Lucy's patience was really starting to wear thin. If one more person came up to her with a soft 'hey' and pitying expression, she was going to Lucy Kick everyone into the next dimension. Lucy was truly happy for Natsu and Lisanna and she could honestly admit to zero heartbreak following the announcement. Sure, thanks to Mira's insanity a few years back, Lucy may have had a small crush on the Fire Dragon Slayer, but that had evaporated the moment she'd found out he only needed her for Virgo. Since then she'd only seen Natsu as her brother and best friend. But apparently that fact had completely bypassed her entire guild.

"Here you go, Lucy." Mira placed a strawberry smoothie in front of her just as Vijeeter patted her hand and started to moonwalk away towards the brawl that had started in the middle of the hall. Lucy smiled up at the barmaid and took a sip of her drink.

"Thanks, Mira. Amazing as always." Lucy felt her smile become a little bit more real as she turned back to watch her family. Natsu had left Lisanna's side for the first time that night only to immediately punch Gray in the face. This led to Elfman getting hit into Gajeel by a stray attack and from then, it became just like any other night in Fairy Tail.

Lucy slowly sipped on her smoothie as she watched her friends enjoying themselves. Though she had only technically been a member of Fairy Tail for less than a year, ignoring their seven-year sleep on Tenrou Island, Lucy felt as if she had found her true family in life, even those who kept to themselves a lot like the Raijinshuu and Laxus. She would give her life for any of them at a moment's notice.

Just as she finished her drink, Lucy saw Max heading towards her with that smile. Pretending she hadn't seen him, Lucy quickly turned to the bar and gave Mira a quick wave goodbye which was happily returned before practically launching herself off the stool towards the guild doors. She continuously ducked and weaved between flying debris in a practiced routine before swerving off towards Lisanna who was watching with a small smile as her boyfriend got the crap kicked out of him by Gajeel.

"Hey, Lis." Lisanna turned and smiled brightly as Lucy bent to give her a hug.

"Lucy, hi! You leaving already?" Lucy ducked as Elfman flew overhead, Lisanna covering her mouth to keep her giggles from damaging her brother's pride as he barrelled back into the moving whirlwind of limbs in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, there's only so much pity and supportive pats I can take in one night." Lisanna smiled sympathetically at the blonde's plight. She was one of the few who knew about the true relationship between Lucy and Natsu. They were siblings, nothing more. A few weeks after coming back from Edolas, Lisanna had asked Lucy about it, nervous about her answer. Those nerves were eradicated as soon as Lucy had recovered enough breath from laughing to assure her she had no interest in the fire dragon slayer.

"You would have thought they'd have figured it out by now." Lucy shrugged.

"Nah, our guild has the most stubborn members in the whole of Fiore. Once they get an idea in their heads, it won't go away. Anyway, I just wanted to say congrats again and let you know I'm off. Tell your oh so charming boyfriend I said bye for me?" Lisanna quirked an eyebrow at Lucy's description before looking over at Natsu. Suddenly she understood Lucy's quip. Natsu had just pantsed Warren and was now dancing on top of a nearby table with Happy, imitating the telepathy mage's misfortune. She turned back to say bye to the Celestial mage only to find an empty space beside her and the doors quietly shutting behind her.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the cold night air. She hadn't meant to skip out on her friend like that but she'd heard someone mention how brave she was by talking to 'the woman who had stolen her heart's love'. Her annoyance peaked and she had to get out of there. Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off most of the chill, Lucy began making her way home. She debated calling out Plue to keep her company but after being swarmed by people tonight, she just wanted to be alone. She felt the keys on her hip warm slightly in comfort and she smiled. They were right, she was never really alone as long as she had her spirits. She sent a quick thank you through the keys and felt an answering hum of support and love.

Smiling softly, Lucy continued her way home, enjoying the peace of the night and the stars above her. Reaching her house, she drew her key from her pocket and let herself in, embracing the sudden rush of warmth that greeted her. From now on, there would be no late-night visitors sneaking into her bed. Natsu could sneak into Lisanna's and endure the wrath of Mira and Elfman instead. Lucy felt relieved and slightly nostalgic at the thought but shook it off and moved over to her couch, taking off her coat. Just as she went to remove her keys from her belt, Lucy felt them being snatched from her grasp. Before she could even register what had happened, a foot collided with her back and sent her flying into the couch, the force causing the furniture to flip and a sickening crack to fill the apartment as Lucy felt her rib give as it collided with the wooden frame of the chair. She landed roughly and barely had time to painfully gasp before someone was leaning over her, grinning as she struggled to gain her bearings.

"Well, well, well. So, this is the great Celestial mage, Lucy Heartfilia. I'll tell you this, you're much prettier than your picture suggests." Lucy glared up at the man leaning over her and with a single motion, lifted her leg and kicked. The man stumbled back from the blow, all traces of previous glee gone from his face. "You're going to pay for that, girlie."

