Soooooooo, I'm still alive. Honestly, I wanted to finish this arc up in two chapters before I started posting, but it's been a while and considering the state of the world, I figured ya'll could use something to cheer you up. This chapter was originally two, but I decided to throw them together. Next chapter will be the end of this arc. Considering how everything is insane right now, I make no promises for when the next update will be.

On another note, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. Seriously, there's so much love for this fic, and I can't believe it. You're comments keep me going.
I hope you all enjoy, and please stay safe and healthy in these trying times.

Even if she had to drag every drop of power from within her

Streams of warm sunlight woke Lucy, which surprised her considering Evergreen usually woke her up for training on the days she skipped core training with Capricorn. Eyes bleary, limbs heavy, Lucy lurched into a sitting position on her bed. An empty room greeted her, and it was clear by the clock that it was closer to afternoon than morning.

Cursing, she stumbled into a quick shower, drying off and getting dressed in a short skirt and t-shirt in record time. Pulling her wet hair back, she opened the door with her hip and hurried into the hallway.

Where a wild Pikachu awaited, hair heavy with water. Lucy paused, waiting for him to greet her as she had come to do every morning. When he continued to look at her silently, blank face somehow conveying amusement, she puffed out her cheeks. Fine, she would be the polite one.

"Good morning, Pikachu." He grunted. That's it. Just a grunt. This was the man she had traded childhood stories with yesterday?

Storm thundering, water trailing down their bodies, heat trapped between them, whispers dancing in the air.

Face warming, she shoved the memory away. She felt irritation. Irritation. Nothing else.

"Is there a reason no one bothered to wake me up?"

"Decided to stay another night. We'll take off tomorrow morning." She blinked, wondering why he would decide to do that. They'd never stayed longer in any town than necessary. Another memory whispered through her mind.

"You'll slow us down if you get sick." Did he… did he actually think she would've slowed them down? Sure, she would've been tired if they'd gotten up at their usual time, but she wouldn't have complained. The entire reason the Thunder God Tribe was even here had to do with her, so there was no way she would've slowed them down. Did Laxus actually have so little faith in her?

Apparently, he did.

"Fine," she ground out, ignoring his scrunched brows, "I'm going for a walk then. I'll be back later tonight." With a twist of her heels, she marched out, picking a random direction and heading towards the forest that bordered the town. Plue joined her as soon as she reached the tree line.

"I can't believe him!"

"Pun punn."

"Just assuming I was going to slow us down and pre-empting that by telling us to hang around for an extra day. It's ridiculous! When have I ever slowed us down, or even complained?"

"Punn." Lucy's face burned at the reminder. She had been a bit of a complainer before Fairy Tail had disbanded. Not to mention she'd always been a burden on Team Natsu.

"Okay, I'll give you that Plue. But I've been trying really hard this time! I haven't complained about sleeping out in the elements, the workouts." She fiddled with her Key ring, silver and gold glinting. "Laxus offered to help me when he didn't need to. I don't want to be a burden on him or the team." She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. So, Laxus told them all to take a day off because he was worried she couldn't handle keeping on after a late night of confessions. So what?

So, he didn't have faith in her. It was one late night. She would've been fine!

"Ugh!"

"Uh, Lucy-san?"

"Gyah!" Jumping, she found in all her meanderings she'd somehow ended up by Freed and Bickslow, clearly just finishing up a spar. Evergreen was nowhere to be seen. They all regarded each other for a moment, the men taking in Lucy's puffed up cheeks and companion.

"So," Bickslow finally began, "What'd the big guy do this time?"

Lucy contemplated brushing it off, telling them it didn't matter. Because it didn't, not really. They would leave tomorrow and everything would go back to usual and Lucy would take the hit to her pride. She'd be over it by the time they reached their destination. But it hurt that Laxus thought so little of her, especially after last night.

"He told us to stay!" she burst out. Barely registering Freed's raised brows and Bickslow's tilted head, she barreled on, words streaming from her mouth. "I can't believe it. I told him I'd be fine, that it didn't matter we were up late in the storm, and then he goes and tells us to stay for another day! Does he listen at all?"

"Wait," Freed held up a hand. "You were up with Laxus in the storm last night?"

"Er, yeah?"

