***Trigger warnings! This story is going to have some parts in it that are going to make people upset! I want to let all of you know that and if you cannot read this story I 100% understand. I will try and remember to put trigger warnings on the chapters that I think will upset any of you, I want to clarify it is not going to have any rape scenes in it because I will not write those ever, but it does have violence and slavery in it, again if you cannot read it because of those two aspects I am totally fine with your decision. However if you do read it feel free to leave a review! I will be uploading hopefully more frequently! Thank you and have a wonderful day!***

"Lucy!"

So familiar, that voice it was so familiar...

"Lucy! Wake up!"

She was being shaken now, she could feel her body jolting but she couldn't make her eyes open no matter how hard she tried. Groaning she slowly tried to move her arms even though her whole body felt like lead and hurt, oh gods she hurt. Slowly ever so slowly she brought her hands up and rubbed at her gritty eyes. "N-Natsu?" She groaned and slowly she was able to force her eyes open though she was squinting.

"Thank gods your finally awake." He said and came into her blurry vision his familiar spiky pink hair tousled just as she knew it would be, his black eyes filled with concern as he searched her face. "I thought you were dead."

"No, I-I'm not, though I feel like I might have been run over by something." She said and grabbed his wrist as everything came rushing back to her in a crushing blow.

They were in the field where they worked, planting and harvesting crops and looking after the livestock when all hell had broken loose in the village not far from the farm, they could hear it from where they were. The farmers wife had begged them to run, to hide somewhere far from the village and the farm, attacks like such had been happening more and more frequently in their country. But when Natsu had turned and locked eyes with her they both had nodded and took off for the village, neither one comfortable with leaving the people defenseless, not many of them were capable of defending themselves since most of the men were in the army. But when they'd arrived it had been far far to late, a shout was let out that they'd been seen and they'd turn and run hoping that they could out run whomever gave chase. But it became clear that they couldn't when pain exploded in the back of her head and letting out a pained grunt Lucy started to fall, her last effort was shouting "Run!" in the vain hopes that Natsu would listen and leave her behind.

Turning her head to look at him when he sat back Lucy frowned. "I told you to run."

"I wasn't going to leave you behind." Natsu growled back and reaching out helped her to ease into an upright position. "The bastards hit you with a rock in the back of your head."

She blinked at him in shock. "They did what?"

"Yea," He said and shook his head. "Bastards thought you were dead until one of them checked then they stitched you up. The one that threw the rock got his ass handed to him, but it wasn't enough if you ask me."

"Natsu." Lucy murmured in a chastening tone. "Circumstances be what they may but you shouldn't wish ill on anyone."

"You didn't see the glee in his eyes when he stood over you and watched the blood soak your hair." He growled.

Lucy shuddered and leaned into him. "Well I'm glad that I'm not dead and that neither are you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Natsu said softly.

"Why?" She asked softly and looked at him again. "What happened while I was out?"

"You don't want to know." He murmured.

"Probably not, but tell me Natsu. I need to know what I'm facing in this hellhole." She murmured and looked around at what one could only describe as a cell. It was little more then a brick room with one tiny window with two bars across it to keep them from getting out and one wall that was just bars with a small doorway so there would be no surprising their captures.

"We were sold." Natsu said after a moment of silence.

"Wh-what?" Lucy choked.

"The bastards that took us, sold us to the highest bidder. It was only by sheer luck that we were bought by the same person." He said and shrugged. "Well that and when you were brought onto the stage I begged him to buy you, I might have said that you were my sister and I would cooperate with anything that they wanted me to do so long as they bought you."

Lucy looked at him. "You realize that you just gave them everything that they wanted, your compliance."

"I couldn't just let some other bastard buy you Lucy." Natsu sighed and shook his head. "Whatever fresh hell we're in we're in this together."

"Well, I'm glad that you two got that figured out." A mocking voice called from just out of sight and both of them turned and watched the shadows trying to see who it was who spoke. And as if conjured a slender woman perhaps a tad bit smaller then Lucy with short pixie style white hair saunter from the shadows and smirked at them. "Like your new quarters? I helped design the building, I was going for public and lack of privacy. And I do have to say I hit the nail on the head with this one."

