Author's Note:

Alrighty! Here's your extra Wednesday chapter. :D

You guys are all absolutely amazing! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your wonderful reviews! As always, big hugs and kisses to all my repeat reviewers: WisdomDragon27, valerioux, mumof4, noseinabook145, ravenqueen162, TheOGFTfanatic, Shadowslayer15, TheJSmooth, FantasyDreamer06, Ksta, Elphaba818, Larissa, Wolves silver wind, and Leomae2.0! And of course equally big hugs and kisses to all the newest reviewers for this story: KitsuneLover15, Firefly9917, TurboWolf, RedFantasies, thechani, and Kowareta1468! It's all of your wonderful reviews that have made Wednesday postings possible. :D

Well, buckle your seats...we're in for a bumpy ride folks! On with the show!

And stay tuned till the end for a sneak peek of next chapter. ;)

As for Natsu, after splitting up he found himself in a really damn frustrating maze.

There had been a short hallway, and then he'd emerged into this room – where he had been stuck for what felt like forever and a day, but was probably only a few minutes, given how short his patience for this sort of shit was.

The room consisted of a whole lot of really tall white walls that were made of some kinda sticky substance. He knew it was all one room though, because it all smelled the same, and he could see a single ceiling up there totally separate from the walls. Trying to climb over the walls didn't work though, because the longer he was in contact with the them the stickier they got, until it felt like he would never get off them. Flying didn't work either at first, because the space between the walls was too narrow and his wings got all gummed up with whatever stuff the walls were made of.

After thrashing in white gummy shit for a minute, he gave up on patience and just lit his body on fire. The stuff hung around for a few moments, but when he ramped up his fire power it finally crisped up and fell off. He could feel an evil grin spread his lips wide, and he chuckled as his wings snapped out in a dragon wing attack, sending out a blast of flame that cleared out all the nearby walls. After that, all he had to do was take off and fly to the exit – leaving behind a mess of destruction and fire in his wake…which was normal for him.

When he arrived at the exit, a voice stopped him from opening the door. "My…what a mess you made, Natsu."

"What the…Arachne?"

"Long time no see Natsu. I guess I have you to thank for releasing all my pets?"

He turned to see the half spider half woman descend from the ceiling, and greeted her with a grin. "You mean those big ugly spiders chained up back there were yours?"

"Of course. And they aren't ugly." She sniffed, sounding a little offended.

He chuckled. "If you say so. But anyways, what's a demon like you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I'm the only one my master has. The rest are like you."

"You say 'master,' but we both know you've never truly had one." Natsu said sardonically, crossing his arms over his chest.

It was true, though he had known the demon for centuries, she had never once actually obeyed her master unless it was what she wanted to do. But she was a manipulative creature and knew how to make them think that she was obeying them. For some reason, Natsu liked her though. They had been frenemies from the get-go, occasionally fighting but mostly just throwing insults back and forth – not that they had many chances to interact. She came from the demon realm, and he came from the celestial realm, so they only ever interacted in the mortal realm when they just happened to cross paths…like now.

"So…what scheme are you part of this time?"

She sighed, and to his surprise seemed frustrated. "To be honest, it's really stupid. But it's coming from higher up the food chain, so I don't really have a say in the matter."

"Higher up the food chain?"

That peeked his curiosity. There were few that outclassed Arachne, she was a demon lord – the equivalent of a zodiac spirit. But the demons comparable to mythic spirits – like him – were positively terrifying, and those were the demons she must be referring to. They were normally pretty unorganized though, and usually were too busy squabbling over territories in Asphodel – the demon realm – to get anything done.

"You mean the kings and queens are actually throwing their weight around?"

"Well...I guess you could say that."

"What do ya mean? Has someone finally taken over as emperor?" he asked, knowing that the kings and queens had been fighting over that position for centuries. The last emperor had died a very long time ago, and nobody had been able to take her place.

Arachne sighed and nodded. "Yeah, and he's sort of…changing things up a bit."

