As with most of my stories, sorry for the delay! (^n^;)

Also, the person who wanted to use the young dragon thing, go ahead. I like people using my things.

Also ALSO ALSO, (whoops to many also-s) 107 REVIEWS! HOLY CRAP. THAT'S...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

enjoy.

Lucy opened her eyes, spotting yellowish foliage hanging above her head. She slowly arose, wondering where her injuries had gone. Where was she? Wasn't she... dead?

"Hello...?" Lucy yelled, a waver in her voice as she called out tentatively.

"Lucy-chan." whispered a child's voice.

"Lucy Heartfilia-san." muttered (probably) a teenaged boy.

Lucy looked around, hoping to find Cana. Right now, all that mattered was Cana. Her only friend. The only one who holds her memory.

She saw people laying on the floor, all in varying degrees of wounded. All of them from the guild. She could see a bubble-like material encircling each of her guildmates, like a shield.

After almost an hour of searching, Lucy found her only friend.

"Cana!" she cried, attempting to hug the brunette. The bubble-shield-thing threw her backwards the moment she touched it.

"Lucy.""Lucy." "Lucy." "Lucy." "Lucy." "Lucy." "Lucy."

So many different voices of different pitches spoke her name, all coming from a single direction.

The closer she got, she found, the higher in pitch they would become, before they went silent. The voices led her along a pathway that was shrouded in grass and shrubbery.

"Lucy Heartfilia." the male's voice called once more.

The said blonde turned, eyes curious as she gazed at the black-haired person before her. His black eyes gazed back at her, resigned and relieved.

"W... Who are you? Why am I here?" she quarried.

"Well, Lucy-chan, we need your help." a little girl's voice answered.

The celestial mage whipped her head around, and she spotted a girl with pale blonde hair, green eyes, and pink wings sprouting out from her hair, just above her ears. The girl smiled, tilting her head slightly as she said, "We need you to-"

"Help some certain people." the male cut in, suddenly behind the little girl. Now that Lucy focused on them, she noticed the girl sitting on a large stone slab.

The little girl pouted. "Zer-chan! I wanted to say it~!"

"You were taking too long." he returned bluntly.

Lucy sweatdropped, before going over their words. It sounded incredibly suspicious. This whole situation screamed, 'SKETCHY.'

"Who are these... people?"

"You'll know when you see them. We know we seem a bit fishy, but you can trust us. For now..." The little girl waved her hand, a tiny magic circle appearing on her palm, before Lucy's mind went hazy.

"...We need to prepare."

She could hardly feel the raven-haired boy lifting her in a bridal carry. She couldn't control her limbs, her senses were dulled, and all she could think about was, 'He smells nice...'

Her head tucked itself into his white robes, black clothing pressing to her face, and then she was in a state of emptiness. In a black void.

1 Year, 11 Months, and 30 days Have Now Passed.

That was Lucy's first coherent thought.

She had wandered a void for a while. Just conjuring things up from a single thought. It started out as light. Then she made it like her old room. Then she made the city. Then the people.

Eventually, she recreated her old life-before she was ignored. When she was loved and cared about. But she knew. It always lingered in the back of her mind. She shouldn't be here. This was not her life. And, luckily, she was freed right as she was going into hysterics.

The first thing she saw after clearing the fogginess of her eyes was the sight of the little girl blinking curiously at her, and a black cat hissing at the small blonde.

"Ah, it wore off." the child said.

"Of course it wore off! We were supposed to be expecting it, and you're surprised?!" the cat growled through clenched fangs.

Now, Lucy knew about exceeds—ouch, did her heart just sting?—, but this cat was normal. Except for the talking part.

"Am I still dreaming?" she murmured absently.

"Nope! You're wiiiiiiiide awake, Lucy-chan!" the girl exclaimed.

"H-How do you know my name?"

"Ah, it seems she really doesn't know." the smaller blonde whispered.

"What are you talking about? Who are you people?"

"Whoops! We forgot to tell you. My name is Mavis Vermillion. That, over there, is Zeref. You can call him Zer-chan!"

"No, you cannot." The cat deadpanned.

"Z-Z-Zeref?!"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry, Lucy-chan! He's nice! Just a bit... misunderstood. He doesn't want to hurt people. It just happens."

"I'm sorry if I had hurt anyone you cared for." Zeref replied, voice suddenly meek. "I try to prevent my magic from bursting out like that, at least, until I'm alone. I-I'm so, so sorry." Tears leaked from his large feline eyes, which closed in anguish and shame.

"It's okay? I think. You haven't hurt Cana, have you?" Lucy replied, hesitant and quiet.

"No. B-But I might have hurt N-Natsu Dr-Dragneel, I worry. He is precious to you, is he not?" the mage quarried, eyes cast downward.

She ignored the last part, "It's alright. I'm glad Cana hasn't been injured, I guess."

He still looked apologetic, but was flicked in the furry forehead by Mavis before he could say anything more. "Zer-chan, she said it's okay! So stop worrying so much! Besides," she grinned, moving closer to the cat, "you can't use your Ankhserham magic here."

Zeref's eyes widened, mouth agape and fangs half-visible.

Mavis then, and Zeref was surrounded by a puff of smoke, a comical 'poof' sounding out loudly.

"Why didn't you make it so that I would have clothes on?"

