Shadows
Chapter 13: Doorway to Darkness

The long narrow hallways all looked exactly the same. It was even the same distances from one turning to the next. They always came to a crossroad with a left, right or forwards directional decision to make.

By now, they had taken three rights and were proceeding down a fourth. Four rights of the same length corridor had to make a square. Were they walking in circles? Even though logic argued with her something was stubbornly telling her, telling her they're moving in a different direction. How weird.

They moved further down the corridors with a fast but cautious pace. Natsu walked a little ahead of her, surprisingly attentive to the threats that laid in hiding around him.

Lucy suddenly felt guilty. Everyone, even Happy, was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, while she carelessly walked in between them all.

Brown eyes slipped down from the dragon slayer's back, watching the floor that could be seen ahead of them. The brick stone floor was the same as the hallway they entered first. Moss glazed with a damp layer of water shimmered under Gray's torch light like the skin of a snake. She was surprised that the torch hadn't melted yet; being that it was made of ice. Maybe Gray was doing something to it to stop it from melting.

The longer they went, the easier it was for Lucy to accidentally become distracted. Her attention span was shorter than Natsu's after the eighty-something corner, which was about a hundred junctions ago.

Her mind seemed intent on mulling over Natsu and bringing up all the times he'd helped her. The dragon slayer was somewhat like a knight in shining armor. Sure, he goofed around a bit, ate all her food and snuck into her bed at night. Not to mention, his childish behavior and his knack for destroying pretty much anything. Overall, Natsu was a good guy, a really, really good guy.

A small breath of laughter slipped out her thoughts, catching Natsu's attention. His head glanced back over his shoulder at her, offering a cheeky smile. Lucy just rolled her eyes at him, moving her gaze back to the floor.

One second later, Lucy watched as Natsu's foot dropped, pushing a palm-sized rock into the ground. Everyone froze, listening to the rumbling sound of movement under their feet.

Suddenly, a great big crevice opened up under Natsu's feet, catching him off guard. And then he was gone, falling into the great black abyss. Lucy didn't even have time to react; she just stared as Natsu was disappearing from her.

Lucy hadn't seen him move, but Silver was there, hanging onto Natsu by the back of the neck. Lucy stood still, staring at the hanging dragon slayer in disbelief.

Silver wasn't remotely surprised, dragging the boy back up to the stable floor with ease, just as the floor snapped shut beneath them.

Natsu recovered quickly, standing up and dusting himself off. By then, Silver was already moving ahead. Natsu's eyes glared ungratefully at Silver. His feet chased after the fox, as if he was running away with his man-pride, and walked coldly next to him. And that was that. They continued to move down the corridors like absolutely nothing happened, leaving the rest of them to catch up.

Natsu's feet walked softly next to hers, never straying too far away. Dark watchful eyes locked onto Silver's back warily. Small, faint pulses of heat radiated into the air around him. Lucy noticed a long time ago that it wasn't Natsu's body temperature that always made him feel hot. His body was constantly pulsating heat into the atmosphere around his body. Luckily, Lucy was just close enough to feel the warmth of his bubble of heat. It was a relief compared to the cold chilling breeze of the hall.

Natsu gave her a quick glance down his shoulder. He instantly recognized her moves with faint amusement. Slowly, his feet crept closer until their shoulders just grazed each other's.

Heat cocooned around her body and heart. There was a strange sense of safety and security when she stood next to her dragon slayer. There was always something about him that made him so reliable.

"Oi, how long are we going to be walking for?" Gray's voice cut off her thoughts. Silver waited a small millisecond before he replied, which was just long enough to irritate Gray. Then again, the ice mage seemed to be looking for any reason to be irritated with the silver-haired man.

"They're long tunnels. They've have been added and reworked some since I last came here." Silver replied bluntly, carrying on through a junction.

"That doesn't answer my question." Gray growled back.

"That's because there ain't any answer to give." Silver replied, his voice peculiarly calm and concentrated.

"Tsk." Gray clicked his tongue, switching the torch into his opposite hand.

It was another hour before anyone else spoke again. Natsu and Lucy seemed perfectly content walking silently in each other's company. It was surprising to see the dragon slayer so quiet for such a long period of time.

Up ahead, Silver's eyes stared flatly at the grey walls searching for markings. The visible side of his face was illuminated by the torch light, shadowing the many lines on his face.

