1st Persons POV~

After contracting with Taurus, who was free any time; Crux, who was free every day but Sundays unless it was an emergency; and Lyra, who was available every day but Mondays, I left the inn to contact with my final spirit in the woods outside of town.

Why? Because I'm not sure how big, exactly, this spirit is. I mean, the constellation is Canis MAJOR, so... Yeah.

~

I chanted the long-ass spell for summoning a spirit for the first time.

"Open, Gate of the Giant Dog! Canis Major!" A blinding, golden light filled my vision and I shielded my eyes. When the light died down, a MASSIVE white canine stood before me.

Its fur was long and curly, blowing around in a nonexistent breeze. Its ears were floppy and giant pearly fangs dripped acidic green saliva. Its eyes were red and gold, and there were two, jagged magenta stripes on each cheek. An indigo-colored crescent moon lay on its forehead and a giant... Fluff was thrown over its right shoulder. (Sesshomaru from Inuyasha in Demon Form)

I was frozen in awe at the majestic creature before me, my jaw had gone slack and my eyes were the size of dinner plates.

The dog turned into a silvery orb and shrunk down to a not-eight-stories-tall-size.

The light died down again and it revealed a tall, handsome man.

The stripes on his cheeks thinned and smoothed, and his sclera lost the blood-red tint. His iris' remained a molten gold hue.

His skin was fair, complimenting his ankle-length silvery-white hair. He wore a white kimono with red hexagon patterns on the edges and held closed by a thin, yellow and violet obi.

(Picture in Media. Yes, he has two arms in this fic. I don't own Inuyasha.)

The man bowed to me, a blank expression on his face.

"I am Canis Major, Mistress. My name is Sesshomaru, but the Mistress may call me whatever she likes." He said in a monotonous voice.

I frowned at him.

"Please, Sesshomaru. Do call me Lucy. I am not your Mistress nor your owner, but rather your friend." I spoke politely, smiling at him sadly. "If that is what you wish, of course."

He cocked his head at me in what I assume is confusion, seeing as his face is basically carved out of solid, sexy marble.

"As you wish, Lucy... -hime." He said cautiously. I smiled at him.

"Well, close enough," I said. "So, Sesshomaru, what days are you free?"

"I am free whenever Lucy-hime needs me." He said. "I am an excellent tracker, and I have two forms. My true form and this one. I am an excellent swordsman. My swords are Bakusaiga, a powerful, demonic blade; and Tenseiga, a blade that cannot harm a living being. It can revive someone, but only once and only within a 72-hour time limit. My claws are poisonous, and my saliva is acidic when in my true form. I can also fly."

"Thank you, Sesshomaru!" I smiled. "That was very informative! I hope to work alongside you! Let me know if you need a day off, or would just like to spend time in the Human Realm! I'll gladly comply!"

He cocked his head again before nodding.

"If you do not mind, Lucy-hime, I would like to be summoned tomorrow to travel with you." He requested politely. "It gets... Lonely... In the Seirei Realm sometimes."

"Of course I don't mind Sesshomaru!" I told him, grinning. "It gets lonely on the road, too, considering I only had two keys up until today and they're both Golden Zodiac Keys!"

"Then until tomorrow, Lucy-hime." He said, bowing lightly to me. He turned into the silvery orb from before and disappeared with the chime of a bell.

"Whew!" I sighed, relieved that the drain on my magical core had stopped.

I mean, you try summoning a Zodiac key and three Silver keys in one day! And Sesshomaru took more than an average Silver key!

I trekked back to the inn to rest for the night.

It's gonna be a long day tomorrow.

~

A few months later brought me to a place called Lavender Town(lol Pokemon, hahaha).

I just left the only magic shop in the town, frowning at the lack of Gate Keys they had. I mean, they did have some, but I already had those keys! And they were so expensive!

Then I felt a roaming hand on my ass, and I grabbed the offending appendage.

I lifted the small, filthy child a few feet into the air, switching my grip to the back of his shirt so as to not injure him.

"What do you want, kiddo?" I asked him, a scowl and glare paired up to make a death-stare rivaling that of the Shinigami himself.

"Put me down, lady!" He shouted, struggling to escape my death-grip. "Don't hurt me!"

I hissed through my teeth, lifting him to eye level.

"I won't hurt you, but I won't put you down until you apologize for attempting to pick-pocket me!" I snapped at him.

"I'm sorry! I swear! Now put me down!" He cried, his large blue eyes pleading with me.

I set him down but didn't relinquish my grasp. He had short, messy pale blonde hair and light blue eyes. A small scar curved over the edge of his right eyebrow.

He wore an old, dirty white shirt and tan board shorts. He had no shoes.

"Hmm... As repayment for your attempted stealing, I think you'll have to stay and travel with me." I said in a nonchalant tone.

