AN: Thanks to everyone still reading my fic and to all the wonderful people who have reviewed, followed or favorited!

Sorry for any mistakes I may have missed!

Here is the newest chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, but I do own my crappy attempt at a spell. ;)

Rogue POV

It's only been about 5 hours since Julien attacked Lucy, but she still hasn't woken up. The doctor said it was because of her concussion and her lack of energy. Sitting by her bed Frosch and I watched over Lucy who was resting but not peacefully; I could see her eyes moving behind her eyelids. I wonder what's going on inside her head. Can't be pleasant with all of that jerking she is doing.

Frosch refused to leave her side staying right beside her head stroking Lucy's hair as she spoke words of encouragement and thanks at first before she fell asleep.

Sting was still trying to recover from his bout of sickness from eating the barrier, but was well enough to check up on us after his stomach stopped protesting. Surprisingly he visited with Lucy, along with Frosch and I, asking us about her condition and actually caring to hear the answer. It was nice seeing him warm up to her after all this time.

"You really care about Blondie, don't you Rogue?" Sting asked as his slipped through the door, closing it after he was completely in.

Looking at him, I saw that he was just staring at Lucy, his attitude different from his earlier visits. Making eye contact I tried to see what his purpose was for this discussion, seeing no malice I answered. "Yes I do. I thought it was weird at first when all I did was watch her sleep and talk to her, but ever since she woke up I have been drawn to her. Part of it is because I know, I have seen her before, and it is killing me that I don't remember; and the other part is possibly just attraction, but it feels deeper than that." As I talked about her, my eyes had strayed towards her unintentionally. Facing Sting again I could tell that he was confused but also understanding at the same time, as if he too had felt the same thing I had. Before I had a chance to ask him about it he had opened the door, speaking as he left.

"Get some sleep Rogue, you don't look good. I'll make sure no one disturbs you three." He said as he walked out the door to stand guard.

"Thanks Sting" I whispered, knowing he could hear me with his heightened senses. "Wake up soon Lucy. Please" I said, placing her hand between mine as I dozed off, trusting Sting to watch over us.

Lucy POV

Everything was fuzzy as I opened my eyes and stood up from off the ground. Looking around I took in my surroundings but saw nothing but bright white everywhere. There were no discernable shapes; I was definitely not in my room at Sabertooth, nor was I in any place I had been before. I was in an endless void. Reaching for my keys I wasn't too surprised when I didn't feel them on my belt, considering I wasn't in my regular clothes; I was in a plain white, floor length dress with my brown belt hugging my hips; if it weren't for the bely, I wouldn't have been able to discern where my body began and where it ended – the dress blending in with the surrounding area flawlessly. Without both my keys and whip I was defenseless. Darn-it, why didn't I pursue hand to hand combat when Capricorn offered? Smacking my head with my palm I answered my question because I was too focused on expanding my magic.

Further berating myself I walked around for a while seeing if I could find a door or something to tell me where I was, but I couldn't find anything. Needing a break I closed my eyes and sat down on the ground with my legs crossed, and began thinking of what else I could do. Calming myself down I began meditating, and mentally called out to my spirits but got no response from them, just a mild buzzing in my head. The buzzing could mean one of two things, either I was too far away from my keys to contact my spirits or something was blocking my calls.

Too stubborn to stop I concentrated harder, trying to force a connection but I still got nothing besides a growing headache. When my head started feeling like Erza had sent her Heaven's Wheel attack whirling through my head I stopped and fell backwards expecting to hit the floor and lay down, but I never hit the ground. I no longer felt the ground underneath me and I kept falling, doing backward summersaults until I was able to straighten myself out so I was falling backwards, scrambling to find a something to grab ahold of to stop my rapid decent.

Unable to find anything to grab onto I continued to fall; I fell through similar areas as where I began, except each room was a different color than the last. Turning over so I could see where I was falling, and saw various more colors, that I assumed were other rooms, after a while all of the colors merged into one and I was spiraling down a rainbow of sorts. Without Horologuim's key I couldn't tell how long I had been falling but it felt like it's been forever and that I would never stop.

