A/N: Hello there! Welcome to the 4th chapter of Fairystuck - Nepeta Leijon's Fiore "Counterpart?"

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Fairy Tail or Homestuck. The respective owners own what they own, and I only own the plot.

This chapter is in Lucy's POV. I apologize for the repeated POVs, but I promise that next chapter, it will be an entirely new POV (probably another girl again, though, because I honestly can't think of much males in the story actually relevant that I'd like to use).

Thanks to everyone for reading this, reviewing, and following/favoriting!

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

—Lucy—

Lucy felt absolutely deceived after learning that Vriska had tricked her, but she was still determined to go to Alternian Beforus and learn the secret they were hiding. She knew their members were hiding something. She could tell it by the way they acted. She might have been even more determined. Had Vriska actually killed others, and almost killed a member of her own guild? Lucy couldn't be sure of everything about Alternian Beforus, which was why she was going to try and find everything out.

But, of course, life in Fairy Tail wasn't going to let her do that. She was far too busy in Fairy Tail that Lucy was afraid that she might not be able to make it to Alternian Beforus by next week.

"Honestly," Gray said after Lucy had told her team all about Alternian Beforus, "you don't have to use up so much time with them. I think you're obsessed with them."

"Someone there tricked you?" Natsu asked. "I need to go show them a piece of my mind!" He was already getting up to run to the door. Happy wasn't doing much to stop him—he may have actually been encouraging him, as he yelled, "Aye, sir!"

"No, Natsu, don't," Lucy told him, trying to get the Fire Dragon Slayer to sit back down. "It's really not that big of a deal. Another member said that the member who tricked me tricks people often…really, it's nothing. And besides, she's an S-class wizard. She'd beat you up."

"Doesn't matter!" Natsu shouted. "If they hurt you, I need to hurt them!"

"It sounds like you're trying to find an excuse for fighting them," Lucy remarked. Natsu turned red in the face and yelled, "Of course not!"

"Lucy, are you sure about this? For what we know, everyone else could be tricking you. You can't know anything for certain about those people. We hardly know anything about them, and we don't trust them, so neither should you," Erza said.

"They're not bad people," Lucy assured Erza. "I've met their members. And aside from Vriska, everyone else has been really nice to me. Plus, Karkat helped Natsu beat Gajeel. If he hadn't come in at the last minute, Natsu might have died."

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed. "He stole my show!"

"Even if you might have died without him?" Lucy asked, rolling her eyes.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "You say one of them fought you. Are you still going to say that they're good people?"

Lucy sighed. "I told you, that was because they didn't want all of you to go to their guild! I figured that out. They didn't want all of us to go to their guild. They're hiding something, and I need to find out what."

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

"Whatever," Lucy murmured, done with the whole thing. "Anyway, I'm going to go. Do you want to come with me next week to meet Gl'bgolyb?"

"Who is that?" Natsu asked, yawning.

"I just told you!" Lucy snapped. "Their master was removed, so they're trying to find a new master! Gl'bgolyb is one of their choices!"

"That's an odd name," Erza commented.

"And our own master's name isn't odd?" Lucy muttered. "Are you coming with me to meet Gl'bgolyb next week or not?"

Natsu shrugged. "If we're not going out on a job next week…"

"Oh, come on!" Lucy groaned.

"I'll go with you," Erza announced. "Someone needs to be with you in case all of them are tricking you and they attack you."

"I'll see if I can make it," Gray put in.

Lucy nodded. "Natsu, can you please try to make it?" she pleaded.

"Fine!" Natsu shouted. "Wherever that guy goes, I'm going with him! I can do a better job than him!"

"What did you say?" Gray growled.

Lucy shook her head as the two began to argue and shout obstinacies at each other.

—At Alternian Beforus—

—Nobody's POV—

"Jade," Kanaya shouted.

The Witch of Space walked over, dressed in her God Tier clothes, and asked, "What, Kanaya?"

"You Must Open A Universe Portal So Feferi Can Go And Get Her Lusus," Kanaya said. "I Told Lucy That Gl'bgolyb Was One Of Our Choices For Master, And She Wanted To Meet Gl'bgolyb."

"I can't make a universe portal now," Jade groaned.

