I'm honestly surprised how quickly this chapter came together, but it was a lot of fun to write. I've always wanted to try my hand at writing this concept/idea (trying not to spoil anything), and I'm thrilled that it fit so well into this story. Please let me know what you think! Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 11

After running home to gather their things, the group reconvened at the train station. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long, and they were piling into their seats. Lucy slid in first taking up her position by the window gazing out. She'd been fairly quiet, and everyone was giving her some space. They all knew the fight with Natsu and her team was weighing on her, and she needed some time to sort it out. However, this didn't stop Laxus from plopping down next to her and using her as a pillow. She didn't object keeping her silent reverie focused on the window, and idly started rubbing her fingers through his hair. The Ranjishu took up the seats across from them, and Levy, Lily, and Gajeel filled up the seats across the aisle. Gajeel leaned into Levy trying to make it seem casual, but the train affected him much like it did the other dragon slayers. The three of them did share a surprised glance at Laxus and Lucy's behavior and how they seemed so comfortable with one another.

Before long, they were arriving at a small town where the letter was addressed from. The directions from Lady Christine said to follow the main road out of town for a couple miles, and they would find Camron's place. The group kept idle chatter to fill the silence, but Lucy was wound tight, nervous about what they were going to learn.

As they approached a two story house with old fashioned architecture and landscaping that was in desperate need of some work, Lucy slowed dropping behind the group. Laxus could practically smell her anxiety and slowed down to join her. She was basically stopped when Laxus said, "Won't ease any of your pain by just standing here." She gulped and looked up at him. Her dark brown eyes were shining, swimming with emotion. For a moment, Laxus was transfixed, and he found his hand twitching to reach out to her. Instead, he just said, "Whatever, we find out. We will figure it out. Together."

Lucy looked up and nodded at him, her eyes stealing over with determination. She walked past everyone and rang the doorbell. For a moment, there was nothing. Then came a loud crash from behind the door. Lucy cast a worried glanced at everyone. Gajeel just shrugged pushing past her and kicked the door down. The whole group braced for a fight searching for the source of the sound, but they were all brought up short by what they found. Mountains of books were everywhere. The entire house was lined with bookshelves, but as many of those were extremely over packed, the books had started to accumulate on the floor into piles. They glanced into the side rooms only to find more of the same. There were desks covered in papers and scrolls, but all were too cluttered to actually be usable. Despite the fact it was extremely over packed, Freed and Levy found it was still extremely organized. Each pile was sorted by topic and then by author. The stacks of similar topics were closer together, and the organization was extremely methodical. Freed and Levy were practically drooling, and it took Gajeel and Evergreen to focus the pair.

Lucy and Laxus had wandered back into the farthest room which was oval and reached to the peak of the house. The whole room matched the rest of the house, but with one exception. A wiry man with large circular glasses and hair standing on end was extracting himself from a mountain of books that had fallen over on top of him. Lucy rushed forward to help him up. The man was bent holding his back mumbling about his old bones. Just as Lucy reached him to give him a hand, he threw himself backwards nearly crashing his head into Lucy's face and bent over backwards. There were several loud pops that had Laxus wincing. The man let out a slow breath and eased back to a regular upright position with a satisfied smile, "Ahhh much better, now…"

Lucy recovered quickly holding out her hand, "Sorry, we just barged in. We heard a crash and…" The man waved her off going to peruse the pile of books that had fallen onto him. He immediately set to getting them back upright and in order. Lucy gave Laxus a look. He shrugged, so she tried again, "My name is Lu-"

"Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the late Layla and Jude Heartfilia. Member of Fiore's Fairy Tail Guild. Magic type: Celestial. Your companion is the lightning dragon slayer, second generation, Laxus Dreyar son of Ivan Dreyar, grandson of Makarov Dreyar the current master of Fairy Tail. He's the head of the Ranjishu who are also known as the Thunder God Tribe who I predict are also wandering around my house somewhere," the man said his back still to them as he heaved the pile of books back into formation. After smiling at his work, he turned to them. "Sorry, Chrissy said you'd be coming, not that I wouldn't know who you are from the looks of ya." He meandered over to a desk which was surprisingly spacious compared to the rest of the house. It had only two stacks of books and several stacks of papers strewn across it. "Oh right, I'm Camron which I'd hoped you'd figured out already. I'm slightly confused as to why you're here though. Everything you should need was in that letter."

Lucy blushed slightly ashamed, "The letter was destroyed before I could read it all. I was hoping you could fill me in on what the rest of it said."

"Hmm shame," Camron said, but shrugged, "I guess Fairy Tail's destructiveness isn't legendary for nothing."

At that, Lucy turned even redder knowing her team, or ex-team, was the cause of most of it. There was a pang of grief at the thought of it being her ex-team, but she shoved it away. She had to focus. "I had done quite a bit of my own research at the library in Crocus, and I think we were coming to the same conclusions."

