An: Hey all, sorry it took so long but you'll be happy to know that I have written the next chapter and will be releasing it on time or early. Only a few more chapters left before the end! So exciting. :)

Wendy POV

"What do you mean her body just vanished? How's that possible! I thought the procedure was a success and she was on her way to recovering." Rea said pulling at her hair. "She was supposed to be here to face Polaris. I can't do it, I'm not strong enough. Even if I was able to summon one zodiac key or even a jeweled key there's no way in hell I'd be able to summon them all in the next few months, there's no way. Yukino can't do it either! We needed Lucy!" She yelled falling back into the bench covering her eyes with her arm.

"We don't know what to tell you. The procedure was a success, everything was functioning fine and Chelia and I expected her to wake up in a few days after we were done but Nick came to the conclusion that Lucy was hiding out deep in her mind when she hadn't woken up instantly. While he and Loke went for help I unintentionally fell into her mind. Where I found her and talked to her-" I started crying unable to hold in my tears any longer. "I think I said something that caused her to choose to not wake up. It's all my fault. I'M SORRY!" I yelled hiding my face in my hands.

Everyone was silent for a second taking in what I had just told them before Mira hugged me from behind and started rubbing my back.

"It's not your fault Wendy. A part of us knew that Lucy had been through hell, we just wanted to believe she'd make it though. We all know you tried your best, you too Chelia, and no one blames you. There's always a risk that comes with every procedure, we just didn't think past the new organs not working." Mira said, as tears streamed down her face. "As for Polaris, what if you and Yukino were to summon three spirits each, do you think that would be possible to learn in time for the winter solstice?"

Rea and Yukino looked at each other silently communicating to each other. After a few minutes both of them released a huge sigh and nodded their heads hesitantly. "We will work our hardest to make it happen." She said patting her pocket only to look down in horror. "The keys! They're gone!" She shouted causing a wave of panic to flow throughout the guild.

"Keys, gone?" Someone said incredulously.

"How's that possible you just had them!" Yukino yelled looking around frantically on the ground.

"I-I don't know. I had them when I got here and I haven't gone anywhere since. Hell I haven't even taken off my jacket! Where could they be?" Rea shouted back shifting through all of the books and plates on the table she had been sitting at, growling when the search came up empty. Getting up to continue her search she ran out to the training yard to look around. We could tell her search was unsuccessful when she came back in pulling at her hair as she studiously looked at the ground while she slowly retraced her footsteps.

Looking up when someone was blocking her way she growled and looked at everyone. "What the hell! Don't just stand there watching me, you have to help me find them!" Rea demanded. Being yelled at by a child and knowing how important the it was that we have those keys the rest of the guild started scouring the guild for them.

Joining in on the search I ran back into the room Lucy had been staying in to talk to Loke and ask him if he knew what had happened to the keys but skidded to a stop when I saw he was no longer there. Spinning around I weaved through everyone to get to the front door and ran out of it towards where the wolves were staying.

"Amie!" I yelled running through the woods. Within minutes I was surrounded by wolves but none of them was the one I was looking for. Spinning around to double check I fell to the ground in defeat when I didn't see her.

"Human what do you want? You're people promised us that we'd not be disturbed." Amie's recently promoted beta said stepping forward.

"Please...I need to talk to Amie. Where is she?" I gasped, looking through all of the wolves hoping I had missed her or that she would suddenly appear.

"Out. I will let her know you were looking for her when she comes back. Now leave before my patience is gone." He growled, glaring at me as I turned around.

I was only a few feet away when I overheard the wolves talk amongst themselves. "When? How do you know she'll come back, especially when she disappeared so suddenly?"

"Yeah! How do we know she's coming back?"

"She will come back. Our alpha has never left us before and she won't start now, not when we've been through so much and are about to face our worst foe yet. Now get back to work, just because our alpha isn't here doesn't mean you get to slack off. Our enemies are still out there." The beta ordered as the wolves scattered into the woods to return to their posts.

Amie...she's disappeared just like the others. I thought terrified of what I had unintentionally caused.

Walking listlessly in the direction of the guild I veered into Lucy's apartment complex as I passed it. Using the key she had given me I entered her apartment and fell on my knees before I was fully inside.

"Lucy..."

Loke POV

"Why are we here?! We need to be on Earthland searching for any clues to find Lucy." I shouted at Nick, a chorus in a agreement echoing behind me. "Let us talk to the king, we need to have our gates opened."

"Loke, Lucy is-" I interrupted Nick before he could finish his sentence.

"She is not dead. I can feel that out contract is still intact, if she were dead it would be gone. Now move aside." I demanded.

"Now see here Lion I don't take orders from you, never have never will. Now if you're done interrupting we came here to tell you that Lucy isn't dead and that she is here, in the Spirit World." Corvo grumbled, clenching his fists to prevent from hitting me.

"What how? Humans can't survive here. We have to get her out of here now!" I said moving to get around the pesky bird to get to the King's chambers.

"You're testing meh nerves Corvo." Capricorn chimed in standing beside me to help me get to Lucy.

