Mirajane POV


The door that I have gone through brings me to a kitchen; but calling it that would somewhat misleading. It is a room. People eat in it. That is all. In it stands a cheap IKEA table that rocks when you lean on it, two old white chairs from the thrift store and a pair of threadbare orange curtains that lets the heat escape in winter as easily as if they are not there at all. The light bulb in the center of the room is bare and hangs down on its black wire, adding to the meager ambiance of the room. It is the kind of room you eat Kraft dinner in washed down with own-brand pop.

Someone hasn't been cleaning... I note, looking at the soiled dishes in the sink.

In the corner of the kitchen sits a grotty little refrigerator. It hums as loud as a small truck warming on a wintry morning, and I can almost see it vibrate. Walking closer, I find that there are callow children's drawings on it, held in place by colorful magnets. The paper that's used has become darker with age, and I can't help but smile at the youthful innocence of the scribbles.

Given the state of the outside, I prepare to hold my breath on opening the fridge. There will no doubt be sour milk, stains, and moldy leftovers. Instead when I pull it open, the old seals giving up the door with ease, there is an exorbitant amount of various sweets. Tantalizing candy, rich cake, fizzy beverages and more take up most of the space. The healthier foods are shoved needlessly to the back, yet they seem just as touched as the unhealthy foods.

I guess that the people who live here must really like their dessert...at least it looks like they eat healthy sometimes...

Closing the fridge, I look about for another way to go. However, I don't see one.

Dead end...I'll have to go through one of the other doors.

I head for the door that I have originally come through. I reach my hand out, intending to grasp the doorknob.

"Where are you going?"

Turning around, I inspect the room to see who has spoken. Yet the room is void of anyone, save for me. Experimentally, I call out.

"Is somebody there? Who said that?"

"...Are you going to leave again?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'again'?"

"Did you come back to me only to leave again...? Just to break my heart once more?"

The light hanging from the ceiling begins to flicker ominously.

"Is that you, Paw?" The words sound like hers, but the voice does not.

"You did, didn't you? You came back just to hurt me, because you're just as heartless as the rest of them."

The bulb goes out with a sharp pop, plunging the kitchen into darkness. I blink as I lose my sight, the area around me black as pitch.

"It wasn't enough that you left me once, but then you come back just to do it again?"

"No, that's not why I'm here at all!" I dispute, even though I have no idea what they're talking about.

"Liar. I thought that you were different, that you would actually stay. But no, as soon as they come for you, you leave me."

A dim light comes to life in the back, and I see that it comes from the fridge creaking open on its own; the room suddenly gets a lot colder and the light in there goes out as well. The frigid air penetrates my skin, chilling my blood, sinking into the marrow of my bones like wet concrete.

It's freezing...

"You left me...you left everything that we had together!"

"I had to go, I had b-been asleep for far t-too long," the cold gnaws at my insides like a hungry rat. "It was t-time t-to wake up."

"No, it wasn't; it's never time to wake up. You could've stayed with me. You would have been so happy!"

"I would've b-been happier with my fr-friends in th-the real world!" I retort, my breath clouding the air in front of me before fading like a wreath of mist at eve. The room is as cold as autumn rain as I rub my arms in attempt to warm up.

The voice speaking to me then goes silent for a bit.

"So...are you saying that you weren't happy here?"

"I'm not saying th-"

"What was wrong with this place? Was it not good enough for you? Was my home, my love, not good enough?!"

"I-"

"I tried my best for you, I tried my best for all of you! To make you smile, make you laugh, make you happy. Was that all for nothing? Were you faking it all along?!"

"No!" I blurt out.

"Everything that I did, I did for you. I did it for all of you! So that you wouldn't leave me, so that I wouldn't be alone ever again. But it looks like that was all for nothing!"

The room grows steadily colder by the minute, making me shiver even more.

"So, you know what? If you want to leave me, fine. I'll just return the favor."

"P-please, listen to-"

"No, I'm done listening. You better hope your blood's still pumping when your friends find you, because the cold can have some very negative effects on the human body."

"You're going t-to freeze me?"

I get no response from the voice. My teeth are beginning to chatter as the air delves further in temperature with each passing second. Cold seeps into my innards like a freezing fog, making its way into my bones and wrapping around my brain like a wet blanket.

I have to close that fridge before I freeze to death...that has to be what's making it so cold in here.

I trudge through the pitch black kitchen with my hands groping the air in front of me, hoping that they will come into contact with the fridge. The cold is only getting worse, and I feel like I'm walking for hours although it is only a few seconds.

Come on, come on...where is it?

Eventually, I touch the door of the fridge. Wrapping my hands around the frore metal handle, I attempt to push it closed, but it feels as if someone is pushing against it as I do so.

