Lucy was browsing through a small magic shop off to the side of the port in Hargeon, frustrated that she had seen no hide nor hair of any Zodiac keys for weeks now, and really, was it so much trouble to acquire a golden celestial spirit key? She thought not, but obviously, she was wrong. And when she asked the manager about his pitiful selection, all he said was "Sorry Miss; I can't help you, that's all I've got. Now, if you aren't going to buy anything, would you please leave.", Lucy couldn't believe the attitude of the guy.

That fortune-teller must've been a scammer, with all her "You will find what you're looking for in the magic shop off the port of Hargeon", and her "May you find him at last", who was the old crone talking about, she wasn't looking for anybody.

Lucy had one more magic shop to look through before calling this trip a loss, so when she entered the tiny shop nestled between a large café and an apartment block, she beelined towards the 'Magical Artifacts' section, not paying any attention to the owner. That was when she saw it, what she first thought was another silver key to come back to, had an unmistakable purple sheen at second glance.

The key was strange, most keys Lucy had seen were one solid colour, silver or gold, with the constellation detailed at the top. But this one was silver with green vine-like details, and there was no constellation design, and when she took it up to the owner to inquire about it, he said he had never seen it before and that she could have it if she bought another key or a book.

Lucy jumped at the deal, having spotted a book on the physical manifestations of magic and how to apply it, thinking if she could manifest her Celestial Spirit magic she could fight alongside her spirits. She didn't know if it was possible, seeing as there had never been rumours of a Celestial Spirit mage not using them as a shield let alone fight alongside them.

Exiting the shop with a thank-you to the owner, she heard the screams of girls of how "Salamander's so cute," and "Ohmygod, he touched me", and she decided to see what all the fuss was about and to see if he would put in a kind word for her at Fairy Tail.

Pushing her way through the crowd of swooning fangirls to get close enough to talk, she discovered that he didn't live up to rumours if that charm ring on him finger was any indication. But, she noticed too late, the magic did its work, turning her into a loyal fangirl.

When a pink-haired man shoulders his way past her, the rough jostle breaks the hold the magic had on her and her mind returns, but she doesn't remember how much time passed, but she thought it wouldn't have been too long, considering she's standing where she was before, and the sun hasn't moved much.

She realizes that the book she bought is still in her hand and as it goes to in her bag, she finds herself inviting the man out to lunch as a thank you for interrupting the magic that had a hold on her, not quite realizing how much he and his blue cat eat.

After they eat their fill, they ask if she is part of a guild because she is a mage if her keys were any indication, to which she responds with, "No, I'm not, but I want to join Fairy Tail". And the pinkette across from her shoots up in his seat and asks "Really? Fairy Tail?" Lucy instantly gains a suspicious look in her eye, asking "Why? What's wrong with Fairy Tail?", expecting him to try and dissuade her from joining 'Such a problematic guild' like the others she had told.

When he looks at her mischievously and proudly states "Because I'm a member", and shows her his Guild Mark, Lucy jumps out of her seat and nearly shakes him to death, while asking if he could put in a recommendation or something. Natsu goes green but gets out "I can do something better than putting in a recommendation, I can take you there and sign you up", they both nearly faint.

He drags her off at the first possible opportunity, almost making her run out without paying.

They stop at the big wooden double doors marking the entrance to the Guild she's been dreaming of, Lucy gazes up and around the hall, after Natsu kicks in the doors, yelling "Oi Mira, got a new one for 'ya!".

A fight nearly immediately starts up when the guild member who gave Natsu the information about the fake Salamander shouts that the phony information 'wasn't his fault' after Natsu had kicked him across the Guild Hall. During the chaos, Lucy makes her way over to Mirajane at the bar to get her Guild Mark, commenting "There's not a single sane person here, is there?" after the suddenly huge fist of the tiny man squashes Natsu suddenly up on the second level. She merely receives a no.

Arriving at the inn she was temporarily staying at; Lucy pulls out the unique key that was nearly forgotten about and searched her luggage for the book her mother gave her when she was little to help her learn the most common gate keys. Flipping right to the end of the book when the rest of it was no help; Lucy finds what she was looking for, the Draconis Keys.

~ The Draconis Keys are different than the rest of the Celestial Spirit Keys, unlike in the way they represented different stars instead of a whole constellation, and when joined together, summoned a beast capable of destroying the world. ~

The unique key with the vine etched into the platinum, warmed and hummed as she held it in her hand, and as she called out, "Rise, Sigma Draconis, and lend me your strength to vanquish those I call my enemies". The warm gold she associated with her spirits only with green vine-like tendrils weaving their way through the stars filled the room.

Out of the gold and green light, a pale man strode out, with brown hair that matched the colour of the form-fitting tunic with thick green borders he wore, and light grey pants with the same green detailing them with vines. She recognized the man from the book as Saol, the Life Draconis.

When Lucy asked, "What are your specialties, and are you willing to make a contract with me?", she didn't expect to see the serious-looking man fall at her feet wailing about how "It's been so, long since someone summoned me" or smirking at how he's "So going to rub this in that Kappa bastard's face".

As the man lay blubbering on the floor, Lucy slowly knelt next to him and pulled him into a sitting position against her chest and asked: "Hey, are you okay?". She didn't expect an answer from the still bawling man in front of her, so when in between sobs he gets out "It's just been so, long since someone picked me up, let alone summon me. All of my other potential summoners just thought I was a faulty silver key, and passed over me without a second glance." It was hard to understand, but she got the gist of his explanation.

He felt more than heard the soft intake of breath at his statement, and the softly asked question in his ear shocked him right down to his core, just two simple words, "How long?". No one had ever cared enough to ask him that, not even his fellow spirits, they were in the same boat as he was and didn't want to talk about it, it just made the air more depressing.

"762 Earthland years," Was his soft answer.

The gasp she took in was heard this time, as the words finally registered, she pulled him into a hug, slowly, to make sure she wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

When her arms finally embraced him, he froze, he didn't know what to do, no one had ever hugged him on their own before. Lucy stilled when he froze, had she done something wrong? She went to pull her arms back to her sides when a hand wrapped around her wrist, hesitantly she embraced him again, relaxing when he melted into her side with a sigh.

They didn't know how long they stayed like that, just enjoying the silence and comfort, when Lucy felt the telltale tug on her magic, telling her she was running out, so she reluctantly broke the silence to ask again, Would you be willing to make a contract with me?".

Saol nearly jumped for joy, even after he had dumped his tears and feelings on her, she still wanted to make a contract with him. So, he did the only reasonable thing to do in his situation, he tackled her in an excited frenzy, nearly deafening her with the number of squeals coming from him.

"So, I'll take that as a yes, shall I?" she asked in amusement.

And the resulting yes, did deafen her this time.

0o-Author's Note-o0

Hi Guys! So this is my first FanFic, and it already has 12 chapters - which will be up in the next few days, depending on how much free time I have.

This is also on AO3 if you prefer to read on there. And, I have a Discord which you can join with this invite code; /SnmuG75 So come and chat with fellow enthusiasts!