I'm actually updating at a semi-reasonable rate. Not actually, but a more reasonable rate than I have been.

Laxus POV

It was already nightfall by the time I woke up with a groan. I blinked in the dark a few times before remembering that I blew out all my lightbulbs.

"Dammit," I mutter, sitting up and rubbing my face. Whatever, not like I can't see in the dark. With grunt, I rose from the bed, stretching and massaging warmth into my muscles as I made my way to the window - damn, the moon's kind of high. Must be around 10pm. Well looks like I just fucked up my sleep schedule for tommorrow, great.

My head still felt slightly fogged from sleep, but it didn't take long for my memories to catch up.

"Ah God. I better go talk to her tonight. Before something else happens," I groused out loud, digging through my wardrobe to throw together some clothes. Stopping by the mirror on my way out, I inspect my appearance - good enough, at least. THough my hair is a little extra spiky from the wet bedhead.

The crisp night air was already filled with the sounds of crickets and I hesitated. It is kind of late. Should I…?

NO. I gotta go talk to her now, and I gotta stop making excuses. No matter how legitimite of excuses they are. I summon my lightning and shoot into the sky, landing a little ways down form her apartment. I glance up and smile when I see her window with a light on. Good, I won't wake her up.

And then I catch a whiff of Gray coming from there and I start to growl. By the time, I reach the front door to the building, I can clearly hear the tail end of their conversation.

"Where the hell are you going? Lucy what do you know?" Gray called, and I heard Lucy's door open and her footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Close the door behind you! I think I know where he is!" she called back. THe building door opened and she slammed smack into my chest with a yelp, almost falling back onto her ass if it weren't for my arms reflexively shooting out to steady her.

"Slow the fuck down, Blondie. What's going on?" I snap, still irritated at Gray's presence in her apartment. She shook her head to clear it and focused on me.

"Loke quit the guild and he's missing," she started to explain and I can't quite stop the small smile that automatically comes to my face. "Stop smiling! This is bad!" she scolded, smacking me. I cleared my throat and suppressed the grin. "Look - there isn't time. I'll explain later. Can you teleport me to the Blue Pegasus guild hall?" she rattled off, looking at me pleadingly.

"Lucy, where'd you go?!" Gray's voice came from above, and my nostrils flared and expression darkened. Lucy grabbed my collar and pulled.

"Hurry up! We gotta go now!" She hissed. My brow twitched at the demand but my arms had wrapped around her regardless, and our forms dissolved into electricity. Shooting up into the sky, I aimed our forms towards the Blue Pegasus guild hall and launched.

When we hit the ground nearby, Lucy hopped out of my arms almost instantly as she reformed, hesitating only to look around and figure out her surroundings. She jogged in place for a moment, face pinched in concentration. Folding my arms, I watched in amusement. God she's cute.

"THERE!" she suddenly shouted, whipping around to face a direction. She took a few steps before stopping and turning to me. "Thanks, Laxus, but I need you to stay here, okay? I'll explain later, but he's running out of time!" she said hurriedly, eyes sharp with determination. Before I could even argue, she was off running into the woods, heading towards the sound of a waterfall.

"Goddammit," I grunted. "What the hell, blondie? Like I'm gonna stay here," I grumbled as I started to follow after where her form had disappeared into the trees. Loke's strange, almost musty scent was on the wind, and it made a growl start in my chest. I stopped and ducked back behind a tree right before I burst into the clearing.

There was a grave at the end of a cliff surrounded by waterfalls. If I recall correctly, it's the grave of that celestial wizard-broad that died a few years ago. Was it… Karen something?

"I figured you'd be here." My ears pricked and zeroed in on Lucy. Hunkering down first, I peeked around the tree to see what was happening. "Everyone's been looking for you, you know? We're all worried," she continued, slowly approaching him. The man turned and faced her with a forlorn look. I narrowed my eyes, focusing in on him. The magic power coming from him was but a sad, quiet flicker. Barely even there. What the hell?
"They shouldn't bother," he responded hollowly. Lucy scoffed.

