Fairy Tail: The Celestial Priestess, Keeper of the Crystal Key (a Nalu Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

(POV Lucy)

I finally reached my apartment and stumbled inside. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open and walking in a straight line was impossible.  If anyone saw me now they'd think I'd been drinking, I thought. I almost expected to find Natsu and Happy sitting on my couch eating my food when I walked in, but thankfully I was alone. I didn't have the energy to entertain anyone at the moment.

I didn't even bother turning on the lights as I made my way to my bed. Normally I would have liked to take a nice hot bath after such a long day but I was too tired. I unhooked my belt with my keys and whip still attached to it and placed it on the table next to my bed. I pulled the book out of my pocket and laid it with my belt. I kicked off my boots and pulled off my high socks but that's as far as I got before I laid back on my bed and passed out into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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(POV Unknown)

I stood on top of the roof of Magnolia's Kardia Cathedral looking out over the city. Behind me were four of the Zodiac's strongest Sterling. They stood silently with their heads bowed, waiting for my orders. I knew where the girl was but I would wait until the moon was at the highest point in the sky before getting her.

Hyisan had wanted to come with me but The Fates refused to let him leave the Mountain. He was too valuable to risk on a simple retrieval mission and The Fates had been a bit concerned the mission could be interrupted by certain local guild.

I wasn't too shocked to hear that. I'd been keeping an eye on the Fairy Tail guild for quite some time now. They seemed to have formed a habit of getting themselves into quite precarious situations. I'd suspected for a while that their fate was linked to ours but I'd never realized it would be one of their own members who would be chosen as the next Keeper. Though, the more I thought about it the more I found it wasn't all that surprising. The guild was full of remarkable wizards after all.

I sighed and looked over at the large guild hall across the city. It really was quite a shame I couldn't talk with some of the members while I was around. The wizard by the name of Gildarts Clive was particularly interesting as his magic was rather similar to the magic I used.

I glanced up at the moon almost directly overhead now. 'It's nearly time,' I thought and the four Sterling shifted their weight slightly, like they were ready to leap off the roof any moment. I looked back out at the Fairy Tail guild and saw the last lights begin to flicker out. Seems the last of the members were finally leaving. I'd have to send one of the Sterling to keep an eye on them, just in case they decided to get a little nosey.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind the fastest and most agile Sterling leapt off the roof and onto the building in front of me. I watched him lightly spring from roof to roof as he made his way to the guild. I wasn't worried about him getting caught. He was made in the image of the perfect assassin, though he was rarely used for such brutal tasks.

His skin and long robes were a dark black and his long hair was a deep purple and fell to his knees. The only color he had was the skull markings on his face which were bright gold. In a matter of seconds he had disappeared into the shadows of the city, where he would remain unseen until I called him back.

I glanced back at the moon and nodded. 'It's time,' I thought and sprang off the Cathedral, the remaining three Sterling followed closely behind me.

I arrived at the girl's apartment quickly, standing in the shadows between two large buildings across from her home. I didn't even bother glancing around to see if anyone was on the street, I would have sensed them by now anyway, and I calmly made my way to the small building. I jumped up and landed silently on the sill of her window. It was locked, as I'd expected, but that was not a problem.

I held out my right hand over the lock on the window and sent a small trace of my magic into it, shattering the mechanism on the inside. I gently pushed open the window and stepped inside. 'So this is where the chosen one lives?' I thought. 'Not very big for one as special as her.'

I walked farther into the little room and heard the Sterlings follow after me, that's when I noticed her asleep on her bed. Yes, this was definitely the girl. I could sense the Celestial magic energy flowing through her, not to mention the way her soul was twisting around as it prepared itself for the transformation.

I walked over to her side and pulled out the small vial from my cloaks pocket. I flipped open the glass lid and carefully poured the white liquid into the girl's mouth. She drank it easily and sighed in content before a white light flashed from her chest and spread over her body before blinking out. I nodded as I stood. That would keep her in a deep slumber for at least twenty-four hours, and by then we would already be back on the Mountain.

I motioned for one of the Sterlings to carry her and turned back to the window but stopped when I noticed something on the table next to the bed. The girl's keys laid out next to a whip that flowed with Celestial magic and a small leather book, also giving off a faint feeling of Celestial magic energy. The girl would need her keys so I picked them up and placed them in my pocket. After a moment I decided to take the whip and book as well. I wasn't sure what importance they held but their magic energy was enough to convince me that they were precious to the girl.

I put the book in my pocket and clipped the whip to my belt. Glancing over my shoulder I saw one of the Sterlings holding the girl carefully. Her head lulled forward and her deep, even breathing was the only sound in the room. I had one of the Sterling shut the window before we left out the front door. Aside from the now missing girl and her few possessions that I took the little apartment looked completely normal. Not a trace of our presence was left as we walked out of the small building and into the cool night air.

As we walked down the street I called the fourth Sterling back to me. I was so focused on sending him my orders through our link that I didn't notice the figure running at me until he was thirty feet away. My head snapped up in his direction and I quickly registered the Fairy Tail guild mark on his shoulder. He let out a loud battle cry as he brought his flaming fist back and prepared to strike me.

'Move!' I thought and the three Sterling sprang away to a safe distance down the street, standing protectively around the girl. In the same moment I held up two fingers and slashed them in front of me, drawing a boundary line between myself and the boy.

"Siema!" I yelled and the newly formed line along the ground glowed before a shimmering, gold dusted wall appeared in the air and quickly expanded to cut through the whole city just as the boy brought his fist forward and it collided into the barrier.

I stood behind the wall and smirked. Holding out my hands I summoned my two swords and let my magic energy flow through me freely.

"I'm impressed you managed to make it past my Sterling undetected," I said.

I held my swords loosely in my hands, not even bothering to take any stance. "You are either very brave or very stupid to challenge me boy."

He glared at me and slammed his fist against the barrier again making it shimmer slightly. 'He's strong,' I noticed.

"BASTARD!" he yelled. "What the hell are you doing with Lucy?!"