A/N: Hello, everybody! Once again, another month break... I had to work on my fairy tale retelling from school a lot, and then once I had finished, we had to go on vacation for spring break (we went to New York, Washington D.C., and New Hampshire... it was a blast!), but now I'm back, and I decided to churn out this chapter for all of you! I'll try to update more frequently from now on, and I've also planned a lot more chapters (I'm basically done planning for the Tower of Heaven arc). I also caught up on the actual Fairy Tail series, so now we're good to go on future arcs. All in all, I took what I'd like to call a productive break.

Review replies:

Guest: Don't worry, I will. :)

RepeatingSimplePhrases: Thanks for all of the kind words! I hope that you like this chapter just as much as the others :)

This chapter is in Lucy's POV (yeah, I know, I'm repeating POV's a lot...) but the truth is, she's really the only POV I can really do in this chapter that's present. Also, she's meant to be one of the main characters in this fic, so...

Without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Fairy Tail or Homestuck. Hiro Mashima and Andrew Hussie, respectively, both own their franchises, and I do not own the characters, most of the plot, or most of the locations.

Chapter 4: Nepeta Leijon's Fiore "Counterpart?"

-Lucy-

If there was one thing that Lucy was feeling after Vriska had apparently tricked her, it was absolutely deceived. Nevertheless, Lucy still wanted to visit Alternian Beforus. There was something strange about them she couldn't put her finger on. The guild members were obviously hiding something from her, judging by the way they acted… so what was it?

In fact, knowing that one of their members was extremely deceitful only made Lucy even more determined. Had Vriska actually killed others, and had she actually come close to killing one of her fellow guild members? When it came to Alternian Beforus, Lucy couldn't be sure about anything, and she wanted to be one of the people to find something out for once. She would have to take action to reach her goal.

But, of course, when Lucy was a member of Fairy Tail, that wasn't ever going to happen. Day-to-day life was hard enough having to put up with Natsu and Gray's constant arguing, Fairy Tail's craziness in general, and now rebuilding the guild. She was uncertain that she might be able to make it to Alternian Beforus by next week.

"Honestly," Gray said when Lucy had approached the whole team about Alternian Beforus, "you don't need to spend so much time around them. If I didn't know any better, I would say you're obsessed."

However, Natsu wasn't paying so much attention to that, and, as always, focusing in on the minute details. "Somebody there tricked you?" Natsu roared-literally, since he was a Dragon Slayer. "And almost killed a member of their own guild? I need to go show them a piece of my mind!" As he spoke, he started running off and away from the construction site. Happy followed him, not doing anything to stop him, and it was actually quite the contrary, as Happy was encouraging him by yelling, "Aye, sir!"

"Please, Natsu, don't!" Lucy cried, grabbing the end of Natsu's scarf and dragging him back to the rest of the team. "It's really not that big of a deal. I heard that the person who tricked me tends to trick people often… I'm no different! Really, you don't have to try and attack her. Besides, she's an S-class wizard. She'd beat you up!"

"Doesn't matter!" Natsu shouted. "They shouldn't get away with any of that stuff! A guild is a place where people should be bonding. Not a place where the members almost kill themselves!"

"Let's not forget that you've been roughed up by a lot of Fairy Tail, too…" Lucy muttered. "Besides," she added, raising her voice, "it sounds like you're trying to find an excuse to fight them."

"Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Erza said, luckily interrupting Natsu's outburst. "For all we know, everybody in that guild could be tricking you. You can't know anything for certain about these people, as you barely know anything about them that's true."

"They're not bad people," Lucy replied. "I just know it. I've met some of their members. And aside from Vriska, they all seem like pretty nice people! Plus, Karkat saved Natsu from Gajeel. Natsu would've died if it weren't for Karkat!"

"Exactly! He stole my show!" Natsu put in.

"Even if you might have died to Gajeel without him…?" Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You said that one of them fought you." Erza raised her eyebrows. "Are they still good people?"

Lucy wanted to facepalm. Her friends either looked at the big picture or zoomed in on the very unnecessary details. "That was a battle to decide if we should all go to their guild or not. I respect their privacy! But they're hiding something huge, and I want to know what. If you think about it, it was just like your fight with Natsu before!"

"That makes them even more suspicious," Gray pointed out.

"Whatever. I'm done here." Lucy started to walk away, then stopped. "I'm leaving. Do any of you want to come with me to their guild next week?"

"For what?" Natsu yawned.

"We're going to pay them a visit," Lucy said. "And I'm going to try to find what else they're hiding."

Natsu shrugged. "We could be going out on a job…"

"Oh, come on!" Lucy groaned.