None of the constant change of scenery nor the sensation of falling was helping my headache; I was close to hurling when I felt myself slow down and then completely stopped. Feeling around with my feet I tried to reach the ground but I couldn't find any sign of their being one and was hovering over the endless void. This place was unique compared to the other rooms; it was like nothing I had seen before. It was like I was in a conservatory looking at the constellations. From what I could see all of the Zodiacs were there plus seven more. The extra seven were brighter than the Zodiacs; I was trying to get a closer look at them when a booming voice appeared.

"Lucy Heartfilia you are in grave danger." Looking around for the source of the voice I saw one of the constellations light up momentarily before a figure appeared in front of it. The speaker wasn't human, he looked like a horse, I would have thought he was until his wings unfurled so he could fly to me. Pegasus. "That which haunts your past is after your future. Polaris is gaining strength from her followers and the death of Celestial Mages, soon she will rise and darkness will fall over your land and ours. Find the six her who once followed her, collect their keys and they will lead you to victory."

"What six are you talking about? Death of Celestial Mages?! Those mages didn't die; their powers were stripped from them!" I shouted. "Pegasus, did Loke send you?"

"Yes your spirit sought me out to erase the spell I had cast under the King's orders. Look around you Miss Heartfilia." He swept his wings out, presenting me with the answer. "Those that shine brighter are who you need to seek out. Once you have found all six keys they will lead you to her.

"The mages I speak of were killed by followers of Polaris. I believe you met one not long ago, Julien, I believe is his name. Did you not wonder why he attacked you? They are gathering Celestial Mages to sacrifice to their 'Goddess'. Fools the lot of them, they do not realize the havoc that will be wrought if she were to be released into the world. Although, in a sense, your Celestial Mages 'died' too. Yes they may still live, but their powers were stripped from them, never to return, and so a Celestial Mage has 'died'; one less, or in your case, dozens less, to get in her way when the time comes.

"You must not waste any time my dear, at the rate her worshippers are sacrificing mages, and the decline of Celestial Magic in this world to feed her seal, she will arise on the last Lunar Eclipse of the year, the time when Celestial Magic is flowing through Earthland in droves. Five months may seem like a lot of time, but be warned; the six keys that you seek will not be easy to recover. They were banished alongside Polaris and were sent to some of the harshest climates and terrain so they wouldn't be found by someone with an impure heart. Looking and hearing all about you has led me to the conclusion that you are your mother's daughter; she too had a heart of gold, willing to do anything in her power to protect the ones she loved, albeit it was for a little time. I'm positive you will surpass your mother's abilities and become the greatest Celestial Mage we have ever seen, as long as you survive this endeavor."

"How do I find the six keys, and why are seven brighter than the rest if I am only to find six?"

"Have you not figured it out dear? The seventh is guiding them all just as Polaris did. To humans she is known as the North Star, guiding those wayward souls to their destinations; look at it in your world and you will notice that it no longer is the guiding star it once was, as she gets stronger, the star grows dimmer.

"As for finding the keys, you have already found one, left to you after Julien's defeat. He will be able to lead you to the closest key. Each of the six spirits are able to open their gates and roam the land, confined within a mile of their key's location; so keep your eyes open, because you may see one and not realize it until it's too late."

"What happened to Polaris to make her this way?" I asked walking closer to Pegasus, his wings calling out to me to stroke. When my fingers initially touched his feathers he froze and stared at me. I could tell he was enjoying it when I felt him relax under my hand.

"You will need to ask the Spirit King about that, it is his story to tell."

Nodding I was about to ask him something else when I heard Rogue's whispered voice talking to me. Frantically turning my head every which way I was confused when I didn't see him anywhere. "Rogue?" I whispered. Feeling Pegasus shaking beneath my hand I turned back to him to see him chuckling.

