Author's Note:

Hello all! Happy Easter, for everyone who celebrates it!

I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the major plot twist. XD

As always, HUGE thanks to my amazing reviewers! Big hugs and kisses to: Natsulover89 and SistershoOk!

Well! Let's get on with the show and see what we have in store today!


"Good morning, Zeref," Lucy said to their host as she sat down at the table where they'd taken to having their meals every day.

Zeref looked up from his book and replied, "Good morning. I hope you two slept well."

"Yup!" Natsu's response was only half-word, and the rest was an unintelligible yawn – which made Lucy snort in amusement and roll her eyes.

They'd been at his brother's castle for only a handful of days, but somehow they'd already become very comfortable here. Partly, that might be because Zeref's quiet and reserved attitude (paired with the penchant for always having his nose stuck in a book) reminded her a little of Levy.

At one point, she'd asked Natsu if his brother had always been like that, and her boyfriend had replied, "Yep! He's always been a huge bookworm."

It had made Lucy wonder if that was part of why he'd delved so deeply into forbidden and lost magic… the mind of a genius researcher was dangerous once it'd been damaged with grief. She had actually tried to imagine what Levy would be like if she went crazy, but it had been such a terrifying thought that she'd almost immediately dismissed it and prayed that it never happened.

Whatever the case, Lucy was just grateful that they all got along so well. She and Zeref had hit it off right away over their mutual love of books (much like she'd done with Levy), and to her relief, he and Natsu also seemed to really bond. Things had been a little tense between them for the first few days, but in true Natsu fashion, he apparently forgave Zeref fairly quickly.

Since she hadn't been around when they were children, she didn't know if they'd completely gone back to how things had been before, but to her at least, they seemed to relate in a very brotherly and relaxed way now.

Case in point, Natsu had let his guard down completely, and rather than sharp, alert eyes – like he'd had for the first few days – his gaze was lethargic and still half-asleep. While he yawned for a second time, Lucy addressed his brother. "So, have you already had breakfast?"

The dark mage nodded, but someone else answered verbally.

"Yes, we have pancakes, crepes, and a fruit medley for breakfast this morning," Invel replied from behind them, and Lucy jumped a little – still not used to how he could sneak up on you so quickly.

Natsu, on the other hand, didn't get startled at all and quickly replied, "Awesome! Sounds tasty!" His posture and attitude immediately woke up at the promise of food.

"It's of the highest quality," the polite bluenette assured them.

As if on cue, a servant rolled out a silver food cart and placed piping hot plates of waffles, pancakes, and fruit in front of the two of them.

"Woah! This looks great! Thanks for the food!" Natsu enthused and dug in.

Lucy also politely agreed and thanked the servers before they left.

"I hope you find it to your satisfaction," Invel commented, and she quickly nodded.

"Yes, it's delicious, as always."

To be honest, she still wasn't entirely sure what Invel's actual job description was… but it seemed to be something along the lines of 'head butler' or possibly even 'manager of domestic affairs'… and probably 'advisor' on top of everything else. What was very clear was that he was always there when you needed him, and he always knew absolutely everything that happened within the castle.

She and Natsu had met him on their first day here. In fact, the second they arrived – via Zeref's slightly dizzying teleportation spell – he had been waiting for them right there in the entryway hall.

"Welcome to Alvarez Castle, Lady Lucy of Fairy Tail and Prince Natsu Dragneel. It's a pleasure to meet you both. I am Invel Yura… if you need anything at all during your stay here, please, don't hesitate to ask me."

The polite and slightly grandiose 'hello' had taken them both slightly by surprise – which Natsu naturally got over first.

He'd replied with, "Nice to meet ya too, Intel!" and Lucy had groaned and whispered, "His name is Invel! With a 'V!'"

That had quickly devolved into a whispered argument that apparently amused Zeref… unless she'd completely imagined his quiet chuckles in the background.

He'd eventually interrupted them by asking, "Why don't we all go to the dining room and have lunch. I would love to treat you two to something nice before we get down to business."

"Sounds good to me!" Natsu had responded immediately, and Lucy gave up on him for the time being with a sigh.

They'd all followed Zeref through the surprisingly beautiful castle to a fairly small and intimate dining room. For a castle, Lucy had expected something larger and fancier with a long table full of unused space – which she definitely would have found a little excessive and cold. So, it was a pleasant surprise.

"This is my private dining room. I assumed that the formal dining room would be a little grandiose for just the three of us," Zeref explained as they entered, and for the first time, she had realized that they might have more in common than she'd originally thought.

Invel had stayed hovering somewhere in the background as servers brought out lunch for them. It was a delicious meal of grilled chicken drizzled with some sort of sweet sauce, a leafy salad with fruit, a cold beet soup that was surprisingly tasty, and fresh baked bread.

At first, as they ate, the atmosphere had been slightly tense and awkward, but Natsu broke that with his usual ease.

"Looks like you've done a great job cleaning up the place," he said with a smile that was only slightly smaller than his typical ones.

"Thank you. It took a while to repair all the damage and return things to the way they were."

"I'll bet. And it's good to see people here again. I was kinda wondering if you were still living alone."

"Yes, well… somehow I gained a number of faithful servants and followers over the years."

"Oh yeah? Most've the ones I remember were kinda cultish and crazy."

Zeref sighed and shook his head with a small groan. "True. I did seem to attract a certain 'type' during my dark period. I'm still having to hunt down groups of zealots who commit crimes in the name of 'Zeref'… or 'the dark lord' or whatever it is that they call me. It's been extremely annoying."

"Ha! I'll bet. But hey, it's good that ya got some friends now."

"Most of them aren't exactly 'friends'…. Though I would consider my closest advisors that way. But the large majority are more along the lines of subordinates who respect my leadership. Since regaining my sanity, I've done my best to rule the empire I built in a benevolent way."

"I can attest to the fact that you have, and all of your people are happy to be under your rulership," Invel added into the conversation, and Zeref nodded at him.

"Thank you, Invel."

After that, the two brothers had continued to talk about how things were… with Zeref, the castle, the people, and the surrounding lands where Natsu had grown up.

