Hello, everyone! ♥  Lord, this is a long chapter!  I'm a little nervous on the next chapter, because I'm afraid it won't belong enough since this one was is really long. ^.^;  Ah well, we'll just have to wait and see. c:  I finally updated, haha! ♥ I went on a writing spree just to get this done before I was both caught and it was too late to continue!  After all, I have school tomorrow, hahaha!  Anyways, I dedicate this chapter to handwritings. c:  Thanks so much for being a good friend, Shuuka-chan! ;o;  And for the covers, as well~!  I hope you all enjoy this chapter...remember to comment and vote your opinions! ^.^  Don't worry, things will be "revealed" in the next chapter, lol!  Until next time, everyone!

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т н є и α ℓ υ ω я ι т є я - - ღ

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"Nat-zu!"

Natsu looked up, though he was still running through the evacuated village.  

"Happy!"  He exclaimed, surprised to see the exceed.  "You're here!"

Happy swooped down and grabbed his back, lifting him high into the air and taking him up at a higher speed.  "What happened to Lucy?"

Natsu looked on, determined.  "She's going to finish Donovan.  We have to recruit with everyone and make sure Lucy wins this!"

"What?!"  Happy exclaimed, alarmed.  "But if she does that, then Lucy'll--"

"She ain't gonna die!"  Natsu exclaimed, smirking.  "Lucy promised."

There was a moment of silence.

"Natsu..."  Happy began, and Natsu glanced behind him.  "...do you think it was Lucy's destiny to stop Donovan?"

"Ah,"  Natsu began, his expression serious.  "But who cares.  Fate follows the decisions we make, and Lucy made her decision to come back to us.  Whether or not Fate follows Lucy, she's coming back."  Natsu's expression hardened.  "She promised..."  He said almost to himself.

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Lucy wasn't fazed by the fact that she was soaring through the air and straight for Donovan, little balls of light shining after her.  At this point, Lucy couldn't be phased by anything; she just wanted to save the people she had grown so attached to.  The villagers, Alafan, Levette, Ai, Vladamir, Nagaharu, Alys, her friends...they were all cheering for her.  The Daonei people needed peace once and for all, and the fact that they wouldn't need to worry anymore.

Lucy wanted to give them that.

Lucy thought up a plan quickly, knowing exactly what she had to do.  She had to purify the column of magic around Donovan to leave him open, and then she needed to use the spell.  Whether or not Lucy was going to come out of this alive, Lucy had promised Natsu she would come back.  No matter what, Lucy needed to pull through for her friends.  They were waiting for her, and the guild was waiting for her.

Symbols appeared in Lucy's eyes, and she chsked heavily as she charged forward, the air under her feet making a loud boom through the air.

"Donovan!"  Lucy exclaimed, her voice loud and echoing across the sky.

Lucy brought Alys' staff over her shoulders as she charged towards the evil mage, her expression determined as her hair whipped through the wind.  Lucy slashed at the column of black magic a few meters underneath Donovan's figure, a large slice of light escaping from Lucy's staff and slamming into Donovan's make-shift power-up barrier.  As soon as it made contact, lightning sparked from the resistance, and both sides of the magic began to churn and fight for a victor.

Finally,  Donovan opened his eyes, yet his barrier suddenly disappeared.  Lucy expression was commanding, the staff residing at her side and her back straight in defiance.  Her hair blew across her face, making her look like a real warrior.  Lucy was prepared for Donovan to attack, but he just lifted his head and stared at her instead, an impassive expression on his face. 

"Let me discuss something with you, Lucy Heartfilia..."  Donovan began, lifting his back up so that he was now standing in mid-air as Lucy was.  "Tell me...what keeps you going?"

Lucy tensed, clearly surprised by the question.  "You're...asking me something like that?"

Donovan's expression was dark.  "I'd like to know why you perform such an idiotic thing."

Lucy's expression hardened.  "You want to know?  Fine."

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"There she is!"  Wendy exclaimed, pointing into the sky.

Everyone looked up, all of them gathered at the opening of the city.  Even the villagers had emerged from the safety of the underground tunnels, and the guild masters were back with their members.

"Lucy...can fly?"  Natsu began, making a childishly strained face.

"Natsu, now we won't have to carry her!"  Happy exclaimed densely.

Ai was lifted by Levette, and they both stared in awe at Lucy, who was just a light in the sky and Donovan a black speck.

"Look at her, Moma!"  Ai exclaimed, pointing.  "Lucy-nee-san is glowing!"

Levette looked relieved, and hope shined in her eyes.  "That's Alys' power, Ai.  Lucy's going to use it to save us, I just know it!"

