LUCY POV

"Hey, quit squeezing my arms so hard, it's not like I'm going anywhere, asshole!" I yelled at one of the guards, revelling at the irritation etched onto his face.

I mean, yeah, I may not be able to get away from them, but I might as well make it unpleasant for them while they're at it.

"And why is it necessary for 5 of you to man-handle me? Do my noodle arms really scare you that much?" I whined loudly, making my voice as annoying as possible.

Without warning, I was suddenly pushed up against one of the jagged walls of the underground cage; I winced at the rock digging into my skin but still fought to maintain control over my almost overwhelming fear.

"Listen here, frea-OW!" the guard screamed as I bit down on the finger he had rudely shoved into my face. Serves him right. He was the one who jeered at Igneel as if he was nothing.

I waited in silence, clenching my jaw as the guard recovered, staring down all the other guards who threw disgusted looks my way.
"Get the keys in the holder type store room." His voice, which was previously high pitched in pain, had gone several octaves lower. It now dripped with pure hatred and had a sinister quality to it, allowing me to confirm in my head that I was really in for it now.

As one of the guards rushed off, I was again dragged along the tunnel. However, this time I kept my mouth shut as all sorts of scenarios came into my head. Were they going to lock me in a room? Was the ultimate punishment solitary confinement?
As much as solitary confinement would've been a walk in the park for some people, it terrified the crap out of me.

"The keys, sir." The guard eventually returned, handing over something to the one who ordered it. The keys jingled delicately, almost musically as they moved, and the majority of them seemed to be so gold they created their own light.

A lump formed in my throat when I realised why the mere presence of those keys felt so familiar.

"MY KEYS!" I screamed, struggling so hard I felt the hands on me loosen before they tightened exponentially. "GIVE THEM BACK! THEY'RE MINE!"

My façade instantly broke down as sobs left my body. My keys looked so wrong when they were in the hands of these foul people. They belonged with me. I needed to see my friends again.
What if they started breaking them? Cutting the bonds I had with my oldest friends right before my eyes?

"All in due time, mage." He sneered.

My eyes widened. Was I really getting my keys back? Just like that? No, there had to be a catch somewhere.

The door next to me was then pushed open.
And I understood.

"I thought we were done testing them out?" one of the guards asked from behind me.
"Oh, we're not testing it today. This mage just happens to be expendable now that she's seen things she shouldn't have." The guard who sneered at Natsu's dad, who taunted me with my celestial keys, drawled close to my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I was frozen, rooted to the ground in terror. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, and it suddenly felt like there was no oxygen available around me.

In that room was a single phoenix, eyeing me like a sacrifice.

Which I guess I was.

My naivety slapped me in the face as I realised that if I still had my keys, I couldn't be excused from this like the celestial mage Erza talked about. I had to fight it. Alone.

The phoenix roared and pulled against its chains which I knew would disappear as soon as I was alone in the room.

A sudden push on my back made me dig my heels into the ground, silently pleading anything, anyone to stop this from happening. I couldn't fight it by myself and I knew it.
I frantically searched the room with my eyes; it was rather large, and by the looks of it quite damp, but there was nowhere to hide. Instead of the jagged rock that adorned the entirety of the underground cave walls, these walls were smooth and almost mirror-like.

I felt sickened when the idea that they were two-way mirrors came into my head. Which would mean that behind these walls, I would have an audience. People watching me as I fought for my life. Probably laughing and making bets on how long I would last.

My hands shook.

You know what? Fuck this. Fuck them.

As I was finally pushed into the room, the door locked firmly behind me and my keys disrespectfully thrown on the floor next to me, I felt almost like I had been possessed. Only two seconds ago, I was begging not to be in here, but now… now, I was just angry.
It's almost like when I thought Gajeel was going to turn me in, but this time, I knew I had so much more to fight for.

I had to fight for my life.
I had to fight for my spirits.
I had to fight on behalf of every other mage in this god-forsaken place.
I had to fight for my friends as well… after all, you're supposed to live for them, right?

