A/N: Yo, peeps! I'm gonna be super busy for the weekend starting tomorrow unfortunately. Tomorrow I'm going to a carnival with some friends and getting a hair cut and then on Saturday is my Mom's baby shower, which is super exciting, but leaves me with no time to update, so I'm gonna update now! Please review your thoughts and comments, what you liked and what you didn't like, so I can know for future chapters!
Thanks for sticking around, dudes!

Seph hadn't meant to fall back into her nightmares by thinking about how Lucy felt locked up, but she had done so anyways. She fell straight back into dreaming of the one person who had hurt her most. She dreamt that he was hurting her again, touching her again, and he had full power over her without any consequences over what he was doing. She felt absolutely helpless as he had his way, paying no attention to her feelings and thus, giving her no mercy.

She began to tremble, fear clouding her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut like it would make the pain go away or maybe even make him stop, but it did neither of those things. Go away! Seph cried, but her voice failed to make words in favor for sobbing over something she couldn't stop. She could feel him again, his hands roaming her body, and she couldn't stop crying. She cried out for her family, but they weren't there to aid her. She cried out for anyone—just someone to help her. Don't let him touch her! Don't let him hurt her! Don't let him, don't let him, don't let him—

"Seph?"

Seph let out a gasp past her sobs, quickly sitting up and clutching at her chest because her breathing was in pieces. She let out a cough as she focused on the blurry bed sheets beneath her, someone at her side and rubbing her back to comfort her as her coughing turned back into sobbing.

"It's okay. It was just a dream, it's over now." They spoke soothingly to her. Seph just couldn't stop shaking, though, the image of that person almost glued into her mind.

"What's going on?" Another voice asked as another one groaned, sounding like they had woken up.

The lights suddenly flickered on, reminding Seph of the harsh mornings where she was woken up at five in the morning instead of 4:30 because she was so tired from the night before. She was always dragged, not given a second to breathe. She couldn't breathe right now, oh God, she couldn't breathe.

She gagged as she tried to breathe and covered her mouth with a hand in the hopes that she wouldn't throw up, but she had never been lucky until she found an opening to escape, and then she was taken in by Fairy Tail. Somehow, someone had managed to get the trash can over to her before she threw up, saving her from throwing up all over the bed unlike how it used to go back then. No one was angry at her for this, not like the others used to be…

Seph leaned back, breathing heavily, and someone continued to rub her back to keep her comforted.

"That bad, huh…?" A different voice asked, in which Seph didn't answer. She couldn't, really, not when she was still having trouble breathing and she was still crying. The bed sheets were going to get damp and they would get mad…

Another hand, a bigger one, found its place over the other hand on her back.

"Hey, it's alright…" A new voice told her, but she recognized that one. That was Laxus' voice. She shook her head, though, not believing him. She was so stupid, thinking that she could stay…

"Y-You're… g-going to t-take m-me b-b-back…" She accused with a sob, pulling her knees to her chest. She had woken up everyone in the room… That wasn't a good thing, they didn't like it when she screamed, she was going to get hurt again… "Y-You're g-g-g-going t-to take m-me b-b-back… t-to J-J—… T-To J-J-Julian…

"… Julian?" The first voice asked, sounding confused. Seph recognized it as Lily's. She had woken him up first, so he was obviously mad, wasn't he…? Nonetheless, she found himself leaning on his shoulder because she was too weak to stay upright by herself at the moment.

"Was he… the one who hurt you?" Laxus asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her anymore than she already was. Seph went silent apart from her sobs for a moment, which were slowing down.

"… H-He's… Era-astos tr-trusts him a-a-and l-likes h-him…" She replied softly, giving them another name that they didn't recognize. "… D-Do I l-l-like h-him? I… I-I did… b-but h-he is-isn't n-nice…"

"… What did he do, Seph?" Laxus asked, his deep voice soft and cautious, yet also very concerned.

Seph paused again, shivering a little bit before frantically shaking her head, only stopping when Lily leaned her against him again due to noticing that she had been falling back after sitting upright to shake her head. She was overwhelmed and flustered, and tears were building up in her eyes again.