Lucy pushed herself up, ignoring the sharp pain in her ribcage and immediately scanned the area for her keys. The man noticed and held them up, shaking them to make the clink together.

Lucy snarled, "Who the hell are you and what do you want?" He merely laughed at her.

"Well you got one question partially right. Who I am and what I want doesn't matter." He brought his other hand up to enclose her keys and whispered just loud enough for Lucy to hear, "Signa inferre dolorem pontes orbe." A soft black glow surrounded the keys before seemingly seeping into the metal. Lucy growled and unfurled her whip, sending the weapon out to snatch her precious keys back. The man just laughed at her again, "Take them, by all means. They won't do you much good anymore." Lucy ignored his threat and immediately retrieved Loke's key.

"Open Gate of the Lion, Leo!" Suddenly, she felt as if her whole body had been submerged in acid. She screamed as every pain sensor in her body lit up as one, dropping her keys in the process. Faintly she could hear Loke's echoing scream in her head. She collapsed on the ground, writhing as she waited for the agony to end. Slowly, she started coming back to her senses. "What the hell did you do to them?!"

"That's not important." The man said as he approached, "All that matters is that your little friends can't come to your rescue." This fact hit Lucy hard. Without her spirits, she was practically defenceless. There was a strange man in her apartment who had attacked her and taken away her method of fighting. There was only one thing Lucy could think of doing at this moment; run. She had quickly launched herself off the ground and was almost to the door before she was yanked back by her hair.

"Now, now, that won't do. I can't have you running away, can I?" She was thrown to the floor by the man and before she could move at all, a scream was ripped from her as he stomped on both her legs with enough force to snap them both. With her mind hazy and her legs impaired, Lucy reached for her last remaining hope; her whip. The man saw this and instead of just kicking the weapon away, he moved to her side. Lucy saw it this time. The man focused some form of magic to his leg and before she could even try and identify his magic, brought it down on her shoulder, another nauseating crack as well as a loud popping reverberating around the room. Lucy couldn't even hear herself scream over the waves of pain flooding her system.

"Now that you can't move, I think it's time to answer your questions." He drew a small blade from his jacket and almost lovingly traced it over her skin, "I'm here for you. My master needs something and apparently, you are the only one who can give it to him. Now, are you going to be a good little fairy and let me take it?" Lucy managed to focus her bleary vision on the man who was now straddling her and did the only thing she could. She spat at him.

"Fuck…you." She could see the anger flare in his eyes before he brought his fist down on her already broken rib. She felt another two break as well as a sharp sensation in her chest. Suddenly, breathing became harder and Lucy knew he'd done some serious damage with that blow.

"Lucky for me, my master doesn't care if you survive this encounter or not. But before we get to the truly fun bit, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to take from you." He lent down until his mouth was by her ear, watching out of the corner of his eye for her reaction. "Your magic."

Lucy felt her heart almost stop at his words, her already ragged breathing struggling to continue. She didn't have long to contemplate it as he suddenly drove his knife into her side. He continued raining blows and cuts across her body until Lucy couldn't move and she felt her pulse weaken. Just before she lost consciousness, the man retrieved a lacrima orb from another pocket and held it in front of her. She saw his mouth move as he activated the magic and Lucy felt pain worse than anything she had experienced in her life as the very essence of her magic was ripped from her. She felt a single tear leave her as her eyelids closed and the world around her stopped.

When Lucy awoke, every one of her senses felt dulled. She wondered for a moment if she hadn't made it. 'Maybe this is what death is like?' she thought. That is until a steady beeping began to filter through. The beeping grew louder and her head began to pound. Slowly, other things began to come back to her. She could hear soft voices, as if from far away and felt soft fabric covering most of her body, with the exceptions of her legs and right arm which felt heavy and itchy. She tried swallowing and when she realised the extent of how dry her throat was, tried prying her eyes open to search for relief from the desert like conditions in her mouth. At first try, the brightness almost blinded her and she immediately slammed her eyes closed again. Gradually, allowing for her sight to adjust, she opened her eyes. Above her was a tiled ceiling with crappy fluorescent lighting. When Lucy tried to place it but couldn't, a wave of panic overcame her. Where the hell was she? The beeping became faster as her heartbeat elevated. She painfully turned her head and was met with a faded blue wall with various bits of technology attached to it. Lucy stared a little longer at the equipment before realising they had similar bits in the guild infirmary. 'A hospital?" Lucy turned her head the other way to examine the rest of the room and was met with a sight she never thought she would see. A man was sat beside her bed, his blonde head resting against her hand and his scarred face twitching in his sleep as the beeping continued. His eyebrows furrowed and he yawned as he awoke, pushing himself up from his position. He turned towards her and his eyes opened, widening impossibly as his storm blue eyes met her own. 'Laxus?'

"Lucy?"