Recompense Summoning Technique… by destroying one Golden Key, you can open the Celestial Spirit King's Gate.

If there is not an incredible bond of faith and trust between the master and the celestial spirit, the gate will not open.

Destroy my key.

Even if you destroy my key, that doesn't mean that I'm going to die.

"Liar…" she murmured, looking at the shattered key. Only after she did this, with tears in her eyes, did she realize that Aquarius had lied to her. Spirits… these keys were a part of them… Were the key to be destroyed, it should be obvious that the spirit shall die.

"Liar!" She shouted, her rage echoing into the sky as an earthquake hit the ground. The Celestial Spirit King… the exchange for Aquarius' life… the only chance of saving her guild, and maybe even the world with it…

The Spirit King begun his attack, fighting mercilessly against the Dark King. He couldn't forgive him for making this situation happen, for killing his friend, for making tears appear in his old friend's eyes… For Taking Her Away From This World.

"You bitch!" Lucy's enemy shouted, realizing that it was her doing. He attacked her, but as she wailed on the ground, a sphere of water surrounded her.

'Aquarius…?' she thought, unable to think clearly. She felt herself burning, from inside this time. Her wounds healed, and she could feel something crack inside her.

'Old friend, I am sorry…'

'Spirit King!?'

'Aquarius is dead… and her power was bestowed upon you.'

'Her power?'

'Yours now. The ancient laws require a sacrifice to summoning me. That was Aquarius. But the celestial world's laws require a replacement. Old friend, you were chosen to become the new Aquarius. Rise, and fight. Don't leave any regret into this world. Save your friends, save your world.'

"Yes" she replied, without thinking much about it. It seemed natural, the command given to her, the command to fight. Her brain processed the new information, and she instinctively knew that was the truth. She could feel Aquarius all over her, embracing her, filling her body, giving her life. She was never more thankful, more blissful. But it was temporary, for she realized what that meant.

She has become a Celestial Spirit, giving up on humanity. That was what was broken inside her now, every tie she had to this world. Her clothes changed, her hairstyle did… even that tattoo that appeared on her chest, it was proof of what she has become. Most likely, these were the last moments she would spend here, in this world. She could already feel the poisoning air around her, wanting to take over her. It was the exact same sensation she had when she went into the Spirit World… Now, it was the Earth that rejected her, pushing her back into the world where spirit essence came from…

'May the stars ever guide you.'

"Thank you, Spirit King!" she shouted with all her might, receiving this blessing, understanding it fully. She had to fight, to give her all here, on the battlefield, even if it was for the last time she could do it…

'I've hated you, Lucy'

"Liar… You were… my very first friend. Thank you, Aquarius, and forgive me…" she murmured, praying as the enemy attacked her, but the water protected her. "Please forgive me…"

"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens" she prayed, her voice calm as a tremor could be felt into the air "All ye Stars, far and wide, Shine unto me and show me your form. Oh, Tetrabiblios, I am the ruler of the stars" 'And a part of you as of now…' "Aspect become complete, Open Thy Malevolent Gate. 88 Stars of The Firmament…" she shut open her eyes, rage could be noticed into them, piercing immediately through her enemy "Shine! Urano Metria !"

"Let the 88 Constellations of The Heavens Shine Now! Infinite StarLight! Galaxia Blade!"

'Old friends, I'll leave it to you. Please, for her sake as well, finish this battle.' The Spirit King gave his blessing once more, hearing Lucy's voice clearly, as she asked for the guidance of the stars. 'May the Old Kings welcome that child'

Light filled everything, purifying this malice surrounding them. She stood gracefully, bathing into that light, slowly feeling her nakama recover, their life flames burning brightly once more. She fell on her knees, her head up into the sky, feeling the light give her another soft embrace.

'I'll be waiting for you, Aquarius' The Spirit King's voice filled her mind. Tears fell from her eyes, hearing herself be called by that name. She wasn't worthy of it…

"This is exactly why I told them to kill her quickly!" a voice growled from behind and she slowly turned her head around, to see it. But she had no problem now, with being killed. If that was her punishment, so may be it. But the attacker was thrown on the ground.

