Wahoo! Another chapter done! Though I'm thinking that since I can't seem to get more then one chapter a week done I might change the update days to once a week. That way y'all will actually know when I'm updating instead of hoping the chapter will come out on a certain day. I will admit I keep pushing this and Dragon's sanctuary to the back burner and for that I'm sorry.

DKQ and DS were here before Crews and Christmas and yet they're being neglected. Well that'll change after Christmas since my christmas co-op is almost finished and will be finished by Christmas Day.

So here's what I'm thinking.

DKQ takes over Mondays.

DS takes over Saturdays.

Crews already has Thursdays.

What do y'all think? That sound fair?

Chapter 12

Celeste

Normal P.O.V.

Just as night turns to day, and the moon sets for the sun to rise, so does the sun set for the moon to rise, and the stars to come out to play.

On one such night, while the stars dance across the sky, two mages and a dragon stand on a frozen lake at the foot of a mountain.

Not a sound is heard, as pillars of ice rise from the ground and a door swings outward. A dragon with shoulder length bronze-blonde hair, and golden-amber eyes, steps out. She wears a black hoodie with stars along the trim, as well as black jeans and a pair of sneakers.

She stops and bows to Natsu and Lucy.

"Princess Lucy, Prince Natsu, it is my pleasure to see you again so soon. Might I say, you have certainly become stronger since I last met you."

Lucy looks puzzled, but Natsu just grins. "Luce, this is Celeste, she's the one that picked us up on the battlefield, back before this whole adventure started."

Comprehension crosses her eyes at his explanation, and she smiles at the stellar dragon.

"Now, if we may, there is much to learn, and I am sure Glacier would like to return to her peace and quiet."

They look over at Glacier, who nods, and the two mages and stellar dragon disappear through the portal, while the ice dragon enters her den.

The door swings shut, and the portal fades, until there's no indication that one was there at all.

Natsu P.O.V.

Stepping through the portal is almost like stepping through a normal door, except for the part where an electrical current passes through my bones as I place a foot on the other side.

I turn back around in enough time to see the door in Ice Territory swing shut with a soft click. Turning back around, my breath is stolen from me as I take in the scene before me.

We stand on a landing several steps up, with a small roof held up by pillars. Down the steps, a walkway hardly broad enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder, surrounds a wide lake.

On the other side of the pond, I can make out structures similar to the one we stand under, though each structure looks to be carved in the cliff side.

We follow Celeste as she walks down the steps, and when we reach the bottom, I turn around to see the structure we just stepped off of, as well as more that line the wall. Looking up, I realize that the cliffs completely surround us, creating a deep crater.

Then, my gaze turns back to the lake that sits in the middle. The lake is black, but as I draw closer, I can make out the stars shining in it and when I hold one hand out, a flash of bright, golden energy crosses my mind.

Jumping back in shock, I look up to see that Celeste has an amused expression, and Luce is trying hard, and failing, not to laugh.

"Celeste, what is this?" I ask, motioning towards everything in the crater.

Luce helps me up, and we turn and watch as Celeste kneels next to the lake, just as I was doing, but when she touches the water, it changes color, until an image can be seen. Looking over it, I realize it's a diagram.

"Natsu, Lucy, welcome to the realm of the gates, or, the portal realm, as most creatures tend to call it. This realm is the center point to all others, including the dragon realm and Earthland. It sort of works as the glue that holds them together and allows creatures to travel from one to another."

"So, wait, does that mean that the zodiac gates reside here as well?" Luce questions after a second.

Celeste looks up from where her hand still resides in the water and nods.

"Yes, though the spirit gates have a certain set-up that allows them to skip coming here to pass to Earthland. Instead, they jump straight from the celestial realm to wherever their key holder is."

She stands, and wipes her hands on her pants before walking forward and explaining, "This lake is used by celestial portal keepers, like myself, to check in on the portals that reside in the other realms."

My interest now peaked, I look back at the water. "Does that mean you can see the Earthland portals as well?"

Her expression turns downright depressed, as she flicks her wrist, causing an orb to appear. She holds it out over the water before dropping it in, causing the water to ripple and the stars to disappear, only to reveal an inky black view.

"Sadly, no. When the queen had us cast the sealing spell, it cut our ability to view their portals. Though, somehow, we can still pull up other views of Earthland. It's strange how the spell reacted, but now I think I understand why it did."

She swipes her hand over the water and the inky blackness fades away, to be replaced by the stars once more.

"Now, I know you two have questions but we must begin. While you are here, you will be sleeping during the day and training at night, so that your connection with the stars will be stronger. I'll give you a tour tomorrow, but for right now you must change and eat."

