Desiccated and brittle sticks didn't make good splints, at least, not better than Porlyusica's, but Erza withstood the makeshift dressing, thankful that they even found anything acceptable in the barren wasteland that was the valley they were trapped inside. It was all rocks and hard ground. They'd found the shrunken shrub by chance, Carla's keen eye picking it out amongst all of the boulders.

The only reason Erza had even agreed to medical treatment was so someone could help Gajeel carry Wendy back on the stretcher they'd made out of Queen Morro's blanket and the leather girth of her saddle. Maybe Gajeel could have done it all by himself, slinging Wendy over his shoulder, but by the end of it he would have been tired, and it was a lot of strain on Wendy's injuries. The other option was to tie the young dragon slayer to her horse and travel that way, but Erza didn't dare, worried that Wendy would slip and fall. That wasn't the extent of it, though. Erza worried that her head would bleed more, or that there were broken bones other than the ones she was aware of. Wendy hadn't come awake to tell them of her wounds. She just lay there looking ashen and near dead, her chest rising and falling shallowly. The bandage Levy had managed to scare up was wrapped tightly around Wendy's temples. The back had dotted through with blood again. Seeing that colour made a tight knot form in Erza's chest. She could barely breathe.

"Are you certain there were no signs of the creature?" It was the fifth time she asked Gajeel.

This time when he answered, he was abrupt. "Erza, I told you before, when I got down there Wendy was sprawled out at the bottom and that thing was gone. There was a blood smear. That's all."

"I watched it get impaled," Erza fumed. "There is no way it just disappeared after suffering a wound like that and falling all that way. Even if it could have crawled off, it wouldn't have gotten far."

"I did several circuits," Lily said. "I didn't see anything, though it was dark."

"The sun is up now." That was being generous. It was overcast and as dark as pre-dawn, a severe storm threatening. "We should look again," Erza determined.

"Why?" Gajeel asked. "We're already twenty kilometers from where we started."

The wind blew, bringing with it the storm's first cold front. Isn't that perfect, Erza thought bitterly. She had nothing to cover Wendy with, other than Shadow Heart's blanket, and that would be soaked through in no time, if that ominous green hew the clouds carried was any indication.

"Don't you want to catch her attacker?" Erza bit out, restless for something to do.

"Of course I do," Gajeel responded.

"Then we should look." Maybe she was just feeling contrary.

Levy sighed, sensing an approaching time when she'd have to play moderator. Lily came to the rescue.

"Everyone just calm down. We'll get out of this place sooner and get Wendy help without you two bickering."

Erza clammed up tight, knowing he was right.

Levy touched Erza's wrist gently. "It'll be alright, Erza. Wendy will be fine."

Erza took to tonguing her bottom lip instead of answering, feeling the deep hole her tooth left behind.

"Why do you think that thing went after Wendy?" Gajeel wondered.

"She's our healer," Carla said automatically. She'd been silent up until then, in her humanoid form walking beside Wendy's crude stretcher; the dragon slayer's bruised and abraded hand in her own. "If I wanted to cripple a party, that's how I would proceed." She offered the advice in a cool, collected manner, her voice monotone and without feeling.

Erza saw through the ruse. Carla was worried enough that when she tried to have breakfast that morning, she'd thrown it all back up behind a small rock wall. She was stoic, however, and hid her concern well.

The first fat raindrop fell from the sky and plunked off Erza's armour.

Levy blew out a breath from her nose. "It's raining."

Of course. Erza choked back an irate howl just in time for the sky to open up.

"Let's find some shelter," Lily said.

The redhead wanted to keep going—she wanted out of this cursed valley—but she saw the way his eyes kept sliding to Wendy slung between her and Gajeel and knew that he had her best interests in mind.

"I'll fly up and look for a place to hole up for a bit," Lily offered, birthing wings before any of them could say anything. He was gone, a black blot in the black sky. Erza's feet shuffled over the granite ground, the soles of her boots sliding irksomely. Her finger ached even though she wasn't flexing it around the stretcher's handle. She persevered, one foot after the other.

