PART I – Resolution

Chapter XII – Healing

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."
― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum

Being the smallest recruit of the team sure had its advantages, Lucy realized as she climbed up the large tree. She smiled when she remembered Gray's face just before he left to go back to the base. He looked horrified, it was hilarious. He did try to stop her and bring her back to the base, but she was faster than him, and a few guys from team Gildarts were coming their way, so he had no choice but to run away. It was not like she was doing something stupid, anyway, it was a good plan! She knew her commander would run to her as soon as he heard about what she was doing, and she would find Gildarts' flag by then, so it was fine. The worst that could happen? She could take a dart that would make her feel a bit of pain, but the effects wouldn't last more than two or three minutes. Or maybe they would kidnap her to ambush her commander and his team... Maybe she should start thinking before acting. Well, whatever, what's done is done.

Lucy sighed when she finally reached the two large branches that formed a cross and lay down on them, positioning her rifle so she could use the scope to locate the enemy flag. The muddy land formed a slope behind thick bushes and small trees, and with that heavy rain, it was hard to see what was hidden there. Lucy saw a group of second years patrolling the area, they were carrying rifles, looking pretty relaxed for soldiers that were targeted by three teams of first years. She counted about 12 of them, moving in three groups of four. No flag, though. But it had to be somewhere close to here, she knew it!

She shifted her weight to the left to adjust her line of sight and her right foot slipped on the drenched wood. She felt her body fall backwards and had to let go of her rifle to grab the branches and pull herself up. Luckily, the rifle got stuck between the branches and she immediately took it back in her trembling hands. The temperature was dropping even though it was still the start of the afternoon, the rain was blinding her and the wind wouldn't stop whipping her hair across her face. Which reminded her that her hair was growing too fast, she needed to cut them short again. When the wind finally subsided and her thick strands of blonde hair were out of her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the silence. The only sound she could hear was the soft murmur of the wind gently ruffling the leaves. No human voices anymore, no footfalls, nothing.

She hurriedly adjusted her rifle and used her scope to check the area where she had seen the soldiers. Broken branches, dark bushes, roots coming out of the earth like giant snakes, but no soldier in sight. She moved the cannon of her rifle, according to what she could see through the scope, frantically searching for the second years and their flag. Damn, she couldn't lose them now, Natsu would be pissed off. Well, he will be anyway, but he'll be less annoyed at her if she tells him where the flag is.

She gritted her teeth when she found them: they were running away! It took her a second to realize that they were following a beaten trail going north and she jumped back to her feet when she did. She shouldered her rifle and breathed in: time to do something even more dangerous. She ran along the large branch she had been lying on until then and jumped to land on another pretty large branch. She repeated this operation a few times, jumping from tree to tree, her feet regularly slipping on the drenched wood. After five minutes of hunting, she heard the first gunshot and flinched when the dart violently hit the top of the branch she was standing on, tearing the wood away. That thing would hurt far more than what she had thought.

She tried to stay hidden behind the tree trunks as she chased the soldiers, but the hunt stopped soon after this incident anyway. Suddenly, all soldiers stopped underneath the trees and turned around, guns pointed at the highest branches of the surrounding trees. Lucy deduced that they didn't know precisely where she was. She sighed and checked her left leg: she had hurt it during her hunt and it was now bleeding quite a lot. Since her trousers were already ripped, she tore it up and used the piece of tissue to bandage the wound. It would be a problem if her dripping blood helped the second years find her.

She hissed when she tightened her makeshift bandage and couldn't help the slight whimper of pain that escaped her lips. Because of the heavily pouring rain, the tissue covering her wound was soon completely drenched and it curiously seemed to hurt even more. Another dart hit the tree trunk right next to her head, but she suspected that the shooter had just been lucky and didn't really know that she was there. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to control her pain and her heartbeat. She needed to calm down. Slowly: in and out, in and out, in and out. That's right, she was a soldier: pain was just a word. She opened her eyes and turned her head. She hadn't checked the other side of the tree trunk yet. She leaned against the trunk and used the higher branches to support herself as she tried to progress around the trunk, on the slippy wood.

