Chapter 4- Tenrou

It had been two years since Lucy met Fairy Tail, met Sabertooth, and Yukino and Lucy began training together. The years had brought on a lot of improvement for Yukino as a celestial mage and a lot of happiness for Lucy who had spent a lot of her time alone before she met Yukino and her friends from Sabertooth. Lucy had spent a lot of time training both her's and Yukino's minds and bodies along with Sabertooth's when they had the chance. While Rufus and Orga rarely came to training, Sting and Rogue tried their best to come to at least one session a week if not two or three. They had gotten to running 10 miles without breathing too heavily and on good days could reach 15 to 20 miles if they denied their lungs need for oxygen (which they didn't do that often for obvious reasons). They had a month of no training in the two Decembers as that was when the holidays rolled around and Lucy went to spend them with Fairy Tail. December was also the time they celebrated the birthdays of all those whose birthdays were unknown including Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed whom had either never known or forgotten over time and had S-class trials in which Lucy was invited to watch both years. After that, it was back to training.

Yukino and Lucy had come to think of each other as best friends and had to practically be pulled apart by force much to the Twin Dragons' chagrin. It had become habit for Sting to put Yukino over his shoulder and carry her to the guild while Rogue stayed for a while talking with Lucy both as a distraction and as an excuse to get to know her better. Sometimes they'd talk for hours until the stars came out and they'd lie next to each other watching the night sky, while other times they'd go inside Lucy's tent and read together in contentedness. Often Rogue would find himself waking up, not in his room, but in Lucy's tent with one arm wrapped around her waist protectively. When Rogue flushed at his actions and began apologizing the first time it happened, Lucy smiled and assured him that it actually helped her sleep through her night terrors. Since then, Rogue had never apologized for sleeping at her side.

It was December X784, when Lucy had gotten a call from Fairy Tail telling her that the S-Class trials were beginning and that she needed to come to the guild immediately in order to watch it on the lacrima screen set up in the guild hall. She quickly said goodbye to the Sabertooth members who were training and collected her stuff, running to the train station.

Once Lucy had made it to the guid she quickly put her stuff down and called out Loke, who had promised Gray that he would be his partner in the upcoming trials. Since Lucy could sustain a key from long distance, she could keep a safe distance from the trials while still allowing Loke to keep his promise. Cana, on the other hand, was partnered up with Aries as Lucy was hoping for Cana to win this for her dad Guildarts. She quickly said goodbye to her spirits and then was squeezed against an all too familiar pair of boobs.

"Evergreen you're crushing me." Lucy struggled to breathe as she attempted to squirm her way into a more comfortable position.

"I can't help it. I haven't seen you in forever and now I have to leave with this ape of a man." Evergreen gestured to Elfman and rolled her eyes.

"You know you love it."

Evergreen dropped Lucy and flushed red, storming off to the boat the contestants were getting on. Lucy waved goodbye and waited for the boat to roll up its anchor. She then went inside the guild to watch the trials while a knot began to form in her stomach. She figured it was from two spirits growing farther away from her but she couldn't help wondering if something larger was going to happen. As a precaution she called out her newest spirit, Kronos. He had rough black hair that stuck out in all directions and two red horns atop his head.

"What can I do for you, Princess?" He said raising his soft golden eyes to her face and bowing slightly in respect.

"Can you look into the possible future outcomes of these trials? I have a very bad feeling. Please don't tell anyone else though. It might worry them."

"I'll be right on it, Princess." He instantly faded away and began in his time sensory magic.

All the magic Lucy was using was beginning to catch up to her and so she went to the infirmary to rest for a while while the trials went on. She would be filled in later on what happened. For now, all she needed was a good rest.

For some reason, even without Rogue being there, she wasn't having nightmares. She was resting peacefully on the bumpy mattress she was lying on. She was dreaming about the trials. In a trial called Power and Luck, Natsu and Happy fought against Guildarts (Happy being little to no help at all) and won going on to the next trial. Evergreen and Elfman went up against Mirajane and got through by pretending to be engaged. Cana and Aries went up against Freed and Bixlow and won due to their womanly charm and their magic. Levy and Gajeel took the calm path and immediately went on to the next trial. Juvia and Lisanna lost against Erza after putting up a good fight and they along with Wendy, Mest, Freed and Bixlow were eliminated from the trial much to their chagrin. That left Gray, Loke, Natsu, Happy, Evergreen, Elfman, Cana, Aries, Levy, and Gajeel going on the the next trial which was Locating the First Master's Grave in which they used hints they figured out themselves to find the burial site of Mavis Vermillion-the first master of the Fairy Tail Guild.

Lucy was having fun watching the trials in her dreams until this challenge when suddenly the dream was a nightmare just like any other night. At that point Zeref arrived and Grimoire Heart attacked. Although they were eventually defeated a much larger evil came their way in the form of Acnologia who destroyed the island. Lucy then bolted upwards to be met with Kronos standing in front of her.

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"It's not over. Rogue and Sting may not be ready yet to take on Acnologia, but I know one slayer who might be. Kronos you may leave."

