The group walked slowly through the quiet streets of Larch Town. Despite being the middle of the day, there was no one out. It was almost like a ghost town. Every shop was empty, every house was locked up tight, and every stall was like the owner had left in a hurry and forgotten about it.

Lucy turned at the sound of a stack of crates toppling over behind her, bumping into Natsu when she jumped slightly. "Careful, Lucy," he muttered as he caught her elbows, stopping her from falling.

He looked around at everything. The town flags that looked like they'd been there for years, worn and torn as they flapped viciously in the strong wind. The canopies over the various stalls in the market streets they were in looked just about ready to be blown away with the next strong gush of wind. But those weren't what bothered Natsu.

No one was there except them. That was what bothered him.

"I thought this town got abandoned years ago…" Gray mused as he looked up at the buildings that looked almost too perfect. Not a single brick was out of line. Everything was symmetrical.

"So did I," Erza mumbled. "Perhaps they rebuilt?"

"Yeah, maybe…"

Lucy's hands wrapped around her upper arms, rubbing up and down when an extra cold gush of wind came from behind them, blowing her hair forward and into her face slightly. She looked down to Wendy who was doing the same thing as she. The poor girl. She reached into her key pouch.

"Open Gate of the Clock! Horologium!" she said, pointing the key towards the space in front of her. When her friends turned to her with quizzical expressions, she turned back to Wendy as her spirit appeared. "Here, Wendy. It will be warmer."

"Oh, Lucy… I'm fine—" The young Dragon Slayer didn't get a chance to finish before Horologium scooped her up.

"'I'm really fine,' she says," Horologium finished as they all began walking again.

Lucy nodded and she giggled quietly. "It's alright, Wendy."

So slowly they all continued to walk along the streets of Larch Town, all of them becoming more and more suspicious as they went. None of it made sense to the team. Why request help from the wizard guilds if there's going to be no one there to greet them and explain the job further?Eventually, they all came to be at the town centre again. They'd walked every single street, alley, and path in the small town and they hadn't seen a single soul – hell, not even a stray cat. There was no one there.

"I don't like this," Natsu murmured as he looked around, his nose in the air, trying to catch anything.

"Neither do I," Lucy whispered. Then, something caught her eye. A faint glimmer. She turned to face where she thought it had been and stopped, her brow furrowed. "Wait, wasn't there just…" There was a building there a second ago, I swear it.

And slowly, one by one, every single perfectly sculptured building that surrounded the town square disappeared, and then the vendor stands and the marble fountain. They all spun around in circles, trying to see what was going on, but they were too late. They all backed into each other when everything around them crumbled. Wendy fell slightly when Horologium's time was up and Lucy pulled her in close.

They weren't standing in the immaculate town centre they had just been. Instead, it was almost as if they stood in the ruins of it. The marble fountain had been destroyed, completely dried up and faded with age and covered in mould with roots coming up from between the cracks in the cobblestone. No perfectly sculptured buildings, only ruins.

Suddenly, dozens upon dozens of men clad in dark clothes emerged from the alleys surrounding them , the same alleys they'd been down just minutes earlier and had been empty.

"Well, look what we have here, boys," a man drawled and they all turned to see the tall figure emerge from the crowd that had surrounded him. His black hair that was slicked back and just reached the top of his fur trimmed collar was streaked with grey. Snickers echoed from the crowd as he continued walking towards the small group. He tossed the dark red apple he'd been holding up in the air before catching it in his hand and he took a large bite from it. "Looks like we found ourselves a few fairies."

"Bickslow, calm down," Evergreen pleaded as she tried to catch the man pacing back and forth in front of the bar.

He shook his head. "Can't."

"We'll think of something, alright?"

"No point." What the fuck am I saying? Of course there's a point. Lucy's the point, dumbass.

With a roll of his eyes, Gajeel stood from the table he'd been leaning on by the bar and grabbed the Seith mage by his shoulders and pushed him down into a stool. The guy was making him dizzy. "Listen, you moron. We'll get Bunny girl back, alright? Hell, even Salamander too if we have to, so quit bein' such a pain in the ass."

