Chapter 13: This is all my fault!

Warning:

This chapter contains Body Horror, Mutilation and Torture. Read at your own discretion.

Natsu was halfway to Magnolia when he felt something wet soak his back. He knew the metallic scent of blood all too well, so he stopped walking and gently laid Lucy down on the soft grasslands.

Happy stopped flying and landed on the grass. He looked at Natsu with concern. "Why are we stopping? What's wrong Natsu?"

Natsu smiled slightly at his friend. "It's okay little buddy, Lucy's just a little hurt is all."

Happy sniffled. "I hope Lushee will be okay."

"I'm sure she will." Natsu said.

As Natsu looked Lucy over he noticed she was still fast asleep, breathing fine which relaxed him a bit, because it told him her injuries weren't life threatening.

Shortly after her rescue, Lucy fell asleep on Natsu's back and he figured it was just exhaustion, but when he lifted up her blood-soaked shirt he was filled with shock. One of her ribs were broken and had partially pierced through the skin of her belly.

"Shit!" Natsu mumbled under his breath as he pulled her shirt back down. He turned to his little blue friend and asked him; "Happy! I need you to fly us to Magnolia, Lucy's badly hurt!"

Happy saluted his friend and yelled "Aye sir!" before grabbing the back of Natsu's vest while Natsu carried Lucy in his arms bridal style."

Happy had managed to fly Natsu and Lucy to the outskirts of Magnolia before his wings gave out. Natsu landed on the ground, his two feet digging into the earth from the impact.

Happy fell from the sky and landed on Natsu's head. He was utterly exhausted from having used up all his magic power to fly his two friends at Mach speed.

"I'm sorry Natsu… I can't fly anymore…too sleepy." Happy murmured as he fell asleep on Natsu's head.

Natsu smiled. "Don't worry little buddy. You did a great job, just enjoy your rest."

Natsu ran through Magnolia as fast as his feet could take him and he ignored the strange looks people gave him as they saw Magnolia's resident dragon slayer running through town with a bleeding girl in his arms and a sleeping cat on his head.

Natsu made it to the basement level of Fairy Tail and kicked the door in yelling; "Help! Lucy needs help!"

Natsu saw as people looked his way with worried faces, and he thought at least a quarter of the guild members were covered in bandages or were bleeding.

Erza and Mirajane ran over to Natsu to see Lucy lying in his arms covered in blood.

"What happened?" Erza said sternly.

Natsu growled. "Phantom is what happened. They kidnapped Lucy and beat her."

Mirajane's gaze darkened. "They did what?!"

Gray walked over and put his hand on Mirajane's shoulder. "Calm down, Mira. It won't do you any good to break your seal here."

Mirajane sighed. "I guess your right…"

Natsu cleared the nearest table that held a couple dozen lacrima, knocking everything off with a swipe of his hand. He carefully placed Lucy on the table, ignoring Wakaba's yelling that he broke his bomb lacrima, and ripped off her shirt, exposing the pink bra she wore.

"Natsu!" Erza scolded him when she saw him rip off Lucy's clothes. She was about to scold him further, but then she saw the rib poking through Lucy's skin.

Mirajane gasped in horror at the state of Lucy and ran off to find a few high-level healing potions.

"Gray! I need you to help me hold Lucy down. Natsu! I will make an incision just below the rib and you need to put the rib back in place and cauterize the wound. She is bleeding out quickly." Erza commanded.

Natsu nodded his head in understanding and readied himself for his task.

Mirajane came back with a handful of potions in her arms. She placed most of them on a nearby crate and lifted Lucy's head up, pouring a red colored potion down her throat. "This will numb the pain. She shouldn't feel too much."

Natsu nodded. "Thanks Mira."

After delivering the potion, Mirajane stepped back and watched as Gray held down an unconscious Lucy, and Erza made an incision in her stomach. Lucy started to writhe in pain when Natsu shoved his hand inside her stomach and put the rib back in place.

A small crowd started to form, all watching with bated breath as Natsu cauterized the wound. Lucy's squirming stopped shortly after and Natsu turned around to glare at the crowd which managed to scare off the few people who decided to watch.

Mirajane poured a blue potion down Lucy's throat and suddenly Lucy woke up coughing. Lucy sprang up from the table and coughed her lungs out.

Lucy's gaze met Mirajane, who was holding a half empty potion bottle and felt a searing pain in her abdomen. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Mirajane's eyes watered and she lightly hugged the blonde, not wanting to open her wound.