"H-He's c-co-oming…" She whispered, holding her heads in her hands. "D-Don't let hi-hi-im t-take m-me! I- d-don't… w-want to g-go b-back…!"

"Hey, it's okay." Laxus promised her, gently taking her from Lily and lying back down with her.

He had motioned for Lily to grab a book from the side table drawer, in which the Exceed did so and passed it to him, and he flipped it open to a bookmarked page. Whenever Seph had a nightmare, Laxus would be able to put her back to sleep by reading to her. In desperate times, he would sing to her, but there was no way that he was going to sing in a room full of people who know him as a tough person. Seph stopped crying as he started to read, using his shoulder as a pillow and allowing Lily to pull the covers over her again before he lied down beside her, off of Laxus. She stared at the pages of the book even as he flipped to the next couple pages, exhaling slowly as her tears dried up and she started to fall back asleep.

The moment she was asleep, for sure, Lily put the book back for Laxus and Mira turned off the lights after the people in the room had a small conversation, all of them falling back asleep with an unsettling feeling.

July 6th, the final day of the Grand Magic Games…

Seph felt much better after last night, not remembering what exactly had happened or what was said, but remembering that she had a bad nightmare and woke everyone up. She really didn't want to miss out on the last day of the Grand Magic Games, where Fairy Tail was sure to win, but she had made a promise to Laxus that she would help the others break Lucy out while he won the tournament with the team. He promised to tell her all about it later, after all, so she couldn't say no. She didn't really want to say no. She felt like she was being useful by joining Natsu, Mira, Wendy, Happy and Carla in rescuing Lucy. She knew that the Raijinshuu would cheer extra hard for her.

With all of the faraway, roaring cheers coming from the direction of the arena, it sounded like the final battle of the Grand Magic Games was starting. The plan was that while everyone was absorbed in the tournament, they would rescue Lucy because they didn't know if they could trust the kingdom to release her or not.

"But how can we sneak into the palace without getting caught?" Wendy asked the one question that they had all been pondering for some time now. Happy had promised that he had a good idea, but his idea turned out… bad. It was too suspicious, so Mira took over and that was how Seph found herself squished between Carla and Lily, Happy sitting on their heads and not on hers only because she was shorter than all three of them. Bless being short right now…

They managed to get past the guards and into the dungeon to find Lucy, managing to find Yukino as well. Seph didn't like being down there, but she couldn't stay alone. Upon finding the pair of girls, Seph found herself clinging to Mira's leg because she knew her best after Lily, Happy and Carla slipped through the cell bars to get in and see Lucy and Yukino. Seph didn't want to go in and Mira didn't mind the Exceed attached to her leg, so once they got Lucy and Yukino out of the cell and gave Lucy a switch of clothing, all was ultimately well… until the floor opened and they all went tumbling down.

Seph lost her grip on Mira's leg and ended up falling straight onto the pile of Lucy, Wendy, Mira, Yukino and Natsu to soften her fall, although the rocky ground was still painful.

"What the hell is this…?" Natsu asked as they all stood up, Seph having to search for her jacket for a second before finding it and wrapping it around her waist. She had taken it off to try and use it as a parachute, but… gravity was hella strong.

"Welcome to Hell Palace." A voice suddenly said, making all of them jump although Seph jumped much more. She was the more skittish one of the group, it was confirmed. "You fell right into the trap." A trap…? "Look around you. This is the capital of death, Hell Palace. It's the final freedom, where all criminals end up. However, no one has ever gotten out."

Seph only looked around halfway before clinging to the nearest person out of fear, which just happened to be Lily. His arm was hers now; there was no getting it back. A Lacrima Vision screen appeared above them, revealing a pair of guards with a girl who had green hair and hazel green eyes.

"Rot down there, rebels!"

"Who the hell are you!?" Natsu demanded, raising his fist to the screen. The girl merely stood there, absolute in her actions… She was sending them to their deaths, she said it herself!

"I'm Hisui E. Fiore, the princess of the kingdom of Fiore!" She told them, her face not inching from its frowning position. Natsu started to freak out, far behind Seph as she had started that long ago.