Bickslow couldn't even respond. He had to hold on to that tiny bit of hope he had left. He had to believe that they'd get everything sorted out in time to get to Larch Town or wherever it was they were. He had to believe it wasn't too late.

Laxus walked into the main guildhall with a loud sigh as he went to stand before his worried comrades. By that point, the few that were left over in the guild that day had heard what was going on and there were many who had been in the guild the first time Thorne's Deceit had been a problem, so they knew just how much of an issue they were facing.

"Right then," Laxus said, getting the attention of everyone in the room as he folded his arms. "Master Bob has offered us Blue Pegasus's assistance and he is currently contacting Lamia Scale's master for us. That being said, it took two legal guilds to take those fuckers down last time and we don't have nearly as many people as that this time around."

He looked over each person, and Laxus realised that it didn't matter what he said, they were all still going to go out there and help, whether it was a suicide mission or not. They'd already made up their minds; it was just a matter of them waiting for him to finally say it. On the inside, he smiled, just because it was so like Fairy Tail to be like that. They were destructive, loud, ridiculous, stupid, reckless, you name it. But they were a family, and right then, a part of that family was in trouble. It didn't matter what the cost was, because they'd still at least try and find a way to help them.

"Blue Pegasus has that… Airship… Thing… on the way," Laxus continued. "Whether or not you want to come is solely up to you, but Thorne's Deceit are a dangerous guild and your safety will be up to you. Not me, not anyone else, you."

"Yeah yeah, we get it, Sparky," Cana slurred.

"In that case… Who will be coming?" And at that, almost every hand in the room went up. With a sigh, he unfolded his arms and looked over the group again before focusing on Bickslow, not that he noticed. "Let's go get them back then."

The hall erupted into various cheers and shouts as they all made their way to the door. Bickslow pushed himself up from the stool slowly and went to follow them, only to have a hand push into the front of his shoulder and stop him from moving. "No way, Bicks," Laxus muttered.

Bickslow shook his head. "Laxus… I can't…" he whispered, still not looking up. "I can't just sit here and wait to find out whether she's dead or not… I can't do that."

Then, after a moment, Laxus finally drew his hand back and shoved his hands in his pockets and turned slightly. "I'm not saving your ass if you get distracted."

A scream ripped from Lucy's throat when she felt every pain receptor in her body light up, and she fell to her knees in the ruins of the town square before tipping over to the side. Her eyes stung as she held them shut. She wasn't going to cry. She was not going to cry. Not a single tear.

Her hands were tied behind her back and the rope was digging into her wrists. She didn't have to see them to know the skin was raw and bleeding from the rope because she could feel it. They'd taken her keys when they'd tied her up and then they'd taken them somewhere else. She didn't know where, just like how she didn't know where her friends ever were. Her family. Her team. She didn't know where they were but she could hear their cries and screams of pain intermittently.

Suddenly, Lucy was yanked back to her feet by her hair and she grit her teeth at the pain that ran through her.

"Fairy likes to scream, huh?" one of them whispered in her ear, his tongue trailing up the side of her neck and she grimaced. Lucy had learnt not to fight it, otherwise it just made things worse. She just had to bear with it. The only problem was that she didn't know how much longer she could.

Natsu and Gray's screams were heard at the same time, like they were every other time. The group around Lucy would always chuckle each time someone screamed, and then when it got around to be the blonde's turn, they'd all point and shout out what should be done to her next. None of them ever got done though, just because they knew the pain was enough.

"Loke…" she whispered when her back was slammed into an old column. She didn't have her keys, but Loke could still open his gate. Please, Loke… I need you…But no matter how much she begged her spirit, he'd never appear and she could only assume they'd done something to his key.

Lucy could feel the tingling and she knew what was coming. It always began with a slight tingling and it would work its way up to being the most excruciating pain she'd ever experienced. Over and over again.