"Why do I feel like I have just been ripped open?" Lucy asked.

"Because you were. You had a broken rib and flame brain here put it back in place." Gray explained.

Lucy looked over to Natsu with a look of surprise. "Really?! Thank you, but that wasn't necessary."

Natsu furrowed his brows in confusion. "Your rib was poking through your skin and you were bleeding a ton. You could have died."

Lucy jumped down from the table and landed on her feet, looking Natsu in the eye. "I've told you before, Natsu. Like this," Lucy pointed to her missing eye. "My rib would have healed."

Natsu huffed, annoyed by Lucy's continued belief that she could heal like a lizard.

"Yeah, and you still haven't healed your eye yet!" Natsu yelled.

"That takes a lot longer because it's missing. Anyone would know that!" Lucy retorted, not happy Natsu couldn't retain basic information.

"Ahm." Erza cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. "While it is good to see your fine, I do want to know why you were kidnapped by Phantom in the first place."

Lucy hesitated to answer the comment and looked around, not seeing the small guild master anywhere. "Where is the master?"

Erza folded her arms over her chest. "He is gravely injured. Master Makarov was ambushed by one of their strongest and is now being healed by Porlyusica as we speak."

Tears started to prick at the back of Lucy's good eye as she took in Erza's words. She looked around, seeing a lot of her fellow guild mates in casts for their broken legs or arms, and some had bandages wrapped around their heads and torsos.

Lucy's good eye shot to Mirajane when she saw the white gauze that was wrapped around her head. "How did I not notice this?" Lucy reached out to gently touch Mirajane's injured head and tears started to fall.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Mirajane asked sweetly.

"Oi Luce are you hurt?!" Natsu yelled, inspecting her for any more injuries.

Gray elbowed the dragon slayer in the ribs. "It's obvious she's upset over the guild."

"This is all my f-fault…You're all hurt b-because of me." Lucy murmured.

Erza's brow furrowed in confusion. "Now what do you mean by that?"

Lucy sniffled, struggling to contain her emotions. Her bottom lip quivered as she was about to cry. "It's because of me I-I was kidnapped by Jose because he wanted to hand me over to my d-dad…All I do is cause trouble…m-maybe I should l-leave."

Lucy held her head down, keeping her gaze locked to the ground, not wanting to face her fellow guild mates. That was until Natsu gently grabbed her chin and moved her head so she was looking directly in his eyes.

"Listen to me Lucy. None of this is your fault and we would never blame you. This was all caused by Phantom and your old man, not you." Natsu said as he pushed his forehead up against Lucy's and he could feel her racing heart start to calm down.

Mirajane softly smiled and walked off "I'll go find reinforcements." She walked over to a corner of the guild where Cana was checking her card's fortunes when Mirajane tapped her on the shoulder.

"What's up, Mira?" Cana said.

"Can you help me find the communications lacrima? I know it's around here somewhere." Mirajane said as she looked through a few crates.

"Sure!" Cana grunted as she got up from the floor and started to rummage through a few boxes. "Ah! Here it is."

With Mirajane's help, Cana placed the heavy lacrima onto a table. "So, what's this for?" Cana asked.

"I need to ask Laxus for help." Mirajane replied.

Cana cringed. "If you say so…"

Mirajane pushed a little bit of her magic power into the lacrima and she waited a few moments and suddenly it sparked to life and Laxus's face appeared in the middle of it.

Laxus glared at Mirajane. "What do you want, woman?"

"I…No, we need your help. Please Laxus! The guild is in runs, the master is in critical condition and we can't find Mystogan." Mirajane pleaded.

Laxus burst out laughing. "So, the old man finally got his ass handed to him huh?! Do it yourself! This has nothing to do with me!"

"Please! They're targeting Lucy and we don't know what else to do!" Mirajane said, her voice laced with desperation.

"Who?" Laxus's face contorted as he struggled to recall who Lucy was. "Oh! You mean big tits?! Alright…I'll help on one condition!"

Cana glared at Laxus through the lacrima. 'That attitude needs to go.'

Mirajane clasped her hands together as she felt hope surge through her. "Anything. You name it."

Laxus's face contorted into a disgusting smirk. "You and big tits get to be my fuck buddies for the rest of the year!"

Cana's eyes went wide with shock. "Laxus! You bastard!"

Mirajane was furious. She thought Laxus was a decent man, better than this. "Laxus…" Mirajane growled.