The tree was so large that it was hiding a whole new area that was now visible to Lucy. The second years were forming a circular arc around a huge fallen tree that could be used as a bridge to walk over a pretty deep ditch. A small river was lazily flowing south at the bottom of the ditch. And on the left side of the ditch, underneath the large fallen tree, was planted a bright red flag with the number 1 written on it. Lucy blinked a few times and stared at the red little thing. Slowly, a huge, victorious smile appeared on her lips. She found it, the flag of team 1, aka team Gildarts. She had to admit that she had begun to worry when those guys tried to run away, but it turned out that she really managed to find the flag, after all.

All of a sudden, Lucy heard a bang from somewhere beneath her and, in the very next second, felt a sudden sharp stabbing pain in the thigh. It took her less than a second to look down at her leg and that very brief moment was all it took for the dart to deliver its chemical substance. On the upside, the dart only simulated the pain of a gunshot, which meant that Lucy wouldn't suffer any real damage from it. On the downside, her brain didn't recognize this aggression as a gunshot since there was no real wound and didn't create enough dopamine to reduce the pain.

Hoping that it would help, but not really expecting it either, she immediately pulled the dart out of her leg and threw it somewhere behind her. It took ten more seconds for the solution to fully operate and Lucy used this time to mentally prepare herself for what was coming, to regulate her breathing and brace herself. She sat on the branch and squeezed her thigh when the pain appeared for real. The first few seconds, it felt like someone had plunged a knife in her leg and the burning sensation caused her to whimper in pain. Soon enough, the burning sensation intensified and it felt like her muscle had been torn open and sprayed with acid. Her whole leg was hurting and she screamed in pain, not daring to touch her leg anymore. Somehow, it seemed that the stabbing pain was traveling through her body to tear at her hip and stomach too.

She didn't even know if she was still screaming, and she was barely conscious when she fell from the branch. She felt her back, ribs, arms, legs and head bump violently against several branches, but the pain caused by the dart was still the most unbearable. She was nearing the ground now, and she was falling from a pretty high spot. She wouldn't make it out of it unscathed. Well, she was almost unconscious already, maybe the fall wouldn't hurt that much. She closed her eyes when she saw the earth right beneath her and tried to protect her neck and head. She was in so much pain it would be a relief to die, but she was still rational enough to know this sensation would disappear. It was only a game, there was no way she was dying for a flag.

Finally, the lowest branches of the trees were above her head and getting farther and farther away from her. The ground leaped up to meet her at full speed and none of the second years were running to try and catch her before she fell. They just watched. And Lucy did fall, but the impact was nothing on what she had expected. The effect of the chemical reaction started to wear off and the young woman half opened her teary eyes to see that she wasn't lying on the earth. She wiped her eyes and looked up. Someone was carrying her, but her vision was blurry and she couldn't see who it was. She mentally sighed in relief, thanking whoever had decided that it would be a good idea to save her sorry ass after all.

"I think you guys understand the situation you're in," a low, menacing voice growled. "Take your fake flag and scram."

No human voice was heard after that, instead, Lucy heard the deep rumbling of thunder and the rain started falling even harder. She opened her eyes once more and this time, she had a good enough vision to see what was going on. She didn't really need to look at the person carrying her to know who it was, but she looked up anyway and when she did, a flash of thunder illuminated her commander's face. He looked furious. The muscles of his arms were very tense and his jaw was just as contracted. His ice cold eyes were shooting daggers at everyone and no one in particular. So, this was why no one had dared to move earlier. But still, he was alone, so why not shoot him? Lucy turned her head to look around and understood why no one was even trying to aim at the commander. Her whole team was here, pointing their rifles at the enemies. Everyone had stopped doing whatever they had to do the moment they heard about her crazy plan, they followed Natsu and ran here.

Since the second years had been protecting a fake flag, hoping for a stupid first year to try and get it, they weren't much of them present at the moment, they were clearly outnumbered. They decided to accept Natsu's proposition and left with the fake flag without trying to fight. The moment they were out of sight, Natsu dropped her.

