A/N:
First Published: June 21st, 2014
Most Recent Revision: October 8th, 2015
Fav/Favorites: Lakhesus, cupcakesdofart, Coolanime14, Rizuki Dhan, huntybutt, Dyeni, Yuiina, silentvi, and sexyblossom08
silenvi: Call me weird, but when I read your review one day at 1 a.m, I started smiling like a maniac. XD
Nalugirl: Thanks! While you're reading this chapter, I kinda changed your suggestion. I hope you don't mind.
Bentears: Lol, that's exactly how I feel when I'm reading another story. Thanks for reading!
aball147: Thanks for the suggestion! Although I used another's, who knows if Lucy will get another key as a present..?
Rizuki Dhan: Magically, I got the motivation and added about two thousand words of dialogue for the quote on quote "fight scenes." Yeah, she definitely will. Maybe to the point where she's op, but I'll try to avoid that.
P.S. Don't be sad if I don't use your suggestion.
Natsu sniffed around the guild in hopes of finding Lucy. 'Where are you Lucy?'
"Everyone! Split up and search for Lucy around Magnolia in parties!" yelled Erza as she ran out the door.
"Hai!" yelled the guild as they followed after her. (1)
Lucy was very happy as she smiled at her guild mates.. That weren't there!
'Nani? Where'd they go? Weren't they just here five seconds ago?' Lucy thought not realizing that she was seated at a round table with her golden Zodiac spirits.
"Oi, Lucy!"
Lucy jolted from her thoughts as she was startled by the sudden shout. Lucy looked up from her thinking position to be greeted by her spirits.
"Oh, hi everyone! Why are you guys in the Human World?" questioned Lucy ignorant of the rainbow tubes and flooring that signified the Celestial Realm.
The Spirit King chuckled. "Lucy, you're in the Celestial World. Take a look around."
Finally, Lucy noticed the stars that grew brightly in the sky and the floating platform that she stood on.
Lucy facepalmed as she realized she was in the Celestial World but questioned, "Ne, how come I'm here without spirit clothes? It's impossible right?"
"It's only impossible if a spirit brings you. However, it's possible if the Spirit King himself summons you here. Which is exactly what happened." answered the Spirit King as he stood up. "Now, you're probably wondering why you're here, correct?"
Lucy nodded her head in affirmation.
"Well, today it as you know today is July 1st, better known as Lucy's birthday. However, it is also the day that I pass out the God keys. You've read of them haven't you Lucy?"
"Hai, Spirit King. What about them?" replied Lucy.
"I brought you here today Loke would like to give you them. Recalling back to the book that the first celestial mage wrote, today is when I choose a candidate to receive the keys. The Celestial Spirit mage's spirit is the one that would bestow them upon their master. I decided to give it to Leo to give to his master. Coincidently, that's you."
Lucy's eyes grew wide as she was speechless. She began to recall what Erza said when she discovered God keys.
"Celestial mages are pretty rare now because of what happened. Who knows if you might be the one getting those god keys?"
"Are you sure Spirit King? Surely, there are other celestial mages!" Lucy still was in disbelief as she absorbed this information.
"I'm perfectly sure. Bring them to her, Leo. Only one of her spirits can give it to her, even though I'm the king." The large king gave Loke the keys and then turned around to sulk quietly.
Loke then stood up from his chair and proceeded to walk towards Lucy. "Here you go my beloved hime. Congratulations on getting them." Loke passed Lucy the keys and Lucy saw that there were about 25 keys in total, each one glowing and emitting an aura that showed their element. However, hidden behind the 25 keys, there was a platinum colored key that seemed to changed color due to the lighting.
Lucy took them gently, scared that she'll break them with the slightest, uncoordinated movement. She then thanked Loke and started to put them onto her key ring.
"Wait, Lucy!" exclaimed Loke, successfully halting Lucy's actions. "Stay here for a second! I'm going ask the King about something. Wait here."
Lucy looked skeptically at Loke's retreating figure. She was then bombarded by her spirits. They each yelled a congratulations as they surrounded her.
"Thanks everybody!" said Lucy as she hugged her spirits.