"What?! You think you can threaten the man who is-" Suddenly the communications lacrima smashed into a thousand little shards as Mirajane's cold fury waited to be unleashed.

Tears started to stream down Mirajane's face as she faced Cana, feeling frustrated that there was nothing she could do to help protect her home. She stormed off, proclaiming she would enter the fight.

Cana placed a hand on Mirajane's shoulder and shook her head. "You can't. If you fight as you are now, you'll only get in the way."

Mirajane threw off Cana's grasp and turned around yelling; "I was here and Lucy was beaten and tortured! I have to do something!" she shook her head. "I lost Lisanna! I can't lose Lucy too!"

Mirajane stormed off and Cana looked on, a frown plastered on her face. "Mira…"

Lucy was cuddling Happy close to her chest for comfort when suddenly the entire guild started to shake.

"I-Is it an earthquake?" Lucy asked.

A guild member ran inside the basement with a look of horror on his face. "Everyone! Look outside!"

Lucy rushed outside to see the very same fortress she escaped from was walking towards her on six giant, mechanical legs.

Everyone was filled with shock and awe that Phantom had somehow managed to make their guild mobile.

"What the hell?!" Natsu yelled.

"It's… a walking guild…" Macao mumbled.

The walking guild took one final step near the shoreline and a huge wave of water soaked everyone.

Erza watched as the center of Phantom's guild opened up, revealing a giant cannon that expanded in size and aimed towards Fairy Tail. She screamed; "Everyone get down!" desperately hoping no one would be hit with the deadly cannon, who's laser was building in power.

Lucy watched on in horror as Erza proceeded to requip into her adamantine armor. An armor that covered her head to toe in one of Earthland's strongest substances. She felt herself go numb as she watched Erza charge the cannon, placing down two large spiked shields in front of her.

Lucy heard everyone's desperate screams for Erza to stop her foolish attempt at defending the guild. The laser from the cannon raced over the beach and slammed into the giant, twin shields Erza held with all her might.

The shields were not enough, they cracked under the immense pressure and Erza was sent flying backwards, rolling lifelessly towards the guild.

"Erza!" Lucy screamed at the top her lungs, racing towards her fallen friend. She saw Natsu holding Erza's head up, looking her over with worry etched into his features.

Lucy fell to her knees and grasped Erza's hands. The redhead was bleeding profusely and her armor was shattered, her under clothes were ripped and shredded from the blast, revealing deep gashes all over her body.

"Why?! W-why would you do that?!" Lucy said, choking back a sob.

Erza glanced up at Lucy, every movement causing violent pain to course through her body. "B-because this guild is my home and you are my f-friend…" Erza murmured before passing out.

"I-is she?" Lucy murmured, not wanting to believe what it looked like.

"Nah, I can still hear her breathing." Natsu said. His words soothed the intense worry somewhat inside Lucy's heart.

Lucy's tears fell on Erza's chest as she cried over her injured comrade. "I-I don't understand! I caused all this and yet! And yet she still wants to help me…"

"Of course, she does, Lucy. You're our-" Natsu was interrupted when a booming voice spread about the area.

"Makarov and Erza are out of action…" A loudspeaker coming from Phantom's guild hall blasted Jose's voice through the air and it sent shivers down Lucy's spine.

"You have no trump card left to play. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia now!"

Lucy heard everyone talking, at first, they quietly talked among themselves but then the chatter became louder and more defiant.

"Heartfilia? But isn't that the name of the dead duchess to be?"

"She's rich?"

"Why are they after Lucy?"

"Go away!"

"We will never hand her over!"

"What kind of guild would give away one of their own!?"

Lucy's lip trembled and her shoulders started to shake as she heard all these people, these strangers yelling their objections and vows to keep her safe.

"Hand her over!"

Erza leaned against the wall of the guild, breathing shallow breaths until she heard the outrageous demands from Jose. She reached a boiling point. So many of her friends, her family were injured, they had all shed so much blood over nothing. So, despite the pain coursing through her body, she took in a deep breath and as loud as she could she screamed;

"I would rather die that hand her over!"

"It doesn't matter what you want! We'll smash you into the ground!" Natsu screamed, veins in his forehead almost popping from the pressure he exerted.

Lucy put her hand to her mouth in shock and tears streamed down her face when she heard the declarations of so, so many people vowing to keep her safe.

Jose was seething, his anger could be felt by his voice alone as he spoke:"If you dare defy me then I will slaughter you all and make Heartfilia watch you die! You have fifteen minutes to change your minds before the Jupiter cannon fires again!"

