Emotionless

Chapter 78, Innocence

A/N: Hey guys,

I just wanted to say thank you to these guys who have been so loyal to this story and have my many thanks:

Also wanted to clear up this question among many reviewers: LUCY IS NOT SUPER-POWERED. I whole-heartedly believe that there is always a stronger opponent and whether someone is going to call someone weak or not one should know that everyone is once weaker than a stronger opponent than becoming stronger.

I have thousands of proof to this but because I also believe that one cannot please everyone I will only say - re-watch all of Fairy Tail!

Plus, need I remind anyone of how powerful Kira and Dontrell were? Let alone Riisovzun(Enslaved Dragon Spirit). Humans are not gods and gods are not dragons.

Anyways, here's the latest chapter, hope you guys like!

By the way, I am always accepting OCs! You'll be seeing them more than once...

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail - c'est la vie.

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Normal Pov

The heavens were lit in a cerulean indigo as Lucy walked into the Craterside Village. As she drew closer the utopian sun gleamed the grasslands in lavender, sangria, azure, tangerine, rose, and amethyst where the celestial stars were lit by the watchful gaze of the ivory moon.

Poetic words aside, Lucy couldn't blame a monster for hiding out in the lands of the Village as it was utterly breath-taking.

The citizens of the town were busy even as it was nearing dark. The food stands were boxing most of their food however but the indoor shops were still open and the restaurants were filled with customers dining with their families or loved ones. Lucy smiled as she tucked her hands in her pockets again as she walked through the city lights of the city and rolled her eyes at the teen romantic rendezvous.

As she got closer to her client's home she noticed how one of the city towers outside the village was in complete ruins. She imagined that was the monster's work there and the citizens were worried it would reach their city the next time.

After reaching the client's home she saw a man standing out on the patio and when noticing her presence immediately straightened before approaching Lucy and bowed to her, to the Fairy Tail mage's surprise.

"Thank you for arriving here safely. The citizens have become worried that the creature will attack the city. I was beginning to worry no one would accept the request in time."

Lucy waved her hand in dismissal. "No need to worry, Fairy Tail has got your back."

The man exhaled a sigh of relief. "We don't know much about the monster to be honest. It doesn't attack in a pattern and anyone who tries to track it only ends up lost in the forest near the village. I know it's not much to go on but I had seen a bright light before the watchtower was knocked over."

Lucy nodded, mentally going over the details of every creature she is aware of.

"I'll head out now to look for it. When I return you'll know that the creature is taken care of." Lucy told the man after her mind drew a blank of no recognition of the described creature.

"Thank you!"

She didn't waste time as she left the village and after standing outside the forest for a moment she withdrew a hand from her pockets and held it out. "Kenzou, I need you right now." Lucy said, dismissing the use of formality now that she was alone.

With a flash of light the Cerebus appeared to stand in front of Lucy, one of his heads bowed to her while the other two heads were held high. "I see that you need help in tracking this mysterious creature. So, you've already figured out my heightened senses on your own. Impressive," Kenzou told Lucy before each head lifted to sniff the air of scents in every direction.

"There are many creatures lurking within these trees," the middle head began while the other two heads remained their sensing. "Although I have traced a large amount of magical power northeast of here. Perhaps that is what you are searching for. If this creature can generate light than it is reasonable to assume it can use magic."

Lucy nodded and went to thank the Cerebus only for him to close his gate on his own, seeming to have already to have read her mind. Lucy's smirked before stepping into the woods. As the deeper she dweller the thicker the trees became and the light was becoming less and less until she was standing completely in the darkness of the forest.

Something felt off, it could have been something else but Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her eyes quickly changed colors as her soulless eyes were activated and although the forest was still cloaked in darkness she found that she was able to see life in red from the birds in the trees, ants scattered on the ground, and the approaching form nearing.

Knowing that she had been spotted Lucy didn't hesitate to drawl out her magic and soon armed herself with golden claws and talons. She clenched her fists when the creature came to a halt and braced herself for an attack. Lucy was not disappointed.

With a roar the creature lunged forward to which Lucy responded by pushing the (furred?) creature over her using the blunt side of her claws. The creature landed easily and flashed its fangs at Lucy before shooting forward with untraceable speed and the next thing Lucy knew she was knocked off her feet as a sudden light rendered her eyes temporarily blinded.

When claws swept across her side Lucy knew it was up for her to trust her senses now.

She would've hated to admit that she was about to pull a total Natsu move and sniff the air but as she did she found that this creature's scent was everywhere and nowhere all at once and the next thing she knew the same razor sharp claws had cut open her cheek this time.