Just as we were preparing to fight the giant double doors opened and a shadow descended upon us. Instantly everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the king. "Old friends there is no need for this. Lucy is perfectly fine and safe, she's right here. For the time being she will be staying here, I will explain later but for now I need to speak to Amie, Corvo, Draco, Nick and Elle." The king said before disappearing behind the door again with the other spirits in tow.

"Hi guys." Lucy said timidly stepping out of the doorway before it was closed. Uncaring for her strange greeting we all rushed to her, each of us hugging her.

"I'm so glad you're awake! We've been so worried." I said holding her at arms length to get a good look at her. She looked like her old self, her hair shining, skin glowing but the always present smile no longer graced her lips and her eyes were duller too. "What's wrong Lucy?"

"Nothing... I'm just adjusting to being awake again. I had been locked in my memories for so long it's strange being back." Shaking her head she looked at all of her spirits and smiled. "I'll have to thank Rea for taking care of your keys when I was gone."

"She was a good student, follows meh carefully planned diets and doesn't complain during training nearly as much as you do. You would do well to follow her example in that aspect." Capricorn said nodding in approval. I watched as Lucy laughed, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

While everyone continued to talk, Lucy stared off in the distance looking right through us all, even though some of us were still talking to her. I could tell there was more bothering her than waking up, but I could also tell she didn't want to talk about it and for now I'd accept that because I was happy that she was awake. Signaling to the others to giver her some space I led Lucy to an isolated area so she could think and get her wits about her.

"If you need anything Lucy I'll just be a shout away. Okay?" I said looking down at her as she sat down on the ground to lean against one of the pillars. I waited for a response for a minute but when none came I looked at her worriedly and slowly backed away so I could talk to Nick and Corvo about what was happening with her. Pushing on the door to the King's Chambers I was surprised to find that they were locked, normally he left them open so anybody who wished to speak with him could, so why he suddenly decided to close and lock them was concerning. Stepping back when I heard someone approaching the door I waited to be let in.

Corvo opened the door with a smirk. "The king doesn't want to be disturbed right now." He said all to gleefully as he slammed the door in my face.

Something is definitely up. Could it be that something went wrong with Lucy's procedure? Is she still in danger from the effects of the poison? I thought worriedly.

Lucy POV

"Lucy it's been a week on Earthland, when do you plan on returning back to your guild? Or at least let one of us go back to tell them you're still alive. Poor Wendy has isolated herself in her room because she blames herself for your disappearance." Loke said kneeling down in front of me as I meditated.

Slowly raising my head and opening my eyes I stared at his haggard look and felt my guilt swell up but shook my head. "Not yet, I'm not done here." I said bowing my head again to ignore his probing and pleading gaze. "But soon." I promised, getting up I left him there looking crushed. When I was far enough away I released a breath I had been holding and rubbed my now throbbing head.

Feeling a prickle of magic I looked at my hands and saw my magic shooting from my fingers. Focusing on drawing my magic back into me I watched as the sparks slowly subsided and then disappeared. Ever since I had woken up I have had this feeling of extreme fullness when it came to my magic, so full in fact that at times I thought I would explode from the sheer amount of magic I now had access to. That was why I had been meditating since Loke had sit down by the pillar, I was trying to get my magic to stop seeping through my body. It was magic 101 that at all times you needed to have a tight lid on your magic so it wouldn't leave you; if you weren't in control of your magic, then you could accidentally hurt someone around you or yourself and I didn't want that.

"Why, why does this keep happening?" I mumbled to myself.

"You know why, Nick already told you or weren't you listening?" Corvo asked stepping out of the shadows to stand in front of me.

"I listened, I just can't quite believe it." I said shaking my head. Nick had told me how Wendy, Chelia and he had saved me from the poison, every excruciating detail. He had also told me that none of them had foreseen the consequences of the intensive healing session. Sure Nick had replaced a dozen or so organs before he was brainwashed by Polaris' lackey, but he had never healed someone so much. According to him when he replaces an organ the host's power supply will slightly increase for a day or two until his magic leaves the organ, at least that is what happened with everyone else he healed.

When he healed me with that in mind he didn't expect my magic to bind with his and begin collecting it, but that's what it unknowingly did. So instead of the magic disappearing, it fed my starved reserves and kept feeding them, even now. Apparently each one of my new organs were infused with his magic and would stay that way for an undetermined amount of time. This meant that I was even more connected to the spirit world.

Honestly I wasn't worried about it when the king and him had told me, I was ecstatic really. I would finally be on par with my team in power, but when I looked at they're concerned faces my excitement turned to worry.

'I was no longer fully human.' That's what the king said as he opened the fist he had kept closed the entire time we were talking and handed me a key unlike any I had seen before. Frozen, I stared at the top of it that usually told me what spirit was connected to the key and found a planet surrounded by a ring of stars. Shaking my head in denial and shock I looked at the king to tell me it wasn't what I thought it was, but he never did.

The key, my key, appeared in his hand moments before I showed up in the Spirit World further strengthening his belief that I was now part spirit, like Amie was. But as to what that meant exactly he couldn't answer me. I had tossed dozens of questions at him, demanding to know what it all meant but Nick, Pegasus and him couldn't answer any of them.

