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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"SNOW!" Lucy let out a squeal as she ran ahead of the group of mages, cutting through the park in Magnolia.

Cris shook his head with a soft chuckle, "she's energetic today…"

"Yeah, considering we just got done with the full moon, I'm semi-amazed that she's so full of energy," Vander shook his head with a fond smile as he watched the blonde disappear around a tree, Zen huffing as he walked after the woman, "though, she should give us a bit of a break, it's cold, not as cold as Iceburg, but...nothing like what we're used-"

Zen's head snapped back and he let out a growl as another snowball went sailing through the air with a light hearted laugh, "Lucy!"

Vander grinned a bit, "oh, it's just a bit of sn-AAAAH" Vander screamed as snow went down the back of his jacket and he heard the double giggle of Gemi and Mini as he turned, staring at the spirits, "the hell?!"

"Piri, piri! Snowball fight!" The two giggled and then zipped away.

Cris grinned broadly as he crouched down, making a snowball and then listening, "we've got a bit of time before we've got to be at Fairy Tail...and she's happy."

Zen growled as his wings snapped out, blocking a snowball, then he grinned as he heard the whine from the blonde, "turnabout is fair play!"

"Magic in a snowball fight's cheating!" Lucy's voice flittered from the trees.

"Then you shouldn't be using your Spirits!" Zen crossed his arms on his chest and waited.

The man started as Virgo appeared right in front of him, with what looked like a serving tray full of snow and just, flipped it into his face, "we came out on our own, Punishment?" her eyes danced as she looked at the sputtering archangel.

"Oh, I'm going to punish you alright…" Zen's wings moved almost on their own, a loud 'crack' filling the air and a mewling moan from the Spirit before she disappeared. "...what just happened…?"

Lucy poked her head around a tree and her eyes went wide "ooooooh, you gave her a spanking, she's going to love you so much now." Her lips curled into a Devious Grin and back in Bosco, Kaleb looked up from what he was doing as he got a very clear image of Chibi-Lucy cackling like a madwoman.

The blonde let out a squeal and jumped as Snow was dumped down her back, "VAN!" the woman then tried to turn and let out another yell as Zen was right there, picking her up. The woman kicked and squealed, "no! No! Don't you da-" her voice disappeared into a screech that was muffled as Zen tossed her into a bank of windblown snow.

The two brothers looked at one another and their hands went out, fist bumping as they grinned and waited for the female mage to emerge.

~)~)~)~)~)~

Lucy was curled up in a few blankets, glaring at Zen and Vander as the two chuckled from where they were helping set up the new system for the guild. The woman let out a low hiss into her mug of cocoa, "...assholes."

There were a few chuckles from around the tables, the group of mages realizing that, for as a scary as Lucy could be, she had the best interests of the guild in mind. She eventually warmed up enough to emerge from the blankets and start work on the little hand held devices, mumbling to herself and then smiling as Leo and Virgo came out on their own, the small table getting things done faster when Lucy summoned Libra and the parts were off the table and floating.

"Now that's cheating," vander scoffed as he looked over.

Lucy arched an eyebrow as she worked, "it's smart, this way the parts are floating and can't be bumped off a table."

Zen chuckled softly, "she does have a point."

Vander let out another scoff as he went back to work, "Yeah yeah."

Lucy smiled over at the two, features softening, "the sooner we get this done...the sooner we can go curl up in a bed and take a nap."

Zen arched an eyebrow and chuckled, "I think she's just cold." He smirked when her cheeks turned pink.

Vander purred, "well, I wouldn't mind helping her warm up."

~)~)~)~)~

The two brothers sat; it was late, but Vander was unable to sleep and Zen was drinking from a cup of Minstrelian tea as he relaxed and watched out a window, hands lightly going through the head of hair that was settled against his thigh. He watched the snow lightly falling and his lips curled into a very faint smile at how serene the scene outside the large window was.