"Huh." Freed fell silent, and Lucy waited for a follow up, but he began mumbling something under his breath. Bickslow picked up the slack.

"Look, Cosplayer." She didn't even bother trying to correct him anymore. "While I appreciate you further proving my point that you two should bang-"

"What?!"

"-Laxus didn't tell us to hang around 'cause of you."

"Wait, what?"

"When we woke him up this morning, he was a huge grouch. Nearly bit my head off for no reason."

"You screeching that thing you call music next to his ears constitutes a good reason," Freed piped in.

"Hush Pretty Boy. Your wrongness is interfering with me comforting our mascot."

"I'm not your mascot."

"Why won't you let me finish?!" Freed and Lucy shared a sheepish smile while Bickslow huffed before finishing. "Boss man was so tired he told us to take the day to rest so he could sleep."

"So… he told us to stay so he could catch up on sleep?"

"Yep."

"Oh." That was good. Good that he didn't think she was a burden. But he could've just told her that.

Freed's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to have done something ill-mannered towards Laxus-sama, did you?" Er, she had been a little grouchy with him earlier. And she hadn't exactly let him explain himself, had she? But surely he'd just brush that off like he always did?

Once, long ago, when Macao had been a much younger man, he'd imparted a wisdom on Laxus. "Never believe you understand a woman. The second you do, that's the second she'll turn around and do the exact opposite of what you expect her to." Laxus hadn't really understood then, chalking it up to an old man's grumblings.

He thought he understood now.

Here he was, giving Blondie a good excuse to take a day off and rest. Something he thought she'd appreciate. Hadn't she been a princess at one point? She certainly liked her fancy hair things and he knew her to be a creature of comfort. All he got for his efforts? Storming off to Mavis knew where. Actually, Mavis probably didn't even know, magic tactician or no.

This was the exact reason why he'd been a dick. Being nice wasn't only harder, it turned up nothing in rewards. He needed a distraction, Laxus mused. Something to distance himself from the stupid, stupid, thoughts he'd been having lately.

The village had little to offer in the way of entertainment, so after Laxus assured himself Blondie was safe with Bix and Freed, he turned to the classics; pubs and sex.

Singular pub, actually, considering it stood alone in this town. At least when the sun went down it filled up quickly. Laxus didn't get drunk often, mainly because he tended to do stupid shit when drunk and he had little control. That didn't stop him from enjoying himself as he struck up a conversation with a cute brunet and firmly put all thoughts of blondes from his mind.

Late that night, stars guiding his way down the street, Laxus returned to the hotel and quietly showered, ensuring he didn't wake his slumbering teammates. Smell of sex fully dispelled, he slipped out of his room and poked his head into the one across the hall. The curtains were drawn open, leaving the women bathed in starlight. For some reason they shared the same bed. Satisfied, Laxus began to back out, floor creaking beneath his weight.

"Lax?" He paused, eyeing Blondie's form. Rubbing her eyes, she half propped herself up, voice a whisper.

"It's me."

"S'rry I was a bitch earlier."

He rolled his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Blondie."

"Rude. The correct response was," she interrupted herself with a yawn. Laxus echoed her. Snorting softly, she fell back on her bed. "Oh, never mind. 'Night Pikachu."

Silently shaking with laughter, Laxus managed a "'Night," as he backed out. Lucy's soft snores echoed behind him.

First, she was mad for no reason, then she apologized for no reason. Did she ever make sense?

Women.

A week later, they found themselves on a train in Stella, heading fast for their goal. When they disembarked in three days, they would have only a two day walk to their best guess of the location for the warrior village.

Sadly, that still involved three days on a train where they got a private compartment, but not one with beds. As it turns out, the area of Stella they were headed towards was quite the tourist spot. The seats were at least comfortable, if not big enough for any of them to lie down.

On the first night, Lucy jealously eyed her slumbering teammates. Bix sprawled out on the floor, his jacket acting as a pillow, while Evergreen and Freed stretched on the seat curled together. If Lucy didn't know better, she'd say they were in a relationship. Funny how constant interaction with someone can make you care so little for privacy or social norms.

"You're still awake." Jerking, Lucy turned to Laxus. He leaned against the window, Sound Pods on. She'd thought he'd been sleeping.

