Hello everyone! How have you been? I've been great! Today's chapter, as I said in the author's note in chapter eight, is kinda dark. It has violence and a bit of swearing (prominently the f-word by way of Lauren Velanie), so keep that in mind. In any case, the end of chapter eight marks the beginning of this story arc! Welcome to the Lion's Den arc! Let's get right into it, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, all rights are reserved for Hiro Mashima and affiliates. Trust me if I owned FT, NaLu would have been canon way sooner. I also wouldn't have screwed with people's emotions with Jerza.

Chapter nine: From Enemy Claws

Everyone in True Heart and Oshibana are diligent to avoid getting in Lauren Velanie's way today. The steady, harsh glare on her face is enough to make even old people cry and run away. She is not happy. She's going to kill someone. Anna, if she can manage to find the infuriating redhead.

Lauren is NOT happy. She's anything but. She's absolutely, irrefutably incensed. And with good reason, too. Anna doesn't pull disappearing acts very often, or at least she never used to, but when she does it's absolutely infuriating. "Anna!" The Dragonslayer shrieks with ire as she roundhouse kicks her partner's door open. Without a care in the world, the auburn-haired teen stalks in and begins assessing the space. Anna's dorm is neat and immaculate, although her bed has numerous books strewn across it. The bathroom is clean. The kitchenette is clean. But no Anna.

Nearly combusting in rage, Lauren glares angrily at one of the Caster books on Anna's bed. "Anna, I swear to Chronos above, I will fucking kill your ass." She hisses under her breath, stalking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

From then on, Lauren's day is spent searching for her currently missing best friend. She searches the entirety of the guild, including the S-Class lounge, the Girls Council room, the roof, the pool, most of Oshibana, and even sneaking into Master's office to look.

Nothing. Not a single trace of Anna. Goddamnit, Lauren thought she was over her funk! What could have happened? Maybe she had another episode. Maybe that's it. But somehow, a deep, unsettled part of her knows that isn't the case.

Almost defeated, Lauren plops down in a chair in True Heart's main hall, stewing in her emotions. Disappearing isn't like her. Anna doesn't just drop off the map without a word to anyone, aside from when she traveled to Magnolia after telling only Master where she was going. As far as the Dragonslayer was aware, Erza was on a job so Anna couldn't be at Fairy Tail. And it isn't like they have many people outside of the guild to hang out with. The only people they know that aren't in the guild are Anna's aunt and uncle, but Uncle Max is out of town with Aunt Jess and won't be back for another week, so that possibility is out.

Where the hell could she be? The Dragonslayer held back a whine, her anger giving way to worry. She knows damn well that Anna's an S-Class wizard and can definitely take care of herself, but that won't stop her from worrying over the irritating redhead. And the fact that Anna hadn't answered her Lacrima when she called for the third time only amplified Lauren's concern. Anna couldn't stand seeing notifications on her Lacrima, so she would have picked up by the second call.

As Lauren sat there waiting, minutes turned into hours, but she still refused to move, believing deep in her soul that Anna would walk through the doors right at that moment. Even as her stomach tightened painfully in hunger, and her back began to complain from her hunched position, she remained exactly where she was. She wanted to be there when Anna got back.

Of course, by eleven that night, her boyfriend Marcus approached her. "Laur, are you okay? You've been sitting there almost all day." He knelt next to her seat, his red-orange eyes gazing worriedly at her.

Sighing heavily, Lauren drops her head into her hands, frowning down at the floor. "It's Anna," She confesses. "I haven't seen or heard from her since before dinner yesterday. She isn't in her room, or anywhere in the guild. I searched all over Oshibana, including her Uncle Max's house, but he and Aunt Jess have been out of town for the past few days. I know she's not with Erza, 'cause she's out on a job. I tried scenting her, but the rain from last night would have washed away anything that could've helped me."

Marcus watches as she sits there, drained of all energy and filled to the brim with worry, and he feels another pang of concern hit him straight in the chest. "Laur, I'm sure Annie's fine. She's S-Class, and she has all those Diamond guys ready to knock someone's teeth in if they mess with her. Maybe she just wants some time to herself?" He asks, rubbing her back comfortingly. "It's a reasonable request; considering so much of her time is consumed by the guild, and remember, she's been in a bit of a mood since she got back from that job with Lillian. She could have just wanted some time to herself where she couldn't be interrupted."

"I guess." Lauren replied monotonously, gaze still locked on the floor. Marcus, knowing he can't do anything else, simply stays there with her and continues rubbing her back, offering his support without words.

'Anna, where are you?' The Dragonslayer wondered once again, desperate to find her sister. Even if they weren't related by blood, she and Anna were sisters. They forged their bond through kindness and that iron-clad relationship could never be broken.