We follow her around the lake and up a set of steps to another door. Whereas the other doors have markings, symbolizing where they go, this one lacks them.

She swings the door open to reveal a short hallway that leads to a cavern. Similar to the den of the water dragon's, several halls branch off, leading farther into the stone. On the walls themselves, carvings are seen, but I ignore them, instead choosing to look down the halls. At least that's the plan, until I hear Luce gasp.

Looking up, I see her staring at one of the carvings on the wall, so I walk over and stand next to her, trying to see what's so important about the carving.

After about five minutes of silence, she runs a hand over a marking. "Natsu, do you know what these are?" I shake my head and she pulls a key off her ring, bringing it up to show me the symbol that is a complete match to what's carved on the wall.

"Natsu, these are the histories of how the eighty-eight constellations came to be. Look here, this is Loke's story." I look from the key to the carvings, unable to believe it.

"Yes, these walls are connected to the memory vault where all spirits store their memories. Each panel pertains to a certain spirit, and what you see here, is what is currently happening to them. Every day, the scene changes."

We turn around as Celeste speaks to see her turning to look at each panel in turn.

Then, she turns her attention back to us. "Come along, now."

We nod, and follow her down a hall towards our rooms. After we change and eat, we head back to the lake.

Normal P.O.V.

As the mages step past the door leading to the cavern, the door swings shut behind them and a soft click is heard, while the mages follow the celestial dragon around the lake to where a pedestal sits.

The celestial dragon places her hand on the pedestal, and golden energy shoots from her palm, before flowing down the pedestal and out over the ink, black water.

The energy stops in the middle of the lake and expands out, creating an outline, before connecting back to the pedestal. After it connects, a low shaking is felt and a stone walkway rises out of the water, leading to the middle of the lake.

Once the path finishes rising, the magic fades, and Celeste pulls her hand back before stepping onto the new path.

Without a word, the mages follow her to the center, where the pathway expands into what looks like a sparring stage.

Celeste guides the mages out onto the stone walkway before stating, "This is where you will train, every night. Tonight, with the few hours that are left, you will be starting with unlocking your celestial abilities. Lucy, you will be repeating the basics with Natsu, so, if you please."

Celeste holds out a hand expectantly, and Lucy gulps quietly, before unlatching her keys from her belt and handing them to the dragon.

Celeste takes the keys and ties them to the sash around her waist before starting the instructions.

"Now, take your meditative positions," Both quickly follow her command, and as their breathing steadies, the dragon continues softly.

"Feel the starlight that shines in the sky above, feel the energy as it thrums through your veins. Heed the call of the gates."

Around the mages, a golden glow arises until standing around them are the thirteen gates.

"Excellent, now hold that state."

An hour passes where the mages keep the gates open, until the mages themselves start to glow.

The glow expands until it encompasses each of the gates. Slowly, the glow recedes, until swirling around the mages resides the symbols of the zodiac.

The symbols slow down, then spread out into four rows of three. Three symbols gently lay down on Lucy's right arm, three more on her left. The last six hover until they imprint on Natsu's arms.

Just as purples and dark blues shoot across the skies, Celeste calls a stop to training.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. I expect you both back out here at dusk to continue."

Natsu stands and pulls Lucy up before turning to follow Celeste back through the corridors to their rooms.

~Two weeks later~

"Open gate of the lion: Leo!"

The familiar flash and Loke appears in front of Natsu, while Lucy stands on the other side of the sparring stage, Sagittarius and Gemini at the ready.

Lucy grins. "Gemini, copy of Capricorn." With a 'peri-peri' the twin spirits change until a copy of Capricorn stares them down.

Grin never fading, Natsu holds an arm out and the marks on it glow as he states, "Open gate of the sea goat: Capricorn! Open gate of the water bearer: Aquarius!"

Lucy visibly flinches at the sight of the water spirit, but holds her arms out in front of her crossing them at the elbow palms down. "Open gate of the maiden: Virgo! Open gate of the ram: Aries! Open gate of the heavenly scales: Libra!"

One by one, the spirits appear until all twelve stand on the field. In front of Natsu stands: Aquarius, Capricorn, Loke, Pisces, Taurus, and Scorpio. In front of Lucy stands: Virgo, Cancer, Aries, Gemini, Sagittarius, and Libra.

On the path Celeste stands, a small smile apparent as the mages turn to her. "Excellent work on the call outs. Now, send them back and move into your fighting stances."

The spirits disappear in a swirl of gold and Natsu and Lucy take on mirrored positions. Their fists start to glow gold and Lucy makes the first move.