With reflexes that rivalled Natsu's, I reached for my keys just as I heard the distinctive sound of chains moving; the phoenix was being released.

I found myself smiling when I felt the familiar warmth of my keys in my hand; it was almost like a hole in my soul had finally been filled.
I smiled even though I knew what I was about to do would have major repercussions later.

Jheez, Aquarius is going to hate me for calling her out of a patch of dampness that barely resembles a puddle.

"Open, gate of Aquarius!" I yelled, not a moment too soon. To my relief, the trustworthy spirit refrained from yelling holes in my eardrums upon feeling the intense ball of heat coming towards me. The fiery attack was instantly doused, and the resulting hissing sound almost drowned out the multiple gasps I heard coming from behind the walls.

Definitely a two-way mirror, then.

"Lucy-" Aquarius's uncharacteristically worried outburst was cut short when the phoenix let out a screech, deciding to switch to close combat by darting towards us.
I opened my mouth to scream at Aquarius to dodge, but instead gasped when she raised her urn, shooting a choppy, turbulent stream of water out of it. It hit the phoenix head-on, turning into steam as the two forces collided.

And to my surprise, the water attack was holding strong, succeeding in keeping both the flames and the proximity of the phoenix as far away as possible.

I'd never seen Aquarius in battle but this was… she was amazing.

"What are you waiting for, brat? Run!" She called to me, though her focus on the monster remained unbroken.

"I'm trapped in here! Look, just keep it up for a few more seconds, I know how to deal with it!" I called back confidently.

Gildarts had told me to practise bringing out more than one spirit… and it was now or never, right?

Ignoring the angry mutters of Aquarius complaining about the spoiled brat ordering her around (she loves me really), I grabbed the key of the dependable archer.

"Open-" I briefly saw Aquarius give me a shocked look, "gate of Sagittarius!"

I felt a large chunk of my magical energy leave my body, almost bringing me to my knees from the shock, but I knew instantly that I could cope with it.

"Same thing as last time, if you would." I requested, managing to give him a small grin as I breathed heavily.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, he barely even uttered a "moshi moshi" before aiming for the phoenix's eye.

We did it, I thought to myself as the tension left my body.

But when the arrow hit the phoenix's eye, I didn't hear the satisfying crunch I'd heard last time. The fire didn't die down and the monster's eyes still glowed menacingly at me.

"Its eye… the weak spot…" I muttered hysterically to myself as I realised that I had celebrated prematurely.
If the eye thing didn't work… how on earth was I going to do this?

"I'm sorry Lucy, I'm afraid I'm not of much use here." The horse spirit apologised, worry evident in his voice.

I wordlessly nodded and sent him back to conserve my magic, frantically trying to think of another way I could do this.

"Lucy, I can't-" Aquarius struggled to spit out, bringing me out of my daze. I realised with a jolt that she was still there, protecting me with all her strength. I cursed myself for momentarily forgetting about her fight, which looked like it was becoming more and more difficult for her to maintain as the phoenix put more power into its flames.

"Call another spirit, now" she ordered urgently. I could feel how close her gate was to closing as my power was being used up. I just needed to call out another spirit before she inevitably disappeared…

But that was the problem. I searched my brain for any spirit I could call out without them ending up as a literal shield for me, but none came to mind. Even Taurus' axe would end up just melting, and he'd get hurt trying to save me.

And I downright refused to use them like that. I would die before I put my friends through that much pain.

So that was my fate, huh? At this point I didn't bother thinking about it. As I heard the snickering behind the walls, all I cared about was going down fighting, even if it was by myself.

Aquarius was looking at me, her eyes pleading behind the angry exterior.

"Thank you." I said before her gate closed; the last thing I saw of her was a panicked, disbelieving expression. Better than a pained one, I guess.

Now that the phoenix was free to pursue its target, it wasted no time in doing so. Gathering all my courage and resolve, I stood my ground, waiting for just the right moment.
These monsters tended to have a problem with momentum, right?

Just as I felt the heat becoming unbearable, I quickly jumped to the side. If Natsu wasn't here to push me like last time, I'd have to do it for myself.

