Erza reached out for the screen, somehow hoping that her thoughts would reach Lucy across the distance. It had been a long time since she had felt this hopelessly insecure, and the red haired mage hated it. She was Erza Scarlet, and it was her sworn duty to protect her precious people, and yet here she was, in absolutely no position to assist. Every breath was taking Lucy closer to the enemy, and no matter what the red haired mage said, it would not reach her teammate. Erza let her arm fall back to her side limply, her eyes beginning to water in frustration.

A general sense of disbelief was shared among the group of mages as they watched their blonde friend take the hand of the dark haired man. He pulled her in close, whispering something that the lycrima was unable to pick up on, while winding an arm around Lucy's delicate frame. The worst of all was that the smile on the blonde's face never faltered. She was radiant and seemed to be giving her host every opportunity to take her life right then and there.

Silence presided over the scene as the young man lead Lucy away from the cage, back toward the heavy oak doors at the other end of the hall. The choking sounds that exploded from Bastion were a clear indication that something was wrong. His words were garbled but his message was easy to understand, 'Don't go with him!'.

On the other screen nothing but flames were visible as they sparked with an electrical current. Gray found himself staring at the scene in absolute fascination, or possibly terror, he couldn't be one hundred percent sure which he was feeling at the moment.

After a while the sounds of screaming could be heard over the crackling of the fire. A feminine voice was calling out for Natsu to come back to his senses. The voice was strained from the effort of reaching a volume above the roar of angry flames, and thick with emotion. It didn't take long to place the voice as their solid script mage. It was obvious that Levy was at her breaking point, and that her magic wouldn't be able to hold up against the assault for much longer.

Wendy opened her mouth to voice her opinion on the matter at hand when a loud crashing sound brought the groups' attention to the hall they had descended to get to the hidden chamber.

The group turned in the same moment, unsure of what to expect.

Natsu could feel his consciousness returning to him at last, and realization hit hard as to what he had just accomplished. Zeref, this supposedly supernatural being was gone, and by his hands. There wasn't really time to stop and process what had happened, or to question how things had escalated so far so fast. No, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Levy's screams were becoming thick with what he would later attribute to smoke inhalation. From the sound of it, he had less than five minutes to get to her before she was beyond even his help. The fire mage fought to control the blaze that was sucking all the oxygen from the air around him, hoping that he wasn't right, and that his mind was playing tricks on him. Unfortunately he began to hear the deep throaty cough that she was fighting back, and his hopes were crushed.

How could he possibly get a hold on a fire that he couldn't consume? It was nearly impossible to maneuver flames that were born from his magic once they had left his immediate control. He had to use this newer portion of his brain to come up with something, and he needed to do so as fast as possible.

A thought popped into the fire mage's head, and he quickly used his water magic to fight back the angry flames that were spreading faster by the moment. Natsu could hear Levy more clearly now, and he began to fight his way across the clearing to where she was collapsed.

"Natsu I can't hold out much longer!" The blue haired mage cried as the script she had so carefully written into the dirt started to smoke. Natsu cleared a patch of intense golden flames, and could finally see his friends. Levy looked as though she would loose consciousness at any moment, but even still the small mage had managed to shield the others from the angry flames that were lapping at the invisible barrier.

"Almost there Levy, just hold on a bit longer!" Natsu's eyes were wide with worry, but he kept his focus on the task at hand. He skillfully put out the last of the flames, and sent a breath of ice wind towards his companions to make sure they wouldn't get burnt by the super heated air that circulated around them once the barrier came down.

The look of terror that clouded the small blue haired mage's eyes rocked Natsu deeper than he would ever admit to. The fact that her body was shaking even though she had wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a visible effort to make herself stop, stopped the fire mage in his tracks. His mind began to wander, trying to figure out what could have frightened his friend to the point she was at now. He saw him own appearance reflected in her large hazel eyes, and understood; Levy was afraid of Natsu and what he was capable of once he had lost control.

The evidence of scales on his cheeks and the smoking fabric of his waist coat were a sight that few had ever seen, the evidence of true dragon force. He assumed that any normal person might feel intimidated in the very least in his presence at that moment, though he never expected someone who knew him so well to show such open terror in front of him.

