Everything felt strange to Lucy. The last thing she remembered was leaving the mansion because she couldn't handle living alone with her father anymore. Now she has some weird pink mark on her hand and her head hurts. For some reason, Lucy felt like she was forgetting something...

The more she thought about it, the greater the pain became in her mind. Oh well, if she couldn't remember it, it must not be that important. She looked around and saw... nothing? How could that be? It was almost as if the entire world had been painted over in black.

"Hello?!"

Her voice seemed to carry on forever. She finally came to the conclusion that she was all by herself when she saw a figure in the distance appear with a flash of light. Lucy looked a little closer and realized that she knew the person.

"Mom, is that you?"

The woman resembled herself in so many ways; from her blonde hair to the kindness in her chocolate eyes. There was no doubt about it; she was Lucy's mother.

"Lucy, you've grown into a beautiful young lady just like I knew you would."

Lucy felt her throat tighten as she tried to hold back the tears she felt coming on.

"There are so many things I want to tell you but time is short. You are in the space between life and death. You must make a choice that could end the life of your friends and yourself."

Friends? Who was she talking about?

Lucy knew that there was a reason she was there but she couldn't understand how it happened and who were these friends her mom is talking about? Her entire childhood was spent locked up in the family mansion. She never had the chance to make any friends. Lucy cried out in frustration.

"Who are you talking about?! I have nobody left that cares about me!"

Layla gave a small smile and stepped towards Lucy. She reached out and touched her face.

"You may have forgotten them but they haven't forgotten you. Remember who you are. You aren't just a Heartfilia anymore; you are a part of Fairy Tail. Your family is with you. He's still with you. He's the one who found you, wasn't he? That boy isn't going to let you go just yet."

Lucy saw an odd image in her mind. A pink haired boy was just barely standing as he was covered in bruises and wounds that she would have died from by now. His opponent was a man with hair like death. The pink haired boy took a step forward, determined not to fall.

"You can fight me and curse me, but when you try and harm Lucy, you'll have to go through me to finish the job. Don't think that I'll let you take away something precious to me without a fight."

Lucy struggled to breathe as she listened to what this stranger was saying. He sounded like he knew her well but how could that be if she's never seen him before?

"I'll keep fighting until every bone in my body are crushed and I can't move my fingers. I know she's still alive and I'm not goingt to stop until I see Lucy smiling once more. I promised to protect her and I'm not going back on my word just yet!"

And with that, the nameless boy ran forward, flame in hand, and then the image disappeared, leaving Lucy feeling lonelier than before.

"N..Natsu?"

As soon as she said his name, memories came flooding back to her. Phantom Lord, Galuna Island, the Tower of Heaven, Oracion Seis, Edolas, Grimoire Heart, Tenroujima; she remembered it all. She remembered Fairy Tail; her family and home. Natsu. He was, no, is her everything. He rescued her from her old life and gave her a hope and a future in Fairy Tail. Natsu had saved her countless of times and even now, he was fighting to save her. Then she thought of something else.

"Dad... is he okay?"

"Yes, he's happy to know that you're finally enjoying your life with your loved ones. Although he has said a few things about the Salamander that I'd rather not repeat."

The two laughed and embraced in a tearful reunion but Layla knew that time was running out.

"Listen to me, Lucy. I'm about to tell you somethings that you'll find hard to believe. Every person's soul has a different form but yours is a very rare type of soul. You are more than just a Celestial Spirit mage. Your soul has taken on the form of the Eternal Key."

"Isn't that what Zeref's after?"

"Yes. The Eternal Key hold the power to open the door between Heaven and Hell. If Zeref were to get a hold on your soul, he would use it to control an army of demons."

"But Zeref already has my soul."

Layla shook her head.

"He has merely removed the soul from your body. This has left you with three options to choose from, all of them leading to pain for somebody."

So basically she would be hurting someone no matter what she chooses. Great.

"What are my options?"

"The first is that you could choose to let Zeref use your soul for his own purposes, and then you would go back to your body and live in whatever world he has created. You'll have no way of knowing if any of your friends survived or not."

So she could still live but her friends might die and she'd be killing thousands of innocent people. Definitely not an option.

"The second option is more painful for yourself. You may choose to end your life so that the Eternal Key no longer exists but you would be leaving your friends with the guilt of letting you die."

A long time ago, Erza told her about the vision she had of Fairy Tail after she sacrificed herself to save everyone. Her choice had caused them all more pain than she thought she was saving them from. There was no way Lucy could put her friends through such a thing.

"What's the third choice?"

Her mom hesitated, clearly not wanting to say it out loud.

"The final option is that you never existed."

"What?"

"None of your friends would have memories of you and your life with them. However, you would come with me to the afterlife where you would be able to watch your friends grow up and live on."

Could she really do that? Could she really just choose to be forgotten?
Of course she could. She's Lucy Heartfilia, a Celestial Spirit mage and a member of Fairy Tail. If choosing to be forgotten would save her friends from harm, she would be willing to do anything.

"I choose the third option. I choose to be forgotten."

Tears stained her face as she prepared for what was to come.