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A/N at the bottom.

Enjoy.

Ch 12: Ignorance

It was one of those times, where Lucy decided there was no difference in Guilds. In which guilds were all insane to the point of borderline medical institutional. Their color schemes, choice of wall paint and even their insignias did not cloud her eyes of the wackiness of what were the Fiore Guild Halls. And she thought she got away from the craziness of her own guild.

Waking up that morning from her bed, she found a horrendous odor wafting from the room along with a strange animal doll resting on the foot of her bed. It seemed strange of course for the doll because she couldn't remember it even being there when Goldmine showed her the room.

The doll was large, larger than the brown teddy bear, 3 feet high she had resting in the corner of her apartment in Magnolia. It wasn't even a damn bear, but in fact a large dog. Its arms were stitched roughly onto its body, a body which seemed duller and grey looking compared to a normal dog, one full of life.

However its off-color fur was not what had caused her to jump out of bed screeching into the hands of what she knew was a Quatro Cerberus mage.

Oh no, it was the fact the creature moved.

Its eyes gleamed eerily at her as she rose out of bed, carefully trying not to even touch the thing. Nevertheless, it felt her movement; the simple shaking of the bed brought it out of its slumber. The stitched body stretched as if it slept for ages, immediately taking a position of guard after finding Lucy frozen as she had one foot lifted out onto the floor.

It barked, she ran. That's all it took.

In her plaid pajamas and a random black tank top, she ran out of her room colliding with the said nearby mage, whose hair was choppy and brown, placed into low pigtails while her getup consisted of spiked belts and a plain black dress. Her hair was adorned with skull pins while beneath her eyes were dark rings, much lighter than those who lacked sleep. The mage fell back much like Lucy, wincing as she rubbed her head angrily before preparing to give the Stellar Mage a piece of her mind.

"I'm sorry—I saw—there was something—" Lucy raced, her eyes widened in shock and fear. More so from the lucid glare being received from who she collided with, however the girl's eyes flashed, the angry expression waned, and Lucy sighed finding who she had bumped lifting herself back up gracefully and reaching out for fallen Lucy's hand, lifting her abet roughly.

"Who the hell are you?" The girl began, a short growl ending her question while she leered at the fumbling Lucy.

Lucy began to state where she came from, only to be patted harshly on the back, finding herself bouncing forward to catch her balance. Turning she greeted Master Goldmine who's smile seemed a bit too cheery compared to the dark night of the prior evening.

"Ah so you've met one of our new members eh Lucy? And I thought you were here for business?" He joked, his eyes beneath those shades of his watching over the form of the Quatro Cerberus mage. "Why then, say 'ello Ophelia! Lucy is our guest from Fairy Tail. She'll be meeting with Amery—you know? The red haired one your friend likes to stalk?"

Ophelia nodded, her expression blank, then reached her hand out once more to the stellar mage. "Hello and Good bye." She muttered bluntly while taking Lucy's hand in a limp grip. With a quick shake of greeting to Master Goldmine, Ophelia turned and left, leaving nothing but a strange feeling in Lucy's gut.

"So why are you out so early?" Goldmine questioned, breaking Lucy's reverie. His eyes turned to a close grandfather clock. It was only five in the morning and very few of his members were awake at the time.

"T-there's something in my room!" She panicked, dragging the curious guild master to her quarters, revealing the strange wolf doll which growled at her angrily before panting in greeting to Goldmine. He patted it eagerly before letting it walk out of the room into the hall.

Lucy stared dumbly at the dog as it wagged its tail away, drifting further into the corridor. She watched it stop at a door, scratch it before it eased open and walk in without a care in the world. Looking to Goldmine, she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh, Rigor. Ophelia's dog. Must've walked into the wrong room again! Silly mutt. I'd say a day or two ago Amery found him on his couch. After that he hadn't slept in his apartment for days until he got a new door—destroyed ya'kno. Didn't make a fuss that boy, just joked around with Ophelia about getting her dog a leash. Got 'im a beating that did." Goldmine mused, walking out of her room. Smiling to her as if there was nothing to worry about, he reminded her about Amery's arrival later in the afternoon. From what he did see and to Lucy's chagrin, she was surely not ready to greet him.

