Chapter Two
Lucy turned as the door clicked shut, getting the attention of the rest of the team.
"Wendy! The door shut!"
"What kind of a mansion is this…?" Gray trailed off, looking around suspiciously.
The light lacrimas flickered around them and they all made a tight circle, covering all directions. Laughter danced in the air around them, seeming to come from everywhere and it was getting louder. Without warning, a loud ringing began to fill their ears and they all gasped, Natsu crying out in pain (the volume was 10x louder to him).
A voice echoed through everyone's heads, like a telepathic link, but painful, needles on their brains.
"Step in this mansion and you'll find,
I've done some trickery to your mind.
I'll pick you off as you grow apart,
You only hope now, is your heart.
It's a petty manner of mortality,
As you slip further and further from reality…"
The ringing stopped and everyone opened their eyes, dazed and confused.
Lucy looked around. She was in a large main room, not that different from the one she grew up in. Although, the more she thought about it, the more the memories of her home became hazy and odd. Where am I? There were several other people around her, all looking at each other in utter puzzlement.
"Where are we?" Asked a red haired woman. She was tall and gorgeous, clad in armor with a sternness about her.
"My head feels fuzzy…" Complained a salmon haired man, who was holding his ears and wincing in pain.
"Wh… Who are you people? Where am I?!" Lucy stepped back from them, beginning to tremble in fear and gripped her keys; they all just blinked at her.
"Who are you? All of you?" The black haired man retorted, looking to the rest of the group.
The scarlet haired woman stepped forward.
"I don't know where we are, or who everyone is, but I have a feeling we need to get out of here."
"Why? This place is kinda cool…" The man with the pink hair was looking around curiously, reaching out to touch a lamp lacrima.
"Don't touch anything!" She interrupted quickly. "I sense a dark magic force coming from this building. We can't risk setting off a trap."
"Are you suggesting this place is boobytrapped?" The dark haired man crossed his arms, looking at her doubtfully.
"I do not know, but until we figure out where we are, we should treat it as such." She stood tall, hands on her hips. "My name is Erza Scarlet. That is all I can remember."
Amnesia? Lucy thought to herself, her stomach flopping. But it was true, the more she thought about it, the less she could remember. Her eyes widened. What's going on!?
"I'm Gray Fullbuster." Said the dark haired man.
"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Asked the other man who was wearing a scaly white scarf.
"How am I supposed to know?!" Gray shouted angrily.
The other man just sighed, scratching his head. "My name is Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."
Erza looked to Lucy and she swallowed, trembling at the current situation.
"I-I'm Lucy Heartfilia…" She said, her hands tight by her sides.
"Why are you so jumpy?" Natsu asked innocently. "You smell scared."
"O-Of course I'm scared! I'm in a creepy building with a bunch of random people. And don't smell me!"
Erza waved them off as they began to bicker, looking to the last mage. She, a beautiful blue haired woman, was playing with her skirt shyly.
"This is Juvia Lockser." She muttered. "She has noticed that everyone present has matching tattoos… Does anyone know why?"
They all looked around, noticing their insignias.
"When did I get this?!" Lucy gaped at the strangely shaped pink mark on her hand, matching Natsu's red one, Erza and Juvia's blue ones, and Gray's dark blue one.
Erza looked at hers thoughtfully.
"These look like guild marks."
"A guild? That means we're all mages then." Gray commented.
"If we're from the same guild, does that mean that we know each other?"
"Oi!" They all whirled around to see two more people making their way down the large steps at the other end of the room. One was a tall man with piercings and dark hair, while the other was a significantly smaller young woman, clinging to the railing with difficulty.
"Who are you guys?" Natsu asked, his stance changing to be more defensive.
"I could ask you that." The other man growled back, folding his arms as he made it to the bottom of the staircase. The blue haired girl beside him was pale, looking like she was going to pass out at any moment.
"Are you okay?" Lucy ran up to her, helping steady the girl as she made it to the bottom of the stairs.
"I don't suppose you know where we are?" Erza asked him and the man shook his head.
"Not a clue. All I know is I got here a little while ago with the shrimp. I'm Gajeel, she's Levy."
"What's wrong with her?"
Gajeel shrugged, a pang of worry sparking in his red eyes as he glanced at her. She was panting, sweating with the effort of moving.
"I don't know. She's been like that for a while…"
Lucy helped the small bluenette sit down.
"I'm Lucy. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Levy just looked up at her wearily.
"I don't know… How long have I been here…?"
Gajeel sighed, looking down at her. "She keeps askin' that and she's getting paler. Somethin's wrong with her…"
As if on cue, Levy buckled, passing out on Lucy.
"Levy-chan! Hang in there!"
"Where the hell are we?!"