AN: Updating schedule- I don't have one. I work and I study part time. Doing both doesn't leave a lot of free time for writing. However I am trying to aim for one chapter every two weeks. Its unlikely I'll make it that far however it is my aim.

Also no one said anything but do you guys want a nalu wedding ceremony? I have said that they didn't get a real wedding. Lucy might want to have a real ceremony but I don't know yet. Is it something that you guys want to see?

Also Lucy will not get pregnant. I got them married because I needed them to do something while waiting for the events if the anime to start. I focused closely on their relationship as husband and wife in that time. Now they got bigger problems. Wendy is their kid no other baby.

To people who say this arc went by quickly here's the reason. Lullaby doesn't serve much of a purpose in my story. In cannon lullaby was the creation of team natsu which has already been created. None of these people are seen again. I only added it in because it's a demon from zeref and I wanted Wendy to kick erigors ass.

Chapter 18

Lucy had been worried all day. Wendy decided to take on a job by herself. It was the first time that Wendy had taken a request and she couldn't help but worry. Natsu on the other hand seemed to believe that she was going to do just fine.

"How are you so calm?" questioned Lucy and Natsu chuckled.

He placed a kiss on her forehead as she cuddled into his arms. They were sitting at the bar with Levy giving them a look of exasperation. Lucy had been alternating between depressed and overly concerned for a couple hours now and her friend was just done with the mood swings.

"I took on the same jobs when I first came to the guild. Wendy is already more trained in magic than I had been and her offensive abilities are already greater than mine were at that age. It's a simple tracking request for 20 000 jewel."

Lucy burrowed deeper into his arms, "The people who put the request up were putting a team together Natsu. That means they might not take Wendy seriously. She is young and they are going after someone."

Natsu tried not to let her see how much he thought she was over reacting. He didn't want Lucy to think that he was dismissing her concerns but this was a bit over the top. Wendy had been far less trained in the other timeline when she started taking jobs.

She had lived in Fairy Hills and the rent there was about 50 000 jewel for anyone under the age of thirteen. She managed to do well even though the other girls that lived in the dorm probably helped her out a lot. All in all Wendy was far more prepared for this job than she would have been in the other timeline.

"She isn't going to fight anyone. All she has to do is track the person via scent. Afterwards she'll stand back and let the other people in her team retrieve the kidnapped victim. She deserves the chance to test out her abilities in the real world. You were the one who wanted her to get some real world experience."

Lucy groaned as she turned back to the bar to sip at her milkshake, "I didn't think she would want to go off on her own so soon."

Natsu just gave her a deadpan look which reminded her of how much Wendy had been capable of accomplishing on her own. Lucy finally just gave up complaining once she saw that look on his face. She was over reacting and she knew it. Wendy was more than prepared for a simple mission like this. She just couldn't help but worry.

However at the same time Natsu was right. Lucy had wanted Wendy to test out her abilities in a real life situation. Lucy noticed that Erza, Gray and everyone else that managed to train had increased their magic levels. They were able to use magic for a longer period of time and the people in her team were using more advanced moves.

Erza for example started using different parts of her armor as needed during the grand magic games. It was an advanced move to be able to call upon specific parts of her armor and not the entire thing. It took a lot of control and the fact that she was able to do it in the middle of battle was amazing.

However first time anyone saw her do something like that was in the grand magic games. She mastered it after that time, when she had gotten her second origin. While she could do it now she still didn't seem as powerful as she had been then. Lucy spent a lot of time trying to figure out why even though everyones magic power had increased and they were using more advanced techniques they still weren't on the same level as they had been before.

Natsu was the one who pointed out that they didn't have the same experiences. Gray still had a lot of guilt over his past. Erza while she had made peace with Jellal and was waiting for her friends to come to her when they were ready still wasn't at the same level. She was far more powerful that was true but she wasn't as experienced. They hadn't learned the lessons that they learned the last time when they faced their past foes.

While they were upping their magic levels they needed more experience. Experience would only come from facing powerful opponents. None of them had been pushed to their limits and then forced to break those limits. You only really know how far you can go when you're pushed into a corner and forced to fight your way out. Moving past your limits, that pain, the fear and the determination to move onwards was something that none of them had experienced yet. It would be the reason why they weren't as powerful as they chould be yet.