"Do you really think Lucy's going to be alright by herself?"  Gray replied, his hands in his pockets.

Erza looked confident.  "Ah.  Even from here, I can see that her expression is something it's never been before.  Lucy's determined to win this battle."

Natsu stared in awe, the wind blowing and causing his scarf to fly through the breeze.

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"You wouldn't understand."  Lucy simply stated, her expression commanding.

Donovan's expression became angry.  In a split second, explosions apeared around Lucy, and she gasped in surprise.  However, her barriers were up, and they just barely held against Donovan's more powerful explosions.  But, for some reason, every time Lucy used her barriers now it mentally hurt her mind.  Lucy shut one eye tightly in slight pain, and then closed her eyes, raising Alys' staff up.

Swinging it in front of her, Lucy's eyes opened as jets of light launched towards Donovan, skimming his body as he blocked them with crossed arms.  However, the areas it hit his body evaporated, leaving whisps of black smoke behind.  As Donovan removed his hands from shielding his face, his expression was still dark and calm.  Patterns along Donovan's face began to appear in black intricate designs, but strangely, it did the same on Lucy.

It was as if their magics were reacting to each other.

Lucy gripped the end of her staff with both hands, like a sword.  "I'm doing this because everyone's counting on me!  If I put an end to you, my life spared or not, things will be back to normal for these people!"  The glow in Lucy's eyes intensified.  "You asked if it was possible to wipe darkness completely?  It won't ever be done, no matter how hard we try.  Light can't exist without darkness, just as people can't live without water or food."

"But..."  Lucy began, her body's light growing stronger.  "...Even if it can't be wiped out completely, I'll be sure to wipe out a lot of it!  My answer, Donovan?  Light will always win against darkness, no matter how many times evilness resurfaces!"

Donovan's expression was vile.

However, Lucy continued, feeling the spell swell up inside her.  It wasn't her that was acting naturally, it was Alys' magic.  It was reacting to Lucy's feelings, and Lucy's Celestial Spirits were helping her finish the spell.

Lucy's voice began to sound not only her own, but Alys' as well.  "I learned that from Alys and Nagaharu!  From my friends!"  Images of the people she cherished form the guild flashed through her mind.  "And no matter how many times darkness tries to take someone, there will always be people there at my home who will pull them out!"  

Magic relating to Urano Metria began to circle around Lucy, though she continued, her voice stretching across the island.  The guild, along with everyone else, watched the sky in awe.  They could hear Lucy's words now; they seemed to escalate all throughout the island.  Natsu watched, his expression determined, as his pink hair blew over his face.

"Because of my friends, I've learned to trust myself, to become stronger, and to never give up!"  Lucy continued.  "Being in the guild means everything to me, and if I have this power to protect my friends, I won't hesitate to show them how strong I really am!"  

By this time, the villagers were cheering Lucy on, and Wendy was wiping away a few stray tears from her eyes.  All of Lamia Scale were smirking, and Mermaid Heel were residing a few feet away, looking up at Lucy intently.  Happy was jumping up and down next to Charle and Lily, while Gray and Erza looked extremely endearing, their expressions flattered to Lucy's words though they looked at the ground.

"And if there's something I do know..."  Lucy raised her staff, bringing it over her shoulder like a baseball bat.  "...it's that no matter what, my family will never, ever leave me behind!"

Donovan's eyes widened, realizing that he had been ensnared; he was unable to move, and his magic had strangely been encased.  "W-What the--?!"  His eyes continued to widen when he saw a mirage of Fairy Tail behind Lucy, frozen and mutely yelling at Donovan spitefully.

"Because of that..."  Lucy began, slowly opening her eyes to revealed bright symbols in her eyes that spun in her pupils.  "If you wish to destroy something so beautiful, so precious to me..."  Lucy's eyes hardened in ferocity.  "...you'll have to kill me before that happens!  Because I love Fairy Tail!"

The last sentence not only spread across the sky, but Alys' voice echoed with Lucy's bravely as she charged forward, her light blinding Donovan's eyes.

"Ultimate Spell..."  Lucy began yelling, raising Alys' staff high above her head as she descended towards Donovan, her eyes vengeful.

"...the Celestial Goddess' Era of Light!!"

As soon as Lucy collided into Donovan, an extremely large explosion escaped into the air, spreading across the island and causing the wind to slam into everyone.  It was so violent that Happy was knocked over, only to be held from blowing away by Wendy and Charle.  Natsu blocked his face from the wind, dust flowing past him from the ground so that he was unable to see anything. The wind slammed into the windows of the castle, causing them to shatter.  However, the sky was filled with light, blocking anyone's view of the sky.