"Get up," he growled, "we're going back."

Lucy gulped and tried to move her leg. The pain was much weaker now, but it still hurt a bit.

"I was shot," she timidly answered, "it still hurts so..."

"I don't care," he cut her off, "get up and walk."

He was pissed off, really. His voice was dripping with barely contained anger and his clenched fists were shaking. Lucy decided it was best not to argue and took a deep breath before forcing herself to stand back up and apply a bit of her weight on her hurt leg. Luckily, the dart's solution was almost completely dissipated now, it slightly tingled, but she could walk on her leg. No one talked to her or tried to help her as they walked back to the base under the pouring rain. Gajeel wasn't even looking at her, Gray was avoiding her eyes, Loke was nowhere to be seen, and Natsu was the angriest of all. She bit back her tears. She had brought this upon herself, everything was her fault. The commander told them not to act rashly, not to try anything on the first day, not to leave on their own. She had disobeyed almost every order. And she regretted it dearly.

When they arrived at the base, Natsu ordered everyone to go back to their position. They were to keep patrolling the area, set traps, exploring the surroundings and follow the former instructions. But Lucy obviously wasn't allowed to go back to work. The commander grabbed her arm above her elbow and dragged her to the command tent where he forced her to sit at a table in the back of the tent.

"Wait here," he ordered before leaving the tent to go God knew where.

Lucy waited in silence, quietly sitting on her chair, eyes staring at the floor. She wondered if she was going to get fired. It would be the end of her plan to save her father, but at the same time, it would mean that she wouldn't have to face her commander's disappointed eyes, she wouldn't have to hear him tell her she had failed him and his team. She wouldn't have to feel this stupid and guilty anymore. She had climbed up that stupid tree hoping to bring victory to her commander because she wanted to make him proud of her, she wanted him to notice her and acknowledge her. But she had acted like a selfish ten year old brat and it would have been the end of team Natsu if Gildarts had been there at that time.

The commander entered the tent a few minutes later and closed the tent flap. Before the door was completely closed, Lucy saw a guard outside the door and assumed that the commander had made arrangements to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted. He walked toward her with long, fast steps and she reflexively stood up to stand at attention, but the commander abruptly grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and the impulse of his movement made her fall on the table.

"Did you have fun when you were up there, chasing enemy soldiers all by yourself, jumping from tree to tree like a fucking monkey!?" he roared. "How many times do you think you could have died doing that!? What do you think would have happened if I hadn't made it in time!? What the fuck were you thinking about!?"

His arms were still shaking with anger, but Lucy wasn't scared of what he could do to her. She was scared of what he had already done. Because the answer to his last question came to her naturally and immediately: him. She was only thinking about him when she decided to try to find the flag on her own. And that definitely wasn't her style. Why in the world would his opinion of her matter so much? When the time came, he'd be fighting for the opposite side, he was her enemy. She was getting attached, she understood. Not only to Natsu, but to Loke too, and to Gray, and to Gajeel, and to a few others. She was forgetting who and where she was. She was forgetting about her only objective.

"Did you do that on purpose?" the commander asked with a strange voice, filled with both anger and distress. "Did you want to die, back there?"

His face was red and his whole body was tense. He was a mess. Because of her.

"Is that why you shot Laxus when he was threatening me?" he went on. "Because you were hoping he would kill you first? Answer me, dammit! Say something!"

Did she want to die? That sure would be a huge relief for her. She would be freed from all of this: those people that just wouldn't let her stay the sad and angry loner she was when she joined, the revenge against the Octagon, saving her father from the Pandemonium, facing the men that ruined her life. She wouldn't have to remember either. She was very much aware that her memory was incomplete. ''You've been hurt here before, there's a thin scar,'' Natsu had said to her the day they had been kidnapped by Jellal. But she was starting to remember, or at least she thought that she was starting to remember things from her past. And she didn't want to remember yet, she wasn't ready. Because she was starting to think that those annoying people that just wouldn't let her stay the sad and angry loner she was when she joined weren't that bad, altogether. Maybe it would be fine to live with them a bit longer, until the day she would be forced to let it all burn to ashes. And that day would probably come much sooner if she got her memories back. Before that, she wanted to be sure of it: were those people really healing her? Was she still able to trust or love other people, beside Erza? Probably, if her reaction at Loke's attack was anything to go by. She almost thought that he would die... She didn't want him to die, she wanted him to keep on living for her. And she would keep on living for him. She wanted him to keep on healing her. The realization almost made her cry: until then, she merely existed to get revenge. But she was starting to learn to live properly again.

