Chapter 19

These three latest chapters have actually been kind of 'easy' to write, it's as if the words are just manifesting all on their own, I hardly have to think at all. Ahhh, what a relief ^_^
Also... WE'VE REACHED MORE THAN 140 REVIEWS, MORE THAN 110 FOLLOWERS AND ARE ONLY 4 FAVORITES AWAY FROM 100!!!! THANK YOU SO GODDAM MUCH, GUYS!!

I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I ain't the owner of KnB OR FT. It's stupid, but that's how it is.

At Earthland~

"NATSU!" Happy screamed, the others with him not able to do anything other than at the sight in front of them. Natsu lying on the ground underneath Angel's feet, unconscious and seemed to have been beaten roughly. While Angel didn't have a single scratch.

Lucy gritted her teeth and reached down at her belt, quickly finding the key she was looking for. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she wouldn't be able to beat this mage. She had beat Natsu, probably discovering his weakness for transportation and using the raft floating calmly on the river-surface, but nonetheless beat him. What she could do was stall the Oración Seis member till the others had escaped. Still without looking away from the smirking Angel, she talked to the people with her. "Hibiki! Take Wendy and the cats away from here, it's too dangerous." She told him.

She saw Hibiki look her way, before turning away. "Carla, take Wendy away from here." He told the cat, who quickly complied, flying off at her top speed.

Lucy glanced back at Hibiki, catching his gaze. "What the hell are you doing Hibiki? Escape while you can!" She almost snapped at him, she didn't want this to be a waste. "Happy! Take him away!" She ordered the blue cat, while glaring at Angel, whose patience seemed to be wearing thing.

She jolted when a hand landed on her shoulder, and saw Hibiki's shaking face next to her. "No, you can't take her on on your own." He stated. Hadn't he figured out she had tried to sacrifice herself so they could escape? Damn Pegasus...

Before she could even argue against said Pegasus, the blue cat also intervened. "I won't leave either!" He said determinedly.

Angel took a step forward. "Have you said your goodbyes? Let's have some fun." She said, tilting her head to the side in a way that would have been innocent for anyone else.

Faster than she'd ever done before, Lucy pulled out the specific key. "Open! Gate of the Archer!" She called and swiped the golden key downwards. "Sagittarius!" She announced.

A familiar golden light lit up the area beside her. "Moshi! Moshi!" He said with a salute, before he quickly fired an amazingly precise arrow at Angel, flying at the speed of lightning.

Angel hadn't made a move to evade the arrow, before the very last moment, when she somehow had grabbed Natsu and held him up as a shield. In an instant, the precise arrow was embedded deeply in the Fire Dragon Slayer, a clean hit supposed to hit an organ.

The horseman gasped at the sudden turn of events, horrified at his own actions. The way the breath caught in Happy's throat could be heard in the silent clearing, the only other sound being that of the calmly running water, standing in sharp contrast to the light mages' heads.

Happy fell to his small knees, his paws lifted to his face. "N-Natsu..." He whispered. "No..."

Lucy took a slow and trembling step forward. "I-it can't be..." She muttered. That hit. That clean hit. There was no doubt it would be impossible to survive, even for Natsu. The shock of that realization made her mind go blank. Not a single thought passed through her head, only silent shock and petrification.

Happy burst into movement, charging at the pinkette and the white-haired lady. "I'LL SAVE YOU, NATSU!" He yelled desperately. Lucy was about to shout at the cat to stop.

The pinkette stood with his body hunched over the arrow, and his head facing the ground, casting his eyes in a shadow made by his bangs. "Happy... Has the power to fly, can carry only one person at a time, useless in battle." Natsu muttered. "Information retrieval complete." He added.

Happy stopped in his tracks. First he was happy his partner was even alive, but then confused when what he said didn't make any sense. "Natsu..?" Lucy asked hesitantly and confusedly.

The Fire Dragon Slayer tilted his head upwards and looked at her with a smirk. "Natsu's opinion of Lucy: Best friend, nice, strong-" Lucy felt warmth built up in her. Did Natsu really think about her like that? "Heavier than she looks, demon-" And then anger instead. No doubt, that was all Natsu. "Celestial mage." He trailed off. "Well, not surprising at this point." He breathed in heavily and then released said breath in only a second's time mixed with fire. A wide pillar of fire charged at the blonde. Had he shifted? Become dark?

She was so confused, her body wouldn't react to her instincts telling her to get away immediately. In that instant, right before the roar of fire magic would have hit her, Hibiki jumped in front of her, creating a form of shield with his Archive magic, protecting the both of them against the destructive magic.

The Pegasus mage looked up at the wounded Natsu. "You're not Natsu-kun." He stated. "Who are you?" He asked the both of them.