"I'll go with you," Erza decided. "Someone needs to watch over you to make sure Alternian Beforus doesn't do anything funny. I'm still not trusting them."

Gray nodded. "I'll see if I can come as well."

"Fine!" Natsu grumbled. "Wherever that guy goes, I go, too! I have to do a better job than him!"

"What did you say?" Gray growled.

Lucy shook her head as the two began to argue. They'll never stop, Lucy thought as they shouted obstinacies at each other. Well, at least they were all going to Alternian Beforus next week. That, at least, was a plan they all had in mind.

-Lucy's House-

"Are you sure you don't know anything?" Lucy persisted, glancing at Crux. "Do you recognize the name Karkat Vantas at all?"

"No," Crux replied. "He is not a Celestial Wizard. But I can tell you something…"

"Yes?" Lucy leaned forward eagerly.

Crux looked straight at her. "Karkat Vantas does not come from Fiore. I cannot place exactly where he comes from, but he definitely doesn't come from Fiore. He comes from somewhere far away, somewhere where magic is found."

Lucy nodded. "What about Kanaya Maryam?"

Crux appeared to be sleeping again.

"He's sleeping!" Happy announced.

"No, he's researching," Lucy said.

After a few moments, Crux opened his eyes again.

It turned out that the results were same for Kanaya. She came from a different place other than Fiore, like Karkat. It was the same for Aradia and Vriska, as well. None of them were Celestial Wizards, and they came from somewhere other than Fiore-somewhere far away.

I know all of that already, Lucy thought. None of the information was useful to her. Maybe there would be new information later?

All of a sudden, Gray barged into her house. "Lucy, we have a problem!"

"Don't trespass in other people's houses!" Lucy snapped, outraged.

Gray ignored her, and said, "Loke's gone and left Fairy Tail. We've looked all over for him, and we can't find him."

"What?" Lucy asked, her mood doing an instant 360.

"The whole guild's searching for him," Gray explained. "Can you help?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I will." She ran out of her apartment, hurtling toward a destination she was sure of. I questioned Crux about it… I think I know where Loke is!

-Alternian Beforus-

-Nobody's POV-

Nepeta stood up suddenly. ":33 *ac announces that she'll be going out," she said, "and won't be back until nighttime!*"

"D - You'll be alright, won't you," Equius said. "D - I don't want you to get injured in a place like this."

":33 i'll be furine, equius!" Nepeta replied, slightly irritated. ":33 i can take care of myself!"

"D - Okay," Equius said, not looking okay in the slightest. "D - But if you see any sign of danger, do not hesitate to come back right away."

":33 i will, okay?" Nepeta groaned. ":33 you can be so annoying sometimes, equius! honestly! i'll be purrfectly fine. don't worry even a little bit!"

"Where Will You Be Going?" Kanaya inquired.

":33 just out and about!" Nepeta answered. ":33 i want to s33 more of this universe, and get to know it more. it's really interesting!"

"Youll Be Back By Nighttime, Right?" Kanaya said. "Like You Said You Would?"

":33 no purromises!" Nepeta said. ":33 but i'll try to be back by then. if i don't come back by tomorrow, you can send a search and rescue team out to find me! but only if that happens."

Kanaya nodded. "Be Careful," she called as Nepeta started to leave.

":33 i promise i will! sheesh, you're starting to become like equius!" Nepeta yelled back as the doors slammed shut behind her.

-Lucy's POV-

Lucy ran through the city, tearing past onlookers. She had only one location in mind that she was going to, and she was determined to get there.

Finally, she arrived at her destination. Karen Lilica's grave. It was at the edge of a cliff, with a waterfall behind it. It was a beautiful place, but Lucy didn't want to know what could happen if she fell.

Loke was standing there, his back to her. Lucy slowed, walking toward him. He turned.

"There you are!" Lucy exclaimed. "The whole guild's been searching for you, Loke." She paused before continuing. "But that's not your real name, is it? It's the Celestial Spirit, Leo the Lion."

Loke smiled a little sadly. "You figured it out," he said.

Behind her, the bushes rustled. Lucy whipped around. "Who's there?" She shouted.

":33 sorry!" a high-pitched voice called out. A few moments later, a face poked out of the bushes and the stranger climbed out.

The newcomer had gray skin, much like the trolls of Alternian Beforus. Over her black hair-and also presumably her horns, as Lucy assumed that all trolls had those kinds of horns-she wore a blue hat that resembled a cat's head. She had on a black shirt with a light green Leo symbol, and gray pants. Over the shirt she wore a light green jacket, the same shade as the Zodiac symbol on her shirt. She wore blue shoes, and Lucy also noticed a blue cat's tail. The girl had yellow eyes and a mouth shaped like a cat's, equipped with light blue claws that looked very sharp.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked. If she was from Alternian Beforus, then she wouldn't have to worry-still, if she wasn't, with those claws, she could deal serious damage.