"What?!" He screeched, shrinking away from me. "You creepy old hag! I'm not going anywhere with you! You pervert!"

I rolled my eyes at him and (gently) dragged him alongside me.

~

I sat the brat on one bed in my rented room.

"Now listen up, and listen well," I said. "I'm not kidnapping you or selling you to slavers or anything of the sort."

He gave me a look that clearly said he didn't believe a word I said.

"I assume you don't have any parents, right?" I asked him. He stubbornly looked away from me. "That's what I thought. Now, you have two options."

He sent me a cautious and mildly horrified look.

"Option one - I unofficially adopt you until I can get the papers to do so officially, and you travel with me like my little brother, or son even... Or, Option two - You go back to living as a thieving street rat with no home and no family." I said. "It's your choice."

He frowned at me, then shook his head.

"No way, lady!" He shouted, jabbing a finger in my direction. "You're crazy!"

"Hm?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"You don't even know me! Why would you want to adopt someone-someone like me?!" He shouted, tears gathering in his baby blues. "I-I'm a monster, a murderer! You wouldn't want me, not if you knew what I did!"

"Ohoho, is that so?" I chuckled, leaning forwards. "And what is this dastardly thing you've done? Who did you kill?"

"I-I... I-... I killed my Tou-san!" He wailed, throwing himself into my arms. "I-I killed him! He's gone, and he's never coming back because I k-k-killed him!"

My heart broke for the kid, and I held him in a loving embrace. He cried and cried until he didn't have any tears left to shed.

"So, kiddo, what's your name?" I asked him once he as clam enough o reply coherently.

"Wh-Why do you wanna know?" He asked sadly, looking anywhere but me.

"So I know what to call you, silly," I said, smirking at his baffled look.

"Wh-What?"

"Well, you only said no to Option one because you thought I'd hate you," I said. "But, clearly, I don't. So I need to know your name if I'm gonna adopt you, right?"

"I-I..." He trailed off. "Sting. Sting Eucliffe."

"Well, Sting, how would you like to be a part of my family?" I asked him.

His lip began to tremble.

"I-I have a friend... Can he come too?" He asked me. "Cause... Cause I won't leave without him! I promised he could stay with me forever and ever!"

I smiled.

"Of course your friend can come, the more the merrier!" I told him with a grin. "Now, let's go find your friend, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Sting shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

~

The eleven-year-old blonde and his red Exceed friend Lector ate nearly three times their weight in food that I ordered with room service.

"So, lady, I never got your name!" Sting said after finally finishing his food. He patted his full belly in content.

"Ah, right!" I said. "How could I forget? My name is Lucy Heartfilia, but you can't tell anyone my last name, okay?"

"Okay, Lucy." Sting agreed. "But why?"

"Well, I'm the heiress to a very rich company, but I ran away from home after my father set me up to marry a perverted pig of a man that I absolutely despise," I told the pair. They looked positively disgusted. "And I don't want him to find me and hire someone to take me back there, you know?"

"Ah! The bastard!" Sting cried, Lector, echoing him. "He can't do that, its not right!"

"No, it isn't right, but he did it anyway," I said. "That's why I left."

"Hm... Then you need a fake name!" Sting cried out victoriously. "So he doesn't know who you are!"

"Ah! Why didn't I think of that?!" I pulled at my hair in mock-horror. In reality, I had come up with a fake name. I just hadn't needed to use it yet. Plus I didn't want to steal their thunder - they're just too cute.

"Of course you didn't, Lucy-san!" Lector chided me. "Sting-kun is the best!"

"Yeah," I said, a smile on my face. "He is."

"Oh! Oh!" Sting said, hopping around like the energizer bunny. "What about Alice?!"

"Or Emily!"

"Or-or- "

"How about Lucina Heart?" I "suggested". "It's really similar to my real name, so you don't get confused, and you can still call me Lucy!"

"Ah! That's a great idea!" Sting said.

I smiled fondly at them.

~

I stared blankly at the leader of the bandits that decided to try and mug us on a forest trail.

Sting, Lector and I continued to stare at the pompous ass as he monologued.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I cut him off. Seriously, this guy has been talking our ears off for the past half hour! "Cause all I heard was 'Blah blah blah, I'm a giant douchebag!'."

"What?!" The man cried out. "Don't you know who I am- "

"No. And frankly, I don't fucking care," I said, reaching for my key ring. I snatched a Silver key and raised it in front of me.

"Open, Gate of the Wolf Prince! Koga!" I called, and a bright golden light signaled his arrival.

"Hey, Hime-san, it's been ages since you called me!" Koga drawled with his gruff voice, taking my hand and planting a kiss on my knuckles. "What may I do for you this fine day?"