Lucy cursed her own stupidity. Of course this wasn't Natsu. None of the people on her team were the kind, who wavered like that. Natsu wouldn't ever attack her as seriously as he just had. They were friends, best friends.

The blonde shook her head. "No, it's Gemini." She said, remembering the Twin Spirits' special ability being that to transform to another person, gaining knowledge about them and the people around them.

This was further confirmed, when Natsu suddenly popped into Lucy, the arrow still in its stomach. Lucy's eyes widened at that realization. Angel had to be an amazing Celestial mage, if she could keep her Spirits out even after they had taken serious damage.

They watched as the other Lucy pulled the arrow out of her stomach without even wincing. Hibiki narrowed his eyes at the copy. "...Are you stupid?" He asked both Angel and Gemini. "What's the point of changing to Lucy, when the real one is right here?" He asked.

Angel's smirk widened. "The point? Well, you strike me as the type who has a weakness for women." The dark mage commented, gesturing to Gemini.

It took less than a second for Lucy to figure out what Gemini was about to do, as the copy grabbed the bottom of her green tank-top and began pulling upwards. Feeling a sudden surge of power, she shot off from the ground as if the devil had been after her, easily jumping over the quite broad river as if it was nothing, surprising everyone present, including herself.

She landed safely on the other side of the riverbed, and furiously pulled down at her copy's shirt. "Don't you even dare!" She growled out.

Gemini smiled an ominous smile. "Stellar Spirit information retrieved." The copy said, confusing Lucy once again. "How impressive..." It whispered, barely even audible to Lucy, who stood so close to the Spirit. Then, the other blonde tilted her head a little. "Sagittarius, if you would." She asked.

The archer pulled up his arrow, against his will, and shot an arrow right at the blonde. Lucy looked back to see the rapidly approaching arrow. She tilted a little back in pure reflex, only feeling and hearing as the arrow whistled past her face, only a mere inch away.

"Shit..." Lucy muttered and pointed the golden key out in the air. "Forced Gate Closure!" She chanted as Sagittarius quickly disappeared in a poof of golden light, a faint apology from him sounding in the air. Gemini could manipulate her Spirits, and it would therefore not be unlikely she could summon them too.

And as she had expected, Gemini pulled her own Sagittarius key out of her pouch. "Open, Gate of the-"

Lucy cut the Spirit short, when she spun around and delivered a powerful kick to the Spirit's waist. "Take that!" She said loudly. As expected, the Spirit poofed out of existence and back to the Spirit World. It would be vital that Gemini was unavailable during this fight, so she was certain she had full control of her own Spirits. And with the wounds the Spirit had suffered, it was unlikely it would be able to come back anytime soon. 'Grandpa Crux.' She called to her Southern Cross Spirit.

'Yes, Miss Lucy?' Came Crux' immediate reply. Good, that meant all her Spirits knew of the situation and were on high alert.

Lucy smiled. 'Can you tell me the other keys the owner of Gemini has?' She asked the old Spirit. It involved Celestial Spirit magic, so surely he could answer that. Please hurry. She added.

'Yes, Miss Lucy.' He replied, and only a moment later she heard his snoring in her mind, already not looking forward to when he would wake up.

"Hmm? The blonde one's not all stupid, huh?" Angel taunted, pulling Lucy out of her conversation with her silver Spirit. "Lucy-chan, was it?" She asked, sounding almost kind.

Lucy crouched down a little, narrowing her eyes at the other Celestial mage. "Yeah, that's me." She confirmed.

The Oración Seis mage tilted her head and sent the blonde a narrow smile. "What did you think of my little trick, Lucy-chan?" She asked her, amusement clearly tingling in her dark blue eyes.

Said blonde just fixed the white-haired mage a glare. "It was very entertaining." She sneered sarcastically.

Angel smiled sardonically. "Right?" She simple asked, clearly finding heaps of fun with the current situation.

'Miss Lucy, my search is complete' Crux suddenly intervened.

'Good job, Grandpa Crux! What did you find?' She asked him while keeping an eye on her opponent.

'In addition to Gemini, your opponent, Sorano Aguria, has the Chisel, Caelum of the silver keys, the Scorpion, Scorpio and the Ram, Aries of the Zodiac keys.' He told her.

Lucy nodded internally. Okay, she had been researching her Spirits and had surprisingly enough gotten Aquarius to tell her who this boyfriend she always talked about was. Scorpio, the Scorpion, one of the Zodiac Spirits. Also, she knew of Loke and Aries' past with Karen. It would be stupid if she paired the two pairs up, it would be mean and meaningless.

'Is there anything else I should be aware of, Grandpa Crux?' She asked the old Spirit.

