Disclaimer: My collection of FT mangas is growing (2 more!) but other than that, not mine…

Chapter 21 – Punishment

It was never easy to be in a position where you would be under intense scrutiny. Unfortunately for Lucy, she was. The eyes were riveted on her as the man at the right end of the table, a medium sized and tanned with short brown hair, was reading;

"Twenty helictial hours ago (1) a great disturbance hit the spirit world. The exact motives are unknown however the pull has already been described in the annals and the reason for it is the use of certain artefacts given to mages when they attain a certain rang. The last reported entry of this kind is from the era of the war that decimated a vast number of celestial mages, before the creation of the Celestial Council. The sky lines pointed to the south-east of Fiore where we were informed that the mage Lucy Heartfilia, who belongs to the Fairy Tail Guild and is in possession of aforementioned artefacts, was at the time. It leads us to the conclusion that she used said artefacts, more precisely the star powder, for an unknown reason, and extracted vital force from the spirit world. We're gathered here to come to a decision on her punishment." He laid down the parchment and, taking off the glasses, looked up.

Hilas looked at Lucy and said, "Now that the case is exposed you may give us your side of the story and, having it in mind we'll consider your punishment. I remind you that the use of the star powder is strictly forbidden and should only be used as last resource. What happened? And may the skies vastness guide us…" he left his hands fall on the table after being raised – palms up – as he said the ritualistic words.

Standing in front of these people, Lucy's courage faltered and her façade almost crumbled but her left hand touched her keys as she was about to hold her hands in front of herself. The cold touch of metal and the tiny jingle that they made gave Lucy the courage that had tried to evade her. In that moment she felt that her spirits had her back and she was not all alone in this, after all. She opened her mouth and in a clear and unwavering (how was that possible?) voice said, "It is true that I broke one of the sacred rules, one that should only be broken in the worst case scenario. And I am well aware that it also breaks the trust that was invested in me as a fifth rang mage, however, it was a life or death situation and I used it as my last resource – conjoined with the silver key of the Dragon-" at her words all the other mages, except Hilas and Peribeia who kept their stern attitude, started to whisper furiously and some of them were excited even. Hilas cleared his throat and they stopped, with a raised eyebrow he turned at her. "You couldn't have done that. The magic that allows that isn't of the knowledge of the fifth rang." He let his elbows rest on the table, steepled his fingers and spoke from behind them, "Maybe your desperation was high enough and made it work for you… No, that can't be right…" he muttered and with a shake of the head beckoned, "But carry on, carry on…" he asked as he placed his chin on his fingers.

Lucy assented gravelly and continued, "As I was saying, I was in a mission that ended in a ritual being performed to bring back to life an immense and awful monster. It was resurrected and we – me and my group – had to destroy it before the village, and probably others later, was plunged into chaos and destruction. We were losing the battle because not only the monster was enormous but there were also enemies from the, we might call it, cult that tried to stop us, evidently. We did take care of them but to stop the monster the star powder was the only solution."

"So you threw the powder and called the Dragon…" asked the woman on Peribeia's right side (that had wavy brown hair and green eyes).

"Yes, could you explain the process?" the same man that had read the information before asked.

"Hm… I called forth the Dragon-" her words didn't fail to fill the room with barely hidden enthusiasm – Lucy knew that Draco's key was rare but this was ridiculous … "… and I took the minimal amount of star powder that I could. Then I blew it towards Draco – the Dragon, I mean. It covered him and the properties worked as I expected them to…"

"You mean that you just blew it…? How far was it?"

Lucy blinked and, suspiciously, answered, "I-I don't know, I mean, he was flying and was probably three/four meters above-"

"You're serious? He was flying?" the man nearly shouted.

"Calm down Eto. And you had a contract with the key since when?" the man with olive dark skin, black hair and a goatee that was sitting on the other end of the table asked.

"The contract?" Lucy blinked once again, clearly confused. "I made it the day, I mean, night before-"

"What!"

"She's lying…"

"Don't joke around, kid."