"Can You Make It Big Enough For One Person And Her Lusus?" Kanaya asked.

"Big enough for herself and a huge creature?" Jade retorted.

"Yes," Kanaya said. "I Know It Seems Like A Lot, But We Cant Blow Our Cover. I Dont Think It Will Be Too Much Trouble. Youll Be Fine, Jade."

"Fine," Jade muttered. "But if you ask me to get another portal, I swear…" She drifted off, and called Feferi over.

"Feferi," Jade told the fuchsia-blooded troll, "can you go through the portal I make as soon as possible? Get Gl'bgolybsprite, or whatever, and come back as soon as possible, okay?"

Feferi nodded eagerly. "Alrig)(t!" she chirped. "Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible! I only )(ave to get Gl'bgolyb, rig)(t? Do I )(ave to get anyt)(ing or anyone else?"

Jade looked over at Kanaya. Kanaya shook her head. "No, I Dont Think You Will, Feferi," she replied.

"Good," Feferi said. "I don't t)(ink t)(e portal can stand T)(R-E-E creatures!" She stepped backwards so Jade could have room.

Jade positioned her hands into a rectangle. She furrowed her eyebrows, concentrating hard. Finally, she stood back as a four-square window was made. "Go, Feferi!" she yelled.

Feferi leaped straight into the portal.

—Lucy's House—

—Lucy—

"Are you sure you don't know anything?" Lucy questioned Crux. "You don't recognize the name Karkat Vantas at all?"

"No," Crux replied. "He isn't a Celestial Spirit Mage. But I can tell you something…"

"What?" Lucy asked, eagerly leaning forward.

Crux looked straight at her. "Karkat Vantas does not come from Fiore. I can't place exactly where he comes from, but he definitely doesn't come from Fiore, that's for sure. He must come from a place where magic is found, though."

Lucy nodded. "What about Kanaya Maryam?"

Crux appeared to be sleeping again.

"Is he asleep?" Happy asked.

"No," Lucy said. "He's researching!"

After a few moments, Crux opened his eyes again. "No," he replied. "Kanaya Maryam isn't a Celestial Spirit mage, and she also comes from a different place, much like Karkat Vantas."

Next, Lucy questioned Crux about Aradia Megido and Vriska Serket. Crux replied with the same answer: they were not Celestial Spirit Mages and came from a different place, other than Fiore.

I knew all that stuff already, Lucy thought. Crux wasn't of any use right now. Maybe he would find something else out later.

All of a sudden, Gray barged into her room. "Lucy, there's a problem!"

"Don't trespass in other people's houses!" Lucy snapped, outraged. "Can you knock first?"

Gray ignored her, and said, "Loke has gone and left Fairy Tail."

"What?" Lucy exclaimed.

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

"Sure," Lucy said, and took off. I questioned Crux about it…I think I know where Loke is!

—Back at Alternian Beforus—

":33*ac exclaims that she'll be going out," Nepeta said, "and won't be back until nighttime!*"

"D à You'll be alright, won't you," Equius said. "I don't want my moirail to be in disarrays."

":33i'll be furine, equius!" Nepeta sighed. ":33jeez, stop being so protective!"

"D à Okay," Equius said, obviously not relieved. "But…if you have any problems…come back right away."

":33i will, okay?" Nepeta groaned. ":33you're so annoying sometimes, equius! but i'll be purrfectly fine. you don't have to worry yourself a bit."

"Where Will You Be Going?" Kanaya inquired.

":33oh, just going out," Nepeta replied. ":33i want to spend some time in this universe, and get to know it a little bit. plus, i kind of want to s33 more!"

"Youll Be Back By Nighttime, Right?" Kanaya asked.

":33no purromises!" Nepeta answered. ":33i'll try to be back by then, though. if i'm not back by tomorrow, you can go find me. but only when that happens!"

Kanaya nodded, as did the rest of the guild members (except for Gamzee, who was still currently out). "Be Careful," Kanaya called as Nepeta left the guild.

":33i will, sheesh!" Nepeta yelled back.

—Back at Fairy Tail—

"Excuse me!" Lucy yelled. "Where is Karen Lilica's grave?"