Natsu nodded back, and then a thought occurred to him. "So I guess this dark guild works for them, huh?"

"Well…yes. They pay tribute." The smirk on her face told him far more than her words. Undoubtedly she was playing them for her new demon boss – keeping an eye on them and probably pulling all the strings from behind the scenes. They likely weren't even aware that they were being controlled/manipulated by an outside source.

"Poor saps. So…what are you after specifically? Do you have anything to do with Juvia's kidnapping?"

"You aren't going to like it. So I'm not going to tell you."

At that, his eyes narrowed. "Arachne…don't make me hurt you."

"As if you could."

"We both know I would win. I've beaten you every single time we've fought."

She pursed her lips and then finally admitted, "The emperor is after that pretty little blond master of yours…and all her keys. Meaning you too of course."

"They're after Lucy?!"

He lost his temper when he heard that, and she recoiled to a much higher airspace at the burst of flames that licked his body.

"Oh, bring it down a few notches Dragon Boy, I doubt they're strong enough to beat you." she snapped, which calmed him just a tad.

He still glared hotly and considered roasting her for orchestrating this whole thing. Still, he knew she was under someone else's orders, and that prevented him from going off on her.

"You're damn right they're not strong enough!" he growled and then spun on his heel to stalk back over to the door.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna go get Lucy before anyone has a chance to capture her! Which means I've gotta beat whatever stupid shit is behind this door and then double back."

"Uh…I'm not supposed to let you go any further so…"

"You wanna fight me? Bring it! I'm all fired up and ready to blow off some steam."

She winced but spiraled down on her web to engage in combat. Like the few times they had fought before, she put up a decent fight, using webs coated with special saliva that wicked away his fire, but he still beat her within ten minutes.

Once he was done with her, he gave her the hairiest eyeball he could summon and snarled, "Keep that in mind the next time you decide to come after Lucy."

"Looks like you really like your master." she sneered, trying to get up and failing.

"Yeah? And it looks like you've lost a lot of your strength. Last time we fought you lasted at least twice as long."

She just flicked him off, which he ignored to stomp through the door. Obviously he needed to finish this up quickly if they were after Lucy.

The next room he entered into was a viper pit basically. He could smell them…all those scaly reptile bodies and the stench of poison filled his nostrils. It was just a really long hall basically, but he could see all the little holes in the ground where they were hiding.

Ignoring it, he just stomped through, steaming mad – quite literally. At the first little zip of movement, he glanced down and glared at the viper ready to take a bite out of his ankle. It took one look at him and suddenly turned around and slithered back into its hole.

"Smart little bastard…" he grumbled, continuing to stalk through the hall. Just to be safe, he lit himself on fire. Any snake stupid enough to bite him would burn to a crisp before even getting its fangs in.

After that hallway, was yet another long dark tunnel. This one sounded with millions of skittering feet, and his flames lit up the shifting bodies of insects on the walls. There were scorpions and spiders and centipedes and wasps, all of them poisonous he was sure. Paying them no mind, he just amped up the fire licking his skin a little and continued stomping through. The smell of cooked bugs filled the space by the time he was done.

Finally, he exited into a room that nearly blinded him. He almost staggered back at the bright light and vivid purple color that assaulted his eyes after being in a dark tunnel.

Weirdly, at the end of all that creepy crawly shit was a pretty princess looking room, with purple walls, chandeliers and lamps dripping with crystals, and spindly delicate furniture that was beautiful to look at but he doubted would hold his weight.

"Natsu!"

At the sound of Happy's voice, he turned and squinted until he found the little blue cat standing in the middle of the room.

"Happy! What are you doing here?!"

He rushed towards the little cat and immediately knelt to pick him up. As he hugged him though, something struck him as very wrong. "Why is your scent so weird?"

Suddenly a sharp pain got him right in the neck, and he jerked back to see Happy wielding a syringe and a devilish smile. "So gullible!"

