The night that Lucy disappeared Natsu woke the entirety of Magnolia in his frenzied attempt to find her. First he'd raced to Fairy Hills and once there proceeded to holler at the top of his lungs.

"Erza!!!" he'd started calling for his teammate from outside, managing to scare half the population of the dorm. "Erza, wake up and come outside!"

When this didn't magically produce the red-haired Knight, he'd lost the last shred of patience and turned the volume even more up.

"ERZA! Damn it, Erza, get out here!"

At this various females had started opening their windows just to see who was stupid enough to scream for Erza at the top of their lungs in the middle of the night. Most weren't surprise to see a mop of unruly pink hair and flames dancing in the fists of their guild's resident fire dragon slayer.

"ERZA!!!" he screamed again, obviously getting even more agitated and this time the dorm's front door swung open with a crash and Erza stormed out in full armor, and pissed to boot.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you idiot?!" she proceeded to scream at Natsu. "Do you have any idea what time it is??"

Natsu, just glad that his teammate had finally answered his call, ignored her enraged look, marched up to her, grabbed her hand and started dragging her after him.

Erza who wasn't having none of it, dug her heels in and ripped her hand from his grasp. "Natsu, explain to me this instant what is going on with you!" she demanded hotly.

"I don't have time to explain anything! Just come with me! Luce disappeared and we need to find her!" With this he once again made to grab Erza's hand but she evaded him and managed to clock him on the head with her fist.

"Slow down, Natsu! What do you mean, Lucy disappeared?" asked the red-head, obviously shocked.

"I don't know!" he shouted obviously exasperated at Erza asking questions instead of coming with him. "We were sleeping and suddenly she was swallowed by a blinding flash of light. Gone! Poof!" He threw his hands up in the air, gesturing wildly.

Seeing the true agitation mixed with a heavy dose of fear on Natsu's face, made it finally clear to Erza that the situation was dire. She didn't even reprimand him for sneaking into Lucy's bed again, instead just started walking in the direction of Strawberry Street, Natsu hurrying alongside her.

"I'm going to take a look at Lucy's apartment, maybe I'll be able to find some clues as to what happened. You go find Gray and Gajeel, I'll contact Mira, we'll all meet up at the guild in an hour."

Satisfied that something was finally happening Natsu didn't protest being ordered around, instead just nodded and set off for Gray's place.

The Ice Make mage wasn't any more appreciative to being woken up in the middle of the night than Erza had been, but just like her quieted his protests immediately when Natsu briefed him on what happened. Together they made their way to Gajeel's small house on the edge of town.

Once there they pounded away on the door until a thoroughly agitated Panther Lily opened up, a heavy scowl on his scarred face, sword drawn. His frown didn't lessen any when he found Natsu and Gray at the other side of the door.

"What are you two doing, making such a ruckus at this ungodly hour?" he scowled, but didn't get an answer as a Gajeel finally came out, obviously pissed at the rude awakening, Levy stumbling out behind him, rubbing her eyes.

"Salamander!" Gajeel growled and clenched his fists, obviously ready to beat Natsu to a pulp, but stopped when he saw Gray and the expressions on both the other males' faces. He stopped short of charging at Natsu and crossed his arms instead. "What happened?"

Natsu hastened to explain, impatient to get to the guild and start doing something to find Lucy. "Luce vanished," he shot out and color drained from Levy's face as she clutched Gajeel's arm to remain upright.

"What…?" whispered the petite solid script mage obviously shaken by the news. "How?"

"I don't know!" Natsu exclaimed. "There was a flash of light and then she was gone! Erza wants everyone at the guild in an hour so get going Metal-Face."

Gajeel for once didn't react to the taunting, instead both he and Levy turned to go get dressed.

"We'll be right out," Panther Lily murmured having turned back to his smaller self.

In record time all three were out and they headed towards the guild.

For the first time in a while, Natsu found himself praying. For Lucy's safety, and that he'd find her soon. Not even knowing what had happened to her was the worst part. She'd vanished right in front of him and he still had no clue what had actually happened.

'Please be safe, Luce,' he thought fervently, running full tilt in the direction of the guild. He'd find her, he had to. There was no other option. He'd get her back.

--

When Lucy got home from the hellish job, she was exhausted and trembling from head to toe. The trembling was partly from exhaustion but mostly from fear. She was afraid like she'd never been before.

When she'd been captured she'd been optimistic and defiant, sure she'd get out of there. So she'd gone all out, unwilling to be the damsel in distress, determined to save herself for once.

She'd depleted her magic completely and summoned Sagittarius, Taurus and Scorpio at the same time. The first time she'd ever summoned 5 Zodiac Spirits in less than a couple of hours. The punch it packed was more than considerable. She'd barely remained on her feet as her Spirits went all out to defend her.