"So Spirit King, do you think it's okay for her to learn it? That way no one would be able to steal her spirits while she's fighting." said Loke as he explained his idea.
The Spirit King rubbed his beard in consideration. "Good idea Leo. You should take her to the Human World before too much time passes."
"Hai!" said Loke as he returned to Lucy. Creeping up behind her, Loke grabbed her bridal style, surprising Lucy.
"Loke! Put me down!" yelled Lucy as her face flushed pink.
"Nope, too bad! We'll be back. I just need to teach Lucy something new. Ask the King about it if you want to know!" Loke yelled out before they both disappeared.
They both materialized in the middle of the guild. Surprisingly, the guild was empty except for the master who sat alone on the bar.
After a couple seconds, Loke put Lucy down and she immediately ran towards Makarov.
"Ne Master! Where is everyone? Also, sorry I was gone. The Spirit King summoned me so he can tell me something."
Before Makarov could reply, Loke quickly added something to her statement.
"I know you guys are holding a birthday party for Lucy, but would it be fine if we could go into the guild library so I can teach Lucy something? Please?"
Finally being able to talk, Makarov said, "It's fine Lucy. Everyone actually just went out to find you. They should be back in about 10 minutes since they won't have any success in finding you. As for Loke, you can use the library. Whatever you're using if for however, do it quickly. Once Natsu and the other's get back, you could say good-bye to Lucy for the day."
"10 minutes? Alright, we'll try to do this quickly. Come on Lucy!" said Loke as he dragged Lucy towards the library.
"Ack, Loke! Stop dragging me please! We'll be back master!" said Lucy as her poor body was still being dragged.
Makarov chuckled and began to meditate, thinking about how to tell Natsu that the person he was looking for beat him here.
"Alright, Lucy. You know how since your keys are in your pouch, they're easy to steal?
"Yes, Loke. What about it?"
"I'm going to teach you a magic that's pretty close to Erza's. With this magic, you could summon a magic circle and your keys would appear in front of you in a circle like shape for easy access. Think of it as having your keys in a storage space that you could take along with you. Same goes for luggage and such."
"There's something like that?" questioned Lucy. "What are we waiting for? Teach me now please!"
"Alright, first take this key. You'll use this key to unlock the storage space."
The key was a dark grey and had a resemblance to a golden Zodiac key. Lucy took the key and asked what to do next.
"Now, insert a little bit of magic into the hand that's holding the key and say 'Mieru' (2)." directed Loke.
"Mieru!" shouted Lucy as she summoned what appeared to be a black hole but if one was to appear inside, there was a small lining of a box of some sort.
"Good job, Lucy. Now insert your keys in the order that you want them."
Lucy then put each key according to type. First, her silver keys. Next, her golden keys. And lastly, her newly obtained God keys.
"Okay, now close the space by stopping the magic your putting into your hand." Lucy did what he said and the void slowly disappeared.
"So far, so good Lucy!" said Loke as he praised Lucy. "Last step, summon the circle and grab any random key.
"Mieru!" shouted Lucy as her keys appeared in front of her in a circle shape. Mischievously and without Loke knowing, she grabbed Loke's key.
"Now that I don't need to be here anymore, may I have a kiss as a fare-"
"Forced Gate Closure." Lucy giggled and patted Loke's key. "Thanks Loke! But no, you can't get a kiss."
Putting the key back in to the void, she closed the gate and hoped the guild won't give her too much of a hard time for missing her party for a good hour or so.
Lucy started to walk the stairs, but remembered something important. 'Since Natsu's not interrupting me, I could summon the new key that I got! Might as well do it now, since I'll be busy the whole day."
Lucy summoned her keys and grabbed the silver key that she obtained from her mission a week ago.
"Alright, let's see what this key is. Gate of the Fallen Angel, I open thee. Eclipse!"
