.Servatorem.

Lucy was brushing the tangles and knots from her hair when Juvia casually dropped the question.

They'd left the bathroom and had begun getting dressed in the privacy of her bedroom. Juvia pulling on the spare clothes she always kept at her friend's house and Lucy shrugging on her pajamas before picking up a brush and beginning to drag it through her hair.

"Did you want to come see the Lamia Scale with me?" It was quick and to the point, which wasn't surprising since Juvia had never been one to mince words.

The blonde paused in running her brush through her hair. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't want to. A part of her wanted to say it was because she wanted to spend a little more time at home, but that was a lie, and she knew it. Seeing the guild just made the idea of Juvia leaving even more prominent. It just felt like it would eliminate any chance that Juvia would change her mind.

"No," She finally said, "I think I'll stay home for a bit. I missed sleeping in my own bed." She glanced over at Juvia. The water mage looked like she was about to make some sarcastic comment, probably something along the lines of 'Oh, I wasn't aware you'd been sleeping in the first place by the look of those dark circles under your eyes,' but she didn't. Lucy almost wished she had. Ever since the bombing, Juvia hadn't been as harsh with her jokes, and she missed that.

Instead, Juvia simply pulled on her jacket and nodded. "Alright. I'll be at the pool all day tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to visit. Stop by or text me if you need anything, okay?"

The blonde nodded, glancing briefly out her window. The street lamps provided just enough light for her to see a head of pink hair making its way down the street. She smiled and started walking Juvia toward the door. They exchanged brief hugs before Juvia was out the door and on her way home to her own apartment, sending a wave over her shoulder as she went.

Lucy waited until Juvia had safely rounded the corner before she looked the other way, toward the direction she had seen Natsu coming. Her brows shot up in confusion when she saw no sign of neither him nor Happy on the empty street. She blinked, then closed the door. Maybe she'd just been seeing things.

As she locked the door, she heard a suspicious thud come from her bedroom. She approached the room slowly, walking on her toes to be as quiet as possible. She skirted in front of the ajar door. From the crack, she could see her window was wide open, curtains billowing in the breeze.

The blonde didn't wait to see what else was going on, slipping into the kitchen and pulling a used butterknife from the sink. The steak knives were in the draw and, though she knew it was better to use one, she didn't want to risk pulling the drawer open and making a bunch of noise.

She crept back to her bedroom, knife held tightly in her hand. Just as she was about to kick the door open, she heard a quiet, "What would this even cover? It's just strings!" followed by some familiar obnoxious snickering. Eyes narrowing, Lucy pushed the door open, only for her eyes to nearly pop out of her skull when she saw Natsu and Happy rummaging through her underwear drawer.

"What do you two think you're doing?" She hissed, waving her butterknife at them accusingly. The drawer slammed shut, the two boys slowly turning to face her. Lucy was mortified with what she saw. Happy had her underwear pulled over his head, his eyes staring at her through the holes where her legs would normally go. Natsu was wearing one of her bras, the straps pulled over his shoulder and the hooks unclasped.

Any angry blush rose to her face when they started laughing, doubling over and clutching their stomachs. Happy pointed a finger at her, specifically the butterknife she was waving at them. "What were you gonna do with that? Give me a little cut?" He said between fits of loud giggles.

Lucy wanted to throw the stupid butterknife at him. She didn't though, in part because she didn't want to hurt him, but mostly because she'd probably miss and get it stuck in her wall. She glared at him, "Why are you two idiots going through my things? Take it off!" She stomped over, snatching her undergarments off of them and angrily shoving it back into her dresser.

Her question went ignored, Natsu asking, "How do you wear that stuff? Looks like it'd give you a huge wedgie."

If possible, the blonde's face flushed even more. Why on would he ask her such a question? She didn't answer, instead going over to shut the window. This time, she locked it. "Why didn't you use the door, anyway? Were you trying to give me a heart attack?" She muttered.

"Psh," They both said simultaneously. Natsu waved her off, jumping onto her bed. "'Cause the door's lame." The way he said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world was more than a little irksome.

"You used it before! And get off of my bed!" She yelled, grabbing his arm and yanking him off with strength she didn't even know she had. To her credit, Natsu was seemed a little surprised that she was able to pull him off so easily.

"But your bed's comfy," Came his childish whine as he got to his feet in front of her. He shoved his hands in his pockets in a pout. Happy offered a rebuttal to her previous statement, "That was because we didn't see it,"

"That doesn't meant you can just lay in it whenver you feel like." The blonde huffed, walking behind them and beginning to shove them out of the room. "I'm not going to ask what you did with the money, and you're not sleeping in my room. There are pillows and blankets in the closet, and the couch folds out into a bed. Goodnight!" She promptly closed the door in their faces, exasperated after spending ten minutes in a room with them.

She cut off the lights and closed the curtains, flopping onto her bed. For the first time in months, she fell asleep nearly instantly.

