While the other's had ran off with Sting to deal with Rogue.

Layla who was left on her own decided to gauge the Human Wizards still present at the party. She changed her eyes to blue and quietly weaved between the wizards, as she analysed all of their potential strengths and current powers.

She noted a few exceptional people like Jura, who was calmly drinking a cup of tea. However, the other members of Lamia Scale, who, including obaba were drunk off their faces.

Layla noticed Chelia sitting at a table behind them, she was resting her stomach having consumed too much desert, but what caught Layla's attention was her magic composition.


"God slayer..." Layla said to herself as she approached Chelia, sitting down beside the unsuspecting Wizard.

"Hmm? Oh hello, are you also friends with Wendy? I saw her with you earlier..." Chelia said before her eye's grew wide as she remembered the commotion that occurred after that.

"Wait a minute?! Didn't someone say you were a Dragon?" Chelia said starting to panic in fear.

"Please calm down, I'm not your enemy. However I am curious about that magic of yours" As Layla said this she smiled but ran her eyes carefully over Chelia from head to toe.

"Oh my Sky God Magic? Did you see it at the Grand Magic Tournament?" Chelia asked with pride.

"No, I can see your magic." As Layla said this she tapped the side of her face with her right index finger, pointing at her blue eyes.

"You can see my magic?" Chelia said confused.

"Yes, your magic originates from the one who you know as Zeref. However, despite your mastery of it you seem to be extremely pure, I'm quite fascinated by your accomplishment" Layla said as she continued to look at Chelia.

Chelia was getting a little freaked out as the conversation seemed to be entering rather deep waters, but what alarmed her most was the mention of Zeref.

"Zeref? What do you mean my magic originated from Zeref?" Chelia asked worried.

"Your God Slaying Magic, the reason it shares a resemblance to that of Dragon Slayers is because it has the same origin... Dragons." Layla paused noticing the surprise on Chelia's face but decided to keep going before she could ask any questions.

"However unlike Dragon Slaying Magic that was created for humans, God Slaying Magic originates with the Dark Dragons. In fact the only reason it is called God Slaying is because the Dark Dragon Obsidian had an Ego" Layla said hoping to clarify it for Chelia.

"Huh? Dragons? I learnt this magic from a Book given as a gift to me" Chelia responded

Layla paused for a second considering Chelia's response and after deeming it to be true she responded "It's Okay Chelia, despite the origin of your magic, I can see that you have made it your own."

"I'm actually quite happy" Layla said with a smile before adding "The purity I can see in your heart is wonderful, you will be a fine wizard."

Chelia smiled at Layla's words before asking "So it is love, right?

"Yes, It is indeed love" Layla responded with a beaming smile.

"Yay!" Chelia cheered at the mention of love.

Layla stood up from her chair and bid Chelia fair well, before she continued her journey around the room analysing the remaining wizards.


A few minutes had passed and Layla had finished a circle around the wizards, just as she was about to take a seat at her original table near the edge of the room, she felt a familiar presence.

At that moment Yukino was walking by her location, as she did her Key to Ophiuchus began to glow brightly and started to rattle, soon it stopped obeying gravity and instead started to gravitate sideways on the key chain raising itself in Layla's direction.

This caught Yukino by surprise, she had never seen any of her keys do this, Layla who sensed the presence of the key, quickly spun around in the direction she felt it's presence, her eyes changed to purple and she quickly scanned for signs Ophiuchus.

Yukino observing the key noticed the direction it was pointing, so she also looked to see what it could possibly be trying to tell her. She saw Layla standing next to a table with her eyes searching for something, she knew it couldn't be a coincidence so she approached her.

"Hello, My name is Yukino" Yukino said as she bowed towards Layla who was surprised by the action.

"Hello, My name is Layla Heartfilia" Layla responded with a small curtsey to answer Yukino's sign of respect.

"I know now that it was you who helped us at the Eclipse Gate, and Arcadios has also informed me that you were responsible for the repair of the city. Layla, I wonder if you could help me?" Yukino asked respectfully.

"Oh?" Layla responded as she scanned Yukino, identifying her Magic to be Celestial.

"I currently posses the 13th Gate Key Ophiuchus, and for some reason it seems to be reacting very strangely to your presence... Do you know why?" Yukino asked with genuine concern.

Layla smiled before asking "Would you mind summoning him for me? Not here of course, but perhaps tomorrow?"

"It would be my honour, my Lady" Yukino replied bowing her head.

"Please, call me Layla... Would you meet me at the arena grounds around noon?" Layla replied with a smile.

"As you wish" Yukino responded raising her head.

Lucy having spotted her Mother with Yukino raced over to greet the two.

"Oh Momma, this is Yukino the wizard I told you about that has the 13th gate key" Lucy cheerfully said trying to introduce her.

