A/N: I know, I know... You can hate on me if you want. I took forever! I'm sorry! I have no excuses! But the new cover art is AWSOME! Right! You should check out c_ccrispy on Instagram. She does a ton of amazing Fairy Tail art. She did this cover as a commission just for this lovely story!

As a side note. You guys should find me on Tumblr. My writing blog is "The FeebleHearts" (thefeeblehearts). I have been trying to post writing thing up there as well. It had a sneak peek of this chapter posted awhile ago before I had finished it.

Lucy was feeling immensely better. Her skin was scrubbed raw, her hair had been probably ruined from the number of times she shampooed, but she was clean. The stench of decaying flesh was officially no longer clinging to her, and she now was enjoying the water jets that were built into the tub (a modern feature powered by tiny lacrima placed around an old porcelain claw-footed tub).

Her host, the mayor, had been polite and unobtrusive to her bathing needs, which was a relief. She had gotten used to perverts trying to find excuses to see her naked, so his gentlemanly gesture was appreciated. He had led her to the bathroom and briefly explained how the old fashioned shower and tub worked before quickly leaving her to figure out the rest. His behavior reminded her of Rogue - he cared as a brother would. It was a stark difference from what Natsu would have done, that was for sure. He would have barged right ...

Natsu.

She sat up quickly in the tub and water splashed to the stone flooring of the bathroom. He had been here with her, hadn't he? Where was he now?

This question was quickly overshadowed by the memory of her keys feeling dull and lifeless in her hands. The lack of magic pulsing within the metal of each key, giving her an intimate feeling of connection to the Celestial world. Gone. Her breath shuddered in her chest as she held back the stream of tears.

As if everything else hadn't been enough. Now, this. Why?

She had to have done something wrong, broken a rule that she hadn't been aware of. Why else would the entirety of the realm just shut her out? She wondered if her keys would disappear. Would someone else find them? Would they be happier? The sharp pain of loss echoed through her chest at the image her ponderings brought to her mind. A nameless celestial mage finding Aries, opening the gate… What if they were like Karen or Angle?

Now she had to know, had to see with her own eyes that her keys were gone. She stood in the tub and grabbed a neon green towel from the rack. Her mind paused only briefly to wonder at the color choice before she wrapped the cloth around her body and purposefully left the bathroom.

She stopped immediately as she noticed Xavion leaning casually against the opposite wall, a book in hand that he seemed to be totally lost within. Beside him on the floor was a bag with the Heart Kruz logo on the side. As the bathroom door ricocheted off the wall and bounce back for Lucy to catch, Xavion looked up and noticed her for the first time.

"All clean then?" he questioned as he closed the book and bent to retrieve the bag next to him. "I ran out and got some things for you to wear. Nothing fancy. I went a size up from what I thought would fit just to be safe." He handed Lucy the bag and she accepted it without hesitation.

Clothes. That was probably a good idea. "Thank you," she whispered. Her goal of finding her keys derailed as she adjusted to her host's kindness.

"Get dressed, and then I'll show you around, 'kay?" The man smiled at her while he gestured for her to return to the bathroom. Lucy's eyes were drawn to his shark-like teeth and remembers Sting's complaints about the man. He was right, the teeth were creepy-unnatural.

Where was Sting, anyway?

Lucy backed up into the bathroom and watched as Xavion closed the door to give her privacy. She felt dumbfounded. Xavion hadn't even hinted at where she was. He hadn't mentioned her guildmate either. He instead got her clothes and offered a tour…

She shook off the uneasy feeling. Maybe they would come across Sting while he was showing her around. Maybe even Natsu was still here.

The curvy blonde opened the bag of clothes and was relieved to see that there were, in fact, real clothes in the bag and not just lingerie. There were two t-shirts, neither looked form-fitting. It actually looked like they were men's shirts. She checked the tag and found that they were both larges. She wanted to be insulted but found that she preferred the idea of baggy clothes right now anyway. She found a pair of shorts and a pair of sweatpants. Both were a size up from what she would normally wear, but they had ties on them so she could keep them from falling off her body. He had gotten a pack of cotton underwear and an XL sports bra, nothing that could be misunderstood as sexual. She let out a breath and settled in to get dressed.

The underwear was the right size, but the sports bra would need some adjusting. The bust was the right size, but the shoulder straps were long and dropped a bit. The t-shirt she picked out of the bag was white and had the Heart Kruz logo on the back. The pants were a weird shade of teal that she never would have chosen for herself. The shorts were the same neon green as the towel she had used to dry off. Pants it was. She tied them off as tight as she could but they still hung loosely around her hips. She looked into the mirror above the sink. Her hair was worse than any rat's nest she'd ever seen. The mayor hadn't had any conditioner or detangler in the bathroom, and the mage winced at the thought of brushing her hair.

"There is a hairbrush in the top drawer on the left side of the sink," Xavion called from the other side of the door making the celestial mage nearly jump out of her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she wondered if he could read minds.

She opened the drawer he spoke of and found a hairbrush that looked as if it had never been used. Maybe he'd had one here for guests? It was obvious that the man himself had no need of one. Lucy shook her head. She was making something out of nothing.

Orga was sitting beside Rufus at one of the new tables. The shipment of furniture that had arrived to replace what Lucy had accidentally damaged had nearly torn the guild apart. Dobengal had been in charge of calling in the order and had opted for the cheaper option after hearing everything the sales representative had to say. His error in judgment meant that he was currently knocked out and locked in the guild master's office until the rest of the guild could calm down. The idiocy of his decision was on the next level. Even Sting would have had better sense.