"You're not Happy!" he exclaimed as he dropped the imposter and staggered back.

Whatever had been injected into him was making him feel exceptionally sluggish. He would have passed out if he were human, or even a normal celestial spirit – but since he was a fire dragon he could raise his temperature and burn through it. Still, it would be in his system for a few minutes, so he was forced to sit down rather hard.

"What…who are you?!"

The fake Happy laughed, and then with a wave of his palm he turned into a man.

He had spiked white-blond hair and wore a shit-ton of earrings. The dark purple pants that he had on were way too tight in Natsu's opinion, while up top he wore a white silk shirt that was halfway unbuttoned – showing off toned muscles. The purple lipstick and smoky eyeshadow finished the picture.

Natsu wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Mostly he was just pissed and confused.

"So…what? You're the one I'm supposed to fight?"

"Sure, sweet cheeks. Although, I wouldn't mind doing other stuff with you instead…" Vivid purple eyes looked him up and down, and then he licked his lips with a lusty look on his face. "What do you say?"

Natsu scowled at him. He was usually oblivious to innuendos and stuff, but the half-mast flagging him down from the guy's pants was a dead giveaway. Plus, the scent of lust was almost overpowering.

"Ew. Calm the fuck down and back off would ya?"

Blondie laughed, his eyes glittering. "Oh my…are you afraid? That would make it so much fun to play with you…"

"Why would I be scared?"

"The idea of a man coming on to you seems to disturb you … are you homophobic by any chance?"

"I don't give a flying flip that you're a guy. I just don't like ya because you're the enemy."

At that, Blondie's eyebrows arched, and he seemed intrigued. "So…you like men?"

The fire dragon was getting even more pissed. This guy and his one-track mind were going to make Natsu lose his. "I don't have any preferences, but that has absolutely nothing to do with kicking your ass! So shut up and let me pound you into the ground!"

"I would be down for some pounding…" Blondie said with a grin.

Natsu was confused. It didn't make sense for his enemy to be interested in getting beaten up, but it wasn't like he was going to argue. The poison, or whatever that stuff was, had mostly been burned out of his system by now, so he was raring to go.

"Great!" he said with a broad grin, and launched himself at the other guy, hitting him fist first.

Blondie went flying, hit the wall, broke some flimsy furniture, and then cried out. "My face! How dare you punch my face?! Well, now you've done it!"

With that, he seemed to finally take the fight seriously. To Natsu's surprise though, instead of fighting back in a conventional method, he instead turned himself into Gray.

"How about this? Fighting your fellow guildmate and friend?"

Natsu just stared at him, confused once again.

Blondie glanced down and licked his lips. "Hmmm…your friend sure does have a fabulous body. Maybe I can borrow him when he's captured…" One of his hands trailed down Gray's chest and then settled on his crotch in a completely inappropriate way.

"Holy fuck! Gross!" Without thinking any further about it, Natsu flew forwards and punched fake-Gray in the jaw, before solidly kicking him in the stomach.

The fake gasped, shocked. It was such an un-Gray reaction that Natsu had a little trouble not laughing.

"You would hit your own friend?! What kind of barbarian are you?"

This time, he did laugh. "You picked the wrong guy to look like. Gray and I fight all the time."

"Oh really? Well how about this then?" So saying, he turned into Erza.

That just made Natsu laugh harder, and he didn't hesitate to fire up his fists and proceed to pummel his opponent. Somehow the fake-Erza managed to escape his barrage, but she was definitely singed pretty good and seemed to be limping now.

"You would even punch a girl?!"

"Erza's a hundred times scarier than you, and you don't do her justice."

The fake-Erza pouted, then tried imitating Jellal. "Maybe you won't want to punch this friend then."

"Barely know him," was all the dragon said as he continued his assault.

Juvia's form didn't cause him to hesitate at all either. It wasn't until his opponent turned into fake-Lucy that he hit a snag. As soon as her face appeared in front of his fist, he stuttered to a halt and glared. "Shit. Really?"