'Hmm...' The old Spirit trailed off. 'Yes, there is one more thing.' He then told her. 'It would seem Sorano killed Karen to acquire those keys. Karen was Hibiki's former lover, so it would be preferable if he did not find this out.' The Spirit told her.

Lucy's eyes widened a fraction, as she didn't want Angel to figure her out. If Hibiki found out that this woman killed Karen... Well, there'd be no doubt he'd convert from light to dark through Nirvana. That couldn't happen. Then she wouldn't even be able to stall. 'Thank you, Grandpa Crux, you've been very helpful.' She said before cutting the connection with her Spirit.

She returned her full attention to the opposing mage, realizing the white-haired girl was waiting for her to make the first move. And that, she would.

She quickly pulled out one of her keys, swiping it in the air. "Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!" She called as the golden light appeared and left the pink-haired maid behind.

"What shall I do, Lucy-hime?" She asked her blonde mistress.

Lucy smiled. "The thing you do best, Virgo." She said, to which she got a curt nod from the Maiden.

Angel raised an eyebrow and pulled out a key of her own. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio." She called as the usual golden light shone a little in front of her.

Out appeared Scorpio, a guy with tanned skin, short hair and a scorpion's tail, one half red, the other white. "We are!" He declared loudly.

Virgo looked straight into the other Spirit's eyes. "Greetings, Scorpio." She greeted him.

Scorpio entered some 'cool' stance with his thumb and two outer fingers sticking out. "Hey, Virgo!" He responded, his wide smile wavering for just a moment.

Angel pointed forward. "Scorpio, please." She said, gesturing towards the other Spirit present. "Take this Spirit out." She told him.

The Scorpion nodded and went down on all fours, jutting his tail forward with the momentum, sand bursting out from it and towards the pinkette. Virgo jumped into the air and dived down into the earth like a dolphin in water.

Lucy quickly jumped to the right, evading the sand from the Scorpion. Just as the Maid jumped up from the earth and began delivering kicks and punches to Scorpio, Lucy decided it would not be right of her to just stand by on the sidelines. She pulled out her black whip as quickly and smoothly as she could, so she wouldn't draw attention from Angel, who was focusing on the Spirits' battle.

She quickly swung the whip forward towards the girl, who first noticed a moment too late and tried to cover herself with her arm. Bad move, as the whip curled around the woman's arm tightly. Lucy smiled as she pulled at the whip, hoping to trip the mage.

Instead, Angel used Lucy's powerful pull to her advantage, utilizing the freely gained momentum to shoot forward at a much faster pace. She raced towards Lucy, who was now left completely open. When she came within range, the white-haired woman thrust her palm forward, hitting Lucy's chest cleanly.

All the air in Lucy's lungs was forced out with the blow, and she flew back a little. "Lucy-hime!" Virgo exclaimed and quickly delivered a forceful kick to Angel's face, sending her flying back too. Scorpio quickly retaliated by sending another twister of sand at Virgo, who was standing with her back to the other Spirit. Virgo hissed in pain the moment Scorpio's hit landed, turning to her mistress. "Punishment?" She asked as she disappeared.

Angel turned to Scorpio, anger flooding her facial expression. "SCORPIO! KILL THAT GIRL NOW!" She ordered her golden Spirit.

Lucy watching in shock as the Scorpion's expression twisted with regret directed at her, before it vanished and he pounced into the air, his tail raised at the ready. However, he was cut short as he was hit by a ray of pure, golden magic coming from the other side of the river. With a tiny smile, the Spirit dissolved into small speckles of golden light.

Lucy gave Hibiki a smile and a thumbs-up as a temporary thanks, until she got a better chance and jumped to her feet, almost simultaneously with Angel, who looked at the blonde with near foaming fury. "You wench!" She shrieked at Lucy. "How dares your Spirit kick my beautiful face?!" She screamed at her. Having lost any semblance of patience, she tore her other key out of her pouch and swiped it down. "ARIES!" She screamed in a high pitch.

The Spirit appeared with a poof, her hair pink and puffy, just like her wooly clothes, two ram-horns sticking out from the puffy mess of pink. "Y-yes Angel-sama? I'm so so-sorry!" The Spirit nervously stammered.

"KILL THAT GIRL!" Angel demanded, sounding like one of those snobby brats, who'd had everything served to them on a silver platter. Only, Lucy knew she wasn't.

Lucy smirked as the realization that with Scorpio out of the picture, she could summon her strongest Spirit without any problems. Perfect.

Before the pink-haired Spirit could do anything to stop her, Lucy swiftly covered the ground between herself and the river, sticking one of her oldest, golden keys into the water. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer!" She said, feeling her magic swell inside of her, mixed with the adrenaline caused by the quickly approaching Ram Spirit. "AQUARIUS!" She called loudly.

