Chapter One

~Lucy Hart~

In the silence of the library the ticking of the clock sounded around the empty room. The library was usually quiet early in the morning, many of the common patrons frequented in the late afternoon. The only occupant of the dozens of shelves was the pretty blonde librarian and her blue-haired friend.

Lucy's dainty fingers glided across the text of the rune book in her lap. The yellow-stained pages marked the aging of the book and Lucy carefully stuck a bright pink sticky note in between the neat lines of text. The stack in front of her continued to grow as she closed the current volume and slid it next to the others she had previously finished. The Gale-Force glasses giving her left eye a nasty twitch and a buzz behind the ears.

Since she arrived in Magnolia a month ago, Lucy had spent her time between the musty stacks of books trying to solve the mysteries plaguing her mind. Not to mention making rent was a priority too and being a librarian paid well enough. She could keep her quaint apartment on Strawberry Street and put food on the table.

Groaning, Lucy dropped her head on her folded arms. The brass keyring on her hip dug into her thigh because of the odd angle she was bent on top of the desk, unhooking it, she gently laid them next to her research stack.

"Hey, Lucy, did you find anything?" Levy popped up behind her with a matching pair of glasses pushed to the top of her head, holding the strands away from her face.

Stretching her arms over her head, Lucy shook her head tiredly. "Nothing that you didn't already know, I'm sorry but it looks like my end has gone dry. You could try asking for a key to the restricted section. Maybe you'll find something on ancient rune translations in there, especially if a dark mage is involved. We don't really leave out books on dark magic where normal patrons can get to them."

Levy twisted her hair out of it's bun and sat down with a depressed sigh. "I was so sure I'd seen something in here about decoding." She said with a pout.

"Maybe it was during reshelving?" Lucy offered up hopefully. "Sometimes books get mixed up in the stacks when we resort the returns." Levy nodded, her brow furrowing as she thought of where else she could find the books she needed. Lucy stood suddenly and leaned over to straighten the stack on the table.

"Are those celestial keys? I didn't know you were a mage!" Levy practically shouted, her heartshaped face lighting in excitement. The shorter girl grinned and tilted her head in question to her friend. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Sitting back in her seat, ignoring the messy books for now, Lucy protectively pulled her keys into her lap, "I'm not anymore, I can't summon any of them for some reason."

She didn't know why she was telling Levy about her magical problems, Lucy liked the girl but it was a personal issue and the blonde didn't really want anyone to know. There was a reason why she hadn't gone to the local guide when she first arrived in Magnolia a month ago. She didn't want to relive the terror that drove her away from her family.

"I can help you find out! That's what friends are for, right?" Levy grinned, eyes lightening up hopefully towards her friend and Lucy felt a warmth in her chest. She wasn't used to having anyone to call a friend so she didn't really know if this was the type of thing friends did. "There has to be a book about celestial magic here somewhere."

"There are but none of them say anything about inability to summon. I can still feel my magic and the spirits' gates but I just can't open them." Lucy clutched onto her keys, the ridges digging into her palm but she didn't mind it. It reminded her that they were real, she just couldn't get to them for the moment.

"Which ones do you have?" Levy asked, changing the subject and moving from one chair to the other, to sit next to Lucy.

"I have four gold and three silver." Lucy dangled the keys so Levy could see them better, holding up each one as she named them. "Aquarius, Cancer, Taurus and Leo for the gold. Lyra, Crux and Horologium for the silver."

"I read a book about constellations a few weeks ago and I remember that the spirits were mentioned a little. The Mermaid, the Crab, the Bull and the Lion, right?" Levy smiled encouragingly towards her blonde friend. Lucy tried not to think too much about her spirits sitting in the spirit world, anxiously waiting for her to call on them- feeling like they failed her. Especially since the last time she saw them Lucy almost died.

Lucy nodded, adding her silver keys constellations as well, not wanting to make them feel any less important. "The Lyre, the Southern Cross and the Clock."