"Don't be stupid, Loke. Or, I guess, I should really call you Leo, huh?" she said. Loke's eyes widened before he closed them and smiled, shaking his head.

"Why am I not surprised you figured it out?" he chuckled weakly, and his form shimmered slightly before he hunched in pain. My own eyes widened. Hang on. Is he…

"Celestial spirits talk and gossip like old women," she smiled. "But I don't understand… Why haven't you gone back?"

Loke laughed humorlessly. "Because I can't," he answered simply. His form shimmered again and he cried out in pain, hunching over and grabbing his chest.

"The hell you mean you can't go back?! Why not?!" Lucy demanded, taking a step closer. Loke turned back around and looked at the grave.

"Because I broke the most sacred rule of the celestial realm. The greatest taboo a celestial spirit can commit," he said softly, smiling sadly. "I killed my master."

== should be a chapter cut but that would be too short of a chapter so have all of it at once====

"Y-you… what?" Lucy stammered, shocked.

"Karen Lillica… was my master. And I'm the reason she's dead," he said mournfully. My protective side reared up at this, and I felt my chest start to rumble.

"I can't believe it… you had a contract… and you… killed her?" Lucy murmured in disbelief. Loke looked away.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "And now I can never return to the Celestial Spirit World, so I'm going to disppear. Right here, in front of her grave," he finished. For a moment, all that could be heard was the roar of the waterfall. "Feels like a nice kind of poetic justice, huh?" he laughed humorlessly.

"I don't believe you," Lucy said flatly, voice shaking only a bit. I bristled - stupid girl, when someone tells you they're bad, why can't you just listen to them for once?!

Loke smiled sadly. "It was about three years ago," he began.

"Karen Lillica was not a nice person. She was extremely selfish and pursued the most shallow of interests. She built harems for herself of men devoted to her every whim, and cast them off when she got bored. Sometimes… sometimes she did so by calling on one of her other spirits. Aries.

Aries never deserved anything Karen did to her. She was innocent. And Karen would throw her to the dogs constantly. She would summon her to distract the men and let them paw her all over despite her protests while she, herself, made her escape. Laughing about it the whole time. Until finally, someone spoke up to her about it."

Loke paused for a moment, flexing his hand thoughtfully. "THe guildmaster himself, Master Bob, was the one to do it. He tried to remind her that celestial spirits were living beings, just like her. He even snapped and got angry for once - even watching it from the celestial realm was scary. He warned her that if she kept treating us like she was, we would eventually turn against her. And… his prediction came true.

"Unfortunately, as always seems to be the case with bullies, the intervention just made things worse. Karen assumed Aries had gone behind her back and tattled to the Guildmaster, even though she also knew full well Aries didn't have the power to open her own gate at will. But she was so caught up in her opinion that we were only her tools that she wouldn't even consider reason.

"It wasn't uncommon for Karen to beat us, especially Aries. Hell, she would often summon her to use her as a shield in battles. But this time she was extra angry. She just kept hitting her, and I started to reach my limit on what I could tolerate. She kept accusing Aries of making Master Bob angry with her, and only got madder the more Aries begged and denied it. She… she took out these handcuffs. And then made her final threat."

He stopped again, staring into the sky, and his fist clenched at his side. His jaw ticked in anger at the memories.

"She was going to lock Aries up in the human world for seven whole days. It would have been agony, and she was already weak from the beating. That was the end of my patience. I switched places with Aries, closing her gate and opening my own. It was the least I could do, but it was also the most I could do, since me and Aries were still contracted to her."

"Karen had forgotten one crucial fact - I was Leo, the leader of the Zodiac. And I had a lot more power than her other spirits. I was able to open my own gate. I was also a celestial spirit built for battle, I was both patient and strong. Her abuse wouldn't effect me the way it did the others. I could handle what she threw at me, and I was confident in that. I made my own threat - If she ever laid a hand on Aries again, I would make sure she was sorry.