"Obtain a core, forge a key." Camron said nodding at her excited. He loved rare magics and new concepts pertaining to magic. This was all a theory, but for two separate people to reach it was exciting, especially when one of them was a competent practitioner of said rare magic. Laxus scoffed as if to say, 'Oh is that all?' which earned a glare from the other two, so he took a step back giving them space.

"I was hoping you could elaborate a bit," Lucy started. "I've got the basic idea down, but I don't really even know what the core is."

Camron smiled at her happy to share his knowledge. He frantically flipped through the largest and oldest tome on his desk, "This book is old folklore pertaining to the start of the world. Many believe it to be myths and legends, but if you look at them you can see there is quite a bit of truth in it." As he flipped through, there were giant winged creature spouting fire, water, and many other different elements. Lucy smiled down realizing that he was right. If dragons were in this book, other aspects could be true. He flipped forward a few more pages and found an extremely intricate drawing. Camron turned the page towards her seeing what she made of it.

In the top left, Lucy saw what appeared to be an artist's rendition of the sun and the earth. Surrounding and almost coming from the earth were the dragons. One larger dragon seemed to almost be the sun itself towering above all of the creation. Next to this fading into a darker, but still captivating portion in the upper right she saw what looked like the moon and the stars. In the middle stood a large figure with a star on his forehead and a long beard reaching about half way down his body. Behind him she could almost make out several of the major constellations. The top half made her happy and filled her with joy. Lucy couldn't explain it, but as she followed the drawing down to the lower parts she found the gentle calm of night fading to a dark foreboding of shadows and darkness. It felt like the moment that Hades had shown them the Abyss of Magic back on Tenrou. There were dark creatures and red eyes that seemed to stare into her soul causing Lucy to shiver slightly.

After looking back to Camron he nodded in understanding her emotions to the drawing. "It comes with a story, one of the oldest stories of the creation of our world. In the beginning, there were three realms. Each kept to themselves. The first was the dragons. With their many different elements, they created the land, the seas, and the living world all of which was overseen by the Great Dragon. The second was the heavens, the stars, the moons, and all of the supreme beings ruled by one, the Celestial King. The final realm was the land of demons and darkness. The creatures that destroy and eat away at all living things resided there shying away from the light of the Celestial King and the power of the Great Dragon." Camron pointed to the drawing as he explained each of the three realms.

"While the dragons and the celestials got along and even occasionally interacted, the demon realm was never allowed in. Eventually, this created conflict and war broke out among the different nations. Over many thousands of years, the dragons and the celestials were able to force the demons back into darkness with the help of the creatures they had nurtured which we now know as humans. It was decided that the humans would reside in the realm the dragons had created naming it Earthland. After using all of their great power, the Celestial King and the Great Dragon fell into a deep slumber to allow them to recover the power they had utilized during the war. For many years, the humans and dragons resided together peacefully, with the dragons overseeing the humans keeping the peace. However, the humans' lifespan was much shorter than the celestials and the dragons, and they found themselves forgetting their origins as warriors and protectors of the lands and wished to own the lands for themselves tired of being ruled by the dragons. They eventually turned on and fought the dragons. The dragons in turn became angry and started wiping them out in mass. The celestials did not agree with this as they were still highly revered by the humans and even thought of as gods. Many of the celestials fell from the heavens to come to the humans' aide forsaking their duties as protectors of the heavens and fought against the dragons."

"Watching these wars from the shadows, the demons waited patiently stirring the pot, but never fully coming out of their haven. The barrier the Celestial King and Great Dragon had created limited their power, but as more celestials left their posts and more dragons died in the fighting the barrier weakened. Over time, the barrier finally fell, and the demons descended upon Earthland. They turned the wars into chaos, and the groups were all fractured more. Some celestials ended up joining the demons in the conquering of humans, while others joined the dragons. The humans were used as tools as the deities fought for power."

"Finally awakening from the slumber, the Spirit King and the Great Dragon wept to see what had become of their great nations. The called together their most loyal supporters to help them end the pain and suffering. Together, with his thirteen generals the Spirit King rid the world of the fallen stars and pulled their names out of the skies never to be seen or heard from again. No celestials were left remaining in Earthland. The Great Dragon with his five generals eased the conflicts between humans and dragons wiping any dragons out who refused the Great Dragon's word."

"Then together, the Spirit King and the Great Dragon pushed back as one against the demons forcing them back into their realm of darkness. After all the fighting was completed, both sides took time to mourn all those that were lost as many were friends and family, and while the generals never regretted serving their kings the price was killing those they once had held dear. The Great Dragon and Spirit King created new rules and boundaries to ensure this wouldn't happen again. The dragons decided to dwell with humans once more to teach magic to those they found worthy to fight and keep the peace. They became known as the Dragon Warriors. After completing their missions, the dragons would rest while observing the course of the world only to interfere by choosing new humans to take over the mantle of Dragon Warrior. Seeing that this was good, the Great Dragon receded back to his place of rest to continually shed his power and energy over the world ensuring it continued to prosper. While the dragons stayed, the celestials returned to their realm and watched over their dragon friends and humans from the skies all the while using their celestial light to keep back the waves of darkness that still tried to creep back into Earthland. They helped their dragon friends in their mission by creating bonds with the humans to protect the light and help them fight the darkness that managed to seep in. Those that they chose would battle by the Dragon Warriors serving to guide and help them keep darkness at bay. Unlike the Dragon King, the Celestial King chose to take a more active role ashamed that some of his own celestials had joined the demons and chose to watch over the contracts of the celestials ensuring that no celestials harmed humans again."