Lucy slammed her fists down in what could've been perceived as frustration as the mage was knocked over so easily once again. "Damnit!" She cursed. She had faced dragons, a bloody angel, and even a half-dragon and yet she was being thrown around like a sack of potatoes so easily. What was this thing?

Did she really depend so heavily on her eyesight?

I'll need to handle this a different way, then... Her golden claws and talons disappeared while golden scales scattered across her skin so that the next attack wouldn't break her skin so easily. Last thing she needed was to lose too much blood and pass out.

She wrapped her aura around her joints and muscles to support her durability while golden spikes protruded from her arms, legs, back, and completed with horns on top of her head.

The creature lunged at her again but Lucy could feel the change in the shadows and could instinctively feel exactly where it moved and leaned back just a couple inches and felt its fur as it passed by. Lucy landed a solid blow against it with her knee and heard the sound of a tree falling as the creature collided with the tree.

The creature let out another roar before lunging at her again and again only to be tossed around easily similar to how she had been before. However, suddenly she couldn't even feel the shadows anymore... her eyes were burning even more so now than ever, it was as though this creature had figured out what she was doing.

It couldn't have though, could it?

"I'm underestimating you, aren't I?" Lucy said and was answered when she suddenly found herself knocked off her feet with this creature standing above her. Claws sunk into her skin and moved downwards dragging its claws through her skin. Lucy didn't make a single noise the entire time.

She felt its breath against her face and suddenly Lucy knew it could tear through her throat (if it got past her scales) whenever it wanted to. Lucy desperately tried to open her eyes but the light seemed to only grow stronger by the second. Since the creature hadn't immediately tried to tear her throat out Lucy chose to go to plan C and slowly brought her hand up and hesitantly touched the creature's fur.

Considering the creature hadn't flinched away yet Lucy continued to brush her fingers through this creature's fur. A feeling seemed to have consume her, or perhaps it was a thought.. But Lucy knew in her heart - she just knew:

This creature was not a monster.

As she felt her fingers graze a jaw, Lucy found her fingers brushing beneath its eyes on its furred cheekbones.

"I know your not a monster," Lucy said as her eyes opened and resisted squinting against the light. When her eyes focused she saw the most beautiful animal she had ever seen; a golden lion.

Dark green human eyes suddenly flashed as it's pupils slit and suddenly she found the lion's head lowered and its fangs sunk deep into her back but even as Lucy's back arced from the pressure Lucy refused to fight a creature that was not a monster.

It's eyes are human...

Instead of fighting back or even struggling to push the creature away Lucy had done the least expected thing she could think of... the craziest thing she's probably done in the world.

I can see myself in you, trapped inside a body you cannot control.

She embraced the golden lion tightly, even though it caused it's teeth to sink deeper in her body but Lucy didn't care. She knew there was someone hidden in this lion. "I may not know who you are and I don't know why you are in this form but you are NOT a monster! No one deserves to be cursed like this! Whoever or whatever made you like this probably had a reason but that reason is bullshit!"

Suddenly the clear sky was covered in dark clouds before lightning began to struck the land of the forest. She hardly noticed the golden lion pull away - it's mouth covered in her blood - and begin to pace quickly in a circle while watching the sky.

The wind began to surround the area like a vortex as the trees bend against their wills and all other life quickly fled as the unnatural storm came through full-force.

An increasingly loud roar of thunder followed by a lightning bolt and suddenly a gate had opened and a giant stood in front of them. He was a strange man that had an intensely powerful aura of magical power. She didn't know who this was but whoever it was Lucy had a feeling he had arrived because of her most recent comment.

She looked at the golden lion which was cowering in the presence of the giant which looked borderline strange to Lucy.

"Who are you?" Lucy questioned as she stood up so that she was back on her feet and leveled her gaze on the giant.

The giant's arms were crossed and his expression was stern.. Lucy imagined he would be intimidating if she had emotions.

"I am the ruler of the Celestial Spirits; The Celestial Spirit King!"

Blue eyes widened in recognition. It had been a while since the mage last saw the King.

"Why have you come here?"

The Spirit King turned his gaze to the golden lion whom suddenly straightened as though knowing he was being scrutinized.

"I must say I'm surprised to see you again, my old friend." He said to the golden lion whose pupils suddenly lost its slits and returned a look towards his king.

"Wait..." Lucy began as she stared long and hard at the golden lion. "You're here as the Celestial Spirit King and you know this lion.. that means this lion is a Celestial Spirit then.. Leo? Leo the Lion."