Lucy thought she had a moment to catch her breath but was proven wrong when thousands of ghostly apparitions came running out from the enemy guild hall and over to Fairy Tail.

Everyone was quickly surrounded and they started their assault. Lucy watched as Cana was sucker punched in the jaw and fell to the ground. Many more members fell to surprise attacks but others fought back.

Macao fired off dozens of flames that did nothing but phase through the ghosts and hit another guild member.

Mirajane struggled to fight them off as multiple ghosts picked her as an easy target. None of her punches or kicks landed, but all of the ghost's attacks did. Mirajane was forced to her knees but they just kept kicking.

Lucy braced herself for a fight when many ghosts ran towards her, only to phase though her and run head long towards the fallen knight and the dragon slayer. 'W-why aren't they coming after me?!'

Lucy tried to fight back and claw off the ghosts attacking Natsu, but nothing worked. There was no mercy. Erza was barely conscious and had heavy injures, yet they still beat her mercilessly.

Lucy ran past her injured guildmates towards the edge of the land Fairy Tail sat upon. She held out her arms in defiance and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Stop this! Please…just stop this…If I go with you, will you leave Fairy Tail alone?!"

Jose's brow arched at the declaration from the blonde. "Oh yes. I am many things, but I am a man of my word." Jose replied, through his guild's magic loudspeaker system.

Natsu saw Lucy running towards the enemy guild and fear filled him whole with all the horrible things that could happen to her. Natsu yelled out as loud as he could, hoping his voice would reach her ears. "Lucy! Get back here! We'll keep you safe!"

Lucy was running towards the Phantom Lord guildhall, but she stopped and looked behind when she heard Natsu's desperate screams.

Lucy knew her vice wouldn't reach Natsu, so she mouthed the words, "I'm sorry…This is all my fault." And ran towards the large wooden castle doors that acted as the entrance to the guild.

Lucy pushed the two large, wooden castle doors open to come face to face with a man who had a wild mane of black hair, and held a creepy smirk on his face. Lucy was disgusted by all the piercings that covered his body from head to toe.

Lucy was getting a bad feeling from this man. He had an aura of evil that surrounded him, and she was not sure she wanted to get on his bad side.

"Please take me to Master Jose." Lucy said politely, watching as the pierced man eyed her from head to toe as if inspecting a piece of meat.

A shiver went down her spine and she glared at him, only for the pierced man to grab her by her good arm and yanked her forward. "Get moving, Blondie."

Lucy was pushed this way and that, through many empty, grey corridors. The pierced man shoved Lucy through a doorway and she almost tripped, but quickly regained her balance. She inspected the room she was in and saw that it looked like some kind of central chamber of sorts. That suspicion was only confirmed when she spotted Jose sitting cross legged on a tacky throne.

"Ahh, Miss Heartfilia, it is wonderful to see you again." Jose said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lucy hated the way his rotting teeth were shown every time he opened his mouth and she had half a mind to tell him to keep it shut, but she steeled herself. She knew that if she did anything to antagonize Jose, then he might be tempted to kill her instead of just handing her over to her father.

Lucy flashed him a smile, wanting to get the pleasantries over and done with so she could quickly be left alone as she awaited her grim fate at her father's hands.

"Likewise, Master Jose. It is always nice to-" Lucy's words died in her throat as she was suddenly kicked in the stomach and launched halfway across the room.

"Now, now Gajeel. I don't want you to kill her, but you can still have your fun. Make it a good show." Jose said.

Gajeel simply looked back at his master and grinned evilly.

Lucy got up from the ground in a slight daze, the surprise attack catching her off guard. 'So, his name is Gajeel?' Lucy thought.

She was on her feet by the time Gajeel came rushing towards her with a right hook…a right hook made of steel. Lucy dodged the punch just in time and leaped back a few feet.

"Why are you doing this?" Lucy said as she jumped out of the way when Gajeel sent a metal pillar flying her way. It shot past her and hit the wall behind her.

"Why? Cause it's fun!" Gajeel said with a sick grin on his face.

Lucy's eyes went wide with shock when she realized just exactly what he shot at her. She gritted her teeth as she connected all the dots in her mind. "Those pillars…were you the one who attacked the guild?"

Gajeel laughed. "Yeah! That dump needed to be teared down! It was just about time it happened!" He pointed to his chest and wrote the first letter of her name in the air. "I also left you a little gift…did you like it?"

