This reminder will be placed in every chapter. The sound effects can be found on youtube. The sound effects are marked in the story. I thought people had troubles finding the sound effects, so I have changed it slightly. You need to get the spaces out! Like always, my apology for any grammar mistakes, I am improving though! :D Enjoy reading!

[1] /watch?v=lzk-l8Gm0MY&feature= youtu . be &t=99 (1:39-1:52) (Gate open, the creatures have appeared)

[2] /watch?v=lzk-l8Gm0MY&feature= youtu . be &t=6 (0:06-0:14) (Gate closes, the creatures are gone)

Disclaimer: I do not own fairy tail, I only own this story.

Day 5: Rumor

Lucy sat up, with sweat on her body. Her breathing was heavy and she looked at the fireplace that had almost gotten out. A quick glance at Laxus, believing that he was still asleep. Lucy wiped the sweat away from her forehead. Slowly she let the dream coming back to her mind. Trying to understand what had happened and what she had heard.

"What was that?" thought Lucy in panic.

Her fingers went to her keys, there was no warmth or any other responds. She really hated this feeling. She was alone.

'Momma,' whispered Lucy softly to herself, while a little cry was escaping from her mouth.

Laxus, who was pretending to be asleep had listened in silence to every sound in the room.

'It's just a dream….it's just a dream,' said Lucy painfully.

Laxus could feel how Lucy laid back down on the mattress and the smell of tears was filling his nose. He turned from his back to his left side and casually placed his arm on top of the crying blond.

Lucy eyes widened and she looked at the sleeping slayer right next of her.

'Laxus? Are you awake?'

'Hmm.' he responded.

Lucy smiled slightly and rolled herself towards Laxus' chest. She embraced the comfortable spot and she slowly calmed down. Laxus noticed the change in smell. The smell went from salty tears towards the smell of Lucy's hair and he unconsciously smiled.

"Almonds and strawberries...She really smells nice," thought Laxus.

And they both fell back to sleep.

Lucy woke up and her whole body was screaming in pain. From a reporter job towards a nine hour hike…That can't be healthy. The idea that they needed to hike for another three hours was not very motivating. Light was shining on her face.

"No….no...no..no….just no. Hiking can come later," thought Lucy in discomfort.

She pulled the blankets over her head to block the light, getting back in her comfortable warm bed.

'Looks like, sleepy head has finally woken up,' said Laxus, who was already up for more than two hours.

'Urgh,' answered Lucy to that. 'Just a little bit longer.'

'You have already slept for ten hours straight.'

'Well technically speaking, because I have slept yesterday only for two or three hours. I have received only six hours of sleep.'

'Whut?'

Lucy pointed her right finger in the air while the rest of her body kept hidden under the blankets.

'Ten hours this night, two hours last night, makes twelve hours over two days, makes six hours for each night. I have earned at least two hours more sleep to get the right average sleeping time for a human being,' said Lucy while making movements with her finger to get her point across.

Laxus looked at her with his eyes half open, while his left eyebrow went up.

'Right…You know that those two extra hours isn't going to...'

'URGH, my body is trying to kill me, ok!' yelled Lucy in agony and her hand fell by gravity back on the mattress.

'Muscle pain, princess?'

Lucy pulled the blanket off her head and glared at him with all the hatred she could mustered.

'Oh right, mistress,' followed Laxus up, with his usual cocky grin, enjoying the moment.

'Oh ha ha….'

Lucy pushed herself up in a sitting position and flinched slightly.

'I want a warm bath...and maybe a masseur.' Lucy's eyes widened at the idea. 'Laxus, does Blue Pegasus have any masseurs?'

Laxus thought about her question...There is Ichiya...He could relax the muscles of the human body with his perfume magic… and there was Freed…

Laxus crossed his arms and looked at Lucy's twinkling eyes, who was waiting patiently for his answer.

'Freed is actually good in that,' said Laxus.

'Really? I never knew that!' said Lucy in unbelief.

She slowly stood up and did a couple stretch exercises.

