AN: Hey you guys! Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others! I blame GaLu week. Lol. Every time I started writing this chapter my brain would switch over to GaLu mode for some reason causing me to stop this chapter and write whatever had come to my mind.

My mom's surgery went well and now we have a ton of physical therapy to do and so much to learn. So sorry if my chapter release dates are sporadic for the next couple of weeks.

Hope you enjoy!

Lucy POV

I ended up not punishing them after all, it wasn't their fault that Julien destroyed my clothes, or that I accidentally exposed myself. But it was funny watching them constantly checking their surroundings or anything I gave them to eat and drink. When I offered to get our food when it was ready they would both jump up saying 'NO', then one of them, sometimes both would run to the bar to get our orders. I only let this last for a day, feeling bad that they weren't able to relax around me.

When I had recovered enough strength to walk down to the cellar I went to go interrogate Julien. Surprisingly I had two guards when I went down there, Rogue and Sting; I had expected one but not the other. Standing outside of the cell I peered inside, getting a better look at the man that had tried to kill me. Noticing how beat up he was, and the fresh blood seeping through his bandages I assumed I was not the only person to come see him before now. Seeing how he stared at Rogue in undisguised fear and tried to create the most distance from him, I deducted that it was Rogue who had paid him a visit last night. Explains why Sting was there instead of Rogue last night.

Not feeling the least bit sorry for the pain that was inflicted upon him I unlocked his cell and stepped in, ignoring the protests of my guards. Standing in front of him I crossed my arms under my breasts and stared at him. I could see the defiance in his eyes when he wasn't looking at Rogue, I could also see how much he wanted to hurt me, even though he was stripped of weapons and his key. Looking at his face some more I wondered how he had found me so quickly after I had gotten here, he joined within a day of Rogue bringing me here.

Uncrossing my arms I sat down beside him on the cot. "Why did you try to attack me?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. If he wasn't going to answer this question he probably wouldn't answer any of my others.

"I did it so Polaris could rise." He said in a monotone voice.

"Why do you follow Polaris? What has she promised you?"

"She didn't promise me anything, ensuring the happiness of my goddess is enough reward for me. I follow her because she is the rightful ruler of the Spirit World; it was taken from her unjustly. My family has always worked for her, helping her rid Earthland of the unworthy Celestial Mages and their spirits. We and others will continue to do so until she has been freed." I could only stare at him in disbelief, he sounded like he had no mind of his own, no original thoughts flowing through his head. "If it is not I who kills you it will be someone else. They know of your existence and will hunt you down to finish what I was unable to do."

"Why do you say she is the rightful ruler of the Spirit World, what about the King?" I questioned trying to find some reasoning behind his answers.

"Ha! You don't even know? Polaris was being groomed to succeed your tired old king, until traitors went behind her back and told the king lies. Your spirit Leo, was one of them, in fact the entire Zodiac betrayed her. She had one last test before the king would have handed over the crown, and they ruined it for her. If it weren't for them she wouldn't be locked away now." Julien said as he glared at the subject of his hatred.

"They would never do that! If they say Polaris did something, then she did it, my friends would never lie when a someone they care about is in danger." I defended.

"If they care so much where were they when I attacked you?" He said with a chuckle, turned cough, as he clenched his stomach.

I hope Rogue broke something when he beat you.

"You know why they didn't show up, it was because of that spell you put around the room. You blocked them from coming to me, my whip didn't even work properly, but I still defeated you didn't I?" I said with a smirk. Taunting him some more I pulled out his old key and held it in front of him. "What set does this key belong to?" I asked, jerking the hand that held the key back when he lunged for it; safely putting it back on my key ring and tucking it away in my pocket before he could get a hold of it.

"Give that back!" he said, lunging at me again, this time going for my throat.

His fingers grazed my throat before Rogue and Sting pulled him off of me, throwing him across the room, going after him a second later. "Answer her question!" Rogue growled as he twisted one of Julien's arms behind his back.

Cowering under the two Dragon Slayers he spoke. "It is part of the Jeweled set. See the onyx in place of the eye? It will allow you to temporarily use the spirit's power after it's contracted to you. Each of them has a different gem, with different powers for each spirit; six of them make up the set. They were banished when Polaris was, cast out until they could change their way of thinking. I was able to find Corvus in a swamp town, near the edge of Akane Resort."

"Who are the other spirits and where can I find them?" I demanded.

"I don't know where the rest are, but I heard the Dragon can be found in a small ass town close to here. Kenji I think it was. I was going to steal the request we the guild received a few weeks ago, but it disappeared." Catching his breath he stared daggers at me, before looking to the ground when Rogue twisted his arm some more. "Alright, alright; the other four are the Wolf, Phoenix, Great Bear and Chameleon. Geez, someone is awfully protective of the bitch."

Hearing a growl, I could tell that Rogue was close to losing it. Before he could move I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "Rogue, don't waste your energy on him. I got what I came for; we can call the council now to pick him up." I said trying to digest all of the information I was given and making plans to head to Kenji, as soon as possible. I walked out of the cell without waiting to see what Rogue and Sting would do. I knew that they were angry that they hadn't seen what Julien's true intentions were when he joined the guild. If it were up to Minerva he would have disappeared, never to be found again; but luckily they were able to talk her out of that plan, convincing her that a life in an anti-magic prison would be the better punishment.

