AN: Hello again, you wonderful reader! I'm back with an early Thursday update for you all, HUZZAH! I'm doing this because this chapter was originally part of the first chapter, but the word count was too big so I cut it in two. Therefore, not too much happens in this chapter, so I thought I'd update early and post the real next chapter this coming Saturday. Which leads me onto the next point: Saturday will become my weekly update date, I know it's a pain to wait a week, but I need that time to make sure my writing is at its absolute best~

Also, thank you all so much for the favourites and reviews! I wasn't expecting to get so much support~ I really wanted to thank all the guest reviewers, but sadly I don't have a way to reply to them… but if you're reading this and you reviewed the last chapter; Thank you so much, you all made my week!

I do not own Fairy Tail!

Anyways, enjoy!

~ Peash

However, the peaceful atmosphere was suddenly shattered when a cold, hard laugh cut through the air. "Play time's over, children." A cold, hard voice cackled.

Both mages instinctively jumped and spun around in the direction the laugh was coming from. Fear and adrenaline started pumping through their blood. A dark, hooded shadow emerged from the trees. It crept forward, still chuckling menacingly, until it reached the piles of clothes the two mages had left on the bank. A dark aura was being emitted from the shadow, no face could be seen but two glowing, yellow eyes shone darkly from the blackness. It stood around six feet tall, all clad in ragged shreds of ripped cloth that seemed to wisp away into nothing at the edges. Its body didn't seem to be quite there, and soft whispers could be heard coming from the slow, swaying edges of the fabric, it was almost as if the cloak itself was alive. However, despite being completely covered from head to toe, it was clear from the deep laugh that the figure before them was male.

Instinctively, Lucy reached to her waist to grab her keys but realised with sickening horror that they were on the bank with her clothes.

"Looking for these?" A voice asked tauntingly, coming from the shadowy figure. A ring of celestial keys appeared from the menacing shadows. Lucy's expression hardened as she recognised her precious keys. "Don't worry," The figure reassured, unreassuringly, "I don't want them." And with that he dropped them onto the bank next to Lucy's clothes.

The fire mage was starting to get pissed off. His initial shock had worn off and it was being replaced by a growing sense of furry, who was this guy who thought he could interrupt what was a peaceful and touching moment?! Even worse, he had Lucy's keys which meant he was aware that they were wizards, which couldn't be good. "Listen, pal." Natsu spat, "I don't know who you are but you can go back to where you came from before I-"

"Before you what?" The shadow interjected with a sneer. "Before you try to roast me to death with your petty flames, fire breath?"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you-"

"How did I know what magic you use?" Interrupted the shadow again, he chuckled before answering. "I know all about you, dragon slayer." The dark figure laughed harshly as it watched Natsu raise his flaming fists. "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Mocked the figure, malicious intentions were oozing from him. "You see, I might accidentally hurt something very, very precious to you."

Natsu, filled with dread, immediately glanced towards Lucy but was stopped short by the shadow laughing at him again. The Dragon Slayer hadn't made a move towards the mysterious figure, but he hadn't extinguished his flames either.

"No, no, no!" The shadow laughed, tossing back his hooded head. "I don't mean your girlfriend."

Face flushing, from both anger and embarrassment, Natsu challenged the figure again. "Look, she's not my girlfriend, but I will tear you a new one if you do anything to hurt her. As I said, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I'm losing my patience-"

"Not your girlfriend, hmm?" The shadow cackled, "You could have fooled me. And I don't really want anything in particular, I was just passing through when I stumbled upon you two lovebirds and I couldn't resist wishing you all the best of luck in your relationship with one another." The two yellow eyes, narrowed to slits.

Both fairies blushed aggressively. Natsu really was losing his patience, he turned his flames up a notch and was about to leap forward with a roar when the sight before him made him freeze up in fear.

The shadowy figure was holding Natsu's dragon scale scarf. His precious scarf given to him by Igneel. And pressing against it was a black blade that seemed to be made out of the same smokey mass as the mysterious figure. "As I said before, Salamander, I have something precious that belongs to you, so I wouldn't be attacking me if I were you." He tittered.

Lucy was frozen, she felt helpless without her keys and she couldn't throw off the feeling of despair the strange figure was emitting. It was like he wasn't a man at all, but a collection of all sorts of magic all stitched together. Seeing the furry in Natsu's eyes, Lucy stared at their aggressor and whispered: "What do you want with us?"

