Chapter 22: Blurred Vision

3rd POV

"What the hell-" Natsu barely groaned out, as he glared daggers at the other dragon slayer, before that said slayer interrupted him with a voice so mighty, that the fire dragon slayers sensitive ears nearly bleed at the abuse.

"DON'T PLAY COY ASSHOLE! I. KNOW. YOU. TOOK. HER." Gajeel roared back, the intensity of his yell causing the other Fairies to slam their palms down on their ears, cringing at the pain riveting in their ear drums.

Pantherlily, on the other hand, ignored the pain in favoring to lay a paw on the black ahired male's shoulder, not only trying to comfort him, but to also gain his attention so that he could finally get Gajeel to see reason.

"What's going on Gajeel," Mira stepped in quickly with a frown curling at her lips and her eyebrows furrowing. Though she could care less about helping Natsu, for she was still pretty peeved at the majority of Fairy Tail, (even more so at Team Natsu), for turning their backs at their comrade and friend; the very thing Fairies preached about being very important. However, despite her anger, she could see that Lisanna was about to step in (Lisanna was still her sister in spite of everything), and Mira knew that Gajeel would not hold back at showing the younger white haired girl just what he thought about her.

Or show just how he felt about her.

"Lucy is missing, and I know they took her from me." The pierced man continued to growl. Though his temper started to lessen just a little bit with both Mira's words and Lily's paw that was still rested on his shoulder.

"Why the hell would we take that blonde bimbo, we wanted her out of the guild!" Lisanna jumped in before her older sister could stop her, her arms crossed as she tried to appear unaffected by Gajeels dangerous, deadly gaze, fury resting in his blood red orbs. Though in reality, she was shaking in fear in the inside, wanting nothing more than curl into herself, and hide away forever so that she may never see that monstrous man again.

If looks could kill she would be six feet underground at the moment, and then her coffin would be filled with some mere blood and maybe a couple bones as leftovers.

"Why you little whore!" The black haired male exploded, dropping the other dragon slayer like a ton of rocks, ignoring Natsu's pain filled groan as well as the curse he managed to gasp out towards his back. He then started to storm over to the loud mouthed girl, on a warpath to show her what exactly his intentions were. Whilst Lisanna finally started to show the horror and terror she felt inside, her fear glazed eyes widening to a doe-like state. She took a step back fearfully, trying to control the slight shakiness in her fingertips.

"Gajeel!" Lily finally exclaimed, jumping in front of his lethal partner before the man did something that would surely get him arrested. "They're telling the truth Gajeel; why would they steal Lucy when they worked so hard to get her out?" He asked softly, trying to the voice of reason to the hot headed male.

Thankfully, he noted that the iron dragon slayer started to soften a bit, his stiffened posture slumping just a little, telling the exceed that he was finally starting to get through to the male.

"… They… They had to have taken her! Who else would've kidnapped her!?" He exclaimed, with frustration and the sound of someone completely at loss at what to do laced in his tone. Lily frowned grimly, knowing how hard it was for his partner; Gajeel had never had any important person in his life in a romantic-sense, and due to this Lucy was more special to him than anyone else had ever been.

"Gajeel, c'mon, how about we talk? You can tell about everything that's going on, and we'll figure out what to do," the older white haired girl said calmly, grabbing onto the iron dragon slayer's arm when she saw his was finally calm enough to be approached directly. She then pulled him into the back of the bar so that they could speak alone, the brunette exceed following after them.

3rd POV, Meanwhile

Lucy stared at the ever-same stone walls, her foot tapping to nothing in particular. Despite the intense, heavy atmosphere, the blonde was unbelievably bored, having nothing to do but kick around the tiny pebbles that had broken off of the walls. And other than that, all she had to do was listen to the little drops of water that echoed throughout her whole cell, the droplets hitting the floor seeming louder due to the fact that there were no other sounds around.

It was driving the celestial mage nuts; the ever same drop hitting the stone floor, and with absolutely nothing to do but listen to it. Lucy had tried to find ways to abide her time for she already spent hours upon hours on end thinking about an escape route or plan, but all she could see was the walls that surrounded her, the cell bars on the door, and could see just a little of the wall (most likely belonging to the hallway) behind the cell door.

So, with absolutely nothing to go on, she just sat there, seconds passing like hours, and that same droplet echoing throughout her cage.

"Let me out!" The blonde beauty suddenly burst, grabbing her blonde tightly in agony. However, after a second she managed to calm herself, realizing that all Lucy was doing was letting the isolation win over her mind.

This could be what that monster wants; he could be trying to put my mental state at its weakest so that he could twist my mind into believing whatever the hell he wants me to believe. Isolation would be a sure way to do it too… Lucy hummed inside her mind thoughtfully, slumping against the sturdy walls as she sighed heavily.

Rubbing her neck, the celestial mage tried to vainly relieve the pain emitting from her neck, the hard surface not at all helpful to her aching bones. Her backside, her spine, her legs, and even neck were aching terribly, having been used to soft surfaces and comfortable furniture that had supported her form before.

Despite this, all that Lucy could conjure up in her mind as she thought of something to entertain herself from the pain, the madness, and the seclusion, was the faces of Gajeel, Lily, Mira, and all her spirits.

She was extremely worried for them, hoping that they were all doing well.

Lucy especially feared for her spirits, for her keys had been on her belt when she had been abducted, and now that they were missing she knew that either fell off her belt as she was being taken to the cage, or that disgusting man had stolen them off of her. And as awful as it sounds I think I'd prefer if that man had taken them, for at least he would know where it is, or it would be somewhere near him. That would be much easier to find than if it had just simply fallen off of me, for if it had, the area to search would be much wider, and harder to find. And then there's a chance someone else might pick it up… Maybe if Loke is strong enough, he might be able to hide them somewhere that I only know about, or somewhere hidden enough that'll give me enough time that it'll give Loke enough time to find me and take me to my friends. The blonde beauty bit her lip, her brows furrowed in consideration. However her thoughts quickly shifted as she thought about being free once again.

My friends, Gajeel, please stay safe. And Gajeel, please be especially careful; I know you, and I know you would be furiously searching for me at the moment, Lucy thought to herself, feeling the all so familiar feeling of tears pricking at the back of her eyes as she thought of them, though despite the sorrow that hung in the air, she smiled serenely. She may have lost a lot of friends that day she was kicked out of the Team Natsu, and eventually left Fairy Tail, but it had shown just who her true friends were, and that was all she wanted/needed.

The blonde dearly missed them, but she was glad that, so far at least, there was no sign of her friends being taken here as well. Even though all this isolation was vaguely familiar to when she had been stuck under her father's thumb, bringing back past ghosts that she would rather sooner forget, she was glad they were safe.

What is that?! The blonde gasped inside her mind.

Lucy jumped as she was broken from her thoughts, scurrying to the corner of her cell as a strange gas filled the room. Her chocolate eyes widened, suddenly fearful about what this mystery gas would do to her. Whether it would be painful, if it would knock her out, or etc.; either way, she refused to give that monster any sort of satisfaction by giving.

Slamming her palms over her mouth and nose defiantly, the blonde tried to stop the gas from entering her body, desperately holding her breath. However it was all fruitless, as her struggling body finally pushed her to breathe, and darkness crept over her vision, and like that she was unconscious.

To be continued…

A/N: Hey guys hope you all liked the chapter, thank you all for following/favoriting/reviewing! I won't be answering reviews this time because I just wanted to get this chapter out there. Also, if any of you want to keep up with this story or my other storys I will be keeping progress of next/new chapters on my profile/bio page. This way you'll know if you'll be expecting a chapter soon or not.