A/N: So, I have a few chapters of this story written already so I decided to go ahead and post the first chapter.
I hope to update about once a week or so. This first chapter is a bit gruesome. It's rated M for a reason. There will be lemons and more potential gore in this story's future, so be please be sure you are mature enough to handle this. I don't own Fairytail. =[
Feel free to leave a review with any suggestions. =] Enjoy.
Lucy stared down at her body, unable to move anything above her neck. It was the darkest of magic that had her trapped, something she had never seen before. Her cast her eyes to her left, trying to see Gray. He was grunting, straining to move the same as her. Neither of their attempts yielded results.
"Now who should I start with?" The dark wizard's voice rang through the old stone room. Dead vines rotted on the walls and the whole room reeked of death. If that wasn't bad enough, there seemed to be a pile of corpses just pass the tilted table the ice mage was strapped to. Lucy's eyes shot forward to face the wizard.
"Me, start with me." She whimpered, wishing she could reach her keys. The wizard had confiscated them and attached them to the belt of his ragged black pants. The two had been ambushed, the spell cast on them before they even knew what was happening.
"An eager volunteer." He hissed from beneath his hood, stretching his bony hand out towards her. "It's not often I have a willing subject."
"You leave her alone!" Gray yelled, drawing the attention of the dark wizard. Lucy watched as his whole body tensed
"Don't worry. You'll get your turn too." His head jerked to the side eerily fast.
"You don't fuck with fairytail." Gray warned, glaring at him with unrivaled hatred.
The dark wizard took a step towards him, drawing a hematic line down his front with his finger. Lucy watched as Gray inhaled sharply. From what she could see it was only a line. Why would he be drawing lines? The hooded wizard slowly drew more lines across Gray's abs, making direct eye contact with the ice-make mage. Gray refused to break his stare, refusing to even blink.
"Don't hurt him!" Lucy screamed, watching a vicious smile spread across his face.
"Don't worry. He won't feel a thing." The wizard chuckled darkly. "For now at least." He backed away from Gray and picked up what looked like a pair of salad tongs. It sent an odd feeling through her.
"Gray." Lucy whimpered, trying to figure out the crimson red marks outlining Grays abs. She watched as the ice mage allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment.
"I'm okay Lucy." He assured her, turning his head to catch her eyes. She could see the fear in them.
"Natsu will be here soon." She said, reassuring herself as much as she was him. If she knew Natsu at all, she knew he wouldn't stop until she was safe. Where was he? "And Happy and Erza. They'll come find us any moment."
"In that case, I'll need to take care of you too princess." The wizard stated, ripping Lucy's shirt open with ease. Lucy concentrated, trying to force herself to move. The effort was useless. She looked up, finally able to get a good look at him under his hood. His eyes were small and lifeless, black as night. It wasn't the room that smelled like death, it was him. She swallowed to keep from gagging as he ran his finger along her stomach.
"You're much softer than him." He hissed, reaching up to her breasts. "But I don't have time for that now. I'm not actually terribly worried about your little fairy friends getting in though. This place is sealed magically."
"Bastard." Gray swore, watching as he turned and walked away from them. "You're not going to lay a hand on Lucy!"
"I'll start with you first then." The dark wizard reasoned, walking over to Gray with the tongs. He whispered something inaudible under his breath, smiling deviously, and snapped his fingers. Lucy watched in horror as the lines drawn on Gray's abdomen cut into him. The skin and muscle rolled away from him sickeningly, exposing his internal organs.
"Gray." Lucy gasped, watching him in horror. "Gray, no. Gray look at me." She urged him, choking as she tried to keep from vomiting.
"I'm okay." He whispered, his eyes wide with shock. "It-it doesn't hurt." He assured her, staring at her face.
The smell of blood hit her like a ton of bricks in the stomach. She involuntarily leaned forward, heaving her lunch onto the floor. "Oh Gods," she whispered, snapping her eyes shut. This couldn't be happening. Where was Natsu?
"No, you're going to watch." The dark wizard spoke, staring at her now. She screeched as she felt him drawing lines over her eye lids. The sound of fingers snapping rang in her ears, forcing the lids of her eyes to open. With every ounce of courage she had she stared him in the eyes.
"You're sick." She proclaimed, trying again to force her limbs to move. They didn't so much as twitch. Now she knew why the straps holding her to the table were so loose. There was no possible escape.
"I'll show you just how sick I am." He offered, snapping his fingers once again, this time only inches from her face.
Her head rolled back as she desperately tried to close her eyes. She felt the flesh of her belly separating, making a sickeningly wet sound. She felt her skin and muscle roll back against her, leaving her exposed. It was the weirdest sensation she had ever experienced in her life. There was no pain to it, but she could feel exactly what was happening in intense detail. Cold seemed to fill her entire body, a chill coming from deep inside of her. It made her body shake against her will.
"Lucy." He mouthed, apparently unable to form words. Sweat streamed down the sides of his pale face.
The dark wizard walked away from her and stood in front of Gray with a knife and a pair of tongs.
"Let's see how long the human body can stay alive with severe trauma without pain." The wizard said, his voice eerily cheerful. "I already have an idea with regular humans, but I have a suspicion wizards can last much longer."
Lucy swallowed, trying not to throw up again. That must have been what the pile behind Gray on the floor was. The celestial wizard's eyes s watered from being forced open, kind of like the rest of her. She choked back a laugh, trying to picture Natsu's face. Surely he would be here to save them soon.
