Two chapters in as many days. Don't get used to it. It probably won't happen again.

OHMIGOD! There's so many likes and follows. It warms the cockles of my heart. My soul is the color of…slightly creamed coffee.

There's a longer note at the end but I'll end it here for now.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Draco asked. He was in his smaller form. It was the size of a Labrador. He did this to not overtax his master's magic.

Anna was watching the five children play. Draco had lost count how many times she'd had to pull Gajeel and Natsu off one another. Or stop them from bullying Sting and Rogue for not being able to keep up.

"Yes. There's not enough magic here for them to be able to defeat Acnologia."

"But teaming up with Zeref. You must've heard the rumors."

"They're still just rumors," Anna said, her voice a low hiss. "The Eclipse Gate was his invention and it's only with his help that we'd be able to use it without the Zodiac."

"I think you should tell them."

"No. We have similar goals, so I don't think he'll betray us."

"What of the other dragons?"

"The spell has been cast. There are places where they can suppress their magic. When it is time, they'll join their slayers."

"And Skiadrum and Weisslogia?"

She shook her head. "Binding Acnologia the way they did… No, they both knew they wouldn't survive it. I don't think the boys fully understand what their parents asked of them."

"And your contracts?"

"Natsu! Gajeel! Knock it off before I put you in time out," Anna yelled, stopping both boys mid-attack. They both gave her a sheepish look before sulkily going in opposite directions. "Tamia is taking Aquarius. The others are being given to my students. Yours, of course, is being given to the Celestial King."

"Have you told Aquarius that your giving Scorpio away?"

"Urm…"

"And the school?"

Anna sighed. "They won't listen and are going ahead with construction. Those that are taking my keys are going to Fiore. After what happened in Mildian, I said that I didn't support having all the celestial wizards in one place like that. It made them too easy a target. So many magics were lost when he-"

"When Zeref killed them?" Draco said, his voice a quiet grumble in an attempt to keep the boy from hearing.

"It's a necessary evil."

"Why must I do this?"

"If Acnologia wakes up early, or if something goes wrong, there may need to be more slayers. I know you've already gotten permission from the Celestial King for Nurem to take your space up there. Your magic, and the magic of your slayer, would be virtually undetectable from their normal celestial magic."

Lucy was woken up by her lacricomm ringing. "Hello?"

"Finally! I have been trying to get ahold of you for three weeks. First, I realize that there haven't been any articles by you. So, I stop by your apartment and met a man that made me appreciate that at least Grey looks good naked. And then I stop by Sabertooth. Yukino tells me that you're on some top-secret quest that she can't tell me about, but Sting apparently knows since he can't keep a straight face. And I'm supposed to be one of your best friends and-"

"Levy, breathe."

"Where are you?"

"Not sure currently. Headed to Cellis in Bosco."

"You're going to the Acadame, aren't you? I'm so jealous. They're really particular about who they let into the library. Have you never been?"

"No." Lucy proceeded to tell her about the Celestial King's mission and the reward of Aquarius's key. For some reason, she didn't like the idea of telling her about Draco over comm.

"Well, I'll help you from ERA's archives. I kinda get lost in them. Literally a few weeks ago. If not Gajeel's nose…"

Lucy laughed. She was glad to know they were together still. It had bothered her the way that everyone picked up and left so easily. Just after her first spread, she'd found out that Gajeel and Levy had gone to work for the Council. All of them in Crocus meant that they'd see each other occasionally.

Levy and Lucy had 'coffee and books time' every Tuesday. Gajeel hated coming along but would when Levy turned the puppy dog eyes on him. Particularly on days when they knew they'd be hitting the bookstores.

"I'm going to miss your research methodology."

"Aw. Thanks. That's the sweetest thing I've heard in a while. Though maybe you'll have to hunt down Freed."

"Huh?"

"Just a rumor I heard. That the Thunder Legion was in Bosco."

"Hm… Interesting."

The speaker blared to tell the passengers that they were in Verbascum.

"I've gotta go. I need to change trains, but I'll be in range of comms for the foreseeable future."

"Okay. Be careful."

Once she was settled onto the next train, she summoned Loke.

"Miss me?" he asked, sitting close to her despite there being plenty of room.

"Maybe I should just ask Grandpa Crux."

"Fine, fine," he said with a sulk. "What boring stuff can I help you with?"

"What happened to Anna?"

"I don't know. She summoned each of us with whatever silver keys she was bestowing on her students. She said that what she had to do…that whether she succeeded or failed, she couldn't take us with her. I was furious. Especially since the student she wished to have my key was male. She definitely did that on purpose.

"Why do you ask?"

"I had a dream about her. I think it was Draco's memory of her."

"Makes sense. He tried to imbue you with as much of his magic as he could before returning to the celestial realm."

"Do you think the dragons are still alive?"

She saw his eyes widen behind his glasses. "Maybe. There were a lot of bones down there though."

"She said they were going into hiding."

"Lucy, focus on one fool's errand at a time."

"I know. I know." She waved her hand absently. "I'm gonna sleep until we get to Autumn City. I want to be awake for the airship."

"Sweet dreams."

Originally-ish I had planned on mostly sticking with canon. Of course, I one, only started this because my roommate was getting supremely annoyed with me ranting that my ship didn't sail, and two, didn't know about the Pradeshes yet.

As much as I love Mashima, he has a lot of plot holes. This is why I could never write for TV because I hate outlining. (Moffat has that problem too.) At the end of the Tower of Heaven arc, there's a scene that implies that Igneel is alive. My guess is that he nixed that idea later. I'm running with that. So, the fight between Igneel and Acnologia, that never happened.

Also, what did Acnologia do for seven years? 'Cause yeah.

If I'm just old and forgetting stuff (entirely possible) drop me a comment.