Reviews are Nice; The pairings are NOT decided yet. I get people like Vander/Lucy, I like them too, they're adorable when she's sassy and keeps up with him, but...I really don't know if they will get together or if it will be a friendship...or how far this darkness is going to go.

I don't own Fairy Tail. Mashima Does.

I don't own the Pradesh Clan. Desna does (and thank you for them).

I own the Storyline. That's it.

This is a Happy Thanksgiving for all of my Readers.

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Lucy sighed as she floated in that strange 'nothingness' again and looked around. The blonde mumbled to herself, "…fucking really?"

She started and whipped around as she heard a chuckle and blinked as she saw the strange dragonman again, "uh…hi?"

"Back again, little one?" The bi-colored eyes looked amusedly at her and one eyebrow slowly arched.

Lucy scowled a bit and pointed at him but her eyes were distracted by her arm and the golden patterns curling over it. She looked to her other arm and saw similar ones in a slightly writhing black over her other arm, "…uh…this…is new…"

Shinryu looked more amused at her actions than anything and walked towards her, "walk with me." His large hand rested on the small of her back and he lead her through the strange darkness.

Lucy frowned at the command, feet moving as she was lead through the darkness, "…where am I?"

"The Palace of the Four Gods," Came another voice as walls seemed to come out of nowhere around Lucy. White marble shone from within, small veins of red, blue, gold and green curling through it, catching her eyes and making her take in a shocked gasp of air. She half started as a set of doors seemed to part, revealing a large room that held four large and very different seating areas, each luxurious in their own right.

Her brown eyes were wide as she looked around, taking in the opulent area around them and stared at the man that was lounged over an ornate throne. His ebony hair flowed down his black silk and leather clad body. She took in his pale skin, refined features and his amber eyes that seemed to have red glowing flecks in them, "…oh, my…"

The man rose slowly and his lips quirked into a small grin, "So…this is the Little One, Old Friend?"

Now that she could see better, she turned to her 'guide' and her mind went blank for a moment. While she had figured there were plenty of muscles before, the lack of full lighting had only highlighted at most a quarter of his features. She couldn't help but let her eyes rove over the muscled chest and arms, the long hair that cascaded down his back. She wasn't even aware she was studying him and walking around him until she heard two chuckles and blinked, "oh…sorry."

"No, please continue, I've not seen him be taken in by curious and hungry looking eyes in a long while," The second male slowly walked towards her, long fingers reaching out and gently taking Lucy's face. His fingers were soft against her skin, but she could feel calluses…some that she shared because she had worked with a whip after Virgo had gifted her the Fleuve d'étoiles. He let out a pensive sound, "she's easy on the eyes. The markings on her arms are…unique."

The other male snorted softly, "those are new." He moved to take a seat in a plush circle of pillows, lounging out, "she's powerful, more so now…that the second branch of the tapestry was proven true, not the first." He looked at the other spirit, waiting until their eyes met and grinned.

The grin sent shivers down her spine and she looked between them, curious, but wary, "I'm sorry…but…what?"

The second man let her face go and then moved back to his throne, settling back and reclining across it, "mm, I feel that, the second one...is interesting though. The marks though…I wasn't aware…unless it is a branch in the second tapestry…?"

"They always did search for that….so it may very well be another branch..."

Lucy was getting more and more annoyed as the two ignored her…and obviously were talking about something without giving all the details, "excuse me…?" Both sets of eyes landed on her and she couldn't help but squirm, "uh…"

The two males chuckled as they relaxed and then the blue skinned one slowly sighed, "Should we?"

"mmm, do you think she could?"

"Possibly."

There it was: the annoying starting to rise again as her emotions bristled. She took a breath and crossed her arms on her chest, "talking about someone in front of them is rude."

"So is unexpectedly coming into our home," Shinryu spoke firmly, a slightly smug smirk on his lips as the blonde's face turned red.

The other chuckled softly, "now, now. It takes a special sort of person to do that."

