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.

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Three days into the Games and Lucy was looking half mad each night when they got back to their Inn. Her eye started twitching as soon as they'd gotten out of sight of the stadium and it was all she could do to not lose her temper.

Hestor watched the blonde and shook his head. They didn't speak until they got into the inn room. They'd rented three, on different floors on purpose and now they were relaxing in one after calling down for room service, "well?"

Lucy grabbed a pillow and put her face into it, muffling her scream of frustration.

"That good," Hestor clicked his tongue and looked to Zen, "your thoughts?"

Zen watched Lucy for a moment, "If the Crown Princess is attempting to drive Lucy insane, she's doing a good job. She's coming off as someone who just wants a friend...however…"

Hestor snorted softly, "She's planning something."

The two watched as Lucy started smacking the pillow into her own face and they slowly sipped from bottles of water. They could wait, and in a way, this was quite amusing to them. Vander couldn't get under her skin, nor could Bickslow, but Hisui? Lucy was being driven up a wall by the green haired woman.

"I should not be finding this as amusing as I am," Hestor said, grinning slightly, "But she rarely loses her cool like this."

Zen shook his head, "it is...amusing." the Archangel couldn't help but grin a bit into his own drink.

"Fuck you both!" Lucy snarled, throwing the pillow in her hand and then another, watching as both caught them. She huffed and stormed towards the bathroom, "i'm taking a bath!"

The two watched her strip en route to the bathroom in the room and Hestor shook his head a bit as the door slammed, "well, at least she's not ready to kill anyone."

"Yet. She may get there soon enough."

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"Princess-"

"Please, Call me Hisui, Lucy," The green haired woman smiled as she held the other's hands, "I mean it, it would be a honor to have you stay at the Palace until you leave."

Lucy smiled "I understand, but we have rooms at an Inn and we're already dealing with wasting three seats down in the arena...and then the money spent on the tickets…" it wasn't a money issue, both Zen and Hestor knew Lucy was trying to get a bit of space from the clingy princess.

"What tickets?" Hisui smiled warmly, "you never picked them up at the gate."

Lucy internally screamed. The woman was right, they'd been drug away. She took a breath and smiled, "but we still paid for them...I...the jewel…"

"Already taken care of and your account was reimbursed."

It took every bit of control Lucy had to not twitch as she nodded, "I...see...but there's still the Inn issue…"

Hisui clicked her tongue and waved a hand, "I can have Arcadios take care of that, and bring your things. It will be no issue."

"Security reasons, I mean...my Guildmaster is expecting to get calls to me there," she looked at Zen and Hestor for backup.

Hisui's smile brightened, "I've contacted the consulate already, they know exactly where you are and Lacrama calls that come from outside of Fiore have to be directed through there."

Lucy watched the woman turn and her eye twitched. She felt trapped and took a deep breath, "I see...well...I...suppose...there's...no reason not to."

Hisui let out a happy cheer and bounced, still holding Lucy's hands as she turned to face the other woman again, "good! It's settled! Come! Let's go and eat dinner!"

Lucy was half drug after the Princess, putting a smile on her features as she silently begged Virgo to distribute the bags so it wasn't realized they were all staying in the same room. "Of...course, Princess."

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The only saving grace, Lucy Mused, was the large bathtub. She groaned as she sunk into the waters and then heard the door to the room adjoining hers open and shut after two sets of footsteps was heard.

She had refused to have the three of them separated, pointing out guildmaster orders; the adjoining room had almost had the Princess sulking, but Zen had spoken up, saying they would be punished if they were not close to her and something accidentally happened. The look on the Princess' face had been understanding, but her eyes glinted a bit at being denied.

She was simply glad for the bath salts that made the water almost as good as the water of the grass sea. Nothing would be absolutely like it, but it was close. She let out a sigh as she opened one eye, seeing both men walk in and snorted, "yes, there's enough room for both of you."

She grinned as she watched them undress and climb in, all three groaning before Lucy watched shadows curl up the walls and smiled, "Thank you, Corvus. No one should be able to hear or see, correct?"

"Yes, Princess," The spirit said from the shadows and Lucy nodded.