Lucy lay on her stomach, her chin resting on her pillow as she stared blankly at the headboard of her bed. It was nearly seven in the morning, and she'd managed to get a decent amount of shut-eye. She'd gotten six dreamless hours of rest before she'd woken up and wasn't able to get back to sleep. That wasn't really all that annoying though. These days, she was thankful to get any sleep at all.

Her head turned slightly, just enough to see Anna's diary resting on her nightstand. There wasn't really a particular reason she'd been avoiding reading it, but she didn't have anything better to do now that she was just laying in bed, unwilling to get up and start the day just yet.

She pulled it off the nightstand and rested it in front of her, angling so that the small sliver of light peeking through the curtains could shine onto the book's pages. She cracked it open to where she'd left off and scanned the strange symbols of the page, still curious as to how she could read it.

She read a few pages before mentally summing up what had happened. So far, nothing glaringly important had been written, but Anna had given birth to her two twins—but hadn't named them, for whatever reason—and met with whoever him was. At times the diary was borderline melodramatic, and at some parts, Lucy just had to laugh at some of the exaggerations the woman seemed to be making.

Even so, she kept browsing through the book, hoping to find something interesting. So far, Anna had just talked about dragons and her pregnancy. She nearly missed the lines of text towards the bottom of the page because of how fast she was going.

I have chosen to name the eldest one Ashely and the younger one Lucy.

She ran her finger over the line of text curiously. Must've been a family name. A few more pages in, Anna had moved on to delve into her meetings with the mysterious man. The blonde perked, rolling over onto her back and sitting up slightly before diving back into the book.

He and I have managed to devise a solution, a plan that will defeat the Demons of Tartaros.

Zeref will create a gate. One that will take send the dragons through time to a period with a surplus of Ethernano, where they will then be strong enough to recover from their previous battle and defeat both Tartaros and the Apocalypse Dragon. He has decided to put the souls of the dragons into the bodies of their children. I shall be the one to open the gate and send them through. One of my decedents will open the gate in the future. It will take all of the Zodiacs to both open and close the Eclipse.

Lucy reread the entry a few times. Zeref was a new name, but she assumed that that was who 'he' was. This was also the first mention of the Apocalypse Dragon, but both names sounded eerily similar as if she'd heard them before. Now that she thought about it, the Demons of Tartaros was also quite familiar. She tucked the thought away, wondering next if someone in her family had already opened the gate.

She dragged a hand down her face in frustration. Most times, reading Anna's diary left her with more questions than answers, and it would seem that was the case once again. There were only about ten or so pages left. Hopefully, they would provide some answers. If not, she'd just have to ask Makarov whenever she saw him next. Who knows, maybe he'd also know why she could read the ancient text in the first place.

Sighing, she closed the book and placed it on her nightstand, taking the opportunity to glance at the clock and see that an hour had passed. With a grunt, Lucy climbed out of bed and stretched her arms above her head. She padded over to her dresser and pulled out some pants and a plain pink t-shirt that had a white stripe on the chest. Her eyes wandered over to her swimsuit.

She did want to go to the pool, but she wasn't sure she had the type of confidence to rock a bikini anymore. She decided against it. She'd visit Juvia at the pool, but she wouldn't change or get in the water.

Lucy grabbed her towel and her clothes before walking out of her room and to the bathroom. She passed Natsu snoring away on the couch-bed, Happy curled up quietly at his feet. It was a cute sight, one that caused her to smile as she gently shut the bathroom door behind her.

The blonde stripped off her clothes after turning on the water. As usual, she avoided looking in the mirror. She showered and dressed quickly, brushing her teeth afterward and pulling her hair into a neat side ponytail. Deeming herself presentable, she left the bathroom.

Natsu and Happy were up, the couch already folded back up and the blankets and pillows put away. She saw them as soon as she walked into the kitchen, Happy sitting on the table and nibbling on a fish—one that she wasn't sure where he got since he wasn't carrying any yesterday and she didn't have one—while Natsu was looking through her fridge with a half-chewed apple in hand.

She pulled a bowl from the cabinet and some cereal from the pantry before reaching passed him and pulling out the milk. "I was planning on visiting Juvia at the pool today," She started as she poured the cereal into the bowl, "Did you guys wanna tag along?" When she poured the milk in, she put it back and grabbed a spoon before sitting down across from Happy.

"Aye!"

"Sure,"

Came their quick responses. Lucy nodded, eating her cereal and relishing in the brief moment of silence. Natsu continued to eat anything that looked good in her fridge, and Happy just gnawed on his fish with a blissful expression on his face. "Where did you get that, anyway?" She finally asked once half the bowl was half empty.

The blue cat perked, taking the fish from his mouth and grinning. "We got it yesterday at the store. I bought enough to fill my bag!" He turned and patted the green bag he always carried.

The blonde hummed and they all went back to eating in a companionable silence.