There was another voice that purred from an alcove, "A pure heart, a pure soul…"

Lucy spun and her mind went blank again for a moment as she saw the man that slowly emerged. His hair was a silvery white and beads and crystals at the ends of some parted strands, otherwise it floated freely around the refined features. Her eyes traced the other, taking in the armor with a sheer chest area and she swore there was a piercing in his naval. Her eyes traveled back up him as his arms slowly moved to brush hair out of his face, revealing sharp eyes that were a grayish-yellow, slitted like a cat; the movement made her eyes catch the claws that tipped his hands and then the slightly pointed ears. Her face went bright red as words spilled from her mouth, "what is it with always being around hot, sexy tall guys?!"

All three chuckled, but the newcomer spoke, "I like her."

"we were thinking…"

"…he was thinking," The porcelain skinned one spoke.

"Ahem, perhaps we should…." The dragonman spoke, trailing off and giving a slight shrug.

The white haired male looked at her and she absently took a step back as he stalked towards her. There was no other way to describe it than stalking; the movements were fluid, graceful…and deadly. "…if she can find and liberate Genbu. I will cast my vote to this strange endeavor."

"wait, what?" Lucy looked at all three, half confused, half curious and she huffed, "and what about these marks? Do you three know anything?!"

"Hush, Little one," Shinryu smirked, "time to wake up."

"NO! no! you can't do-"

The three relaxed and then chuckled, "So...really? you think she's the one worthy?"

"yes, I think she's worthy of holding our keys," The dragonman shrugged, "she's kind, a bit flighty, but..."

"The bonding or whatever happened is a plus," The dark haired man spoke, looking at his nails and starting to clean them with a dagger, "she's got potential."

~)~)~)~

Lucy shot up in the bed, yelling, "-can't do this!" she blinked as she heard a startled yell and looked around her. Well, that was awkward. She smiled as she sat there, "uh…Hi? How…long was I out?"

Cristoff stared at her for a long moment, as if trying to gauge her. He took a breath as he sat there and then shook his head. Nothing seemed too off as he gently hovered a hand over her chest, "you've slept for two days.."

"that…seems normal with them," Lucy let out a low murmur as she brought a hand to her lips and hummed.

Cristoff arched an eyebrow, "them? I thought you said it was one before."

Lucy looked at Cristoff for a moment and pursed her lips, "…it was more this time…" she sighed softly "but…I didn't feel like I was in danger." She held a hand up, "don't worry about it." Brown eyes were firm as they looked into deep blue and Lucy took a breath, "just…don't worry."

"you know that's not going to happen," Cristoff looked at her with an arched eyebrow. He leaned forward, "are you going to tell me or do I have to go get Kaleb?"

Lucy leaned back and mumbled as she brought a hand up, putting it on Cris' face and slowly pushing him gently back, "later. Not now. I have to process."

"…so we'll know about it when you decide to stupidly act?" Kaleb arched an eyebrow as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom.

"Oh, my fucking Stars, Legolas," Lucy snarled as she looked at the door, "I've got…"

"Lucy," Kaleb looked at her with a soft look, "Talk to us."

Lucy debated as she sat there, then her hands went to her lap. She played with her nails absently as she ducked her line of vision. The markings weren't there now, so she assumed it had something to do with where she had been to make them show up. She let out a faint sigh as she sat there, and then slowly let her mental barriers down. Her eyes closed as she took a breath and then recalled what had, for her, just happened.

She didn't want to look up, not sure what the reaction would be, but eventually, her nerves got the better of her and she looked up at Kaleb. She couldn't read his eyes and saw he was thinking, "…Kaleb?"

The mindbender moved to slowly sit on the edge of her bed, sharing the information he was getting with Cris and Xally, knowing the two would be some of the best help for this, "Leo said…that Zen may have…bonded to you in the small bath."

"and he's been tightlipped since, hasn't he?" She gave a faint, if slightly amused, smile to the mindbender.

Kaleb arched an eyebrow, "of course he has. We've not heard a single mewl from that overgrown cat."

Lucy let out a soft laugh and brought her hand up to her mouth before shaking her head, "now the marks…make a bit more sense." She brought a hand up, lightly rubbing at her neck, "so…ancient magic shenanigans?"

Both Pradesh brothers chuckled and repeated the phrase before she let her head fall back, "…sometimes, I think my magic can be a pain."