"No," she sobbed. "I don't want to die."

And it was an honest answer. She didn't think of death as a way to be freed from her problems anymore. Natsu frowned and his anger seemed to deflate completely after hearing her heartfelt answer. He let go of the collar of her shirt and breathed out. His trembling hands brushed a few strands of pink hair out of his eyes and he sat down in front of her.

"Don't ever do something that stupid ever again, then," he sighed. "And I still want you to tell me why you did that."

She explained her reasons to him, but didn't tell him about how she wanted him to notice her, acknowledge her and all the other embarrassing things. In the end, he called her a selfish, reckless brat, but she was expecting it.

"You should go see Loke," he finally said, "he was worried sick about you."

Lucy opened wide eyes and her breathing almost stopped.

"He looked sick?" she repeated, voice dripping with worry.

The commander massaged his chin with his left hand and shrugged.

"Not really sick," he answered, "actually, your face right now is quite similar to the face he made when he heard about your stupid plan."

Lucy jumped back to her feet and quickly walked toward the closed flap of the tent.

"Wait," the commander called. "I forgot to tell you about our next operation. We're going out tonight, try to get some sleep before then."

oOo

"You falling for the second years' trap isn't really the problem," Loke explained, "the problem is your suicidal behavior after that."

Lucy sighed, eyes still glued to the floor.

"I know," she admitted, "I got lectured harshly about that and I deserved it. I'm sorry, I won't do something like that again, I promise."

Loke stared at her with serious eyes and Lucy didn't try to avoid his intense gaze. He sighed and massaged his neck with his right hand. He looked like a million tonnes had just been lifted off his shoulders.

"I believe you," he breathed. "It's just that I was really worried since you said your father was your only reason to keep living and I thought that maybe you had lost hope or something along the lines, and..."

"I figured you'd think something like that," she answered. "And..."

She breathed in deeply and checked their surroundings. They were sitting on a fallen tree trunk a few meters behind the base. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago, but the sun was already setting. The wind was cool and the nice smell of wet wood and grass filled the air, along with the appeasing sounds of the forest. They were alone.

"And," she went on, "I might have changed my mind about that. My only objective still is to save my father, that didn't change, but I think it's not my only reason to keep living anymore. I think that I'd love to live with you, and Erza, and the others."

She sighed when she lifted her eyes to find that Loke was having a really hard time holding back his tears of joy.

"Why are you crying?" she smiled. "I'm saying something positive, here."

He laughed and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt to pull her toward him and hug her tightly.

"Positive?" he repeated. "I would say 'great' or 'wonderful', instead of just 'positive'."

His arms tightened around her waist and he nestled his nose in the crook of her neck. Lucy froze.

"I wish we could have lived together, too," he breathed.

Lucy gently pushed him off her so she could look in his eyes. He was making that face again, the one that made her feel like he would disappear on her, very soon.

"Loke..."

He immediately understood what she was going to ask and didn't give her the chance to do so.

"But I'm moved, really," he cheered, "I didn't expect you to declare your love to me in such a cute way. How about we run away from this country and get married?"

She could have insisted to get an explanation about his strange behavior, but she knew it would be the end of the conversation and he most probably wouldn't talk about it at all in the future. So, she sucked it up and let it go. She giggled and pushed his shoulder.

"In your dreams, playboy."

He laughed, but Lucy could tell that he was still feeling down, his smile didn't manage to reach his eyes.

"I'm hurt," he joked.

