It had been exactly two months and four days since Edolas. It had taken a while to explain to the others exactly what had happened as well as the influx of exceeds spotted around Fiore. The hardest thing to explain was how a girl, presumed dead, was alive, healthy and once more a part of Fairy Tail. Lisanna was welcomed back with open arms and a Guild party that had lasted close to a week as well as various noise complaints from the locals. That was exactly two months and four days ago.

She had patiently waited as her family adjusted to one of their own returning, happy to stay on the side lines. She had smiled forcefully as her team explained they wanted some time alone with Lisanna, doing missions with their childhood friend. She had tried to be happy for everyone as she was forgotten, replaced with the snowy haired mage. She had failed. Lucy Heartfilia watched from a table in the corner of the room as her Guild ignored her existence. It had been two months and four days when she realised she had lost her family again.

"Oi, Bunnygirl." Lucy looked up from her drink as Gajeel Redfox sat next to her. One of the few to arrive after the disappearance of Lisanna Strauss, he had been one of the only people to acknowledge Lucy in the past few months. "What's with the look?"

Lucy smiled as brightly as she could, "What look would that be, Gajeel?" The dragonslayer rolled his eyes at her.

"The one that says someone just died." A burst of laughter reached them from across the room. Lucy looked over to see Team Natsu and their newest member joking and drinking together. She felt her smile falter and her heart break slightly. Gajeel watched with a raised eyebrow. "I see. Still kicked to the curb then?" Lucy sighed, letting her smile fall away completely.

"I just miss them, that's all." She quickly downed the last of her drink and rose from her seat. "Thanks for talking to me. It's nice to know someone still cares."

"Gihi, what makes you think I care?" Lucy gave him a knowing smile before heading to the bar with her empty glass. Mira gave her a brief look before turning back to her sister and her team. Lucy sighed and made her way to the door. Wendy gave her a smile and small wave when she passed which Lucy returned the best she could as she left. Gajeel watched her go before turning to the group at the bar. "You morons are gonna lose her if you're not careful." He muttered as he headed off to find his exceed partner.

The weather had started to turn chilly and Lucy shivered as she made her way down the street, balancing on the edge of the canal. "What's wrong with me, Plue?" The small creature shook in her arms, replying with its usual 'pun, pun!' The girl sighed again. "I just wish they would at least acknowledge me, you know? I miss being part of the team." She continued on towards her apartment, ignoring the fisherman who warned her away from the edge.

Letting herself in, she dropped her keys in a bowl by the door and looked around. A few months ago she would have expected to find a pink haired dragon slayer raiding her fridge, a half naked ice mage lazing on her couch and a flame haired re-quip mage going through her desk. Now, the apartment was empty save for herself and a weird looking dog spirit. Lucy felt the damn inside her break and she flung herself onto her bed, tears soaking through her pillows. This had become a relatively frequent occurrence for the celestial mage. The cries slowly quietened down as a slow gold glowing filled the room, signalling the departure of the Nikolai spirit and the blonde mages exhaustion as she fell into a fitful sleep.

When Lucy finally awoke, darkness had fallen outside. She slowly stretched her aching body and made her way towards the kitchen. A growl erupted from her stomach and she opened her fridge, still full without unexpected guests. The light illuminated her small kitchen, throwing shadows across the room as she retrieved a handful of grapes. The light diminished as she closed the door and made her way to the living room. "At least my food bill has gone down since they left," Lucy muttered to herself.

"Isn't that a relief." A voice replied from the darkness. Lucy dropped her bowl in shock, china shattering on the floor. She ignored the sharp pain as pieces ricocheted and sliced her legs.

"Who's there?" She shouted into the dark apartment. A low chuckle sounded as the light came on, temporarily blinding the young girl. A man sat on her couch, his legs crossed and arms stretched wide across the back. Lucy reached for her keys on her belt but grasped at empty air.

"Looking for these?" The man held out a leather pouch with Lucy's celestial spirits inside. "You really shouldn't leave these lying around."

Lucy growled at him, "I didn't." The man grinned at her, a smile that made Lucy's gut twist.

"That's right. By the way, you really should cover up more when you sleep. Skirts ride up, things get…exposed." A shiver ran through Lucy at the thought of this man watching her sleep.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The man stood and began exploring the room, "Who am I? Well, Miss Heartfilia, by my Guild's code, I cannot divulge my name, only that the Southern Wolves send their regards." He stopped and picked up Lucy's novel. She started forward only to find her feet glued to the floor. "Handy thing, shadow magic. It gives form to nothing in order to make it something. Quite beautiful don't you think?" he gestured to Lucy's feet where thick black tendrils had leaked from dark corners to wrap around her ankles. "As for what I want? Well I'm simply delivering a message." The man made his way towards her, flicking his hands slightly as more shadows wrapped around her to secure her wrists. He stopped in front of her. "Such a pretty specimen. Shame the client asked for you not to be harmed." He picked up a strand of blonde hair from Lucy's shoulder and twirled it around his finger. As he leaned in, he brought it up to his face and took a deep sniff. Lucy pulled away but the shadows only grew tighter and she gasped as her ankles and wrists began to be sliced from them. "tch tch, you may want to rethink trying to escape. They said I couldn't hurt you, not that I couldn't have my fun. Trust me, you don't want me to have my fun so I wouldn't do anything to anger me." He withdrew a letter from his jacket pocket and grasped the front of her shirt, pulling it away from her chest. Lucy tried to pull away again, ignoring the blood flowing from her wounds. He simply smirked and tucked the letter between her breasts. "There now, wasn't so bad was it?" He took a step away from her and began heading for the door. "Miss Heartfilia, I do hope you decide to ignore that letter. Maybe then we can see each other again." He smiled at her again and Lucy felt herself choking back angry tears. "Until then, my lady." He left and the shadows released her, retreating back into the corners of the room.

Lucy sunk to the floor, wrenching the envelope from beneath her shirt and threw it away from her. Clutching at her wrists, she made her way to the keys the man had dropped on the couch cushion. "Open gate of the maiden, Virgo!" she called, collapsing to the floor as the tears began to fall. A golden glow enveloped the room.

"You called, Princess." Lucy sobbed and silently held out her wrists. Virgo understood and began to bandage her masters wrists and ankles, not daring to speak as Lucy continued to cry. Once she had been patched up, Lucy thanked Virgo and opened the letter she had been left as her spirit cleaned up the broken bowl. She read it many times over before she moved again, not even noticing when the maid dismissed herself. Slowly she made her way over to her desk and began writing letters of her own.

It had been little over a week since Wendy had last seen her blonde friend and she was beginning to get worried. Holding Carla, the young dragonslayer made her way over to the table Team Natsu had claimed for the day.

"Natsu?" The pink haired man looked over and grinned at the girl.

"Yo, what's up Wendy?"

"Have you seen Lucy around lately? I haven't seen her for a while and I'm starting to get worried."

"Who?" Wendy stared at him in disbelief as recognition hit the man, "Oh, yeah, Lucy. She's…" he glanced around the Guildhall, searching for a head of golden hair. He reached up and put a hand on his neck. "Good question." He turned to the bar, "Hey, Mira! Is Luce out on a mission?"

The white haired bartender quickly checked the log book and shook her head, "Lucy hasn't been out on one for over two weeks."

Natsu stood and cupped his hands to his mouth, "Hey, has anyone seen Lucy lately?" a hush fell over the Guild as everyone looked around for the Celestial mage. A sigh came from the bar where the master sat cross legged, staring at his drink.

"I'm disappointed in my children. Lucy Heartfilia left the Guild over a week ago. She is no longer a Fairy Tail Wizard."