Lucy sat there for a moment and sighed, "i can't believe i was strong armed into this…"

Hestor snorted as he relaxed, "well, you are attempting to not let her know much about your intellect, and play along…"

"There is a...darkness in the hallways," Zen said, making a face as he leaned against the massive tub's edge, watching the blonde.

Lucy pursed her lips and nodded, "figures...she's a little too obsessive over small things...so…we'll gather what we can...and have an emergency call back, because I want out of here as soon as I can get out."

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"Are you sure it was wise to give them an adjoining room?"

Hisui pursed her lips, "I had no choice." She let out a low sound as she stared at the massive 'door' in front of her and smiled as she put a hand to the smooth metal, "if I want her to open these doors…"

"Are you sure she will be able to open it, Princess?"

The green haired woman narrowed her jade eyes and looked behind her, "one way or another. Yes. even if I have to use her lifeforce instead of the Zodiac keys, she will open this. Just as her mother before her."

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Lucy was trying to not get stressed as Hisui showed her around the palace the next night, but the blonde had seen how everything seemed stacked against Fairy Tail in the GMG. It bothered her, the names had seemed like the members that had gone would be a good fit...and each event turned out to be something that put the member at a disadvantage.

"...and here we have what your mother came to study each time she came to Crocus," Hisui said, derailing her thoughts.

Lucy looked up at the massive door, brow furrowed, "what..is it?"

Hisui shook her head, "we don't know..the castle was built around it and this is old, we've spent time cleaning it, replacing rusted parts, but your mother said that it was from the time of the dragon festival."

Lucy let out a low whistle, "That's...old." her brow furrowed a bit as she looked at the door, feeling like something dark was curling up her spine. It gave off an ominous vibe and she pursed her lips slightly, "what did Mama say about it?"

"She said she'd like to open it, but...it would most likely take the entire ecliptic zodiac set," Hisui said softly, "and the whole set hasn't been seen in awhile, apparently."

Lucy let out a hum, "that's true, Mama only had three."

Hisui knew that the elder Heartfilia had brought eleven of the keys at that point and had tried to push it off saying she knew the last was on its way. Impatience had been pressed and eventually the woman had opened the door, five magical signatures coming through, zipping away. She wasn't sure what had come out, but she assumed they were weapons and now that she was older, she'd had a vision that the door would become a great weapon to destroy Zeref with...as long as it was in the hands of a Celestial Mage. She would control it, and use others to open it. "I see...do you still have her keys?"

Lucy shook her head and smiled faintly, "no, Father sold them all off before I left for Bosco and they've been scattered to the winds."

"That's too bad," Hisui shook her head, "I can't imagine how losing something that would be such a memento of your mother would hurt."

The blonde smiled faintly, "it does, but...I can't do much about that." she shook her head a bit as the two started away and then pursed her lips as she felt...a power that was like running water and looked around. Her eyes narrowed faintly before she picked up her pace to not fall too far behind the other woman.

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When the three got back to Bosco, Lucy let out a growl, knowing she'd have to push through the paperwork that Marakov hadn't wanted to. Her lips quirked, knowing Macao wouldn't argue with her, but right then she'd needed to get the hell out of Fiore. Reports had been submitted and she'd sighed as she moved into the Pradesh Estate with Zen. Hestor had decided to take a trip to the Academe and she pursed her lips. She knew he was probably going to 'acquire' some new keys and she also knew that sometimes...people just didn't treat spirits well. It was one of the few reasons she looked the other way, unless she directly saw it.

She smiled as she hugged Arman "I'm fine. I need those Sisterhood papers."

Arman arched an eyebrow, "what happened?"

Lucy looked at him as she moved to lay out on the couch, "every event put Fairy Tail at a disadvantage, despite the name, it was the opposite." she looked at him as he sat, lips drawn in a thin line, "i'm not having it. It's a disgrace to Bixy."

Arman watched as the blonde fell asleep and he smiled softly as he grabbed a throw to put it over her for the time being. "Sleep well."

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Lucy looked over the prow of the airship she was on. The woman barely had gotten six hours of sleep before she'd been summoned to go out and take stock of what was going on with the clan fighting going on. She rubbed her face and then turned before going back inside and to the room with the maps that were spread out.

Her hands rested on the table and she let out a low hum as she looked at the various tokens on the thing. Zen and Hestor, having gotten out of the first deployment due to the assignment with her given by Grandice, were on the ship as well. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that was then braided into at least twenty little braids. She wasn't sure how many Cancer had actually done.

