Lucy has decided that she needs to be on her toes, at her best, and keep giving it her best from now on. Now that Dark Emperor has figured out a way to give villains miraculous powers without giving them the actual miraculous, she needs to be ready for anything. That's just what she's doing as she's keeping herself in shape by jogging. As she ran through the streets of Paris, she soon saw an advertisement for the new alliance rings that Zeref is trying to sell. Stella did notice that Natsu was on it.
"I thought Natsu was done being a model." Stella said.
"He is. You're just seeing a computer image for the ad." Lucy said with her staring right at him.
"It looks so real, as real as your feelings for him." Stella said.
"What?!" Lucy said as she snapped out of it. "No! I told you that I'm done with that! Besides, it causes me nothing but more problems. It's been nothing but blinding. I lost the miraculous because of what I felt for Natsu. It's better this way." That's what she keeps saying, but Stella doesn't believe that.
"Excuse me! Over here!" Lucy looked ahead and was surprised to see Chapti with a cameraman coming to her. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"I suppose so." Lucy said.
"I am trying to gather people's thoughts about the latest development of Dark Emperor." Chapti said. "I'm hoping to put together a montage of people and turn it into something positive so that people aren't so scared."
"Oh! Well, it might be a little scary that Dark Emperor has most of the miraculous and is giving them to the villains he creates, but Celestria and Salamondra will be sure to stop him." Lucy said. "They've won all the other battles, so I'm sure they'll win this one."
"Thank you. The people I've talked to seem to think a little more negative since Dark Emperor's latest attacks." Chapti said. "That's why we need to try and bring some positivity around."
"I agree. Good luck." Lucy said as continued on with her run.
"He's got a point. People probably have shifted the way they think now that Dark Emperor seems to have all the power." Stella said.
"All the more reason I have to stay at my absolute best and can't afford distractions." Lucy said as she's trying her best to keep herself at the top of her game. As she kept running, she got a message from her mother. "Look like Mom wants me to pick up some paint for her next class. Hey! Ashely's family runs an arts and crafts store!"
"I thought Ashely was a writer like you." Stella said.
"She is, but art doesn't revolve around just paintings. Let's go see how she's doing." Lucy said.
...
Ashely's Family Store
Lucy added to her jog and ran all the way to the family store that Ashely's family owns. Lucy was able to arrive at the store, but she was a little surprised at what she saw. She spotted Ashely trying to wash off some paint that smeared the store's windows.
"Ashely!" Lucy called and got her attention and hurried over.
"Lucy!" Ashely said. "Did you run all the way here or something?"
"I was out for a jog when my mother asked me to grab some paint for her." Lucy said. "What happened to your store? Who did this?"
"Just some jerks." Ashely said as she tried to clean off the paint. Lucy felt bad and grabbed a sponge to help her out. "They knew about the comic Loke and I made, but they think that since Dark Emperor is more powerful that supporting Celestria is a waste. I've made it clear I support her no matter what, but some jerks think I'm being foolish."
"Wow... I thought people still believed in Celestria." Lucy said as she was starting to feel down on herself.
"Most of Paris still does, but people are starting to jump to conclusions and letting fear get the better of them." Ashely said as she and Lucy finished getting off the last of the pain. "There. That should do it."
"I'm sorry this happened." Lucy said.
"Don't be. People just aren't sure what to think lately because they're scared." Ashely said. "That's why we need to keep supporting Celestria and Salamondra so people will be less scared. Anyway, you said you came here to pick up some paint for your mother? Let me just see if we got the usual." She claimed as the two of them moved on inside and used her new ring. "Alliance, do we have any Vine Black and Poppy Red paint left in stock?" She asked with an A.I. Natsu appearing out of it.
"Your store currently holds six tubes of twelve-millimeter packs." Alliance said.
"Wow! You got one of those new alliance rings?" Lucy questioned.