":33 i'm nepeta leijon!" the troll girl-now identified as Nepeta-replied. ":33 i'm sorry for startling you."

"It's alright." Lucy waved a hand. "Are you from Alternian Beforus? You look like some of their members."

Nepeta nodded. Then a look of familiarity dawned on her. ":33 oh, are you that purrson that i saw the other day?" she asked. ":33 i saw you with karkat and kanaya. they were touring you around the guild."

"Yeah, I went to your guild a couple days ago," Lucy answered. "But how did you get here?"

":33 i was only roaming around and exploring," Nepeta explained. ":33 then i ran into you two, and you both look like you n33d help."

"I-" Lucy stopped when she saw Nepeta's pleading eyes. "Alright, fine. You can stay if you want."

Nepeta smiled, putting away her claws-Lucy still thought that all the members of Alternian Beforus must use some sort of Requipping Magic-and straightened up. Lucy turned back to face Loke, who was staring at Nepeta.

"Anyway, Loke…" Lucy said. "Karen's dead, isn't she? Once the owner of a Celestial Spirit dies, the Celestial Spirit should return to the Spirit World. Why are you still in the Human World? Did something happen"

"I'm at the edge of my limit," Loke whispered, turning to look at Lucy. "It's been three years."

"Three years?" Lucy exclaimed. "I couldn't even imagine one! We need to get you to the Spirit World, and fast! You might die!"

"I can't," Loke said.

"Why not?" Lucy shouted. "You'll die otherwise!"

"Because…" He looked down at his hands. "With my own two hands… I killed my master, Karen Lilica."

Nepeta looked just as shocked alongside Lucy, and Lucy couldn't blame her. Loke had killed Karen?

"But…" Lucy began.

"One of the most fundamental rules between owner and Spirit is that the Spirit can't kill the owner," Loke said. "And I broke it. I killed Karen."

"How?" Lucy whispered. "How is that you…"

Loke sighed. "Well, Karen was in the Blue Pegasus guild…"

He then proceeded to tell Lucy and Nepeta about how one day, Karen Lilica had treated Aries like a tool to distract the men at Blue Pegasus. Bob, the guild master, had told her not to mistreat her Celestial Spirits. Because Karen thought that Aries had told Bob of what Karen was doing, she beat up Aries later that day. Loke had come out of the gate of his own free will, and had ordered Karen to release his and Aries's keys. Naturally, Karen refused. Aries and Loke were two of the Golden Gate keys, the Zodiac keys, and there were only 12 in the world. Loke was also possibly the strongest of the Zodiac keys.

Loke kept on persisting. A whole week had passed, and Loke was still in the human world, with Karen never fully agreeing to release their keys.

A whole month passed. One day, Bob had come to the temple where Loke was staying and had broken the news to him. Karen had died in an accident in a job. Some Celestial Spirit Wizards were able to open two gates with enough magic power, and she had attempted to do so. However, it consumed too much of her magic power, and Karen died.

"I was so mad," he said. "Mad with myself… I only wanted Karen to realize that she was mistreating Celestial Spirits. But then she died… it was my fault. This is how I have to atone for my sins."

":33 no!" Nepeta cried in frustration. ":33 this is none of your fault! it's karen's. if she had done what you had asked and released you and aries earlier, this wouldn't be happawning. you're not the one to blame. karen is!"

"You wouldn't understand," Loke broke in. "I was the one to cause Karen's death."

":33 why do you k33p saying that you caused karen's death?" Nepeta snapped. ":33 listen to me. you aren't!"

"Nepeta," Lucy said, "you don't have to participate in this. You're not a Celestial Spirit Wizard or a Celestial Spirit. This is between the Celestial Spirits and their owners…"

":33 but i do understand," Nepeta protested. ":33 just beclaws i'm not a celestial spurrit wizard doesn't mean i can't understand! all i n33d to know is loke's past. that's all!"

"You don't understand death," Lucy replied. Nepeta appeared so… childish and young. How could she have ever interacted with death? "If Loke needs to get back to the Spirit World, that's my job."

":33 who do you think i am, a stupid fool?" Nepeta growled. ":33 me and my furiends understand death purrfectly fine! at alternian befurus, there are so many things that we've all gone through. do you think i'm inexperienced? i've killed beasts with my own hands! at one point, i did it daily!"