"What are you doing? Leave that open!" the voice demands after being reserved for quite some time.

"Sorry, b-but I don't feel like fr-freezing to death t-today!"

I shove as hard as I possibly can until the force that's keeping it open can't fight back against me anymore, causing the fridge door to slam shut.

"Ahh...that's better..." Slowly, the room begins to get warmer now that the source of cold is cut off.

I relish in the warmth for a few moments, before my mind is brought back to the thing that had made it so bleak in here to begin with; I turn away from the fridge to gaze at the seemingly interminable darkness in front of me.

"Who are you?"

I get no response.

"I know that you're still there, so don't pretend like you aren't," I narrow my eyes, my voice becoming serious. "Who are you?"

Silence. I start to wonder if the voice is actually still there or not.

"Who am I...? Don't you recognize my voice? Or are you that stupid? Forgetting me so quickly...I'm the one you left behind. The one who's heart you shattered into pieces."

"No, you aren't. You aren't Paw..." I shake my head. "Her voice doesn't sound like that, so who are you?"

There is nothing but reticence yet again. But it lasts a little longer this time, and it's a few seconds before I spot something in the darkness.

"Is that you?" I call out, my eyes straining to make out what it is.

There is the faint silhouette of a person standing there in the darkness; they don't look like a woman, but they don't look like a man, either. More like the shape of a gender-neutral mannequin.

We both stand there in complete silence for a few moments, as if I'm having some kind of staring contest with this strange person.

"Leave..."

The figure turns and walks away from me, making no sound as they do so.

"Wait!" I try to stop them, wanting to know what this...thing is.

I run after them, only to collide with the wall on the other side of the kitchen.

"Ack!"

Not long after, the lights sputter back to life, illuminating the kitchen.

"Where did they-?"

There's no trace the person has left behind, except for the frost on the walls that's promptly melting away now that the room is warm; yet again, you could say that what happened only moments ago didn't happen.

"But...how?" I'm so confused as to what I have just witnessed.

Standing in the room for what seems like hours, I try to make sense of that strange person. I am snapped out of my thoughts when I feel breath on my ear, like someone is leaning very close to me.

"Didn't I tell you to LEAVE?!" it's the same voice from earlier and it spits the word 'leave' like it is poison; it feels like acid on my ear, actually causing a faint burning sensation as well.

Quickly, I head towards the door and grasp the doorknob in my hand. As I twist the knob, I risk a glance over my shoulder.

But there is no one there.

I open the door and go into the main room of the house only to see a surprising sight; quite a few of the others are there as well.

"Juvia spies with her little eye something that is..." Juvia trails off as she looks around, before her eyes land on me. "Mirajane?"

This causes the others in the room to follow water mage's gaze.

"So you got sent back here too, huh?" Gray asks, smiling slightly.

"Yes," I nod. "What are you guys doing out here? And why are you playing I Spy?"

"Our doors brought us back here and we can't find another way to go-"

"I told you that we need to burn a hole in the wall," Natsu interrupts.

"We're not doing that, now be quiet about it already," Erza glares at him.

"Anyways, we can't find another way to go so we decided to hope that the others will find her," Lisanna continues.

"I suggested that we play I Spy to pass the time, but it's honestly getting a bit boring," Levy frowns.

"Then why don't we play something else instead?" I suggest.

"Like what?"

"Hmmm..." I think about it for a few moments. "How about Would You Rather?"

"That seems good," Levy nods, and I smile. "Alright, Natsu, would you rather..."

After some time playing Would You Rather, doors appear on the walls and the rest of our group come from each one of them, the doors quickly disappearing after that. We all look over, seeing Laxus, Rogue, Sting, Wendy, and Gajeel step into the room.

"The hell?" Laxus raises an eyebrow. "What are you all doing here?"

"And where are the other doors?" Rogue asks.

"Our doors brought us back here and the doors disappeared, so..." Natsu trails off.

"We're stuck here?"

"Yes," Erza nods and Gajeel opens his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off. "And the walls are solid too, so we can't put a hole in the wall."

He shuts his mouth.

"I doubt that we could, either, the walls are like stone," Natsu adds. "They don't burn."

"How do you know?" Levy looks at him. "We didn't try doing that."

"I tried while you guys were distracted," Natsu confesses. "But it wouldn't catch fire no matter how long I kept trying to burn it."

"So...the walls are too strong to break, and there are no doors to go through..." Rogue frowns. "What now?"

"I don't think there's anything that we can do if that's the case."

"I guess blondie is doomed, then," Sting crosses his arms.

Natsu lets out a low growl at that. "Don't you say that! No way in hell we're giving up on Luce!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but-!"

