Water dripped incessantly while the sounds of tiny claws echoed across the room. A slow, low, and impenetrable humming noise buzzed through the thick air, the only other sound was the clanging of metal on metal or metal on stone. My eyes have long since been able to open yet they were useless in this unending darkness. The air was no help either as all there was to smell is blood and mold. The feeling in my hands and feet have disappeared due to the chains and hanging position; overall I was helpless.

A door sits up high above this dungeon and is hardly ever opened. Since the spell has worn off it has only opened once and from its light I was able to see the stairs that lead up and the cruelty that lives in this hole. Blood stained everything and the walls reeked of iron from it, the chains were everywhere not just around my wrists and ankles, and the rats ran freely from place to place. There was someone in the corner hunched over, but when I called out to them there was no response. They didn't even move. I screamed at them but it was useless—like me. At this point I can only assume they're already dead and the rats have cleaned the bones.

How long have I been down here? I can't even feel—there's nothing…

"Hello," the voice startled me out of my delusions. Had the door opened? Is the person in the corner dead? "I'm to take you down now."

I open my mouth to protest, to scream, cry, beg anything at this point really but nothing comes out. My eyes are open, but they cannot penetrate this darkness that so wholly destroyed all senses. I feel the chains around my ankles move but not become unbound, I am able to swing my body now. Someone grabs my feet and hoists me up until my hands come free from my hook, of course the shackles remained. Whoever it was that stood before me slung me over their shoulder and soundlessly made their way out of this hell.


"Open the door," the voice commanded to someone unseen. There was no sound, but light flooded the darkness that seemed so ingrained into wherever I was. It was almost painful to think that the light was my enemy. I squint my eyes until I can make out my surroundings—the short legs of my captor, the finely woven fabric of the carpet he walked on, the grey and greenish stones that lay underneath the carpet and when I lift my eyes I see the door. Finely carved with thousands of intricate details depicting magic, a deep inlay of gold shimmered here and there while tiny jewels of all colors bounce the light around. The beauty and warmth of this almost brought me to tears when thinking about where I've been.

"This is her?" I cannot see the owner of the voice. But it belonged to a woman and one who must be very beautiful to own a voice comprised of honey and silk. "Bring her here," the smooth soprano that rang through the air eased my nerves and suddenly I felt like crying from the contradiction. Someone with this voice and wonderful taste in decorating also housed that…that hell. I was dropped unceremoniously onto the carpet at the foot of some stairs. I struggled to stand, but only made it to a seated position before nausea swept through me. My chains bit into my skin and drew fresh blood and I attempt to rearrange myself more comfortably.

With much willpower and my stubbornness I was able to lift my head enough to see the feet of my tormentor. Only the tips of her shoes could be seen because her dress hung all the way down to the floor in great big sweeping curtains of fabric. When she shifted or tapped her foot the fabric flowed like a river and sparkled like the stars. A long silver rope and tassel swayed with her hips as she waltzed down the steps. "Silly girl. What are you doing in my forest?" a sudden wooziness took over at her words. "Don't you know the forest is a dangerous place to be alone?"

My arms felt like a weight was crushing them and I couldn't bring myself to look higher than her knees. "But don't you worry pet," she purred as she bent down to my level. "I will protect you," her face finally came into focus and I screamed.


"Charla! Charla! Please slow down!" Happy cried after his longtime love interest. The white cat however did not slow her relentless pace as she continued to soar further away from the group. Pantherlily was keeping up with her better than Happy, but even he was visibly exerting a lot of energy to keep pace. If it wasn't for Ezra and her notorious over packing habit, Levy and I wouldn't be able to keep up with the group due to footwear malfunction. Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus all lead the pack at an unforgiving pace as well. Ezra and Gray brought up the rear while Levy and I tried to not get in the way. Of course we were also in charge of watching the boy so that was slowing us down considerably as well.

Levy was panting lightly as she managed to never break her stride as we jumped over fallen trees and rotten roots. The boy hardly seemed bothered by the exercise, in fact his face showed no signs of distress at all. "So, what about now?" Levy managed between pants.

"These trees all look the same," he said sadly.

"No shit," I ground out between gasps. "Tell us something we don't know."

"I'm sorry Lucy-san…" he whimpers as we continue to search aimlessly through the forest. It's been almost two weeks since we lost Wendy and the further we get into the forest the angrier I become.

"Stop! Everyone just stop!" I grind my feet into the soft earth, causing Grey to almost run me over. The three men in front come to a screeching halt and even Charla stops to hover a few meters in front of us. "This is pointless! We have no idea where we are—what direction we need to go in…hell I'm not even sure we're in the same damn forest!"

"Luce…" Natsu starts to walk over to me.

"No!" I snap at him with venom. "I'm tired of this running around hoping this useless boy will remember something! I want to know where Wendy is!" I reach for my keys to find who I need. "Open Gate of The Compass! Pyxis!" in no time my familiar duck looking friend stood before us. "Pyxis," I say as I fall to my knees in front of him. "Can you find Wendy?" he gives me a quizzical look before making a honking noise at me. "You know Wendy? Small, cute, blue hair—Wendy, Pyxis," I beg him.

