ETGoddess: Hey everyone~! I have a-

Readers: NEW CHAPTER! *all jump ETG at the same time, maliciously beating her* Give us the chapter bitch!

ETG: Waaaaah DX Here! Take it! Take it! *throws the chapter away from her and runs as you all go to get it*

Wow... That was close. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews I got for chapter 5. Sorry for the delay -again :/- but I've been having exams for the last two weeks... so... yeah...

*TheCookieMonster77, otaku03, Berri, imahappyperson: Thank you once more for such kind words. Like... seriously you guys, your feedback and reviews mean a lot to me, so keep them coming *CoughIstillhavemorefollowsthanreviewsCough* :3

*Celtika82: T^T You give me hope~ I too do not like stories that rush too much or push relationships too early on, so even though this fic may take a little longer, I hope you really enjoy it and go with it. Calm baby, no need to rush ;D

*EspeonLove, Night Kaida: Yeah, I know everyone is hanging out for Jerza. Well, I'm giving you a little present at the start of this chapter ;D I wasn't going to, but then I thought "Ah, what the heck". Enjoy, and look forward to what's coming.

*Rainbows-and-Rainclouds: Thank you! And... Hmmm... Maybe ;D Read and find out :3

*Guest 1, LegacyofBlood: Much thanks to you! Glad you enjoy and I hope you keep enjoying~

*the-olive-pixie: Hahaha XD I was sitting in class when I got your review, so I read it and was like "Pffft... Silly reviewer... Like I made that mistake!" and then I read the chapter through again on my phone and freaked when I saw you were correct. Was agitated for the rest of the day until I could correct it XP So thanks for pointing that out! You'd think after reading it through that I'd catch things like that, but no... *sighs*

*blueberrybash: Hi there ;D Firstly, I'm surprised the chapter seemed so short... It was actually one of the longest to date I believe :/ I'm also really sorry for the time it takes me to update. Uni is taking up a lot of time, and I actually have a lot of commitments -both social and online- outside it as well, so though I hate it, this gets pushed down my priority list DX It's due to this that I also don't really have a specific time it takes to write each chapter. Could be out the next day, the next week or the next month. From the looks of it, it seems to take me about an average of 3 weeks per chapter. Again, sorry if this is annoying, but it's either this or not writing at all D; Sorry for the ambiguities about Christina. I updated my AN, so hopefully it makes sense now. Most importantly though, thank you for taking the time to express your opinion. It does mean a lot to me :)

So, without further adieu, I give you chapter 6. This chapter is dedicated to imahappyperson, who made me cookies (luv ya ;D) and otaku03, for a good kick in the butt XD


Her eyes flew wide, chocolate brown irises taking in every section of the forest and the night sky that spanned out before her, colours too vibrant and too contrasting for her to take them seriously. The tree above her hung its branches low, bright purple leaves dancing in the wind; it was shimmering and sparkling to draw her in, wanting her to climb onto its limbs so that it could curl in on her and have her all for itself. Hah! Trees were so perverted sometimes. How come she had never noticed it before?

The brook she assumed was somewhere off to her right was whistling a night tune; one short and repetitive, almost broken with its many staccatos. It reminded her of Mirajane, and how she would sing as she did the dishes every night before heading home. She would ask Mirajane to sing for her again when she got back to Fairy Tail. A true promise to herself, the colour of green and tasting like the apples Bisca once brought to the guild.

Mother Nature was putting on a spectacular performance for her, but even then, all of her attention was on the blue.

Such a strong colour. It wove around her, clouding her vision and sucking her in with azure tendrils that caressed her entire body. It was lithe, but still dangerously strong, coercing her to move her body and harmonise with it. She wanted to open her mouth; wanted to ask why it was being so nice to her, but her lips seemed to be blocked and she couldn't get the words out, only managing to moan in some sort of pleasure.

Her core jerked and fluttered as she was moved from the ground, her fingers finding a smooth fabric that she happily ran her hands over, desperately trying to discover if something lay beyond. The blue was closer now, and she couldn't stop herself from reaching out to curl her fingers through it, the feeling as soft as she hoped it would be.

No, she doubted the blue was capable of disappointing her.

