Getting dressed in a public restroom was, admittedly, not one of the most uncomfortable things Lucy had ever done. Though it was still something she didn't particularly enjoy. However, to call this little building hidden in the park a restroom was a bit of a disservice. It looked more like the bathroom in a hotel than a public restroom. The only thing it was missing was an actual bath or a shower. It was also big enough for her to move about while having a spirit in the room with her.

"Thanks again for holding everything, Horologium." She murmured, gently placing a bag within the glass case of the spirit. There were a few other small bags there, as well as her normal pair of boots, which she'd swapped out for fancier heels.

"It is alright, but please remember, while storing items inside me I shall be unable to come to your aid should you need it."

She smiled in response. "I know, I'll try to find a place to stay soon. That's all for now."

With a nod the clock spirit vanished back to the Celestial Realm, taking her things with him. Lucy stared at the place he'd been. She still couldn't believe where she'd found the useful spirit. Who in their right mind would use a Celestial gate key to wind a clock? He wasn't even being summoned, his key was just being used to wind the mechanism. Celestial spirits weren't meant to be used like that! Poor Horologium had been willing to agree to just about any contract to get out of that mess.

Lucy shook those thoughts from her head. It was in the past, Horologium was hers now and she wouldn't allow him to be abused in that way ever again.

Sighing she checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her flower hair decoration looked nice, she didn't need to use much, if any makeup, her dress was straight and it went with her hand bag. Lucy took one last deep breath before leaving the restroom.

She was going to be fine, she told herself. It wasn't any different from flirting with store clerks in order to get a discount. If there was trouble, with any luck it wouldn't happen for a few hours. Long enough to replenish her magic so that she could summon one of her Zodiacs. Well, at least Taurus or Aquarius. After dying her hair, Cancer had wanted to change his available days. Probably because he still didn't like her current hair color.

It wasn't hard to find the port, and even at night the ocean still looked beautiful. The full moon reflected off the waves making it look like diamonds sparkling on a black velvet blanket. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to enjoy it as much as she would have liked. Salamander hadn't given her a time for when the party would start, but it was apparently earlier than she'd thought. The party was already in full swing judging from the crowd on the deck.

Salamander was waiting for her on the dock. He smiled as she approached. "You made it! I'm glad."

She returned his smile. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Oh no, you're not, don't worry about it. The other girls were just eager." He gestured to the ship. "Shall we?"

Lucy nodded politely and made her way up the gang plank. The yacht was impressive, most especially the high upper deck held aloft by four thick wooden pillars. But even the littler things, such as the smoothness of the railing or the elegant shape of the anchor were attention grabbing and spoke of great taste. Idly she wondered how it'd compare to the Argo.

Apparently they had been the only ones left to get on, as the ship was quickly untied and moved to the open ocean. Lucy hadn't expected the ship to be so difficult to walk on. With its constant movement and sway, navigating the deck in her heels made her long for her flatter more sensible boots. More often than not she wound up clinging to Salamander's arm, he was thankfully a good sport about it.

She giggled the first time it happened. "Sorry, I'm afraid I've never been on a boat before."

"That's alright," he laughed. "You'll have your sea legs soon enough, I'm sure."

Despite her unfortunate lack of balance it was shaping up to be a wonderful party. There was plenty of good quality food and wine scattered about on the various tables. The almost exclusively female party goers were smiling, chatting and seemed to be having a good time. Given the quality of both the refreshments and the ship, Lucy had to wonder just how much money a guild mage earns. The food alone would have been several hundred thousand Jewel.

In any other circumstance, Lucy herself would have had a blast. However, despite the number of other women attending the party, Salamander's attention seemed focused on Lucy and Lucy alone. He did say he wanted to get to know her better, but ignoring the others seemed quite rude to Lucy. More than that, something about the way he looked at her reminded Lucy of Lord Heartfilia. She couldn't understand why that was. His eyes weren't nearly as cold or as distant. He didn't look at her like she was less than nothing. There wasn't even a hint of madness in them. While they did share a similar eye color, Natsu did as well and, though their interaction was brief, she'd never felt that way around him.

Yet still, that resemblance was there. It grated on her nerves and made her shoulders tense. It didn't help that he was soon leading her away from the rest; to someplace quieter, he'd said. A place where they could get to know each other, so he could see if she was Fairy Tail material.

He brought her to a sitting room on the upper level. It was a lovely little place with plush couches, a cute little table and silk curtains surrounding the space to give it a cozy intimate feel. It might have been the way his attention was focused only on her, or it might be because they were alone once again, but all of her senses were murmuring and whispering warnings of danger. They weren't screaming yet, but she knew enough that this wasn't a good position to be in.

"So you know who I am," Salamander gestured for her to take a seat at one of the couches. "And though we've known each other for this long, I can't say I know who you are. Would you tell me?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! It's Lucy."

"Lucy, huh? That's such a pretty name." He complimented, staring down at her across from where she'd settled.

"Thanks," she chirped.

"Before we get started, let's toast with a glass of wine." He poured the red liquid into the glass in front of her.

"If it's just wine, wouldn't it be better with some other girls?" Lucy was suddenly acutely aware that she hadn't eaten much all day. What's more she couldn't help but notice that he set the bottle down and didn't seem interested in pouring himself a glass.

"It's okay. Besides, isn't it easier to get to know each other over a drink?" With a snap of his fingers droplets floated out of the glass and hovered in the air before her. "Try opening your mouth, let these pearls of wine enter and entice you."

The alarms in her head were growing louder and louder. She didn't need anyone to tell her how suspicious this whole thing was, though Aquarius's key had grown hot enough in warning to burn her thigh regardless.