An angel dressed in a mixture of black and white clothing appeared. While one wing of her's was black, another was surprisingly white. Lucy was puzzled on her appearance. Her eyes were a deep burgundy color and had silver colored hair. On top of her hair, was a crown of skulls, hopefully not real. As for her clothes, she had a white dress that had ruffles at the bottom. At her waist was a black belt to contrast against the pure white dress. To finish off the look, she wore black converse that were made up to her mid-calf with white laces. The outfit fell together and was a pretty sight.
"Hiya, Eclipse! I'm Lucy, and I'll be your new master. I summoned you to form a contract."
"Hi. Available every day of the week. I can heal but also kill. Pleasure to be your spirit."
"Not a spirit of many words are you? Well, I hope to work with you in the future, see you then!"
Eclipse nodded and then disappeared. 'Woo! Now after this party, I'll be able meet the gods!'
Lucy smiled as she accomplished yet another contract. Finally, she walked up the staircase and walked towards the guildhall. When she appeared finally walked into the hall, she was greeted by..
An empty hall! Lucy facepalmed expecting to see Happy whining in her face and Erza scolding her for worrying them. Lucy then walked towards by the bar in hope of finding the master and luckily there he was, sitting on the counter.
"Hello Master! I'm back from the magic that Loke taught me. Did I miss anything important?"
"Don't worry child." said Makarov. "You're just in time!" Makarov pointed towards the guild doors and behind them she could see a large dust cloud. In front of the dust cloud was none other than Team Natsu and the rest of the Fairy Tail crew.
Natsu reached the guild door first and chanted in accomplishment. "Muahaha! Your Natsu-sama has beaten all of you!" Natsu saw Lucy from the corner of her eye. "Ne Luce! Tell them!"
'5, 4, 3, 2, 1' thought Lucy as she counted down the seconds until Natsu realized that she was in the guild already.
"LUCE!? Have you been here the whole time?" shouted Natsu as he had an accusatory look in his eye.
"Calm down Natsu. I've only been here for 10 minutes. As for earlier, I'm sorry about that. They needed me in the Spirit Realm so they stole me from the party." After explaining her absence, the others appeared at the doors.
"Lucy! Where have you been? We've been looking for you for about an hour." said Erza as she shot a look at Lucy saying I-want-an-explanation-later.
Knowing that she'll have a lot of explaining to do, Lucy said, "Minna, I'll explain to everyone later tonight, but how about right now, let's party!"
"Yeah!" shouted Cana. "Today I'm willing to share my booze!"
Everyone knew this was a worthy celebration when Cana shares her booze. The guild's worries were washed away as they got into the swing of the party. Knowing how this was Fairy Tail, they partied all night long.
Five hours later, they were still going at it. Beer was splashed and tables were toppled over as the supposed to be fun party, was now an all out brawl.
Lucy sweatdropped as she looked over the catastrophic mess they created.
"Lu-chan, do you want to open your presents now in case our members forget them?" asked Levy as she gestured to the tower of presents.
"Good idea Levy-chan! Only question is how we're supposed to get attention. Hmm…" How is she going to get the attention of a guild that's too wrapped in fightin right now?
"Do you have a spirit Lu-chan that could stop them?"
"I'll look Levy-chan. Mieru!" Lucy's circle of keys appeared and she grabbed one of her god keys.
Levy was quite surprised when a black hole materialize in front of them.
Lucy saw Levy's facial expression and told her that she'll tell her about it some other time. Levy nodded in understanding and watched in awe as Lucy said,
"Gods far and wide, bestow upon me your power. Seal of the Firework Goddess, I release thee! Hanabi!"
A maiden with a sparkling kimono was released from the key. Her kimono has a pattern that resembled fireworks and had on her side a small purse overflowing with different kinds of fireworks.
"Hi Hanabi-sama! I know were just met, but do you mind setting of a firework to get my guildmates attention?" Lucy asked the goddess hopefully in a polite tone, knowing this was a goddess and one should show respect.
"Sure, Lucy right? Any particular firework you would like to set off?" asked Hanabi as she opened and revealed the type of firework that she has.
"Anything's fine Hanabi-sama. As long as it can catch the attention of my barbaric friends. Also, if you don't mind, can you make it that the sparks won't catch the guild on fire?"