"Dammit! Where's the friggin' exit?!" He yelled, making Seph flinch from his loud voice. She really wanted to get out of here, too, but there was no point in yelling his head off… especially not when the princess cut off the video feed and left them on their own.

"I can't see an entrance, let alone the exit." Lily stated as he put a hand over one of Seph's to try and help keep her calm. It didn't really help, honestly, because they were all trapped. Here she went, getting trapped all over again when she said that she wouldn't!

"What should we do!?" Wendy asked, starting to follow with freaking out.

Seph wasn't sure how long they had been walking, but her feet were starting to get tired. Everything looked the same, so there was no telling if they were going in circles or not. It was lucky that the cave was big or else Seph would be freaking out a lot more, but it still felt like she was suffocating due to the walls seeming to be trying to close in on her. They only stopped for a moment because Happy had scared Lucy by putting a skull on his head, bringing their attention to all of the other skulls that were lying around. Bones weren't really that scary, huh?

"Well, this is the capital of death… I guess I could say." Lily sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and pulling Seph a little bit because she refused to let go of his arm just yet.

"Princess Hisui said this is the final freedom, where all criminals end up." Carla reminded them, which made Seph's grip on Lily's arm tighten. He let out a painful squeak, uncrossing his arms, but Seph was too distracted to apologize to him.

"She said we wouldn't get outta here, but gimme a friggin' break." Natsu complained with his hands on his hips. Seph couldn't help herself, she was scared… She was always scared, no matter what. It was just in her nature to be anxious and paranoid. "Just for that, we're definitely gonna get out. I'm fired up."

Seph paused before taking a deep breath. Everything that had an entrance, view able or not, had to have an exit somewhere, no matter how big or small. She knew that pretty well… but, apparently, the others didn't. They had split up for a bit to search for a clue, but there was nothing. Natsu, Lucy and Wendy looked absolutely destroyed while Mira just kind of sat off to the side, crying.

""Hell" is the right word for this place." Lily stated as he took a seat, Seph having finally gathered up the courage to let go of his arm. She didn't stray too far, honestly, as she was still deeply anxious.

Happy came up with the idea to lure some soldiers down, because maybe they were watching them, but when it came to how they were going to lure them down, Natsu and Happy went all Fairy Tail style… which was being ridiculous. They told Lucy to strip, even showing off magazines of Lucy and Mira posing in swimsuits. It had been for work of course, but still… They got the magazines off of old skeletons, too! They were Weekly Sorcerer's from about seven years ago, and that caught Seph's attention for some reason. She found an old comic book over by the scattered magazines and Lily… well, he found a journal.

"There's a journal." Lily told them, starting to read from it. ""It's been three years since I was shut up in here. As I wait for the end, these cheesecake photos soothe my mind."" He went pale as he read the last bit, everyone losing their hope at getting out due to this weird, old skeleton's thoughts. ""Mira-tan is cute. Losing consciousness as Mira-tan gazes at me from the page… Together with Mira-tan…""

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm suddenly starting to get scared." Carla stated firmly, gaining a couple of hums in agreement.

"That guy didn't even mention Lucy." Natsu suddenly pointed out, in which Lucy started yelling.

"What do I care?! I shouldn't even make a comment!" Lucy yelled angrily, and Seph couldn't help but let out a snort. God, if the other ones weren't ugly, that one was…

"Then let's do this thing! I call it "Appeal to Men's Instincts! Operation: Cheesecake Escape"!" Happy declared. Seph could've sworn there was a drum roll somewhere…

"I'm fired up!" Natsu yelled excitedly. "Let's go, Lucy!"

"I'm gonna do it!?" She tried to argue, but Mira had already changed into a swimsuit… somehow…

"I'll support you!" Mira reassured her, already posing cutely and even winking.

"You're too into it!"

Seph didn't even know what was going on, so she stayed out of it alongside Wendy and Yukino, her face more heated than it probably should've been. This was the Fairy Tail style, huh…? This was ridiculous and yet, somehow, funny. Even so, that operation failed and they were basically back to square one. Natsu ended up getting so hungry that he basically collapsed, although he sat back up when he realized that he was upsetting Wendy. Nothing in here looked edible… Maybe Seph could grow something, somewhere…

"Will we end up eating… you know?" Lily asked, throwing Seph off a little bit.