Lucy steadied herself, this may be her only chance at getting into Fairy Tail. With hidden reluctance she closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

She could only hope that Fairy Tail would be worth it. It'd have to be, right?

However a small thought wormed its way into her mind, what would happen to her keys if she were to commit to this?

Lucy slapped the wine droplets away from her and stood. Even if it was her dream guild, even if working there was something she needed to do; nothing was worth leaving herself and her keys so vulnerable at the hands of this creep. The wine splashed on the table, staining the white cloth covering it. Salamander looked shocked and alarmed, but not confused. He knew exactly why she slapped the wine away.

"What are you planning?" She'd read and experienced enough that the answer should be obvious, however he hadn't looked at her the way the more persistent admirers did, with want and desire. She didn't know what he was thinking when he looked at her, however anything that reminded her of Lord Heartfilia was probably not a good thing. She just wished she hadn't pushed aside her worries until now. "It was drugged, wasn't it?"

He hissed wordlessly, bowing his head as if he felt guilty he'd been caught. The rest of his posture was still too confident for her piece of mind. "How did you know?" Salamander sounded genuinely curious when he asked that, as if it was hard to figure out.

"I might still want to join Fairy Tail," she began, because despite Salamanders actions she still really did want to join. "But there are limits! Lines you just don't cross!"

"You're a bad girl," he grunted out, "If you'd peacefully gone to sleep you wouldn't have to get hurt."

"Eh?" Before she even had a chance to ask about what that meant, hands shot out from what she'd thought had been a curtain covered wall to grab at her arms. The owner of one of the arms pushed the curtain aside. The cozy little room was suddenly significantly bigger and full of men with arms as thick as her waist. Her arms looked like twigs in comparison to the big meaty hands holding on to them. "What's going on?"

"Oooh, good job lord Salamander." One of the ones holding her spoke up. He was balding and licking his lips in anticipation as his other hand joined the first on her left arm.

The other one holding her, the man who'd pushed the curtains aside was grinning dumbly down at her. "We haven't had such a pretty one for a while."

"Who are you?" Despite her best efforts, her voice shook. With her arms held she couldn't grab her keys. She couldn't fight. They had the couch between her body and theirs, so she couldn't use her feet or head to strike at them and make them let go.

A hand grabbed her chin and roughly turned her so she'd have no choice but to face the man responsible for this. Salamander was grinning nastily at her, as if her fear and confusion were something amusing. "Welcome to our slave ship." His cultured and almost soft tones had vanished, replaced by something harsher and rougher. "I must ask you to remain silent until we get to Bosco, lady."

Panic fogged her mind, "Bosco? What happened to Fairy Tail." If Aquarius were out, she'd probably slap her for still thinking about that guild. It was obvious that Fairy Tail was just a ruse to get her on board.

The men around her roared with laughter. Salamander laughed the hardest. "I told you, it's a slave ship. I brought you in as merchandise from the beginning." Oh, that's what was familiar. "Just give up."

He was looking at her as if she were a thing to use for his own gain. Lord Heartfilia looked at everyone like that. Like she was nothing more or less than a simple tool for him to use and dispose of as he saw fit. Or in this case, sell.

The similarities were so striking it left her speechless and nauseous. The men kept talking, complementing Salamander on his part of the plan and confident that Lucy wouldn't be able to escape. She couldn't keep from shuddering when one of them mentioned training her.

How could people even think like this?

She jerked as she felt a hand against her thigh, brushing the garter where she kept her keys. Lucy couldn't help but be relieved when Salamander only took her keys. It was quickly replaced with guilt and panic because he took her keys!

He twirled them around his finger, making them jangle sharply. "Gate keys huh? I see…You're a Celestial Spirit mage."

"Celestial what?" The balding man holding her asked. "You know we don't know about magic."

"Don't worry about it." Salamander sauntered away from them. Lucy gritted her teeth and fought the urge to yell at him for treating her keys so carelessly. Doing so wouldn't help anything at all. "Only contracted mages can use this magic. It's useless for me." Lucy had the briefest moments of relief. If they were useless, it meant he wasn't going to kill her and take them for himself or sell them on.

Then with a flick of his wrist he sent the key ring flying off his finger and out the window.

Lucy would swear her heart stopped.

He threw them away.

Her keys, her spirits. Her friends. And he just threw them away.

How could he?

How dare he!

Tears gathered and fell from her eyes. She was so angry she couldn't breathe.

Salamander had gone to a half hidden fireplace and pulled out a brand. As if to add insult to injury, the largest part of the symbol on the brand looked like a keyhole. "Let me brand you first." He practically cooed.

"I can't believe any guild would want someone like you in it." She put as much venom into her voice and words as she could. The thought of him actually being a member of that guild hurt. The place she'd admired so much when reading about, the place that rarely, if ever, killed if it was possible, the place that always seemed so fun and full of life…She couldn't imagine a guild with a reputation like that letting their members go around drugging girls or throwing away keys. Had even that been a lie? Was Mirajane and those interviews just a facade to hide the world's worst scum?

At her words, Salamanders face twisted into a snarl. She must have touched a nerve because he snapped his fingers and his magical fire turned the red hot brand white. "It'll be a little hot," he sneered, "please bear with it." He then grinned, as if the thought of touching the burning metal to her flesh would be the best thing ever.

Lucy struggled against the hands holding her, but they didn't relent. She couldn't break free, she couldn't fight back.

Her spirits were probably at the bottom of the ocean. She couldn't keep her promise to them. Knowing that hurt her more than the thought of being branded did.

"You really are the worst mage ever." She hiccupped out, bracing herself for the pain. It was the only thing she could do now.

And then the ceiling broke.