AN: Sorry for the late update. I have now added school into my crazy schedule and am a little overwhelmed but I'm powering through. Thank you everyone for sticking with my fic, I love and appreciate you all. :)

Wendy POV

"Wendy. Wendy!" Carla whispered from above me trying to get my attention but I ignored her, knowing what she was going to say. "Wendy wha-"

"Carla!" I said sharply lifting my head to look at her. When I saw her concerned looked turn to a glare I cringed. "I'm sorry Carla…just; could you give me some space?" I asked. She glared for a moment more before flying ahead to land on top of the wagon where Happy was happily munching on a fish. He looked startled when she sat down next to him, and offered her a bit of his fish. Surprisingly she didn't refuse like she usually did, instead she took the fish, gave it a look before taking a tentative bite out of the section Happy hadn't touched. Both my and Happy's jaw dropped.

"Hey Lucy!" Mira yelled, looking over her shoulder and slowing down her pace so Lucy would catch up to her faster. I forced myself to slow down so I was only a few feet ahead of them, while pretending to watch Carla and Happy as I eavesdropped.

"Hey Mira." Lucy said quietly.

"You've been awfully quiet since we left the guild, are you alright?" Mira asked.

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one that's noticed. I grumbled to myself. Lucy had been acting strangely since our argument earlier this morning, and she still felt off, but in a different way than before. Thinking back on our argument I felt bad for basically attacking her, I had no idea what she's been going through or how the pressure to save everyone in both our world and the Spirit World was affecting her. But I couldn't understand why she felt that she had to hide her plans from us; we were here to help her in any way, why wouldn't she take advantage of that? I knew it wasn't just her fault that we had a silence between us; it was also due to my anger at myself, hurt from her not opening up to me and anxiousness for what we were about to walk into that kept me from apologizing and talking to her.

"I'm fine, I've just been thinking Pir-" Lucy said making a strange chocking noise before laughing softly to cover up what else she had been about to say. Mira either didn't notice or chose to ignore the cover up as she joined in the laughter.

"Thinking about what? Your reunion with Rogue?" Mira said her tone of voice changing. From the dreamy sound of her voice I could imagine her eyes twinkling as her matchmaking thoughts took over for a moment.

"Um… Yeah. I've missed him a lot, he's so dreamy." The blonde giggled. "Lu-I- I am madly in love with him and can't wait to see him. Pi-."

Did she almost refer to herself in the third person? I thought, scrunching my face in thought and narrowing my eyes at the ground in front of me. Besides Juvia who else does that?

My thoughts were interrupted when Natsu fell in step besides me. "Does Lucy smell weird to you" He whispered, taking huge whiff and scrunching his face in confusion.

Following his lead I took a big whiff and started coughing. "Wh-what is that?" I gasped looking at Natsu and plugging my nose. How had I not noticed that smell before?

"Perfume, I think." Natsu muttered, sneaking a peeking at the blonde. "She hasn't worn any since I met her, why would she start wearing it now?"

Wearing perfume, referring to herself in the third person, and ending her sentences with Pi… My thoughts trailed off as I stopped walking and spun around to look at Lucy. Neither Lucy nor Mira noticed my sudden halt and crashed into me, and fell onto the ground.

"Ow." Both of them moaned, looking up to see what had happened.

"Oh, sorry Wendy we didn't see you." Mira said smiling and getting to her feet before offering a hand to Lucy. When Lucy looked up I saw her eyes change from brown to black and back to brown again before she took Mira's hand and began to stand up.

Please Mavis, let me be wrong. I thought before hardening my gaze at Lucy.

"Gemini." I said, holding my breath.

"Ye-!" They said, releasing Mira's hand, as they covered their mouth and fell back to the ground, their transformation shattering as the spirits appeared.

"What the hell!" I heard someone behind us yell. I hadn't realized that the others had stopped too, but looking back I saw that everyone was there waiting for us.

Looking guiltily at us the two spirits floated backwards so we couldn't reach them. "Our master said to tell you that Draco will be waiting for you at the beach, and that if possible she will clear the way for you. We're sorry. Piri Piri." They said, looking sad before they disappeared.

A moment of silences descended upon us as we all processed what had just happened. Lucy had left us to take care of Polaris by herself.

"Don't just stand there, we have to meet up with Laxus and the others, and find Draco." Natsu said, charging ahead with Happy following close by. Breaking out of our stupor the rest of us followed behind.

Lucy POV

When I woke up from my nap Ayame had returned and was whispering to Corvo, gesturing wildly, but when they realized that both Rogue and I were awake they shut up and told us that they had overheard one of the guards say that the others were downstairs in the prisons. Apparently they had found the captive Celestial Mages and were in the process of releasing them when they were trapped by a bunch of guards. Like Rogue and Ayame they had barricaded the door and were looking for a way out.

