NASHI:

"Hey! Where are we going?" The ice freak shouted as we followed papa through the streets. People were shooting strange looks at me, some even recognizing me from my first run through these streets. I heard them whispering about 'Salamander's kid', but unless papa was called Salamander, I didn't know who they were talking about.

"I'm following Nashi's scent trail. She must've come from wherever Lucy is, so why not trace back?" Papa yelled back. I grinned, happy knowing that he also had a super-sensitive nose. Sometimes it drove me insane, picking up too many scents for me to focus. Maybe he could help me control it better.

My stomach started to hurt sometime after we'd left the town and entered the woods, and Wendy had insisted that we stop so I could take a break and let my stomach fully heal. Papa said he could just carry me, but the monster lady slapped him on the head and said that wasn't the point. He gave in pretty quickly after that.

"But isn't papa right? I mean, the faster we get to mama the faster we can save her." I sat down and let Wendy apply her healing magic to my stomach, but I didn't understand why we had to stop. The monster lady sighed and I bit my tongue. Maybe she'd slice my head off.

"Nashi, if we will have to fight you need to be in top form, right?" She asked slowly, her voice reasonably reasonable. I nodded. Maybe I'd even get to keep my head. "If your stomach hurts, that means you're not in top form, am I right?" I nodded again. "That's why."

"I don't get it." I said flatly, confused by her reasoning. Papa nodded in agreement and the ice freak snorted. I wanted to punch him really badly, but had to settle for a menacing glare in his direction instead.

"Look, squirt, if your stomach starts to hurt too badly for you to fight then you could get captured and mess up the mission. Got it?" The metalface squinted at me. His explanation being much clearer, I nodded in understanding. Charla snorted.

"She really is like Natsu." she said, her voice amused. Wendy agreed and finished off her spell, asking if we'd like to stop for the night. I noticed that the sun had already almost reached the horizon, so I agreed and worked on persuading papa to stay.

"It's only another day of travel, I think. On my way to the guild I was injured so I was slower than we are now." That, coupled with several more reasons, was enough to get him to grumble and agreement.

"Say, Nashi, do you know where Lucy is exactly?" Happy asked me as he flew into my lap. I played with his ear as I thought about it.

"Mama said we were near the Infinity Clock, but I don't know what that means. Do you?" I looked up at the group, suddenly frozen and staring at me. "What?"

"We know." Papa's voice had an odd edge to it, like he was really angry but also sad. They all nodded, faces sinking in a bad memory. Then papa cleared the air with a good-natured punch, aimed at the ice freak. The monster lady turned her back to them as they began another fight, something about the number of monkey-dudes they got last time.

"Nashi, what can you tell us about where Lucy is being held?" Wendy asked gently. I bit my lip, struggling to remember.

"Every week we were hit by some spell that confuses a person's memory, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details." I muttered. Papa stopped the fight and his gaze turned murderous. "What I do know is that it's in some sort of airspace bubble, like a magic pocket. The bubble requires a sacrifice to grant passage, regardless of which direction. Anything and everything could be the stakes, and the only limit is that it has to be on hand. The bubble can't use something it doesn't have direct contact with." I started to shake and couldn't stop. What is had cost me…

~FLASHBACK~

"You, Nashi Dragneel, have requested a passage to the land of Fiore. Are you willing to sacrifice your mother's life?" The voice rang around my head, cold and unfeeling.

"Mama's life? No! That's what I'm trying to save!" I was crying, pleading to an invisible wall. "Besides, you aren't touching her! You can't bargain with her life!"

"So. You have found the single rule. Then, if you destroy this illusion, I will grant you your passage."

~FLASHBACK END~

Papa moved over to me and I fell back against his chest. His arms enveloped me in a warm hug, warmer than mama's. She said my hugs were really warm too. The monster lady and the ice freak, who kept calling each other Erza and Gray, pitched tents and started a campfire with papa's help. They were all waiting for me to get myself together. Wendy applied one more dose of healing magic before hunting down Erza's food case.

"It's okay, Nashi. You don't have to if it's too much." Papa murmured, rocking me back and forth. I shook my head stubbornly.

"No, I'm good." The team pulled in around the fire, all eyes trained on me. I watched the sun's bottom edge touch the horizon and continued. "When I left, the bubble asked me to kill and illusion, which was a copy of mama. I did it because the illusion had no scent, and mama always smells like mama." I swallowed and papa tensed against my back. Erza, the monster lady, picked up my train of thought.

"The sacrifice is meant to throw us off. Make us back down. It's good to know that it's not real." She nodded in approval. I tried to smile, but she was still super scary.

"The people there, the bad guys, they have some sort of magic that can manipulate feelings, emotions, and memories. That's pretty much all I have." I turned and snuggled into papa's warm chest. I think something in Erza's eyes softened, so I guess she wasn't a complete monster after all. We sat in a comfortable silence, each wondering what their sacrifice would be.

Suddenly Wendy tensed, standing up and on full alert. "The air… it's shifting very rapidly." she whispered, drawing everyone's instant attention. "I'd say there is some heavy portal use going on near us." Erza shot up and drew her sword, knocking down three darts from the air. I didn't even have time to blink.

"Everybody up and on full alert. Natsu, stay with Nashi. Don't let her out of your sight." She requipped into an armor that mama had called Heaven's Wheel. Sending her army of sword flying in the direction of the darts' origin, she finished her orders. "Wendy, stick with Natsu. Gray, you're with me. Don't let them separate you!" She took off, following her swords and requipping on the way, the ice freak Gray in tow. Papa grabbed my hand and pulled me away in the other direction.

"If it isn't the Dragneel family. Aren't you missing a very important member?" I froze at the sound of his voice, the one that had no body to belong to. Papa snarled, a feral sound ripping from his throat. Something inside me stirred, drawn by papa's anger. "Yes, my little girl, why don't you show the Salamander your power? Why don't you let it go?" The invisible man's voice prodded the thing inside, annoying it. I desperately tried to calm it, knowing what would happen if I let it rage. A wave of gray swirls spread out across my vision, blocking out my sight.

"N-no… No!" I grabbed my head, trying to shake off the swirling memories. It was the spell again, the same one they used at the prison. Pain sliced across my skull, shattering any stability into a million pieces. The thing jerked awake, deadly growls burning through my body. In a haze of red I saw papa grabbing my shoulders, yelling something. Wendy sent Sky Dragon magic out into the woods around us, trying to find the source of the voice. Happy was pulling on my sleeve while Charla had taken on her warrior form and was keeping guard on Wendy's back, stopping the occasional dart. I was out of my body, floating above the scene and unable to do anything but watch. Tears ran down my cheeks, in real life as well as in my floating form. I knew what would happen: I'd told myself it wouldn't happen again. Looks like that was one promise I was unable to keep.

"I'm sorry, mama, papa."