General POV

Makarov, Max, Joey, and Wan rushed into Lucy's room expecting something, anything. Instead they were met with a completely empty and silent room.

"Where is she?! Lucy, where are you?!" Max yelled running toward the bathroom while the other vampires scattered to other all sides of the room.

Makarov walked slowly, taking in the surroundings of the room. Nothing much seemed out of place except for a pillow that had been carelessly tossed on the floor and the bed was a crumpled mess. He wondered if the sound had even come from the room.

Makarov sighed heavily. Normally this would have been extremely easy for the Elder, but thoughts of Erza kept plaguing his mind causing his attention to focus back to her instead of the problem at hand. Finally he found himself in front of an open window. He took a deep, calming breath of the afternoon air trying to keep his mind focused instead of on his stresses. His gaze casually made its way around the yard below, bushes and flowers decorating the lawn, and some upturned dirt. He studied the area closer, noticing it looked as if something had slid right to where the drop from the window would be and then churned up grass and flowers littering the whole way to the bushes surrounding the yard. It looked as if a scuffle occurred.

Suddenly Makarov eyes caught hold of two figures roll from the bushes, yells of profanity made their way to his ears as each was grappling for the upper hand. Makarov's eyes widened as he noticed one of those figures was Gray.

"Outside!" Makarov yelled to the other vampires who were continuing looking for the princess and jumped out the window landing close to where Gray was fighting a blond haired Neonate.

Gray rolled on top of the Neonate as Makarov hit the ground, his hand gripping his attacker's throat with all his might. Gray had done this many times before with other vampires and humans alike, but none had been trained like this Neonate had. He squeezed the other vampire's esophagus and just as he was about to twist, the Neonate brought his palm up against Gray's elbow and pushed hard. Gray heard the nauseating sound of the joint snap and pain engulfed his entire arm. He let out a vexed hiss and punched the Neonate with his other hand.

The vampire's neck snapped biliously to the side with the sheer force of the punch, a thick line of a spit and blood mixture shooting from his mouth. The blond grunted from the affliction and laughed gleefully, a crazed look settling over his eyes.

"You'll never have her." Gray spat out at the other vampire, venom laced in every word. The Neonate's grin widened, grabbing Gray around his chest with one arm under his armpit and the other over his shoulder. This move gave the Neonate just enough leverage over the Ancilla to flip him on his back.

"I beg to differ." The blond's words came out mirthful, the look in his golden eyes fanatic and crazed. Gray flinched as the Neonate's fist connected with his jaw. He felt himself bite the inside of his cheek and winced.

"I won't let you touch her again." Gray growled out almost animalistic. The blond's eyes narrowed.

"I'll take her yet, just you wait Gray Fullbuster." He hissed out.

A ferocious cry left Gray's lips as he gained the upper hand on the Neonate again. Gray began to smash his fist repeatedly on his enemy's face, splitting his knuckles from the sheer force.

Suddenly Gray took notice of other bodies in his peripheral vision. He turned his head slightly seeing other vampires in battle as well, some rolling on the ground and others clearly overcoming others. Enemies and allies alike surrounded him and suddenly he became a little overwhelmed.

"Fuck!"

Lucy POV

Am I dead? The thought kept running through my mind and I laid in complete and total darkness.

Is this what heaven is supposed to be like? Just complete darkness? I tried moving my legs and they didn't respond.

Definitely dead. I tried to remember how I died. The last thing I remembered was tumbling out my window. I didn't know my room was high enough off the ground that I would've died if I had fallen earlier and I would've chuckled at myself if I could.

How many times have Levy and I climbed out that window in the past? If I had known we would've died, maybe we wouldn't have snuck out so much in the last couple of years. But, maybe not either.

I tried remembering more.

I was in a fight with a vampire, Rufus, he said his name was. Then I thought of what he told me- Sting wanted to turn me into a vampire. If my heart had still been beating it probably would've beat right out of my chest.

Guess it's a good thing I'm already dead then.

The only good thing about that altercation was that I discovered I had better aim than I thought. Even though I actually didn't know because I didn't watch to see if the pillow hit him or not. I just wanted to think that I did hit him. Made me feel a little better in the predicament I was in. Knowing I fought hard for my life before it ended was a good feeling. Not warm exactly, but not embarrassing either.