From what Lucy gathered, it sounded like all the villagers had moved away from this kingdom (which had originally been fairly small) after Zeref went crazy. When Natsu asked if any had moved back, Zeref replied that some had, but most stayed in neighboring regions of the empire. However, other people had come to live here, and the original village had apparently grown into a much larger city.

"I'll have to go check it out," Natsu said, looking excited.

It really was incredible how nothing seemed to faze him. If it had been her, she wouldn't know how to feel about her hometown completely changing. Obviously, she was always hopeful that the slums would be rebuilt and upgraded and that her home kingdom would be revitalized, but she couldn't imagine everything being completely… overwritten like that.

It seemed like something that should come as a shock, but Natsu took it in stride. On the other hand, though, Zeref DID manage to surprise them both a few minutes later when he said, "Incidentally, speaking of the original villagers, I saw Lisanna not too long ago."

Both Natsu and Lucy nearly spat out the food they'd put into their mouths in surprise.

"What?! Lisanna came all the way back here?!"

"It surprised me as well. I met her by chance wandering around the castle city."

"Wow… so, uh… how'd she seem? Was she doing okay? Is she still here?"

Natsu's barrage of questions didn't both Zeref, but Lucy could see his eyebrow cock up slightly in an intrigued sort of way.

"She was doing well, and no, she didn't stay for very long. At the moment, she's in the region of Vereksha."

"Ah… I'm glad she seemed okay. Did she say anything?"

That eyebrow quirked even higher, and Zeref questioned back, "Like what exactly?"

"Well… like, what she's been up to… or what she's doing next… or when she's going back home… that kinda stuff."

"From what she said, it sounded like she was on a mission of self-discovery through travel. When we met, she actually seemed to be at a loss of where to go next, so I suggested she travel around the empire and see all the different regions, which she agreed sounded like a good idea."

"Ah… cool. So, how do ya know she's in Vereksha?"

"Naturally, I told a variety of people throughout the empire to keep an eye out for her and make sure she was safe and well. I also gave her some money for the trip, though it took a while to convince her to accept it. Ajeel – the king of Vereksha – let me know when she arrived in his territory."

When Natsu just grunted and nodded but didn't say anything else, Lucy felt it was safe to ask, "You said, 'king' of Vereksha? So then, does that mean she's left the Alvarez empire?"

"No, no. That is a territory within the Alverez Empire. It used to be its own kingdom of course, and I've allowed them to keep their royal family, since they cooperated with my demands. Therefore, they still have their 'king,' but of course he defers to me. Ajeel does a good job though, so I generally don't have to interfere with them."

"Ah… I see. Thank you for explaining it."

"Not a problem," Zeref replied, and they continued to eat their lunch and visit about other things after that.

Once the food had been cleared away though, the topic of conversation changed to business. And Lucy was certainly impressed when Zeref opened with, "First things first; I believe these belong to you."

He pulled an ominous black box seemingly out of nowhere and laid it on the table in front of him. A servant hurried to grab it and place it in front of Lucy. Obviously, she knew what it was… but just looking at the container made her skin crawl, and she hesitated to touch it, even though she desperately wanted to free the keys inside. The outside was covered in black magic script that crawled over it as though it was alive – looking disturbingly like unending centipedes skittering across the surface. She could feel the dark magic coming off of it in waves, and every one of her magic senses went on high alert as pins and needles shot down her arms.

Still, she had to open it, and she was in the process of reaching towards the lid when Zeref luckily took over.

He must have noticed her reaction, because he quickly interjected, "Oh, I'm sorry. That magic might not be good for you, considering that you're a celestial mage. Here, let me take care of it for you."

With a wave of his hand, a waft of darkness zipped across the table, and the lid of the box popped open to showcase all eight missing golden keys.

"Thanks… that helps," she murmured, and took a deep breath to steel herself.

Even just reaching into the box was unpleasant… like she was putting her fingers into a freezer that stung her skin, and she spent as little time as possible scooping up the keys. They were all cold as well, but as soon as she pulled them out of the box, every single one of them lit up like a beacon in her hand and vibrated to life.

A blast of intense magical power threw everyone but Lucy out of their chairs and across the room, flipped the table over completely, and created an explosion of light so powerful that it felt as though a miniature sun had been birthed in the middle of the dining room.

As for her, bonding with multiple keys at once was just as extreme and very nearly painful as the magic from all the keys pulsed through her simultaneously. It was like eight new heartbeats had taken up residence inside her body – each with a different rhythm. They warmed up in her hands, coming back to life as she held them, and while the bonding magic battered away at her, there was also an immense drain on her own reserves. The keys were sucking it out of her at an alarming rate.

She was alright with that though and gave her magic to them freely, knowing that they'd been deprived of celestial magic in who-knows-how-long….

The only issue was the fact that she only had so much magic to give, and soon it was fairly obvious that they needed more than she currently possessed. Just like the last time she'd drained herself to the very last drop, she could feel herself start to get lightheaded… then nauseous… and dizzy… and her vision began to dim.

She was really starting to panic a little and wonder what would happen, when another flash of light appeared, and Leo manifested behind her.

"Woah there, Lucy. Let me help out…." he said, catching her as she fell backwards.

"Oh… Leo… hi. Thanks…."

"No problem."

He let her lean against him and wrapped his arms around her waist so he could cup his hands over hers. Warmth and even more light flooded their joint hands as his magic united with hers in feeding the keys, and she felt some of her strength return.

With Leo's help, they were able to fully revitalize the keys, and then – finally – the whirlwind of magic died down, leaving the leonine spirit and Lucy standing in the middle of a practically destroyed room.

"Luce! You okay?!" Natsu yelled, immediately running over to her as soon as the explosive energy abated.

"Yeah… thanks to Leo."

"Sheesh! That was crazy! What the heck happened, do ya think?"

"I probably should have expected that and been a little more careful…. There's always a burst of magic when I first pick up a key, but I didn't realize that if I picked up multiple keys at once, the magical output would multiply. I'm so sorry for destroying the room… I'll help clean it up."

"Don't worry. This is nothing compared to some of the unexpected results I've managed to accomplish," Zeref waved it off with a shrug.

