Natsu's POV
After I told her where we were, Lucy started panicking. She paced back and forth, rambling to herself as she went.

"Luce...Lucy...LUCY!" I shouted, finally getting her attention. She stopped pacing, blinking at me, before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry Natsu. It's just..." She trailed off. "It's okay Luce, you don't have to tell me. However, if we're gonna get out of this place, I'm going to need your help." I said, holding out my hand to her. She took it with a smile, and began walking in a random direction. "I think I saw a door this way." She said. "Can't be worse than the last door..." I mumbled to myself, Lucy laughing without looking back at me.

Because if she had, I would've seen the demonic smile on her face.

Normal POV
Natsu and Lucy had finally found the door. And not unlike the first, it led down a seemingly endless flight of stairs. "Lucy, just how big is your head?" Natsu asked, causing the blonde to smack him. She was about to say something, when suddenly a bright light appeared at the bottom of the stairwell. Both ecxited and relieved, the pair ran towards the light, coming to a stop in a large room.

It had tall walls painted in intricate designs with different shades of pink, coming up to meet a dark ceiling with bright yellow stars that lined up to form constellations. There was a large window on the far side of the room, pink curtains drawn to reveal an eternal nothingness. The floor was hardwood, with a fairly sized round pink rug in the center of the room. In the far corner beside the window there was a queen sized bed, that sat atop an extremely detailed wooden frame. It had white sheets and a pink comforter, with dozens of pink pillows resting in front of the headboard. Small nightstands stood on either side, books of different sizes and languages piled atop them. A wardrobe could be seen in another corner of the room, next to a door that probably led to a bathroom.

There was a child's wooden table standing on the rug, with small chairs surrounding it. There were different kinds of stuffed animals sitting in each chair, with an all too familiar doll sitting next to an empty chair. The table looked set for a stereotypical little girl's tea party, with little fancy cups and spoons.

But it was what Michelle sat on top of the caught Natsu's attention. Instead of a chair, Michelle sat on an antique looking small chest, with a simple latch with a little keyhole. The box was a very different color than everything else in the room, being a dark red rather than baby pink. Runes seemed to be carved all over the box, if Natsu's years spent around Levy and Freed said anything. They seemed a little different than the ones he usually saw, but Natsu couldn't be sure because runes had always been confusing.

As he tried to think of what was different, Natsu saw little skulls that resembled Lord Death's mask. They appeared random, but Natsu knew better than to assume that they were. And as he continued to study the runes, he noticed that 'Lucy Death' and 'Lucy H.' had been carved in at different points.

He nearly screamed when Lucy finally spoke, having temporarily forgot she was there.

"My bravery's in there. I can't believe we actually found it!" She exclaimed with joy. Natsu grinned and tried to give the chest to Lucy, only to have her reject it. "I can't open it. Only you can. After all, you have the key." Lucy pointed to his once empty hand. Natsu glanced down, finding that a key actually was in his hand. Unlike Lucy's gate keys, this one was a black metal, reminding Natsu of Gajeel's Shadow Iron Dragon Force. It seemed relatively simple, like the keys Mira used to lock the guild hall. There were no fancy details or carvings on it, it was just a regular looking key.

"Go on, open the chest, once we get my bravery, we can go back home." Lucy said. "Home?" "Back to my apartment, silly! You, and me. I can make dinner, like old times. So go ahead and open the box!" Natsu frowned. "You know, if you're gonna pretend to be Lucy, you really should know what you're talking about." Natsu said. "What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, seemingly confused. "Lucy doesn't own the apartment anymore. Besides, the real Lucy would've never forgotten Happy!"

"Fine, you got me. Now open the damn box already!" The familiar voice of demon Lucy shouted angrily. The demon Lucy stood where Michelle was sat on the floor, her dark energy radiating of her like a storm. "I've been waiting years for the brat to loose control, so I could take over, and have full power in the outside world. But then you came along and ruined everything!" Demon Lucy's magic destroyed the room, everything in it's path turning into the nothingness that now surrounded them. Natsu looked down at the key in his hand, before shoving it into the lock and turning it with a loud click echoing throughout the darkness.

Lucy's POV
As demon Lucy tried to get Natsu to open the box, I tried desperately to get him to here me. "Don't listen to her, Natsu! She's not me!" I shouted.

I nearly cried in relief when Natsu figured out that she wasn't me. Only for that relief to turn into dread when he opened the chest anyways. "Natsu, no!" I tried, but it was to late. The strange stone that kept my lower body frozen in place began to spread to the rest of me, and as I reached out towards the light that shone from the opening that seemed so far away, it enveloped me hole.

It was dark and cold for what seemed like forever, when suddenly extreme heat surrounded me, reminding me of fire.

Only for me to realize that it was fire. I felt the stone covering me begin to melt, allowing me to move freely again. "And there, right in front of me, was my dragon in a scaly scarf, come to rescue me from my own demons." I thought to myself as I hugged him for all he was worth.

Which to me, was the very world itself. "Come on Luce, let's go home. For real."

Home.

Normal POV, Fairy Tail Guild Hall
The next morning, Mirajane was getting ready for another day of waiting, when a sudden explosion woke everyone up.

"What was that?!" "I think it came from the basement!" With that thought in mind, along with slight panic, everyone ran down the stairs to the cavern. Maka, Kid, and Black*Star all stood back to back with their weapon partners in hand, while Gajeel stood in front of Levy and Lily, body covered in scales. Everyone that slept in the basement stood in battle stances, watching the smoke from where their unconscious friends had been.

When it finally cleared, they found themselves confused to find a frantic Wendy attempting to scan Natsu and Lucy, who were now awake, and thankfully still covered in the large fire-proof blankets Mira had provided.

They were even more confused to find that Lucy was sobbing in Natsu's arms, who just held her with a fond smile on his face. They pair seemed to lack an understanding of boundaries even more than usual, or even the awareness that they had dozens of eyes watching them. And after Wendy gave the okay, everyone was more than happy to just leave them alone to have their little moment in peace.

Except for, of course, a certain blue exceed.


I live! And once again, sorry for the late chapter. Well, I suppose I don't really have a schedule, but I should still write more often. Anyways, since I don't know when the next time I'll have another chapter ready is, Happy Halloween!

Also, colds are stupid.

Till next time,

~Dragon-Sensei