A loud groan came from her other side alerting the pair that they were no longer alone among the remnants of Natsu's rampage. The dark mane of Levy's husband bobbed up into view accompanied by a long slow hiss. His crimson eyes surveyed the devastation that surrounded the only patch of grass that remained intact. Laxus was still laying with deep purple rims under his eyes, but his breathing looked stronger. The tree line had been moved back several yards, with clear evidence of being burned clear to the ground. After a few moments he looked back at Natsu, his eyes softening a fraction.

"It's over?" Such a simple question, but the implications were so much larger to the pink haired man who was still frozen in his place.

Bastion knew that his pleas were unheard in a conventional way due to his crushed vocal cords, but he was well aware that with Lucy it didn't matter. She could hear him clear as day, and yet she still continued to walk out that door. Bastion was no idiot, he knew exactly where Maso was planning on taking the blonde, and he knew that the chances of seeing her alive again were dropping drastically by the moment.

He balled his hands into fists, giving into the temptation to quit. His life was at an end here as well, and he had failed in his quest to protect his childhood friend. Lucy would be taken to the door, and have her powers stripped from her. Maso would kill Natsu and the others, and take the rest of the realms by force. Tears began to fall from Bastion's eyes without his permission, but he didn't reach a hand up to stop the flow.

He felt useless, completely without purpose now that his sentence was written in stone. Lucy and the others were beyond his reach, if only he weren't stuck in a magic void, then maybe, just maybe he could save at least one of them. Bastion stared at the marble tiles below him, wondering just how long he even had left before Maso finished him off as well. Fear was creeping up from the pit of his stomach, burning his throat like a foul acid.

How had he allowed it to come to this? Had he not vowed to do everything in his power to protect the only thing he had ever held dear. 'Damn it all.' His mouth moved, but no sound passed his lips. Frustration and tension began to build in place of the fear that had taken root in his abdomen, and suddenly Bastion found himself ramming his balled fists into the floor, cursing silently.

Lucy would never forgive him if he gave up now, not in this life or the next. All other feelings slipped away as a burning determination set his veins on fire with adrenalin. He would get out of his prison, and rescue his friend some how; it was a promise made to no one, but that didn't matter.

His hands reached out to grab the bars of his prison, the palms of his hands burned against the anti-magic material, but Bastion held firm in hopes that his will would return to him.

"Lucy is in trouble." The group turned to see the orange haired spirit coming in from the opposite side of the clearing. His head was lowered, his glasses completely missing, and his usually pristine suit was smoking in places where it had caught fire.

"Trouble?" Levy's eyes grew three sizes as she took in the sight of her friend.

"What the hell - - are we - - waiting - - around here for - - then?" A rough voice ground out between heavy breaths. Laxus had pushed himself into a sitting position, holding on to the side which held the wound that had nearly taken his life. No one had even noticed that the blonde man had come round until that moment, but it was clear that he was in no shape to be moving around yet. Levy moved over to his side, trying to push the lightning mage back into the ground. Her actions were met with hisses of irritation as Laxus pushed her out of the way.

It didn't take long for Gajeel to decide that Laxus couldn't be reasoned with, so he helped the other man to his feet. Levy threw her hands in the air in exasperation, clearly annoyed with her husband for becoming Laxus' accomplice.

"I can't take you with me." Natsu refused to look the others in the eye as he took a step back. "This is something I need to do by myself."

Lucy followed her captor down a long passageway, and onto a spiral stair case. She took careful steps during their descent, knowing the further they progressed the more moisture would be collecting on the stone slabs. In spirit form her sense were almost akin to that of a dragon slayer; she could hear Maso's every breath, smell the tang of his insanity, and see the moss that took root in the dampened walls. It was clear that they were below ground at this point, and she couldn't stop images of her dreams from surfacing.

A sigh escaped her as they finally came to a landing, in front of a massive black door. The cavern lay beyond that door, for it was the gateway into a dimension that a brave dragon gave her life to seal. Anger bubbled up in Lucy's stomach, but she pushed it back down while maintaining her false smile.

So many had already given their all for this day, so many had fallen victim to this ancient feud; it was time for it all to come to an end. The line would end with her, and with Maso.

Not sure how many chapters I'm going to write now, but I'll keep going till the end.