She gasped with hot breath as something moved into her mouth and ran itself over her tongue. It would have been suffocating had she not loved the sensation, so she let it stay, caving into its will. Her eyes closed as she moaned, trying to remember-

Remember?

Was there something she was supposed to remember?

The thought caused her to pause for a heartbeat, and that was all it took for everything to come crashing back. Like ice cold water thrown onto her face, her subconscious leapt back into her brain, screaming a warning that was all too important, but all too late.

Her eyes refocussed, all of the previous colours and sensations vanishing with a snap as reality set back in.

The reality that she was straddling Siegrain's hips as she sat in his lap, her hands resting on his bare chest where she had managed to unbutton the top section of his shirt. More importantly though, his hand knotted into the hair at the back of her head, holding her face steady as he ran his lips over hers, his tongue deep within her mouth.

The voice in her head called out again, and it was only then that she realised it had been crying out the entire time, and that she had merely been ignoring it.

Just what do you think you're doing?


- 6 hours earlier -


She had heard the rumours of Jura's abilities, but never in her life would Erza ever have imagined he'd be this amazing.

They were deep within the Woodsea, having been walking for a good portion of an hour. How Jura had managed to find the smallest trace of any activity among the mess of trees, roots and bracken still had her flabbergasted, but they all trusted in him and followed single file behind him as he marched them on.

"Would you two just shut up?" she hissed back at Gray and Lyon, who had raised their voices yet again -the seventh time since they had entered the woods- over another stupid squabble that didn't matter in the slightest. "You might as well march ahead and formally announce us to the Generals."

Gray shut his mouth mid-sentence, but must have been pretty pissed off about the whole situation, for he threw a sharp glare at both her and Lyon. Lyon himself opened his mouth to retort, but luckily Sherry swooped in, and, with a sharp tug of his arm and a "look Lyon-sama", drew the white-haired man's attention for long enough that the subject was dropped.

Erza sighed. It was completely ridiculous that they had allowed both Sherry and Lyon to come. Sure, both were skilled -Lyon arguably more so than Gray himself- but the two glass-wielders unmanaged disliking for each other, and Sherry's obvious enjoyment in tormenting Lucy, did not make them a very compatible team in the slightest. She'd have rather sacrificed the two and lost their skills than be found because they couldn't move more than four feet without having a go at one another. To make matters worse, Natsu had insisted -for God only knows what reason- that Happy should come along too, the blue cat sitting in his backpack with his head poking out, bobbing along with every stride Natsu took.

Then again, she wasn't really one to talk, having rushed to Jura's side and convinced Ichiya that as "second strongest leader" he had to trek at the back of the line to watch for potential threats. She shook her head slightly. Things weren't working out as she hoped they miraculously would.

She was so busy focussing on the others behind her that she failed to notice Jura suddenly stop, abruptly smacking straight into his back before she could stop herself; the others all managed to do the same behind her as if they were some ridiculous comedy train.

"I think you're getting blinder every time I'm forced to meet you Gray," Lyon spat as Gray rammed into him.

"I'm not the one with the squinty eyes buddy!" Gray shot back, recovering and quickly matching Lyon's height as the two sized each other up.

She was about to silence them once more when one of Jura's huge arms flew out to the side, the very gesture hushing them all instantly.

"Jura-san?" Lyon and Sherry slowly made their way towards their guild mate, stopping when they glanced in the same direction that the man was staring.

"What on Earth?"

Hearing Lyon's whisper, Erza quickly moved forward and looked beyond the trees that were blocking her view. She guess she had expected to see something destructive or gruesome, not that the tress would be black.

Ignoring the hesitant look Jura gave her, she moved towards the trees, Natsu and Gray right on her heels. Getting closer, it became obvious the trees had actually been coated in a thick black paint, some sort of curved characters carved with a knife into the bark.

"Oracion Seis' insignia" Hibiki muttered, joining her side and running a hand over the knife marks. "Why would they-"

"A curse." Jura's deep voice boomed from the right. "In the old days almost every guild would mark their respective territories with a similar method – insignias on signs and the like. This is a message for anyone approaching that the Oracion Seis claim ownership over all of the land from here on. The black trees though… I've only seen it once before. It was a curse that would be placed on all who walked past not bearing the mark of the guild."

"Curse?" Lucy's voice carried a fearful note that she tried to hide. "D-Do you think it's safe to continue? Perhaps- Perhaps there's another way?"

