Crimzon: Well, here is chapter 3. Thank you so much for the reviews everyone and also, I just realized an error in the last chapter haha. When the bartender was showing (as one of you put) character X the map, I meant to put 'road' not 'rode.' Haha, my bad. It was one in the morning when I was at that part and I was half asleep. Thankyou for pointing that out, ShiningStellar. Anyways, please read and review and I OWN NOTHING!

~The Price to Remember~

~General POV~

Do you remember me, Lucy? Thought the mysterious girl as she stood outside Fairy Tail's gates. She took a step forward then stopped when she realized something. She's not here. She looked around, wondering where her old friend could have gone.

"Excuse me, are you new here?" a soft shy voice asked her. She turned and saw a small girl with long blue hair with two cats following her.

"Yes actually. Um, I'm looking for someone named Lucy, did she just leave?" she asked. Wendy looked at her with curiosity, wondering who she was. Charlie got a weird vibe from this mysterious person and answered her question before Wendy could get the chance.

"Yes, she left. We don't know where though." With that said, Charlie turned, pulled Wendy by her sleave and walked back into the guild.

At the moment, the girl could only think of one thing, that cat just talked. With that aside, she just wanted to make sure Lucy wasn't there. That cat was suspicious of her and obviously didn't want her to know where Lucy was. There's just one thing, she already knew where she is. With a smile, she turned away from the guild and walked in the direction of the train station.

~On the Train~

~Lucy's POV~

"Do you remember?" It was that voice again. I looked around and I was back in the very place I feared to be in: the darkness.

"Who are you?" I asked the voice, fear dripping with every word.

"Shouldn't you know?" the voice asked.

"Know I don't. Why not clear things up for me?" I asked, feeling a cold shiver go down my spine.

"You truly don't remember . . . maybe it's better this way."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" panic rose in my voice.

"Keep your friends close, Lucy . . ." Slowly, it's words echoed as it vanished completely, leaving me alone in the dark in full panic mode. Next thing I know, sadistic laughter filled the air around me. The noise was deafening and I felt my knees buckle from under me.

"Stop it . . . stop it . . . STOP IT!" I awoke with a gasp as I found myself on the train. It took me a while to realize that Erza, Gray and Happy had been calling my name. Natsu was, of course, unconcious.

"You were yelling in your sleep, Lucy." Stated Happy.

"Mind telling us what is going on with you?" questioned Gray. Erza gave me that serious look that scared the hell out of me. I let out a shaky sigh and clenched my fists.

"I keep having nightmares," I blurted.

"What kind of nightmares?" asked Happy. He flew over to sit on my lap.

"That's the thing . . . I don't know."

"Well, can you tell us what happens in them?" asked Erza. I looked down at my lap, letting my hair cover my eyes. Why cant I just say it?

"Lucy?" murmured Gray. I let out a sigh and just when I was about to say it, the train's whistle blew, making me jump.

"Looks like we're here," stated Erza. She looked back at me with worry and shook her head.

"You can tell us when you're ready to. For now, let's to the job. Hopefully it'll help you get your mind off it." I smiled at the mage.

"Thank you, Erza." Deep down, I was disapointed that I couldn't just let it out, but further down than that, I was glad that I didn't say anything. Why? Why is that?

As we got off the train, we made our way into town in search of the person that had put of the request. Gray had to carry Natsu the whole way considering he was still half-dead. Erza didn't say another word to me since the train and that worried me. Gray was too busy complaining about carrying Natsu while Happy was being his usual self and trying to lighten the mood.

"Looks like this is it," murmured Erza. All of our mouths dropped open at the sight of the giant mansion in front of us. Well that explains why the reward is so high for an heirloom. We were welcomed in by an old looking butler that eyed us suspiciously. Then, after practically getting lost, we were greeted in the room which they called the sitting area. An old woman introduced herself to us then asked us to sit down.

"My name is Elizabeth. I'm so thankful that you fine mages are helping me recover what I lost."

"You're welcome. Now, can you tell us a little more about our job?" asked Erza, taking full control. Natsu was just waking up as the conversation began.

"Yes, of course. What you are looking for is a ring. You see, my beloved husband died almost three months ago and that ring is all I have left of him."

"On the request, you said it was an heirloom?" asked Gray. Elizabeth nodded.

"Yes, that ring was passed down in my husband's family for generations. When we were young, that was the ring that he proposed to me with." She had a far off stare as she said that.

"I see, how did you come to lose it?" asked Erza.

"After my husband died, I would often go on long walks and let my mind wander. I would somehow find myself far outside the town and most recently, I found myself inside a cave and, I'm not sure what, but something inside that cave frightened me. As I was leaving, I felt hat something had slipped around my hand and my ring fell off, rolling deeper into the cave. I tried to retrieve it myself, but whatever had frightened me had tried to attack me and I had no choice but to escape." She had begun crying and had a handkerchief held up against her eyes. I looked over to my friends and saw the look of seriousness in their eyes.

"It is a good thing you escaped when you did. Don't worry, we'll get your precious ring for you." Smield Erza as she stood up in her confidant stance and started for the front door.

"We'll be back soon with your ring, Elizabeth-san." I smiled at her as well as I followed Erza and the guys to the door.

~With Elizabeth~

"They have left, Elizabeth-sama." The old woman's butler, Theo, had walked into the room.

"Yes . . . they did." A mischievous smile spread across her wrinkled face.

~At the cave~

"So this is the cave huh? Alright, I'm feeling all fired up!" Natsu chuckled to himself.

