A/N: Nothing helps you get through an assignment faster than a can of Pepsi by your side and Guren no Yumiya (the first opening of Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan) blasting through your headphones. (THEY ARE THE PREY AND WE ARE THE HUNTERS!) Okay, maybe many other things could help but for some reason listening to fast-paced music helps me. If you feel like sharing whatever helps you get through essays and whatnot, feel free to do so. Sorry for the late update, my reason for such is from the assignments, essays and exams I've had to complete this week and homework and it's given me no time for writing. On top of that, when I finally got time to write, I found one of my worst nightmares waiting to be awakened.

Writer's block. It's frustrating me so much because I think I know what I want to happen and then when I finally write something it's just…asdfghjkl. It's irritating. Sorry for lateness and shortness. Hopefully I'll get over this Writer's Block before Friday for the next chapter.

Thank you to Rose's Shadow, yeah, it's just like you said! XD Glad you're enjoying Happy, Bentears! Haha, yeah we do, Infinities Lover! Thanks, Coolanime14! I'm trying to add more moments like that for you, Rapunzel3! Sorry for the wait, Erza's Cake! Wolf123, I'm so indescribably happy for everything you've said! May or may not still believe that this is the "best fanfic you've ever read" but if so, that's a really amazing honour and I'm grateful. Sorry for the wait for last chapter, but it's nice to know who's eager! I'm really sad that Lucy won't see her old staff again, so it's cool that someone else enjoys seeing Spetto back! Even if only in this fanfic! And as for your fic, well it'd be nice to know what it's about, as in what fandom if it's not Fairy Tail and the summary if that's okay. And as for the OC you wanted me to add, I'd like to know more about him, because personalities and appearances are important to me in terms of describing them to my readers, and I've got a Dragon Slayer OC already in Falling Stars, but tell me about Kira and your fanfic!

Thank you for the 115 Favs and 159 Follows! x

Unstable and Unbalanced

"How did they even end up there?" Natsu was asking in between fits of laughter as he, Lucy and Happy recollected on the mission they'd returned from a few hours ago, the evening before. "H-He…oh my g-god, ahaha!" Tears were in the corners of his eyes as they'd spent their morning snickering and chuckling together on their journey towards Fairy Tail. "And…and s-she was in a tree! H…How? I-" he lost it again, throwing his head back as he roared with laughter at the memory.

"I don't even know!" Lucy covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to supress her own giggling. She felt bad for making fun of the poor kids who found themselves lost in the woods, the children they'd had to rescue on their job out of town. But they'd found it hilarious, seeing how they'd found them hiding in the strangest of places, one girl somehow having managed to climb one of the tallest trees in the forest. This grand feat had confused the wizards, in terms of how she'd gotten up so high and why she'd done so in the first place. Happy had flown himself and Natsu up to bring the child down to safety, but she'd freaked out at the sight of a flying cat and kicked the Dragon Slayer he was carrying in the face. The end result sent him ungracefully out of Happy's grasp and tumbling down through a mass of branches until he'd landed on top of an unsuspecting Celestial Mage at the foot of the tree.

"How the hell did she even get up there?" asked a very confused Natsu Dragneel late one March afternoon. He looked at his team mates for guidance on the matter before lifting his head to resume staring upwards in awe at the little girl residing in the treetops high above them. Natsu, Happy and Lucy wore similar expressions of surprise and slight amusement on the exceed's behalf as they wondered to themselves. "And why the hell is she even up there?" Natsu had no idea why this girl in her right mind would climb such a great distance only to realise how blindly terrified on heights she was, judging by her facial expression. Furthermore, he also didn't know why she was even up there in the first place, since according to their mission, she and a few other brats had gotten lost in the woods they were currently standing in.

"Maybe she's scared of a monster somewhere around here!" supplied Happy.

Lucy gave him a quizzical expression as Natsu looked eager for a fight.

"Whatever the case, we need to get her down." Lucy said, turning her head to meet her comrade's gaze. "Natsu, you and Happy go up and get her, I'll look for the other kids."

"On it!" Natsu responded, looking to Happy, who saluted in response before grasping the back of the pink-haired boy's vest, lifting the two of them into the air. The blonde watched them fly upwards before looking around, wondering on where she should start searching for the remaining children.

Using Max Speed, the duo had reached the stranded child in no time at all, but she didn't seem relieved in the slightest when she looked up. "Hey." Natsu greeted, raising his hand to wave to the youngster. "I'm Natsu Drag-"

"KYAAA~!" the girl screeched at the sight of them, causing the Dragon Slayer to wince and cover his ears at the horrid noise. This happened to leave him open for attack, in this instance, open to get kicked directly in the face. The force of said attack apparently startled Happy and caused him to drop his passenger, who fell with a sudden shout of surprise as he began his descent through a cluster of branches. Happy cried out an apology while covering his mouth with his paws at the sight, stifling laughter as his partner continued tumbling towards the earth, branches scraping at his torso, arms and face. Lucy looked up at the sound of her comrade's screaming and ran towards the foot of the tree to see what was going on.