"Gajeel…" she murmured, seeing him stand between them.

"Water Nebula!"

"Juvia too…" she couldn't help but smile, seeing her friends sound and safe. Gray came too, protecting Juvia with all his might. And when flames seemed to surround them, Natsu took care of them.

"I don't really know what's going on, but somehow I get the feeling that you really saved our asses, Lucy." He said, grinning as he faced his enemy. Lucy closed her eyes, only she was able to understand the price. But even so, a smile was on her face, a sad smile, full of pain.

She felt her body weak, maybe it was the sudden change. She lost control of herself, her limbs felling numb on the ground. She could hear them fight, and with all her might she turned on her belly, wanting to not be a burden in this battlefield.

"Just sit back and enjoy the show" Natsu told her, but he looked kind of strange towards her. Maybe he noticed…? Out of these who came here, only Natsu, Gajeel and Juvia were left, Gray having left with the ice devil slayer, Silver.

"Juvia!" Lucy yelled, seeing her friend into a pinch. But then something was thrown into her back, and she could feel cold fingers linger on her skin. As she looked, she could see a skeleton, holding her down. And when Juvia disappeared, leaving everybody shocked, she could feel water, a large quantity of water. It was Juvia, she knew it.

"Juvia!" she jumped on her feet, having been released from the grip of the corpse when Juvia defeated the puppeteer. She caught the girl as she was falling, hugging her tightly.

"Juvia… wanted to see Gray-sama…" she whispered, finding the strength. It was strange. Lucy could feel something resonate between the two of them. A song she could say…

"Don't worry. I'm sure you will be able to see him." She reassured the girl, and Juvia nodded, not giving up on hope. Natsu and Gajeel continued their battle, but Lucy was nursing the wounded Juvia.

"Keep strong, Juvia." She said, and something made her eyes widen. In her heart, something ached suddenly, with a great intensity. She placed her hand over it, and noticed the fast beating. This was bad… they had to get out of there…

But it was too late, blackness surrounded them, and they were taken by the current. It was water, just then she figured that. But its very color was black. She looked at her hands, noticing a somehow easy feeling. She held her breath and looked around her, searching for Natsu and the others. But she couldn't hold her breath anymore, and gave in. But even when the water filled her lungs, she felt nothing. That's right… Aquarius was a spirit of water. Water couldn't possibly hurt her… But she saw Natsu and Juvia unconscious, and only Gajeel was left.

"It seems they had shallowed some black water of darkness. This water is poison. It brings death within five minutes. Not that a human would be able to hold their breath for 5 minutes underwater anyways…" the demon said, and Lucy's eyes widened with rage. Her friends would die. Gajeel looked at her, mentioning for her to take them and get out. But she knew that there was no escape, the whole place was full of water. And that demon would catch with them before they'd get out anyway.

"Gajeel…" she murmured, and her voice echoed, a slight tremor being felt into her voice. Both him and the demon looked at her, shocked to see her being able to breath fine, nevertheless to talk. But they were a bit taken aback by the enraged look in her eyes. "Get as far of here as you can…" she continued, and the water swirled around her, as she raised an hand towards her enemy, pushing the waters with a great force.

'Bunny-girl!?' Gajeel thought, not believing what he could see. But he was not giving up either. He could be dying while trying, but he will not run away and leave her do all the work. He attacked as well, and managed successfully to be thrown into the ground.

"Go join Davy Jones' locket at the bottom of this sea of darkness!" The demon shouted, aiming for Gajeel.

"You're no fun, Gajeel. Don't die on me." Lucy said, stopping the attack with one hand as she stepped between them.

"That's impossible… She is able to stand in this water…?" The demon murmured, not believing it. Gajeel nodded, and they both attacked together. But even together, Lucy was getting weak, and Gajeel was nearly not able to move anymore. He needed to breathe…

Seeing that Gajeel took a lot of hits and was not able of much now, Lucy decided to take him on herself. She didn't know how much strength she had left, but she had to try everything. And so she took the demon away from Gajeel, taking the hits herself, attacking with all she had. But she could see a shadow in the water, and her eyes widened as she saw Levy reach out for Gajeel. When the demon noticed as well, he left Lucy and headed for Levy.

