I'm majorly sorry for updating so late. But, hurrah, I got three essays completed in the space of 12 days.

.

She clutched the hem of her dress skirt so tight it was sure to have creased. The maids would certainly scold her for ruining such a beautiful and expensive dress but she was never fazed by their consistent reprimanding. She held the hem up high so she wouldn't step on the overlong ruffled skirt of her dress as she hurried forward in a run.

She reached to a halt when she reached the corner of the corridor. She pressed herself against the wall and peeked out from the corner. There was no one in that part of the corridor. They still hadn't left the room yet. Silently, she waited, holding her breathe in anticipation.

"Eavesdropping is wrong," she could almost hear her mother saying, her voice no longer frail and weak like it was now. But her mother wasn't like that now, she wasn't her lively and bubbly self, and she never would be again. It seemed like she wouldn't be here for much longer.

But how much time was left? She was dying to, yet dreading it at the same time. Her face had nearly turned blue with the lack of oxygen, so she exhaled and inhaled once more. Was it possible that, inside that room, her mother was taking her last breathes?

Finally, after what seemed like decades, her father and their personal doctor left her mother's room. She pressed herself into the wall, willing herself to turn invisible so they would not notice her presence.

She did not hear the hushed discussions of time limits and such as she had expected. No, all she heard were quiet sobbing of her father, along with the consoling of the doctor. "Why her?" she heard the words barely escape her father's mouth. It was gruff and forced, and it cracked at the end like the glass frame of their family picture had shattered into a million pieces.

It was then that she realized it was too late, and she had spent these moments scheming, rather than being with her mother for her final breathes.

She remembered her mother saying in her stern tone, "You never hear anything good when you're eavesdropping."

VI - Fiction or Facts

Unfortunately, it was evident that today wasn't her lucky day. Before she could even get away from the back of the carnival, she caught sight of long white hair and a curvaceous body.

Mirajane.

As much as she liked the girl, Lucy ducked behind the barrels of beer (jeez, how much alcohol does Cana go through?) to hide. If Mirajane were to catch her, she'd make Lucy stay for the show whether she wanted to or not. Mira was just stubborn that way.

Lucy crouched down low so her golden hair would not be seen. Her knees touched the dewy grass and the blades of emerald tickled the front of her calves but she remained still and silent. She waited with baited breathe for Mirajane to go back to the booths.

Instead, she heard Mirajane speak in her soft kind voice. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" she asked someone.

"I thought that would be obvious," a stoic male voice replied. Who does that voice belong to? Lucy faintly remembered the voice from yesterday, but she was certain she hadn't officially met him. She risked a little peek over the top of the beer barrels and saw green hair – a darker green than Bisca's, for sure.

"I wouldn't say do, Freed," Mirajane replied. That's his name! Lucy realized. Freed – he's friends with Laxus. She didn't know him nor had he aroused her attention, but that proved to be a good thing. It appeared that he was much more sensible and less rambunctious than the other boys (they could hardly be called men). He was fairly handsome but had a solemn look on his face. She wondered if he ever smiled.

It was a private conversation between the two, obviously not meant to be heard by anyone else. Why else would they have chosen to discuss something here in discretion whilst everyone else was at the carnival? Lucy decided to respect their wishes and crawl away to give them privacy while their attention was adverted. But then, what she heard next made her freeze.

"It's about that Lucy girl."

Now, Lucy wasn't normally an eavesdropper, or a gossiper, but when what they were discussing was about her then she just had to listen in. The curiosity overpowered her morals. She stayed in place, hidden by the barrels of beer, praying that the pair would not notices and Cana would not come stumbling in, wanting another barrel of beer to drink.

"Lucy?" Mirajane repeated out of confusion. "She's lovely, isn't she?"

"Bixlow informed me that she shot a dart-gun at him," Freed told her. It wasn't a retort or something he was saying to contradict Mira; he seemed to be merely stating a fact. A relevant fact? Lucy wasn't sure.

Mirajane gave out a harmonic laugh. "I heard."

"I had no doubt you would – everyone knows about it now," he replied with a chuckle. Lucy wanted peek out again, see this rare moment where Freed was smiling, but dismissed it.

"Are you calling me a gossip?" Mirajane asked.

"Not calling, just implying," he replied.

They talk like a couple, Lucy thought. He seems so low maintenance and not at all pervy compared to all the other guys. He's a good match for Mira. Hopefully he was also strong, otherwise he would be crushed to a pulp by Mira's not-so-little brother, Elfman.

"So, what was it about Lucy?" Mira probed him for information. Yeah, she really is a gossip! Lucy rolled her eyes but smiled too.

"We must stay away from her," the two words immediately made Lucy's smile slip from her face. What? Why?

"Why would you say that?" Mirajane asked, her tone suddenly harsh and almost angry. Lucy wished she could see Mirajane's face right now – she hadn't seen the bubbly woman angry – but was afraid she would be spotted.