"If you're scared you can hold my hand." Hibiki sprung up on Lucy's right, already clasping her fingers with his despite her lack of response.

Rolling her eyes, Erza reached over and grabbed Natsu by his prized white scarf, Happy quickly jumping from his spot on Natsu's back as she lifted the Salamander from the ground and threw him a few feet past the cursed black tree barrier. Landing unceremoniously on his behind, Natsu turned to give her an unbelieving look before he suddenly began to cry out, rolling back onto the ground with both hands clasping his neck, eyes screaming pure agony.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed. Breaking away from Hibiki, she flew past the barrier to Natsu's side, only to stop when the Salamander broke into a fit of childish giggles.

"Just kiddin' ya Luce."

"Stupid idiot!" Lucy blushed and smacked Natsu upside the head before gesturing back to the group. "Well then. Seems everything is okay. Shall- Shall we continue?"

Erza took a step forward to continue in the straight line they had been traversing before, when Jura suddenly called out.

"Wait just a moment." Glancing out to the side, Jura shut his eyes and listened for a good half a minute as the group all eyed each other, slightly confused. Until:

"This way." Starting off due east of the direction they had been heading, the group all reformed the line to follow, not confident enough with their current location to argue with the man.

They continued for at least another ten minutes, and just when Erza was about to question where they were heading, Jura pushed through a thick clump of undergrowth, walking out into a bright clearing beyond. Arriving shortly after, the first thing Erza noticed was the huge waterfall that ran to their right, torrents of water flowing over the edge of a rocky ledge and down into a deep gully below.

"Oh! We here or something?" Natsu's voice, in contrast to the previous silence, was like a foghorn.

"Silence!" Erza had rarely been rivalled in her ability to manipulate both Natsu and Gray, but she might have just met her match, Jura's angry tone silencing not only Natsu, but the others, who had also been talking behind him.

Gesturing to both her and Hibiki, Jura began to slowly move towards the steep side of the rocky ledge. Following and crouching, the trio carefully peered over the edge. The waterfall emptied into a basin below, flowing around -albeit not flooding- a small island that sat in the centre of the body of water. And there, hollowed into the side of the gully, was a wide wooden gate, opening to a large cave beyond.

"That's the hideout!?" She couldn't control the surprise that laced her voice.

Jura nodded silently in return. "I believe so. I was worried a few of the Generals might be here, but it would seem not." Turning, Jura waved a hand to the others still hiding at the edge of the forest, compelling them to join their side.

"How do we get down?" Sherry wrinkled her nose as she peered over the cliff-like ledge and into the space below. "I for one am not climbing." Shooting her eyes towards Lucy, she chuckled. "Let the dirty Fairies go down first."

Lucy turned at her comment, angry-eyed and probably more than ready to jump the pink-haired girl, but Erza was faster, stepping between them with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine. I'll go. Somebody brought a rope, right?" Her thoughts flickered to the hook and cable she had in her pack before she realised it would be far too short to reach the full distance.

Not hearing a reply, she turned to look back at the group, almost facepalming when she caught them all doing their best to either act as if they hadn't heard her or look at the others as if they would have the solution to the rope issue. She was surprised then when Sherry's face suddenly lit up, the girl running off into the woods before anyone could stop her.

For the next few minutes all they could hear was the snapping of branches before the pink-haired girl re-emerged, and it didn't take Erza long to realise her train of thought when she spotted a long loop of vines strung between Sherry's arms. Sherry was known for her foraging and crafting skills, those who knew her well claiming that she could manipulate nature or her environment to do as she pleased.

"Jura, your bow please," Sherry declared, though Jura had also caught on, and was already laying the weapon in her waiting hand. Threading the arrow through one end of the thick vine, Sherry pulled the drawstring back, took her aim at the other side of the gully, and fired. Despite the extra weight, the arrow flew rather nicely, sticking itself into one of the trees growing out of the cliffside above the water. Taking the other end, Sherry pulled her makeshift rope taut, tying it to the closest tree. With a smug sort of smile, she gestured to her handiwork. "After you, of course."