And it had seemed like she'd be able to get out of it. Then suddenly the tables turned when a man in priest robes entered the chamber. At first glance he was just an old bald man, with a long white beard, one that didn't seem entirely sure on his feet. So Lucy ignored him. That was her mistake.

She still didn't know how he did it, but with only a look he'd forced all three of her Spirits back to their own world, even though they'd fought against it.

That was when Lucy's nightmare begun. Exhausted and out of magic, she was easy pray for her remaining opponents. They'd caught her when she tried to flee and started stripping her. For a moment she'd need terrified that what they'd do to her would be worse than killing her.

Luckily, they stripped her, cut of her hair and tied her to the stone altar in the middle of the room. They had no interest in her body. They wanted her blood.

The priest had started some kind of ceremony, where they all chanted in an bizzare language and they danced around her for a while. After that the priest started cutting her. Every few words he'd draw his dagger over her skin. At first the wounds were superficial, as the ceremony progressed, the shallow cuts became deep plunges in her flesh with the dagger.

The exhaustion, the fear, pain and blood loss made her fuzzy, she couldn't think, couldn't even scream. She had no idea how long that had went on before a huge wall of flame had materialized between her and her attackers. When she'd seen Natsu she'd passed out, knowing she'd be safe. When she next came to she was in a hospital in Hargeon, Natsu and Happy asleep at her bedside.

It was over.

Only she couldn't really convince herself of that. For the whole week she'd stayed in the hospital she'd only felt safe when Natsu was with her. But they were back in Magnolia, they were home.

She should feel safe here, but all she felt was pure, unadulterated terror.

The people who'd done this to here were either dead or locked up for life. The old priest was dead, Natsu had seen to that. He couldn't hurt her anymore.

But knowing something logically didn't mean crap when it came to emotions. She was overwhelmed by everything, most of all by the things that went through her brain. Trying to battle it, she consciously went about her routine.

If she thought about mundane things like unpacking, sorting out her laundry, airing her room, preparing dinner, eating, cleaning up, she could force herself to calm down. And it seemed to work. She relaxed slightly, took a hot bath which soothed her aching muscles and still healing wounds, got in her pajamas, dried her hair and finally went to bed.

She even managed to fall asleep. And that's when the nightmares begun. She was back in that room, on that altar, her blood staining everything around her red. Only this time, nobody was coming to save her. She was going to die on that cold, unforgiving stone.

Then, the whole scenery changed and she found herself in the ruins of Magnolia, perfectly happy and content, with Natsu's arms wrapped tightly around her, just like after Acnologia's defeat. Everything was alright in her world, as long as she could feel those arms wrapped around her. Holding her, shielding her, cherishing her.

She woke for a split second feeling heat all around her and relaxed completely. He was there. There was nothing she needed to be scared of anymore.

Her dreams didn't bother her that night, with Natsu wrapped around her tight, she knew down to the roots of her being that she was safe from anything and everything. He'd never, but ever let anything happen to her. So, wrapped up in his sweltering embrace, Lucy slept like a baby.

When golden light bathed her in a warm glow Lucy thought morning had come and stretched her limbs, expecting to feel Natsu's arms tighten around her. When she felt only air she panicked. Her heart started beating faster and faster, her breath stuck in her chest and she knew she was hyperventilating. She needed to calm down, get her emotions in check or she'd run the risk of passing out. Logically she knew that perhaps he'd already gotten up, but he wouldn't be far, he never was. She needed to snap out of this, Natsu couldn't see her like this.

It was easier said than done and she couldn't do anything to stop her heart-rate from accelerating further, her chest tight and painful, breaths coming shorter and faster. That amped her panic further, the hellish spirale starting.

Then a voice cut through the fog of panic.

"Lucy, wake up!" the familiar, smooth sound jolted her into consciousness and she opened her eyes to be met with her concerned Lion and a backdrop of endless mist.

"L-Loke?" she stuttered out weakly. "Where am I?"

The leonine spirit smiled and sat down in front of her.

"This is the world between the realm of the living and the realm of the spirits. Those who come here died with a higher purpose."

"So, I'm dead?" Lucy whispered, unable to grasp the situation.

Loke just shook his head. "No, don't worry, you're alive. You're here because the Celestial Spirit King invited you to our realm, but you fought against it for some reason. That's how you ended up here." He flashed her a bright smile. "Welcome to the Precipice of Dreams."

Utterly confused and still feeling the aftermath of her panic-attack, Lucy could just stare at her Spirit. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't worry," he just smiled. "We'll go to the Spirit World from here and you're in for a big surprise." Another grin, this one cheeky. "And I promise it's gonna be a good one."

Somehow Lucy had the feeling that whatever mess she landed in now, it wouldn't be pretty. But that was the last of her worries as Loke grabbed her hand and the whole world spun out of orbit.

And that's chapter one. I hope you're all enjoying it so far and will stay for a while. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed so far.