Lucy POV

I let out a blood curdling scream as Zeref idly brought my whip across my skin of my back for the thousandth time. At first, I didn't make a sound, but then Kyouka was ordered to use her sensation curse to heighten my ability to feel pain every three minutes. For a moment the crack of the whip stopped and the voice of my captor took its place.

"Have you had enough yet, sweet little Lucy?"

"Who would have known that Zeref had a thing for blondes?" I let out a dark chuckle.

Crack.

"No, no. It's nothing as trivial as attraction, sweet Lucy. It's more of… a use for you for my gain." Zeref mused. "Now, if you watch your tongue, we can move past such distasteful beatings and get you all healed up for your battle."

I stayed silent; biting back the long string of swears I had waiting for this son of a bitch.

"Good. Kyouka, take her to the Core."

"Yes, Master Zeref."

I felt my senses become numb as Kyouka gestured for Silver to bring me to what Zeref called the Core. I felt him barely pick me up as he gave me a small smile. It was full of warmth, much like my mother had before she died. I was barely holding onto consciousness as I watched him mouth three little words to me, "you'll be okay".

Was he on our side? Come to think of it, I had no idea what his curse was and the thing that scared me the most was that he looked like an older version of Gray. I wanted Laxus to hold me in his arms and whisper reassurances in my ear, not watch this Gray-looking demon try to tell me that everything will be alright for me. I wanted my boys, hell I even wanted to hold Gray and Natsu! I wanted my family, every member of Fairy Tail. Slowly, I did my best to send a thought projection to Makarov and Mavis, begging for them to ally with the other guilds, including Raven Tail. I had barely finished my message before I watched Laxus tear at the rune barriers keeping him contained.

Just as everything was fading to black, I let out a sob as I witnessed my beloved fall like the weak man he wasn't. I was so strong, so why couldn't I stop this from all happening.

I found myself walking along a long, narrow corridor. There were no doors on either side but here was a door at the end. The place had fekt very familiar, almost as though I had spent a lot of my time in this place. Once I reached the door, I turned the knob and stepped into the room.

Inside there was a small room with blood splattered across the floor and walls. Chains dangled from the ceiling and an assortment of weapons lined the walls.

I heard a boy let out a blood curdling scream as it was followed with a man's yelling.

"It's your fault. It's your fault! You should have been the one! You should have had it than that retched girl" I looked at the two figure that seemed to materialize from no where.

It was Jackal, and Grandfather was hovering over him with a sharp hunter's knife in his hand. I wanted to scream as Grandfather drag the blade across Jackal's leg and up to his hip, ripping another scream from Jackal.

I screamed for Grandfather to stop. He just turned to me with a small smile on his lips. "Come child. We need to punish the weak."

I woke up with my heart beating rapidly. I had to shut my eyes due to the blinding light above me. It took a few minutes before I heard the voice of Jackal yelling, which immediately brought me to my senses, not noticing the head rush that followed me as a quickly sat up. I was quickly pushed back down to the semi-warm surface touched the skin of my back.

Wait…

Where were my clothes?!

I shot back up and looked at my body to see that my female areas were still covered, but I lacked a shirt and pants… I looked around to see Zeref sitting in a chair next to the bed I realized I was laying on. He was awake with a smile of murderous glee on his face.

"Can you hear me?" He asked quietly.

I snarled at him. "Leave me the hell alone." I swung my legs over the side and gently placed each foot on the cool metal floor. Struggling to walk, I made my way to the door planning on leaving Zeref behind, when his voice stopped me.

"Lucy, you've been dead for three months. The only think keeping your body healthy was Hell's Core."

D-dead?

I've been dead? For three months, I've been sitting in this bed in the Core of Hell?

I whipped around to face Zeref. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I joke, sweet Lucy. It's alright. You have merely been healing up in the Core for a couple of days. Though, you might want to observe yourself in the mirror before running around these halls. They say Silver and Tempesta have a thing of two for pretty blondes." He said as he stood from his chair and walked out the door only pausing briefly to summon a mirror to hang on the blank, white wall.

Peering to my reflection, I stared at the spot where the scar I received from Ivan was gone. My skin was flawless. Sitting back down on my bed, I did my best to not cry as I took in my situation. By the way Zeref was talking about Silver and Tempesta, he meant that they were tasked with the duty of making sure I do not escape, which could technically work in my favor. If Silver was on my side, that is. I had no clothes, nor did I have any of my keys. I wish I could summon Acnologia's spirit and use it to try and take control of his own body, eventually breaking him and me out of this prison. I gave a small laugh as I looked how hopeless the situation actually was. I couldn't do anything without anyone's help.

Almost silently, I heard a faint knock on my door. I watched it open and a small girl with rabbit ears enter my room.

"I don't know if you remember me, Lucy-nee, but my name is Lamy."

So enters Lamy!

Sorry I took a week to update, I was busy!

What do you think of this chapter?

Drop me a review, kay?

-Jay