Even Invel seemed completely unruffled as he stood and neatly straightened his long navy coat. "Yes. Do not concern yourself with this. We'll have it cleaned up in no time."

Lucy protested a little longer, but nobody would listen, so she eventually just accepted it.

While Invel and his assistants began whipping the room back into shape at a shockingly fast pace, Leo squeezed Lucy's shoulders and turned her around so that he could address her. "And now it's my turn to apologize. It's my fault that your magic was almost completely sucked dry. I didn't know that the keys would sap your magic like that as soon as you freed them… and it nearly resulted in you getting hurt. I should have warned you or realized what was happening sooner and come to help."

"But you did realize what was going on, and you saved me before anything bad happened. So don't beat yourself up over it… I'm just glad that we were able to free those spirits."

Leo apologized one more time before he let it drop, and Lucy thought to herself that it was a little ironic how quickly her role had been reversed – suddenly doing the soothing instead of being soothed.

Once the apologies were over, Zeref stepped into the lull in their conversation and asked, "By any chance, is he one of your celestial spirits?"

"Oh, right! Yes, let me introduce you. Zeref, this is Leo the Lion. And Leo, this is Zeref… he's uh… well, he's the dark mage that was holding all of the keys prisoner. Though, he didn't realize that he was actually hurting any of the spirits by doing it, so…."

Leo still obviously wasn't overly impressed with him, and he confronted the dark mage in a way that reminded everyone he wasn't human. His body suddenly grew and shifted until he'd taken on his true, massive feline shape, and the glowing celestial tattoos rippled across his majestic fur as he tensed aggressively.

Just in case that didn't do the trick, a wave of intense magical pressure pulsed out of him – exerting weight on them all, but especially focusing on Zeref.

"Lucy, have you forgiven this man?" he asked her in a deep booming voice that echoed with magic.

Knowing that something serious was about to happen, she assumed that she had better answer carefully. On the one hand, it was risky to say that she'd forgiven Zeref…. There was a chance doing so would make her an accomplice of his, and she might have her rights as a celestial mage stripped from her. On the other hand, if she didn't say something on his behalf, there was a good chance Leo was about to eat the dark mage.

So, after a moment to think, she took a deep breath and cautiously replied, "I don't condone his crimes against the celestial realm. However, I do understand his reasons for doing it, and I believe him when he says that he didn't know he was harming the spirits with his dark magic. So, I'm willing to give him a second chance… on the condition that he promises to never do it again, of course."

Leo nodded at her answer. "I see. Then, in that case…"

He turned his glowing eyes onto Zeref and declared, "What you did is an unforgivable crime in the celestial realm. Stealing a key from a temple is forbidden and punishable by death. However, if my mage has decided to pardon you, then I will trust her judgement and let your transgression slide… just this once. But know that you are now beholden to her. If you betray her trust in ANY way, then her pardon will be null and void, and the heavens will enact their retribution."

There was a bright flash and boom, almost as though lightning had struck, and a snap of magic lashed across Zeref's shoulder, knocking him back. It was amazing that he somehow managed to stay on his feet, but even the stoic dark mage cringed slightly as the magic hit him.

A mark, seeming to be a small magic circle of some sort, glowed hotly for a moment on his skin – which was now exposed because a hole had been burnt in his clothes where it struck. The light emitting from it died down shortly after, leaving a red and angry looking brand.

"You have been marked. We of the celestial tribe can now find you wherever you go."

The booming, eerie tone of Leo's voice died back down to its normal pitch, and a lot of the seriousness also left it as he added, "So mind your P's and Q's and stay on Lucy's good side, or your goose is cooked. Capeesh?"

To his credit, Zeref took all of that in stride and nodded solemnly. "Considering my crime, that seems fair."

"Excellent. I'm glad you see the light," Leo chuckled, and Lucy wondered if he'd intentionally made a pun on his light magic.

After that, the lion spirit said his goodbyes – with a very sandpapery kiss to Lucy's cheek that she wasn't entirely sure she appreciated – and then he disappeared.

Once he was gone, Natsu whistled through his teeth and said, "Whooo! Man, that was a close one!"

"Indeed," Zeref replied simply… and much to Lucy's relief, that was the end of that. She was extremely glad that the keys were all safe now, and the entire incident had passed without anyone getting hurt.

There was a slightly awkward pause as the servants continued filing in and out in their efforts to clean up the destroyed dining room, and she felt another twinge of guilt at the mess she'd made.

Without missing a beat, Zeref suggested, "Why don't we all adjourn to my work room and start discussing what our next steps will be?" and Lucy quickly agreed – wanting to flee the scene of the crime.

As they left, she slipped the eight keys she'd just acquired onto her celestial chain… where they could continue to recover, and she wouldn't have to worry about them. That distracted her slightly, and she had to put a little extra pep in her step to catch up with the two men as they strode through the halls towards Zeref's workroom. Both of them had set a quick pace. Natsu's came from being an energizer bunny… while his brother's stride was the purposeful, practiced march of someone who always had a massive to-do list.

Even so, it took them several minutes before they arrived at a gigantic library – which immediately had Lucy's eyes bulging out of her head with awe and lust. Enormous bookshelves sat in rows and lined the walls, so tall that they needed ladders to reach the tops. The balconies to two other floors looked out over the central room, and she could see even more bookshelves beyond the railings.

It was by far the largest collection of books she'd ever seen. Even Fairy Tail's library didn't compare.

"Wow… this is incredible!"

"Thank you. Feel free to use it as much as you wish… even after your mission with me is complete," Zeref replied, and Lucy almost passed out with joy.

"Really?! Thank you!"

They didn't stop long enough for her to peruse though. Instead, he continued leading them past several rows of shelves into a dark, hard-to-reach corner of the library. Once there, he climbed the ladder and took several books off the top shelf. Lucy vaguely heard him mumble something, and then it looked like he pressed his hand to the back of the bookshelf, but from her perspective below, she couldn't see what exactly he'd done.

There was a dark glow, before suddenly the bookshelf slid sideways – with Zeref still on it – and Lucy was caught between the desire to gape and an urge to chuckle. A secret passage behind a moving bookcase was so cliché, but somehow, the dark mage had still made it impressive.