The room became chaotic and that was a thing that Lucy wasn't expecting in the least. She was left without reaction and not even the accusation of being a liar phased her out. 'What the-? I truly didn't see this one coming…'

A couple of words barked by Peribeia restored an apparent calm to the room. For the first time since meeting Lucy, her voice sounded, "Calm down! Basically you just used the powder because there was no way else and to worsen the situation you handled it with only your gut feeling… Is that correct?"

"Yes… I used it with all my knowledge-"

"That in this matter is close to none…" she counteracted in a haughty tone.

"Yes, but… well, all worked out in the end…"

"How dare you-" Peribeia pushed at the table brusquely and got up. Her calm and haughty composure were now completely out the window and she was positively seething, "How dare you say that when you have no knowledge-" she stopped abruptly and looked at Hilas who had a hand on her arm to try to calm her down. He almost forced her to sit back down and she threw him a meaningful look. He just shook his head. Turning to Lucy he said, "What I think that Peribeia was trying to say is that you were very lucky. You were lucky to end up doing the right procedure (or something along those lines) completely by instinct and the result was the natural – as the elders wrote – pull in the spirit world. However the outcome might've not been this one and you could have thrown us into an exponentially worse situation than the one you were in. And in that case, may the deities help us, we couldn't have done anything. You could have plunged us into an age of darkness as predicted…"

Lucy gulped at these words. She hadn't know that her actions might have been so dangerous.

She had just worked with what felt right at the time…

Hilas sat heavily on his chair, sighing, "Eto take her to the ante-room. We now need to deliberate her punishment."

Lucy nodded and followed the man. The whispers she could hear in her back didn't appear to be in her favour… at all.

When she entered the small room and the door clicked shut behind her, her lips set in a grim line. More white! How she wanted to throw the plush chairs out the window and break the table that was in the middle of the four chairs to splinters that she would like to throw at Peribeia's face and see how many would stick in that hard skin. No, maybe it would be better to just grab the table top and hit her in the face with it. Lucy now had her fists clenched hard and lips set in a feral smile, her white teeth showing. She headed to one of the chairs, yes, it was better if she sat down. With a shaky step her keys jingled once more. Now that had been strange. Lucy's first thoughts usually didn't set towards violence but now – just thinking of Peribeia made her blood boil and she wanted to break something. Sitting heavily in her chosen chair, a hand came to her hair as she was almost doubled on the chair. 'I'm hanging with the wrong crowd or what? Since when do I want to smash something so badly that it almost hurts? I don't recognize myself anymore…' then she let of a mirthless laugh while she leaned back in the chair, both hands coming to rest in the armrests, 'At least maybe Natsu would be proud of me if he saw me now.' She threw her bangs away from her eyes distractedly. 'I wonder how those two are… If they haven't throttled each other yet. No, if their good mood continues maybe that will only happen today or maybe tomorrow. And I won't be there to see them… And what the hell is going to happen to me?' she grabbed her keys from the belt and held them in a position that could be almost considered as someone praying, keys resting between both hands and eyes closed. At least the comforting presence of her spirits would help her overcome these problems. She only hoped that they let her go back home soon. A cynical smile was on her face – she missed more her house in Magnolia than the one that should be her home. A key twitched as if trying to confirm that she was alright and it was in that moment that the door opened.

"You may return." Said the same man from before, she recognized the voice as she was with her back to the door.

Taking a moment to compose herself she carefully stood up and placed her keys in the belt, then smoothed some creases on the dress and exited the ante-room.

The room she returned to had a heavy atmosphere – that showed that the argument had been a heated one. That and the heavy frowns that all the members of the table had.

"Lucy Heartfilia, as you know the use of these artefacts is forbidden in its utmost extension. We, as representatives of the council, understand that it was used as a last resource and there are several attenuating circumstances. However, you're still to be punished. Do you agree?"

Lucy had to fight a bit to find her voice but then she managed a slightly squeaky "Yes, hm, I agree…" while praying to every deity she remembered that they wouldn't do the worst option.