Natsu and Lucy were trying to decide if they should take on more dangerous jobs. There were requests to take down dark guilds and groups of monsters. Some of these quests they hadn't taken the last time but honestly neither of them were completely sure which jobs they had taken. They remembered the big stuff but the day to day had them both at a loss.

Neither one of them wanted their friends to get hurt but a war was coming. They had some time and they had a lot of other enemies to deal with. The Balam Alliance consisted of three powerful guilds. All three guilds had been destroyed due to Fairy Tail. The battles had been bloody, painful but they ended in victory and many of their friends reached new levels. The only way to get stronger now was to defeat their enemies.

Levy and Juvia snapped Lucy out of her thoughts when both came to occupy her with some magazines and talk of their up and coming plans. They wanted to check out one of the spar resorts and Lucy thought it would be the perfect time to introduce Juvia to a couple other women in the guild.

It would also give Natsu and the rest of the guys the perfect opportunity to go do whatever they wanted to do to bond. While she knew that they would need more experience to truly put them on the same level they had been the last time she couldn't forget to enjoy life as much as she could as well.

They were all on a much higher level than they had been in the first timeline. If she were to guess, she would put their magic and experience levels somewhere around the oracion seis incident. They all needed to gain experience to move them onwards.

Meanwhile Wendy had already completed her part of the job. There was a Noble family who had been attacked by bandits and their daughter had been taken hostage. They already had a team that worked for the family as body guards to get the girl back but they lacked a tracker. They put in a request at the guilds for a mage who was able to using tracking magic.

It was obvious that the couple and the guards weren't sure what to think of the young girl who had answered their request. However Wendy held her head high just like mama did when people tried to look down on her. Carla walked at her side proud of how Wendy was handling the situation.

Wendy introduced herself to the couple and picked up a stuffed rabbit. The toy obviously belonged to the child that had been kidnapped. Wendy hadn't realized that the girl was so young but the toy was covered in her scent. She took a deep breath and once she had the scent memorized she was easily able to find the child.

She had stood aside and let the guards handle the kidnappers. They weren't even mages so Wendy didn't see the point in getting involved. Once they were done, they all returned to their employers and Wendy got her part of the reward. Carla smiled at Wendy who was gushing to her friend how well their job had gone and how proud her parents would be.

Wendy boarded a train back home. She sat quietly with Carla munching on some sandwiches, waiting to get back home to tell her parents how well the job went. Carla however noticed a man wearing a white suit staring at the young girl sitting next to her. The cat narrowed her eyes at him and he sent her a wicked smile.

"Now what's this that we have here? A little girl and her pet."

Wendy stared at the man in front of her. He had a cocky smile on his face and there was something in his eyes that warned her that he was not a nice man. He stared at her guild mark with hatred. Wendy nearly took a step backwards before realizing that her papa never backed down. She raised her chin in deviance, looked him in the eye and questioned him.

"What do you want from me?"

Both Wendy and Carla were proud when her voice came out loud and strong instead of the stuttering mess that it once would have been.

The man in white sent a kick flying in her direction and Wendy back flipped out of the way. She narrowed her eyes at him and his smile turned deadly.

"Fly. That's what we call people from legal guilds. You think you can take me on?"

Wendy centered herself and stared at him, "I don't want to fight you."

The man in front of her laughed, "Mages from legal guilds are trash. I take out the trash."

Wendy's eyes widened as she realized that the person in front of her was probably from a dark guild.

"Roar of the sky dragon."

The man's eyes widened as he disappeared into the shadows on the ground. This little girl had a lot more magic power than he first thought. When he reappeared, the lullaby flute fell out of his pocket and rolled onto the floor.

Wendy picked up the strange looking flute when the man in white sent out a stream of darkness while she was distracted. Wendy was trapped in a bubble made out of the shadows and the man stared at her with an ugly expression on his face.

She had seen the flute. Erigor would kill him if he let her go so he left her trapped in his shadow cage.

"Can't let you go now girlie. You saw the lullaby flute. We can't have you telling people what you've seen or it might mess up our plans." He said to the girl as she tried to escape the shadow cage.