"Yeah," she murmured, quiet. The train had stopped a few minutes ago, likely to refuel and change passengers despite it being one in the morning. "Can't sleep. What about you? I thought for sure you'd sleep through the nausea."

His lips twitched. "I don't sleep much on trains, especially with the nausea. Even if I did, stopping would wake me up."

Frowning, she leaned towards him, ignoring his raised brows. He had a light covering of sweat on his forehead. While he kept quiet, motion sickness affected him just as much as Natsu. She wished she had a spirit with healing magic so she could help. Maybe one of the shinigami captains did? She'd have to ask Toshiro when she saw him next.

"Did no one ever tell you it's rude to stare, Blondie?" Narrowing her eyes, she reared back.

"As if I want to hear that from you. I'm not sure any Fairy Tail mage knows manners."

"You realize you're a member too, right?" Opening and closing her mouth, she searched for a response. Laxus smirked in amusement.

"Okay, fine. It's too late for me to be witty." She yawned, swaying as the train started moving again. Laxus's lips pressed together, and she wondered how bad his motion sickness got. Wendy's didn't start until recently, Gajeel's only started during the Grand Magic Games, but Natsu's had been going on for several years before she met him. Clearly it wasn't age that played a role. Strength, then? Laxus's must be terrible.

"You're still staring."

"How bad is your motion sickness?"

He watched her for a moment, brows scrunched together. "Why?" She explained her reasoning to him. He hummed for a moment, eyes slipping closed around a yawn. "Well, I never really thought of it that way. I've had it since I was a teenager, but you have to remember that I'm second generation. Ivan put my Lacrima in my head," he tapped his scarred eye, "In the hopes it'd mean my dragon senses would be even stronger than normal. He was right, but it also meant the side effects of Dragon Slayer magic were increased as well."

"Is that why your Dragon Force changes your appearance so much? Compared to the others, I mean."

"How you know what my Dragon Force looks like?"

She shrugged. "Natsu told me all about the fight during Fantasia. Thinking back on it, you must have been using Drago Force right?" He nodded, body tensing. Lucy only barely realized he probably didn't like the reminder of what he'd done. Not that it mattered now. He'd apologized and made up for it. If Levy could forgive Gajeel to such an extent that she fell in love with him, there was absolutely no reason for any of them to continue holding the Battle of Fairy Tail against Laxus and his team.

But perhaps it wasn't so easy to make them forget the mistakes of the past.

Lucy yawned again, and very seriously contemplated laying down with Bix. She couldn't stretch out on the bench without being in Laxus's space, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable while being sick. But she liked to sleep slightly curled on her side.

She barely registered an arm reaching around her before she felt herself tugged against something distinctly warm and hard.

"Laxus!" she hissed, masking the glowing blush on her face with anger. He shifted, putting his back against the wall and tugging her more firmly against his chest.

"If you keep yawning, you're going to keep me up."

"I thought you don't sleep on trains," she shot back, wiggling in hope to escape. He couldn't be comfortable, she thought. Not with his legs placed on the floor and his torso twisted to face the other way. He'd likely get terrible muscle cramps.

"Doesn't mean I don't try. Now, hush Blondie." He plopped his head against the wall.

"You can't be comfortable in this position."

Lucy felt a growl rumbled through his chest, but happily shifted away when his arms released her. Three seconds later, she figured out why though. He swung one leg up onto the bench so he was facing her properly before bringing her back against him. With his leg taking up a fair share of the seat—seriously, what is he made of? Tree trunks? —Lucy had to turn so she laid on her side facing the back of the bench or risk falling off. His arms reached around her keeping her balanced and pinned against his chest.

"I could sue for sexual assault," Lucy protested. Laxus huffed, the puff of air stirring her hair. Pressed as close to him as she was, her head rested between his neck and shoulders.

"Not if you're too sleep deprived to function." She really wanted to argue against that, but she could feel Laxus's natural body heat—higher than Natsu's even—lulling her. Why had she thought this was a bad idea? Right, the fact that she felt attracted to him physically. Not that it mattered. Nothing would happen between them.

Lucy fell asleep before she could convince herself to move.

Laxus was clearly a masochist. That was the only possible reason that he'd done this to himself. Much as he wanted Lucy to be comfortable, he could've pretended to be asleep and ignored her shifting and progressively more exhausted yawns. Instead, he'd pinned a woman that smelled of another Dragon Slayer against him in such a way that he had no choice but to inhale her scent with every breath.

