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The radiant night sky twinkled with stars, glistening like faraway Volbeat. Their shines were so bright that the midnight blue in the sky didn't compare to these stars though. They were eye-catching for a reason, and that reason was in red…just like the blood that stained the battlefield.

Swords and shields clashed between knights and soldiers. Their battle cries completely ruined the cosmic tranquility the sky had to offer them. Their war stained what could've been the coastal passage turned to a warzone. Arrows flew as others cleaved through armor. Both sides were losing bodily ground as soldiers who had lost their wills and blood gave into wounds. Thud after thud was a consistent beat that seemed to have played throughout the battle, and from the swarm that ranged from the mountains and back, this rhythm would be going on for a while. The sound of calm waves was muted to the clangs of metal, the stirring of dirt, the gashing of blood. And worse of all, the screams of the anguish.

While many speculate why this was happening, the sound logic was but for one logical reason: Territory. Ishgar, let alone the world, was caught in ancient times, a time where but magic was but anything that had yet to be exploited, and a time where amongst dragons, this was but one place of sanctum that had the least viewed problems of dragons attacking due to terrain. Amongst those who were fighting in this war was but the king who proclaimed war on the defending nation of Astral, a humble coastal city with ceremonious offers to please the king and his needs to keep him and his people safe from dragon fire. As many claimed the ignorance of a king charging into battle, it was a blessing in disguise. The king of this army was no slouch, for holding axe in hand, downing enemies, he was making headway into the back with his followers in hot pursuit. It was his strife, his greedy ambition for security that drove such a man to make it this far. To each their own, and by every means he intended to make Astral his.

"Back at ye!" The king swung his axe, cutting down three men at once. He jumped over their bodies and ran on, disregarding the streams of blood that stained the bottom of his cleats. "T'is your majesty not a coward?! May his selfish mind poison you all! You must all be punished!"

Wars like this were common back in the early days of man. Magic has been alive since dormant ages of ancient living, a life force that's been free to grow and liven the air and sky. Man was different. Views were waged against one another how others should submit. It was closer to survival of the fittest, and far be it from the king to make heed of such an example. In a game of life and death, strength mattered. But soon, wits would rival such an admirable trait.

"Show yourself! Bring your kind forward!"

As the battle waged on the frontlines, there were mountain cliffs that overlooked the area, another reason why the area was a treasure. Walking up a ledge to overlook a battle, a figment with a massive golden crown with a deep blue jewel overlooked the battle.

Swinging his axe, the invading king cleaved through another soldier. The position made him glance up and see a figment overlooking them. "King Seraph!" The king adjusted his stance. "You and your people have cursed this land with you and your father's influence! Today, that influence shall be naught!"

The king said nothing. He was hard to make out with how dark it was outside, especially with it being night. Rather, the king and his loyal knights and soldiers eyed his majesty as the blue jewel on his crown shined brightly, creating a blinding array that momentarily paralyzed everyone.

The king covered up, not minding that some Astral soldiers slain some men with the distraction. The light's glimmer ceased, the kind looked up, his face stricken in horror.

The king's crown jewel shimmered red as new figments stood behind him. Out of thin air, 12 creatures stood before him. All of them had traits similar to animals, otherwise some looked like animals, the exception being the bull and the pairs of fish. The sea goat wearing a suit was no different. All their red were a shimmering bright red, as if they were deliberately toying with their quaking foes.

"W-what this be…?" The king was at a loss for words at these summoned beings, but what startled him was the gargantuan one being King Seraph.

The giant had his own cape, much like the king. He stood almost three times as tall though, and had a massive moustache.

The red stars in the sky twinkled brighter, causing all the creatures' eyes to brighten with the corresponding jewel.

"The…the tales, they be true?" The king could feel his own shock overwhelm him. It was as awesome as it was terrifying. 'What beith this power…? Is this from his majesty? No, those things. Those spirits!'

With one swipe of his hand, Seraph sentenced the creatures into battle. The giant king grabbed his mighty blade that gathered celestial energy. He leaped into the air, coming down into the fray with one swing, reducing everything under the red stars to an oblivion white…


X793

"Vanessa. Vanessa~." Sophie nudged her friends shoulder. "Vanessa, time to get up."

"Mmm…ten more…minutes." Vanessa muttered, rolling to her other side.

Sophie sighed and looked over her sleeping roommate. From the looks of it, Vanessa wasn't looking like she was going to get out of bed soon, just like any typical morning. And much like any of those mornings, the young blonde took it upon herself to wake her best friend from her prolonged slumber. "Okay then…" She took a deep breath before cupping her hand around her mature pink lips. "VANESSA! KROOKODILE JUST BROKE MY FURNITURE AGAIN!"

"Gngh-w-what-?!" The Pularis woman shot up from her sleep, the shout loud enough to fully awake her. She sat up on her comfy bed, looking around briefly before realizing the person beside her. "Sophie?"

"About time you wake up." The Memory-Make Mage winked.

Realizing the false alarm, Vanessa sighed. A little of her wake started fading again. "Must you do this every morning?" she irritably asked.

"It's not my fault you decide to sleep so late." Vanessa gave her a stern glare. "Don't be like that. Come on, it's 8:30. Breakfast is ready."

Despite her displeasures, Vanessa chose to get out of bed and fix herself up. Once she was dressed, she made way downstairs towards the dining area, where on the floor their collective Pokémon were helping themselves to breakfast.

"You made it, good. I was worried I'd have to drag you out." Sophie chimed as she was cutting into her pancakes. She had chocolate chip pancakes with syrup and butter, while for Vanessa's plate, it was stacked with fruit, and a fruit smoothie. Of course the piece of resistance had to be the large sliced lemon.

"Good morning to you, too." Vanessa said. She took liberties to her seat, immediately going for the lemon. She took a bite, savoring the sour taste she's loved for as long as she could remember.

"I made sure to but those bulky ones just like how you like them." Sophie ate more of her pancake. "That's also your second lemon this week."

"I know."

The pair continued their breakfast humbly, minding their own meals while the Pokémon did theirs. Krookodile chowed down until he let out a hardy burp. "Alright." He threw the plastic bowl down on the ground. It was plastic for an obvious reason. "Let's go kick some tail today!" he roared.

"If whoever has tails, then I'd believe you." Mawile chimed, picking up a piece of her Pokémon food.

"You calling Krookodile a liar?!" He roared.

Mawile feinted innocence. "I never said that."

Krookodile's eyes narrowed as he stood over Mawile. "Let me tell you something, Mawile! Krookodile might not know when he's played with mind games, but I know when I'm insulted! AND I AM INSULTED!"

"You went third to first-person again." She nonchalantly chided.

"Alright you two, don't start this." Venusaur interjected, getting between. "Everyone just finish and we can settle this another time. We got work to do after all."

Delphox knowingly smiled. "Yes. We'll need our strength for battle and work. Better to save it for an appropriate time."

Krookodile looked away, pouting. "Whatever."

"Geez, do these guys ever shut up?" Dewpider irritably scowled, trying to mind his own breakfast without the hassle of a fight…again.

"This behavior is most unpolite." Finneon chimed, using her backfins for balance. "Though, I do suppose to each their own."

"And to that logic, that is another morning in a nutshell." Kadabra replied, using an intellectual tone. "Now Finneon, please do pardon us if you're not too familiar with us or our operations, but please, do not take offense."

Finneon humbly grinned. "It's quite alright, brother Kadabra…but I appreciate the sentiments."

Everyone enjoyed their breakfast until it was time to get going. Once they cleaned up, it was time to head to the guild hall.

"You ready, Vanessa?" Sophie asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Let's get to work."

This was Sophie Lednick: Experienced Memory-Make Mage and a member of Fairy Tail. As well as Vanessa's best friend. That's what Sophie was, and to her, it was her most valued treasure.


In the grand capital of Fiore, Crocus was on familiar grounds, specifically towards its center of Mercurius. Inside the grand home of the royals, Hisui and Toma E. Fiore were sitting in their thrones, calmly watching the city's bloom as the sun arose.

Arcadios walked to their side, humbly smiling at his loyal leaders. "Princess. Your Majesty. Good morning to you." Arcadios humbly bowed.

Hisui softly smiled. "Good morning, Arcadios."

"You're looking well this morning, old friend." Toma chimed.

"As are you." Arcadios arose from his ceremonial bow. "I trust that today's events have been planned accordingly as per schedule?"

Hisui nodded. "Yes."

It was just another day in the name of the royal family. With the sunny weather, the royal family would do about their leisure, minding the control they needed to regulate within their humble kingdom. One would've considered them being free as songbirds, but being an heiress was more strenuous than what many could've imagined. It certainly didn't help Hisui that her father has been giving certain thoughts some points.

"Your Majesty, are you sure about this?" Arcadios asked Toma. "The ceremony is a coming of age, but surely there's no valid point in not postponing."

"Nonsense, Colonel." Toma replied dismissively. "I don't see why we shouldn't. Besides, it's not like I'm getting any younger."

"That may be, your majesty, but to bequeath this responsibility is such a huge responsibility. You could at least step down to an advisor if you must."

"I agree." Darton intervened. "We understand your intentions, but with this whole Pokémon integration, should we really be adding salt to this pot? It's stirred up enough as it is?"

"Arcadios. Darton." Hisui frowned. She was really starting to feel the weight pull on her, not that it already did. She knew that at some point in her life that she would have to run the kingdom, and she could count on Arcadios and Darton for support. But when she stopped to think about it their points weren't exactly invalid. The Pokémon coming to Earthland was a major shock for them, and there have been considerable hiccups here and there regarding wars that were waged recently – both whom Fairy Tail thwarted. It was an added responsibility, but like most leaders, she would have to deal with them.

"I know exactly what you both mean." Toma's words snapped Hisui out of her shock. "You two mean a lot to me, as to my precious daughter. I don't know where this kingdom or I would be without your help."

"Father…"

"That's why I know this kingdom will be in good hands…" He began, a smile forming on his lips. "I've had a good run, but this new age needs a new head. And my Hisui…" He faced his daughter. "I know that there's no one better suited to this task than you."

Hisui's eyes almost misted at her father's words. She strongly smiled. "Thank you, Father. I promise I won't let you down."

Arcadios' smile widened, his grin showing pleasure. "Seems that the time's truly come then."

"Suppose so." Darton grumbled. "If this is majesty's wish, then so be it."

Arcadios took several paces until he stood in front of Hisui. "Princess…no, Queen Hisui." He got to a knee, bowing before the heiress. "I promise, I shall follow you to this new era. Will you let me?"

As if it was an obvious answer, Hisui tilted her head. "Of course I would. I wouldn't have had it any other way."

As tender as the moment was, a fellow guard stepped in to intrude on the matter. "Your majesty, is this a bad time?"

Dismissing the pleasantries, Toma's mood shifted to normal. "No, not at all."

"What might be the problem?" Arcadios asked.

The guard didn't answer. Instead he walked up to Arcadios and presented him with an envelope. On it was a golden signature in fine cursive.

"What is this?"

"It's a letter addressed to us, Colonel. It arrived just this morning from Seven." The guard explained.

"From Seven?" Arcadios repeated. "That's very unusual. Wonder what business they have to us?" He was going to reach and open it, but Hisui stopped him.

"Arcadios. Please, allow me."

"Queen?" Arcadios almost stammered on a small spill of logic, but corrected himself and followed her instructions. "Of course, as you wish."

"Thank you."

Arcadios proceeded and handed Hisui the letter. She opened and started reading on the tan-colored paper. She was actually amazed at such a pigment on paper. Dawdling on and reading the letter, she fell in a trance, one that turned to shock that left a brow furrowed on her face. This didn't go unnoticed by her advisors.

"What's wrong, Hisui?" Toma questioned worriedly.

"What does it say, Princess?" Darton asked more demandingly. "Is it a threat?"

Arcadios looked at the heiress with a serious look. He could tell from watching over her for years what that face meant. This one spelled a sense that he never liked. "Queen Hisui…"

After overlooking the whole note, Hisui gently lowered it and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Her earlier distress had to be suppressed, for she had to be a queen soon. And queens must be calm. "I need to send word out as soon as possible." She ordered. "They might be the only ones that can do this task."


Bustling as ever, the Fairy Tail guild hall was as rowdy as a jacked up Tauros. Business went on rather smoothly, and jobs have been flowing in like crazy that a lot of people have been off at work earning livings that the guild hall was almost empty, save for a handful of members still around.

Sophie proceeded into the guild hall, with Vanessa in tow. "Good morning." The pair called out.

Mirajane was over by the bar, serving a plate of breakfast to Laki. "Good morning, you two." She replied back. Her Vullaby waved to them in greetings.

They walked inside, where Vanessa passed by her brother. "Morning, Nic."

Nic was currently having a large omelet served on a hot plate. It looked relatively mouthwatering with the cheese on it. Beside him Greninja was having a plate of sliced Oran Berries while Erza was right across watching her husband eat. "Morning, Vanessa. Sophie." He called out.

"Nice to see you both up." Erza grinned.

"Sorry we're late. Vanessa slept in again." Sophie chimed, though Vanessa eyerolled behind her back.

Erza internally sighed. "I thought we fixed this during our training." She breathed to get a grip. Granted, Vanessa was her sister-in-law, and Erza and her got along like actual sisters do. But even with her faults, her sleep was something that Erza constantly had to argue about. When she looked at Nic, he didn't say anything on the matter. She expected him to say something about her constant sleep but came up short.

Noticing his wife's stare, Nic raised a brow. "What?"

Erza sighed again. "Honestly, doesn't it bother you that she sleeps in all the time?"

Nic chuckled as her expense. "Well it's not like it's anything new. Besides, I don't see a problem. We do that too sometimes, right?"

Erza had to concede to that point. She remembered yesterday morning when Nic was sleeping in a little later than usual. She tried to wake him, but instead she realized Nic was too…playful that morning.

The image alone left Erza crossing her arms in a beet red face. This didn't go unnoticed by Nic and Greninja, who looked towards one another, unison blank stares with sweat drops. "That's not what I meant…" the former muttered.

The pair took to the bar, where seats were available right beside Cana. "Hey, about time you Slowpoke show up." She chimed. Her Purrloin raised her head from the stool she rested on and hopped onto the counter to curl up and resume lounging.

"Morning Cana." Sophie and Vanessa took their respective seats besides their fellow drunkard. "So, did we miss anything?"

Cana shrugged. "Not really. Elfman and Lisanna left earlier on a job, saying something about these things called 'Tangela', whatever those are. And Kinana's still on her job from yesterday, so there's that."

"So business as usual then." Vanessa said casually.

"Well…" Cana chimed in. "Prinplup did learn Bubble Beam." She mischievously winked. "The little's guy's a hard worker when he really wants to, am I right?" She cooed towards Purrloin, who snickered with her Trainer. Coincidentally, Prinplup's Poke Ball shuddered with steam on it.

Sophie raised a brow. "Is that so? Well the, suppose we'll have to test Dewpider's Bubble Beam against him sometime. What do you say Vanessa?"

Vanessa smirked. "Careful now, or else your fangs will show." She teased.

"That a bet?" Cana smirked.

"It could be, but if I recall, your gambling streak's lead you to a hefty tab." Sophie smugly reminded. "You sure you'd like to add onto that?"

"Hey, no skin off my bones. And I got plenty to spare."

"Funny since you wear a bra all the time." Purrloin added in sassily, using her tail to point at Cana's cantaloupes.

"She's got you there." Sophie nudged.

Cana shot her Purrloin a leer. "Who's side are you on?" She snorted. Purrloin's only response was a meek shrug.

Vanessa softly giggled at the antics, not minding her friends' haughty commentary. It was amusing.

On the other side of the guild hall, other members were taking to their own leisure while resting between jobs. While a majority of everyone was out working, Team Shadow Gear was sitting around, with Levy reading a book – possibly on Pokémon biographies. Even Klink looked invested, and most Pokémon can't even read. Wakaba and Macao were sitting around while Romeo was with Wendy as Litwick and Amaura were playing around. In fact, the Dragon Slayers had their recently restored ancient Pokémon

"Amaura, be careful." Wendy called from afar.

"Okay!" Amaura chimed, looking back at Romeo's Litwick. Gajeel's Shieldon followed the energetic hunt, leaving Amaura to hurry in the conga line

"Well they seem to be adapting quite well." Carla commented.

"Yeah, I was kinda worried about that, too." Wendy admitted. She watched Amaura as she was the one heading the game of tag they were playing. She seemed elated, causing her grin to widen.

"I didn't see why we should be worried." Gajeel remarked. "They seem fine to me."

"Are they really dinosaur Pokémon?" Romeo asked, staring at them with widened eyes.

