Chapter 1

AN: Okay this is my first story, as you can probably tell I'm not quite sure how to write dialogue yet. I'm very open to suggestions and would love advice on how to make the story better! (cause if the story doesn't make sense then who would ever keep reading it?) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* if you have not read the manga.

2 months after Natsu and Happy left for their year of training

She...she's dead.

Lucy awoke with a start. Panting while she grasped her chest she looked around her room, she was covered in a cold sweat and her legs were knotted intricately with her blanket. Eventually leaning forward she put her head into her knees, giving into the night sobs that hadn't plagued her since she'd arrived in Magnolia. Why now? Why did it have to resurface while her friends were gone? Did even her subconscious mind realize that she was alone now? Her very last friend had left Magnolia that very evening, saying goodbye to Lucy.

"Lucy you promise to write me, right?"

"Of course Levy! Now go have fun meeting up with Gajeel in the capitol!" She said wiggling her eyebrows.

Blushing Levy mumbled"We're just going to be working together" Lucy laughed and after a long embrace she shooed her friend away to board the train. As the train was pulling away she felt her heart start to twinge. "Not now", she thought "just little longer. Once you get home you can cry your eyes out, okay Lu?" She waved until her friend was out of sight then headed home. Locking the door behind her, Lucy rested her head against it trying to get control of her breathing. She'd been doing this ever since Natsu left, telling herself she could cry later but not letting it happen when the promised time came around. She just couldn't get herself to allow it. She told herself all kinds of excuses as one by one her friends left town "Natsu wouldn't want you to cry...Don't cry in front of your friends, you wouldn't want to make them sad...Big girls don't cry Lu". Each excuse made her heart feel a little more constrained but she would smile for her friends when they were looking so that they wouldn't start their brand new lives with her crying face in their mind's eye.

This was a different kind of crying though, she'd always allowed herself these tears. She was dead after all and the dead deserved to be mourned. Eventually her tears of renewed shock subsided as she coaxed herself to turn them off, she felt her heart squeeze and her face relax. She sat up and untangled her legs, swinging over the side of the bed she walked over to her desk in a daze. She opened a drawer and pulled out a leather bound notebook from the bottom of the rest of her notebooks and letters to her mother. Kneeling down she slowly opened it, revealing the blood soaked pages within.

"Miss Lucy, I want you to know...this isn't your fault" Sophia croaked as she grasped Lucy's hand.

"Don't go!"

"I wish I wasn't Miss, but it seems my time has come early. Please know Lucy, none of this is your fault..." She repeated.

"But he wouldn't have hurt you if it wasn't for me!" Lucy cried "I wish you'd never known me!" Suddenly she felt a slap across her cheek, she stared at Sophia in shock as the flames engulfed more and more around them.

Pointing a finger at her Sophia said "I will NEVER regret the time that we had together Little Lu., and though I could never replace your mother," she placed her hand gently to the young girls stinging cheek "I still thought of you as a daughter."

Lucy desperately bargained "If you stay I could be your daughter! I'd let you be my mom!" At this point the man was starting to twitch from his forced slumber. Sophia frantically looked at him then back to Lucy.

"Miss you must run while he can't chase you," Lucy started to protest, "Your father hired me to help protect and raise you, don't make my sacrifice be in vain, I want you to live...Please Little Lu...I want you to live..." Sophia gasped as another wave of pain tormented her body, after it passed she took a deep breath trying to swallow her pain so it wouldn't seems so gruesome, the man was starting to groan and attempt to lift his head. Sophia grasped both of Lucy's arms and squeezed her in a crying hug, letting go she forced Lucy to look into her eyes "I love you MIss" her eyes tearing up "so very very much...now...GO!" Sophia shouted with a shove to Lucy's chest making her fall backwards onto her skirt.

Nodding Lucy choked out "I love you too." Sophia smiled at her encouragingly as she started to stand, tears were flooding her eyes and blurring her vision as she slowly turned away, as she started dragging her feet in no particular direction she took one look back. Sophia's eyes were closed and her face was relaxed, Lucy's eyes widened realizing she was gone. "She...she's dead..." she thought in disbelief, and with that terrifying thought in her head she sobbed and ran away from the burning carnage. She ran to get away from death...to get help... to escape the man.

She hadn't even registered she was clutching a notebook until her father found her, covered in soot and bloody glass. Once he'd found out what had happened he called a servant to clean her up while he called the police. She was sitting on her bed waiting for her bath when she was shocked to see herself tightly gripping a bloody notebook, she'd flipped through it, wondering where it had come from until she realized...it was his. But how had she ended up with the man's notebook? Feeling disgusted with the thing she threw it the floor where it landed with the inside cover showing. Enraged she'd almost stomped on it until she noticed what the inside cover said...

Property of: Solomon Tenebris.

Stopping the memory there Lucy sighed while she once again looked through the pages of reasons that Solomon had caused such horrific events, he had done it because, according to him, she was The celestial wizard. The one that could unlock all the doors to an unstoppable army. Ever since Solomon had killed her governess Lucy had been plagued with nightmares of his return. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would see him again, it had been one of the many points she had used to justify running away from home. Lucy was a danger to those around her so when she'd finally felt old enough to take care of herself she'd left, she didn't know what she'd do if any more of her servants/friends were hurt or killed because of her, one had been devastating enough. She knew they were still in danger just from knowing her at all, but she figured putting some distance between her and the people she cared about could only benefit them. After a time on the road Lucy realized the best chance she had for survival and protection would be to learn more about her magic and improve her skill as much as possible, that's when she'd decided to join a guild. Fairy Tail seemed like the most unlikely place for anyone to look for her, with her lady-like upbringing and the guild's renowned rowdiness she'd doubted anyone would put the two together very easily. When Natsu had brought her back to Fairy Tail Lucy had no idea just how dear these wizards would become to her. As time went on they proved their friendship to each other and their tenacity with every obstacle that came their way, and because of that Lucy finally felt safe. She felt that if Solomon ever did come for her she'd be able to defeat him as long as she had her guild family, but then Natsu left and the next day Fairy Tail disbanded, suddenly she was alone again. Not only was she alone she'd also exposed herself and her location along with who was close to her, Solomon would know and now she was vulnerable without her friends around her. "I suppose that explains why the nightmare is back..." Lucy thought to herself, she'd need to start preparing much more seriously. Starting tomorrow she would start serious training so she could fight Solomon without her friends by her side and if it came down to it...kill him.

There ya go, feel free to tear it apart, I want to learn...sure I'd prefer for you to be nice, but this is the internet so I'm going to be realistic...someone's going to be mean, so bring it!