"As attenuating circumstance we have the fact that you used it as your last option in a case in which, if not used, not only the balance of the spirits' world would tip but it would also affect the larger balance of magic. That was a good call. The fact that without knowing almost anything of the mechanisms of using the star powder you pulled it off – and this shows us what a talented and powerful young mage you are. This way we are to propose you to advance in rang and so do the first trial to that new position. Do you agree?"

Not expecting in any way the compliment, Lucy just nodded numbly and uttered an "I agree…"

"Perfect. You'll do it in the afternoon ."

"Already-! I mean, this afternoon already?" Lucy's shocked expression receded a little as she remembered that she was to remain stoic.

A slightly smirking Peribeia caught her eye and answered, "You'll be provided with food when you go to the Touch Area after this. You are to meditate and your opponent will meet you there." A dangerous glint appeared in her eyes.

"As you're progressing in your knowledge we can't have you using techniques that you don't comprehend – and you may not be that lucky again. It's safer if you know more about all this but I have confidence that you won't do that again." Hilas said and when he caught the way Peribeia was looking at Lucy his expression became somewhat apologetic – to harden again as he pronounced his next words, "Now, for your punishment, you are to be without access to your keys and spirits for two months. As you are in a Guild and your income comes from the missions you do, you'll have some drawbacks and this will teach you not to disobey important rules. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Lucy couldn't help but wonder if they didn't have something (bad) on their sleeve because this punishment was strange. Too mild. It would only make her some sort of discomfort not be something that would mark her with a 'never to repeat' feeling. But she had to admit to herself how she had liked to see that annoyed expression on Peribeia's face. It was slightly satisfying but she tensed as the other's brown eyes hardened and an almost imperceptible smirk appeared on her face. Those weren't good news, Lucy was sure.

"Alright, so before you leave for your Guild you have to go to the offices' area to the Aqueronte(2) room. They will take care of it and lock your keys."

"And when the time of my punishment ends?"

"One of our emissaries will come by your Guild and do the small ritual of release. With that said, we'll see you later. Under the sky scrutiny, you are dismissed." He made a wave with his hand and Lucy bowed and left the room. A whole new set of doors that weren't in the corridor before appeared and they had some inscriptions over. She decided to go to the Leisure room where hopefully the meal would be. She was starting to get hungry.

The Leisure room was surprising. First of all, it wasn't white! Lucy almost gave a joyous whoop before remembering that it wouldn't do. She contended with a sigh. She walked to the second set of chairs, the ones that were near the arcades of the windows and flopped into one of the chaises longues. The room was ample (or should she say huge?), a first storey one and the windows area entered the forest so the trees' tops were very close to the windows and all that gave a feeling of protection an coolness. And the room tried to emulate the feeling with several shades of green and brown. There were six sets of five chairs around each table, four of the sets were under the windows and the other two were more to the inside, with plenty of room in-between each set. Lucy had come from one door and saw another at the other end of the room (to her left) where were three long dinner tables. On her right was a wall full of bookshelves and one had a large amount of material suitable for writing. She got up, walked around the table and went to the window, leaning on the wall that was covered with a deep green curtain. She watched the quiver of leaves on the wind and how focuses of sunlight appeared and disappeared with the leaves' movement. This beautiful sight, however, couldn't calm her inner turmoil.

Behind her a throat was cleaned and she hadn't heard anyone enter the room. Lucy turned and was shocked when she saw Loke sitting in the chair she had previously occupied, waving at her.

"Hey there!"

"Lo-Loke? What are you doing here? I didn't call you and-and you don't have a reason to be out here. How did you do it? I mean-"

"Hey! Hey! Breathe first and calm yourself then we'll talk. Here, maybe you should eat something first." He handed her a glass (with an exquisite form – hey, was it crystal?) of water. She gulped it down and started coughing. Loke got up and started patting her back. He took her to one of the chaises longues and sat besides her.

"Go ahead, dig in."