The mermaid looked down at Lucy with a furious glare. "WHAT THE HELL, BIMBO?! I WAS TAKING CARE OF MY HURT BOYFRIEND!" The Spirit declared, putting extra emphasis on 'boyfriend'.

Lucy smiled fondly at the temperamental Spirit. "Please help me, Aquarius! You can take me with the blast too!" She quickly added, knowing there'd be no other way around either way.

"DAMN RIGHT I WILL!" She yelled, readying her gourd for a powerful flood.

"Aries! Attack Aquarius!" The white-haired Celestial mage ordered. The pinkette quickly changed direction, pushing off the ground towards the Water Bearer with a cute, determined expression. "Caelum!" Angel yelled. Lucy furrowed her eyebrow. What was Angel doing? And... She could summon two Spirits at once?!

"HA!" Aquarius laughed, having almost filled her gourd. "Take thi- ARGH!" She screamed, as suddenly she and Aries both were left with a hole through their midsection from a blast of Caelum's.

Lucy's eyes widened. "AQUARIUS!" She screamed in worry and horror at the sight before her. This was the kind of Celestial mage she swore she would never become, the one who used their Spirits as shields and tools instead of the living and breathing beings they were. Yes, maybe they were immortal and wouldn't die, but that didn't mean they didn't feel pain.

Aquarius sent Lucy an unreadable expression, before disappearing in a shower of golden speckles of light, mixed with the ones Aries released at her exit. But what Lucy saw on Aries' face was a look of pure sadness.

Caught in her thoughts, she didn't see her opponent approaching and as such had no time to prepare for the kick that was sent her way. With a gasp of pain, she felt a burst of pain from the soft spot just above her hips. She lost her balance at the surprise-attack and landed in the water and in the spur of the moment, she managed to inhale water with her gasp.

She shot up and began coughing and spluttering violently to get the water out of her lungs, trying with all her might to ignore the other Celestial mage's evil cackling. Still panting from the sudden onslaught, she glared up at Angel from where she sat in the low water of the river. "Release... Them..." She barely managed to say, before another cough forced its way up and through her throat.

Angel furrowed her eyebrows and leaned forward, a hand held up to her ear. "What? Sorry I couldn't hear what you said for all the coughing." She said and cackled again.

"I said.." Lucy said with a much clearer voice. "RELEASE THEM! RELEASE THE SPIRITS!" The blonde yelled with a hoarse voice as she got to her feet, trying to stop them from trembling.

Angel just broke out laughing at that, but was soon interrupted by the only male human present. "WHERE DID YOU GET ARIES FROM?!" He growled uncharacteristically for him as he took threatening steps forward towards the Oración Seis member.

The white haired angel clasped her hands together and tilted her head. "What? Was that green haired bitch your girlfriend or something?" She asked. The woman quickly came to the conclusion she was right, when she saw Hibiki's furious expression and Lucy's frightened one. A wide smirk spread on her face. "Ohhh, so she was?" She asked tauntingly. "Well, the only way keys go from one master to another, of course-"

Lucy, of course, realized what the other woman was about to say and feared what was about to happen. Now, seeing Hibiki's expression, she felt the likelihood of him being affected by Nirvana would be high, too high.

"I killed her." Sorano said matter-of-factly, sending the guy a sickly sweet expression, as she both reveled in his anger and the anguish she caused him, while also feigning innocence. And, of course, it only served to tick him off further.

Hibiki just looked at her blankly for a moment, his face not even twitching. But then, his expression burst through hundreds of emotions. He was about to jump from one side of the river to the other, so he could reach the killer of his late girlfriend, but was stopped when a form shot out from a golden flash and pinned him down to the ground again.

Lucy only barely managed to catch sight of the ginger top of hair, which she had not summoned. "Loke!?" She asked confusedly, seeing her Lion Spirit.

Said Lion looked back over his shoulder to reassure his princess he had Hibiki under control. But then he saw a copy of her, holding Caelum in her hands. Pointed at the original. "LUCY!" He yelled, not even using her nickname.

Lucy turned her head and came face to face with the point of the gun-like Caelum, held by none other than herself. Behind her copy she saw Angel smirking evilly. Had that woman summoned Gemini again? They couldn't take any more since the last hit! "Ready to meet your end, Blondie?" The other Celestial mage asked gleefully, entirely satisfied with herself.

The blonde glanced from her own copy and to Angel. "Don't force them to do this, Angel. They deserve much better." She told the other woman, her voice still affected by her recent drink. "They don't deserve to be used like this!" She said, her gaze flickering to her copy's surprised face, before returning to Angel's new scowl. "They're also people!" She tried to convince the other woman.