Lily returned just as lightning cracked across the sky. He jolted; his ears went flat and every piece of fur, despite its clumped and damp nature, stood erect. "This way. There's a small cave in the rocks just over this ridge." He pointed north. They'd have to backtrack and alter their course slightly, but what other choice did they have?

Rain rushed from the sky and hit the ground with such intensity that the sound was deafening. Numbly, Erza watched it hit the granite and bounce back into the air with incredible force. At her back, she heard Levy and Gajeel get settled on the ground with their immobile passenger. Reaching into her pack, Levy produced a damp towel and started patting Wendy dry. Soon she'd use her solid script to heat up rocks to keep everyone warm.

"I'm going to change her bandages again. Her head's still bleeding."

And how much could she bleed, really, Erza wondered, she was just small. Soon Wendy would have no blood left. She refused to look over her shoulder and see the pale glean to Wendy's skin. It would only make exsanguination all the more plausible. Acceptance won't change the outcome, she thought bitterly.

"I'll help," Carla said automatically.

Feeling useless, Erza stepped toward the rain.

"Where are you going, Erza?" Lily asked.

"I'm just going to check the perimeter," she replied. "I'll return."

"Be cautious."

With Lily's warning jarring around in her head, Erza ventured into the artificial night.

She was soaked through in seconds flat; there was no end to this mammoth storm, the sky black in every direction. Coming around the side of the small cave, she stepped up on a precipice and overlooked the world. From her vantage point she could see Raven's Canyon, the wide gouge in the land that would put them properly in the direction of Magnolia's gates. The way they went now was the long way, a road clustered with dips and falls, valleys of varying widths, and gouges into the earth so deep, she couldn't see where they ended.

Hands closed around her shoulders. Erza's heart went into her throat. A sword was in her hand before she gave it much thought. She whirled and attacked without mercy, blade hungry for blood. Metal squealed on metal. Her sword was pushed wide, then it was flying into the gully below where it tinked and clanged off the stone. The sound was lost to the rain. Another weapon came into her grasp, this sword curved and sharp enough to split steel.

"Stop, Erza."

It was the sound of his voice that saved him, for rational thought was nearly gone. Erza blinked rain from her eye and squinted into the dark. Steps away, Jellal was hidden inside a deep hood, most of his face covered. He yanked down the bottom of his mask, revealing everything but his forehead. The left side of his cloak was in tatters, his metal bracer the only thing that saved him from being sliced in two.

"What's wrong?" He wasn't furious that he'd been attacked, of course not. Just worried. "What happened?"

Erza swallowed the scared lump in her throat—fear for Wendy, fear of what she nearly did—and went to him, dropping her sword to the ground and crushing him to her body in a tight hug. He smelled like juniper and rainwater.

"Erza—what—"

"Wendy's been attacked," she said when she was able.

"Attacked? By who?"

"Some creature that roams these valleys." Briefly, she explained everything. "She needs a healer," she surmised finally. "I don't think she'll wake otherwise. If she even survives the trip back to Magnolia."

Jellal pushed her sopping bangs back and laid a kiss against her forehead. "I'll get word to Cheria."

Erza's world slowed. "Cheria?"

"Lamia Scale's god slayer," he explained patiently,

"Cheria can heal her." It was as if she'd forgotten.

Jellal nodded. "Yes."

All the tumblers fell into place. Excitement budded in Erza's heart. Hope. "I'll come with you to make sure you get there."

"And who will take Wendy to Magnolia?" he countered.

"Gajeel and Levy are here, along with Lily. She'll be safe with them. We'll move quickly just you and I," the redhead finished.

Jellal shook his head. "What will you tell the council if they know you travel with me?"

"Council?" Erza repeated. "They won't—"

"Both Gajeel and Levy are members of the Magic Council now, Erza," Jellal said.

"What?"

"Yes."

"How would you know that?"

He looked out over her head at the bleary shapes of rocks. "I make it my business to know who sits in the Council's seats."

