A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoys. Even though it's been nearly a month since the last update... *sad face* Anyway, in advance, I have to apologize to those who were looking forward to some action scenes. While I'm not completely horrible at action (meaning I think I'm horrible but have been assured that I'm not that bad), I don't like to rewrite scenes that would basically and essentially follow canon. Still, I hope I don't lose any readers. R&R, everyone!

Lucy collapsed to her knees, the water of the ocean splashing loudly around her at the sudden movement. She could feel a loud rushing in her ears and struggled for a brief moment to breathe, finally pulling large gulps of air into her body. She remained still and silent for three long seconds, trying to calm her mind enough to make sense of the sudden action.

"Lucy-san, one of your keys is glowing," Erebus stated softly, his deep voice right next to her ear.

"Reckless," Hydra clucked gently, curling the side of his body against Lucy as he reached for the key pouch in the former demon's hands. "As I thought. Leo's reactivated his contract."

"How did..." Lucy paused, drawing in another deep breath. "How did you know?"

Hydra smiled down at the blonde with sea-green eyes. "Phoenix is the fighter, Draco is the teacher, and I am... Well, I suppose I am the scholar, in a sense. My main ability is to sense and analyze most types of magic. I could tell that one of your keys had been used. Knowing that only the strong spirits can open and close their gates on their own, I suppose you must be suffering from some drain."

"I..." Lucy paused, trying to figure out what she was trying to say. Was she attempting to deny what she was sure was entirely obvious? "Yes, I am. It..." She took another deep breath, somehow trying to replace that feeling of something missing in her body. "I'll be fine."

Hydra's luminescent eyes became worried, the tint of green darkening slightly. "It was too reckless of him," he maintained.

"He wouldn't..." Lucy stopped again, this time to arrange her thoughts before her exhaustion made her nonsensical. "Loke would never do that for no reason. If he activated our contract, something's happened. Seeing as it's Fairy Tail..." Lucy trailed off, a significant half-smile gracing her face.

"Ahh, I see," Hydra agreed, nodding sagely. "As I said, Lucy-chan is very smart."

Now, reflecting on what she'd just stated, Lucy now struggled against Hydra's hold to stand, though her entire body felt as limp as a noodle. "I... I have to... Fairy Tail's in trouble."

Wrapping his oddly slender arms around her torso, Hydra managed to still her struggles. "Yes, I know. This is exactly why you asked the big lizard to watch over them, isn't it? Because they tend to attract this very type of trouble?"

Lucy wilted, feeling the full weight of her exhaustion. She hadn't thought it would be a problem but the constant interchange of spirits was beginning to wear down on her normally boundless energy. "Yes," she admitted softly.

Standing, the serpent spirit pulled Lucy up with him, lifting her into his arms in a bridal carry, frowning slightly when her head flopped tiredly against his shoulder. "I know for a fact," he stated clearly, "that my presence is costing you precious energy. The first opening of the gate always uses more energy than subsequent callings."

Lucy nodded, closing her eyes briefly to force away the gray that was encroaching on the corner of her vision. "It does."

Gently, he laid her on the sand, far enough away that high tide would not be able to reach her and that the mid-afternoon sun would dry and warm her. "You must rest. Besides the fact that there is little you can do for them at this distance, Draco is especially suited for combat in his natural form. He merely finds most fighting not to his tastes."

"What are you going to do?" Lucy asked, her honey-brown eyes unblinking as she stared at her newest spirit. Though her heart ached and her soul cried at his statements, she knew that is was true. There wasn't much she could do for her friends when she was in an entirely different country.

Hydra smiled enigmatically. "You are the mistress here, Lucy-chan. What would you have me do?"

Lucy laid still for a long moment, her tired brain churning out possibilities sluggishly. Even though her body screamed for sleep, to restore what little reserves she could even with three spirit gates open, she knew that Hydra needs her answer. "Return to the spirit realm and tell Draco to return to the guild. Protect them however he sees fit but don't interfere unless strictly necessary. There are three Dragon Slayers in my guild and he is still essentially a dragon." Lucy paused, lifting up on her hands to put her face closer to the serpent. "Don't let them die."

