Yeah. I am fulfilling my promise. Here is chapter 3! Round of applause! *sounds of crickets echo around her*

Huff... how unenthusiastic of you guys. Anyways, brace yourselves for badass traps, unravelling mysteries and... horror. *boo!* Aaaaand please someone explain me the concept of beta-ing. I only proofread my stories and always feel something is missing or something is really lame and stupid in this part. If anyone can help, please PM me.

So... on with the story!

Disclaimer: I no own. Property of Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 3: Ruins and Traps

"... Whoa"

"... That's"

"Huge!"

Team Natsu was standing in front of the remnants of the mansion. By judging the structure and design of the place, this surely used to be a piece of architecture. Unfortunately it was gravely destroyed. Judging from the destruction, the mansion was blasted off from left top corner and somehow, the ground floor barely survived. The roof collapsed a long time ago. You can yawn. I bet you got bored. I did.

Erza opened the huge carved doors and stepped inside, others following her. "This is absurd. How the whole floor was destroyed and only this part survived the destruction?" she said.

"You are right. According to the guide book, it consisted of four floors. It is nearly impossible for this part of the floor to survive when those four collapsed on it and nearly destroyed the other parts," said Lucy.

"What do you mean?" said Happy. I had to give him some dialogue.

"I mean that maybe... the protective runes start from this area."

"Hmm. That's right." Gray said. "This means all we have to do now is... search for the least destroyed area among these without touching anything and..."

"...we will find the way to the treasure."

As soon as Lucy said the word "treasure", a silent hum spread around the group. They could sense magic energy activating around them. "Disperse!" said Natsu, but too late. They were already surrounded by runes. "Oh shit... Happy! Wait for us here! Don't follow us!"

Suddenly the floor underneath them disappeared and they were falling down into the abyss, with Happy disappearing from their sight. Gray created an ice slide and they were able to land safely, thanks to him. They had landed in a cave. Well, a long corridor to be exact, with endless darkness on both sides. Natsu tried to step forward when they heard a voice, "For years have people tried, for long have they struggled. Lives were lost. Hopes were crushed. All this was for the long lost treasure. Once you enter, you cannot get away. You cannot get out. The only way to do so is to either complete the game... or die."

Insert a dramatic silence.

"Seeker, you have two paths. The path of the past is the path you seek. The other one is where you meet your end."

"What does that mean?" said Natsu. Silence. "Hey! This is not fair! You cannot leave us like this, you weird voice!" he lighted his arm. "Come here and let me burn you into-", "N-Natsu..."

"What do you want Lu- wh-what is this?!" In front of him laid two skeletons, in old-fashioned dresses. A thin layer of skin covered them and... well, they were dead.

"G-Guys, I don't want to be here. This place even feels wrong."

"No, we can't Lucy. It's either we live or die. We have to complete this stupid game," said Natsu.

"But, But..." she collected herself. It was no use complaining now. "I think we should take the side... this clearly screams of dead people," she then said after a pause.

"Hmm..." said Erza. "I think you are-" "No." Gray cut in. "What do you mean?" "I mean that that creepy voice said "the path of the past". Shouldn't that mean that we are supposed to seek a path which has something old? And those corpses don't seem to be in their childhood."

"Well, now that you said so, it does make sense. I mean, those corpses might just be to fool us." Lucy said.

"Meh, I don't get anything but let's believe the ice block this time then." Natsu said. All of them turned to Erza.

"Hmm... Let's believe you this time. Natsu, lead the way." Erza said.

"Okay! Treasure, here we come!"

As they continued on their path filled with dead bodies, they realised one thing. These were the bodies of the missing archaeologists and, by the emblem, Wizards. Some of them were even familiar. Soon, the mysterious voice boomed again, "The first trail was passed with the frost on the lead. Eighty percent in this test, failed to exceed. Others who passed were rare, but evil everywhere."

A barrier of runes appeared in front of them.

"The filth is within, slowly tainting the whole being. Only few slipped away, others found in the preceding way."

"That's it? What would that mean now?" said Erza.

"Does that mean only evil people can pass through? We are not evil, right? This means we are joining the friends behind us?" said Gray. They shuddered at the thought.

"No... This has deeper meaning." Lucy said. "If any person came here, it was for the treasure. The ones lying behind looked like either archaeologists or soldiers. I think the soldiers were oblivious of what they were doing here, so they could be considered 'clean'. And probably the archaeologists were too... no. I bet normal people might have passed by and were trapped here... hmm..." she thought for a moment, then, "Yes! That's right! The darkness within... this probably means the past! As in the first clue! This means the person with the not-so-pleasant past..."

She went over the barrier and lifted up her hand. "Be careful, Lucy!" She moved it forward, slowly. Soon her finger tip was millimetres away. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and passed through!

"D-did I do it guys?"

"Yeah! Sugoi, Lucy!" Slowly, one by one, they all passed through. But the celebration was short lived.

"And another success, because of the princess. What lies ahead is the path for death. Turn around or read between the lines. Find the reason or face the fate"

"What lies ahead is the way of creation. With iron would come eternal damnation. Only the fit, only the strong, will be able to pass along."

"Yes! Finally some action!" said Natsu. Yes, he was listening. "I am all fired up! Come out and fight me!" and he stared to run ahead. Thankfully he lit his hand for light, or else he would have been difficult to track.

As they followed Natsu, they heard faint clicking noises. And suddenly, Erza gasped in realization, "Natsu, stop!" Hearing her scary voice, he abruptly stopped. And he was just saved from falling into the abyss which was just spontaneously created.

Everyone stood still. The clicking sounds kept on increasing when suddenly, "GET DOWN!" Gray shouted. As soon as he said it, an arrow flew past him, grazing his shoulder. They all ducked as more arrows flew above them. Finally, it stopped.

They all stood up, Erza saying, "Metalwork. Weapons. It explains the riddle. Though I am still concerned about the former lines."

And by this, they had passed the third test.

"Humph. This is not fair!" Natsu whined.

"What is it now, flamehead?" said Gray.

"This is not fair! This mission was supposed to be s-class, assuming the mission was real. But all this was too easy! I expected some real action! This is just solving petty puzzles, and walking on the 'path of death'! This is stupid."

The group abruptly stopped, Natsu turning back to look at their pale faces. "What happened?"

Lucy broke the silence. "You are right. Drake Emzorde, apart from his dark works, was famous for his great skill in rune magic. If I am not wrong, he might have been even stronger than Freed. If he was really that desperate to save his treasure, he surely would have created something better than this. Even Freed can create runes better than this"

"Yeah. We didn't even get to have a proper fight. All we did was solve the riddles. There is supposed to be something more to this.

"You are right," said Gray. "Something is really missing here. It is something even deeper... darker... This is not right. 'Read in between the lines', dig the deeper meaning. Is... is it really the treasure we were supposed to seek? In the start, the voice said 'seek the long lost treasure'. If it is lost, what are we seeking? W-what is going on? W-what have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Gray..." said Natsu.

Suddenly, the voice boomed, the mysterious voice of the Mystique Mansion. "Queen got you the weapon, but late. But fire within just changed your fate. You cracked the code, the code of the mansion. You get the treasure, with just one last selection."

And with that, everything turned black.

And there! Don't wait for the next chapter, guys! It's a long way to go. You might get to have one if I get time, but till then, don't be very optimistic.

Hope you guys won't kill me for the cliffy. Love you all who followed and reviewed! Don't forget to share your views with me.

See ya soon!

Ja`ne