"I dunno..." Mavis scrolled her eyes over to Lucy, who was as red as Zeref's 'angry eyes'. Zeref looked unfazed as he found his clothes on the floor, pulling them on.

Zeref had a tick mark growing on his head. "You don't know." he asked (stated).

"Yep!"

"You..."

One "Civil Conversation" Later

"Off you go now!" Mavis shouted, waving a tissue and pretending to be sniffling.

Zeref rolled his eyes. "It was your idea that we leave."

Mavis only stuck her tongue out.

.

"Where are we going?" Lucy quarried, following behind Zeref as he strolled along the path.

"Away from this island."

"Eh? Why? What about Cana?"

"She'll stay here. Didn't she tell the redhead about his fathership to her? She might want to stay with him."

"Oh, that makes sen-Wait how did you know about that?!"

Zeref looked over his shoulder, smirking. "I was watching."

"Creepy." Lucy muttered worriedly.

.

"Wait."

"What?"

"You said that we would leave the island. How will we leave if it's surrounded by water?"

"..."

"Don't tell me..."

". . ."

"You didn't..."

". . ."

"HAVE A PLAN?!" Lucy screamed, irritated.

When he didn't speak, she groaned and looked to her key ring, which sat on her belt.

"Eh?" she murmured, finding more keys than what she expected.

"You didn't notice?" At her confuzzled look, he sighed. "You were trained for the last two years. Maybe, because of your physical exercise, you didn't notice the weight. Try lifting that boulder." Zeref commanded, pointing at a boulder taller than Lucy.

"No."

"You will."

"I don't want to."

"You will lift the boulder."

"No. I can't, anyway."

"Do it." Zeref's eyes shone a crimson red.

"Fine! It won't work though!"

"If it does, you owe me something that I can claim at any time, and vice-versa if you can't."

"Whatever. You're going to lose this quick, anyway!"

She crouched beside the boulder, back straight and tense. Wrapping her arms around the large rock, she lifted upwards.

Did she grab air? There's nothing in her arms, it seems.

Opening her eyes (which she hadn't noticed were closed), she looked from the corner of her eyes, only to spot a rough textured thing pressing against her face.

She yelped and released the rock, jumping away before the boulder crushed her toes.

"What the heck is this?!"

"Heh. So you have improved. I'll wait to use my reward, however."

"What happened while I was... unconscious...?"

"Out of mind, is the correct term. But we have trained you for the past two years. We've improved your magical ability, physical strength, and your mental capabilities." he explained. "We had to keep you in a state of imagination or you might not have followed through with the training."

"Ah..." Lucy was at a loss for words. Deciding to hold off on words, she fingered through her keys, feeling energy pass through the metal objects.

Voices echoed in her head, seeming overjoyed at her acknowledgment of their presences.

"Use this one." Zeref pointed at a light blue key.

"Aria? Of the..." Lucy gasped. "Is this a platinum key?!"

"Yes."

"DON'T BE SO MONOTONOUS! I have a platinum key! Those are some of the most rare keys in existence!"

Zeref rolled his eyes. "They came to you, you know."

"EH."

"Mmm." Zeref nodded.

. (Don't ask what has happened here. I don't even know.

Lucy grabbed the key from her waist, before a woman appeared in front of her, blue dress and pale skin with white hair. Fairy wings were sprouting out of her back, and she bowed deeply, sparkles flowing and following her movement. Lucy jumped back, as she had yet to even summon the woman.

"Hello, Lucy-sama. I am humbled to be in your presence. My name is Aria."

"Ah, um, please call me Lucy! And besides, I'm the one who is humbled! I mean, you are a platinum celestial spirit, after all. And besides, you're so pretty and you seem nice, and-"

Aria chuckled, hair bouncing without a small amount gravity holding it down.

"It's okay, Miss Lucy. Now then, what can I do for you?"

"Can you please, uh, get us off of the island? Please?"

"Of course!" Aria smiled.

.

Splash!

"Is this what you wanted, Miss Lucy?"

"Aria-san..." Lucy burbled despairingly, soaked.

"..." Zeref glared at the celestial spirit, arms crossed.

"But look!" She pointed to her right innocently.

Lucy and Zeref cast their eyes in the direction prompted, spotting Hargeon over the rolling waves.

"Well, my work is done here. Have fun~!"

Aria fazed out of existence, winking with her tongue out in suggestion.

"Aria!" Lucy shouted, scandalized.

"Off we swim then."

"I can't swim that far!"

"Not with that attitude. If you don't want to, then just get on my back. I'll get you there."

Lucy, not wanting to be ungrateful, accepted the offer and got on.

Too much had happened.

And in one day. (Or two years, but who's counting?)

If only life was less complicated!

Zeref gazed at her from the corner of his eye. So much potential. Even after two years of intense training, she still had so much power left untapped!

.

Zeref was only a minute or two from ground he could reach.

. . . Of course that was when he turned back into a cat!

Yeah don't expect another update for a whiiiiiiile...

Hehe... *sweatdrop*

*runs from weapons*

Preview...

"

Zeref snoozed, splayed out over her in his cat form.

His eye abruptly opened, a mild and lazy stretch tensing and relaxing his muscles.

"

"

"You idiot!"

"It's not my fault I only brought 2 beds!"

"What happened to the other one? There's only one here."

"Eheh?"

"Idiot!"

"