As soon as I regained my footing, I sprinted away from where the phoenix had crashed into the wall, making the walls shudder dangerously.

But as I registered earlier, there was nowhere to hide in this room. No rock to hide behind, no second door, no nothing. So I really shouldn't have been so shocked when the ball of flames flung at me knocked me off my feet, sending me rolling violently against the floor.

Then again, maybe it was the pain which sent my system into a state of shock. Or the way my head hit the ground, making my brain shake within my skull.

All I know is that everything went blurry and I couldn't bear to look at the definite damage to my legs.
My hearing was still working, though. And judging by the volume of the roar, the phoenix was still approaching me. I could tell it was travelling at a much slower pace now that I wasn't moving, but it was still a matter of only a few seconds before I became toast.

On that thought, I moved my hand slightly and it came into contact with a loose rock on the ground. It was too heavy for me to lift with one hand in my current state, but I could do it with two arms. I just need to bide my time again…

I waited for what felt like hours rather than seconds in unbearable heat, playing dead, before I reckoned that the phoenix was close enough for me to make my move.

With a sharp movement of my arms, I grabbed the loose rock and slammed it into the fiery head of the monster, screaming as I momentarily buried my hands in the flames.

The blurry ball of fire made a noise like nails on a chalkboard, backing up slightly. Darkness clouded my vision, and I would have rejoiced at the thought of the fire going out had I not still felt the heat. No, this was just me losing consciousness, I guess.

… was this it?

"Princess."

The familiar voice provided a lifeline which I clung to as I tried to stay awake.
I felt arms wrapping around my waist, and suddenly a loud, grating noise filled my ears as the rock beneath me was pulverized. I was being pulled along somewhere, which would have worried me but… it was cold.

Refreshingly cold.

The heat from the phoenix was gone, as well as the light behind my eyelids.

If I hadn't heard her voice, I would have guessed that I'd died.
But somehow, she'd saved me.

"Virgo?" I whispered once the grating noise had stopped. I opened my eyes now to see that we were still underground somewhere in a dark room. Virgo's usually stoic eyes were glazed with concern as she lay me down gently, checking my body for injuries.
Going by the way it felt, I doubted she'd have trouble finding some.

"I am sorry for not taking you further away princess, but I could not move you too far in case I inflicted more injury on-"
"Thank you, Virgo. You saved me… but how…?" I interrupted her, attempting to sit up before gently being pushed back down.

"I would not deem it wise to waste any more energy, princess. I came through my own gate like brother." I assumed she meant Loke.
"Punishment?" she added as an afterthought.

As my heart rate slowed down and the adrenaline left my system, I found myself chuckling at the spirit's usual request. It sounded foreign coming out of my mouth after my near-death experience, but it felt right at the same time.

It felt like something Natsu would do.
I sighed. It always ended up coming back to him, didn't it?

"Search for her! She can't have gone too far!"
My brief moment of reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of guards approaching from outside the dark room.

I quickly grabbed my keys from Virgo who had thankfully taken them with us, and closed her gate before she could protest.
Who knows what they would do to her if she tried to protect me again?

The door suddenly burst open and guards gathered around me as I lay on the floor, glaring at them. One of them grabbed the keys out of my hand and I was powerless to stop them. I knew I was defenceless; if I tried to sit up, my head would spin, and then there was the issue of the inevitable burns on my legs and hands.

Nevertheless, I still had a mouth.

"I hope you psychopaths enjoyed the show." I spat bitterly.
Before I knew it, their expressions turned to rage and they were raising their legs to kick me.

"Wait." A calm voice ordered. It wasn't loud or particularly authoritative, but the effect it had on the rest of the guards was instant. They all backed away from me.
I assumed he was their leader.

Feeling vulnerable, I chanced sitting up, leaning against the wall for support.

"We will not kill this one. Her powers… interest me." I looked up at the leader wearily, not liking his tone one bit. I'd usually take that sort of thing as a compliment, but something about the way he said it made me dread what was to come.
I feared for my spirits. What did he want with them?