Camron finished and looked at the group before him. During his story, the others had joined them. Everyone stayed quiet absorbing the information. After a few moments, Camron continued, "I believe this story holds many clues for you, Miss Lucy."

Lucy looked at him shocked still not sure what to say, so Laxus pipes up, "You mean to say a myth is going to help us?" He was skeptical.

Camron smiles ready to prove his point, "A myth that already explains many other things."

Laxus raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Levy jumps in first, "How do we know which myth to use then? I've read many very similar to that."

Camron nods to her excited for another avid reader to have joined them. "The exact story may differ, but there are a few details that are the same in all of them. First, there are five dragon generals. Two, there are thirteen celestial generals. Three, the Dragon King continues to shed his power and energy to Earthland." He looked at Lucy excited as understanding crossed her face.

"The thirteen generals wouldn't happen to be the twelve Zodiacs and the black thirteenth key?" Lucy stated more than asked. Camron nodded.

Freed spoke up next, "The five dragon generals would be fire and sky…" He drew a blank on what the other three would be.

Camron nodded, "The illustration gives us more clues. He points to the beams of light over the earth: light magic. He points to the parts the light couldn't reach: shadow magic. Rulers of the day and of the night always diligent to keep the demons at bay."

"Then the fifth dragon..." Levy started.

Gajeel cut her off, "The dragon of metal." Everyone looked at him skeptically not being a base element, but he spoke up before they could protest. "In some of the stories, one of the generals teaches the humans to fight not with magic, but with weapons or metal." Everyone looked at him skeptically, "What?" He shrugs, "I read." Levy smiles up at him proudly, but he just folds his arms and acts disinterested again.

Camron nods at him nearly giddy with excitement. "I'd come to much the same conclusion as you. It also explains how humans were able to advance so quickly with infrastructure and technology."

Lucy spoke up finally, "So the stories have these common elements. But how does that help me specifically? With the core and Aquarius's key? And you still haven't told me what the core is."

"Ah, yes. So, the last part is the Dragon King's essence that spreads across Earthland. While some think this is why Earthland has an endless amount of magical energy, unlike other realms or lands,"

"Oh, like Edolas!" Lucy exclaims fitting the pieces together cutting off all of Camron's thought.

Camron's eyes bug out, "You mean you've heard of Edolas?"

"Heard of it? I've been there," Lucy said and Gajeel nodded in agreement.

Lily pipped up, "I'm originally from Edolas."

Camron starts to freak out scrambling for a pen and paper, "Oh my gosh! I need to take notes. First person accounts are so rare!" Laxus clears his throat to which Camron straightens up his eyes still hungry for new information, "Of course, after we finish here. Anyway, along with the endless supply of magic, my research has led me to believe that this energy also comes down in a tangible form during specific celestial events. Due to the close relationship between the two kings, I believe this is them combining their power and gifting it to the humans they deem worthy. However, only two have ever been found and both are tied to and hidden by major historical events."

"So it's basically just a ball of power?" Bixlow asks. "Won't that be huge?"

Camron shakes his head. "I don't believe it's large or at least it doesn't have to be. There was one civilization that thrived for many decades while utilizing a core embedded into the blade of his sword. I believe his sword was called Excalibur. After the hero's death, the blade went missing fabled to return again at the rise of a new king. In reality, I believe the hero used the blade and the core to perform extraordinary feats and eventually used up all of the power. A new core appearing is what the people were truly waiting for."

"So it can run out of energy then?" Evergreen asked disheartened.

"Oh yes. The two kings wouldn't be foolish enough to give us an unlimited power source. We were a major part of the problem during the wars," Camron said.

"So if the sword is one of the two major events. What's the other?" Freed asked.

"Have any of you heard of the Saigonoshinpan?" Camron asked. Levy, Lucy, and Freed all paled having come across it in their readings.

Bixlow spoke up, "Okay braniacs, share with the rest of us please."

Levy started it off, "It literally translates to Doomsday in the old languages."

Freed went on, "It is the name of a string of the most catastrophic natural disasters to ever hit Earthland."

Lucy finished off their brief explanation, "These disasters reshaped Earthland tearing entire continents apart, submerging others, and leaving others as ruined fragments of what they were before."

"And all of these events can be tied to one epicenter that geologists discovered a decade ago where a civilization was known to preside that had power rumored to be much like that which would be granted by a core. It's safe to say whatever they used or were using the core for had catastrophic consequences. So before we go any further, Lucy, I have a question for you." Camron turned to her, eyes serious meeting her gaze, "Is seeking the core truly something worth risking all of Earthland for?"