I rolled my eyes at his antics. He had tanned skin, long black hair in a high ponytail, and blue eyes. His fangs and pointed ears complimented his brown tail. He was barefoot, donned in brown furs and a simple black breastplate. He had brown leg warmers, a brown "skirt" - he denied that it was a skirt every single time it was mentioned - and a brown fur headband. (Koga from Inuyasha.)

"These punks here decided that we were easy pickings. Let's show them how wrong they are, yeah?" I told him, raising his key to my chest.

"Of course, Hime-san!" He grinned, a feral glint in his blue eyes.

"Star Dress: Lupus!" I called, and a bright golden light engulfed me.

When it died down, I was dressed in silver furs much like Koga was. I wore a white fur skirt that stopped just before my knees with a slit in the right side for maximum movement; a white cropped fur tank top; and white fur leg warmers. My waist-length dirty-blonde hair had been pulled into a fishtail braid. A necklace of fangs sat around my neck, a pair of fang earrings hanging from my earlobes. My teeth grew longer and sharper, my nails turned to claws, and my ears became pointed.

"Let's do this!" Koga and I snarled in sync. I lowered into a more feral stance, my bare feet finding purchase in the sun-warmed earth.

And then we struck.

~

"Wow, Lucy-nee!" Sting cried in awe. "You get better every time! And when you change outfits, it just looks so cool!"

I smiled at the young Dragon Slayer.

"Well, come on Otouto, let's tie these guys up, yeah?" I said, gathering up the unconscious bandits. Sting nodded obediently, pulling a length of rope from my backpack. 

I pondered on my progress the past few months as I tied up the bandits. It's been exactly six months since I ran away from home.

During that time I had trained hard, stretching my Magical Container as far as it would go. Now I could hold open all three of my Zodiac keys for two hours, all at once! Or I could summon all of my Silver keys and hold them all open for three hours.

I had gotten a few more Silver keys since I picked up Sting, who had come to fondly call me Lucy-nee. It's so cute! Ah, wait, I'm off topic! So I had Koga - who was the Wolf constellation Lupus. He was a good tracker and was extremely fast and strong. If there were any wild wolf packs around, they become very docile with me due to our contract. He can communicate with wolves, and I share his abilities while using Star Dress.

There was also Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. That pair was quite the odd one.

Yes, you read that correctly. "Pair".

One was a feral-looking teen who went by Kiba. He had dark brown hair in a short, messy style. His skin was tanned, and he had a red, upside-down triangle on each cheek. His black eyes were angled, accenting his fanged grin. He wore a black, leather jacket over a fishnet-armor t-shirt and 3/4 black pants. He, unlike Koga, wore shoes - some sort of open-toed sandal.

His partner was a Great Pyrenees the size of a Clydesdale. His fur was kinda shaggy, and a nice white color. His eyes were squinted all the time, and the tops of his floppy ears were grey. His name was Akamaru. He didn't speak human, but Kiba understood him just fine. (Kiba and Akamaru from Naruto)

I also contracted with Horologium as well. You know, the Grandfather Clock? Yeah, him.

And yes, if you were wondering, I managed Star Dress. Turns out that it isn't limited to just the Zodiac keys, but also the more powerful Silver keys as well.

I nearly mastered Star Dress with Aquarius and Cancer, and I was working with Taurus on his. I could also use Star Dress with Koga and Sesshomaru - for a smaller amount of time. 

"-nee... Lucy... Lucy-nee! Are you even listening to me?!" Sting's frantic voice pulled me out of my thoughts. 

"Ah, sorry Otouto. I was lost in thought." I apologized. 

"That's okay, but what do we do now?" He asked me. I grinned.

"Well, considering they won't be needing it, I say we take their money and valuables, yeah?" I suggested. "I mean, they did attack us first, and with the intent of stealing our things, so why not repay the favor?"

"Okay, Lucy-nee!" Lector obediently followed Sting and began to rummage through their pockets.

Oh? Is what I'm doing wrong? Maybe.

But they started it.

The fuckers.

~

"Man, those guys were loaded for a bunch of weaklings!" Sting commented as we entered the next town. 

The total amount of money we collected added up to be a nice 800,000J. Not to mention the items we kindly removed from their persons. There were a few daggers and a pair of bows and quivers, and some jewelry. The weapons were promptly stored in my bag, and the jewelry was traded for more money - adding a whopping 30,000J to our pockets.

But Sting insisted that he keeps one piece of Jewelry - a single, white crystal earring. We would go and get his ear pierced once we ate and found an inn.

"Lucy-nee!" Sting and Lector whined in unison. "You're doing it again!"

"Hehehe, sorry guys!" I chuckled at their cute pouts. "How about some all-you-can-eat barbecue?"

"Hell yeah!" Sting shouted, running down the road towards the BBQ joint I had pointed out to him. "BBQ!"