Happy New Year peeps! I hate going back to school after a long break. Oh well, you know how it is. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 25: Birth of the Insurgent

Natsu

The slave girl, whose name I still didn't know, trailed softly behind me as I left the way through the dark halls. I knew of only one other place besides the dungeons where they could have taken Lucy. I knew that Mard Geer was a sadist and I knew how much he loved experimenting with his prisoners. I just hoped I wasn't too late.

I took a small hall that branched off from the main hall as subtly as I could. Nobody could know where I was going. If someone saw, they would warn Mard Geer and he would be on me before I even had the chance to get Lucy out. She was my goal. Once she was out of there and free, then I could worry about my own consequences. I knew that I wasn't going to go through hell after all of this, but I couldn't dwell on that now. I had to save her.

Soon, we reached a dead end, freed by a white door. As we entered through the door, the walls became pure white instead of the stone grey. Now the halls looked more like a hospital. I had only been down here once in my life and that was because I had randomly stumbled across this place as a kid. I was never shown the full extent of the horrors of this place. The slave girl stumble clumsily behind me and reminded me that she was there. I hadn't really acknowledged her since I got her away from Geer. I knew she was Lucy's friend and that was about it.

Soon, we reached a hallways with a dozen doors on either side. I paused and glanced in the window of each door. It led to a dual room with a glass window separating them, but they were empty. As we peaked through each door, I felt an uneasy shift in the air that made my hair on my arms and neck stand upright. I gasped as the door on the end opened and a woman stepped through, crossing her arms and giving me an amused smirk.

"Well, well. I never expected to see you in here." The woman said, grinning and showing off her sharp teeth. Her face had been modified so horrifyingly that it was hard for me to truly look into her eyes. The horns protruding from her head sent shivers down my spine as I stared at her nurse's outfit, trying to keep my eyes off her face.

"Kyoka." I said softly, stepping in front of the slave girl. Kyoka's eyes glinted in amusement as she scanned my appearance. This was one of Zeref's advisors and his personal torture master. She had only recently gotten horns on her head after modifying the rest of her face to look like a demon. She was superficial like that, enjoying the fear she gave people because of her appearance.

"I'm here to relieve you of your duties." I growled, eyeing the door she had just come from. Lucy had to be in there. Kyoka laughed and kicked the door shut. I heard the soft click of a lock and I narrowed my eyes as Kyoka waved the keys around her index finger and then tauntingly tucked it into her front pocket.

"Oh, you mean you're here to take your slave back?" She asked with a smile. I clenched my fists as she licked her lips hungrily. "That's too bad. I was having such fun with her. She was an excellent specimen, you know. She had the loveliest screams." I growled and suddenly, I was storming across the hallway, raising my arms aimed at her throat.

"Shut up." I hissed, grabbing her shoulders and shoving her back against the wall. I wrapped my hands around her neck and began to squeeze, trying to wipe that grin off her face. "If you have killed her, I will rain down on you tenfold what you did to her." I growled, squeezing tighter. Kyoka coughed in laughter as her hand reached up to pulled mine down from her neck enough so she could speak.

"I didn't realize how much you cared for her. You know Lord Mard Geer told me that you were attached, but this is just delicious." Her eyes widened and she grinned wide, bending closer to me. "You'll be lucky if there's any human left in her after what I've put her through. You know the whole time, she kept screaming for help. She kept screaming for you. She believed you would save her, but you never came." My hands shook as I banged her back against the wall.

"Shut up!" I yelled, digging my thumbs in her throat. She began to cough and gag and her hands around my wrists loosened. "I will kill you for this, Kyoka. Mark my words, you are lucky that I am feeling merciful today. Any other day and you would be dead at my feet. Don't forget it." I threatened grimly. Then I lifted her up and smacked her head against the wall, causing her to gasp in pain and collapse unconscious at my feet.

I turned back around, feeling my hands shake in fury. I was so angry. I was angry at Zeref for allowing this. I was angry at Mard Geer for ordering this. I was angry at Kyoka for executing it. But most of all, I was angry at myself for not seeing it sooner. For not knowing what was going to happen. For not saving her when I had the chance.

The slave girl stared at me with wide eyes like I was a stranger. I took a deep breath and turned toward the locked door. I knew that if I was in my right mind I would just grab the keys from Kyoka's unconscious body. But I was way past in my right mind. I walked straight up to the door and lifted my leg up. Using every ounce of strength I had, fueled by my unwavering anger and kicked the door.

Once. Twice. Three times. Finally, after the fourth kick, the door burst open.

I entered, looked around and almost gagged at the sight. I was standing in an atrium of some sort with a glass window leading to two separate rooms one of them had the Fullbuster boy, lying on the ground unconscious with his hands busted and bleeding. It looked like he had been banging his hands on the glass wall for days. In the other room was a sight I never wanted to see again. It was my buttercup lying in a levitated chair, strapped down. She was unconscious, there were tubes and tabs covering her bare body and she was deathly pale.

I took in a ragged breath and shoved the door open, stumbling in after her. I reached the bed and all but ripped the straps and tabs off her body. She jerked slightly when I pulled the tab on her forehead off, but she didn't wake. There were huge red welts on her skin where the tabs had been and her chest had burn markings. It looked like Kyoka had tried a new way of branding. Obviously, it hadn't worked because I couldn't make out a symbol, just a bunch of red scars. I cupped her cheeks and put my two fingers on her pulse under her chin. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt her steady heartbeat.