"I was hoping to try this on a dragon slayer first, but an ice mage will do to start, and a celestial wizard." He hummed, tossing something bloody to the side of Gray. Lucy couldn't help but wonder if it was a kidney. This evil man wouldn't get to Natsu, he couldn't. Natsu was way too strong.
"I'm so sorry Gray." Lucy called out. This was all her fault. She was the one who decided they should split up to look for Wendy. She and Natsu had been in a little fight, so he took off with happy. Surely Erza, off on her own, would find them if Natsu couldn't. What if the dark wizard had found Wendy before they did? No, that couldn't be true. He had said he wanted to try it on a dragon slayer first, but couldn't. That gave her a little hope.
"I'm not sure-" She heard Gray choke. Probably on blood, she couldn't help but think. "I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to make it. Please-" He coughed again, even more violently. "Tell everyone I'm sorry. I'm sorry I-" His voice faded out.
"Gray!" She screamed, watching as the dark wizard turned towards her.
"He's just unconscious from shock." He offered, that sick smile still playing across his face. "He'll get another turn soon, very soon. For now it's your turn."
"Please don't." She sobbed, looking up at the ceiling so that she wouldn't see what was going on. "You don't have to do this." There was so much she hadn't done yet.
"You're right, I don't have to," He hissed. "But I want to."
Lucy felt something snap inside her, probably a rib. Tears streamed down both sides of her face. She might never see her love again. Would this really be the way she ended? Another snap. There couldn't be a worse way to go.
"Make it quick." She pleaded. Even though she couldn't feel the pain, she would rather be dead than experience this. He'd only just started on her. She couldn't fathom how terrified Gray must have been.
"If that's what you want, I'm afraid I need to take a short break." The dark wizard announced, backing away from her.
"Why are you doing this?" She sobbed.
"Because I can." He said simply as his eyes returned to Gray. A large explosion burst on the opposite side of the room. Smoke and dust flew through the air. She watched as Gray's body convulse in a fit of coughing.
"Get away from them you bastard!" Natsu screamed, his voice filling the entire room.
"Natsu." Lucy cried, catching sight of her boyfriend.
Natsu glanced over at Lucy then dove toward the dark wizard, unable to stop himself. No one messed with Lucy or his rival Gray. There would be no mercy for him from Natsu. "Dragon Slayer Roar!" He growled, feet from the dark wizard's face.
The dark wizard collapsed, instantly set ablaze. He flailed around on the ground as Erza pinned him down.
Natsu turned his attention to Lucy, his fury changing into worry as he looked at her. How could she survive something like this?
"Natsu-" She croaked from the tilted table.
"Fuck-" He said, unable to get his words clear. "Lucy. Oh fuck, Lucy."
"Natsu." She murmured, a small smile forming on her lips as she shivered.
"Wendy!" Natsu called. "Get over here. Lucy needs your help!"
"Gray." Lucy ordered, shifting her eyes to him. "He needs help worse."
Natsu turned to see his rival, spread out in pieces on the table. He had noticed Lucy first, and had been too enraged and worried to notice anything else. Natsu wasn't sure if he could even still be alive.
"Let me help Gray." Wendy called out. "If I don't get this bleeding to stop he's not going to make it.
"The wizard's magic, he made us not feel pain. It was an experiment-" Lucy choked on her words and screamed as the dark wizard faded from life.
"Lucy." Natsu gasped, placing his hand on her face. "You're going to be okay. I promise. I will take care of you."
"Hurts." Lucy panted, her shaking arm reaching for Natsu's.
"Close your eyes." He ordered. "Just hold on Lucy. You're going to be okay."
"Natsu!" Wendy called. "I need you to help. I need you to burn this shut or he's going to bleed to death." She pleaded.
He looked down at Lucy with a pained expression. He couldn't leave her, but he couldn't let Gray die.
"Go." She croaked, her eyes fluttering open. "He needs you." She whispered, before passing out. Probably from the pain, Natsu reasoned.
"Natsu!" Wendy yelled.
He rushed over to her. It was the most gruesome scene he had seen in his short life. He was covered in blood from the neck down and even a small amount had splattered up onto his face. It was hard for Natsu to tell where he started and ended.
"Here! It's just a nick, but he's had it for too long." Wendy urged him, pointing to a pool of blood forming towards the top of his chest. She moved her hand down to what Natsu thought was the top of his leg. Natsu reached his hand down and created a flame, trying not to look. "Perfect. And here." She whispered, her hands shaking over him. The poor girl was too young to see something like this. He cauterized the wound.
"You need to go to Lucy." Wendy said. "She's not in as bad of shape as Gray, but she's going to go into shock. You need to-" She swallowed hard. "Close her up as best you can. Don't burn her, just-" She stuttered. "Just put things where their supposed to go until Happy and Erza come back with help."
The poor girl looked like she was going to be sick.
"Okay." Natsu nodded.
"Lucy, you're going to be okay." He told his unconscious girlfriend as he carefully tried to close her wounds. "You have to be."
Natsu removed his scarf, the one his father had given him and slowly slid it under her. He carefully folded it over her, using it as a bandage. He said a silent prayer that Igneel's scarf would protect her. He placed a small kiss on her forehead, trying to ignore the smell of blood filling the room. How could he have let this happen? Why did they have to get in a stupid fight? He should have been with her.