Lucy grabbed a fork and pulled one of the dishes to her lap (it wouldn't do to stain the dress) and carefully started eating the sautéed stake with mushrooms, salad and rice.

"I am here because we sensed your inner turmoil and figured that you had come before the council." His mild smile dropped as he remembered certain unpleasant things. "These lazy bastards. They're corrupt, you know that right?"

Lucy looked at him expectantly, chewing. When she swallowed she placed the fork on the dish and turned slightly to him, leaning in the armchair, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that some spirits talk in the spirit world – there are some places where we can do that and mingle to our heart's content, and I can tell you that some spirits of prominent Celestial mages knew of what Karen did to Aries. I'm sure that some of the top's mages knew about it and didn't do anything about it or maybe Karen bribed them. Anyway, they are no good and by your posture I can imagine you're not too fond of them. What happened? Is it because of Draco and your extreme pull at our magic?" Lucy's sullen expression was all the answer he needed. "So, what did they do?" he got up and sat in the other chaise longue. Lucy took her time to look at Loke. It had been a while since she had seen him so he looked a bit different, his hair was slightly longer, he didn't have sunglasses but his piercings and rings were still in place. He was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt and dark grey pants. At least he was doing alright even if these things he just said were disturbing. Could that be true? She pushed these thoughts aside, "On the punishment part, my keys will be locked. I guess that's something that won't allow me to summon you." She stopped when he whistled. "What?"

"Have you thought about what the other spirits will say? For instance, Aquarius will be furious at first then go on holidays with her boyfriend – and maybe do a double holiday. Hm, she might not be that mad…"

"You think? I wish I could avoid telling her about it altogether…"

"She will know but do as you prefer. And you said on the punishment part, does it mean that there's something more?" Lucy turned at him her legs folded under her and her arms crossed and answered. "Well, you won't believe it but they say that they want to begin my trials to the next rang."

"And?" asked Loke while stealing a small melon ball and popping it into his mouth.

"And the problem is that going up a rang is very, very difficult. I was remembering and you should've heard what they say about it…"

"Nonsense, it can't be that bad. There are plenty of upper level mages, I don't see how you can't be one of them."

Lucy bit her lower lip while looking at her lap, her hands clenched in the fabric, "I don't know…"

"But I do. All your spirits have complete trust in your abilities. You just have to give the orders and we will follow…" he leaned to her and held her hand, a smile on his face and humour on his voice, "… with more or less temper tantrums…" this managed to put a smile on her face. "Seriously, you don't have to be scared that we'll support you in every step." He smiled at her and tightened slightly the hold in her hand.

"You're right. Thanks." She smiled back at him. "And how did you get out here?"

"Anytime. And this place has some strange property and the line between your and our world thins. That's how I managed to come out." He got up and gave a slight bow, his body beginning to dissipate in a red mist, "I'll see you soon." He said before disappearing.

Now feeling a lot more relieved Lucy just muttered an "Alright." before turning back to the table and, now with appetite, eat.

(1) – helictial hours are used in the sacred rituals of the Celestial Council. In this case, as the incident happened 5 days ago the math goes like this: 5 days correspond to 120 hours and when divided by 6 (that comes from the half of the major constellations and is a multiple of the perfect number) equals 20 helictial hours.

(2) Aqueronte – from the Greek means 'the one that drags the pains'

A/N: And here is another chapter. Maybe it was a bit confusing and didn't do much sense… even if for me it has some logic… and I think I'm having way too much fun with this story xD

Well, I wanted to update yesterday but, alas, luck wasn't with me, first a problem with the laptop (solved brilliantly by my amazing sister – thanks sis! *waves vigorously at her*) and then when I was about to finish the chapter my family decided to go out to dinner – what they didn't say was that we would return home at inappropriate hours (why were they having a party?). Oh well, enough of my ramblings, don't want to bother you more than necessary. So, any guesses about what'll happen next? Did you like the chapter? Tell me in a review (^^) And to those who reviewed, my deepest thanks *bows* m(_ _)m