They ran down the pathway, trying to be as quiet as possible. Natsu sniffed the air. He whispered, "I smell Luce!" He followed the scent until they found a small alcove, where Lucy and Loke were hiding. Natsu stopped, as he saw guards run past. Lucy was terrified about being caught. It was obvious to Natsu she was traumatized about something. Loke was doing his best to calm Lucy. Once the guards were out of the way, Natsu ran up to Lucy and hugged her. She sobbed in his chest. "Natsu! I thought those people had you." He answered, "They did. Yukino just saved our asses." Lucy went over to Yukino and hugged her as hard as she could. Lucy gratefully said, "Thank you, Yukino." Lucy let the hug linger.
Yukino said, "Are you okay? You look worried." Lucy started breathing hard. Natsu rubbed her back. Her lip quivered as she said, "They want to do horrible things to us. They wanted to kill me. They are making dragon slayers like Laxus; then they give them two potions. The first one makes them more reptilian, the second makes them wild. Afterwards, they make them fight to the death. They're trying to make them fight until there's an alpha and two betas. They were going to do the same to you guys. Then they would have you guys fight against the other alpha and betas. They would leave the alpha and his betas as a winner. Then, I gathered, they would just send me down, while all the slayers were wild, so I could be torn to death." Natsu's face looked haunted. He realized, 'Not only were they going to cause our deaths, but Luce's?' He hugged her again. Sting whispered to Loke, "Is that true?" Loke answered, "We, uh, saw it. She's freaked out because she heard the bones cracking, blood splattering. I didn't let her watch the winner pull the loser's heart out of his chest. It's surprisingly loud. She stopped watching in the middle of the first match. It got way too disturbing."
Natsu angrily snarled, lowly, "Those fuckers will pay!" Rogue asked Loke, "Why are you staying here?" Loke whispered, "They found out Lucy escaped. We heard them say they wanted three virgins. We're guessing Erza and Yukino are being targeted, too." Rogue put his finger to his lips. He could hear someone coming. They looked over to see the leader, Quincy, 30 feet down walking through the caged arena. A guard ran up to Quincy. "Sir! The three dragon slayers escaped, with the help of a white haired girl. We're looking for them, along with the blonde girl. We found a different virgin in a different town." Quincy's eyes gleamed in recognition, saying, "That white haired girl must have been Yukino of Sabertooth." The guard said, "Sir, what do we do?" Quincy angrily yelled, "We need those slayers for our ultimate sacrifice. Get them! And get those two virginal Celestial maidens too! Those women will be perfect as the ultimate sacrifice to Draco."
Up in the alcove, Lucy and Yukino were silently panicking. They really were being targeted. Sting was rubbing Yukino's back. Natsu hugged Lucy. Loke seethed in anger. He knew the Celestial spirit Draco personally. 'Draco would never ask that of anyone.' Loke thought, 'We destroyed that cult 100 years ago. Why are they back?' He whispered to Lucy, "I'll come back soon. I have to talk to a friend in the Celestial Realm. Natsu, I'm trusting you with her." He disappeared. Natsu said under his breath, "Hmph! As if I need reminding to take care of her. She's my best friend! Stupid lion." Then he hugged Lucy harder, and kissed the top of her head.
Rogue was still watching Quincy and the guard speaking. Their voices got lower, so the dragon slayers were the only ones who could hear the conversation. Quincy said, "By the way, who is this new virgin you found?" The man pulled out a magazine with Erza, Lucy, Yukino, and Kagura on the front. He pointed to Kagura's picture. Rogue's eyes widened. Quincy laughed, saying, "She must have been formidable." The guard laughed, adding, "She hasn't woken up yet. We paid a pub owner near Mermaid Heel region to drug her food and drink. Once she passed out, we threw her sword to the side of the road and transported her here." Quincy laughed. He quipped, "These women put a huge target on themselves with this magazine. We'll have our sacrificial maidens soon enough. Even if we lose the first generation slayers, we'll still complete our ritual with them." They heard Quincy and the guard cackling, as they walked down the hall.
Rogue was concerned. "Kagura was kidnapped too?" he whispered. Lucy asked, "What? Did you say Kagura from Mermaid Heel?" Rogue looked downright murderous. Sting immediately knew the implications, sighing, "Calm down, Rogue. I promise we'll find your girlfriend, okay?"
Lucy was surprised, asking, "You're dating Kagura?" Rogue nodded and said, "Well, we haven't been announcing it to the world, but yes. We've been dating about 8 months." Sting put his hand on Rogue's shoulder, and said, "Rogue, I have a feeling you're going to kill them for Frosch alone. Calm down! We don't need any more blood on our hands." Rogue growled, "Who the hell are these monsters? Did you know those assholes used Kagura's and Yukino's nice photo spread from a few months ago to target you ladies?" Lucy looked down and confided, "Yes. They seemed to use my speech about being proud to be a virgin against me." Natsu was livid. He ordered, "We have to go find Kagura." Lucy understood. She said, "Follow me. I'll show you the room."