He looked her in the eye and smiled softly, the moonlight faintly reflecting in his tired eyes.

"Thanks, Lucy."

"You're welcome," she smiled back.

"So, did you know you almost killed the commander today?"

She frowned.

"What?"

He smirked and leaned back on the trunk.

"I was right beside him when Gray arrived and told us about your crazy plan," he explained. "He went berserk, it was fun to watch. I thought he was having a heart attack. I'm sure he has a thing for you."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Don't get all worked up over nothing," she countered, "I'm a guy for him, remember? And he was so pissed at me earlier, you wouldn't say that if you had been inside the tent with us..."

"I'm saying that exactly because I saw him getting furious over you," he argued, "you don't get angry at someone who's risking their life if you don't care about them."

"He's an officer," she shrugged, "it's his duty to watch over his recruits."

"Oh, come on, Lucy," her friend whined, "don't play dumb with me! Sting almost died when he decided to try to eat fire last month, when we were supervising the extinction of that forest fire, did you see the commander get crazy mad at him? No."

Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"So what? Even if what you say were the truth, it would mean that he's gay since he thinks I'm a man."

Loke burst out of laughing and Lucy frowned at him. Had he finally gone nuts?

"Sorry," he laughed, "I just imagined the commander staring at your ass and questioning his sexuality! His face was hilarious in my mind!"

oOo

Lucy was impressed at how silent they were despite their number. Team Natsu's uniforms were completely black and Natsu had brought black face paint: they were invisible in the dark. The commander had formed four teams of five persons, each following its own itinerary through the pitch black forest.

"I noticed something interesting when I came to get you," the commander had told Lucy before they left the base, "the second years were scared of me. Nothing surprising there, but it disconcerted them to hear me give them a serious order. And a few of them instinctively turned their heads toward a certain spot, behind them. When they left, they all walked toward that spot, somewhere on the north-west of the forest."

"The abandoned hospital," Alzack guessed out loud.

"Exactly," Natsu agreed. "We're going there tonight. It's only a reconnaissance mission, got it? We'll go there and search for the flag. Follow all my instructions religiously when we reach the hospital, the area will most probably be full of traps and guards."

Natsu was leading the main team, consisting of himself, Lucy, Gray, Gajeel and Sting. Loke was in the team that was supposed to search the north side of the hospital. When they were near the hospital, Natsu pointed to the left and two teams left, including Loke's. A second later, the commander pointed to the right and the two remaining teams left as well. He then turned around and glanced at Lucy, who nodded at him: she wouldn't fail him again. He smiled and nodded back. They progressed forward, taking a few turns, always staying behind the trees, occasionally stopping to listen to any sound they could catch.

Lucy was the first one to notice the first set of traps. A row of darts had been set on a large tree trunk. At the feet of this tree, a thin string had been stretched between this tree and another, smaller one. The commander almost walked on it when Lucy grabbed his shoulder and pulled on it violently. Similar traps had been set in the area and they had to find and neutralize most of them before continuing.

After a few minutes, they were hiding behind thick bushes, staring at the dark and old abandoned building that used to serve as a psychiatric hospital.

"This is creepy as fuck," Sting shuddered, "we're not going in, are we? Cause I'm sure there are ghosts in there. The tormented souls of the abused patients of this asylum are patiently waiting for the time they will be able to get revenge on their tormentors. But since their tormentors are dead too, they'll just take anybody who enters that place and torture them until they die or become so crazy that they need to be hospitalized against their will. Ever heard of involuntary commitment? They want us to go through the same horrific events they lived, I tell you."

His teammates frowned and stared at him with dubious eyes.

"How did you pass the psychological tests?" the commander asked. "Whatever, just be quiet and follow me."

Sting shrugged and mumbled a faint: ''don't say I didn't warn you''. When Natsu found the perfect spot to keep an eye on the hospital, he crouched down behind the bushes and his recruits imitated him. They patiently waited for the other teams' signals. The first signal came a few seconds later in the form of an owl hooting: Alzack's team was in position. Loke's team's signal came right after it, and the other teams' signals all came soon after. The commander whistled three times and the closest recruits passed the message to the remote team members: time to go.