"Hands off!" Gajeel shouted, hitting the demon with his ironed hand, holding Levy into a hug. Lucy looked and couldn't help but smile at this scene. But he begun to shake her, and she didn't know what to thin.

"Do it again, Levy! Give me air again! And while you're at that give some to Salamander and Juvia as well." He said.

"Gajeel!" Lucy shouted, looking at him.

"What do you wait, Levy!? Use your magic! Make some air!" he added, and only then did Levy figure out, embarrassed.

She did it for all of them, but something else kicked in, the toxic from the black water. Even Lucy felt it a little, making her dizzy. She couldn't do anything anymore, and suddenly had an urge of leaving this place, as if she was being called somewhere.

'No… not now! Not yet!' She mentally screamed, forcing herself to stay there. She had to finish this battle as soon as possible, but her body didn't listen to her. It was in this blurry image that she's seen Gajeel hit the demon, finishing him for good this time, as he became steel. And she felt herself dragged to the ground, hitting it as the air entered in her lungs once again.

Still, there was one more demon left, and she looked surprised to see it stand behind Gajeel, ready to attack him. But she was too far away, and all she could do was scream his name. Luckily, Gray was the one to save him this time, and finished the demon in a few seconds, showing new ice powers.

"Is this over…?" Levy murmured, after they all gathered. They were tired, and Lucy didn't know how much longer she will be able to resist this air. For her, this was far more poisonous than the water from earlier.

"Levy, take this to the old woman." Gajeel said, handing a bag to Levy, blood coming forth.

"With this, we can heal Laxus and the others.

"Natsu…? What's wrong?" Lucy asked, noticing Natsu shaking, with his back turned at them.

"Gajeel… can't you hear it…?" he asked, making the others confused. "This voice"

And then everything shook. And Acnologia roared into the skies…

"Natsu…" Lucy reached out to him, seeing him shaking. But when she touched his shoulder, she yelped, feeling the hot burn left on her hand. Gajeel also begun shaking.

And then he shone brightly, and she could see a dragon coming forth from inside of him, raising to the sky. It had majestic wings, and burning red scales. That was… Igneel…

"Live, Natsu." He said, leaving to get rid of Igneel. And Lucy could see tears in Natsu's eyes. But she herself begun to tremble slightly, her spiritual condition catching up to her.

"You gotta be kidding me!" He shouted and jumped to catch his father's tail.

It was in a split of a second that he disappeared from her vision, and Lucy helplessly tried to reach out to his fleeing figure. Seeing him get away, she fell to her knees and cried, feeling how she had to leave this world soon enough, unable to keep up her act. She knew that this was most likely the last time she'd see her dear friend, Natsu, and felt her heart breaking as she recalled everything the two have gone through.

She collapsed on her back, panting heavily. Her body was burning up, but her mind was wandering as her gaze looked to the sky, chasing Natsu's figure. Slightly, she smiled, and then trembled. This pain felt so dear to her; a proof that she had lived. She felt that with this, she could be content.

Her name was called by all these that have seen her fall, but to her ears, this was but a faint thread to keep her in this world longer than she could stay. And then, the earth split, separating her from her dear friends, who were caught on another size of the rocks.

"Lucy!" Levy screamed, looking at her collapsed friend, feeling that something was wrong with her.

"I'm alright! Just go!" She shouted, knowing they had to find the advisor to make the medicine.

"But!"

"Go I've said! I'll see you later!" She yelled, but she knew she was lying. Most likely, she will never see them again… She felt herself drift into sleep and she couldn't help herself but smile. But then, she felt herself being picked up.

"What the heck is wrong with you!?" She heard a voice yell at her and she barely opened her eyes, feeling herself dragged back into this dimension.

"G-Grey…?" she murmured, seeing his face.

"Lucy, stay with me! What happened to you? Why are you alone?" he asked, and she saw he was carrying her in his arms. She breathed hard, unable to answer. "God dammit!" he said and ran, searching for somebody, for a safe place.

