Hey guys, sorry this took so long but I was so busy with Prom and stuff, plus I had writers block!

I'm going to start winding down the story and the end will be soon D: I don't want to finish it but if I drag it on, it will begin to get boring :/

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail (It's magic is credit to the amazing Hiro Mashima), only the my ideas and love for the show.

Chapter 20

It's Hard In Love

Natsu P.O.V

I can hear my heart beat in my head. Thump thump thump. Constant and rhythmic My head pounds with it's beat and I groan at the noise. What happened?

I sit bolt up right, blinking at the pain in my head, and gasp. The fire! My uncle! Where did they go? What happened to everyone? What happened to Lucy? I stare around in shock at the dank cell I sit in.

The walls are black brick and covered in mould; the floor verys imilar only with more mold. I wrinkle my nose and stand up, staggering over to the large wooden door and peering through the small barred window. Outside is a brick corridor, made from the same black brick. Torches flicker, giving a small amount of light to the place.

"Hello? I anyone there?" I call, pressing my face closer to the bars. I ear someone shift. "Please! Where am I?"

A dark chuckle resonates through the hall, followed by a scared whimper. I freeze and my eyes widen. I know that whimper. Lucy. It had to be her. "Lucy!?" I slam against the door, screaming.

"She's not going to answer," a dark voice says, coming closer to the door. Zeref looks at me through the window, smiling. "She can't hear you."

"What do you mean she can't hear me?" I whisper, trying to keep my voice in check. "I can't hear her, so she can hear me."

"No true," he laughs, enjoying this. "It's a sound proof room in some ways. Everyone can hear what's happening inside the room but she can't hear us."

"Magic," I mutter darkly. He nods, laughing.

"Such an amazing thing. Magic, that is," he says, lifting his hand up. A ball of dark matter floats in his palm, glowing slightly. "It's beautiful and deadly." He clenches his hands and pain explodes throughout my body.

Everything goes dark.

Erza P.O.V

"Nothing," Gajeel shouts, bursting into the charred clearing with Levy. "I can't find them anywhere."

"We can't either," Gray mumbles, staggering up to me. His arms are wound around Juvia, who holds him up. He sustained a few injuries during the attack; the worst of which is a slice down his right leg.

"This is insane," Gajeel grumbles, hugging Levy to his side. She sins into his shoulder and I can hear her mutter that it's her fault. "Shrimp, it's not your fault, so be quiet. This is Zeref we're talking about. A dark mage. You couldn't take him. None of us could."

Levy nods but continues to sob into a his shoulder. I stare at her, my eyes brimming with tears. Jellal stands silently beside me and takes my hand, squeezing it lightly. I brace my self and stare at them all.

"We're just going to have to find them," I say. They nod -Levy still crying- and turn to grab our things. I turn to Jellal and smile. "We'll get them back. We have to." He nods and smiles at me, though his eyes are distant. Just like mine probably are.

"Are we going or not?" a voice shouts and I turn to see Adan leaning against a tree, Aine on his back.

"Yes, we're just coming," I say, glaring at him. He simple smirks back and runs off into the trees, Aine laughing. I take Jellal's hand and follow them.

Anila P.O.V

Both my sister and Adan walk ahead, Aine on the older boys back. I smile at them, hoping some day they will get their act together. I want my sister to be happy, especially after all she's done for me.

"Kiss him already," I say to her. She stop laughing and turns to me, glaring. I smile back at her, motioning with my finger. "Go on. I think he'll appreciate it."

"You know can't," she says back, her mental voice just a whisper. I shake my head sadly at her. Every since we where little, Aine had trouble saying how she really felt. It wasn't nerves or anything, she just could get the words out. No matter how much she wished she could.

"Yeah, I know. I can still hope though, right?" I ask, frowning. She nods and turns away, smiling at something Adan said.

"You have to trust her," Kai says, coming over to walk beside me. His hand slips into mine so easily and I sigh contently.

I want to say I know. I want to tell him I worry about her and feel like a burden. But I can't. All I can do is nod or make a gesture. It's all I can ever do. I nod my head at him and he takes his hand from mine, wrapping it swiftly around my waist. I wish we had more time alone together. It feel's right when he's here.

Aine P.O.V

I'm going to kill Anila. I know she's trying to do what's best for me but she needs to stop. She has Kai and that's all the matters. Her happiness was the one thing I wanted and I got it. It's not complete yet, but it's there.

"You've gone pretty quiet," Adan says, turning his head slightly. He freezes when he notices how close I am to him. "E-em, you o-okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, pulling my head back. I stare wide eyes at him, as he turns away and resumes walking. "Just thinking."

"You, thinking? I didn't think you had the capacity to think?" he jokes. I hit him on the head, laughing.

"I didn't think you knew a word like capacity," I giggle. He grumbles and suddenly spins around. I scream out, before laughing. When he stops, I rest my head on his shoulder, willing the world to stop spinning.

"You where saying," he taunts.