"The aura around her – can you not see it? She's a Mage."

The word set off flashes of horrible memories for Lucy. She remembered that horrible night and could almost feel the rain pouring down.

"Oh, Lucy-sama, aren't you going to say hello to your fellow Stellar Spirit Mage?"

"Lucy? A Mage?" Mirajane said. She wasn't bewildered or confounded. It was almost as if she knew this all along, or had a theory about it. "But why is she here?"

"Sent by the Council, I presume," Freed answered. "It was only a matter of time before they caught us."

Now Mirajane was shocked. "B- but she'd never- Lucy is so sweet and Natsu's friend-"

"Doranbolt was Wendy's friend," Freed interrupted. "Or at least, she thought he was."

"Natsu isn't easily influenced like Wendy," Mirajane protested. "He's a good judge of character-"

"Natsu?" Freed repeated. His cool and calm self was gone and now he seemed to be scrutinising Mira. "The same boy who destroyed buildings like toys and acts before thinking?"

"He really likes Lucy!" Mirajane insisted and Lucy felt herself go red. Like as in just friends! She told herself but that didn't stop her heart from somersaulting. She wasn't at all fazed when Freed had mentioned that Natsu destroyed buildings. It could have been an exaggeration or it could have been true. With Natsu, there was no why in knowing for sure.

"It seems that you're only denying it because you're afraid that he'll get hurt."

"Of course I am!" Mirajane said and it seemed she was trying to hold back a sob. "We've been hurt so many times, having to carry around this burden…" she gulped and then continued more calmly and quietly that Lucy had to strain her ears to hear. "Why can't we just have one moment of peace?" she asked herself in a small whisper. "Without any running away or being ripped away from your family? Like the old times?"

Then there was only silence. Freed did not reply, so, Lucy peeked from behind the barrels. Freed was holding Mira in an embrace while she quietly sobbed into his shoulder. There discussion about whether Lucy was a part of this 'Council' or not had been postponed.

Lucy, silent as possible, kept a firm grip on the book and crawled away from the scene. She kept on all fours for a few minutes longer until she was sure no one was around. She stood up, brushed her knees and then stretched out her sleeping legs that were now aching.

She was faintly familiar with the lay of the land where the carnival had set up, due to being hauled around the carnival for god knew only how long by Natsu. She was able to get to the exit quickly, without being stopped or spotted. She walked at a rapid pace, thinking that if she broke into a run it would only draw attention to her.

"Luuuuuucyyyyyy," a familiar voice shouted. Not again, Lucy thought. She contemplated on whether she should just continue forward, pretending to be oblivious, or turn around and force herself not to be persuaded by Natsu's attempts to get her to stay.

She didn't get to choose an option because Natsu had already caught up to her. "Hey," he said with his usual smile. Happy appeared behind him, flapping his wings with joy. "Where are you going?"

The word 'home' was on the tip of her tongue before she remembered that she didn't have a real home. "Back to the Inn," she truthfully answered. Yeah, that's the only truth I'm going to tell…

"Why?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Aren't you going to stay to watch me perform?" He didn't say 'watch the circus perform'. He was more concerned about himself.

"Sorry, but I'm feeling kind of tired," she told him the same excuse she had given Levi. This time, the yawn she gave was a real one. I actually am pretty tired. Maybe I should sleep first before I read the book… Her eyelids began to droop a little, heavy with sleepiness.

Natsu and Happy frowned in sadness. They were also realizing that this may be the last time that they'd see her, like Levy. "But don't worry," she told him with fake cheeriness. "I'll be back tomorrow to return Levy's book. She said you leave at sunset?"

He nodded. "Good."

"Why were you running, anyway?" she asked him to lighten the mood. He just gave a shrug in response. Lucy smirked. "Were you worried that I would leave without saying goodbye?" she teasingly asked. How could she not take advantage of that?

A sad and nostalgic expression crossed his face but it disappeared so fast that Lucy thought she imagined it. Natsu pulled a face at her and said, "Pfft, I was chasing you to make you get out faster." He wrinkled his nose at her. "You stink worse than Happy's sardines."

"Aye!" Happy agreed, pinching his nose with his hand (paw?).

And with those parting words, Natsu turned on his heel, Happy at his tail, and left the blond volcano at the ready to erupt and spew scorching lava and unladylike words at him. Her nails dug into the book and resisted the urge to run up to Natsu and beat him until he was the same color as Happy. No, I shouldn't, she dissuaded herself, I don't want to ruin Levi's book. And I really want to read what's inside.

As she walked back to the Inn, she thought back on Freed's accusing words. Mage? Council? What was that all about?

The word 'Mage' wasn't unfamiliar to her. She knew it meant something similar to 'wizard' or 'magic-wielder'. Her mother had told her countless stories about Mages too, like she actually knew the Mages herself.

