Karakura Town

"Wait, that can't be right." Lucy doubted the eccentric man's words. "I have celestial magic, not what you have."

He shook his head, his thin lips tilting upward. "Well, we have to wait for you to have more dreams."

"Dreams?"

"You said you met him in a dream, right?"

The blond girl nodded.

"Then you'll meet him again and if you do, ask for his name."

Her brows furrowed. "Will he give me his name?"

"Perhaps."

She didn't like what he was insinuating. The stranger in her dream, she felt connected to him like she felt with her spirits, she could feel his emotions. And if she were to touch him, she might get the same pleasant warmth she got from her celestial spirits. "What are you trying to say?"

"Zanpakutos are tricky. You have to appeal to its nature before getting a name."

Lucy smiled while she glanced at Loke. "That's not different than my celestial spirits, right?"

"Yeah," the lion spirit said. He blushed, recalling the time he sought her out before his final time on earth land. He put her through so much trouble when she restored his power from the celestial world.

The owner lifted his blond eyebrows. Feeling the need to explain, the pretty blond girl began. "When I gain a new celestial spirit, I need to make a contract. It's from the contract that allows me to summon the spirit. But you can say the process of forming a contract is the testing field between me and spirit."

The blond man shifted his attention between Lucy and Loke.

"Summoning him allows me to use his magic for my purpose but he stays in this world clearly on my magic."

"Zanpakutos are similar in that aspect. Depending on the owner's reiatsu and bond to his/her zanpakuto, a soul reaper's power is displayed. In the soul society, there are ranks. The captains of the thirteen squads have the highest reiatsu."

For some reason, the celestial mage was interested in Ichigo's power. "What about Ichigo?"

Loke eyed her weirdly but she ignored him.

"He's entirely different. His spirit resides in his human form yet his reiatsu is strong enough for him to have the same rank as a captain."

"Oh."

The large man with the coils added, "Because his reiatsu is strong, he's granted permission to be a substitute soul reaper in Karakura Town."

"Oh I see," Lucy whispered.

There was a moment of silence when Loke slightly coughed. "Urahara, now will be a good time to explain to my mistress the requirements of saving her life."

The celestial blond frowned as she exchanged looks between both males. "Sounds fair," Urahara said.

"What's going on?" she asked, uncertainty flickering in her brown eyes.

"When you chose to stay here, you chose to live."

Slowly, she nodded.

"We didn't discuss the requirements for saving your life."

She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear.

"The hollows and soul reapers can sense your aura because it's different. If we alter your aura, you'll become harder to detect."

"Can't you cover my presence in the same you do with your own?"

The owner coughed behind his hand. "I wish it is simple as how you say. You see, your magic is different from reiatsu. You can manipulate your magic with a certain form. We use zanpakuto and well, other forms of reiatsu to achieve our goals. Our zanpakutos are what makes our releases different."

Lucy was kind of following along. "Since your magic release is different from a reiatsu release we cannot use the items that conceal our aura on you."

The last part she understood.

"However, if we alter your aura into one of ours, we can hide you from the Soul Society."

"Alter?"

"He's talking about changing your power, Lucy."

Immediately, the blond girl's head moved in a negative manner. "No."

"But-."

"No," she interrupted him. There was no way she going to give up her keys for a new power.

The blond man exhaled. "Look, if you stay the way you are you're going to turn into a hollow. The hole in your chest is already a sign that you're losing your heart. It's only a matter of time before the chain at your chest disappears."

Lucy's hand, the one that wasn't clutching on the knot of the bedsheet, reached to touch the chain at her chest.

"You know what hollows are capable of. If you don't want to transform into a mindless bad spirit that consumes souls, then you have to…."

"Don't mention any more please." She put a hand in the air as a gesture for him to stop.

The owner shrugged his shoulders. The celestial mage bowed her head, some of her hair covered her eyes. Urahara took her quietness as his cue to get up. He motioned with his gray eyes to his assistant to leave the couple alone.

"Well, it's been a long night," he said as he slid open a door. "Tessia let's go."

The burly man with the glasses nodded his head.

"Good night." Both males left Lucy alone with her lion spirit.

"Princess," she heard him say.

"I can't do it. I can't give up my magic or you and my other friends." She clasped both hands in front of her face, almost in a praying motion.

"Your keys." She knew he was going to mention the state of her keys.

"You are here, right?"

"Yes."

