IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN THE COVER PHOTO OR ANY OF THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!

This chapter was already uploaded but now I've gone back and rewritten it since it was so confusing, and after re-reading its content I wasn't pleased with what I had originally written.

*Gray hasn't recognized Lucy yet because both of them have had the same memory sealed (up until this point).

-So I know that I've continued to say that I'm going to start updating regularly and I really have been trying to push chapters out whenever I'm free. However I would like to put it out there that my Marching Band tryouts/practices have been starting up again and my exams are coming soon. So, in short, I've been very busy with school. I promise that when summer break comes around and school is over that I will be updating more frequently. Until then please (please!) continue to be patient with me.

And my birthday is 7 days away (5/25) and I'm gonna turn 16. So excited XD

Having said that please enjoy~


-The Northern Continent : The Outskirts of Brago-

Lucy absolutely hated the cold. She hated the white snow that completely covered the ground and detested how wet it made her clothes. She hated how badly her body hurt when the wind kicked in and couldn't be more annoyed than when small snow would get caught in her cloak, melting against her skin. But more than anything else Lucy hated the fact that she could never stay warm. No matter how many fires she started or shelters she built the cold still got through. If it wasn't wind knocking over her fort, or snow landing directly on her campfire, she was sitting around in wet clothes. And to make matters worse every-time she woke up in the morning half of her body would be buried under several thick inches of snow. Lucy hated the mountains, hated the snow, and hated the cold more than anything else in the world

With an obnoxious, child-like groan Lucy threw a stick into her campfire and balanced her face in the palm of her hand. She glanced around at the snow-covered forest in boredom and desperately searched for something that could take her attention away from the snow biting at her skin. "Out of all places Draco could leave us why'd he have to choose a mountain?" Lucy yelled in frustration while yanking at her hair.

Giggling at her friends behavior, Saiya shook her head and grinned playfully. "Well.. This was the only place Draco could land without being seen by anyone. And it was also the only town in miles that we would actually be able to get into. Besides, weren't you the one that kept complaining about how we'd been flying for too long?" The silver exceed responded. "Either way we should be grateful that he's not here right now, forcing us to train and all that. You know he hates it when you complain." She added.

Stubbornly, Lucy crossed her arms and glared at a random tree. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I still don't understand how it takes someone three days to get a few supplies! He's been gone for too long -should've been back by now." The blond grunted.

"I'm not really sure about that either. He should be back soon though. I don't think he would ever leave us behind like that and just disappear."

For a split second a jolt of fear shot through Lucy's body. Just the idea of never seeing Draco again scared the girl terribly, and she had trouble not going out in search of him immediately. Thoughts of being abandoned and being left alone plagued her mind, driving her to the edge of her sanity. If there was one thing she hated more than the cold, more than the snow, more than anything else in the world, it was being left alone. Nothing scared Lucy more than the thought of being left behind. While she understood that under no circumstances would Saiya leave her behind, Draco was the only other family she had, and sometimes she was afraid that he would leave her when everything was said and done. Lucy built her life on Draco and Saiya being apart of it; of having her two closest friends being there to support her when she was weak. Lucy didn't know what she would do with herself if she ever came to loose them, so just the thought of never seeing them again striked immense fear in her heart.

"But now that I think about it he's probably trying to find you something special, like a present! That flimsy old cloak you're wearing hasn't done anything to protect you from the cold, so I'm guessing that he's trying to find you a new one. Draco wouldn't want you to get sick! Besides, I'm pretty sure that he knows you don't like the cold. So he's probably trying to get you something so you're not so miserable all the time." Saiya added. "He may not always show it, or even act like it, but I know that he does love you Lucy. I do too! Both of us would go to the end of the world to protect you, you know."

At her exceeds kind words Lucy's face erupted into a dark blush, which she tried to hide in her arms, causing Saiya to start giggling. "Tch whatever. Doesn't mean I love that bastard back." She muttered as she attempted to hide her growing blush.

"As if! Everyone knows you love him more than anything else in the world! It's OK, you don't have to say it, we all see through you anyways!" The exceed snickered playfully.

While Saiya continued her teasing Lucy's ears twitched as she heard something off in the distance. It sounded like a dull, faint roar that almost resembled a dragons, but was too low of a sound to belong to the same species. As the noise got closer and louder in volume the ground began to shake ever-so-slightly causing the blonds eyes to narrow suspiciously. Lucy doubted she would have even picked up on the sound if she hadn't noticed the distant roar in the first place. And for a minute she just sat there straining her ears to clearly hear the noise, desperately trying to identify what type of beast was heading her way.