Carla took to the air but Wendy shook her head before the man could see her friend. Wendy pointed to the window and gestured for her to go. Carla shook her head not wanting to leave her friend behind but Wendy took a deep breath and pointed out the window.

"Go to the guild." She mouthed to Carla and she understood.

Wendy didn't know what this man was planning but it was bigger than her. He wouldn't let her go easily so they would need back up. Carla burst through one of the trains windows and headed towards the guild at max speed.

Sometime later the train had been stopped and Kage met up with the rest of his guild. He explained to Erigor what happened and why he took the girl hostage however the man was not pleased. He knew that this would bring unwanted attention to their plans.

The girl was young which meant that someone would come looking for her soon. People always kept a closer eye on kids which meant that someone would notice when she didn't come home. They couldn't let her go and they couldn't just kill her. The death of a kid would cause mass hysteria and a man hunt for them.

"Erigor, do you think it's a good idea to take the little girl?" asked someone in the back of the crowd.

The man scrowled at him, "She's from a legal guild. If she went home she would have brought attention to our plans. She's young too that means that someone is going to come looking for her. Just because we unsealed the flute doesn't mean we can take any risks. We'll need to keep them occupied and she makes a good hostage."

The group boarded the stolen train and headed for their destination. This little girl and whoever came looking for her would not stand in the way of their plans.

Carla burst through the guild doors and landed on the ground painfully as her magic power had run out. She was exhausted and took several deep breaths to try and catch her breath.

"Carla?" questioned Happy.

"They took Wendy." Cried the white cat and several people gasped.

"Who took Wendy?" asked Levy but Lucy and Natsu were already walking out the door anger pouring off them both in waves. It made Cana feel a little bad for the moron that took the sweet girl. Who knew that Natsu of all people would be this protective? Then again it did sort of fit his personality.

"Some guy with black hair who used shadow magic. He attacked Wendy when he saw her guild mark. They fought and when some flute fell out of his pocket he trapped her in a shadow cage. He said that he couldn't let her go because she had seen the flute."

Lucy scrowled, "Erigor and his guild."

Gray and Erza immediately fell into step with them, "I heard some rumors about the dark guild Eisenwald and their Ace Erigor. They were rumors that they were planning something but with no other information I was going to wait for the Master to return. Are you sure this is him?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow towards her, "He already left for the Meeting?"

Erza nodded and both Natsu and Lucy shared a look. This was something else that had changed. The last time they found out about lullaby because Erza came across the information on her way home from an S-class request.

They hadn't known that the real target was the Masters at the meeting until the very last minute. The lullaby monster was one of the weaker monsters they had faced. The last time they faced the creature they were easily able to overcome it. In fact, if Lucy remembered correctly she never attacked the creature. She hadn't been powerful enough or had any spirits that could have helped back then.

However they weren't sure why Erigor had taken Wendy hostage or why he had targeted the train station. The last time he went there with his army because Natsu had been on the train. He had seen the flute and Erigor hasn't wanted to take the risk of them following him. That wasn't completely different. Wendy saw the flute as well. The only reason Natsu got off the train was because Erza had come looking for him. It was possible that Kage took Wendy hostage because no one came to get her off the train before he could try anything else.

"Erigor seeks to destroy the train station. If he destroys the railway line no one would be able to cross the canyon. It cuts the masters off from anyone trying to help them. It had been his plan the last time as well however we got in the way."

Lucy always had an answer for him. Natsu couldn't help but appreciate the fact that his wife was smart enough to figure out their enemies plans. Natsu however couldn't help but be pissed. They took his daughter for their dumb plan. He was going to burn them all alive.

Once they boarded the train, Carla described the flute and Lucy remembered that the last time Erza didn't know what the flute did. All she had learned was that the members of a dark guild were looking for some sort of dangerous artifact.

"That sounds like lullaby." Said Lucy and Gray raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"I read about it in books. Lullaby is a death magic. A song of death, if you play the flute anyone who hears it will die. It was supposedly sealed away and no one knew where it was but it is possible that they found it."

Erza grimaced, it sounded exactly like something that Erigor would like to get his hands on. He made most of his money by doing assassination requests. The entire guild of Eisenwald was dedicated to doing nothing more than killing or stealing.

