Stellar Spirit Key Locations
This is basically what the title suggests. I’m writing out where all the stellar spirit keys were before Lucy found them; of course, we don’t know where Yukino got the ones she possesses, but you can’t win them all, so I’ll deal with what I can find. Also note that there are spoilers relating to where each key came from, but most of this info can be found by about the middle of the Grand Magic Games. The only real spoiler is the spirit listed third from the bottom, so those who aren’t caught up with the final season should be aware. I can’t really skip this.
Aries: Angel (from the Oracion Seis) took this key from Karen Lilica after she killed her a few years before the beginning of the series. Both women treated Aries rather poorly (to put it lightly), but it was Karen who really took that treatment to the next level, prompting Leo to go to extremes in his attempts at protecting her from their summoner. This treatment is also what prompted Leo’s dislike and distrust of stellar spirit mages.
Taurus: Lucy found Taurus before the start of the series at what appears to be some kind of farm, as she is seen forming her contract with him in flashbacks in a meadow surrounded by cows and windmills, and such, because of course you’d find a cow spirit in a place filled with cows. He is also a massive pervert, but behind that is a genuinely good-hearted spirit who is fully dedicated to protecting Lucy.
Gemini: Angel acquired this key at some point before her run-in with and loss to Lucy Heartfilia, but the fans are never told who she got the key from, in the first place. After Angel broke her contract when she lost to Lucy, Gemini sought Lucy out to form a new contract with her of their own free will. They are, in fact, the sole reason Lucy was able to assist in destroying Nirvana, as she was too weakened from earlier battles to actually summon a spirit on her own, at the time.
Cancer: Spetto, a servant woman in the Heartfilia estate; Layla gave her Cancer’s key when she retired as a mage before Lucy was born, and Spetto gave the key to Lucy, in turn, when she began learning stellar spirit magic many years later.
Leo: He was banished from the stellar spirit realm and blamed for being unintentionally involved in the cause of his previous keyholder’s death, said keyholder being Karen Lilica. Before learning that he was a stellar spirit, Lucy knew him as Loke, a popular and flirty Fairy Tail mage who was ranked fourth in Sorcerer Weekly for The Wizard I'd Like To Be My Boyfriend; apparently, he tried flirting with Erza once and she almost killed him, after which, he never again attempted anything with her. In fact, he is seen terrified at Erza’s first in-series appearance, causing a great deal of panic in the guildhall with his rather dramatic entrance.
Virgo: Lucy found Virgo shortly after the series began from a rather disgusting man called Duke Everlue, who violated his contract at some point during their encounter, after which Virgo actually requested Lucy be her new keyholder.
Libra: Yukino’s stellar spirit; we are not told where she first found the key.
Scorpio: This key first came to Lucy through her encounter with Angel, who at the time, was collecting as many golden keys as she could from various victims over the years. We are not told who she took Scorpio from or when this happened.
Sagittarius: This key was given to Lucy as a reward for helping the residents of Galuna Island when they were “cursed” by the moon drip ceremony by Lyon and all his little friends.
Capricorn: This key was passed on to Zoldeo (a former servant of hers) when Layla retired, and he performed forbidden magic that let him basically possess Capricorn for many years by the time Lucy comes across him on Tenrou Island during Grimoire Heart’s attack on Fairy Tail during the S-Class Trials.
Aquarius: Layla passed this key onto Grammi, a former servant who lived for years in Alakitasia with her daughter Brandish. This is the only key Layla couldn’t retrieve before she opened the Eclipse Gate on July 7, X777, and thus, is the reason she was forced to substitute her life force to make it happen. Grammi later brought the key to Layla on the latter’s deathbed, torn apart and blaming herself over what happened. She was later murdered by a crazy-but-grieving Zoldeo as she left the Heartfilia estate, shortly before he actually perform the forbidden magic on Capricorn’s key that let him possess the spirit for so long. (This confuses me a little, to be honest, because I think it’s mentioned Capricorn hadn’t been seen in the stellar spirit realm for about fifteen years, but if this possession only happened after Zoldeo murdered Grammi, by the time Tenrou comes around, it has only been 7 years, or so. So, either I’m getting things mixed up in my head, or this is an actual plot hole. Ya’ll let me know what you think about all of this, if you’re caught up with everything and I actually missed something.)
Pisces: This key belongs to Yukino, and we aren’t told where she gets it from, unfortunately.
Ophiuchus: Also known as the Thirteenth Gate, this key belongs to Yukino, and although I would love to have gotten more info on it, we aren’t really told where it comes from before it came into Yukino’s possession.