Already knowing she would be the guinea pig due to her earlier comment, Erza took a deep breath and approached the side of the ledge. Drawing one of her curved sheaths from her side, she slung it over the vine, and, before she could reason herself not to, kicked off and zipped down into the gully below. Waiting just long enough so that she wouldn't smash into the rocky wall at the other side, she released one hand, falling from the line and landing in the water beneath her. A hand waving to signal she was safe and several screams from the others later, and the group all stood at the entrance to the Oracion Seis' lair.

"This is important." Jura's voice always made things sound important. "Make sure you do not touch anything. We don't want the Generals to know we've been here." Erza didn't miss that his eyes lingered on Natsu, Gray and Lyon as he spoke. "Got that?"

"My honey." She grimaced as Ichiya appeared from nowhere at her side. "Let me guide you through the cave with the power of our love!"

She twitched…

… and Ichiya was subsequently put on door guarding duty.

With some help from Natsu they located a group of thick tree branches and lit the ends for make-shift torches, using them to light the way through the cavern. For a hideout, she had to admit it seemed rather bare. There didn't appear to be any sort of food storage, but then again, supplies would likely spoil easily, so the Generals would probably hunt and collect their food as they needed it. The same could be said for weapons; she assumed they'd always be carrying them, or at least hide them from prying eyes like hers.

Walking closely to one of the walls, she spotted a narrow cavern leading off to her right, and was about to enter it when Natsu's voice rang out.

"Quickly! Over here."

Hustling towards his voice with the Trimen close by, she was shocked to round the corner and find Natsu on the ground, a small, blue-haired girl cradled in his lap. The girl's eyes were shut, her face pale and bruised. On her legs -where Happy had perched himself- were a multitude of little circular scars, some freshly weeping whilst others looked old and almost healed.

A child?

Hibiki -to his credit- was the only one who didn't appear frozen on the spot, and quickly rushed to Natsu's side, placing a practised hand to the girl's neck and leaning in to listen for any breathing.

Sighing in relief, he pulled back. "It's okay. She seems to be fine. Merely unconscious."

The held breath of the entire group was released simultaneously as the level of tension dropped dramatically.

"I don't understand though." Sherry rested one arm in the other as she held her chin in thought. "Why would they take one of the twins but not the other?"

Hibiki shook his head. "This isn't Gemini. I don't know who she is… I've never seen her before in my life."

"Huh?" Sherry clucked her tongue loudly. "So they're kidnapping heaps of people then is it? What disgusting beasts." She motioned to the girls legs. "Just what have they been doing to her?"

"I'm not sure Milady, but I think this extends beyond just Blue Pegasus now. None of you found anyone else?" A collective shaking of heads. "Okay. I can only speculate that the others are with the Generals at the ruin."

To Erza's left, Ren's fist connected with the side of the cave wall. "Damn it all. We were hoping we wouldn't have to go looking there."

Eve nodded in agreement. "It doesn't seem like a good idea to go after them. They likely know the ruin now, and could easily trap us."

"Look at the girl though."Hibiki's eyes pleaded with his team mates. "She's as pale as a ghost. I'd hate to think what they've done to the others."

There was a loud sound as Jura grunted in agreement. "Hibiki-san is correct. It would leave a bitter taste in my mouth to know that we have given up before even trying."

"What about the girl though? We can't just leave her here."

Hibiki paused to think. "No. We can't. It would also be stupid to not move her. After all, the Generals could return at any time."

"We need to split up." Lyon provided the idea they were all thinking of, but were all too unsure of to say out loud.

"Are you nuts?" Gray pushed off from the wall he was leaning against and shot incredulous eyes at his adopted brother. "We hardly stand a chance against the Oracion Seis as is, and you want to reduce our numbers?"

"This isn't just about what you want. There're more factors now, so our old plans mean nothing. We need someone to look after the girl and others to go to the ruin."

"You're such a prick."

"At least I can put my own feelings aside and do what is necessary."

"ENOUGH!" Her voice flew out clean and harsh, immediately drawing the group's eyes and shocking them into silence. "I'm sorry Gray, but I have to agree with Lyon. Besides, we still have our walkie talkies, so we can contact each other and give regular updates. Plus, we don't know if the Oracion Seis is moving in a group at all. If we play our cards correctly we can stay as a group in the ruin and take them out one by one. None of us will be alone."