I remembered pushing him, then punching him in the face and then pain… excruciating pain that came in my hand. I tried to shudder at the memory, but recalled I couldn't.

The pain was absolutely horrid and I had only experienced it for a second before the darkness took over me. What would it have been like if I were still alive? Still excruciating?

"Hey, wake up." A voice sounded beside me. That was strange, I didn't think anyone was with me in this dark heaven. I didn't recognize the voice for some reason. I thought the voice should've been someone I knew, someone I trusted and loved. Someone like Levy. She was the one voice that would be nice to hear right now, but this voice was foreign to me. It was a deep voice, obviously male, and was husky like he had been working out or something. It was a nice voice I decided. Maybe it was God?

The foreign voice, however, had hands. Why did the voice have hands?

Why does God's voice have hands?

It didn't make any sense. And, to make it even weirder, the hands were gently shaking me from my shoulders.

And then came the pain.

I screamed in agony, my eyes shooting open only to be assaulted by a blinding white light. A whimper left my throat before I could stop it and my eyes squinted against the brightness of the day. I looked around.

I was laying on the hard ground, a rock biting into my shoulder. Heaven didn't have rocks that hurt you and pain in your hand. Maybe this was Hell? My eyes strained against the yellow light.

Definitely not Hell.

"So, I'm not dead?" I heard my voice say but didn't feel myself say. I stared up at the blue sky above me, my eyes going in and out of focus. I groaned. It was giving me a headache.

"Are you okay?" The voice asked. Startled, I sat up with such force I knocked heads with the voice. I yelped in agony my vision going spotty and my head pulsing in pain.

Fuck! Why do I keep hurting myself?

And why does the voice have a head?!

The voice moaned in agitation beside me. I opened my eyes again, now in a sitting position and focused on the voice, which was actually a body, kneeling beside me rubbing the sore spot on his head that I had just hit. I gazed at this buff man intensely. He was such a stark contrast to the vampire I just jumped out a window from.

Rufus had pale skin, blond hair, and cold, gold eyes with a murderous glint in them. This guy, on the other hand, had sun-kissed skin with dark, spiky hair and piercing red eyes. Those piercing eyes held mine for just a moment and I thought I saw kindness to them.

Then he spoke. "You good?"

I screamed and kicked out at the stranger, connecting my foot with his jaw. Pain shot up my foot from the association, but I ignored it. I was on a mission to get away. Quickly I rolled onto my hands and knees. As soon as my hands touched the ground, scorching, agonizing pain shot up my left arm. Another scream, more pained sounding this time, erupted from my lips as I fell face first on the ground as black spots danced their way across my vision. My stomach churned with the torture and another agonized groan left my mouth. I wanted to puke.

I felt strange hands on my shoulders and looked to see the spiky haired man helping me back up into a sitting position.

"Stop, your hand is broken." My body tensed as I stared at him. He smiled nervously. "You know, you got one hell of a kick." He rubbed his jaw with a hand and turned his gaze to stare back at me. He was unnervingly handsome, I noticed, with his red eyes seemingly piercing my soul.

"Are you a vampire to?" My voice came out a terrified whisper. I felt my body shaking with nerves and my stomach began doing its stupid flipping thing that made me want to hurl even more than I already did.

"I am, but don't worry, I'm one of the good guys." He assured me. I just kept staring at him.

Are all vampires this attractive?

Definitely not, Steroids and Toothpick proved that one.

Why is that the first thing that pops in my head?!

"How do I know you're a good guy?" My voice for some reason couldn't come out above a whisper, but it didn't matter. I wasn't going to lie to myself, I was so scared.

"Makarov and everyone else are fighting right now otherwise I'd have one of them tell you." He gestured over to the bushes that were quite a few feet away from us with a hardened gaze. I looked over to where he was staring and listened.

What I heard absolutely terrified me.

Yelling and screaming, in both agony and victory, tore through my ears. I could hear grunts of pain and crazed, manacle laughter.