"Yeah. Everyone is getting one." Ashely said. "It's incredible. It's got a phone, GPS, calendar, games, and more. Of course, you can't tell if you get Natsu or Teresa as the A.I.'s face, but you can customize it."
"Wow. It's like having the real Natsu on your finger." Lucy said.
"You want to try it?" Ashely questioned, but Lucy wasn't sure. Ashely removed the ring and gave it to Lucy. Lucy tried it on and kept staring at the A.I. Natsu. "I heard how he's no longer a model and that's because of you. You gave him the courage he needed to confront his controlling brother."
"Yeah... I guess I did help a little." Lucy bashfully admitted. "It's just that he wasn't happy. He just want didn't to do it anymore."
"But you gave him the courage he needed. You two are great for each other." Ashely said. "Maybe you should take your own advice and just tell him you like him.
"I don't!" Lucy shouted with Ashely getting a little spooked. "Sorry, but I rather not talk about it. Can I just get the order?"
"Sure. I'll be right back." Ashely said as she went to the back. Lucy needed some sort of distraction, but she soon got it when Ashely's alliance ring alerted her of trouble going on.
"Reports of a fire?!" Lucy said as she could see Celestria was needed. "Ashely, I'll be back! Do you mind if I try out the step counter with your ring?!"
"Sure! Give it a try!" Ashely said with Lucy hurrying out.
"Time to show the people I still have it. Stella, Twinkle!" Lucy transformed and hurried off to help with the fire.
...
Chapti
"Celestria? I don't know. If she's so good, why is it Dark Emperor has all the miraculous now? I don't want to get etheriouize. I would like to keep believing, but it looks so hard right now." Chapti was continuing his little job to try and find positive feedback to help support Celestria, but he's not having luck. People want to believe, but they're all a little worried.
"This isn't going the way I thought." Chapti said as he was starting to feel the misery himself. "Everyone is so scared and worried on what Dark Emperor is going to do next. What if Dark Emperor does win?" He was starting to get worried himself and letting negative thoughts get to him. "It is starting to look hard to be upbeat. If only there was a way to make people feel more at ease and happy." Ask and you shall soon receive.
...
Ashely
"Woo!" Lucy called as she acted like she was running the whole time she was gone.
"Let's see how well you did. I need to use it to help out around the store." Ashely said as she took her ring back and accessed the step counter.
"Ashely, you ran a total of a hundred and thirty-five kilometers in fifteen minutes. Excellent work!" Alliance said.
"What the heck?! Lucy, what did you do?!" Ashely said as she was stunned at the results. "Do you have superpowers or something?"
"What?! No! I'm just a normal girl with a normal life!" Lucy said, but was surprised herself that thing was tracking her movements.
"Yeah... You're right. Maybe I just didn't reset it and it just kept adding on." Ashely figured and fixed it. Good that Lucy bought it, but she now sees how having one of those could be a problem for her, but still isn't aware how dangerous those things really are.
...
Zeref
Those rings are more trouble to Lucy than she thinks. Her little mistake is going to cause serious problems. As Zeref was working on some designs, his own ring was alerting him about something. He went up to his lair, where all the kwamis are held in special cases, and had a look.
"Alliance, what is it?" Zeref said as the AI came up and resembled his father.
"Abnormal human readings detected. Data beyond normal human capabilities reading 135km covered with in a time frame of fifteen minutes." Alliance claimed. "Wielder of Alliance: Ashely Edolas."
"I remember her. I've etheriouized her before, but Celestria saved her." Zeref said as he thought that was suspicious. He gathered all the miraculous and placed them on to be ready. "Still this could be a clue that could lead me to her or Salamondra. Anka, Darkness Spread!" He transformed and now became Dark Emperor.