"W-What's going on?!"  A female villager exclaimed, looking at the ground.

Natsu and the others turned to face the villagers, and saw with shock that the island began to glow, the ground underneath them beginning to rumble.

"This...is impossible...!"  Alafan murmured, his eyes wide.

"What is it, old man?!"  Natsu exclaimed, loosing his balance as the trembling became more severe.  Multiple villagers let out loud exclamations of surprise.

Alafan's expression was dumbfounded as he turned to look at them all.  "The island...Alys' magic is deteriorating from it.  It's...going to be destroyed!"

"N-No way!"  A villager exclaimed.

"This is our home!"

Erza rushed forward.  "We have to get everyone out of here, Master!"

Makarov nodded, but before they could do anything, everyone gave a loud cry as they themselves began to glow, yellow light surrounding their bodies before they all surprisingly teleported, disappearing from the island.

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They reappeared next to an open field of rocky terrain, their expressions in shock.  

"W-What happened?!"  Happy exclaimed.

"What happened to Sky Island?!"

"Were's Miss Lucy?!"

"Did we get teleported somewhere far away?"

"No, look!"  Erza exclaimed, and everyone looked up in awe.

The island was rupturing and breaking, flying up into the sky as an extremely gigantic pillar of light extended upwards into the clouds.  Small islands that once made up Sky Island were crumpling, forming smaller boulders of earth.  Yet still, they were the sizes of small islands; and as they continued to climb in the sky, even the earth was shaking with the air.  The Daonei people that resided in a giant crowd behind the Fairy Tail members watched in awe; some were sad, while others were shocked.

"Everything Alys created...is disappearing!"  Wendy exclaimed.

"Where's Lucy?!"  Natsu exclaimed, his expression panicked.

"It's no use!"  Happy exclaimed.  "We can't see her with those islands flying up into the sky!"

"And for now it's too dangerous to go into the area to look!"  Gray exclaimed, gesturing to the falling boulders that extended out into the large field of rocky terrain in front of them.

"What's going on now?!"  Charle suddenly exclaimed.

The islands began to become ovals of light, yet they accelerated into the sky at the same pace as before.  The air continued to pulse, and the wind blew choppily, blowing the hair and clothes of everyone around wildly.  Natsu watched in awe, his eyes wide in wonder as the progress continued, his scarf blowing through the wind heavily.

"T-There she is!"  Gray suddenly exclaimed.

Lucy appeared in the middle of the column of blue light, falling through sky at a medium pace.  She rotated continuously, her hair brushing across her face as the white gown that once resembled Alys began to transform into her normal clothes, the fabric disappearing in dozens of yellow lights.

"L-Lucy!"  Natsu exclaimed, taking a couple of steps forward and away from his comrades, looking up into the sky at her.

"The island is..."  a villager replied behind them, trailing off.

The remaining blue lights--big or small--were sucked into the top of the giant blue column of light.  As a result, the column suddenly closed, a release of blue light shining over the country side and causing everyone to shield their eyes from the bright light.  It made one final pulse before it disappeared completely, like a vacuum through the air.

However, Lucy was left falling, the staff of Alys still in her grasp, but weakly so.

"Lucy!"  Erza exclaimed in warning, but Natsu had already taken off, jumping over the ruined land and the sharp rocks sticking from the now-disrupted terrain.

Lucy's speed increased, but Natsu yelled loudly, panting heavily and ignoring his battered body to get to her safely.  Lucy's eyes began to open, and blue light shined in them before turning yellow, and then finally diminishing within the depth of her eyes.

When I came to, the island Alys worked so hard to maintain for her people was gone.  I knew I was the one who had done it, but it hurt a lot to think about it.  However, I knew that Donovan and the rest of the Horsemen were finally gone, and that the Daonei people were safe again.

Everyone watched in awe as Lucy fell towards the ground with a saddening yet celestial grace, Natsu running underneath her as he struggled to keep up with her.

I realized then that no matter what, I couldn't wipe darkness off the world.  Just as Donovan quoted, darkness would always exist, and would never be wiped out completely.

"Lucy!"  Natsu exclaimed, sliding against the ground backwards on his feet as he grabbed ahold of her, pulling Lucy to his chest.

He fell back because of the impact and the velocity of Lucy's fall, and because of that, they skidded quite a few yards, creating a path through the ground.

However, light would always exist as well.

When they came to a stop, Lucy was held by Natsu protectively, Natsu using his body like a shield.  He was leaning over her; but taking a relieved breath, Natsu let his head hang back before moving it to look at Lucy expectantly.  Lucy's eyes were closed, but they slowly began to open.  Everyone smiled in happiness, though they were all the way across the now-open rocky terrain.