Masochist.

Whatever, he'd deal. If nothing else, focusing on the fruit in her scent kept him distracted from the nausea. At least the train ride had been relatively smooth so far.

Masochism confirmed. Only an idiot or a masochist would taunt the world as he did, and now he paid the price. Wind blew so strongly that the train rocked with it, and Laxus struggled with staying sitting.

Morning had come in the form of everyone waking when breakfast came by, stealing Laxus's distraction. A very red distraction that hadn't looked him in the eye this entire time. Apparently, he'd made her uncomfortable. Which was fine, because at least she'd slept, and it wasn't as if she'd be with them forever.

And then the stupid tornado level winds had started, and the motion sickness had become so much worse. He swore he could hear what little water he'd managed to consume sloshing in his stomach, aching to come out. I will not throw up. I will not throw up.

"Laxus?" Mavis, I'm going to throw up. His team eyed him warily, worry painted across their faces. At least Lucy could look him in the eye again. Not that that was important. Nope.

The track curved, howling wind providing accompaniment to the click, clack that echoed his death march. He tilted along with the train.

Something small wrapped around his neck, pulling his body further into the tilt until he collapsed on his side, head pillowed by something soft.

Fruit and lavender, hints of steel and flowers, snow and ink, fresh winds and wood, smoke and ozone.

Lucy, he concluded. Lucy's lap, actually. When had he gotten here?

Nails scrapped along his scalp; a soft humming so close it almost drowned out the rest of the world. Relaxing, Laxus let the sound soothe him.

The last days of walking were filled with Lucy very strongly putting any thought of the train ride out of her mind. She'd slept against Laxus during the second night as well, just as he laid in her lap during the last days. You scratch my back, I scratch yours, she reminded herself. A business deal with some guildmates. That's all this was.

Luckily, the forest that filled the last leg of the trip gladly distracted her via absurd monsters. Herds of boar like creatures with jewels on their backs, rhinos of all things, and carnivorous deer seemed to all make their homes here and were all highly aggressive.

On the bright side, it didn't take long for them to find the village. Or to be found.

Just as Lucy canceled her Leo Star Dress after the latest battle, her teammates each standing down, they found one more in the clearing. The gentlemen stood tall, with broad shoulders and hair shorn short.

"What brings great warriors to this part of the country?" he asked.

"We're looking for a village," Lucy explained, after exchanging looks with Laxus. "It's said to home powerful warriors. We think it might have something we're searching for." Turning on his heel, the man left. Exchanging shrugs and uneasy glances, they followed.

The village, which we learned was named 'Cathal', came into sight shortly after meeting the stranger. Most homes were made of giant stones, welded together or carved out. Like free standing caves. We were led until we came to what was clearly the village center and met Alger. Tall, with short dark hair, he looked similar to every other citizen we'd seen. He explained that this village didn't interact much with outsiders, but as he'd been told of our strength, he'd listen to our desire.

I explained to him my quest for the Keys and what they meant to me. He confessed to having not only one, but two. Alger said that these were the villages greatest treasures though, and not just to be handed out to "Pale skinned, lazy boned, aristocrats." However, he agreed to give them to us anyway. If we defeated his strongest warriors in group combat. For the sake of Toshiro and his allies, we agreed.

They were led to an open arena, seats rising around the edge of the ring. Based on the dark stains Lucy eyed in the dirt, battles appeared to be a common pastime for these people. Lovely.

After going over the rules—no killing and no leaving the battle ground, honestly not much of a list—the tribe chief called a start to the battle. Immediately everything dissolved into chaos and Lucy reached for her Keys. The five warriors all looked vaguely similar with broad shoulders and heavily muscled, even the one woman. In a flash each had weapons appearing in their hands. Requip users. So, they just had to fight five Erzas. No problem.

Oh Mavis.