"That's scary talk, so stop it!" Lucy yelled at him frantically.

Even the ceiling was sealed off, according to Happy and Carla… but being with everyone else somehow made her feel at ease, despite the circumstances. Seph closed her eyes for a moment, searching the ground for any source of… oh, hey, food. She took a couple of steps to get closer, focusing her magic on the spot and managing to grow whatever she could salvage for the seed that was left behind. It wasn't much… just a couple of blackberries…

"That's so cool!" Natsu suddenly yelled, making her jump and trip over her own feet. He immediately rushed forward, starting to eat the berries from the bush that… really didn't have any leaves. That seed had been there for a long time. "Whaf kind of mafif if thaf?" Natsu's mouth was full of berries by then…

"U-U-Um…" Seph stuttered, taking a couple of steps away and rubbing at her arm a bit. It felt a little itchy… What could she tell him? "J-Just… s-so-omething…"

"Whatever it is, it's pretty helpful. For Natsu, at least…" Lucy stated, in which Seph felt her cheeks heat up as she shook her head. It wasn't, not really. Not right now, with her being so anxious and secretive…

After more walking and a talk between Yukino and Natsu, where she thanked him over something Seph didn't know had happened, the underground started to rumble, rocks falling from the ceiling and the ground shaking from underneath their feet. Carla found a crevice a little bit ahead, somewhere that had cracked open from the rumbling, and they would've been just small enough to fit through. Lucy had a bit of trouble, having Natsu help with pulling her out, but otherwise they had gotten through pretty much okay.

However, after a moment, Wendy had managed to find someone over the small ledge they were standing on… it was a man and he looked quite injured for some reason. It was like he had been attacked… Apparently, he was the Arcadios she had been hearing about every now and then. He had been dropped in there like they were, except they weren't injured like he was. It didn't take long for him to open his eyes, although he seemed to be suffering immense pain.

"Run…" He choked out, bringing them all into a state of confusion.

Wendy started to heal him, but a voice sounded from behind and they were swung at. Natsu grabbed Arcadios and they all quickly moved out of the way, Carla having to grab at Seph's wrists and pull her a bit so she moved quickly enough. She had been caught off-guard by that… acid! However, after the first man, another one showed up, using some sort of… water magic, perhaps? Seph didn't know, all she knew was that they had all gotten caught up in it and she ended up in a pile with Happy on the bottom, Lily underneath her, and Carla on top of her.

A horrifying plant grew up behind them and confetti papers flew around the air, revealing two women. Seph had read about this, but she didn't think it was true… an independent unit that supported the kingdom of Fiore from the shadows… they were the kingdom's strongest executioners, the Garou Knights.

A moment of silence passed before Natsu suddenly started bursting out laughing, confusing all of them once again. At a time like this, really…?

"Oh, sorry, but these losers don't look anything like knights!" Natsu pointed out and from her defensive stance before, Seph found herself standing normally. That… was true.

"Their outfits don't match at all…" Wendy added shamefully. Seph shouldn't have, but she found herself letting out a small snort, much like the one from earlier. It earned her a glare or two, but she actually didn't care for once. Maybe she was just getting into the Fairy Tail mind-set…

"Don't be fooled by their appearance!" Arcadios warned them, gaining their attention. "The magic they use is designed to kill people!" That… might have struck a nerve with Seph, but she didn't want to let her guard down by thinking too much and having an episode.

Nonetheless, the others got ready to fight, Yukino and Lucy leading Arcadios away because they didn't have their keys and he was injured badly. Lily had told her, Happy and Carla to step back as well, but Seph didn't really want to. She had magic that she could use to fight… Why shouldn't she fight!? So, she ignored Lily and took her spot at his side, able and ready. She was Laxus' partner, she couldn't soil his name by being weak in front of some executioners whether they were the kingdom's strongest or not. The women stepped forward first, which made Natsu a little mad and he declared that he could take them both on by himself. Their names were Cosmos and Kamika…

Natsu was an idiot, giving the fire papers more fire to mess with and then allowing them to punch him down after saying that he was going to eat them… His element wasn't paper, fire or not! Wendy joined him to give him support, blowing the papers and the fire away with her roar. It was better to wait and see what the other side did first before attacking… The one with the hat, Cosmos, controlled plants, but Happy was wrong when he said that Seph controlled plants as well. She didn't… She just… Her magic was… unique.