Natsu obviously agreed, because he immediately exclaimed, "Woah! That's awesome!"

"It's just a necessary precaution," Zeref said with a shrug as he stepped off the ladder. "There are too many dangerous items stored in my workroom for it to be easy to access. I retired the room I used to use – which you were familiar with, Natsu – once I realized how unsafe it was."

"Makes sense!"

Lucy nodded in agreement, and they both followed the dark mage into his hidden passageway. Naturally, the bookshelf slid closed behind them, but light blue crystal lanterns immediately flared to life along the walls – giving them plenty of light to see by.

Soon, the passageway turned into a seemingly unending downward staircase, until finally, they came to a thick looking door without any sort of handle or way to open it. However, as soon as Zeref muttered mysteriously again, a large magic circle popped up out of nowhere, spiraling out from the center of the door. He placed his hand in the middle of the circle, and it flared dark purple before swinging open to let them through.

The door shut behind them as they entered the truly enormous room beyond it. More of the crystal lanterns flickered on, lighting up a space that was probably at least four times the size of the library… though probably even larger than that. In fact, another library, nearly the same size as the one above, only took up one corner of the room.

There were two other distinct sections that she could identify. The first was a portion that seemed to be mainly storage – consisting of shelves with labeled boxes and drawers as well as large, stacked crates. And the other was a large work area that gave off the combined vibes of a mad scientist, genius inventor, and a magic researcher. Part of it was a lab full of beakers and chemicals and bubbling potions, and another area had all sorts of inventions and machines and magical-looking doodads. Massive blackboards covered in scribbles and diagrams were scattered throughout.

More blackboards stood in another work area off to the side of the library, which had tables stacked high with books and papers.

Her ogling was interrupted by Zeref as he asked her, "Would you like a recovery potion? It will replace the magic you lost and help relieve any fatigue or lingering physical aftereffects."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you!" Lucy replied immediately, still feeling exhausted and slightly dizzy.

"This place sure brings back memories. Looks like the other one you used… but a lot nicer… and feels a lot better too," Natsu commented as they walked over to one of the storage shelves.

"I'd imagine so."

The dark mage didn't say anything else. He just quietly pulled a drawer out of the shelf – which turned out to be full of neatly lined-up potion bottles.

He grabbed one and handed it to Lucy, and after another quick thanks, she downed it in a single gulp. As usual for a potion, the taste wasn't fantastic… but it actually wasn't as bad as she'd expected. Compared to Cana's or Wendy's potions, this one was almost pleasant. It also immediately made her feel ten times better; so the fact that it didn't taste like shit was doubly impressive. Typically, the more powerful a potion's effects were, the worse it tasted.

"Hm!" she hummed in surprise and looked at the empty bottle with surprise. "This didn't taste too bad."

"That's because I added Luevarian. I discovered a while back that it can be added to almost any potion, and it simultaneously increases the potion's potency and makes the taste more tolerable."

"Really? I'll bet our healer back at Fairy Tail would love to know about this…."

"Yeah!" Natsu laughed. "Whenever someone gags after taking one of Wendy's potions, she always looks like she's gonna cry and apologizes like crazy."

"I mean, she just hates seeing people suffer."

"Your healer sounds like a very kind person," Zeref commented. "If she would like, I'd be happy to share my research with her… or anyone else from your guild for that matter. Though obviously, there is some research that I would never share with anyone."

"Really?! Thank you so much! Of course, I completely understand that there're some things you wouldn't be able to give us access to… and we likely wouldn't want to look into that research too deeply, anyways. But whatever you are willing to share would be amazing! I can't wait to tell Wendy and Levy… they'll be so excited!" Lucy enthused and thanked him again several times over.

After another minute or two of discussion on that topic, their conversation then changed to the one that they'd come here for in the first place.

"Well, if you're feeling up to it now, would you like to talk about the training I have in mind for you?"

"Yes! Absolutely! That potion has me feeling as good as new."

"Uh-huh…" Natsu also agreed with a laugh, but there was an edge to the way he eyed Zeref as he added, "Let's hear what you've got. But it better not be anything too crazy…."

"Of course. We will proceed with the utmost care," Zeref reassured him and then turned to Lucy. "Before we do anything, I'll make sure to fully inform you of any risks, and it will be entirely your choice whether to proceed or not."

She nodded, disturbingly reminded of a few things Natsu had said in a completely different situation, but she pushed that ridiculous stray thought out of her head before she could get flustered. "Alright. So, what do you have in mind?"

"First of all, let me explain the process of taking on a spirit's power…."

He walked over to the research area next to the bookshelves and picked up a stack of papers that had been set aside on one of the tables. "These document all of the information I've been able to find thus far on the topic of 'second release.' You're welcome to read them if you'd like."

"Thanks," she agreed, taking them when he offered the pile to her.

"To start with, though, I'll just explain the cliff notes…."

So saying, he launched into a lengthy explanation. It took a while to go over all the basics, but Lucy was very glad that he had… considering how involved and complicated the process turned out to be.

Essentially, to learn the technique (which apparently wasn't only called a 'second release' but also had many other names… such as 'taking on the guise of a spirit') she would probably have to go back to that spirit's realm and ask them for their 'spirit dress' or 'guise.'

If they agreed, there was a good chance that she'd have to either go through another test or else train under them before they would give her more power, and she cringed at the thought. There were certain spirits that she definitely wasn't looking forward to dealing with again in that way… like Aquarius for example. She loved the mermaid spirit, but her trial had been murder.

Although, she was sure that Aquarius's guise would be insanely powerful, and she mentally sucked it up and prepared herself for it. Because, assuming that she succeeded and had enough magic power and tolerance to handle the guise, Lucy would then be able to use it whenever she wanted, and there was no doubt it would be necessary to gather as many trump cards as possible for the upcoming battle.

Which brought them to step number one of her training. Before she could even attempt to learn how to embody a spirit, Zeref told her that first she'd need to increase her magic input and output by a lot.