And Lauren would be damned if she let her sister disappear off the face of Earthland so easily. She'd find Anna if it killed her. She just hopes she's okay

...

Anna is not okay. Not by any means.

Waking up upside-down definitely isn't how Anna would ideally spend her weekend. Neither is having to watch a crazed, fang-toothed bastard grin as pain wracks her body over and over again. The bound redhead has to bite back a groan as she sees a lock of long, pastel purple hair swish into her line of sight. 'Of fucking course', she thinks with ire, teeth grinding as the knife digs into the meaty flesh of her thigh. "How does it feel, pretty girl? You won't be so pretty when I'm done with you." The woman hisses through her teeth as she makes another cut on Anna's smooth skin.

Torture is SO fun, Anna thinks to herself sarcastically, watching as her blood trails down her tanned skin to the floor, trying to ignore the way her vision begins blurring and distorting. And as if being kidnapped and tortured wasn't enough, those psychopaths have her hanging by her ankles so her blood rushes to her head. Nothing like forcing a redhead to be a redface. Her hands are tied behind her back, bound tightly with magic-sealing cuffs so she can't even cast a spell. 'I'm gonna kill a bitch. Come on, when is Hydra gonna get off his ass and calls Alva or Vulpy down?' She grumbles, teeth clenching again as the knife is thrust into her torso.

And aside from the current knife-born pain, Anna personally feels like she's been struck with lightning a good seven times. Every touch makes her nerves react violently, sending each signal of pure, white-hot pain to her brain with astounding clarity. Not only that, but she can tell that her magic is shockingly unsteady, wavering and shuddering as if its undergone some serious trauma. Her throat is raw, and she can taste blood in her mouth, making her lips pull back a bit at the bitter taste.

"Your screams were positively beautiful, you know." Verina said casually, yanking the knife out of Anna's torso, only to shove it into her stomach again, this time higher. Once again, Anna is grateful that Verina isn't as good at anatomy as she seems to think she is; had she put that knife any higher, it would be in Anna's heart. "When we were stripping your magic from you, the screams that you gave us..." She paused to shudder in what Anna couldn't help but believe was arousal of some demented sort.

Ah, so that's why she feels like shit, the redhead rationalizes, ignoring the way her blood sluggishly begins crawling up her neck to her cheek. The revelation is far from comforting, though; because magic separation is EXTREMELY painful. For Chronos's sake, the goddamned Magic Council has even recognized it as a form of torture. It doesn't exactly tickle her fancy that these insane Lion's Den dill-holes stripped her magic out of her, pain aside. Magic always fetched quite a pretty penny on the black market, especially Celestial Magic. And the fact that Anna had three Magic types...well, Lion's Den would end up VERY rich if they decided to sell it. No, Anna wasn't happy at all.

Though, the redhead supposed she should just bless her lucky stars that Verina hadn't started using her magic on her, to her knowledge. That crazy bitch specializes in Explosion Magic for Chronos's sake. She's been on the receiving end of it before, and it felt like getting hit by a magic mobile, but five times worse.

Just then, a commotion outside drew both captor and prisoner's attention, an explosion of some kind, wracking the building with shockwaves from top to bottom. Anna's lips spread into a positively predatory smirk. Just as Verina sauntered to the door to investigate, it went flying off its hinges, smacking her into the far wall, where she slid down to the floor, unconscious.

In the doorway, leg still raised in post-kick form, stood a triumphant, though positively enraged-looking Hydra. "Well, well, Anna-baby, you sure like getting into trouble, don'cha?" He greeted her with clenched teeth and burning sapphire eyes as Alvara rushed in and cut their Summoner down from her restraints. The redhead winced a bit as her back dropped into the blonde Spirit's arms, the soreness only now making itself apparent as her muscles and stab wounds began crying out in protest.

"It's time to get you out of here, Anna." Alvara said in her steady tone, although the homicidal glint in her dark blue eyes stated she wanted nothing more than to pay back the Lion's Den scum ten-fold for what they had inflicted onto her Master.

Of course, it wasn't long before things started going sideways. They weren't far from the Lion's Den's guildhall from Hell when the members started pouring from every exit and sprinted for all three of them. Now normally taking those grunts out would be no issue for Anna at all, but at the present moment her magic was currently hemorrhaging out of her just like her blood and she honestly felt like she was going to pass out at any second. And as Alvara was far too preoccupied with keeping Anna from bleeding out too heavily, Hydra was unfortunately on his own.

He seemed to understand this, because he then said the dumbest thing that's ever come out of his mouth since Anna became his Summoner. "Go! We're close to Magnolia! Once you're in Fairy Tail, you'll be safe!" Hydra urges his Summoner, and she's quick to hightail it out of there. He wouldn't tell her to run unless he was going to do something stupid; like dismissing himself and calling Vulpecula to call him at full power. Her wounds hurt terribly, and she's on the verge of passing out, but she keeps running at full tilt, knowing if she doesn't make it to Fairy Tail, she's a goner.