Cristoff chuckled, "well…we've got a lot to do, not a lot of time…and someone's got the guildmaster games to prep for…"

The three sat there for a moment before Kaleb's eyes went wide, "Emi…"

Lucy frowned, "Emi?"

Cristoff frowned, "she's away from eve…oh, no…don't tell me…"

Kaleb's lips frowned, "of course he would hunt her down…even if she said not to..."

Lucy sighed softly and mumbled, "another…failure? Had high hopes for this one, they seemed so compatible..." When Kaleb gave a small nod, lucy waved a hand, "go, go get her. I'll…get my butt in gear and go to the kitchen…this will require…chocolate cake. To start. Cris, go with him." When the two started to protest, she pinned them both with a dark look, "Go get her."

She watched them go and then slowly stood, sighing and moving to her kitchen. The blonde woman letting out a hum as she started to work on pulling things out; her mind wandered, she'd been absolutely happy for Emi over both relationships and they'd been so promising…but now both ended this way? Some girl time was in order. She knew Xally was busy, so it fell to her and she took it very seriously.

It was an hour later when she smacked a hand away from a bowl of batter without looking, "It's for Emi, no touchy."

Vander let out a whine as he rubbed his hand, "So mean…you're the only one Mister Elan trusted with his recipes!"

She wagged the spatula at him as she finished pulling a pot of melted chocolate off the double boiler, "yes, and I take my cooking seriously." She half turned and looked at him, tilting her head, "you're worried."

Vander shrugged a bit, "about a lot."

"you always are," She leaned over, lightly kissing his cheek, "I'm fine. We have to figure out what happened with the three of us."

"Three of us?" Vander narrowed his eyes, "something in you and Zen went nutty…and if he weren't my brother…" he trailed off, voice cold.

Lucy watched him for a moment and then moved to mix the batter up fully. When she had it poured into the pan, she held the bowl out to him, "no killing, Van, we don't even know…how this will affect us all." She still wasn't sure about the dual markings, but Cris and Kaleb knew about them, that would probably be enough for now. It was one of those things she had to research.

She let out a hum as she worked, "how is Zen doing?"

"Adjusting, Dad says he should come to the guild next week, give him time to settle in a bit," Vander sighed as he ate from the bowl, "also…you have to be careful around him…"

Lucy snorted, "which means Hestor needs to be careful around him."

"I don't like him, he's…" Vander sighed as he cringed from the dark look he got, "…what?"

Lucy scowled at Vander as she put the cake in the oven, "Van, part of that is his keys. They're…dark keys. They've…given that strange and eerie feeling to him." She pursed her lips, "just like…my keys have...affected me and how I come off to others." She smiled faintly, "people say they feel protected around me, that I can light up an area with a smile…that's not normal, it's most likely my magic…but…he's…not bad, Van, a little kinky…but not bad."

Vander looked at her for a moment, "I'm all for knowing that sort of thing…but not with him."

Lucy laughed softly and then kissed his cheek, licking a bit of batter from the corner of his mouth, "yes, well, deal with it. He's my friend; he'll always be my friend."

"Ugh, the things we put up for to make you happy," Vander rolled his eyes and but was grinning, "cake makes up for it."

"Oh, shut up," Lucy half scowled as she gave him a playful shove, nearly making him drop the bowl of cake batter.

~)~)~)~)~

Emzadi was, as Lucy expected, a mess. While she'd looked almost like she'd wanted to die the first time? This time it seemed like she wasn't going to ever get that spark back. Lucy shooed the males away except Kaleb and Cris and then went about making more snacks, doing all she could to try to get Emzadi to react.

She huffed a bit to herself, going over everything she personally had to do and mumbled, "…never a dull moment."

The smaller blonde rubbed her face and then sighed as she looked across her living room to the half aware Dragon Slayer sitting in front of her fireplace. She let out a breath through her nose and then walked over, gently petting Emzadi's hair and murmuring, "c'mon, let's go to bed."

