Chapter Sixteen

Fairy Tail was back to its normal state at this point.

As normal as it could be.

None of the Dragon Slayers expected them.

Doors flew in but no one noticed them.

Hell, not even Mirajane noticed until they spoke up.

"One shot of vodka."

"One glass of water."

"Of course!" The white haired girl replied cheerily, her back turned to the two. She flipped the clean, upside down glasses right side up and poured the two substances into two different cups and turned around. "Is that ah—"

In front of her were two disheveled Sabertooth mages by the names Sting and Rogue.

"What are you two doing here?"

All activity stopped and turned towards the beloved barmaid, freezing when they saw the rival mages. Natsu stood up, followed by Gray and Erza. Sting gave out a small, "tch" before taking the glass of vodka from Mira's hand. After downing it, he muttered, "Your Celestial Mage is what."

Natsu leaned forward. "What about her? What about Lucy?"

Rogue answered, "We ran into her in Crocus." Wendy thought, what was she doing there? "At the train station, snapped at us and left. We didn't intend to run into her anymore, when we realized they were on the same train going towards Wolf's Den, both of our destinations. We found out she was able to perform Caster magic. It was powerful, so we challenged her to a fight."

"Then she got freaky after a bit into the fight," Sting finished. "We beat her a bit, said a few things, then the next thing we know, we were on the ground bruised with Lucy standing with new power. It seemed like she wouldn't snap out of it."

Sting set the cup down and turned around. He scanned the crowd. "Where's your little Sky Sorceress?"

White…it was all that she could see. Lucy…that was her name…Lucy Heartfilia…she floated among the translucent white, a cream dress of her own dressed her. It was all she could see. "Damn," she cursed under her breath, "of all the days and time it can happen, it just HAD to happen then, I was so damn close to beating them."

In a flash of light, golden outlined stairs appeared in front of her. Besides the outline, it seemed that there was nothing there, except when Lucy decided to take a step forward, she had stubbed her toe against something. She hissed in pain and decided to raise and bend her knee, and took a step up. She was raised a few inches up from the "ground" she had been on moments prior to her step. Looking up, she saw the staircase go up into the "sky", in other words, to infinity (in reality the end of the stairs was just out of her line of vision).

"Well, guess I better get moving."

"Stella, is she going to be alright?"

"I don't know Lumen; she left for the Heavens without even opening the Zodiac's gates. That, I have never seen before. Luna's was different, and the other Spirit Callers…they were different but similar. They all opened at least five Zodiac gates. They were Leo, Virgo, Aquarius, Gemini, and Scorpio. They were the strongest Spirits of that Spirit Caller. Lucy on the other hand…"

"Other hand what?"

"…I don't know where she had the power to open the gate. To open the gate to Angel Andromeda, Spirit Callers need power equivalent to Angel Andromeda's. That is why the Spirit Callers need to summon at least their five strongest Zodiacs. Five Zodiac Spirits alone can rival Andromeda's power. Lucy now is obviously different…I wonder if it has something to do with her having the same blood as Andromeda."

"Can Luna open the gate the same way Lucy did?"

"…I think so. Even though they weren't direct relatives like how Lucy and Andromeda are, Andromeda took care of Luna so I suppose she could open the gate the same way. But now she's a Spirit, she relies on Lucy to walk on the earth."

Lumen cast her look out on the figures of Luna and Lucy in the cave. Lucy's eyes still glowed white but they seemed softer than they were before…as if she were about to fall asleep. Luna swept her hair out from under her head and started braiding it lazily. Her eyes were glazed, not even bothering to fix the knot she made in Lucy's hair.

Natsu looked around for the Sky Dragon Slayer. Natsu looked at Mirajane who only gave a sad smile. "She left," was all she said. Natsu strode up to Mira and slammed his hands down.

"Why?"

Levy shrugged who was sitting a few chairs down the countertop. "Most likely she knew what to do to help. Grandine and Stella seemed close after her explanation." Whoever Stella was, and what Wendy knew, Natsu was following them. He stormed out of the guild, no one even bothering to stop him. At least no one knew his intentions.

Sting scoffed, "Does he always have a temper like that?"

Mirajane glared but shook her head. "No, it's been different since Lucy left the guild. His personality is still the same, but his temper…his fuse has grown shorter."

Rogue stared down into his now empty cup. "So Lucy's the cause huh?" Sting looked over to his partner.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" A nod. Sting looked back towards Mirajane. "It seems that Lucy is his mate—or life partner—and Natsu is experiencing…hmm…withdrawal symptoms?"

One moment…

Two…

And then Mirajane fainted.

Wendy approached the cave. She had sniffed out Lucy and it led her to Wolf's Den. She shakily made her way through the forest and was glad to see two figures sitting outside of the cave. She stepped out of the shadows and approached the two girls sitting at the step of the cave. "E-excuse me?" Lumen looked up sharply, only to soften her gaze when she saw the little girl in front of her.

"Oh, it's you…Wendy is it? I remember you from the last time we met." Wendy nodded.

"I came here to tend to Lucy. She is much like an older sister to me, and Grandine taught me something that may help her. She said it was likely that I was going to meet a Celestial Mage, specifically Lucy. She said that you knew who the next Spirit Caller was, and would bring her to me if you met her while I was still Grandeeny's apprentice. But that was before…she left."

Stella nodded, "I understand, please, come in, Luna's tending to Lucy right now." Lumen and Stella stood up and led Wendy into the cave where Lucy still was lying, Luna reading a letter from the guild.

Dear Lucy,

How're you doing? Natsu isn't getting into any more fights with me…or anyone in fact, not even Gajeel who's method of trying to get him to talk is by taunting him, but no insult seemed to work…except for when he said that I wanted to date you when you got back. You should've seen the rage he had, it was a wonder that no one had gotten hurt.

How's your training so far? Erza and Happy had decided to go training, randomly in the day. They usually disappear for about 2 days a week. They said they wanted to train right alongside with you.

I know I shouldn't be saying this because you already said when you're going to come back, but please hurry, or don't…whatever. The point is, Fairy Tail isn't the same and it would be nice to actually have a fight with Flame Brain.

I wish you luck Lucy.

Gray

Luna looked up when she realized she was being watched. Her eyes were met with Wendy's. "Oh Wendy, what're you doing here."

"She knows a way to treat Lucy while she's in her Spirit State." Lumen stood behind Wendy.

"Why would she need that?"

Wendy spoke up, "It's possible that because she didn't open up the gate without any Zodiac that she can strain herself while she's up with Angel Andromeda. It's possible I can put her use of energy to low until she really needs it but…"

Luna had a wary look on her face.

"But what?"

"…If I lose control of the prevention of energy usage, she can use her power all in one go…and from what Grandeeny taught me…that route in the treatment can led to death."

HAPPY HOLIDAYS GUYS! Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukah, I wish you a wonderful season surrounded by love and affection. Thank you guys for supporting me to this point, and I also wish you a Happy New Year. Please check out my other story, Sorrowful Heavens, I just want you guys to check it out because it takes place from the beginning of the anime. It's still Fairy Tail.

Once again, I want to wish you guys a wonderful season, and is filled with people and things you love. I hope you continue reading my works.

Happy Readings!

~Moonlight Listener