Alvara knows this too, which is why she forces her Summoner to run faster, trying to force her healing magic to do even the slightest bit of help, however it's fairly useless as they're both running for their lives at the current moment. Because of this, Alvara does her best to make sure Anna escapes, but there's only so far she can go before she herself needs to stop. "Keep going!" She urges her red-headed Summoner. "You're almost there!" She calls to her. Giving up on questioning, Anna blindly follows the order and pushes herself to get away.

As soon as Anna is out of her range of hearing, Alvara throws up a sturdy, bright blue barrier to prevent those Lion's Den freaks from following. She forces every last remaining shred of magic not currently in Anna into holding up the barrier. Alvara stands sentinel in front of her blockade, her dark blue eyes narrowed into the finest of enraged slits, daring anyone to test her. None of those sociopathic nightmares are going to get anywhere near Anna. Not if she has anything to say about it.

From the direction they ran from, Hydra's infuriated roar echoes and the ground trembles under the cacophonous sound, followed quickly by Vulpecula's deranged, villainous cackling. The blonde Spirit holds back a sigh, honestly used to the behaviors of her teammates and just hoping that Anna makes it to her destination without any problems.

Running through Magnolia, Anna ignores everything else around her, not even caring who she cuts off or scares with her numerous bloodstains. She just keeps on running, her only goal to get to safety. Her vision is double and keeps going out of focus, pain blurring everything around her. It's a miracle she hasn't run into anyone or fallen into the canal yet.

As soon as she sprints through the first arched gate to the building, relief floods her. Her adrenaline then runs out, completely spent, and she belatedly tries to stop but has too much momentum. The last vestiges of her running are keeping her on a collision course with the doors, and there's nothing she can do. She doesn't have enough room to stop, and even if she did have the room, she doesn't have the energy necessary. All she can do is brace herself for the hit, and wait for her remaining momentum to send her crashing into the doors and forcing them open.

From behind her, Levy can hear the doors being thrown open, but pays it no mind. After all, it was probably just Natsu returning with his standard greeting; kicking the door open without a care for who he may hit. However, with the lack of his usual "WE MADE IT BACK ALIVE", the bluenette turns around.

The shriek that rips from Levy's throat alerts everyone in the main guildhall, and they whirl around to see what the commotion is about. Leaning against the door, her clothing ripped and skin stained with blood, is Anna. Someone beat the hell out of her, and judging on her many, many injuries, they clearly had fun doing so. Simultaneous intakes of breath can be heard around the hall, their eyes drawing to the steadily growing pool of blood forming underneath the exhausted redhead.

"Lion's Den," The injured redhead whispers, staggering as she loses her grip on the door and begins falling to the floor. "They...want to...play.." She pants heavily, the black spots growing larger, obscuring her vision further. Her body drops to the floor, limp as she loses consciousness. Mirajane is quick to rush the girl to their infirmary, ordering Jet to find Porlyusica and Levy to call True Heart's Master immediately.

...

Meanwhile at True Heart, Master Kokoa, none the wiser to the calamity that has erupted in Magnolia, is relaxing at the bar and chatting with Ramon when her lacrima rings. Asking her lovely barkeeper to hold that thought, she picks up, discovering it to be one of Makarov's children, Levy. "Hello there, Levy. How may I help you?"

Levy's face was, strangely, twisted with panic, a vaguely haunted look in her hazel eyes. Unbidden, Kokoa feels suspicion begin to curl in her gut at the distress coloring the blue-haired girl's visage. "Please, you have to come quick!" She begged. "Anna just arrived and she's very hurt!" She burst out with, and Ramon froze, his eyes snapping to the lacrima with a speed that should have been frightening.

Almost immediately, Kokoa's peace audibly shattered around her. Her face remained calm and serene, although her unoccupied hand clenched hard enough to turn her knuckles white. "Is that so? And did she say anything?" She asked calmly, and Ramon began trying to scoot away, feeling the violent waves of magic rippling off of his Master.

In fact, everyone in the guildhall could feel it. Those closest to her also backed away, not wanting to be that close. A few of the younger members actually looked frightened, so Lillian hurriedly ushered them upstairs and away from the potentially horrific explosion.

Levy's mop of blue hair jerked up and down as she nodded, her face still twisted with worry. "Yes, but it wasn't much. She said something about Lion's Den, and how they wanted to play. And," Levy paused, looking rather sickened. "It looked like she'd been tortured." She revealed timidly.