"You're going to wear the throw rug out," Zen spoke softly and then looked at Vander, arching an eyebrow.

Vander snorted, "not what i'd really like to wear out…"

The Archangel just stared at Vander, sipping the tea again and simply waiting. He could tell that the Shadowquip had a lot on his mind, but at the same time, he didn't want to just pull things out. "Van."

Vander sighed as he stopped by a window, looking out from the side, "there's knights outside, going to guess it's Hisui." he snorted softly as he moved away, careful to stay in the shadows, "we're doing all this work...I guess i'm just worried about what is going on. Lucy won't talk about it and…" he shrugged, "I can't help but worry about her."

"She's easy to care for," Zen said as he sipped his tea again, setting the cup aside, "and whatever is going on with Hisui is dangerous."

"...I'm tempted to go and check out the castle…" Vander let out a low hum and leaned against the wall, "I doubt they know how to protect against me."

Zen nodded, "then go. I'll make sure Lucy is safe, so don't worry about her."

Vander walked over and then crouched down, looking at the blonde before gently kissing her forehead, "I know you will." he took a breath, "Just…"

"Go do what you do, Van," Zen's voice was soft, but firm, "The faster you go...the faster you can get back here and make sure she's safer, hmm?"

)~)~))~

It hadn't been easy to follow the crown princess through the massive castle, especially when she'd gone lower and lower and the wards for the place had gotten stronger, but when he'd found they'd stopped, his brow furrowed as he slid through the shadows to the row of cells and listened to the woman speak to the robed man.

"We need three more!" Hisui scowled as she walked, "there has to be three more out there."

"We are looking, your highness…"

The woman turned, green hair flaring out and her hand went into the robe, slamming the man into a set of bars, "You will find me three more. I don't fucking care if you have to talk to Joyan slave traders. Get. me. Three. More."

The man nodded, letting out choked sounds before he was dropped and the woman turned, walking down the hallway. He took a deep breath and scowled before moving to follow after her, "going to have to contact Joya...There are no others in Fiore, your highness."

"Fine. get it done. Get three more," The woman snarled as she walked up the stairs.

Vander pursed his lips as he heard small sobs and cries from one of the cells, sliding through the shadows to listen.

"Shh, it'll be alright, Yuki," The older white haired young woman spoke, "we'll get out of here."

Yuki sniffled and let out a soft cry, "But...Sorano...They took our keys away...we…"

Sorano spoke softly and murmured, "we'll get them back."

Vander's eyes went wide, the woman was capturing Celestial mages… He left and barely missed tripping one of the wards, appearing back in the middle of the living room gasping where he'd left Zen and Lucy.

He realized the blonde was sleeping and he did what he could to keep himself quiet, looking at Zen with horror in his eyes. He kept his voice at a whisper and murmured, "Hisui's got eight mages like Lucy in the damn dungeon...and just told them to get three from Joyans."

Zen's brow furrowed a bit, eyes darkening and he let out a low warning sound, "we need to go then." He carefully shifted, grabbing a throw pillow and then sliding out from under the blonde woman and putting the pillow in his place, "how is the security."

"I almost got caught. It's nasty," Vander hissed as they both moved to the bedroom, grabbing things and putting them into suitcases. The plan had been to stay a week and a half, but now? Neither of them would risk the woman being there. "...if she knows...she's not going to back down trying to save them…"

Zen snorted and sighed, "she won't, let's give it time. We don't know what her plan is. We can't move before then or something might take a turn for the worse."

~)~)~)~)~)~

Lucy sighed as she stretched, nose wriggling before her eyes snapped open. She smelled the Grass Sea and then sat up, scowling at the two men on either side of her. Had they really decided to just bring her back while she was asleep?! She let out a low sound as her ire grew more and more.

Zen was the first to wake and his hand went up, grabbing her and dragging her back down, "there was danger. To you."

Lucy hissed, knowing it was too early for Vander to actually be awake and semi-coherent, "what do you mean by that?!"