The group broke off, each coming for a member of the Thunder God Tribe. Faced with a woman wielding a javelin, Lucy focused on the fight and put the rest of the squad out of her mind. With a twist of her Keys and a shout, Taurus appeared in a blast of bright light. Descending into the familiar uniqueness that each battle gave was easy now. Attack with the whip, dodge the throwing knives that appeared out of nowhere, let Taurus charge as she switched to her Star Dress, attack with a Lucy Kick. No fight ever let you fall into a pattern. The only familiarity fell with the pounding blood in her ears and tang of copper in the air from the hits that landed. Only the sweat, the ache of her muscles, the constant knowledge of win-or-die lasted through all battles.

The ground shook, light blasting through the air while her ears rang. One of the other combatants flew between her and her own enemy. From the other side of the ring, steal rang against skin, the sickening give of flesh and blood giving way. Next, Evergreen flew through the air, leg bleeding heavily.

Cursing, Lucy reached for her, only to dodge back at the last second as her instincts screamed.

"Don' get distracted on me," her opponent said with a grin. "Gryal will take care of your friend."

"Don't get distracted, Lucy!" Taking Evergreen's advice, even as she stood back up and threw herself in the fighting again, Lucy jumped back again as Taurus reared and slammed his axe into the ground. Her opponent jumped using the force in the ground to launch herself at Taurus. At the last moment, the axe in her hands switched to a long spear, easily sliding past Taurus's defense to land a powerful blow. Lucy felt the ripple in her magic, unsurprised when Taurus began dematerializing. She retreated, trying to regain her breath. Things had been going on for so long now, she knew something had to change.

The warriors weren't extremely powerful, but they had stamina and training on their side. Not to mention, they seemed to have weapons for every situation. Glancing around, she noticed her team were all in a similar position to her own. Even Laxus, who she thought would already be finished, was stalled. With every attack dodged, no matter his teleportation, he seemed to only be frustrated. Large, area affect attacks were useless when all their fights were overlapping. Even now, Freed got launched into Bix, causing the latter's shot to get disrupted.

She cried out as an iron arrow caught her in the arm, barely managing to back spring away from the slash of twin daggers in the next second. She couldn't reply to Evergreen or Bix's calls, air tight in her lungs as she evaded.

"Ignore her!" She dimly heard Laxus call, already reaching for her Keys. "Blondie is capable!"

Truly, a glowing endorsement.

"Loki!" Another flash of gold, this even brighter, and she finally had breathing room. Even as she dived back in though, Star Dress warping over her, she knew they couldn't keep this up. All five of them needed something to end this fight, all at once. Of course, with them all split up like this, that didn't seem very likely. Honestly, at least when Team Natsu fought, they spread out so they wouldn't be in each other's way. Of course, when the Thunder God Tribe battled, they usually did it together.

Which begged the question why weren't they doing it now?

"I'm such an idiot. Everyone, just like last week!" It took several agonizing seconds before she received acknowledgement.

"Why?!" Bix screeched, voice embarrassingly high pitched.

"Just do it!" Laxus responded, hitting away his opponent and running towards the center of the field. Lucy reached for her waist, calling Scorpio and Virgo.

As sand picked up, she reached for her magic, pulling for her Scorpio Star Dress as all visibility became zero. Beneath her feet, the ground dropped. She raced through the tunnel Virgo had already made, knowing the opening would close behind her. She reached the middle of the field, letting the ground rise beneath her as she was met with Freed and Bix.

"Why would you suggest this, Cosplayer?"

"Because I want dinner before the sun sets." A pause followed at they reached ground level and Lucy felt Virgo close her Gate.

"Fair."

"Freed?" Laxus asked, coming next to them. Evergreen floated in the air above them.

"Enchantments are done."

"Virgo finished closing all the tunnels," Lucy offered.

With a nod, Laxus turned away and began calling down lightning. As he started on the furthest reaches of the arena, Lucy felt the magic build all around them. Leaving Freed and Laxus in the center, Lucy, Bix, and Ever all took to the air and headed for the outer ring, Laxus's letting them through in a small patch clear of lightning.

Last week had involved only a single training session, due to various influences. The training session in question though had involved an everyone against Laxus round. In a desperate bid, Lucy had used Scorpio to kick up a sandstorm to blind Laxus while they had all tried to herd him to the center of the clearing in use for an attack from all of them. Of course, Bix had gotten smacked out of the air like a fly and hadn't forgiven Lucy for the failed plan yet.

