Light was the first thing I noticed. It was bright… So bright… I had to shut my eyes. I hated having to do that. Hated myself for shying away from something I dreamed of seeing. For so long.

I bent my head, wet strands of my blonde hair helping to block what my hands were unable to block.

I felt tears drip down my nose.

How pathetic I must have looked. The great Lucy Heartfilia reduced to a sniveling wreck because of a crack of sunlight.

How poetic. How mighty. How awe inspiring.

Morse would have a field day.

I knew all too well he loved his job. He was thrilled with it.

The dirty cement floor beneath my knees had never felt so cold as when the warmth of the light touched my bare shoulder. It was like I was feeling, truly feeling for the first time.

I cried harder. I hadn't cried in so long…

Noise came next. It was more than screams and tortured cries… it was sounds of explosions. And it was coming nearer.

I felt everything shake more and more violently… it distracted me from the light. I backed away as best I could against the equally cold and dirty wall, pressing my cheek into it.

It was too much. Too much noise, and suddenly too much light.

I was crying again, this time in fear.

What was happening?

Where was Morse?

… What would happen to me?

There was one last great blast, the wall trembling with me, and then it was silent.

I didn't dare move away from my place. My imagination was running wild, would they finally kill me? How would they do it?

Footsteps came next. Heavy footsteps.

And they were dragging something.

"Is this the room?" A voice demanded. He sounded angry, and there was a dull smack.

Someone had gotten punched.

I tried to bite my lip to stop the tears. Maybe they would leave me alone. Maybe they wanted another room.

I should have known I would have no such luck.

A huge iron door that I knew all too well creaked open, and with it more light. More burning light.

"Lucy!" His voice yelled again, almost as loud as the explosions. It wasn't menacing or threatening.

It didn't sound powerful or powerless.

It was… Desperate.

"Dammit, you said she was here!" Another thud and a voice coughed up something wet and spat it on the floor. There was shuffling, the roughing of clothes, and wheezing before a second voice invaded my space.

"I swear it! She's here right where I… Uh…"

My jaw clenched, biting my lip so hard I tasted blood.

I knew that voice.

A few more words were said before they were moving again, but I was no longer listening.

I pressed myself against the wall harder, trying desperately to blend in. Or disappear. Be anywhere but near him.

I couldn't stop the sobs from wracking my thin frame any longer and I shook harder. I knew they heard me.

I heard them pause and come to me.

This was it.

I was going to die.

My eyes were still shut, and I couldn't open them. Not with the blinding light I knew was there.

I couldn't run.

I couldn't hide.

All I could do was press myself against the only thing I could…

When I felt them reach me.

"There she is, like I said-"

He was cut off as someone was pushed gruffly away, falling to the ground and skidding across the floor.

He took a step toward me.

And I broke.

"No!" I cried, "Please, no more!"

"Lucy," He said.

It was gentle, but I was scared by that. No one was gentle there.

I didn't dare face him as he came closer. I couldn't… "Not again…" I struggled for breath through my tears, shaking my head, "Please, not again."

I heard him kneel next to me, and suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't stop myself from flinching and trying to scramble away, but he kept his hand firm and held me in place.

"Lucy, " He said my name again, gentle once more, "It's me."

His voice cracked as he said that, like he was about to cry.

Before I could plead again, before I could respond, he pulled me toward him and enveloped me in a… A... hug.

My crying stopped, and shock replaced it. He held me to him and even though I wanted to pull away, something told me it was okay now. Everything would be fine.

Explosions started up again, but this time it was going farther and farther away. I only noticed this in the back of my mind though.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here." He promised and I felt him try to pick me up.

This couldn't be real. I refused to believe it. The good feeling left.

"No! Leave me alone!" I pleaded, and tried to pull myself away, but he was stronger. I opened my eyes, only to catch a glimpse of blue hair, before having to close them again.

He noticed.

He set me down.

I waited for something to happen.

Anything.

Was this it? Would he stop the ruse?

But I heard him curse to himself and rip something. "Sorry, I should have realized… Erza said you might need something to block light."

A cloth was placed gently around my eyes and tied off behind my head.

I wasn't fighting anymore.

That name… "E-Erza?" I asked, taking some shuddering breaths.

"Yeah. She came too. We all did… But let's get you out of here."

He noticed the chains around my hands. The horrible shackles that dug into my skin.

Then they felt very cold. Then they felt colder and colder until it burned. An icy fire.

I had felt that before as well.