It was too much. I went to put my hands over my ears to drown out the sound only to yelp in pain. I cradled my poor, limp wrist against my chest and fought the urge to cry. The back of my eyes stung from the unshed tears and my throat felt dry like a desert. The adrenaline coursing through me was the only reason as to why I didn't have a mental breakdown then and there, I decided.

"We need to get you somewhere safer." He put his hands under my armpits like you would a little kid, and gently lifted me to my feet. I wondered if my legs were going to be able to hold me up. They were numb and felt like jelly but were able to do what they were created for. I was silently grateful.

"What's your name?" I asked, my voice came out a little stronger. He looked to me, his stern gaze kind but serious.

"Gajeel." We walked toward the castle quickly, me tripping over every little thing while he gracefully maneuvered around keeping a hand out in case I decided to actually fall.

I felt like a robot, my legs numbly following him to where I needed to go.

"Lucy." I told him my name even though he didn't ask for it. A smirk turned one corner of his mouth as rounded the corner to the main doors.

Abruptly, but expectedly, another figure emerged from the bushes, cutting us off. My eyes widened at this new figure and I heard Gajeel growl low in the back of his throat. He pushed me behind his form, arms caging me from the threat in front of us.

I couldn't help myself as I noticed this stranger had dark skin and brown hair, a thin scar ran down the right side of his face keeping his eye closed. He was shorter than Gajeel but was just as intimidating.

"Gajeel." His voice was deep and rough, soothing almost. It was like a rush of warm water cascading over my body-

God, stop thinking about how attractive they all are!

"Cobra." His name came out as a terrifyingly low growl from Gajeel's mouth.

Obviously they're not friends.

Cobra is a bad guy. Good to know.

"I've come for the girl." Cobra's voice came out dark and demented, causing my body to go into panic mode again freezing me where I stood. If I wasn't freaking out so much I would curse myself for being such a coward.

"Over my dead body." Gajeel's voice scared me even more. My eyes widened in terror as I looked to my supposed protector. His red eyes almost glowed as he glared at Cobra.

Cobra laughed mechanically, a gleeful gleam in his eye as he smiled wide at Gajeel. "That's just what I was hoping you'd say."

"Lucy, run!" Gajeel yelled as he pushed me out of the way toward the door as Cobra rushed him. I fell onto my stomach from the force and landed on my hurt hand. I gasped at the pain and tears formed in my eyes but I quickly blinked them away as I stared at the scene before me in frozen terror.

Gajeel and Cobra ripped at one another with teeth and claws alike. Cobra sneered, a low grunt emanating from his lips as Gajeel landed a good blow to the other vampire's shoulder.

I watched the two in awe and terror while noticing Cobra's shoulder was dislocated from the blow. It was obvious from just the way he favored it and attacked with the other side of his body.

They continued with their deadly dance, and I pushed myself up to my knees. I couldn't go any farther, my brain could scream for me to run all it wanted but my legs stayed frozen in place. What was I supposed to do? I needed to help Gajeel in some way before he got seriously injured or worse.

Gajeel let out a cry as Cobra bit hard into his shoulder, blood squirting around his mouth and running down Gajeel's arm.

I needed to do something-Anything. I looked to the ground around me and found a decently sized rock. Picking it up in my right hand, I judged how likely it would be to hit Cobra and not Gajeel. Hell, I just wondered if I'd be able to get close to hitting either of them. They were on the ground now, rolling over one another, trying desperately to get the upper hand. Their movement was making me doubt my ability to hit Cobra grow.

I closed my eyes.

Please, God. I begged silently.

Now or never. And threw the rock with all the strength I could conjure up. It hit my target in the back, just barely, but enough for Cobra to whip his head in my direction. He snarled at me, distracted enough for Gajeel to ram his hand through the other vampire's chest.

I screamed.

I had never seen someone be murdered before. Had never thought I'd ever get the chance at seeing someone be murdered.

It wasn't like the movies at all. In movies, death was always quick with the victor standing over the body in triumph. Watching Cobra's face scrunch up in agony and defeat, blood oozing from his lips and he tried to take in another breath, wasn't what I pictured death to be like.

Death was slow and painful. Cobra's eyes held such a string of emotion as he stared into the eyes of his killer, the life slowly bleeding out of him, a slow stripe of think blood running from his lips unto his chin. His body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud, his chest convulsing with lack of air.