She carefully helped the now much taller woman – damn giants, her mind supplied – to stand and then lead her towards the large bed she owned. Two dragon slayer kin made this a necessity, because as soon as they came for cuddles, at least one or two others did as well. Lucy carefully adjusted the sitting pillow in the middle of the headboard and then got ready for bed, donning a very light and semi-sheer nightgown that barely went past her ass, she helped Emi get ready for bed as well, settling the other woman down to braid the long multifaceted blonde hair.

"I'm jealous, you know?" Lucy spoke as she worked, "your hair is beautiful, you're beautiful, you're strong, vibrant, lively, powerful." The smaller of the two let out a soft sigh, "confident…" when she heard the soft snort from the other woman, she rolled her eyes, "don't give me that. I'm not…confident all the time." She knew she was getting limited reactions, but talking would hopefully draw Emi out, it had before…it had taken a while, but it had worked.

"I'll be honest…" her voice was soft, "even after all the training, all the time at the Academe…I still very much feel like a scared girl sometimes." she scoffed slightly to herself, "I know...it's silly, but...there are times that I just feel that way."

When she was done with that, she settled against the pillow and headboard, smiling when the other woman curled her arms around her waist and used her lap for a pillow. She could hear Cris and Kaleb tidying up, knowing that at least one of them would be there soon. She let her hands just curl through Emi's bangs, humming softly as her mind drifted a bit and she tried to remember…everything she needed to look into.

"you're thinking too much."

"I've got a lot to do…"

"We're all here to help."

She looked at Kaleb as he stood in the doorway and gave him a small smile, "I'll…be fine. Really."

He gave her a fairly cross look and crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe, "you rarely ask for help…if I have to…I will pull the Guildmaster card, Lucy…" his voice became soft, almost pleading, "I don't want to, but I will."

She looked at him for a moment and then away, shame coloring her mind and features. Her mental voice soft, "I know…I'm just..there's so much going on at once..I'm not as good as some people with multi-tasking."

"I'll help, but you have to tell me what is going on in your head…and what you want to do about those Spirits…or whatever they are."

She stared at him for a moment and her eyes became glassy before she brought a hand up and whimpered, voice barely a whisper, "…I'm scared."

Kaleb's features softened as he walked to the bed and then sat down, gently cradling her cheek before he kissed her forehead, "it's fine to be scared. It's natural, even if you'd been repressing fear for years now." His hand gently cradled her cheek as he sat there, looking into her eyes, "we'll protect you. Dad did once, now we will." He could feel her want to protest and then lightly kissed her, silencing her in the only way he knew worked.

Lucy gave a mental huff into the kiss and then leaned her head against his shoulder, "cheater."

Kaleb chuckled softly and then moved to let his hand join Lucy's to gently smooth Emzadi's hair, "hardly."

~)~)~)~)~

Emzadi was slowly healing, they'd had to many things in Requip space for the time being, just because of how bad the slayer had gotten and the thoughts that Kaleb worried over rattling in her head.

Lucy was currently sitting at the bar in the guildhall and then smiled as her head whipped around towards the door. Her eyes were intent and when they opened she waved to the group, smiling warmly as she saw Zen. She could do this, it was not going to be some strange pull this time, even if she already felt it tugging at her. Then her eyes snapped around as she felt another source of celestial magic.

It was almost like she was a passenger in her body as she saw Hestor by the doors that lead to the sparring rings and stood. She was off like a shot as he took a step towards Zen, a snarl rising in her just as she slammed her body into the other Celestial Mage and they both tumbled out into the area behind the Guildhall.

There was a moment of silence inside before people were rushing, Kaleb having a hand on Zen's arm as they went. He had been prepared for anything, but not two of his mages' minds literally shutting off and turning into feral animals. He didn't slow their pace though as they got to the doors and watched as the two mages went at each other like they weren't friends.

Kaleb had seen the two spar and it was nothing like what he was seeing. This was two beings out for dominance, possession.

Lucy was twisting and had two short swords, the blades sparking off Hestor's long sword as the two danced around one another with snarls and sneers, hissing and spitting like animals as they worked to tear into one another. It was obvious that the training Lucy had undergone put her at a bit of an advantage, even though her size and muscle was smaller than Hestor's.