Lucy's Keys looped around her belt were magic, so why wouldn't she be a magic-wielder? A Mage? But how do Freed and Mira know that? She wondered. How do they know about my Keys? About Mages? About-

The thoughts bounced around her brain like an out-of-control trampoline. It caused her stomach to turn, feeling the same thing Natsu had felt when he had gone on the Ferris wheel. She stopped her jumbling thoughts that were filling her brain and bouncing against the mental walls of her brain. There was no need for questions. They were all in this book, the book she was clutching to her chest, and she was determined to find out all about it soon.

When she was back in her room at the Inn, showered and changed, she slipped off the fake cover of the book. Her hand traced the gold writing in perfect script.

The History of The Kingdom of Fiore.

What was it about this odd book that drew her to it? It was calling out to her. She paused for a moment, and then hesitantly opened the book to page 1.

… … …

Every night Lucy thought about her mother before going to bed. She remembered Layla's beautiful face, soft colored silky blond hair, and warm hazel eyes. She remised her mother's gentle voice telling her soothing bedtime stories.

There was a specific story that she loved to here about. It was set in the 'Kingdom of Fiore' and Lucy imagined the place to be a wonderful and enchanting place with singing bluebirds and charismatic people and princes. (Sue her, she was only 6 and her imagination was not as wild as one would think.) In Fiore there were Mages – wizards of sorts – with magical abilities like the ability to control water or ice. They worked in magic Guilds which were organizations where the Mages could take jobs.

Her mother always specified the story on a certain girl named 'Lila' whom had blond hair and brown eyes and could summon these people called 'Stellar Spirits' whom were named after the constellations. For each person you needed an individual Key. For the Zodiac Stellar Spirits, the Keys were gold.

Lila would go on many missions where she often got into danger. When this did happen, she would summon one of her Spirits whom she would team up with to fight the enemies. Lilia's favorite Spirit was Aquarius whom was the glamorous Water Bearer with the beautiful form of a mermaid. When she had been a child, Lucy had wished to meet Aquarius one day, positive that she and the mermaid would learn to be great friends. Above all, Lucy had wanted to be a Mage.

In her humid room in the Inn, the window wide open to allow a gentle breeze to enter now and then and the sound of children playing outside was loudly audible, Lucy remembered these moments of her childhood and how she had wished for that story to be true.

And apparently, her wish had been fulfilled. The book that lay in her hands at the moment told her that there really was a Kingdom of Fiore with Mages and Guilds. It had a rich history and had been alive for many centuries.

Lucy closed the book with a sigh and then fell back onto the comfy bed. Her blond hair fanned out onto the soft cream pillow and Lucy knew that she could have fallen asleep instantly, had she not been antagonized and flabbergasted over what she had read.

Her stomach angrily grumbled. She had been too distracted by the book to have even bothered to eat. Maybe I should go back to the café to eat…?

Although she was starving, Lucy found herself unable to move from the comfortable bed. She was still processing the news that the whole fairytale her mother had told her was actually true. How could she find it in herself to eat?

Why didn't they tell me? Lucy thought. Her Stellar Spirits had never even spoken one word about Fiore where there were many Mages – Mages who deserved to have all these Stellar Spirits and would obviously have put them to good use, rather than her who only summoned Cancer the Crab for haircuts.

She could have hit herself for being so ignorant. Of course Fiore had been real – if Stellar Spirits were real then why wouldn't Fiore be?

The concept of Mages and Guilds wasn't unfamiliar either. Her mind drifted off as she remembered that dark and intense night only a couple of years or so ago.

The rain that thundered down from the heavy dark cloud made her deeply wish she had worn more layers. Or at least held off Operation Runaway until the weather was less harsh.

But there was no going back now. She had to continue going and not look back. It had been an hour, so there was the hopeful possibility that no one was looking for her yet. She had been intelligent enough to sneak out late at night when her father and the maids were all fast asleep. However, her plan had hit snag – by now she was supposed to be far out of town but it had taken her nearly 20 minutes of stumbling in the dark to get out of the gigantic garden her father owned.

The thunder banged and there was a blinding flash of lightning that scared Lucy to the core. To be slashed by the razor-sharp lightning was terrifying. Then, adding to her fear and anxiety, she heard a mischievous giggle that caused her to swivel around in shock.

"My, my, you're jumpy," said a light-hearted voice. The holder of the voice stepped forward, out of the shadows and made Lucy nearly faint with shock and terror. It was her. Lucy Heartfilia was standing in front of another Lucy Heartfilia. If this wasn't confusing, she didn't know what was.

The twin quirked an eyebrow at Lucy. "Stellar Spirit information received," it spoke with smugness. "Impressive. I think we found who we're looking for, Angel-sama."