Kamika blocked their sight with yellow paper, bright light, and then Cosmos grabbed Wendy and Natsu with her plants. They seemed to be in a tight spot, but they got themselves out of it as soon as possible and managed to take a stand once again. However, the lead of the knights, it seemed, sent in his two men. Mira and Lily immediately took off and Seph was torn for a moment before summoning her wings and flying after Lily. He might've needed a little more support than Mira…

Uosuke and Neppa were their names, and Uosuke used an attack that threw all of them back much like before, giving Neppa time to go after Lily. He swung his fist cloaked in Acid Magic at Lily, but Seph managed to focus and make a shield out of light to repel it pretty well.

"That was a damn powerful force!" Lily yelled when he got his feet on the ground, the pressure from Uosuke's attack having dismissed Seph's wings and bringing her to stand on the ground again as well. Mira had ended up with them because of Uosuke, but that was honestly quite alright with Seph. "Thank you for blocking that, Seph."

"I-It wasn't a pr-problem…" Seph replied, rubbing at her arm again.

"We can't let ourselves get close to him!" Mira told them, in which Seph hummed a bit and gave her a nod. Neppa merely laughed down at them, though.

They got a little distracted by Cosmos catching Wendy in a carnivorous plant, in which Mira took the job of going to go and save Wendy, leaving Seph and Lily behind again to deal with Neppa. Well, this was great…

"Don't count your chickens!" Neppa laughed at them, in which Lily raised his sword. Seph felt dumb for not recognizing Lily's battle form before, but didn't dwell on it.

"Come and get me with your colors!" Lily challenged, and Seph swallowed heavily while getting into a defensive stance all over again.

"I-I'll support you…!" She told him, gaining a stern nod in response although Neppa had come flying at him. He merely blocked with his sword, kicked Neppa in the stomach to stun him and then knocked him back with his elbow. He could do well on his own, but Seph couldn't help but worry… especially since Cosmos aimed for Lucy, Yukino and Arcadios.

"Seph, switch!" Lily suddenly yelled to her, catching her off-guard for a moment before she realized that she was taking over with fighting Neppa whilst he went to help the two women and the man. She only had to block and dodge, so it wasn't too hard even for her size until Lily got back. "Thank you. It seems like we have an all-out battle now."

Seph paused before quickly nodding, feeling a sudden overwhelming happiness that he trusted her with that… and with standing at his side like she was equal to him. She had obviously gotten distracted, as the next thing she knew, little purple confetti papers were sticking to her and paralyzing her. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get them off or move. Cosmos grew a huge, carnivorous plant, which started to suck them in since they couldn't move properly, but Wendy managed to heal them of the Anomalous Conditions magic and Natsu, Mira and Lily teamed up to destroy the plant since they were already in the air. Seph had managed to ground herself, almost literally, and only found herself flying off when the plant was destroyed and the explosion was too strong for her to think properly.

The next moment, she found herself being pulled out of a pile of rocks by Lily, the both of them having been separated from the rest of the group from the explosion and Neppa was somehow still with them. Gosh, Seph would need to wash up later or something… She was covered in dust and dirt from the rubble… and she needed to stop getting distracted, Lily was fighting without her.

"Magic acid is a pain in the ass. I can't defend against it with my sword!" Lily complained, looking a little more beat up than before. This wasn't too good, huh…

"My acid can melt anything! Soon enough, that sword will be a puddle!" Neppa declared before Lily suddenly grabbed Seph and made a mad dash to a hiding spot. What was he doing!? "You don't know when to give up! But prepare yourself… for execution!"

Lily threw her over his shoulder, making a motion along the lines of "hold on tight" before rushing back out and trying to swing down at Neppa with his sword from behind, but the human man somehow dodged it. It was hard for Seph to hold on, but she managed to do so no matter how many sudden movements Lily made.

"Even when you're at a disadvantage, you should use it to your advantage!"