Glancing towards Gray, she awaited a reply, but continued when he gave a small nod of unhappy acceptance. "What is most important though is who should stay behind. I think it would be safe to have three people stay here at least. We can't be too small in number with the Generals around."

Nodding in agreement, Ren took a small step forward. "I'm against going to the ruin at all. If you don't mind, I would be happier staying here." The tanned man glanced to his left at Eve, who nodded as well. "Me too."

Before Erza could open her mouth to volunteer Ichiya, Sherry scoffed and spoke first. "I don't trust you pretty boys with a young and innocent lady. I'll stay as well."

Jura placed a proud hand on Sherry's shoulder. "Then it's settled. However, as Erza-san mentioned, I don't think it is wise to stay here. I think we should try to move the girl to a different location; get her away from this awful cave and out into the sun again."

Hibiki ran a hand over the girl's forehead. "She is rather cold. I agree with moving her, but you can't go too far or the walkie talkies won't be able to wor-"

"Everyone!" As soon as Lucy's voice cut through the silence behind her, Erza stupidly remembered that the blonde hadn't been present for the entire conversation.

"Look at this!" Catching everyone's attention, Lucy held up a thick sheet of ruined parchment, the dim light from their torches just managing to highlight a map of the ruin printed faintly on the surface. "There's a whole stack of things just like this on a table right at the back of the cave. I didn't get to go through all of them, but most of them appear to be maps of the ruins and the Woodsea."

"Hmmm." Eve moved forward and plucked the scroll from Lucy's hands. "Hibiki, if we could look through these whilst you guys all go through the ruins, we might be able to guide you if you get lost."

Sherry sprang forward to read over Eve's shoulder. "Or better yet, maybe they drew these out themselves to remember specific locations."

Hibiki smiled. "Okay. I think this is working out better than I planned. I suggest you three stay here, look after the little girl and see what else you can find. Don't stay here specifically for too long though, we don't want the Generals to return and find you. Give yourself say, an hour, and then take what you want and move out. If you can though, please stay near the ruin so we can contact you."

"Sure thing." Eve dropped a wink and Ren smiled at Sherry, quickly blushing and turning away seconds later.

"An excellent plan." Jura's praise set them all smiling. "But I think we should get to Nirvana before it gets dark. It will be harder to sneak about if we have to worry about torches."

Nodding excitedly, Lyon, Gray and Natsu all made a dash for the cave exit, and, with a final glance at the little girl, Erza followed them out into the light.


Compared to the Oraicion Seis' hideout, Nirvana might as well have been a fifty foot glowing beacon. Crossing over the cursed line of black trees, the group -now three members lighter than before- swiftly arrived at one of the six almost leg-like structures that spanned from the main body of the ruin, which stood suspended high above the ground.

"How on Earth do you get into this thing?" Lyon muttered, casting a quick glance up and around the monstrous body of Nirvana.

He had a point. Only the six legs of the structure touched the ground, so moving straight into the centre would be next to impossible, unless they somehow developed a method of flying there. Looking up himself, Natsu must have had a similar idea, for he suddenly swooped down and scooped Happy off of the ground.

"Fly friend! Take us straight to the top!" With a dramatic leap of sorts he released Happy into the air, watching disappointedly as the cat fell straight to the ground with a loud 'plomp'. Seemingly giving up, he turned back to the group. "Well, I'm out of ideas."

Gray and Lyon both rolled their eyes at the same time -it was funny how similar they actually were when they weren't arguing- and Gray motioned to the giant leg next to them.

"I think we're going to have to climb this to get in."

Erza couldn't help but pull a face. "Look though." She gestured to the body of the ruin, where the legs curved in horizontally. "If we scale the legs we'll be completely exposed to anyone in or around the ruin for that entire length of the climb. We can't risk the Generals spotting us before we even get inside."

Hibiki nodded in agreement. "Christina managed to spot the Oracion Seis because they were out in the open as they were getting in and out of the ruin. It seems stupid of us to not use that mistake to our advantage and not repeat it."

"Or," Gray crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe the fact that the Oracion Seis had to use the legs to get into the ruin proves that there are no other ways in. A desperate man will go to desperate lengths to get what he wants."