Yet no matter how hard Lucy tried she couldn't figure out what creature the sound belonged to. The ground steadily came to shake and the noise became more prominent as minutes came to pass. Even Saiya perked up at the foreign sound and glanced around in confusion upon hearing it.

"What's that sound?" The exceed questioned.

"I dunno. Been trying to find out what it was for the past five minutes." Lucy shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "I doubt it's anything serious though. Probably just a giant Vulcan or something."

In any other instance Saiya would have accepted Lucy's answer, but as she heard a loud crack followed by a whizzing sound her body couldn't help but move on its own. With an incredible burst of speed the exceed darted forward and roughly seized the blond by her shoulders. As they quickly soared into the sky Lucy choked on her spit when Saiya narrowly avoided a broken tree sent flying her way. Had they not moved when they did both girls would have been completely crushed by the large plant, and as they flew high above the clearing of the forest Lucy swore she felt her heart stop dead in her chest.

"W-what is that?!" Saiya squealed in fear as her eyes landed on the large beast.

Beady, dark black eyes bore out of its head and deadly sharp black spikes protruded from its back. Dark blue scales the entirety of its giant form while an unkempt mane of black hair fell just below its neck, and a matching pair of horns extended out of its square forehead. But what was possibly the most disturbing was its human-like structure; with two functioning arms and feet, as well as developed muscles, the monster looked like a force to be reckoned with. And as it opened its mouth to let out a piercing scream it also revealed a vicious pair of sharp teeth.

Lucy shuddered involuntarily as the beast easily crushed a large group of trees with its feet, and accidentally made the mistake of imagining what it would be like to be there on the ground instead of the trees. Possibly more surprising was how fast the monster moved. Within seconds it had already covered several yards, wiping out more than half of the forest, and destroyed everything in its way. As Saiya flew high enough to be out of the creatures reach Lucy's heart sunk even lower. Everything that she could see was either on fire or completely demolished. Terror filled screams from the surrounding towns bounced around in her head and the dying cried of the innocent echoed throughout the land. In that single moment Lucy understood what monstrosity had been committed, and more importantly she understood why Draco wasn't back yet.

The blonds gaze drifted over to the tranquil, undisturbed town several yards away. They sat unaware to the terror going on around them; without a clue as to what was about to happen to them. They'd be taken by storm and completely by surprise when the monster finally reached their town, and Lucy flinched as she considered the possible fatalities that awaited. "We have to get to Brago!" She suddenly exclaimed while pointing at the nearby town. "That thing is going headed there as we speak. If we don't get there before it does and warn them a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt!"

"Huh? B-but Draco told us to stay here and wait for him! What if he comes here looking for us? We can't just leave!" Saiya shook her head.

"That doesn't matter right now! People might die if we don't do something!" Lucy snapped in retaliation.

With a deep frown the silver exceed glanced down at the scaly beast. "Don't kid yourself Lucy! There's no way you can take that thing on by yourself! You're going to get yourself hurt playing hero all the time!" She cried. "You may be strong but that doesn't mean you're going to win every battle you get yourself into! We have to wait for Draco to come back!"

The blonds hands curled up to form tight fists and she clenched her teeth in an attempt to bite down her fear. "That doesn't matter right now! People are going to get hurt if we don't do something!" Lucy snapped in retaliation.

Fear bubbled up in Lucy's gut as the monster roared once more, and she clenched her hands into fists in an attempt to bite it down. "I know!" Lucy choked. "I know that I stand no chance against that thing. Deep down I know that! But no one ever said that I was going to fight it. All we need to do is evacuate the town, that's it! I'm not going to come in contact with that thing unless I have to!" Glancing over her shoulder at her friend Lucy sent Saiya a pleading look. "Please! I won't be able to live with myself if we don't at least try to do something!"

Despite the voice telling her to stay put, telling her that this was wrong, Saiya entered Max Speed and flew far ahead of the blue beast. "Then we gotta make this quick! The second I see that thing near the town I'm going to pull you outta there!" She yelled over the howling wind. "Now let's do this!"


The weather was relentless and unforgiving as Lucy and Saiya flew to Brago causing it to be a difficult journey for the both of them. Strong winds made it difficult for the exceed to fly while the snow made her paws go completely numb. Moments of fear would surge through her small form when a gust of wind would make Lucy move at an odd angle, or when her paws got so cold that she thought she might drop the blond. But each time she felt like giving up or that she just couldn't take any more Lucy would say something encouraging and give her the strength to push through the pain. It would only be a little while longer until they reached the town, and with Lucy so dependent on getting there before the beast did Saiya knew she couldn't mess anything up.

