When I entered the guild it was just as rowdy and loud as normal but it brought a smile to my face. Since it was so loud I knew that all our members were back. After they disappeared whenever I entered the guild it would be dead quiet.
"Lucy-san do you have a moment?" Romeo asked, looking down while grabbing his arm self-consciously.
"Of course what seems to be-" I started.
"Hey Luce, there is someone here to see you," Natsu called.
"Never mind" Romeo said before dashing away. I was a little baffled so I looked to Maco and Wakaba who just sighed and shook their heads.
"Natsu you shouldn't shout across the hall like that, I was a little busy" I sighed as I walked to the fire dragon slayer. It was only then did I see Midnight, Cobra and Jellal were glaring at someone while Angel was slightly hidden behind Richard. It was Yukino, the celestial mage from Sabertooth.
"So you wanted to see me, you guys back up" I ordered, making them huff but they backed away so I could sit in front of Yukino.
"Yes, it's my guild. I just left there and have something I would like to discuss with you," Yukino said.
"Your guild sent you here to mess with her or something?" Natsu demanded.
"Natsu, back down if she wanted to hurt me she wouldn't have waited until I was with everyone" I said with a glare making him duck his head and pout.
"I realise this is out of the blue but please take these," Yukino said, placing Pisces and Libra's keys on the table.
"The key of the two fish and the key of the balance. I want you to have them, they should belong to someone who can use them properly" She continued, shocking everyone including me.
"I'm sorry but I can't take them. You should rethink this," I said.
"I already made up my mind after watching you fight, I was going to give than to you once the tournament was over anyway" Yukino replied.
"Then why not wait until then?" Jellal asked.
"The games were over for me the moment I lost, Minerva will take my place. Tomorrow you will be up against Sabertooth's strongest. The five of those that transformed the guild into the powerhouse it is today" Yukino said.
"You don't have to worry too much about them, we can handle them with ease. As for your keys I will not take them, not when they are screaming so loudly" I said and her eyes widened.
"What do you mean? You have already gotten ten of the twelve gold keys, with these you would have all twelve and then the door of world change will open" Yukino said.
"That door is staying closed for as long as I am alive, I will not allow it to open. I will not take your spirits from you, do me a favour Yukino close your eyes and listen" I said my eyes narrowed.
"If I do this will you take them?" Yukino asked.
"We will see" I said and she closed her eyes.
"Lady Yukino, please don't give us away, I will become stronger so that I may protect you" a voice called out.
"We apologise, please do not give us away, we only wish to be by your side, we are sorry if we let you down" Two voices said at the same time, one male and one female.
"Please we beg you, do not leave us" The three voices wailed together.
"Can you still ask me to take your spirits when they are yelling, screaming and crying for you?" I demanded.
"You would dare to give your friends away? Did you not even once think about how your spirits felt?" I growled. Again she had no answer to me.
"I won't take your keys because it is clear that they love you, you should get to know them and think of their feelings before you do something you'll regret" I said before getting up and walking outside.
I didn't mean to lose my temper back there but hearing the spirits cry while Yukino didn't hear it made my heart hurt.
"Princess" a voice said and I turned and hugged Loke holding in my sobs as he patted my head.
"It's okay, I'm here now. You don't have to worry" Loke said before he just held me. The words that he said to me helped but what helped me even more was him being there and just holding me.
"Sabertooth has gotten away with a lot of things that I let slide because I didn't have reason to act but it seems like now would be the perfect time to remind them that there is someone that can easily beat them. Would you like to help?" I asked, looking up at him after my tears had driven.
"Since I am the leader of the zodiac keys and they have wronged the friend and master of two of the spirits I do believe that I have no choice" Loke smirked. With that decided we headed for the inn that housed Sabertooth at the moment.
It didn't take long for us to get to the inn and even less time for us to come up with a plan. Really there were hundreds of ways to deal with this but since I was a member of Fairy Tail and couldn't actually attack them we decided that Loke would be the one doing the attack.
"I'll wait over here and then after you've done a bit of damage I'll run over acting like I'm trying to stop you. Instead of stopping I want you to continue to attack until the building crumbles. You can say about how Libra and Pisces begged you for help so I can't interfere. Don't worry I already spoke to the inn owner and paid them enough that repairs will be easy" I told Loke who grinned and nodded. He began to walk towards the inn looking like he was really angry and I grinned. In acting no one had Loke beat, not even myself. Within seconds Loke glowed a bright golden colour and took on his huge lion form that was as big as the inn. A large roar echoed through the night as Loke's paw went straight through the roof of the inn. He was careful of course not to cause anyone's death.
"Luce, what's going on? Is that Loke?" Natsu questioned as he ran towards me with Happy.