"Didn't you… have something to do…?" she murmured slowly, almost whispering it. Her limbs felt numb.

"Don't worry about that. Now we just got to find a place to hide from these dragons." He smirked but then stopped.

'Do not give up hope just yet.' The Master's voice talked into their heads.

"Master…?" Grey murmured, wondering what was now

'We too have a trump card. Fairy Tail's ultimate weapon, Lumen Histoire. I don't have time to explain it in detail. For now, I need you to come back to the guild immediately.'

"You heard him" Grey said and changed the direction.

"But… the guild is in ruins…" she murmured.

'To the guild's basement. Hurry.'

"Grey!?" somebody shouted and they stopped, turning around to see another group of Fairy Tail members.

"Lisanna, minna." He murmured, seeing the group.

"What happened to Lucy!?" Mira yelped in surprise, seeing the girl almost lifeless.

"Great timing!" he smirked and passed her to Jet and Droy. "Take her with you. You're heading to the guild, aren't you? I'll see you there!" he said, before running away. Lucy looked after him, seeing him leave. Once again, her heart felt as if it was breaking, and she started sobbing.

"Are you alright, Lucy? Are you in pain?" Lisanna asked, full of worry, seeing her like this. Lucy then smirked, not wanting herself to be pitied, despite the obvious tears everyone could see.

"This is nothing." She lied, but she felt herself torn in pieces.

"Kya!" she felt herself pierced by something, growing suddenly more aware.

'Princess! You must return at once!' she heard somebody yell in her head, but she couldn't make who it was.

"You gotta me kidding me, I can't use my magic anymore!"

"Was Face activated…?"

Everybody lost their magic powers, but Lucy herself was a creature made of magic. She felt the desire to scream as she was burning, but her voice didn't come out. And the roars of the dragons echoed into the sky, and slowly, the burning sensation faded away, together with the return of magic.

"Jet… put me down…" she suddenly said, finally giving in… There was no way she could spend another second there, in this air. He looked at her weirdly, but nodded. Everybody stopped, seeing her almost falling, the strength to stay on her own feet fading quickly.

"Lucy? Is something wrong?" Mira asked, looking at her, ready to catch her if she fell. They couldn't see her face, but they could see the tears falling on the ground.

"Lucy…?"

"Ne, Mira… Will you give these to Natsu for me? Please…?" Lucy whispered, raising, with a shaking hand, her keys. Everybody widened their eyes.

"What happened?" Mira made a step forward, looking at her full of worry.

"Please… take them… promise me you'll give these to him…" her voice was shaking, and without realizing it, Mira nodded her head slowly, confused as she caught the keys falling in her hands.

"And… I want you to know, and to pass it on… That I loved Fairy Tail, I do love this guild with all my heart. Whatever may happen, don't forget this. And never be sad, alright? You must leave now… go…" she whispered, and her hair started swaying, shining golden as it was caught by an unseen flow of magic.

"Lucy!? What are you talking about!?" Lisanna shouted, seeing her body glow bright golden, making her look like an angel surrounded by a divine halo. She raised her face, and between tears, they could see a bright smile on her face as she crumbled into dust.

"Please… don't be sad… Thank you, and forgive me…" she murmured, before disappearing in golden sparkles, leaving them all stunned, with their hands shaking. When they realized that she had disappeared in front of them, only when they truly realized it, they begun shouting her name, over and over again, but nothing happened.

If they searched hard enough on the ground, turning around a few stones, without having to fear Acnologia that blew the dust up and almost threw them over, they probably would have found a golden key, bearing the sign of Aquarius. But because of the fight above, they had to run to the guild and also had to announce everybody, come back and search further.

But they didn't have this chance…

Instead, a man dressed in black, with a sad look on his face, carrying a book in his hands, stopped in front of the glitter. He noticed the sparkle it gave and picked it up, seeing that it was a Golden Celestial Key. Normally, he would have left it there, but because it gave off a strange feeling, he decided to pick it up.

Mostly because... it reminded him of a certain pink headed guy, and tears started rolling on his face.