Lucy suddenly noticed the slight shift of his lips. It was like he was talking to himself. What was he saying? Big brown eyes zoomed in on his lips, carefully watching each movement.

It slowly became clear. His lips were fluently speaking a language that made no sound. He was talking to her through his lips.

'Lucy, surely you haven't forgotten,' his lips worded. Lucy was able to see, read and decipher each word.

During her time in the cells she'd learnt to evaluate people, workers, prisoners even Silver and Jaedou. Lilianne had taught her the basics at first, saying it might come in handy. But after she was gone, Lucy had taught herself to lip-read.

'I haven't' Lucy mouthed back subtly. Dirt grey eyes slid over for a second, watching her lips. Then they turned back to the wall, seeming extremely serious.

'You've grown up.' Silver mouthed. 'You were so small back then.'

'This is no time or place to be reminiscing.' Lucy feared she may have moved her lips a little too fast for him to read, slightly irate with his small-talk. So she calmed and slowed down with her mouth movements. 'I didn't think you were the sentimental type, or any type with feelings'

There was a slight pause before Silver spoke; the emotion of what little there was dulled. 'We're all human' Grey eyes slid forwards towards the dragon slayer, moving a pace or two ahead of them. 'You've found some good friends.'

Brown eyes examined the old man with slight suspicion before they softly gravitated ahead of her. She watched his tall unscarred back, always moving forward. 'Yeah...I did.' A small smile touched the edges of her lips, listening to the footsteps resounding behind her; the footsteps of her friends.

'Jaedou shouldn't be taken lightly,' Silver added, his eyes watching ahead with grey clouds swarming his irises.

'I know.' Lucy replied softly, and slowly. It wasn't the first time she'd thought about it. Jaedou, a black-list criminal, kidnapper...murder.

'Then why come alone?' Silver asked his silent tone neutral.

'Alone? I have-'

'You are here with your friends. But your heart is not. It is all alone. You've known that from the beginning.' Silver interrupted.

'I am alone.' Lucy admitted. Silver, only for a second, slowed, letting his attentive eyes fall fully on her. Her words caught him off guard. 'But...' she continued. 'I have no doubt that one day, I can take their outstretched hand. When that day comes, in a day, month, even a year...I will never be alone again,'

Silver's eyes watched her for a long, long moment. Until finally he said. 'I understand.' and moved forward.

Isaac slightly increased the speed of his pace, moving up and ahead of Natsu. At the same time, the dragon slayer slowed down, falling into step besides the celestial wizard.

Dark jet eyes scanned her curiously. Lucy offered a weak smile, which he took. Brown eyes shot back to Silver. A small feeling inside of her hinted that somehow, if only a little, their relationship had shifted.

"We're here." Silver's voice cut through Lucy's mind fog.

In the clearing, a black, ominous door loomed up ahead of them. It was plain and simply black. Rough cut edges around the door frame shower it had been renovated and expanded.

Dark rusted edges over the hinge showed its age. It hadn't been opened in a while by the looks of it. Then again, looks can be deceiving. Flecks of chipped rust scattered the floor around the range of the door's opening path.

"He's here." Silver's voice cut through the atmosphere like an ice dagger.

A heavy inescapable weight pushed down on Lucy's chest. Her heart squeezed and struggled underneath it. Breathing became hard and painful. Blood pulsed thickly through her veins like congealed milk.

He's in there...he's really in there, Lucy thought. Hot tears stung her eyes threatening for tears to fall. That man who ruined her childhood, killed her friends, hurt the people she cared about, was right behind that door.

"Lucy?" Natsu muttered beside her. Distress raged in her brown chocolate eyes. Slow heavy breaths staggered in and out her lungs. Something sharp and constricting clutched her heart

"It's okay." Lucy whispered, spreading her feet to steady her balance. "I want...I need to.' Lucy gasped.

"Okay." Natsu spoke. One simple word shook her heart like a tsunami. All her emotions, the anger, the pain and sorrow, were quelled. His voice filled with such certainty, such strength, and courage. It was frightening. How does he have the power to make her feel that way with just one, single word. "This is something you've got to do, right?"