Lucy's heartbeat sped up when the commander moved from his hiding spot and led them toward the menacing asylum. Her quick heartbeat sent blood pulsing against her temples as she took a deep breath in. She didn't want to admit it, but this place gave her chills too. They saw guards patrolling in front of the gates and aimed at them. Lucy felt bad for them since she now knew how painful those darts were, but they were training to become soldiers anyway, and they knew the risks. When they shot, the second years fell and screamed in pain. But it was fine, Natsu's small team was supposed to be a decoy to attract the enemy's attention and let the others find the flag. They tied the guards up while they were still suffering from the darts' effects and passed the large, rusted and rickety doors. When they arrived in front of the proper building's entrance, though, they heard a very loud bang coming from the left side of the building.

A second of silence followed the explosion before they started to hear screams. Another explosion was heard, closer to their position this time, and gunshots ensued. This could only mean one thing: one of the reconnaissance teams had been busted and Team Gildarts was fighting them. The commander cursed. Of course, they had a plan ready in case they needed to retreat, but it meant leaving this place with no flag and less men.

But, as he was getting ready to retreat, another explosion was heard on the right side of the building this time. Gunshots were heard from almost everywhere, but the front of the asylum was ironically calm. The commander frowned and tried to focus on the voices: someone was shouting orders, a lot of recruits were yelling in pain or determination. But most of those voices didn't belong to Natsu's recruits.

"Another team is attacking this place," the commander declared. "From what I can hear, it's Laxus' team. This isn't good, we should retreat."

As he was saying this, they saw a young man run toward them and aimed at him.

"Woah there," he raised his hands in capitulation, "it's me! Jet!"

Jet was in Alzack's team, why was he here? Lucy listened attentively as the young man tried to explain what was going on, panting all the while.

"The lieutenant's team is here too," he said, "they have smoke bombs and they're attacking both us and Gildarts' team."

The commander gritted his teeth and smirked wildly.

"That bastard..." he half growled, half laughed, "we retreat. Tell the others to follow the plan."

"Well," Jet hesitated, "about that plan..."

"What about it?"

Jet gulped and shifted awkwardly.

"Alzack and Loke's teams were forced to enter the building," he finally said, "they won't be able to retreat."

Lucy froze. Loke was inside? Loke, who was sick to the point of throwing up blood and coughing his lungs out, was inside a building with enemy soldiers shooting poisoned darts?

The commander clenched his fists and glared at the asylum as if the building itself was responsible of this horrible turn of events.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Jet nodded.

"Where are they exactly inside the building?"

The young man gulped again and Lucy was tempted to strangle him: they didn't have the time to be afraid, they had to act quickly!

"They're in the Red Wing, sir," he whined, "where they treated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder."

Natsu groaned when he saw how scared Jet was.

"For Fuck's sake, Jet, it's just a name! That building isn't haunted, get your shit together!"

"Where's the Red Wing?" Lucy asked.

Jet managed to calm down after Natsu's exasperated lecture and he answered almost immediately this time.

"It's on the north of the building," he explained. "When you get there, there are two large doors leading to the Blue and Red Wings."

"In other words," Natsu groaned, "they're on the opposite side of the building..."

"Yeah..."

Any sane officer in Natsu's shoes would order his men to retreat. Too bad for the guys that were inside, but they should have been more careful. And it was not like they were going to die anyway, it was only a game. Another explosion was heard in the north of the building, followed by more screams. His eyes found Lucy's and stayed there for a bit. He seemed to be looking for some sort of advice in her eyes, a clue on what was the best thing to do. He finally turned back around and looked at Jet.

"Tell the guys to retreat," he repeated, "follow the evacuation plan and go back to the base. We'll join you there."

"Excuse me, sir?"

The commander turned around and faced his small team. All four of them had understood what they were going to do, and they most definitely would obey this order without a second of hesitation.

"We're going inside," he declared, "find your comrades and help them leave this place."