Lucy ducks to the left and swings up yelling, "Celestial Dragon's Lunar Fist!" Her left fist flashes white but before the hit can land, Natsu's ducked.

"Seriously, Luce, is that all you got?" Lucy turns around at his voice only to jump to the side as he says, "Celestial Dragon's Comet Roar!"

Several rocks the size of Lucy's head fly by her, the tail of flames following behind them causing them to look like comets.

Lucy grins and disappears. Natsu turns around and flies backwards, skidding to a stop on the edge of the platform, after a glowing fist catches him in the face.

He looks up at his girlfriend and grins before holding one arm out to his side. "Open gate of the sea goat: Capricorn!"

Capricorn appears, looking comically surprised, until Natsu explains, "Help me get a hold of her."

The spirit nods but when they look back at Lucy, they see two Lucy's. Natsu scowls and takes a deep breath.

The scowl turns into a grin as he turns to Capricorn. "Take out the one on the right, I got the left."

When the words, "Open thy malevolent gate. O, 88 Stars of the heaven... Shine! Urano Metria!" Natsu almost panics and jumps forward, avoiding the mass of meteors while tackling the real Lucy to the ground.

"Oh, you are gonna pay for that."

Lucy gives him a bright smile that makes him pause and she uses the distraction to swing around until she has him pinned.

Leaning forward she purrs in his ear. "You were saying?" He tries to wiggle out of his position but nothing works, causing him to go still and huff.

"Yeah, yeah, will you let me up now?"

Lucy giggles, letting him up before they turn to Celeste.

"Well done, you two, it's truly amazing how far you've come in just two weeks time, but as you know there is still a ways to go. So, for now, return to your rooms and we will resume your training tomorrow."

Lucy P.O.V.

While it is most encouraging to hear praise from the celestial dragon, it does not negate the fact that night training is proving to be more difficult than expected.

My arm tingles, and I glance down to see the dragon mark humming in agreement with my thoughts. I smile as I look over to where Natsu walks ahead of me.

We walk through the door to the cavern of the stars where Celeste disappears down a different hall. When the dragon is out of earshot, I heave a sigh of relief.

Natsu looks back at me. "You okay?"

I nod.

"Yeah, these night time training sessions are exhausting."

His eyes fill with understanding.

"Cheer up," he tells me through a yawn. "Just think, we only have three weeks left until we can get back to the guild." Somehow, I find the strength to smile as we walk through the door to my room.

Natsu immediately collapses on the bed and soon after I can hear his soft snores from where they're muffled in the pillows.

I shake my head in exasperation, but I can't help the small smile that appears at how cute he looks; even if his clothes are torn, and his hair is matted to his head from sweat.

Then, my eyes are drawn to the zodiac symbols that shine in the light. From what Celeste said, the symbols allow us to call any of the spirits without requiring their keys and they'll be expected to appear.

Though, Natsu and I both agreed we wouldn't call Pisces and Libra, unless absolutely necessary, since they're contracted to Yukino.

On the arm I can see, I make out the signs of Aquarius, Capricorn, and Loke, and on his other I know sits Pisces, Taurus, and Scorpio.

Turning around, I grab a tank top and a pair of sweatpants before walking across the hall to take my shower.

As I step out of the shower, a symbol on my left arm glows and I look over to see Virgo standing next to the door.

"Virgo, what brings you here?"

She bows.

"Forgive me, Hime, but big brother wanted to know what happened in training after you closed our gates."

I sigh at the nickname she uses for Loke. "Tell him, that if he wants to know then he can come talk to me later."

Virgo nods. "Punishment?"

"No, Virgo."

She nods and a second later her gate closes.

After I get dressed, I walk back into my room to find Natsu flipped on his back, an arm stretched across the bed while the other lays across his eyes. His snoring is comparable to that of a dragon roaring.

I climb in the bed and roll over so that my back is to him and just as I'm about to doze off, I feel his arms wrap around me while his snoring quickly quiets to a purr. When he nuzzles the back of my neck, I can make out a quiet murmur of my name before he settles down again.

I close my eyes and it's not long before I'm joining him in dreamland.

A little while later, I wake up to find myself in the same position as when I fell asleep, and quickly make my way out of Natsu's arms before he has a chance to squeeze the life out of me like he does almost every day.

Walking back into the cavern, I glance at the walls, enjoying the scenes inscribed before making my way down the hall to the door.

I step onto the landing and look around to find a completely different area then how it looks when we're training.

The walls of the crater are a deep black and when the sun hits them I make out a rainbow of colors spread throughout.

The doorways are made of what looks like black marble with white splatters, while the doors themselves are hidden in the shadows of the roof.