She couldn't fall forward that time. It was like there was something pressing into her front to keep her upright and pushing her into the stone column. Another scream ripped through her as her head went back and into the stone.

It wasn't just a few seconds of the excruciating pain like it usually was where she'd usually have a few minutes to try and recover, mentally prepare herself for the next time they did it. No, it wasn't that. It was constant pain. She could barely hear the laughter over the sound of her heart beating in her ears and she couldn't hear the screams of her friends, nor the screams of those surrounding them. She couldn't even hear her own screams anymore. Someone had been pushed too hard and cracked, but it didn't matter, because Lucy couldn't hear it. A tear rolled down her cheek as she screamed again and she held her eyes shut.

For hours, that's what it had been like. Or so she thought, anyway. The sun was setting slowly, and if it were under different circumstances, she would have said the red and pink sky was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. She would have sat there and watched the sun go down before staring up at the night sky until she'd fallen asleep.

But there was nothing beautiful about it. If anything, it just made her all too aware of the fact that she wasn't getting out of it. She wasn't going to see another sunset like that in her life.

The pain just never stopped and Lucy didn't know if she was screaming or not. There was nothing but the pain, but it was too much. She'd reached her limit, and she just wanted it to be over.

When the guilds finally arrived, everything had been thrown into chaos. Natsu and Gray were outnumbered three-to-one. Wendy was trying to do her best to support Erza in a losing battle. And Bickslow couldn't find Lucy, not that he could get to her anyway.

It was a little ironic that the sky matched the colour of the blood staining the ground all around them, whether it was their friend or foe's blood was a mystery and it was something that no one wanted to think about too much.

A blood-curdling scream was heard over everything – the cries of pain, the shouts of terror, explosions, the sounds of what was left of the buildings being turned to dust whenever someone was sent through the remnant of a wall. Everything. But it wasn't the scream itself that was the issue, it was who it had come from, and it made Bickslow's blood run cold.

It was Lucy who was screaming and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. And as much as he hated the sound of it, it was also the only thing that kept him from losing focus. Even though her being in pain was enough to be in pain, he needed her to stay like that, as fucked up as it was.

To Bickslow, it was a game, and Lucy was the prize.

Bickslow had always liked games. Always. They were simultaneously fun and challenging and that's what he loved about them. He was always finding new ways to have fun and entertain himself if not others, and if it challenged him then it really just made it all the more fun.

There were some games, however, that were never fun. They were just challenging, but Bickslow liked to finish things. And it was a game to him. It wasn't fun, far from it, but it was a challenge. He had to beat the game to get to Lucy, and he had to do it before it was too late. That was the challenging part, because he didn't know how long that was.

To get to Lucy. That's all that mattered.

"You fuckers," Laxus growled, kicking one man in the stomach and into a group of three more. "Ripped…" She shocked another as he came up. "My fucking coat."

"That's what you're worried about?!" Bickslow shouted as he jumped up onto one of his babies, kicking off backwards and narrowly missing a blow from behind. "Shouldn't have done that!" he laughed with his tongue sticking out as the dolls lined up, spinning around the shocked man who was trying to figure out what was going on before they began to glow.

Gajeel's shouted curses could be heard from the end of the street as he spun in a circle, his iron club running through each and every person as they turned to smoke – they were all an illusion and he was in a smoke screen. He couldn't see, but he could still smell and he could still hear. As he heard the quiet footsteps coming up from behind him, he stopped, waiting for precisely the right moment.

Then, in a split second, Gajeel had spun around and pushed the cloak-clad man into the ground and on his back, Gajeel's hand around his throat as he stared down at him. "Don't fuck with a dragon," he snarled before he stood up and dug his foot into the man's chest, the audible crack of his ribs as he spluttered and he was pushed into the ground even more.

When the smoke finally cleared in the area, he smirked. Piles and piles of bodies, some moving, some not, littered the street.