Angel crossed her arms, looking down at Lucy with annoyance clear in her eyes. "If that really was the truth, then why is it they never die? Why is it they obey my every command whether they like it or not? Why is it the only way they can die is if they walk around among us on Earth for extended periods of time? Why is it we can summon them?" The woman asked her.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the other woman. "You already know Earthland isn't the only place in the universe with living, breathing people." She said, crossing her arms unsteadily. "Think of Earth, weren't they people too?" She asked, knowing the woman was at least her age, probably older.

This earned Lucy a confused look. "Earth? What are you talking about, Blondie? Been hallucinating again?" She asked her, sounding like she thought the blonde was thoroughly stupid.

Now, Lucy was the one to be confused. Surely she must have had found out by now that the other place she would visit whenever she was knocked out or slept was Earth? Somehow, she must have, even if she didn't get any help from her Spirits.

Lucy saw from the corner of her eyes, the copy of herself casting its gaze to the ground. "I'm afraid the Spirit King has not deemed our mistress ready for Earth as of yet." Her own voice whispered to her. "Until she has recognized us as more than just tools, she will not be able to go to Earth."

The blonde's eyes widened a little. She didn't know that law existed?! But it made sense. If the summoner didn't even recognize the Spirits as people, why would they the earthlings? And if they were ever to tread the grounds on Earth, how much havoc would they cause? It'd be the kind the earthlings would not be able to control for the life of them. Literally.

Lucy breathed out lightly and sent herself a little smile. "I see." She said. "Thank you for telling me, Gemini." She thanked the Spirit.

"GEMINI!" Angel screeched. "Stop talking to the blonde bimbo! Kill her!" She ordered her Spirit, gesturing to the silver Spirit currently in the form of a gun, which was humming for one reason or another.

Lucy let her eyelids fall over her eyes casting her sight into blackness. With the realization neither she nor Loke would be able to move in time if Gemini did as Angel said, and as such simply just prepared for the worst. She faintly noticed Loke spring to his feet just before closing her eyes, although he would also know no matter what, it'd be too late.

"I'm sorry..." Gemini muttered. Lucy heard the rustling of water from the person in front of her. "I can't do it." The Spirit said, making Lucy shoot her eyes open again, as she looked up at the back of her copy surprised with the Spirit's disobedience. "She cares for us! She really does! I can't do it..." Gemini admitted before placing Caelum on the ground and poofing back into its two small bodies.

Angel narrowed her eyes at her Spirit. "Are you defying me, Gemi, Mini?" She asked her two Spirits with as much venom lacing her voice as there possibly could.

One of the two Spirits crossed its arms and nodded. "Yes, we will not harm this girl." It said determinedly, almost making Lucy's eyes water at the thought. They were opponents, enemies actually, yet they stood up for her like that.

The other one also nodded. "She is a kind Celestial mage, she loves us, even though she doesn't know us." It added.

Angel more or less fumed where she stood and quickly raised her hand towards her Spirits. "Forced Gate Closure!" She snarled, not even waiting for the two to pop out of existence before picking up her last remaining Spirit and pointing at Lucy with it herself. "You're going down, you bitch!" She told Lucy in her high pitched voice. "You won't ever see your precious Spirits again!" She told her, putting an extra load of sarcasm into 'precious'.

Lucy glanced down at Caelum, to see it buzzing in Angel's hands in what Lucy recognized to be resistance. "Sorano!" She called. "Don't do it!" She hadn't even thought about using the woman's real name.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the right move. "YOU BLONDE BITCH! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" She asked her furiously. "I DON'T EVEN CARE, DIE!" She screeched and loaded Caelum with her magic.

Lucy watched paralyzed by her own fear as the silver Spirit glowed in the golden light, ready to be fired. She heard Loke yell for her to move, but her limbs didn't respond to her brain's warning signals. The adrenaline pumped in her body, but nevertheless it didn't help her lack of movement.

"DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Angel yelled as she finally fired the blast she had been collecting in Caelum. In the last moment, Caelum buzzed so much it shook, and due to that, Angel only barely missed, simply gracing Lucy's bare arm and leaving a flesh-wound there.

While her opponent swore and cursed at her narrow miss, Lucy fell to her knees, feeling any and all kind of energy leaving her body from her latest adrenaline-body. Finally, she felt the depletion in her magic. She had summoned three golden Spirits, Sagittarius, Virgo and Aquarius, one after another without a break, and now even Loke was out and about.

She barely registered the rustling of the water behind her, before she felt a pair of strong hands snaking around her throat roughly, but not enough to hurt. She glanced back at the owner, too tired to move from her spot in the middle of the water. "Hibiki..." She muttered. Had he really fallen to the dark side of Nirvana? And why wasn't Loke reacting..?