A bystander pointed her to a vague direction, but Lucy got the idea. She ran past him, yelling, "Thanks!" and continued on her way.

As Lucy ran past a thick forest, she finally saw it…Karen Lilica's grave. It was at the edge of a cliff, with a waterfall past the cliff. Lucy didn't want to think about what would happen if she fell.

There, Loke was kneeling. Lucy ran and stopped as she approached. Loke looked over his shoulder.

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

Loke—or Leo—smiled sadly. "You figured out," he said.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Lucy whipped around and yelled, "Who's there?"

":33sorry!" a high-pitched voice yelled. Lucy waited. Finally, a face poked out of the bushes, and eventually, the stranger climbed out.

The stranger had gray skin, much like Kanaya, Karkat, Vriska, and the other members of Alternian Beforus. Candy-corn like horns shaped into cat ears were on top of the stranger's head, but the stranger also wore a blue cat-head-shaped hat. The stranger had on a black shirt with the symbol of Leo in green—how coincidental—and gray pants. She also had on blue shoes, a green jacket, and Lucy also noted a blue cat tail. The girl had yellow eyes and a mouth shaped like a cat's. Fitted on her hands were light blue claws that looked very, very sharp.

"Who are you?" Lucy demanded.

":33i'm nepeta leijon," the girl—identified as Nepeta—replied.

"Are you in the guild Alternian Beforus?" Lucy asked.

Nepeta nodded quickly. ":33oh, are you that purrson i saw the other day?" Nepeta asked. ":33the one that karkat and kanaya were showing around the guild?"

Lucy nodded in response to Nepeta's question. "But…why are you here?" she inquired.

":33i was just out and about," Nepeta explained. ":33but it looks like you kind of need help here."

"I—" Lucy began, but Nepeta looked at her with pleading eyes. "Fine," she sighed. "You can stay."

Nepeta smiled. She put away her claws—how she did it, Lucy had no idea—and straightened up. Lucy turned back to face Loke, who was staring at Nepeta.

"Anyway, Loke," Lucy said, "how long have you been in the human world?"

A sad smile crept onto Loke's face. "I'm at the edge of my limit," he replied. "I've been in the Human World for three years."

"Three years?" Lucy exclaimed. "I couldn't even imagine one! I need to help you return to the Spirit World! What can I do?"

"I can't," Loke answered.

"Why not?" Lucy demanded. "You'll die if you don't!"

"Because…" Loke looked down at his hands, and then back at Lucy and Nepeta. "I killed Karen Lilica, my owner, with my own hands."

Nepeta was staring, and Lucy didn't blame her. Loke had killed Karen?

"It's one of the fundamental rules between owner and Spirit," Loke continued. "And I broke it. I killed Karen."

"How?" Lucy whispered.

Nepeta seemed to have snapped out of her trance just then. ":33let me help!" Nepeta said, stepping forward. ":33just beclaws you killed someone doesn't mean you should die too! if it was for a good cause, you shouldn't die yourself."

"No," Loke insisted. "I broke a rule. It's my duty to die here, at Karen's grave."

Nepeta growled. ":33shut up! at least tell me and lucy why you killed her, and how!"

Loke dipped his head. "Well, Karen was in the Blue Pegasus guild…"

He then proceeded to tell Lucy and Nepeta how one day, she had treated Aries like a tool. The guild master, Bob, had then told her not to mistreat her Celestial Spirits, and then, later that day, she beat up Aries. Loke had come out of his gate by free will, and had apparently ordered Karen to release his key and Aries's key. Naturally, Karen refused—Lucy could understand why. Aries and Loke were two of the Golden Zodiac keys, and there were only 12 in the world.

Loke kept on persisting. A whole week had passed, and Loke was still in the human world. Karen kept saying that she would stop mistreating Aries, but never release the two keys.

A whole month passed. One day, Bob, the guild master, came and broke the news to Loke. Karen had died in an accident on a job. She was tired of sitting around with no jobs to do. Some Celestial Spirit Mages could potentially open two gates at once with the right power, and Karen tried this. It took up too much of her magic power and she, unfortunately, died.

"I was so mad," Loke said. "Mad with myself…I had only wanted her to understand that she was mistreating the Celestial Spirits badly. But then she died." He looked up at Lucy and Nepeta, looking hard at both of them. "This is how I have to atone for my sins."

