It's a beautiful day in the town of Magnolia, clear blue skies and a cool breeze blows through the streets as people go about their day. A particular person seems to have the attention of just about everyone she passes. Lucy Heartphillia is a beautiful woman, 21 years old with long blonde hair, but you already know this. She is headed to the Fairy Tail guild hall in search of a job. Her rent is about due after all. As she enters the familiar building, an uproarious greeting meets her. Her friends ask her about her day and what she's up to. She happily answers them, though there seems to be a distant longing in her eyes. She heads to the job board, overflowing with jobs as always, as she looks for anything that she can use to pay her rent. Her eyes suddenly fall on a strange request, almost buried behind the others.

"Help needed exploring ancient ruins," she reads aloud. "this job is over a month old, why is it still here?"

She carefully reads the rest, 'a team of amateur archeologists require help in exploring an ancient and trap filled ruin that has been unearthed 10 miles outside of Magnolia. Reward for completing this job is…'

"15,000 jewels," Lucy exclaims. She takes the job request to Mirajean. "Why is this request still on the board, with a reward like this it should have been completed days ago."

"Oh dear," Mirajean says with a sigh. "I have no idea."

Lucy looks over the details again, deciding that it's the perfect solution to her rent problem. She quickly leaves the guild hall and heads to the address on the form. But finds that the clients have moved out of their office for unknown reasons. She receives a forwarding address and shivers as she realizes where it is. She heads there reluctantly as she passes from the bustling streets of down town to the far corner of the city. Here the buildings are more run down, though there is little threat of crime, the downtrodden area is eerily quiet. She soon finds the place she's looking for in a cheap apartment building. She cautiously knocks on the door.

"Who's there?!" The tired voice takes Lucy by surprise as she answers.

"I'm here because I saw your request for help in the ruins." She jumps slightly as the door swings open, revealing a disheveled looking man in his mid 20s. The bags under his eyes evidence of countless nights working late. His breath smells of whiskey and cigar smoke as he eyes her suspiciously.

"So someone finally came to take the job," the man askes as his eyes seem to shine.

"Yes sir," Lucy replies nervously. "Your request ended up being buried under some others and went unnoticed, I'm sorry if its inconvenient but I'd like to talk more about the job."

"I'm Devin," the man said as he stepped aside and let Lucy enter his… home… office, it was hard to tell what the place was. It was a ridiculously small one room apartment, only being 20'20'. The small space was filled with boxes of books and papers and looked like several people had been staying there together. The only piece of furniture was a small sofa pushed against the wall with sheets tossed into a pile on one end like someone had been sleeping there.

"Sorry about the mess," the man said tiredly as he reached behind the love seat and pulled out a folding chair, setting it up before landing on the sofa. "I know it's a dump but it's all I can afford seeing as my research has hit a snag."

Lucy found his accent strange, it wasn't all that heavy but she could definitely tell he wasn't from Fiore. He was fairly tall, standing 6'4", and had a bit of a belly. But his arms were well muscled and she could see faint scars on his knuckles. He wore black boots, jeans, and a black t-shirt. His brown hair was messy and long.

"It's fine, but can we talk about the details of the job." Her voice seemed to waver slightly. She couldn't help but be nervous at the sight of him, he was clearly strong and she could see his eyes were dangerously keen.

"Of course, what would you like to know."

"First of all, where is the rest of your team?" Lucy's question hung in the air as the man's keen eyes filled with sadness.

"They're dead." His answer shocked Lucy to her core. She hadn't expected him to be so matter of fact about it.

"I'm so sorry, what happened to them?" Lucy felt bad for the Devin, his eyes looked so heart broken as she could see him remembering what must have been a tragic experience.

"They were killed in the ruins, the place is lousy with traps to protect what ever is inside. We went in hoping to make a name for ourselves, but all we found was death."

Silence filled the room as Devin pulled a strange metal case from his pocket and removed a cigar. He lit it with a match and inhaled deeply before letting the strange reddish smoke billow from his mouth. The smoke seemed to twist in the air and form strange patterns as it hung there, suspended above them. Even weirder was the smell of the smoke, it smelled so different from the smoke in the guild hall, almost sweet and unobtrusive as she realizes that it didn't hurt her nose or eyes like she thought it would.

"I wouldn't blame you for not taking the job, such a dangerous place is nowhere for you lady like yourself to be." His statement made her blush slightly, despite his gruff voice and dangerous appearance, he seemed to have genuine concern for her safety.

"What would you do if I don't come with you," Lucy asked.

"I'm going to finish what I started," Devin replied, "or die trying. I owe it to my team to see this through."

Lucy's heart seemed to break for this man, so determined to honor his friends, but also seeming to not care about himself.

"I'll join you," Lucy said as she stood up defiantly. He seemed amused by her declaration.

"Alrighty then," Devin replied as he got to his feet, holding out a large hand. They shook hands as their eyes met, determination filling the pair of them.

They had agreed to meet at the gate on the north side of town, Lucy having to run home and pack a bag. Devin had said they would likely have to stay in the ruins for a couple of days since the ruins seemed to go on for miles underground.

Lucy soon arrived at the gate, seeing Devin waiting there for her while he smoked another cigar. They greater each warmly, Devin's faint smile tugging at his lips as he looked her up and down.

"What are you wearing," he asked with a chuckle.

Lucy had changed into a set of "expedition clothes" that hugged her body. Her white crop top and khaki shorts were clearly impractical to him, but he didn't argue as they set off towards the ruins.

They hitched a ride on the back of a wagon, the driver all too happy to let Lucy ride, but eyed Devin coldly. They rode in silence as the wagon rumbled down the road, the driver regularly looking at the pair with mixed feelings.