"Well, I'd say this street is clear, for now," Freed remarked as he dusted off his coat sleeve, following his team to where Gajeel stood, admiring his work, apparently.

For the most part, it was easier to go about it in streets. That was the plan – something that Team Natsu didn't understand the concept of. If teams were assigned streets, then they'd be able to go about it in a logical and systematic order. If the fights were heavily in favour of one side, then it would be tough, and if it was the guilds who were winning per se, then they'd be able to move on to other streets and help out others who were perhaps losing. Which, as it turns out, was the case for a few.

But so far, they'd come across everyone of Team Natsu except Lucy, and that worried them all.

The group rushed into the next street where they heard the screaming, and they got there just in time to see Elfman throw his arms up in the air with a wide grin and shout, "None of you are manly!" He'd been able to stand there with his arms folded as he got attacked, the perks of his Lizardman take over.

Mira was panting as she leant over, her hands on her knees as she returned from her Satan Soul. While Elfman might have had an easy time, herself and Lisanna hadn't. Not really, anyway. They'd still managed to come out of it without getting too hurt, which was what was important.

"Shit, Mira," Laxus said, running up to the eldest Strauss as his arm went around her back, holding her up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" she said, straightening up and wincing slightly when she took a step. She looked down to see a large gash down the side of her leg. Nothing like that is going to stop me from getting my family back.

"I take it you guys haven't found Lucy yet either?" Lisanna asked as she moved to assist Mira.

Before anyone could even think about their answers and how to phrase them as to not hurting the Seith mage even more and cause him to worry more than he already was, it was Bickslow who actually answered. "No," he said. He didn't see the point of saying anything else, because that was the answer – they hadn't found her yet.

But Bickslow had to believe that they would. Eventually. Soon, preferably, but eventually. They had to find her, because if they didn't, Bickslow didn't know what he would do. It was honestly a little funny. It was like the universe was out to get him. Bickslow had always had an odd sense of humour.

It just had to be Lucy Heartfilia he'd fallen in love with – after everything he'd done to her in the past, it just had to be her. Had he forgiven himself for any of it yet? No, but he had accepted it. Did he believe that he was actually good enough for her? Not even close, and he never would be, because to Bickslow, Lucy was probably too good for everyone. Was he putting her on a pedestal? Probably. But that didn't matter, because she loved him. For reasons Bickslow would probably never understand, she chose him over, well… anyone.

And he was happy with Lucy – happier than he ever thought he could have been. He didn't miss his old life when he was with her, the one where he didn't really care about settling down or growing up. Not one bit. He had everything he needed and wanted with Lucy, and then some more.

He had to believe they'd find her and she'd be fine, just because he wasn't ready to lose his happiness. He wasn't ready to lose Lucy.

But, he was seriously going to kick whoever's ass it was that made her scream like that. He'd do that whether she was fine or not, but he was seriously hoping it would be the former.

"I'm sorry, Bickslow," Mira sniffed, her head down.

"What for?"

"I saw the job they were going on… I should have recognised the name. If I had, none of this ever would have happened and they'd all be fine… Lucy would be—"

"None of this is your fault. It's not anyone's fault," Bickslow said. .

Mira looked up, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Yes, it is. I was here the last time they tried this. I know what they're capable of. I've seen it. I just… It was right there in front of me, and I didn't see it. I'm sorry."

Bickslow sighed as he looked up at the darkening sky. "No one recognised it," he mumbled. "I didn't recognise it and she told me what shewas doing. There wasn't anything anyone could have done, so please, just stop feeling guilty, because I can guarantee you that I feel worse than all of you right now."

And he really did. In a way, he blamed himself for all of it. If he'd recognised the name of the guild, then he could have stopped her. He could have stopped her team and none of it would have happened.

But no one had realised what they were doing, because no one had expected it to happen. Thorne had been in prison and as far as everyone knew, and the guild dead. Gone. There'd been nothing left. But it had all been a lie. No one had seen any of it coming, so there was no point of feeling guilty over it. It was just something familiar they'd heard but couldn't remember where. It happened every day.