Leaning closer to see the keys, Levy suddenly gasped and pointed at the golden key Lucy had been holding onto the most in the last month. "What's wrong with Leo's key?"

"I don't know, it's been like this since-" Guilt swam in her stomach as her fingernail slowly followed the thin crack on the stem of her lions key. "Since the last time I used him."

Lucy was worried about Leo the most since he hadn't come out on his own and she couldn't feel the steady beat of magic connecting her to his gate like with the others. When she tried to summon him, it felt empty, like her key wasn't linked to the lion spirit anymore.

"What happened? I've never heard of a celestial key breaking or cracking before." The blue haired mage placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder in a silent show of support.

"Me either," Lucy whispered sullenly. The image of razor sharp teeth and bloody red eyes flashed in her head. "We were fighting a monster."

Sensing that Lucy wasn't ready to talk about whatever had happened, Levy scooped a stack of books in her arms and headed back out to the shelves. "Let's put these away and I'll take you to my guild Master, I bet he knows something that could help your summoning problem."

"Levy," Lucy tried to tell the bluenette that she didn't want to go to her guild or talk to her Master. If she did that then people would ask her questions about the last time she used her keys and Lucy didn't know how to answer herself, let alone a guild master!

"You'll love Fairy Tail. Come on!" Levy pulled Lucy to her feet and walked quickly towards the doors leading outside, her small fingers clamped tightly over Lucy's wrist as she dragged her along.

Sunlight blinded Lucy momentarily, her hand reaching up to block the bright rays and the slam of the library doors made her jump. They raced along the streets, waving at vendors and weaving between playing children. Levy stopped at the foot of a flight of stone stairs and pointed at the top of the hill with a wide grin. Looming over all of Magnolia was the guildhall of Fairy Tail. The red roof glinted off the sun and the rest of the building glowed with a surreal warmth that reminded Lucy of happiness.

Before she knew it, they had climbed the stairs and Levy was pushing open the heavy double doors and waving excitedly at the white-haired barmaid.

Lucy stood at the entrance, her fingers pulling at the hem of her jean jacket nervously. She could walk away before Levy noticed that Lucy wasn't walking behind her. She could make it back to the safety of the library and bury herself in the overflowing stacks. Chewing on her bottom lip, Lucy noticed the subconscious curl of her fingers around the damage golden key.

She owed her lion some bravery.

Walking into the guildhall, Lucy could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage. She could feel several pairs of eyes follow her and Lucy tried to keep her posture straight. Levy laughed at something the woman said and Lucy thought she looked familiar.

The woman in the pink dress looked at Lucy with a wide smile. "And who's this?"

"This is my friend Lucy, she has some questions for the Master about her magic." Levy explained quickly but Lucy only nodded, suddenly more interested in the strange vibration she could feel through the guild. It felt like the familiar buzz she would feel when one of her spirits was present, frowning down at her keys, Lucy tried to reach out to Leo again.

"You're a mage?" Lucy looked up, startled out of her concentration. The bartender handed a dark haired woman a large mug of frothy beer and Lucy glanced at the clock above the bar, it was only one in the afternoon. "What kind of magic do you use?"

"Celestial mostly, but I dabble." Lucy ran her fingers over the covered skin of her forearm. Her fingertips picking at the leather of the armguard that kept her tattoo hidden underneath. A gentle smile tugging at the corners of her lips from the memories attached to the dark stained ink on her skin.

"Master is upstairs, Levy." Before Lucy could move her feet to follow her blue haired friend, she heard the white-haired woman's voice again. "Lucy, why don't you stay here and tell me more about your magic?"

Levy had already disappeared up the stairs so Lucy resigned herself to one of the empty stools in front of the bar. "Sure."

"I'm Mira, by the way." Mira dried a glass and looked over Lucy's head to some of the loud shouting that had started. "It's nice to meet you."