"Lisanna!" A whip like voice barked out and the small woman jumped and looked back over her shoulder as a tall strong looking woman with straight crimson hair and piercing brown eyes appeared just as suddenly as the girl had. "How many times must I repeat that you are not to speak to the new arrivals?" She demanded.

The girl linked her hands behwhather back and crossed one leg behind the other. "I wasn't doing anything, I was just talking to them."

"I heard everything that you spoke to them." The woman growled stalking closer. "Do I need to assign more chores to you to keep you occupied?"

"No ma'am." Lisanna sighed sound like a petulant child.

"Then get going, I am sure that you have not finished all of them." The woman growled.

Scooting closer to Natsu, Lucy grabbed his hand and he squeezed it in return as they watched the smaller woman turn and stalk back into the shadow and out of sight as the redhead turned her scathing attention to them and they unconsciously tried to sink into the background of their cell. "You two stand up and come to the bars. It was not a question, move now!" She ordered.

Slowly the two stood, and with Lucy standing just slightly behind him they shuffled towards the bars. When they finally stood a foot from it she gave a nod.

"That is close enough." She growled and crossed her arms in front of her. "How old are you two?"

"I'm eighteen and she's seventeen." Natsu answered.

She gave a brisk nod. "Your names?"

"Natsu," He said then nodded towards her. "Lucy."

Again she gave a nod. "As of yesterday morning you two became the property of Master Makarov Dreyar. I am Erza Scarlet I oversee everything that has to do with the slaves as well as security, you two however will are to be assigned and reporting to the lead housekeeper here at the main building. You will do what you are told when you are told to do it with no arguments. If you argue or give any sass what-so-ever there will be consequences and they will not be pleasant. In a few hours you two will be taken down and processed into our system and then you will be shown around with the other newcomers, after that you two will be taken to the slave mess hall and then taken to your quarters for the night. Tomorrow you will be starting your new duties, which will be explained tomorrow." She paused and looked from one to the other. "Any questions or comments."

Both of them shook their heads.

"Good," She turned then paused and looked back at them. "Do not make me have to discipline you, it will not be pleasant for either of us." She warned and with that she was gone.

Slowly Lucy backed away until her back hit the wall and she slowly sank down and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Slaves." She murmured softly then looked up at Natsu. "We're slaves Natsu."

He sighed and moved to crouch beside her. "It's okay, Lucy, we'll figure out something." He assured her then moved closer and lowered his voice until it was a whisper. "We'll take stock of everything tomorrow, and we'll escape as soon as possible."

"But what about what she said?" Lucy prompted trying to hide the terror in her voice. "I don't want to find out what will happen if she has to 'discipline' either of us."

"I know, but we need to take a risk to get away from here unless you want to be a slave for the rest of your life, cause I sure as hell don't." Natsu whispered back.

Lowering her head Lucy let out a whimper. "I know, I'm just scared."

He nodded and rubbed his hands up and down her upper arms soothingly. "I am too, but-"

"I know." She cut in. "Lets just get the lay of the land and how things run around here then go from there."

He nodded a determined expression on his face. "How long should we wait before coming up with a plan?"

"We should give it a month, let everything settle down considering us and then start planning everything out." She said and watched him nod, patting the spot beside her. "You better sit, it's going to be a long few hours before they come and get us."

Nodding he sat beside her and leaned his head against hers when she rested it on his shoulder. "Yea, a long couple of hours."

Lucy followed closely behind Natsu her hand touching the choker that they had forced onto them. If it had been just a normal choker necklace she would have said it was quite elegantly pretty with a black band that circled the neck that allowed for movement while a small gold pendant hung from it symbolizing ownership. The design of the pendant was one of peculiarity it looked almost like a fairy with a tail, and it had made sense to Lucy when the woman showing them around had explained that the guild their new master ran was called Fairy Tail and so his family crest had not only become the logo for his guild but also for marking ownership of his slaves.