Lucy looked up, feeling her world settle around her with brilliant sharpness. Natsu wasn't looking at her. Dark eyes stared onward at the door like an obstacle he was about to face. There was something in those eyes, something that was never clear to others, but was always so strong in his. "In that case, why don't we do it together, Luce?" Natsu's head tilted over his shoulder, his eyes cast calmly down at her with such simpleness that everything else became trivial. That same gaze made her resolve grow even more unshakable. Those black eyes that made her able to do anything, could be very, very, dangerous. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," Lucy muttered, taking her place besides the dragon slayer as they faced their new challenge together. "Let's go."

As they stood in front of the door, Gray, Erza and Happy moved up along side them. "We'll be your strength too Lucy. We'll all stand strong together." Erza whispered. Maybe, Lucy thought, that hand wasn't as far away as she thought.

At that moment, Silver moved forward, pushing the door open and letting orange light pierce through into the darkness ahead of them...

Levy nervously fiddled and shuffled papers around over the tables, organizing things and then re-organizing them again. Gajeel watched from a distance, pondering the best way to approach the situation. In the end, he couldn't seem to find anything suitable, and gave up, walking directly towards her.

The book mage took notice of him almost straight away, giving him a small, warm smile. "Hey, Gajeel." She greeted, shuffling a pile of papers into two different piles.

"What's up?" The iron slayer asked, not being one to follow formalities.

"Nothing." Levy hesitated, then continued to join her two paper piles back into one.

"You've been organizing this table for the last few hours." Gajeel interrupted, setting a big paw of a hand over the paper she still shuffled. Levy froze, turning back to look at him with big blue eyes. She was stood so close, a soft pink blush slowly crept up onto the iron mage's face.

"It's just, Lucy left a while ago, and she hasn't been back for hours. Not to mention, Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray are nowhere to be found." Levy poured out her stresses a mile a minute. Poor Gajeel had to think quick to keep up. The girl let out a long sigh, sinking into the closest booth seat. "Sorry Gajeel, I didn't mean to sound so stressed out." Levy whimpered, revealing she'd seen his strained speed-listening expression.

"Look, shrimp." Gajeel checked-himself. "Everyone including that stupid fire-idiot has probably just gone to cheer up bunny-girl. They'll be back soon." Unconsciously, Gajeel's hand had moved to ruffle the blue-haired girl's hair, feeling it soft and bouncy between his fingers.

When he pulled it away, he realized the girl was oddly stiff. As his eyes moved for a closer inspection, he noticed the hot-crimson blush burning on her face. Pins and needles vibrated through his hand, making his own face turn hot red with embarrassment. Both awkwardly stood there unsure of what to do.

Quickly, Gajeel took the initiative to look around. In the end, he noticed a book fallen on its front on the floor under the table. The iron dragon slayer swiped it up into his palm quickly, examining the book. "What's this?" He asked, more aloud than directly to anyone. Even so, Levy leapt up, prying the book from his hands in an instant.

"It's the book me and Lucy were reading earlier." Levy's fingers flickered through the pages, searching for something in particular.

"What are you looking for?" Gajeel asked curiously, leaning over her shoulder. Both of them seemed oblivious or too curious to notice the small approximation between each other.

When Levy found the page, her eyes slowed scanning over a page. "'The monster that lurks does not hide in solitude, but stalks in the dark. For where there is darkness, there is a shadow. You cannot run from a shadow, you cannot hide from shadow. To be free from a shadow, you must first, delve into the dark.'" Levy read aloud.

"That's one messed up book. What's it called?" Gajeel commented. Levy closed the book, examining the faded cover.

"We don't know. The title's too faint to read." Levy announced sadly, looking disheartened at the book. Gajeel looked at it thoughtfully for a second. He quickly, swooped down, pinching the book away from her palms.

"You just need someone with better eyesight." Gajeel replied smugly, spinning away, examining the book close to his face.

"Let me guess. You mean you?" Levy teased with a mocking expression.

"Yup." Gajeel replied certainly. He stared hard at the book, bringing it closer and further from his face, switching from his left to right eye, holding it to and from the light. "Got it!" Gajeel finally said, handing Levy back to the book with a smug smile.

"So what's it called?" Levy asked, examining the book.

"Shadow." As soon as the words left Gajeel's mouth, a burst of cold air sent papers fluttering everywhere. All eyes swept towards the open guild doors and the dark figure standing in it.

Next Monday: Chapter 14; Jeadou
Our antagonist finally makes his arrival, stepping out from the shadows.

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-A-ccentric