.

The young blonde felt as if she was falling, and when she opened her eyes, she screamed because she was falling from the sky! She saw all the dark and heavy clouds below her coming closer, and she knew that in no time, she would soon be a bloody pancake on the ground.

While Ace was falling, she calmed herself and started forming plans in her head. Different Star Dresses of hers could prevent any accidents, so she scanned through all her Celestial Keys in her head.

Loke's wouldn't be helpful, and Aquarius's would only work if there was water. There isn't anyone here, either, for Gemini's Star Dress to copy. And Aries-. Wait.

"Aries!" Ace shouted. She re-quipped Aries's key into her hands, held it to her dress and called out, "Star Dress: Aries Form!" Immediately, her cape was removed as a fluffy, pink and white dress took place on her body with striped leggings on her legs. Her hair was put into pigtails and two horns were in her hair, and her mask's dark colors changed into the same shades as her dress.

When she finished transforming, she passed the clouds and was falling closer to the ground. The sudden scent of salt hit her hard, and Ace realized that she was falling near an ocean or beach. She looked down and saw the sandy beach with crystal blue waves crashing on to the shore.

Ace concentrated her magic into her hands as if she was going to summon a spirit, but instead of sending the magic to an object, she released it into the air. She was mesmerized as the golden magic particles solidified into a pink, fluffy mess. Ace willed the magic to form into a cloud, and the magic bent to her will.

Once the cloud was ready, Ace let herself fall into it. Her weight helped speed up the cloud as it was falling to the ground. After a minute or two, Ace was safely on the beach. She released her transformation and smiled to herself because she was able to conjure magic and keep the transformation on for a good amount of time. She couldn't wait for when Corvus teaches her how to use a Star Dress without her keys.

A small droplet of water that landed on her cheek brought her out of her thoughts. She stood up from the sand and looked up into the cloudy sky and felt more water droplets hit her face. A cold wind passed by, which caused Ace to shiver. The small droplets of water started multiplying in numbers.

Thunder boomed in the distance as the waves started getting a bit more violent. Ace started scanning the beach, trying to find some sort of cave to use for cover. Fortunately, there was a cave nearby. Ace ran towards it as the rain started to fall harder. She climbed up the cliff edge and finally reached the safety of the cave. She hoisted herself up and inside the cave, only to find out that it was smaller than she thought. She didn't care too much for it, though.

The masked blonde sat down on a boulder and started thinking about where Master Mavis could've possibly put the flyer with information. She started digging around in her pockets and successfully found the paper. She unfolded it and read what it said:

Bandits and of the sort kidnapping males of all ages!

Please help! Come to the local tavern in Cedar Town

Reward: 95,000 Jewel and Celestial Key

"Bandits kidnapping males of all ages? That seems a little unusual," Ace murmured softly. "Well, it seems I'm in Cedar Town. A Celetial Key as payment is definitely worth it though! I'll work on this once the rain lets up," Ace decided. The sound of thunder shook her from her thoughts. "Nevermind," she mumbled, "I'm going to be here for a while."

She got up and started searching for some rocks and sticks to build a fire when she heard something awfully familiar.

"Men, look at this lovely cave to shelter us from the rain. And it has quite the perfume!"

Ace froze in terror and shock when she realized who it was, and the next voices only confirmed it.

"Yes, yes, Mr Ichiya," a trio of voices responded. Footsteps echoed through the cave as the small group came closer. Lucy tried to move and hide, but she was discovered before she could even flinch.

"Who are you," a younger and higher voice asked. Ace took a deep breath and turned around as she told herself mentally to keep calm and act like a completely different person.

"I am Ace of the Stars. Who may you all be?" She asked after she introduced herself even though she knew them.

"I am Hibiki, and the other three are Ren, Eve, and Ichiya," Hibiki answered, suspicion evident in his tone.

"Quite the perfume you have, Miss Ace. Although, it will never be better than my honey's," Ichiya said as he started crying at the end. His comment also brought somber looks upon the other's faces as well.

"Oh…" Ace trailed off as she realized that his 'honey' is Erza, who everyone believes to be dead. Fortunately, Hibiki changed the subject.

"Well, Miss Ace, I hope you don't mind us using this cave until the rain lets up," Hibiki said.

Ace relaxed her body into more of an inviting and calm stance. "I don't mind at all."

Once the Trimens finished setting up and getting comfortable, the small group chatted with Ace about recent events in Fiore, and even shared stories about previous encounters with monsters and criminals.

Eventually, the sun set behind the horizon, but the rain was still there. The small group set up a fire, and decided on one person staying up for a couple of hours to take watch before the next person went.

Ren chose to guard first, and his decision went without much protest.

Ace was about to reach for her backpack to pull out a sleeping bag but froze when she couldn't feel anything behind on her back. Of course, Master Mavis sent her here without the right equipment.

The blonde cursed quietly to herself, attracting the attention of the others, but she shook her head and whispered, "Nothing," when they asked her what was wrong. Ace did know when to ask for help, though, so after contemplating an idea for a few moments, she asked the others a question.

"Do you, by chance, uh, have an extra sleeping bag?" The question hung awkwardly in the air for a few seconds before Eve responded brightly.

"Yeah! We always carry and extra in case something happens." The young blonde smiled sweetly and pulled out the sleeping bag for Ace. "Here," he said as he handed it to her.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Ace rolled the sleeping bag open and laid on it, getting herself comfortable. The others, except for Ren, copied her action. After muttering 'good nights' to each other, they all drifted to sleep, each one thinking of plans for the next day's battles.

And it's done! Woohoo! Once again, I sincerely apologize for not updating, but the favorites, follows, and reviews really motivated me to finish this chapter! I also want to thank everyone for sticking with me so far! Anyway, see you next week in Friday!