Meanwhile, Lucy felt immensely guilty due to the fact that she couldn't do anything for her closest friend. All she could offer were a few kind words, but what were those supposed to do? Cheering her on wouldn't take away her exceeds pain. Telling her everything was "going to be OK" didn't make her suffering just. What were her words supposed to do in the first place? Lucy didn't know a spell that could wash away the cold, or give herself the ability to fly, so what could she really do? It truly hurt her heart to know that she was the very reason that her friend was experiencing so much pain. And more than anything that she still asked Saiya to fly despite knowing that she wasn't an experienced flyer.

Her exceed was only a few years old and should have been able to fly without difficulty, but after hatching two months early it was only normal that she would have some types of complications. Not only was she extremely underweight, but one of her wings wasn't as developed as the other. As a result she couldn't fly normally. Lucy was surprised alone by the fact that her exceed could even lift her into the air, let alone fly at such a high speed -and for as long as she had. Lucy wasn't sure if Saiya would ever forgive her for what she had done, but if by some miracle she did Lucy didn't know if she would ever forgive herself. The blond could only hope that they would get to the town quick enough, and that she would have enough time, to evacuate everyone before the beast arrived. That way her exceed wouldn't have to strain herself and get into more pain by flying her out of danger (again).

"Look! Brago's right there Saiya! Hold on just a little bit longer, you're doing great!" Her own words put a foul taste in her mouth, and Lucy could only imagine what it sounded like in Saiya's ears.

Grinning weakly, the silver exceed laughed off her pain and simply shook her head. "I'm not doing anything Lu. I get all my strength from you!"

Upon hearing her strained voice Lucy struggled not forcing her friend to land right there just so that she could run the remaining mile to Brago. Yet if she did ask Saiya to land there was the risk of the monster catching up, and if that happened her exceeds pain would have been all for nothing. So with extreme guilt and difficulty Lucy ignored Saiya's muffled whimpering and pinned her gaze on the town. Above everything else she didn't want to see her best friends face written in pain.


-15 Minutes Later-

"Somebody, please! Open Up!"

"You need to get your family out of here!"

"If you want to stay alive you need to grab your wife and leave!"

"You have to listen to me!"

"You're in danger!"

"I'm not just a kid! Listen to me!"

After what felt like an eternity of running Lucy finally dropped to her knees in exhaustion. Her throat hurt from constantly screaming at people to "open up" and her heart thumped painfully against her chest. She could barely catch her breath, even after collapsing to the ground, and her legs burned under constant strain. Lucy had ran around the entire town and knocked on every door she saw. Anyone on the streets were berated with frantic statements explaining why they had to leave immediately, and concerned house owners were woken from their sleep when she pounded on their doors. She tried explaining the immediate danger heading their way, stressing how people would get hurt if they didn't leave, but no one listened. Not a single person took heed to her warning. Doors were rudely slammed in Lucy's face while harsh remarks saying that she was "just a child" were spat her way. She was written off as nothing more than a hysterical little girl who didn't know what she was talking about; no one believed her.

In that exact moment, as she sat on the cold, wet ground, Lucy had never felt so weak. How could she have been so utterly useless? She couldn't save a few innocent families lives or relieve Saiya of her pain. She didn't know a spell that could make people see the truth or have the power to defeat her strongest enemies. She couldn't even convince a few people to leave their homes in order to avoid danger. So what could she really do? It was always Saiya and Draco running to her rescue when things got tough. One of them was always there to help her out of trouble or to support her in her hardest times. But when had she ever really done anything by herself? Had she ever truly done anything on her own? Her heart quickly sunk at the realization. She wasn't strong nor worthy to wield the magic that she did. She didn't deserve to have such a genuine friend or the father (dragon) that she did. She wasn't strong. The only thing Lucy could really say that she had ever done successfully was being a failure of a wizard.

"Lucy? What're we supposed to do now? No one's listened to you thus far and I don't think we have any more time to waste." Saiya hesitantly questioned as she glanced at the blond.

With a constricted voice Lucy said, "I don't know. No matter what I say they refuse to believe me. Don't they realize that I'm trying to help? Can't they see that I'm trying to prevent something terrible from happening to them? Something that's already happened the towns surrounding them? Do they not understand that by staying here they're killing themselves?!" She chuckled bitterly. "And then there's me. How come I never saw it before now, Saiya? I'm just as ignorant as they are. Always have been."

"What are you talking about Lucy? I don't think that you're ignorant. Why would you say that?"

"Because I am. Maybe even more than they are. Who am I to say that I'm the daughter of a dragon? What right do I have to claim the tittle of a Dragon Slayer? I couldn't help you when you were in pain just like how I couldn't save this town from danger! Me, a Dragon Slayer? Please!" Her exceed flinched as she scoffed harshly. "Instead of fighting that thing when I had the chance I choose to cower in the face of fear and run away. Instead of trying to stall that beast, maybe even take it down, I took the passive approach and tried to issue a warning. Yeah, some plan that worked out to be."