Erza couldn't help but pause as Makarov's words from three days ago rang through her head. Either one, they are so desperate to find whatever they are looking for in the Woodsea that they have become sloppy, or two, that this entire thing is a set up to draw someone in.

"Meeeen." Her train of thought vanished almost instantly. "Do not despair. For Ichiya," The man paused to strike a pose with his two hands pointing in random directions. "Ichiya believes we can make it."

"If sensei believes, then so do I!" Grabbing Lucy's hand, Hibiki began to jog towards the foot of the leg. "Come Lucy-san. You can hold my hand as we climb."

Watching them go shortly before turning back, Jura held her gaze as they seemed to silently and seriously contemplate.

"I think this may be the only way in Erza-dono. What do you think?"

She cocked her head to the side to ponder, but knew deep down she had always known the answer. "I think so too."

Hearing her, Gray stood a little taller. "Okay. Here's what I think. I say we climb this thing as far as we can until we have no cover from being seen by someone in the ruin. Then, as a group, we make a break for the main body. There's no point going one at a time, because if one of us is seen then everyone's cover is blown." There was a general nod and murmuring of yeses in reply.

The climb itself wasn't too difficult, the cracked and uneven surface of the ruin providing plenty of hand-holds and areas one could pause to catch their breath. As they got higher and higher the leg began to curve into a flat surface rather than remain at a ridiculous angle, though this also meant that they couldn't conceal themselves on the far side of the leg at all. Finally, hearts beating fast, they reached a place where to move any further along would put them in direct line of site for the ruin.

"Is everybody ready?" Gray glanced around, making sure he got a confirmation from everyone before they all stood and ran pal mal for the broken doorway in front of them.

200 metres.

She huffed and spurred herself on, trying to move as fast as she could, though her legs were slightly tired from the climb.

150 metres.

A flicker of movement drew her gaze to a crumbled wall to her far right. There, eyes wide with euphoria and mouth curled into a sickening smile that showed all of his teeth, was a man. A man looking straight her way.

100 metres.

Her head was whipped around as Lucy put a foot wrong and accidentally stumbled slightly into her side, just managing to keep her balance and not break away from the rest of the group.

50 metres.

She shot her eyes back to the ruin once more, but the person was gone, taking her confidence and breath with them. With a final surge of energy the seven members of the group flung themselves into the first room of the ruin, collapsing onto each other in a messy pile of arms and legs. Natsu, somehow lucky enough to land on top of everyone else, grabbed Happy up and held him out in front of his face, a wide smile showing his pointed teeth.

"See that? We made it pal!"

From just beneath him, Erza couldn't stop the shudder that ran through her. Had there been someone there watching them? More importantly, should she tell them just in case, or would that only cause a panic?

"Dush ebeyn hab a wktki?" Hibiki mumbled from the bottom of the person pile.

"Can't hear ya Teriyaki," Natsu commented, before suddenly realising that this was because he was sitting on them all. Leaping up to let them free, the group finally got to their feet.

Dusting himself off and running his hand through his hazelnut hair, Hibiki took a deep breath. "I said, does everyone have a walkie talkie?"

Erza reached back and plucked hers from its position in her side pocket, watching as the others all followed suit.

"Okay. Good. Now," Hibiki held his own close to his face, his voice resonating from the devices in all of their hands as he spoke. "Firstly, remember you need to hold it close to your face, or we won't be able to hear you properly. If you only seem to be getting broken words, ask the person to speak slower or closer to the walkie talkie. If that doesn't fix the problem, you're probably out of range from each other, though don't worry. Due to the fact that these are all connected you will always be speaking to anyone who can hear. We can also act as conveyors for other members if two people are too far from each other. Any more questions?" He glanced around, but nobody spoke up. "Awesome. Hopefully we won't have to use these, but, you never know." Re-pocketing his walkie talkie, the host gestured to the passageway beyond. "Does anyone object to us heading straight for the middle?" Another round of silence. "Okay then!" Hibiki was about to move out first when both Gray and Lyon each grabbed one of his shoulders, moving him backwards and into the centre of the group as they both drew their glass weapons and positioned themselves in front of everyone else.

"Let us go first."