"Yeah don't worry, just teaching Sabertooth a lesson" I smiled before ruffling my hair and rubbing my cheeks and grabbing some water to make it look like I had been running really hard.
"LOKE! Loke, what are you doing?!" I screamed as members of Sabertooth came rushing out of the building once they realised that their magic wouldn't work against him.
"I am sorry Princess but I can not do that. Libra and Pisces came to me, begging, in tears because of what these humans have done" Loke roared and I covered my ears along with everyone else.
"These humans believe that they can teach the master of my friends like trash, well I will teach them a lesson that they will never forget" Loke said.
"Gate of the lion, close. Go back Loke" I said as I held his key but nothing happened.
"I'm sorry princess but I came with my own magic and I am not leaving until they have learnt their lesson" he growled and continued to destroy the inn.
"Oi blonde, control your spirit already" Sting yelled as he ran towards me with a glare. Rogue was also with him but he looked calmer.
"Spirits aren't just animals or tools, they won't listen to someone unless they want to. I'm trying to get him to go back but he is refusing" I snapped with a glare before once again trying to 'send' Loke back. Soon enough all of the Sabertooth members, including the Master, were out so with a tremendous crash Loke destroyed the inn.
"Keep this moment in your mind when you dare to think of making another celestial wizard cry" Loke snarled towards the Sabertooth members before he disappeared. He disappeared just in time since the royal guards turned up. I then had to tell my fabricated story about how Yukino came to see us and offered me her keys since she had been kicked out of Fairy tail. After that once I left I felt Loke appear so I went to meet him only to hear the roar that he let out. Once I arrived I done my best to talk Loke down but it didn't work and I couldn't force the fate shut. Of course there were witnesses that saw this so I was in trouble. They wanted to get Loke in trouble until Lahar reminded them that what Loke done fell under celestial law so their wasn't anything that they could actually do. Lahar of course asked me to punish Loke and I promised I would think of a fitting punishment before we were dismissed for the night. Natsu wanted his own beat down of the guild but decided that Loke had done a good enough job without his help.
"We should head back, the others are bound to be looking for us" Happy pointed out and we nodded. As we were leaving my eyes connected with Jiemma's eyes, the master of Sabertooth, and I glared. I dared him to continue running the guild like he was and it wouldn't be Loke that came to his door next time but a very powerful, angry, Celestial mage with the very stars at her fingertips.
When we got to the inn everyone was either already asleep or so drunk that they should have been. I understood why they were celebrating after all it had been a while since they had felt like they were on top for once.
"I'm going to head up to bed, night Luce" Natsu said and I nodded as I walked out onto the patio and saw Erza standing there.
"Something on your mind?" I asked the scarlet haired mage and she jumped.
"Oh Lucy, no it's nothing much" Erza said with a weak smile. I could tell that she was lying so I leant against the guard rail and waited for her to be ready to tell me what was on her mind.
"Millianna, I spoke to her today," Erza finally said.
"I see, I'm sure that she didn't have anything nice to say about Jellal and myself did she?" I questioned but I already knew the answer.
"She acted as if you were a criminal, like you should be locked up and have the key thrown away" Erza burst out.
"I know, both Millianna and Kagura feel the same way. They both hate Jellal and because I was the one that got them out of prison and gave them a second chance, they hate me as well. There are a lot of people that don't like me nowadays because of what I did for Jellal, Meredy, Ultear, Angel, Racer, Richard, Cobra and Midnight. You are probably going to hear a lot of hate towards me but you should ignore it" I smiled gently while hugging her. Erza clung to my shirt holding on tight and didn't want to let go.
"It isn't right, what they say about you. All you wanted to do was to give people their lives back, you should be praised and thanked for that" Erza whispered.
"We can't influence how people see us, all we can do is hope that they see us how we truly are" I said.
"Thank you" Erza said and I looked at her a little shocked.
"I'm not sure if anyone actually said it but thank you for giving them another chance. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for keeping the guild alive. Thank you for being the light of this guild. And thank you for being you" Erza said, making me blush bright red. Of all things to happen I wasn't expecting that.
"I want to protest and say that I have done nothing to deserve your thanks but I know you and the rest of the guild will protest that so I'll just say, you're welcome. Now let's get to bed, we have a long day tomorrow" I smiled and she nodded as we headed inside.
I quickly took a shower before getting dressed in my sleep clothes that actually consisted of one of Gray's shirts and a pair of Midnight's pants. Once I was dressed I got into bed and I was surprised when Erza curled into my left side. I was surprised though when Jellal came in late and curled into my right side and then Loke appeared and laid me on his chest. Once again I was snuggled between three of the people I loved and I couldn't help but fall asleep with a smile on my face. I hoped that these days would never end.