Sparks flew as Lucy blocked another strike and let out a snarl, magic flaring and coming to bear before curling out in a few orbs around her and slamming into Hestor, throwing the other mage backwards before she darted forward and twirled her body, landing a kick to his side that sent him slamming into the wall. Through the dust, Hestor came springing out just as Lucy was going in, his knee slamming into her stomach and sending her backwards before he was moving towards her, sword moving in an arch.

"we should stop them," Zen croaked as he stood there, eyes starting to unfocus, as the two smaller blades came up, stopping Hestor's blade as it arched downward.

Vander watched with semi-horror filled eyes, "…I'm not sure we can…"

Kaleb frowned as he brought his magic slowly to the front, working to attempt to bring both mages into some semblance of coherency, but it seemed that whatever affected them was making their minds loud and a jumble, making it hard for him to get a hold of any part of their rational brains.

Beck stepped up next to Kaleb, watching the fight, "…makes me wonder…"

"Hmm?" The Guildmaster looked at the Beastmaster out of the corner of his eye.

The bi-color eyed male crossed his arms on his chest, watching as the two celestial mages continued to literally try to tear one another apart, "ever think this may have been why Archangels died out in the first place? Being fought over? You said the last one just disappeared, right?" he motioned with a hand to what was going on, "…would you want to stick around if you made people around you like this?"

Zen scowled, "no…I don't think I would, especially if they were friends, good friends and suddenly this happened..."

Beck nodded, "you're different, you're used to fighting and Celestial Mages like these two? Pretty rare, that's why they've got a fast frienemy relationship." The man chuckled at the confused look from Zen, "it's some…strange word, a mix between Friends and enemies."

Kaleb snorted, "you get used to her words. It takes time." He flinched as he watched Lucy twist and then slam Hestor to the ground.

Lucy was panting with quite a few cuts and snarling softly, her hand around Hestor's neck and squeezing. The two looked at one another and people could see the magic in the air, the fight continuing even as the man's weapon was well out of his reach, but now on a different level.

After a few moments, the male of the pair let his head fall to the side and tapped his hand weakly as his mind seemed to clear. It took Lucy a few more minutes and then her eyes went wide, "…oh shit…"

Hestor let out a breathless huff, "now you talk. If you wanted to dominate me…all you had to do was ask." He grinned as he looked up at the blonde from the corner of his eye.

"…asshole," Lucy cuffed him over the head and grumbled, "Stay away from Zen, or I'll end up doing this again." She paused, a golden key coming out a requip and she didn't even bother to use the entire incantation, showing her complete ire, "LOKE!"

The Spirit looked almost nervous as he was summoned by an obviously irate looking blonde, "…yes?" he flinched when he saw something he really didn't want to see. Both Celestial Mages went into "scary" mode. Scary Lucy was bad enough, but to see the male celestial mage enter a similar state was rather frightening.

"what just happened," Lucy hissed, still perched on Hestor's stomach.

The Lion Zodiac opened his mouth and shut it a few times, "well…" when he felt the ire from both rise, he sputtered out quickly before disappearing back to the celestial realm, "ancient magical compulsions!"

Zen blinked slowly, "he's not getting away with just that, is he?"

"No, but I understand his tactical retreat," Kaleb watched the two Celestial Mages, "…I don't think I want to be on the end of that ire either…"

Beck cleared his throat as he stood there, "we may wish to get them…cleaned up and at least see if they have anything major that needs tended to."

~)~)~))~)~

Lucy was, thankfully, able to control herself a bit better as she, Zen and Hestor sat in Kaleb's office. The male Celestial mage having a set of magic canceling cuffs on and watching the very tense blonde woman pace, hands moving as she ranted.

"You! I can't believe any of you allowed this sort of thing to happen!" She rounded, jabbing Leo in the chest rapidly, "you create an amazing, wonderful, helpful magic...and then you fucking make it so that they, and celestial type mages, have no control over themselves at points?!"

Leo held up his hands, "...in my defense…"

"There is no defense! You're the leader of the Zodiac!"

The lion let out a snarl, "There was not always a zodiac like the current one! There were a few others and Archangels were made well before I became a major spirit!"