And...at least...I had been able to get rid of the darkness that surrounded this place.

Natsu grinned, making an amused expression more than anything as the wind blew his hair and the night sky shined.  Lucy slowly began to smile back.

I now know that no matter what, everyone would always fight to keep peace in Fiore.  And if I ever needed support from them, I would get it, no matter what.

Lucy sat up, setting her staff down before tackling Natsu in a bear hug, tears welling up on the corner of her eyes as she buried her head into his scarf.

Natsu...

Natsu's expression turned endearing, and he hugged her gently, his eyes happy and his grin remaining.

Arigato.

"You did it, Luce!"  Natsu exclaimed.  "You kept your promise!"

Lucy nodded, pulling away from him.  "Uhn!  It's thanks to you, Natsu!  I was a bit surprised, really, it felt like I had went through a fog and--"  Lucy abruptly stopped, staring down at her hips in horror.

Natsu followed her eyes, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Lucy's keys shining.  Suddenly, all of Lucy's spirits appeared in front of her, but as spirits, not as physical people.

"W-What's going on, everyone?!"  Lucy began, getting a bad feeling.

Loke looked panicked, and before he could answer, their keys shot into the sky and as each one did so, so did the specific spirits.

"Aries!  Taurus!  Aquarius!"  Lucy exclaimed, crawling to her feet and with Natsu watching in shock and confusion.

Everyone had stopped, their expressions in shock as they watched the display in front of them.

"Lucy!"  the spirits exclaimed, flying back into the sky though they reached for her.

"W-What's going on, Loke!"  Lucy exclaimed, feeling the energy in her starting to disappear.  "Where are you all going?!"

"Lucy, Alys didn't die as the first decision!"  Loke began exclaiming quickly.

Lucy dropped to her knees, and Natsu ran over to her, hanging onto her shoulders.  Her energy was being taken, and fast.  "Wh-What?"

Loke looked sorrowful.  "Alys chose to die because the real outcome of using that spell was loosing her Celestial Spirits!"

Lucy's blood ran cold, her eyes widened in shock.  Everyone fell silent, and Natsu's eyes contracted.

"S-She chose to die instead of loosing her spirits...?"  Wendy murmured, her eyes filled with dismay.

"Matte!"  Lucy exclaimed, in denial.  "D-Does that mean that all of you are going to disappear?!"

Loke couldn't help as he was the last one to slowly rise into the air, and Lucy grasped his hand before he could do so.

"No, Lucy..."  Loke replied, tears in his eyes.  "It means you won't be a Celestial Wizard anymore!"

Lucy's eyes shook.  "N-No way..."

"You've gotta be kidding!"  Gray exclaimed.

"You can't go, Loke!"  Lucy exclaimed desperately.  "Natsu, help me!"

"A-Ah!"  Natsu exclaimed, reaching up to grab Loke as well.  However, his hand went right through him.

"W-What the...?!"  Natsu muttered, shocked.

"Can Lucy only touch him?!"  Charle exclaimed.

Tears built on Lucy's eyes.  "You can't...If I would have known, Loke...I-I wouldn't have...!"

Loke looked at Lucy sadly.  "We know, Lucy.  We don't blame you; we didn't know either."

Lucy's shoulders began to shake, and Natsu watched with startled eyes as Lucy began to break down.

Her grip was loosening.

"Y-You can't..."  Lucy cried, her hands slipping.  "I don't want to loose you all!  Alys never said or showed me anything like this...you can't go!"

Before Loke could reply, Lucy lost her grip on his hand, and he was sent flying into the air as well, shooting off in different directions!

"Minna!"  Lucy screamed, reaching up to the open stars though her friends had disappeared.

Silence.

Wendy had her hands over her mouth in horror; Erza was clutching her forehead angrily, and Gray's hands were clenched tightly.  Happy, Charle, and Lily were wide-eyed, and the rest of Fairy Tail stood in shock, while the other guilds and villagers remained behind.

Lucy dropped to the ground heavily, tears rimming her eyes as she stared at the ground, wide-eyed and in shock.  That couldn't have just happened.  Lucy...wasn't a Celestial Mage anymore?  How could that be?!

"This...can't be happening..."  Lucy murmured, clutching at her face.  "I had thought...we had won!"

There was silence among everyone, and Natsu's hands suddenly tightened at his sides.

"How couldn't you tell us about this,"  Natsu muttered, angry.  "Alys?"

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Is Lucy's powers truly gone, or is there something everyone missed?!

What will be the outcome now, especially since Lucy is so shocked and the island disappeared?!

Find out what happens next in Chapter 24: Alys Appears!