She couldn't say how long they moved like that: Gray and Lyon a few steps ahead, checking every corner and passage before giving the all clear to move on. Somehow, she earned Ichiya's previous role of staying at the back and constantly looking over her shoulder to guard from behind. It unnerved her a bit -heck, a lot- for she kept expecting to turn and find him smiling at her from the shadows, eyes glowing. The minimal amount of light that managed to penetrate through the cracks in the ruin did little to comfort as well, just lighting everything enough to see, but not enough to stop the corners of every room from dripping with blackness that threatened to swallow them up.

The little voice in the back of her head was still annoying her though, begging her to confess that she thought they had been seen, though for some reason she kept pushing it down, kept silencing herself.

And only… If only she hadn't, for when they rounded a corner into a grand room and found six people standing there waiting for them, she knew deep down that it was all her fault.

They froze, Lucy letting out a small squeal as they all quickly took in and registered the situation.

"You see Racer, I told you I heard little children stomping around in our Nirvana." The man who spoke was rather handsome in a raggedy way, auburn hair sticking up in every direction. However, the giant purple snake coiled around almost every inch of his body was more impressive by a long shot.

"Guess so." The man to the right of the one with the snake let out a bored sigh, running a gloved hand over the top of his head, momentarily flattening the mohawk he had styled.

"Screw you!" Gray, already armed, took his stance with his knives raised, whilst beside him Lyon also shifted. "You've just saved us the time it would have taken to find you, that's all." Both brothers moved to step forward, but were interrupted by a loud outcry from the largest man in the room.

"Uh, uh, uh! One more step forward and it's bye bye, you know?"

"Shut up Hoteye!" the snake-covered man hissed, rolling his eyes at his block-headed team mate. This distraction though, gave Erza and the others the time they needed to draw their weapons. Glancing down the line, she spotted the man from before, white and black hair falling into his eyes as he looked at her in return. Just as she thought he wasn't going to react, his mouth quivered into a smile, tongue flicking out to run over his lips hungrily. She wanted to cut that tongue out for good.

"Isn't this quite the situation?" The dark-skinned man who held the centre position in the line finally spoke, rich voice echoing. "Do you actually plan to attack us, or do you need more… motivation?" Gesturing to a woman in white, he chuckled as she moved back and re-joined the line, dragging an unconscious body with her. The body of a pale woman with a cute set of pink, fluffy curls.

She knew something was wrong even before Hibiki and Ichiya reacted, but by the time she had figured out what and was throwing her arm out to try and catch either man, it was far too late.

One more step forward and it's bye bye.

"NO! DON-"

As soon as Hibiki moved forward, the tile beneath him gave way, shattering to a rubble of stone as the floor caved in and the walls around them exploded into fire. She screamed, trying to catch sight of someone to grab hold of, but everything was a blur of blacks and browns and greys, dust blinding her as she fell. How long she was propelled through the air, she had no idea, only that with a harsh smack she fell to the ground, rubble crashing around her as the ruin collapsed.

Had it been 5 minutes? 10? An hour? Panting, she pulled her face from the floor, coughing as the dust settled around her. She was in a sort of corridor, one direction completely blocked by rocks and debris whilst the other remained relatively clear, letting in what little light she was using to see.

The others! Where are the others!?

Crawling to her hands and knees, she shakily stood and walked a little way down the passage, though it seemed to just go on without opening into another room.

"Hello! Is anyone there!? HELLO!"

Silence.

No.

She fell to her knees once more, her words spoken what seemed like hours ago blasting over and over through her head like a broken music box.

None of us will be alone.

"Please! Somebody! Is anyone there!?"

None of us will be alone.

Her voice seemed to be the only sound she could hear, a pathetic echo the only answer to her shouts.

None of us will be alone.

A shiver as the full impact of what happened dawned on her.

None of us will be alone.

She was alone.


To be continued~

Ah, another chapter done :) Hope you liked... Hope the ending wasn't too troll-ish XD *dances*

As always, please review with any feedback you like :D I take it all I do!

Wow... For once I have nothing else to say ( ._.) Hmmmm...

Nup... I got nothing ;D Look forward to chapter 7!

UPDATE: Ohmahgod... Has anyone seen Hiro Mashima's latest Twitter pic of Jellal? It's literally him just standing there thinking about Erza's breasts. I mean... WHAAAAAAAA-? XD *doesn't know whether to fangirl scream or fangirl facepalm*

ETGoddess out~!