"Now, let's see if I can find someone to use." Dark Emperor said as he tried to find some negative emotions that were strong enough. He sensed them until he found Chapti. "I sense a poor soul that is beginning to lose hope and simply wants people to go back to being happy. That should work. Christina! Unify!" He called. Adding to his own power is the only way for the kwamis to pass through and now Christina's power is added to his own. Once he had her, he took an etherious and turned it into a mega etherious. "Voyage, my mega etherious!" He opened a portal and his etherious flew through there to ensure his etherious make it.
...
Chapti
Chapti sat on a bench and was wondering what he was going to do. Then, the mega etherious flew through the portal and went right into Chapti's microphone with his charm being destroyed. When his cameraman saw that, he just ran off.
"Dreamer, I am Dark Emperor. You see that people are beginning to lose hope and you are losing hope yourself."
"That's because of you." Chapti said.
"But I'm offering a way to make people happy, which is what you wanted." Dark Emperor said. "Breeze! Unify!" He called on for her power now, but had something else up his sleeve. "Transfer!" With the new rings, he's transferring the energy and power of the harpy miraculous straight to Chapti. "I am giving you the power of the harpy to trap others in wind. Combined with your powers, they will be trapped in their fantasies like they were dreaming. They'll be mesmerized, including Celestria and Salamondra. You can make everyone happy, and taking their miraculous means they can be happy. They're responsibilities prevent them from living their dreams. Be the one that frees them."
"Yes. I can free them all. I can send everyone to their happy place." Chapti said as he accepted Dark Emperor's power and became Dreamer once again.
...
Lucy
"Here's your mother's order, Lucy." Ashely claimed as she handed over the order.
"Thanks, Ashely." Lucy said as she was on her way. "I wish I brought my scooter. It's going to take forever to carry this home." She complained as she was on her way.
"Twister!" Lucy was surprised as she saw a staff twirl around the air and created a twister that was trapping people. She followed the staff until it was in Dreamer's hands again. One he got that, he used his actual powers and combined it with the wind. The twisters acted like cages to trap people, but combining his actual powers with them mesmerized everyone trapped inside into a dream-like state that had them think they were living their dreams.
"Dreamer's back?!" Lucy said.
"And it looks like he's using the harpy miraculous." Stella said. Lucy had to do something fast and hoped she could get a miraculous this time. As for Dreamer, he followed Dark Emperor's will. He went straight to Ashely's store and smashed the door open with Ashely scared that a villain is in her family store.
"Aren't you Dreamer?" Ashely questioned.
"I am, and could possibly be your worst nightmare. Tell the truth and admit that you have a connection to Celestria!" Dreamer said.
"What? What are you talking about?" Ashely questioned.
"Playing clever won't help you. Once I see what you desire the most, it will surely reveal something about you and Celestria." Dreamer said as he was getting ready to attack her, but that was when the real Celestria came in. She used her whip and pulled Dreamer out of there with Ashely running for a place to hide.
"I heard you were looking for me." Celestria said.
"It looks like Dark Emperor was right. That girl has a connection to you, doesn't she?" Dreamer accused.
"What? Why would Dark Emperor think that girl has anything to do with me?" Celestria questioned.
"I don't know, but I'm sure the truth will come out once you give me your miraculous!" Dreamer said as he started firing shots at her to put her under his spell, but she twirled her whip around and was blocking each blast. She might be able to hold him off, but she's going to need help.
...
Natsu
Natsu was playing around with the ring himself, but he wasn't sure he even liked those things.
"What's wrong?" Igneel asked.
"I told Zeref I'm done modeling, but these things with my face..." Natsu complained as he wasn't sure he liked it. Just then, the news came on and was alerting him about another attack with a live feed of Celestria fighting Dreamer. "Dreamer's back?! That could be a problem." He said as it was time to act. "Igneel, Fire Up!"
...
Celestria
Celestria was having a hard time against Dreamer. He wouldn't stay still and she can't get close enough without the risk of getting hit. If that happens, she could be left vulnerable for Dreamer to take her miraculous. Celestria tried keeping her distance as she ran along the rooftops, but Dreamer chased after her.