This was when Natsu came into view, wildly flapping his arms as he cried, "LOOK OUT!"

A startled yelp of surprise and discomfort left Lucy's lips as soon as the Fire Mage landed. A muffled groan was heard on his behalf as his face came into contact with the ground with a sudden harshness, however the rest of his body had landed on something much softer. His chest had crushed against his partner's as he completely fallen on top of her, the wizard below him gasping for air under his weight. Lucy attempted to push Natsu off of herself with great difficulty. His head shifted slightly, salmon-coloured locks brushing against her own blonde strands as he lifted his face from the ground and wiped the dirt off of it.

"That hurt…" he whined as he sat up. Then he looked down and his lips curved into a grin as he realised who had softened his landing. "Nice catch, Lucy!"

"Just get off of me!"

"You crushed Lucy!" Happy was snickering as he flew in the air beside them.

Natsu seemed to pout at this and fold his arms. "It was an accident!"

"An accident which squashed her!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah, you did." Lucy added with a chuckle. "After you finally got off of me."

Happy continued sniggering as they entered the Guild, shaking his head.

"Morning, you three." Mirajane greeted as the trio strolled into the Hall. Grey, Erza and Wendy sat at the bar and exchanged smiles and waves with their team mates. "How was the mission yesterday?"

The group shared a few laughs before they composed themselves.

"Piece of cake! We just had to find some kids lost in the woods!" cheered Natsu, raising his hand and giving the group a thumbs-up. "It was over pretty quick and the pay was good." He grinned. "So we went out and ate at this cool place!"

"They spent most of their share of the reward on their dinner." Lucy laughed as she watched Happy reminisce about all the fish he devoured.

"Speaking of which," said Erza. "What about your reward from the King and Queen of Constellar?"

"Yeah, what did you do with all those jewels?" Happy inquired.

"Well, it was actually a lot of money." Lucy said, scratching her head. "I paid my rent for the next three months before depositing the rest in the bank in town. I could probably pay rent for the next couple of years, actually." She chuckled as she remembered her initial reaction once she received the hefty reward. "But I want to save it up, maybe something major could happen and I'd been in need of something like that. For now, it's best to have it somewhere safe."

"That's a wise choice to make, Lucy." Erza said, smiling in approval at the decision. Lucy nodded, opening her mouth to say more when Levy called her name. The Celestial wizard turned and saw her friend calling her over, so with a glance to her comrades, who nodded, allowing her to leave the conversation, she headed over.

"Morning, Levy-chan." Lucy greeted as she sat down beside her.

"I was thinking," the blue-haired girl blurted out. "Who exactly gave you the reward, again? For your solo mission?"

Right off the bat, huh? Lucy laughed, knowing something like this would've kept Levy up at night, something unsolved. "The King and Queen of Constellar w-"

"That's it!" Levy exclaimed. "They must obviously know something about the letter if they gave you it and that strange book, and if they requested a Celestial wizard!"

"I'm not sure," Lucy admitted. "I mean, their ancestors were Celestial Mages so I thought it'd only be natural that-"

"But there's only one Celestial wizard in Fairy Tail and that's you!" Levy stressed. "If we want to figure out what all of this means, then we must consider all options when coming to whoever might know something." She said. "If they knew nothing about the letter or book, why would they miraculously end up with your reward money? The additional weight you and Erza said you felt was there since you received the bag, so maybe we need to contact the King and Queen back in Constellar to solve this mystery!" She cried. Lucy bit back a smile, knowing how much the bookworm enjoyed things like these, especially from all of the crime novels she enjoyed reading. "Don't you want to be finding out what's in that letter, or what Spirit-"

"One thing at a time, Lev." Lucy responded, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't get worked up about this, that's my job." She grinned, shaking her head. "Of course I want to find out what everything means, but I'm trying to stay calm about it for now." She said. "I'm taking things one at a time, okay? Since the Celestial Gate Key was the first thing I found, I'm trying to figure out its mystery before I start on the others."

"But there's no harm in contacting the King and Queen, right?" Mira suggested. "They might know more than you think, Lucy. I'll go and ask Master Makarov about setting up a Lacrima connection, if you'd like." She offered.

"You'd do that?" Lucy asked, causing the Take-Over Mage to smile and nod. "Thank you, Mira!" the Stellar Mage said as she went off in search of their Guild Master.

"Are you happy now, Levy-chan?" Lucy asked the blue-haired girl, who laughed and nodded. "Good. So what do you want to do about the Celestial Gate Key? I don't even know what type of Spirit it could be."

"Why don't you just summon it, then?" Natsu asked as he and the others joined in on their conversation, pulling up chairs of their own.

"I need to know its name first." Lucy sighed, exasperated. "Whenever I summon Loke, I have to announce that it's his Gate I'm opening by chanting his name, don't I?"

"Oh yeah." Natsu chuckled, remembering.

"Just say 'Open, Gate of the Celestial Spirit', or something!" Happy supplied.