"As I said before," The hooded figure purred. "I don't want anything. Although, I do want to return this delightful scarf back to Salamander before I go on my way. You see, I am in a little bit of trouble with one of your fellow guild-mates, and I just know that she'll eventually seek the help of Salamander when she gives up looking for me. And although this wouldn't have bothered me under normal circumstances, due to either fate or bad luck I seemed to have run into you in the forest up here. Which means your lovely, little dragon nose will have already picked up my scent and since I need to get away from here without being followed, this causes me a bit of a problem. Sure I could kill you, but that takes time and a fight would draw too much attention. So, I thought, 'Why not drop by, have a little chat with Salamander and just warn him not to follow me when his friend asks him to follow my trail?' And here I am!" The shadowed figure finished with a small bow.

If Natsu wasn't worried before, he was now. This guy meant serious business. Although, the Dragon Slayer didn't understand all of what the creep was saying. "What? So you're threatening to cut my scarf if I follow you to where ever you run off to?" Natsu asked with suspicion. "You know if it came to either choosing between a friend in need or my scarf I'd pick my friend any day."

The shadow seemed to grin. "I understand that, I was only threatening to cut your scarf to provide me with enough time to warn you not to follow me... and to put a tiny, little enchantment on it."

Natsu's eyes widened, he looked and sure enough he could see faint, purple runes covering his beloved garment. Rage as hot as lava erupted in his heart. The fire mage reached towards his scarf with pitying helplessness, his eyes were full of hurt anger. "What have you done?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE-"

But before Natsu could even finish yelling, let alone throw himself at the shadow, the shadowy figure tossed the scarf towards the Dragon Slayer with a playful, "Catch!"

Lucy watched everything unfolding before her in horror. She didn't understand how the shadowy figure thought he could stop Natsu from chasing him with just a verbal warning, so she suspected more was at hand. The mysterious figure probably had a nasty trick up his sleeve. And when he threw the scarf back to Natsu, the celestial mage instantly paled. "NO! NATSU DON'T! IT'S A TRICK!" She screamed, watching in horror as her friend dived to save his scarf from falling into the water. As soon as the scaly fabric touched his body, the scarf glowed an ominous red before sliding like a snake up the Dragon Slayer's arm and towards his neck. Lucy was screaming as she watched Natsu's eyes bulge and his hands tear at his throat with shock and terror. The scarf seemed to be strangling him. Without hesitating, Lucy swam towards her friend who had now disappeared beneath the black waters surface. She reached out with a hand and grabbed what she suspected was his shoulder.

The shadowy, cloaked figure smiled. The girl had taken the bait. Without waiting another moment, the shadow slinked back into the tree-line with a smirk, knowing that he could now escape Magnolia without being followed by the Dragon Slayer.

Lucy couldn't scream. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even move. Somehow, when she had grabbed Natsu, the scarf had attached itself around her neck and was now constricting her windpipe. She could sense Natsu next to her, they were being pulled down, deeper and deeper into the pool. Fear was overwhelming her, along with a sense of hopelessness, knowing that she was about to die. Her lungs were screaming with pain, her heartbeat was erratic, and she could feel her mind shutting down. As she descended into darkness, her last thought was of wanting to reach out and take Natsu's hand.

"... can't believe this! It's just too horrible!"

"They're lucky, it could have been much worse if I hadn't seen them being dragged down into the water. They could have drowned-"

"Please, Erza! No, don't say things like that! I don't want to imagine anything like that happening!"

"I still don't think this is going to end well, Natsu will be pissed when he wakes up."

"NATSU?! I think it's Lucy who will be pissed when she finds out what's happened!"

"I-I don't know w-what to say... this, t-this is all m-my fault!"

"Mira! No!"

"Erza's right, Mira, it's not your fault."

"N-no! I-it really is! I was the o-one who t-told Natsu to do s-something to cheer Lucy up. If I h-hadn't of s-said anything they would both be f-f-fine right now!"

"Mira! Please don't cry!"

Lucy's mind swam. She barely registered the snippets of conversation she heard. It felt as if a pillow had been placed over her mind and senses, everything was just so fuzzy... everything was just so far away...

With a sickening lurch, the celestial wizard pulled herself into reality. Everything in her mind froze before going into panic as she remembered that she was nearly dying! No, drowning! She and Natsu were drowning! Natsu?! Was he okay?! Why could she still think? And why could she hear voices?!

Everyone froze as they heard an ear splitting scream. They quickly turned towards Lucy.