She felt him lean in close as Angel cackled evilly somewhere in front of her. "Lucy-chan, this will help you." He reassured her. She felt a sudden burst in her magic and mind and then everything went black.

Back at present time, on Earth~

And that was where her memory ended.

What had happened? Was Hibiki turned dark through Nirvana's influence? Had she only survived because she came here as soon as she passed out from whatever Hibiki did to her? Was he and Angel working together to kill the rest of her teammates? What was going on back at Earthland...?

With too much effort, Lucy threw her arms around her legs and dropped her forehead down on her knees, feeling the strain in her body from doing that simple task. It was the kind of strain that came only because she had been so drained of magic. She could hardly even move.

Wait... Happy had been at the scene... What had happened to him?! If Hibiki and Angel both were against the blue cat, he stood no chance! And what about Wendy and Carla? Did they escape safely? Natsu, did he actually manage to get past Angel, or wasn't she kidding when she had said he was no fun?

For all she knew... They could all be dead when she returned. Or worse, under Nirvana's control.

Oración Seis could have completed their mission successfully and gotten rid of every single light guild with a simple blast of Nirvana.

When she returned... Perhaps Fairy Tail would hunt her down, try and aim to kill her, just as Hibiki had explained. She would not have the heart to hurt them. Even under Nirvana's control, they would still be the people she knew and loved. But they would not think that. They would kill her. Without mercy. She would... Die.

No, there was one way she could save herself. There was one solution, in which she wouldn't have to see her friend's and family's angry expressions. She wouldn't have to experience them having turned dark. She wouldn't have to return to a dark world she could not recognize. There was one way she could spare herself all the pain and suffering. One way she could save her own life. "I could wish to stay here..." She murmured to herself.

"NO! Never do that!" She heard a voice yell firmly, jolting her out of her thoughts, to see Kozo standing at the entrance to the gym. He quickly took long strides to reach her and gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Lucy, do not wish that unless you're completely certain that is what you truly want." He warned her.

Lucy looked at him, her built-up tears finally falling from her eyes. "Kozo..." His thoughtfulness touched her heart and cleared her thoughts. However little.

Kozo quickly did a one-over at the blonde's injuries and tattered clothes. And the low feel of her magic, much lower than what it usually was. There was no doubt she had just been in a battle. And the team couldn't see her like this. "Lucy, come with me, I'll take care of your injuries and hear your story." He said as he helped the weak blonde up in a standing position. "But it can't be here." He said.

Lucy didn't even offer any resistance as she simply received the much needed help from the elder man, as he threw one of her arms around his shoulders, helping her walk. They both fought to get out of the gym. Lucy praised herself lucky classes seemed to be ongoing at this point in time, no one would see her as weak as she was right now.

She let her head drop, it was simply too heavy to hold up for her. Her body felt so, so drained, it was exhausting just to breathe.

She faintly heard a weird clicking noise, then that of something metal being opened, before she was dropped on a seat, and that metal thing being closed again. She leaned back where she sat as she heard the same metal sound from the other side and saw Kozo sit down next to her.

She had absolutely no idea what kind of box she was sitting in, but she couldn't care less, it had comfortable seats and she appreciated that more than life right at that moment.

A loud rumbling sound filled the metal box she and Kozo sat in, before it began moving, much to Lucy's surprise it was kind of similar to the movements of a Lacrima vehicle in Earthland. She pieced two and two together and figured it was a car she was sitting in.

She turned her head to Kozo, who was keeping his gaze on the road in front of him. "Kozo... Where are you taking me?" She asked him.

Kozo glanced back at her, before once again letting his gaze rest on the traffic through the front window. "I'm taking you to my home." He stated.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Your home?" She asked. "Why?" Surely they'd have some bandages at the school infirmary. Yes, she had done her research. Was it so that they could talk?

The old man smiled, but he didn't look at her. "Well, so we could talk of course." He said matter-of-factly. His smile widened so much his eyes almost closed. "And because my wife has been wishing to meet you ever since I mentioned you back at home." He said.

Lucy watched something flash over his face in a fraction of a second, before disappearing out of existence before she could figure out what it could be. Deciding to think about it at a point in time, where she would have more energy to do so, she turned her head to watch the approaching and passing nature. "Does she know that I'm from..." She trailed off, knowing Kozo would know what she meant.

She saw him nod from the corner of her peripheral. "Yeah, she knows you're from Earthland, if that is what you mean." He said. "She's been really excited to meet you, Lucy." He told her.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I'm looking forward to meeting her too." She told him. It would be exciting meeting the person who made Kozo want to stay here on Earth.