With that, Goldmine waved her off, giving her best wishes for a better sleep as she eased her door shut. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but question how Rigor got into the room.

She was positive she locked it last night.

Awake, refreshed and now in proper attire, Lucy followed Master Goldmine as he walked into the streets of Roselio. Amery, who she had to meet, hadn't shown up. In the words of the Quatro Cerberus guild leader, It wasn't him to be tardy; fashionably late yes, but over 3 hours late? No. Wondering what was holding up his protégée, Goldmine took Lucy along to head to Amery's apartment down in the southern district of Roselio.

It wasn't long till they reached his apartment, located in a building similar to that of the guild hall, only not as scary—just more…antique.

"Most of the buildings here in Roselio are old…the guild, being more recent of the buildings, was built to match the town…we just ended up going a bit overboard." He chuckled deeply.

'Is there a word better than overboard?'

Knocking on the door, he soon found it unlocked, causing eyes to narrow. With a sigh, he bashed open the already ajar door, knocking it off its hinges.

Lucy stared, her mouth agape as she pointed her finger at the door, then at Master Goldmine.

"Wait. Wasn't that already open? Couldn't you just—" She began, only to be hushed by Goldmine. Who in their right mind breaks a door when it's already open? She slumped, preparing for the worst.

'For the keys, for the keys, all for the keys…ohmygod…'

"Hey! Brat! Where are you?" Goldmine yelled into the apartment. Following the master in, she noticed how clean the mage was, his kitchen was spotless while several rows of shoes were placed neatly against the wall. The mage seemed very kept and orderly. Goldmine only frowned at the sight before moving on. Seeing him leave, she followed him as he opened another door.

Goldmine let out a sigh."Finally, somethin' that is Amery." He mused, leaning against the doorpost of Amery's bedroom. Peering inside, Lucy only paled at the travesty. His bed was upturned, and his clothing was scattered all over the floor. She squinted at something shiny—was that a key?

"What the hell?" Lucy twitched, picking up the key finding it attached to his key ring holding two golden keys and a mass of silver ones. Wait…didn't this mage have the rest of the Elliptical Zodiac?

"Hm…this is interesting, Amery hasn't ever flipped his bed over before…" Goldmine tilted his head, rubbing his chin while examining the bed. He snatched up a rabbit clip and tucked it away into his robe. Lucy blinked wondering why he didn't first think of Amery even missing his keys. The bed? Was that really even that important?

"Won't he need help?" Lucy questioned, rattling Amery's key ring. Surely if he was in trouble, he'd need his keys—which they both knew he didn't have.

Looking down at her, he shrugged. "Doubt it. I have a strange feeling I know who did this."

Lucy slapped her forehead. Mumbling to herself about crazy guild leaders and keyless mages, she didn't notice Goldmine tread through Amery's clothes, heading for the giggling closet.

She blinked.

'Maybe its enchanted? Yeah…yeah that's it. Another magical ploy…'

"Ah ha~" Goldmine decreed, pushing the closet doors aside with dramatic flare. Two faces—one relieved the other pouting, were revealed to Goldmine and Lucy.

'Oh god. This is really like Fairy Tail!'

"Mmphf!"

"No—he found us again!" A high voice whined, as another voice screeched behind cloth.

"Lorena…you owe him a door this time." Goldmine stated firmly, scolding the girl who was bent on shedding tears. Lucy face-palmed.

'Didn't you break the door?'

Lorena, the small teenage female in the closet, gave a face. Her nose crinkled and her cheeks puffed at Master Goldmine before she angrily shoved her hands into her black corduroy short pockets. "I didn't do anything!" She complained, saying Amery had created the chaos around them.

