***I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. It has been a while, though not a very long while. We meet again, readers of my tale. May this story haunt you and taunt you and leave you wanting for more***

"NOOOOO!" he yelled, screaming out in desperation as he was dragged to the altar to give the ultimate sacrifice. The kind of sacrifice that was not likely to ever making it possible to turn things back into the way they used to be. Well. At least HE believed so. I didn't care all that much.

"I REFUSE!" he kept on wailing, his hands desperately clawing at the ground, his protests being thoroughly ignored. His smoking would surely be ruined the way he fared, but then again, Gray Fullbuster was not one to wear anything for too long. At the moment I was watching him being dragged by one leg by the mighty Erza Scarlet, a woman so strong that she didn't even notice how he dug his fingers into the stony ground, creating marks as he was moved those last meters to the altar where a very eager Juvia Lockser was waiting. Yes. Yes, he was indeed about to be bound by holy matrimony. In fact, he was the third one to get married today.

Why? Because this was Fairy Tail, and when Fairy Tail set their eyes on a job, they went all out. That, and we had discovered an interesting aspect of the curse. Only married people could move about freely. No one managed to actually find the exit, but both Wakaba and Macao actually made it to the courtyard and other areas none of the unmarried people managed. I had gotten lost at some bath-house earlier. Therefore we came to the conclusion that in order to get out, the more the merrier, and in order to join, one would have to be married.

It was rather simple, really, and after receiving the same treatment I had little sympathy for the complaining grooms and spouses to be. It was only temporary in any case. A marriage that would end with the mission, though certain things followed the bond as long as it remained official. Firstly, it was soon discovered that no, it was not a spirit possessing the husband into killing his wife but a different entity altogether. Because of this the marriage would be carried out traditionally. As in, the newly wedded husband and wife would accompany each other at all times for protection. As such, the husbands would have to be strong.

That included Gray, Natsu, Gajeel, Master, Freed, Elfman, Bickslow and Alzack. Gildarts was on that list too, though he had not arrived with the guild. No one had been able to contact him in order to warn him against coming though, so he might make his appearance later when he found the note left for those members that had been on a mission when the rest left to stop Natsu, a mission that had failed terribly. Since Natsu was married and sort of needed to remain that way no one thought of annulling the wedding, and besides, it would be very difficult to do so since as good as everyone remained stuck in this castle while the contract was not.

Freed was the first to go through the motions, binding himself to Erza, mainly because their shared love for order would make him the likeliest to survive the ordeal. And everyone else refused anyway. There wasn't too much passion between them, of course, but this wasn't a marriage that was meant to be out of love. Mostly, anyway.

Elfman got Evergreen, the gods knew why, though I guess, in a way, the match was suitable enough. Not many others would want to marry Evergreen anyway, and Elfman, deaf to most others, would be one of the few that could stand her eternal blabbering about her role as a true fairy. I didn't know the woman too well, but knew that she had eased up some after the expulsion of Laxus, and she COULD be nice if she wanted too, just a bit.. intense.. at times.

And now it was Gray, forcefully getting married to Juvia. The choice of girls wasn't entirely random either. Not only did the partners need to be able to stand each other, but the girls also needed to be able to fight alongside their partners. Therefore the girls were picked in order to make the strong and the clever able to move freely as well. The reason why Gray got Juvia was due to her strong fighting abilities, and the fact that she most likely would murder any other spouse matched with her beloved Gray-sama.

After that troublesome affair was dealt with, the next pair descended the altar, that really just was the slightly elevated table that was placed in front of the four long tables in the ginormous hall where the feast had been held earlier. On the table stood Master himself, standing up as the priest for the occasion since he as the guild master held that kind of authority. He blessed the couples and made them sign the contracts Mirajane had readied just as the plan was decided on.

This time it was Bickslow and Cana, fitted together mostly because their fighting styles fitted well together. Alzack got right after, with Bisca of course, the both of them so red during the informal ceremony that I had to hold back a slight squeal due to the cuteness of it all.

Gajeel got up on the stage, seemingly uncaring, as his spouse to be, Levy McGarden, also descended onto the altar, getting blessed and signing the paper. Levy was a romantic like me, so I think I saw a slight blush on her cheeks, seeing how she now suddenly found herself married. I sighed. Marriage, huh. An arranged marriage had been what initially made me run away from home, and look at me now. I sent a side glance at my partner that sat next to me, seemingly not seeing the big deal at all. Marriage WAS a big deal. Of course, with so many others stuck in similar positions it DID lighten my mood some, but still. Why couldn't he see that?