Fake-Lucy grinned triumphantly. "Aha! I found your weakness! This must be your sweetheart then, am I right?"

"She's my mage, Dumbass." Natsu responded sulkily and wasn't sure why his face felt hotter than normal.

"Looks like you have the hots for your mage then, Lover Boy."

When fake-Lucy slapped him hard across the face, he snarled, but couldn't quite convince himself to hit her.

"All that aside though, why aren't you flat on your butt? I injected enough of that sedative to put down an elephant."

At that, Natsu smirked. "A dragon is a lot bigger than an elephant. Idiot."

"You're not in your dragon form though. So it still should have worked."

"Super high metabolism and hot blood. Burns that shit right out of my system. Sorry."

That got raised eyebrows and parted lips from fake-Lucy. "No kidding? So you literally boiled it off? Fascinating! Well…never mind then. I suppose I'll just have to do this a different way."

She slithered over to him and then trailed a finger down his chest. "How about I entertain you in a way your Lucy won't?"

Heat settled low in his gut, but he scowled. This was not Lucy. Real-Lucy was somewhere else, fighting desperately and hurting. He could feel that much through their link, and for a little while now he had been trying – and failing – to send her magic. So he couldn't afford to mess around with this joker. Breathing deeply through his nose, he shut his eyes. If he didn't look at her and simply used his opponent's scent to fight, then he could beat her no problem.

She certainly wasn't expecting him to burst into flames as she snuggled up to him and let out a screech as she got burned. That was another clear sign that this wasn't Lucy, because he was positive that she wouldn't have been burned.

"You burned me! How could you Natsu!?" she cried, trying to sound like Lucy, but it didn't work.

"Lucy isn't burned by my fire…so suck it."

Her mumbled, "I would have if you'd just-" was cut off with a flaming fist.

He found himself squinting his eyes every now and then to orient himself but mostly fought blind, and doing so let him wale on the idiot until he turned back into his blond purple self and stayed down. After that, Natsu opened his eyes and stared at him for a moment, making sure he was down for good. When he just groaned and stayed limp on the ground, the dragon turned on his heel and rushed back out.

"I'm outta here."

Right on cue, a sign popped up in front of him. He glanced at it, and then his body suddenly turned into an inferno. The sign read: "Lucy Heartfilia has been captured."

"Shit!" he spat and upped his speedy walk to an outright run.

On the way back, he just plowed through all the scorched obstacles without really paying any attention to them, and thankfully the door let him out back into the room where they had split up. That meant Lucy's hunch had been correct. As soon as the "boss" of an area was defeated, they could retrace their steps and regroup. Both of the other doors were open, giving him a choice as to whether he wanted to go down the path Lucy had taken, or if he wanted to head back the way they had come.

"I'm coming Luce! Just hang in there!"

…

Meanwhile, Lucy was not having a fun time.

She had managed to evade her opponent for a little while, but he eventually caught up with her – which wasn't too surprising considering how exhausted she was by that point. He had easily subdued her with another circle of pain, and then while she was down he kicked her in the head.

She must have passed out, because the next time she peeled her eyes open, she found herself in a cage.

"What the…hey! Let me out of here!"

She jerked upright and instantly latched onto two bars with her fists, testing their strength. They didn't even budge a little when she rattled them. At the moment, it looked like she was alone, but not for long. Shortly after she woke up, Pierre sauntered into the space – looking much spiffier than he had when she'd passed out. It looked like he'd even changed his clothing and reapplied some hair gel.

"You…"

He just grinned. "I do hope you enjoy your accommodations."

"Bastard. Let me out!"

"Do you really think asking me that will yield any results?"

There was no response to that, and so she just turned her back on him and stared at the wall. Furious, one of her legs snapped out and kicked one of the metal bars on her cage. She regretted it when pain lanced up her foot, but she refused to show it.

"Now…" She heard the sound of a chair being pulled out and him sitting in it. "I would like you to surrender your keys."