"I demanded that she release me and Aries from our contracts, and told her that her behavior was not only deplorable, but had caused fear and unrest in the celestial world. Other spirits were actively afraid of their keys falling into her hands. I told her she was a disgrace to other celestial wizards. She didn't take that too well, and tried to force my gate shut - but I was there by my own power. I repeated my demand - that she release us, and explained that I was not leaving until she did. She was far too weak to summon another spirit with me already there, and I would refuse to follow her commands. Essentially, I had blocked her magic, and therefor, her source of income and livelihood. She refused to listen still, so I went to the ruins west of town to wait for her decision.

"The first visit came after a week - longer than I thought she'd wait. But still, she refused. She tried to convince me that she would be the winner of this war of attrition, and I simply reminded her of my strength and power. And that I was prepared to stay as long as this took. The pain was horrible, and I felt myself fading slowly, but I kept on. She came back three weeks later - when her funds were reaching a dangerously low level. She started by begging me, trying to win me over with pity. But I would not relent. She even tried to promise that if I stopped, she would never mistreat Aries again. But even in my weakened state, it was obvious she was lying through her teeth. Her word meant nothing. That was when I truly realized I would never allow this woman to harm my fellow spirits again. She got mad again, and her true colors showed yet again. She started to beat me, screaming that I should just die already, that once I was dead, she would summon Aries and torture her out of spite. I just laid there and took it - even after everything, she was still my bound master, and this was the most I could do.

"Two more months passed. Eventually, the pain faded and became bearable. Existing in the human world no longer hurt much at all - and while there was nothing I could do to stop my life force from draining, I had at least reached a level of resilience for it to not hurt much at all anymore. I decided one day that it was about time to forgive Karen, and to let up. After all, if she abused Aries again, I could just threaten to leave again. She had to have finally had her ego checked, right?"

"But just as I turned to make my way to the guild hall, I saw Master Bob coming up the road, his face fallen and morose. He didn't even have to say it - I could read it in his face. WHen he confirmed my suspicions, I fell to the ground and wept. She… she had taken a job. Even though her magic was effectively cut off, and she had no real physical fighting capabilities, she still had taken a job. And… and she didn't make it back alive."

Loke's voice caught. When he continued, it wavered slightly. "I… I just wanted her to accept that she was wrong about us. That celestial spirits are more than just magic tools. That we're living beings with free will and feelings and hopes and dreams. That's all I wanted. I never wanted… I wasn't trying to…" He trailed off, a tear sliding down his cheek. "I never wanted her to die. But it was my fault. I was the cause of her death, and I've lived with this horrible guilt ever since. If I could bring her back, I would. But it's just not possible. And the only way for my sins to be paid is for me to die, too." he finished. He turned to look at Lucy, only to twitch violently and shimmer before falling to his knees with a cry.

"LOKE!" Lucy cried out, running to him and kneeling in front of him, hands flitting around his continuously shimmering form.

"Looks like… this is it." Loke gasped in pain, more of his form vanishing. "It's finally my time."

"What do you mean, 'your time'?" Lucy demanded angrily. He looked at her and smiled weakly.

"My time to… disappear."

"NO. You can't just give up! I won't fucking let you!" Lucy growled, grabbing at his disappearing shoulder. My own fingers tightened against the bark of the tree, teeth grit. The dragon demanded I march out there and pull her away. But my human self squashed that urge - for all that I hated about the guy, he was my guildmate. And he was about to die. This was an important scene to let play out.

"Ever since that day, I've been banned from the Celestial Spirit World. Even if I wanted to, there's no way for me to keep on living," Loke breathed painfully. "I broke a fundamental law, and now I have to pay the price. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I tried to drown my guilt in women and parties, but she was always there when I closed my eyes. Haunting me. Waiting for me to join her in death. And now it's finally time…" his voice seemed to give out.

"Shut up." Lucy growled.