Pyxis continues to stare at me with an unfathomable look on his face before turning slightly to my left. He honked again this time at the boy. "W-what does it want fr-from me?" he slowly backed up until he bumped into Levy. Pyxis only honked again before jumping on the boy.

"Pyxis! Pyxis stop it! What are you doing?!" I scream as I attempt to pull my deranged friend off the boy. Pyxis suddenly stops his assault and stands before me with a smug look on his face. "And what did you just prove?" I snap at him. He lifts his face up to mine and in his beak is a chunk of the boy's white hair. Pyxis consumes the hair before I can pry it out of his mouth and his eyes gloss over for a moment. "P-Pyxis?"

No one moved as Pyxis slowly came back to reality and honked loudly at all of us. He jumped up and down excitedly before pointing in a northeastern direction. "Pyxis…did you—did you find her?" tears welled up in my eyes as my friend turned to me and smiled.

"Honk," he smiled triumphantly at me before saluting and disappearing into a cloud of golden dust. Charla landed softly by my side as everyone gathered in closer.

"I-I didn't know he could…he could track," I admit astonished.

"Lucy do you think it's the right way?" Charla asks hesitantly.

"I don't know Charla," I say as I grab her tiny paw. "But it's the best we've got right now."


The humming has finally become background noise at this point. In between the beatings it has become nothing but a distant annoyance that was easily forgotten. As for the beatings they came regularly and always brought a new face to my attention. An ungodly amount of children all ranging in size, shape, and age ghosted down the stairs to greet me. Their blood red eyes bore into my dull ones before the onslaught of pain. The first few times I remember crying out in agony, whimpering like a weakling, and begging for answers like a fool. Now that it's been what…a week? A month? I can almost say I feel nothing.

The metal around my extremities, I have found, contain magic suppressing materials. Back when I cared and fought I found it draining to call upon my magic. So when I stopped struggling I started to think. Thinking took a great deal of effort being down in this oppressive hole and I expended that effort every time. My mind wanders to all the possible reasons I ended up in this situation. Or towards where I was and how far I've been dragged. Or, mostly, towards that haggard woman. That old hag hasn't come to see me once, but her message is clear. Join her or die.

"Aurgh…!" I bit out painfully as a particularly nasty snap of the whip tore out my flesh. The girl looked to be at the age max of fifteen, yet she was already rather womanly in appearance. Her white hair was cropped short and curled in perfect coils around her heart shaped face. Her almond shaped red eyes held no expression as she continued her whipping. She brought the whip down again against my stomach and I swear I could see an internal organ.

Finally the girl stopped her torture and went to clean her whip in the corner of the dungeon. Many torture items were housed in that corner, so I have learned. When she came back into my line of sight she bowed slightly before me, "Mistress," then she left. They all did that and it has long since stopped freaking me out. I don't know why they bowed to me after beating me senseless or why they gave me that title, all I know is that it's stupid. The door closes noiselessly behind her and I am once again thrown into the darkness with nothing but my blood and thoughts to keep me company.


"Pyxis!" I call upon my friend once again as we all stop to take a quick break. The poor spirit looks just as worn out as I feel, but he is a trooper that's for sure. Once again he attacks the boy and takes a piece of his hair before pointing us in another direction.

"Lu-chan?" Levy walks up next to me and rests her hand on my shoulder. "You can't keep this pace up, Lu-chan."

"I have to," I barely manage between pants. "W-Wendy needs us Levy-chan. Pyxis feels as though we are finally getting close. Maybe Natsu or Gajeel or…or Laxus will be a-able to find her. I just have t-to—to get close…enough…"

"Lu-chan!" Levy screams as she frantically tries to grab me before I face-plant into the earth. "Lu-chan? Lu-chan! Lu-chan!"

"Levy what happened?!" Natsu snarled. The world went black after that.


Soft murmuring was all I could hear as my head finally cleared enough for me to open my eyes. When I turned my head to the side I almost jumped out of my skin, the boy was sitting right next to me. Pantherlily was seated next to him and they both were watching me as I slept. "You're awake," he said.

I moved to a half seated position and my head spun in protest. "What happened?"

"Magic depilation. You were using too much in a short amount of time. If it wasn't Pyxis you called it was Loke or Aries and you finally passed out," Pantherlily scolded. "You could have died Lucy."

"I know Lily," I grumble softly.

"I'm glad you're awake," the boy said happily. "Wendy would have been so sad had you died." I stared wide-eyed at this child. "Nay guess what Lucy-san?" he smiled at me.

"W-what?" I stutter.

"I'm thirteen," he beams.

"What?" I say exasperated.

"I'm thirteen!" he says proudly and Pantherlily smirks next to him. "I remembered my age."

"How?" I say with complete shock. "Just yesterday you didn't know the difference between yourself and that tree!" He looked momentarily hurt by my words and Pantherlily glared at me. He looked down and started to draw circles in the dirt. "I'm sorry I'm just on edge you know?" I sigh.