All she had to say to that was a derisive snort. "Like hell. Why didn't you take them when I was unconscious, Dumbass?"

"… my, my. Such foul language. Very well. I will simply have to convince you to hand them over."

The long pause before he spoke suggested that he simply hadn't thought about removing her keys while she was out cold, which amused her. In fact, based on his appearance, she would wager that cleaning up had been his top priority – not getting her keys.

The squeak of his chair told her that he had stood up, which was all the warning she got before pain suddenly hit her in the back. She gasped and bent forwards as ice seemed to pierce her inside and out. It was the pain of being dunked in a bath of salted ice water, which she would know since she was stupid enough to do a pain tolerance test once with some of the other mages in her guild. But this was a hundred – no – a thousand times worse.

She couldn't quite hold back the groan that wheezed from her throat, but otherwise just stayed in a ball on the ground. However, when she happened to feel some movement, her eyes snapped open to see Pierre's arm reaching through the cage bars, aiming towards her keys.

Despite the pain, she sent out a leg to stomp on his arm, managing to catch it between the bars and grinding down hard on it with her boot. The pain circle shattered with his concentration, but a new one appeared on his hand and he grabbed her ankle. The direct contact sent much worse pain shooting through her leg, and she recoiled, releasing his arm from her cage. He drew back.

Getting mad, she lashed out with her words, which was the only thing she could do to fight back at the moment. "You really are an idiot, aren't you? I'll bet anything that as soon as you locked me up in here, you rushed off to pretty yourself up and didn't even think about getting my keys!"

His eyes narrowed and for the first time he actually looked a little angry, but he covered it up quickly. "Personal hygiene is important. Besides, it's much more entertaining to take an item of significance from someone who is awake."

She scowled but wouldn't put it past this guy to leave her keys alone on purpose just so he could take them when she was awake. That was exactly the sort of sadistic thing he might do.

"Either way, you lost your chance to get them," she finally growled and grabbed for her keys.

To protect them, she unsnapped the pouch from her belt and then reached up under her shirt to attach it to the front band of her bra. That would be much easier to defend. He watched her do it with calculating eyes and cocked a brow.

"Well now…I didn't expect that."

"Let's see you get them now."

He shrugged. "I will."

Since she was facing him this time, she watched with dread as he formed a new circle, this one the ice blue of fear. Two of them.

The terror hit her harder than before, doubled from what she remembered, and it sent her to the ground. At least she still had the presence of mind to curl up in a ball to protect her keys, but that was about it. The fear smashed her flat – blinding her to absolutely everything else – and her heart began to pound so hard in her chest that she feared she might go into a heart attack. It actually hurt, her whole chest ceased up with it, and her fast breathing certainly didn't help. The physical problems only made her terror worse, and she could do little besides tremble and sweat. Tears choked her, and she gasped and sputtered pathetically. Words tumbled from her lips without her say-so, and she frankly had no idea what she was even saying.

"S-stop…please…make it stop…please…"

Slowly, that faded, leaving her panting, gasping, crying, and shivering in a ball. Slowly, she raised her head to stare with bleary eyes and watched as a new circle started to form. Leftover terror skittered down her spine, but it was dull after what she had just experienced.

"Hand over your keys."

She just stared, and he shrugged, finishing the new circle. This one was a deep blue, and she had no idea what it might do to her. When it hit, she was unprepared for the wave of grief that dragged her under. It was like when her mother had died, and the memory of that grief only made this facsimile worse, because she instantly associated it with those memories. The sense of loss was so painful that she once again curled into a ball, this time to simply sob and try not to choke on herself. Shuddering cries wracked her frame, sobs so hard they hurt her still sore chest, and she felt like she couldn't get enough air.

"D-damn you…"

Her hands crawled on top of her head to tangle in her hair and yank on it, trying to pull herself out of this nightmare. She felt something touch her neck, and she tucked herself into an even tighter ball – trying to guard her throat. Bending her elbows, she tucked her forearms against her chest and clasped her hands behind her neck, feeling a rope there that she yanked free. Her hand brushed against his hand, but she was too far gone to hope to hurt him. The most she could do was clench her palms to the back of her neck and hold herself together.