"Well?" came a deep voice from the door and Lucy looked up, smiling softly at Zen.

The woman shook her head, "we've got a general Idea, they want you with Cris for now, so we're heading there, going to drop both you and Hestor off."

Zen arched an eyebrow, "you're not coming down?"

"Tactical officer," She quirked her lips a bit, "I'm going to be watching movements, technically."

Zen let out a gruff sound and nodded, "good."

Lucy slowly arched an eyebrow at the archangel, "excuse me?"

The gladiator didn't flinch at the look, but spoke firmly, "I know you are capable of defending yourself, I just feel more assured if you're giving orders, your mind is brilliant."

Lucy opened her mouth and then turned red, looking away from Zen, "yeah yeah…"

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Lucy pursed her lips as the ship landed a bit away from the battle. She made sure her gear was well in place and started with the group that was going to shore up the current Knights that were out fighting. Her nose could smell the blood and it almost made her stomach sick as they walked.

When she smelled Mint, she smiled, picking up her pace a bit more before the group came across the battlefield fully. Her lips pursed and her voice rang loud and clear, "Pradesh, you have healing, go help the Lunar Slayer, others give protective cover!"

She didn't balk as they moved, the woman falling back a bit towards where the protective ring would be near Cristoff and the other healers. She could see that it had been going for awhile and half wondered why in the world it had been going on so long, but…

Her thoughts went back to the Grandmaster games and she figured that it may have been a confidence issue. She listened for a moment, eyes closing before she smiled as the mint smell came closer, "I'm fine, just listening. Everything is good."

Cris scowled a bit, "what are you doing here anyway?"

"Tactical officer, Moony." She opened one eye and then let her hood fall and the braids spill out around her shoulders. She simply studied what was going on around her and then moved to help move some injured people, "just do what you were doing. I'll help where I can."

Zen scowled, "you're not supposed to be out here."

Lucy made a few mocking sound as she heard weapons clanging against one another, "plans change." she huffed, "and tactically speaking, helping out the medical unit is relatively safe." She felt a shiver as soon as she said that and turned her head, seeing one of the Clansman moving towards her with what she thought was a claymore held high to strike at her. Even with speed, she knew that the chance of not being injured was low. Her hand came up as she started to call out Scotum only to start as power slammed over everyone.

"Stop moving. Stop attacking. The results if you continue will not be favorable."

Lucy let out a breath as she heard the voice in her head, but the overwhelming feeling of power had her almost breathless. She barely started to lower her arm from her face when she heard a squelch and something slammed into her arms that was both liquid and solid and she felt bile raise in her throat. After the fifth explosion, she was turning her head and emptying the small bit of food that she'd managed to eat onto the ground.

Zen flinched as he heard the blonde throw up and looked at Cris.

The Dragon Slayer shook his head and then moved to start instructing Zen over one of the injured knights, "alright...put your hands over mine.." he smiled softly "Feel where my magic goes...and then gently push yours like that."

Zen concentrated, letting out a faint sigh and nodding. This was new, newer than he'd like to think about, but he wanted to simply get better for himself.

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"Where is Lucy?" Kaleb pursed his lips as he walked through the hallways of White Sea. They'd been back a few days, but the blonde seemed to have disappeared almost. He could just barely make out her mind and even then, with his own demons over what he'd done, he'd been trying to get himself in order.

Thane walked alongside his guildmaster, "according to records, she has been staying in her apartment, barely emerging."

The mindbender frowned as they walked. He let out a slow breath and shook his head; there was no telling if she had enough food to last, and if she had gotten something delivered, Thane would have mentioned it. His Father had been worried over her disappearance, and he had as well, so this was needed. "I'll check on her, continue on with the schedule, it shouldn't take too long and I'll be back for my meeting in an hour."

Thane nodded as he turned to go back down the hallway, leaving the mindbender to the task he was doing. Kaleb pursed his lips as he got to Lucy's apartment and knocked. After waiting and no response, he knocked again.

The door opened and he pursed his lips as he saw Hestor there, the male mage's look at first sent a slight shiver down his spine, but it soon was left with a look of concern. The man had been angry that someone had come to bother the blonde, but then there was a plea when he saw Kaleb, hoping the man would be able to help the blonde woman, "...Hestor."