I knew enough about vampires that a blow like this would definitely kill him.

I stared in absolute horror as Gajeel tore his hand back through Cobra's chest and flicked his arm casually to try to get some of the blood off. It splattered over the grass and on Cobra's unmoving body. I looked at the dead vampire's face, his one eye open, staring into the abyss that was the afterlife. If vampires even have an afterlife that is.

"Come on." Gajeel picked me up bridal style and carried me quickly to the doors of the castle.

I stared straight ahead afraid if I closed my eyes I would see Cobra's blank, dead expression all over again.

I didn't think I a,was going to sleep ever again.

"That was quick thinking with the rock, Lucy." Gajeel was talking to me, but my mind was elsewhere so I only nodded reflexively.

We stepped inside the foyer of the castle and Gajeel set me gently on my feet.

"How are you doing?" He asked. I stared at him. How was I doing? I had no idea how to answer that question.

"I don't know. I just watched someone get murdered, how am I supposed to feel?" I asked truly curious. Gajeel looked taken aback as he processed what I said.

Before he could answer my question, my mother burst into the room and quickly ran to where I stood, throwing her arms around me sobbing obviously and loudly. I yelped in pain as her chest came in contact with my broken hand and cuddled it tighter to my chest willing away the pain with my mind.

It didn't work very well.

"Honey, are you hurt?!" She sobbed out, eyes examining me rapidly. Her gaze landed on my swollen and bruised hand and another sob erupted from her chest. I gazed at her crying form, not saying anything. She was such an amazing woman, such an amazing mom. She always worried so much about me and my well-being. I guess that came with being a mom but still. She always made me feel so loved and wanted.

I could never live with myself if she was hurt. It was so hard to see her even like this.

"She has a broken hand, your majesty." Gajeel answered for me. I continued staring at her.

"Let us fix you up, sweetie." She gave me a small smile willing me with her eyes to follow her.

"Not until everyone comes in from the battle." My voice surprised me. I didn't know I could even talk at the moment let alone sound so sure of myself.

"The fighting is done." Gajeel stated simply. I tore my gaze away from my mother and looked at my savior. He didn't smile at me, but his eyes were kind. He made me feel safe, like someone I could whole-heartedly trust. It was such a strange feeling to have. I mean, he absolutely terrified me, I had just watched the vampire shove his hand inside another vampire's chest, but something about him just made me automatically trust him.

Does he have superpowers?

Just then the door opened.

"Is the princess okay?" I recognized that voice. Max entered the foyer with the rest of us. I looked to him. His face was bruised, bloody by his lips and left eye, and his right forearm was bent at an odd angle but otherwise he looked okay. He stood just a few feet away and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing I was alive and standing.

Makarov and another dark haired gorgeous man followed suit.

Why are these vampires so attractive?

Not the time to be thinking that!

I looked to each of them. The dark haired stranger was shirtless, scratches and bruises littering his abdomen and his elbow was bent the wrong way while it looked like Makarov only had a few scratches and bruises framing his face.

I let go of the breath I was holding.

"I'm fine, Max." I spoke finally, my gaze going to the door. There were two missing. "Where are Wan and Joey?"

Makarov's face fell, sadness coating his features. He wiped some blood off the corner of his mouth and took a deep breath.

My stomach dropped to my toes.

No way...

"They did not make it, my lady." My guts twisted painfully and I felt the burn of tears begin to pool in my eyes. I may not have liked the two very much but I really didn't want them dead.

It hurt too much.

"How many casualties were there?" My voice came out thick with emotion. This is what I didn't want happening. I wanted to prevent all of this.

"Wan, Joey, and about twenty King guards were killed as well, Lucy." I closed my eyes and large tears rolled down my cheeks.

Twenty guards. Twenty guards who had families waiting for them at home. Twenty guards who will never see their children grow or maybe even have children of their own. Twenty guards who were gone far too soon from this world.

All because of me.

"We need to end this." My voice came out strong and authoritative. "And we need to end it now."