The Celestial Spirit King nodded in affirmative. "As a Celestial Wizard you should know that Celestial Spirits follow their own laws to follow as they preform their duties for their wizards whom must also follow these same laws. Leo had broken one of the sacred laws by taking the life of a key-holder. Breaking the law is forbidden and so Leo was banished to this land to live the rest of his days-"

"What? That's ridiculous! I've heard that Celestial Spirits go mad within a month of staying inside this world! Banishment? That's cruelty! If he is really an old friend you would have more respect for him-"

"The laws exist for a reason, wizard! How would you feel if one of your own spirits suddenly refused to allow you to summon them?"

Lucy stood strong with a strange sense of deja vu. "Then I would confront them knowing that they would have a reason! My celestial spirits are my friends! All of my contracts are my friends! And like all friends we have our falling outs here and there and sometimes our friendships are cut short because of personality clashes or misunderstandings! I never turn my back on my friends!"

"Hmm," the Celestial Spirit King stroked his mustache in thought.

"Sir, what exactly led to his last wizard anyways?"

The Celestial Spirit King sighed. "As leader of the Zodiacs, Leo has much greater magical power than the other Celestial Spirits and can open his gate on his own to stay out for long periods of time. He is also very protective of the others Zodiacs.. His last contract belong to the wizard Karen Lilica, a strong member of Blue Pegasus four years ago. She often placed her Celestial Spirits in harms way, specifically Ares, and after physically striking Ares one too many times Leo came out with his own power and forbid Karen to summon either of them until she ended the contracts with them."

"Unfortunately Karen did not do this and was killed during a mission as she was left without her keys, a fault that lands on my old friend here."

Lucy clenched her jaw as she stared at the depressed lion. Seemingly lost in memory.

"So you punished Leo for doing the right thing by protecting the other Zodiacs? That's ridiculous! What kind of law is that? Look at your 'old friend'! For being loyal and strong for the other Zodiacs this is what you've sentenced him to?" Lucy demanded as she stepped closer to the golden lion.

"In Fairy Tail we would never do that to our friends; our Nakanama! We always do the right thing even when the Magic Council doesn't agree with us!"

"While I'll admit I didn't expect Leo to become like this from living in this world for so long... I cannot simply turn away from a law."

"Why not? You're the Celestial Spirit King! Haven't you heard of change? Times are changing stash-face! And sometimes laws need to change in order to keep up with modern-lifestyle! Leo was doing the right thing and he's spend four years on his own trying his best to retain his humanity, that alone shows his loyalty as a Celestial Spirit! As a friend! Your Nakanama!"

"There is a friend all the same standing in front of you right now! If he's made it this far doesn't that show that he deserves a second chance? He's a leader for a reason and he'll remain strong even in banishment but there's only so much longer he'll retain his mind in this world! Leo is innocent! Punished for a crime that makes no freakin' sense and I would give my life so that he could live in the Celestial Spirit World again! Any Celestial Wizard would be lucky to have a Celestial Spirit like Leo, let alone a friend!"

The Celestial Spirit King looked down at Lucy and Leo in thought once again before exhaling slowly. "It lifts my spirit to see such compassion you hold for the Zodiacs. How you would give your own life so that one of them could live again in the Celestial Spirit World. Perhaps I had been wrong all along. Maybe it wasn't change in the Zodiacs that was needed but change of the law itself. And so it has been decided: I hereby banish the old law and reinstate Leo the Lion's position in the Celestial World as the Zodiac Leader once more."

Lucy grinned at the Celestial Spirit King. "Thanks stash-face, you're cooler than I first thought you were!"

Suddenly the golden lion was enveloped in a brilliant gold before fading revealing a man dressed in only a torn up pair of black jeans leaving his torso bare and his mane reaching down his shoulders while his eyes remained the familiar dark green. He gave her a warm smile as he turned to look at the mage whom had saved his life and given him a second chance in the Spirit world.

"Thank you," he said before leaving through a golden gate back to the Spirit World to heal from four long years away. A glint caught the mage's eye and as she looked down she found Leo's familiar Celestial Key lying in the grass and smiled ever so slightly before hooking it unto her main key spirit chain. Lucy looked back to where the Celestial Spirit King previous stood before gazing back up at the clear sky once again and could've sworn she saw on of the stars wink down at her.

"Of all the places to find Loke again... I never would've expected seeing him here. I'm glad to have you back, Leo."

A grateful client, a heavy pocket of jewels, and a celebrating town later Lucy found herself lying back against one of the large trees inside the village with her eyes on the stars.

"Hey Lucy, I've been looking for you for days!"

Lucy glanced down and met the familiar face of her teammate.

She called me Lucy...

"Mirajane?"

Well, that sums this chapter up!

Thanks again for everyone's support and for reading this far ;)

Sincerely,

- Gothic Rain