The male, tied up in a rope made of his own ties and shoelaces, shook his head profusely. His eyes locked with Lucy's for a second, each one raising an eyebrow at the other.

Goldmine shook his head in the negative. "You might want to be more stealthier next time if you want to get away with it," Pulling something out of his pocket, he clipped something into Lorena's gray hair. She widened her eyes at the gesture. "You left your clip on his bed."

"Drat."

She angled it precisely on her head and gave the master a small pout. He didn't return it quickly but left her with a small smile. With his hand on the small of her back he pushed her lightly away so she could hop out of the closet. Lucy noticed the short glace the girl gave her as she pranced by. Her green eyes flashed at Lucy with a slight childlike glee. It was a split moment, but Lucy thought the girl sneered at her shortly after. She didn't have time to ask, Lorena had already flittered away like a hummingbird yearning for food.

"Hey Lucy—darling do you mind helping me untie Amery? Lorena did him a good one this time."

Several yards of shoe string, the occasional tie, and one bandana later; Amery was finally released from his clothing malfunction and was sitting upon his now flat bed. Holding his knee to his chin while his other leg dangled over the edge, he moped at the fact Lorena caught him again in his sleep and stuffed him into his closet. His hand rubbed at the ink upon his face, which the young girl had smeared all over, drawing random hearts and stars.

The female giggled at the classic monocle on his left eye.

"What's with the busty blonde Goldmine?" He questioned, giving her a look. She looked different from everyone else in the guild he was accustomed to, already full to the brim of interesting people. One thing for sure he knew was that she wasn't a new member to the guild, he had been eyeing the tattoo on her hand.

"—Fairy Tail mage, here to meet…"

Amery dozed off, muting the long-winded speech from Goldmine. Nodding his head as if he was listening, he soon went to run his finger in his ear. The blonde girl staring at him was giving him an expression, one which seemed agitated. It wasn't as if she was talking anyway, so he didn't have to will or desire to acknowledge her.

'Although she does seem cute.'

"Boy, if you are ignoring me again…"

Amery raised an eyebrow, catching that short part of his master's words. Amery snorted, shifting his position to that of Indian style, while he spun his keys unconsciously in the air.

"Nope…I'm listening sir." He smiled, basking in the fact that he was making his master twitch on end. He loved teasing the poor man, finding it hilarious, however the punishments were something he could go without. Soon enough he found himself caught red handed when the Guild Master asked for the young lady's name.

'Crap.'

"Uh..." He scratched his head, what did it sound like? Did he say Lorena? Was her name Lorena too? Oh wow what a coincidence! Damn, that would be too easy….something—think of something—

The something had blurted out of his mouth so suddenly, it got him a slap to the face.

"Excuse me? My name is not 'big boobs'. Thankyouverymuch!" The female stellar mage huffed, clenching Loki's key on her ear. She was itching to just tug it off, summon him and tag team his ass down to hell.

Amery noticed her tense, and reach for her keys. Forget her name—he knew what she was. Goldmine face palmed as he jumped up on the bed, flinging his pointer finger at her in a dramatic pose declaring she was a Stellar Mage. Before Lucy had time to begin some sort of sarcastic comment, Goldmine interrupted, pulling Amery off the bed and dropping him head first to the floor.

"Yes, she a Stellar Mage. No, she is not a guild member. Yes, she has interesting features," Lucy raised an eyebrow at Goldmine. "No, you cannot attack her—and finally she's here because of something important."

"…You still haven't told me her name." He noted smartly, peeving off his master. All it took were seconds for him to see a speeding black blur, and his vision to tunnel straight after. Only the words of his master lingered in his head while he blacked out from a boot to the head.

"—Amery you make me wonder..."

'Wow…how long has it been since he's done that?'

"Um, you know…I've never met a male stellar mage before."