I heard a cry of despair behind me and I turned around to see that the slave girl had shoved her way into the other room and had fallen on her knees in front of the Fullbuster boy. She grabbed his upper body and pulled him into a hug. The glass separating both rooms were splattered with blood, telling me that this boy had been banging against the glass for hours, helpless to stop Kyoka from torturing Lucy. I felt a sudden wave of respect for him, even though I still thought he was just a spoiled prince.

Turning back to Lucy, I slipped my arms under her back and thighs and lifted her up, bridal style. I gulped, staring at her ashen cheeks. She was so sick and weak. I hated myself for not finding her sooner. If I had come any later, she could have been dead.

If she died, I don't know how I would have reacted. I don't know how I would have gone on living with myself. This girl had wedged herself into my life and now I couldn't imagine it without her. Whether she was just my slave, or something more, I could imagine a world without her in it. I had to get her out of here. I had to help her escape.

Before I left the hall with Lucy in my arms, I turned around to see that the boy had woken up and the slave girl was whispering gently to him, rubbing his back, while supporting his arm.

"Get him somewhere safe." I ordered. The slave girl's head lifted as she looked at me with Lucy in my arms. "Make sure he's hidden. Look after him. I'll come for him later." I said softly. She nodded and whispered quietly to the boy whose eyes were now trained on me. He looked hostile at first but when he stared into my eyes for a good few seconds, he swallowed and blinked slowly. It was a subtly gesture, but it was heavy in significance. It was a blessing: I'm entrusting her to you.

I took no time in carrying Lucy out of the white halls of doom. Her head hung limply at my side and her blond hair fell loosely past my forearm. She was wearing brown rags that barely covered her essentials, but right now I couldn't be bothered with looking at her. She wouldn't be attractive even if I wanted to look at her that way. The welts on her skin made me want to vomit and my footsteps quickened just thinking about the pain she was under.

I did not meet any servants or masters in the halls, and for that I was grateful. I did not need any obstacles. I couldn't lie my way out of it, even if I was caught. Honestly, I had no idea what I would do if I had been caught. I had no lies up my sleeve, not tricks I could pull out. All I cared about was getting back to my chambers and caring for the almost dead girl in my arms. She was my only priority now.

I reached my bedroom chambers and kicked the door open with my foot. I entered and frowned at how messy I had left it. I didn't realize how dirty the room could get without my buttercup there to straighten things out. It had been a while since the room had been this messy. The last time t had been like this was before buttercup had ever come into my life. Before I had picked her from a line of slaves just because she amused me.

That all felt like a million years ago now.

I quickly walked over to the bedside table, trying to avoid all the clothes I could easily trip over. My overnight bag was open on the floor and the clothes I had brought on the trip were only a few of the others sprawled across the floor. I quickly lifted Lucy up and placed her gently on the bed. I adjusted her legs and grabbed the blanket that had been carelessly tossed aside the night before. I pulled it over her cold body and adjusted her head under the pillow.

I stood up and looked down at my handiwork, sighing as I stared at her pale face. I felt another wave of anger and my hands shook. I took a deep breath and clenched my hands to fists, closing my eyes. I needed to calm down. Getting angry at what had happened in the past was not going to fix anything. If I wanted to help Lucy at all, I needed to have a level head. I could not be getting angry all the time.

I swallowed the bile in my throat and walked into my bathroom, angrily kicking some clothes aside. I opened my medicine cabinet and pulled out some pills to help with fever and some burn ointment that I had used many times to get rid of burn scars. I also grabbed a glass of water and walked back into my room. I put all the stuff on the bedside table and turned to face my mess of a room.

I wasn't clueless, I knew how to clean and get down on my knees like a dog. Usually, some servant would do it for me even if I didn't have a personal slave. I looked down at Lucy's face and sighed. Hopefully, after this was all over, I'd never have to tell her that I got down on a slave level and cleaned my own rooms. She'd never let me live it down.

I started picking up all the clothes and the dirty underwear on the floor and out them in a laundry basket. I stared cleaning up the dusty shelves and organizing my books. I realized that she had already done most of the work for me, as most of the books were already in alphabetical order. I smiled, glancing at the grasshopper book I had caught her reading. I gulped and looked back at Lucy on the bed and gritted my teeth. I realized now that I was just looking for a distraction.

Turning back to my desk I started sifting through the papers. Suddenly, I heard a gasp behind me. I whirled around and all but dashed back to the bedside table. Lucy's eyes were still shut but she was breathing heavily and her mouth was parted. It looked like she was trying to catch her breath.

"Buttercup…" I whispered, stroking her cheek. She shifted under my touch, but her eyes didn't open. Her shoulders shifted and she titled her chin, almost in response to my touch. I sighed and softly brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Buttercup… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." My free hand fisted at my side and I gulped, looking down in shame.

"All of this is my fault. I am the reason that you were stripped of everything. It's my fault that you're in so much pain. I brought this on you and for that I am so sorry. I don't think you should ever forgive me. I know I wouldn't forgive myself. I don't deserve you or anything you could give me, but I need you to do me a favor. Just this one thing and I'll never bother you again. Please wake up, please be okay. And one day, I will get you out of here. This I swear to you, I will."

Not gonna lie, I started tearing up while I wrote this chapter. Leave a review!