"You are waking up my dear. It is time for us to say goodbye. Before I go I'll leave you with a parting gift." He said has he brought his muzzle to my forehead and blew air on it. "The spell that trapped you inside that room and prevented you from using magic; once learned you will be able to use magic within it and project it onto anything, with practice of course. You will also be able to choose who can use magic within in, each time you cast it." Backing away from me he unfurled his majestic white wings and flew into the air, backing towards his constellation. "Be well my dear, and remember the clock is ticking." He said before a flash of light appeared, and he vanished.

Hearing Rogue's voice more clearly I could feel myself being tugged towards it.

"Wake up soon Lucy. Please." Was the last thing I heard before I felt myself leaving my dream state and return to my body. I laid there, feeling my heartbeat unusually fast.

Did that really happen, or was it all a dream? Why do I keep waking up so confused? For once I would like to knowingly go to sleep and not worry about what has happened. I thought as I commanded my heavy eyelids to open. Immediately closing them again when I saw how bright the room was. Opening them up again, only a little, I let my eyes get used to the brightness before I gradually opened my eyes all of the way.

I could no longer hear Rogue talking to me, and was beginning to think it had all been part of a dream until I became aware of pressure on my right. Afraid to see that I had somehow injured it in the fight I looked over to see what it was. Seeing Rogue holding my hand with both of his made me smile, in relief and something else I didn't feel up to thinking about. Looking around for Fro, I found her on the left of my head curled up. Seeing no bandages on her, I was relieved that Fro hadn't been harmed during Julien's attack.

Feeling how parched my throat was and how dry my lips were I reached for the cup of water I always had on the bedside table. Not wanting to wake Rogue up from his nap, or take away my hand from in-between his, I awkwardly tried to grab it with my left hand. Trying to get it from besides Rogue without spilling, I could almost reach it but accidentally snagged the rim and nearly spilt the water on both Rogue and I. Giving up I carefully flopped back onto the bed with my eyes closed, thinking of another way I could get the water. Hearing someone laugh, my eyes popped open to find the source. Sting, what is he doing in here!

He must have seen how confused I was because he walked from the closed door to stand behind Rogue. Warily watching him, I was shocked when all he did was hand me the glass of water I had tried so hard to get earlier. Sitting up to inspect the glass, and sniff its contents to make sure he hadn't done something to it in the seconds he had held it, I drank it all in two gulps. Smacking and licking my lips when I was done, I returned the glass to Sting's waiting hand and laid down again. I continued to watch him as he silently moved a chair to the foot of my bed and sat down, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward in a slouch with his head hanging down.

"This is hard for me to say this, but thank you for saving Frosch and protecting her when we couldn't. I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you for the past month; I was just worried that you were stealing Rogue, Frosch and Lector away from me. They are my only true friends I have, my only family. After we teamed up it has just been the four of us, always, and when you came into our lives I thought I was too stubborn to see that you truly cared about them, and weren't trying to steal them away." I could only stare at him in shocked silence for a couple of minutes. Seeing an annoyed tick form on his head, he opened his mouth and spoke in a frustrated tone. "Seriously! I come in here to apologize and thank you and all I get is that stupid look on your face? I don't get what Rogue sees in you!"

Laughing, I watched him as he threw his hands into the air and slumped back down in the chair unceremoniously. Stopping my laughter I looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry Sting, I was just shocked that you would apologize to me after so long. I'm glad you can see now that I'm not trying to take your place within your family, I would never do that.

"You don't need to thank me for protecting Frosch; she has been such a good friend since I got here, Rogue, Rufus and Lector too, that I would gladly do it for any of them. Plus it wasn't her Julien was after it was me. So in a way all of it was my fault." I finished as I hung my head. I'm a danger to everyone I am around if what Pegasus said is true.

"That's not true Blondie, you didn't ask to be attacked. He took advantage of your weakened state after your fight with Yukino, if anything it's a compliment of sorts, that Julien felt like he could only take you after you were drained of magic and exhausted."