Despite this, Laxus's lightning on their side made everything much easier. While Freed maintained the enchantments that pushed enemies closer to the center as it got smaller, and Laxus continued striking with lightning, forcing them to move anyway, the rest circled in the air with ranged attacks, insuring they didn't find a way around the enchantments and out of the trap.

With a few minutes, Laxus jumped into the air, arm around Freed. Lightning coalesced in the center, energy crackling in the air. Scorpio dispersed his sandstorm before his Gate closed, leaving Lucy to follow the others to the edge of the arena to escape the backlash of Laxus.

With a deafening crack, the energy dispersed, leaving only five passed out bodies, and absolute silence. Taking stock of herself and the others, Lucy thought they did rather well. Laxus had a bruise coloring his jaw, and Evergreen seemed to have several cuts like Lucy, Bix and Freed only a little banged up.

"Well," Alger began, stepping closer while carrying a metal disk. "It seems you've kept up your end of the bargain. Here, these are yours." Hands shaking, heart bounding, Lucy reached out. It couldn't be this easy. Two Keys, both solid black, lay glistening on the disk. They'd traveled for weeks, spending nights mostly outside. Tension had been wound around her core, a constant bone deep belief that she'd fail, that she would never be able to find any of these Keys, and now here she stood. Blood and sweat covered her, obsidian cool beneath her fingers. They both had '11', one etched in black, the other red.

She remembered what Toshiro had said. The eleventh division stood for fighting and strength. That the third seat likely also had a Key. Considering for a moment, she decided she wanted to summon both together and likely didn't have enough power for that tonight.

"Thank you," she said instead, voice gruff from the battle. She'd yelled less than usual, she thought. The year training, and even more the time spent with Laxus and the others, had paid off.

The village chief nodded, declaring, "We will have a banquet tonight."

The next morning, Lucy felt well fed and rested for the first time in a while, magic at full peak. Too bad that didn't last long.

The second she pushed her magic in the Obsidian Key for the eleventh captain, she felt a drop like nothing else. Nearly double what Toshiro took to summon, easily the equivalent of holding four golden gates open. If she hadn't been training with Capricorn for so long, she had no doubt she would've passed out.

Instead, red light filled around her, building into a bright pillar before revealing the captain. Tall, broad shouldered, black hair formed into spikes ending in tinkling bells.

And power. Such magic power, pressing down on her from every side, her bones shook from it. Only meeting his eyes, each gleaming with something dark and hungry, sitting above the largest, most bloodthirsty grin she'd ever seen, stopped her from collapsing. This was the kind of man who respected power, and nothing else. If she ever wanted him to help her, she'd have to earn that right.

When she'd faced Hades, she thought she knew magical power. It couldn't compare to this. Kenpachi Zaraki might honestly match up against Master Makarov.

Can't collapse. She couldn't, wouldn't, loose this battle of wills. If Zaraki told her he didn't want to be summoned, she never would. But she'd earn his respect. Even if she had to drag every drop of power from within her.

The next three seconds seemed to last forever, but eventually Zaraki threw back his head and laughed, placing something around his head. An eyepatch, she realized.

The pressure ceased. Awareness returned. Only then did she noticed that everyone except for her and Laxus had collapsed to the ground. Her legs shaking, she couldn't help but be thankful when Laxus stepped behind her, hand firm on her back and keeping her grounded. Coated with sweat again, hands shaking from the effort, all she wanted was to take a nap.

"Alright brat, that's pretty good. Most can't stay standing in my presence, even when I'm at my most basic." Basic? How could such power ever be basic? "You must be the Lucy the brat keeps going on about. Let's make things really clear; all I care about is fighting the strong. If you need me to do that, you can call on me. Otherwise, don't bother."

"Y-yes, alright." He grinned, laughing again. She closed his gate, not wanting to hold him long. Like Toshiro, after the initial summoning nothing pulled on her. Didn't change the fact that his single summoning cost her nearly all her magic. Never mind summoning the third seat with him, she could barely bring Zaraki over alone. Forget opening another gate.

"Blondie." She turned, legs still shaking. Laxus seemed a little paler than normal, but otherwise alright. Still, she could see the worry in his eyes, feel it in his stiffening arm at her back.

"I-I'm okay, I think." He raised a brow, clearly disbelieving. "Let me take a nap, an hour or two most," she conceded, "Then we can take off."