But Bickslow still felt like he could have stopped it all, if only he'd remembered.

Lucy woke up to the feeling of her body being set ablaze with pain once again. When she opened her eyes slowly, she could see she was still in the town centre, but it was dark. Nothing was tinted red with the sunset like it had been the last time she remembered being awake, but instead it was lit up in silver by the moon in the night sky.

When she looked up, she ignored the pain that was fading; they were giving her a break again, thank heavens. Thousands upon thousands of stars were scattered across the sky and the corners of her mouth upturned in a smile, just barely.

She'd always loved looking at the stars, ever since she was a child. She could lay back and pretend she could count them all or she could point out each and every constellation of her beloved spirits, or she could just stare up at them. It was one of the rare times she could just do nothing and be totally content.

She'd wanted to just lie under the stars with Bickslow one day, but when she looked up at the stars then, she knew it wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to get to see those stars again.

"Come on, Daddy," a dark haired woman whined. "She's awake now. Can't we just kill her now?"

There was a short laugh from the man who'd been causing her pain all afternoon as he moved to stand in front of Lucy, a devilish smirk in place as he peered at her. "Now now, Natasha. I told you we have to make the fairies watch," Thorne said over his shoulder. He leant in close to Lucy then. "Your little friends are going to see your blood fill this fountain and see just what it means to go against my guild."

It was only then that Lucy realised that she was no longer pushed up against the old column like she had been earlier. Instead, her back was pressed into the intricate detail of the destroyed fountain, yet it was no longer destroyed. It was like it had been before the illusions had faded when they'd first arrived. The marble sparkled and the water jets had been turned off, and when she looked down, she could see the few inches of water in the basin.

Natasha sighed as a regal throne appeared just behind her in a small puff of black smoke before she seated herself, crossing one leg over her knee and resting her chin in her palm on one of the armrests. "Fine," she mumbled, "But they better hurry up. I'm bored."

"Perhaps some more screaming will draw them out?" Thorne said as he turned back to Lucy. Slowly, he raised his arm, his hand outstretched towards her before balling it into a fist and drawing his arm back into his side.

Another scream ripped through her throat at the excruciating pain. She could feel the pressure building in her back and her front simultaneously – he was pushing her further into the fountain's statue. She could feel every single detail on the marble against her back.

"Please… Just…" she whispered, panting when she was given another reprieve. "Just kill me already…"

Lucy had accepted her death – it was inevitable at that point. They were just drawing it out; she was nothing but a toy to them. She knew that they were doing it just to get back at the guilds that had put him in prison. It was just revenge, really.

She knew she was going to die, but she didn't want her friends or her family to see it. She didn't want anyone to.

Everywhere they looked, there were piles and piles of bodies (no one ever paid attention to whether they were breathing or not), all with the same dark cloaks and rose crests – Thorne's Deceit's guild mark. Though members of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale were still fighting against the members of Thorne's Deceit that were scattered about the town, Fairy Tail was still looking for Lucy.

For hours they'd been trying to find her. Every street, every ruin, every alley, all empty. She wasn't screaming and she was nowhere to be found.

Bickslow's panic was mounting the longer it took, much like everyone else's, and especially her team's.

He paced back and forth the area they'd gathered in. They'd borrowed Chelia, and the young God Slayer and Dragon Slayer were busy healing those who needed it, which included Erza and Natsu. Everyone had seen better days, much better days, but they couldn't split up again and search for the blonde in the shape they were. It was just too dangerous.

But Bickslow was getting impatient. He needed to find her. He needed to believe that she was still there. Somewhere. But the longer it took, the less he believed.

Finally, they all split up and head in separate directions and they were back to scouring the town and putting the odd Thorne's Deceit member unconscious. For the most part, the other two guilds had that under control now.