"That you're an idiot," I murmur. I lift my head up as he grumbles and find myself staring into his golden eyes. He looks back, causing me to rip my gaze away. What is wrong with me?

"We should keep going," I mumble, looking straight forward. He nods and we keep going.

Anila is right about one thing; I had to sort this out and soon. Or I was going to keep hurting.

Natsu P.O.V

I groan and open my eyes groggily, looking around. My eyes are bleary, so it takes me a while to focus on what in front of me. When I do, I gasp. Lucy lies in a heap not far from me, curled up and bleeding in a number of places. I jump up, ignoring the sudden pain in my head or the throbbing at my ribs, and run towards her. What I did not expect was to collide with something.

I look up from my position in the floor, searching for what I ran into. Weirdly enough, there is nothing there. I stand and walk forward, slowly this time. Again, I clash into something. I stretch my hand out and it flattens against an apparently invisible wall. Ugh, Magic.

"Like it," a voice calls. I turn around to see Zeref leaning against the wall. "It's a little invention of mine. You should be happy. Now you can see you lovely Lucy. Shame it only works one way. She, sadly, cannot see you."

"You-you-you bastard!" I shout, turning around and slamming my fists against the wall- or lack of wall I guess.

"Now, now," he laughs, "there is no need for that kind of language. I believe I was doing you a service."

I say nothing, continuing to beat the wall. He observes me for another few minutes before sighing and pushing away from the wall.

"Well you no fun anymore," he says, sounding almost defeated. "Time to go play with the Princess." I spin around but he's already gone. Only a puff of smoke left behind. I turn around slowly, looking into Lucy's room, and almost sob.

Zeref stand beside her broken body, smiling at me. Slowly, his hand reaches down and he grabs her hair, jerking her upright. Her brown eyes fly open and she screams out in pain. With his other hand, the dark mage gathers a ball of darkness, throwing it at her stomach. Lucy sail through the air, ripped from his grasp, and slams against the opposite wall. Tear's stream from her eyes but she does not scream. Even now, she's still so strong.

"Please," I whisper, sinking to the floor. "Please, stop this." No answer, but the sound of Lucy's sobs.

Lisanna P.O.V

I scout ahead with Elfman and Jellal, looking through the trees. If only I could remember the hide out. When I was possessed I knew where it was; I just had to find it again.

"I think it's this way," I say, turning to the two men. The nod and follow me down a concealed path. I'm pretty sure it's this way; it seems familiar somehow.

"We should go get the others," Jellal says, grabbing my wrist. I nod and he lets go. "You two wait here and I'll get them. They where only a little behind us."

"No need," a voice says. Adan appears through the trees, Aine on his back, and the rest soon follow. "I can feel the vibrations of the earth, so I knew where you where all the time."

"That's a man!" Elfman shouts and I shake my head.

"Right," Adan says warily, letting Aine jump of his back. She looks around, fingers tracing trees and ferns. "Aine, what are you doing?"

"Something isn't right with this place," she whispers. We all turn to look at her wide eyed. "I can feel fire, a lot of it, but it's not normal. It feel almost, well, dark."

"Acnologia?" Gajeel asks, coming over with Levy.

"Possibly," Aine answers, turning to the path I was about to take before they arrived. "It's coming from that way. Well that's where it's source is at least."

"I guess we're going that way," Gray states. I look at him sadly, his weight still mostly on Juvia. He shouldn't be coming with us but he refused to be left behind.

"Yeah, just left Anila try and heal you a bit more first," Kai says, while Ani walks over to the black hair boy. Her hands glow with a pale blue light and she closes her eyes. Eventually she pulls away and smiles, turning to her sister.

"She says that her done," Aine tells us. "He's not fully healed but he's much better."

"Great, not can we go," Gray moans, crossing his arms and standing himself. Well, he seems better.

"Calm it and put on a shirt," Adan laughs. Gray yelps and looks around for his now missing shirt. "You humans are so weird. I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

"Me either," Aine giggles, hoping onto his back again. "Let's go!"

"I'm going, I'm going," he grumbles. "Let's go, you lot."

We follow him into the trees, me first and the others following. The light begins to dim and the branches move closer, blocking us in. It's only a few moments before we reach a clearing, right next to a cliff.

"Is this the place?" Erza asks me. I nod and point to a cave, located in the center of the cliff. I can hear a low grumble emitting from inside it and shiver. The Black Dragon sleeps in there.

"How are we going to get past him?" Levy whimpers. I turn to see her clutching Gajeel's arm, while he pulls her close.

"Leave that to us," Kai says, turning to face the cave. The other three Guardians stand beside him. "We can distract him, just get ready to run."

"Juvia hopes you will be careful," Juvia calls after them, keeping her voice low.

"Don't worry, Juvia," Aine says. "Fire can't hurt fire." She grins and they walk into the cave, each of their bodies emitting a light.

"Good luck," I whisper, as they disappear.

Well? Good? Bad? All right? R&R and let me know :D Longer than I thought it would be but oh well :D

Till Next time guys :)