Her mouth went dry despite all the falling rain. "They—they didn't say anything." Not that there was much time to say anything, but it felt like a secret and the secret felt like a betrayal, though why she couldn't say. It was hard being in love with an outlaw.

"Besides," Jellal said, "I have the rest of Crime Sorciere waiting for me at the northern peak of Rose's Valley. We'll move quickly and safely."

She knew he was right. It didn't stop her from wanting to join, the need to be in charge—to make sure things were done right and quickly—nearly overpowering.

"Trust me, Erza," Jellal said. "I would never let anything happen to Wendy, not if I could help it. I'm in a position to get word to Cheria quickly. Keep travelling as you were, they may need your sword yet."

Erza buckled, rationality winning a solid foothold. "Be careful travelling. This creature was stabbed through the chest and survived. It's powerful, and elusive. Wendy didn't even have a chance to use a spell before it threw her from the cliff."

"I'll be careful," he promised. His hand went to her cheek and cradled it. Each of them was soaked through. "This was not how I imagined finding you in these valleys."

Erza closed her eyes and breathed shallowly. She was eager for him to leave but also wanted him to stay. "Will you return with Cheria?"

He wavered. "If I can."

What he meant was, if the Council isn't waiting to arrest me. Erza stole a kiss and put into it everything she wanted to say, unable to find the proper words. His hands squeezed her hips and then he was gone, disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived. Erza watched him scale the rocks into the valley pit. She lost sight of him well before the black of the storm claimed him; he was no more than a wraith.

Seagulls wailed overhead, their cry so piercing that Lucy squinted and winced. What she wouldn't give for a pair of sunglasses. Aspirin and water would have to do. She was on her forth pill; it hadn't touched her headache and her stomach was so full of water, she could die.

"Looks like you had a good night," Loke mused from her side.

The blonde gave him a flat look.

"You and Gray?" he asked when she offered no explanation.

She dredged up a sigh along with the will to speak. "He said he wanted to try to be friends again."

"So you got together and got smashed? I hate to say it, but that's what got you into this mess," Loke said.

It didn't sound like he hated it at all; to Lucy he sounded righteous. She tried not to be annoyed. "Yeah, I know. It just seemed easier this way. Like I knew what to say."

Loke scrubbed his hair, making it stand on end. "What a mess."

Lucy changed the subject. "So. Where are we going to look for this murderer?"

Loke looked like he wanted to pursue the subject more but was gracious enough to let it drop. "Detective doesn't come as part of my celestial spirit training, sorry."

She stuck out her bottom lip. "You're telling me you're not going to be any help?"

"Well, I didn't say that," Loke said. "I just think you know as well as I do."

Lucy huffed. "Okay." She thought hard. Being a reporter for the better part of the year helped some. A lot, actually. Think. "Alright. Let's start from the bottom and work our way up. We'll dig up as much information as we can on those first murders. They happened the second night we were in Magnolia—that we know of, anyway, right?"

"Yeah." Loke looked uncomfortable.

"What?" Lucy was reluctant to ask.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just thinking about Happy, I guess."

"Happy?"

"About what he said before we left," Loke clarified.

"Uh," Lucy grunted. "He and Natsu have been super weird and super cryptic about this whole damn thing."

Loke said, "What if those killings were a warning or something?"

Lucy raised a thin brow.

"I know it sounds weird, but I keep thinking, what if someone heard that Fairy Tail is getting back together and they're trying to scare you and Natsu off by killing girls that superficially look like you?"

"Seriously?" Lucy said. "That's weak."

"It's only a thought," Loke said.

"Why choose girls that look like me and not guys that look like Natsu?" Lucy countered, partially because she didn't want to think about someone targeting women that looked like her.

"I don't know about you, but I don't know a lot of pink haired guys," Loke said.

"Well, that seems pretty far-fetched to me. I think we should keep thinking," Lucy said.

Loke huffed. "I don't know, Lucy. Shouldn't we think of everything if we're doing a real investigation?"

"Which means not discounting other stuff yet, either," Lucy said. Her heart tried to beat faster with Loke's words. 'Do you have your keys,' Gray chirped in her head again. And Natsu's 'keep your keys on you, Lucy, even when you're sleeping.' She refused to let fear get the best of her.