"Now," The tall purple eyed green haired woman, who'd introduced herself as Bisca, said turning to look back at them for a moment as she continued on-wards. "The five of you have been assigned to serve at the main building. You should feel real lucky about that, out of every building here this one is the least hard labor intensive. You'll still be worked hard, wherever your placed, don't get me wrong, but it's the easiest out of them all."

Reaching out Lucy gripped the back of Natsu's shirt in her hand as she looked around as they left what Bisca had called the Intake building. Apparently it not only served for the intake of new slaves but also for the goods that would be dispersed among the main building as well as the other out buildings. So far everyone that they had come into contact with whom wasn't a slave didn't seem to be a terrible person. Though they were a bit short when they spoke to them, but they weren't outright rude either. But Lucy was steeling herself against the possibilities that she would turn around and suddenly find herself face to face with someone who went out of their way to make her life much more miserable then she already was. After all she was now considered a slave, someone who had to serve others without question or risk punishment, she was no longer the master of her own life or of her own choices. She still didn't quite believe that this was her new reality.

"Now," Bisca continued. "I want to warn all of you before we reach the main building. Not every person on this compound, or in this guild is going to treat you as if you are a person. Some of them are going to barely acknowledge your existence, others are going treat you as if you are a waitress no matter what you are doing, and then there are a few who are going to go out of their way to treat you like shit. I suggest you figure out who is who and try your best to steer clear of those who will treat you like shit. However understand that you're not always going to be able to avoid them, accept that and live with it."

Lucy frowned at the woman's back. "Contradiction." She murmured softly to Natsu and watched the corner of his mouth twitch up before he shot her a 'behave' look. And for once she listened to him.

"Erza instructed me to just take you by the main building and then get you guys to the slave mess and quarters so you can get cleaned up and whatever else you need to do." She said and pointed towards the massive three story structure that they had been walking towards. "As you can see, and most likely obviously knew since we are walking this way, this is the main building. It houses the main mess hall where I'm sure a few of you will work as waitresses, the library, offices, conference rooms etc like that, and finally it has our master's and a few other bedrooms on the third floor. Our lead housekeeper, and your boss, makes all of the food that is served here. She'll divy up what jobs you all are going to be assigned to tomorrow. Now c'mon time to get you to the mess."

With that she fell silent as she walked. Lucy found herself liking the woman. Yes she had made it clear that they were the slaves and she was a free women and that though they were slaves she didn't want to make them feel worse then they already did. After all their world had just turned compltely up on it's head in only a matter of a few days.

"Excuse me." The small blue haired girl walking in front of Lucy said, her voice timid.

"Yea?" Bisca asked turning and looking down at the girl. "You got a question?"

"Yes."

"Then ask."

The blue haired girl nodded. "Okay," She paused then took a deep breath. "What is it that the, uh, guild does?" She asked.

Bisca blinked then smiled at the girl. "Whats your name?"

"Wendy." She said her hands wringing nervously in front of her.

"Well Wendy, that was a damn good question." Bisca told her approval in her voice. "And to answer you the guild focuses in manufacturing booze, medicinal items, and a bunch of home goods, and a very skilled translation section. The second to last one is primarily what you guys will be doing."

Wendy nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem, sugar." Bisca said with grin as she continued on, moving them past the massive structure. "That building right over there is where they make all the booze, so far the lead manager of that, Cana, has single-handily come up with about sixteen different recipes and all amazingly good. If your lucky you'll get to try one eventually."

Lucy halfheartedly listened as she looked around the compound. She was terrified, but she was also trying to look at the positives of the situation that she and Natsu were in. But so far the only upside that she could see here was that they would actually have something to eat every evening, even if it just happened to be one meal a day. After all some times they had gone days without even the slightest thing to eat. It hadn't just been because every time they had gotten paid they'd had to turn around and pay their landlady in order to have a place to sleep every night, but it also was the fact that they hadn't really been paid all that much even though they worked hard for each and every cent that they had earned.