"Then they're going to be joining us soon."

"Lucy."

"And when they do, everything will be like in Fiore."

"Princess."

"So there's no need to give up my magic."

"Lucy!" She felt hard hands clutched her shoulders and then she was being slightly shook.

"There's a good chance they might not be coming back here!"

His words made her still.

"I…." He let her go. "I didn't want to tell you but I'm here because I'm the only spirit directly linked to you."

Her lips began to tremble. "Wh-what are you saying?"

He inhaled deeply, his hazel eyes moving away from hers. "When you saved my life, my contract was bound to your lifeline. Somehow our bond grew deeper that I followed you after your death."

"No." She shook her head. "You can't… that can't be right."

"The keys are not reacting to your magic and me being here, I'm wasting what is left of your magic. Yet I can't return home with the others."

Her luminous brown eyes widened.

"Your magic is depleting. Either way, you're going to lose us."

"Shut up!" she yelled at him. She didn't want to hear any more information from him. She shot up to her feet, not caring if the knot that kept the bedsheet together came undone. She dashed into the room, the fabric drifting to floor behind her. By the time she made it to her room, she slid the door shut and sank into the futon while crying silently.

Lucy didn't know when it happened, but she felt herself falling back into a dream. Unlike before though, she could make out the layout of the river -calm and clear, see the stars twinkling in the sky, and see the trees in the distance.

Looking down at herself, she noticed she wore a long white dress that hugged the upper curves of her body and flowed around her legs. She frowned. Her bare feet weren't touching the ground. Why?

"I'm back here again."

"You will always return here," the other voice answered her.

Whipping her head to the side, she saw the tall stranger standing beside her. "Who are you?"

"I'm someone deeply connected to you."

She moved her head in a negative motion. "Only my spirits are deeply connected to me."

"Yes and no." He gave her a bizarre answer.

Scrutinizing him, she viewed his handsome profile. His facial features were sharp. His eyes were a milk chocolate color. His long black hair was tied in a ponytail. He still wore clothes that was similar to what Ichigo wore. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"In the other world you were able to freely summon your spirits. That won't be happening here because you're a spirit like them."

The blond girl folded her arms across her chest. "How come Loke is with me?"

"He's the only spirit who is bounded to you for life. The other celestial spirits have ordinary contracts with you."

"But I was able to summon them in Edolas when Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail couldn't use their magic."

The stranger rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps you were alive."

"So, let me see if I'm getting this correct," Lucy said as she moved her hands. "If I was still alive I will be able to summon my spirits. Since I'm a spirit I can't."

"Your contracts were terminated the moment you died."

"No!" The celestial blond stomped her foot in frustration. "I refuse to believe any of your nonsense."

"I'm not doing anything Lucy," the stranger replied. "This is your world. Everything that happens here is all of your doing."

She huffed. "Trying to pin the blame on me."

He pointed to the horizon. The celestial mage focused to the area he showed her. Squinting her eyes, she couldn't make anything but darkness. Trailing her eyes along the blackness, she saw it. Five narrows lines. Her eyebrows tugged together. Walking, no, drifting toward the darkness, her eyes widened. The blackness got clearer and she could see forms, humans.

"Why do the look familiar?" she whispered.

Taking in their figures, one caught her attention. One had spiky hair. There was a shape of a scarf around its neck. Its face looked upward, hands reaching toward the sky.

"Natsu?"

"These are the people who got caught in your world," the stranger words drifted to her ears.

"It can't be."

"Yes, they are the same people who you long for and it's because of your emotions, they have been captured and sealed in darkness."

"No," the blond girl whispered while covering her mouth with both hands. Tears started to fall from her eyes unchecked. "No."

But the evidence was in front of her. The same Fairy Tail members she couldn't protect were covered in black tar like Tartartos. And since she failed them, they were stuck in the same pose for her to witness every time she came into what was supposed to be her world.

Fairy Tail

Natsu didn't know where he was, but the place was dark. Closing his eyes, he could smell the earth. He inhaled a breath while taking a step forward. His bare foot sank into moist ground.

Mud.

Opening his eyes, he could hear swaying of the branches as a cold breeze past him. He looked up into the sky, taking note of the stars.

Why was he in such a place?

He decided to keep moving forward, perhaps he would find his answer by going somewhere.

He began making out the dark forms of trees and rocks, thanks to the light from the twinkling stars. He didn't know how much time stretched before him but he did notice that his feet were sinking deeper with each step he made. Stopping, he waited. Maybe walking wasn't a good idea.

