A/N: and here we have another chapter. Yay! So I would like to thank you all who are still reading, I really do appreciate it. And I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, and faved and followed. It really means a lot to me that you all did that. And a special thank you to krazy524 for being the hundredth follower, I think... If I got that wrong, my bad, but I'm pretty sure that I figured it out after a little bit of thinking. lol. Please enjoy the next chapter!

I do not own Fairy Tail at all!

Chapter Eighteen: Train Jumping

It was well past noon the next day by the time Fairy Tail was fully awake and lucid from the partying that they had been doing the night before. Still recognized as the strongest guild in Fiore, they all knew that when they got back to Magnolia they were going to have a week long party if not longer. After all, this was Fairy Tail, and that was just the way they were whenever they had something fun to celebrate!

Lucy not only had been congratulated on her growing number of spirits and expanding magic, but she also had to keep apologizing to Mira, Bixlow, and Lisanna for lying during the games about them hooking up and making Mira an aunt. Not that Mira cared if it was true, the barmaid now had her new favorite couple in the guild, and she was determined to force them together and create the cute little babies that she had imagined they would have together. Sadly, that had the two running away from her. Lisanna was completely red half of the time while Bixlow was being the picture of the pervert that most thought he was.

After this turn of event, they all had finally boarded a train that was going back to Magnolia so that they all would be able to go home. It really had been a while and Lucy was missing her apartment terribly. Fairy Tail had gotten an entire car to themselves and without having to worry about other people were being just as loud as everyone knew them to be.

Of course the four dragon slayers were kept in the same booth. Laxus and Gajeel were lucky that Wendy was still able to cure their motion sickness, so they decided to stay close to her for the time being while Natsu had long before been knocked out by Erza and was in his usual spot on Lucy's lap. Not that she really minded it this once, the jibes from the others went unheard as she played with his hair absentmindedly. She just had too many things to think about.

The night before the final battle, Lucy had been lucky enough that she had been ushered into her room and everyone momentarily forgot to ask her about the five strange beings that attacked them. However, it seemed that last night they had all remembered and had tried to get answers out of her. So she had gone to Makarov to ask him what she should do, and they had agreed that it was best if the guild knew as little as possible for the time being. So he had told the guild that it was a new enemy that they had very little information about, and that they were not to ask questions about it.

It was the truth; but Lucy couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for not sharing things with the guild that she considered her family.

Back on the train, Cana had been sure to pack a few (hundred) bottles of hard liquor, and she was currently instituting a drinking contest between her and a few of the men in the guild. Even master was having a drink or two. Of course, about a third of the way back to the guild, she had won against everyone and was now teasing Lucy mercilessly about her lack of a personal life.

That was when the first wave of some unknown feeling hit Lucy. It caused her to literally jump up and out of the booth she was sitting in, consequently depositing Natsu onto the ground and causing Laxus and Gajeel to burst out in laughter. It was amusing to almost everyone on the train, but they all wondered why Lucy had done that. It wasn't like her at all.

The second wave hit and it caused her to gasp as her vision seemed to become tunneled and all sound seemed to blend into the background noise of the train. Her body seemed to move on some unknown instinct as she rushed forward and started to fumble with the latch on the nearest window that she could get to, which happened to be the one that was surrounded by dragon slayers.

"Bunny Girl, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Gajeel's rough voice asked as Laxus pulled her away from the window and towards Erza and Gray who had come over to see why Lucy was acting strangely.

"I need to get off the train! I have to get off now!" Lucy all but yelled as she struggled in Laxus's grip. Before anyone could say or do anything else, another wave flowed through her and this time it caused her breathing to become erratic as she struggled even harder to get away from the lightning dragon slayer.

Wendy rushed over to see if there was something wrong with Lucy that she could help with. But the instant she scanned over Lucy, she knew that something was calling to her friend and sister figure. "I think that she really does need to get off! I don't know what will happen if she doesn't!" Wendy said with her soft, innocent voice full of worry.