Hydra offered a mockery of a salute, the effect of it somewhat dimmed by his nudity. "I hear and comply, Lucy-chan," he stated, a glimmer of starlight following his words as he closed his own spirit gate.

"Lucy-san, are you all right?" Erebus inquired immediately, his concern easing a little when she nodded and sighed in relief. "Is there anything I can do?"

Lucy looked up at him and for a moment marveled at the changes in Erebus. When she had first faced him, she was desperate to get away, to win, to prove that even the weakest member of Fairy Tail could defeat a demon. And Erebus... well, all he wanted was her body and not in a way that could make anyone happy. Now, well, he was like any other spirit, hopelessly concerned with her well-being and too easily swayed by her whims.

But like any other spirit, she loved him and could not bear to cause him pain.

"If you could, I'd like some food from the main camp before I rest. After a nap, I should be well enough to talk to the expedition leader."

Nodding, Erebus took long strides to the camp, obviously to do as she instructed. Watching the chitinous armor that lined his back until he was well enough away, Lucy finally released a groan of pain. As it was, her connection to her celestial spirits was very strong. That must be why, even though the immensity of Hydra's power was no longer draining her magic, she was still feeling twinges of pain.

"Come back whole, Loke," she murmured under her breath, knowing that it was his battle she was feeling. And that these pains were only dim echoes of what was actually happening to her favored spirit.

Whipping his long tail in agitation, Draco had to wince at every blow his mistress's guild members received from Grimoire Heart. He watched over the island to the best of his ability, knowing that it was only his connection to Lucy Heartfilia that allowed him to do so. Tenrou Island was protected by powerful Fairy Tail magic, a large reason why the members of the dark guild seemed to be targeting the central tree. The Tenrou Tree, he knew through what snatches of information he was gained from the guild master over the last week, ensured that no member of Fairy Tail could die on that island.

It was for this fact that Makarov preferred to hold the S-Class Exams at that location.

And somehow, the members of the dark guild knew this fact, a piece of information that should not be available to individuals outside of Fairy Tail. Even as that fact made Draco want to gouge holes into the nearest surface with his claws, an action that could not strictly be performed in the spirit realm, he had no way to knowing how they knew this. The only fact that kept him from burrowing back to the physical realm to save them was the full realization that Fairy Tail would not be defeated.

Every time they were knocked down and still managed to drag themselves to their feet, Draco reminded himself that that was the very essence of Fairy Tail: that they would never allow themselves the luxury of defeat.

"Ah, pitiful." Draco turned at the sound of the familiar, bright voice, his white fangs becoming particularly visible in a draconic smile at the sight of Hydra. For a very brief moment, he even forgot about the problems that faced Lucy's guild. "You already share her feelings."

With that simple statement, Draco's attention was drawn back to the fates of the Fairy Tail mages. "It is the fate of a celestial spirit," he deadpanned.

Hydra dipped his large serpentine head, conceding the point. "That is true, though it is not as if we do not have our own minds." At that, he shifted his focus to the broad mirror that adorned one wall of Draco's quarters, the dragon's personal method on scrying on the physical realm. "She says you may return, though you might want to retain your natural form." The massive serpent chuckled softly, creating an odd hissing sound. "She is well aware that there is a fight brewing."

Draco frowned, the deep ridges of his brow furrowing further. "How could she be? She is leagues away from them."

Hydra scoffed and Draco could tell instantly that this was not a happy sound. "Leo activated his contract. The act of it crippled her momentarily. It is apparent that she has been pushing herself too far." Clucking his tongue at the entire situation, he turned his attention back to the dragon. "She did leave me with a warning by which you must abide."

Draco sighed, feeling antsy in every cell of his being. "What is it?"

"Avoid the Dragon Slayers. Though you are a spirit, you are still a dragon and their attacks, even if accidental, will hurt you." Hydra's blue-green eyes gleamed at him. "Even now, I would feel disappointed if your negligence caused Lucy-chan pain."

"Noted," Draco stated, grinning in comraderie as the sparkle of starlight around his form indicated that he had opened the gate to the physical realm.

As his clawed appendages touched down on the southern edge of the island, Draco reared up suddenly, feeling the presence of familiar darkness. Turning slightly to the left, his hind claws digging scars into the land, the dragon spirit asserted his dominance over the dark wizard in the only way he could, through sheer size.