'I'm not surprised.'

'Would he agree, if I ask him?'

'Huh...Good luck with that,' said Laxus, while shaking his head in disapproval.

'And if you ask it for me?'

A grin was spreading on Lucy's face. She knew the Thunder God Tribe would do almost everything for their leader. If Laxus was going to ask Freed to give Lucy a massage, then Freed wouldn't decline.

Laxus shook his head again.

'Don't you think after everything, that I deserve that at least,' pouted Lucy.

'Let's first finish this mission...then...,' said Laxus slowly while being in thought.

'Then… what?'

'Then... I will consider it…It's not a promise.'

Lucy sighed in defeat. 'Ok!'

She stumbled slowly towards the bathroom trying to get in some way refreshed. After her refreshment and her breakfast, Laxus diminished the flames in the fireplace as much as possible and deactivated the runes he had made the night before. They made their way out of their resting place to continue the hike towards the top.

On their way, they needed to stop a couple times because of those creatures and for some unknown reason, the time between closing and opening their gates had become shorter.

[2]

Lucy felt her body calming down. The extra sleep had done some wonders and she was able to control her fear far better. She noticed that Laxus was keeping an eye out for her. A slight touch on her shoulder or a shuffle through her hair to lighten up the mood. Lucy could appreciate the small gestures of him. The dream she had that night was far behind her mind. She blamed the dream on the amount of stress and the lack of sleep. Lucy hadn't forgotten about it…it was just something she wouldn't be able to understand even if she was going to think about it. There were too many things she couldn't comprehend.

The road itself was getting smaller on their way. On the left side they had a deep cliff, which gave a good view over the many huts they had used. The path they had hiked was hard to spot, due to the new layer of snow, but Lucy knew they had zigzagged their way to the top. On the right side of the road they had the mountain itself. Lucy looked up noticing the same zigzagging shape. Another hour before the top. They approached a large gate on the road. The gate itself was made of firmly old wood that probably had survived the weather for more than hundreds of years. The outer lines of the gate was made of a metallic blue stone and at the top of the gate there was a symbol of a star with twelve points in form of heart. The symbol was made of the same metallic blue stone.

'The Heartfilia symbol,' said Lucy with unbelief, while her eyes widened.

Her right hand went to her mouth to stop a gasp sound. What was her family symbol doing here? Laxus noticed the excitement and confusion from the Celestial Mage and he followed her gaze. A spiky heart?

He wasn't going to stand still and wait for someone to open the bloody gate for him. So he tried to open the gate himself, but the door wouldn't budge. He started to push against it with all his strength, but still nothing happened. He took a couple steps back and looked at the gate. The gate was at least ten meters high… He could use his Lightning Body to get over it, but he looked at the mountain on the right side. The snow could be a problem. The snow has gotten thicker with every meter they had taken. The snow was now just below Lucy's kneecaps and Laxus doesn't want to think about the possible thickness at the top. If he was going to use his Lightning Body he could cause an avalanche that could sweep Lucy off the cliff.

Lucy saw Laxus' struggle and was in deep thought herself. She knew her Heartfilia name had a long history of mages and nobles. They had been respected, feared and praised, but she had never heard about mountain Arenal from her mother. Lucy had never questioned the power of her family name, but now that she thinks about it. It wasn't her mother that had married into the Heartfilia name, it was her father that had changed his last name into the Heartfilia's.

Lucy looked at the door feeling the wind-blown through her hair, carrying a whisper.

'Lucy.'

The Celestial Mage felt a slight pull coming from the door and she pushed herself through the snow.

The Lightning Dragon Slayer looked at her in confusion. There was no light in her eyes, like she was in a trance.

'Blondie?'

Lucy ignored him and laid her left hand at the wooden doors.

'That has been written by the stars, open the gate of the heart,' mumbled Lucy softly.

The gate responded and the symbol started to glow light blue. The gate slowly opened, pushing the snow with ease out of its way. Lucy blinked a couple times and she looked around her, unaware of what had happened.