Zen looked at her, "Van found eight Celestial mages in the dungeons under Mercurius." he watched her features as he continued to speak, "Rather than waiting to talk to you, we came back, for your safety."

Lucy wanted to stay pissed off and she hissed, "I'm not a damsel, dammit...I could have…"

"Do you think you are able to take on Rune Knights?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes, glowering at Zen "yes."

"Hundreds?"

Lucy paused and floundered for a moment before sighing and slumping against the bed, "...probably not."

"That would be what we could possibly be up against, if Hisui knew we were there," Zen kissed the top of her head as he let her settle back down, "we'll figure out what to d-"

"We have to save them," Her voice was firm, "As soon as possible!"

Zen took a breath, "we're not going to be able to get close easily, you're smart enough to know that."

Lucy pouted a bit as she lay there, smiling as she felt Vander snuggle up behind her and she let herself relax a bit more, "...yeah...would have to be big events to justify me going to the Capitol…"

"The Grand Magic Games, Galas," Zen spoke patiently as he lay there, "none of which are there for awhile. We will make sure this is planned well and when we find out her plans…"

"I'll kill her," Lucy's voice had a deadly tone to it.

Zen kissed her forehead, "you're too kind for that, but we will be your swords."

~))~)~)~)

Lucy supposed that training Fairy Tail's team for the upcoming GMG in Bosco was a good thing. There would be no one that could see their progress, or see what they would be doing. Kaleb and the guild system could also analyze everything and work on quite a few things, including using the footage from the year before to pick out the best team.

She smiled as she watched Romeo and Macao, both of them growing and the boy becoming more mature than she thought he would. She had talked the man into understanding that any mages coming into Bosco would do well with Sudehpah lessons, and she'd been right. What had originally been very tense, self conscious mages were now quite relaxed and learning at a better pace.

She started across the area, waving at the two before letting out a small sound as she stepped into the sunlight. It wasn't starlight, per se, but it was warm and she was happy about it. She half turned, smirking as she saw Kaleb in one of the practice rings. They'd been talking with Max not too long ago and the man was currently attempting to show the entire guild he was going to take the next Grandmaster Games seriously. She was glad for that as she watched him spar with Beck, lips quirked before she called out, "Give 'im Hell, Beck!"

"That's not nice."

Lucy smirked at the voice in her head as Beck seemed to push himself a bit more and shrugged slightly. She enjoyed being around the practice rings and her mind was going through a lot. She laughed softly as she watched the two, stopping and crossing her arms on her chest. Her head tilted a bit and she smirked slightly. He had a year to get better and she'd analyze everything she could. This was a matter of pride at this point.

Hestor came up beside her, yawning and holding out a mug that she took, "you've got some mail."

Lucy let out a curious sound as she sipped the coffee slowly, "oh? Didn't bring it with you?"

The man's eyes rolled as he stood there, "no, it's up in your apartment, as well as some other things that you asked for." he paused, "is the woman really plotting something?"

The woman gave a small nod, "yes, we'll do what we can, but...we can't do anything too suspicious, which means you and I are sidelined from helping out Fairy Tail this year. She's got some sort of weird lady boner for celestial mages...and…" her voice lowered, "she's doing something with Joya."

Hestor let out a sound, "Joya is bad."

"Mmhmm," Lucy sipped her drink again, letting out a low breath, "please tell me you have some good news for me? Where did that mail come from?"

Hestor smirked, "Stella."

Golden brown eyes snapped up at the other Celestial mage, eyes dancing with emotions "...Stella?"

The squeal that filled the air as the blonde went tearing off made heads turn and Hestor shrugged slightly as people looked at him. He held onto his drink and slowly sipped it before eyeing the young boy that came over towards him. He was the child from Fairy Tail that was in the school and he side eyed the child. "...yes?"

Romeo looked up at Hestor for a moment, studying him, "...how does a nice person like Lucy-san become friends with someone like you?"