People had started to gather to watch as Lucy struggled right before another wave hit her and activated her magic. When she started to glow, Laxus quickly let go and they watched as she unlatched the window and started to jump out. But not before Draco had come out on his own and caught Lucy in his mini form, much like how Happy would have, and flew her to the ground so that she wouldn't get hurt.

"Laxus, go after her!" Erza ordered as she looked out the open window.

"Why should I?" The lightning dragon slayer barked. "I'm not her babysitter!"

It was Mira with a very dark aura surrounding her that answered with "You are the only one who can teleport and be useful to Lucy! The last time she was left alone she disappeared for three months! If that happens again I will make your life hell!" She was snarling, and it was clear that if he said anything else that would tick the demon off, she would use her Sitri demon takeover and would probably end him. "Oh, and you are taking me with you whether you like it or not!" she added as an afterthought with a smile.

So he did what any man in his place would do. He gathered up his ripped up dignity and lightning teleported himself and the demon out of the train and to the place where he had seen Lucy land with her dragon spirit.

Of course she was gone from the area by the time he had landed, and he had to use his nose in order to find her again. It was harder than he remembered it being due to the demon takeover mage that was breathing down his neck rather impatiently. And soon enough they had pulled up beside the wandering blonde. He noticed that she seemed single minded as the dragon was lazing across her shoulders with his tail swaying slightly. He obviously was not worried in the least about this situation. The dragon didn't even seem to mind that Lucy was walking into the middle of nowhere.

"Oi, Blondie, where the hell are you going?" He asked as he nudged the girl a little with his shoulder.

"Laxus, that is not how you are supposed to ask someone! I know that your grandfather taught you better than that!" Mira reprimanded lightly to the grumpy dragon slayer.

"I'm afraid she will not answer you, not until she has found them." Draco said as he opened a single silver eye to look at the young dragon slayer and the demon takeover mage. There was an amused glint in his eye as he shifted off of Lucy's shoulder and onto Laxus's.

"Who is she looking for?" Mira asked in curiosity. She obviously wanted to know if this was going to be dangerous for the Celestial mage that had become almost like a second sister to her over the years that she had been in the guild.

Laxus, however, had a completely different reaction. He was now annoyed and confused about what the heck was going on, and he really didn't want to be that at all. If it had been just Erza who had ordered him to go he wouldn't have, but he valued his life too much to say no to Mira when she was clearly pissed off to the max. It also didn't help his mood any that the ground was becoming rockier the further they were walking. It made any danger that much harder to spot due to the boulders and crevices that things could hide in wait for pry to come around.

The dragon chuckled as he said "You will have to wait and see."

Laxus mumbled something unintelligible. That caused the dragon to smirk at his antics, plus, the dragon knew what was coming up, and he had a feeling that he would be very amused at the antics that the dragon slayer would show.

Mira saw the casual attitude that the dragon was emitting and felt as though there was something that she was supposed to be understanding from what he was saying. But for the life of her she could not figure out what that was supposed to be. It made her more concerned than worried, but she trusted that the dragon would have been showing much more unease if there was any danger to Lucy.

It was almost three hours later, and they were still walking. Laxus had long before started to rant about everything and anything. At first it was about demons forcing him to babysit, but then it went into a full blown preaching on how every single person that he knew was a complete nut job. He even put in his own team, his father, his grandfather, everyone in the guild, and then he went over to the other guilds and continued to rant.

Mira listened to this entire rant with a sweet smile on her face, trying her very best to see if she could perhaps pick out a love interest or two from what he was saying. She didn't even mind being called a demon at the moment seeing as she was like that most of the time when she wanted to get her way. And if everything went according to plan, she would have the entire guild filled with couples in less than a year. Of course she knew the likelihood of that happening was slim, but she had faith that she could at least manage to make a dent in the number of unattached mages in the guild. That was, after all, her goal now since she had stopped going on missions.