Lucy stared at Nepeta. Apparently there was another side to her. Lucy had thought of her as a simple, childish person. She wouldn't know anything about getting Loke back to the Celestial Spirit World, and she wouldn't have any experience on the topic. Or so Lucy thought. It was hard to believe that Nepeta killed beasts with her own hands. The members of Alternian Beforus sure are loaded with surprises, she thought.

"Er…" Lucy tried to avoid replying to Nepeta as she turned back to face Loke. "Whatever the case, Loke, we need to get you back to the Spirit World! I don't care if we break the rules! If you don't go back, you're going to die!"

Loke shook his head. "I told you. It's against the rules. I can't go back there… I betrayed my owner… this is how I'll pay."

":33 you must!" Nepeta shouted. ":33 it was karen's own stupidity that she died. she was so foolish that she thought she could do what efurryone knew she couldn't! you shouldn't be blamed for her death! there's no reason you should go back to the spirit world!"

"No, if I had given up earlier, then she wouldn't have died… it wasn't because of her that she died…"

Nepeta growled and huffed. ":33 don't be like that! we all know it was beclaws of karen's own supurriority that she purrished. you shouldn't say anything otherwise."

"Nepeta's right," Lucy said, after considering the troll's words for a few seconds. "No one should be blaming you!"

":33 right!" Nepeta agreed. ":33 so, who do we contact to get you back to the spirit world? who do we ask for purrmission?"

"It's no use," Loke said. His words seemed harder to get out. They were raspier, and he himself looked like he was under a lot of strain. "What's done is done. You can't get me back to the Spirit World, regardless of all your persuading. I told you already. I have to atone for my sins-"

":33 and you think dying is going to solve anything?" Nepeta yelled, stepping closer to the gravestone until she was face to face with Loke. Lucy followed. ":33 how is following in the footsteps of your 'owner' going to resolve any of your problems? it'd create more! look! do you know how heartbroken the fairy tail guild would be if you died? you're a member of their guild, either way! don't die knowing you still have people that care for you in the living world!"

Loke's eyes widened. He said nothing for a few moments.

Lucy approached him and ran over to him, kneeling down as he was now. "I won't let you say that again! You're going back to the Spirit World!" she shouted. "Close, Gate of the Lion!"

"Lucy, stop it!" Loke shouted back, snapping out of his trance. "You're just going to take yourself with me if you keep it up!"

"I will not stop!" she protested. "What good would I be if I let a fellow Fairy Tail wizard die like this? Close, Gate of the Lion! Loke's gate, close! Close! Close!"

"Lucy, you can't!" Loke yelled.

"Let me speak to the person who controls the Celestial Spirit World!" Lucy yelled. Power was draining out of her. She already felt weak enough. But she wasn't stopping. She wasn't stopping until Loke's gate was closed! "Please! Close!"

Suddenly, there was a huge blast of light all around them. The force was so strong that Loke's glasses fell off and cracked. Lucy had to raise her arm to shield herself from the light.

A huge beast rose up from the water behind them. Nepeta's claws came out, the young troll ready to fight. Lucy saw a beast clad in a full set of armor, a long mustache curling from his face. Thick white horns were on top of his head, paired with red eyes and light blue skin. He glared down at Lucy and Loke, but then looked at Nepeta and did a double take. Was that… surprise in his eyes?

"The Celestial Spirit King," Loke breathed.

Lucy decided to cut right to the chase. "Please!" she begged. "Please let Loke go back to the Spirit World! It wasn't his fault that Karen Lilica died! He doesn't deserve to die! Please!"

Lucy's bottled up agitation was let loose. How much was it going to take to get Loke back to the Spirit World? All of her spirits came out of their gates. Aquarius the Water Bearer, Cancer the Crab, Virgo the Maiden, Taurus the Golden Bull, Sagittarius the Centaur, and even her Silver keys… Lyra, Crux, and everyone else. They were all standing by the gravestone.

"So many spirits…" Loke murmured. "Even Karen couldn't bring forth that much all at once…"

"Please! Don't die!" she shouted. "Everyone here doesn't want you to die! No one does! So don't!"

"Seeing a Celestial Spirit Wizard sacrificing that much to return an old friend to the Spirit World…" the Celestial Spirit King murmured. "It is touching. However, rules are rules. My old friend cannot return, as he has done a wrong. He killed his owner, and according to the Spirit World's rules, that is strictly forbidden. No amount of pleading can change that."