As I walked back to the guild hall I tried to recall what Pegasus had said about the spirit's hiding in plain sight. So that would mean if the Dragon was in Kenji then the others could be too! No, no one has seen a dragon in years; if not dragons then it had to be wyverns!

So lost in thought, I ran into someone and started apologizing before I saw who it was. "I'm Sor-. Yukino, what do you want?" I asked, wishing my magic was recovered enough to summon Loke. Backing away from her, I reached for my whip. Watching her lift her hands I tensed, ready to defend myself.

"No, I'm not here to attack you. I just want to talk, in private if possible."

Considering my options I agreed to talk to her, telling her to lead the way to my room so I could watch her in case she tried something. Once we were in the room I moved to the other side of the bed with the window at my back. I felt better now that I had the bed between us and my whip in my grasp, even though it was still on the belt. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" I asked still tense, but mustering up my courage to release my hold on my whip, giving her a real second chance.

Before she said a word she started pacing, thankfully keeping her distance as she did. I looked at her and saw cuts all over her face, arms and legs, from where the branches must have cut her when she was tossed in it; they were all scabbing, so that meant she was healing and I was happy for that.

"Thank you." I looked at her in confusion. What? "I don't know why or how you did it, but thank you for talking Minerva into letting me keep my S-Class status. You're different from the other Celestial Mages I've met; not as power hungry. All the others could think about was gaining more keys, and becoming more powerful; but you, you actually care about the well-being of your spirits and others. It's sweet. I used to care too, once upon a time.

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier about our spirits deserving to be respected and loved, and I agree, but I know I can't do that anymore." Pausing she looked at me, "by now I suspect you have heard about what happened to me."

Sheepishly I nodded, having overheard Rogue and Sting talking vaguely about it last night. I didn't get all of the details, but I got enough to get the gist of what had happened.

"Deep down I know it's not my spirits' fault that, that happened to me. I wasn't strong enough for them to open their own gates, or even call them for help; too afraid that I could lose the place I called home if I defied the Master. But I wound up losing it anyways. Everywhere I look I see him, and those memories resurface, no matter how hard I try to keep them at bay. It's the same with my spirits. When I see them, I feel nothing but anger; when I look at them I am reminded of how I wasn't strong enough to stop it.

"I loved them, I truly did. But the love I felt for them is being clouded by the anger and resentment I feel over the whole situation. It's because of that anger and resentment, and with a shove from you, I have decided to leave Sabertooth and give up pursuing Celestial Magic. I want you to have my keys; I know you will treat them with all of the love and respect I couldn't give them."

When she touched my hand I tried to jerk it back, ready to refuse, but I saw how difficult this was for her and the tears she was holding back. Warring behind her eyes was the love she had for her spirits and the anger she was fighting so hard to hold at bay at the sight of their keys. She really does care about them. Looking down at our hands I watched as she put all three of the golden keys into my hand before she forced my hand closed and thrust it away from her.

"Yukino… are you sure about this?" I whispered, awed by the strength she was displaying; thinking of the well-being and happiness of others before yourself wasn't an easy thing to do. Yes it would help her in the long run, but in this moment there was nothing but pain as she forcibly parted herself from her family.

I could see her throat at work as she swallowed several times before she answered me. "Yes, it's best for me and for them. I…I can't move on from what happened to me with all of these reminders. May..Maybe when I work through some things I can see them again?" She requested, hopefully looking at me with tears streaming down her face.

Forgetting my earlier fear I closed the distance between us and hugged her, ignoring her flinch and the fact that she wasn't returning the hug. "Of course! Whenever you want to see them all you have to do is ask! If you ever want them back we can discuss that too, when the time comes. Until that time, I will take care of them, just as I do the rest of my spirits." I promised her, still petting her back in sympathy.

*sniff sniff* "Thank you Lucy!" She said as she finally returned my hug.

We stood like that for a long while, both of us crying. We continued to hug even after the door opened and the two Dragon Slayers stepped in, both of them staring at us in wonder. I knew they were confused about how Yukino and I could go from being enemies to hugging, but I didn't care. At this moment I was just glad that she had started her healing process.

Breaking the hug a couple of minutes after we had both stopped crying I held her at arm's length, just smiling at her. "You're going to get better Yuknino, I can tell!" I said giving her an encouraging smile.

"Thanks Lucy. Without you, I don't think I could have made this decision." Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand she turned to the boys. "What? You've never seen friends cry together?" looking at me for confirmation of our new relationship.

"We'll be the best of friends" I replied. Ignoring the guys I turned back to Yukino. "When are you leaving? Are you going to join another guild?"

"I'm going to leave at the end of the day and I was planning on going solo for a while. Maybe find a new magic to learn, while look for my sister."

"Hold on a moment. No one is leaving the guild!" Sting yelled pushing forward to get in her face.

"You can't stop me Sting. I need to get away from this place and all of the memories that come attached." She smiled, "I'll come back and visit one day."