Another figure stepped out of the darkness. Lucy wished to run, hide away, anything to get away rather than just stand like an idiot, petrified to the spot like she was now.

She pulled her eyes away from her smirking mirror image to the other woman who had appeared. 'Angel' was what her mirror image had called her. The woman certainly had the image of an angel. Her pixie face was angelic, her dress fluffy and white, made of soft feathers, and her light-colored hair was twisted into a pseudo halo at the top.

The only thing out of place in her cosplay was the smirk she wore on her face. It was full of satanic wistfulness. Lucy didn't normally believe in demons but Angel was an exception.

"W- What do you w- want?" Lucy finally found the courage to speak. Unfortunately for her, it came out in a chain of scared stutters which only caused her mirror image to giggle and Angel to sneer at her.

"Oh, Lucy-sama, aren't you going to say hello to your fellow Stellar Spirit Mage?"

Her hazel eyes widened in trepidation. She didn't know what to be more shocked about. The fact that Angel knew her name or the fact that she knew about Stellar Spirits. The latter, she decided, but had absolutely no idea why Angel had addressed herself as a Mage. Weren't they a type of wizard?

"How do you know about –"

"Stellar Spirits?" Angel finished with a laugh. She turned to Lucy's mirror image. "That's enough now," she told her in a harsh tone.

Lucy watched in amazement as her mirror image began fading away in a cloud of thick smoke. Then the smoke began to hastily clear. To her astonishment, there were two small alien beings standing in pseudo-Lucy's place.

"Meet my two little cuties, twins Gemi and Mini," Angel said in a polite introduction. "Stellar Spirits." The two tiny dancing beings gave a pleasant wave at Lucy.

Her heart nearly stopped thumping. Subconsciously, her hand went to the keys looped around her belt of her soaked jeans. She scraped up enough voice out of her throat to speak again. "W- who are you?"

"Tsk, tsk, so many questions," Angel tutted. "Didn't anyone tell you not to be rude and ask so many questions to a stranger? Didn't they tell you not to run away from home?" Lucy felt her hands start to tremble in fear. How did this Angel know so much about her?

Lucy regained the feeling of her toes and started readying herself for the sprint. "But, to be nice, I'll answer your questions. My name is Angel-sama," she told Lucy with a spine-tingling smile. "And I'm a part of the Dark Guild, the Oración-seis."

The words were all unfamiliar and foreign to Lucy, but she said nothing and kept frozen as a statue. She let Angel continue, waiting for the appropriate opportunity to escape from the clutches of her claws.

"I heard some rumors that the Key to the Maiden was in this quaint town and I thought I'd go retrieve it for myself." Her eyes narrowed and she gave Lucy a hard stare. "But, what do you know? Duke Everlue is in prison and his Key has already been taken."

Lucy felt her mouth go dry. Only one name was in her mind now, along with the color of startling pink and the image of a maid outfit. Virgo…

"You don't deserve those Keys," she said with distaste. "You don't even have a Guild." Angel's eyes zoomed in on Lucy's Keys and her cold and hollow black eyes filled with greed. "You asked me what I want, Lucy-sama. And so, I'll tell you."

Angel's eyes darted away from Lucy's Keys to look Lucy straight into her eyes. "I've wasted enough time. I'll be taking those Keys for myself…"

Lucy woke up with a jolt. She sat up in bed and her gaze hurriedly bounced around her cool and dark bedroom until she was positive she was alone. Her vice-tight chest loosened and she let out a relieved sigh of content.

She frowned at her foolishness. Why was she getting anxious about a nightmare of an event that had taken place over a year ago? Anyway, she had gotten away scot-free – and with Angel's Keys - so there was nothing to worry about.

Lucy blinked the sleepy haze out of her eyes and then swung her legs over the side of the bed. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11 o'clock in the morning. She had slept for over 12 hours.

She stood up and gave out a loud yawn, stretching. Her eyes landed on the discarded book on the bed. She leaned over and picked it up. She hadn't had the chance to finish it and felt she had no reason to either. She knew all she needed to know. Fiore was real, as were Mages and Guilds.

Biting her lip, she flicked through a few pages until she found what she was searching for.

Dark Guild – noun. A Guild that no longer (or never was) recognized by the Magic Council and thought as a criminal organization and treated as a threat.

Lucy continued to look through some more pages that listed the Dark Guilds but found no mentioning of the Oración-seis. However, the book seemed to be over a century old, meaning that that Dark Guild hadn't been formed yet.

With a frustrated sigh, she shut the book and placed it on her bedside table to get ready.

Originally, this was supposed to be two seperate chapters but then I realized that they were too short so I added them together. I'm not sure if the combination worked, however.

Not much Natsu in it, so I apologize. But, did the flashback (I loved writing that part - Angel's one of my favorite antagonists) make uo for it?