Lucy was shrieking, she didn't want to die! Forcing her eyes open she bolted upright, lights blinded her and her head pounded. She heard people scream for her to stop, but she didn't register them let alone understand what they were saying. She continued to push herself upwards, arms out in front of her, before she was suddenly stopped short by a rapid tightening around her neck. Her body was whipped backwards, her scream cut off, her hands reached for her throat as red spots appeared in her vision. She felt as if she was being strangled again. Terror erupted inside her and tears began to spill out from her eyes, but she could suddenly feel hands on her. Warm comforting hands. She could hear voices. Soothing voices calling her name and telling her to calm down, telling her that she was safe.

Panic ebbing slightly, Lucy opened her eyes again and blinked away the white blindness. She saw the fuzzy outlines of people standing above her. Her guild-mates, she realised with a sudden shock. The fear inside her was immediately replaced with relief, and tears of shock began to roll down her cheeks as she grabbed the hands on her shoulders, scared the people around her might leave if she let them go. "I-I c-ca-"

A chorus of voices cut Lucy off before she had even begun to speak; "Lucy! I'm so glad you're awake!" "We were so scared, Lu!" "You're safe!" "Luce, please don't cry!" "Are you feeling okay?!" "I-I tried me best to heal you b-but I don't know if I've done enough to stop your pain!" "What happened, Lucy?! Tell us everything!"

She ignored them all. "N-natsu!" The blonde whispered hoarsely, she was beginning to feel a deep throbbing pain in her neck and throat, it was definitely swollen. "I-is Natsu o-okay?" She pleaded, her heart pounding with worry. She tried to sit up again, but the hands on her pushed her down again.

"No, Luce, you can't sit up! You'll hurt your neck again!"

"Natsu's safe, Lucy!"

"Yeah, he's lying right next to you!"

Relief spread through the celestial wizard's body. Her muscles relaxed, Natsu was okay. He was alive. He was safe. Struggling, she blinked away the last bits of fuzziness in her vision and was shocked to find almost every single guild member crowded around her. Ezra, Mirajane and Wendy were the ones holding her down. She stared at everyone in surprise and realised that she was in the guild's infirmary, she was lying on a soft bed with sheets covering her body. With some relief she realised that she was still wearing her bikini. "How long h-have I been out?" She asked, her voice nearly breaking from the pain in her throat. "What happened?! I-I was- I mean w-we were drowning a-and-"

Erza swiftly cut her off. "Lucy, you've been unconscious for most of the night. But you're safe now. Out in the mountains, I was chasing a dark wizard when I heard screams, when I followed the sounds to a pool I saw you being dragged down into the water. But thankfully I dived in and managed to pull you and Natsu out onto the bank."

Lucy suddenly remembered the shadow that had nearly caused her to drown. With a flinch she quickly stammered; "Th-there was a wizard! I mean, a shadow thing! It was the one who tried to kill us-"

This time, it was Fairy Tail's Master, Makarov, who cut her off. "Yes, my dear, we know." The old man said kindly. "We will definitely have some questions for you two later on, but for now, we must deal with the... ermm... issue at hand." Lucy noticed with some worry that he looked rather uncomfortable.

"What i-issue?" The celestial wizard asked nervously, glancing around at her guild mates who were no longer looking her in the eyes. "What issue?!" She asked again.

"P-please don't freak, 'kay?" Gray said uncomfortably, Lucy saw that he was stood with his arms crossed and his shoulders hunched with apprehension. "I mean, I think you are going to freak but I don't think it's as bad as everyone is making it out to be-"

With a rising note of panic, Lucy saw that everyone had flinched at the ice mage's words. She heard mumbles ripple around the crowd. She suddenly started to feel very self aware and uncomfortable. "What's going on?!" She asked through her hoarse voice. Ignoring the pain that ripped through her muscles when she shouted. "Please?!" No one answered her, but Lucy saw a number of them quickly shift their gaze to her right. Following their looks, Lucy saw Natsu lying in the bed next to her. Another surge of relief spread through her as she realised he really was safe. He was still unconscious and wearing his swim shorts, but his chest was easily rising and falling and the look on his face was peaceful. Lucy felt a smile rise to her cheeks, but it soon evaporated when she saw a glint of metallic silver. With confusion, the blonde stared at Natsu's neck, his dragon scale scarf was around it, but it seemed to have been shrunk down into a miniature version. And there seemed to be a chain connected to it. Confusion and apprehension rising, Lucy followed the chain with her eyes as she wondered where the end was connected to.

Dread, fear and disbelief pooled into the bottom of her stomach. The chain was connected to her own neck. Natsu and herself were chained together.

