Lucy fell onto the hot ground on her butt. Why do I keep landing on my ass? She swore to track down the asshole wizard who enchanted this game to find out. She groaned, opening her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She landed on hot brown sand, which probably got her beautiful white dress all dirty. All she could see for miles was sand and blue sky. The air was hot and dry, making breathing a battle.

"Natsu?" She called out, standing up. She kept looking for a head of pink hair in the sea of brown and blue, but she couldn't see it. "Natsu?!" She called out, this time panic laced in her voice. She knew she couldn't do this game alone, especially since her magic was hard to learn.

Her throat was beginning to run dry, and she wondered if there was a water source nearby. Or maybe even some food? Her stomach began to growl embarrassingly. She never thought that this game would make her try to find food and water without dying.

"Luce?" A voice called out. She recognized it, tripping over her feet as she tried to find the source.

"Natsu, where are you?" She called out again, looking over the sand dunes.

"Luce!" She turned to the right, smiling in relief as her partner stumbled over to her.

"Natsu!" She threw her arms around him, happy to see that he was safe. He returned the hug, trying not to crush her wings. A soft smile etched on his face.

"Nee, Natsu, let's finish this game soon, okay?" She pulled away, her stomach growling. She turned red with embarrassment, but he just grinned at her.

"Aye! Let's do this!" He shouted, fist pumping into the air. His energy was contagious, and they climbed over sand dunes together, talking about what food they'd eat when they got out of this game.

"You have to pay for it, though." Lucy said, squinting in the distance. She could see some Bonies making their way over.

"What? Why?!"

"Because you're the reason we got sucked in here in the first place!" Lucy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hey, Natsu, what's that Bonie holding?" They both squinted, eyeing the object curiously.

"It looks like it has a bag!"

"We need to find out what's in it!" The two quickly ran over to the Bonies. Natsu's sword glinted in the sunlight, and Lucy desperately wished that she had a weapon. This game was way too hard for her.

When the Bonie with the bag saw Natsu and Lucy making their way towards it, it turned and began to run away.

"What?! No! Get back here!" Lucy shouted, running around the other two Bonies. She knew Natsu could take care of them. She saw that it was headed for a large chasm, and panic soared throughout her body.

It'd rather die than let her have the bag. Her feet kicked up sand in her mad dash, hand reached out. So... close... The Bonie jumped into the chasm just as Lucy's fingers wrapped around the bag. She realized that she was falling into the darkness with the Bonie, and she squeezed her eyes shut, holding the bag close to her chest. She didn't want to see whatever awaited her at the bottom of the darkness.

Before she could scream, though, a hand wrapped around her ankle, catching her before she could fall in completely. Lucy's eyes opened,and she could see Natsu's strained face as he held onto her ankle like his life depended on it.

"Natsu, take the bag!" Lucy shouted, trowing it up at him. It landed next to him, safely away from the chasm. "It's okay to let go, Natsu!" Although she was scared of falling in, she didn't need them both to die.

"No!" Natsu yelled, no intention of letting her slip through his fingers. He let her die once because of him, he'd be damned to let it happen again.

"Natsu, it's okay! I'll be back in 10 seconds." She could feel his hand starting to slip. "You don't need to put yourself in danger!"

"I'm not letting you go!" She saw him move his head up, looking across the chasm, his face filling with panic.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Her ankle was slowly slipping from his grasp, and her heart was thumping loudly in her chest.

"Bonies." He scowled, trying to lift Lucy out of the chasm.

"Natsu, it's okay." She smiled softly. "You need to see what's in the bag. I'll be fine."

"You're more important!" Natsu yelled, slowly starting to pull her out of the darkness.

"N-Natsu..." He looked so determined to save her. To the point where he'd risk his own life just to try to save hers.

With one last pull, she was out of the chasm, laying on the hot sand. Meanwhile, Natsu jumped up, jumping over the chasm, obliterating the Bonies with his sword. She stood up, picking up the small leather bag. She ran, jumping over the chasm, making it safely to the other side beside Natsu, who was sitting on the sand.

"Baka!" Lucy yelled, plopping down next to him. "I told you to save yourself. Now you're weak because of dehydration and hunger!"He looked over at her, panting.

"I made you a promise, Luce."

"I don't care, Natsu! You need to protect yourself, you're the main character! Besides, I also made a promise..." Lucy fiddled with the drawstring of the bag, not looking at Natsu.

"You did?" He asked.

"I promised myself that I'd protect you, too." She whispered.

"Luce..." She peered at him from the corner of her eye, seeing a huge smile on his face. "I guess we both kept our promises, then, huh?" He fell back against the sand, sweating everywhere.

"Natsu!" Lucy crawled next to him. His breathing was erratic, and she began to freak out. He needed water! She quickly fumbled with the bag, eyes widening when she pulled out a canteen and two apples. Natsu needs the water more than I do. Her throat tried to protest her, but she lifted him up, cradling his head.

"Natsu, drink some water!" Lucy said, lightly smacking his cheeks to wake him up. When he groaned, she held the water up to his mouth, forcing him to drink it all. Her body ached with the need to drink some, but she needed Natsu to be safe first.

He sat up, licking his lips. "Thanks, Luce. Did you have some?"

"Yeah! Now here, eat an apple." She handed him the red fruit, watching him bite into it. She knew lying to him was bad, but he would've gone off on her if he had known the truth. She bit into her own apple, savoring the flavor and the juices. Natsu ate his in two bites, probably not even tasting it.

The bag and canteen disappeared into thin air, and Lucy knew that they had to get moving. The sooner they got out of this hot level, the better.

(A/N)

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

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~StarCrusader~