"Has anyone seen Rose?!" Lucy demanded, breathless. They all shook their heads.

"No," Erza said.

"Why?"

"I can't find her anywhere!" Lucy exclaimed, "She's not in her room!"

"What?!"

"I don't think that Rose-san would've just left without telling one of us," Wendy said.

"And all her stuff is still in her room," Lucy added. Natsu walked to Rose's room and opened the door. He sniffed around.

"Someone else was here," he concluded. The other dragon slayers nodded.

"Did someone… take her?!"

"Natsu-san!" Wendy cried, pointing to something on the ground.

"What's that?" Natsu said. Sting picked it up.

Dear Pesky Guild Mages, it read.

We have taken your friend. Don't worry, we're not taking her hostage, she has something we want. If she's still alive after we're done with her, you can have her back.

"She… has something they want?" Jura wondered.

"Does this have something to do with her magic?"

"If she's still alive?!" Sting dropped the paper and dashed out the door.

"Sting!" Rogue called after him, shaking his head, and shot after him.

Rose woke up in an unfamiliar place. Where… am I? She tried to move only to find that she couldn't move. Her hands and feet were bound by strange metal cuffs and wires were attached all over her body.

"She's awake," a voice said from the corner of the room.

"Wher-where am I?" Rose croaked.

"It matters not," the voice replied.

"What do you want with me?!" she demanded, struggling to get out of the cuffs. Heaven's- she stopped in surprise.

"That's right," the voice said, "cuffs made specially for mages like you. You'll find that you won't be able to use any magic with them on." Rose inwardly groaned So much for breaking out of here… "As for what you want with you," the voice continued, "I'm sure you know, Rose of the 7th Gate." Rose's eyes widened in surprise, how do they know?

"You.-you want that?" she gasped, "NO! You have no idea how much-"

"I do," the voice said, "that is exactly what i plan."

"No!"

"The process has already started."

"I won't let you! I'll-"

"What?" the voice mocked, "You can't do anything Gatekeeper, this is beyond your control." Rose fell silent, knowing what he said was true. Suddenly, she felt an excruciating pain.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she cried, her back arching from the pain. The voice laughed humorlessly.

"My apologies for the pain," it said, "you see, the extraction process can be quite painful. In fact, it is likely that you won't survive."

A tear trickled down Rose's cheek as she realized how hopeless it was. She cursed herself for being so careless. Everyone, she thought, please… don't come after me, I would rather die than have one of you be hurt….

"STING! STOP!" Rogue yelled, finally catching up to the White Dragon Slayer. Sting turned around

"What?"

"Wait up!" Rogue panted, "You can't go in alone, if you kill yourself, it's not going to help anyone!" Sting began to argue, then realized the truth behind Rogue's words.

"Okay," he relented, and the duo headed back to the others.

"Can you follow her scent?" Erza asked the dragon slayers. They all nodded.

"Let's go then," Lucy said.

"AAHHHHHHH!" Rose screamed.

"Don't worry," the voice, who had now revealed itself to belong to a strange man, "it's almost over." No… Rose thought. I… can't let this happen, but, what can I do? She didn't even have enough energy to move.

"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!" a voice came over the loudspeakers, could it be… them? The man quickly ran out of the room.

Sting and Rogue quickly took out a dark mage together. Sting walked up and grabbed the man.

"Where is she?!" he demanded. The man glared at him.

"Why should I tell you? Legal guild scum," he retorted. Sting gave him a good punch.

'Tell… me… WHERE IS SHE?!" he roared, making the man's eyes widen in fear.

"She… she's in the first room on the left after you turn right," he stuttered, "I heard the extraction process is almost done."

"WHAT?!"

The man laughed, "You don't know?" Sting growled impatiently. "Okay, okay. Apparently this girl is the seventh gatekeeper of Hell."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that the 7th and most powerful demon of Hell is sealed inside of her," the man explained, "that's why she was given such a powerful and special magical ability."

"And you guys are trying to unleash that thing?!" Sting demanded, and started to dash off, before Rogue caught his arm.

"Hold on," he said. Sting looked impatiently at him.

"What is it?"

"Something doesn't make sense," Rogue said, "if she's that powerful, how come just one guy could have taken her out?" The man laughed.

"Did she seriously not tell her anything?!" he cackled, "Your friend, even without our help, has been dying."

"What?!"

"Everytime she uses her magic, it clashes with the demon inside of her, burning her insides until she dies. When she dies, the demon will die with her." The two dragon slayers stared in horror.

"That's why she kept on coughing up blood?" Rogue commented, Sting however was already dashing down the hall.

Rose heard footsteps approach her cell. On her right, it read that the extraction process was almost complete.

"Rose!" she heard, as Sting burst into the room. She stared in shock.

"What… are you doing here?!" she demanded, Sting, however, ignored her.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ANYONE YOU WERE DYING?!" he demanded. Rose looked down.

"I… couldn't bring myself to tell anyone," she admitted, "I didn't want you guys to worry… there's nothing that can be done. It is the sacred duty of the Gatekeeper." Sting grabbed her by the shoulders, tears in his eyes.

"I WON"T…" he cried, "LET YOU LEAVE ME!"

"Sting…" a tear slid down Rose's cheek.

"1 MINUTE UNTIL COMPLETION," the machine interrupted. Rose frantically looked around.

"Sting!" she ordered, "Get these cuffs off of me." Suddenly, another set of footsteps came down the hall. Rogue? Sting thought. But to Rose's surprise it was her captor.

"It's no use," he chided, "even if you do take the cuffs off, the wires won't work."

CLINK With a thud, the cuffs dropped to the ground.

"THIRTY SECONDS," the machine warned. With no warning, the man took Sting and pinned him against the wall, holding a knife against his throat.

"Give up Gatekeeper," the man warned, "or I'll slit your boyfriend's throat."

!

What do you think?!

Sooo many things were revealed in this chapter,

I hope it makes sense.

If you have any questions,

leave 'em down below.

Sorry (not really) for the cliffhanger ending...

I'll update soon,

I promise!

Thanks for your reviews!

Remember to follow and review!

Thanks for reading~

-Zingy ^^

p.s. I'm planning on making this a trilogy... what do you think? XD