"Yeah," Loke brought her back to the present. "Alright. Where to?"

"The old age home," Lucy decided. Where my earring was found. Her blood went cold. She did her best to disregard that.

Lucy did three rounds of the old age home and found not much of anything. The grass in one patch was dead, the building scorched on one side, but that was all. Frustrated, she made to leave, Loke at her side, but froze when her name was called. Turning, she faced Riley Ackles. He was in his guard's uniform, shoulders and arms filling out the material nicely, his hat pulled low on his head. He did look handsome, she had to admit. She gave him a fleeting appreciative once-over, then banished the thoughts to a dusty corner of her mind.

He approached on long legs, shoulders swinging with every step. When he was close enough that Lucy could see the minute tick of annoyance in his jaw, he said, "Can we talk?"

Her heart immediately sank. "…Sure."

"Alone?" He looked to Loke.

"Um..."

The spirit sighed. "I'll just do another once-around."

The expression on Riley's face made Lucy wish Loke would refuse. He was already on his way, though. Seeing no other option that wasn't incredibly rude, Lucy smiled and, as bubbly as she could manage, said, "What's up?"

Riley stood stoically until Loke disappeared behind the building, out of earshot. His hands went into his pockets in a tensed stance. "Guess I'm glad to see that at least your name is the same."

"My name?" Lucy repeated.

"Everything else has been a lie."

"What do you mean?" Her voice squeaked out on her.

He frowned. "You told me you were traveling through Magnolia by yourself. You also said you weren't part of a guild, but if I'm not mistaken, those were some rag-tag members of Fairy Tail you were sitting with yesterday, and you seemed to know each other pretty well. I did a little digging around. My buddy Serg said Fairy Tail had a celestial mage before it broke up."

Lucy fidgeted. "Riley..."

"Why did you lie to me, Lucy?"

The gig was up. She blew a sigh. "Because I was traveling with Natsu Dragneel. I was trying to protect him."

His expression only got darker. "When we met each other on the train, all that bullshit was just so you could hide him?"

"…I guess."

He was even more outraged. "And afterwards, going out on a date with me?"

Guilt bloomed in Lucy's chest. Her cheeks felt hot. She didn't think that telling him that it was more about getting a job than anything would do her any favours. "Sort of, but I did have fun."

He shook his head, looking hurt. "You're with him? Romantically, I mean?"

"Natsu?"

He only stared, unwilling to clarify when they both knew she knew perfectly well who he was talking about.

"I don't know how to answer that."

"How could you not know?"

Lucy shrugged. "Because it's more than not really but less then yes."

He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, then over his perpetual five o'clock shadow.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said.

"I feel like an idiot."

And just imagine how I feel, Lucy thought. She was really racking them up.

Riley tried to shake it off and managed with some grace. "What are you doing out here?"

"Investigating those murders with Natsu," she explained. "I thought maybe there'd be something here that was overlooked…"

Riley's sharp blue eyes looked her over skeptically. "Natsu isn't here, though."

"No," Lucy agreed.

"Well..." He filled his lungs to the max. "Make sure you're cautious, Lucy. You should be traveling with several people, not just one."

With every warning that came her way, Lucy got more and more uneasy. "Can you tell me about the murders?"

He pressed his lips together. "I'm not really suppose to release any details."

"I'm helping with the investigation, though."

"You shouldn't be," he said. "The King only okayed Natsu's involvement. And then there's the bit about the killer going after girls that meet your description. What if he hangs around the crime scenes, Lucy, and sees you? You'll become a target, too."

Chills raced over her skin. Lucy waited for him to tell her to drop it. She wondered if she'd take his warning to heart, or if she was tough enough to stick it out. There are worse things then men with knifes. Demons and spells that could leave life-long scars on the land.