'Still not happy, that you came along with me on this mission?' asked Laxus, not questioning what had happened.

The doors had opened, he didn't needed to blow it into bits or using his Lightning Body with the possible extra dangers, so he wasn't going to complain. He pushed his way through the snow and stood still next to Lucy.

'Shall we go?' asked Laxus.

Lucy, still trying to comprehend what was going on, looked at him. She gave him a slight nod and they followed the road. After a minute the gate slowly closed behind them and the light went out.

'I have a feeling you have no clue about this?' asked Laxus.

Lucy looked in front of her with a sad smile on her face.

'No, I don't. I know that my family have existed for more than five hundred years. In those years it had become a famous name between the nobles and Celestial Mages alike. We had land all through Ishgar, but I thought we had lost everything in the last hundred years.'

'Well apparently not and I wouldn't be surprised if people were still living here,' said Laxus while pointing at the building in front of them.

'A temple…,' said Lucy curiously.

She walked closer towards the building made out of stone and saw ancient letters carved above the entrance.

'Let the path of the One, guide you through the stars,' translated Lucy.

"The One? Do they mean the origin of all magic, The One Magic?" she thought to herself.

They both walked on a small wooden staircase in front of the temple and they made their way to the temple. The temple consisted off one big room, what was crowded with a lot of bookshelves. The bookshelves were completely filled with books and scrolls. The dust on the furniture gave away that no human being had been here for more than ten years.

Laxus went to the closest bookshelf. He picked a book and sneezed immediately by the first contact.

'Great…,' said Laxus annoyed.

Lucy had troubles to suppress her excitement by seeing all those books, but she had seen something even more interesting at the end of the room. She went to the back of the room and took a moment to appreciate the image on the wall, which had been carved between two pillars. The image was in total four by four meter big. It consisted off the same metallic blue stone color, but this time it was merged with stone instead of wood. The carvings gave away a map of the northern constellations, but something was off. Some constellations were on the wrong spot, while others were mixed with each other. Lucy followed the structure until she found a missing piece at the top left, just on the right of the left pillar.

"Is it really missing a piece or is it a puzzle?" asked Lucy to herself.

Not in her lifetime can she ever reach the top with her length...The wall is four meter high. Lucy looked at Laxus and then back at the carvings in front of her.

'Laxus?'

The Lightning Dragon Slayer looked up from one of the books and saw where Lucy was standing.

'Can you help me with something?' asked Lucy.

Laxus laid down his book and walked towards the blond. His eyes catching the carvings on the wall.

'I want to try something but I can't reach the top, can I sit on your shoulders for a moment?'

Laxus snarled at her as a response.

'I guess that is a yes,' said Lucy ignoring Laxus sudden mood swing.

Laxus wanted to respond to that, but kneeled down instead and waited for Lucy to take her spot on his shoulders. He could feel how her legs had settled down around his head and he carefully grabbed her boots to keep her steady.

"This bloody woman, I hope it is fucking worth it," thought Laxus while cursing behind his teeth.

His back was still hurting from the fall in the cave and he didn't like to have people clinging, hugging or even sitting on him. He had made an exception yesterday, because Lucy had been crying, but normally he wouldn't even think about comforting a person.

Laxus walked towards the right side of the left pillar and he looked up. Lucy was checking the inhale of the pillar and saw the same inhale at the top of the ceiling. She felt with her right hand on the carving and noticed a slit. She pulled on it and the piece of the image moved to the left, followed by a light blue light.

'Ha, I was right,' said Lucy.

'Great...can you enlighten me…,' said Laxus annoyed.

'This is a map of the northern constellations, but some pieces are standing on the wrong spot. It is a puzzle! I just need to push the pieces in such a way until every piece is on the right location.'

Laxus nodded and looked at the carvings. He never was really good in puzzles. He had Freed and Evergreen for that. He sighed and looked at the blond on top of him.

'I will follow your lead, where do I need to go.'

Lucy smiled at that.