"Surprised?" Gajeel smirked.

"We wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't seen it for ourselves." Pantherlily explained. "But the Cambire Foundation really went and made a milestone with this technology."

"I didn't even know they had technology to do this kind of stuff back on Nic and Vanessa's home world." The thought was as gratifying as it was shuddering to Wendy. While Earthland did had its fair share of eccentric tastes with magic, she still didn't know the full capabilities of Pokémon technology. If they could make hospitals with machinery, and invent fossil cell regeneration, there's no telling what else they could do. She was getting more scared by the second.

"Guess I shouldn't be complaining." The surprising comment came from Natsu. "Those guys sure know how to make a Pokémon, I can give them that much."

"Aye." Happy noted from a nearby table. "You should've seen how worked up Natsu got. We were actually worried something bad would happen."

"Shut up." Natsu whined. "Anyways, I'm still not fully trusting this whole program thing they have going on, but I can at least try and see what I can get done." He beamed. "Besides, it's not so bad having a little talking dinosaur by your side. It's actually kinda fun!"

"Yeah, for you." Happy gave Natsu a sour look. "That thing tried to eat me in my sleep!"

"We're working on it, alright. Say, wait a sec…" Natsu looked around, turning left and right. "Where the heck did he go anyway?"

Close by, a ball was being lobbed back and forth between two tails. A rubber ball was smacked by Sandshrew, which volleyed back towards Tyrunt. The two were getting along – ne by Natsu's insistence – and so far Tyrunt has been behaving. Save for a few hiccups, the Royal Heir Pokémon was cultivating himself quite well.

"Heads up!" Sandshrew hit the ball with his tail, lightly bouncing it back towards him. Tyrunt returned the gesture, and back again. Back to Tyrunt, and back again.

"Alright, try this!" Getting slightly eager, Sandshrew swung the ball harder, sending it driving at Tyrunt.

Caught surprised by the speed of the ball, Tyrunt didn't act fast enough and panicked. Instead of swinging, his maw opened for Bite, chomping down and popping the ball. When he realized what he did, he blinked several times until he looked down at the scraps dangling from his teeth.

Sandshrew nervously sweatdropped. "Well, there goes the game."

"Tyrunt sorry." Tyrunt nervously chuckled.

Natsu looked over at Tyrunt to see him trying to get along, even by little means. He was skeptical at first, but after a few days of hard work, he was starting to get a better grip on Tyrunt's whining. 'I wonder if I can get Darumaka to chill a little like that?' He could see Darumaka in Tyrunt's position. He would kick the ball with all his energy that it'd shoot out of the guild ceiling, something Natsu didn't wish to pay for.

"Oh, I like this color!" Snover used his painted hand to dip into the white liquid.

"Good, just like that." Reedus nodded.

"Hey Tranquill. Make sure you get my good side, okay?" Joey called, posing with his Magikarp overhead. The fish looked more dead than he did earlier.

"Okay!" Tranquill shouted.

"Lombre, be sure to get the pose right!"

Lombre gave a thumbs up before he lowered his head, allowing collective paint to drop onto the pallet that he dipped in.

Reedus was with his Smeargle as they were overlooking many of canvases, plastered smiles on them as they watched the Pokémon get creative with art. This little exercise was something Reedus had been meaning to try out for a while, especially when he purchased enough canvases. When he did get the money and paint, he thought it'd be "therapeutic" for Pokémon to try to draw rather than the Trainers. It was a weird concept but effective nonetheless, and honestly the Pokémon were getting into it. At the moment, Gray was posing with his shirt off for Snover to paint. S well as for Juvia to lovingly admire from afar. Vijeeter was posing for Lombre. And Joey, deciding to take a short break before jobs, allowed Tranquill to paint him. Not surprising, Joey even dragged Dereece into the art world, and he was allowing Heracross to try and paint for him. And – for reasons no one could understand – Nic's Kecleon was painting as well, though she was facing away as she used her tongue blotted with paint to draw Nic and Greninja from afar.

"I think this is all working out quite nicely, wouldn't you say?" Smeargle beamed proudly.

Reedus firmly nodded. "Oui. And it helps us visualize just what the Pokémon sees. Brilliant."

After painting for a while, Reedus and Smeargle went over to check on Snover's progress first. Seeing him use his fingers rather than a brush, Snover dipped into black and spread it on the canvas. He backed away, admiring it. For a Pokémon, it wasn't too bad. The figment of Gray was a little sloppy, more or less of a cream-colored stick figure with a smiley face. He was on a white background with gray dots, like snow.

Reedus nodded with pride. "Good job, very creative."

Snover sheepishly rubbed his head. "Hehe, aww thanks…" He noticed an odd sensation on his head. He looked at the hand he used, which held paint. "…oh."

Reedus moved right along towards Lombre, seeing his artwork. Much like Snover's work, it was relatively sublime, much like elementary school art, but nothing they didn't appreciate. The same with Dereece's Heracross, though his aptitude was more detailed.

He made way towards Kecleon, seeing her tongue licking the canvas. "And what do we have over here?"

Looking at the portrait, Kecleon squiggled her tongue with hot pink on it. When she retracted it, her tongue dangled on the side of her tilting head as she overviewed her picture. The portrait was relatively decent, looking borderline prestige. In the center was Nic, and surrounding him were six floating heads, which looked like chibi versions of Greninja, Charizard, herself, Staraptor, Garchomp, and Arbok, all having big smiles and colorful stars around them. Oddly enough there were a few scattered things, like polka dots in the background, and a few food items like donuts and Lum Berries. There was even a rubber duck over Staraptor's for Arceus knows what reason. But over all of it in hot pink slanted cursive, it said: "My Family".

Reedus' eyes widened in disbelief. "Why, Kecleon…" he began shakily. "That's…that's stunning! That's absolutely riveting. This so what you think of your Trainer?"

Kecleon tilted her head to the other side. "Cumquats, ripe and ready for plucking."

Joey was still posing, but even he was raptured by the awesome art of Kecleon. He peeked over his shoulder with a dreamy gaze in his big blue eyes as he saw the simple drawing Kecleon made. 'Even Nic-senpai's Pokémon are artists!' he inwardly squealed. 'Oh my gosh! I knew I should've left my wallet home! I wish I could buy that for that spot in my room.'

As Joey demented daydreaming kicked into overdrive, Tranquil move his beak away from the canvas, holding onto the paintbrush in his beak. He innocently tilted his head as he overlooked his painting. Reedus and Smeargle both came around, inspecting his next.

"Ah, and what do we have he-!" Upon instant eye contact, Reedus and Smeargle both literally turned to stone, and it wasn't from Evergreen this time.

There was a god reason they were so petrified. Tranquill's painting of Joey holding up Magikarp was, for a lack of better word…what? It wasn't anything like what Kecleon and the others painted, far from it. In fact the composition and details were so extreme that it almost looked real. While he did capture Joey's pose with Magikarp in the air, he made them on the top of a rocky mountain, overlooking a vast valley range of smaller mountains going to a grassland in the far back. Joey was holding Magikarp just below the sun's radiating light over their glimmering forms. Joey had a regal crown with his kingly, long robe being a dark magenta with black spots on them, though the fur lining is far thicker. With Joey looking up holding Magikarp up like he was some christened child to save the world, Duncan and Dereece were on both knees and bowing ceremoniously, as if worshipping Joey under the godly sun.

Shakily recovering from his latest revelation, Reedus pointed at Tranquill's painting. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "D-did you paint…that?" he asked.

Tranquill broke away from his masterpiece and glanced at the instructor. "Hm? Oh, yeah. It's a nice little doodle of Master Joey. Think he'll like it?"

Reedus froze at Tranquill's words. "A…d-d-doodle…?" He wouldn't believe it in a million years. Something like that couldn't be a "doodle", could it? It would take ages for something like this to be made, but Reedus was baffled as it hadn't even been half an hour yet.

With shock so great, he and Smeargle turned to stone again, this time crumbling to dust. Their remains were picked up by a light breeze, scattering over Joey's head as Magikarp coughed the dust. "Huh, what up bud? Need water?"

Looking over out of general curiosity, Duncan saw the portrait Tranquill was working on. "Did it seriously do that?" A part of him was impressed s well s disturbed. When he looked at himself bowing before Joey's godly stature, his face twisted as he resumed reading his strategy guide.

Back at the bar, Sophie was indulging herself with a light conversation with Vanessa and Cana. However, a long sigh stirred her away from them. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lucy groaning as she used her arms as a chinrest. She looked bored, for a lack of better word.

"Lucy?" she called.

The Celestial Mage heard her name, snapping her out of her chance. "Huh? Sorry Sophie, did you say something?"

The slimmer blonde shook her head. "Lo (No). I was just wondering what you're doing?"

Lucy absently shrugged. "Nothing."

"You don't sound so enthusiastic to me."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Guess it's because I didn't get enough sleep last night." Lucy nervously smiled to make the lie convincing, though from Sophie's suspicious gaze it was hard to make out.

"That's strange…" Sophie was well aware of the fact Lucy went on a job and came back yesterday. She and Team Natsu in general, and they all didn't even look remotely tired. Though from the bags under her eyes and shaking gaze, she figured something was up. "Did Natsu and Happy break in again and woke you up?"

Lucy sighed, in both irritation and relief. "No, not this time." By all means, she's gotten used to them popping in her room and apartment, but even so thinking about it still irks her from time to time.

Sophie raised a brow. "Well if you need anything, you know we're here for you."

"I know, thanks you guys." Lucy genuinely smiled at her friend's concern. She was thankful that Sophie let up on the matter but the guilt inside kept boiling over inside. It wasn't her fault though, her mind has been away for a while, thinking of other things. When she looked at Klefki, the Key Ring was looking at her with genuine wonder.

She picked up something she had stashed in her pocket, a key. The source of her wear the past few nights. 'Aquarius…'

"Yo, Sophie." Cana pried, scooting over to her side. "Can you believe it?"

Sophie returned her attention towards Cana. "Get what?"

Cana shrugged. "C'mon, you know what I mean, just look at Nic and Greninja over there." She pointed a thumb over in their direction, referring to their quiet dispositions while Erza was chiding Natsu about Tyrunt and her armor.

It took a moment for Sophie to remember the occasion. It wasn't an anniversary per se, but something that made her mournfully frown. "…yes, I do now."

"It's been a while since we freed the Celestial World. Hard to believe that felt like a while ago." Cana smirked. "Good times."

"Speaking quite the volumes, aren't you?"

Cana shrugged. "I'm sober, I should be drinking volumes." She laughed.

Sophie smirked along with her friend's comment. She looked back at Nic and Greninja, wondering what they might be thinking. Though she can probably take a good guess.

Nic and Greninja were relatively quiet as they watched Erza and the guild around them. While admiring the serenity of their boisterous guild – as well as seeing art, the day's turn of events didn't stop them from remembering their time in the Celestial World. Brief as it was, this day marked the stand they took against one of their greatest foes…as well as a loss that they had since gained from.

As they sat calmly to digest their omelet, a voice called to him. "Nic."

Nic looked up, mild surprise on his face. "Freed?"

"Pardon the interruption, but this came for you." Freed handed Nic an envelope, before proceeding towards Lucy. "And Lucy, this came for you as well."

Lucy looked shocked. "Wait, for me?" She sounded so surprised, but she took it without hesitation.

"Wonder what it is?" Happy asked.

Natsu shrugged. "I don't know. Fan mail?"

"Lucy? Fans?" Happy snickered. Unknowingly, the comment made Lucy shoot a glare, silencing the feline.

"Cana, Sophie, I believe you ladies have something for you as well." Freed handed the two ladies letters o their own.

"What the heck is this about?" Cana raised her envelope a little higher, squinting at the light peering through the thin paper. "Not tab money, that's for sure."

Curiosity piqued, Nic and Greninja proceeded. They and the mentioned took one look at their envelopes and slowly opened them. Reading over the contents, all faces grew absently curious over what they were reading.

"What's it saying?" Natsu curiously asked.

"Love letters maybe?" Laki thought of the irony of the situation. She wouldn't mind such a 'forbidden love' situation for her sake.

As Nic read over his note, his brow furrowed. He looked towards Cana, Sophie, and Lucy, seeing similar expressions from their notes. From the looks of it, it was a chain reaction.

Erza walked up towards Nic. "Nic, what is it?"

Contemplative for a moment, Nic and Greninja nodded at one another. They stood up, ready to take action. It seemed urgent from what the letter spoke of, but no one wanted to question it, not yet at least.

The one to have finally broke this silence was Lucy. "It's a letter…" her eyes slowly widened. "From Princess Hisui."


In a matter of a few hours, back in the castle of Mercurius, the main lobby entrance was aligned with decorative artifacts for a more welcoming display to any quests that came in from the front. This grand hall's floor looked greatly waxed, with a red carpet that went on towards the small convergent for all these displays.

"Woah, just look at this place!" Lucy lightly gasped. She looked at the shimmering, gold embroidery hanging around her.

"That's an understatement." Sophie acknowledged. "I recall the ball room banquet, but it looks like they did some redecorating."

"I'll say. You could fit the whole guild in just this room." Cana acknowledged.

Inside this hall, Lucy, Sophie, Cana, Nic, and Greninja all stood quietly. They've been invited to Mercurius by Princess – possibly soon-to-be- queen – Hisui upon formal invitation. It wasn't like something for this to happen often, so the girls were relatively lively with the scenery. Nic didn't care so much, so he just stayed still with Greninja. Though that can't be said about others…

"Hey Happy, check this out!" The voice came from Natsu. He was admiring a painting in front of a wall that had a rippling pond with sun shining down from tree canopies. "Betcha that looks like a fun fishing spot, huh?"

"Yeah, that looks so real you could touch it!" the exceed gasped.

"You think that's a real place here somewhere?"

"Beats me." Happy's face turned to pleasure as his mouth started watering. "But if it is, I wanna see just what kinds of yummy fish it has…"

A short distance away, their little interlude grasped the attention of the other girls. Cana raised a brow. "Remind me again how those two were invited here?" she asked.

"They weren't." Lucy huffed. "I told them specifically that only those who got letters were allowed here…not that it matters anymore." She turned towards them. "Seriously guys? This is the princess' house! Where's the respect?"

Natsu looked back, raising a brow. "What's the big deal? It's not lie we haven't been here before." He countered. "Besides, look at Mr. Anti-Authority over there, how come he gets to be invited?"

"That's a good question." Sophie thought of Natsu's logic for a moment, but she dismissed it out of irony.

Nic heard what Natsu said, but he simply ignored and looked at his surroundings.

Lucy sighed irritably. "Just don't break anything you guys, for real."

"We won't sheesh. We're not that irresponsible." Natsu protested.

"Maybe not, but Darumaka and Tyrunt are." Happy countered. "And they say these guys take after their Trainers, too."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I guess this place isn't so bad when you look at it." Greninja commented.

Nic shrugged. "Yeah, guess you're right." Along Nic's line of thinking, bigger wasn't always better. As an abused kid, he never had pretty much…well, anything. So to have such a massive space like this felt wasted. Even now the house's possession was mainly Erza's stuff, with portraits he did here and there. It really wasn't his lifestyle; something to look at, sure…just not something he needed in life.

A pair of footsteps closed in. "Lucy?"

The blonde heard a familiar call, turning towards the sound of the voice. "Yukino?"

Klefki's little metallic body shimmered. The Key Ring's senses were growing wild upon hearing that name. 'Yukino? Then that means…' She slowly turned, her vision immediately locking onto the possession beneath her massive cloak.

"Yukino? As in from Sabertooth?" Cana questioned.

Yukino rushed up towards Lucy, not minding the anxious stare Klefki was giving. She smiled softly. "It's so good to see you, Lucy!"

"Yeah, me too Yukino!" the fellow mage replied. "It's been a while."

"It has."

"Keys…keys…" Like a volcano unable to contain the ashes and flow, Klefki's eyes snapped to sparkles as her ambitions went up again. "KEYS~!" She wildly stirred in midair before her speed shit her at Yukino. The Celestial Mage cringed at the incoming Steel-type.

Yukino closed her eyes, unable to get a clear guard. But thankfully, nothing swamped her. When she opened her eyes, she was perplexed when Klefki was struggling in midair, held back by Lucy by her keyhole horn.

"Klefki, we've been over this." Lucy chided. "What did I tell you about stealing keys that don't belong to you?"

"B-But Lucy, she has keys! AND I LIKE KEYS!" Klefki continued jingling and struggling, but it wasn't getting her anywhere. Lucy's grip was tough a Kingler's claw.