"You can't run from your dreams, Celestria! It's okay to dream!" Dreamer called as he kept shooting at her.
"Not when it's daydreaming in the middle of something important!" Celestria claimed as she was doing her best to avoid his attacks.
"Time for a wake-up call!" Salamondra showed up just in time as he came down from above and tried to strike Dreamer with his staff, but Dreamer jumped out of the way in time.
"Thanks, Salamondra." Celestria said as she jumped down and landed near him. "Careful. He has the miraculous powers of the harpy. He'll use the twisters to trap us and will combine it with his own powers. We could end up trapped in our own dreams."
"No worries. We'll wake him up from this nightmare first." Salamondra said as he went on the attack with the two of them fighting with their staffs.
"The etherious has to be in his staff like last time. We just need to get it from him. Open the Celestial Gate!" Celestria called on her powers and ended up getting an alarm clock with the libra sign on it. "A libra alarm clock? How is this going to help?" She looked around tried to find how she can use it, but she couldn't see it anywhere. "I can't find how to use it."
"I've got this! Just focus on coming up with a plan!" Salamondra said as he tried to fight off Dreamer.
"Your miraculous might give you great powers, but the responsibility that comes with it must cause the two of you to sacrifice your happiness, right? You can't be with your love, Salamondra, and Celestria lost the miraculous." Dreamer said as it seemed like he hit the nail on the head with them. "I can fix that." He twirled around and gave Salamondra a strong kick that knocked him right into Celestria. "Twister!" He used the miraculous powers and the twister was formed with the two heroes being trapped in a cage of wind.
"Oh no!" Celestria said as she knew what was coming next. Dreamer fired another magic blast and it hit their prison and soon the two of them were surrounded by colors and lights with them ending up in a mixture of their own dreams. This left them completely vulnerable for Dreamer to take their miraculous, but then the alarm clock started ringing to wake them up. Will they be able to hear it before it's too late?
...
The Dream
In the combined dream the two of them were having the two of them finally managed to defeat Dark Emperor and get all the miraculous back. They even believe they managed to claim his own miraculous.
"We finally did it. We finally defeated Dark Emperor!" Salamondra cheered.
"We really did!" Celestria said as she hugged him to his surprise. In their minds, nothing can really stop them. Their dreams are mixed together and they aren't aware of what's really going on. They think it's all real and the two of them are so happy. Since they believe Dark Emperor is finally defeated, Celestria returned the feelings and apparently kissed Salamondra. Next thing they knew, the two of them were celebrating their wedding with all their hero friends cheering for them. Then, Celestria tossed the bouquet in the air.
"I got it!" Titania and Sylph called, but they both ended up catching a ringing alarm clock that annoyed everyone.
"Turn that thing off!" Celestria called as she still didn't get it. As the two of them were dreaming, Dreamer was moving closer and closer to steal their miraculous. Then, the next thing in the dream was that they were saving Paris from attacking alarm clocks...with the two heroes having a daughter. "Salamondra, don't try to use your Dragon Fire on the bottle again."
"Last time was just an experiment. Besides, I said we should have left our precious angel with your parents." Salamondra said.
"It's on the way." Celestria said. They still don't see that the clocks are meant to wake them up. Dreamer was moving closer and closer as he could just about grab Celestria's miraculous. As for the next part of the dream, the two of them believed they were on a tropical island with their child and they felt like they were a happy family, almost like everything they ever wanted was right with them.
"It feels so nice. I wish this could go on forever." Salamondra said as he rested his head on Celestria's lap and held their child. Even Celestria felt so happy. Of course, another alarm clock appearing was ruining the mood.
"What is with all these alarm clocks that won't shut up?" Celestria complained.
"Just ignore it." Salamondra said as he felt so relaxed.
"But why do they?" Celestria looked at the clock for answers until she saw the libra sign on it. Soon, more and more of them started to appear and it was all starting to come to her, remembering what happened. "This is all a dream!"