After half an hour Lucy pushed the last piece into place. The carving responded and a wheel started to turn behind the wall. The puzzle lighted up in light blue and a big click could be heard. Laxus took a couple steps back. The pillars with each a part of the picture moved to the opposite direction revealing a hidden corridor behind the picture. In the dark corridor was a small staircase that went downstairs into the ground. Laxus kneeled down and Lucy climbed off his shoulders towards the ground. The Lightning Dragon Slayer made some light with his lightning in his hand and he followed the stairs with Lucy right on his heels. They found a small chamber with even more bookshelves. He saw some candles standing on an old wooden desk. Laxus fired the candles up through the help of his lightning. With enough light to enlighten the room, he diminished his lightning in his hand. Laxus didn't needed to be a book expert to notice the age difference between the books from upstairs and the books that were standing in this hidden room.

Lucy's eyes caught a small book that was lying on the desk with the Heartfilia's logo on it and she carefully opened it. She coughed due to the sudden dust that she had inhaled from it. The pages were looking very fragile and they probably had gotten yellow in the many years it had been lying around here. She scanned the first couple pages and a frown was set on her face. Lucy carefully picked the book up in her arms and went back a couple pages.

'This book is more than 400 years old! It is a diary of my ancestor Anna Heartfilia talking about her mother Eva Heartfilia. My mother always told stories about Eva and the struggles she had endured. Eva was one of the strongest Celestial Mage in history. I heard her power could resembles eight zodiac keys at once.'

'Hard to imagine that in these times,' said Laxus thinking out loud.

Lucy agreed to that. She could now maybe hold four gates at the same time for maybe one minute… Eva was able to do the double amount!

'Most people respected Eva, but some despised her.'

Lucy stroke the page word for word and looked at Laxus in the eyes.

'Apparently she was in love with a spirit, I always thought it was a rumor, but now reading it firsthand...'

'And people despised her because of that?' asked Laxus trying to understand.

Lucy nodded.

'It is a taboo to fall in love with a spirit. Humans are being born, they live their lives and die. Spirits, however, live for more than billions of years. They are practically immortal. Next to that, spirits also live in different realms in the Celestial World, they can't come and go to the Human World. Celestial Mages are only allowed to be the gateway between those realms. What Eva had done, was maybe joyful for the time period, but the spirit that was in love with her, would live further without her. Seeing how my mother's death had affected my father…' Lucy paused for a moment. '...it is hard to imagine how a spirit would deal with such a lost,' said Lucy sadly.

…

'I can tell you it is still painful, old friend,' said a deep voice in the room.

The flames on the candles had stopped moving, like time itself had stopped and the galaxy became visible above the bookshelves. In the air above the two mages, a large man in armor was floating, with his arms crossed under his chest, who had a large mustache under his nose.

'Celestial King…' said Lucy in unbelief.

Laxus eyes widened by that. He could feel the magical power radiating off this guy. He wasn't someone you should mess around with. A small smirk was crawling on Laxus' mouth, unable to mask his excitement for a strong opponent.

Lucy was happy in a different way, she could feel the warmth emitted from her keys and a tear had escaped her eyes. Her spirits, knowing it was safe to let out their magic, had done it immediately. The bond was back and Lucy couldn't explain how much she had missed her spirits. It was only two days, but it had felt like a week. Light appeared in the room and in a flash Loke was kneeling down before the King.

'Loke?' asked Lucy confused.

'The rules of the Celestial World are existing for a reason, old friend. They are there to protect humans and spirits alike. But as my old friend here, we spirits are still beings with our own soul and heart,' said the Celestial King well looking at Loke.

Lucy looked at the leader of the Zodiac and remembered how Loke had broken the rules to protect Aries. Karen had mistreated them and Loke took it upon himself to protect Aries, by keeping his own gate open at all cost. Karen begged Loke to close his gate, because she couldn't earn any money without her spirits. In the end she had opened a second gate and died in the process. Karen didn't had enough magical power and therefore paid with her life. It was maybe indirect, but Loke had killed his owner.