"Look here, little miss." Lucy scolded harshly. "Either you behave, or I'm putting you back inside the Poke Ball where you'll not even be able to glimpse at keys. Capeesh?" Klefki found no use in escaping and surrendered. She huffed, allowing her to pull her back, though still maintained a grip for some measure of a leash. "There. Sorry about that Yukino. Klefki can be a tad overbearing when it comes to keys." She reasoned.

Yukino calmly nodded. "It's alright, really. I'm just glad to see you again."

"Excuse me, everyone." Everyone attention drew towards the new person entering the area. When they looked at his armor, they recognized him as Arcadios. Seeing Lucy's Klefki, he felt a need to hold back. "Am I interrupting something?"

Realizing the position they were in, Lucy immediately positioned herself. "Uh, no sir. Sorry!"

Arcadios chuckled. "It's quite alright." He looked around, seeing all the people gathered. "You're all the people we were able to get into contact with. That's wonderful to see."

"Is something the matter?" Nic asked.

Arcadios stepped off to the side. "You'll find out for yourself, Nic Pularis. Please, follow me. I'll escort you to our majesty. She'd like to speak to you. All of you."

Nic and everyone didn't fully understand the intentions, but they played along. They followed Arcadios down a short stretch to a corridor, where they ended up in a relatively large conference room. In the center was a long table, and at the end was Hisui, and beside her was Toma. Everyone took a seat and the doors shut, leaving the room with them and Arcadios supervising.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice." Toma bowed. "We apologize for any conveniences we may have stirred for you from this."

Natsu shrugged. "It's cool I guess." He turned towards Hisui and Toma. "Hey, good to see ya guys."

Hisui smiled. "Hello to you as well, Natsu." She seemed elated to see him again, though the same couldn't be said for Toma or Arcadios from their less than amused expressions. No one could blame them; his stunt with the flames on the castle left char spots they still were trying to get out.

To keep himself composed, Arcadios turned towards Nic. "Sir Nic Pularis, thank you for coming along as well. It's an honor to see you again."

"Don't mention it." Nic said flatly.

Toma cleared his throat and coughed. "Er-hem! Anyways, now, back to the task at hand. We've brought you all here for a specific reason. And that reason involves something we've gotten just recently."

"Just recently?" Yukino repeated. "What does that mean?"

"We're getting to that." Hisui answered. "Just earlier this morning, we were given a message from the country of Seven. It's the country that directly northwest of Fiore, with Bosco being right below."

Despite no need of the geography lesson, the information raised questions. "From Seven you said?" Cana asked. "What could they want?"

"Exactly what we were asking ourselves." Arcadios interjected. "We figured it could be a desperate plea of help or maybe something related to our Cambire Foundation, but the message wasn't for either. Tell me, are many of you here familiar with the Celestial World in which these spirits resided?"

Nic and Greninja held straight faces as they thought momentarily of long ago, when the Celestial World was taken over by Lysandre. And all just to pass time until Nic showed his face from the 7 years of travel. The nostalgia didn't leave a happy note.

"Yeah, you can say that."

"And you all must be aware of the Infinity Clock incident that happened several months before the Grand Magic Games, too right?" Hisui asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"The genocide of many spirits, as well as the Infinity Clock's power…both had left a drastic impact that critically damaged the mage world and the spirits themselves. A lot of Celestial Mages lost their magic, leaving only a handful left. In other words, it's on the verge of being an extinct race of magic."

"Lost Magic." Sophie crossed her arms. She's already remembered a lot of magics that were forgotten that she and Rufus memorized and studied in their childhoods. 'Just like our Memory-Make.'

"So where does this involve us into the equation?" Cana interjected.

"Like it or not, you all are associated with Celestial Spirits in some way. You all have been touched or contracted with them. As a fellow Celestial Mage, I myself have this power, but have no keys. But you, you can still summon them." She looked towards Lucy and Yukino specifically when she said that last part. The gesture made them look towards each other uneasily.

"Wait, hold on a sec." Happy raised a paw. "We get why Lucy, but Nic can't summon spirits."

"That may be true, but he and the two maidens have exploited the Celestial World." Arcadios pointed out.

Hisui nodded. "Right, and because of that, there may be a way we can use the spirits and our powers alike to fix some of the damage done."

"Repair how, exactly?" Nic inquired.

Toma snapped his fingers. A lacrima projection created a visual of a man sitting on a throne. He was an average-sized induvial, who looked to be in his early 40's, similar to Arthur. He had very short hair – shorter than Nic's – and was blonde. He had blue, crystal eyes with a charismatic smile and star-shaped earrings. He adorned a periwinkle tunic with yellow accents along the edging, with purple trousers and black boots. Like any king, he wore a robe and a crown combo.

"This man is known as Melchior Seraph. He is the king of Astral, a rather commemorative coastal city, and the one who addressed this to us. Apparently he, too, is a Celestial Mage, a very gifted one."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Wait, hold up! Another Celestial Mage?"

Toma nodded. "Yes."

Yukino looked perplexed. "But wait, I thought all the mages who didn't have Zodiacs…"

"We're not sure about that information either, but he must have some connection to the spirits still if he was able to maintain his celestial powers." Hisui said. "That said, we need you all to do us a favor."

"You mean like a job, right?" Natsu asked. "Because you know we work in guilds. Not a lot of our stuff we do is free."

"Natsu." Lucy hushed.

"What? It's true."

Toma put a hand to his chin. "You guild mages do have a point." He straightened his posture. "Very well, we'll set up an arrangement for your liking for this favor."

"Just what is this favor exactly?" Nic asked. "Is that what this is about?"

"Yes, Mr. Pularis. Precisely." Arcadios nodded. "Your highness, may you give the request?"

Hisui nodded. "I will." She turned sharply back at Nic and everyone. "Melchior has made a personal request for the aid of all the mages who are in possession of the current Zodiac Keys." The information stunned Lucy and Yukino, Hisui pressed on. "If we go, there's a good chance this may reflect on Fiore, so accepting is essential."

"So you're using us as ambassadors as a double up for this favor?" Greninja pointed out.

"Yes. If we succeed with this favor, we can establish a better relationship with Seven, and get better aid when needed. But that's not the main reason. Lucy."

"Yes?" Lucy composed, her hand swatting Klefki absent-mindedly as she was reaching for Yukino's pockets.

"We've heard about the sacrifice of Aquarius' Key during the attack on Tartaros. Melchior's request of you and Yukino is of extreme vitality."

The room's tension started to rise around them. The tone of Hisui's voice was starting to give some kind of leeway towards a revelation. Everyone tensed up for what came next.

"Listen very carefully. He said, that if all goes well…there might be a slim chance that Aquarius' Key might be restored again."

All eyes slightly widened from this information. Nic and Greninja held as calm composures, but Natsu nor Happy could contain their own shock. Cana and Sophie gasped too, as did Yukino. Klefki held still.

Lucy's head rung Hisui's sentence, over and over. Something inside of her was snapping that was putting her into black. She was barely processing what she said. 'A-Aquarius…?' Once again, a cringe in her grip revealed her holding Aquarius' broken key. She looked down at it, her shock surmounting. 'If this works, then she can…?'

"Wait, hold up a second!" Cana backlashed. "You're saying that this king can guarantee a spirit's return?"

"I understand your skepticism, but that we can't be sure of." Arcadios replied. "Our records and information gathering has shown no magic recorded other than Celestial Magic."

"Forgive me for saying this, but I thought once a key has been broken, it can never return to the way it was." Sophie reminded sagely. "Aquarius made that perfectly clear before she…"

Lucy frowned even more as Sophie's recollection was spot on. The shock and hope she had was waning towards inquiry. It was too good to be true.

"We don't have much details on how exactly a key is forged to begin with." Hisui stated. "But for the sake of the Zodiacs and our fellow celestials, I believe this trip might be the key."

"That sounds like a gamble more than a favor, you don't sound so sure about all this either." Nic pointed out.

Hisui huffed. "I'm not…but there's a lot to gain from this than just a trust. So will you all do this for me?"

"I got no problems with it. What about you, buddy?" Natsu asked Happy.

"Sounds like a nice trip." Happy agreed. "And maybe we'll see who this king is if he's having this kind of power."

Nic looked over towards Lucy. "Lucy?"

The Celestial Mage was facing a dilemma. She'd be for it, and a part of her really is, but at the same time, it was hard to make out what potential this trip to Astral could mean. It was a lot to take in, let alone a chance that Aquarius could come back. Would it all be worth it in the end? Would Aquarius' sacrifice mean something then?

As she was given looks from her friends, Lucy was weighing her options. She found her palm shifting with something jagged at the end. Looking down, she was holding onto Aquarius' key beneath the table. The figment of the spirit brought her back to her childhood. Her mom died when she was so little, leaving her with her neglectful father and the few spirits she had. Aquarius was one of them. A small part of her was telling her this could be a ploy…but that was a small part of her.

"Lucy…?" Klefki moved closer to Lucy.

After a long silence, the blonde clutched Aquarius' key in her palm, a determined glare sharpening on her face. She faced Hisui with a determined look. "Okay, I'm in!" she nodded.

Hisui gradually grinned in pleasure. "Very well. Then I shall arrange everything. I wish you all the best luck can offer."

"Oh boyoboyoboyoboy!" Klefki began twirling and bouncing off walls around Lucy. "New keys! New keys! Keys for me! Yay!"

"This is gonna be a blast." Natsu smirked. "Looks like we're on another business trip guys, who's with me?!" He raised his fist high, to which Lucy cheered with him.

Nic and the other shot looks to one another. They looked just as ready. Nic faced forward, a serious frown showing. "Alright, so when do we start?"


Beyond the coastal mountains bordering Fiore from the land of Seven, there lied an unknown range leading to a massive ocean. Within the valleys of these mountains lied a town with altars and terrains to suit its needs. Within this city, there lied a massive throne room, where a throne sat at the top of steps that had a gorgeous view overlooking the bustling city.

"Your highness."

The sound of a woman caught man facing away by surprise. Regardless, the shadows his throne's backside casted showed no astray. "Yes, Auriol."

The woman who had entered and kneeled before her king was Auriol. She was an eloquent beauty one could say, one so vast that one could say that she radiates the grace of an angel. She was a modest woman of average height, with porcelain skin that's smooth to the complexion. She had well kempt blonde wavy hair that mainly went down the right side of her face, but also down her back. She had emerald eyes which held the same shine as the earrings in the shape of stars. She wore a blue ballroom gown with a white blouse combo. There was a massive slit running down the gown's bottom to reveal her high-thigh white boots with yellow accents acting as armor. The lady looked up, her modest frame basking in radiant sunlight coming down from the skylights over them.

"You'd be glad to hear that the letter that you had sent to the kingdom's family was safely procured." She answered.

"I see. And of any word so far?"

"Quite so. Fortunate news." Auriol stood up. "The princess was able to retrieve the mages that you've requested. She will have them sent here to meet us in person."

Behind the throne, the king's smile approved. "That's wonderful news, thank you, Auriol."

The eloquent lady smiled softly in her bow. "It's nothing, your grace. I'm just one of your humble advisors. It's an honor to serve you."

Melchior chuckled. "Okay, now you're just milking it." He laughed until he was amused enough. "Anyways, this may be our blessing in disguise we've been calling for all these years."

"Is it true that we can resurrect the broken keys of all the Zodiacs?"

"I have no doubt." His majesty began to arise from his seat, feeling a quick stretch in the knee muscles after sitting all morning. "It's been far to long since everyone's seen all 12 Zodiacs in one place. If the ceremony works at the right time, there'll be no doubt that this will permanently bring back the celestial power."

Auriol lowered her head at her king's words. "I truly admire your love for Celestial Spirits, your highness."

"As do I." he nodded. "Now then, I believe we should be preparing for our guests. Sent word to Oberon and Tophet, we'll need to discuss with them about the proceedings if we're to time this right."

"It shall be done. Please, excuse me." Auriol gave one more bow before she turned around and smiled on her way out. She seemed modestly happy for this occasion.

The doors shut, leaving Melchior to hum softly at the maiden's leave before facing the city once again. The radiant sunlight beamed through the day's cometh, just as it has been for centuries, and quite hopefully, more to come. 'This may very well be our one chance.' He thought on a neutral level. 'If this doesn't work…then the world may never again know of this magic.' He looked towards the mountains, seeing a peak align with the sun. What he was seeking was soon to come, all he had to do was wait.


The vast sea was surprisingly calm on this sunny day. With this bountiful weather, anything was set for sail, with not even a cloud in view.

In the middle of the dense blue yonder, there was a small wooden boat that was being dragged by rope tied to a Seel, a Stunfisk, and Magikarp. All three swimmers were dragging the boat along as Joey absent-mindedly hummed to himself as he flipped a page in a comic he's been reading the past hour to kill time.

"Keep it up, Magikarp." Joey called out, flipping another page in the comic. He looked more focused on it than ahead.

Magikarp gasped as he kept swimming between Stunfisk and Seel, surprisingly he was keeping up with them.

"Yo, Dereece, what's the word on the compass? Still west?"

On the other end of the small boat, Dereece was looking at the handheld map and compass he had in hand, hoping he was right. "Uh…yeah. I think so."

"Cool." Joey flipped another page of the magazine. When he saw the picture of hot females in skin-tight dresses with flirty looks, he wasn't at all turned on, for a number of reasons. His renewed mind gagged. 'Are a lot of these magazines here in this world fanservice?'

"Captain Joey, remind me again why we're doing this?" Dereece asked tiredly.

"Hm?" Looking pass the magazine, Joey raised a brow. "What kind of question is that? This is a job, right?"

"I-I know that. It's just…doesn't it feel a bit unsafe being out here…alone…in the open water?" His tone arose with rhetorical input as his sentences dragged on, though once again, Joey found witty retort.

"What's the harm buddy? It's not like we haven't been out to sea before." He didn't sound in the least bit worried of their circumstances. "I already doused us with some Repel and put Trubbish in front of my party, so we should be okay."

"If you say so." Dereece sighed, trying to lift the stress from his heart. "Captain, are you sure this was such a good idea?"

"About what?"

"You know. About…Duncan." Dereece trailed off upon the mention of their other teammate – the reason of his anxiety.

Joey raised a brow. He fell silent as he thought back to it, though unlike Dereece, his worry was more of contemplation of the earlier actions after Nic and the party's departure plans were set for Astral. While they were set for their adventure, Joey – disheartened that he wasn't invited – opted to use the work ethic he picked up from Broly to go on a job.

Even now, what Duncan said when he told them rattled his mind.

"You what?"

"You heard me, I'm not interested. Not this time."

The news surprised Joey as well as Dereece. Both stood stunned in surprise over their acquaintances and teammate's declaration of not going on a job. It wasn't like Duncan to do this to them…he only brushes them off when training, not work!

"But Duncan, c'mon man." Joey reasoned. "What's the harm?"

Duncan shrugged. "What's not to harm?"

Joey powered on. "C'mon, it's just a small job. The Cambire Foundation is requesting mages to scout some locations and record the Pokémon species there is all. All we have to do is just meet a couple of Pokémon on this island, and our Pokedexes do the rest. We get paid and buy new pants!"

"I'm still surprised the Cambire Foundation is able to give out requests at all." Dereece sidenoted.

"It's gotta be some kind of alliance thing, or something with politics with the Council, something like that. I don't know."

Duncan scoffed, bringing them back to attention. "Look, I get it. You want me to accompany you on a job again, that I get. But you know I have a say, too. Captain."

Joey furrowed his brow at Duncan's snipe in the last comment. Whatever he was implying, Joey was feeling a serious tone take over.

"Okay, so what's the problem now?" Dereece interjected. "Are you saying that you're blowing us off because everyone else is heading to another country?"

"If that were the case, then would I be saying it to your face right now?"

Dereece raised a brow at Duncan's blunt nature. "Er, w-well I, uh…"

Duncan smirked cockily. "Okay, look at this then. Don't think of it as me blowing you off. Think of it as my way of telling you guys that I need some time off. I just need a little fresh air to train. That fair enough for you?"

"Fresh air?" Dereece countered. "You get plenty of air. You're always off on your own training and looking at strategy guides in your free time."

"And you guys sit around eating junk food and partying."

"Well not always. We're out busting our butts to stay alive. Do I even want to remind you of what happens just the other day with Kane?"

"Which is precisely why I'm asking for this time away from you."

Joey and Dereece paused for a moment, their spines starting to shudder from the hint of Duncan's logic.

"The reason I joined you guys was because when I first came to this world, I realized we needed safety in numbers. I agreed, and look where that got me – nowhere. So perhaps we should start changing tactics and see how well we can do in gaining strengths for ourselves. We've always had to face single enemies, have we not?" He looked towards Joey. "You know what I mean, don't you. If you really think that being a team will make us feel stronger, then each member should have their strengths and weaknesses figured out. Come back from this so-called job with something worthwhile, then maybe I just might show some more effort."