"I understand, your majesty, but how are we going to end it?" The dark haired stranger asked. My eyes narrowed at him.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, my name is Gray. I'm the one that caught you after you fell out of the window." He gave me an easy smile. My hand throbbed.

"Is this our remaining forces then?" I questioned Makarov who was deep in thought.

"Sadly, yes, but I will be heading to the guild now to gather more forces." I didn't know if his words calmed me or not. I was on auto-pilot, my brain not able to keep up or process everything that just went down the last thirty minutes or so.

"Gajeel, Gray, will you two be staying with me while Makarov goes to the guild?" I asked hopeful. Gajeel calmed me while Gray saved my life. I just wanted them to stay. I needed someone to stay.

They looked to their master, unsure of how to answer my question.

"Yes, they will be. Max will be staying as well." Makarov finally answered. A small amount of relief flooded my chest. I didn't feel safe, but I felt a little better knowing they would be there.

"Good, now if you'll excused me, I need to go get my hand fixed before it decides to fall off." I turned toward my mother and nodded to her.

"Let me accompany you, Princess." Gray said as he came to stand by me. I stared at the vampire. He was absolutely beautiful even covered in dirt and blood with his ink colored hair and such dark blue eyes they almost looked black. There was something about him, something that seemed almost familiar. I shrugged it off thinking my brain was just playing tricks from being so overrun and exhausted.

I nodded to him and together we walked to the infirmary.

General POV

Gray watched Lucy as she carefully got onto the thin mattress of the hospital bed with the help of the Queen, her brown eyes laced with pain as she breathed through gritted teeth. Layla smiled sadly at her daughter and bid her farewell saying something along the lines of going and getting the king.

Lucy watched her mother leave, her eyes devoid of emotion. Gray stared. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking and why she wasn't being emotional. Instead she looked dead.

Lucy looked to him and he held out a hand for her to take in a kind gesture. Her dead eyes narrowed as she stared confused like at him, her body shifting as she settled herself in a semi-looking comfortable position.

Gray smiled slightly. "I promise I won't bite, milady." She continued to stare at him with watchful eyes and Gray stared right back placing his hand on his side. He noticed the bruises forming around her temple where she had accidentally hit the ground when he went to catch her, a thin trail of dried blood from a scratch across her forehead and smeared on her chin. He continued his search and found more bruises and scratches up her arms and across her shoulders in the tank top she wore. The nastiest bruise wasn't even the one that circled the swollen limb of what used to be her left hand but instead her right hand. Perfect finger prints were etched into the black and red skin of her wrist and Gray wondered how hard Rufus had to hold her in order to get her to bruise like that.

And then he wondered something else. How did she get away from him in the first place?

He was just about to voice his concern when another human entered, this one was much older than the princess with pink hair swirling up on top of her head. This woman's eyes were hard and focused as she looked to the younger girl on the mattress.

"Hello, Porlyusica." Lucy greeted the nurse. The older woman's eyes widened in shock, taking in the girl sitting in front of her.

"My God child, what ever happened to you?" Porlyusica asked as she went into a small unit and pulled out a large bag of ice. The nurse wrapped the bag in a thin blue cloth and brought it over to the princess, carefully placing it on her broken hand.

"What didn't happen to me today?" The princess bit out. Gray looked back to the girl. Her face was a solemn expression, eyes etched with pain he wondered was from her body or from her mind. It was the most emotion he had seen from the girl yet.

The nurse and Lucy began talking quietly as the princess relayed the moments before she fell out of the window. Gray listened to the conversation closely and was honestly shocked of how quickly she had thought of things in such a panicked state. Most humans just cried and begged for mercy, but this girl, she fought for her life. Gray had to admit to himself that he was quite impressed.

"And then that was when I punched the bastard as hard as I could, which also caused me to fall out the window."

Porlyuscia chuckled slightly. "I don't know whether to call you brave or stupid, Princess."

"Just call me stupidly brave." Then her brown eyes found Gray's, a look of wonder and curiosity etched into them. "How did you know to be under my window when you were?"

Gray shrugged. "Makarov asked Gajeel and I to help watch the perimeter of the castle when he sent Max and the others over to you. I had heard you scream for him to let you go and then rushed over to your window." A single, humorless chuckle left his lips and he shook his head. "I'm honestly surprised I caught you because when I finally found you, you were already half way down the side of the house."