"The Celestial King was now standing before her for the third time. Why?" thought Lucy.

'I can tell you it is still painful, old friend.'

Lucy's eyes widened, when realization struck her. Eva had been in love with not any spirit, but with the Celestial King!

'Mustache man...you...were in love with Eva Heartfilia?' asked Lucy sadly.

The Celestial King looked slightly away, but sadness was clearly visible in his eyes.

'It is hard for me to speak about this. I, who had made the rule was also the one who had broken the rule. She...She was, my everything. More than four hundred years ago there was a war in the human world. A war between dragons and human. That is now known as the Dragon Festival. Before the whole war, there was a moment of peace and that is when I met her, Eva Heartfilia,' said the Celestial King.

The surrounding changed. Lucy, Laxus and Loke were now standing before a waterfall, looking at womanly figure. Eva Heartfilia holding a black key in her hand. She had long blond hair and a beautiful figure. It was almost like they were looking at an older Lucy. Eva seemed to be around 35 years old in that moment.

'O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate. Gate of the Celestial Spirit King, I open thee,' said Eva.

Blue light was emitting from the black key and a large black circle appeared before her on the ground. From the black circle the King of spirits appeared.

'Why have you called me?' asked the Celestial King.

'I thought you would be lonely, not many are able to open your gate. Do you want to be part of my family?' asked Eva with a warmly smile.

The King of spirits unknown how to respond to that. A family?

'That is true. Not many can open my gate. In all my years you would be my second master. If my master wish me to be part of a family, so shall it be,' answered the King.

Eva shook her head, but kept her smile on her face.

'Not master, but a friend. We are going to be old friends.'

'Old friends?'

Eva laughed sheepishly and stuck her tongue out of her mouth, while scratching her head with her right finger.

'My daughter Anna, wants me to retire already. In this age I should be happy to reach the 50s, but I cannot stop you know. People need my help and you guys would be alone, without me.'

The Celestial King noticed the other keys on her ring. Four golden keys and two other black keys. It was rare to find a Celestial Mage with four black keys, but the black keys were the real eye catcher there. It wasn't a fluke. Before him stood a human being who could hold out the King's gate.

'I agree to our contract, old friend,' said the King.

Lucy and Laxus watched from a distance, until a golden light appeared right next to them.

'This was only my second time I had made a contract with a Celestial Mage. Eva was quite an interesting woman as you can see. A human speaking about family and friends towards a spirit,' said the real Celestial King who was now standing next to the two mages and Loke. His size had shrunk to the size of Laxus. The King looked at Lucy.

'You resembles her, old friend.'

Lucy felt somehow proud, by hearing that but the pain was there in the King's voice. He was still missing her dearly.

The surrounding changed again, this time they were in the castle at the infirmary. Dead bodies were laying on the beds and one of the beds had a kneeling Eva and Anna crying their heart out.

'Eva's husband, King of Dragnof reckless like always was on patrol around the city. They were attacked by a violent dragon. The patrol was able to take it, but it came with a big price,' said the King. 'Eva was not near her husband that day to protect him and she felt responsible for his death. My Eva was devastated and as one of her spirits….as one of her friends...I had tried to calm her down. Being for her, when she needed me…'

The surrounding changed and Lucy saw how Eva was crying in the Celestial Kings arms.

'I can't take it anymore, they want me to be the new queen! People see me as a saint! But I'm not! My husband is gone and the people suspect me to just rule in his stead. I don't care about the throne, I just wanted a family. ...I'm …I'm...so lonely. Every day it is the same. Me acting the person they want me to be...but that is not me...I'm…I'm...Who am I Celestial King?'

Eva looked at him, unknown how to comprehend all these emotions.

'Old friend, you are the strongest woman I have ever met. Even your tears, shows me how much you care for your people. As a fellow King I understand your burden, but I want you to know that you can be whoever you want to be before your spirits...before your family,' said the King.

Eva smiled. She closed her eyes and lend against the King's chest. The King crossed his arms around her back and gave her a hug.