All I could do was nod my head in response to Sting, once again shocked at how sweet he could be. Getting my bearings I smiled up at him. "Thanks Sting!" I said, feeling better about the whole thing. If I could have gotten up without disturbing Rogue I would have done so and given Sting a hug, whether he wanted one or not.

Seeing a glint on the floor behind Rogue, I saw a gold key, similar to the Zodiac's, on the ground. So it wasn't just a dream; great another life threatening situation.

Sting followed my gaze and went to pick up the key, inspecting it. "Is this yours?" He asked as he placed it in my palm.

Further examining it I noticed that I looked exactly like my Zodiac key except for the gem that was in the place the eye should have been. The eye was made out of Onyx, for something so simple it was quite beautiful. From the looks of it, it was the key of the Crow, Corvus; the birds that had attacked me earlier. One down five to go. Reaching for my key ring to put it away, I jumped when my hands didn't feel them on my waist; frantically looking under the covers, I didn't realize I had woken both Frosch and Rogue in my mad search for me keys. "WHERE ARE THEY!?" I yelled, throwing pillows and blankets as I searched. Hearing the sweet jingle of my keys, I quickly emerged from the covers to find Rogue dangling my keys from his index finger with a smirk. Relieved, I snatched them from him so I could hug them to my chest, mentally calling out to them to let them know I was alright.

When I stopped hugging them, I felt Rogue and Sting's eyes watching me. Sheepishly looking up into their stupefied faces, I shrugged and continued on as if nothing had happened. When they continued to stare at me I looked down at myself and screeched. "PERVERTS! GET OUT!" I scrambled to the furthest side of the bed from them and rolled onto the ground to hide my body from their prying eyes. Why do my clothes always get destroyed!? Not hearing the sound of the door open, or close I poked my head up from the side of the bed to see if they were still there. Picking up a pillow I tossed one at each other their faces "I said get out!"

The impact of the pillows must have made them come to their senses because the next thing they do is run out of the room as if their life depended on it. Serves them right, just staring at me while I'm practically naked. Hearing scary laughter from behind me I slowly turned around to face what had really scared the two Dragon Slayers off. Luckily it was just Virgo in her larger form, but what had probably scared them away were all of her 'toys' she had brought with her.

One time when she had asked for punishment, early on in our contact, she had brought the very same rack of 'toys' offering to let me use them for her punishment. Politely declining I had her take them all back, hoping to never see them again. Glancing over them all, I looked up at Virgo and her hopeful gaze. "Punishment, Princess?" She asked, I wasn't sure who was supposed to be punished, her or the two perverts. At the thought of punishing them I giggled.

An:

TChacha: Hope the explanation about the spell (underneath my response to the reviews) gets rid of any confusion. The reason we didn't see Julien casting it before is because Rogue got there after he had done it. Haha, Loke will always flirt with Lucy, it is what makes their friendship so wonderful. 3 Thanks! I love that you review every chapter, makes my day when I read them!

Jui-Imouto-Chan: Of course I will give credit where it's due. Did you change your username?

CiafiHOLIC: Don't worry, Yukino will be leaving soon. ;)

Let me know what you thought of the chapter please. =]

The spell that Pegasus left Lucy with was Divine Safeguard. (Sorry for the sucky chant. I honestly couldn't come up with something better, and it was giving me a headache so I stuck with this one.)

Spell Divine Safeguard:

Casts a shield on an object, person or place. Most a caster has been able to hold it for is an hour because it takes a lot of magic to cast. It takes so much magic because the mage is constantly feeding the shield to keep it going-when it takes damage the caster feels it, but to a much lesser degree. (This spell is mainly defensive, but can reflect magical attacks back on the attacker, but not as strong.)

o Those who watch over us through the night

Align and magnify thy brilliant light

Come forth and form solid light

Surround!

Divine Safeguard!