Kokoa didn't bother asking Levy how she knew that. She recognized the Fairy girl and the look in her eyes. Levy had been one of the members that Phantom Lord's Gajeel Redfox had attacked during the last guild conflict. She knew how to spot someone who had been tortured. If Levy said Anna looked like she'd been tortured, then she'd almost definitely been tortured.

As much as the very thought sickened her to the core.

"Very well. I will be there very soon, and I'll be bringing True Heart's personal doctor, if that's alright. Keep me posted, if you will." Levy had just barely nodded when Kokoa abruptly cut off the connection, letting her lacrima fall silent and dark. The entirety of the guildhall was utterly still, the air tense and thick.

"Ramon, Nadia," She calls sternly. In an instant, a girl with dark bronze skin and pale green eyes appeared beside her, Ramon trailing behind her anxiously.

"Yes Master?" Nadia asked with an air of serenity, her pale eyes locked on her Master. Nadia was a girl who hailed from the country of Sin, a country that boasted strong magical power, an impressive trade system, and their rich chocolatey skin tones. Nadia herself was no different, a very formidable SS-Class Mage who had immigrated from Sin at a young age following the death of her ailing mother.

"You two are in charge until I'm back. My services are needed in Magnolia. No one is to leave the guildhall or dormitory without at least two other people. Is that understood?" Kokoa's dark magenta gaze cut into them like the sharpest of daggers, leaving no chance for them to say no, not that they would.

They both nodded, neither one saying anything as Kokoa turned on her heel and stalked away from the bar. They watched as she made her way up the stairs, vaguely hearing the steps creak as she ascended, exchanging worried looks. The steps don't creak unless Master is angry.

Nadia can't help but wonder just what has their Master so quietly enraged, but she can't ask anyone before their patron reemerge from the infirmary with their doctor in tow, and both of them descend the stairs post-haste, although the stairs still groan as soon as Kokoa's steps land on them.

Nadia does want to know what's gotten their Master all up in a lather, but refrains herself from saying anything. Instead, she keeps the guild members away and from asking anything, not wishing to test Kokoa's temper today. For her to be this enraged, something bad happened.

She's going to ask Ramon when they're alone though.

...

Kokoa and Doctor Veric find Lauren sitting hunched over on the front steps of the guildhall, staring down at the ground beneath her feet. "Lauren, get up and follow me." The Master ordered. Slowly, Lauren's head rose, and she caught sight of the bags lining the Dragonslayer's eyes.

Inwardly, she felt a touch of sympathy for the girl, but smashed it down for now. Now isn't the time for sympathy. Now is time for action. "But, Master..What if she comes back soon? I want to be here-"

"Anna's in Magnolia." Kokoa cuts the Dragonslayer off. "We're going to get her now." Without waiting, she reaches down and snags Lauren's wrist in a vice-grip and drags the despondent Mage over to their Teleportation wizard Marie, who Ramon had alerted to be ready.

"Send us to Fairy Tail, Marie. Right away." Kokoa demands, throwing all pretenses of niceties out the window.

"Yes, Ma'am." Marie nods and the magic circle below their feet glows a bright yellow, obscuring their vision. Kokoa and Doctor Veric are the first to recover, dragging Lauren from the exit point of the circle before her eyes have recovered from the light show. The Wizard Saint strides single-mindedly straight up to Mirajane, the steady, stony look never falling from her face.

"She's in the infirmary with our healer, Porlyusica." Mirajane let her know without prompt. Nodding briskly, Kokoa alters her course and heads up to the infirmary with sharp, quick steps, Doctor Veric on her heels.

Finally as Lauren regained her bearings, she planted her feet firmly to the ground, her superior physical strength preventing Kokoa from dragging her any further. "Master!" She exclaims. "What is going on?! Why are we going to the infirmary? Where is Anna?!" She demands, fury and worry alike warring within her. She's furious at being dragged from True Heart without warning, but she's also beside herself with worry for her sister.

She glares hard at her Guild Master's back, watching as the woman slowly turns around, her gaze chilling and cutting Lauren to the very soul. Lauren vaguely feels Kokoa's grip slacken a bit, letting the Dragonslayer pull her wrist away.

"Lion's Den has attacked." The Master answers ominously. She doesn't give any other explanation, only striding forward, and opening the door to the infirmary. Doctor Veric follows her in, and shuts the door behind him before Lauren can shove herself inside.

Left standing alone in the hallway, Lauren plops down into the bench next to the door, hanging her head in her hands, her mind swimming dizzyingly. Only one thought is clear, resonating deep in her bones.

'I knew something was wrong.'

BOOM! And that marks the end of chapter nine! Let me know in the reviews what you think! If you don't feel like reviewing, send me a PM if there's things you think I could do better, or if there's something you think I could have missed. I'm always open for your thoughts, as long as you're respectful.

Chapter ten is next, and I hope you like it.

-Silver Sin