As far as he'd been able to figure out, the long and the short of it was that she would have to channel enormous amounts of her magic into the guise to summon and maintain it, while the guise would channel the spirit's power into her. However, it was a one-way circuit, because she wouldn't be able to use the spirit's power to maintain the guise.

So, the plan Zeref suggested had three steps to it. The first one would be to increase her magic input and output. Secondly, she would go to the celestial realm and acquire the spirits' guises – as well as maybe form bonds with some of the new keys. Then, the final step consisted of training to master her new abilities.

"Alright… that makes sense," she agreed after he'd finished his explanation. "But how are we going to increase my magic?"

"There are several ways we can do that. I have a variety of amulets and artifacts that will slowly increase your magic over time, and for a more immediate result, I can cast an ancient spell on you that will drastically increase your magical capacity. It's extremely effective… but also extremely painful. I'd recommend both, but of course it's entirely up to you."

"Um… how long would it take to cast?"

"If you're asking how long the pain will last, the answer is several hours. For me, it took five before the pain finally wore off."

"So, you cast it on yourself?"

"Twice, though it was only really affective the first time. Not much happened the second."

"I see…."

It sounded horrible, and she wasn't entirely sure whether to accept or not. On the other hand, Natsu didn't think twice before he asked, "Can I do it too?"

Zeref didn't even seem mildly surprised by his little brother's question – which, Lucy supposed, she shouldn't be either. It was a very Natsu-like thing to jump into something like this headfirst.

"Of course."

"Then, I'm in! I wanna get stronger too!"

With Natsu on board, it was easier for Lucy to also make up her mind, and she eventually agreed to it as well.

Days later, she was definitely happy with that decision, because it had increased her magic exponentially. However, at the time, she'd immediately regretted it the instant Zeref's spell took hold. Lines of glowing, crimson runes spiraled all over her body as though binding her, and she fell to the floor along with Natsu as they both succumbed to mind-numbing pain.

It felt like she'd been bound with white-hot chains and dragged into the fires of hell… every inch of her body was searing with agony, and she could only imagine Natsu felt the same as they both took turns gritting their teeth, yelling, and screaming. Curses soon joined the cue, and their unplanned orchestra continued until they were hoarse and had lost their voices.

The rest of that day was spent on their backs writhing on the ground as imaginary flames ate them from the inside out. It wasn't until after the sun had already set that the spell finally wore off, and they collapsed into exhausted piles on the floor – both of them shaking and completely unable to move.

Natsu's brother definitely wasn't their favorite person at that particular moment, but he somewhat redeemed himself by levitating them all the way to their rooms. Though… that led to a slightly awkward discussion in the hall when he tried to float Lucy into a guest room, and Natsu protested that he wanted her with him.

"Oh… I didn't realize you two had that kind of relationship."

"Well, yeah! She's my girlfriend! We pretty much spend every night together!" Natsu rasped, his voice still essentially gone from all the shouting he'd done.

Lucy just flushed and shook her head with a sigh, trying not to get too embarrassed by it.

"Then, in that case, I'll bring her to your room. As long as that's alright with you too, Lucy?"

"Yep… it's fine."

"Very well, then."

He turned and towed them along in a different direction, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, he asked, "So, how long have you two been together?"

"Uh… I guess… half a year? Or something?" Natsu replied with his face scrunched up as he tried to figure it out.

It was such a funny expression that she snorted and took pity on him. "Technically, we've been dating over three months now, if you include the time we've spent in the celestial realm together. But we met about four months ago."

"Really? It feels like it's been a lot longer."

"Yeah, it really does, doesn't it?" she agreed with a nod.

Even Zeref apparently thought so, because he commented, "You two certainly seem very close. I would have also guessed that you'd known each other much longer."

"Well, a lot of things have happened in a short amount of time. So maybe that's why."

"Yeah, probably. It's been crazy," Natsu said with a snort.

His brother hummed and remarked, "That can certainly deepen a relationship. Someday, I would enjoy hearing about your adventures… whatever you're willing to tell me, of course."

"Sure thing! We've had some crazy ones! Like the goblin cave, and the crazy bull, and crab island…."

"Don't get started now, I'm way too tired to get into anything like that," Lucy groaned, and her boyfriend laughed.

It was her turn to chuckle though when his guffaw ended in a grunt as he strained some sore muscles.

"I'd have to agree. You should both rest and recover right now," Zeref advised… and as they entered a surprisingly large suite, he added, "I'll have the servants bring you a large meal. After washing up, you should try and eat whatever you can, and then take these."

He set them down together in a large, round chair piled high with cushions that sunk under their weight and then produced two bottles from nowhere – which he placed on the low coffee table in front of them. "These will put you to sleep for at least twelve hours and help you completely recover from the strain that that spell put on your bodies. Make sure to drink them when you're already in bed, because they take effect very quickly."

"That's awesome, thanks!"

Lucy also thanked Zeref, and the dark mage excused himself and left. After that, they leaned on each other and wobbled their way to the extravagant bathroom, where they thoroughly scrubbed off all the sweat and even worse things that had been unavoidable during a five-hour long torture session. By the time they were done with that, the promised food had already been set out for them in the outer sitting room.

The suite they were staying in – which she later learned had been Natsu's childhood bedroom – was one of several royal suites in the castle. It had a large outer room with a sitting area in the middle, a wall of windows on one side, a wall of shelves on the other, and a dining nook in the corner. Beyond that, through the door that didn't lead back out into the hallway, was a massive bedroom and an equally enormous bathroom and closet.

Naturally, when they emerged squeaky clean from the bedroom, their next stop was the dining nook where their food was waiting for them. As Zeref had suggested, they ate everything they could – which was a lot more for Natsu of course – and thankfully, everything that'd been prepared was fairly mild and easy on the stomach.

Once full, the two of them headed straight to bed and drank the potions he'd given them… and just like they'd been told, Natsu and Lucy slept for the rest of the night and about half of the next day.

For the following few days after that, Lucy had trained with a bunch of different artifacts that Zeref provided – doing everything from forcefully drawing magic out of them, to withstanding the magic that flooded from them, to pushing her magic into them, to just holding them. All of which had increased her magic input and output even further, though it'd been a much more gradual process… and of course Natsu had also done it all with her.