He glanced over his shoulder.

Going back. He shook his head.

There was a noise ahead of him. It sounded like….

He took it as his cue to continue. One foot moved in front of the other. His hands fisted into balls at his sides. His magic whirled around him, the fire igniting easily about his form.

Then he paused at the sight in front of him.

He wasn't expecting to see her again.

"Lucy?"

At the call of her name, a blond girl dressed in a shimmering white gown turned to him. Brown eyes sparkled at him as the wind swept past both of them. His fire was easily distinguished.

"Lucy, no Luce."

Her blond hair grew longer the last time he saw her. It reached her hips. Her curvaceous form glowed with a natural light.

"Am I dead, Luce?" he asked. If he was, she was such a breathtaking sight.

She shook her head.

"Where am I? Where are you?"

She made a move to talk but then she glanced away from him.

"Luce?"

He walked toward her, trying to get to her when he felt his feet were sinking deeper into the ground.

He looked down, seeing the mud reaching his knees, dirtying his pants. He raised his head, his eyes scanning Lucy's form. Why didn't he see it before? The beautiful celestial mage was floating. The end of her dress remained clean.

"Luce?"

She lifted a hand to him, waving the appendage frantically in the air while moving her head side-to-side. Her blond hair swayed wildly with her movement. She was telling him not to come closer to her.

But he was stubborn. He lost her once, he wasn't going to lose her again. Determination filling his mind, he struggled to lift one leg and put it in front of his other leg. He went as far as to clutch his trousers, fisting his hand into the fabric and then using it as leverage to lift his leg as a large step.

The blond girl was desperately shaking her head at him, gesturing with her hands to stay back.

"I'm coming Luce!" he shouted at her.

He didn't hear her scream but she clearly mouthed the word "no."

"You can't stop me Luce!" He warned. "I lost you once! I can't lose you again! Fairy Tail needs your light!"

Her eyes glittered, the sparkles began to fall from down her cheeks. She was crying, Natsu realized. He disliked seeing his precious friend cry.

"Luce." He halted. Frowning, he looked down. The mud reached his hips, he couldn't move any further to her.

"Luce," he said again. "Where are you? Tell me!"

Determination spread through his body, fire igniting his limbs. The flames brightened his surroundings. For the first time he saw the background around him. What he saw captivated him and made him ill at the same time.

The was a river behind Lucy, yet the river was calm and beautiful. It reflected the night sky. But the sight behind the river caused dread in him. Still forms, like statues reflected on the river. Each of them looking familiar. One in particular caught his eye. Spiky hair, an arm reaching out to the sky. A hand and a face etched in despair.

Him.

Natsu's head moved in a negative manner.

The statue couldn't be him.

Quickly, his eyes flickered to the other forms. A womanly figure, long hair, sword in one hand, the other hand lifted. Erza.

There another form, a cat with wings. An imprint of cloth surrounded his neck. His face marred in sadness. Happy.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"It's her world," another voice answered. It was a masculine one he never heard.

Natsu's head whipped to the location on the voice. "You're the one keeping her prisoner here."

"No."

He reached inside himself, willing his magic to come to life.

"That won't work. Your magic means nothing in her world."

"Her world?" The dragon slayer frowned.

"Yes, this is her creation." The strange man put a long finger to his lips. He tapped the finger to his bottom lip. "Though I don't know how you came to be here."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"You don't belong here. You belong in earth land."

Natsu didn't know how to reply to his remark.

"It must be her power. She longs to see you that she made it happen," the stranger mused to himself. "She's more powerful than I thought."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"It means," the stranger smirked, "That I have a very formidable owner. Her diverse magic… well, it makes everything interesting."

The pink-haired male wasn't following along. In his eyes, the stranger was the bad guy. As if reading his mind, the man slightly shook his head. "I will never harm a hair on my mistress' head. Like her celestial spirits, I exist solely to serve her."

"But like her celestial spirits, they have a mind of their own."

The raven head raised his dark eyebrows. "Are you accusing her precious friends? She won't like what you're thinking."

"I don't like you," Natsu blurted out.

The stranger chuckled. "I can't say the same for you. You'll make things very entertaining for us."

The fire dragon slayer wanted nothing more than the punch the lights out of the man but he was immobilize.