"Mother?" Yukino said in shock, she had somehow missed this key piece of information earlier in the night.

"Hmm? Oh you didn't know?" Layla said as she changed her eyes back to her Human brown and stood next to Lucy.

Yukino's eyes widened as she saw just how closely they resembled each other but she knew that Layla was the Dragon Citrine so this confused her.

"I'm still kind of getting used to it myself" Lucy replied.

"How rude" Layla said with a smile as she playfully teased Lucy for her response.

"I see, that's why your such an amazing person Lucy" Yukino said with a small blush.

"No, she did that all by herself" Layla responded with pride however with a touch of sadness as she was not there for 14 years.

"Thanks Mom" Lucy said as she placed her hand over her heart.

Yukino smiled at the interaction of the two before saying "Well I best be leaving for the night, I'll see you at noon tomorrow Layla" Yukino bowed as she left the party.

"Hmm?" Lucy said surprised by Yukino's words as she had left.

"You're meeting her again tomorrow Momma?" Lucy asked to catch up on the conversation.

"Yes, I'm going to help her summon Ophiuchus' true form, that way I can best explain the origin of her Key to her" Layla responded looking at Lucy before saying "I'd like you and the others to see him also"

"Scary" Lucy said as she thought about how much stronger the Celestial could be.

"I told you, he is a friendly Celestial once you get to know him" Layla said slightly pouting at the negative feedback she was receiving.

"Well, it has been a long day, especially considering we had an extra 6 hours more than others, Perhaps we should call it a night?" Layla said to her daughter with a smile.

"Yeah" Lucy responded with a nod as she smiled.

"Wait? Where have you been staying these past nights Momma?" Lucy asked concerned

"Well after the Dragon incursion I spent the morning in that Dimension I took you to reinforcing my magical seals as it was the first time I had actively used them. However the Following night I stayed with a nice group of people I met called Ultear, Jellal, and Meredy." Layla replied.

"So thats how you knew Ultear" Lucy replied before asking "But what about the last 2 nights?"

"I spent them in a cave in the nearby mountains, I guess it was a force of habit after using my power, my instincts kind of took over" Layla responded with a small giggle.

Lucy however wasn't impressed "Well you should come with Me and Fairy Tail! We are staying at the Honeybone Inn!"

"Oh I couldn't impose" Layla replied before Lucy quickly fired back.

"No, I insist! I finally got you back and I'm not letting go now, so you're coming with me" Lucy said taking charge of the whole situation.


An hour had passed since the Banquet with most of the wizards stumbling back to their inns in a drunken stupor, Lucy was downstairs at the Honeybone Inn reception desk to enquire about a vacant room for her mother, or at least to acquire some additional pillows.

"What a lovely establishment" Layla comment as she sat in an arm chair at the reception.

"Thank you maam, we pride ourselves as the home away from home for our guests" The clerk at the desk replied with a smile, he was still a little tired being midnight but the comment had brightened his mood.

At that moment a large portion of the Fairytail mages returned to the inn as they had been staying there. This included all but Natsu, Gray, Erza, Gajeel and Wendy.

"Im beat I think I over did it with the food, but a MAN has to pigout" Elfman proclaimed as he entered the room.

"Sometimes you're embarassing brother" Lisanna commented with a teardrop
"I must admit I havent seen you eat like that in a long time Elfman" Mirajane added

"Well it was food provided by the king, I guess he got his monies worth" Macao responded with a grin
"Yeah he eat enough for the whole guild" Wakaba added.
"The food was free though?!" Levy added with a teardrop

"Hahhhah WooOOO Errrr" Cana said as she flailed about over the shoulder of Laxus
"Really Cana! Your drinking was more embarassing" Luxus said
All 3 of the thundergod tribe nodded their heads in agreement

"Awww hey isn't that Lucy's Mom?" Romeo exclaimed as he pointed at Layla sitting in her chair

"Huh?" the group responded as they all stared at Layla, before half of them started to freak out.

Layla just calmly waved at them and smiled.

"Really you guys, get it under control" Lucy said defending her Mother from the mob as she accepted the extra pillow from the Clerk at the counter.

"Hmm, is she staying here tonight Lucy?" Makarov asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, if that's okay..." Lucy responded slightly intimidated.

Makarov thought it over for a bit putting on his serious face. However after a couple of seconds he quickly ran over to Layla and offered to put her up for the night in his room.

Lucy quickly shielded her mother from the over excited old man and pushed her up the stairs towards her room. Layla smiled and waved back at Makarov as Lucy dragged her off, Makarov showed heartbreak at his imagined lost chance.

Lucy quickly closed the door behind her to keep the rabble out.

"Haha, sorry about that" Lucy scratched her head in embarrassment at her guilds actions.