"So you're basically saying we need to get strong on our own?" Dereece interpreted harshly.

"Correct. I said before you can't rely on anyone who isn't there for you." His words etched into Joey and Dereece from under the bridge before then. That memory was still fresh in their minds. "You wanna prove your responsible, right? That you want to get stronger for the ones you failed to protect…well then stop relying so hard on others when it's clear you can stand on your two feet."

"Duncan! You can't just break off and say we should-!" Dereece was cut off when an arm reached out in front of him. "Captain Joey?"

Joey glared daggers with Duncan, both their eyes meeting with distilled silence. The Barrier Mage could be seen with some calm despite the hostile arrogance Duncan gave him.

"Look buddy, I don't know what you really think is going on, but I'm gonna remind you that you agreed to be part of The Freaks, so once a Freak, always a Freak. That's the way we roll." He straightened his posture. "Look, I'll allow this…but this is coming out of your vacation days."

Dereece gave Joey a quizzical shock. "I didn't even know we got vacation days…" he muttered.

Duncan shrugged. "Fine by me."

"So you can go and keep an eye on Nic-senpai or on a job, and Dereece and I will do ours. And if your logic backfires on you because we weren't there, just remember that you wanted this. So you better be back when we are so we can be in time for Friday night movie and pizza, Okay?"

With the Captain speaking his toll, Duncan nodded as payment. "Alright then."

"I still don't get why you let Duncan have that time off." Dereece prodded, bringing their conversation back towards the present. "He already spends enough time by himself as he is."

"I didn't see anything wrong with it." Joey nonchalantly shrugged. He was currently laying on his back with hands behind his head. "Besides, this might be a good thing. Maybe it's best we try to give him the space he needs."

"Any further and he'd probably be in space…" Dereece scowled beneath his breath.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing. Seel! Stunfisk! Keep rowing guys, just a little more!" Seel and Stunfisk heard Duncan's call, both of them starting to pick up a little more speed towards west.

"Well, anyways Dereece, I'm not saying Duncan's wrong. It's just…well, he has a point." He paused to try and make sense of his words. "He's always pushing us to think independently and Nic-senpai has been telling me to not forget about my friends. Maybe this is a chance to tell Duncan we can be strong while we're separated. Truth be told, he's really got a lot of experience…a lot more than we do."

Dereece didn't find it right to argue with what Joey was saying, even though it was rather hypocritical. He always knew Duncan was way stronger than both of them, which was why Dereece felt so secure before. Now out in the open in fewer numbers made it a lot more…vulnerable. That's when it hit him, the sense in Joey's interpretation worming into his mind.

"Maybe if we actually try to follow his logic for a change, maybe he might follow ours. It's a psychological trick, you know. So maybe when we meet up, maybe he'll wanna hang out with us more."

"That's…" His eyes slowly widened at the realization. "Actually not a bad idea."

Joey sat up. "Right! So we'll come back [roving we don't have to rely on his strength, and our teamwork might actually improve. It's a win-win!"

Dereece, having finally agreed with his Captain's concepts, nodded.

"Alright then…" Joey whipped around, pointing forward. "The S.S. Party-Pooper is a go! Magikarp, towards West!"

"Gotcha~." With a wheeze, Magikarp swam a little faster, picking up speed with his fellow amphibians as they proceeded towards the western hemisphere.

"So what's this island called, you know?" Joey asked.

Dereece looked back on the map. "Doesn't say on this map. I can barely tell if it's even here or not…is this even the right map?"

Joey beamed. "Well it better be, because I'm seeing something up ahead." With a foot up and pointing ahead like a directory, Joey pointed towards something small under the ocean sun. "Land-ho!"

They all closed in on the island, its visual getting closer for their sights to behold. As the swimmers continued their paths straight towards the unmarked island. Even from the distance, they could see the green indicating forest life. It held a massive cliff, where it went to several ridges through monstrous pines that reached far heights.

"That's where our quest is?" Dereece asked, holding skepticism like before.

"I sure hope so." Joey answered. "Let's hit land and mark a territory. The sooner we scan the Pokémon here, the sooner we can leave."

They drew themselves in towards the island, where the waves did the work in pushing the inland. When within ankle deep water, Dereece got out and pushed the boat onto the sand, with Joey standing triumphantly the whole way. Finally exhausted, Dereece and the Pokémon fell over, panting after the long swim; Magikarp flopped like a dead fish. Joey planted his feet on the sand last, looking at the island's forest life around him.

"Well, this is a start…man, if I didn't know any better, I would've figured this was a floating forest. I wonder if bananas grow here? I'd wanna make another fruit hat."

Once he was recovered, Dereece walked up to Joey's side, inspecting the island's topography. Looking at it from a panel of left to right, the island had a few bumpy ranges, but it looked relatively small. But a part of him felt an uneasy tension crawl up his spine. The forest didn't look so inviting. It looked like it wanted to devour them alive.

"I really hope you're sure about this." Dereece said with an ominous tone. "You feel that strange energy?"

Joey looked up, the forest's life chirping low for his liking. "…yeah, a little." His brow furrowed. 'This some kind of magic?'

"M-maybe we should go back. I don't like the way this looks."

"Well, we're here now so no turning back." Joey turned around, returning his Magikarp. "Thanks a lot for the trip buddy, you rest up, okay?" He recalled Magikarp back to his Poke Ball. Dereece did the same with Seel and Stunfisk. They turned back towards the forest. "Well, let's get going."

Joey filed in first, with Dereece close behind. He stopped for one moment to look back at the boat before resuming his trek behind the bushes.


The duo made way through the island forest, doing their job to ensure they scanned and jotted down as many Pokémon that their eyes could scavenge for. Joey opted once to split up, but he knew way better than to do that, especially since some parts if the terrain went to deep ravines. Still, despite some geography trailing problems, the two managed to worm their way around. It was actually enjoyable after a while. It was like walking through a morning dew forest, but bigger. They found themselves hiking deeper and higher, finding all sorts of Pokémon that they've seen in books and on TV.

Once they made it to a rock formation split in two, Joey and Dereece took a small break for some water they were able to carry. As they held a break, Joey decided to play leader again. "So Dereece, what did we see here again?"

Dereece pulled out his PokeDex, going through again the number of species that they were about to scout for. "Let's see. There's Caterpie."

"Check."

"Metapod and Butterfree."

"Check, check."

"Meowth. Paras. Mankey. Venonat. Aipom. Cherubi…"

Dereece began listing a lot of Pokémon that Joey kept confirming on a list of species the Cambire Foundation sent to them to checkmark. A lot of the species were specifically ranging from Bug to Grass-types, with a couple of other forest-related creatures that could live. It didn't take long for Dereece to finish up.

"So is that it?"

"Yeah, afraid so."

Joey looked disappointed. "Man, hasn't even been like three hours."

"It's been thirty minutes." Dereece corrected.

"Whatever, you get the idea. Anyways, once we're rested up, let's try for the cliffs. Maybe we're missing some Rock or Ground-types that live up there. Here." He handed Dereece a Repel. Joey proceeded to spraying himself with his own Repel. The scent was sure to last a while, that much they were certain. Once it was all on, Joey loosened up and huffed. "Okay, let's get back to-!"

The sound of something hitting the ground alarmed them both, causing their hearts to jump. They turned around, looking up at a ridge.

"Dereece, did you just hear that?" Joey asked quietly.

The advisor slowly nodded. "Yeah, I did."

The sounds of attacks being exchanged and voices heard in the distance. It sounded like a scuffle was breaking down, and it sounded loud, especially with buzzing.

'Are Pokémon battling here?' Unable to hold in his curiosity, Joey stood up and made a leap. "Okay, that settles it. Let's go check it out!" The Freaks' Captain suddenly conjured a barrier in the formation of a staircase, leading him up no trouble.

"Captain Joey, wait!" Dereece reached up, but Joey was far too out. "Oh great." He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head angrily. "I swear, even after everything he's still…" His pessimism aside, Dereece opted to follow Joey. He went up the staircase and jumped onto the ridge to follow the Captain.

The two slid down a small slope leading to trees and bushed blocking them from view. The sounds of attacks being dished out was louder. Dereece and Joey looked at each other with slow nods. At the same time they peeked over the bushes to see the commotion.

Together, their eyes widened in disbelief.

"No way…are you serious…?"

"Woah…is that really…?"

Meters ahead of them, there was a man they were familiar with, wearing sunglasses, but his eyes could be seen through them as he grinned excitedly. He looked content as he was battling a wild Sewaddle, a worm-like Pokémon with a bulbous head, with a leaf cloak wrapped around it. It event had orange stubby paws and a snout, with two pointed teeth on it.

He was battling with his own Beedrill, and they looked serious. "Alright Beedrill." Kevin instructed. "This time, we're not letting this one get knocked out. Hold back on those Twineedle. Don't wanna risk poisoning when the health is low."

Beedrill positioned his stingers. "I sting yo face!"

The wild Sewaddle looked at both of them playfully, though the Bug-Grass-type seemed quite intrigued. "Oh, what really big stingers you have." He said playfully, almost flamboyantly. "…especially that big one on yo bottom-half, boy."

"I sting yo face!" Beedrill countered, though it was hard to tell if his answer was clear or not.

"Beedrill, use Rage!" Kevin commanded. He watched as a tick mark grew on Beedrill's face as he suddenly broke into a speedily charge for Sewaddle.

Sewaddle saw the incoming bee and waited. At the last second, Sewaddle suddenly jumped over, evading Beedrill and landed on his two feet. He turned around to face Beedrill, opening his mouth to expel a silky String Shot that moved rapidly like a beam.

"Beedrill, dodge!" Kevin yelled. Beedrill ascended, dodging the thread in time. "Alright, Fury Attack!"

Beedrill's stingers glowed as he aimed for Sewaddle. "I sting yo face!" He darted down, his left stinger stabbing a blow once, then the right one, then the left one again. Sewaddle gasped when Beedrill pulled back for a fourth back, roaring as he stabbed Sewaddle – ironically in the face – and sent him thumping across the ground.

Sewaddle groaned as he slowly covered. "Oof! Oh, I see." He swooned. "So you wanna play rough with me, huh? Well…" he lowered his head. "Two can play at this game."

Kevin's eyes widened in realization. "Beedrill, Fury Attack!"

Beedrill shot forward as Sewaddle shit glowing green leaves at Beedrill in a funnel, via Razor Leaf. The attack's range was far more effective than what was intended for Beedrill to intercept. Beedrill found himself deterred and unable to block fully. Though thanks to typing the attack was reduced, but the leaves dissipated to have Sewaddle in front of him, startling the bee. Sewaddle's Tackle struck Beedrill's abdomen, sending him flying back. The bee managed to recover, but Sewaddle was remarkably agile, already heading for him with another Tackle.

"Beedrill, up in the air!" Kevin yelled.

Beedrill ascended, managing to evade the attack in time. Sewaddle looked up, seeing the stinger above him. 'I could get used to see that over me.' He mischievously smirked. "But I'd rather get close…and personal!" He opened his mouth, shooting a long thread of String Shot that coiled around Beedrill's stinger, pulling him back down. A blue aura signaled a drastic decrease in Speed upon falling. The bee was unable to use momentum in time when Sewaddle reeled him in for a head-on Tackle in the abdomen, this one harder that meant a critical hit.

"Beedrill!" Kevin cringed when he saw Beedrill fall onto his back. "Ouch!"

Beedrill had the wind knocked out of his insectoid body. The bee with a vocabulary complex tried to move, but the String Shot from earlier didn't help him with getting up in time before Sewaddle pounced on his abdomen. The larva looked at the bee suggestively with a snark expression.

"I sting yo face…" The bee groaned.

"Too bad, looks like you wanted it the hard way." Sewaddle opened his teeth, his fangs glowing for his next attack: Bug Bite. "I wish it was the other way around, but beggars can't be choosers!"

Kevin had to act fast, and he needed to do it now. Seeing how Beedrill was pinned down, there was still come parts of him still abled. "Beedrill, kick it off!"

"I sting yo face!" Beedrill managed to get him off using two legs like tweezers to hold up Sewaddle. The larva found himself unable to reach and was thrown skywards. With momentum gained, Beedrill buzzed back up and followed his adversary.

"Beedrill, Fury Attack!"

With what ferocity he had, the bee elevated to Sewaddle's elevation, where he reeled back and struck forward. Sewaddle gagged upon the first blow, which left him open for a second strike, then a third strike. Finally, Beedrill reeled back his end stinger and stung Sewaddle, creating an airwave that passed through. The blow left Sewaddle with overwhelming shock – and very small levels of pleasure – as he crashed into the ground while Beedrill floated in front of Kevin.

Sewaddle coughed as he laid sprawled on his side. "..o-oof…you…can sure be rough…"

"I sting yo face!"

"Hold on, Beedrill." Kevin called, stopping the Bug-type's finishing move. "We need this one. It's part Grass-type." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a Net Ball. Once he was ready, he threw it at the severely weakened Sewaddle.

The capsule landed its mark on Sewaddle's backside, much to his chagrin. The bug was sucked inside, where the capsule shuddered once, then twice, and then a third time. There was a brief pause before that click…and then it clicked.

Kevin had just caught himself a very…interesting Sewaddle.

"Alright." Kevin walked passed his Beedrill, bending over to pick up the Net Ball. "Looks like we got a new Pokémon. Nice job, Beedrill."

Beedrill turned away. "I sting yo face." He buzzed in a small pout.

"Hey, watch your language."

"Kevin!"

Hearing his name called, Kevin's eyes widened. 'What the-?!' Turning sharply around, Kevin saw two familiar faces trudge through the bushes to confront the Trainer. "Joey…? Dereece?" He looked at them with deep surprise.

The three associates closed in on each other, reconvening with great admiration. Suffice to say the trip just got more elated.

"Kevin, long time no see man." Joey cheerfully greeted.

"Joey, my man, what's up." Kevin rocked a fist bump, to which Joey answered with his own. "Glad to see you're kicking again."

Joey smirked. "How could I not? You're here, right?"

"True that." Kevin looked at Dereece. "Dereece, what up my man?" He offered Dereece a fist bump as well, to which the Trainer reciprocated with his own, though less energetic. "Talk about a coincidence. Of all the damn places to meet up…yeesh."

"Yeesh is right man, what the heck are you doing here?" Dereece inquired. "Shouldn't you be, uh…you know…looking up stuff…?"

Kevin raised a brow. He didn't know why but his respected level seems rather low. 'Geez, backhanding me much?' He tried to answer regardless. "Well, if you must know, I'm out on a job of my own."

Joey rapidly blinked before processing. "A job, too?"

Kevin nodded. "Yup. Let's sit down and talk, and you know, catch up."

The small crowd found themselves perched on a small rock big enough for them to perch on. Like birds on a tree, they each found a different level to sit on as the world revolved around them.

"I gotcha. So you're here on a job too, huh?" Kevin surmised, taking in the entire explanation. "So your job is to map out the Pokémon species that live here."

"Yup, you guessed it." Joey shrugged. "Anyways man, enough about us, what dragged you to this creepy place?"

"This." Kevin pulled out a flier from his pocket. It was all wrinkled from being in there for hours, but it was still legible. "A scholar is willing to pay me a bit to help him search for all these people that have gone missing over the past few years."

"Missing?" Dereece repeated.

"Yeah, that's the story at least. He gave me a bunch of names that my Search Magic was able to track down. The strange part is…their locations all lead to around here. It's weird."

Joey and Dereece exchanged intrigued looks. While they were holding up their problems, Kevin's explanation added to the mystery surrounding them. Coupled by Dereece's bad feeling, even Joey was feeling uncertain about this.

"Well I guess that makes sense. But how did you get here?" Dereece asked. "I didn't see another boat along the shore when we arrived."

Kevin smirked. The perverted mage/Trainer reached into his pocket, pulling out a lacrima capsule. It shined blue, indicating it was a containment unit. He pressed on it, causing it to mold its shape into the massive kite that he received from Valeria. "Didn't need one." He deadpanned.

Joey gazed at Kevin's kite with shock and awe. "Woah, man! Where the heck did you get that kind of stuff?!"

"It's a long story." Kevin snapped his fingers, reverting the kite to a spherical form in his palm he stashed away. "What matters is that I finally managed to work it. Anyways, now that we got that out of the way, what do you say we collaborate a little?"

"Wait, huh?" Dereece squinted. "You mean like…work together?" He flipped his index finger back and forth between them and Kevin to signify the pairs.

Kevin shrugged. "Yeah, I don't see why not. I mean I'd rather battle you but we're on a schedule. Those people need to be found, and you guys gotta get topography. I don't see why it's not a bad idea."