":33no!" Nepeta cried. She continued on by saying, ":33this is none of your fault! it's only karen's fault. if she had 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. I am the one to blame."

":33ugh," Nepeta sighed. ":33stop saying that you are, okay? you aren't, and i'm not going to stop saying so until you believe it too!"

"Nepeta," Lucy said, "this really isn't any of your business. You wouldn't understand. This is about Celestial Spirits and their owners. You're not a Celestial Spirit Mage, so…"

":33but i do understand," Nepeta protested. ":33all i n33d to know is loke's past. that's all!"

"You don't understand death," Lucy replied. She honestly didn't understand how Nepeta could be so relaxed about it all. "If…if Loke needs help getting back to the Spirit World, that's for me to do."

":33what do you think i am, a stupid fool?" Nepeta growled. ":33me and my furiends do understand death, thank you very much! at alternian befurus, we've gone through quite a lot of shocking experiences. one of our furiends turned on us, and another went mad! do you think i'm new to the whole thing? i've killed beasts with my bare hands. i do that every day!"

Lucy was honestly speechless. There was something new about Alternian Beforus and its members she learned every day. Nepeta really wasn't what she appeared as. Lucy looked Nepeta over again. Nepeta didn't look like the one to kill giant beasts every day. Alternian Beforus was quite odd.

"Er…" Lucy avoided her reply to Nepeta as best as she could by looking back at Loke. "Anyway, Loke, we have to get you back to the Spirit World! I don't care if it's breaking the rules of the Spirit World, or whatever! We have to get you back there, or else you're going to die!"

Loke shook his head. "I can't go back there. Never again. I betrayed my owner…I have to pay for that."

":33of course you can!" Nepeta said. ":33surely there's got to be some adjustment to the rules. it's karen's own fault that she died, not yours. so there's no reason to banish you furom the spirit world. that'd be unfair."

Lucy glanced at Nepeta for a few brief seconds, considering what Nepeta said. What the troll had said was exactly what Lucy was thinking. "Nepeta's right," she finally said. "It was Karen's fault that she died, so they can't blame you."

"No," Loke persisted. His words seemed to be getting harder to get out, his voice raspier, and himself weaker. "It was my fault that Karen died."

":33that's not the point," Nepeta interrupted. ":33the point is, we n33d to get you back to the spirit world. how can we get you back? who do we ask for purrmission?"

"There'd be no use," Loke insisted. "There's no way you could get me back into the Spirit World, even with all of your persuading."

":33no, i can't accept that!" Nepeta exclaimed, stepping closer to the gravestone. ":33we can surely purrsuade whoever controls the spirit world to send you back. he wouldn't just sit by and watch one of the strongest celestial spirits die, would he?"

"Perhaps," Lucy said, except she said the "per" part like "purr". Realizing her mistake, she quickly covered it up by saying, "But we have to get you back. I won't be able to be happy again if you die." I've already spent too much time with Nepeta… Lucy thought.

"You won't be able to," Loke said.

Suddenly, all of Lucy's bottled up agitation was let loose. She was sick of Loke saying that they weren't going to be able to get Loke back to the Spirit World. All of Lucy's spirits came through their gates. Aquarius the Water Bearer, Cancer the Crab, Virgo the Maiden, Taurus the Bull and Sagittarius the Centaur…and her Silver keys, Lyra with her harp, Crux, and everyone else. They were all let loose, standing by the gravestone.

"I won't let you say that again," Lucy said. "You are going back to the Spirit World! Let me speak with whoever controls the Spirit World!"

There was a huge blast of light, and Lucy raised her arm up to shield herself from the light.

Suddenly, a huge beast rose up from the water. Nepeta's claws suddenly appeared, the young troll ready to fight if needed. There, Lucy saw a beast clad in a full set of armor, a mustache curling from his face. Thick white horns were on top of his head, and he had red eyes. He glared down at Lucy and Loke, but then took a look at Nepeta and did a double take. Was that…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!"

The Celestial Spirit King stared at Lucy. "He has done a wrong," the Celestial Spirit King replied sternly. "He killed his owner, which means that according to the Spirit World rules, he is forever banned from the Spirit World. No amount of pleading can change that."