Layla giggled before responding "They seem like a lively bunch, you have wonderful friends Lucy, I'm glad that you found a place with them"

Lucy smiled thinking about her memories with Fairy Tail and everything they have been through.

"If you want you can sleep in the bed Momma, I can sleep on the floor" Lucy said as she started to prepare a sleeping place for herself.

"No, please sleep next to me Lucy, I haven't felt the warmth of my daughter for 14 years." She said before giggling as she added "The last time was when you were 10 years old claiming to have seen a monster under your bed. You ran to my room crying, and I let you sleep next to me that night... I missed that"

Lucy smiled fondly before agreeing to her mothers wishes, the 2 of them curling up together like all those years ago.

"However you were a little smaller back then" Layla laughed as they now took up most of the single bed.

"Look who is talking, you weren't some all powerful Dragon back then either momma" Lucy playfully responded.

"touché" Layla said with a small laugh as she held Lucy tightly. "Thank you for this Lucy"

Soon both Layla and Lucy fell asleep.


About 15 minutes later, a small commotion came from outside.

"Put your clothes back on Gray you bastard" Natsu exclaimed

"Shut up flame brain" Gray responded

Erza hit both of them over the head shutting them up before opening the door to their shared room.

As they entered they all went silent noticing Lucy curled up with her mother beside her, they all smiled and nodded to each other, and ensuring to not make a sound as they each got into their respective beds to sleep.


The next day Layla woke up beside her Daughter for the first time in 14 years, she smiled as she slowly picked strands of hair out of Lucy's face, taking a mental photo of it to cherish.

Not before long Lucy woke up and smiled as she sat up on the bed and looked around the room. The other wizards were all still sleeping after a late previous night but they all started to stir as life returned to the room.

"Morning" Natsu said as he sat up in his bed across the room, rubbing his eyes while he still had a noticeable trail of drool out of the side of his mouth.

"Mmmrrrmmmorning" Gray said as he came to

Erza threw off her covers and stood up full of energy before looking around and greeting the other wizards with a simply nod.

Wendy and Carla walked into the room rubbing their eyes and yawning, they had just woken up in an adjacent room and were drawn to the sound of voices.

Happy still laying in Natsu's bed kept trying to sleep but still managed to say "Aye" instinctively in his sleep.

Layla got up out of the bed next to Lucy and her pyjamas began to magically morph into a comfortable soft summer dress, white with various flowers patterned over it.

The other wizards looked on envious except for Erza who followed suit and changed into her regular comfortable clothes via ex-equip.

"Does anyone know the time?" Erza asked to the room, but she was met with blank stares.


After about 15 minutes of everyone getting ready and freshing up in the bathroom, they all head downstairs to figure out what to do, this was to be their last day in the city before they made their way back to magnolia.

As they entered the Lobby they were met by Mavis who looked at Layla and smiled, however Layla at this point was unaware of her presence.

"Good Morning First" Erza said greeting the First Master casually, this prompted Layla who relised they were refering to Mavis to extend her hand which Mavis quickly took

"There you are, good morning" Layla said with a smile to Mavis the others were shocked that she could see her.

"Good morning Light Guardian Citrine" Mavis responded with a smile

"You know about her Dragon?!" the 2 Slayers and Lucy said surprised.

"Yep" Mavis said with a big grin but didn't say any more on the subject.

"Would you like me to give you some power today Mavis so that you can interact with others?" Layla asked with a friendly smile.

"No not today, but thank you Citrine" Mavis responded as she gently let go of Layla's hand.

"So it was your doing last night?" Wendy said smiling at Layla

"Yes, I gave her 30 minutes to interact with people... Although she spent that time eating nothing but desert..." Layla said with a sigh.

"Oh did you find out the time Erza?" Layla asked turning to Erza who was sitting cross legged on a armchair in the Inn's lounge area.

"Yes, its 11am, it seems we all slept in" Erza responded as she started polishing her swords nonchalantly, much to the dismay of the staff.

"Hmm 11am, I told Yukino I would meet her in the arena area at 12noon, we had best get moving" Layla announced to the group.

"You were meeting Yukino?" Gajeel said joining into the conversation from his lounge chair that he had been covertly eavesdropping from.

"Yes I promised to tell her about Ophiuchus, however I would like you all to come meet him" Layla said looking at the 3 Dragon Slayers and Lucy.

"Wasn't Ophiuchus that giant snake Yukino used?" Gray asked as he was out of the loop.

"Yes, it's the Celestial Spirit I helped create for the Spirit King" Layla responded

"Im impressed Layla" Erza said before adding "Do you mind if we tag along, we don't have any plans for today"

"Not at all, please feel free to accompany us" Layla said with a smile

The group nodding to each other as they all hopped up out of their chairs and left the Inn. The city had returned to its usual lively self with merchants and citizens filling the streets, The group made their way to the edge of the city and climbed the stairs leading to the arena.