Eventually they got off, thanking the driver for taking them this far as they set off at a brisk walk through the woods. As they reached ruins, the sun had started to set, so they set up camp in what looked to have been a house. Lucy looked around at the spot and noted that this place had been used as a campsite many times before. Devin himself seemed to know exactly what he was doing as he effortlessly got a fire going in the fire pit and started cooking something that smelled heavenly.

On the other hand, Lucy had some trouble settling in. She struggled to get her tent put up and then had to keep taking it down to remove the rocks that she kept finding under her bedroll.

"Aren't you going to set up your tent," Lucy asked. She realized that Devin had only brought a small bedroll and enough food for their stay.

"I don't need one," was all he said on the subject as he cooked. After a while he handed her a plate of hamburger steak and fried potatoes with minced garlic and onions. The food smelled wonderful , almost better than the food back at the guild. They ate in silence as the night darkened the land. Once they had finished, Devin told her about the ruins.

"From what I've been able to find, this area was once a temple town dedicated to the gods. Millennia ago people would come here to worship and give thanks to their gods and be blessed. The temple we are going into was some kind of test of faith and devotion. Hence why there are so many traps. We did eventually find our way through, but at a heavy cost. There were seven of us, but four of them died before we made it to the lowest chamber. There we found a room of black marble, polished to a mirror shine and etched with hieroglyphs depicting a ritual called the Mana Link. We were obviously curious and I watched as my friends tried to recreate it, but something went wrong and the magic of the ritual back lashed through them. There was nothing left of either of them. I eventually translated the full ritual and found out what went wrong, but haven't had the opportunity to try it myself since the ritual requires two people. None of the text says what the ritual does, but I want to complete it so that I can honor their sacrifice and finally find some solace."

Devin's story fills me with curiosity and sadness, the lonely look in his eyes speaking of the guilty and grief he has endured to get this far. A sense of purpose filling her heart as she made an important, and eventually life changing decision.

"I'll help you do the Mana Link ritual," she declared. Devin's gaze fell on her, his eyes full of hope.

"Are you sure, this isn't something to be taken lightly," he says with a serious tone. "If something goes wrong you could die."

While his words did worry her, Lucy refused to back down, smiling at his concern for her safety.

"I want to do this, I can tell that this means so much to you and I will make sure that we succeed." Her confidence seemed to make her glow in the firelight as she felt a something strange, but also familiar as his eyes met hers. She couldn't help but admire his strength and devotion his quest. Devin slowly stood and embraced her, making her heart race as his strong arms wrapped around her, their bodies pressing together as he whispered in her ear.

"Thank you."

Lucy hugged him back, feeling a sense of connection to him as they parted and her glittering amber eyes met his, she say that they were a brilliant shade of hazel. They stepped away from each other, Lucy blushing slightly. They sat back down by the fire as Devin asked her.

"So who was he?"

Lucy was taken aback at the question.

"What do you mean," she asked confused.

"The guy who broke your heart," he replied. "I've seen plenty of it to know that you're hurting inside, and I thought it might help to lend a friendly ear."

The fact that this man had so easily seen something she had tried so hard to hide left her feeling self-conscious.

"I wouldn't really say I'm heartbroken," Lucy explained, feeling oddly compelled to take him up on his offer to listen. "It's just that a friend of mine, someone I've grown close to, told me that he had started dating someone. I'm happy for him, I really am, but something about me has felt off ever since."

Devin nodded attentively as she continued to explain her situation.

"Sounds like you fell for him," he said thoughtfully. "and while you're glad that he is so happy, you can tell that things between you two have changed."

She sat there a second as she thought about his words, he had so easily summed up her feelings and gotten straight to the heart of the matter. She had expected to feel hurt or offended by him making it sound so simple, but instead she felt a sense of comfort that he understood her so well and seemed to genuinely care.

"Thank you," Lucy said, giving Devin a smile.

"Think nothing of it," he replied. "I just happen to know the feeling well." A sadness in his voice confirmed his words as he stared into the fire.

They sat in silence for a while, awkwardly trying to think of something to say. Finally Devin broke the silence.

"I noticed you key pouch, I'm guessing you're a celestial spirit mage?"

"Yeah I'm surprised you know about that," Lucy replied.

"Well that kind of magic isn't really that common, and it's an old form of magic that I happened to read about a few years ago. I also know that it can be very powerful and utilitarian depending on which spirits you have a contract with, as well as requiring a lot of magic power to maintain and control."

His knowledge on the subject surprised Lucy. He seemed to have a great wealth of knowledge that could come in handy.

"I should warn you though, magic doesn't work during the trials, all the temple negates all magic except for that of the ritual."

This was concerning news to Lucy, knowing that she couldn't call on her spirits to help her once they entered to temple. But a look from Devin seemed to put her at ease as she remembered that he had already completed all the trials before and could probably guide her through relatively easily. Suddenly a curious question came to Lucy.

"What kind of magic do you use?" Surely Devin had to have some kind of powerful magic if he was exploring treacherous ruins and remote regions of the world.

"I actually can't use magic."

Lucy was stunned. Had she misheard him, this man with battle scars and wisdom beyond his years Surely had to have something.

"You mean, you just don't use magic or…" she trailed off as his gaze fell on her again, serious with no sign of humor.

"I mean I can't use it at all, I have some abilities that could be described as magic. But as for what you call magic, I have none at all."

Lucy felt bad for asking, she hadn't thought that it was really possible to not be able to use something so common.

"Don't worry about it," Devin said suddenly. "I'm fine without it and can hold my own if I need to."

His reassurance made her feel better, and his confidence didn't hurt either.

They soon decided to turn in for the night. Lucy watched as Devin sat against a wall and quickly nodded off. He seemed so at ease sleeping like that. She crawled into her tent and eventually slipped into a dreamless sleep.