Lucy nodded slightly. "Is that why my head hurts so much?" Gray smiled apologetically.

"I tried." He stated as the princess let out a pained hiss, eyes watering with unshed tears as Porlyusica felt the broken bones in her knuckles.

The nurse sighed heavily. "We're going to have to set your bones in place, dear. I don't want to have to re-break them in the near future." Lucy's face visibly paled and she looked to Gray. He gave her an encouraging smile and held out his hand for her to take. She grasped his palm with hers gently but firmly and let out a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"I'm ready."

And then she began to scream.

Gray stepped into the hallway from the infirmary, eyes casted down to the laminate floor around him. Forty-five minutes. That's all the longer he had been in there for but it had seemed like eternity. Lucy had screamed and cried, grinding her teeth, and she even passed out from the pain a few different times, but never once did she beg for her to stop. Gray had watched in a confused awed state. All the humans he had ever dealt with begged- Begged for mercy, for them to die.

He had never seen something like that. Maybe the human, Porlyusica, was correct to question whether she was stupid or brave. Gray didn't really know what human bravery was like, but maybe, Lucy was being brave after all. He didn't think she was stupid. He actually thought she was being incredibly smart, fighting the way she did and doing a good job at it as well. If Gray had been in her position, he might have done something similar especially if he didn't have the strength he currently did. She seemed to be a quick thinker and he couldn't help but think that that quality of hers was going to come in handy in the weeks to come.

"Gray." A voice said, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Gajeel walking toward him. Gray looked to the Neonate that he called friend and noticed a few fading bruises on his face and arms and his shirt coated in the sticky substance of blood. Gray's stomach clenched a little signaling he was getting hungry.

"What did Master say?" Gray questioned getting right to the point willing his hunger away.

Gajeel sighed heavily, his red eyes keen and on edge, almost as if he was expecting more enemy vampires to come rushing in. Gray could admit he was still on edge about the whole thing to. It had been such a long time since the last time he was in an actual fight. "You're not gonna like it." Gray's eyes narrowed drastically, curious to what Gajeel was going to say.

"Why's that?"

"Makarov went to the guild and is going to talk to Mira about coming and helping out." Gajeel paused and Gray lifted a brow. "He's bringing Happy back with him whether Mira decides to come or not." Gray stiffened at the mention of his younger brother's name. Gray couldn't help but imagine just what Natsu was going to say about this.

"Why Happy?" His voice almost came out as a growl causing Gajeel to stiffen. He watched the Neonate rub his eyes in frustration.

"Because he wants Dragneel." Gray's face paled and he shook his head, almost laughing at the crazy idea.

"Dragneel will never come here. It doesn't matter whether Makarov brings Happy here or not, Dragneel hates humans. Plus, even if it is for Makarov who wants Happy here, he'll never let our brother anywhere near this castle. He is much too protective of Happy." Gajeel exhaled loudly, stress lines creasing the sides of his eyes.

"I know, but Makarov thinks he can get him to come and help. He says Happy has been super pissed all week since he sent you and me here but not him. He thinks Happy is gonna talk him into it." Gray chuckled darkly placing his hands on his hips, and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered if Happy could talk Natsu into coming here. He wondered what his brother was going to think of with this whole situation. He knew Happy had been upset that he was required to stay at the guild, so Makarov using his anger was quite smart. Gray pondered the thought. It was actually really smart. Happy was one of the most stubborn entities he knew and was someone who did what he want, not caring what Natsu or Gray said to him.

Hell, Gray thought the plan just might work.

"Well, I wish him the best of luck then."

God damn finally done with this chapter. It was a lot of work! Hope you all like Lucy in this as much as I do! My little badass baby. Yay. Let me know in the comments if you liked the fight scenes or not. I had a really hard time writing them cause I could picture them so clearly but every time I tried writing them it just wouldn't come out right.

Did I do a good job?

Anywho! Natsu and Lucy are gonna meet soon! Yay?! I think yay. It's gon be funnnn. But now I need to go take some aspirin. Yay?

Review! Bye, loves:)