There was an exasperated sigh, and then the sorrow slowly vanished. She didn't move though. Instead, she just stayed in her hunched-up position, waiting for whatever he would throw at her next.

The next thing that hit shocked the hell out of her, and she barely knew what to do with herself.

Giddy happiness made her toss headfirst into a laughing fit, which was incredibly strange after everything that had just happened. It was enough to thoroughly confuse her, but the happiness filled her with so much joy that she couldn't bring herself to be frightened or angry about anything anymore, and her guard completely relaxed. The laughing didn't stop, not until a green circle lit up in front of the yellow, and suddenly she experienced a surge of lethargy, making her feel sleepy and content and peaceful, like she wanted to take a nap. It was glorious and beautiful … she was happier than she had ever been in her entire life – as if all her dreams had come true.

It seemed to last forever but was probably only a few minutes.

Then, all the happiness and peace shut off. Almost instantly, pain assaulted her nerves, and she experienced a form of whiplash she'd never been privy to before. It shocked a full-throated scream from her. Then, when terror was added on top of it, more screams came. Apparently he was utilizing the entire spectrum of human emotion and sensations to drive her mad.

That only lasted for a few moments, and then that shut off too…leaving her a shaking trembling mess. Mixing emotions and sensations that generally shouldn't mix left her dizzy and very, very disturbed. Terror and dread mounted within her as time passed and nothing else happened, winding her tighter and tighter with tension and anxiety. Eventually she couldn't take the suspense and cautiously raised up to look and see what was happening.

Apparently, that was precisely what he had wanted from her, because as soon as her chin untucked from her chest, a rope slid under it, dropping around her neck before she could yank it off. It was a noose, one that synched tight as it was jerked up through the bars of the cage. The rope was looped through a pully attached to the ceiling, and it had been lowered unseen while she was curled up.

As the noose tightened around her throat, she reached up to grab it, her fingers digging underneath to keep it from choking her. It still pulled her up onto her knees though – which was as tall as she could get in this particular cage.

Once she was upright, he tied it off, leaving her kneeling there.

"Now…this should make it easier to get those keys of yours. Will you hand them over like a good girl?"

"No way! You're not getting them!"

"Right…" Another circle formed in front of her, and he hit her with a shockwave of terror.

Being upright, and forced to stay upright, made dealing with the fear much worse. She grew lightheaded and felt like she might pass out as she shrunk back as far as the rope would let her. The rope itself proved torturous when paired with the terror, and she couldn't keep herself from panicking. Her fingers went on autopilot and fought the rope, leaving long bloody scratches along her throat. Frantic yelps and screams came from her as she gasped, panted, and cried out, hands scrabbling at both skin and rope. When he reached through the bars to try and grab for her keys, she used the terror to react like an animal and screamed, lashing out with her nails to leave deep gashes on his hand.

He jerked back and scowled.

"Fine then."

Pain replaced the terror, which made her automatically double up, but she was drawn up short when the noose around her neck pulled tight and choked her. Her scream was cut off into a series of pained coughs. Her fingers looped back around the rope while she kept her forearms pressed tight to her sternum and her keys. She used a white-knuckled grip on the rope to hold herself up as the rest of her body convulsed in agony. Once again, she felt like she was melting … like she had been tied to a stake and lit on fire. Her whole body seemed to fight the leash on her neck, throwing against it and cringing, and only her fingers kept her breathing. Soon they were bloody as the rope rubbed them raw.

Once again, his hand reached for her chest, which was guarded by her forearms. This time though, he had a magic circle on his hand, and she knew it would shoot her through with even worse pain when it touched her. Sure enough, when his fingers brushed her skin, she seized up and screamed loud enough to make herself hoarse.