The iron cracked then, with a little motion from him, shattered around my wrists.

I brought my bloodied and broken wrists closer to myself, finally starting to believe what I hadn't wanted… hadn't dared to. "Gray?" I said in a small voice.

His hands were around my shoulders, coaxing me to my feet. "Yeah Lucy, I'm here. Come on, we have to get you some help."

"Gray!" I exclaimed, and leaned into him as he helped to support my weight, "You found me.. I mean you looked… you never… never gave up."

"Of course we didn't give up. We'd never give up on you, Luce."

An explosion and a gravely yell echoed against the walls around me, making me flinch and struggle against Gray's gentle support. The floor beneath my bare feet shifted and I lost my balance, only saved by my friend.

"LUUUCY!" A gravelly voice bellowed, and another explosion followed. The building was rumbling now, threatening to fall apart. Gray cursed and picked me up. I tried to get back on my feet but I doubt he even noticed my resistance.

"We had better get to him before he brings the castle down on top of us." Gray said, and took off down the halls at a jog, the sound of battle getting closer and closer, but a ringing in my ear was starting to drown out a lot of the noise. Like something was being played over the chaos. I realized it was my song. The one I had conditioned myself to hear when everything became too much… I was receding.

I fought against it. No. I had to remain… I wanted it to be real. Wanted so badly for the arms securely around me to be that of my friend. I wanted all my friends around me, to feel secure again… but the ringing grew louder.

A voice, my voice was screaming in my head at me to run. Escape. Go back to the cell, at least I had known that was real. At least I had known something so terrible was reality. I hated myself for feeling this way.

I felt myself go rigid, my mind so confused it was stuck between wanting to run and willing this to be real. But the longer we ran, the more distant I became. And the more fear started to surround me.

What if this wasn't Gray. What if it was yet another one of Morse's terrible tricks.

But how could I know?

I felt Gray stop running and heard as if from a great distance, the sound of a blade being unsheathed.

Morse. It was Morse. I felt it, I knew it in my bones. He had followed us. I should have known, should have known he would never let me go. Or he had been there all along. He could be carrying me right now.

A mad strength seemed to build up and I could only focus on the hands around me.

I felt my courage building inside me, when a metal touch to my forehead sent a shockwave to my system.

I flailed out of his hold and fell to the ground, feeling around me and seeing through my closed and covered eyes that it would be too bright for me to see. There was more rumbling as the ringing in my ears increased as well as the building's instability.

My back touched a cool rock wall and I pressed myself against it, feeling fresh cuts from my short decent.

But the cold metal followed, this time touching my shoulder.

I was ready for the strike that would inevitably follow. It always did. The ringing of my song turned up in my head and I waited, hands clasped around my knees.

As quickly as it came, the metal disappeared, replaced by a warm hand.

Sounds wormed their way through my song, voices. It was Erza. Erza and Gray were shouting.

Then I was grabbed, still curled up, and flew through the air. I sobbed and fought against the strong grip, but I was weak. I was always weak.

"Lucy, I'm sorry, but the castle is falling down, we can't stay here." Erza said.

The wind was loud before I felt the air open up and I knew we were outside.

The warmth of the sun hit me and the song quited enough for me to realize I was crying.

We stopped and she set me down on soft grass. But she didn't let me go, instead pulled me into a tight hug.

"It's going to be ok now Lucy. I promise, we're destroying that awful place. And those people can't hurt you anymore. You're safe now." She said in a soothing voice. It wasn't pitying. Not like Gray had been. But understanding.

She also seemed to understand how foreign contact was to me because she let go. But I wasn't fighting the hand that she rested on mine. I didn't have the strength to fight anymore. I listened to the screams of battle and crashing walls, wanting desperately to believe it. But the other part told me to remain wary.

But the third part overrode everything, and told me I had had enough. So I lay down and let the world fade away.

"We should wake her up."

"No, she just went through a terrible ordeal. Let her get some sleep."

"But she hasn't eaten in two days. Probably more."

"Natsu, Erza said to let her be. So did the doctor, so she should be ok."

"Does she look ok to you?" Natsu. That was his voice. I opened my eyes slightly, trying to gage how bright it was, and to my relief it was dim. Not as dark as…

I sat up and grabbed at my shackles… that weren't there.

"Lucy…" Happy's voice.

Not Morse.

My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest, and my body screamed at me to lie back down.

But my mind needed to figure out what was happening.

"Where…" Was all I was able to say before arms were thrown around me. Natsu.