The door opened, and I heard low swearing, before the door got closed again. I turned to the door. The enormous door at the end of the great hall, the only exit from this particular room, and also the door any unmarried person would keep ending up by. I stared at the door, and it opened once more. A head appeared from the crack, low swearing could be heard, and then the head disappeared and the door closed again. Wasn't that..?

"I'm going to the toilet," Natsu declared unceremoniously, got up and left. I let him leave, sighing again. We were supposed to stay together practically at all times. That meant that if I MYSELF wanted to go to the bathroom he would have to accompany me. If HE wanted to go, however, he could manage fine as long as I had someone with me. I hoped the idiot didn't get lost. Something else about this curse was the fact that while accompanying a person that was married, an unmarried person could also wander around freely, though upon parting ways the unmarried one would end up outside the door of the great hall once more when rounding some corner. It was an annoying curse to say the least, and it could not be countered until we knew its origin.

The door into the hall opened again, and in came a very frustrated being that by now finally had realised that escape was futile. His name? Laxus Dreyar. The lost Fairy that had been banned from Fairy Tail at some point, which was quite a feat considering their high threshold. Well well, he sure did find himself in quite the predicament right now. Without uttering a word he walked towards his grandfather with determined steps, the old man still unaware of his presence, though several heads DID turn as they saw him there. Little Laxus, as many called him behind his back, the socially awkward grandchild of Master Makarov. Okay, that last part I didn't know if anyone else thought, but I did. He DID have a nice side to him, hidden away somewhere.

As he stood looming over him, his arms crossed while his eyes clearly demanded that he be told how to get out, Master Makarov finally seemed to notice him, stiffened slightly before he sent a boring glance at me.

"Come here, child." he stated, and I got up from my place, walked over to the altar with a feeling of dread, though it surely had to be imaginary. I was already married. I couldn't get married to this guy. Laki might be better suited. But Laki wasn't here. Strange. I thought.. He pointed on the paper without saying a word, and the idiot of a grandson he had signed it without a second glance.

"What the HELL are you doing?" I protested loudly.

"I don't care how, girl, I just want out." he said gruffly. Master nodded at me and then at the paper.

"Like HELL I am!" I protested, felt a bit like Gray when he had been dragged to the altar, took a step back.

"Just do it, Lucy, and get this over with so Laxus can leave," Master said, seemingly uncaring, and I twitched.

"Just do it, damn it, you heard him. For fucks sake," Laxus swore as his patience wore out and he grabbed my hand, forced me to sign the damn paper. Then he just upped and left. Had he stayed for two more seconds he would've heard his grandfather start bawling about how they grew up so fast. Shit.. did he just..?

"Who wants to bet on how long it takes him to realise that he still can't leave?" someone asked, and the atmosphere eased up in an instant as several people started to laugh loudly.

"Why did you just marry me off for the second time?" I asked instead, and Master dried his tears away.

"It gives him more room to roam around in." he said and then proceeded to down his cup of booze in one go for then to yell for someone to get him some more. I sighed. Fine. Not like the guy would care anyway. I already had ONE idiot husband to look after without starting to worry about a second one. Laxus could take care of himself.

"Lucy!" another voice called out, and I looked at Jet where he stood by the door.

"What?" I yelled back at him, seeing how we stood at opposite sides of the hall.

"Your husband's calling for you!" he yelled, and snickers moved throughout the room. I almost yelled a question as to which one, but held my tongue. If I did that I would never live it down. So I sighed instead, walked down the two steps from the front table, walked down the.. ugh.. aisle, a word I would never ever be able to maintain a good relation to ever again, and stopped in front of the door, massaged my aching head.

"What does he want this time?" I asked.

"I think he said something about finding a bedroom, so he sent me to get you." he explained. Ugh. Bedroom. I COULD need some sleep, though. Some away-ness from this. I was still tired, after all, had been oddly exhausted ever since I arrived at this castle.

"Fine. Lead the way," I said then, and Jet opened the door for me, held it open until I had arrived in the hallway, then let the door go and walked with determined steps just a few paces ahead of me. He sure knew his way considering how he would've ended up just outside the dining hall after rounding the corner as he and Natsu parted ways, the gods knew why they were hanging out in the first place.