Lily had almost hit Neppa, but the man made a counter attack very quickly and threw the both of them back, Seph ending up finally losing her grip and ending up on the ground not too far from where Lily had landed. This wasn't good… They'd actually get executed at this point…

Her point was made when she and Lily had to dodge again, but Lily got caught up in it and went flying back-first into a wall that cracked under the pressure of his body.

"Lily!" She yelled out without thinking, rushing over to him and starting to use her healing magic. She wouldn't be able to for long, but she had to as much as she could… just before Neppa attacked again.

"You're a tough couple of kitty-cats; the perfect punching bags!" Neppa told them, which made Lily scowl as he got to his feet again ever so slowly despite Seph trying to keep him seated for at least a moment longer.

"We're not kitty-cats. We're Exceeds!" Lily countered, getting to his feet with Seph still at his side.

"You lost me." Neppa said. At least he was honest… "But you must've been a soldier before, huh? That's the vibe I get, from you anyways. From the lady…" He seemed to pause, which sent shivers up and down Seph's spine. What about her…? "I don't get much of a vibe except for a strong sense of magic and redemption."

"In any case, what are you gonna do about it?" Lily asked defensively, raising his sword to get ready to strike again.

"It seems like you've both got an obstinate streak. I'm gonna melt that resolve, too!" Neppa responded, in which Seph let out a small "tsk" for the first time in years before Lily went charging forward once again.

"Give it your best shot!" He yelled, seeming absolute at not letting that happen. However, he only got so far before being thrown back, landing in quite a painful position on the ground nearby Seph. She didn't hesitate to run over, but he put up a hand to tell her not the heal him. Why not!?

"Hey, what's wrong? There's nothing my acid can't melt! Or there shouldn't be…" Neppa laughed as Lily dug his sword into the ground and got to his feet again. Even with the little support she was giving him, Seph felt useless… "You're getting up again! It'll totally be worth melting you and your little girlfriend!"

Seph felt her cheeks heat up, glancing up at Lily quickly to see that his cheeks had gone a little pink again, before returning her gaze to Neppa and shaking her head. It wasn't like that, oh gosh, it really wasn't like that! She and Lily were friends, friends, dang it!

"When it comes to trash-talk, you're second-rate." Lily insulted, managing to straighten up once again. He honestly was a soldier, it showed… "During a battle, the more someone blabs, drunk on their own power, the weaker they actually are."

"You're just as long-winded as I am." Neppa told him, but Lily didn't back down. Seph trusted everything Lily said, but she actually… hadn't known that before. It actually relaxed her anxious soul a little bit, even as she thought back on things, because all of them… They always blabbed about their power, so were they weak mentally maybe? Because, physically… Seph had witnessed quite the opposite.

"You melt things that either have no will or are weak-willed. In other words, you can only beat things that are weaker than you. I'm not so weak that I'd lose against someone like that." Lily explained, making Seph actually feel much more protected. He would win, wouldn't he? He definitely wasn't weak.

"I like you!" Neppa laughed, readying his magic again. "And since you put it that way, playtime is over! I'll melt you both in an instant and leave no trace behind!"

Neppa immediately attacked, in which Seph moved to shield them, but the magic from their opponent pushed against her shield and pushed the both of them back into the rocks.

"You can't dodge this, can you? This execution technique, multi-angle acid, is invincible!" Neppa boasted, and Seph got up as quickly as she could, Lily falling behind her.

"… I've just about hit the limit of my battle mode. At this rate…" Lily muttered, worrying Seph a little. She could restore health, but not magic power…

Nonetheless, Lily took a stand and stood on his own two feet without needing her help once again, showing that he wouldn't back down yet, probably not ever. He motioned to her to move back and without questioning it, she moved a couple of feet back to watch him slice straight through Neppa's acid with his sword and attack Neppa head-on, managing to end the fight. Seph paused for a moment before smiling widely and letting out a cheer of relief, really, because the fight was over and they were both okay. It felt like it had been really close, but it also felt like… they had been fine the entire time.

Through the broken wall they climbed and happened to come face-to-face with the others, in which Seph gave am even bigger smile. They were okay!

Now, it was time to get out of here together.