"We can't get through the walls, there's only the front entrance left, and there are no hidden doors," Rogue lists off. "Unless you know something that we don't, then we have to leave. There's nothing that we can do."

The inexorable facts close in on us like prison-warders handcuffing a convict. We can't do anything to save the Lucy now; she is damned.

Oh my Gods of magic...we failed. Paw won, Lucy's going to die... I think, before clenching my fists. No...there has to be something else that we can do! We can't give up on her! Not after how far we've come.

I glance around at the others, trying to see if anyone else has an idea, but by the looks on everyone else's faces I can tell that they are as clueless as I am.

"It's over...we've failed..." Wendy is the first to speak what we are all thinking.

"What?!" Natsu is the only one who seems adamant not to give up yet.

"Lucy's going to die..." Lisanna whimpers, and I put my arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"Are you guys serious?! We can't wake up! Not while Luce is still here!" Natsu looks angry. "We can't- no, we won't just leave her behind!"

"We can't do anything, dragon breath!" Gray snaps at the fire mage, his eyes a blend of anger and grief. "We lost, she won!"

"We should just be happy about the ones that we were able to save," Sting sighs. "You can't always save everyone."

"Speak for yourself! I don't care what you guys do, but I am not leaving without her!"

"Nats-"

"No! Go ahead and wake up, but I'm not coming! I'll stay here forever if I have to!" Natsu interrupts. "I won't leave Lucy behind! I'm not leaving her to die!"

Before anyone can say anything else, a new door appears in one of the walls. A hush comes over us as we all stare at it in dread and anticipation.

Natsu is the first one to react, heading for it without hesitation. He reaches for the handle, but stops when the doorknob begins to turn on its own. The door starts to creak open, and I can hear my heart pounding in my chest in fear that it is Paw on the other side.

This is it...we're going to die...

The door opens, but instead of Paw's shadowy form on the other side, it is someone who we have encountered earlier.

"Oh, it's you all...I was wondering what that yelling was."

"Primrose?" Erza asks, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Hello, Erza. Why are you guys yelling like that?" he questions, stepping into the room and closing the door carefully behind him. "Just because these walls are thick, it doesn't mean that Paw can't hear you."

"They want to leave Luce behind!" Natsu exclaims immediately.

"There's nothing that we can do!" Laxus hisses at him.

Natsu growls and opens his mouth to yell, only for Primrose to slap a hand over the dragon slayer's mouth.

"Quit yelling before she hears you," he frowns at Natsu, before regarding the rest of us. "I guess it's good that I found you before you left, then."

"What do you mean?"

"I can make a door to Paw's room and you can get your friend back."

"But I thought that you couldn't teleport..." Erza sounds suspicious.

"It's not teleporting, this house doesn't follow any sort of logic...all you have to do is ask and you shall receive..." he tells us. "Assuming you're of the dream world, that is."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Natsu pries Primrose's hand off of his mouth. "Make a door and take us to Lucy already!"

"Alright, alright just give me a second," he frowns.

Primrose turns to the wall where the door he had gone through once stands and clears his throat.

"Excuse me, house...if it's not too much trouble, then could you make a door leading to P- Master's room?"

It is a few moments before a new door appears in the wall.

"Thank you," he says to the house, before turning back to us and moving out of the way. "There, this will take you to Paw's room."

"This is too easy...what's the catch?" Gray asks.

"No catch, just hurry...Paw likes to check on her, so if you take too long then she'll come back," he informs us.

"Got it," Gajeel nods.

"Thanks, Primrose."

"No problem."

Natsu is the first one through the door and the rest of us quickly follow behind him.

We enter into a mauve bedroom with giant stuffed animals sitting hunched over in each corner of the room. There is a mahogany dresser that has ceramic pots sitting atop it, a variety of blue and yellow flowers growing from them. Colorful blankets and pillows are strewn across the floor of the room, and cheap glow-in-the-dark stars are stuck onto the indigo ceiling.

At the other side of the room is a king-sized bed that looks like you can fall asleep on within moments of lying down; there are heaps of furry pillows on the bed and four wooden poles at each of the bed's corners. Translucent lavender curtains are pulled back to reveal the inside of the bed, and snuggled underneath the thick, star-patterned comforter is a woman.

Lucy.

The blonde is laying on her side, serenity plastered across her face as she sleeps. Her hair is a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders, pooling onto her pillow. At peace, her consciousness swirls in the land of dreams, oblivious to the world around her. But...there is something off about her. I can't put my finger on it for a few moments before I'm able to finally realize what is wrong. I look at the others slowly, my face drawing into a worried expression.

"Guys?"

They all look at me.

"Is it just me, or...is she not breathing?"


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