Their slightly older – though questionably sane – Blue Pegasus friend had a point. Working together would help in the long run, though the idea did have merit in other areas. They weren't sure helping out other people from other guilds was allowed, but in this case, no one was around to patronize or tell them otherwise. But Kevin was a friend of them, and believe it or not, they could use him for transportation if push came to shove. Giving each other nods, Joey and Dereece made up their minds.

"Okay, you're on." Joey grinned.

Kevin nodded. "Deal."

"And after we're done, we can throw an even bigger party. So how's about we get going guys?" With nothing to lose, Joey made headway, with Kevin following behind. Dereece filed last, his energy less than invigorated.

"Let's just get this over with." He followed behind last. "Wait up, Captain!"


Overlooking from the mountains, the chosen party that tagged along with Lucy and Nic's venture was a matter that had expanded rather incredulously. Feeling obligated, Natsu invited the rest of his team, along with Sophie, Cana, Vanessa, and of course Juvia for the ride. And, as an added bonus upon insistence, Duncan dragged himself along for his own reasons. The group was overlooking the mountain pass that lead down towards the runic city. Even from the distance, they could feel an ancient charm surround it.

"Wow, look at this place!" Lucy gawked. "It's huge!"

"I'll say." Natsu whistled. "Man, this place is nice. Is that a church over there?"

"Yeah I think it is." Happy answered. "It's huge!"

"That's gotta be the size of Kardia Cathedral." Sophie said. The comparison was just as light as a feather, for the cathedral within eyesight looked more like a castle.

Cana took another sip of a small metallic alcohol thermos she brought along, wiping her mouth with a sigh. "Guess this country's pretty big on living large."

"Yeah…" Wendy nodded.

"And this is where this king lives, right?" Gray looked around, seeing the twinkling sea right on the northern side. "Man, talk about fancy."

"It's such a beautiful place from what I've heard. I wonder what we'll find?" Juvia began swooning over the possibilities, ranging from picnics to walks in the parks with Gray by her side. "What a lovely getaway…as long as the others don't intervene of course." She shot a glare specifically at Lucy and Sophie. Coincidentally the blondes also felt this chill.

"This is where Princess Hisui said our destination would be." Erza said. "Let's not keep his majesty waiting. The trip was long enough as it is."

They all proceeded down the mountain, with Nic and Greninja tailing in tow. They started down a ways until they took one more look at the city. They looked up at the city, hearing the oceanic waves flow to and fro, front to back. It was peaceful, and yet at the same time, Nic could feel something…majestic about the place. He couldn't put his or Greninja's fingers on it, but from their stares, the air itself raptured them.

"Nic!" Erza called, gathering their attention. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just looking is all." He looked back at Greninja. "You ready?" Greninja's response was a gentle nod. Together they ventured down the mountain.

Not far on another pass, they weren't the only ones heading for Seven's celestial city. These guys were observing afar, watching them go down the mountain pass.

"Well how about that? I'm seeing some more company popping up like daisies." One of the females said. "You knew they were heading this way?"

One of the males was turned away, looking nonchalant without much care. "Don't see why it matters. To be honest, I'm not exactly surprised."

"Are you sure you can't just hear the entire world through those ears of yours?" the girl groaned.

Another woman chuckled. "Well, well, our little friends are popping out of the blue again. What do you say to this?"

Beside her, a man with what looked like a tattoo on the right side of his face was grinning. He seemed elated to say the least, but more or less nostalgic. 'This should be interesting.' In this particular case, that would be putting it extremely lightly.


Venturing into the city, the Fiorians could see just how different the architect was compared to Fiore's townships. It was more olden than what they originally thought. The buildings were all well furnished and housed standard necessities, indicating they've been modernized. But what didn't escape them was all the carvings and the pillars around being made of stone. They got a closer look at the smaller buildings they saw afar, and like the cement that they walked on, it was carved beautifully.

"Oh wow." Lucy was looking around, her eyes taking in the scenic view of this olden city structure. It felt like she just went through a time warp and ended up in the past. "So rustic."

"I'll say, what's with all the stones everywhere?" Natsu questioned. "These guys must really love rocks or something."

"Somehow I highly doubt that's the reason." Wendy commented.

Carla glanced around. "But you have to admit, their architecture here is rather odd. Everything is accented, even the homes."

Vanessa smirked. She didn't know why but walking through the city reminded her of Geosenge Town and Route 10 back in Kalos. "This town certainly has a rustic aura surrounding itself." She said.

Erza chuckled. "Yes, I can see it there."

"So this is Astral." Gray took another look around, admiring some of the views as he went by. "It's not a bad place to be actually."

"I heard Seven's townships and cities are named after references to space." Sophie explained. "Fiore's towns are all named after flowers. Here in Seven, it takes after space and stars. I heard that their main cities form a six-sided star when drawn on a map."

"Where'd you hear about that?" Cana asked.

To answer her question, Sophie pulled out a small map she had stashed in her pockets. The map, much to Cana's own surprise, had permanent pen that was perforated between several city points that did in fact made a large six-sided star. "I figured it out during the carriage ride into the valley." She tilted her head, winking and sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Sometimes Sophie, you bug me." Cana resumed drinking.

"Excuse us."

Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned around. Behind them were several soldiers with golden armor accented over their bodies with matching helmets. They all sported red mohawks even that gave them a Roman-type of sense in their décor. They all had swords and shields, quite possibly of the finest metal around, something that caught Erza's attention especially.

"Check it out, even their armor is old fashioned." Natsu pointed out, only to be bumped by Lucy's elbow.

"Don't be so rude. They'll take it the wrong way!" she hushed.

"Uh, right. Sorry."

The guards took another look at them, specifically at their emblems. Seeing them as Fairy Tail and Sabertooth in Yukino's case, a guard approached them. "Those emblems, are you all not from around here?" one asked.

"Uh, no. Can't say." Yukino shook her head. "Sorry, we're just visiting."

"I see. Then by any chance are you the Fiorians that his majesty has called for?"

Erza stepped forward. "We are. What's your business?"

The soldier straightened his position. "My apologies. Please, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am called Altair, I am the Captain of his majesty's enforcements in Astral's good name. We were told of your arrival, is this information true?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, sounds like us."

Altair nodded. "Then please, would you allow me to escort you directly to his majesty's quarters. He's been awaiting your arrival for some time now."

Everyone looked towards one another and seemingly agreed. As they followed along, Klefki was gazing at Yukino, specifically for her keys. One look from Lucy was all it took for her to see the light not turning green anytime soon.

They followed Altair towards one of the biggest castles in the city, which wasn't too far from their current location. They went up a steep flight of stairs, heading pass stone columns of people who came before them. Seeing the many passed leaders as huge statues, everyone marveled and moved along. Sophie took in everything, and not far behind, Duncan was looking ahead, not caring so much for the architecture. She gazed behind to see he wasn't raptured, something she would have to look into later.

"I'm afraid this is as far as I go." Altair said. "I must resume my patrols. May his majesty put good faith in you."

Erza nodded. "You have our thanks."

Altair took his leave, leaving everyone to make way inside. Entering the domain, even the hallway looked prestigious like Mercurius. Though it was rather lackluster on the shimmering gold side, the castle and its décor had angelic paintings on the walls, with many stolen statues and carvings around them. Fine pottery sitting on pedestals were acknowledged, one that Natsu thought had drinking water. "Come on." Thankfully an ear pull by Lucy was enough to drag him back to reality and along the porcelain tiling.

Passing into the massive throne room, everyone held their tongue as a young man turned around from looking at Auriol and two other people. The king turned to meet his guests, grinning quite passively as he saw the many faces that came to greet him.

"This the guy?" Gray muttered. "He looks kinda…young."

"Gray darling, don't be rude. He's right there." Juvia hushed.

"This is the guy who we're supposed to have come all the way out here for, huh?" Cana took another look at Melchior, seeing his complexion is rather attractive. Much more so than what the picture entailed. "Melchior, huh? Not too bad in the looks." She teased.

Unfortunately this comment didn't go unnoticed as the static of her sentence wormed into Auriol's head, making her eyebrow twitch. "That's King Melchior to you." She verbally retorted. "You should be so humble as to remember that the next time you address to our highness, foreigner."

Cana was slightly taken back by the sharp jab. That look in her eyes reminded her of a certain female knight who hoards Nic. 'Looks like someone's got a sharp tongue as they do ears.'

Melchior stepped forward. "Auriol, please. Do quell yourself. We don't want to look bad in front of our guests."

Auriol acquiesced. "Yes, forgive me, gracious one."

Melchior nodded, seemingly acknowledging her. He looked back towards his guests with a grateful smile. "I thank you all for coming. I understand that your journey here was perhaps a long one. I do apologize for this inconvenience if anything happened along the way."

"Uh. N-no, it's fine really." Lucy nervously dismissed. "It's no trouble, really."

Nic nodded. "It wasn't any trouble. Thanks for having us."

"Then we're in agreement then." Melchior took another look at his guests. "So you're the ones who I was told wind of. Lucy Heartfilia. Yukino Agria. The two Celestial Mages who have the Zodiacs in one place." He looked towards Nic and Greninja. "And to you, Nic Pularis, slayer of Lysandre and Acnologia. It's an honor to have such a reputable company before me. And I take it that these are also your friends?"

"Yes. I hope you didn't mind the extra company."

"Not at all." The king gave to then a small bow. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am King Melchior Seraph, descendant of the first ever celestials." He moved to the side, extending the greeting to the three other people behind him. "And these are some of my most trusted advisors. Auriol."

The eloquent woman walked towards them, giving a meek curtsy. "T'is my pleasure."

"Oberon."

Oberon was a slim young man around Melchior's age. He had fair skin with long blonde hair that went down towards his midback, sporting a bowl-cut for the bangs. He had a pointed chin, with an amused smirk that matched his narrow, slanted eyes. He adorned an emerald cloak with a bright green star seal on the back. They could easily make out the green pants that matched the bright silver knight-like shinguards and feet.

"And here we have Tophet."

Tophet was a much older man with a gruff apparel. His cloak was a shadow black, with a white star on the back. He adorned standard clothing, consisting of a white long-sleeve shirt tied to a brown belt with baggy brown pants, He adorned black boots, though pointed as they were to match his curved, pointed black beard. His head had messy black hair and bags under the green eyes, which complimented the long bridge on his nose.

Oberon kneeled and bowed his head humbly. "It's the greatest pleasure to have you all here. Thank you for your time."

Tophet was next to bow. "A pleasure it is indeed. I feel blessed as well."

To Nic and the others, they felt like they were at the top of the world. Of course Natsu didn't seem to mind, but the others felt a deep sugarcoat. Rather than feel humbled by their own lackluster apparel they pressed forward.

"Wait…" Sophie interrupted. "You said something about descendant from the first celestials…"

Yukino's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's right."

Melchior was taken back at first, but returned to a grin. "Well now, seems that you people catch on…yes, I am in fact a descendant, true to my blood. The ancestors who first interacted with the celestials – The first ever Celestial Mages."

"Wait, what?" Gray gasped. "You mean you're royalty and this big shot?"

"You mean that…" Soon enough, even Lucy was gasping. "You're…you're the Seraphs. My mom and I looked at the history when she was telling me stories when I was so young. She said that your family was to be the most gifted of all Celestial Mage prodigies."

Melchior grinned. "That's generous of you to say."

"A real descendant…of the first mages to have mastered Celestial Magic?" Even Yukino found herself awed by this news. She heard a story about Celestial Spirits and how they once met humans. But that's all, stories. Seeing was believing, and feeling this cosmic aura around Melchior was confirming her suspicions.

'The first Celestial Spirits Mages…?' Nic was speculative at best, but it wasn't something he's rather object towards. Sensing this Magic Power coming from him was of no degree of short-sightedness.

Oberon stepped forward. "I do apologize sire, but I'm afraid gesturing towards lineage will have to wait."

"Right, sorry." Melchior stepped back and faced the guests. "As you all might be aware, I've gathered you specifically or a reason. You all have a distinct possession of Celestial Magic, which is now a near-extinct trait in our world." He snapped his fingers, recreating what looked like holographic projection screens of the twelve Zodiac constellations in the sky. "Within our system of astrology, the city of Astral has been watching these skies, watching these constellations and how they reach to one's spirit. It's to this that we've deduced that the stars are in fact alive."

Everyone held their tongue as the king was explaining himself. Though Klefki was the one who seemed raptured by the stars and keys. Thankfully Lucy was keeping her in line. Though one of her other Poke Balls began shuddering. 'Is that Staryu?'

The screen changed, showing the 12 Zodiac keys in a large ring above. "As you all are also aware, these celestials have provided us a gateway from their world to ours, and that gate has to be applied by a key. A key that has to be applied from the spirit to its human gateway." The panel changed to show a diagram of a person holding a key. They saw arrows flowing from inside the hand into the key. "This is the proverbial link. This is the requirement to enact the magic of the keys in which spirits came come to this world."

Natsu raised a brow. "I guess that makes sense. Igneel showed me how to flow magic to my fists."

"I'm pretty sure that's another thing entirely, Natsu." Happy interjected.

"And it's precisely this link that enables us to connect these spirits." Melchior continued. "But…unfortunately…" He snapped his fingers, causing the screens to go black. "For the last seven years up until two years ago, an era of darkness had plagued space. The stars were shrouded in pitch-black, and thus our research could not be realized."

Nic, Greninja, Cana, and Sophie all looked at one another. The memory edged into them had returned of Lysandre and his genocide. They chose to stay quiet.

"Within that timespan, keys faded away, and those who were left vanished. These two events are because of the actions of Lysandre, and the Infinite Clock. Even now, finding even a few able Celestial Mages is but impossible…because either they have lost their magic, or their spirits were killed."

Lucy and Yukino looked down somberly at this information. Both recounted seeing their spirits after so long, and even now the bittersweet memory was a reminder of what they had left.

"But wait, Aquarius isn't dead." Cana reminded. "She was there one time when Alvarez invaded Fiore."

Melchior put a hand to his chin. "Perhaps her key was broken, but her gate wasn't. The key is but a tool to better control and mend that gate on command. Without it, the spirit could very well come and go as she sees fit."

"And yet you also explain that these keys may also be repaired." Erza countered. "Am I right?"

Auriol gave her a warning glare. Erza matched hers with her own, the disrespect mutual.

"Straight to the point. I admire that." Melchior grinned. With another snap of his fingers, the screens returned to the star constellations.

"The star lesson again?" Natsu questioned.

"Hush." Carla hushed.

"I explained before that the spirits are connected by their constellations, right? The constellations are actually a significance to their vitality. The early Astrals have been studying constellations, and that they change with certain dates monthly. And each constellation reacts within each month, including Aquarius."

"So you're saying that if we learn of this constellation's time, we can know when it'll react?" Wendy inquired.

"Yes."

"Okay, so when is her constellation?" Cana wondered.

Melchior bluntly grinned. "Tomorrow night."

Everyone's eyes once again widened in disbelief. The relativity of the situation was enough, but the timing itself was another matter entirely.

"Wait…you mean…" Wendy processed.

"That when the constellations change…the Zodiac Key can be revitalized?" Carla finished.

"That's a mouthful all by itself, how do you really know that for a fact?" Cana challenged.

Auriol stood in defense. "You'd dare question King Melchior again?" Her tone was a little harsher than before, clearly she wasn't liking Fiorian respect.

"I would be if it didn't sound so farfetched."

"It's not if you let us prove it."

"That so? Because this feels more like a history lesson than a solution."

"Guys, please. Let's just take a step back, okay?" Sophie butted between the two glaring females. Though she was successful in keeping them quiet, the tension around them didn't settle. 'This isn't what I had in mind for a friendly gathering.'

Nic looked down with a puzzled expression. His extensive knowledge on constellations wasn't sharp; he knew the basis of stars, but he only just gazed at them…he never took the time to study them like Melchior's ancestors did. Though he did hold some mild candor, he wasn't going to call it out…at least not as of yet.

"Everyone." Once again, Erza intervened and faced Melchior. "Your majesty, I do hope you can forgive all this intrusion we're causing you."

Melchior nodded.

"That being said, what my guildmate and friends state isn't without warranted cause. Suppose we choose to believe this case, exactly how would we benefit from this? You claim this is all in good intention, but why help Lucy and Yukino? Is there more to this reason than you think?"

"How dare you-!" Auriol was silenced when his majesty walked passed her.