The surrounding blackened.

'In the beginning it felt like the right thing to do. How innocent it started, being there for an old friend… I was unaware how quickly that could change,' said the Celestial King.

In the blackness stood Eva again before the King with a different look in their eyes. Both unsure what to do or how to act.

'Old friend…'

Eva shook her head, while her finger went to the King's lips to prevent him from speaking even further.

'Eva,' said Eva.

The Celestial King sighed.

'Eva, we shouldn't do this. The rules…'

'You made those rules to protect humans and spirits alike, but sometimes you can't control how you feel or how I feel. Love cannot be controlled by rules.'

Eva's left hand laid softly on the King's right cheek. The King stiffened. He wanted to embrace it...but he couldn't.

'From the first moment we met, towards the years that had followed, you were there for me. You said that I could be myself in front of you, so I'm gonna say the same thing. You don't have to be the King in front of me, just be yourself. I have seen the real you, but I will respect your wish, if you want to follow your rules. I like to ask you, though...Do you love me?'

The Celestial King looked away, afraid of his own feelings. How should he respond to that? He loved her, but he wasn't allowed to.

Eva took a couple steps back, concluding that this was his answer. She felt the pain in her heart, but she wanted to respect his wish. She pulled her hand back from his cheek.

'I guess that is that then...I'm sorry that I made it so hard for you,' said Eva painfully.

Eva needed to suppress her own tears and she softly smiled towards the King.

'Thank you for everything,' said Eva, before she started to run.

'Eva!'

The Celestial King's body responded immediately and he ran after her. The King, obvious faster than any normal human, grabbed her at her arm and pulled her back. During the pull, Eva was forced to turn around and their lips met. Eva's eyes looking at the man who had just kissed her with love, confusion and pain.

The Celestial King broke off the kiss and he looked at her.

'As a King, it is unthinkable to break one of my own rules, but...but for myself the old and the new gods will know that I love you! I promise the stars that I will punish myself when my contract with Eva has ended.'

Eva smiled, while a tear fell from her eye.

'Don't punish yourself too hard, ok?'

She stroked his cheek again and the King smiled with all his love he was feeling for this woman back at her.

'I can't promise you that.'

Eva tilted her head and they kissed.

'I, the King of all Spirits, had broken one of my rules,' said the Celestial King painfully, who was standing next to the two mages and Loke.

'I wanted to comfort her, trying to take away her pain. But during that time, the look in her eyes had changed and I felt it for the first time. Love. I promised the stars that I would punish myself and I have done that.'

Lucy looked at the King sadly.

'Is that why you have no key?' asked Lucy.

The Celestial King nodded.

'Eva is gone and it didn't matter if I was on Earthland or in the Celestial World, she wouldn't come back. I-I wanted her to be my last owner...'

The surrounding changed into images of people from the King's memory.

'Even thought we were enjoying our time together there were people who despised our love and people who had acknowledged our love. The humans had wanted to make my Eva the queen of Dragnof, but she refused. She thought it would split the kingdom. Eva wanted the people to unite, especially during these times and Eva knew the perfect solution.'

They were now standing in the throne room, nobles and friendly dragons standing side by side.

Eva looked at a woman with red hair. Irene was powerful and was a warrior in body and soul. Everyone agreed and the next queen was crowned.

'My Eva was finally freed from her responsibilities and she could enjoy her life the way she wanted. The following five years were my happiest years of my life,' said the Celestial King.

The surrounding changed again and they were standing in the middle of a battlefield.

'Until war broke loose called the Dragon Festival.'

This chapter needed a lot of thinking and research. As you maybe have noticed the chapter was also a day too late….it wasn't finished yet and I have bad news! I still need to write down chapter 6, 7 and 8. Chapter 6 and 7 are battle related and I really want to add some love in those chapters. Due to my work, I won't be able to finish those chapters before the end of 2018. Chapter 6 is scheduled for the first week of January, I hope to see you guys then.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year ^_^)/