Saiya frowned and shook her head feverishly. "You can't do that!" She yelled. "You can't sit there and beat yourself up over one problem you couldn't fix! You're not allowed to be mad at yourself because you can't be the hero all the time! It's not your fault that these people wouldn't listen to you. What else were you supposed to do other than what you already did? It makes no sense to beat yourself up over every little thing! You can't always win everything! You're right, you don't know a spell that can make people see the truth. You don't have the power to prevent people from suffering. But there's nothing that you can do about it! Sitting here, destroying yourself because you couldn't do one thing, isn't going to fix anything! Nothing is going to change. You can't save everyone!"

For a second time Lucy's hands curled up into tight fists, and her nails actually ended up piercing her skin until they drew blood. "All I've ever wanted was the strength to protect people. Is that wrong? Is it wrong for me to be upset that I couldn't help you? Is it wrong for me to be mad that I couldn't stop this town from being destroyed? Is it wrong for me to want to prevent these families from experiencing the suffering I'm so familiar with? You can't honestly tell me that I'm wrong in trying to keep people from ending up alone!"

"What's wrong is that you continuously put all the burden on yourself." Saiya knew that what she was about to say was incredibly cruel, and that it would probably break Lucy's heart. But she also understood that it was her only hope of getting her friend to willingly leave. It was the only way to get Lucy to leave. Saving her friends life took top priority over everything else. Even if that meant Saiya got hated in the process. She had to expose Lucy's weaknesses. "The truth is that you humans are weak. They always have been, which is why your race tried so hard to learn magic; why you try so hard to learn magic. You're always getting yourself into trouble and causing fights without any rhyme or reason. You also have the shortest temper out of any person I've ever met. But that's what makes you, you." She gulped in preparation for what was to come. "But no matter how many spells you learn, or keys you come to have contracts with, you know deep down that you'll never be strong enough to protect everyone. You fight so hard to try and protect everyone you come across, but no matter what you can't save them all. You won't be able to save the person you don't know, the one you just met on the street one day, and even the people you come to love the most."

"Because no matter what happens you won't always be able to be the hero; you can't always save people. Your weakness is a universal one, Lucy. It's that no matter how much power you come to acquire you won't always save the person you love."

In the blink of an eye Lucy was gone without so much as a trace of her ever being there. Saiya frantically called out her name and looked around the nearby streets and corners, but was unable to find any signs. However, the exceeds heart lurched in her chest as she saw something move off in the distance, and an object shining on the ground. Screams of terror flooded Brago in seconds as Deliora began it's attack. People rushed out onto the streets and ran off in different directions, shoving one another around and almost crushing Saiya in the process, but she couldn't take her eyes off of one thing: Lucy's keys.


A/N: -Literally I have never been so angry before. I don't know if its my computer or just this website, but I literally had to rewrite an entire chapter after it forcibly deleted it. I went to save everything (which I periodically do so that I don't loose everything I just wrote and have to rewrite it again) and it said that I had to login... First off how was I going to be writing a chapter under my account and not be logged in? That doesn't make any sense. So I had to log back in to my account and literally every single thing I wrote was deleted. An entire three hours worth of work down the drain. I cannot express how desperately I wanted to slam my computer shut and just give up for the day, but I knew that it wouldn't be fair to you guys if I did that. So I pushed through, got something to drink, and rewrote everything.

[But what makes me even more mad is the fact that this isn't the first time this has ever happened to me.]

OK so in this chapter I wanted to try and build off of/acknowledge Lucy's insecurities and weaknesses. I have never intentionally made Lucy in a winning seat and was doing it unconsciously, so thank you for pointing that out aidansidhe. I felt like the last time I updated it was a really big let down and was just completely rushed (/didn't read well). I apologize if this (new) version of Chapter 10 confused anyone!

Also, In order for Lucy to regain a memory something has to trigger her brain to remember that specific event, and if it's a successful trigger and her body can withstand it, then Lucy will gain the memory pertaining to that event. However, if a memory pertains to another person both parties have to be triggered. In other words if Lucy had a memory about meeting Levy both of them would have had the same memory sealed away, and then both of them would have to be triggered in order to remember one another. So while Lucy is going through a memory right now, Gray hasn't been triggered to regain the same memory, so neither of them recognized one another yet. (Does that make sense?)

Thank you all for your patience and reviews on the last update. Everything that was said was taken into careful consideration, so please do not hesitate to do the same with this chapter. (Constructive criticism is always helpful!)

As usual I love you guys and thank you for reading!

I will try to update again when I can!

-xxTheNightmareBeforexx