Hargeon's streets were as busy as usual. People moved around and drove like they had places to be, which they probably did. Lucy walked leisurely, Natsu beside her with one hand in his pocket and the other absently twirling a flame around his finger. Happy lay lazily on her head, people watching.

"Say, Lucy," Happy drawled, curling his tail aroung her neck gently, "How come you don't have a job?"

The blonde stiffened slightly. They turned onto a less busy street, and she shrugged. "My parents left me a lot of money."

"What happened to them?"

"My mother passed away from Magic Deficiency Syndrome and my father died a few years ago."

"Oh. Sorry." Happy regretted bringing it up. She sounded so... sad when she said it, and he didn't want to keep talking about it anymore.

"It was a long time ago Happy." Lucy sighed, spotting the youth center up ahead. "We're almost there," She said, gesturing to the rather large building.

Natsu grabbed her by the elbow, frowning. "Lucy. Somethin' ain't right here. There's a weird smell,"

She turned to him in confusion. He was looking around at everyone around them suspiciously, but nothing really stood out. "I don't smell anything. Are you sure you're not just imagining it?"

He shook his head, eyes drifting to sweep over the tops of the buildings, but finding nothing there. "Natsu has enhanced senses because he's a Dragon Slayer." Happy said in her ear. Lucy didn't really know what that meant, but she got the gist of what he was trying to tell her. The mention of a dragon made her think of the ones Anna had spoken about non-stop in her diary, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind to deal with later.

She nodded slowly, using her other hand to grab Natsu's wrist and begin leading him toward the pool. "Let's just get to the pool, alright? Maybe Juvia will know something," She suggested. Natsu didn't give her much of a response, letting her guide him as he looked around wildly for whatever it was he was smelling. His ears twitched, the sound of something moving through the air finally reaching his ears.

Lucy stopped in front of the youth center, tapping on one of the large windows when she saw Juvia back resting on it. The swimmer turned and waved at her. She pressed a finger on the glass, pointing at something behind the blonde. 'Who's the blond?' She mouthed. Lucy rose a brow.

She turned to see a man about her age. His hair was a dirty blond, going down to his shoulders and completely covering his left eye. Cat ears jutted out from the top of his head. He had hands like claws that appeared to be completely black, small diamond shapes being seen along his forearms. He wore a black scarf with tan polka dots and a sleeveless green shirt. A lighter green jacket was tied around his waist, covering his baggy white pants slightly.

The two things that caught Lucy's attention were the sinister smile spread across his face and the razor-sharp teeth that it revealed and the tail that swayed behind him. A deep sound reached her ears, and she realized then that Natsu was growling. Happy sprouted his wings and flew into the building. "I'm calling Gramps!" he called after him.

The blonde found it odd, but her gaze fell back on the dirty blond haired man in front of them. "Can we help you?" She asked slowly. His grin got even wider.

"I'd say so," He reached out to touch her, his claw barely grazing her shirt and still managing to slice her sleeve. Natsu's fist instantly lashed out and connecting with his jaw, a sickening crack resonating through the air. The other man flew back into the building across the street, and a magic circle lit up Natsu's fist.

"Natsu!" She guffawed. He didn't react to her voice, his eyes narrowed on his hand. "You can't just—" He turned, shoving her through the door of the youth center. Her forearms stung when she landed on them. She was certain that there would be a bruise there tomorrow. The blonde's eyes narrowed in anger and as she to turn her head and yell at him, the door slammed shut and she heard the telltale, familiar sound of a fiery explosion and glass breaking.

Her hands immediately clapped onto her ears, the sound bringing up horrid memories as an involuntary scream tore through her throat.

Bonjour, mon amis! I finally forced myself to finish this chapter. I've had the outline done for a few months now, just had to flesh out the story and all that. Honestly, I had more stuff planned, but this just seemed like a good place to cut it off. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: FlameDragonHime, Grandeeney Marvell, sarara1.8, and OneFineDay!

Also a huge thanks to every one who has followed this story so far: acroleery, ALeoWonderer, arcadea333, arika001, baephrodite, booklover551, Compucles, Damntheluck, DiamondWolf210, ErNa-Chan, FairyTail9908, fuji99, Gaia Kame, Grandeeney Marvell, jazbara, JcL107, Juvia'sLoveRival, Karen67, Kaze Tsubaki, , KrispiKreme, Lady Mafia Dragneel, LoadedEel, LordPublisher, Lover of Writings, MAIDENCHINA23, megalomaniac132, Melime14, noseinabook145, OliTassell, RareDarkgon, Red-Velvet-Erza, Remembrance of The World, SacredFlames, sarara1.8, simpleory, The Restless Drifter, tuiandla75, VvnDaLu, and ZKARYX!

I'll be thanking everyone who favorited next chapter, just because I don't want too much stuff down here.

I don't own Fairy Tail.

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