":33 you're the one who's in charge of the spirit world, right?" Nepeta asked, stepping forward. ":33 here's some food for thought! do you really think it's right to take away more lives just beclaws one was stolen? not only are you letting loke die, you're also killing lucy by killing one of her guild members! i may not know much about fairy tail, and i'm certainly not even in the guild, but i know that they'd never leave their comrades behind! at my guild, none of my furiends would ever let their furiends die to other people outside our group like that! i know you can't be as cruel to let loke die. why don't you stop?"

"Nepeta…" Lucy whispered.

The Celestial Spirit King swung his head over to look at her. "Who dares speak to me in that kind of tone? Why are you even here, alien?"

Nepeta's eyes widened, staring up at the Celestial Spirit King.

Alien…? Lucy thought. What does he mean by alien? Are Nepeta and the others… are they not from this world? Kanaya told me that they were trolls, from somewhere far away… I assumed it was from another country… but is it something more?

Finally, Nepeta got up the bravery to speak again. ":33 i'm here beclaws that's my choice!" she shouted.

"That's right!" Lucy yelled, standing up. I'll have to ask Nepeta and the others about the 'alien' remark later… but right now, I've got someone's life I need to save! "Nepeta is right! You should stop. You're paining me by not even lifting a finger to help Loke. He might be the most powerful Spirit! And you're just going to let him die like that? What kind of a person are you?"

The Celestial Spirit King folded his arms. "I'm sorry, but no amount of begging and pleading will ever change the fate of my old friend. The decision is final."

"Just let it go," Loke said. "I can die-"

"Old friend?" Lucy interrupted. "Who are you calling an old friend? He's not an old friend! He's still your friend! Stop calling him that!"

The Celestial Spirit King was silent.

She took in a deep breath. All of her Spirits were still here. "Listen," she said. "It was not Loke's fault that Karen died. Like Nepeta said, it was her own fault. Even if he did kill her… well, he didn't play much of a part in it. Again, like Nepeta said, it was Karen's own stupidity that she died!"

The Celestial Spirit King still said nothing, and Nepeta took this as her chance.

":33 exactly!" Nepeta agreed. ":33 lucy is right. it wasn't loke's fault that karen lilica died. it was her own fault. she has no one to blame but herself! listen to me! you will change the rules so loke can go back to the spirit world!"

Another moment of silence passed.

The Celestial Spirit King sighed. "Very well," he said. "For my old friend… and for both of your sakes, as I can see that you are quite determined on letting him leave… I will bend the rules just this once. He may return to the Spirit World."

Loke stared up at him in shock.

"This is how you will atone for your sins," the Celestial Spirit King continued. "You will continue to live on… and you will serve your new master as best as you can."

Loke nodded. "Yes… thank you."

He turned back to face Lucy and Nepeta, a smile on his face. "Thank you both, too," he said as he vanished in a spurt of golden light. The Celestial Spirit King did, too.

In Loke's place was a key. Lucy ran to pick it up, thinking that it could be what she had thought…

It was indeed. The golden key had Leo's symbol on it, in red-orange. Lucy smiled triumphantly, and linked the key in her own keychain.

She looked back at Nepeta to thank her, but the troll had already disappeared. Lucy sighed. And she had wanted to talk to Nepeta more about Alternian Beforus, too…

Oh, well. It would have to wait until when Lucy met with Alternian Beforus again. Then she would confront them about what the Celestial Spirit King had said.

-In A Nearby Forest-

Nepeta was extremely ecstatic as she was running back home. Although part of it was because she had managed to contribute in saving Loke's life, the real reason was…

":33 *a new ship! a new ship, ac exclaims with delight!*" she squealed as she ran. ":33 now, are they pale or flushed… oh, flushed, of course! silly me!"

She kept laughing as she ran all the way back to the guild.

A/N: Did you enjoy this chapter? (I know I enjoyed writing it...) Please let me know by reviewing this story! And if you like this story, please follow and/or favorite it if you haven't already! Constructive criticism is fine, but what's not fine is hating it just so you can hate something in the world.

Don't forget, I have a poll open on my page asking who your least favorite troll in Homestuck is. I'm going to use it for this story, so please vote for it! The poll won't be closed for a long, long time (I'm planning on closing it in the middle of the Edolas arc, so I can get some planning ahead), but the choices will impact the story a lot.

I did change some things between this story and the old version. Lucy's finally gotten a big clue about the whereabouts of Alternian Beforus, some dialogue has been deleted and moved to other places...and the last bit of Nepeta squealing about her ships is completely new. I decided that when I was writing this chapter, it would be a fun addition, so there it is.

Next chapter, "The Pact", Team Natsu pays Alternian Beforus a visit! Lucy and the others have questions that may be difficult for Alternian Beforus to answer...and Lucy proposes something that will infuriate Karkat to the depths of hell.