"I'm so… you don't know…" Was all I heard as the dragon slayer spluttered into my shoulder and held me close.

It hurt, but I allowed it. I blinked and saw I was in the medical ward in Fairy Tail. Dark drapes were drawn around me. They knew it had been awhile since I'd been able to see.

"But, but are you alright? Lucy… what happened?" Natsu had let me go and sat back in a chair next to my bed.

'So… It's real. I'm… you all saved me." I said, but my heartbeat still raced ahead of me. I pushed my back against the bed frame. "Or… Morse. Is it all Morse? He plays tricks like this… Natsu…"

I scanned the room, searching for the misplaced object. There was always one in his visions… but it was so blank and I had not spent all that much time in the ward to truly know, so I pulled the covers securely around my shoulders. "I don't see anything this time… Morse, you're getting better." I said, and hugged my knees. "It was nice though, for a bit. It felt like I really went home."

"Lucy, you are home. Don't say that stuff, please you gotta believe you're ok now." He said. I looked at him.

The music started again in my head. The more I wanted to believe it, the more it was all too good to be true. Morse defeated, the castle destroyed, and waking up safe in the guild with Natsu at my side.

It was all too good to be true.

"At least the bed feels real this time."

"Lucy!" Happy said, and buried his face in my covered leg.

I layed back down, pushing the cat away. "Please, leave me alone." And I closed my eyes.

I stared at a table. I was sitting in the guild hall dining area, but there wasn't the usual hustle and bustle I had come to miss so much. It was just me. I guess they figured that's what I wanted. Or, what Morse figured that's what would hurt me the most.

But I wasn't going to let him break me more.

"Lucy, here take this." Mira said. She set a plate and mug next to me. The food smelled good, and my stomach growled, betraying my refusal.

"No, thank you." I said quietly, and set my head on the table, feeling very tired.

"Please, you have to eat. You're bone thin! The doctor said-"

"Leave this to me." Erza's voice and footsteps echoed in the empty hall.

Mira hesitated a moment, before her footsteps left.

Her armored form sat across from me, and I looked up at her.

"Can we have a conversation?" Erza asked. Her tone wasn't gentle like Mira's had been. Titania was as serious as ever.

I picked my head up and nodded slightly before looking back at the sandwich Mira had made for me.

"Why are you refusing to eat?" She asked so bluntly. It was nice. Everyone else had talked with her so gently, so pitying. It made her sick. But Erza spoke without any of that.

"Because Morse won't stop the dream unless I believe it. He always takes it away when I think that everything is okay." I said. I'd try to make eye contact with her, but I couldn't keep my head up long enough. It was all I could do just to stay awake.

"Dream? I think I understand, Morse would force you to have dreams of Fairy Tail?" Erza asked. She was still so serious, so matter of fact.

"That's right. You are always here. You always want me to believe." I said. I studied the sandwich… it was so real looking. It was like four sandwiches on to of eachother like a tower. Something Mira made for people who simply inhaled food.. Morse was getting really good.

"I see… are we always sitting at this table and talking like this?" She shifted slightly, her armor clinking and betraying her movement.

"Well no. Sometimes it's my apartment, the bar, or in the room. But you always tell me that this is real. That I'll be okay, and that you destroyed the tower." I poked the sandwich so it fell over.

"Oh. We destroy the tower each time? That's… interesting." For the first time Ezra betrayed a little emotion. Morse was an artist at these dreams. He'd had enough practice by now to perfect it though.

"This time. Last time. But I'm making sure there will be no next time." I pushed the plate of food away. "Morse, I'm done with these games."

"Lucy…" The redhead's voice cracked with emotion.

"It's okay, Ezra. I'm going to free Fairy Tail of any obligation to save me." I picked my head off the table and offered her a smile. Her face was troubled, like she already knew what I was about to say. "I'm going to free myself."

"... how?" Erza asked. My smile vanished and a calmness spread through my veins.

"You already know, Morse." I said, and ran toward the bar. I heard Erza's chair scrape the wooden floor, but I had already grabbed my target. I held the knife in my hand and turned to face Erza as I brought it to my neck. She had stopped, only feet away. Her hands reaching out toward me.

"Lucy!" Erza screamed. Her eyes were wide with terror. The door leading outside opened and I saw Natsu and Happy take in the scene in front of them with the same horror.

I paused for only a moment. "I love you guys." I almost whispered, before drawing a bloody line under my chin.