Currently we were walking through the maze of corridors that made up the lower floors, my hand in Rogues when I felt a familiar presence appear beside me.

"Gemini." Ayame greeted them with a nod of her head, stopping to look at them.

"That took them longer than expected." I said, smiling at the two spirits who looked too sad and guilty. "You did a wonderful job distracting them, thank you." They nodded their head in acknowledgement, but still remained with us. "Is everything alright?" I asked growing concerned.

"The little one, Wendy… she looked crushed." One of them whispered.

"I'm not surprised, we got into a fight right before we left- you know about it already Gemini." I said seeing them nod.

"I never did ask, why did you show up without the others?" Rogue asked, drawing my attention to him.

"I needed to scope out Polaris' prison and figure out how I'm supposed to defeat her, and we had to find Ayame; although I didn't expect to find her so soon." I said with a shrug. "I knew if I told the others my plan they'd insist on joining me and we would draw more attention to ourselves. As of now no one besides the two of you and the guild know that we're here, giving us more time to find anything that might help us." When Rogue looked to Corvo for verification of my excuse, the spirit just nodded and looked away.

"We should get moving, we don't know how long your friends can hold the guards off." Ayame said, turning around to start walking again without making sure we were following.

Thanking Gemini again I sent them back to the Spirit World and followed after Ayame and Corvo. Rogue, who still hadn't moved grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop. Looking up at him I gave him a questioning look.

"Promise me you're here for that reason, and that you didn't show up here to take on Polaris alone, without us to back you up." He demanded his hold on my arm tightening, but not to the point of pain. Stepping into him I placed my free hand on his cheek and looked into his red eyes.

"Well that wasn't the only reason; I wanted to see you too." I smiled up at him, but he didn't relent. Sighing I rested my head on his chest. "I promise that I had every intention of only doing recon and finding Ayame until the others showed up."

"Lucy-"

"Hey love birds move it." Corvo growled from ahead. Detangling myself from Rogue, I walked on ahead glad for the interruption so Rogue couldn't question the wording of my promise.

It wasn't a lie, I had every intention of holding off on attacking until the others showed up, but if something were to happen, well then I wouldn't be waiting and I would take matters into my own hands. Thinking about the worst case scenario I felt my heart skip a beat as my worry increased ten-fold. I wasn't ready to face Polaris. Yes I now had all six of the banished jeweled spirits but I didn't know how to use them to defeat Polaris, and to be honest I wasn't entirely sure how I could handle summoning the six of them and letting them have full reign over their powers to use in the attack. Would I be strong enough to stay conscious for the attack? Would I be able to hold their gates open, and keep the magic flowing from me to them long enough? There were so many uncertainties that I was terrified to find out the answers, because if I failed, then I didn't know what else we are going to do.

A hand slipping into mine and squeezing dragged me from the depths of my terrified thoughts. Looking up at Rogue I gave him a thankful smile before leaning into his side and snaking my arm around his waist. I could worry about all of that later, for now I'd just be happy to be back by his side.

An hour later, and several floors and several hallways later we were right above where the prison was that held the Celestial Mages, Sting, Minerva and Juvia. My plan had been to get them all out the same way I had Rogue and Ayame but what Ayame failed to mention before was that the prison was warded all the way around and that the only exit and entrance was the one that dozens of mage guards were blocking. So we all stood around, listening to the attack on the door below trying to think of a way in that would keep our presence hidden.

"We could have Gemini transform into Angelica and order them away?" Rogue suggested.

"No." I said shaking my head. "They haven't touched her so they wouldn't be able to take her shape, or know her memories."

"You could summon Draco or Nick and have them flayed alive." Corvo said, with an evil glint in his eye, that same glint was mirrored in Ayame's eyes. Sharing a look with Rogue we both shook our head muttering out our 'no killing' excuse. Both of the spirits sighed at that and looked upset.

"Ayame is there any way to get to the floor below the prison without passing the flock of guards?" I asked thinking of something.

"Yes, but we'd have to backtrack a bit to get to the right hallway. Why?" She asked.

Smiling kneeled down to draw out my plan in the dirt. "So I know we can't break into the prison to sneak them out, so why don't we trap the guards in a new prison? Ayame and I will go down to the floor beneath the prison and I'll have Virgo dig a hole into the wall of one of the halls that is part of the island and doesn't lead to any of the other rooms. Once she's done with that hole, that's deep enough so they can't just blast their way out, she will make a hole right beneath them and drop them into the barrier I will have waiting to catch all of the guards. After their all in my soundproof barrier I'll drop them off into the hole in the wall and have Virgo patch it up. And voila, the entrance is guard free! That's when you and Corvo let them know it Is all clear and get them out of there." I finished proudly, my drawing in the dirt not much more than a few lines and circles.