However, today would be different.

"Ya looking forward to trying out that weird celestial dress-up stuff?" Natsu asked towards the end of breakfast, and Lucy sighed through her pancakes.

Just yesterday, she had finally reached the minimum levels that Zeref was looking for, and that meant they could move on to step two.

On the one hand, she was excited to move forward with the plan, but on the other hand… she was also a little nervous about it. After swallowing her bite of fluffy goodness, she replied, "Yes and no. Lyra's first set of trials was a pain in the neck, so I'm a little worried about what she'll want me to do for her guise."

"Oh yeah, those were pretty nuts."

Naturally, they'd chosen Lyra as her first, since the winged spirit's powers were key to their plan of putting Acnologia to sleep.

Zeref glanced back and forth between them, his expression stoic as usual, but Lucy thought she saw a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

That was confirmed when he asked, "What did she require the first time?"

"It's a long story, but… essentially I had to telepathically control Natsu's motions and emotions as we went through a series of challenges."

"Yeah! First, I couldn't move a muscle without her telling me to, and we had to fight a fricken' bull. Then, every emotion she had, I got a hundred times stronger; so she had to keep super calm, or I'd fly off the handle. And THEN the crazy angel lady wanted us to have sex, and-"

"Natsu!" Lucy interrupted, flushing slightly and glaring at him.

"What? It's not like we did it or anything."

"Well, yeah, but… that still makes us and Lyra sound like perverts."

"I mean, I'm pretty sure she is a pervert, though."

"No! She was just testing our hearts and our commitment and willingness to do the right thing and… stuff like that," she protested and quickly turned to Zeref. "For the record, none of us are perverts, including Lyra."

The dark mage was chuckling by that point, almost so softly that she couldn't hear it, but she could see the grin hidden behind his hand.

"I believe you. And considering the nature of Lyra's powers, it makes sense that her trials would be a little unconventional. I can also see why you'd be uneasy about what she might ask you to do this time."

"See? Yes! Exactly!"

The first part of her statement was aimed at her boyfriend, and the second at his brother. But, in typical Natsu fashion, he ignored her and changed the subject. "So, are you gonna tag along?" he asked Zeref, who shook his head, almost too quickly.

"I think I'll sit this one out… but perhaps I will accompany you to a different spirit's realm."

"Smart decision," Lucy muttered, and Natsu laughed.

"Yeah! She'd probably try and get us to do a threesome or something."

Everyone cringed at that thought, including Invel, who was standing nearby. Even Natsu winced after the fact at his own joke… and on that very untasteful note, breakfast was over.

For the past few days, once they'd finished eating, they would follow Zeref to the alternate space that he used as a test room for all his magics, artifacts, and experiments. Since it was made of magic and existed in an alternate dimension (similar to the celestial realm), nothing could escape or enter it, except through a magic circle that Zeref himself cast. That made it the perfect location for training as well – just in case any unexpected explosions occurred.

However, today, they walked through the castle to an outside courtyard, where Zeref parked himself on a bench under a large oak tree and pulled his book back out. "I'll wait for you two, here. Good luck," he said in explanation.

"Alright! See ya in a bit!" Natsu replied, and Lucy nodded, already preparing to open the portal to Lyra's realm.

Unlike the times before, she didn't have a key. In fact, she hadn't even known that it was possible to visit a spirit's realm again once a contract was made… but after reading the materials that Zeref had provided, she'd found out otherwise.

It turned out that all she had to do was chant the same spell, and she could go back to any celestial realm she'd absorbed the key to – which was very handy information. Not only did it mean she could achieve a second release, but being able to duck into a celestial realm might also be extremely useful if she ever had to make a quick getaway.

So, naturally, she was very interested to see how well it worked.

Taking a deep breath, she channeled a little celestial magic in order to light up the magic circle on her chest, and then she placed her fingers over Lyra's sign and started chanting. Just like all the times before, she started to glow brightly, and her voice echoed in that strange, eerie way.

At the conclusion of the spell, a deep gong sounded – shaking the whole courtyard – as a golden portal spiraled open in front of them.

She stepped through, and Natsu hurried after her. Several mind-numbing, gut-lurching minutes passed as they teleported… until the two of them were finally spat out onto a familiar golden floor. Lucy rolled out of the way a second before her boyfriend landed, but his arm still flopped over and smacked her across the neck and face as he hit the ground.

"Ouch," she grunted and winced slightly, and he gurgled apologetically.

"It's fine…."

With a sigh, she flopped onto her back, and as Lucy glanced up at the ceiling made of clouds high above, she noticed absentmindedly that it seemed they'd been deposited in a room rather than an unending hallway like the first time. Silky, opaque curtains hung between the columns, and when she sat up, she could see that they were, indeed, in a large round room.

Right about that same time, a golden light appeared above them, and Lyra suddenly manifested in all her glory.

This was the first time Lucy had seen the celestial spirit with her wings spread, and it made her look even more like an angel as she gently glided down and alighted in front of them. "Well, hello there! So, you did decide to come! What a pleasant surprise."

The fact that she seemed to know they'd been planning to visit caused Lucy to blink up at her in surprise for a few moments before she pulled herself together.

"Oh, um… yes! How did you know that we were coming?" she asked as she tried to force her still-wobbly legs into a standing position.

"Ah, don't try to stand yet. Here, use this."

A low couch appeared behind the two of them with a sparkly flash, and Lucy gratefully stumbled onto it. Natsu flapped his hand at her and mumbled, "Give me another minute," when she offered to help drag him up onto it as well.

With another glimmer, a comfortable-looking chair appeared in front of them, and Lyra settled herself into it – which Lucy would have thought would be difficult, but the spirit's wings easily draped over the sides.

"As for how I knew you would be coming, I just happened to be monitoring you when you met Zeref, and I have been watching religiously ever since. It's all been very interesting."

"… ah," Lucy said, not sure what to think about that.

For the time being, she decided not to dig too deeply into Lyra's habit of apparently spying on her, and instead, she focused on the task at hand. "Then, that makes this simpler. I guess you also know why I came… right?"

"Indeed. You would like to acquire the power to embody me."