Lucy was filled with rage as an image of Levy's broken and batted body flashed in her mind. All the pain and humiliation that she endured filled Lucy with the determination to beat Gajeel.

She ripped her scaled right arm out from underneath her cloak and clawed at his face, hoping to rip the flesh from his body, but instead gripped her arm in pain as the tips of her claws shattered.

Lucy looked up and found his face, no, his entire body was covered in a layer of steel. "H-how, that arm is made from pure diamond.

Gajeel licked his lips in anticipation for the battle to come. "Nice try, but this aint any ordinary steel. They're dragon scales, and dragon scales are stronger than diamond."

Lucy squinted and looked closely and sure enough, there where hundreds of thousands of tiny dragon scales overlapping on his body, creating the illusion he was wearing a full body suit of armor.

Jose sighed. "Enough with the formalities! Just fight!"

Gajeel smirked. "Geehee" he summoned an iron pillar and sent it flying straight for Lucy.

Lucy kept her feet planted on the ground, not moving from her spot. She would take this attack head on and send it back flying.

The pillar got closer and closer until it was just a few inches away from her body, and in the split second before it collided with her, she sent her diamond scales to cover her whole body and she grabbed the pillar, sinking her remaining claws into the material and stopping it in its tracks.

Lucy held her grip on the iron and threw it right back at a wide eyed Gajeel. "Two can play at that game!"

"Diamond Spears: Thousand spear strike!"

Lucy's words ran through Gajeel's ears and just as his own magic was sent back at him, thousands of spears materialized out of thin air. Gajeel frantically looked around for an escape only to find he was trapped in all directions. "Oh shit!"

Lucy had her hands on her thighs, panting for air. She knew this would happen after; it always does. She felt sore all over and tired. Using that last spell used up all her magic power so she just had to hope and pray that it was enough to finish off Gajeel.

The attack blasted the room's walls apart which exposed the guild to the world and when Lucy looked out, she saw all her friends watching on in horror, unable to help as they were being assaulted by the ghostly apparitions around them.

Lucy's good eye shot to Gajeel when she heard him groan in pain and he slowly got up on his feet and faced down Lucy. She gasped in shock when it looked as if her magic hadn't even affected Gajeel in the slightest.

Lucy heard Jose's round of applause as he watched on with vested interest. "Good work, Heartfilia. Your magic is more powerful than I could have ever hoped while in that form."

Lucy started to panic; Jose knew. He knew about the biggest secret she held and he was baiting her with it. She could feel her anger and frustration grow as she stared at the man in front of her.

But instead of attacking Jose, like she wanted to, she leaped out of the way of another of Gajeel's incoming attacks and a sudden pain surged through her and she dropped to her knees. Lucy pulled up her shirt and was shocked to find the wound on her stomach had re-opened and blood was pouring out, staining her clothes red.

Gajeel saw an opening as Lucy sat on the ground inspecting herself. "What a fool. Who does that during a battle?" and sent a steel chainsaw ripping across the left side of her face.

Lucy screamed as the pain coursed through her body and Gajeel continued his deadly assault as Lucy reeled back, struggling to stay conscious. He jumped her and punched his steel fist right in the center of her nose, shattering it completely and partially caving in her skull.

Lucy fell to the hard floor screaming, writhing around in pain as she clutched her head, begging for the pain to stop.

Lucy was drifting off; she could barely keep her good eye open anymore. The pain was all too much to bear and it brought back a flood of terrible memories.

Lucy knew she couldn't die here. This wasn't the ending for her story, she had come too far to die here.

Lucy's voice was low and scratchy as she declared her will to live. "I won't die…no! not here!"

She kept one hand clutching her head but outstretched the other in a vain hope that someone would grant her the power to defeat her enemies.

Seconds later a huge wave of magical energy washed over everyone as they felt the immense power leaking through Lucy's body that was just begging to be freed.

Jose jumped from his throne and laughed. "Yes! Yes! This is what I was wai-"

Jose's ranting was interrupted by a very familiar battle cry that resonated through Lucy's ears. Natsu burst though the guild. She couldn't believe it, he was here. His vice got louder and louder the closer he got and the heat radiating off him reassured Lucy that she would be saved.

Lucy saw Natsu burst in the room, his body alight with flame and filed with rage. His eyes were mere slits as he ran towards Gajeel, and before Gajeel could dodge, Natsu sent a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist straight to his gut and Gajeel stumbled back a few feet, his steel armor cracking before shattering entirely.