"That's a great plan, just one thing. What are we going to do with a whole bunch of weakened Celestial Mages following us around and making it more likely for us to get caught by the Nazi bitch?" Corvo said, looking to me for the answer.

"Well… we could- why don't you come up with something for once?" I asked, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"I did, you and shadow boy over there shot it down." Corvo shrugged.

"That plan doesn't solve your question either." I pointed out.

"Uh guys." Rogue said interrupting Corvo and I's staring contest. "We could have Virgo build a tunnel out of her that leads where the others will be arriving shortly, that way we can get them out of here and won't have to worry about them anymore."

"Perfect!" I said turning away from Corvo to smile at Rogue. "After the others are trapped in the wall I'll leave the extraction to you and Virgo while we go to Polaris' prison." Hopping to my feet I motioned for Ayame to follow me and quickly left before Rogue could protest. Calling Virgo through her key I asked her to start digging the escape tunnel and showed her where I wanted it to let out as Ayame and I backtracked up a flight of stairs and across most of the previous floor.

"You know he isn't going to leave you behind." Ayame said, looking at me with a raised brow.

"Not willingly." I said, already feeling Virgo's joy at being able to use her chains if Rogue, Sting, Minerva or Juvia refused to leave. It wasn't a secret that Virgo wanted each one of them to refuse.

"Why do you need him to leave?" The spirit asked turning left and then right, bringing us to a set of stairs.

"Because I feel that something is going to happen and I don't want him with me if it does." I muttered.

Looking startled Ayame stopped to stare at me. "You feel it too?"

"Yeah, I felt something when we first got to the island but the deeper we go in this compound the more I can feel it. Something is siphoning Celestial Magic out of the Spirit World, and I'm afraid of where it is going, and what consequences it's going to have." I said, watching as Ayame nodded.

"The Spirit King is already preparing for the worst. He has most of the spirits evacuating to Pegasus' place. The Spirit World was a mess when I got there to talk to the king."

You'd think Mustache Man would think to warn me. I thought as we began our trek down the stairs.

A few minutes and several turns later we stopped, and I could clearly hear the banging that was happening above us. Looking around and inspecting the rooms we found a storage room that looked like it hadn't been touched in ages, judging by the dust on all of the boxes. Summoning Virgo, who had just finished the escape tunnel I told her our plan and she to work digging the temporary prison in the wall, making sure to not disturb the dust on the boxes, or the boxes themselves.

As she did that I stood beneath the guards and brought forth a topless barrier and waited for Vigo. I didn't have to wait long for her before she began digging the next hole. The guards above were so noisy and so focused on getting into the prison that they didn't notice the cracking ground beneath them. When the ground crumbled beneath them the guards rained down into my barrier until it was full with stunned, confused guards, who were surprising shocked into silence. I was about to close the barrier when I saw feet dangling above us belonging to the one guard who was able to hold onto the door handle and prevent himself from falling.

"Virgo, if you please." I said pointing to the guard who was trying to scramble all of the way up so he could escape. With a pleased smile Virgo latched her chain around the guard's ankle and swung him up into the air, dislodging his hold on the door, and dropped him onto his comrades. "Thanks."

Leaving Virgo to seal up the hole, I focused on transporting the ball of bodies into our hiding spot, and grunted when I tripped over a box. Saving me from falling and releasing the guards Ayame grabbed onto the back of my shirt and righted me. With her at my back I propelled the sphere into the hole and held it in there until Virgo could return, which she did shortly before disappearing to the escape tunnel.

Leaning against the wall in the hall way I took a minute to catch my breath. "You wouldn't happen to know how to defeat Polaris would you?" I asked Ayame, not expecting much.

"Saddly I don't, but then again I've never been inside of the room that holds her, so it may be possible we will know how to do it when we get there." She said awkwardly patting my shoulder before bringing her hang back to her side.

Nodding, because I didn't know what else to say I listened to what was happening upstairs. The newly released Celestial Mages were very loud as they cheered and thanked everyone for helping them escape. Following the footsteps to where the escape tunnel should be I heard them shuffle into the wall.

"What do you mean…?!" I heard Rogue yell before being shushed by Corvo most likely. "Lucy. LUCY!" I heard him yell again before he was silenced and something crashed on the ground above. Cringing, because I knew it was Virgo enjoying her task, I continued to listen as the others argued, saying they didn't need to leave and they were here to help me. Silently willing them to go, I was grateful when I didn't hear another thud, and all of their voices drifted away. When Corvo materialized beside me I knew they were all in the tunnel and that Virgo had sealed it.

"Lover boy was beyond pissed." Corvo said with a chuckle. "So were the others, but after Virgo's little demonstration with her chain and that whip she had they quickly shut up and got into the tunnel."

Nodding sadly, I turned towards Ayame. "Lead the way." I said, focusing on the task at hand.

An: Hope you all enjoyed it let me know what you thought please and thank you. :)