They were slightly distracted when – with a loud groan – Natsu heaved himself up onto the couch next to Lucy, and his head plopped into her lap.

She blinked down at him, blushing a little, and then simply decided not to worry about it either and turned her attention back to Lyra. "Y-yes… I would like to acquire your guise. Is that possible?"

"Absolutely! I would be delighted for you to use my guise. It's been so long since anyone asked for it… I had honestly thought that it was a forgotten art. This is very exciting."

"Really? Just like that? Isn't there a trial I need to complete first?"

Lyra smiled and laughed, "I could see why you would think that, but no. The bonding process itself is a trial on its own."

"Bonding?"

"Yes. For you to be able to embody me, we must bond our souls together in a ritual, which will then give you the ability to summon my visage. I will warn you though, it isn't an easy thing to do. Of the few mages who even attempted it, most failed."

"Ah, I see. That sounds… intense."

"Yeah, really intense. You sure you wanna do this, Luce?" Natsu flipped onto his back and looked up at her, sounding slightly concerned.

She thought about everything Lyra had said for a moment and also contemplated her reasons for doing this in the first place. Ever since Zeref had told them his story, her heart had gone out to him, and she'd truly, honestly wanted to help him save Mavis. If Natsu had been stolen from her like that, she didn't even want to imagine what it would feel like, or what she would be willing to do to get him back. He was, without a doubt, the most important person in her life.

Of course, there was another, slightly more selfish part of her that simply wanted to do this for the sake of gaining a new skill and learning even more about what it meant to be a celestial mage. She still had her own promise to keep to herself… to continue growing stronger so that she could protect herself and others.

After reaffirming all of those reasons, she looked back up at Lyra with fresh determination and told her, "I want to try."

"That is what I was hoping to hear! Wonderful. Then, when you are done recovering from the portal, please stand, and we'll get started."

Lucy nodded and took a few moments to rest and psych herself up for whatever was about to happen. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch, taking some deep breaths to settle her nerves. The nausea and dizziness from teleporting here had already gone, so it was simply a matter of preparing herself for the 'bonding.'

After one final deep breath, she felt as ready as she ever would. Natsu sat up and stayed on the couch as Lucy stood, and Lyra also got to her feet.

The spirit held out her hand and took a few steps towards Lucy. "Come, join me."

Lucy stepped forwards as well, and Lyra took her hand, leading her into the middle of the room where there was plenty of space. Once there, the spirit stopped and turned to face Lucy. With a smile, Lyra wrapped both her arms around Lucy in an embrace and pulled her close, pressing their fronts together and bringing them nose to nose.

That startled Lucy, who instinctively pulled back out of surprise, but Lyra's arms tightened. "If this is too much for you to handle, you might reconsider going through with the bonding."

"It's not… that. I was just surprised…."

"Understandable. I can also tell that you are quite afraid as well."

"I'm…" Lucy started, about to try and say that she wasn't, but with Lyra's glowing eyes right in front of hers – seeming to see directly into her heart – she found herself unable to lie. "Yes, you're right. This is a little scary for me."

Lyra's smile was gentle, which helped ease some of Lucy's anxiety. "It is okay to be scared. As I told you before, this won't be an easy process, but you will need to trust me for it to work."

"Right. Okay."

She took several more deep breaths to try and lower her heart rate, which was pounding ridiculously fast at the moment.

"Tell me when you are ready to start."

Lucy nodded, and after a little more mental pep-talk and deep breathing, she nodded again and said, "I'm ready."

"Alright then. Wrap your arms around me as well."

Once she'd done as the spirit asked, Lyra leaned even closer and touched their foreheads together. The instant they made contact, a blast of magic shot through Lucy's skull like an icepick driving into her brain. She shouted with both shock and pain and cringed – instinctively wanting to pull back – but at the last second, she locked her muscles to stay in place.

Every part of her revolted and tried to push back against the intense, piercing force, and she gritted her teeth, feeling as though she was making herself stay still under a knife.

Through the pain, she heard Lyra say (both through her ears and in her head), "Relax. If you accept me, it will only hurt for a moment… but if you fight, it will continue to hurt, and we might not be able to continue."

"I'll… try…." Lucy ground out, doing her best to follow the spirit's directions.

That was nearly impossible though with the intense pain and her body screaming at her that she was in mortal danger. Nobody in their right mind would relax and allow someone to stab them; it was against every natural instinct she possessed.

Lucy had to use every last ounce of willpower to simply put her trust in Lyra and drop her guard completely, accepting the pain and intrusion. As soon as she relaxed, her mind (and seemingly her very soul) was pierced, and Lyra plunged into her. The pain immediately stopped – which was an instant relief on Lucy's senses – but that was quickly replaced by an entirely different discomfort.

She'd never had to wonder what exactly a soul was before. Yet, all of a sudden, she had to try and come up with words to describe the experience. It felt as though the very essence of her of being… everything that made her who she was… the innermost workings of herself… were now in direct contact with Lyra's. If their souls had bodies, then they'd both been stripped naked and were engaged in a full-body embrace.

It was beyond intimate.

They could sense EVERYTHING about the other person and who and what they were. Every thought, every emotion, every sensation that either of them had ever felt… all of their memories, decisions, and experiences… anything that had affected who they were was now communicated directly to the other person. There was nothing hidden between them. There was no privacy.

And of course, the instant that Lucy realized all of that, she immediately shied away from the connection – already thinking of several things she'd rather not share.

As she cringed and tried to hide, Lyra's voice sounded through her head, "I know this is difficult, but try to embrace the union of our beings. We must accept each other completely, or else the embodiment will be shaky and unusable."

Just like she knew Lyra could feel everything about her, Lucy could also feel everything about the spirit, and she clearly sensed the other woman's sincerity.

Lyra had a very beautiful soul. She was kind-hearted and earnest as well as understanding and open-minded. Her sense of right and wrong were exceptionally strong, yet she also had enough flexibility to understand and accept other people's convictions. She was gentle but strict… generally peace-loving but also mischievous… serious but also had a playful streak….

The celestial spirit was surprisingly relatable. And by knowing all of that, it was easier for Lucy to open herself up as well and more fully embrace the experience, though it was still highly uncomfortable.