"I've been waiting for this day for so long. I'll finally be free of this guilt," he continued wistfully. Then he turned to her and smiled weakly. "I have to thank you, Lucy. You restored my faith in celestial wizards. Knowing that there's someone like you in charge of my fellow spirits, I can rest easy. Please, never stop being kind-"

"SHUT UP!" Lucy screamed, voice thick with tears and anger. "I can save you! I can still save you, so shut up!" she insisted, fisting her hands against the ground.

"Please tell everyone in Fairy Tail goodbye for me, will ya?" he said. Lucy's body sparked and I cocked my eyebrow, recognizing my own lightning.

"NO. It's not fair! THIS ISN'T FAIR! I won't let you die, okay! I WON'T!" she cried. "All you have to do is go back to the Celestial World and your life force will be restored! There has to be a way for me to send you back! There has to be!" her voice grew stronger with every word. Loke looked at her in surprise.

"That's… that's impossible. I'm sorry." Loke tried to calm her, but Lucy just shook her head. "I broke a rule, and I'm being punished," he repeated.

"I don't care! It's not right!" Lucy snapped. "It was just an accident! It's not your fault Karen died, okay?! And this isn't a just punishment! She sealed her own fate and you were just trying to save your friend!" she argued, throwing her arms around him. "OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! SEND LOKE BACK!" she screamed, her magic power surging. "PLEASE. OPEN! LET HIM BACK!" she cried out, tears starting to stream down her face.

Loke looked at her in disbelief and patted her arm. "It's okay, Lucy-"

"NO IT'S NOT! I can't just sit here while my friend disappears right before my eyes! I WON'T!" She screamed, her magic power surging again. This time it visibly expanded around her, and I narrowed my eyes at the sight of my lightning swirling with her magic. "OPEN! GATE OF THE LION!" she roared, the her magic almost exploding out of her as if it was pounding against an invisible door. The ground began to shake from the power and the air became charged. She threw her head back and screamed in effort, even more magic pushing out of her body.

"Stop it! You're gonna use up all your magic!" Loke pleaded before another surge of magic cut him off. Fear spiked in my brain and I found myself both rooted to the ground and desperately trying to run to her at the same time. I have to help her. I have to help her.

I felt a pulling sensation in my chest and closed my eyes to focus on it, instinct telling me to do so. Visualizing a thread between me and her, I took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate on sending my own magic power over to her. The whirling tornado of power she was giving off had stalled and I reached out from behind the tree. My brain suddenly pulled up knowledge on how to transfer power out of nowhere and I shot a line of lightning at her form, shoving a big chunk of my magic power with it. It struck her and the power amplified exponentially, knocking me back and filling the clearing with blinding light.

"I'LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES! I'M GONNA SAVE YOU! I'M GONNA OPEN YOUR DAMN GATE AND SHOVE YOU BACK IN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" she screamed. "I WON'T GIVE UP! I'M GOING TO GET YOU HOME! OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! OPEN!" her voice was growing hoarse with strain.

"IT'S NOT GONNA OPEN FOR YOU, LUCY! AS FAR AS THEY CARE, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR KAREN'S DEATH! YOU'RE GOING AGAINST THE WISHES OF THE CELESTIAL SPIRIT KING HIMSELF!" Loke yelled over the roar of the magic. Lucy shook her head.

"I DON'T CARE! OPEN!" Lucy screamed back, magic swelling even more, my vision blinded completely.

"LUCY, STOP! IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS YOU'RE GOING TO DISAPPEAR TOO!" I heard Loke shout. Panic spiked through me and I shot another line of magic power into the blinding tornado. When it hit Lucy, it spiked even more, the force pushing me backwards and bending the trees.

"I WON'T STOP TIL THE GATE IS OPEN!" she wailed. "WHOEVER DECIDED YOU WERE GUILTY NEEDS TO KNOW THAT THEY WERE WRONG!"

Suddenly, a tremor ran through the air and the tornado of power released up into the sky.

WHen I rewatched these episodes to write this I immediately noticed all the lightning that comes out of Lucy when shes releasing all that power and I'm like "mmmhmmmmmmmm canon has got my back". Still haven't figured out how and when to fit in the whole "lucy still has to confront her father" chapter so meh.