Team Natsu arrived at the station quickly where Wendy had been taken hostage. There they learned that the dark guild Eisenwald had already stolen a train and were driving towards an unknown destination. The army had gone been deployed to get the situation under control.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Gray and Erza stared at the railway.

"We follow the train. Where ever they stop the train is probably where they will play lullaby."

Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Carla and Happy squeezed into a car with Erza driving and Lucy couldn't help but sigh once Natsu was hunched over and nauseous. Honestly, she was going to have Wendy find an enchantment better than Troia. This weakness was just sad to watch and completely inconvenient.

It didn't take them long to find the train station that Erigor and his friends had set up shop in. Before Erza could move inside Lucy caught her arm, "I don't believe that they would just use that magic here. There isn't any point in killing all these innocent people. Its possible that they're just using this place as a diversion. We get Wendy and then we get that flute."

Erza and Gray nodded their heads and Erza smiled slightly. It was highly possible that this was a diversion and it was something that she had overlooked in light of the situation.

Erigor greeted them as soon as they burst through the doors. Natsu kept one ear on the conversation between Erza and Erigor and his eyes on Wendy. She was being held inside a shadow cage in the center of the room.

Natsu felt his hands catch fire, "Let my daughter go ya bastard."

The dark haired man stared at him before sending out streams of shadows to attack Natsu. He burned them away with a flick of his wrist. Several people scrowled and Erigor chose that as the perfect time to disappear into thin air.

Erza scrowled at the place where Erigor had just been and cried out, "Natsu, Gray follow him."

Natsu on the other hand shook his head to her, "Not leaving my daughter here Erza."

After Natsu spoke he sent out a stream of fire from his hand that broke Wendy out her shadow cage easily. They smiled at each other and Natsu headed in the direction that he saw Erigor flying off too.

"Wendy you're with me." He called out over his shoulder.

The girl nodded her head and was immediately joined in the sky by Carla. Gray, Natsu and Wendy went after Erigor while Lucy and Erza faced the rest of the guild. Kage and Rayure decided to follow them.

Erza didn't waste any time. The fact that Erigor was so willing to leave just proved that Lucy was probably correct about all this being a diversion. She immediately hit them with her circle swords taking out half the people in the room. Lucy changed into the Taurus stardress and flicked her whip creating an earth wave which resembled a mini earthquake.

Some of the members that managed to avoid their first attack, jumped over their unconscious members sending out blasts of magic. Erza requipped and there were mutters that they were facing the Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Lucy couldn't help but smile at the name knowing that eventually Erza had accepted the title.

Lucy changed into her Star Dress Sagittarius and sent out three star shots that destroyed the mages that were going to attack Erza from the back. Lucy almost smiled. This was easier than she remembered.

Lucy was a little shocked that it had taken them less than ten minutes to finish them all off. However Erza called upon a lot of swords and Lucy's earth wave attack was a lot stronger than using Cancer. She loved her spirit but Cancer was never one of her most aggressive spirits. He didn't like to fight much even though he always did his best.

Erza however didn't even seem to need time to take a breather. Probably because this time her magic reserves were much larger and she wasn't as drained at the end of the fight. The two women took off to try and find Erigor.

Meanwhile Kage was facing off against Natsu and Gray was fighting Rayure. Natsu knew what Erigor was planning and he already told her to follow after him since she could fly as well. He was pretty sure that they would get caught in the wind wall but Wendy would go after Erigor. He wasn't happy with it but he was pretty sure that Wendy would kick his ass or at least hold off against him until he got there.

He punched Kage extra hard in the teeth for taking his daughter before Lucy and Erza caught up to them. While Erza explained to Gray that they were trapped in the wind wall and Gray explained who the true target was, Kage was once more nearly killed by his own guild mate. Lucy opened Virgo's gate and she dug them out in less than half the time it took in the other timeline.

Honestly Natsu thought it was more than a little anti climatic how little effort was needed in this mess. Happy took him in the direction that Wendy headed in and once he got there he decided to sit back and watch. Wendy didn't really seem to need any help yet.

Erigor noticed the blue haired girl following after him and send of a wave of wind that she seemed to duck under. They landed on the canyon and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"What are you planning to do all the way out here?"