The walkway around the pond is made up of gray stone, while the water, normally black with stars, is a dazzling dark blue.

The podium, walkway, and the sparring stage in the middle of the water are also gray stone, but along the edges I can make out runes scrawled in, I assume, dragon language.

I take a step forward and narrow my eyes to help with the brightness, before making my way completely down the steps to stand next to the podium.

Looking over at the podium, I realize that it's covered in runes. The only part that's smooth is the handprint, but other then that it's lines and lines of written words.

Seeing as I'm not Levy, I don't even bother to try and decipher it, instead deciding to step out onto the path, watching the lake rise up to meet my fingertips when I hold my hand out over it.

From a simple touch, I can tell that it isn't ordinary water. I immediately recognize the familiar feeling of my magic as a jolt of energy runs through me.

I smile gently and kneel, letting one hand hover just above the surface, watching the water as it rises and sinks around my hand.

After a minute, I grow tired of this and stand back up, making my way to the sparring stage. Taking a closer look at it, I can make more runes carved along the edges of the stone.

I walk to the middle of the stage where I sit, immediately relaxing into my meditative state. I take a deep breath and exhale, enjoying the silence that surrounds me.

Ten minutes later, I hear the door open and close but I stay where I am as the footsteps draw closer. I take a deep breath and pick up the scent of campfire smoke and cinnamon.

I open my eyes and look up to see him crouching in front of me, watching me curiously. To say that he looks cute when his head's tilted just a bit, and open curiosity is clear in his eyes, is an understatement. He looks adorable.

"Luce, what are you doing out here?" He asks. I shrug.

"Couldn't sleep, so I came out here." He nods at my answer and sits down in front of me.

I look at him in confusion and he grins. "I wanna see what the guild's up to, we haven't done it in a while."

My grin matches his and he takes my hands in his while I close my eyes. Not too long after, I can make out the mixed voices, and when I open my eyes I find myself standing in the middle of the guild.

I look around and can see Erza and Gray sitting at the 'Team Natsu' table, talking to Wendy and Levy, while in the nearby corner I can make out Gajeel watching said table.

I turn around and can see everyone, but I'm also surprised to find no guild brawls in evidence. Elfman is actually flirting with Evergreen from what I can hear, and Lisanna is…

'Wait, what?' I take a double check and can see Lisanna actually sitting in Bickslow's lap. I turn around again and my eyes land on the bar.

There, I see Mira polishing a glass while Laxus is leaning against the counter, staring in my direction. I hear a growl and turn back towards the 'Team Natsu' table to see Gajeel glaring in my direction while his nose is in the air.

I take a step backward and I can see both sets of eyes follow me. Then, I feel two more settle on me. One gaze is curious but I ignore it, instead turning to the second one.

Looking up, I can make out Master standing on the railing. He grins and I turn around to see Wendy standing behind me, smelling the air. Then, she looks up at Master.

"Master, why does it smell like Lucy?"

Master shakes his head before she can draw the attention of the rest of the guild.

I squeak when I hear a whisper coming from Gajeel. "Who are you and why do you smell like Lucy?"

A flash of lightning lands by my feet and I turn again to see Laxus sparking up and glaring at me.

From a distance, I can hear Natsu chuckling. "Have a bit of fun with them; freak them out."

He must really be rubbing off on me because I walk to the doors, feeling their eyes follow me. Slowly, I light my index finger on fire and charge my middle with a spark of lightning before setting them on the doors.

The harsh intakes of breath have me giggling but I can hear Master trying, hard, to hold in a laugh.

After I finish, I step back and admire my handy work, being careful to read it over.

1) Lightning doesn't bother me, Sparky.

2) Growl all you want, I'm not scared of you.

3) Three weeks to the stars.

4) Boo!

I turn around and look up at Master who nods at my hint, while the others stare at it in confusion.

When I hear a laugh, I look over to see Erza scowling and Gray laid out on the bench, laughing his ass off.

"Alright, Luce, time to go."

I groan at his words but I'm already being pulled back to sitting in front of him.

~ Three weeks later ~ Natsu P.O.V.

It's the last night of our training with Celeste. Natsu and I are currently standing on the sparring platform as we wait for the dragon to begin our final lesson.

She looks over at us, and I swear I can make out starshine in her eyes as she begins her instructions.

"My final lesson for you is not necessarily a lesson, but is something required to return to Earthland from the dragon realm." She bends down and lays a hand on the stone.

Her hand glows gold and it spread across the stone, highlighting eleven circles within that were hidden before. Each circle is about as large as my head, and I can make out a symbol in the middle.

When we look back at her, she stands up.

"In order to return to Earthland, you will need to create a portal key. Portal keys can only be used once and require a lot of energy to create."