"Alright!" Bisca finally said as they arrived at a much more smaller two story building formed in an L shape with a fence going from one corner to the the other creating what seemed to be a the semblance of a yard. Laundry lines hung from the corner of the house to poles stuck near the edge of the fence. Small handmade tables and chairs sat outside for those whom wanted to sit outside. It looked oddly...cozy and welcoming. "Here we are, the slave quarters. Just head on in, someone will show you around."

With that she turned and strode away, calling out to someone in the distance.

"What the fuck?"The tall black haired man standing behind Lucy growled. "She couldn't be bothered to show us around?"

Lucy looked back at him, taking in his black eyes and the studs that made up his eyebrows and lined his nose. "What do you expect?" She said somberly. "We're slaves, we're ranked below them. She might have been friendly to us, but I think that was just her personality."

"Way to sour the mood." He growled.

"Lighten up." The shirtless man blue-black hair and dark blue eyes said softly as he patted the mans back. "You know what she's saying is true, you just don't want to accept it yet."

"How the fuck are you okay with this?" The man snarled. "We were just sold to the highest fucking bidder."

He sighed. "When you've lived your entire life a slave you learn to accept your fate."

Natsu jerked his head back stunned. "You were born a slave?"

The man blinked at him. "Yea, weren't you two?"

"No." Lucy murmured shaking her head. "We were kidnapped, how many days ago?"

"Three," He said and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "We were taken three days ago."

"Wow." The man said softly then cleared his throat. "I'm Gray, Gray Fullbuster."

"Natsu Dragneel," Natsu said and shook Gray's hand. "This is Lucy Heartfilia."

"I'd say it's nice to meet you, but uh, yea." Gray said and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, this big lug is Gajeel Redfox. We were sold together from the same master."

Lucy frowned. "Your master sold you? But why?"

"He owed some people," Gray said and shrugged. "So to make some quick cash he sold me and Gajeel, and here we are."

Natsu jerked his thumb towards the building. "Shall we head in?"

Gajeel grunted but nodded as did Gray.

"Might as well." Lucy sighed and wrapping her arms around herself followed Natsu as he strode through the open gateway and up the worn pathway and to the covered porch of the building. Stepping into the building when Natsu pushed open the door she followed him in and looked around at the inside. It was surprisingly cozy, carpets decorated what she could only call the main room of the building. Weathered comfy chairs that were patched and patched over the patches dotted the building as did couches that were in the same condition. Books lined one wall of the room, as well as jars and jars of different looking substances. A large staircase lead upwards to what Lucy figured was the bedrooms while two hallways branched off at opposite ends of the room.

"Oh!" A soft voice exclaimed from the hallway to their left and they all looked towards it to find a tall willowy short purple haired green eyed woman standing there smiling at them. "Erza did say that we would have a group of newcomers today, but I didn't expect any of you to be here until later. Come in, come in! Dinner is just about done, we're having chicken soup tonight, I hope you like it!" Ushering them into the building she closed the door behind them. " Now I'm just going to launch into the tour so that way we'll have time to go eat dinner when I'm done. With that being said, I'm the head matron of the slave quarters, if there is anything that you need all you have to do is let me know and I'll get it for you. If you are injured there is a first aid kit right over here," She said moving towards the shelves that contained all the strange substances. "All of these are salves to aid with sore muscles, sunburns, rough and cracked skin, cuts and scrapes. And finally we have salves for rashes whether their heat, irritation, allergic reaction, or whatever type we got it." She smiled at them. "That's the best thing about this guild, they do try to take care of us."

"It's like we're livestock." Natsu murmured.

Kinana shifted slightly and looked at him. "Please don't look at it that way." She said softly.

"How else am I supposed to look at it w-"

"Natsu." Lucy interjected softly, putting her hand on his arm soothingly. "Don't take your anger out on her."

Taking a deep breath he turned his head to get his temper under control. "Sorry." He finally murmured.