Melchior stood quietly as he faced Erza, looking at her with a calm, strong gaze. "Erza Scarlet…no, Erza Pularis, right? I've heard about your guild and the exploits you've taken. Some of which involved the ordeal with these spirits. I suppose you do have a right to presume the worst." He deeply frowned. "But let me make my case clear, this isn't a debt intended to you. This is one in due to them. My predecessors to be exact. I owe it to their lives for what troubles they went through to see what spirits have done for our world. It's only fitting that after hearing what has happened, this is what I feel is what's best. Is that an equitable excuse for you?

There was a tense silence in the throne room. Everyone gazing at the king did feel some level of reasoning behind his statement, even Nic felt slightly moved, though his face didn't show it. But while everyone was lifting their doubts some, Vanessa was far from fooled. But rather than scope it out using her aura, she chose to hang low.

"Now then, if we're all in agreement in this matter, then let us continue." The lacrima screens flickered, changing their views to recreate the image of a huge sundial-like altar, though its stone-like bottom is instead replaced by reflective rock, almost like a mirror.

"What's that?" Happy asked.

"This is Topeyaka Plateau. It is named after the god of this world's mirrors. They tell tales of the god who created a pool of reflective liquid that magnified the celestial eclipse overnight. It's a very vague tale." He chuckled. "But with this, we're able to refract celestial starlight." He snapped his fingers, once again manifesting the 12 keys, but in position of a constellation, Aquarius' to be exact. "According to legend, when the Zodiac Key aligns with its constellation, the remaining Zodiacs shall use their power in replacement if the key's own. Their joined force shall be enough to resurrect the key, returning it to the state it was before."

"And this is the plan?" Erza inquired.

Melchior nodded. "Yes. I can understand if you all feel less than weary about this. Still, I chose to forsake everything to ensure this debt's paid off." He reached his hand out. "So I ask you kind mages…will you help me realize my dream?"

It wasn't anything too wrong. The Fiorians didn't have much to lose. With shrugs and nods from others, Erza returned the handshake. "Yes, we shall do what we can to help you."

Melchior grinned. "I thank you once again. My sympathies to you all."


After the debriefing, Melchior stood outside his castle. He talked to the guests a little more and left them with a smile. "The ceremony will need time to prepare, so our astrologists are determining the time as we speak. In the meantime, feel free to use Astral's domain as you see fit. I'll have Auriol to apply a message if convenient."

Auriol huffed behind the king's back, though she still relucted to agree.

"That's good. Thanks again." Nic thanked. He watched the king walk back inside with his three advisors. Once they were out of sight he sighed in relief. "Well that was a lot to take in." he muttered low.

"They're sure riding a lot on this ceremony, that's for sure." Erza pointed out. "Though you have to admire their dedication to caring about the spirits…hm, kinda reminds me of you and the way you see Pokémon, huh Nic?"

Nic looked towards Erza then at his Greninja. The two shared a confused look before grinning at the irony. "Guess you're right."

"Okay!" Natsu shot both fists in the air. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm up for some exploring! Ready, Happy?"

"Aye, sir!" the Exceed chirped.

"I wonder what people do around here?" Wendy curiously looked around, seeing a lot of people with Pokémon strolling along. To her they seemed lively. "Oh! Maybe Amaura would like the fresh air!"

Juvia moved to Gray's arm. "Gray my darling, what do you say we go for a nice walk in the sunset? Just you and me." Though for her obsession was something Gray was still adjusting to, he didn't have anything better in mind.

He firmly nodded. "Sure, why not."

With hearts and steam suddenly fuming from her head, a swooned Juvia moaned in awe as Gray tugged her. "R-right! Coming!" She squirmed towards his side, the icy man with his clingy lady waltzing off for some fresh air.

Soon enough, everyone started heading off their own ways to scout the runic city. They didn't see why not, but Erza made it clear to meet at a nearby inn when they were ready before she grabbed Nic in her iron clutches and dragged him off. Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Yukino all went other ways, leaving Sophie, Cana, Duncan, and Vanessa left.

"I think that I'll go and see this place's archives." Sophie said nonchalantly. "You ladies are free to join me if you'd like."

"I'll catchup, I wanna go try out what this place gots!" Cana pranced off, scurrying for the nearest brewery.

Vanessa chuckled to herself before looking at Sophie. "Well I suppose I have no reason now. I'll go if you'd like."

"Tov (Good)." Sophie turned on her heels and moved right along, with Vanessa in tow. The youngest Pularis moved along with her own business before looking over her shoulder. While Melchior's aura read amiss – something she'd have to tell Nic later – there was another melancholic aura coming from Duncan. He went off his own way to do as he pleased, but that didn't sway Vanessa from the reason why he tagged along.

'I wonder how Joey's faring with his work?'


"Trubbish, Double Slap!"

The Poison-type trash bag took a large leap into the air for the wild Ledian that it was currently battling, flappy limbs glowing white. She took one swat against its poisoned frame, then a third strike, until she swung down on the head, downing the wild Ledian. Trubbish landed on the ground, her body glowing green to recover energy she lost earlier. While she was strong, Ledian laid on the ground unconscious with swirly eyes.

"Alright, nice job Trubbish!" Joey cheered. "That's two in a row!"

Trubbish's belly gurgled lightly before she expelled a large stinky belch, one so grand that it was sure to leave Ledian down for a while.

"Man, Joey's really improved his game last I saw him." Kevin commented. "You guys been training nonstop?"

"The Captain has, I'm just the costar." Dereece shrugged. "Besides…" He took another look at Joey, watching him praise Trubbish before returning her to the Poke Ball. "He's gotten more dedicated than anyone I've known…he's been through a lot."

Kevin frowned. "Dereece…I'm still sorry you know. I didn't know Joey really went through-"

"It's alright." Dereece intervened. "I'm sure Joey appreciates it. He's been getting better with pacing himself…he's even been learning along the way." He inwardly had to flabbergast over this anomaly, but in retrospect it made sense. Joey lost a lot, and in return gained a lot. Experience, expertise…pain, emotional wreckage; a lot of things that Joey had been sheltered from his whole life. It made him a little sad knowing he had to bear with his Captain's grief. To change the subject, Dereece looked at the sun, which was about to disappear over the island's horizon. "It's getting late."

Kevin looked at the setting sun, a pink shade hidden amongst the western sky. "Yeah, guess you're right."

"We better set up camp for the night. Hey, Captain!" Joey turned towards him. "Better reel it in, sun's setting!"

Joey's eyes widened. "Already? I didn't think it'd be this long." The blond sighed in disappointment. "Man, talk about a party crasher. I didn't even have stuff for camp."

Dereece sighed annoyingly. "I told you we'd might be away for a while."

"Guys, just chill alright?" Kevin came between them, pulling out a small case of steel wool and a 9V battery. "Look, see? We can make a fire. We'll find a spot and get ready to eat."

Joey shrugged. "Sure, works for me. Alright, let's see if we can find a spot over he-Ah!" As he was walking towards a slope, Joey suddenly heard a crack beneath his shoe, alarming him.

"Joey, what's wrong?" Dereece asked.

"I think I stepped on glass or something." Joey whined.

"Glass?" Kevin raised a brow.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

Dereece leered. "Captain, you know glass doesn't grow out in the wild."

"Well I felt something snap." Joey began feeling something odd beneath him. It was feint, but it had a rather bright glow to it. The glow didn't go unnoticed by his colleagues.

Feeling this odd energy, Trubbish started gurgling. She was looking startled by this odd glow.

"Trubbish, what's wrong girl?" Joey saw the look on Trubbish's face, seeing the anxiousness in it. This gave him a very disturbed appeal. 'Is she reacting…to what I stepped on?'

The trio moved in and closed around the small indent where Joey's foot was before. The shimmering rock was giving away, crumbling as it revealed a half-made accented white stone. On it was a bunch of zigzags that trailed towards the center. The centerpiece was by far the most intricate, because the white crystal inside was the reason it was glowing.

"Wooaahh…" Joey's eyes reflected the light the crystal off, shimmering like actual glass. "Guys…what the heck is this thing?"

"I don't know…" Dereece watched Joey reach for it. "Hey man, don't touch that!"

Ignoring his friend's dismay, the raptured Joey brushed away the dust and remaining rock with his thumb. He leaned in to blow, sweeping the dust into his friends' faces to cause them to cough. Now in full view, the crystal's shine was even more stunning. It was like a clear white diamond that made Joey and everyone's glow shine brighter.

"What…is that thing?" Dereece asked, clarity in his tone.

"I don't know, but it's something alright." Kevin stated. "Joey, I don't know what that thing is, but maybe we should leave it."

Joey thought about his friends' warning. He was starting to believe the pros and cons of what he was saying. There could be others out there; maybe this was their gem or something. It was hard to say. Rather than toss it, a more favorable excuse came to his agenda.

"Guys." Joey reasoned. "You think belonged to one of the people who came here?"

Kevin and Dereece's eyes widened at Joey's explanation.

"We don't know if this is theirs or not, but if it is, couldn't we use it to track or something? It'd be a waste if it was thrown out if it was going to help get the job done faster."

Dereece opened his mouth to speak, but he was thwarted when the logic in Joey's voice held off his oppositions. "Joey, that's…I…I really don't think-!"

"Actually…I'm gonna have to agree." Kevin retorted.

"What?" Dereece shot him a confused look.

"Hey, don't get me wrong. We're in enough trouble as it is. Plus, we have no idea what that…doohickey is. But if it's something belonging to one of the people missing, it's consideration worthy." He frowned distastefully. "Just the second that thing explodes, you're on your own."

"I can live with that." Joey beamed proudly. He reached into his humungous, stylish coat, pulling out something – a small sapphire purse. It glistened brightly with a tiny strap with a pink plastic flower on it.

Kevin raised a brow and pointed at the purse. "Uh, do I…"

"Don't ask." Dereece groaned.

Putting the small wrist-sized rock and crystal into the dainty purse, Joey clipped it shut with a hum. He put it away and skipped back around towards the path. "Welp, party train's afoot. You guys coming?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kevin groaned meekly. He followed behind, but his nose wrinkled from the smell of Trubbish still out of her Poke Ball. Even when not against the wild, her Stench Ability stunk, literally. "Really…?" he gagged.

"You get used to it." Dereece smirked.


The massive library stretched up as far as the eyes could carry. The archives that were within eyesight were of miniscule compared to the vast knowledge that went thousands of cubic meters all around. Walls upon walls were drafted by stone that were supported by stone pillars. It could've easily been mistaken for a mansion over a library.

Over all this was a massive skylight dome. The dome allowed the sunlight to shine down when it was day, and at night allowed view of the dark world above. It's here, beneath this roof on a small wooden table that Sophie was indulging herself in the archives. Novels were stacked by her side as she passed the time with reading.

Turning another page, the blonde barely processed a sway of wide hips from the corner of her eye. "Found something worthwhile?"

Vanessa walked closer, continually weight on her hips. "Of sorts. It's quite big in here, you sure you found what you wanted?"

"That depends, you found a man in one of those books?"

"Touche." Vanessa chuckled at the thought of an actual person wedged in between the pages of a book popping out with roses and a charming face. It'd be amusing if it wasn't so ridiculous.

Sophie sighed. "Honestly, I'm not Levy…but it's taking me a while to decipher all these ancient texts. The pages are so worn out, it's like looking at grated stone than anything else." She turned another page, only to be met with more scribbles faded into the aged pages. It looked like it was even written on bamboo fibers. 'Just what did they use for writing back then?'

"I thought you said you and Rufus studied at the magic library when you were growing up." Vanessa pointed out.

"We did. I never said I couldn't decipher them. I remember that specifically." Sophie beamed with a modest smirk.

"Of course, my mistake." Vanessa stepped forward. "So then, what did you figure out so far?"

Taking a breather from the writing and scriptures, Sophie looked to another textbook and opened it. She reached for a few papers she had jotted down on and started reading. "I first tried dwelling into Melchior's family history. Apparently he wasn't lying. Here's the proof." She began to read from the scriptures.


XXXX-220

Astral was but a settlement, a settlement that was still under construction. But already it was expanding fast, and the populace here was safe from whatever creatures may come from the mountains. The deep crags made it hard to get around, but it also provided shelter, and allowed rainwater to drift and filter through the ravines into nearby streams leading out towards Astral. The people from before, their very ancestors survived this treacherous wake, using the rocks and engineering of that date to make concrete and carve stone. The ancient realm of Astral was exotic, but it quickly became known for the reason why it was created: The stars.

High above, endless constellations were in place. On nights where there were no clouds, one could seethe sky lit up. Billions of cosmic clouds could be seen, a sea of stars that burned billions of miles away. This was the beginning of astrology for Earthland. The beginning of life amongst the cosmos. And more importantly…where a young king would bring the gates of man and spirit together.

King Achilles Seraph, the very first king of Astral, was a man who was raptured by the stars. His fascination in stargazing alone was something that gave him…such a character, for a lack of better words. A man who had nothing more than his people, a man who kept his promise. As a young king, he made it his obligation to interact with people. To show them he was there for them when they needed him. He aided in the constructions, and the crops when needed. By that time, Astral felt more like a civilized community that got along rather smoothly thanks to the king's common ground, another reason how he came to noble command. But through it all, this man didn't seek influence nor power to rule. Rather, his ambitions lied in the world beyond his own that raptured him. And it's with this reason that he was drawn towards the sea.

The sea swayed under the nighttime stars, the waves twinkling with gilded gems that looked like another window to another world. The young King Achilles stood alone by this vast beach as he watched the stars twinkle under Aquarius' constellation. 'Beautiful.' He marveled longingly at the spread of twinkling stars in the atmosphere with his own eyes, not using a telescope like his followers had invented.

As if hypnotized by this awe, the king looked towards the water. 'I wonder…does this sea reflect the world above us?' Taking a gander, the king withdrew his heavy wardrobe, making it light enough for him to swim. He slowly stepped into the seawater, stepping out cautiously. Step by step, the waves would crash into his legs until he was ankle deep. With nothing holding him back, he dove into the water.

It was another world beneath, just as it was above. The king swam, ignoring the salt that would ache people's eyes. He felt nothing as he swam in the waters; just a she had figured, the waters were a cool calm, with the celestial lights twinkling. When he breached for air, his skin tickled with the minerals that gathered on it.

He took one more look up, his eyes softening as he saw Aquarius' symbol in full emphasis above. "Thy stars…they truly are bright tonight."

Aquarius' constellation started to twinkle a little brighter. Oddly enough, around the king, the sea itself began to twinkle. The king looked down, his awe plastered on his face crystal clear. It was like crystal that he saw through, but was water.

"What's this?" He looked around, feeling his skin and clothes tingle. "This sea…I feel…"

He heard the sound of splashing behind. Slowly behind him, a vague but human-shaped entity started to surface.

"A human."

The king's eyes widened at the sound of a woman's voice behind him. His ears tingled with this odd power that he felt flowing through the heavenly waters. The slow shift made him stay on guard as he slowly turned around to see who was looking at him. His eyes widened upon seeing what could've been a figment of raw beauty.

Only down to her waist, it was a woman. Not just any woman, but one of relentless beauty. Her hair was long and silky, going down her back like the flow of a waterfall. She sported a blue bra, something that held her impressive buxom in check. And yet, what was capturing him especially were both blue eyes, that mature face that looked like clear blue water.

Achilles' face spelled nothing is now sheer awe. A little of his face was flushing red at the sight of the majestic beauty. Her glow left him stuttering, almost unable to speak up. Anyone in his state would be baffled for a number of reason, namely a hot woman who looks his age, but more so that she came out of the water like some ghost.

Swallowing a lump, the startled king glared. "W-who are you…?"

The female figment looked up and down the king's physique, seeing his frame soaked by the water. "I see…so you're the one that's been interested in our world."

"Our world?" the king repeated. "What ae you…?"

The female smirked. Her chuckling didn't help him with his case of worry. She slowly lifted her backside, her lower frame coming into view.

Slowly, Achilles' eyes widened from seeing her lower-half. The lower-half that came out was nothing but a blue fish tail. The look that made one like that of a mermaid. The shape of her frame to accompany the accents and hair made her look like a blue fish, and yet, her radiance shined eloquently even under night skies, no doubt from the twinkling in the water reflecting the celestial stars.

"How can you…?"

"I forgot, you humans aren't accustomed to magic just yet." The mermaid grinned. "How silly of me."

The king, with all his righteous intentions, reaffirmed himself. His earlier recoil aside he glared at the fish-woman before him, poised to strike if he must. "Who are you, really?"

The mermaid's disposition started calming. "Seems you've forgotten. After all, you were looking up at me earlier, weren't you?"

"Huh?" Caught offhanded by her statement, he gazed up at the sky. His eyes fell onto the Aquarius constellation shining, the bright stars linked by a cosmic glow. 'Aquarius' constellation! It's actually showing itself!' He looked towards her, his eyes widening upon realization. "Wait, don't tell, you are…"

The mermaid smirked again. He finally caught n. "About time."