Lucy shrieked as her hands flung towards her neck, they grasped at it and she felt a similar collar around her own neck. It was pretty tight, she could only slip a couple of fingers under it. It was scaly, but soft around her skin, which was why she hadn't noticed it until that moment. It also explained why she hadn't been able to sit up properly when she had awoken, the chain had been too short. Although the two collars were made out of the rather soft and light dragon skin, the chain connecting the two mages looked as if it was made out of steel.

People were still trying to comfort the blonde, telling her it was okay. Some were telling her that they had already tried cutting it, but to no avail. Lucy tried to speak, "What-what is this?! What is this?!" She cried desperately, looking around at everyone with pleading eyes. They all looked away, embarrassed.

This couldn't be happening.

This couldn't be happening!

She could not be tied to Natsu! No, chained to him! Blood flushed to her cheeks as the full impact of the situation hit her. What if they couldn't break it?! What if they were stuck like that forever?! How would she live?! Trying to calm herself down, the celestial wizard took several deep breaths before speaking again. "It's f-fine, right?! Everyone?! W-we can just cut the chain with magic?"

Almost everyone looked away. It was Levy who stepped forward and bravely spoke. "Erm, w-we have already tried that, Lu. It doesn't seem like it can be cut... Gajeel even tried to chew through it!" Levy's face darkened in colour as she saw disbelief clouding her friend's gaze. "Y-yeah, it definitely can't be b-broken normally. Because... well because..." The blue haired girl trailed off and looked extremely uncomfortable.

It was Freed who then took over. "There's an enchantment upon it. An enchantment that is specifically designed to bind two people together until they fulfil the requirements the original spell-caster has set, the only way the chain will break is by fulfilling the requirements."

Lucy saw red. Her mind flashed back to the dark shadow who had casted a spell on Natsu's scarf, she remembered seeing it covered in purple runes just before he had tossed the scarf to Natsu. "W-what are these requirements?" Lucy asked hesitantly, sensing the unease in the air.

Levy timidly spoke again. "W-we don't know exactly... this type of magic is seriously old. The wizard who cast the spell has used an ancient language that none of us can understand. It seems as if he wants to keep these requirements a secret from us. And, umm, from what I've read, most of the time, for these sorts of spells… the requirement is that one of the chained persons has to kill the other one to be set free..." Her eyes were glued to her shoes as she relayed the information.

Lucy was dumbstruck, she was still in a state of disbelief. "And we'll be stuck like this forever if we don't do whatever this guy has set for us to do?! Which is for one of us to kill the other?!"

"We don't know that, Lucy!" The Master said sharply. "The requirement might be more simple, it explains why the wizard who cast it has chosen to keep his requirement a secret. It might be as simple as both of you need to wear the same coloured shirt, or some other task like that. I believe that this spell has been designed to hinder you and Natsu, rather than harm you." He reassured calmly.

Levy nodded eagerly. "Don't worry, Lu! I'll definitely try to figure out the requirement by translating the ancient language it's written in, even if I have to read every book in Fiore to do it!"

For the first time since the shock of finding out she was tied to her best friend, Lucy weakly smiled. Seeing Levy so eager to help had started a spark of warmth in her chest despite all the anxiety and worry. She looked around at everyone and saw them all smiling too, a look of determination in their eyes. She was going to get through this! Lucy thought, her confidence growing with every passing second. "I believe in you, Lev." She smiled. "I won't let this get me down, with you guys here, nothing can stop us!"

The rest of the guild cheered loudly, their spirits rising. Many of them high-fived each other and most patted Lucy on the shoulder.

Everyone had temporarily forgotten about a certain, pink-haired Dragon Slayer until he was woken up by the loud cheering. "Wh-what's going on?!" Natsu said with a yawn, stretching his arms above him. He suddenly froze up as he noticed every member of the guild staring down at him. "Wh-what?!" He stammered nervously, he seemed to have apparently forgotten about nearly drowning.

"Err, Natsu..." Lucy began. "Please don't freak out... But-"

"LUCY?! WHY AM I CHAINED TO YOU?! WHAT IN MAVIS' NAME IS GOING ON?! WHO DID THIS?! GRAY?! IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A SICK JOKE, YOU ASSHOLE?!"

Thank you for reading! I know it's not much and it's all doom and gloom, but the next chapter coming this Saturday will make up for it, I promise!

Please consider reviewing and favouriting! It means a lot to me and I appreciate every ounce of support~

Until next time!

~ Peash