Before Gajeel could activate another spell, Natsu rounded on him and unleashed a powerful Fire Dragon's Roar that engulfed Gajeel, sending him back, flying through wall after wall until he hit a steel beam and collapsed.

Lucy laid on her side on the ground in utter agony. She thought it couldn't get any worse until she felt a searing pain shoot through her ribs, it took all her remaining strength to just turn her head slightly to see Jose stomping on the side of her ribs.

Lucy's eye went wide with shock and a piercing scream left her throat as she felt her ribs crack and heard the squelch of her lungs as the organ was pierced straight through by her broken ribs. In her panic she tried and tried desperately to breathe in air, but it didn't work and the more she couldn't breathe the more she panicked.

That was, until a primal urge made its way from the back of her mind, and then, everything went blank.

Lucy's mind was scrambled. She couldn't think, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear. All her senses where shot as she screamed in utter agony. Her whole body was burning with pain. Pain that could only compare to what 'he' would do to her at his worst.

"Stop! Stop it! You're killing her!"

Jose arched his eyebrow and stopped his assault on Lucy, now curious to find out who was screaming orders at him. He looked down and saw a silver haired woman in tears, screaming for Lucy's torture to be stopped.

"If the girl dies from something as simple as a magical transformation, then she would not be deserving of the title of 'Dragon."

"Jose! Cease this now!" Makarov commanded with his booming voice as he walked through the partially destroyed guild hall with absolute fury etched on his face. His anger was at an all time high as Lucy's horrifying screams led him to his destination.

Jose had a sly smirk on his face. "It's too late, Makarov. It's already started."

"What has already started?" Makarov said.

"Just you sit back and find out!" Jose yelled as he summoned a ghostly apparition that threw Makarov to the ground.

Makarov's head was violently slammed against the concrete floor and he was momentarily dazed. Makarov knew that even with all his magic power, he was still a frail, mortal, old man. And that if he continued to throw himself into such dangerous battles then one day, sooner than later, his life will end. But he didn't care about that. He cared about his guild, his family, his children, and one of his children was going through utter hell.

"Stand! It's not your time yet, you still have a child to save!" Makarov muttered to himself under his breath, and that gave him the strength to stand. And when Makarov pulled his gaze towards Lucy, he was shocked to the core.

Makarov heard the sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking as he saw Lucy's body contort in unnatural ways. Then he heard her screams. The utter blood curdling screams of pain were like nothing he had ever heard before.

Two wings started to sprout from Lucy's back and as they made their way out of her body, blood was sprayed across the walls and floor. The flesh on the bony wings was barely holding to the bone, and when Lucy flapped them, chunks of flesh fell to the ground.

He then heard the crack of the bones in her legs as her feet moved counterclockwise, Lucy's fingers and toes fusing together to form more draconic legs and claws.

Lucy continued to scream as two large, black horns protruded from her skull, then her jaw unhinged itself and slightly swayed up and down as she moved. Then her jaw split in two, and hundreds of tiny, razor-sharp teeth lined her jaw.

Lucy finally stopped screaming and was still. Her transformation finally complete.

What everyone saw was no longer Lucy Heartfilia…

But a monster!

And i am back! It's been a while. I initially wanted to get this chapter done before Christmas and then have Chapter 14 posted before New Years, but alas, plans change.

Anyway, Happy belated Merry Christmas! and New Years! I'll get so many more chapters out this year since i only started writing this story halfway through last year.

The hardest part of this chapter to write would have had to be Lucy's transformation, or more specifically what triggers her transformation. I decided to have her secondary magic activate as a defense mechanism when Lucy is about to die so she can be saved. I just hope it makes sense.

You might be wondering why she didn't transform when she was shredded by Erigor's wind wall. Well... basically that wasn't enough to put her to near death, and if those healers didn't get to her in time she would have likely just gone into a coma for a few weeks while her body healed. So, yeah...

One thing i really wanted to do with this chapter was make Lucy's transformation horrific. I wanted the characters to know somehow that this is the complete worst case scenario for Lucy. Her other form has been activated and exposed to everyone and her past is coming back to bit her in the ass.

I think for chapters like this one where there is a lot more horrific stuff happening to the characters I'll put disclaimers at the start of the chapters.

Thanks to Ushindi, NaLu1411, takeagamble27, and last but not least, Copperreign12, for all the reviews. They mean the world to me and help me with criticism for improving the story and motivation for continuing it.

I'll see you all next time!