He laughed at her naivety, "The guild masters conference is here little girl. Those old geezers are the reason why my guild was excommunicated. They're the reason we're hunted."

Wendy's eyes narrowed. This man was planning on killing the Master. The old man that welcomed her to his guild and accepted her as his child. The man that waged because her mama was hurt. He didn't have to do that. He didn't need to fight to defend her. Lucy was a new guild member but he was willing to wage war on those who harmed her. He protected them and this man was going to hurt him for some stupid reason.

"You're blaming them for your crimes. You knew that killing people was against the law and you broke that law. You're nothing but a little child throwing a tantrum because you didn't get your way. In the real world, when you break the law you pay the price. Take responsibility for your crimes."

Erigor growled low in his throat, "Little bitch. Disappear."

A mini-tornado appeared trapping her inside it. Wendy grit her teeth and called her wind to protect her. She withstood his attack, before sending out her wind to cut through his attack and once it disappeared she roared in his direction. Erigor's eyes widened, the little girl was far more powerful than he thought and she was able to use wind magic. He took to the air to avoid her roar but Wendy saw it coming.

She chased him through the air sending attacks after him until he wrapped the wind around him. Erigor gloated about her not being able to beat his storm mail since none of her attacks would hit him now.

Natsu was joined by the rest of his team by that time. Erza and Gray looked up at Wendy, "Should we help her?"

Natsu shook his head, "She can beat him. I know she can."

Lucy bit her lip as she watched the two mages in the sky. A flash of golden hair caught Wendy's eye and she knew that her parents were there and they weren't doing anything. She looked down and locked eyes with her papa. Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. He would help her. All she had to do was ask for his help and he would attack. They all would but she didn't want to do that.

Wendy bit her lip. She didn't want to ask for help yet she wanted to beat Erigor on her own. She wanted to protect the Master the way her protected her and her family. Wendy stared at him and the wind that surrounded him before grinning. She could win this and she knew how.

Papa fought with brute strength. He was strong enough to go through his opponents no matter what but her mama fought smart. She didn't have the same brute strength but she planned her attacks. She didn't have to out muscle him. He was more experienced using magic offensively. All she needed to do was send out a series of well-planned attacks and she would win.

Wendy took a deep breath and started to pull the wind towards her. She had been flying for a long time. It had been the longest she had spent in the air and she was tiring but she was also a dragon slayer. That meant that she could refuel in the middle of a fight as long as she had her element around her. Air was always around her.

Natsu and Lucy grinned as Erigor's shield started to crumble as their daughter ate it. Wendy smiled at the dumbstruck look on his face, "Thanks for the meal."

Erigor took a step back when Wendy smiled, "Dragon slayers secret art – Sky drill."

Erza and Gray stared opened mouthed at the young girl in front of them. She had created a cyclone and trapped Erigor inside it. Once the wall of wind fell Erigor was left unconscious inside a crater. Everyone converged around the young girl congratulating her on doing so well. While everyone was caught up in Wendy's win, Kage snuck away with Lullaby.

Lucy resisted the urge to face palm. She actually forgot that happened. She couldn't help but feel like they should have just left the guy on the floor. He didn't die the last time. They gave him emergency treatment. He would have survived. She sighed as they once again took off to the Master where they would probably have to fight lullaby. However Erza, Gray and Natsu were barely bruised. It wouldn't take much to take down the flute.

As soon as they saw the Master she knew that Master Bob would not allow them to stop Kage. Natsu knew that the master would succeed however the flute was living magic. It had a consciousness of its own and it would attack on its own. However they were soon distracted by Master Bob until they heard the flute start ranting.

It took Lucy a minute to remember that the flute was talking. She forgot how annoying that bloody monster was. It wasn't that powerful. It hadn't taken them long to defeat it without her help and all of them had been low on power at the time. Wendy however was tired and worn out so Lucy gestured for her to go stand with Master Makarov and the others.

Natsu, Gray and Erza were already beating the shit out of the monster. However when her husband started to raise the temperature of his flames Lucy remembered what happened the last time they took down Lullaby. They destroyed the meeting hall and it resulted in a lot of problems. She refused to let them do that much damage again. The flute had already destroyed a mountain and sent the knights running for the hills.

