Poor Lucy. I wonder how she is doing, well you're about to find out!
The sound of water droplets echoed throughout the cold cell. In one corner sat the figure of Lucy Heartfilia. She was curled up, trying to seek what little warmth her own body heat could offer. Her clothes were filthy and she hadn't showered in days. She wished that was the least of her problems, because her daughter was still out there somewhere.
The thought of poor Nashi out in the world on her own scared Lucy stiff, but if Nashi did what Lucy asked then by now she should be in the safest place in the whole world. Fairy Tail would protect her as long as she stayed in their sights, she just hoped that she got there safely.
Lucy was startled when her cell door was opened. Not once since she arrived has anyone been in contact with her, only her food being brought reminded her that other people were there. She scowled at the white haired man at the door. A playful smile was on his face.
"Well Lucy Heartfilia, I do hope you are enjoying your stay here," he said strolling into the cell. Lucy struggled to rise to her feet from lack of nutrition, but did it anyway. The man before her started to chuckle.
"But I suppose we aren't the most hospitable people, I mean , I haven't even told you my name." The man bowed before Lucy, "You may call me Shinzō Hossa." Lucy glared at him with malice. Shinzō smirked playfully at her, inching closer to her.
"I suppose you're wondering why you're here or who I am."
"I assume you're the guild master of Scarabs Wings, the dark guild known for killing large numbers of people and taking the dead bodies with you." Shinzō was taken back by her answer. He chuckled to himself. He took a strand of Lucy's blonde hair into his hand and rubbed it between his fingers.
"I knew you were smart Miss. Heartfilia, however I never expected this. Tell me, how did you know?" Lucy refused to look him in the eyes.
"Years ago, one of my father's warehouses was attacked. All the men but one were killed and taken. Your guilds crest was painted in blood on the warehouse wall." Shinzō nodded, remembering that attack with great detail, "You're father feared we were after his money, so he got the council involved in the investigation. But as I recall, they came up empty handed, so the case was soon forgotten," he said, letting Lucy's hair fall from his grasp. He circled the blonde woman.
"While the council was working on the case, I took the opportunity to study their findings and conduct my own little investigation. Your attack matched many in the past that were connected to an urban legend, the guild Scarabs Wings. The mark on your buddies foreheads matched the one of the guild." Shinzō clapped slowly, impressed with the woman.
"Bravo Miss Heartfilia, but if you knew about us, why didn't you tell the authorities?" Lucy's eyes fell on the dirty floor beneath her.
"Your guild is classified as a Ghost Guild by the magic council. They could never track you down or find any of your members, so they never revealed you to the general public or put you down as a real guild. You really are nothing but a legend."
"Ahh, but you figured it out, and I must commend you for that," Shinzō spoke, snapping his fingers, " and now you have the opportunity to assist my guild." The two large twins from before lugged into the room and restrained Lucy with magic cuffs. The two forced her toward the exit, following their guild master.
It wasn't much, but Lucy was still pleased to be out of that dreadful cell. As they left the dungeons, an offending odor hit Lucy's nose. It smelt purely of blood. The metallic scent made Lucy's stomach churn. Shinzō's lackeys led Lucy into a large factory-like room. Up against the walls were large containers with red liquid inside them. Lucy didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure what they were, the appalling smell was enough.
They walked down a skinny corridor where Lucy could barely see what was at the end.
"You and your guild have always fascinated me Miss. Heartfilia," said Shinzō, not looking at the woman behind him, "but what fascinates me the most is the devices you encountered." As they neared the opening, Shinzō moved to the side so Lucy could see the full room. Her eyes fell on the back wall.
Lucy felt her breath stop. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She began to hyperventilate, her heart rate increasing. Flashbacks came crashing through the walls of her mind, all connected to the machine in front of her.
Before her stood a large metallic gate. It was darker than she remembered it appearing and it looked like it wasn't completed, but that didn't change the fact that it was standing right in front of her.
"The Eclipse Gate," she said in a shuttering breath. Shinzō smirked at her over his shoulder.
"Isn't it beautiful," he threw his arms into the air, "It took me forever to find it's blue prints, but I did it." He turned to the terrified girl behind him.
"Of course, it's not the same in all aspects. It has a new feature. If you were to go back to a time where you already exist, your two selves would become one, I actually quite like that feature, keeps you from accidentally running into yourself." Lucy continued to stare at the machine, to frightened to care about the newest changes.
"W-Why would you rebuild this," she said, collapsing on her knees due to the shock.