"A dream come true." Salamondra said as he still wasn't getting it.
"No, Salamondra. None of this is real." Celestria said. "Dreamer trapped us in a dream. It's not real. It's not real. It's not real." She said as she tried to resist the temptation of what the dream was offering and accept that the happiness around her isn't real and it all began to fade away.
...
Reality
Dreamer was about to take Celestria's miraculous, but Celestria snapped out of the trance and grabbed him by the arm. When she did that, she threw him as hard as she could right through the twister. Not only did it break that, but it also broke the spell over Salamondra and he soon realized that living his greatest dream was nothing more than a fantasy. It all felt so real, almost too real, and felt so good. Now that he saw it was all a lie, he turned to Dreamer and was greatly enraged.
"You're going to pay for that!" Salamondra shouted as he charged right at Dreamer and smashed his staff against him as hard as he could. Not only did that hurt, but he pinned Dreamer down and planned to truly finish it. "Dragon Fire!" Salamondra was so enraged that he attempted to use the Dragon Fire right on Dreamer.
"Salamondra, no! His staff!" Celestria called to stop him from doing something crazy. Salamondra wanted to hurt him so badly, but he gained enough common sense to grab the staff and destroyed it with the mega etherious flying out. Not having the energy after what happened, Celestria just used her whip and caught it with Dreamer becoming Chapti again.
"What just happened?" Chapti questioned.
"You were etheriouized again..." Celestria said as both she and Salamondra were mentally and emotionally depressed after what happened. "Where's the harpy miraculous?" She searched around for it, but nothing. Another thing for them to be upset about. "Miraculous Starlight..." Celestria just normally threw the clock in the air and restored everything to normal in Paris. All Celestria did now was make another charm and gave it to Chapti. "Chapti, just hold on tp this to remind you that negative emotions can get the better of us."
"Thank you." Chapti said. "I was starting to feel it when I tried spreading positivity, but I promise I'll try harder." They're both glad to hear that, but the two heroes could really use that right about now.
...
Dark Emperor
"Darn! I can't believe they escaped from what they desired the most!" Dark Emperor complained. "Well, I intend to make my desires reality! You two can't escape!"
...
Lucy
"Here's your paint, Mom. Sorry it took a while." Lucy said as she returned home and brought her mother the paint she needed.
"Thanks, Honey." Layla said. "By the way, I got you something. Everyone is getting one, but I managed to get one myself." She said as she handed her a box. Lucy opened it up and it was another alliance ring.
"Thanks, Mom, but I don't think rings are really for me." Lucy said as she gave it back. "You'll probably get more use out of it than I will."
"Are you sure?" Layla asked.
"I am." Lucy said as she went up stairs and really just wanted the day to be over.
"Why did you refuse it, Lucy?" Stella said.
"Ashely almost found out I was Celestria because of that." Lucy said. "It's too risky to have one of those things. I'll make do without it." She claimed. She's right, even if she isn't aware of the full dangerous it is. There was also one other problem bugging her now.
...
Celestria and Salamondra
"Celestria, Chapti had the miraculous powers of the harpy, but why didn't we find it?" Salamondra questioned as the two sat together and watched the sun set.
"I don't know. He's clearly figure out a trick or something." Celestria said. The two of them just sat there, but it was awkward between the two of them after the dream...and heartbreaking for some reason.
"What about that dream we had?" Salamondra questioned. "We both had the same one, didn't we? Married, with a kid, and the...joy..."
"We did." Celestria said. "It felt real, but it wasn't. Dark Emperor must have somehow...caused it to happen. It was all nothing more than an illusion to trick us."
"Yeah... That's probably all it was..." Salamondra agreed. The truth was that the dream revealed what both of them wanted, but it makes no sense since they don't know the other's identity. That dream could have ended up causing a shift between the two of them.