Riley didn't try to scare her off. "The only thing we know for sure is that we know nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, only that earring was left behind the other day. And a key from the pier last night, I suppose... It doesn't belong to any lock in the town, though. It might be from an apartment in Clover—that's where she was from. Visiting her friend here in town. She just got in yesterday—hadn't even had a chance to meet up with her buddy yet."

"That's terrible," Lucy said.

Riley nodded. "Yeah. So, like I said, be careful, Lucy."

"Do you still have that guy in custody?" Lucy wondered, hit with a sudden spur of inspiration. "The one you arrested the other day? I'd like to speak with him."

Riley looked hesitant. "I definitely shouldn't be letting you do that."

Maybe it was unethical, but Lucy gave him her best sulky, flirtatious smile. "Please? I really want to catch this guy, and he might know something."

"He's already been interrogated," Riley said.

"Yeah, but not by me. He might be more willing to talk to someone that isn't part of the guard." What she meant was, a girl with a smile. Riley read her clearly.

"Lucy, you know he definitely killed one of those girls the other night. One of the guards saw him."

"I'm not scared," Lucy said. "He's behind bars, right?"

"Yeah," Riley agreed.

"And you'll be with me?" She touched his arm, not quite shameless, but willing to do what it took to get her way.

"Yeah," he said gruffly, looking at her from beneath his dark lashes. He liked his ego stroked. Lucy told herself to stop using it to her advantage, but it was hard.

"Then I'll be safe." She made her eyes wide.

He caved just like the last time. "Alright. Just for a few minutes, though." Riley had a type, apparently, or he just had a hard time saying no to a pretty face.

"Thank you, Riley." He received the full effect of her hundred-watt smile. His earlier anger faded.

"This way." He touched between her shoulders, guiding her away from the old age home toward the jails. Lucy peered over her shoulder in time to see Loke break into a lope. His long legs carried him to her side quickly.

"What's going on?"

"Riley's taking us to question the guy they took into custody the other night," Lucy said.

Loke tucked his find into his pocket for a later discussion.

The jails were in a separate building than the guard barracks. Grey. Utterly monochromatic, save for the scorch marks Lucy had to imagine were left behind by Tartarus. Of course the jail survived; it was a fortress in itself, squat, barricading bars and steel doors, which were protected by two burly guards: one woman that was thicker than most, and looked meaner, too, and a man that was wiry and fast-looking. Lucy eyed them both and decided that she didn't want to piss them off.

"Sir," they said when they saw Riley. Their hands rested loosely on the guns at their hips. Their eyes barely left the void space beyond Riley's shoulder.

"At ease," Riley said. Lucy squinted at the badge over his heart. It was emblazoned with a star. She wracked her brain and discovered he was a sergeant. And here she thought he was just a regular guard. She praised herself for her good fortune. He could get her information that others couldn't.

"Forgive me, sir, but who is this?" the woman asked. Her jaw was hard, her hair limp and mouse brown, nearly the same shade as her eyes.

"Fairy Tail mages," Riley said.

Her eyes skated to his briefly. "Fairy Tail has been disbanded."

"The dregs of Fairy Tail," Riley clarified. "They're no longer a proper guild, no, but they're conducting an investigation."

She looked like she wanted to say something else but held back. She and her partner grabbed the metal doors and pulled them wide. Lucy peered in. Though the sky was overcast, it was significantly brighter on the streets. Peering into the darkened building was like looking straight into the maw of a beast. It wasn't silent in that pit, either, there was laughing. So much laughing.

"That's him," Riley said. "Lance Henbridge. He's been laughing like a loon since we brought him in. He had a girlfriend. She said he was usually quiet."

He didn't sound so quiet now. At her side, Loke's fingers brushed hers in silent encouragement. Lucy realized that she was lagging behind, waffling on the cusp of entering the jail. I can do this. He was just a man behind bars. A mad man, but a man.

She stepped into the jail and the doors swung closed. They locked from the inside, a complex lock system that clicked together. When everything was sitting where it was supposed to be, it resembled the belly of a spider long since dead, its legs curled in tight bows.