"Guildmaster, come in, perhaps you can get her to not stare at nothing," The Celestial Mage let the man in and ran a hand through his silvery hair, "I will be back in two hours. I need to go to the market and get her...hopefully something she'll eat."

Kaleb watched the man go and frowned slightly before he shut the door behind him. He wasn't aware the man had access to her apartment, but it wasn't his place to dictate that either. He carefully walked towards the bedroom and sighed as he saw her on the balcony. "Lucy?"

He took her in as he came up behind her, not at all shocked she was just curled up in a deep purple and silver veil dress. It seemed to go too well with what he saw. He'd not truly gotten a chance to talk to her over the last month and his hand went out before he gently took a lock of her hair in his fingers and sat on the arm of the lounge she was on, "come now, Celebrían, you need to eat."

He gently prodded into her mind when she didn't respond and he flinched visibly. Her mind was stuck in a loop of both the clansman coming at her not too long ago and the night that she was nearly killed by her father. She had truly done wonders working past it, but he knew that Trauma wasn't something that could just go away like she'd pushed it to the back of her mind. It was inevitable, he supposed, that something would trigger those memories. He shifted to draw her up and out of the lounge, slowly walking her inside and to the couch.

He'd heard four mental yells at once for the blonde woman's safety and that's what had simply made his power, normally kept well under control, surge. It could have been anyone, he knew, if it had been Cris or Zen, he would have had the same reaction. He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking that he wouldn't go so far to protect his family, but he hadn't wanted to let the power go so far out of control. He gently maneuvered through her mind, trying to make the memories fade; he could take them away completely, but he was loathe to do that without talking to her first. He did stop the loop, knowing it wouldn't help her in the long run and it was the least he could do for her.

Kaleb found a hand resting on his arm and Lucy spoke, "Don't." She took a shuddering breath and her eyes slowly rolled to look into his. She gave a faint smile, "you're haunted by what you did, Legolas. This is my demon to deal with."

The mindbender arched an eyebrow as he looked at her, "I am. I..did not like the loss of life, but it had to be done. This was a very small scale clan war...but if it wasn't taken care of, it could have gone further, and more would have gotten hurt,Celebrían."

Lucy curled her nose and then smacked his arm a few times, "fucking really? Celebrían?" she looked away and huffed, though she could almost feel him smile, "asshole. Don't even want to know who you're casting as Elrond."

Kaleb chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head, "well, at least we both know conversations like this can help us both not think on things, hmm?"

Lucy looked up at him for a moment and then nodded before leaning against him, "I just...really thought I put that night behind me. I hadn't thought about it after a few months and thought…"

Kaleb nodded, "thought you were over it. Obviously not. You froze up, didn't you?"

Lucy scowled, "only a bit, enough that I don't think Scotum would have been summoned in time." she huffed, "I felt my magic start to pull in a few directions...so I'm guessing it was partially reaching out to Zen, but…" She shrugged.

"You froze," Kaleb said softly, still curling his fingers through her hair, smiling faintly as she nodded.

Golden eyes rolled as Lucy gave his stomach a small punch and then she sighed, "yeah, because...I didn't see that Clansman...I saw...Father and I felt...like I was a little girl again."

Kaleb let out a low hum as they sat there, "I can-"

"No," Lucy spoke softly and curled up a bit on the couch. She looked at him and then gave a small smile, "I'll...get past it. Promise..I just...Need a bit of time." Her features softened, "and probably a counselor for a little while."

Kaleb's lips drew into a thin line as he looked at her. It would be much easier if he could do this for her, but he saw the stubborn light in her eyes and then curled his nose just slightly, "fine, it would be faster if I did it though."

"If you did it, I would never know if I'm emotionally and mentally strong enough to get over something without your help."

Those words made lavender eyes close and he nodded. He understood that, especially from Lucy. The small woman had grown, had flourished being around his family and freely sharing the love they all had, but...she wanted to prove she could do this without magic. He gently moved to hug her and kissed the top of her head, "Alright, Celebrían, but if it gets to be too much…"

"If it gets to be too much, I'll come to you," Lucy smiled up at him, it was a small smile, "Promise."