Achilles could feel the water shift below. The ripples beneath the mermaid distorted cosmic stars that floated around both. When the king looked down, he was seeing not water, but another galaxy; a world with planets and twinkling starlight everywhere. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Greeting to you, human. I and known as Aquarius…a Celestial Spirit."


"…and that's how Astral's first king became the first human to have encountered a Celestial Spirit?" Vanessa was having trouble processing the information. It was tough to say the least, but she wouldn't doubt Sophie in these cases. She remained quiet as Sophie continued.

"Pretty fun stuff, am I right?" Sophie joked, turning another page of her archives. "It goes on about the hypothesis of how the Aquarius constellation and the sea were linked. It was a vague quote from another witness, claiming it was 'A gateway to another world'." She looked at another paper that she jotted down on. "There's more. After King Achilles apparently met the spirit and glimpsed into the Celestial World, he became even more adamant about learning more about these spirits. He waited every single night since then, but Aquarius never came back. Instead, when he went into the water, he met Pisces, the next constellation that came in order. He'd speak with them, and realized that there were more of them out there. The constellations shined only one night within each set of a constellation. In other words, only once a month. But within those waiting days, he met and encountered different Zodiacs that got to know him."

"Is that even possible?" Vanessa looked towards the skylight, looking above to the view. Her blue eyes widened as she saw the radiating lights of the world above. 'Are those all…just stars?'

"It says here that Astral's atmosphere is the bridge of celestial embodiment. The constellations are most optical in this part of the world, and with Earthland's small patches of Ethernano in ancient times, the sea and air around Astral had amplified starlight to turn it into external magic. Guess that would explain the spirit sightings."

Vanessa out a hand to her chin. "That is interesting…" She glanced away as her mind was looking to something relatable. 'So basically it's like using Sweet Scent or Honey? I guess the spirits wouldn't be inclined to cross over to this world otherwise…'

Sophie let out a loud yawn, bringing Vanessa out of her thoughts.

"Sophie, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine." She answered. "I'm just…a little sleepy is all."

Vanessa softly grinned. "We should get to an inn. The librarian is about to close down for the night anyway." She turned around and started off towards the doors. "An we better pick up Cana while we're at it. Odds are she's lying on a brewery floor a couple blocks down from us."

Sophie sighed. She didn't want to stop, but she knew she had all day tomorrow to decipher the enchanting literature. "Very well." She stood up and pick up her heavy books. "Suppose I'll have to check these out for the time being."

Once Sophie paid for the books to be checked out, she met up with Vanessa outside the library. Before they embarked towards the inn, Vanessa used her aura to sense Cana close by and went her direction. As expected, the drunkard was laughing up a storm and waving booze bottles in the bar. If it wasn't for Vanessa using her Aura Magic to restrain her friend the bartender would've had a hissy fit. With the three girls having their fair share of evening, they made way towards the inn to sleep another relaxing night beneath the stars.


Along the beach, the nighttime sky shined brightly down on the ocean, igniting its waters in a crystal-like cosmos. The sight gave a very enigmatic impression for Natsu and Happy.

"Wow, the water's so sparkly." Happy's awe reflected on his face. "It's like looking at space!"

Natsu's eyes reflected the awe shared by his feline friend. He never saw water shine as brightly as that before. "No kidding…"

"You think the fish that swim here are tasty in this water?"

"I don't know, maybe." Suddenly an idea hatched in Natsu's noggin. "Hey, let's go swim! Maybe we'll get some magical power swimming in this stuff!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered. "Yummy fishies, prepare to meet your destiny!"

The two took off for the sea, leaving a trail of sand in their wake.

"Hey, wait a sec guys! That's just seawa…" Lucy was reaching out for them when it was too late. "…ter." She sighed. "Geez, those guys. Honestly, some things about them just never change."

"Well it's not like you can't blame them for their curiosity, Lucy." Yukino pleaded.

Lucy grinned. "Yeah, guess you're right." She looked up at the scenery ahead. The way the scenery lined up with the ocean made it look like actual space. A sea of space that someone could swim in. "And this is what's Astral's known for?"

Yukino nodded. "Yes, I've heard that on clear nights, one can see an infinite number of constellation from lightyears away. It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, it is." Lucy trailed off in her own awe. As she looked towards the sea and sky, she could already feel a strong flow of power bearing around her. The stories and rumors about the celestials may not be a lie after all.

"Hey Lucy…"

Lucy turned towards Yukino. "Yeah?"

"Listen. I just wanted to say…sorry, for what happened." The nervous Sabertooth girl clutched her fist to her ample chest nervously. "I know what it's like to lose a friend once. I never would have been able to have summon Pisces or Libra again if it wasn't for your guild's efforts."

Lucy mournfully smiled. 'That was actually Nic's doing…'

"But to lose such a precious Zodiac again, I…I'm really sorry. I'm just trying to say, that I really hope this works out for both of us."

"Yukino…"

Yukino took a moment to collect herself. She offered Lucy nothing more than a genuine smile. "I promise, I'll be of any help that I can this time. We'll make it through this, won't we?"

Lucy's earlier awe turned into admiration. The shy Yukino she met before had a face of intention with no going back. 'Yukino's really changed.' Lucy grinned and nodded. "Yeah, we will. That's a promise we Celestial Mages have to keep." She started to feel her two Poke Balls rattled beside her. "Yeah, you guys too?" Suddenly one of her Poke Balls popped right open, summoning her newly caught Staryu from the other day. "Staryu?"

The starfish' core beeped, greeting Lucy.

"What are you doing out of your Poke Ball?" The blonde asked.

Yukino looked at her confused. "Lucy, you didn't tell me you had another Pokémon."

"Huh? O-oh, right, sorry about that Yukino." The celestial blonde sighed again. "Anyways, I'd like for you to meet Staryu, say hi, Staryu."

"Hey there." Yukino greeted. The response Staryu gave to her was a couple beeps from Staryu's core.

"Sorry about that. Staryu I guess isn't big on talking. It's kinda…I'm not sure." Lucy sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, laughing of the embarrassment. Thankfully even Yukino giggled with her, joining the humor without a nay or say.

Staryu looked towards the waves, seeing them wash up against the sand. It waddled forward until it reached the edge. When a stray wave came up, it sloshed up two bodies long its wake, namely Natsu and Happy, their faces buried in the sand.

"Natsu! Happy!" Lucy shouted. "What the hell happened?!"

Natsu groaned, which was muffled by the sand. "Mmmmph…"

"We tried drinking some of the water…thinking it would give us some kind of cool power." Happy groaned. "Me roped me into it…" When both lifted their faces, they looked as dried as prunes. "We were wrong…too much saltwater…"

"That's what you get for believing such a tale." Lucy irritably scorned.

Yukino nervously sweatdropped at their misfortune.

Staryu looked out towards the sea to see the starry sky refract within the water. Looking at the space-like sea had held a small sense of wonder and joy for the starfish, something that tranced it into joining Lucy. The longer it stared, the more alluring the sight was. It could sense the celestial intensity all around, making it almost beg to jump around in joy.

Unable to hold it in, the starfish jumped into the sea, surprising Lucy. "Staryu?"

The starfish swam out, the red core in the center shining brightly like a star. It shifted and blinked constantly, as if its functions were short-circuited. But judging from the way it breached and beeped loudly, it was the other way around.

"Wow, your Staryu sure seems happy about something, Lucy." Yukino observed.

"Yeah, I've never seen Staryu this jumpy before." Lucy pondered for a brief moment about Staryu. She recalled how elated it was to see her back in the ocean, then secondly earlier. And all of them had one thing in common. 'Wait, didn't the PokeDex say it was attracted to celestials?' She looked out again, seeing Staryu's red core lighting the ocean. 'Maybe it knows something that we don't.'

"Yukino~!"

The snow-haired girl perked up at her name being called. "Huh?"

Lucy turned around, her eyes widening at something in the distance. "What the heck?!"

Yukino turned around to see a trail of sand barreling her way. Her eyes widened in shock as there was a figure at the head of the cloud rushing towards them. And from the looks of it, it wasn't stopping anytime soon.

"YUKINO~!" the voice chimed again from the front, revealing a very excited someone who ran shivers down everyone's spines.

Yukino's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is that…!" Her heart jumped at her answer. "Sorano?!"

"Wait, what?!" Lucy shouted.

"YUKINO, MY SWEET LITTLE SISTER! I'M BACK~!" Sorano ran excitedly and pounced for her sister. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

Rather than feel elated, Yukino's face was struck with horror as the excited shadow closed in on her, and everything went black.

As Lucy shrieked in the distance, out by the ocean, Staryu was laying face-up in the sea, its red core as bright as the reflecting stars in the world around it.


Elsewhere far from Yukino and Lucy's emotions, other emotions were placed into effect. On a patch of grass on a hill incline, Nic and Erza looked towards the twinkling skies, admiring how many of them there were.

"There sure is a lot of them." Erza commented as she gazed at the sky.

"Yeah, there sure are." Nic lulled.

"It's hard to believe. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars under one sky before, even back in Kalos."

Nic grinned at the recollection of Kalos. Some nights where there was nothing but clear skies, the sky would be blanketed by twinkling stars under a purple cosmos cloud. And no matter where one turned, it'd go on until the first rays of sun casted them out. The memories they've shared were more than plentiful to say the least. "…yeah."

A long silence felled upon them as they gazed at the stars some more.

"Nic."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me…what was it like traveling around in the Celestial World? I suppose interesting would be a very light term, wouldn't it?"

Nic stared blankly at the stars. Erza mentioning his past experience with the Celestial World brought along a mesh of emotions that didn't leave him discomforted. He could've mistaken it for a little stomach ache, but those don't happen on certain dates often. His journey with Cana, Sophie, Greninja, and the other Celestial Spirits was a milestone for all of them. So few in numbers they were, united they stood against Lysandre and his forces. Even now, he couldn't be anymore grateful for what that trip taught him, in not just trusting people you didn't know, but how they meant so much. One person in particular came to mind, and though his constellation and life were lost for them, they saved many others.

Getting through his momentary grief, Nic tried to pick the right words. "The Celestial World…" he began. "It's hard to say. At the time, what mattered was taking down Lysandre, so I really haven't thought passed that…but…" He could feel his body loosen. "It was…pretty fun. Traveling with Volans, Lupus, Corvus, and Pavo…it felt like a sea of adventures. It's not easy to explain, but I guess that's just the best there is. There aren't any words to really tell certain tales you know."

Erza chuckled at Nic's explanation. To an extent, she can relate to what he was interpreting. "Suppose so. And your thoughts on this king's plan?"

"I don't really know for certain." His frown plastered serious vibes. "But I'm feeling that there's more to this than what the king leads on. I'm not saying I'm doubting his plan will make Lucy happy…" he flashed back to the eyes Melchior had. "But his eyes are telling another story."

As they continued lying on the grassy hill, gazing at the bright sky, a pair of legs shifted as someone grinned.

"Well, well, isn't this a surprise." A man spoke up. "Speak of the devil."

Hearing a familiar tone, Erza and Nic sat up. When they looked over, their eyes widened in disbelief at the two figments who stood side by side with one another, their greetings soon returned in inquired shock.

"Jellal? Bellona?" Erza gasped.

The two blue-haired mages stood a fair distance apart from their colleagues, looking more amused than anything else. "Fancy seeing you both here." Bellona teased.

After calming down, Nic, Erza, Jellal, and Bellona all settled down and stood at the top of the hill. The two pairs were beside their own as they were catching up on matters.

"I'm surprised. To think that you'd be here of all places." Jellal commented. "This must be irony if I'm not mistaken."

"The same can be said for us." Nic countered. "We never expected to see you here of all places. Either of you." He turned towards Bellona as he mentioned the last part.

The Nightmare Mage shot Nic a smirk. "That's to be expected. We are a rather aloof group, now are we?" she slyly smirked. "Then again, coming from a Fairy Tail mage with such a reputation, that's a statement of its own."

"I still can't believe it's really you." Erza interjected.

Jellal nodded. "Erza, I see that you're faring well. It's been some time since our little excursion for Alvarez."

"Yes it most certainly has. Just what exactly brought you both here anyway?"

Jellal chuckled. "Funny you should ask…"

"Pardoned?" Erza repeated. The sound of the world coming from Jellal rung like bells.

"That's right." Jellal confirmed. "After our return from the empire, we were given an audience with his majesty of Mercurius. We weren't sure if it was a trap, but knowing this was the princess, we couldn't just simply refuse."

"We thought at first that it was a penance for our past crimes, but it turns out it was the opposite." Bellona explained. "The minister was intent on the opposite, but his fell on short of heartfelt contempt."

Jellal softly smiled. "We're free. Free from our pasts at long last. We can remain out our lives with a new freedom, freedom that we couldn't have back in the tower. Erza, Nic…" He lifted his head, giving them a small grin of pleasure. "Thanks to you both, we can now be free."

Nic smiled at his friend's fortune. "So that's what happened. I'm glad to hear that."

"That's kind of you to say." Jellal nodded.

"So I take it that the rest of Crime Sorciere is here then?" Erza figured.

Bellona softly smiled. "You'd wish for that. Sadly, I'm afraid that after our pardon had come, the role of Crime Sorciere was fulfilled. So in other words, there was no need to be weighed by our sins."

Erza's shock showed. "You disbanded?"

Jellal nodded. "I'm afraid so. But we're still very well in touch. We know full-well that Richard is following the coordinates to his brother as we speak. As for Sawyer and Macbeth, I haven't heard from since. And last I checked, Ultear and Meredy are settling down somewhere within Fiore for leisure."

"That so?" Nic was genuinely surprised by this information, something that Bellona took advantage of.

"Oh don't worry, we still have some lingering pieces around. Erik's somewhere in the mountains where he can get some peace at mind. But Sorano had her own reasons for coming here. She caught wind of this ceremony, and being a former Celestial Mage, she was drawn towards this rumor about a constellation ritual."

A soft smile casted upon Erza. "I see. At least you're not alone around here."

"Seems that you all have a funny way of convening with the right people at the right time."

Nic was satisfied that everyone was getting their way, and he supported them, but something in the back of his mind was yelling at him that something was off.

"Jellal."

The former coed of Crime Sorciere turned towards Nic. "Yes, Nic?"

"What's your reason for being here?"

Erza was so caught in the moment that the thought almost slipped her mind. Her disposition went from subtle to anticipation for an answer.

Jellal and Bellona felt a mood change as they faced one another. Bellona gave a nod towards Jellal and he glared at his allies. "Very well, if you insist." He pulled out something that looked like a flier from his coat pocket and showed it to them?"

"What's this?" Erza leaned in with Nic, both catching the image on the paper.

"It's an artifact that was stolen from a museum two months ago." Jellal explained. "The artifact was replaced by a replica of an exact copy. When the museum was being robbed, the thieves stole the copy, leaving the original unchecked."

"And you tracked it to here?" Nic raised a brow. "That is a coincidence." He started imagining his earlier suspicions again, though this time, they returned beyond simmering.

"This was the artifact taken. We could use your help if you're willing to lend the time." Bellona offered.

Nic took a look closer at the piece of paper, seeing the well-drawn figment of a crown. Strangely enough, this crown had a massive jewel on its headpiece that gave him an ominous vibe. This vibe didn't settle as his eyes narrowed. Something about this was beginning to churn his stomach in knots. He gazed back towards the sky, seeing them twinkle wildly, as if mining their own business. It looked like even they weren't aware, but Nic took the hint well…and he had every intention to figure out this puzzle.


Out within the mountain range overlooking Astral, the rocky plains stretched as far as the eye could see. Erik was standing alone, the howling winds entering one ear and out the other. Even he was raptured by the stars.

"Man, talk about seeing stars." He joked to himself. "Not many voices either, heh. Guess this is a rather quiet place."

A hiss sniped behind him, grabbing his attention. He looked over his shoulder to see his Pokémon facing away.

"Huh, hey Ekans, what's up?"

Ekans offered no response. Instead her attention was drawn towards the hills beyond Astral. Her snake senses were crawling as she was peering at something that was almost begging for her attention. From the way her forked tongue flickered, it was a clear warning of threat.

"What's up?" Erik adverted towards passed the rocky hills, his one eye widening when one stray wind that felt cold grazed his skin. His feet stiffened at the sounds of hollow that came from afar, at the base of what he could barely see as a cavern that Ekans hissed at. Even with perceptive hearing, the untamed tune was muffled. But whatever it was, it was dark. 'What's this sound?'

The dark cavern both peered at emanated nothing but darkness. Inside, breaths of cold air silently expelled out, keeping out any who dared to venture into its darkness.