"But she saw the dragons. We can't let her talk." One of the guards pointed out. She then proceeded to bow her head and back away as if she regretted speaking at all; like she was scared she'd done something wrong.

The leader seemed to ponder this a bit before a smirk adorned his face.
I didn't like this. I didn't like this one bit.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Think positive, Lucy. You're alive. You defied all the odds by surviving. Your ashes won't be sent to your father, and your friends can keep their hope that you're okay.
You're alive.

But I'm still stuck in here without any means of escaping. I have no idea what happened to Loke. My head's cleared up but that's only made the burns on my body feel more prominent.
Oh, and I can't talk. Literally.

I wanted to scream at those bastards for jamming this metal contraption on my face, effectively preventing my jaw from moving. The only time I could take it off was when I was eating, and even that had to be in isolation.

The one thing I had to defend myself was my mouth, and they'd taken that away from me.
Assholes.

After the whole ordeal, they finally took me back to my cage. It was ironically comforting to be back here again, most likely because of the people I'd met. Every one of them stood up once they saw me being thrown through the cage doors.

"Where the fuck did-" the tall boy – Mikazuchi started, before catching a full glimpse of me. His eyes widened in worry as he called the others to me.

"Ashley? Oh my god, your hands… your legs… you had to fight a monster…" Martez gawked at the burns, while I tried to communicate with my eyes that I didn't want her to worry about it.

"You really must've done something to piss them off…" Ramos muttered, sounding almost impressed as he examined the thing on my jaw.

It's because there are dragons here, I wanted to say. If we broke the dragons out of here, they could easily burn the place down and we'd all be free. My friends would be reunited with their parents and everything would be okay. But I'm just so fucking powerless…

The terror, the anger, the frustration of it all, forced a tear out of my eye.

"Hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just-"

"She's not upset." Fernandez thankfully spoke my mind as the poor boy apologised for something that wasn't his doing.

I looked over at him and was slightly surprised to see a warm smile on his face.
"She's angry and frustrated by this place." He continued. "Erza had that look in her eyes loads of times when she was in here."

I froze when I heard her name. How did they know that name?

"We would like to thank you for being her friend, Ashley. It means a lot to us to know that she is doing well out there." Sankar added, beaming at me along with the others.

My confusion must have been clear to them, as they all chuckled when they looked at me.

"Loke, my old spirit came to speak to us earlier. He… told us about you and Erza, and then escaped." Sankar said. I wanted to ask why it sounded like he was holding something back, but there were so many other things going on in my head.

Rob. His first name was Rob.
And these other kids… they were Erza's friends. The ones she'd mentioned.
I could only stare at them, eyes widened as the revelation dawned on me. And Loke… oh god, I was so glad he was okay.

"We were hoping to sort of ask you about them but…" Buchanan wordlessly finished his sentence by tapping the metal contraption on my face.

I glanced at the disappointed faces around me and shook my head. No way was I going to allow this stupid thing to deprive them of the knowledge they've been waiting for for years.

Plus, I might as well brush up on my charades skills while I'm at it, right?

The first thing I did was flex my muscles and pretend to punch the air whilst the others watched me, both muddled and slightly amused. It took a while for them to work out that I was trying to tell them how strong Erza was; for a few minutes they were convinced I had a concussion.

And even though my jaw was unable to move and I desperately needed cold water for my burns, all of that couldn't stop muffled giggles leaving my mouth as the others tried to guess what my over-enthusiastic actions meant.

This is good, Lucy. They haven't broken you yet. You can make it through this. A voice inside my head comforted me.

And as I looked at the people around me, the kids and old man who were still smiling despite being in here for years, I didn't doubt that voice. Not one bit.

A/N: Aaah Rob didn't tell her about the rescue mission! Pretty sure I'm going to start writing the rescue mission next chapter, and then after that I don't have anything else planned for this story other than an epilogue or two. So enjoy the final battle, guys!

CelestialTitania – that is an extremely valid point and quite frankly I'm appalled I forgot about them, haha

As always, your reviews give me life and extra motivation so they are very welcome!

-usnoozulose