"Lucy, just Hanabi is fine. And don't worry. My fireworks won't catch anything on fire." replied Hanabi while she grabbed a random firework and set it off with a snap of her fingers. The friction and heat created a spark and it flew out of her hands.
It rose up until it reached the roof and blew up making a shower of little golden stars fall down towards the guild floor. The golden orbs gave off a small amount of light almost appearing as if they were small fireflies. Just as planned, the guild stopped and watched as the 'star' fell down and vanished the moment it touched a hard surface.
"Thanks Hanabi! I'll see you some other time." Hanabi bowed to Lucy and disappeared.
By the time Hanabi went back into her seal, the last spark touched the ground. The guild was still frozen in awe even though Levy shouted for their attention.
"Minna!" yelled Levy once more. "It's time for the presents! Come here and grab your presents to give it to Lu-chan!"
The guild soon recovered from their initial shock and walked towards the present table.
"As your best friend, I get to give you my present first! Happy birthday Lu-!"
"No Levy! You should know that teammates always go first!" pointed out Happy as he fought over with Levy.
As the two of them fought, the others thought now would be a great time to give their gifts:
Although she was her love rival, Juvia gave Lucy a necklace with teardrop shaped charms attached to the necklace.
Gajeel and Lily gave her a little bunny charm completely wrapped in wrapping paper with carrots on it. As an excuse, he told Lucy that Levy made him to do it.
Mira gave Lucy her 50,000 jewels knowing that Natsu and Happy crashed at her place countless times. Lucy accepted it gratefully, but was suspicious how she knew her teammates came over.
Wendy and Charla gave her the silver key of Apus the Bird of Paradise (3). Wanting to get the contract over with she summoned the spirit shouting, "Gate of the Paradise Bird, I open thee! Apus!" The bird had the body of a phoenix as it was flaming and spewed fire. He was meant as a mean of transportation.
Cana gave her a barrel of her favorite beer claiming that they should party together some time. Lucy sighed but took the beer anyways. She planned to hide it in the guild cellar after the party because no way was she going to drink any.
Erza gave her a sword and told her she'll train her with it so she'll have better defense in case she ever run out of magic or her whip gets taken away. Knowing how strict Erza was, Lucy dreaded the date.
Using his magic, Gray gave her a small snow globe with a small replica of the Fairy Tail guild symbol. As Lucy shook it, small specs of fake snow fell down and covered the base of the hill that the symbol stood on.
Knowing their love for books, Levy gave Lucy a book that a famous author named Margi de Coceo wrote. Lucy was surprised and asked Levy how she got the book since it wasn't even published and distributed yet. Levy giggled and put a finger to her lips telling Lucy it was a secret.
Last but not least, Happy gave her a fish claiming that it was salmon, the tastiest fish there ever was. Natsu said he'd give her his present later because he forgot it at home. This left Lucy curious of what the gift was but also left her laughing how he forgot it at home.
Once the ground was littered with colorful wrapping, Lucy was finally done unknotting bows and setting each special gift in a protective bag to carry home. After presents definitely came the cake. Since her previous cake was left splattered on the ground, they got her a new cake and cut it up serving the birthday girl the first slice. As she slipped the first bite, Lucy thought of a way to thank her friends. Finally coming upon an idea, she asked the master who happily agreed.
Since she needed to get her thank you gift ready, she left the guild without anyone noticing. While she prepared, Makarov announced that someone had a surprise for all of them and that they gather around outside the door.
Natsu wanted to get the surprise over with since he wanted to give Lucy his present quick. He ran outside and sat down. The guild followed right after him.
"I'm sorry for calling you twice in a day, but this is rather important. Are you ready Hanabi?" asked Lucy as she sat behind a small wall.
"It's fine Lucy. And yes, I'm ready. On your cue, master." replied Hanabi as she glanced down at the custom made fireworks at her feet.
"Alright, 3. 2. 1! GO!" shouted Lucy as she covered her ears. The fireworks whistled and flew towards the night sky.