Lucy requipped the Libra key to her hand and changed into her star dress to match the spirit. A monster this large would require more power. She was sure that Libra could do it but she would need some help. It wouldn't be hard for the both of them.

"Erza keep it busy for a minute." Called out Lucy.

"Gray give Natsu a boost." She called out and both Gray and Natsu nodded at each other.

Gray's hands started to ice over as he created a giant hammer. Natsu jumped off the flutes shoulder towards the hammer, hitting it feet first. Gray swung the hammer giving Natsu an extra boost and launching him into the air. Lucy and Libra changed the flutes gravity, the creature was huge and it took more power than she expected. She knew it would be hard but this was actually surprising. It was almost like the monster was trying to resist the gravity change.

Lucy grinned once Natsu was high enough she dropped Lullaby. The monster was not expecting to be dropped so suddenly and went crashing back towards the earth. Natsu set his entire body on fire, meeting Lullaby halfway in the sky smashing it to pieces without destroying anything on the land.

Actually Lucy would be surprised if anything got damaged since she launched both her husband and the monster far into the sky. She could already see him falling down and she caught him using gravity magic from Libra. She set him down gently and Natsu was already chuckling.

Master Bob stared at Lucy, "You are a celestial spirit mage."

He had not seen this magic since Karen died. He knew that the woman wasn't the kindest out there but she didn't deserve to die. He knew that she soon got caught up in the crowd and in the fame and started treating her spirits as tools. He had been so disappointed in her. He once had such high hopes for her but he also noticed when she changed.

Master Bob had truly believed that she knew better than that. In fact he was sure that she knew what she was doing was wrong. Karen just didn't care anymore as long as she was seen as powerful. She hadn't always been that cruel but it happened sometimes. More times than he cared to remember. The fame of being a mage would change people and it had happened to Karen.

Lucy nodded at him, "I am."

He stared at her for another moment lost in thought. The mage in front of him didn't seem to be like Karen at all. Her spirit was still standing beside her but there was something in the way that the spirit held itself. It was protective even though the danger had passed. The spirit cared about the mage who called her. It seemed like this mage was far more compassionate than Karen had been.

"You are far more powerful than any other celestial spirit mage I have ever seen. Never have I seen the technique that allows the mage to take on the power of the spirit."

Lucy smiled gently at him, "It's called Star Dress Master Bob."

Libra on the other hand stared at the man, "Star dress cannot be learned. It is gifted to a mage by the Celestial Spirit King. The last user who was blessed by this technique was Anna Heartfilia. She was one of the most powerful stellar mages in history. She set the record of opening three golden gates. A record which had been broken by her descendant."

Makarov's eyes widened at the information. Stellar magic was not something he had much knowledge of. Unlike Master Bob he couldn't remember the last time he had a stellar mage in his guild.

"Would you not get into trouble for that information? I know it is against Stellar laws to give out information on key holders." Asked Goldmine.

Libra shook her head, "Anna Heartfilia is one of the most popular and well-known mages in both our worlds. The information I have given you could have easily been found in any book about stellar magic. I cannot answer questions like which spirits she was contracted too but this is general information."

Libra smiled at Lucy, "I shall return now."

Libra disappeared in a flash of golden light and Master Bob smiled, "Your name child?"

"Lucy. Lucy Dragneel." She replied and the man's jaw suddenly dropped.

"Dragneel? Like Natsu Dragneel? The Fire Dragon Slayer?" asked Goldmine.

Master Makarov chuckled, the other masters knew a lot about his brats. Mirajane, Erza, Laxus, Natsu and many others had grown up in the guild. The other masters had been there as they grew into their power and Natsu was a powerful mage. He had a reputation as the Salamander as well.

Natsu walked over to Lucy and Master Bob in time to hear her reply, "Hai. Natsu is my husband. My maiden name is Heartfilia."

Goldmine's jaw dropped, "Like the heiress?"

Lucy blushed and looked away, "Hai."

The man looked at them in shock as many of the other masters all looked towards Makarov to ask him when Natsu had married and why no one knew about it. The master sighed, everyone had already forgotten about lullaby and by tomorrow everyone would know that Natsu had married someone.