For a moment silence filled the little, rolling box they were sitting in. She saw him glancing at her, before hearing his grip tighten a little on the wheel. "Do you... Want to talk about what happened before you came here? It'll still be a while before we're there." He said, his tension transparent in the way he was sitting stiffly. But it didn't seem to come from the question he asked or the answer he expected.

Lucy leaned back in her seat, her head gently bumping on the backrest of her seat. "I guess..." She trailed off, forcing down the tears which threatened to build up once again. "We... Well, maybe I should start from the beginning." She realized. "The Magic Council ordered four of the strongest, I think, light guilds to form an alliance of sorts to take down Oración Seis, one of the four strongest dark guilds, because they recently have been drawing some suspicion." She explained as if reading up from a book.

Kozo glanced back at her, a little smile present on his face. "Ahh, yes. You're in a guild, aren't you?" He asked her. "I believe I still haven't asked which." He said.

Lucy smiled in return and nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I've told you yet." She agreed. "I'm in Fairy Tail." She told him, raising the hand holding her guild mark, although she knew he wouldn't see it while he was driving.

The older man's eyes widened a little. "The strongest guild in Fiore?" He asked her. Then some things certainly made sense. Compared to her other teammates, who were sure to be strong, since they were from the strongest guild, she was certain to feel weak with the transformation and whatnot. And was it Oración Seis they were against? If he remembered correctly, it had been many years after all, they were part of the dark guilds' alliance, Balam Alliance, as one of those holding the power. That was a strong enemy.

Lucy nodded, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Yeah, that's what they say." She confirmed for him.

Kozo sighed internally and nodded. The blonde probably had it tougher than most Celestial mages, it seemed. "Please, continue your story, Lucy." He said.

Lucy actually sighed out loud. "Okay, so four guilds - Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter - were to send out a few of their members so the different delegations could work together to take down the six members of Oración Seis and get the situation under control as well as sharing information about what their goal was." She said and closed her eyes. "Oración Seis are after Nirvana, a legendary magical item which can convert people from light to dark and the other way around." She said, continuing despite Kozo's surprised gasp. "They probably plan on using it on all the light guilds to turn them dark, so they can destroy each other." She told him.

"That's... Horrible." Kozo admitted. Sure, he didn't live on Earthland anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't worry for his friends and the remaining family he still had there. He never had the chance to hear what happened back there any longer, and he had gotten used to that. But now, hearing that his friends and family could be in danger and knowing he could do nothing to help them, it was a strange feeling, but unfortunately not in a positive way.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, it is. Just thinking about the things, the destruction, they could cause if they succeed their mission..." She trailed off, searching for the right word for a moment. "It's terrifying." She said.

And that was what she might return to. Destruction. Havoc. Chaos. Worst case... Death. Whether her own or her friends'.

"After sharing and getting all the information needed, everyone went to prepare our plan." She said. Well, more or less anyway. "And that was when we had our first run-in with those six." She explained. "Nearly without any effort at all, they took us all out and then kidnapped the single member Cait Shelter had sent." Without giving Kozo any time to ask any questions, she just continued. "They revived a guy my team and I had previously beaten and thought was dead. He had infiltrated the Magic Council, being a member of said Council and had plotted to resurrect Zeref, the ancient, darkest mage of all. And of course, he is strong, previously one of the 10 great Wizard Saints, actually. And now he is revived and helping Oración Seis." She said with a long sigh. So many things happened, it was hard to find heads and tails in it, even for her. And she had been a part of it all. "Anyway, Natsu, one of my teammates, managed to save Wendy and survive getting away from Oración Seis and that other guy. Then he found back to me, our poisoned teammate, which was caused by a member of the Oración Seis, and this guy from Blue Pegasus, where he put Wendy down, so she could heal Erza. That was when we were explained everything and then suddenly Nirvana was turned on and Natsu charged towards it. Erza heard some of our conversation and since she is childhood friends with Jellal, she also just disappeared. Then Wendy, Hibiki, Happy, Carla and I began chasing Natsu, but we bumped into Angel of Oración Seis. Turns out she is a Celestial mage and has Gemini, so if she lets Gemini turn into me, she can summon and control my Spirits, whether I summoned them or not. Carla quickly fled with Wendy, but Hibiki and Happy refused to. But Hibiki isn't the fighting type, so I had to take her on. And first I asked Grandpa Crux who she had, but first after knocking Gemini out with the help of Hibiki. She also had Scorpio, Aries and Caelum. So, having researched the Spirits earlier, I knew Aquarius and Scorpio are together and that Aries and Loke are close friends, so I couldn't summon either until the counterpart was beaten. Instead, when Angel summoned Scorpio I summoned Virgo and while the Spirits fought I did my best to fight Angel. But then a domino-effect happened, where Angel gave me a punch, Virgo attacked Angel and Scorpio attacked Virgo with enough force to send her back, and Hibiki shot some of his magic at Scorpio and dispelled him too. Then I summoned Aquarius because Scorpio was beaten, and she is my strongest Spirit, and she summoned Aries AND Caelum and shot the both of them, through Aries and hitting Aquarius. Then Hibiki found out his late girlfriend was killed by Angel and I worried because of Nirvana, but didn't have the time, as Angel now summoned Gemini to copy me again, holding Caelum pointed at me. But Gemini couldn't shoot and when Angel sent them back and tried herself, Caelum made sure it missed. But then, suddenly, Hibiki came up from behind of me and began gripping my throat, saying something about it helping me or something. And then I blacked out!" She finally ended. She knew she had rambled, but once the dam broke, everything just came out like an unstoppable flood. She had talked so much she even had trouble breathing, and she panted as she finished it off. "That's all I remember before ending up back at the gym where you found me." She breathed out whilst fighting down the tears which threatened to fall.