As I stare at her in confusion, Luce asks the question that circles around my mind.

"Then, how did you pass through the portal to get to us?"

She smiles softly. "In part, it was because of you, but the other part was because I used my own energy to force the portal open. That's why the other dragons were upset with me when you were at the capitol, because, instead of waiting for the others, I used my own energy to cover them."

My confusion clears up at her words and I turn back to the ring of engravings.

"So then, what does this have to do with creating a portal key?"

"All eleven elements are required to create a portal key, that is what each of the symbols represent." She explains. When I nod in understanding, she continues on. "You have to supply enough of each element until the symbol can take no more, then I will chant the creation spell, combining them together."

I look at Luce and raise an eyebrow. "Five and Five?"

She nods and we split up, myself taking care of Fire, Metal, Lightning, Chaos, and Poison, while she takes care of Sky, Light, Shadow, Water, and Celestial.

We meet up at ice, and soon enough that one is complete as well. Stepping back, we walk closer to the edge to make sure we're out of the magic circle, that appeared when we completed ice.

Celeste walks forward and chants something in a language that isn't anything I've heard, causing the elements to react.

At her words, a small string appears, coming from each element, where they start weaving together in front of the celestial dragon.

Slowly, a key starts to take shape, while the elements in their pits dwindle into nothing. After the elements disappear into the key, it drops into the dragon's hands and she smiles before holding it out to us.

"It is ready, and we must leave soon if we are to portal jump before the sun completely rises."

I look up, and sure enough, I can see the sky brightening. I'm not surprised we spent all night, we're used to that, but I am surprised it took so long for the key to form.

Luce takes the key, and we follow Celeste down the path and pass the pedestal for the last time, and as she leads us up a set of steps, I hear rumbling behind me. I turn to see the sparring stage and path crumbling, while the pedestal lowers into the ground.

"Natsu, are you coming?"

I grin and turn towards her.

"Yeah, I'm coming, Luce." I yell, as I make quick steps to walk through to the door, again feeling a zap through my bones, before it closes.

After I step through the portal, I take a look around to find that we're in the landing zone next to the castle, and standing near the doors leading inside, I can see Layla, Dad, and our other teachers, as well as Spark's commanders Valerie and Takashi.

I look to see Luce waiting for me, so I run to catch up to her before walking the rest of the way to her mother and the others.

We stop in front of Layla, and the older woman smiles warmly. "It has been awhile since you were last here,"

Lucy's smile never fades as she nods. "Yes, it has."

Layla nods and asks, "I trust all went well with creating the portal key?"

Luce goes into her key pouch and pulls it out. Layla nods.

"Excellent, now, why don't we have breakfast before you leave?"

She looks up at me but it's my stomach that answers, causing some of the others to laugh.

At breakfast, everyone starts telling stories of our adventures, or misadventures as some are calling them, while Luce and I sit next to each other and quietly eat.

That is, until Dad turns to me with an eyebrow raised. "Did you seriously get your head shaved?"

I scowl at the lightning commander who's laughing at the memory, before turning to Dad and grinning. "Yeah, but he got his payback when I kicked his ass in the final fight."

At my statement, the dragon scowls at me and my grin turns cocky.

Dad cracks up laughing, and Luce and I ease into talking with the others through the rest of breakfast.

Afterwards, though, things turn serious, as Layla leads us down a hall and into an atrium. The ceiling is glass with no visible seams, while the floor is white tile.

In the middle sits a single door that is strikingly similar to the ones in the portal realm, and as we get closer, I can make out a white seal on the door, unlike those in the portal realm.

"What you see here is a portal to Earthland. The seal on it prevents any dragons from opening it on this side without the help of a human on the other. But, that key will allow you to use it only once until you are able to undo the seal."

As the queen talks, we stop about three feet away from the door. Lucy hugs Layla before turning away, so that the queen misses her tears.

Layla catches my eye and I can almost tell what she's thinking, so I give her a reassuring grin. She relaxes, and I turn when I hear the door creak open. Through the door, I can see the Fairy Tail guild hall. Though it looks far away, like I'm seeing it from a distance. Even more peculiar, perhaps, is how I appear to be looking through some kind of alleyway, with dark, brick walls on either side of the periphery, and a dumpster just to my right.

I step forward and hold my hand out to Luce. She takes it and nods, before I step through and pull her with me.

I still have to give my props to Bluedog197 and StrikeForceHeroeTeller for the awesome ideas for spells and back ground.

And since my brain is shutting down for the day I'll see you for the next chapter.

Grizzly out for the night.

P.S. Y'all will most likely see me Monday for this story.