The guild was surprised by the noise and looked around for the culprit. It wasn't until the second firework went up that they saw the bright lights. Each firework was coordinated perfectly as when one finished another popped up behind. (4) As the last firework exploded, a very special one appeared. The little stars wrote a message that was clear to each member as the dots that connected the words slowly faded. In their eyes, it read:
Arigato, Fairy Tail!
After her final message, Lucy hugged Hanabi saying a quick 'Thanks' and jumped up from her hiding spot. The moment her head appeared from over the top of wall, she was tackled by Happy and he said that it was very pretty.
Lucy glanced at her guild mates and smiled while at the same time thanking them for not only the party, but also for being her family.
This made Makarov tear up a bit and swell with pride. 'This generation sure is growing up well.' he thought.
Everyone gave Lucy and a smile and proceeded to walk back into the guild!
"Thanks Lucy!" they chorused as they thanked Lucy. After Lucy's little show, the crew gathered around inside the guild.
"Yosh! Everyone, we're going to have a drinking contest!" proposed Cana as she held a stray beer mug up. "Whoever wins gets… 50,000 jewels!"
"I'll participate!" yelled Natsu. "I'm all fired up!"
"I'll do it too if Natsu's doing it!" shouted Gray as he was intent of beating Natsu.
"Hmm, friendly competition won't hurt." said Erza. "I will do it as well."
After Erza called she'll participate as well, many others started to participate as well. In total, about 20 people were in the game.
Seeing how long Cana can hold out and Natsu's competitive attitude, Lucy knew this would be a long night. Since she'll have nothing to do, Lucy told the master that she was going to go home for the night. Thanking him once more, she grabbed her bag filled with gifts and walked out the door.
"Gate of the Canis Minor, I open thee! Nicola!" shouted Lucy as she walked down the street. "Hi Plue! Today was a great did you know?"
"Pun, pun!" replied Plue as he wriggled his arms.
Lucy smiled and said, "Well, Plue. Will you come with me to Mark's Hill? I'm going to go train a bit before I go to sleep. I need to meditate so I'll be able to release more than one spirit at a time."
"Pun!" said Plue waving his hands around in excitement.
Lucy picked Plue up from the ground and hugged him. She held him in her arms as she walked on the wall that separated the street from the river below. Lucy walked slowly scared that she'll fall but confident that she'll remain her posture.
"Careful Lucy! You might fall!" said an old man in his boat as he paddled along the river.
"I'll be fine Uso-san! Thanks for the concern!" replied Lucy as she continued her action.
In only a couple minutes, Lucy reached Mark's Hill and called upon Capricorn.
"Meh, you have summoned me Lucy-sama." said Capricorn in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Hello Capricorn. I summoned you to see if you could help me increase the number of spirits I can let out at a time. Since I can only let out one, I would like to make that number higher. Could you help me please?" asked Lucy.
"Sure, Lucy-sama. First sit criss-crossed on the ground." Lucy did so and asked what was next.
"Now meditate while at the same time releasing a little amount of magic into the air." said Capricorn as he sat down to do the same. "Good. Last but not least, remain in this position for as long as you can. Slowly but surely, you can increase your magic capacity allowing you to summon more spirits at a time."
It was around nine p.m. when Lucy had had enough and was about to faint. Plue disappeared an hour ago so he wouldn't lose magic power. Capricorn also left since he knew that the more Lucy meditates her magic power will start to dwindle. Not wanting to cause her magic power even more, he left.
Lucy panted, as she was tired from training. "Hmm, from that training I think at most I can summon about two. I should train some more tomorrow to increase it more."
Finished for the day, Lucy grabbed her gift bag and headed home. 'The guild probably just finished their drinking contest.' thought Lucy as she once again walked on the wall. 'Today was fun! I just hope it's this fun next year too.'
Lucy unlocked the door to her apartment and set her bag down. She entered the kitchen and set out a small bowl of rice and grabbed the leftovers from yesterday. She popped those into the microwave and waited. Her fingers drummed the countertop as she watched the seconds tick by.
Beep!
The microwave's light flickered off and stopped humming showing that it was done heating whatever was in it. 'Yum!' thought Lucy as she sat down on her table and ate.