"Yes, sir!"

oOo

The north gate of the asylum was in chaos. They were so many men fighting, screaming and running in all directions that Natsu and his team went unnoticed as they ran for the double doors. Gray was hit by a dart in the shoulder, he screamed and crushed the thing barehanded under the influence of anger. Unsurprisingly, he handled the pain much better than she did and kept running for the doors.

"We'll wait for each other in front of the south gate," Natsu said when they were inside the infamous Red Wing, "behind the bushes that hid us when we got here. Good luck, guys, you better get out of here safe and sound."

They all took different directions, running along broad, cold corridors, taking turns and checking every room on their way. They needed to stay on the ground floor as long as possible, because it would be even harder to find their comrades if they had gone upstairs. But after a few minutes of searching her side of the wing, Lucy had to face reality: for some reason, her friends were somewhere on the upper floors. She ran until she found a set of stairs and stopped in front of it, hesitating. The walls flanking the stairs were painted in light blue that had turned yellowish green with the years. Someone was lying on the steps, unconscious. Lucy recognized the uniform of team Laxus and a lump formed in her throat. She gulped and her eyes followed the dirty white handrails to the top of the stairs. Time to man up, Lucy.

...LOKE...

Loke had to bite his laughter back when the second year turned around for the fourth time and started shooting at the walls, screaming at the ghost to leave him alone. But playtime was over, he had to leave the asylum. He and a few recruits had been forced to enter the Red Wing and climb up the stairs to escape the fights, but the commander and Lucy were probably worrying. And they tended to do stupid things when they were worried, he was pretty sure that they were on their way to the Red Wing at this very moment. The young man opened a familiar door that led to a smaller corridor. At the end of the corridor, he pushed open a set of double doors and found himself facing five doors on each side of the new corridor. He scratched his growing beard, trying to remember which door led to the set of stairs. Well, whatever, he'd just open them all.

The first door led to some kind of storage room. The second door led to an empty room and Loke had no idea what it was used for. He opened the third door and looked inside. It was a strange, dilapidated operating theater: the operating table in the center of the room was old and rusted, creepy instruments were arranged on a stainless steel table near the operating table, strange machines with tubes that Loke assumed were connected to the patient were still occupying the back of the room, behind the operating table.

"Woah, creepy," Loke shuddered, "that room just has to be haunted."

He took a step back to leave the room, but felt something brutally push on his back. He fell to his knees and heard the door slam shut before being locked.

"I hope you had fun harassing me, jackass!"

Loke recognized the voice of the second year he had been following earlier.

"Alright, alright," Loke said as he stood back up, "I apologize. I won't do it again, it was just too tempting. Come on, open up."

"No way," the second year retorted, "you're gonna spend the night in here, that will teach you to respect your elders."

"Are you sure that you're older?" Loke joked. "You're so small and beardless, not even a hair on the chin. You sure you're not 15? Or a girl?"

"Laugh all you want," the other retorted, "we'll see who's laughing after you've spent the night in this creepy room."

Loke arched an eyebrow.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Bye, buddy."

"Wait, you're not serious, right? Come on, don't talk rubbish!"

Loke pressed his ear against the door and heard the other's laughs as he walked away. This wasn't even close to funny. He cursed and kicked the door, but the damn thing didn't bulge.

"Come back here!" he shouted. "Open up, dammit!"

The door of the corridor closed and no sound was heard after that, except the furious beating of his heart. Loke turned around and looked around the room to find another exit. The room was dirty and filled with spooky instruments all related to nearly medieval surgery. The air was heavier in there, there was almost no light and Loke was sure that a weird stench was starting to fill the room. He kicked the door again, using more strength. Still no result.

"HEY!" he yelled. "GET ME OUT OF HERE! ANYONE, PLEASE, OPEN THE DOOR!"

His throat burned and he fell to his knees, coughing blood and feeling as if he was throwing acid up. He glanced at the room over his shoulder, the shadows of the surgical equipments seemed larger for some reason. He froze and held his breath when he heard a scratching noise coming from somewhere in the back of the room. The air was suddenly even heavier than before, Loke felt as if he were suffocating. People had died in this room, he was sure of it. He knew how to recognize death's presence now, and it was all over this room. He gritted his teeth and stood back up to pound on the door with his clenched fists.