"When you're ready to see your spirits again Yukino just go to Fairy Tail and ask for me." I said without thinking.

"FAIRY TAIL?!" Sting and Rogue shouted together.

Oops. "Uh yeah. Since we just returned after seven years and then I got kidnapped, I didn't have enough time to learn what had happened and what guilds we were allied with, that's why I never told you what guild I was with. Sorry, I had planned on tell-"

"That means you know Natsu and Gajeel!" Sting said excitedly.

"Were you ever going to tell us, Lucy? I thought you trusted us more than that…I thought you at least trusted me." Rogue ended with a whisper.

"I do! I do trust you Rogue!" I went to him, trying to get him to look at me "Rogue?"

Sting POV

The rest of the day was uneventful compared to the last couple of days, other than the fact that Rogue was keeping his distance from Blondie for the first time since he brought her here. Blondie wasn't very happy with the development, choosing to ignore him back. They were both acting like children if you asked me.

We spent the rest of the day at one of the guild's tables, Rogue and I on one side and Lucy and Yukino on the other; talking and making plans for where Yukino should go to look for her sister. We were at a loss, when we tried to think of ways to find her sister, but Lucy surprised us once again.

"Oh, about that. Does your sister have silver hair like yours and could pass as your twin? Oh! and did she practice Celestial Magic?" She asked in a strange tone of voice. "If so I think I know where she is. She goes by 'Angel' now. You can easily find her and rule her out if you go to the Magic Council prisons."

We all gawked at her when she said 'prison'. Catching the hint of excitement and fear from Yukino I glanced at her, unsure if she was afraid to get her hopes up or concerned about her sister possibly being a criminal.

"How do you know where she is Blondie?" Asking the question that was on all of our minds.

"I put her there, twice most likely," Blondie said, not looking the least bit guilty. "Well not just me, Team Natsu was there too, and most of Fairy Tail, the second time we met up with her." Blondie went on to describe her thrilling encounters with the members of Oracion Seis, telling me more about Natsu when she saw my eyes widen at his name.

Maybe she can give me a hint as to how to beat him. Nah! The Great Sting Eucliffe doesn't need help, I can beat him myself. I thought, sitting a little taller as I did.

"That sounds like her Lucy! Thank you, I'll contact the council before I leave." I haven't seen you smile in a long time Yukino...maybe getting away from here will be good for you. "Well, now that I have figured out what I'm going to do, what are your guys' plans?"

Looking towards Rogue, I responded before he could, "Rogue and I are going to finally do this request I got weeks ago! There is a bunch of wyverns attacking the town of Kenji and -"

"I'm going with you." Blondie said looking determined.

"No you aren't. It's for S-Class mages only, and from what I heard, you didn't make the cut to even try out for the position so there is no way you can handle a request that is asking for two of them. Plus you aren't even able to use your magic yet, what makes you think you would be of any use to us?" I said quickly dismissing her demand.

"I never said I wanted to help you, like I would!" she ended in a mutter. "Weren't you paying attention to anything Julien said? He was going to steal that request in order to find the second key of the Jewled set. Anyways, if I don't go with you, then I'll go by myself." Lucy said in a huff, getting up from the table to storm up to her room.

Rogue ignored us for the better part of an hour, too busy staring at Blondie's door, waiting for her to return. I was talking to Yukino when mid-sentence Rogue got up to check on Lucy. When she wouldn't unlock her door and let him in in transformed into shadows slipping in from the crack on the door. Almost immediately he slammed opened the door and came stomping back down the stairs growling.

Now that her door was open I could tell that Blondie hadn't been the room for some time, her scent not as strong as it usually was. When I went to the bottom of the stairs I could see the door to her closet was open, and surprisingly empty.

She's so stubborn! Why couldn't she accept that this mission was too dangerous for her, especially since she wasn't cleared to use her powers.

As I fummed, I heard Rogue leave the guild.

Looking back and forth from the guild doors that Rogue had just walked through and Yukino, I tried to make my mind up on what to do. I hadn't planned on leaving for Kenji until after Yukino had left, but from the look of things I had just been left behind with the two exceeds to look after.

Making the decision for me Yukino got up from the table and pushed me towards the door. "Go. They need you." But you don't? "Neither one of them is thinking straight" Yukino said as she shook her head at their stubbornness. When I just looked at her she continued. "I promise I'll contact you when I find my sister."

With a nod of my head, I ran after the two brain dead idiots with Lector and Frosch behind me. Running to catch up with Rogue, I halted when I heard Lector cry out to me. They had fallen behind and Frosch was crying because she didn't want to be left behind. Sighing, I turned around and ran to pick them up. With the exceeds in tow I jogged to Rogue, who was surrounded by his shadows as he followed the road to the town of Kenji. Lucy was much farther away than I had expected. From the direction of her scent and the distant sound of a train leaving the station I assumed she had gotten onto the train to Kenji, leaving the two of us to walk; not that I was complaining. Glancing at Rogue I saw his shadows flare up at the sound of the train.

Does he even know that he's lost control of some of his shadows?

AN: Let me know what you thought of the chapter!