"It's okay." Kinana said softly. "It's your first day here, it's okay to be upset." She assured them. "Now, lets continued on with the tour. Down this way you'll find the bathrooms." She said moving towards the hallway farthest from the one that she appeared in. "We have separate bathrooms for the men and women. Men on the right Women on the left, the two doors at the end are for spare clothing from undergarments to shirts, pants, socks, skirts, sweaters, jackets pretty much everything again men on the right and women on the left. If they don't have something that you need let me know and I'll see if I can get it for you. Now turning back and heading towards the other hallway." She said and hustled them quickly to the other one. "Alright, this hall closet here houses all the cleaning supplies for the entire building as well as the wash basin, soap, and pins to do and hang up the laundry. The closet right here is our over stock pantry for our sugars, flours, salts, beans, our canned goods etc. And finally we have our kitchen." She said leading them into a massive kitchen with a breakfast bar spanning half the room with worn but sturdy looking stools lining it. "And if you hang a sharp left you'll be in our dinning room." She said and lifted her arm towards the long table with benches. "I make breakfast and dinner every day. But feel free to make your own food if you prefer. Some people have to get up and go to their duties earlier or later then others so whatever you have to do is fine. Later tonight Erza will drop off your schedules and I'll find you and explain it to you as well as bring someone to show you where your going to be working."

They all nodded.

"Any questions?" She prompted.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Gajeel growled.

"I'll show you to your rooms once we finish with dinner." She said and smiled. "Go ahead and take your seats. It'll be done in a few minutes."

Sighing Lucy rested her head on her pillow, curled up underneath her surprisingly warm blanket on a bed that had clearly been used for many years but was still incredibly comfortable. She'd been put in a room with the other new girl, Wendy, and the two had quickly taken a liking to one another, helping to make each other's bed and putting away their new clothes they'd chosen from the store room. And now they had settled in for what was clearly going to be a restless night among many to come. As it turned out both of them were assigned to the main building and were thrilled to be working together.

"Are you asleep?" Wendy whispered softly from her bed across the small space.

"No." Lucy whispered back. "What's keeping you up?"

"I'm thinking about my home." Wendy whispered her voice shaking slightly. "I'm worried about my mom."

"I'm sure she's okay." Lucy said but she knew that most likely the woman was int he same position that her daughter was in, hopefully tucked into a strange bed, the belonging of some stranger, striped of all of her rights and privileges of being a free woman.

"I know, but I just can't seem to settle down." Wendy said and sniffled. "Normally when I get like this mama would gather me into her bed and she'd snuggle me to sleep."

Lucy bit her lip as she felt her heart ache for the young girl. "I'm not your mother but if you want to sleep with me tonight you can."

"Okay." Wendy sniffed and hastily climbed from her bed.

Lucy lifted her blanket while scooting over to make room, settling the blanket over herself and the small girl as she snuggled into her, Lucy let her arm settle around her and soothingly ran her hand over the back of the girls head the way she remembered her mother used to do for her when she was little. "It will be okay, just give it time."

"How can you tell?" Wendy sniffled softly.

"Because I can tell that your mother raised a strong young lady." Lucy told her softly.

"Thank you." Wendy murmured.

Taking a deep breath Lucy closed her eyes. "Now, lets try and get some sleep, I think we're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yea, you're right." Wendy agreed. "Good night."

"Good night." Lucy returned with a soft smile. She had no idea what to expect come tomorrow, but she knew that she had to strengthen her backbone and face what was coming towards them bravely for both Natsu and Wendy. She knew that Natsu could put on a good front and for the most part could handle anything thrown at him, but if she at all showed that she couldn't handle anything? Natsu would crumble and he'd do something incredibly idiotic that , in their new life, could very possibly lead to a very harsh or even deadly consequence. So no, she had to be strong and stay strong for their sake.

Oookay, so yea... surprise! A, uh, waaay darker tone then I ever thought I'd be capable of writing but, uh, there it is the first chapter. I've written a few more before I decided to post this one just to see if this was a plot I was interested in following, and so far it is. So um, yea, I'm sorry if anyone couldn't read it or found it upsetting, I get it. Sooo let me know what you guys think of it and I'll try to get the other chapters edited and posted soonish. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!