"Don't be ridiculous. We'll leave tomorrow." Beginning to protest didn't help matters when Bix groaned from the ground, only just pulling himself up. "Tomorrow," Laxus reaffirmed.

When, after taking a step, Lucy nearly collapsed and only stayed up thanks to Laxus slinging an arm around her waist, she had to admit she was glad for the reprieve.

That evening, when Lucy finally managed to drag herself around other people, she found herself in a peculiar situation.

That being everyone bowing to her.

Now, Lucy had grown up an Heiress to a very, very rich fortune. Bowing servants and socialites came with the territory. For a village of warriors who, she had thought, barely tolerated her presence due to her proven strength, it brought a very different feeling.

"Finally got up, I see." Turning, she found Laxus and the others spread across a table, everyone in the village keeping a respectful distance but doing nothing to hide the stares.

"I'm wonderful, thanks for asking." Bix laughed as she took a seat, Evergreen scooting to give her room next to Laxus. Despite Laxus's derisive snort, he didn't hesitate before piling her plate with food. She raised her brows at him, feeling amused despite herself. He always seemed to keep a step back from everyone, making it hard to get a read on him. And still, he did small things like this that told her he was actually a huge softie.

If only Natsu could see him now.

She slowed in her chewing, wondering at that thought. It had been a long time since she'd seen anyone on her team. Several months. Yet…

Lucy hadn't been thinking much about her team. Hadn't missed them much either. Maybe she could chalk it up to being used to being away from them since the year break. But if she let herself be honest, it probably had more to do with the fact that she hadn't really had a chance to sit still. Between traveling, talking with the Thunder God Tribe, training, and worrying over the Keys, she just didn't have enough time to be worried about her team when she knew they could all take care of themselves and would be just fine when they eventually came back together.

Perhaps, in a distant way, she missed some things. Natsu's infectious laugh, Gray's dry commentary, Erza steady presence. And yet…

And yet.

Bix and Ever continued bickering across the table, Freed happily ignoring them for once so he could talk with Laxus. Team Natsu picked on each other, and Gray and Natsu fought like siblings, but… the Thunder God Tribe felt more relaxed. More at peace. More settled into their roles.

It was nice to be around mature adults for once.

"Blondie, eat. You need your strength." Lucy jerked, knee smacking into the table and rattling the dishes as she came out of her thoughts. Laxus raised a brow, a nearly mocking slant to them. Despite that, she could see the concern in the downturn of his lips. Strange, how nearly a month together could make it easy to read someone so stoic. Lucy forced a bite into her mouth to appease him, even though she didn't want to eat any more.

Had she really reached the point that she didn't even miss her partners anymore?

No. No she missed them. She did. She just… felt a little bitter.

Natsu had abandoned her. And then he'd shown up out of the blue, demanded she come with him and she had because he was Natsu and if a single thing stayed true it was that Lucy Heartfilia would do anything for her friends. They'd fought Avatar together, had gathered Erza, and Juvia, and Gray. Had gotten Wendy and Carla back. They'd rebuilt the guild hall and then celebrated when Master Makarov showed up, five minutes after they'd filed the paperwork making Erza the new guild master. They'd been the first team to go on a mission.

And then new missions showed up, requesting specific mages and it just… dissolved. Only for a little while, she knew that. They'd gone on one big, S-class mission since the guild had gotten back together a few months ago.

It took twenty-one days to set a habit. One, four day long mission couldn't do that. And Lucy had been relying on herself for over a year now. That had become habit.

Lucy excused herself, citing exhaustion which wasn't a lie. Even now, Kenpachi Zaraki's tattoo tingled on her. Harsh, thick lines slashing a diamond around the number eleven. She wanted to sleep.

Perhaps her melancholy could be blamed on exhaustion.

The next morning, Laxus trailed near the back of the group, keeping an eye on Blondie. They'd be at Altair, the capital of Stella, by sunset. The mission seemed to be a simple retrieval of an artifact hidden in a dangerous area. They'd be done and on their way home within two days.

Meaning their time with Lucy was coming to an end.

It shouldn't matter. They'd known from the beginning that this wouldn't be long term. The rest of Team Natsu should be arriving back home at any moment, up in arms that their Celestial Spirit Mage—because Lucy was theirs—had disappeared, likely kidnapped by the Big Bad Thunder God Tribe. Laxus shuddered at the property damage that awaited them. Poor Jiji.