"OPEN UP!" he roared. "OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR, NOW!"

More blood escaped his lips and he bent over to cough and throw up. He straightened up once more and punched the door. He punched it again, several times, occasionally kicking it. The smell of blood was unbearable, but he knew it was all in his head. The stench of death, the feeling of suffocation, the taste of blood. Of all rooms, of all recruits fighting in this fucking asylum, someone just had to lock him up in a room that had death soaking its atmosphere. His fists were bleeding too now, but he never stopped punching and kicking the door, all the while screaming for help.

...GRAY...

There were so many doors and corridors upstairs, it was seriously discouraging. Gray had had to shoot four second years already and he felt bad for them. He knew just how painful those fucking darts were. And he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed: he was hoping that Gildarts had hidden his flag in the rumoured haunted wing of the asylum, but it didn't look like he had. He sighed as he pushed open another dirty white door and found more doors. He really wasn't lucky. He had seen Luc in the corridors earlier, he had found Alzack and was escorting him outside. Natsu would appreciate that. Luc, huh? He snickered.

"I wonder how long this will go on," he mused out loud.

He kicked another door open and found a smaller corridor. At the end of the corridor, a set of double doors that most probably led to another stupid corridor. Gray opened the doors and found himself facing five doors on each side of the new corridor. He heard them immediately: the screams, the powerful knocks on a door, the coughs. Gray kicked the first door open: nothing inside. He did the same with the second door: still nothing. He kicked the handle of the third door with so much strength that the little thing flew toward the other side of the room. The door suddenly opened and Gray opened wide eyes when he saw Loke pounce out of the room, panting and covered in blood. He glanced at the inside of the room, saw nothing but creepy medical things, closed the door. He immediately rushed to his friend's side and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He was burning up. He had to dodge a punch when Loke turned around and grabbed him by the collar to force the shocked man to sit down.

"Loke!" he called. "Look at me! It's me! Gray! Calm down, you're out!"

The injured man was panting, his fingers clawing at Gray's hands. He started to calm down when he recognized his friend's face.

"Gray," he panted, "thank God, you're here."

"Yeah, I'm here, buddy," Gray tried to appease him, "don't worry, I'm here."

"Don't tell the others about what happened here," Loke whined.

"Of course not," Gray promised. "Though, I'll have to tell Natsu."

"Gray..."

"What?"

A moment of silence passed as Loke breathed in and out, slowly.

"Where's the motherfucker that locked me in there?"

"How should I know. Come on, get up. We're leaving."

End of Chapter 12

You probably understood it, but I'm going to focus a bit more on Gray and Sting from now on. Because I'll need them for something important soon.

As usual, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter. I personally am satisfied with it, we're making progress on several levels.

On a personal note: I received several messages from readers telling me that they're glad I'm back and that they're worried about my eyes. I also obviously read the reviews you left and let me tell you, I really missed you all. I really had to say it: thank you for reading my story, thank you for being so kind and thank you for your support.

Now, on a more serious note: I will end this fanfiction, I promise, but it will be a long story, we're still not even halfway to the end. And I am starting a new fiction, this one will be entirely from me: plot, world, characters, everything. I will post it on FictionPress when it's done, I'll give you all the details when the time comes!

Yours, truly!

L.

Preview: chapter 13

"You can't shoot the head!" he protested. "It's against the rules!"

"I'll play fair when you guys do," she retorted. "Where are they?"

Tobi gulped and suddenly decided that this time was as good as any to try being a man.

"Shoot," he said, "I won't talk."

"You won't?"

"No way."

"Alright, then."

She snatched the idiotic sock hanging around his neck and threw it to Alzack.

"Burn this thing," she ordered.

Ten seconds later, Alzack was holding a lighter close to the sock and Tobi was begging her to spare the poor thing.

"I'll talk," he cried, "I'll talk! Don't hurt her!"