":33you're the one who's in charge of the spirit world, right?" Nepeta asked. ":33if you are, then let me ask you this! do you think it's right to take away more lives just beclaws one was lost? not only are you leaving loke out to die, you're also killing lucy by letting one of her guild members die! i may not understand much about fairy tail, but i do know they care very much about each other, and they wouldn't let each other die without taking revenge. i myself belong in an awesome guild, and i would never desert it! because that's where my furiends are, and do you think any of us would let our furiends die like that? think again! i'm not a member of fairy tail, but i know enough to know that you are killing fairy tail by killing one of their members. how about you stop?"

"Who dares to speak to me in that kind of tone?" the Celestial Spirit King growled. He swung his head over at Nepeta. "And, furthermore, why are you even here?"

":33i'm here beclaws that's my choice!" Nepeta snapped back. ":33and it's my choice that loke is not going to die. you are going to stop!"

"You can't persuade me," he replied. "Those words won't make me give in. I won't change the rules of the Spirit World just for him."

Lucy stood up, having recovered from hearing Nepeta's speech. "That's right!" she yelled. "I mean, Nepeta is right! You will stop. You're paining me just by not even lifting a finger to help Loke. He's possibly the most powerful Spirit! And you're just going to let him die like that? What kind of a person are you?"

":33i know a furiend," Nepeta began, "who can purrsuade anyone without even mind controlling them. i've learned from him, so i command you to stop! you will change the rules and let loke return back to the spirit world!"

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

"Just let it go," Loke said. "I can die. It's my payment for killing Karen."

":33you did not kill karen!" Nepeta snarled. ":33stop saying that you did. you didn't! this is the last time i will say this. it was karen's own fault that she died, not yours!"

The Celestial Spirit King sighed. "It is," he said. "Leo did indeed kill his owner, even if it was indirect. Nothing will ever change the fact that he did."

":33oh, really?" Nepeta asked. ":33s33, that's where you're wrong. a lot of things can change what happened in the past. it's not like the past is forevfur done. you can change it."

"Nepeta, calm down," Lucy soothed. She honestly didn't understand why Nepeta was getting herself so involved in this.

She looked up at the Celestial Spirit King and 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, it was very indirect. In fact…" Lucy trailed off, trying to find a reasonable fact. "It was Karen's own stupidity that she died!"

You shouldn't have said that, Lucy told herself. But it was too late now. She should have ignored her own anger, but right now she had already gone and done it.

The Celestial Spirit King stepped back in surprise, and Nepeta took her chance.

":33exactly!" Nepeta yelled. ":33lucy is right. it wasn't loke's fault that karen lilica died. it was karen's own fault, so she has no one to blame but herself! i will say this one more time. you will change the rules so loke can go back to the spirit world!"

A moment of silence passed as the Celestial Spirit King stared.

"I see fiery ambition in these two," the Celestial Spirit King finally said. "Very well. He can return to the Spirit World."

"For real?" Lucy asked. Nepeta echoed Lucy, but replaced "for" with "fur". The Celestial Spirit King nodded.

Loke turned back and smiled gratefully at Lucy and Nepeta. "Thank you," he said. Then he vanished in a spurt of golden light, and the Celestial Spirit King with him.

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 key had the Leo symbol on it in red-orange. Lucy smiled with triumph, and linked the key in her own keychain.

She looked back at Nepeta, to thank her, but the troll had already disappeared. Lucy sighed. She had wanted to question Nepeta, too…

Oh, well. Lucy decided she would have to ask Nepeta when Alternian Beforus and Fairy Tail met again. But that probably wasn't going to happen for a long time, aside from meeting Gl'bgolyb.

Little did Lucy know how wrong she was.

A/N: What about this chapter? How was it? Please let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is fine, but certainly not flames.

I have a poll up on my profile page: Who is your least favorite troll? The answers to that poll are specifically for this story, and will be used to determine what happens later on in the story. Please answer honestly. You can pick up to 2 choices if you can't decide.

Next chapter, "Meeting Gl'bgolyb" Lucy and her team (as the title says) meets Gl'bgolybsprite, and sure has a lot of questions for the Homestuck characters!