Hestor let out a soft sigh through his nose as a few people laughed. Children rarely had filters and it seemed that this one was no exception, "we have the same magic...and she's a barnacle. Once she decides you're her friend, you can't get away."

Romeo stood there for a moment and then grinned before laughing and nodding. His dark eyes danced, "I know a few people like that."

"Good job, the boy's been homesick."

"Master," Hestor glanced towards the sparring pair, "it's a child. They're innocent, blunt and he's far away from everything he knows. Of course he's homesick."

He heard a low hum in his mind and looked down at the boy, "next year you'll get a sight."

"Why?"

"Our guildmaster games is next year...which means you get to see all of us in something similar to your Grand Magic Games," He continued to stare at the boy.

Romeo's eyes went wide, "you guys have something like that?"

Hestor smiled faintly, that should have been gone over at least once, "...do you listen in your lessons?"

Romeo's face went a bit red as he looked down, "not...always…"

~)~))~)~)~

Lucy grinned as she sat down for the typical Sunday dinner, buzzing with energy as small talk was made, the week caught up on and then she said, "i've been invited to Stella Next year for the Lunar New Year Celebration, by the Xing Family, to celebrate in the temple of Methurt."

Cris' eyes lit up as he leaned over the table, "really?" It was near impossible to get into Stella around the time of their Lunar New Year, let alone get close to one of the temples if you managed to get into the country.

Lucy nodded and grinned, "and I can bring four people…."

"But?" Kaleb said as he leaned back, "there's always a but in situations like this."

"...They've already requested I bring certain people," Lucy pouted, "Hestor, Cris and Zen...because of our magic, it'll be almost spiritual for us...the last person..."

Kaleb debated as he sat there, "Take Vander, Emi's taking missions that are a few months long each, I doubt she'll be back in time to travel."

Farron hummed, "is it normal for the invitations to go out...almost a year prior?"

Lucy shrugged a bit, "your guess is as good as Mine, Mister Ambassador." she looked towards Farron, "but this is a family inviting us, so I'd wager it has nothing to do with the actual government...and well…"

"They would want to know as soon as possible to make the best accommodations possible for their guests," Arman said as he sat there, "This is also a rare opportunity, you've been wanting to find out more about the Xing family."

Lucy nodded a bit, "I know…" she took a breath and smiled warmly, "so...I'll return that we'll be coming. We'll see how it goes…"

~)~))~)~)

"So they've…"

"Yes, Sister Dear, they're coming," The male slowly settled back into a plush seat, looking out over the village that they lived above, "they are bringing another that i'm unsure of."

"Li, Xaio," Came a voice from the doorway, an elderly woman standing there. Her dark hair was going gray, and there was graying golden hair in it as well, she arched an eyebrow as she looked at the two, while her eyes had the same golden shooting through it, her eyes were dark enough that they appeared almost completely black otherwise.

The two stood and bowed towards the woman, the woman speaking first, "Esteemed Mother."

"Oh, my little Li, did I hear correctly?" The woman smiled as she walked to take a seat, carefully being helped to sit by Xaio.

Xaio nodded and smiled at her, his features soft, "yes, we've secured the celestial based mages that you've said should visit, Mother Prophet."

"Good, good," She smiled warmly at them, "see if they wish to come to the summer solstice, it shouldn't interfere with anything going on in Bosco too badly."

Li gave a small nod, "i'd like them to come for the Winter Solstice but…"

The Mother Prophet smiled warmly, "it is too close to their winter holidays, we shall give them that, allow them that time, we are going to have them for the most important time."

"Did you see something, Mother?" Xaio watched the woman, "your presence is always welcome, but it is so rare."

The woman's lips were still in the warm smile, "yes, Mehturt has told me that...there will be a Celestial Convergence upon the Lunar new Year."

The twins' eyes went wide and they looked like children in a candy store as they both breathed out a soft reply, "really?"

The Mother Prophet nodded, "yes, the mating will happen and it will be blessed by the Goddess."