Lucy twists around to spot a pink haired boy tugging on a blue cat as he ducked underneath a table and crawled to the other side with a victorious laugh. The boy bounced around in glee and dodged a flying plate from one of the back tables.

"Oh! I've seen you in Sorcerer Magazine." Mira nodded happily. The two women exchanged magical questions for some time. Lucy laughed when Mira transformed herself into a guild members wife to scare him away from asking her out.

"Why aren't you part of a guild?" Mira finally asked, head tilted to the side.

"I guess I just never thought about it," Lucy lied. The truth was, she had thought about it before running away from home. She had actually been on her way to try joining a guild when her life took a sporadic turn because of a nosy soldier, but that had been a long time ago.

"Well, you should think about joining Fairy Tail! There's so much adventure and fun here, you'll fit right in." Mira said in a singsong voice, her eyes lighting up and her whole body practically vibrating with excitement at the idea of having Lucy in her guild.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm really undecided about my future right now." Lucy said in a small voice, unsure if there was a way to explain to Mira that up until a month ago she didn't think she had a future to think about. "I like the library."

An unexpected crash in the corner of the room made Lucy jump slightly off her stool, but she didn't turn towards the noise, too focused on the past to pay any attention to her present.

"Of course you'll have to live with the brawls and wreckage," Mira laughed and Lucy could tell that in the bartenders mind, the blonde had already agreed to join. Lucy saw Mira walk towards the commotion, but her brown eyes remained fixed on a light streak that ran through one of the glasses lining the walls.

"They're all troublemakers," The brunette next to her said with a smirk, guzzling down the rest of her beer. "If you do join, do yourself a favour and work solo. I'm Cana."

"Lucy," She smiled.

"What's wrong Loke?" Mira's worried voice drifted towards Lucy and she finally turned to see what was happening on the other side of the guildhall. "Loke, you're shaking! Sit down before you fall over."

Lucy felt her heart stop as she stared at the scene playing in front of her like a lacrima recording, the pounding in her head drowning out all the voices in Fairy Tail. Her chocolate coloured eyes widening as she stared at the orange haired boy next to Mira. The suit she remembered was exchanged for a puffy green jacket and graphic tee-shirt. His hair was cut short and there was an unfamiliar paleness in his face.

"That's not possible." Leo whispered behind his convulsing hand. Lucy looked down at her hip where the magically cracking key sat among the others. She still didn't feel any energy coming from it.

Lucy didn't notice the strange looks Leo was getting, her face frozen in shock as they continued to stare at each other. Neither of them willing to blink from fear that the other would disappear into thin air. Lucy sniffed back a cry and rubbed at the tears pricking at the corners of her watering eyes. Leo burst into a fit of heartbreaking sobs, fat tears rolling down his face and his shoulders shaking.

"Please don't cry!" Mira patted his shoulder and Leo shrugged her hands away, his feet unsteadily moving towards the blonde at the bar.

A protective instinct washing over the celestial wizard when she saw him in obvious turmoil. Lucy hopped down from her seat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Leo's hands reached out towards her shoulders, reeling several times before very gently gripping her arms. His fingers were cold and they shook with his tears.

"Princess?" He asked uncertainty colouring his face when he looked at her.

Before Lucy could respond, a cool chill hit her back from where the double doors of the guild were opened. Too wrapped up in the overwhelming distress in her lion's face, Lucy didn't turn her head towards the sound. Her hands gently reaching for his face.

"Yo, Stripper, wanna fight?" The salamander haired boy she had seen earlier yelled across the hall towards the doors, completely oblivious to Lucy and Leo.

To be continued...

Guys, this isn't a Leo/Lucy story! It's Gray/Lucy, I promise, just stick with me. I'm sorry this is really short, the majority of my chapters are usually much longer but this is just the set up so far.

What are your top FT ships? My top three Lucy ships are NaLu, GraLu and LaLu.