Her thrashing made it more difficult for him to get the keys though, so when she refused to move her arms he withdrew. It seemed that he was getting frustrated now, and he drew another circle in front of the one already burning her alive. It was the one that made her feel like she was being skewered, and paired with the heat it suddenly felt like she was on a very spiky barbeque pit.

By now she was sobbing as well as screaming.

He reached back through the bars and latched onto her shirt, yanking her close. That hand stayed twisted in the material, while the other shoved up under it and snagged her keys. With a rip, he yanked them off her, and one of her hands left the rope around her neck to grab for them. She snagged only one but clenched it tight. He yanked harder and released her shirt to grab her wrist with a hand that had a magic circle on it. She screamed louder as pain stabbed through her where he touched, but she kept her grip – even as he laced the pain with lightning to make her muscles spasm.

With another yank, that one key came off the ring and he took the rest. She flailed desperately with her other hand, letting the rope cinch tight around her neck as she blindly tried to grab the rest of her spirits. She would rather die than lose them.

"Please! Give them back!" she cried, though the words were silent as her throat was cut off.

But those were gone already, tossed dismissively onto a nearby table. As he reached for her last key, she yanked it back into the cage with her and retreated to the furthest corner away from him, cowering and choking. Her free hand latched back around the rope and loosened it enough for her to wheeze for breath.

She grasped her last key in her fist and held it to her chest, determined to keep it no matter what.

The process from before was repeated – pain, terror, grief, and even happiness again – he used every trick in his arsenal to catch her as she threw herself from one side of the cage to the other to avoid him. Eventually, he snagged her again and dragged her to the bars. His hand clenched tight around her wrist, yanking it out of the cage and prying at her fingers to get the last key.

As soon as he touched it though, the key flared red hot, and he jerked back with a curse as he cradled his burned fingers.

"What in the world is this?!"

"That…is a dragon's key…" Lucy chuckled, clenching it even tighter in her grip. It didn't burn her, even though she could feel the heat of it.

"…I see."

He still had her wrist grasped tightly. Instead of going for the key, he simply drew a circle on the hand holding her, and suddenly electrical pain shot through her wrist and down her hand. She cried out but held onto the key, even as her muscles spasmed out of control. When she didn't drop it after a minute of that, he drew a second circle on top of the first, and the pain amped up in intensity. She screamed.

Every ounce of her concentration was dedicated to keeping her hand clenched around Natsu's key. She would not release it. No matter what.

However, she wasn't given a choice in the matter. At the third circle he drew, her hand simply stopped functioning, and every muscle clenched and released of its own accord. The key dropped, and he released her. She lunged for it, even as the noose around her neck threatened to strangle her. Before she even got close, he kicked it away, and she was left crying out desperately to have it back as tears blinded her and the rope cut off all her screams.

She watched as he took Natsu's key – holding it with his coat – and put it with the others, then put them all into some sort of pipe in the wall, which whisked them out of sight.

Everything in her went numb with defeat as she watched her keys get taken from her, but then a surge of resolve stiffened her spine. This wasn't the end. She wouldget them back.

Quick Author's Note:

I'M SORRY! *runs and hides behind the couch*

Yes, I know it's another cliffhanger...and a bad one at that. But! I'll be posting the next chapter on Friday (because I'm going out of town again) so hopefully that'll make up for it.

Okay, I'm done making excuses. On with the show!

Sneak Peek

"Well, now that we have Juvia, let's all get the hell outta here." Gray announced, already walking towards the exit.

"Hang on. Did either of you encounter a celestial mage?"

"Uh…no? Why?"

"I have a bone to pick with one that's been mistreating their spirits." Lucy growled, remembering the promise she had made to those wolves

"Alright. Well, they must be down the route that Jellal and Erza took."

Lucy nodded and followed them out to the first room again. There, they split up again – Juvia and Gray exiting the building entirely, while Lucy and Natsu went through the last door. Happy chose to come along with them as well and stayed perched on Lucy's shoulder