"I guess she can't keep you here any longer," the man said while shrugging his shoulders. He raised a hand to wave at him. "Goodbye Natsu Dragneel."

His obsidian eyes widened. He never gave the raven-haired male his name. The mud began rising on his body or he was finding himself sinking deeper into the dark substance. He struggled, his hands grabbing at nothing.

He heard dark laughter. No, he couldn't leave Lucy with the stranger!

He fought harder. He tried to call forth his magic, but it was as if the mud diffused his flames.

"Lucy!" he shouted her name.

He extended an arm to her. She in return tried to reach him with her hand. Then the dark figure stepped in between them, obscuring his vision of her.

"Luce!" Natsu opened his eyes, his breathing was harsh. His fist banged hard against the wooden table, causing it to splint apart. He heard a sudden yelp and a blue feline flew away from him. Fear was evident in his little's friend's eyes.

He blinked several times. He rubbed at his eyes and took in his surroundings. Wooden tables, chairs, the bar -or what was left of it- and the Fairy Tail guild members staring at him with astonishment or pity. The rage ebbed away on his face. Fairy Tail. He was back at the rubbles of Fairy Tail.

Did that mean he had a dream of Luce?

"Happy?" he called his best friend.

The little feline was the only person brave enough to interact with him at the moment. "Yes."

"Did I fall asleep?"

The blue cat nodded his head.

"How long?"

"Uh... An hour."

"Was I...?"

The feline was his best friend for a reason. The fire dragon slayer never needed to finish his sentence for the little one to know his train of thought.

"You did say her name."

He bobbed his head. The destruction that Tartaros did to their guild left its mark. There was debris on the cracked floors. Stones were alongside where the walls used to be. Each Fairy Tail member worked on clearing the mess. Mirajane tried her best to make a temporary bar and using leftover resources created meals and drinks. The problem was no one had money and with the guild still rebuilding, no new missions came by the guild. As it was, the old man, Master of Fairy Tail, was away at a Magic Council meeting. They were giving him a hard time to continue Fairy Tail.

Although many of the members were somber, they did their best to reconstruct their guild and the homes of Magnolia's citizens. The homeless resided in camps.

Natsu's head moved in a negative manner. He was one of the few members that had his house intact since Happy and him lived outside of the Fairy Tail dorms. Laxus, Freer, Bixlow still had their homes too.

If Fairy Tail wasn't damaged, Happy and him would've packed their belongings and take a trip to further train. But Master Makarov wanted all his children to stay behind, clean the mess they made and face the consequences. Apparently, the Magic Council was blaming them for the dark guild's attack.

"There is no Fairy Tail without her," he mumbled.

Happy heard him and didn't deny his claim. The little cat felt devastated since her death.

Natsu sat down on what was left of the bench. Breaking the table also meant taking apart the bench too.

He had dreams of Lucy, mostly of her dying in his arms. The other dreams were of him trying to wake her up as she laid like a sleeping princess in her coffin.

He sighed, running a hand through his disheveled pink hair. He promised to bring her back to life. Only he didn't know how to go about acting on his promise. During his encounter with Zeref, the dark mage who claimed to be his brother, he learned the dark mage brought him back to life. Supposedly, Natsu was a demon.

Zeref might know a way to bring back Lucy.

Again, he exhaled a long breath. His hand slid through his hair.

Happy finally realized he wasn't going to throw another tantrum and drifted next to the fire dragon slayer. His little white wings vanished as he settled on one his friend's shoulders. Natsu acknowledged that Happy knew his mull.

The pink-haired male tilted his head to the side, his dark eyes flickering across the remains of Fairy Tail. Mirajane and Lisanna were making meals for everyone to eat. Gray, Erza and Juvia were picking up the heavy debris. Gajeel, Freer, Elfman and some of the other males began repairing some of the walls while the females swept the floors.

He was the lazy one. He just watched them as they worked. None of them dared to bother him. They used the excuse of Lucy's death to keep him from doing anything and he was glad for it.

He had more time to think.

His eyes kept wandering around the rubbles until he stopped at a blue-haired girl. His eyebrows tugged together. She wasn't working like the rest of them either. In fact, her head was caught in a book.

He watched with interest as her finger touched the surface of the paper, as though she was skimming through the details for some particular information. About what?

Squinting her eyes and slamming her finger on the paper, disappointment overtook her pretty features. Her fingers slipped to the next page, her eyes moving along the paper.