"It's not that easy." Lucy groaned. "It's more complex than that…" she trailed off, thinking. "But…" she looked to the exceed who grinned in response. The Stellar Mage hummed, tapping her chin as she leant back in her chair. Her comrades watched, waiting for her to come to a conclusion on whatever she was pondering about.

Suddenly she curled her fingers into fists and slammed them onto the table. "Maybe I could summon the Spirit!" she cheered.

"I thought you didn't know its name," Grey said, scratching his head as he peered at her with a perplexed expression.

"I don't!" Lucy nodded, laughing. "But hey, I've got part of its name so it's worth a shot!"

"Aye!" supplied an encouraging Happy, glad his idea was being taken into account. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Nothing bad can happen from attempting to open a gate to the Celestial Realm." Lucy assured, patting the exceed's head. "All that can happen is either it opens or it doesn't. If it doesn't, then I guess we'll have to figure something out." She twirled the Gate Key around in her hand with a certain expert look about it as she turned to Grey and Erza. "Coming along?" she asked, watching as her team mates exchanged glances before both rising from their stools.

"Of course." Erza smiled. "But where do you plan on summoning the Spirit?"

"I don't know how big or small it might be." Lucy shrugged. "So maybe outside, just to be safe about it." She said. Erza and Grey nodded in agreement, her friends rising from their seats as she turned to leave the Guild Hall. Pushing the front doors open, they walked outside. Levy decided to follow as well, the wizards wandering into a larger opening in the street until Erza decided there was enough space for the blonde to begin.

"Whenever you're ready, Lucy!" Grey called.

"Aye!" Happy hollered.

She nodded in response. "Here goes nothing, I guess. Open!" Lucy chanted the command with all the confidence she could muster. Gold flared from the object, stardust beginning to appear in the air around them. A disc of Magic formed beneath her feet and immediately stretched over the stone the Mages stood upon, the light illuminating each of them. Natsu and Happy looked excited, yet Erza, Grey and Levy seemed anxious. They knew this summoning wouldn't be like the normal Spirits their friend had contracts with. Instantly Lucy could sense something was wrong as the tug of dimensions began to affect her more tremendously than ever before. The ritual she completed almost every day felt strange, for the first time, and strenuous. Coldness spread from the fingers closed around the object and through her arm, crawling throughout the inside of her limb, numbing the muscle. "Gate of the Celestial Spirit-" A spasm of pain suddenly ricocheted through her bones and she let out a pained gasp, clutching her side as the arm she was holding out began to tremble.

"Lucy!" Happy called in worry, flying towards her. Her teammates watched in confusion, stepping forwards themselves as Lucy squeezed an eye shut and grimaced.

"I'm fine!" she called out with weak reassurance.

"Are you okay, Lu-chan?!" Levy asked, moving backwards as the stardust quickly began to swirl in a dangerous fashion as tornado of mixed Magic. She covered her mouth and coughed, continuing to step away.

"Is the connection too unstable?" Erza yelled, yet she received no answer as her comrade pushed on.

Lucy made a strained expression as the light beneath her began to shoot sparks into the air in crazed bursts of electricity. Darkness was creeping into her vision, making the world around her a haze of blackness. "G-Gate of the Celestial Spirit!" she panted as her chest began to tighten. When had breathing become such a difficult task? The chill inside her bones was spreading, surging through her chest and freezing her heart from the inside as her legs could no longer support her. She fell to her knees with a gasp, closing her eyes. The tension in her muscles was fading, alike to her consciousness. "Ste…Stell…Stellar…" a blast of gold shot from the Gate Key as it flew from the wizard's hands and she slumped to the ground. Natsu, Erza, Grey and Levy immediately ran to her aid as Happy flew after the golden item with a surge of speed.

Erza held a hand under her unconscious friend's head, bringing her limp form into a sitting position as she checked the blonde over. Natsu, Grey and Levy were saying things all at once, searching for a sign of the girl's awakening, pleading for a response. The scarlet-haired woman rested a metallic, gloved hand over Lucy's forehead, eyes widening as she noticed the signs she'd only ever seen once, in an event that had frightened her to no ends. She didn't want to go through this all over again, but they were closer here to help than they had been during the battle against Gajeel and Juvia's old Guild the year before.

"Get Master Makarov! Tell him Lucy needs immediate medical attention!" She ordered to the three crowded around their fallen comrade. "Alert him that her Magic Power has been drained, and tell him to contact Porlyusica!" she exclaimed. Her friends looked at her in shock before she shouted, "NOW!" and sent them scrambling towards Fairy Tail, shouting for the Guild Master to get Porlyusica before they were even in earshot of any of the members inside Fairy Tail. The Weapon Mistress looked down at her Nakama and lifted the younger girl into her arms, beginning to journey towards to Guild herself. "You're going to be alright, Lucy, I promise you that." She assured, even though she was aware the Celestial wizard couldn't hear her. "Porlyusica healed Master Makarov from the same problem, and she can do the same for you. You'll be fine."

Now was she assuring Lucy or herself?

.

..

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