Kozo remained silent for a moment, probably contemplating and trying to process what she said. "I assume this... 'Hibiki' has fallen to the power of Nirvana?" He asked the blonde, glancing at her. While he only had understood about half of what she had been talking about, he had been surprised to hear her explain how the opponent Spirits actually refused to attack her, he had never heard of such thing before. But if he had to be cruelly honest, he wasn't surprised it was her of all people, who managed such a feat.

Lucy cast her gaze down on her hands and nodded. "Yes, I believe so." She agreed. "But I don't understand... Loke appeared, but he didn't even move to help me..." She trailed off.

"Hmm." Was the simple reply she got from the other man.

Lucy watched as her hands began trembling slightly and tangled her fingers with each other in the hopes of it easing it a little. "I... I'm just afraid." She said in a voice only just above a whisper.

Kozo glanced at her for as long as he dared, before turning back to his driving. "Afraid? Of what?" He asked her gently, his voice as soft and comforting as a grandfather's.

Lucy clenched her eyes shut, feeling the car turn a final time before pulling to a stop, the two having reached their destination. "Of what I might return to." She confessed. She opened her eyes to see Kozo having turned towards her in his seat, giving her his full attention. "Wh-what if Oración Seis have won? What if they have control of Nirvana and have turned all light guilds dark? What if... What if they have converted Fairy Tail? My family? My friends? What will I do if they turn against me? Try to kill me?" She kept asking without pause. "I can't fight them, Kozo. I can't hurt them." She told him, hiding her face in her hands. "What will I do?" She asked him. "I don't want to die... And to prevent that, there is only-"

Kozo cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking his head gently. "No, don't wish for this until you are one hundred percent certain." He half scolded her. "Don't make rash decisions until you have found out whether returning to Earthland and your friends truly is as dangerous as you think." He sent her a little smile. "Believe in your family, Lucy. They're not from the strongest guild in all of Fiore without reason." He reminded her.

Lucy considered his words for a moment. He was right. Her team was strong, the strongest in the guild now Laxus wasn't around any longer. They didn't just go down like that, not without a fight. Actually, her team simply didn't go down at all, they just weren't the types.

The blonde sent her fellow Earthlander a bright smile. "Thank you so much, Kozo!" She smiled at him. "To be real sappy now, I had lost faith in my team, but you brought it back. Thank you so much for saving me!" She told him, a whole other kind of tears forming at her eyes. Although these she did not fight.

Kozo smiled back at her, more amused at the irony than anything. "You're welcome Lucy." He said pleasantly.

Lucy didn't give him any chance to continue as he wished to do, but instead took notice of them not moving. "Say, are we at your home?" She asked before almost jumping out of the car, to take a look at his home.

Back in the car, he shook his head at the blonde. "It is not me who saved you, Lucy 'Heartfilia'." He said in a whisper, stressing her last name lightly in sarcasm. "It is you, who has saved me." He said, before also stepping out of the car after her.

Well, well, well. What'a'ya know, huh?
Thinking of it, aren't I leaving this on a double cliffhanger? Both the one leaving what happened after Lucy blacked out AND now at Earth too? :3 Ahh, I'm a devil.

By the way, do you guys know that feeling when you're watching a dubbed anime and you have watched, say.... 50 episodes or more, as it is a longer anime, and suddenly one of the main character's voice actor just dropped out and someone else took over and you just sit there with a pouty face, not wanting to keep watching because it wouldn't be the same? I hate it~! ._."

Anyway, hope you all liked it!
Thank you to anyone who read, favorited, followed and reviewed! You make my each and every day~

~Line464d

C'K