"Some assembly required my ass," Orga gruffed. All the tables were slightly lopsided, and most of the benches were more like slides then seats. It all started to go wrong the moment Lector and Frosch had decided to be helpful. Like children who didn't entirely know the meaning of help, it had been a disaster. The exceeds in question had been grounded to Sting's apartment and barred from future construction projects for the rest of eternity.

Rufus had found the whole ordeal amusing as he watched from above murmuring "Memorized," over and over again as he took in the chaos. "Your ass is one of the items today that did not require any assembly."

"Oi! Shut it!" Orga glared petulantly. His memory-make friend grinned.

Rufus looked around the hall. He would never allow himself to forget the happenings of this day. His glee was interrupted, however, as the guild doors were opened and Minerva and Yukino walked in. Usually, such an event wouldn't dampen his amusement, but the tears dropping from Yukino's eyes had the masked man irritated and frowning with displeasure. When the guild had still been under the rule of Jiemma, Rufus had never bothered to even look in the direction of the young mage. But now he counted her as a close confidant. Seeing her in tears was… disturbing.

He was down the stairs and wrapping his arms around his friend before the silver-haired beauty had even reached the first row of tables in the commons.

"What has happened, Yukino?"

Orga was on his feet and approaching Lady Minerva. "Is she injured?" the gruff man whispered.

Minerva shook her head. She wasn't sure if she should take the lead on breaking the news to the guild or not. It was Yukino's magic. Lucy's magic, too. On the train, Yukino had broken down completely shortly after she had finished talking to Rogue. Not only was the silver-haired beauty scared she would never see her celestial friends again, but she was terrified of getting kicked out of the guild again. Minerva hadn't been sure how to comfort her. It had been Minerva's father who had kicked her out the first time, and the territory mage still felt guilty for her involvement.

"Yukino," Rufus muttered softly. He pulled her back from their embrace. "Tell us what's happened."

Her eyes were blood-shot, red and puffy. She was sniffling, but no new tears were falling. Yukino stared up at her masked guildmate and searched his partially covered face. He had never hugged her before. She was quite sure he had never really hugged anyone before. The tight knots of fear that had been crippling her loosened enough that she could finally breathe.

"My.. M-my ke-keys…" clear blue eyes turned to look at Minerva for help. She didn't want to say it again. To repeat the word meant that there was no taking them back. It was terrifying.

Minerva nodded her head, "It's okay Yuki-chan. We're family now."

"But L-lucy, too!"

Orga and Rufus shared a confused look. Orga shrugged. The sabertooth mages hadn't been truly involved with the problems Yunkino experienced with her keys previously. Neither was sure what had happened in the past to guess what might be bothering their guildmate now.

"Did you find Lucy with help from your spirits, Yukino?" Rufus queried.

Yukino shook her head violently, "NO! No! And I never will!" The petite woman glared defiantly up at Rufus and then at Orga. "My keys stopped working."

Eyes went wide. Orga's arms seemed to shake as the man slowly started to panic. "You were on a job Yuki-chan!" The larger than life lightning god grabbed his guildmate away from Rufus. He started to pat her down, his eyes going wild as he searched for any sign of injury.

"She's fine!" Minerva spat. "I was with her after all!"

Rufus and Orga sent the Lady of Sabertooth a sharp look. Minerva's temper flared.

"Hey I may have done some shitty things before, but…"

"Enough, Lady Minerva," Rufus spoke evenly. "Neither of us were accusing you." He glanced at Orga and nodded. "We simply know our Yukino well enough to assume that she continued to battle even without her magic."

Minerva scoffed, "As if I would let her." She crossed her arms and hugged her midsection.

Yukino was finally able to slip out of Orga's grasp. "I'm fine, really!" She felt light-hearted despite the weight of her magic being shut down. Her guild was not rejecting her. Rufus and Orga cared for her. Why had she ever doubted? She smiled at the men gratefully. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Tell them about Lucy," Minerva stated impatiently, breaking the small retrieve Yukino had found in the knowledge of her guild still backing her up.

"Tiny? Is she in more trouble?"

"If your keys aren't working…" Rufus began. His eyes narrowed in anger. "You're sure?"

Yukino nodded. She took her ring of keys out of her belt-pouch. "Before when the spirits were affected by the Eclipse Gate, I could still feel them. Their keys still had magic in them. But now.." She jingled the mix of silver, gold, and black. "They are more useless than the average house key. No magic. No connection to the Celestial World."

"And you believe Lucy's keys to be the same?"

The Celestial mage nodded.

"You spoke to Rogue about this already, I assume," Rufus stated, Yukino nodded.

"Tiny's go no magic and is still missing," Orga summed it up rather crudely.

The group nodded. Orga huffed. "Well, I ain't staying back here and waiting for Yin and Yang to bring her back." He tried to push his way towards the door only to find himself bubbled in one of Minerva's territory spells. He glared in return.

"Sting and Rogue are working with some of the Fairies to figure things out and get her back. We need to keep things running in their absence." Minerva was no-nonsense. "When they get Lucy, we need to have a home for them all to come back too. Let's take care of things here."

Rufus nodded in agreement, along with Yukino. Orga huffed, crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted like a child.

"Orga!" Yukino cried. "We have to have faith in our family. Sting will get her home safely and he had Rogue to keep him under control. We can support them from here."

The teal-haired lightning mage grumbled his acceptance. Minerva dropped him from her spell into a disgruntled heap on the floor.

"If I hear one word that Tiny got hurt…"

"We know!" they all groaned.

"She's like a little sister, to…"

"We KNOW!"