"Aye!" agreed Happy.

"Just try not to screw everything up, Natsu," sighed Gray as he began to make his way in the cave. I smiled at the two and started following them in when I realized Erza hadn't said anything or even attempted to make a move.

"Erza?" I asked, looking back at her. It looked like she was in a transe and once I said her name, she seemed to snap out of it.

"Huh? Oh, right," she said as she walked into the cave. I stared at her in disbalief. What the hell just happened? I realized that I was all alone now and I felt a familiar shiver down my spine. Getting that voice in my head that says, "Get the hell away" kicked in and I rushed into the cave like a maniac.

~Not far from the cave~

"Hmph, so this is where you are. I should probably hurry and stop them before . . ." the mysterious girl stopped herself from saying another word. Ending her sentence with a smile was enough as she ran into the cave after Lucy.

~With Lucy in the cave~

"So, you guys have any idea where to start looking?" I asked, hugging myself. I don't know if it's just me or what but it was freezing in here! I looked at them and saw that they seemed just fine . . . nothing can stop them, not even the freezing cold. As we continued walking further into the cave, we reached a fork in the tunnel.

"Hmm, Natsu, you Happy and Lucy go down that way. I'll go with Gray this way," ordered Erza as she grabbed gray by the collar of his white coat and dragged him away, all the while he cried for freedom. Natsu, Happy, and I waved bye to him with pitty.

~With Natsu, Happy and Lucy~

"So, what do you think this ring looks like?" asked Natsu as we kept our eyes to the floor.

"Gee, I duno, maybe a ring?" I responded sarcastically.

"What's got your underwhere in a twist?" stated Natsu, annoyance in his tone.

"Sorry, I just don't feel right. The faster we find the ring, the quicker we get the hell out of here." This cave was beyond creepy and the cold wasn't helping either. I felt myself shaking all over. It's dead quiet for a moment and next thing I knew, I felt something warm cover my shoulders. I looked back and saw that Natsu had given me his red coat that he was wearing on the train.

"Here, wear that for now." He said, avoiding eye contact. I felt my face glow a bright red and just when I think that I cant get any redder, Happy flies up by my head and does what I absolutly hate.

" He lllllllllllllllllikes you!" he purred, rolling his toung.

"Don't do that!" I snapped at him.

"Shh!" I looked over at Natsu who had walked ahead of us.

"What is it, Natsu?" I asked, hugging his coat closer.

"Something's not right." And right as he says that, he flinches and flies back at me, knocking me to the ground along with Happy. Before I could yell at him, I noticed that shadow like tendrils flew past right where I would have been standing. Like always, Natsu rescues me. Helping me up and taking a protective stance, he snarls and clenched his fists.

"What the hell was that?"I stuttered. Natsu stays silent, probably listening for when that thing decides to attack again. I felt Natsu back up against me, causing me to take a step back as well.

"Lucy take Happy and go get the others. I'll distract it," whispered Natsu. What? Why? Before I could respond and complain, he looked over his shoulder at me and his eyes shut me right up. Without a word of complain, I started walking back slowley. Not even five feet away, I felt something cold and clamy wrap around my ankle and pull, causing me to fall. "Lucy!" Natsu yelled, only for him to get hit from behind. Another one of those tendrils was wrapped around Natsu was was swinging him around like a rag doll. I had to do something! I reached for one of my keys, only to find that they had fallen out from the small holdster were just out of my reach. Happy noticed this and attempted to go and get them, but another tendril appeared and wrapped around him as well, knocking him into the cave wall and he was knocked out. Natsu was stuggling to free himself from it's grasp. Without anything left to do, he bit down with his teeth and the tendril let him go. The first thing he did was hit his fists together and they were covered in red flames.

"Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" he yelled as he punched at the tendrils that came his way. At the last second, I realized that that was nothing but a mere distraction. I saw dozens more pass Natsu and come at me. I attempted to get to my feet and try for my keys, but the one still wrapped around my ankle kept me in place. A few others came and wrapped around my other ankle and then my wrists. I was on my back, staring up at the cave ceiling and dozens of those things were aiming right for me. I could hear Natsu's franctic calls as he tried to make his way to me, but he wasn't going to make it. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain for when they stabbed me, but it never came.

"Wow Lucy, you changed. Never would you have let something this weak get to you." A voice, familiar . . . but at the same time, it wasn't. I opened my eyes and saw a girl standing in front of me, a gold transparent wall-like barrier was what was keeping the tendrils at bay. Long silver hair and bright gold eyes. She was looking at me over her shoulder with a sarcastic smile.

"Geez, what's happened to you, Lucy?" she looked at me as if she has known me all my life. I looked back at Natsu and he had confusion all over his face. I shrug my shoulders and turned back to the mysterious girl before us.

"Who are you?" was all I was able to say. Her eyes widened and she sighed as she turned back to the monster.

"I had a feeling this is how it would play out . . . I was really hoping that feeling was wrong."

Crimzon: well, this was a pain. Yes, I stayed up 'till fuckinf 2 in the morning finishing this. Better damn well review people! By the way, the coat jacket thing that Natsu lent Lucy was the one he wore in the first episode of Fairy Tail.

Happy: It's technically Sunday so you broke your promise.

Crimzon: For your information, I never used the words, 'I promise.'

Happy: It was implied.

Crimzon: Was not! Anyways, please review and I hope you enjoyed this chappie!

Happy: Aye Sir!