A scream tore through the crisp air and everyone froze. They hadn't heard her for hours, and for the most part, they were thankful for the horrific scream. From wherever they were in the town at the time, they all ran in the direction the scream had come from. They pushed through their own pain and tiredness, just because they needed to save Lucy. She was part of their dysfunctional family and that's just what it meant to be in Fairy Tail – to save one another because they were a family.

Bickslow had been the first to emerge from the dark alley and before he could even react to what he saw in the town square, he felt a pressure on his back and then he was a foot above the ground and heading towards the rows of chairs in front of the immaculate fountain.

"No… Bicks!" Lucy cried as she watched the Seith mage get forced into the chairs in front of her, chains shooting up from the ground in black smoke to wrap around his arms and legs, chaining him to the chair. Over and over it happened, with Laxus, Freed, Evergreen, Gajeel, Levy, and finally Pantherlily, each of them struggling with their chains and trying to break free.

She didn't understand why any of them were there. They shouldn't have been there. They should all be back at the guild, enjoying their night, not watching her die. None of them should have had to witness that, least of all Bickslow.

A wicked grin spread across Thorne's face as he looked over the group, then to Natasha. "It seems we've drawn a crowd."

"Indeed!" she replied giddily. "Is it time to start yet?"

"No no, there's more of them here. They're all going to see it," Thorne proclaimed. He raised his hand again as he stepped closer to the foundation. "But it seems your screaming is drawing them in. Who would have thought their own kin would be the bait?"

And with that, Lucy threw her head back again, squeezing her eyes shut as the pain ran through every single cell in her body.

Everyone grimaced at the sound, all trying to fight the chains. Bickslow dropped his head, looking down at his lap as she screamed. Over and over. It didn't stop like it had before. They were torturing her – hell, they were torturing him.

Everything was so much worse than he'd thought.

"Let her go," Bickslow mumbled through gritted teeth, still looking down. He couldn't look up. He couldn't watch Lucy be in pain.

Thorne turned, giving Lucy another reprieve as he walked over to Bickslow, forcing his head up. "What was that?" he asked quietly.

"I said, let her go," Bickslow said clearly.

"Bicks, stop it…" Lucy whispered. She didn't want Bickslow to get hurt because of her. Even if it would be the last thing she did before she died, she'd find a way to make sure of it.

Natasha shot up from her throne, looking between the two quickly before another grin spread across her face. "Oh! Don't tell me you two are in love?" she drawled, laughing when neither answered. "How marvellous!" She couldn't contain her excitement as she leant over Bickslow, the tip of a jagged blade lifting his chin. "Not only will you see your precious little lover die to this very blade, but you'll know just what it feels like to have something you love taken away from you, which is exactly what you did to me," she said sweetly.

Bickslow hadn't been listening to a word she said, to be honest. He'd been too busy looking past Natasha and Thorne, because just on the other side of town centre, Natsu and the rest of his team had emerged from another street. They were still battered and bruised, but they were smart enough not to come running in like he had. Bickslow had to give them that, at least.

But Bickslow had a chance to do something. Their focus was on him completely, and they'd failed to notice the way his babies had been hovering a few feet above them the entire time. If he could create a distraction and force Thorne and Natasha to lose their focus entirely, then Lucy wouldn't be stuck against the fountain, and maybe, just maybe, the rest of his team would be able to break their chains.

Yeah, I can do that.

Bickslow knew Natsu was listening, and he knew that he was waiting. Natsu was waiting for something to happen. He was waiting for an opening, and Natsu knew that Bickslow was going to give him that opening. He just had to wait for it.

The corner of Bickslow's mouth lifted up into a small smirk, much to Natasha's curiosity as she raised an eyebrow at the Seith mage.

"Get 'em, babies," he said, and before the father and daughter duo could react, the five dolls had dived down on them, shooting blast after blast at them that had them surrounded in smoke from the shots that hit the ground, and in their confusion, they'd lost all of their focus.

Thorne's control on Lucy was lost, the fountain had returned to its original, destroyed state, and the chairs and chains were gone.