"Zeref," he growled, the rumble in his throat making it clear that he remembered many of the atrocities for which the mage was responsible.

The mage, who had seemed to be wandering aimlessly, disappointment clear on his face, twisted his body to face the dragon fully. "Draco," he declared in a soft, monotonous voice. "You have been contracted?"

At that question, Draco narrowed his eyes, wondering with a burning intensity how the four-hundred-year-old wizard could know such a thing but his pride too powerful to actually voice the question.

"Not many things could give you access to this island," Zeref told him matter-of-factly. "Being contracted to a Fairy Tail celestial mage would be one of them."

"And you?" the dragon asked, his voice a soft snarl. "How did you access this island?"

However, Zeref turned away, his focus drifting toward the center of the island. Instead of answering the dragon's question, he made another statement. "Hades came here to find me. I think I might grant his wish." Without another word, he ambled away.

Clenching his jaw in impotent anger, Draco took to the sky to pinpoint the location of Lucy's guildmates. As much as Zeref's very presence irked him in ways he could not always describe, it was of little relevance at the moment. Fairy Tail was in trouble and he had promised to do all he could to help.

Capricorn felt extremely exhausted, the result of being outside the spirit realm for the better part of two decades.

Still, he reminded himself, holding his head high despite the lethargy that gripped him, he had a promise to fulfill. It was the same promise that two other spirits had given to Layla Heartfilia, a promise that the other spirits had already fulfilled in pledging their services to the deceased woman's daughter. Now... it was his turn.

However, pledging himself to Lucy Heartfilia was not such an easy thing to do. Despite the power level that Leo assured him that she had, she was not present for the guild's S-Class exams, not as a candidate and not as a partner. Because of this, he needed to hand his spirit key to someone trustworthy because his exhaustion was forcing him to close his gate.

Something deep inside told him that leaving his key in the dirt of this island would not be a good idea.

"Still... I should entrust myself to an infiltrator?" he asked the air under his breath.

That was the course that Leo had recommended in lieu of Lucy's presence and after several moments of deep thought. Fairy Tail guild members were nothing if not absent-minded but this "Mest Gryder" person was not Fairy Tail. And Capricorn knew from personal knowledge that he was not Grimoire Heart.

In this increasingly complex situation, that only left... the Council.

He's not a bad guy. There were a couple days Gray and I spied on him. We were worried about Wendy, you know? She's so young. I mean, he's weird, to be sure, but definitely not a bad guy.

Capricorn smirked wryly to himself, knowing that Leo's opinion was probably sound. He was very likely being tainted by too many years with a dark guild but he firmly reminded himself that they were not bad people. Overly strict, maybe, and far too quick to judge outside of context but not bad people.

Sighing to himself, he had to admit that he sorely needed to reset his own preconceptions. He had spent so much time under Zoldeo's control that he often thought like the dark mage, despite the scope of his own opinions. In order to become a proper Heartfilia spirit again, he needed to take every scrap and remnant of that wizard and obliterate it utterly.

Reaching outward with his senses, he reached beyond the island and its many confrontations and searched for entities on the water surrounding the island. Even if he felt the need to aid Fairy Tail in their battle, he lacked the energy to do so. Now, it was all he could do to battle the encroaching darkness, the sweet pull of rest.

Pooling a good amount of his remaining energy into his legs, he jumped high into the air and then flipped once to arc his body toward the ship he had found. Once he landed, he could not say that he was overly pleased to be surrounded by the blaring white uniforms of Council enforcers, individuals that not even sweet and gentle Layla could force herself to like at all times.

But one of them was different. One man was not dressed in a blatantly Council uniform. One man was not happy about whatever decision that had been made. One man did not necessarily belong among the mindless drones that could only serve, only existed to take orders.

It was him to which Capricorn walked. It was this man, Mest Gryder or whatever his real name happened to be, that was as trustworthy as the Council advertised themselves to be.

Despite the way that the enforcers around him were instantly on alert, Capricorn merely grasped the man's hand, knowing his golden key would be left behind, and brought his face close to his ear, whispering three words before his energy abandoned him and he had no choice to return to where he belonged.

"Find... Lucy... Heartfilia."