Master had been so much help in that aspect as well. It was amazing what the two of them could see if they were both working together. The only problem was that they both had clearly different tastes in who should end up together. When Master had suggested Laki and Natsu might make a cute couple, Mira had taken to planning out her couples without his help. She didn't need any crack parings that just couldn't work in the long run.

Lucy was blissfully unaware as she continued to walk with her heart guiding her. She knew that she was getting closer, and she didn't notice the barrier once again as she walked through it. Behind it was a cavern that was not seen from the outside. At the center was an alter that had two silver keys placed on it. It was very different than the last cave that she had wandered into last time. This one was lighter and not as deep. Also, there was no water in this one either. It was more peaceful than the last, and the stone used was almost white in color. Looking intently at the keys, she walked forward with purpose.

She gingerly picked them up, once again out of the trance, she then took her time studying them in the light that filtered through the cracks at the top of the cavern. One key seemed to have a crescent moon as the teeth of the key while the flat section had an image of a howling wolf. The other was much like the snake charmers key; only the silver snake that wrapped around the silver key seemed to have more than one head and a set of legs. She knew right away which keys these were, and her excitement doubled.

"Princess, you may want to summon them somewhere with more room. I'm afraid that they will take up a good deal of space." Columba sent into Lucy's head from his key on her belt. With a sigh she nodded and started to head out and through the barrier again. She almost jumped out of her skin when suddenly she was face to face with a fuming Laxus and a smiling Mirajane.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. His stormy blue eyes watched as she looked up at him with confusion evident on her face.

"Laxus, when did you get here?" She asked with her eyebrows scrunched up.

"Blondie, we've been following you since three hours ago when you decided to jump out the window of a moving train! You're lucky I did too. I wouldn't have if the demon didn't step in!" He growled at the blonde Celestial Spirit mage while gesturing to the mage that was still standing slightly behind him. He was slightly pissed.

"Oh, well thanks for that!" Lucy said with a huge smile.

Draco chuckled again as Laxus stood there slack jawed at her response before saying "I do believe that you have a worried older brother, he went crazy when he couldn't get through the barrier. It was quite entertaining to watch." The mirth in his voice was evident as Laxus picked up his jaw from the ground and scowled at the little dragon.

Mira squealed at the little dragon and with hearts in her eyes gushed "Oh yes, I can see it now! Two blonde haired mages that come together as siblings of the heart! Oh Laxus, you would make a wonderful big brother. Beware to all those dream filled men who wish to take Lucy for themselves. Now they must prove their worth to the deadly and antisocial dragon slayer who is not her big brother! It is almost perfect!"

Jumping up excitedly Lucy echoed Mira's imaginings by saying "Now I can call you big brother, and you can intimidate whatever guy tries to become my boyfriend! I always wanted an older brother!"

Laxus glared at her, but to her surprise he didn't tell her not to. Instead he grumbled out "So why the hell did you get to go through the barrier when I was stuck out here chatting with your little dragon and the demon?"

"Oh, speaking of that, I have to make the new contracts!" Lucy said as she smiled and turned around in excitement, effectively escaping his securitization. Of course she ignored his question. And just that had him fuming even more.

Laxus was not used to people doing that; most of the time they bowed before him and told him everything that he desired to know and more. But no, this girl had to be infuriating and do things her own way without letting him know why he was taking time out of his day to be there at the moment.

Mira found this funny and said "Would you look at that, it seems that big brother doesn't like the fact that his precious little sister won't share with him." With her hands folded in front of her chest she leaned in slightly, knowing that at the very least it would annoy the dragon slayer even more than he already was. Mira would be lying if she said that she was not surprised that he hadn't rejected being Lucy's big brother outright. It was almost adorable to watch.

A/N: and that concludes another chapter. I'm being a bit light hearted at the moment, but that is only because things are about to get really serious in a chapter or two. So savor this attitude while it lasts. Thank you all for reading, and please drop in a review if you wold. As always, I love those things. Oh, and please make a guess as to who the new spirits are! I think that you all can guess them from the descriptions I gave of the keys!