He never met my gaze, only continued to draw in the dirt. "I know," came his soft reply.

"Wendy is sixteen," I say without thinking. "She just had her birthday…" I laugh bitterly. "I forgot her present at the store and—I haven't even given her her present." Tears well up in my eyes before the snapping of a fire caught my attention. I turn to see everyone gathered around the fire watching us curiously, without words I hold my arms out. Natsu is next to me and holding me quicker than I could see. I held him close and breathed in his scent, it always grounded me and tonight was no different.

"We're going to get her back Luce. You'll see, she's going to be just fine," he murmured into my hair as I continued to cry silently into his shoulder. That night everyone slept close together as the air finally shifted in the forest.


"This is the break we need!" Natsu shouts joyously as we all continue to push our limits. The boy was keeping up remarkably well considering the terrible shape we found him in.

"Are you doing alright?" Levy asks him as she keeps pace with Gajeel and Pantherlily. Ezra and Gray watch him as they continue to guard the rear of our group.

"Y-yeah," he pants.

"Good," she smirks at him. "Lu-chan ready to kick it up another notch?"

"Let's go," I growl as Pyxis and I push off the ground harder and force the group to speed up. Natsu and Laxus flanked us as we continued on while Pyxis led us deeper into the forest. We seldom spoke as we traveled across the wet earth. The rain from before still clung to the air and permeated the soil causing our feet to sink in as we ran. I know for a fact Levy and I have been training too hard for something this mundane to slow us down everyone else had to keep up with us. 'Please be okay Wendy…'


"Hello," it was that boy from the first night of my unending hell. "I'm to take you down," I couldn't even look at him. My head hung loosely while the rest of my body was numb, so when I landed less than gracefully on the cold floor I felt nothing. He picked me up as easily as the first time and carried me up and out of the hole. The ride was bumpy, the boy was unaccommodating in his traversing through the halls. The dim lighting in the halls was too much for my eyes, everything was too stimulating. I felt like throwing up.

"Have you brought her my pet?" that golden voice filtered through the air and stung my ears. "You're such a good boy," she cooed as the boy dropped me back onto the stone floor. That same carpet from before was under me again and I lazily counted how many threads it had as I waited for another assault. My sense of hearing must be going because in a moment she was upon me and I didn't hear her coming. The old hag grabs the collar of the destroyed shirt and lifts me to eye level. Her breath is foul, like a rotting corpse in the sun, as she breathes across my battered face. "Have you been a good girl?" she purrs.

I don't know if it was the stench of her breath or the fact that my vital organs have taken one too many hits but all I could do was cough up blood and bile in answer to her question. My throat burned and my eyes stung from the effort, she made a dissatisfied sound before dragging me up the stairs. "I want to look at a fresh face my pet," without another word the boy takes me from her and walks back out of the room. "I hope you enjoy your new look!"

"N-no…" I groan again as the boy, along with two other children, vigorously scrub at my broken body. My clothes have been taken from me and I've no idea what has become of them. A girl who looked about ten was washing and rewashing my hair. I watched as blood, dirt, and grime fell from my locks in clumps. The oldest looking boy—maybe thirteen—was working on dressing my wounds. He twisted and stretched my skin until it all started to mesh together, it itched terribly but I have no strength to stop him. I have no strength to stop any of them actually. While they have removed my shackles to clean the wounds my magic still feels far away and unreachable.

"You look so ugly," the girl sneers as she finishes with my hair. A dirty mirror was brought before my eyes and I cry out in agony. My once blue hair has turned a dull grey color and my dark brown eyes now looked to be the color of dried blood. The skin on my face is tight and clammy with dark bags under my eyes, my lips were chapped, and I could see my collarbone.

"Zara," the oldest boy snapped.

"Well she does," the girl, Zara, protested with a huff. "Where are her clothes Maximus?" she whines to him. "We've got more important things to do."

"Hitaro is grabbing him," he barks at her in agitation. "I don't want to be here anymore than you do. So, shut up and finish what we've been assigned to do."

My head is spinning from their conversation, none of them have ever talked this much in front of me before. Except for that boy… "Augh!" I cry out in pain as the girl—Zara—yanks on my hair.

"What are you looking at?" she snarls. With another yank on my already bruised skull all I can do is whimper. Zara continues her unprovoked attack on my head until the younger boy returns with new clothes. "Well it's about time Hitaro," she snapped.

"Couldn't find any her size," he responds coolly. Nothing in his posture or expression showed a hint of fear for this vicious girl.

"At least there's something the pet isn't good at," she growls at him while snatching the clothing from his hands. She then proceeds to dress me violently as the boys leave the room. Zara continued to rant and snarl the whole time she dressed me, but I am so delirious that her words turn to a fuzzy roar in the back of my mind. When she finally finishes with the clothes she left me slumped over on the ground. "Good for nothing," she snaps before exiting the room as well.

I lay here now wondering what fresh hell awaits me when they return.