"Huh?" Amery winced, as he tried to get himself back off the floor. He was sure there were marks from his face plant and the damn boot. Whining, he reached his hand out, as he pushed himself onto his knees. Looking around, he realized the female Stellar Mage was still there, sitting upon a pulled up wooden chair. Her own hand was outreached, giving him support to get off his knees and back somewhere more comfortable.

Reluctantly did he accept the gesture, finding it a bit embarrassing that a girl had to see him pummeled by someone. He blushed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh…thanks."

"It's Lucy."

He furrowed his brow.

"My name." She continued, wondering if he had sustained more than just a blackout.

"Oh."

Lucy expected some sort of joking to go along with his 'oh'. She frowned, rolling her eyes before walking out of his room.

"I'll wait outside for you to get freshened up."

A few minutes later and a set of bandages, Amery sat before Lucy, spinning his keys in a circular fashion upon the table. He was bored that's for sure. His head rested upon a hand while he stared dully at the repetitive motion of what he knew were his keys.

Lucy with her half lidded eyes knew the sign of a bored mage, seeing it in Natsu's eyes quite often. It had always led to some destruction of some sort in her home. However, they were in the bored mage's home and she wondered what would happen here. Mentally, she shrugged hoping to see maybe a broken window or two to match the missing door, still flat on the living room carpet.

"So, what's with all this 'important' stuff my master is tellin' me about?" He looked up back to Lucy, stopping his keys.

A glimmer appeared in her eyes and immediately she pulled off her knapsack and dropped it onto Amery's kitchen table with a thud. She missed the widened eyes he had for the large bag as she pulled out Layla's book and opened to a page written in pure silver.

"Hot damn." Amery whistled, noticing the shiny font and list he mentally described as 'too long, don't read'. Skimming it despite his previous description, he frowned at an Elliptic Zodiac name printed beside his.

"So I'll need your help since you have the rest of the golden keys…" She began, before noticing Amery daze off, staring dully at the silver font in Layla's book. She nudged him from across the table. "Hey you okay?"

"You need the golden keys right?" He avoided her question, substituting it with his own. Seeing her nod, he sighed angrily rubbing at his wrist. Lucy's eyes glanced to his wrist noticing a rope band woven through what she knew was a golden ring with a blue sapphire stone. It was gorgeous.

"I can't help you right now." He grunted, rubbing harder at his wrist, dangling the ring.

"But Amery, you have the keys—"

"No I don't. Pisces ran away."

Her eyes widened.

Suddenly a crack shot into the air. Both Stellar Mages jumped at the noise, Amery less graceful than the two falling out of his chair backwards while Lucy sighed, knowing the looming figure behind her.

He seemed angry at the confession, his hand gripping loosely upon the chair Lucy sat upon. Despite his calm demeanor, Lucy knew he was angry. He didn't even greet her as he appeared. The small thought of that made her frown.

"Pisces is gone? Where did she go?" Loki narrowed his eyes at the fallen Stellar mage, his eyes darting to the key ring on the table. Pisces' key was missing as well. Loki then realized.

"She took her own key? The most idiotic thing—how the hell did she get it from you?" He continued on, breaking his sentences as he continued to berate the confused male. Lucy began to tug at his sleeve telling him it was enough. Seeing him like this scared her.

Amery back on his feet stared back at Loki, both men the same height. He found himself not perturbed at the furious spirit, much less realizing he was a spirit with the entrance.

"I gave it to her."

Ch 12~Fin.

A/N: Okay, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, however I feel as if I lengthen it any more, I might lose what I was trying to get out of it. This arc may be a bit longer than I thought, as I'm finding myself making shorter chapters instead of writing longer ones. So, once again shortness may be a continuing theme in this arc, or maybe till the end of the story. I'm not sure entirely.

Anyway. I hope this was adequate for all of you. Thank you for reading :).

Review. Possibly. Maybe. Yes.