Several walls along the hallways were decorated by wall carpets, and many of those, and the occasional huge picture, hid secret doorways behind them. It was one of those carpets Jet pushed away in order to use a shortcut when the carpet unexpectedly fell heavily behind him, and I felt a hand covering my mouth before another took hold around my waist and dragged me away, in through another secret passageway. Jet wouldn't know. Or perhaps did he. That didn't change the fact that he now would find himself outside the dining hall no matter how hard he attempted to follow me.

"If you value your life, be quiet." a voice whispered in my left ear, the voice so faint I couldn't place it as either male nor female. The assailant clearly had the upper hand, though, so I just nodded, and he or she sighed in relief. The hand was not removed, though, and the person started to walk backwards with me, slowly so I didn't trip and fall. I could feel the faint breath of the stranger on my neck, where his or her chin loosely rested on my left shoulder while his or her right hand kept my head from turning. The only thing I managed to make out was a white hood.

"Good. That's the spirit. Keep walking, watch the step..." he or she even warned me as the step was upon us, and I lifted my foot sufficiently, made the "climb". What was I doing? I should fight back, damn it all! But something kept me from doing any such thing. A creeping feeling that made me shake in fear. It was as if my whole being told me that this person, whoever he or she was, could just rip me to shreds whenever they wanted. There was a strength that emanated from the very being, and a darkness that followed it that threatened to swallow me whole. The being bore no sign of being armed, but it felt like a knife was firmly pressed against my throat.

Had I not been so utterly terrified that moving my legs was my only capability at the moment, I would've cried. But the sob was stuck in my throat, stopped by the invisible knife, and the tears were there with it. Breathe, Lucy. Breathe. But what was this person going to do with me? Where was I being taken? And for what purpose. WHY.. had I not been killed already?

The minutes past like hours, and I kept walking backwards, getting a whisper of a warning whenever a set of stairs or any other obstacles had to be overcome.

"Good girl, Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Layla and Jude, member of famous guild Fairy Tail. Now go in to your husband, and do not leave his side. Things are about to take a turn for the worse." the voice said, his or her breath tickling my ear, and then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the being was gone, and my legs gave in under me.

What.. WAS that? I should be dead. They knew who I was. THAT.. was bad. HOW did they know me? Who were THEY? By the gods, I felt tired. Things were about to get worse. The voice had said that. Worse. So the curse, with the labyrinths and the random attacks wasn't bad enough? As if to answer that question, a low rumbling could be heard, so low pitched I almost didn't recognise it as a growl. Slowly I turned my head in the direction it came from, and by the end of the hall... there it was. But WHAT was it? A dog?

If it was a dog, it had to be the biggest dog I'd ever seen. While it might go for being a Rottweiler, it was so large it scarcely fit in the hallway, it's head bowed to the ground, drool dripping from its mouth where it stood, baring its teeth at me. Its eyes glowed red, and the whole thing was pretty much black. Oh crap. No way was I going up against that thing. uh uh. NO WAY IN HELL! Slowly I moved one feet under me, then another, held its gaze while I got up on my feet. As soon as I started ascending up to my full height, however, it charged. What do I do what do I do what do I do! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit SHIT!

"Poochie!"

I stood there, watching the dog charge, my legs glued to the ground and my mind reeling for some kind of escape, some solution, ANY solution, when the voice yelled out, and I felt the wind as a girl passed by me, heading for the beastly animal. Poochie..? And look at that. The dog, or whatever it was, actually stopped in front of her. I could only see her blonde hair, flowing down in almost perfect waves, and her pink frilly dress. It looked a bit odd, though...

"There you are! I've looked all over for you! Mean Poochie, it's not nice trying to kill off the lady of the castle. It's not her time to die.. yet." the girl continued, tapping the head of the animal, and then she turned.

Her face. Her face was marred by four deep gashes that ruined what would probably be a beautiful face. She smiled at me, two of the gashes opening up and showing off flesh deep within. Dark red flesh. It almost made me gag. And her dress... the whole front was all but ripped to shreds, the pieces soaked in blood.

"Yo. You are Lucy, the new lady of the castle, right?" she asked, the girl, cocking her head to the side. I nodded. This was too weird. Too freaky. Things were about to get worse. The person in the white hood had said so. And this person. She couldn't be alive. And if she wasn't, then... Ghost. I paled even more, and took in a deep breath of air.

"Good. I'm Mia. I'm the spirit of Christmas Past!" she declared, the girl.. the GHOST Mia.

***A good ending for a chapter, I think. Nice and cliffy, with a slight scent of crack. I'll be back, hopefully in time for whatever comes next. Until then, fare thee well***