CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

WRITTEN IN THE STARS

"Lucy wake up!" Layla shouted at her daughter. "Wake up! They're coming!" Her white dress whirled around herself until she disappeared into the dream and Natsu's voice filled her ear.

"WAKE UP!" The boy decided the only way he was going to wake up his best friend was to shout and spit directly into her ear.

Lucy rolled off the bed, shrieking and flailing. She grabbed her whip off the table and thoroughly demolished the room farther. "Natsu, you didn't have to shout in my ear," Lucy said once she'd calmed down.

Natsu shrugged, "I had to."

"What?" Lucy sighed, "You know, never mind, honestly I don't care as long as I get to sleep."

"Okay great, we have to go!" Natsu grabbed the blonde's wrist.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked her frantic friend.

"You are leaving Fairy Tail." Natsu said guiding Lucy to the guild.

Her mind stopped. Her entire body went limp. It was happening. Lucy had been dreading this day, the day Natsu didn't want her anymore, the day she became useless. She honestly had thought that it was just a nightmare, but dreams sometimes come true...dreams...her dream. We're dying, Lucy. Save us. Only you can, Princess. You are the daughter of the Stars.

"You're kicking me off Team Natsu," Lucy sputtered without thinking, "You think I'm weak don't you?"

"What?" Natsu turned. His eyes looked behind her. Lucy looked as well but couldn't see anything.

When she met Natsu's eyes again, they had a cold resolve she had never seen before, "Yes, you're weak and I never want to see you again," he pulled his hand away and pushed her aside into a bush.

It was so uncalled for. It seemed so fake, but Lucy didn't think of that. She didn't think of the wrongness of it. How her friend had acted so like himself until he looked past her at the hill. No, she didn't think of anything except for her newfound hate of Natsu.

She stood and ran, tears sliding down her face. It hurt, it broke her heart to think that Natsu, her best friend thought she was weak.

Then she remembered her dream. Her mother, the Stars. She took a deep breath and stopped moving. "What a good way to start my destiny," she muttered, gripping her keys.

Her new resolve would have been more dramatic if Wendy didn't trip into the scene. "Lucy!" the girl screamed, "Thank goodness! Carla said you were in danger-"

"You're still in danger," the cat wheezed from Wendy's tough grip.

"What?!" Lucy gasped, "can someone please explain something to me today?"

"We need to find Levy," Wendy started to tug Lucy's wrist.

"Why-"

"I saw Levy," Carla said, "We need her."

"What about Lisanna and Happy?" Wendy continued her rough handling. Was she excited?

"Please, explain!" Lucy demanded, putting her foot down.

"Once we are in the Spirit World." From then on Lucy was in a kind of daze. It was happening; her dream...it was coming to life, and her nightmares were taking form. Next her father would become an evil, zombie dictator of all Earthland!

"Lucy," Lisanna appeared.

"Lushe~!" and then Happy. My father should pop up any second now.

"Thank goodness you're okay. Natsu came back and told us everything. We were so upset." Lisanna began to jog alongside them. Happy crawled onto to Lucy's breasts.

"I don't ever want to leave you Lushe!" Happy whined.

"So what is going on?" Lisanna questioned.

"Lucy is in danger, but first we need Levy."

"Why?"

"We'll explain in the Spirit World," Carla said again.

"Spirit World," Lucy clutched her keys. "How are we going to get there?" she whispered.

"We will guide you, Princess," Virgo's voice was crackled via telepathy, but it sounded even more so.

Before she knew it, Levy had joined them, just as confused as everyone else. Everyone followed Wendy and Carla, who seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on.

"Lucy! Behind you!" Virgo's voice sounded strained in her head, but still the girl set into motion, pulling her whip out and flinging it out at the bushes.

"Here," Carla declared.

"Lucy, call Leo. He will be the only one strong enough to take us." Lucy acted on autopilot and called Loke.

"No time for chit-chat," Loke said, gathering the girls so they were all touching, "sorry, ladies."

Just before he could glow and take them away. Someone burst through the foliage.

"Shoko!" a person shouted, a pink-haired girl.

The other girl looked startled. "Macy," she gasped back, "are these the ones?"

The younger nodded and attacked Lisanna; the older attacked Happy. As the two members of the group were engaged in battle, Loke's spell began to work. A blazing light filled Lucy's vision, and she was blinded.

When she opened her eyes, the blonde was greeted with a strangely familiar, but definitely unknown sight. Stars, so many stars.

"Welcome to the Spirit World, Princess."

Lucy: I honestly didn't want to go back to this.

Wendy: I had no boobs...

Levy: I was barely mentioned.

Owls: Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It sorta wrote itself.

Carla: I was acting ridiculous.

Owls: Stop complaining or you'll end up like Ethan and Josh.

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Ethan: I feel like I'm being talked down on.

Josh: We can hear everything they say.

Ethan: Ah, that makes sense.

Josh: Just like we heard the disclaimer a second ago.

Ethan: I didn't hear it.

Josh: They just said it.

Ethan: If you say so.

Josh: No, they said: "Owls doesn't own Fairy Tail."

Ethan: I don't remember.

Rego: I do. I remember everything.