However, even though it had helped her, feeling Lyra's soul also posed a major issue in and of itself. That was because Lyra was a celestial spirit… and Lucy was a human. Lyra had lived for eons, and the sheer enormity of information held in her soul was overwhelming. In comparison, if Lyra's soul was an entire library, then Lucy's was a single, tiny picture book for toddlers. And Lucy certainly felt like a toddler trying to absorb a library's worth of information as she attempted to take in the eons of thoughts, feelings, and sensations that Lyra had experienced.

It was beyond overwhelming… almost to the point that she felt like her mind was trying to shut down.

Although, that being said, the exchange was also unexpectedly beautiful and extremely fascinating. In the span of what simultaneously felt like a few seconds and several hundred years, Lucy learned that Lyra truly liked being a spirit. She enjoyed her life in the celestial realm. She had experienced pain, love, joy, anger, fear, and sadness at different times throughout her lifespan. She had made and lost friends, lovers, enemies, and family. And she enjoyed making contracts with mages… everything from the trials, to lending her power and helping them, to watching them go through their daily lives.

That was also when Lucy learned how the spirit 'tuned in' to the lives of her mages and could basically see through their eyes whenever she wanted… which Lucy hadn't been aware of and was slightly uncomfortable with. Though, considering what was happening now, she didn't suppose it really mattered anymore.

In fact, once she'd accepted it, she quickly found herself more amused than anything else. The fact that Lyra watched each of her mages almost like a tv show – which she thoroughly enjoyed – was mildly hilarious. It was also interesting how she became so invested in her mages' lives but rarely interfered in them, because she felt it was rude.

Of course, those memories of Lyra's previous mages were extremely fascinating to watch as well, and the metaphor of a tv show turned out to be even more appropriate than she would've expected. Lyra's sense of time was entirely different from Lucy's. To her, a century could pass in the blink of an eye, or ten minutes could last a century if she wanted. Time was very subjective… but generally speaking, each of her mages' lives were very, very short.

Naturally, that meant the experience was like watching a frantic film-reel in fast-forward. Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, Lyra was able to thumb through Lucy's memories at a much more reasonable pace – which Lucy tried not to feel squeamish about. However, that was somewhat impossible whenever the spirit dug up painful parts of her past, and she was just thankful that she didn't have to personally relive them.

While Lucy was aware of what Lyra was seeing, it wasn't like a flashback or a triggered incident where she was dragged into a memory against her will. Still though, waves of emotions rocked her as various moments in her past were brought sharply to the front of her mind, and a variety of things she'd forgotten were excavated. Many of them brought her to tears, and she was glad that she had Lyra's experiences to distract her.

It seemed almost like a miracle when the painful memory of her mother's death was instantly followed by Lyra's recollection of Layla Heartfilia, and Lucy couldn't hold back a gasp as she looked through her mother's eyes. She was almost floored when she saw herself as a child from her mother's perspective… but while it nearly gave her vertigo, it was also wonderful… and beautiful… and almost like she could see her mother alive again. She couldn't exactly feel her body at the moment, but she knew that she was crying, and Lyra's arms tightened around her.

The spirit was practically holding all of her weight now from what she could tell, and she let herself be cradled in the other woman's arms, trusting her partner implicitly at this point. With every new memory they shared, Lucy could sense their souls gradually beginning to interlock and weave together, starting with outer layers and working their way inwards. It felt as though they were slowly spiraling closer and closer together, like some central point of their souls was being drawn towards each other… until finally, their most recent memories were shared, and their heart of hearts connected.

Yet another explosion of magic went off. This time, it washed over her, through her soul, and clamped tight around her, making Lucy feel like the pressure would either crush her or blow her up from the inside out. The celestial powers buffeted them as thoroughly as a tiny boat in a hurricane, and Lucy's scream was lost in the void. Her ears popped under the pressure, and her soul creaked alarmingly, threatening to be torn apart.

The only reason Lucy was able to make it through the storm was because Lyra's spirit wrapped around hers and held her tightly so she wouldn't be ripped to shreds.

Then, it was finally over. The magic ebbed away, and Lyra's soul gently disentangled from hers, leaving Lucy feeling warm, tingly, weak, and slightly dizzy from the experience. Now that she could feel her body again, she discovered that she was shaking… and didn't think she would have been able to stand if Lyra hadn't continued to hold her.

They stood like that for several minutes, until she finally stopped trembling.

"You did wonderfully. I'm so proud of you," Lyra said softly when Lucy finally pulled back.

"Thanks. It was…."

Even though she tried, Lucy honestly couldn't think of words to describe what had just happened between them. So, she trailed off and just tried to convey the enormity of her feelings through a slightly watery smile.

An answering curve of Lyra's lips told her that the spirit understood what she wanted to say.

After sniffling a little and pulling herself together somewhat, Lucy added, "Oh, and I wouldn't consider it interfering or rude at all if you visited. In fact, I'd really enjoy being able to spend some time with you."

Lyra blinked, looking surprised, and then chuckled. "I don't know about that… but if you'd like to come and visit me, you're welcome anytime. My door is always open."

"Alright! I'll make sure to do that," Lucy replied with a more cheerful smile this time, happy that she would be able to see Lyra again.

After what they'd just gone through together, the celestial spirit was practically family.


Sneak Peek

Zeref sorta blinked and looked surprised. "Well, no, but you aren't coming with us, so that's not a problem."

Natsu was quiet for a couple seconds as he absorbed that, and then he blew up. "Say what now?! Of course I'm coming with ya! What the heck are you talking about?!"

"… No, you aren't. At your current level, you would end up being a liability, and I'm not willing to risk your death."

"The heck with that! I'm coming, and ya can't stop me! I just have to get stronger right?"

"Yes, but-"

"So, that's what I'm gonna do!"

His brother sighed, kinda looking a little annoyed about being cut off.

There was a long pause as he seemed to think about it. "Well… there might be a way for you to become strong enough to put up a fight against him, but that's assuming Igneel would be willing to assist. Which is a big 'if.' He's turned me down every time I've asked him for help in my fight against Acnologia."