Yet he felt some… disappointment. So far, Lucy had proved herself capable, moment with the Vulcan aside. She added a new dynamic to their morning spars, and always helped Ever with the cooking. And she got along with everyone, falling into academic debates with Freed easily, teaming up with Ever to beat up Bix for some comment or other daily. If nothing else, he thought having another woman on the team evened things out. Perhaps, after she returned to Team Natsu, he could invite her to join them once or twice a year. Make it an annual thing. Ever would be happy to have the female company. The only issue would be getting her to agree, though Laxus thought she'd be up for it.

If she survived the trip, he thought a tad surly when he grabbed her just in time to stop her from falling into a pit.

"Oh. Thank you."

"Pay attention." The hole looked like a trap of some sort, with spikes at the bottom. They must be getting close to the city if they were stumbling upon hunter territory.

Blondie rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue. It was the first show of character that'd come up since she'd woken this morning. He didn't know why she seemed so upset, though he suspected it had something to do with Zaraki. He was, after all, the one thing that'd changed in the past day.

Honestly, Laxus would never admit to it, but even he'd nearly passed out when the guy had been summoned. So much energy in one person… Laxus would bet on Jiji and Gildarts being the only ones who could defeat him. Perhaps Blondie was agonizing over barely being able to summon him?

He huffed a laughed at the thought. Even Blondie couldn't possibly be that self-deprecating. From what he gathered from Freed, even being able to summon two Zodiac Keys at once put a Celestial Spirit Mage at the next level when it came to power. And Laxus knew for a fact that Blondie could do three when pushed, never mind the back to back summons she managed on a daily basis. Celestial Mages were rare, and Laxus had only met a few, but that didn't stop him from being fairly certain Lucy Heartfilia was the strongest of her kind at the moment. Which made sense, her being a Fairy Tail mage. That automatically made anyone about a hundred percent better.

Lucy detracted herself from his hold, following behind the others. In the distance, Laxus could barely make out the sound of wheels clattering on stone. It seemed they'd arrived at Altair.

"So, a Lightning Dragon Slayer and Celestial-Spirit Mage walk into a crumbling temple-"

"I really hope you plan on being the punch line, Bix." Lucy huffed a laugh, following closely behind Laxus with the rest of the team bringing up the rear.

"Oh, come on. The client said, 'it's known to make adventurers disappear from the face of the planet'. Tell me this isn't the start to some joke."

"This isn't the start to some joke," they all chorused together, leaving Bix to mumble under his breath about being outnumbered.

Despite the jokes, Lucy couldn't help the wide eyes as she took in their surroundings. The temple reached towards the sky, a four sided pyramid with a flat top covered with an arch leading inside. Each piece of stone seemed to be covered with wet moss, leaving their footing unstable. As they explored, the walls became more and more decrepit, whatever paintings once existed destroyed by age.

"We're looking for an enchanted pitcher. Keep your eyes open, and watch your backs." Lucy hummed to Laxus, easing her way over some unstable ground.

"Love what they did with the place," Bix offered, poking a wall and watching as it turned to dust. "I'd suggest a little more color, maybe some air freshener."

"Great idea, Bix," Lucy offered, staring at the wall in front of her. There shouldn't be a wall here, the dimensions were off. "You should open an interior design company."

"Ya think? Maybe I'd call it Bix's Quick Fix."

"Truly a great name," Freed added, coming next to Lucy to stare at the wall as well. "Very trustworthy."

"Praise be to Mavis! When did you learn sarcasm?"

"Is there a reason," Ever threw in, "That you two are so fascinated by the wall?"

"Is it an accent wall?"

"Bix, shut up. To answer your question, Ever, this wall shouldn't be here. Considering how the place is laid out from the outside, there should be a few more feet here." Lucy leaned in, hands carefully tracing the side. She felt something, a seam maybe, hidden by dust. Silently bemoaning the state her nails would be in later, she scraped her nail down. Something rumbled through the walls, a click beneath her nails. Lucy barely had time to curse herself for an idiot before the wall swung around, taking her and dropping her on the other side, her own scream echoed by the call of her name from above.

:)