"Keep up, Lucy," Loke told her from steps ahead. The blonde turned away from the door and lengthened her steps. As she walked she surveyed the jail. It was as dank inside as she imagined, the walls holding small torches every few steps. There was a drip, drip, dripping that drifted through the concrete halls, echoing off the concrete flooring, the concrete ceiling, and the concrete walls. Dingy was a good adjective. And clammy. It smelled like body odour and piss. There was no hallway where a person could walk and imagine that they weren't in a jail. It was just immediately into cells. They lined each wall, more than half of them filled.

"Don't step too close to the cells, Lucy," Riley called over his shoulder. His palm was on his night stick. His shoulders were tense.

"Okay."

Lucy peered into the first cell. There was a cot, a copper waste pan and a sink that was encrusted with yellow grime. A man sat in the corner picking at his nails. "He won't stop laughing, Riley. He won't stop."

"It's alright, Ian. Just relax," Riley said smoothly. "He'll get tired soon."

"That's what you said last time." For his complaint, Ian still sank back into his dank corner and went right back to picking his nails. The next three cells were empty, but in the fourth was an older woman with long scraggly hair. She saw Lucy and immediately rushed to throw herself against the bars.

"Help me!" she screeched. "Help me! They starve me in here! They beat me—and touch me—"

Riley addressed Lucy directly. "Rona here likes to get the girls to give her pity. When they go up to the bars she gropes them."

Lucy chewed her tongue.

"You are a mean, mean man, Mr. Riley," Rona said.

Riley dug through his pocket and handed her a hand-rolled cigarette. "Am I, Rona?"

She took it and dropped herself onto her cot. "I wish you'd be when I asked."

"Not only is that against protocol, you're twice my age," he said.

"Then throw the girly in here." Rona smiled with crooked moss-green teeth.

Riley didn't bother responding to her. After that, Loke dropped back to Lucy's side. The laughing abruptly died.

"Maybe the fucker finally ran out of air," Riley swore. Lucy thought it was eerie with the constant sound-track, but without, it was even worse.

Riley led them all the way to the end of the dimly lit hall and stopped in front of a jail cell that looked no different than any of the others. At first, Lucy thought there was no one inside, but then he shifted, drawing her attention. He was a man of bones and bruises, thin skin stretched over an angular skeleton. He stepped into the light, affording everyone a clear look at his pit-like cheekbones and dead-eyed stare. His hair had been dark brown at some point in his life; now it was bleached white in most areas, affording him a patchy and sickly look. He wore a white T-shirt that was stained yellow with sweat around the armpits and the collar.

"Hullo, Lance," Riley said.

Lance only stood there.

"There's someone here that wants to ask you some questions," Riley continued. "Her name is Lucy. She's investigating those murders we talked about, remember?"

"No. No, no." Lance shook his head vigorously. "I didn't kill that girl. I didn't do it." For a moment he sounded completely rational, not a laughing man, or a man that had spent so much time sunken to his knees that his legs would barely support him. "Please, Sergeant Ackles. I told you—I—I didn't kill that girl."

"Hey," Riley said. "Calm down, Lance. She just wants to talk." He looked over his shoulder to make sure Lucy was still on board. Her chest felt like a fluttering thing, her lungs insufficient breathing in this ammonia-tainted air. She squeezed her keys—it was the closest she'd give in to the urge she had to grab Loke's hand—and nodded.

"Lucy here's a mage. She's—"

"From Fairy Tail," Lance whispered quietly enough that Lucy barely heard it.

"…Yeah," Riley said. "Though you know Fairy Tail isn't a thing anymore, right? It left Magnolia a year ago, remember?"

Lance started mumbling then, low, fast. Lucy strained to hear what he said. ""ill. Kill the girl with. Kill her and—" he hiccoughed. "Kill. Kill and."

"What are you saying, Lance?" Riley asked. "Speak up."

Lance took his first step forward. "Blonde like wheat. Brown like sugar."

"What?" Riley prodded.

It was Loke that grabbed Lucy's hand, squeezing her wrist until it hurt.