A ruffle was heard in her room as Lucy ate her food. 'Huh? What was that? I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone on my way to the kitchen..' Lucy quietly opened one of the kitchen cabinets and grabbed a frying pan. She held it up in the air ready to strike as she slowly made her way into the living room.
'Well, it's not here.' thought Lucy as she traveled in the mask of darkness hoping that she was invisible to the intruder. 'On to my bedroom then, I guess.'
Lucy walked through the entryway towards her bedroom and silently walked to the middle of the room. On her way she accidently fell on her face muttering a small but silent, "Ite."
To her horror, the item that she tripped on was moving. Not only that, but closer to Lucy! She made a break for the light switch and quickly turned it on.
Clad in a small white night cap, there sat Happy on her rug rubbing the spot that Lucy had hit when she tripped.
"Oh, it's just you Happy." Lucy sighed in relief. "I'm sorry I hurt you. Do you want a fish to make up for it?"
"Aye!" replied Happy as he fixed himself up and off the ground and flew after Lucy as she was walking towards the kitchen.
Lucy walked towards her fridge and grabbed a small raw fish for Happy who munched on it happily. She then sat back down in her seat continuing her meal.
"So Happy, why are you here in my apartment?" asked Lucy as she popped a portion of rice into her mouth.
"Oh, I came with Natsu. Remember how Cana wanted a drinking competition? Well, after a couple of rounds Gray dropped out and fainted on the table. After Gray came Natsu. That was only thirty minutes after you left. So about two hours later, Natsu woke up and saw that it was Cana and Erza left. He started to root for Erza but he was tired and thought it'll be a good idea to crash at your place. I just followed him here." explained Happy as he finished his last piece of fish.
"Ah, that makes sense. Where's Natsu now?" asked Lucy.
"Oh, he's in your bed. Don't kick him out though! He's really tired!" exclaimed Happy as he got up and defended the door from Lucy getting out.
Lucy sighed. "It's fine Happy. Although I prefer my bed, I'll take the couch it's fine."
Happy let out a sigh of relief and took a seat on the table. "Ne Lucy, do you have another fish? I'm still pretty hungry!"
Lucy laughed, "Of course! Stay here okay Happy?"
"Aye! Lucy's being more nice today!"
Lucy shot Happy a quick glare. "Are you saying I'm never nice?"
Happy turned around and hid his face with his paws. "Lucy's mean now. Help me Natsu…" mumbled Happy depressingly.
"No fish for you Happy! Not to mention you shouldn't have food at night. It's bad for you!" Lucy scolded Happy while she put away the dishes. "Honestly, I need to buy a lock for that window."
After the last dish was put into the rack to dry, Lucy gently pushed Happy toward the bedroom. "Come on Happy! It's almost 10. We need to go to sleep. Not to mention I have to summon my Gods."
"Nani! You have God keys now?" Happy was definitely surprised, maybe even shocked.
"Yea, Happy. I'll show tomorrow okay? Right now, I just want to sleep."
"Aye, aye." said Happy as he nestled down on Lucy's bed. Lucy smiled as she saw Happy sleep contently.
Lucy blew a small raspberry as she pulled an extra comforter underneath her bed. 'After all that training, I really wanted to sleep in my bed, but oh well.'
Finally finding the blanket that was hidden behind the boxes of random stuff, she threw it on her couch. Then she silently grabbed a small pillow from her bed hoping that she wouldn't disturb Natsu or Happy. She fished it quite easily and threw it over her shoulder, hoping it landed on its mark. Removing her whip, and the magical requip black portal key of magic, she dressed herself in pijamas and fell asleep quite easily.
1: By the time the guild realizes that Lucy has been gone for at least a minute in the Spirit World. One minute in the Celestial Realm is about 90 minutes in Earthland. For the sake of this story however, one minute in the Celestial Realm is 5 in the real world.
2: Thanks to Google Translate, 'Mieru' roughly means 'Appear.'
3: Apus is a real constellation but for the story, I changed him/her up a bit.
4: Go watch a YouTube video that's a firework show. Then imagine the custom message. Easy enough.
-Angel
Angel