I cried of course, who wouldn't in a situation like this? I scoffed.

"You can't stay here forever." Corvo pointed out needlessly, pulling me from my thoughts. "Polaris is still out there, and if you don't help them your friends will die."

"I know, and that's not my plan. I still have every intention of fighting Polaris and getting rid of her. Why do you think the king called my keys for me? Polaris will die, even if I have to sacrifice myself to ensure it happens. She won't hurt anymore of my friends, human or spirits." I vowed turning to walk away from him. "Trust me, her reign of pain and death will soon be over."

Pulling me back to him, he spun me around so I was facing him."Like hell you're sacrificing yourself." He snarled in my face. When I reluctantly nodded he released his tight grip on my arms. "Now, although I love nothing more than seeing the Lion suffer he deserves to know. They all do." Corvo said pointing to where I had left Loke.

"I...I can't. What will happen when they find out, they'll all look at me differently." I said looking back at Loke to see the others surrounding him. "It's not that I'm not thankful to be alive because I truly am, but it's changed me and that's going to take some time to get used to and I'm not ready for everyone to know just yet. Let me train some more, get more control over this excess powers and when I'm ready to face everyone I will, but if you told them I was alive they'd demand that I return, and I'm just not ready for that." I said, letting my hands fall to my sides as I looked pleadingly at him to understand.

"You're being stupid. They aren't going to care about the change, they're just going to be glad that you're alive...like I was." He said putting a hand on my back and awkwardly patting it.

With a choked laugh I turned into him and wrapped my arms around him, needing a hug. "Thank you Corvo... I hope you're right." I sighed when after several moments he finally returned the hug. "Have you heard anything from the others?" I asked needing a distraction from my racing thoughts.

"He's still yammering away. So far the king has agreed to have the banishment lifted on all of us if we agree to help you in every way possible, which we had already decided to do. But even more, in light of our time crunch the old bastard is restoring everyone's powers. Of course this would happen after I actually had to work to unlock mine." He sneered, looking extremely annoyed.

"And...?" I trailed off knowing he knew what I wanted to hear.

"They haven't found anything in the records for what could have happened to you. This could be temporary, don't get too worked up over it just yet." Corvo said patting my back again.

"But what if it isn't, temporary I mean. What if I have really become like Amie? Do you know how long she's been alive, at least a century! I don't want to be immortal like all of you. I couldn't stand staying young while my friends grow old and die as I watched. It would be worse than that poison and worse than any torture technique." I whispered, turning my face into his chest to block out the images in my head of them all dying.

I stood there as every single one of them stared at me. I knew this would happen. I thought as I looked at all of my spirits that surrounded me. Glaring at the king accusingly I backed closer to the door so I could leave the probing stares.

"Lucy...Why didn't you tell any of us what was bothering you?" Loke whispered looking hurt.

Shaking my head because I didn't want to do this I sighed, because I knew I couldn't avoid it any longer. Staring into Loke's eyes I silently apologized and reluctantly answered. "Because I didn't want to tell anyone until I knew what this all meant and because if I told you all then it would make it all too real." I said looking at my hands that were fiddling with my key.

"Hime, we could have helped find out what it all meant. You didn't need to hide this from us." Virgo said looking just as hurt as Loke.

"Enough!" Corvo said standing coming to stand beside me. "She's scared, give her some slack."

"Thank you Corvo, but I deserve this. It was my idea to keep this from them, you told me I should have told them earlier but I didn't listen and I should have. Even though it was only for a few hours I hid something from them that affects us all and I'm sorry, but I needed time to think and I couldn't do that with you all crowding me." I explained. "Was there anything else?" I said facing the king.

"Yes, when I called your keys here there was a one that doesn't belong to any of the spirits here, where did you get it?" He asked holding up a jewel key I hadn't seen before.

"Is that...?" I gasped my eyes glued to the key.

"Yes, it's the last one you need before you could confront Polaris, but something is blocking Ayame from responding to me summons. You'll have to find her without the key for now, but I can sense that she's surrounded by both water and dirt, lots of it."

"So she's on an island that's underground?" I asked, thinking about who was sent to where to search for the keys. "I think I've got a handle on my powers for now, and even if I don't we need to get back to the guild. I've let them worry long enough."

"You're able to leave whenever you want, just picture where you want to go and walk through the gate, it's that simple." Mustache Man explained, waiting and watching for me to do it.

Closing my eyes I pictured the guild's main room filled with everyone I loved safe and happy. Seeing it clearly in my head I took a step towards the image and felt a rushing sensation before voices flooded my ears. Opening my eyes I took in all of my friends who took a moment to notice my presence, when they noticed me moments later everyone grew silent and stared at me.

An: Hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought please.

Cad3spawn: Thanks!

Infinities Lover: Haha, sorry it took so long.

Alaina Kuski: Thanks! I'm trying :)

Guest: Sorry it took so long. Glad you like it.

tarafredritz1: I'm glad you're loving it. :)

Red: Here's the chapter sorry it took so long.