Lucy stared at the ginger haired male for a long moment then grabbed his suit, yanking him down to be face to face. Her voice was dangerous and low, "start talking, cat. Or no trips to the bath houses for you."

The Ginger gulped and then slowly pried the slender fingers off his jacket before he carefully backed up to sit down, "Archangel Magic was created back during the Holy Wars. at that time, I was...a cluster, we'll say, my constellation hadn't been named and was part of another one. Archangels were made, but the only way for them to get great power was...thanks to a caveat in the making of the magic, being mated or to a lesser degree, bonded to a Celestial Mage...in order to procreate."

Lucy put a hand on her hip, scowling and waving for the Spirit to continue before she leaned back against Kaleb's desk. She had nearly killed someone because of whatever fuckery this was and she was not happy with it.

"Not to say that they can't...mate with a non-celestial mage...but the only way for more archangels to be born is…"

Zen let out a sigh, "the other parent has to be a celestial mage…"

"...yes," Leo made a face, "so...the compulsion was added to both sides of the magic….then..The last just...disappeared, eight hundred years ago...leaving the DNA behind, but…"

Lucy huffed, "By that time, I'm going to guess even Celestial mages were wiped out…"

Leo nodded a bit as he let his head fall back, "yes, there were...five families left?"

"Five?" Lucy tilted her head, "That's not a lot.."

Leo let out a sigh, "not really, these were...more responsible families, or ones that didn't want...to enslave others. The Heartfilia Family, The Hokulani Family, The Ylli family, The Izar Family and the Xing Family."

Lucy frowned, "Fiore...Enca...Bellum, Seven...and Stella?" She tilted her head.

Leo nodded, "yes, The Ylli and Izar families died out about three hundred years ago. The Hokulani...ten years before you were born...and the Xing Family is still in Stella, but very reclusive."

"Then how did Celestial Summoning Magic get learned by others?" Kaleb pursed his lips.

Lucy shook her head, "Apprenticeship. You can learn as long as you've got the talent for it, Kaleb, you may never hit the levels or power that one from a bloodline would...but…."

Leo nodded, "it's still a way to pass on the magic, so that it doesn't completely die out." He gave a faint smile and shook his head.

Hestor nodded, "makes sense.." he leaned back and frowned, "which leads us to...what the hell just happened down there."

"I kicked your ass," Lucy gave Hestor a cheeky grin.

The other Celestial Mage rolled his eyes, making a few mocking sounds, "I had been meditating when I felt…" he motioned towards Zen, "something...and when i came in…" he gave Lucy a pointed look, "I was accosted. Violently. I would not be adverse to a relation-"

"No," Zen stated firmly, "I do not sleep with men."

Hestor gave a faint sound, "boo. Fine, but I suppose Peregrande can do that to a person…"

Lucy huffed, "Try anything again…" she narrowed her eyes at Hestor.

The mage in question held his hands up, "I know you, you'll tie me to an X-Frame and leave me for a week, just because you can."

Lucy's face turned a dark shade of red at the chuckles from Leo and Kaleb, the woman sputtering for a moment and then sighing as she sunk to to the floor and laid out on it, "assholes. Tall, sexy assholes, the whole lot."

"Anyway…" Leo spoke firmly, "we think you may have at least bonded, if not started a partial mating."

Lucy sighed as she lay on the floor, debating and then mumbling, "who are Shinryu, Suzaku, Genbu and Byakko?"

The lion spirit went completely still, paling a bit, "four...very old Spirits. I'd say...some of the first, along with the King; however, no one has heard anything about them in...centuries…why?"

"I just heard the names in my dreams," Lucy shrugged as she lay there, sighing, "just wondering if maybe I'd heard them in a lesson somewhere." She wasn't ready to tell her Spirits about what happened, anyone really. Cris knew, Kaleb knew...and she'd leave it at that for now. It was something she needed to figure out before she said anything.

She could feel the disapproving look from Kaleb, even through the desk. She had looked into one of the names after that fated birthday and now it seemed that she was going to be doing more research.

"stupid thing of the month."

"pssssssssssh, you mean second stupid thing of the month."