"400 years ago, Zeref became immortal, how he did still alludes us. He spent the remainder of his life hiding from man, trying to protect them from himself." Shinzō gave Lucy a crazed smile, "He was a fool."
"W-What-" She was cut off by Shinzō yanking her off the floor and bringing her only inches to his face.
"Don't you see Lucy? He had all the power in the world, and he didn't use it! The miracle of his immortality was a gift and he squandered it. Well, I am going to do what he was to foolish to do." Shinzō gripped one of her arms with one of his hands and used the other to point to the portal.
"I am going to go back in time and take Zeref's immortality. And once I posses it, I will bathe this world in the blood of it's people." Lucy's eyes widened at the intensity of his statement. Could he not hear what he just said?
"Do you know what you're saying?" she yelled, using all of her strength, "No one knows how Zeref got his immortality, he could have been cursed with it!"
"Then I will figure out how he got it!" he yelled in response, "I don't care what it takes, I will become immortal, and I will take the lives Zeref didn't have the decency to take!"
Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. What he was wanting was pure genocide. It would throw off the entire timeline.
"Of course, the gate will be useless, without a Celestial Spirit wizard," said Shinzō in a sickly voice that caused Lucy to shudder, "Once the gate is operational, you will open it with your Gate keys and I will take this world into it's darkest days."
"You must think I'm crazy to agree to such a horrible request," Lucy spat. Shinzō threw her back to the twins who grabbed her arms.
"You will use your keys Lucy, if you want to keep your life." Shinzō was confused when the girl before him smirked.
"What keys?"
"Don't play dumb with me Heartfilia. You've already proven otherwise."
"Seriously, what keys? I didn't have any with me when you kidnapped me," Lucy stated, turning away from him. She could see Shinzō's disturbed face from the corner of her eye. The white haired man turned to the twin without the lip piercing.
"Akihiko? Where are the keys?" the bald man turned to his twin with a questioning look. His brother just shrugged and Akihiko looked back at his master.
"What keys?"
"The Gate Keys!" Shinzō said, starting to sound desperate, "The keys that you were supposed to take from Lucy Heartfilia," he said, pointing at the blonde woman who just smiled. Akihiko began to sweat nervously under the pressure.
"S-She didn't have anything Master." All the people in the room turned to their master, knowing his response wasn't going to be a good one. Shinzō's eye twitched furiously. His face distorted into a hideous grimace. He lifted his right hand and created a slicing motion with it. All the frightened faces that were in the room perplexed Lucy. A few seconds later, Akihiko was on the floor screaming in agony. He clutched his left arm tightly. Lucy could see a red liquid leak through his fingers.
"You mean to tell me that I wasted the last week believing I had the Zodiac keys in my possession, instead of searching for them!" he yelled. Lucy could feel the other twin clutch her a bit tighter, a bit frightened by his master's lash out. Shinzō stomped over to Lucy, fury evident in his eyes. He jerked Lucy out of his lackey's arms and shook her vigorously.
"Where are they?" he seethed. Lucy spit in his face.
"You'll have to kill me first." Shinzō dropped the mage unceremoniously to the floor and wiped away the saliva on his face. He stretched a hand forward. Lucy couldn't understand what he was trying to do until she felt a large pain within her.
It was more painful than anything she had ever been through. It spread throughout her entire body like a root system. She screamed and thrashed in pain. Shinzō lowered his hand and the rushing feeling began to decrease. Lucy lay on the floor, panting heavily.
"What do you think of my Blood Magic Miss Heartfilia?" Lucy gazed up at him, in to much pain to speak, "It gives me the ability to control human blood and bend it to my will. It works a bit more efficiently when not confined to a body, but it is a lot more painful."
Lucy tried to pull herself up, but lacked the strength to do so. Shinzō kneeled in front of her and pulled her up by her blonde hair, brown eyes meeting gray.
"So… this is why you take your victims bodies… you drain them... of blood and add them… to your own personal… supply," Lucy panted, " Zeref... tried to hide himself... so he couldn't hurt… any more people… You're worse than Zeref… you're a monster." Shinzō tightened his grip on the girl's hair, ignoring her shrieks of pain.
"And this monster has a date with destiny. So tell me," Shinzō brought Lucy just an inch away from his face, his eyes full of rancor.
"Where are your Gate keys?"
And done! I hope you all liked that chapter, it was weird writing it since we haven't seen her in a little while. I hope it answered some of your questions. Thanks to my brother who came up with Shinzō's magic because my ideas weren't very creative. Until next time!