"Mistress insists. Akio insists." Lance lunged then, faster than Lucy thought possible. He was so thin that the majority of his body fit through the bars, only his head getting stuck, and that wasn't even too much of an issue. He pushed and pushed his temples against the bars until his very skull squeezed. He grabbed the only thing he could reach: the swell of Lucy's whip. His fingers were like a vice closing on it and yanking her in. He was stronger than he looked, and fast, too, the laughing man totally dissipated, the remorseful and innocent man gone up in smoke. Suddenly he was vicious, spitting mad and rough. He abandoned Lucy's whip and grabbed at her throat, fingers biting into her skin faster than she could blink.

And then chaos descended.

Riley started screaming. His gun came out and laid against Lance's forehead, Loke grabbed the man's wrist. Lucy was paralyzed for yet another breath, still shocked, trying to decide what to do, what coarse of action was best. Then she realized that doing anything was better than this immobility.

Though her throat felt like it was collapsing, she forced her mind to quiet enough that she could don Cancer's Stardress. Swords sharp enough to split hair came into both of her hands. In a short and practiced move—it was amazing what mindless adrenaline and hours of training could do for auto-reflexes—Lucy turned her hand so the meaty part of her palm faced the sky, and brought her sword up in a low, controlled arc. The blade bit into the man's armpit, severing his tendon. His fingers went limp and dropped away, allowing the celestial mage to draw a haggard breath. Blood spurted over the floor, followed closely by Lance's howling. He screamed. And screamed and screamed. Lucy thought it was in pain, but when she met his eye for the brief second she had opportunity to, all she saw there was blind outrage.

"You'll die! You'll all die for Master END!" Lance screamed so violently, spittle flew from his mouth and hit Lucy's cheek. A blood vessel popped in his eye, staining it bright red. He frothed and writhed, adjusting so he could thrust his other arm through the bars. He swiped at her, fingers catching in her necklace and breaking it. Lucy cried out, she couldn't help it. He was violent and unpredictable like no one she'd ever met before.

"You'll die! You'll die! You'll—"

His face blanked. Not just blanked, but went absolutely slack. Not the kind of slack that said he'd fainted, but the kind that came with death. Red leached from his nose, staining his off-white shirt, and then he collapsed, head whinging badly off the bars. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Instead of sobbing, Lucy crouched and picked up her necklace, saving it from the growing pile of blood.

"Lucy—"

She couldn't hear what it was Loke said. She turned from him and made for the exit. The doors were already open, letting in the light.

Natsu left the crate-littered cargo area for the walkway by the docks. There was nothing there, anyway. The guards had done a very thorough job of cleaning up, only a very faint smear of blood remained where that girl lay. The air still felt heavy, though. Thick with some aura he couldn't quite place. It wasn't exactly Zeref's, or any of his Tartarus demons, but it was... Similar to, yes.

He was going to head back to the motel and pathetically plead with Lucy for her forgiveness, but he paused coming out of the sea of crates, eyes snagging on a blonde figure. She sat on the cement port wall, back to Natsu so all he could see was the shape of her body. It was achingly familiar, that hourglass.

It took courage to take the first step toward her, but once that was done it was like he was on a come-along, tugged forward without much choice.

The wind grabbed her hair and sent it twisting. It was so long now. He liked it, the way it hung off her shoulders and shone like the brightest liquid gold.

"Hey, Lucy," he said when he was within hearing distance. She stiffened but didn't turn, not yet. "You got Happy out here with you?" Hoping so, he searched the slate-grey sky.

Other than over-stuffed clouds, it was empty.

She still didn't reply.

Natsu wanted to fidget but refrained. "Listen, I wanted to say sorry for taking off on you earlier. I know it was a shitty thing to do, but who knows who our killer is, what his motives are, or where he's going to strike again?" Where was Happy?

Lucy still hadn't moved. Natsu reached for her shoulder. Her skin was cold. "You're freezing."

"Would you do anything for me, Natsu?" Lucy interrupted her silence finally.

Natsu barely had to hesitate. "Yes."

"You say yes, but… What if I needed you to do something awful?"

Awful? "What?" Natsu's arm began to ache, his palm colder than it'd ever been before.