He disappeared in a mist of gold dust and Lucy immediately called out Virgo while getting out of the infirmary bed.

"Punishment, Princess?"

"No punishment. I need you to dig a tunnel from here to Cobra's cell in the Council's dungeons and then one from there to Tenrou." Virgo flinched at the order, but did as she was told. Lucy hesitated before sliding down the magic tunnel to the prison. When she was there she popped her head out of the hole. She was underneath the blanket she assumed Cobra had for sleep and lifted it slightly to see into the cell. It was a concrete room with the only color being from the person sitting at the front of the room who turned towards the blanket when it rustled. He had red hair and a single silvery, black eye that stared at the young girl with bewilderment while the other eye was shut with a scar across it.

"If you want out come here now. There's a hole and we'll be going someplace special."

"Why are you breaking me out?" His question was short and to the point. Why would he trust a voice from under his blanket when everything else in the world has betrayed him.

"You're a dragon slayer and there's going to be a dragon attacking Tenrou Island in about 30 minutes. Don't ask how I know. This benefits the both of us. You get out of this place and my friends are saved. What do you say?"

Cobra chuckles at the mouth on the kid in front of him and jumps into the hole where they are both taken to Tenrou.

They come out in some foliage and the hole disappears. They hear multiple people talking and look through the foliage to see Fairy Tail.

Cobra sneered. "You never said you were Fairy Tail scum."

"I'm not, but I am their friend and I got you out of jail. Take this note and give it to Gray. I'm going back to their guild hall. Please help them." With that a hole appeared and she slipped through it to watch what happens on the lacrima screen.

When Cobra came out of the foliage, everyone attempted to attack him. He easily dodged each attack by reading their thoughts and grabbed Gray's hand slamming him down to the ground and slipping Lucy's note into his hand.

"The little blonde girl who brought me here told me to give this to you."

"Lucy?"

"Yeah, sure. She was short and blonde."

Gray opened the letter read it out loud for the guild and Cobra.

"Dear Gray Onee-san, It has come to my attention that a dragon named Acnologia is coming to destroy the island. As I didn't want you to die, I got you another dragon slayer to fight with you. I'll handle the paperwork for his formal release. All you need to do is destroy that dragon! Love, Lucy." Everyone stared at the letter with stern expressions. If something wanted to eliminate them they'd eliminate it first, even if it meant getting help from Cobra.

A loud roar sounded in the distance and a black and blue figure appeared to be moving fast towards the island.

"When the dragon gets here, I will hold it back by using my giant magic." Makarov stated gesturing to the black and blue dragon rapidly approaching. "You all attack from its other sides. Find a weak point. We will survive."

When the dragon arrived they did exactly that. The slayers went berserk on the dragon and so did everyone else. The only problem was, none of it was doing anything to the dragon. Acnologia barely had a scratch and it had been holding out on the group unlike what had done previously with Guildarts. It finally seemed as if the dragon had had enough and it takes to the skies for a breath attack. In a final act of defense everyone including Cobra joined hands and focused all the power they had left into surviving. With a huge blast and a white explosion the lacrima went dark leaving Fairy Tail in silence.

Lucy felt as if something were ripping away from her body and screamed out in pain. She had left her spirits on the island and instead of going back to the spirit world as they usually did, they looked to be completely obliterated. Lucy could feel the contracts being broken and the keys burning her hip. Everyone left in the guild flocked around her, but she was already unconscious. Macao began to spit orders regarding her health and a search team to go to where the island was. Lucy was carried to the infirmary and placed in the same bed she was in before. After being tested by Porlyusica who was called in as soon as the event happened, she was said to be in a magic coma. She would wake sporadically until her spirits were back- if they ever did come back. The island was not found no matter where or how long they looked. Everything seemed to be going wrong for Fairy Tail.

When Sabertooth caught wind of what happened, Yukino, Sting, and Rogue boarded the first train to Fairy Tail they could while Rufus and Orga covered for them at the guild. When they arrived they were cloaked in the cloud of depression that hung over the place.

"Where's Lucy?" Yukino asked worried for her best friend.

Macao looked up at the sudden intrusion and pointed towards the infirmary. "I'm so sorry."

The three widened their eyes at his forlorn and grieving expression. The rushed in to where the old, blue-haired man had pointed only to see Lucy in a coma with a troubled expression resting on her usually smiling face. With her golden hair acting as a halo around her head she looked like an angel. Yukino burst into tears falling to her knees next to the bed. Sting kept a straight face kneeling next to Yukino and rubbing circles on her back in an attempt to calm the both of them. Yukino turned in order to cry on Sting's shoulder while Rogue moved painfully slow towards Lucy's other side. He took her hand in his and held it to his lips allowing a tear to slide down his pale lips. His reddish eyes scanned her face for any side of waking and there was none.

"We need to go back to the guild. We can visit again another time." Rogue dropped the porcelain hand and stalked out the door followed by Sting and the still weeping Yukino. Things would never be the same again.