The throne room was amazingly lit up at night. With only a few blue light lacrimas ignited around the walls, the rest of the light came from the outside starry night sky. Melchior was on t=his throne admiring the constellations and sea as Oberon approached him.

"Milord." The advisor bowed his head. "T'is be a good night so far?"

Melchior continued looking out his massive window, staring at the stars beyond the sea. "Yes, it most certainly is." He responded. "You as well, old friend?"

Oberon smirked. "Indeed. I've come to tell you that the rest of your court has gathered, just as you've requested."

"That's good news. Are they ready?"

Oberon nodded. "Yes. I shall bring them in as you'd like." The servant turned away back into the darkness, leaving Melchior to himself for a while.

The king stared up in silence as he awed before the great celestial constellations in the sky. By day it was like any other city, but by night, it turns into a heaven's tidal pool before the grand treasure itself. Melchior saw the twinkling above, and it in turn made him even more envious. 'Tomorrow, the debt shall hence be paid.' He heard a sound behind, bringing hm back to reality. When he turned around, many followers were emerging from the shadows.

Oberon walked back in, giving his master a bow. "I have brought them as requested. Now we can begin."

Coming into view, Auriol kneeled and bowed her head. "My gracious king, you have summoned me, and as I have said I am at your leisure."

Tophet entered, but he offered no words. Beside him, more people entered the lightened chamber.

The next man to enter was someone who was just as tall, if not taller than Tophet. He had a very dark tan skin tone with deep onyx eyes. He had very short black hair with a stubble goatee, much like Dereece has. He had a heavy built with an orange cloak on his shoulders, lined with black armbands that covered the forearms. His upper body was bear but he adorned cream-colored baggy pants with black boots.

The next one was a younger and smaller man, around average to below average height. He had very short blonde hair, a similar style like the guy beside him. He adorned the traditional knightly armor, with steel that was a glistening silver. Beside him was a brown satchel holding his blade. He adorned a silver cape.

Another one appeared to be the youngest, looking to be about Wendy's age, if not a little older. She had bright magenta hair that reached the bottom of her neck with w bright yellow star on her headband. The band's end went down with long dreads that ended in two laced diamonds. She had light skin with deep blue eyes and a charming smile. She had on a white blouse with long black, frilly sleeves on them. Her bottom-half was a ballroom dress like Auriol, only hers was slimmer and black as the night sky.

Melchior grinned as he acknowledged his gathered party. "Caius. Bion. Vita. I see you're all doing well." He nonchalantly greeted.

The massive guy raised his head, this being Caius. "Milord, you have summoned us at your beaconed call." Even his voice made him sound like a giant of a monster. "What have you to ask of me?"

"Greeting, good king." The young knight, Bion, greeted. "It is late."

The last one, Vita, let outa loud yawn that could've been heard from across the hall. "Uuugh, good evening, Uncle." She answered in a groggy tone. "Everything good?"

Melchior grinned pridefully. "Yes, everyone, everything is well. Thank you for your concerns." He straightened his posture as he took on a serious persona. "Now then, has everyone been informed of the plan to initiate the ceremony?"

"Of course, your highness. Everyone is well aware of Aquarius' constellation and the revival at hand." Oberon smirked.

Auriol walked up, giving her leader a serious look. "Milord, it is with great pleasure that we seek this task beside you. If it's your wish, then allow us to aid you."

Caius nodded in agreement. "We are at your command, my king."

"With swift pride and procure, we'll keep our end of the deal." Bion responded.

"Yup…" Vita gaped her mouth for another sleepy yawn. "What they said. Uh, can I go back to bed now?"

"In a minute." Melchior faced Tophet. "Tophet, will the plans be ready for tomorrow as you've inscribed?"

On a knee, Tophet bowed his head. "Yes, my king. May the heavens bless your wish and fulfill the desires that the celestials seek to be amongst us again."

Melchior grinned and smiled. "Then it's settled." He stood up, swishing his cape, a beaming smile on his face. "By this time tomorrow, the Zodiacs shall live again!"

"Yes, your majesty." All of them agreed.


Back on the island, Joey and Dereece were settled down in a nice enclosed area for the night. With the aid of Kevin, the trio were able to have provisions ranging from berries to canned food that would last for a while. It wasn't much but it was better than snacking on twigs and hunting, something that neither were capable of handling on their own. The fire was going around them as their Pokémon interacted.

The first thing that had to be done was Kevin introducing his newest addition to the team, Sewaddle. "Alright guys, meet Sewaddle, the newest Pokémon to us." Kevin gestured down towards the larva. "Make sure you behave, okay?"

Sewaddle faced everyone, mischievously smirking. "My name is Sewaddle…but you can call me whatever you'd like." He cooed. "I'm your new, little stylish servant. I'd do anything for you…anything…Mmmmm…" He moaned at his Trainer and everyone else, making all of them sweat bullets.

"Uh, anybody else getting a weird feeling about this guy?" Dereece asked.

Joey shrugged. "I don't know, seems alright to me."

"Mmmmmm…" Sewaddle moaned.

The Pokémon soon settled down to their own meals after meeting Sewaddle. They were all given their space to eat what Pokémon Food was available to them, as well as what berries their Trainers provided. It wasn't much but enough to hold them over for the time being. Surprising enough, they were settling in just fine, even Magikarp – though he just flopped and gasped tiredly.

Beedrill pointed a stinger at Heracross. "I sting yo face!"

Heracross, who was sitting with Seel, Yanma, and Stunfisk, looked over and met Beedrill's gaze. "You?"

"I sting yo face!"

Though Heracross didn't fully get what Beedrill was trying to say, the fellow insect looked towards Yanma, who was atop his horn and looked just as curious. He looked back towards Beedrill. "Not right now, we're not exactly in a good time here, you know that."

"I sting yo face…!" Beedrill shot glares at Heracross. From what he said it seemed like it shocked Heracross.

"Beedrill, I told you to watch your language." Kevin scolded. "Now simmer down over there."

Beedrill sulked over. "I sting yo face…" he mumbled apologetically. He took another look at Heracross, a little lighter than before. "I sting yo face!" It seemed he'd let him off this time. Heracross and Yanma sighed in relief.

"He seems nice." Yanma commented.

"I'm sure he's still hung up on the loss or something." Heracross dismissed. "I wouldn't worry about it."

Stunfisk chuckled. "Oi, the lots sure doesn't like being bugged." The Trap Pokémon teased.

"Oh hush now." Seel scolded. "Don't antagonize your allies, it'll make you look bad."

"He already looks like he was stepped on, I don't see how he can't get any worse." Yanma noted. "I can't even perch on him."

"Hmph." Stunfisk huffed annoyingly. Nearby, Raticate was laughing maniacally, with Trubbish belching.

Dereece grumbled as he looked down at the gameboard between him and Krabby. The River Crab Pokémon had been asking nonstop, leading to Dereece giving in first just to shut him up. "Gnnngh…" He moved another checkmark diagonally. "How about that?" He waited for Krabby to make a move, but the decisive crab casually picked up his own piece and skipped it over a tandem of Dereece's pieces until it reached the other side. Immediately Dereece's chances for victory fell to oblivion. "Oh…"

"King me!" Krabby cheered.

Dereece groaned annoyingly. "Beaten at a boardgame, by a crab no less…this world's really screwing me over."

"Oh lighten up man, it's not that bad." Joey nonchalantly shrugged, holding up a plastic fork for his small can of peaches. "It could be worse."

"How can it possibly be worse?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know? Dead and naked."

The blunt comment left Dereece with a long, irritable sigh. Once again, Joey – no matter how many faults there were in him – found a loophole. "Fair enough. Have you seen Kevin anywhere?"

"Huh?" Joey looked around the area, seeing no sight of Kevin beyond their little campsite. "That's weird. Wonder where he went off to?" He raised his brow as he thought of the liable options to go beyond the campgrounds. "Maybe he went to whiz or something. That's something I'd do."

Dereece nervously sweat dropped. 'Well, the Captain isn't wrong…' He cleared his throat. "Well, if you ask me, Kevin's probably finding reception or something. You know how bad his, uh…habits are."

"Hey! It's a good collection!" Joey defended. "Those bodies are primed for good reasons!"

"Oh~, can I see sometime?" Sewaddle cooed, overhearing from close by.

Joey, unsure of what Sewaddle's motives were, shrugged. "Kevin can look up whatever you want, I don't see why not."

Krabby scuttled up towards Sewaddle, holding up a checkered gameboard. "You wanna play?"

Sewaddle's expression brightened as he winked at Krabby. "Oh, I'd play with you~." He chimed.

"Oh god." Dereece groaned.


"C'mon, c'mon!" Kevin was flicking the holographic screen the size of a smartphone as he was trying to use his Search Magic. However, the magic's energy and signal was making it very hard to upload items he was trying to see. After minutes on end trying to upload for one picture, Kevin was stuck with the frame of an unknown curvy woman plastered on his Search Magic screen. He dismissed the whole thing entirely. "Of all the times for my magic to get slow, I don't even have a headache right now."

It was an uncommon theme for Kevin and his Search Magic to be worked up like this. While it was true of what Dereece surmised, Kevin wasn't without his own needs. His magic works well when he focuses, and he was focusing good. So having it slow like this without a headache was giving him a bad message.

"If my magic isn't working, then how am I supposed to ease my libi-er, I mean help those people." He shook his head, trying to stay on track. Ultimately he sighed and gave up. "Maybe it'll work better in the morning. Better get back I guess…"

Kevin turned back towards the campsite, but he ended up tripping and falling over a log.

"Gah!" He winced as he landed on something hard, feeling as hard as a rock. Thankfully his average weight didn't completely crush it. "Ow…" He rolled over, recovering from that fall. "Can't see a thing out here, sheesh…" A blue light started shimmering from beneath, grabbing his attention.

All his attention went towards the thing he fell on. It looked a lot like a blue egg-like rock. But instead, the blue egg glowed in place, flickering on and off like some kind of lamp.

Kevin narrowed his eyes as he leaned closer. The beguiling figment had a multi-cell-like frame. The way that it was embedded by roots gave it an appeal of some form of plant to Kevin. The Search Mage wasn't sure why, but something about this felt strange.

"What the…?" He got a little closer towards it, leering at the strange object, "Is this…an egg? Or a plant?" He tried reaching for it, very slowly in fact for caution. He used solemnly the index finger fir good measure. Hoping it wasn't poison ivy, it was for that reason.

His index finger poked it, sending a shock through him. "Ow! Sweet Arceus!" he swore. He held his finger as it stung. It reminded him the first time he tried shaking hands with Beedrill. "What the heck was…?" He opened his eyes, seeing the blue egg shine sapphire with his fingerprint on it. He watched the fingerprint outline the outside, his brow furrowing in wonder. "What in the world…?"

The egg's glow started diminishing, along with the fingerprint. Somehow he regretted that shred of curiosity.

"Yo, Kevin!"

Kevin nearly jumped at Joey's call from the campsite.

"You okay out there man?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" He hurried along, giving one last look at the figment. "That's just weird." He muttered before rushing for the campgrounds.

As Kevin rushed back towards the campsite, the forest life had gotten eerily silent. The crickets that were humming were brought to silence as Volbeat ceased flashing their lights as well. The odd shift in the dark forest was affecting the area as it left only the egg in a quiet void. The blue glow from the egg slowly returned, but Kevin's fingerprint was gone. Instead, inside, an odd, sapphire blob was in the center.


Later that night, the gang had finally settled down and the fire turned to a small ember, no doubt from the wood being all used up. Since they didn't come prepared with tents, they managed to make makeshift beds using leaf piles. Joey also used his coat for a comforter, and to keep his warmer. Strangely enough, he also had on a night mask so he could sleep soundly. The Pokémon were safely tucked in their Poke Balls and other capsules, leaving them sound asleep. While the trio masked with Repel and Trubbish' Stench, the protection allowed Kevin to sleep soundly…too soundly as he tossed towards his side. He smirked and chuckled in another one of his dreams, no doubt something perverted. As he slept, the sound footsteps drew closer, until a shadow loomed over his face. Kevin once again rolled away, ignoring the shadow. The shadow drew closer, until it all went black.


The first rays of the morning air shined brightly upon the eastern end of the island. The seas and the cool breeze added to a nice chirp by the Fletchling that signaled the light of new day.

Kevin slept soundly until he started stirring, the rays of morning slowly clearing his vision. He groaned as he didn't want to get up, but reality had other plans for him. "Gnnngh…" His vision was blurry for several minutes, leaving him no choice but to blink. "No…why'd it have to end like tha…?"

His eyes suddenly met with something mere inches from his face, causing him his heart to stop.

There, mere inches from him, there was a pretty little face, and it had silky fair skin. The creature had big eyes that matched his eye color, and her hair was also his color, only it was long, went down her back, and had a princess cut, only the side bangs were way longer. She had a simple baby purple dress with short sleeves.

She looked at Kevin curiously while Kevin laid there, processing what was happening. When it finally came to, a switch went off.

"AAAAHHHH!" His scream was so loud that it caused nearby birds to fly away.

Joey and Dereece shot up in fear, looking everywhere in worry. "Huh?! What?!" Dereece panicked.

"What's happening?! Is the pudding being raided again?!" Joey looked around, seeing Kevin sitting like a statue in bed. "Kevin, what's up!"

Kevin shakily pointed to the girl on his makeshift bed. "G-g-g-guys…" Joey and Dereece gathered around, seeing the girl with their own eyes. Suffice to say a little shocked would be an understatement.

"Uh, wh-what…?" Joey swallowed.

"How…where did she even…?" Dereece couldn't make sense of the words.

Kevin scooted out of bed, leaving the little girl to stare blankly at the Blue Pegasus mage as he stammered up to his feet. "Uh, c-can I help you?" he blinked.

The little girl blinked back, tilting her head at Kevin. She looked clueless as to what he said.

"Uh, is she listening to us?" Dereece asked.

"Forget that, she doesn't even look like she understands us." Joey gave her a raised brow. 'Is she deaf like me?'

The little girl looked at the three boys with wonder like a child. To them, she was like some homeless child, but extremely well groomed. The little girl looked towards Kevin, a strong but very awkward tension coming between the two. The older guy was staring blankly at the girl as her anxious gaze squared solemnly on him.

For some reason, Kevin felt a shiver down his spine. 'Wait, why she look a lot like…?'

The little girl squinted curiously before she blinked. Her expression turned emotionless as she gazed at Kevin with a hollow smile. "Good morning…Papa."

The three men stared, their eyes were dots. Altogether, only two words escaped their mouths as they blinked twice. "…say wha?"


Finally got the first chapter of the Astral Arc up, thank the ever-loving god (or me, you know I'm not too picky)! I'm not going to lie about this to you guys, but this was by far the hardest thing that I had to make. It took me two weeks to write this chapter, two weeks! Normally you guys who've known me know it's like a 5-7 day average, but this chapter, let alone this arc I planned, it's putting me through my paces. Slow paces.

So as you've guessed, it's covering 2 separate adventures in 1 arc. One side is Fairy Tail in Astral, and The Freaks (minus Duncan) having a mission on an unknown island. It's not that it'll be hard to write at all, it's just that after making this chapter and overviewing my plans and all, I'm gonna have to redo the plans and try to make it more accordingly. I was hoping for maybe 5-6 chapters, but with the rate that I'm going, I have no idea how this will go.

This brings me to something that's been aching me since my last Bakugan chapter, but it's clear that it's gotten way out of hand. I've undergone Writer's Block, but more importantly, my drive for writing had suddenly dropped drastically. The critical point being here made is that the chapter's plot wasn't hard, but my drive, I could barely get 2K a day, that's why it took me so long, because whenever I tried writing, I ended up spacing off until I have to go to work. It was so bad that I ended up binge watching anime with Quintessential Quintuplets and Cupid's Chocolates (which by the way are really good in my opinion), and few other anime to help me regain some inspiration. It's a very slow recovery, and odds are my next update won't be for a while. So for the time being, I'm gonna be taking a break from writing. I'm gonna try to get my focus back in order, but I think my brain's just worn out from YEARS of weekly updates. So I'll attempt to repair the plans, make revisions, and to help mend me away from writing, maybe do some art. I'm not too entirely sure, but it's clear that if I keep this up, I'd procrastinate each day until it takes like a month to get another full chapter written. I need my A-Game again.

Oh yeah, for Kevin's new Sewaddle, imagine his voice being Bryce from Family Guy.

So, I guess I'll be seeing you guys when I'm mentally ready again. Reviews and feedback are VERY appreciative! Let me know and share your thoughts on how I'm tackling the Astral Arc so far, and thank you all for being patient. Hope to see you guys around!