Lucy's fingers clenched against the concrete, skin biting into the porous surface. "What if the only way to wake up was to cut the thread of dreaming?"

She was mumbling nonsense. Natsu played along. "Then I'd cut it."

"And if I am that thread?"

His brow furrowed. "You're a girl, not a piece of yarn."

She laughed, a low, depreciative thing, and stood. She wore the red dress he'd bought for her; against the grey of the angry ocean she was a gold-capped rose, plucked.

Natsu expected her to turn, yet her feet took her closer to the ledge. Below that was only ocean. Natsu's heart went into his throat. "Be careful. There are rocks underwater."

"I don't think this will be enough," Lucy said. Her voice had changed, become rough, like silk dotted with sand grit. "I don't think Master's way will be enough, either, though."

"Enough? What's enough?" Natsu started to close the rest of the distance between them, suddenly scared. "Lucy?"

The wind grabbed her hair and lifted it high, the ends swirled together, knotting.

"Come here, Lucy." Natsu held out his hand, still confident that she'd turn.

"He's coming for you, Natsu, and when he arrives, he wants to see his most precious creation, not the man it pretends to be."

She was really starting to scare him now. "What the fuck are you talking about?" That wasn't important, though. Lucy's toes curled around the very ledge of the pier. "Lucy—" Natsu reached for her. Reached and reached. And only grabbed air. Her hands didn't go out to catch the air as she fell, she just did, sliding forward so that the ocean could cradle her.

"Lucy!" Natsu scrambled for the ledge without concern for his own well-being and peered over. There was no exploding splash as she hit the water twenty feet below, but there was the scrap of red that was her dress. His blood roared in his ears. "Lucy!"

"Natsu," came Happy's familiar voice. "What—"

Natsu searched the sky and found Happy flying lowly, wings flapping as he tried to out-compete the wind. "Take me down there."

Happy startled at the rough tone in his voice. "What?"

There was no time to explain. Natsu started searching for the quickest route. Of course it was the one Lucy had taken. There was barely any hesitation. Except, when his feet were on the verge of meeting the open air, her voice cut through him, clear and ringing.

"Natsu?" The world seemed to snap into focus. Like waking from a dream.

When he turned Lucy was there. Not wearing red, but black. A black skirt split high around her hips, a tight top that exposed much of her middle. Loke was at her side, looking disturbed.

She reached for him and took his icy hand in hers without hesitation. She was so, so warm. And real.

"Come away from there."

Numbly, he let her pull him away from the ledge That wasn't Lucy. It couldn't have been, right? The wind grabbed his clothes and tugged them viciously. He needed someone else to confirm. "Did you see her?"

Lucy glanced at Loke.

"I only saw you, Lucy and Loke when they came into the pier." Happy looked concerned. "Was there someone else?"

Lucy was on his tongue. He held it back, knowing how insane that would sound when he was looking at what was obviously the real deal. Her smell was in his nose, that strawberry shampoo, vanilla. You were wrong. "I thought... I thought there was a girl." Thought, because he had no idea now. He'd never not trusted his eyes. He tried to remember if he sensed her smell. He couldn't say. He looked over his shoulder to the ocean down below. There was no blotch of red to mark where the girl had entered the water.

"There was someone with you?" Loke asked.

"I think someone jumped into the ocean," Natsu said finally.

"From here?" Lucy wondered. Her scared expression shuffled over for concern. "There are rocks down there. The current is really strong, too."

"Maybe… I don't know if I saw what I thought I did," Natsu said after a second. He looked out into the ocean again. Was she a dream? He hadn't been sleeping well, so anything was possible.

"I'll get the guards to look," Loke offered. He shared a look with Lucy. "Why don't you guys head back to the motel? Happy and I will take care of it."

Happy nearly protested, but he was so thoroughly skewered by a look from Loke, he shushed.

Lucy's hand tucked into Natsu's, her skin's warmth biting into his frigid palm. Natsu focused on that warmness and ignored the voice in his head that said, 'Would you do something awful?'