Before Natsu could stop himself, he was up and strolling in her direction. No one but Happy seemed to notice his encroachment on the petite female. By the time he made it to her, his shadow loomed over her, blocking her source of light.

She blinked and lifted her chin. Her mouth opened, insult on her tongue until her eyes widened at him. The fire dragon slayer would've smirked at her reaction. Clearly, she was shocked. "Natsu?" she asked after some time.

"Levy."

He sat down next her, his head lowering until his pink bangs covered his eyes. He used his draconic senses to see if he alerted any of the others. They all seemed engrossed at their task, especially the overprotective Gajeel.

He continued to sit in silence while the script mage fidgeted in her spot. Her fingers intertwined over her book. She bit her bottom lip.

Out of everyone in the guild, Levy had a way of collecting information in little time. An idea formed into his mind.

"Levy?"

"Umm… yes."

He might as well try to ask her for help, seeing that she was Lucy's best friend. "How much do you know about celestial magic?"

The girl's eyebrows slanted on her forehead. "Why?"

"I'm just asking."

"This has something to do with Lucy, right?" She turned to him, momentarily forgetting her nervousness.

"What if it did?"

"Natsu… you have to…."

"I thought you being her best friend meant you would do anything for her. I guess I was wrong."

He moved his shoulders in disappointment while keeping his face blank. He was about to stand up when Levy's hand clutched at his shirt. It was a bold move on her part considering that the other members were keeping their distance from him due to his emotional outbursts.

"Lucy was… is my best friend. I'll do whatever I can for her."

A grin grew on his face. Happy who witnessed their exchange gazed around the room.

"What if we can bring her back?"

The script mage's hand loosened on him.

He shook his head.

"We can't…."

Anger flared on his face. "You're not her friend."

"Yes." She took his provocation seriously. "She's- was my best friend."

"You have a weird way of showing it."

"Sit down please." Her eyes darted to the other members.

"Don't worry, they're not listening in on us." Sometimes it was best to do things out in the open.

He sat down. Seeing her calm down, she began. "What do you have in mind?"

"Celestial spirits, what do you know about them?"

"They have keys that allow their users to summon them. Each of them are unique, they have powers which they can use based on their user's wishes. However, there are restrictions on how they can be used."

"What about their life cycle?"

Levy frowned. "Not much. They feed on their user's power to stay here in earth land. If they get a devastating blow here, enough to kill, they return to the celestial world to heal."

Natsu smiled. "Can they come back?"

"If their user summons them after giving them enough time to heal, yes." It didn't seem like the script mage got his point.

"So they're immortal?"

Her eyes almost bulged. "Yes."

"Then it's perfect. We do more research on celestial magic."

The blue-haired girl nodded her head. The fire dragon slayer might have been grieving but he sounded like he was onto something.

"Are you willing to help me?" This was the most important question he needed to be answered.

His eyes switched to Happy who quietly witnessed everything. His little friend said, "Aye."

Levy also verbally commented. "Yes."

The fire dragon slayer's grin became wider on his face. Everything was set in motion.

Soul Society

In a room with people typing on computers and information filling the screens, there was one in particular that caught the interest of one of the workers.

The dark-haired male stopped typing and stood a little from his chair. His green eyes scanned the room for his superior. Upon seeing him, he signaled with his hand to come.

The male in charge wore traditional Japanese clothing, a white vest covered his large frame and he was followed by a couple of his subordinates. He made his way to the person that called him.

"Yes, what have you found?" the superior asked the worker.

"A message came from one of the soul reapers sent as backup in District 3600."

Karakura Town was the heart of the greatest concentration of spiritual beings. There was recently a commotion involving a soul reaper failing a mission and breaking a law. It made District 3600 a more notable place to look out for.

"Play it," the one in charge ordered.

The other man nodded his head. He pressed a key and the message played. "Rukia Kuchiki from the 13th Division reporting an unknown source in District 3600. From my observation, the anomaly might be a lost soul. Waiting for further instruction."

The superior grimaced. "Lost soul?"

"This sounds important, sir."

The man in charge put a hand under his chin. "We're going to report this to higher-ups." Especially since the report was coming from Karakura Town and it was from a Kuchiki, who was one of the noble families in the soul society.

"Good job."

"Thank you, sir."

I gather this is an overdue chapter. Also, just to reply to some reviews. Lucy's spirits play an important part in this story. They are the root to her magic.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading it and thank you.